Shameless hope!

Reflecting on Luke 11:5-13

“Because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.” (Luke 11:8)

With God, persistence pays off according to Jesus.
He uses the comparison of a friend in need.
If a friend is desperate, you would help them out.
Even if it was inconvenient or costly.

This analogy assumes two things:
One, that this person is a friend.
Two, that this person has a legitimate need.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
A true friend is there for you when you really need them.

The words ‘shameless audacity’ literally mean ‘without shame’.
Their situation or need may be embarrassing, but still they ask.
They’re so desperate, they’re willing to be humiliated by asking.
Jesus is saying, ‘don’t be humiliated for asking, keep on asking!’
Don’t let reverence or propriety keep you from going to God.

How we think about God matters.
God is not a cosmic vending machine supplying all our desires.
God, the Sovereign Creator of the universe, is like a good friend.
Friendship goes both ways; we should not use friends for selfish purposes.
The ask, seek and knock saying is not a way to get what you want.

So what are some real needs we could bring to God?
Healing for a loved one!
The finding of a missing loved one!
Food for one’s family, or money to pay the bills!
Medicine, or somewhere to live!
Protection from bullies, or justice from those in authority!
An end to war, or an oppressive government!
Rescue from addiction, or from mental illness.
The well-being of our children, grand children, etc!
Relief from extreme pain or suffering!
These are some examples of real needs, desperate situations.

But is it true, does persistence pay off?
Does God really give us what we ask for?
The obvious answer is not always, not in this lifetime.
History is filled with examples of unanswered prayers.
Desperate people who’ve prayed have suffered and died.
How do we make sense of what Jesus says?

For me personally it is not about the mechanics of getting things.
It is about the underlying hope or despair we experience.
Is God ultimately for us or against us?
Many people give up on God because of evil in the world.
I get it, but what are they left with… only evil in the world.
Jesus’s words inspire hope, no matter how bad things get.
Hope always remains, and God will one day set things right.

There is huge comfort in knowing God will one day make things right.
This is the comfort that we find in the slave spirituals/songs.
They trusted in God, even if it meant hope for after death.
One day the sweet chariot would come for them and carry them home.
To live in a this world without hope is worse than unanswered prayer.

I am reminded of the faith of my Haitian friend, despite Haiti’s situation.
There is hope in God, even when injustice and violence persist.
Their hope is convicting for me when I consider my own hope.
The things that trouble me in my life cannot be compared to theirs.
I need their shameless audacity, to keep on hoping against hope.
These messed up things that trouble me will pass, and God will make it right.

Jesus is calling me to not lose hope, no matter what.
He has shown us that not even death can separate us from God’s love.
We may suffer, we may struggle, we will one day die.
But hope wins, because God our Friend is for us!

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31,35-39)

I will keep on asking without fear or shame, because I will keep on boldly hoping.
One day we will receive, we will find, and the door will be opened!
God our Friend will eventually get up and give us what we need!

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I need this kind of hope in the face of all the brokenness and misery and mess in our world. There are two options - hope or no hope. I choose hope!