Seeing Differently
Do you ever think that no one is listening to you or cares what you need?
And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. - Luke 11:5-8
I used to look at today's reading and experience a bit of anger toward the man who won't answer the door.
When we were in Israel four years ago, our guide, Iyad brought us into a cave, the type of dwelling that may have been common at the time, and he showed us in that small space how a family lived.
In the main room, which took up the entire front of the cave, the family would sleep, mattresses laid out on the ground. And in the back room, the animals would be bedded down. That is where the manger would be.
In the birth narrative of Jesus, we have no room in the main part of the cave, but only a manger for the baby where the animals lay.
Standing there in that tight space, I could see it would be a problem for someone to step over all the members of the family to get some bread for a visitor late at night.
In fact, interrupting someone's sleep would have been rude and inconsiderate.
The story, then, requires that we see differently.
The message of persistence and faith has deeper relevance when we see the man as being truly inconvenienced to help his neighbor. He needs to disrupt his own household to stop the man from waking them all up in the middle of the night.
We are reminded of all the times Jesus was interrupted in his ministry to go to the aid of someone in need of healing. Whatever he had planned to do was put on hold while he addressed the need of the one who had come to his door late at night.
Commitment to each other leaves us vulnerable. Our time is not completely our own when we commit to love another, whether that is a deep, romantic love, or the love of our neighbor.
When we commit to serve as Christ served, we commit to answering the door, even if it means disrupting our routines, our lives, our families.
On this day, when our daughter and her fiancé make the lifelong commitment to become one under God, they bring their families together as well.
All become one and all are committed together. It is a big thing to ask others to join with us. It is like the knock on the door in the middle of the night.
So, to the children I say, Thank you. And for the children, I pray that they grow in love for each other and make room. May they see the world differently and come to love one another as we love them.
The newly weds will not be able to do this without them.
More to come...