Waking the Neighbors
(this post was inspired by a message I heard by Keith Moore)
Luke 11:5-8 KJV 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
<knock knock knock>
<Knock! Knock! Knock!>
“Huh? Wha… Whozzat?”
“Hey Simon, it’s me, Jeremiah, I need to talk to you. Open the door, man.”
“Jeremiah? Do you know what time it is? Give me a break.”
<KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!>
“Come on Simon, open up! This is an emergency!”
“All right, all right already, quiet down, willya? You’re gonna wake the kids. <waaaaah!> Aw, geesh, too late. <fiddles with the latch and opens the door>. OK, what’s this emergency?”
“A buddy of mine just got in from Hebron. He’s been traveling all day, and hasn’t eaten anything for about 8 hours – he’s starving! And I’ve got a bad case of Mother Hubbard’s cupboard; I was planning on going shopping tomorrow. You got to help me, man! Whattaya got I can feed him?”
“Dude, you woke everybody up in my house for that? For crying out loud!”
“I ain’t going away until you give me something I can set before him!”
“Ok, Ok! I think I have some loaves of bread.”
“Aw, thanks dude, you’re a lifesaver! I owe you one!”
“Yeah, you do! Here you go. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Nowadays we probably would have left the neighbors alone because we could just hop in the car and go to some 24 hour market. But back then, they didn’t have that luxury. The traveling friend couldn’t call ahead and let his friend know when he was arriving so he could prepare. Also, in middle eastern culture, hospitality was very important. It would be a dishonorable thing not to provide for him.
In Luke 11:1, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, as John taught his disciples. Jesus replies with what is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer, in Luke 11:2-4. This passage immediately follows the Lord’s prayer, so it is part of Jesus’ teaching His disciples how to pray.
The key point to the passage is found in vs. 8: “Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”
I used the KJV because I wanted to get that word importunity. That’s not a word in much use nowadays. Several modern translations render it as persistence, and although that is part of the meaning, it is not all. And so because we know what “persistence” means, we think we know what this verse says. But we are missing something important.
Importunity is the Greek word anaideia. It is formed from the root word aidos which means downcast eyes, bashfulness, shamefacedness, modesty, or sheepishness. Putting the prefix an in front of it negates the meaning, similar to the prefix un in English. So the literal meaning of anaideia is no shame or shamelessness.
Definitions from an analytic Greek lexicon: impudence; importunate solicitation, pertinacious importunity without regard to time, place, or person.
Modern dictionary: insistent solicitation and entreaty.
Strong’s concordance also lists impudence as one of the definitions. Impudence means to be offensively bold. Another word that comes up is audacious, which means to be fearlessly, almost recklessly daring and bold. Not restrained by any sense of shame or propriety; brazen.
Here are some other translations:
Luke 11:8 NASB 8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence [side bar note: Lit shamelessness] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
Luke 11:8 AMP 8 I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
Luke 11:8 NLT 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
Luke 11:8 NIV 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
Here’s my favorite:
Luke 11:8 MSG 8 “But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need.
Here’s my definition:
Importunity – Being shameless and persistent to the point of becoming a nuisance.
Importunity means not taking “no” for an answer. It means persisting in the face of opposition. It is being bold and even brazen – “if anybody is going to get this, it’s going to be me”.
Here are some other things we can see from the parable of the friend that comes at midnight:
- The first friend (whom I called “Jeremiah”) and his neighbor (“Simon”) had a relationship – they were friends. In fact, it was this relationship that probably gave “Jeremiah” the boldness to impose on his neighbor like he did.
- The first friend was not asking for something for himself. He was asking for something to enable him to provide for others.
- The traveler that came was unknown to the neighbor.
These points have elements of intercessory prayer: intercessory prayer is where you are praying for someone else, not yourself, and those persons may or may not have a relationship with God. I’m not saying that Jesus is only talking about intercessory prayer here, but that the admonition to be importunate can also apply to intercessory prayer.
Immediately following this parable, we find this:
Luke 11:9-10 9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.The Greek words for as, seek, and knock are in a tense that implies continuous action.
Luke 11:9-10 AMPC So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.
For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking the door shall be opened.
The Unjust Judge
Would God actually be encouraging this type of behavior when approaching Him in prayer? Apparently so. In fact, Jesus tells His disciples another story that illustrates the same point.
Luke 18:1-8 1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ “
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
The purpose of the parable: to teach us not to lose heart or become discouraged in prayer. The circumstances in this story are different; in this case the widow is seeking for something for herself. She has an adversary, someone who has done her wrong or cheated her in some way, or is attempting to. She is asking for justice and legal protection. It’s interesting to note that the name “Satan” means “adversary”.
In this parable, Jesus is not likening God to an unjust judge, He is making a contrast. He makes the point that even in the case of an unjust judge, one “that does not fear God nor regard man”, persistency will get you what you want if for no other reason than to shut you up.
The judge had no relationship to the widow. In vs. 7, He says “won’t God avenge His own elect – His chosen ones?” More than one translation says, “Will He keep putting them off?” The answer is in vs. 8: “I tell you, He will avenge them speedily.”
Importunity = Faith
We have an interesting statement in the latter part of vs. 8: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
God not only encourages this persistent, don’t take no for an answer, bold, even audacious approach to Him in prayer, he calls it faith.
There are examples of this kind of faith all over the Bible.
The Syro-Phoenician Woman
Matthew 15:21-28 21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Here is a woman who is not an Israelite; she is a Gentile. As such she had no covenant with God, no claim to the promises of God. But she had heard about Jesus and the things He did, and she had a pressing need – her daughter was demon possessed. She was following after Jesus and the disciples, and crying out something very similar to what blind Bartimaeus did on the side of the road: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!”
The disciples were ignoring her. She was a nuisance. They urged Jesus to send her away. And Jesus agreed with them! “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” How discouraging would that be? She had the Son of God tell her that His ministry was not for her! Yet she persisted anyway, and continued to cry out, “Lord, help me!”
Now Jesus gets a little stronger in His language: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pups, the little dogs.” Healing was part of the provision for the sons and daughters of Abraham; their bread. It did not belong to the Gentiles, whom many Israelites called dogs.
So Jesus called her a dog! Can you imagine what people would do with that nowadays if a preacher called someone a dog! The person would probably get offended, go stomping off, and the media would write it up how the preacher had insulted a woman who came to Him with a great need.
But rather than get offended, the woman gained hope. She knew she had no rights in the kingdom of God. Like the centurion with the sick servant in Luke 7, the Jewish elders listed the works that he did and said that made him worthy to receive: “For he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.” The centurion was a God-fearer; one who believed in the God of Israel, but had not taken the full step of becoming a proselyte and converting to Judaism and being circumcised. He understood his position however; when Jesus approached his house, he sent word “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus’ reply was that He had not found such great faith, even amongst the Israelites.
The Canaanite woman was in the same position. She expressed her belief when she called Jesus “Lord, Son of David”. She also understood her position. But Jesus’ comment about the little dogs gave her hope; for though she knew she did not have a relationship as a daughter of God, she knew that the pets in a household were still loved and cared for; they got to eat scraps from the table and leftovers.
And as long as she had a glimmer of hope, she was going to persist. Unless Jesus ordered her to go away, she was going to press Him. “Yes Lord. But even the little dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.”
At this point, I imagine a big grin spreading across Jesus’ face. Why? Because faith pleases God, and that is what this Gentile woman was exhibiting. “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.”
Blind Bartimaeus
Speaking of blind Bartimaeus, let us look at his case.
Mark 10:46-52 46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”
50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
Bartimaeus, being blind, could not support himself by working, so he made his living by begging. This was part of the welfare system of Israel; people with handicaps were recognized and allowed to beg, and the populace was encouraged to support them.
Bartimaeus hears a commotion going on, and asks what it is. When he hears that Jesus and His disciples are passing by, he starts hollering: “Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!” The folks around him told him to hush up. Religious folk will do that to you sometimes. They’ll tell you this isn’t for you, you can’t believe for that, quit making such a fuss.
But Bartimaeus called out all the more, louder. He made a nuisance of himself. And Jesus heard him! Then those same people that were telling him to quiet down before told him “Be of good cheer! He is calling for you.”
Vs. 50 is significant. It says “And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.” When I was at Bible school, I had the great opportunity of hearing Oral Roberts in person at one of the seminars open to the public at the school. He preached on this passage. And he said that those that were recognized as officially handicapped were allowed to wear a special coat that identified them as “official beggars”. This would be similar today to the white cane carried by blind persons, or the handicapped placard you display in your car that gives you access to handicap parking spaces.
Bartimaeus threw off his beggar’s garment as he rose to go to Jesus. He knew he was not going to need it anymore! That was faith! And Jesus recognized it; he told Bartimaeus, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”
(to be continued in Importunity – Part 2)
