The Sermon Text —Genesis 18:20_33 & Luke 11: 1-13

Then the Lord said, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know." So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" And the Lord said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake." Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty_five there." Again he spoke to him, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." He said, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."

Luke 11:1_13He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial." And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Years ago, on my first trip to Israel, I went shopping for a wooden manger set for our family. With a friend at my side I browsed at several of the open-air stores in East Jerusalem, identified a couple of sets that I thought would serve us well, and then went back to inquire about the price. At the first store the Arab shopkeeper quoted me a price that I thought was too high. I politely thanked him and started to walk away. He quickly asked me what I was willing to pay. I said something vague, like, "Not that much." He immediately dropped the price. It was still too high, and once again I started walking away. He again stopped me, and lowered the price. Uncomfortable with bargaining, I continued walking, and he followed me down the street urging me to come back and "haggle." "Offer me a price," he shouted, "make me poor!"

As we continued our way the man who was with me said, "Wasn’t that fun!?" When I told him that I wasn’t very good at this kind of thing he said, "It takes practice."

On the way back to our rooms I said, "How do you know how low he will really go?" His reply, "Sometimes you never do."

The next day, after a bit of practice, I returned and purchased a creche that has been in our family now for twenty-five years.

In our Genesis story God is most unhappy with what he has seen in Sodom and Gomorrah. He announces that their sin is very grave…." It appears that the intention of God is to destroy the city and start over.

Abraham is alarmed and immediately begins to haggle with God. "Suppose," he says, "there are fifty righteous within the city; will you destroy the place?"

God replies, "If I find 50 righteous people in Sodom I will spare the whole city for their sake."

Abraham continued, "Suppose there were just five short of the fifty…would you destroy it?"

God said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five."

Abraham stayed with it…"What about 40…or 35…or 20…or 15…or 10?" Each time God relented. Finally he said, "I will not destroy the city if there are 10 righteous people." Not once did God reject Abraham’s proposal.

It may not be haggling, but there are several other times in scripture where people bartered with God. Jacob did. The writer of Genesis reports that Jacob wrestled with God. It went on all night long, and the issue was the blessing. Jacob who earlier had stolen his brother’s blessing, cried out to God, "I will not let you go until you bless me."

In the 7^th chapter of Mark’s gospel we meet a woman who asked Jesus to heal her little girl. Jesus rejected her request and explained that he didn’t work with non-Jews. Actually, the way he put it was: "It is not fair to take the bread for the children of Israel and give it to the gentile dogs."

The woman, who is no stranger to haggling replies, "Yes Lord, but even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table." In other words, I’m not asking to be treated like your Jewish people, but couldn’t you throw my daughter a few crumbs?

Jesus was impressed with the woman, and the daughter was healed. Elie Wiesel says, "God likes being defeated by his children." Jesus calls it persistence.

Wrestling with God, sparring with God, haggling with God, requires maturity. It isn’t for beginners. Persistent prayer appears to work better when we are on frequent speaking terms with God. Is your prayer life ready for haggling, or do you still see yourself as a beginner?

If you feel like a beginner, I suggest that you being with the "The Lord’s Prayer." It is a model, or beginner’s prayer. In Mark’s gospel Jesus gives the prayer as the answer to a request from one of the disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray." The Lord’s Prayer is prayer 101. Jesus is teaching us to pray.

Step One – pray. Say the words. Talk to God. You don’t have to use religious words. Prayer is simple speech, children speaking to their loving father. The first line is: Our Father who art in heaven. The best description of what this means can be found in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism: "Here God encourages us to believe that he is truly our Father and we are truly his children, and that we should speak to him in complete confidence, just as children speak to their loving Father."

Some children have not known a loving father. Here is the good news: They still have access to a loving father, a heavenly father who listens to them and cares about them.

We are encouraged to pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done. Our praying won’t make these things happen, but our praying will make it more likely that we will participate in the kingdom and the will of God. The primary purpose of prayer is not to change God, but to change us, the ones who are praying. God will love us whether we pray or not. The will of God will be done even if we are silent. The reason we pray is not to make it happen, but so that we can be a part of it.

Prayer is a bit like preparing the soil for planting. You can throw a seed in the air and there is a possibility that if it lands on soil it will germinate, after all plants grow in crazy places. Of course, there is at least an equal possibility that nothing will happen even though we have soil and the seed. If we smooth out the soil, beak up the clumps, and make certain the seed is watered, if we remove the weeds that are in the area, the chances for germination improve dramatically. Prayer is that preparation period. Being still. Being attentive. Being receptive – all of this increases the possibilities that the good and gracious will of God will take place in our lives.

The model prayer encourages us to pray about everything, all of our needs, even our wants – though it is helpful when we know the difference. We pray for all our needs when we pray for daily bread. Daily bread is all we need for our bodily existence – food and clothing, home and family, work, i.e., the basics in life. Here is what is so amazing: God gives daily bread to all, even when we aren’t faithful. There is more than enough. We do not have a supply problem in this world; we have a distribution problem.

In Matthew’s gospel the lines following the prayer, or what I think is the commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, is focused on forgiveness. Jesus repeats what we say in the prayer: that we who are forgiven are expected to forgive. This is not just about getting ours, but being willing to be a part of a movement where we forgive one another. The place we learn this is from God, who is more willing to forgive than we are to ask.

In Luke’s gospel the focus of the stories found after Jesus gives the prayer are on persistence. Hang in there, Jesus tells us. Does our persistence finally get God to change his mind? Perhaps. More likely, our persistence serves to prepare us to receive what God is willing to give. We don’t receive because we are not ready. God knows that saying no to us is as important as saying yes. Jesus encourages us to ask and to search. If we do, there is no doubt that we will find.

Abraham is the model of persistence. Jesus urges persistence. It may be one of the underrated qualities that you find in people.

In Harry Potter #7, the one that many of us have been losing sleep over in order to find how things turnout, it is clear that Harry is not the most gifted wizard (Dumbledore is far his superior). He certainly isn’t the biggest (Hagrid and a host of others are taller and stronger). He isn’t the smartest (Hermione is his intellectual superior)…but he is the most persistent. The headmaster knows that once Harry puts his mind to it he will follow through. He is also, according to his headmaster, the most humble. Those two qualities make him the best at his job.

If I were to pick one quality to make a great pastor it would be persistence. We run into so many roadblocks, so many disappointments, so many obstacles in doing our jobs. It is easy to give up. "Do not weary in well-doing," St. Paul advises. It is easy to weary. Those who are persistent, who keep on keeping on, they win the prize.

The same is true for all of you. Never give up. God will bless your persistence when it comes to matters of the faith.

Start your persistence with God. God blesses those who are bold. Approach him boldly. If you can’t start boldly, then approach him. For it is in prayer we learn to know God. It is in prayer that we learn to love what God loves and to despise what God despises. It is in prayer that we become like God. Prayer is a powerful gift God has given us, and the Lord’s prayer is our model and place to start. Amen