The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2025)
Have you ever tried to bargain with God?
I think it’s safe to say that, in one way or another, each of us has.
“God, if you let her get better, I will…”
“Please, God, if you let me pass this test, I swear I’ll…”
“If you’ll just let this be over, I promise to…”
And it’s understandable that we might try to do this. After all, while we believe in a loving God who is all-knowing and all-powerful, we aren’t always able to understand or accept everything that happens in life. Bargaining is a way that we can try to have some sense of control as we face life’s challenges.
But, in the Gospel proclaimed this Sunday—with its parable of the persistent neighbor and collection of sayings—highlights two truths about God that should help us overcome our tendency toward control as we try to strike these sorts of deals: God is giving and forgiving.
In the parable, a person has a special need late one night when a guest arrives unexpectedly. In a first century-equivalent of borrowing a cup of sugar, the host goes to their sleeping neighbor, asking that the neighbor provide some bread for the road-weary guest. Jesus observes that if the neighbor does not get up “to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.” The point of the parable is that God’s response to our prayers for help and pleas for mercy are like those of a generous and caring friend.
What follows in this Gospel passage reinforces what was revealed in the parable: God is ready and waiting to open the door when we knock, to give us what we ask, to reveal himself when we seek, just like a loving parent providing for the needs of their children.
This Sunday, we’re being invited to reflect on the fact that God only wants what is good for us and to provide what we truly need. We don’t have to beg or badger God. God is always waiting for us to voice our needs and hopes. God is always waiting to bless us. As one commentary on this Gospel passage reminds us, “God is willing to give, but one must ask; God is willing to reveal, but one must seek; God is willing to open the door, but one must knock on it. God is willing to answer prayers, but one must pray” (from Preaching the New Lectionary: Cycle C by Diane Bergant, CSA)
There is a challenge here, however… and it is that God is also asking us to be vulnerable and to ask for the things we need to be fully alive… our “daily bread,” as it were. Letting go of our desire to control or understand what’s going on in our lives and the lives of those we love is never easy. Letting go of control means that we make ourselves vulnerable, but this vulnerability frees us and enables us to trust in the One who only wants only the best for us. But this is what is being asked of us. Jesus wants us to risk letting go of our sense of control and place ourselves in the position of asking—just like the host who knocks on his neighbor’s door, not necessarily knowing what kind of response he will receive but still confident that, in the end, he will receive the help he needs. The trust that comes with vulnerability, ultimately helps us to discover how God’s grace is always at work, regardless of how dire or disappointing a situation might seem.
In the end, this Sunday’s lesson about God’s readiness to give and forgive is also a reminder that because we have received so many blessings—including the gift of mercy—we are called to share with others what we have abundantly received. And in these dark days of division, violence, partisan rhetoric, and fear, our vulnerability and trust in prayer—as well as our generosity in service and charity—is needed more than ever.
O God, protector of those who hope in you,
without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance your mercy upon us
and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
This homily was prepared for Our Lady of Divine Providence Church and Old St. Mary’s Church in Milwaukee, WI
