Rev. Nick Cheek
Knock, Knock” Luke 11:1-13
Knock, knock. Who’s there? Luke. Luke who?
Luke through the peephole and find out.
Knock, knock.Who’s there? Noah. Noah who? Noah good place we can find an ark around here?
Knock knock. Who’s there? To. To who? It’s to whom.
Knock knock. Who’s there? Hatch. Hatch who? God bless you.
In our reading from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching about connections – about reaching out and knocking on the door of God’s heart and on the door of one another. As I read it you will hear the famous verse that helped create what we know today as the Lord’s Prayer. However, I want you to pay closer attention to the verses that follow – the ones where Jesus uses a story to help teach us about authentic and persistent communication.
Scripture and prayer
9 “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. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” In our passage this morning, Jesus shares a story about a man knocking on the door of his neighbor… unannounced.
Stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco shares a hilarious story about what happens when the doorbell rings today compared to what happened 20 years ago. I’m going to do my best to capture his humor.
“It’s a different feeling when your doorbell rings today, as opposed to 20 years ago. 20 years ago, your doorbell rang; that was a happy moment in your house. It’s called “company.”
We’d be sitting there on a Thursday night, watching TV, your doorbell rang, the whole family shot off the couch. “Oh, my! “Put the lights on! “Somebody’s here! “We got people!”
The whole family went to the door. The kids were in socks. They slid up to the door. Nobody looked to see who it was. You just opened up the door. (open the door) You were like, “Oh, my Goodness! “Look at that! “Look who’s here!” And you’d ask ’em, “What are you doing here?” And the person’d be like, “I was in the neighborhood. I thought I might stop by, see how the kids are doing.” “Well, come on in… it’s great to see you…” And when we walked into the kitchen, there would be a special cake set aside. An Entenmann’s cake… Do you all remember those cakes… they could sit on the counter for 3 months and never grow mold.
And this special cake was sitting there for the sole purpose of the slight chance that company might pop in. It was the random guest cake. Only used for that occasion. Everyone would have cake and coffee… and we would talk. No cell phones in your face… and if your house phone did ring, your father stood up and said, (go for it!) “Nobody get that phone… We got company. ”
And then you would lose track of time. Two hours went by, you were like, “Well we gotta get going… ” hugs and thank yous took another 20 minutes from the door to the car. [Pause]
Now your doorbell rings? It’s like, “Who’s that?” Instead of jumping off the couch, you turn the lights off, get down on the ground, and stop moving. You have to turn to your family and ask, “Did any of you invite anybody over?” You tell your Son, “Son, go get the bat from underneath our bed and bring it to me… slowly.” Shhh… slowly… awe man… I think they saw movement. I’m gonna have to open the door. I got no cake, I got no coffee… I got nothing.”
Things are a little different today – even for the South. We don’t knock on each other’s doors as often as we used to. It’s no longer a normal experience to walk up to a neighbor or a stranger and simply strike up a conversation. We are even less likely to show up at a friend’s home unannounced. The way we communicate with one another is changing rapidly. Growing up in the 90’s, I lived through a lot of these changes. Through the advent of the internet, we were no longer bound to just talking through phones connected to walls – we could now send each other messages online through emails and also through the very famous, but short-lived… AOL Instant Messenger. Does anyone remember IM? In college, I spent a lot of time procrastinating on IM.
I purchased my first cell phone as a junior in college. It was a Nokia…and you could run over it three times and it would still work. Today’s young people receive their first cell phone in 5th or 6th grade on average. In 2003 Myspace entered the World Wide Web – the first social media platform. And the title alone, “MySpace,” speaks volumes about the power of social media. Our space… our relationships with one another… they were no longer limited to face-to-face or phone-to-phone interactions. Our “space” now extended into the online digital world.
MySpace gave way to Facebook, then Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and a whole ecosystem of platforms that keep us connected around the clock. Today, Facebook has more than 3 billion monthly users, and Instagram has grown to roughly 3 billion users as well. Nearly half of American teenagers now report being online “almost constantly.”
The shift in how young people communicate has been dramatic. A generation ago, face-to-face conversation was still considered the primary way friendships were built and maintained. Today, texting, direct messages, Snapchat streaks, and social media interactions have become the dominant forms of communication for teenagers. Studies continue to show that the average teen sends and receives dozens, often hundreds, of messages each day, making digital communication one of the primary ways young people experience friendship and community.
The way we communicate with one another is changing, and as with every technological advancement, these tools can be used for good, or they can be used for ill. There are pros and there are cons. There are healthy behaviors and unhealthy ones.
Even with all of these new ways to connect with one another, many people sense that something important is changing in the way we communicate. Technology has given us remarkable gifts. We can stay in touch with family across the country. We can reconnect with old friends. We can share life’s joys and sorrows instantly. In many ways, we are more connected than any generation in human history. And yet, many people also report feeling more isolated than ever before. Something is lost when our communication becomes primarily digital. It is becoming less common to strike up a conversation with someone in a checkout line. We don’t knock on one another’s doors as often as we once did.
More and more, our interactions take place through screens. Social media can certainly help us stay informed and connected, but it can also reward quick reactions over thoughtful conversation and disagreement over understanding.
Our phones and online communities have the power to bring people together. They also have the power to keep us at a distance from one another. At the dinner tables in our homes, families sometimes find themselves looking at screens instead of sharing about their day. When couples experience conflict, it can be easier to retreat into a television show or an endless scroll than to have the difficult but important conversation that needs to happen. At work, an email can sometimes feel safer than sitting down face-to-face with a colleague.
The challenge is not that these technologies are evil. The challenge is that they can tempt us to settle for connection without presence.
Our passage this morning talks about prayer as a communication tool. Prayer – a deep spiritual need and practice – a conversation with our living and loving God. Jesus invites the disciples to learn how to pray – to learn how to have a sit down conversation with the creator of the universe. “Knock on God’s door”, Jesus says, “and God will answer”. “Ask your questions… bring God your doubts and frustrations. God will hear you. Seek God… and God will be found by you. Get rid of the distractions. Turn your eyes away from the blue light so you can commune with the light of the world.” What I absolutely love about this scripture is that Jesus takes prayer – this communion with God – and he compares it to our relationship with our human brothers and sisters. Just as we desperately need a spiritual connection with God – we are also in desperate need of real and genuine fellowship with one another. There is a story Jesus tells in this passage, and I love it. It is about a man going across the street to ask his neighbor for some bread. This guy knocks on his neighbor’s door and when he doesn’t get an answer, he just keeps on knocking. Even though his neighbor is unresponsive, he doesn’t give up. He is persistent. He keeps on knocking.
“Hey man… I know you’re in there. Come on. I need some bread. Get off your cell phone and come to the door. Turn off Netflix and see who’s here.”
It’s almost humorous, and it is supposed to be. Because this kind of persistence isn’t normal. It wasn’t normal even in the time of Jesus. This man keeps knocking. He is unwilling to quit until the door opens. Unwilling to stop trying until he can finally see his neighbor face-to-face, eye-to-eye, with nothing standing between them.
And notice what he is asking for. Bread. Now bread is never just bread in the Bible. Bread feeds the body, but it also represents something deeper. Bread is what families gather around. Bread is what neighbors share. Bread is what friends break together. In the early church, believers devoted themselves to “the breaking of bread.” Around a table, people shared stories, laughter, burdens, hopes, and prayers. They communed with one another.
So, as the reader, we need to wonder… perhaps what this man is seeking is more than a loaf. Maybe he is seeking connection. Maybe he is seeking companionship. Maybe he is seeking the kind of relationship that can only happen when a door opens, a table is set, and two people sit down together.
That is what makes this story so powerful. The man refuses to settle for distance. He refuses to remain separated from his neighbor. He keeps knocking until the barrier between them comes down.
IT makes me wonder if this kind of persistence is not only how we approach God. It is also how we are called to approach one another. Especially in times like these. Especially with all the barriers our culture and society keep putting up. In the midst of it all we are urged to keep showing up. To keep reaching out. To keep opening doors. To keep making room at the table.
My Friends, what doors do we have in between one another? What doors do we have that prevent us from being open and honest with our loved ones and friends? What doors do we have that prevent us from pursuing authentic relationships? What doors do we have in our lives that remain closed to love and acceptance – closed to deeper understanding and respect?
Church, what doors do you need to knock on this week… and what doors do you need to open up in order to embrace a deeper and healthier relationship with God… OR with a family member, a friend, a co-worker. Hear these words once again from our lord and savior – “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. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”