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2009
March
Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given
you; search and you will find; knock, and the door will be
opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and
everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks,
the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if
your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the
child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who
are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your Father in heaven give good things to
those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask. Search. Knock. It is the formula for
the Lenten Season. Through prayer and fasting (in one form or
another), through Bible study and Christian conversation, in public
worship and solitary meditation, we are to ask, search and knock.
Will Lent prepare us well to receive the great
good news of Easter and to be recreated in the image of the Risen
Christ, with the Holy Spirit indwelling and shaping us? Perhaps it
depends on how we understand and participate in those activities:
Ask. Search. Knock.
It is possible, maybe even easy, in our
culture to understand prayer as an effort to change God, or God’s
attitudes, or God’s intentions, to manipulate what God does. Is
that the promise? Ask, and it will be given you. If you ask often
enough, or persuasively enough, or eloquently enough….. If you can
get enough other people to ask for the same thing…. If you can
convince God that it is in God’s best interest to do what you want….
Doesn’t the advice of Jesus mean something
different? Ask God. Ask God to act wisely and compassionately for
you. Ask God to be your loving Heavenly Father and keep you and
yours in God’s grace and God’s will. Ask for the very best God has
to offer you.
Ask, and you will receive.
Are we tempted to enter a Lenten fast of some
sort because, after all, if we give up something for God it is
reasonable and fair to assume that God will do something for us? A
sort of mutual back-scratching. Or shouldn’t some sacrificial
offering to one of God’s favorite charities buy us a favor in
return? It’s called a bribe. The strategy works well in most
corners of the human arena.
Doesn’t the advice of Jesus mean something
different? Like giving up something that occupies space and time in
our lives – specifically so that we can offer God that space
and time…? Purging ourselves of some unhealthy or unhelpful
preoccupation so that we can be more focused on the reality that is
God…? Some say that it takes 30 days to break or create a habit.
The forty-day fast of Lent might be long enough for us to stop
spending time, energy, or money on something that crowds God out of
our lives and/or to start giving attention to something that
opens us up to God’s presence. What do you need to give up
for Lent? What do you need to take up for Lent? The Holy
Spirit at work on your behalf will give you insight, courage,
determination, and opportunity to make that Lenten journey of change
and to receive rich blessings. Ask.
Search and you will find. Are we inclined to
go searching for anything during Lent? Has anything been missing in
our lives so far? Anything important enough to send us searching
the Scripture, exploring the traditions of the Church, talking
honestly and openly with others who wish to belong to God, be filled
by God, and serve God…?
Knock. What doors have been closed to us?
Are we shut in or shut out? Are we separated from each other by
closed doors? How might life be different if the doors were all
flung open? Would we all just be embarrassed?
One thing is
probable –
If we don’t ask, we
can’t receive.
If we never search,
we won’t find.
If we haven’t
knocked, the doors won’t open.
So it is Christ’s
invitation to us, especially in this holy season –
Ask me, please.
Keep asking, and you will receive good things.
Seek me out. You
will find yourself in me.
Knock on the door,
and I will open it and come in to have supper with you.
Do we dare ask, not
knowing what God might choose to give?
Do we dare seek, not
knowing what we will encounter?
Do we dare knock,
not knowing what is behind the door?
The angel messengers
sent from God very often gave the same advice: “Fear not.”
“If you then, who
are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask
him!”
I pray that God will
bless each person in our church family in the next few weeks. May
God gift us all with a meaningful, life-changing journey toward the
cross and the empty tomb.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Judy |
