"Three Ways to God"

Luke 11:1-13 - Outdoor Worship Okay, what three ice cream flavors would you choose if I gave you the chance to order a triple scoop ice cream cone right now? Although I’m not supposed to eat ice cream in such large quantities anymore, I happen to have lots of knowledge and experience about the subject because I once worked in one of those thirty one flavor ice cream stores. In those days, when I was sixteen in my first job with a weekly paycheck, a single scoop cost 39 cents, a double 59 cents, and a triple scoop 79 cents. Now anyone can make a cone with one scoop, but it takes special skill to construct a triple scoop cone that balances just right, especially on a hot day! The reason I am mentioning triple scoop ice cream cones this morning is not to tempt you beyond your power to resist, but because we have a “triple scoop” scripture reading this morning. The suggested reading from chapter eleven of Luke’s gospel includes three significant teachings of Jesus. The first scoop, let’s call it the ________ (flavor) scoop, is Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer, and we could spend some good time this morning exploring the similarities and differences between Matthew’s version (the one we usually use on a Sunday morning) and Luke’s version. We could also profit from a careful consideration of each of the words in Jesus’ prayer – because we say the words all of the time, but are we really paying attention to their meaning? One time I led a church retreat as a student New York City in which we divided our participants into small groups so that each group would generate questions, answers, insights, problems, focusing their entire attention on just one phrase in the prayer. We spent the whole morning on the Lord’s prayer. It was great! The Lord’s Prayer ... it’s a very interesting subject to explore, but not today, because I want to move onto the second scoop, which we’ll call the __________ (flavor) scoop. This is a short parable about a visitor to your house, and you are caught without enough food, so you go to your neighbor’s house to borrow some bread. The neighbor refuses, but because you keep pounding on his door, the neighbor finally gives you the bread you need to feed your guest. It’s a wonderful illustration about being persistent in our faith. Just because things have gone wrong all day for you is no reason for you to give up your hopes and dreams. Just because you have a great idea that gets shot down by your boss or co-workers, is no reason to give up on it. Just because governments refuse to negotiate peace is no reason for us to stop insisting that they do. One day, Fanchon Davis, only seven years old, wanted to be a worship leader at her church in Rochester. “You’re too young”, the older kids told her (and what they really meant was that Fanchon’s speech problems should clearly disqualify her). But she kept asking, week after week, and she got her chance, finally. She was so proud that day, standing on tip-toes so she could be seen behind the pulpit, as she read the Bible story for the day. She was so proud that she told her speech therapist about it the next day in school. Persistence ... we could all use more of it! But I really want to move right onto the third scoop. After all, that’s the first scoop you’ll taste when your triple scoop cone is handed to you by the ice cream clerk. It’s the third scoop that gives you the first burst of flavor on a hot summer day. So we’ll call our third scoop the ___________ (flavor) scoop. And it happens to be one of my favorite verses, where Jesus tells us: “Ask, and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” It’s something that I need to hear often, that no matter what has gone wrong, there’s always a new day, a new chance, a new opportunity ... and that God is eagerly waiting for you to ask, to seek, to knock. And when you do, God opens the door wide. Jesus goes on to make this point. If you, sinners that you are, are able to give good things to children, just imagine how much more God will give to those who ask, seek and knock. How much more is God able to give you? God’s love, healing, peace, and forgiveness are always in abundance. This third scoop is for you if you’ve ever felt that you wasted your only chance, if you’ve made an unforgivable mistake, if you’ve been a victim, if the odds are seriously against you, if you’re tired, if you’re lost. We need to be the kind of Christian community that is able to convincingly express and visibly demonstrate the availability of this third scoop, of how much more God has to offer. This day is your opportunity to discover how much more God has to give. In Jesus Christ, we learn that God has no reason to hold back, and every reason to give. It’s Sunday, a day to honor the hard work that people do to earn a living and contribute to the wider world. So today or tomorrow, give yourself a treat, how about that triple scoop ice cream cone, and as you dream up your three flavors, as you take your first taste, let it remind you that God has so much more to give, and all you have to do is ask!