Pentecost 10

Pentecost 10 (Luke 11:1-13) “Ask”

Wisdom begins with a question. Faith begins with a question and is sustained by further questions. When we stop questioning we stop growing. And when we stop growing we stagnate.

Most people who knew Jesus did not ask questions. They had some very firm preconceived ideas about God, humanity, Israel and their own sense of identity as the chosen from amongst the chosen.

Most of those who did ask Jesus questions viewed him as a threat. The questions they asked were “gottcha” questions designed to embarrass and discredit. Jesus had a marvelous way of dealing with those questions. He turned the malicious intent of his enemies into an occasion for salvation.

The disciple’s request for Jesus to teach them to pray has a specific cultural and religious context. Every rabbi or religious teacher at some point addressed the issue of prayer. They gave model prayers in outline form as well as very specific formal prayers for specific occasions. Sometimes the prayers were taught in secret. Those prayers helped build the unique identity for the sect or school of thought.

Jesus gives his instruction on prayer as a model in outline form. The Lord’s Prayer, as we call it, might more accurately be described as the Lord’s outline for prayer.  Jesus presents his disciples, including us, with some bullet points to consider as we ponder prayer.

Underlying these broad general bullet points are three principles: ask, seek, knock. Those three principles derive from a unifying concept of inquiry. And, the motive force for this inquiry is the Real Presence of Divine Love in Jesus Christ.

When I teach I learn. I learn from the questions students ask.

I can acquire knowledge on my own by reading and memorizing. I can acquire some degree of understanding by pondering the material. I find I gain more understanding as I attempt to teach and as I hear other people ask questions.

The questions initiate a dialog that opens the potential for knowledge to metabolize into understanding, for understanding to evolve into wisdom and for wisdom to transform into counsel.

When Jesus encourages his disciple to “ask”, to “seek” and to “knock” he is inviting us into a process of gradual incremental and never ending transformation.

A basic principle of scripture is that if you think you know it all you don’t. No one has perfect knowledge. If you know you know it all you are lost and need to be found.

God does the finding. The lost are willfully, spitefully and pride fully lost and do not wish to be found. That is why God does the finding. God does the finding in Jesus Christ. For religious people Jesus will find us as we are lost in religion. For secular people Jesus finds us as we are lost in reason or hedonism. Jesus meets us where we are lost and offers us the way to be found.

There is always resistance to the Way Jesus offers. That is why Jesus finds many people in the questions we ask. That is why Jesus invites our questions and delights in our questions.

For many if not most people, the presence of Jesus provokes a reaction. It was certainly true when Jesus was on earth. Jesus not only understands our reactions he anticipates those reactions, and he counts on those reactions to disturb the spiritual, intellectual and emotional stagnation that forms our existence. Jesus came to bring life because Jesus is life. All life derives from the pattern, plan and purpose of the do-eternal Word of God incarnate in Jesus Christ.

The first step of any journey is the first step. The first step in salvation is a question. Any question will do. Any emotional context to the question will open the door to further questions. As the first step can sometimes be the hardest step so the first question can be the most difficult question. The first question disturbs the illusion of pride. The illusion of pride is that we know we know.

The promise Jesus offers in this teaching on prayer is not a blank check. It is not a “name it and claim it” magical incantation. Jesus teaches that prayer is a process.  The process is the universal plan of salvation as it is applied to our unique and particular identity. The process of asking, seeking and knocking opens the mind heart and will to new possibilities.

Just because you don’t get what you ask for in prayer doesn’t mean your prayer is unanswered or even denied. Prayer is the gateway to the new Way of life Jesus offers. It starts with a question. The process of asking, seeking, knocking refines and clarifies the question. The process immerses a lost separated and prideful soul in the Real Presence of love and compassion. The Real Presence of Jesus unfolds a revelation not just of God but of human nature and our own specific identity.

God will always answer our prayers but he will not always give us exactly what we want at any particular moment. He will use our prayer to clarify our desires and focus our intent. In that process we will discover the amazing truth that God is real, God is personal, God is love, God is Jesus Christ. The process of a new Way of life and a new way of living in the real presence of God starts when we ask a question. Ask.