Ask,
Seek, Knock
The
spiritual not the temporal
A
good way to get engagement from a group during a spiritual session is to ask to
quote Matthew 7:7. You can be sure hands will shoot up and in a chorus the
response will come back: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and
you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” That of course
prompts the question from the moderator ‘Ask for what, seek for whom, knock
where?’
We are a
materialistic society living in a capitalistic economy – at least most of us –
and so keeping up with the Joneses is not really a choice but an obligation.
When asked to ask, natural to ask for a house (or a bigger house); car (or a
bigger car) et al. What we don’t have, we must have, and over time it should
become bigger and better. Incremental to exponential.
Two
millennia back, these ‘wants’ of ours couldn’t be what Jesus had in mind. Jesus
became God incarnate with only one purpose that we may have the rewards of
eternal life through salvation from sin (Catechesis of the Catholic Church, 705):
“Disfigured by sin and death,
man remains "in the image of God," in the image of the Son, but is
deprived "of the glory of God," of his "likeness." The
promise made to Abraham inaugurates the economy of salvation, at the
culmination of which the Son himself will assume that "image" and
restore it in the Father's "likeness" by giving it again its Glory,
the Spirit who is "the giver of life."
With that
background in mind, what do you think Jesus had in mind when he promised:
1.
Ask and it will be given to you
2.
Seek and you will find
3.
Knock and the door will be opened to you
Remember Temptation
of Jesus (Lk 4:1-13). Satan too makes the same promise to us – ask, seek and
knock – and he will give you health, wealth and power.
How? Simple.
Bow to me, says Satan. Prove your loyalty to me, says Satan. Disobey every Word
of God and see what I can do for you, says Satan. How is that possible? Well, he
is the ruler of this world, we live in. (Eph 2:1-3; 6:12-13; 1 Pt 5:8-10; Rev
12:12; Heb 2:14; James 4:4,7; 1 Jn 5:18-19)
If this was
a football match between God’s team and Satan’s then we have to play defence.
He is the aggressor. It started in the Garden of Eden. God said I will take
care you Mr and Mrs Adam and Eve like a mother takes care of her infant. Only
one humble request. Don’t eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil. Serpent, instigated by Satan, told Eve, ‘disobey’. You will not die, but
will be like God, knowing ‘good from evil’. Eve disobeyed and led Adam to
disobedience too.
It is in
this context that the promise of Jesus of ‘Ask, Seek and Knock’ must be viewed.
Do not be misled by another ‘serpent’ in your ‘Garden of Eden’; in your
blissful living; in pursuit of the things of the world instead of the ‘treasures
of heaven’ (Mt 6:19-20):
1.
Ask and it will be given to you
What
is the general or fundamental notion of asking? You ask for the temporal
and, in the process, leave the spiritual in want. As a mature adult, you
must ask to ‘know’. The logical question
then is to ‘Know What’? Know good from evil; right from wrong.
To know
that there is sin that goes undetected under the radar of our consciousness, appearing
benign, not malignant (as referred in cancer diagnosis), the sins of lust, gluttony,
greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Somethings in life are best
understood in its opposite – darkness is absence of light - vice is
absence of virtue.
Are
these absent in our life:
·
chastity of
mind in our behavior outside of marriage
·
temperance in
what and how much we eat (Rich man and Lazarus Lk 16:19-31)
·
charity in
including others in all that we have through tithing 10% or more of our income or
abundance (2 Co 9:8)
·
diligence in
how we utilize our time for ‘idleness is the devil’s workshop’
·
forgiveness or forgiving disposition
that harbors no hurt or ill-will towards another in our orbit of relationships
·
kindness
that ‘heap burning coals’ on feelings of envy (Prov 25:21:22; Rm 12:20-21)
·
humility
such that in all our good works through God-given talent our delight is in
glorifying His magnificent name for our magnificence is like “grass that
withers and flowers that fall” (1 Pt 1:24)
Ask
to be filled with what is absent in our spiritual life so that our soul
is not threatened with eternal damnation unless absolved before death through confession
and penitence.
2.
Seek and you will find
What should we be
seeking that we may find it? We need to seek the mysteries of the kingdom of
God that is hidden from us. In Mt 13 we read the numerous Parables of Jesus,
and we wonder, as did the disciples of Jesus, who asked, “Why do You speak to the people in
parables?”
Jesus
replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given
more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has
will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables. (Mt
13:11-13)
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but
did not hear it. (Mt 13:16-17)
The Bible is a cornucopia of
directions and glad tidings (Deut 28), a horn of plenty, of choicest produce, a
nourishment for the soul. That is, if we embrace its teachings guided by the
Spirit. Otherwise it is cauldron of conflicts.
Today we are challenged by so many
divisive issues. To take a decisive view is a challenge. The larger society
apart, in our own household, we do not have the benefit of the Word speaking to
us. We are unable to take a firm view on what is expected of us from our
creator to continue to enjoy his grace. Like a chameleon sin changes its
colours and what is sinful may well appear to be virtuous.
Marriage outside the community which
may challenge the tenets of one’s own faith. The LGBTQ community is on the
rise. So is agnostics and atheism. And, so is abortion within marriage and
outside of marriage. Live-in relationships. The list is indeed too long to
narrate in a short reflection.
Today, the young adults have
financial freedom – both men and women – upsetting the gender balance and the
traditional man woman relationships and responsibilities. This issue
comparatively is benign and calls for adjustment on the part of everyone among
generations.
But the other issues have bearing on
salvation and eternal life. More so, as the Word, is increasingly seen by many
as slavish commitment to an old order and not versatile to address the needs of
today’s generation. We know the Word is eternal. Unfortunately, that is not the
popular belief.
As we seek to find the mysteries in
the Word, we will also find ourselves in a better place, to be an instrument of
awakening in those dead to the Word.
3.
Knock and the door will be opened to you
What
doors do we want opened? To what are we seeking entry? Our worldly response
will be ‘doors of opportunities’ which secure us financially and on all the
parameters of material success. Our spiritual response should be ‘doors of
salvation’ for the state of our soul is poor.
Revelations
3 dwells in depth on the issue of our soul.
The
Blessing: He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed
in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but
I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Rev 3:5)
The Open
Door: I know thy works: behold, I have set before
thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and
hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Rev 3:8)
The
Condemnation: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Rev 3:16)
Chastisement: Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked. (Rev 3:17)
Entreaty: As many
as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (Rev 3:19)
RSVP: Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20)
Promise: To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Rev 21-22)
Knock. Knock. Who stands there? Jesus? Who
Jesus?
Hope the day never comes that we should ever,
ever, even in the darkest moment of our life, and especially then, should say,
‘Who Jesus’.
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