PENTECOST IV

July 20, 2021

“Asking, Searching and Following”

“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.”    (Matthew 7:7-8)     

These words of our Lord as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew could be taken to mean that his followers and believers were going to be able to live a life of ease and comfort. It sounds as  if all you need to do is ask for what you want, and you’ll get it; your searches will always result in success, and you just need rap on a door for it to open.   Of course, nothing is as simple as these words imply, even if we wish that, just for once, it would be.     

Let’s consider these verses on asking, searching and knocking, and think of them as  ongoing, connected behaviors.  We learn very little by asking just one question, by a cursory search for one item or bit of information, and if we just look through an opened door, but don’t expand our view, we won’t see much at all.       

The three actions are seen by many as a metaphor for prayer, making it a multi-faceted activity.  We ask, or pray, in faith and in confidence that our Father knows what we need, even if we do not.  We search, too, in faith, for God’s will for our lives, asking for the knowledge and abilities to carry out that to which we are called.  Then when we knock, the door is opened, and we step through in faith, trusting that we will be led in the right direction.     

But then . . .  (Jesus said “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”   (Mark 9:34b-35)  Wait a minute!  We’ve just heard those warm, hope-filled assurances and here we’re faced with a harsh, even frightening statement on what it means to be a follower of Jesus!       

Throughout the Gospels we find accounts of Jesus preparing his disciples to continue the ministry of teaching, preaching and healing.  There would be persecution, hostility, and threats, he told them, and times when their message would be rejected and they would be in danger.  The hopeful promises of receiving, finding, and opening seem contradicted by the grim reality of following Christ.     

But life is messy, confusing, and often complicated, and always has been.  Living lives of faith can be frustrating, causing us to wonder if we’re doing anything right, and whether there is even any point to our efforts.  So let’s read Matthew’s verses and consider prayerfully asking for guidance and strength as we search for understanding and purpose in taking up whatever  cross we may be called to bear and, in faith, following our Lord wherever he leads us.  

Holding on to the promises,

Your friend in Christ,

Mary Rogers