Knock, knock?

Luke 11:1-13

Fernand Khnopff
I Lock My Door Upon Myself  1891 (Public Domain)

I usually keep my phone on vibrate for the sake of those around me. 

My ringtone is a persistent open G tuned guitar rift that fades in and out monotonously, 

Fading in louder and out softly before sharply and clearly drilling back in like a power tool. 

It is the guitar solo intro performed by Keith Richards, the lead guitar for the Rolling Stones, in their song: “Can’t you hear me knocking?”

It’s on a loop so that the lyrics don’t cut in to what I consider to be one of the best uses of a guitar intro in any song. 

The lyrics to the song, though, are confusing. Mick Jagger doesn’t even know what the original lyrics were. 

But the theme of the song is as persistent as the opening guitar rift, “Can’t you hear me knocking?”

I love the opening, because it creatively simulates the rapping of knuckles on a door, using only a guitar.

Knocks on a door, which of course go unanswered as Mick, Keith, and the rest of the Stones incessantly express their desire to enter into whatever structure inspired this peculiar but delightful rock ballad. 

As I prepared for the sermon this Sunday, I kept thinking of this song. 

“Can’t you hear me knocking?”

Isn’t that part of what we feel when we hear our Gospel for today?

Isn’t that how we feel in response to our unanswered prayers?

Perhaps that is what leads the disciples to their request in today’s gospel for Jesus to teach them to pray a prayer that will associate them with Jesus’ ministry. 

A prayer that will be the signature prayer of Jesus Christ and his followers. 

The prayer that is offered in response to their request is one of the most consistent statements of resignation, trust, and confidence in the will of God that one could offer up. 

But this prayer goes even further. It is a prayer that invites God to take control of EVERYTHING we know, everything we see, everything that we desire to be in control of. 

Relinquishing control of our lives, our world, our desires, our vision for how we think things should be,  how we think they could be. And lets be honest here, you don’t have to be a social scientist to recognize that OUR vision of how things should be or could be isn’t working out all that well. 

Whether you’ve been watching the Republican National convention, certain that your one true hope could be found on a stage in an arena in Cleveland, or whether you’re anticipating catching a glimpse of your one true hope taking the stage at a convention center in Philadelphia this week at the Democratic National convention.

Some have found hope in movements that have  sprouted up across the country demanding their understanding of justice, while other movements demand a new sense of security and safety, defined by their own human definitions of what that would look like. 

Hopefully the persistent quest many are finding themselves on, for fictional Pokemon animals through their phones, is more of a distraction than a sense of hope. 

Regardless of where or what we put our hope in, there is no hope for our own human vision. 

Our plans for the kingdom that WE envision is flawed, but in this prayer Jesus presents a clear vision.

It is a prayer for not OUR will but THY will.

Not OUR kingdom but THY kingdom. 

Relinquishing control and turning our trust to THE One.

But that sounds a lot easier than it really is, doesn’t it?

When things rapidly fall out of our control, out of our hands, relinquishing control of our vision and our plan for the sake of a kingdom and a hope that we are only told to trust will be there because of a mere promise.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Soul Carried to Heaven 
1878 (Public Domain)

~

A hospital chaplain once sat beside a father in an emergency room after he had been informed that his daughter could not be resuscitated after severe burns which had been sustained in a house fire. 

The chaplain attempted to comfort the father by asking him to describe his daughter.

The father proceeded to tell the chaplain how much she loved to sing, and as he described her voice and passion for singing he began to calm down and even found himself smiling, until the chaplain took his hand and told him, “Well, I guess God needed another angel in the choir.”

At that point the father tore his hand out from between the chaplain’s palms and exclaimed, “If he needed her voice so badly, why did he have to burn her!” and he stormed away. 

~

The chaplain made a tragic mistake in his encounter. 

He described a god who closed a door, 

a god who closed the door on a father’s joy,

a god who closed the door on a little girl’s life.

Not the God that Jesus describes in the parable that follows his prayer in today's gospel. 

The God who opens the door to us all through Jesus Christ, no matter what doors have been closed. 

The God whose doorstep that little girl will step onto as she raps her knuckles on the door that we all hope to be welcomed into. 

~

The parable that follows the prayer today depicts three individuals:

The guest,who has traveled far, comes to the door weary and worn.

The host, who is ill prepared to provide for the guest, but is still the means by which grace will be received.

And the neighbor, who is the source of the sustenance that will be provided. 

The parable reflects on customs that remain common in the Middle East today. 

It is a custom that is as practical as it is cultural, because the welcoming of a guest was the manner in which people were able to survive long treks across the desert. 

To this day when you enter into a Middle Eastern home as a guest, every courtesy is extended to provide care, comfort, and what the host hopes will be interpreted as luxurious accommodations.

If the guest’s stay is not experienced in this way, it is seen as a dishonor to not only the host but the entire community. 

The neighbor in the parable is not only an unusual cultural portrayal of a neighbor for Jesus’ audience, but offers a contrast to the God who extends every courtesy to those who enter into God’s kingdom. 

It is meant to give us assurance, that we will not only have access to this kingdom, but it reflects on a prayer that implies a longing to enter into that kingdom, even inviting that kingdom, God’s kingdom 

RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

This is a door that God consistently opens, no matter what doors we may close. 

Doors we consistently lock and bar closed. 

Not a god that closes the door on our health, our relationships, and our lives

But the God that opens doors and extends every courtesy into God’s will, God’s Kingdom,

whether that be a door we enter into here on earth or in heaven. 

Paolo Veronese
Illusory Door 1560-1561 (Public Domain)

God’s kingdom, unlike our own homes, is not one that is built to benefit the One who holds the lease on that home.  It is meant to benefit the guests that come to reside there. 

So, when the chaplain implied that there was a god that needed the door of that little girl’s life to close for the sake of god’s own need, the chaplain invoked a self serving god that closes doors for a purpose that doesn’t really serve God’s people at all. 

Sisters and Brothers, I don’t know that god, I don’t worship that god, and I don’t want to. 

I don’t think the father in that waiting room did either. 

~

There is another song by the Rolling Stones that involves an intriguing legend. 

The Stones played a concert in Excelsior, Minnesota in 1964, and according to legend, during the concert, Mick Jagger and the Stones were booed off the stage. 

Disheartened by the poor reception from American fans, Jagger left his hotel that night and headed down to the local corner drugstore in a state of depression. 

It was there that he met Jimmy Hutmaker, a local celebrity who walked the streets of Excelsior wearing peculiar hats, chewing on cigars, and greeting everyone he met. 

Locals considered him to be a the honorary local “roving ambassador” in the town. 

Back in those days, most drugstores used soda fountains that flavored cola with fruit flavored syrups. 

Mr. Jimmy Hutmaker found out that the fountain was out of cherry syrup.

So after he reported the problem to the man at the counter in the drugstore and paid for his plain cola, he turned to face Mick Jagger while announcing simply,

“Oh, well…. you can’t always get what you want.”

Five years later, The Rolling Stones released their two time platinum1969 album Let It Bleed, which included one of their best known songs You Can’t Always Get What You Want. 

The song tells a tale about closed doors,  including the reunion of a long lost love who is marrying another man,  a protester demanding change but only receiving abuse and frustration for his efforts, and then there is of course the ill-man at the drugstore who decided to have a cherry soda; Mr. Jimmy,  who also seems to have resigned himself to his own closed door, his elusive mortality. 

It is an interesting story told through song. 

But each stanza tells another story of closing doors until the last stanza, just prior to the final refrain; 

“I saw her today at the reception, In her glass was a bleeding man”

Sisters and brothers, in a few moments Pastor Stephen will lift up a cup and share the words our Lord shared on that night in which he was betrayed, and from that glass we will all drink of that bleeding man. 

The bleeding man who is our host, who feeds us by the means given by God. 

The bleeding man who is the means by which all closed doors are reopened in ways that go beyond our plans and our visions.

Sisters and brothers, we are welcomed into that door and we are seated at that table, 

despite whether we knock or not, 

because He already kicked in that door for us….

Amen

William Holman Hunt The Light of the World 1851-1865 (Public Domain)

Sources

The Rolling Stones. “Can’t you hear me knocking.” on Sticky Fingers. n.p.: Rolling Stones Records, April 23, 1971.

The Rolling Stones. “You can’t always get what you want.” on Let It Bleed. n.p.: London Records, December 5, 1969.

“James Lee ‘Mr. Jimmy’ Hutmaker (1932 - 2007) - Find A Grave Memorial.” Accessed July 23, 2016. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27097598.