Luke “likes” stories about hospitality. It was an “age of hospitality.” Hospitality “was” a big thing.
Unfortunately today, people do not “go” and “visit” any more. Back in the day, when I grew up, Sunday afternoon was the day and the time to reconnect with family members and friends.
We went to the cemetery.
We spent time with grandparents.
We saw aunts and uncles regularly.
We called ahead we asked if they would be home, we asked if they minded any company. We spent time together. And then, you would start all over again the very next weekend. It was routine. It was a way of staying in touch.
Not today.
People do not visit anymore. We do not take the time. We are rushed and hurried and busied with many things.
The weekends are for projects around the house or for resting for the work week ahead. Or, for getting away from it all! There is little “precious time” for visiting and socializing.
People commonly say, and “have said” for many years now, we don’t get to see each other except at baptisms, weddings and funerals.
And as our populations ages, it is usually only at “the latter.”
Family reunions are “a rarity.”
There was a time – when there was “the social obligation” to be a good host. Even if it was unexpected… Even if it were unannounced…
The expectation was that you would be “cordial, welcoming and provide” for your guests.
Let me throw on a pot of coffee, can I get anyone anything to drink? Would you like some cake? C’mon in, sit down and relax. Let’s talk…
When do “these kinds of things” happen “today?”
We simply do not visit anymore. We do not connect or re-connect. And if we do connect, it is usually on “social media.” (That’s how we find out today – how our friends and family members are doing!)
This “social obligation” was at one time “a paramount duty” – even if it occurred in the middle of the night.
Failure to be “hospitable” would bring public dishonor on one’s self, one’s family and even on one’s entire village.
So, it was a matter of honor…personal honor. You simply did not leave your company down.
So, Jesus tells this story, it is yet -another story on “hospitality.” The story is not so much about “persistence” as it is about “constancy.”
We are to do what it takes.
Jesus ties this story to prayer and to our life of prayer. We are to be constant in prayer. Just as Jesus himself, was constant in prayer.
The situation as told by Jesus is comical. It is slapstick. This story – with the arrival of midnight guests has the “Three Stooges,” “Laurel and Hardy” and “Harpo and Groucho Marx” written all over it.
No friend or neighbor would refuse to help a friend in a “hospitality crisis” by saying it was “too much trouble to roll out of bed.”
No one! Besides that they would have been already “awakened” and their “entire household with them!”
This is about a real social dilemma. A real crisis, if ever there were one!
There is never “shame” in making a request…although it does get a bit borderline or sketchy “if” the request is made – late at night.
The man is not out of line for “asking for help.”
And of course, the sense of the story is that – of course, the friend or neighbor will help – if he can. His honor is at stake. It is in his best interest to “help out.”
So therefore, be constant. Keep asking.
The idea here is of that old rabbinical story technique of – “from the lesser” to “the greater.”
If this “sleepy-head” will “get up” and eventually help out – “how much more then” will God help those who “call upon him?”
God is also compared to a “human father.” “IF” human fathers give “good gifts” to their children – “how much more then” will God give to those who “call upon him.”
Be constant. Pray. Pray regularly. Pray intimately. Pray continually. Let your life become – “a life of prayer!” Keep praying. Teach your children your grandchildren to pray. Do not be too busy…to pray…EVER!!!