ルカによる福音書11:9-13 Luke 11:9-13,

「このように、あなたがたは悪い者でありながらも、自分の子供には良い物を与えることを知っている。まして天の父は求める者に聖霊を与えてくださる。」　　　　（ルカ11:13）

キリストは「自分の子供には良い物を与える」例として、11節と12節にありますように、「あなたがたの中に、魚を欲しがる子供に、魚の代わりに蛇を与える父親がいるだろうか。また、卵を欲しがるのに、さそりを与える父親がいるだろうか」と問いかけておられます。魚や卵は食べられるものですが、蛇やさそりは食べられないだけでなく、毒を持っていて有害なものです。人間には罪がありますから、心に悪い思いを抱くこともあります。それでも、食べ物を欲しがる自分の子どもにあえて毒のあるものを与える父親はまれではないでしょうか。ですから、13節の後半で、完全に善い心をもっておられる天の父なる神様は、祈り求める神の子たちにクリスチャンにとっての食べ物である「聖霊を与えてくださる」と、キリストは教えておられるのです。（中略）

人は天の父なる神様から聖霊を受けることにより、イエス・キリストを信じることができるようになります。また、聖霊を受けることにより、神様の御心に従って新しく生きることができるようになります。そして、聖霊を受け続けなければ、信仰は単なる形式的な知識に終わってしまいます。聖霊が私たちに宿ってくださらなければ、私たちの信仰生活は喜びのない律法主義の生活になるか、形式的な名目だけのクリスチャンの生活になってしまいます。 聖霊をいただくことによって、悔い改めと感謝の生活をすることができるのです。

そのことは、聖書のいたるところで証言されています。最も代表的な例は、キリストの弟子たちがペンテコステの日に聖霊を受けて、大胆に福音を宣べ伝えて生き生きと信仰生活をするようになったことが記されている使徒言行録2章の記事です。また、使徒パウロはローマの信徒への手紙8章2節で「キリスト・イエスによって命をもたらす霊の法則が、罪と死との法則からあなたを解放した」と述べて、聖霊によって新しい命を与えられた人はもはや罪と死に支配されないということを力強く宣言しています。そこで、私たちは、自分に信仰がないことやクリスチャンとしての生活ができていないことを嘆いて終わるのではなく、信仰と生活の力の元である聖霊をくださるように、父なる神様に願い求めるようにいたしましょう。

（9月8日の説教より）

Prayer is an essential part of a Christian’s life of faith. However, many people may find it difficult to pray fervently. One of the reasons for not praying fervently may be that when they pray, they do not feel that their prayers are being heard, and they think that they are speaking into the air. Certainly, Christian prayer speaks to an invisible God, so it may be understandable to feel such a sense of emptiness when they are inexperienced in prayer. However, as we live a faithful life in God and gain more experience in prayer, we realise that our prayers are indeed heard by God, and if they are in accordance with God’s will, they really do come true.

For example, about 25 years ago we had the experience of buying land and building a church building. At that time, Shiki Kita Mission Station was holding services in the former Shiki Kindergarten building. There were about 10 active members, the reserve fund for the church building was less than 10 million yen, and the total amount of the annual supporting offering was less than 1.6 million yen. So, under normal circumstances, it would have been unthinkable for this mission station to be able to buy land and build a church building. What we started to do in such a situation was to pray for building the church building every week after the service. We believed that God would provide everything we needed if it was his will, because building a church building is God’s work. At first, when we held a meeting to discuss about building the church building, negative opinions prevailed, but God heard our prayers and arranged everything so that we could buy the land, build the church building and dedicate it to God.

And when we had the dedication ceremony for the church building, there were nine active members and about 30 million yen in debt. In such a financial situation, it seemed very difficult to go from a mission station to an independent church. But we started praying for church independence every week after the service. This was because we believed that if it was God’s will that Shiki Kita Mission Station become Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church as an independent community of faith, everything necessary for this would be provided. For those who did not believe, this prayer meeting may have seemed foolish. In fact, some said that it would be unlikely to become an independent church. Furthermore, from 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 led to a decline in worship attendance and active members in many churches. However, at Shiki Kita Mission Station, the number of active members mysteriously increased, and the number of worship attendance, including online attendees, increased rather than before the COVID-19. And in April this year, we were able to become an independent Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church. This result is nothing but God’s answer to our prayers. In this way, our church has learnt that God hears our prayers through building the church building and becoming the independent church.

There are several passages in the Bible that teach Christians how to pray. Today’s Bible passage is one of them. In Luke 11:1-4, the Lord’s Prayer, which is the basis of all prayers, is taught. Verses 5-8 tell us that we should pray with persistence, using the parable of the man who came to borrow bread at midnight. And today’s Bible passage explains the basis for the need to pray with persistence. It is that the one who hears our prayers is our heavenly Father.

Two things are explained in today’s Bible passage. First, in verses 9 and 10, prayer is likened to “asking,” “seeking” and “knocking,” with the teaching that it will be answered. And secondly, in verses 11 through 13, there is the teaching that the one who hears our prayers is our gracious Father.

Let us first consider verses 9 and 10. These verses declare us that our prayers are sure to be heard: “And I tell 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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Since these verses begin with the words “And I tell you,” it can be assumed that the teaching is based on the content of the preceding parable. In the preceding parable, a man asks for three loaves of bread at midnight to entertain a traveller friend, and the householder has no choice but to comply with his request because of his “persistence.” And because he would be given whatever he needs if he asked with “persistence” (REB), it is said as follows: “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 the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

A slightly different interpretation is that verse 9 teaches, on the basis of the experience of everyday human life, that “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” In other words, because the experience of everyday human life is that “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened,” so Christ teaches that also in the case of prayer to God, “everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” However, if we think about it, in the human-to-human relationships of everyday life, there are times when we ask and do not receive, seek and do not find, and knock and the door is not opened. So to say these things on the basis of the experience of everyday human life is, it must be said, too optimistic. It is therefore appropriate to interpret verses 9 and 10 not as teaching based on the experience of everyday life, but as paraphrasing the parable’s teaching that prayers are heard by asking with “persistence,” in three metaphorical ways: “asking,” “seeking” and “knocking.”

Christ, as the Son of God, was himself in intimate communion with God the Father. Therefore, He knew better than anyone else that his prayers would be heard. In a sermon recorded in John 16:23-24, Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, it was an indisputable certainty that God the Father hears prayers. And it was equally certain that if believers in Christ prayed in his name, God the Father would hear their prayers.

Next, in verses 11 and 12, the fact that God the Father in heaven hears the prayers of God’s children is explained, this time using examples from everyday experience. It talks about how even human fathers know to give good gifts to their children instead of bad things, and moreover, God the heavenly Father gives good gifts to his children. Generally speaking, human fathers care for their own children and give them what they wish for. Of course, there are many bad fathers today who abuse their own children. There were also bad fathers even in Christ’s time who would kill their own children, such as the infamous Herod the Great. However, many fathers show their love for their children by giving them what they wish for. Human beings have all sorts of bad thoughts in their hearts. However, even those who are unrelentingly evil towards others often give their children what they wish for out of love. So Christ says in the first half of verse 13: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.”

And as an example of “giving good gifts to your children,” Christ says in verses 11 and 12: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” Fish and egg are edible, but snakes and scorpions are not only inedible, they are poisonous and harmful. Humans have sin and can have bad thoughts in their hearts. Yet it would be rare for a father to dare to give something poisonous to his own child who wants food. So, in the second half of verse 13, Christ tells us that God the Father in heaven, who is of a perfectly good heart, will “give the Holy Spirit,” which is food for Christians, to the children of God who pray and ask.

Now, it is interesting to note that Luke writes of Christ’s word that God will “give us the Holy Spirit.” According to Christ’s almost identical words in Matthew 7:11, he says: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Where Luke writes “the Holy Spirit,” Matthew uses the more general expression “good things.” Many biblical scholars have speculated that the original word spoken by Christ was “good things,” as Matthew wrote, but that Luke may have rewritten it as “the Holy Spirt.” However, others have speculated that the original word was “the Holy Spirit,” as Luke wrote, but that Matthew rewrote the word “good things” to fit the context of his Gospel. It is important to note that, when reading the Greek original text, the words translated “good gifts” (domata agatha) and “good things” (agatha) in Matthew’s Gospel, are expressions that also include spiritual things. Thus, Christ’s word can be interpreted as a promise to give us “good things” including spiritual gifts even in the expression written by Matthew. And in today’s biblical passage, we must bear in mind that it is the Holy Spirit that God the heavenly Father gives in answer to prayer. God the heavenly Father promises to give the Holy Spirit to his children, the Christians, rather than material wealth.

By receiving the Holy Spirit from God the heavenly Father, a person is enabled to believe in Jesus Christ. Receiving the Holy Spirit also enables one to live a new life according to God’s will. And if we do not continue to receive the Holy Spirit, our faith will end up being mere formal knowledge. Without the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, our life of faith will either be a joyless, legalistic life or a formal, nominal Christian life. It is through receiving the Holy Spirit that we can live a life of repentance and thanksgiving.

This is testified to throughout the Bible. The most representative example is the article in Acts chapter 2, which describes how Christ’s disciples received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and began to live a vibrant life of faith by boldly preaching the gospel. Also, in Romans 8:2 the apostle Paul says, “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Thus, he powerfully declares that those who have been given new life by the Holy Spirit are no longer governed by sin and death. Therefore, let us not end up lamenting our lack of faith and Christian life, but ask God the Father to give us the Holy Spirit, the source of power for faith and life.

Furthermore, we want to continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will be richly given to this Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church for our gospel ministry. As I said at the beginning of today’s sermon, this church was in such a state that it would have been very difficult to build a church building or become an independent church if we think about it from a human perspective. But through continuous prayer, God made those things possible. What about the present Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church? The people who have supported the church until now are getting older, and in another 10 years, it will be difficult to continue the gospel ministry as a church, won’t it? Because of this situation, let us ask for the Holy Spirit and continue to pray that we will be given the power to preach the gospel.

It is all through the work of the Holy Spirit that the church bears witness to Christ, that new people come to church services, and that those seeking the way are led to baptism. Some people may think that if they make the church a cheerful and joyful place, people will naturally come to church and the church will grow, depending on their human feelings. This may be true in some respects, but gathering people with human feelings is only temporary. If people gather with human feelings, most of them will leave if they feel they are not happy or comfortable. However, those who gather led by the Holy Spirit in the churches that proclaim the gospel being filled with the Holy Spirit, will believe in Christ and be saved through the work of the Holy Spirit, and will then be cleansed by the Holy Spirit and grow as Christians. The Holy Spirit is the irreplaceable gift that God always gives in response to our prayers. Trusting in Christ’s promise that “the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him,” let us continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will be given in abundance to each of us and to the community of faith of Shiki Kita Presbyterian Church.