Go Away . . .

 


December 31st, 2010
“New Year’s Eve”

     “The Friend At Midnight”  -  Luke 11:5-13


               "And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;  for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed: I cannot rise and give to you’?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend,  yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.”

               “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or is he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
 
  There is an old spiritual that is one of the most well-known and popular hymns of the season . . . " Go, Tell It on the Mountain". It's words speak to us the essence of the "great commission" . . . "Go ye into all the world and preach my Gospel to every nation . . . " 


(refrain) "Go, tell it on the mountain; over the hills and everywhere.
Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born. 


When I was a seeker, I sought both night and day.
I asked the Lord to help me and He showed me the way. 
(refrain)

He made me a watchman upon the city wail,
And if I am a Christian, I am the least of all, 
(Refrain) 
  

MEDITATION  -  “The Ultimate Gift”

The essence of this parable, in my opinion, is its loving explanation from Jesus about God’s gifts to us and His ever-ready willingness to give us far greater gifts than earthly fathers can possibly give us.  I find this parable imminently easy to understand, while some of the other parables of Jesus cause me great consternation at times, and I find myself feeling a bit “clueless” about their meanings and about how to apply them to my life.  


Inherent as well to this parable are strong statements about parenting.  If we understand this parable, we begin to understand the nature of parents, both loving earthly parents and a gracious Loving heavenly Father.   I grew up in homes with a father present.  That this was so, used to be much more a foregone conclusion that it is in this age, when so many marriages end in divorce, and so many households are single-parent families.  Most of my friends also grew up in families with two parents.   I believe that Jesus uses the word "father" for ease of comparison to God, but I also believe that what He says in this parable about fathers applies equally to mothers.

I didn’t have the best luck in some ways in the parenting department.  I have had, during the course of my lifetime, three mothers and three fathers.  Life can get confusing for a little kid with such as this going on, let me tell you!  My biological father died without ever knowing that he had a “third” child (I have a half-brother and a half-sister).  My first adopted father died following injuries he received in a fire in our backyard when I was only six years old.   My birth mother surrendered me at my birth for adoption.  My first adopted mother died of cancer when I was not quite nine years old, and my then-aunt became my third mother. She is still living (89 years old) but the ravages of Alzheimer's Disease are becoming more and more evident and stealing more and more of her from us.  My then-uncle became my third father. He died almost fifteen years ago, following a lengthy struggle with lung cancer. 

Life was rough for me when I was trying to grow up.  Things in my families were often unsettled. I never knew when yet another mother or father was going to be snatched away from me. People had a lot of sadness and mourning multiple losses to do, and it wasn’t as easy to find support for those situations that didn’t quite resolve in “due course” as it is today.  I received some stones from my collective parents when I asked for bread, sometimes quite unconsciously and completely unwittingly on their part, I truly believe.  I received some serpents from my collected parents when I asked for a fish, and scorpions when I asked for eggs.   Some of the things most children are able to safely take for granted, were so far beyond my experiences, that I didn’t even know they existed.

There were times when I was a young child working on my perception of my heavenly Father, when I wanted nothing to do with the thought of having yet another parental figure in my life, no matter how heavenly, how wonderful, how good, how perfect, how generous and how loving I was told He was.   There were times when I was that same young child struggling to survive emotionally when the thought of someone else in my life to lose was unbearable.

Somehow though, through it all, by the tenacity and perfect mercy and grace of a loving God, I managed to remain pretty much intact, albeit with some emotional leftovers from the struggle that still affect my life today and still cause me some difficulties, especially around the loss issues that I have to face from time to time.  I emerged from  my struggles with a firm faith in the Father that Jesus describes in this parable.

Jesus speaks of the friend who comes at midnight asking for bread to feed another third who has arrived unexpectedly from a journey.  It is easy to see in the parable that the man whose sleep was disturbed by his friend’s knocking had plenty of justification for refusing the request. He was asleep.  His family was asleep.  His children were already in bed asleep.  It was midnight.  The friend had a lot of “nerve” coming there at a time like that.  He could easily have refused his request. Why didn’t he?  Was it only because the man wouldn’t go away and stop knocking?  Was it only  because he made a complete nuisance of himself until the sleepy friend said to himself something like, “Good grief! Will he never give up and go home?  Maybe I better do as he asks and give him the bread so he will shut up and leave me alone so I can sleep.  I’ll never get up in time in the morning at this rate!”

Well, possibly, I suppose, but I rather think not.  Love requires a different answer.  We can see all through the parables of Jesus the commandment   that we love one another as ourselves, and that we love our neighbor.  We find some very strong words of Paul in Romans 13:8, and 10 - - - “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another hath fulfilled the law ... Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”  Ah, this is it, I believe.  There is the law and there is love, and the addition of love in our relationships with each other - - - friends, families, children, parents, neighbors, etc., fulfills the law.    The law of love requires a different answer when our friends ask anything of us - when our children are in need - when our neighbor’s ox is in the ditch or when our neighbor, himself, is in that ditch as in the parable of the Good Samaritan!!!

Sometimes Dorothy used to call me at 1:30 or 2:00 AM from college.  She wanted “something” sometimes, I suppose, but often she wanted only to talk.  She had something on her mind, and she sought out her mother.  Often I was up, but sometimes I was sleeping when she called.  I would never tell my child, “Go away and call me in the morning! I’m sleepy! Don’t you know what time it is? Don’t you know that people are supposed to be sleeping now?” These early morning calls from Dorothy were her requests for bread, and fish, and eggs.  I couldn’t give her stones, and serpents and scorpions in response.  

Why?  I love her. I love her as unconditionally as I am able.  I love her with fierce passion.  I want what’s best for her in all situations.  I believe I would give my last penny to her if she asked for it.  I believe I would give my life to save hers if she needed me to.   

Interestingly enough,  she often calls me now at 7 or 7:30 am when she is making her commute to work in Atlanta.  We have some of our best talks at times like this, and we will often leave each other with words like, "Good talk, Mom"  and "Good talk, Dorothy" and ALWAYS with, "I love you!"   We told her when she was VERY young that she could ALWAYS call us . . . no matter what time of day . . . and we gave her a cell phone so she could!  God is "open" 24/7 and He's my example, so I'm open 24/7 as well to our daughter. 

God not only means to be that kind of Father, but succeeds at it.  We, being evil according to the words of the parable, nevertheless know how to give good gifts to our children, and we know how to respond to our friends, families and neighbors in their hours of desperate need, in their crises.  How much more does our heavenly Father give to us at such times!!!

How much more?  The answer is summed up in a few words in the Gospel of St. John, the third chapter, the sixteenth verse:

“For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I believe I would give my life for my child.  God gave His Child’s life for me, and that Child willingly took on the agony of dying for me!!!  What love! What grace! What beauty!  Knowing how difficult loss is for human beings to accept, God didn’t stop with the most excellent gift of His Son, but sent us another Comforter when the end of Jesus’ earthly journey drew near.  We are instructed by Jesus to have no fear, to have no troubled hearts at His leaving us.  He has assured us that there is room in heaven for us, and that He has gone to prepare us an eternal dwelling place.  He has asked God to send us another Comforter to still our troubled hearts and to allow our anxious strivings to cease.


God has looked down on His children and seen their needs . . . He has been asked to send us a Comforter.  Has He responded by turning a deaf ear to us?  Has He responded by telling us He’s busy or tired?  No, He has not.  He has responded with gifts far greater and far better than any of any earthly parent . . . He has given us His eternal presence . .  . His eternal love and watchfulness . . . He has given us Himself, not once, but three times . . . He is God and Father . . . He has sent His own Son to redeem our sinfulness . . . and He has sent us His Holy Spirit to guide us, encourage us, protect us and bring us home to the Kingdom at the end of our earthly journeys!! Can there be a more ultimate and perfect gift?

PRAYER - “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but Thou art mighty; hold me with Thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.  Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow; let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong Delivered, be Thou still my strength and shield.  When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside;  Death of death and Hell’s Destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side. Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee.” Amen. (words by William Williams, 1745 - “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah")

ACTIVITY - Auld Lang Syne - Call or write an old friend to say “Happy New Year” and to stay in touch!