We have a distorted view of God when we view God as a cop around the corner instead of a late night neighbor...

This week we have been addressing the view of God as a cop around the corner. We talked about the reality that we can live life with the assumption that there is actually a permanent record out there with all the wrong things that we have ever done. We can live life with the assumption that we are probably doing something wrong right now and that God is lurking around some dark corner of our lives with His radar gun, just waiting to nail us for whatever it is so that He can add yet another entry into our permanent record.

We talked about the reality that we get to this place because we view God as a God who exists to give us rules. We view God as a God who gives us rules and people like pastors and Sunday School teachers to teach us and help Him enforce the rules to keep us from getting out of control.

However, to view God as a cop around the corner who is simply a rule maker that busts the rule breakers is a distorted view of God. We see this reality revealed in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Luke.

And it is in this section of this account of Jesus life that we discover a timeless and true view of God that can help us rid ourselves of the distorted view of God as the cop around the corner and replace it with an accurate view of God that will enable us to experience a growing relationship with God. So let’s jump into this section of the gospel of Luke together, beginning in Luke 11:5:

Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; ⁷ and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' ⁸ "I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Now to fully understand what is happening in this event from history, we first need to understand the context in which this event from history takes place. You see, as the disciples followed Jesus, they were striving to not only know what Jesus knew; they were striving to do what Jesus was doing. However, as the disciples did life with Jesus they noticed something about what Jesus was doing that they were not doing. As the disciples watched Jesus pray, they recognized that there was something different about Jesus when Jesus prayed. I mean the disciples, they prayed to God, but when Jesus prayed, something seemed to be happening between Jesus and God.

And because of that reality, in Luke 11:1-4, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  Jesus responded to their request by teaching them to pray. Jesus lesson on prayer is referred to today as the Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus modeled for the disciples, and for followers of Jesus throughout history, how we are to approach God in prayer. Jesus modeled the reality that we are to approach God as one who is worthy of our awe because He sets the agenda as our provider, our forgiver, our deliverer, and our leader who is beyond anything we can wrap our minds around. And it is in this context that we jump into this event from history.

Luke brings us into this event from history by explaining that Jesus moved from teaching his disciples about prayer to telling His disciples a parable about prayer. Now a parable is an earthly story that is designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. Jesus began His parable by basically saying “If any of you had a friend who came to your house at o dark thirty and asked to borrow enough food to feed some of his friends who had shown up in the middle of the night at his house after a long journey, what would you do?”

Now to fully understand what Jesus is saying here, we first need to understand a few things about the Jewish culture of the first century. In the Jewish culture of the 1^st century, one was required to be a good host to a traveling visitor. In addition, the members of the community were responsible to help others in the community to be able to be a good host to visitors. However, in this case, a man had a late night visitor who arrived unexpectedly. And unlike today, this man could not run down to the local Wal-Mart to get food for his unexpected guests. This man had no food to offer and there was no store to go buy food.

And as a result, this man was faced with a choice; this man could either bother his neighbor to get the food he needs or this man could not bother his neighbor and be a poor host. In addition, most homes in the 1^st century were one room homes. So knocking on his neighbor’s door would wake up everyone in the home, which is why Jesus explained that the neighbor initially responded to the knocking by telling the man to go away before he woke up his entire family.

However, notice what Jesus says next “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” What is interesting is that the word persistence here conveys the sense of shamelessness. In other words, the man shamelessly and boldly kept knocking. And as a result of this man’s shameless boldness, his neighbor responded by giving him the food that he needed.

You see, the neighbor gave the man the food that he needed because the neighbor knew that the man would not have knocked if he really didn’t need the bread. The neighbor gave the man the food that he needed because the neighbor knew that the man would not have knocked if he didn’t believe that the neighbor would give him the food that he needed. And to make sure that His disciples did not miss the meaning of the parable, Jesus took the time to explain the meaning of the parable, which Luke records for us in Luke 11:9-10:

 ⁹ "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. ¹⁰ "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

As Jesus explained this parable to His disciples, we see revealed for us the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we are invited to ask God when we have needs because God desires to respond to our prayers so as to meet our needs. When Jesus uses the word ask, here, this word is an invitation to pray. When Jesus uses the word, seek here, this is an invitation to pursue God and God’s will. And when Jesus uses the word knock, this word conveys a word picture of a person entering into and experiencing the presence of God.

 So Jesus is basically saying to His disciples, and to followers of Jesus throughout history, that everyone who asks receives an answer to what they ask for in prayer; everyone who seeks God and His will finds an answer to what they are looking for; everyone who knocks with a desire to experience God’s presence, will receive a response to their knocking.

You see, Jesus wanted the disciples to clearly understand that the issue isn’t with God; God is waiting to engage us and answer our prayers. The issue is with us as His followers, who hesitate to ask God for what we need. Too often we are afraid to ask a good and loving God for what He already longs to give us.

After teaching His closest followers about how we are to approach God in prayer as the One who is worthy of our awe because He sets the agenda as our provider, our forgiver, our deliverer, and our leader who is beyond anything we can wrap our minds around, Jesus wanted to make sure that His disciples did not view God as a cop around the corner. Jesus wanted to hammer home the reality that if an irritated neighbor responds to such shameless boldness, then we can be bold with our gracious God.

Just as the neighbor responded to the request not because of their friendship, but because of the shameless boldness, God responds to our boldness. Unlike the cop around the corner, who we avoid bothering because of their position of power and authority, God is approachable and should be approached often and with confidence.

However, it is important to understand that God does not always give us what we want, but He will always give us what we need.  Unfortunately, these verses have been used far too often by those in the prosperity gospel movement to advocate a name it and claim it mentality when it comes to prayer. In other words, the only reason that you do not have riches and material blessings in your life is because you have not been knocking hard enough with enough faith.

The problem with this distorted and false view of these verses is found both in the context of these verses and the very words of Jesus Himself. Let’s look at the issue of context first. If you were to back up in the gospel of Luke just seven verses, we see Jesus teaching His disciples how to about pray. Now, I have a question for you. Was Jesus teaching His closest followers to pray that God would give them a large house, a second car, or a larger college fund or retirement account?

 No, in Luke 11:3, Jesus called His disciples to pray give us each day our daily bread because in the culture of the day you lived day to day when it came to bread. In the first century, people worried over where they were going to get their next meal. Jesus was teaching them to pray for their needs to be met, not for their wants to be fulfilled. We see this reality reinforced by what Jesus says next in verse 11:

 "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹² "Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³ "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?"

Jesus begins verse 11 by basically saying “Which one of you father would even consider giving your child a snake if they asked for a fish? Would any of you do that?” Now in the desert climate where Jesus was speaking, a fish and a snake were somewhat similar in appearance. While similar in appearance, however, their value was totally different. A fish was a staple of the diet of the Jewish people in this region of the world. A snake, by comparison, was extremely dangerous to a child. In our area, it would be as if Jesus was saying “What father would give their son a diamondback rattlesnake, when they asked for a bratwurst”?

Jesus then provided a second example to reinforce His point: “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?” I mean, the answer is obvious isn’t it? No good father would do something so horrific and unloving to their children. Jesus point is that just as an earthly Father would not deny their children something they needed to survive; God would not deny a need that we requested of Him. And just as an earthly father would not give his children something that was dangerous, God would not respond to our request by giving us something that was dangerous for us.

Jesus then hammered His point home in verse 13 by explaining that if human parents, as flawed and broken beings who are bent toward selfishness, are able to generously meet the needs of their children when asked, then how much more would the selflessly loving Heavenly Father generously meet the needs of His children when asked. And one of the good gifts that God generously gives His followers is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus here is revealing the reality that God gives His followers the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower us to experience God’s presence, guidance, and intimacy. It is the Holy Spirit that unites us to Jesus, brings us to experience God’s presence in prayer, and empowers us to pray in a way that pursues God and His will for our lives.

And it is here, in this event from history involving a conversation between Jesus and His disciples about prayer, that we discover a timeless and true view of God given to us by Jesus that can enable us to rid ourselves of the distorted view of God as a cop around the corner. And that timeless truth is this: We have a distorted view of God when we view God as a cop around the corner instead of a late night neighbor. 

The timeless reality is that we have a distorted view of God when we view God as setting up a speed trap so that he can catch and expose all the wrong you have done. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as the keeper of a permanent record out there with all the wrong things that we have ever done. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as lurking around some dark corner of our lives with His radar gun, just waiting to nail us for whatever it is so that He can add yet another entry into our permanent record.

We have a distorted view of God when we view God as a God who exists to give us rules. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as a God who gives us rules and people like pastors and Sunday School teachers to teach us and help Him enforce the rules to keep us from getting out of control. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as a rule maker that busts the rule breakers.

And a as result, we become focused and consumed with whether or not we are keeping the rules. And that focus on whether or not we are keeping the rules becomes the focus and determines the depth of our relationship with God. And inevitably we end up living life in fear of God. However, God does not give us rules so that we would fear Him. Instead God gives us rules so that we can experience freedom. You see, we experience true freedom when we are lovingly given guardrails that enable us to experience the life that God designed us to live. The freedom from guilt, shame, condemnation.

However, unlike the cop around the corner who we avoid bothering because of their position of power and authority, a more accurate view of God is that of a late night neighbor. A more accurate view of God is that of a late night neighbor invites us to pray to Him, to pursue Him and His will and to enter and experience His presence.

A more accurate view of God is that of a late night neighbor who is approachable and should be approached often and with confidence. And while God is a God who will not always give us what we want, God will always give us what we need. Yet, too often we are afraid to ask a good and loving God for what He already longs to give us. Too often we can find ourselves in a place where we believe in God instead of believing God.

However, like the late night neighbor, God invites us to simply ask and come to Him, even at o dark thirty. You can come because God delights in us shamefully and boldly asking Him to meet you where we are at so that He can lead us to the place that He desires us to be, which is in a growing relationship with Him.

So here is a question to consider: Which of these two views describe how you view God? Do you view God as the cop around the corner? Do you view God as lurking around some dark corner of our lives with His radar gun, just waiting to nail us for whatever it is so that He can add yet another entry into our permanent record? Do you view God as simply a rule maker that busts the rule breakers?

Or do you view God as a late night neighbor? Do you view God as a late night neighbor who is approachable and should be approached often and with confidence? Do you view God as a late night neighbor who will not always give us what we want, God will always give us what we need? Do you view God as a late night neighbor that invites us to pray to Him, to pursue Him and His will and to enter and experience His presence, even at o dark thirty?

Because the timeless reality is that we have a distorted view of God when we view God as a cop around the corner instead of a late night neighbor...