Ask/Seek/Knock
(based on Luke 11:1-13)
A young man was leaving a building one day when
he received a text message on his cell phone. The message instructed him to pick up a
package at an unfamiliar company with a 12-syllable, tongue-twisting name. The young man looked skyward and sighed aloud,
“God, where am I supposed to go?” Just
then his cell phone lit up again, this time the text included the client’s
address.
A man nearby sitting on a bench outside the
office building witnessed this scene. Raising
his arms to the heavens, he cried, “Why don’t you ever answer me like that?”
We encountered a similar passage to the one we
read this morning from Luke, earlier this year during Lent. The passage in Matthew, Chapter 7 occurred in
the middle of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount text.
Here, it comes again right after Jesus was asked to teach his disciples
how to pray. I think it’s significant
that Luke repeats it, particularly in this context. The first time we read it in Matthew, it was used
in the midst of a list of things that we are to be doing or how we are to act. Here, it comes as part of how we are to pray.
And here are Christ’s instructions:
We must be committed to seeking first God’s
kingdom and God’s glory, so that our prayers are properly motivated and
directed and not just for the purpose of making us happy or satisfying our
selfish desires. Instead, they should be
directed for the purpose of seeing God’s name hallowed and His kingdom brought
about on the earth. Afterall, this is
the first thing that Jesus includes in the opening to the Lord’s Prayer.
In this context, Jesus tells a humorous parable
to teach that we should approach God with boldness, persisting until we obtain
what we need in order to minister to our friends. Then He applies that parable by telling us to
keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we
need. Next, Jesus shifts the picture
with a ludicrous, but memorable, illustration of a boy asking his father for a
fish or an egg. The father would not
give his son a snake or a scorpion! And
finally, Jesus applies this illustration by saying that if we, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.
The emphasis in this whole section is on
receiving answers to our prayers. The
friend at midnight did not go away empty-handed. He got the bread that he came for,
illustrating that the one who keeps asking, seeking, and knocking will receive
what he or she is after. The story of
the father and his son makes the same point: the boy will get what he asks from
his father. In explaining to the
disciple who asked how to pray, Jesus explains that God wants us to come to Him
and keep on coming to Him until we are in line with the purpose of the Kingdom
and He gives us what we need.
Here’s where I have to stop for a moment and
question Jesus in this passage from Luke.
It is all well and good when we are asking Jesus for a new job because
the one we have doesn’t pay enough to support our family, or when we ask God to
bless our Youth Outreach to children in our community, or even some that are borderline
selfish, like asking God for calmness in a conflict situation or when taking an
exam. This passage tells us to be bold
and persistent and in response, God, being a good and generous God, will give us
what we need.
But many of our prayers that we ask for
continually each Sunday in corporate prayer, or everyday in private prayer are
for the health and healing of people we love.
Some will be healed and will go on with their lives, leaving loved ones
relieved and thankful. And quite
honestly, some will not. They will die,
leaving those of us who loved them with this pit of grief and sadness, often questioning
even the existence of God. How does that
fit in with this passage? How can it be
fair from a good and generous God to a young boy of 7 years old to lose his
father or mother? How can it be fair
from a good and generous God for a young couple to lose their baby to cancer? That sounds a whole lot more like the father
who gave his son a snake when all the son wanted was a fish or a scorpion when
he wanted an egg.
This is where my fundamentalist/evangelical roots
in Christianity and my theological training and intellectually questioning
brain diverge. The first me seeks to
find a relatively easy, light answer that doesn’t question God, but rather assumes
God knows all and is wise, certainly knows better than I. So, the doubts and grief I’m experiencing are
insignificant to the wonder and glory of God and I should just pray, even those
things - the doubts and the pain, away. The second me, wants to know why God allows
this to happen, wants to know what possible purpose it might serves, wants to
question God’s role then in not just the big issues in life, but every single
insignificant aspect of every choice and decision, every move and countermove
that occurs.
These two “me’s” the fundamentalist me and the theological
me approach this topic from completely different sides. One wants to hand it all over to God, sort of
like Joseph in the Old Testament. Regardless
of the horrible things that happened to him, he always knew that God was with
him. He always gave every bad thing a
positive spin, knowing that God’s hand was at work, ultimately bringing him the
blessings he so desired. The other me wants
to doubt and question every move God makes.
And then in the night, all night long, wrestle with God like Jacob did
until I am even further wounded from the fight and yet, in the end know that
God has given me his blessing.
The interesting thing, when you think about it,
both “me’s” do the same thing. They are
bold in their requests. They come to God
in prayer, persistently asking, searching, knocking for answers.
The first non-questioning me asks for, searches,
and knocks on heaven’s door for relief from the grief and pain, asking that it
be replaced with a simple peace and to just rest in the knowledge that I will never
understand the ways of heaven.
The second all-questioning me asks for, searches,
knocks on heaven’s door for some glimmer of understanding, for some explanation
for why bad things happen, why we must live with this pain and grief, why
someone we love dies?
Oddly enough, over time, I’ve realized that
although these two me’s come at the subject from polar opposite ends; searching
for either relief or answers to grief and pain, they ultimately come to the
same conclusion. One finds a door that
offers peace with little answers. The
other finds a door that offers just a piece of the puzzle that is God, a glimpse
of understanding. But both find satisfaction
in knowing what Jesus said in his prayer, “Thy Will Be Done.”
Regardless of how you approach God, Jesus’ teaching
about prayer is to ask – because it is only in asking that we are given an
answer. Search – because only in
searching will we find. And knock –
because only in knocking will a door be opened to us. It doesn’t really matter what you ask, or how
you seek, or what door you knock upon, as long as you are bold and persistent
to be heard by God and found in God’s presence.
I’ll conclude with this humorous story:
A dad with a three-year-old son had just gone
through the bedtime routine of reading a story, listening to his prayers,
answering a dozen questions, giving him a hug, and saying good-night four or
five times before slipping out of the room. Finally, after a long, hard day, he
could relax.
He sat down in his easy chair and it was quiet
for about five minutes before he heard, “Daddy, can I have a drink of water?” He said, “No, son, be quiet and go to sleep.” It was quiet for a couple of minutes before,
louder than before, he heard, “Daddy, can I have a drink of water?” “Son, I said to be quiet and go to sleep!” There was silence again, but it didn’t last
long. “Daddy, please can I have a drink
of water?” The dad could see that he
wasn’t getting anywhere, so he said, “Son, if I hear one more sound out of that
room, I’m going to spank you!” You could
hear a pin drop. The silence was thick
for about one minute. Then he heard,
“Daddy, when you come in here to spank me, would you please bring me a drink of
water?” Now the dad knew that his son
really was thirsty! Why? Because he was boldly persistent in his
request.
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