ルカによる福音書11:5-8 Luke 11:5-8,

「しかし、言っておく。その人は、友達だからということでは起きて何か与えるようなことはなくても、しつように頼めば、起きて来て必要なものは何でも与えるであろう。」（ルカ11:8）

真夜中に旅行中の友達をもてなすためのパンを借りに来た人に対して、この家の主人は「面倒をかけないでください。もう戸は閉めたし、子供たちはわたしのそばで寝ています。起きてあなたに何かをあげるわけにはいきません」（7節）と断りました。ところが、旅行中の友達をもてなさなければならない人は、「はいそうですか」と引き下がるわけにはいきません。無理を承知で「そこをなんとかお願いします」と言い続けたのでしょう。もしかすると、戸を叩き続けたかもしれません。すると、この家の主人は考えました。「このままでは、夜中じゅう戸を叩き続けて『お願いします』と言い続けるかもしれない。そんなことをされたら、自分も眠ることができないし、子どもたちも目を覚ましてしまう。」そこで、この家の主人は仕方なく起きて、「パンを貸してください」と言ってきた人の願いを聞いてあげることにしました。

興味深いのは、この家の主人が迷惑なお願いをあえて聞いてあげるのは、いわゆる友情や隣人愛のゆえではなくて、むしろ願う人のしつようさのゆえであると言われていることです。「しつよう」と翻訳されているギリシア語の原典の言葉は、アナイデイアという言葉です。このアナイディアというギリシャ語は、もともとは「何が適切かに対する感受性が欠如していること、他の人々のよい意見に注意を払わないこと」というよくない意味です。英語の聖書は、この言葉をいろいろな言葉に翻訳しています。どちらかと言うとよくない意味に翻訳するものが多いのです。たとえば、importunity（しつこさ）と翻訳するもの（KJV、RSV）、shameless audacity（恥知らずの厚かましさ）と翻訳するもの（NIV 2011）、impudence（ずうずうしさ）と翻訳するもの（ESV）などです。しかし、persistence（粘り強さ）というよい意味に翻訳するものもあります（NRSV、REB）。

このような多様な翻訳から次のことがわかります。すなわち、ここで戸を叩いて真夜中のお客さんのためにパンを貸してくださいと願っている人の態度は、よく言えば粘り強く根気強いものですが、常識的に考えれば厚かましく、ずうずうしく、しつこいものであります。しかし、キリストは、祈りの心構えとしてあえてこのような態度を勧めておられるのであります。すなわち、祈っても祈らなくても結果は同じだろうとか、一度祈ったがそのとおりにならなかったから祈っても無駄だろうとか、そのような中途半端な態度で祈ってはならないということです。祈りは、この祈りを聞いていただかなければ、私はここから動きませんというくらい、しつこく粘り強い姿勢で祈るべきものだということです。

（9月1日の説教より）

Today I would like to invite you to consider with me the meaning of prayer for Christians. I have read the following story in a book. An American church sent a missionary to a dangerous area in Africa. The area was infested with a disease that was difficult to treat. So the missionary asked the people of the church sending him to do the following. “I feel as if I am going down into a deep valley. Therefore, I ask you to hold firmly the end of the rope tied to my body.” The church people promised to do exactly as the missionary said. The missionary, together with his wife and young child, went to the land where he was to preach the gospel and began to preach the gospel. Tragically, however, a year later the wife and child had died of the disease and it became clear that the missionary himself had been infected with the disease. Normally, he should have reported the situation to the church that had sent him, but he thought he would die while waiting for a reply, so the missionary secretly returned home and went to the church that had sent him. The church was in the middle of its Wednesday prayer meeting, so he quietly took a seat at the back of the chapel so as not to be noticed.

Eventually, when the people had finished praying, he went forward to the people. The people were very shocked that the missionary, whom they thought would be in Africa, had returned and that he looked very gaunt and near the time of his death. The missionary spoke gravely as follows. “My wife and child died in Africa. I will die soon, too. Today, in this prayer meeting, I had hoped very much that you would be praying for the missionary you have sent. But it was a vain hope. You prayed for yourselves and those close to you, but not for the missionary you sent. I asked you to hold firmly the end of the rope that was tied to my body, but you could not hold firmly the end of the rope. I could not continue to preach because you could not continue to pray.”

There is one aspect of this story that begs the question. Is it not Christ himself in heaven who holds “the end of the rope,” rather than the church that sent out the missionary? This is the question. But since the church is the body of Christ, the fact that the church did not pray may mean that it has let go of “the end of the rope.” Despite the questionable point, this story illustrates well the importance of prayer. Presumably, the church that sent the missionary had followed through on its original promise regarding financial support. However, this church forgot something more important than financial support: prayer! Prayer is the lifeline tied to the body of the missionary sent to the dangerous land, and the failure of the sending church to pray for the missionary meant that they had let go of the end of the lifeline tied to the missionary’s body.

But while what I have just told you is a story that illustrates the misery of prayerlessness, today’s Bible passage contains a story that illustrates the blessings of prayerfulness. In response to the disciples’ request in 11:1, “Teach us to pray,” Christ, as recorded in verses 2-4, taught them the Lord’s Prayer, which is the basis of prayer. He then told them a parable to teach them that prayer requires perseverance. That is today’s passage. This parable is a bit complicated. There are two characters, “which of you” and “a friend.” But we must keep in mind that plus “a friend of mine” who “has arrived on a journey,” there are three people in this parable. Christ says, “Which of you who has a friend,” so let’s feel as if we are one of the characters in this parable, with the feeling of the disciple who is being spoken to.

Imagine that one day, out of the blue, a friend arrives at your house at midnight on a journey. Suddenly visiting a friend’s house at midnight, would be thoughtless behaviour today. However, this is a biblical story, so the setting is the Palestinian region about 2000 years ago. We cannot judge it by our common sense today. The Palestinian region is a hot place, so depending on the season, they would have travelled at night to avoid the daytime heat. And there would have been times when they arrived at their destination at midnight. Also, as communications were not as advanced as they are today, it was not possible to inform them in advance what time they would arrive. In New Testament times, therefore, it would have been possible to come suddenly at midnight and say, “Please let me stay tonight.” And in such a case, it would have been bad in the society of that time to turn your friend away, saying that it was a nuisance to come suddenly at midnight. If he had done so, he would have been accused by his fellow townspeople of treating the friend coldly. Thus, considering the situation in biblical times, anyone could have been in such a position that a traveller who is one’s friend suddenly came at midnight and had to entertain the traveller.

The problem is that when the guest arrived at midnight, he did not have any food ready in his own home to entertain the guest. A biblical scholar explains that in New Testament times, bread was usually baked in the morning for the day. It was then normal for there to be no bread to serve the guest at midnight. The guest was tired and hungry, and it would take too long to knead the flour and bake the bread. So he who wanted to entertain the guest went to a friend who lived nearby. Perhaps the friend had a richer home than usual. It must have been a house with plenty of food and spare bread. And as verses 5 and 6, he said, “Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.”

It is a bold request to go to a friend’s house at midnight and ask to borrow bread. In New Testament times, people rested early at night and got up early in the morning. Therefore, it would have been unwelcome to go to a neighbour’s friend at midnight and ask for bread. How would a person have responded to such an annoying request? This is vividly described in verse 7 as follows. “He will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.”

The person was probably in bed, either already asleep or about to go to sleep. It is unpleasant to be woken up just as you are about to go to bed or just as you are about to fall asleep. Also, if we try to imagine the construction of the house at this time, we can understand the annoyance of the master of the house. Probably, the door of the house was not closed with a key, as in modern times, but through a bar. Therefore, to open the door, the heavy bar had to be moved, which was a tiring task. Thus, “the door is now shut” probably means that the door was closed with the bar. And there must have been small children in the house. If the master of the house got up and opened the door, he might wake up the children whom he had put to bed. So, as the master of the house, he didn’t want to be disturbed in any way.

However, he who had to entertain the travelling friend could not just back down and say, “Yes, I see,” when he was told, “I cannot get up and give you anything.” Knowing it is unreasonable, he must have kept saying, “Please open the door and lend me three loaves.” Perhaps he might have continued to bang on the door. Then the master of the house thought, “If I don’t do something about it, he might keep banging on the door all night and keep saying ‘please.’ If he does that, I won’t be able to sleep and my children will wake up.” So he had no choice but to get up and do the wish of the person who came to him at midnight asking to borrow bread. The master’s feelings are described in verse 8 as follows. “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.”

It is interesting to note that it is not because of so-called friendship or neighbourly love that the master dares to respond to the request, but rather because of the “impudence” of the one who asks. The original Greek word translated as “impudence” is the word anaideia (ἀναίδεια), which meant “lack of sensitivity to what is proper, carelessness about the good opinion of others.” The English Bible translates this word into several different words. Some translations have a rather unfavourable meaning. For example, some translate it as “importunity” (KJV, RSV), “shameless audacity” (NIV 2011), etc. However, some translate it better as “persistence” (NRSV, REB). From these various translations we can see that the attitude of the man knocking on the door here, asking for bread for his midnight guest, is at best persistent and persevering, but at the same time, common sense would suggest that he is shameless, importunate and impudent. However, Christ dares to recommend this attitude as the attitude of prayer. We must not pray with a half-hearted attitude, thinking that the result will be the same whether we pray or not, or that it is useless to pray because we prayed once and it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. Prayer should be persistent, so persistent that you say, “If you don’t hear this prayer, I will not move from here.”

Two points should be noted here. Firstly, is this consistent with Christ’s teaching not to heap up empty phrases? In Matthew 6:7, Christ tells us that “when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do.” It is important to note that this teaching of “do not heap up empty phrases” is taught alongside the teaching in Matthew 6:5 not to pray like the hypocrites. In Matthew 6:5 Christ says: “When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.” And the common error to pray “heaping up empty phrases” and to pray “for being seen by others” is the pride in the worthiness of one’s prayer. In other words, they think that because their prayers are good, they will be heard by God and appreciated by others. In order to correct the error of such thoughts, Christ admonishes us not to pray heaping up empty phrases. Therefore, the admonition not to pray heaping up empty phrases does not mean that we should not pray persistently. The Reformer Calvin commented on the teaching in Matthew 6:7: “Do not heap up empty phrases,” as follows.

For he (Christ) does not there forbid us to pray long or frequently, or with great fervour, but warns as against supposing that we can extort anything from God by importuning him with garrulous loquacity, as if he were to be persuaded after the manner of men.

(Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 20, Section 29)

 

Secondly, God answers prayers not only when what we wish for comes true. God answers our prayers even when it takes a very long time for our wishes to come true, or when the result is different from our wishes. Even when God does not bring about the result we desire, he “in an unknown way, shows that our prayers have not been in vain” (Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion Book 3, Chapter 20, Section 52). This is well illustrated by a poem entitled “Answered Prayers,” which I think I have mentioned before, said to have been written by an unknown Confederate soldier. I would like to quote the poem and introduce it to you.

I asked for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I had asked for,
but everything that I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered,
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

 

Prayer is a very important part of the Reformation’s teaching of faith. The Reformer Calvin devoted many pages to the nature and practice of prayer in the Book 3 chapter 20 of Institutes of the Christian Religion, under the title, “Of Prayer: A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.”

Prayer is an essential part of living in Christ’s grace. Therefore, I ask you to pray fervently for the advancement of the kingdom of God and for your own salvation with the spirit of the Lord’s Prayer. And I especially ask you to pray fervently for Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church, the frontline of the gospel mission. If there is no prayer, as I said at the beginning of today’s sermon, it is like letting go of a rope that is tied around the body of a person who is going down to a dangerous place. Therefore, if a pastor did not pray for his congregation, the congregation would go into the world, a dangerous place with many temptations, without a lifeline. And if a congregation did not pray for their pastor, the pastor would have to fulfil the difficult and dangerous mission of preaching the gospel without a lifeline. Therefore, the pastor prays continually for the congregation, and the congregation should pray continually for each other and for the pastor. In Ephesians 6:18-19, the Apostle Paul tells his congregation as follows.

Constantly ask God’s help in prayer, and pray always in the power of the Spirit. To this end keep watch and persevere, always interceding for all God’s people. Pray also for me, that I may be granted the right words when I speak, and may boldly and freely make known the hidden purpose of the gospel (REB).

Let us persevere in prayer for one another.