A Midnight Knock

Have you ever been startled awake by a doorbell in the dead of night? Our initial reaction would likely be to assume something tragic. We might be relieved to learn it was only a neighbor asking to borrow something. But, after our heartbeat slowed back to normal, would we then harbor resentment for the neighbor’s making the request at such an unseemly hour? Jesus told a brief parable in Luke 11:5-10 about a midnight visit which spotlights human nature, as well as duty:

⁵And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, (ESV)

Life is not always convenient. In order for it to be, everything would have to always revolve around us (which it doesn’t). And, since it doesn’t, it is inevitable that we are inconvenienced. Then again, there was nothing convenient about Jesus’ trading the riches of heaven for the rigors of earth. There was nothing convenient about the crucifixion. Life is not about escaping the inconvenient.

⁶for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

The unexpected happens. In this case, an unannounced traveler arrives to find an unprepared host. The need of the moment drives the host to seek help at a late hour. Still today, we face the unexpected illness, the unexpected job loss, the unexpected death, the unexpected family crisis, the unexpected ring of the doorbell. Life is not about avoiding the unexpected.

⁷and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?

The needy host’s neighbor, whom Jesus described as “friend,” proves less than friendly. He immediately rattles off excuses why he cannot help. What of us? Are we willing to be inconvenienced? Or, will we not be bothered unless the circumstance is convenient, the request is easy, and we’ve nothing better to do? Do we punch out our Christianity on the time clock in order to avoid any overtime for the kingdom? Is there such a thing as “after hours” when it comes to serving the Lord? A real friend shines when the hour is late, when the need is unexpected, when the request is inconvenient.

⁸I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

All the excuses notwithstanding, the request is still met, not from concern, but due to the asker’s impudence (i.e. his bold persistence). Just as the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so the request that is answered is often simply the one which doesn’t go away. Persistence pays. In this case, persistence wins even when friendship wears thin.

⁹And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Having illustrated it by way of parable, Jesus now gets to the obligation every man has toward God’s truth. We must ask, seek and knock. The point is not that God is like the reluctantly helpful neighbor. God wants to and will help. But we need to be persistent. The gospel is worth the effort it takes to seek for and find it. God will do for us what we cannot do ourselves, but he will not force us to ask for what we do not want. God will not coerce us to seek what we are not interested in. God will not open the door we refuse to knock.

¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Here is heaven’s impartial promise. Everyone—without regard to country of origin, color of skin, level of education, financial ability, or even prior religious background—who wants the gospel badly enough to seek it above all else, will find it. Often the gospel is presented to people who don’t even want it (imagine trying to explain that at the Judgment!). Sometimes people who have not lifted a finger looking for truth still manage to come in contact with it (by no effort of their own), and then turn up their noses at it. Jesus’ idea was that, if we want to be on the receiving end of divine blessing, we must be in its active pursuit. The Lord will be there to answer the door and help, without excuses. Even at midnight.