Walking With Jesus – Three Words of Change (Part V – Lent)

Sermon Title: Walking With Jesus – A.S.K.: Ask, Seek Knock

Good News Statement: Jesus answers our actions

Preached: Sunday, March 30^th, 2025 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSVUE): Luke 11:5-13 Today’s scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Luke. During the Lenten and Easter Season, we are going to be walking with Jesus to the Cross, listening to his parables, deciphering his teachings, and experiencing our own resurrection. Our walk continues to by hearing the subtle words of Jesus to his disciples regarding asking, seeking, and knocking. Our scripture reading is Luke Chapter Eleven, Verses Five thru Thirteen. May the hearing and understanding of this scripture add a blessing to your life.

 

Perseverance in Prayer

⁵ And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

⁹ “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? ¹³ If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

The following Sermon Series will be drawn from the words of Biblical Scholar Charles R. Swindoll, who offers commentary and thoughts on the Gospel of Luke in his book ”Swindoll’s New Testament Insights: Insights on Luke” published in 2012 by Zondervan Publications in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights: Insights on Luke, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2012.

 

 

 

Introduction:

In August of 1988, a Scottish duo known as the Proclaimers released a song that five years later reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The lead single from their second album, Sunshine on Leith¸ has been featured in several movies and television shows, is still played on the radio today, and is said that the band’s earnings from this one song are “five times more than the rest of their music catalogue combined.”[1] Needless to say, this 1988 song has become a “live staple”[2] for millions of people across the world. The name of this song is “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).”

The song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” according to Charlie Reid, the lead singer of the Proclaimers, “is a devotional thing about how far [a person] would walk for [someone they love].” The chorus is probably the most remembered of the song, and it goes like this, “But I would walk five hundred miles and I would walk five hundred more just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door.” How far are you willing to walk for the person and people you love?

I was thinking about this song the other day as I was contemplating the Lent and Easter Season. Jesus walked everywhere, except when he was in a boat. He walked to Nazareth to Jerusalem every year with his parents to celebrate the Passover Meal; He walked from village to village and town to town preaching the good news; He walked all over the Galilean Region healing the sick, casting out demons, restoring sight to the blind, helping the deaf hear again, giving words to the mute, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, releasing captives, blessing the poor, and telling the paralyzed to stand up and walk. He walked by wells and places of gathering to forgive sins and to eat with Pharisees, Tax Collectors, and Unbelievers; He walked throughout the land inviting people to give up everything and to “follow him”; He walked in deserts, up mountains, into deserted places, and within the peacefulness of gardens to find restoration, isolation, and hope; and He walked, while carrying his cross, to his death on Calvary. Then three days later, He walked out of the tomb!

It is extremely evident that Jesus walked. He probably walked more than 500 miles! As a matter of fact, according to Ray Downing—a 3D illustrator and animator—“The Gospels give us a detailed accounting of these walks and destinations [within a region roughly the size of the state of New Jersey] and is [estimated] that during the three years of Jesus’ public ministry he walked approximately 3,125 miles.”[3] Besides walking to share the good news and to change the hearts and lives of many people, why did Jesus walk all those miles?

For the next several weeks, leading up to Easter, we are going to attempt to answer that question by walking with Jesus, from town to town as he takes his last step on Calvary but also takes his first step out of the tomb. And hopefully, as we walk with Jesus, it will become clear to why he walked all those miles and to why he invites us to continue to walk for him on this earth. Are you willing to walk 500 miles? Are you willing to put on those boots that are made for walking? Are you willing to walk for those you love and for the One who loves you?

 

Body:

On January 20, 1961, newly elected President John F. Kennedy delivered his inaugural address from the East Front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. In his address he announced that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, [and] oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”[4]

The speech, which Kennedy began constructing in late of November of 1960, was a reflection his words, his thoughts, his ideas, his dreams, his commands and demands of and for the people; and it covered an array of topics—calling the nation to combat “tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself”[5] while urging American citizens to participate in public service and unity. But what most people remember is what was said at the climax of his speech. President Kennedy stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”[6] Essentially what President Kennedy was urging the people to consider was to be of service: not to be waited on but to serve.[7]

I mention President Kennedy’s famous words because our walk with Jesus continues by considering the importance of words. Specifically, what it is that we ask for and seek out when we call upon Jesus. Jesus, much like President Kennedy, understood that the human mind asks a lot of questions: questions about ourselves and questions about what we can do for others. For example, according to Preaching Today, writer Ralph B. Smith once made an observation that “children ask roughly 125 questions per day and adults ask about six questions per day.”[8] Some reports have suggested that adults actually ask 25-30 questions a day and children ask up to 300 questions a day. Asking questions is part of our life; it’s a part of being human; its part of understanding what we hear and what we say. As we walk with Jesus to experience our own resurrection, we must take note of what it is that we are asking for, while also taking note of what it is that we are searching for and why we find ourselves knocking on certain doors. Today, we are reminded to ask not only what Jesus can do for us, but also what we can do for Jesus and others, the church included. What are you asking? What are you seeking? Why are you knocking?

 

Movement One: Before and After…

Before we get to the heart of today’s message, it’s important to take note of what is happening in this particular section of scripture. Jesus offers two parables—one before our scripture passage and then one right after—that teach us about persistence and what Jesus offers Jesus does.[9] Luke Chapter Eleven is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry; and the disciples are asking questions to strengthen their faith and to make sure that they begin to understand, as Peter stated, that Jesus is “The Messiah of God” (Luke 9:20). Their questions and their willingness to seek are what prompts Jesus to offer the follow two parables.[10]

First is the parable of persistence. Luke 11:5-8 reads, “And [Jesus] said to the [disciples], ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” And [the friend] answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.”

The story Jesus told was the story about a man and two of this man’s friends. Jesus told it by way of asking a question. He said, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.’”

In the Old Testament, one of the most important principles God enjoined upon His people was hospitality, taking care of sojourners and even strangers in your midst, not just friends. In this case, Jesus told of a man who received an unexpected visit from one of his friends. Because it was unexpected, he was unprepared. He did not have the food needed to provide for his visitor, but he had another friend, perhaps his next-door neighbor. So, he did what he could to take care of his unexpected visitor. What do we do when we run out of flour or sugar? We go with our hands open to our neighbor and say, “Can you loan me some flour, or loan me some sugar,” or bread, or whatever it is we need. We reach out for help.

Jesus put this in the form of a question: “You go next door and say to your friend: ‘I have an unexpected visitor. I don’t have any food. Can you loan me three loaves of bread so I can feed him?” Can you imagine that your friend next door says: “Go away. It’s too late. I’m already in bed with my kids and the door is shut? Leave me alone.” What neighbor would do something like that? Even if your friend were reluctant to get up and answer your request, for no other reason even apart from your friendship, by your persistence to keep asking for help, they would be annoyed enough to put an end to it and get up and give you whatever you need.

The first parable places the disciples in the role of a petitioner, banging on their neighbor’s door in the middle of the night. The reason—unexpected quests and the unforeseen need for food—is not important to the story, other than to convey the idea of need and urgency. Jesus inserted several details to draw the listener into the story; they have no deep “symbolic meaning,” notes Swindoll.[11] The host in need of bread obviously represents the disciple seeking something from God; and the reluctant neighbor could represent the push back we get from God when we tell God what we think we need rather than letting God tell us what we actually need. However, through our persistence—our willingnees to keep seeking God’s help, God will respond.

By the end of the parable, we learn that because of the person’s persistence—their continual knocking—the neighbor gets up and answers the door. Because the disciples continued to knock on people’s doors wherever they went, eventually people began to answer because they were beginning to believe. Because the sower continued to scatter the seed, the seed began to take root in many different kinds of soils. Because Jesus travelled from region to region preaching the good news, millions of people, to this day, have heard the good news and have been saved. Because each of you has taken the time to share your faith and invite others to church, we have the potential to grow. The first parable teaches us to be persistent in what it is that God is calling us to do.

The second parable helps us realize that what Jesus offers is what Jesus does. Luke 11:11-13 reads, “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

After comparing God the Father to a negative human example, Jesus used the image of a caring earthly father to illustrate the goodness of God. In fact, he made the connection even more moving by having his listeners imagine their own children coming to them with a request for a basic necessity. Again, the fish, snake, egg, and scorpion have no deep “symbolic meaning,”[12] according to Swindoll. “They merely give the story enough realism to help us connect with the story.”[13]

Jesus said, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?” When a son asks, “Daddy, please, could I have a piece of bread,” what kind of father would say, “Sure, here’s a rock, chew on that”? Jesus said, “If he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?” What kind of father would say: “You want a fish? Here’s a rattlesnake, chew on that”? Jesus continued: “Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?” What kind of father would say: “Do you want it over easy, sunny side up? While you’re waiting, play with this scorpion”? Jesus used the absurd to indicate how far this is removed from reality.

You see the final point of this second parable follows the strategy that Jesus regularly used with parables: using the absurd to teach us a lesson. Jesus implies that what we do — what we offer, what we say — should be acts of goodness and not acts of misleading. What Jesus offers, is what Jesus does. What Jesus does, is what Jesus offers. We must be willing to do the same in our life.

This leads us to our main scripture text for the day. In this text, we are encouraged to think about what it is we are asking for, what we are searching for, and why we are knocking. How are we persistent in pursing what Jesus offers and does?

 

Movement Two: Ask, Seek, Knock…

Just in case the disciples missed the point of what Jesus was trying to tell them, Jesus provides some clarification in Luke 11:9-10: “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to 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.” Let’s break this text done.

Ask. As I shared earlier, the average adult will ask anywhere from 6-30 questions a day. For example: “Where is the remote?” What should I watch on T.V.? What is for supper?” Did you remember to pick up cookies from the grocery store?” What should I do now?” “Where do you want to go out to eat?” “Did I remember to do that thing I said I was going to do yesterday?” “When did you purchase this?” And one of my favorite questions, “What was I just doing?” Let’s face it, we ask a lot of questions. And truth be told, we ask Jesus a lot of questions as well. Jesus, can you get me through this upcoming surgery? Jesus, can you help me? Jesus, is there a way you can help my friend? Jesus, can I tell you how I feel? Jesus, can heal my broken spirit? Jesus, can you restore my faith and lead me out of the darkness? Jesus, why am I going through this? Jesus, why did this have to happen? Jesus, can you protect, watch over, send your comfort down upon so-and-so? Jesus, can you let the Cardinals have a winning season and the Cubs have a losing season? We ask Jesus a lot of questions; and believe it or not, he hears all them. But he answers them in way that fulfills our needs and not our wants. He gives us what we need.

You know we are not the only ones who ask a lot of questions. Interestingly, according to author Martin B. Copenhaver, Jesus is also known for asking a few questions during his ministry. In the Gospels Jesus asks many more questions then he answers. Copenhaver, in the summary of his book, points out that Jesus “asks 307 questions. He is asked 183 questions of which he only answers three.”[14] Asking questions was central to Jesus’ life and teachings; and he is encouraging us to do the same in our life.

He encourages us here by saying, “Ask.” Elsewhere he tells us, “You have not, because you ask not.” We are encouraged by Christ and by the Apostles to bring our requests before God. These requests shouldn’t be things we want, but rather things we need. Our requests should reflect the nature of God, the salvation of Christ, and our own willingness to grow as disciples. Our requests should mirror the urge to serve and not be served. We can ask for a lot of things, but what Jesus really wants us to ask for is what is on our heart. What is it that you need to ask Christ of? If we ask with our heart, then it shall be given, it shall be received.

While we are encouraged to bring our requests before God, at the same time, the Bible tells us that the Father knows what we need before we ask Him. The purpose of our asking is not to go through a grocery list of things we want in order to inform God of our situation. He already knows it. If God already knows our needs and He is inclined to give these things, why bother to ask? The purpose of asking is not for God’s benefit. It is for us. Jesus was saying: “In your asking, open your heart. Tell God your concerns. He knows them, but He wants to hear them from you. He knows that it is good for you that you may come and pour out your heart to Him.”

Several years ago, I attended TEC, “Teens Encounter Christ.” At the end of every day we would gather together and sing, “Jesus, Jesus, Can I tell you how I feel? You have given me your spirit. I love you so.” Jesus invites us to ask him so that we can tell him how we feel, so that he can hear us. Today, what is it that you want to ask Jesus?

Seek. Next, Jesus tells the disciples to seek or to search. Jesus says, “Search, and you will find….” We hear it often in the Christian world: “My friend is not a believer, but he is searching.” What are they searching for? And why are they searching? We look at people who seem to be searching after Christ and we say: “Let’s help them in their quest. Let’s do to them what Jesus did for us: leave the ninety-nine in search of the one.” Yet the Bible says that they are not searching. Who is telling the truth? You and your perception and judgment, or God in His infinite wisdom who says, “No one seeks after God; God finds”?

This question was once raised to Thomas Aquinas. The question was asked this way: “Doctor Aquinas, why is it that all around us we seem to find people searching after God, yet the Bible says that no one seeks after God? How can that be?” Aquinas, in his peculiar wisdom, answered the question this way: “You see your friends and neighbors are searching for happiness. They’re searching for meaning in their lives. They’re searching for healing from their afflictions. They’re searching for relief from the paralysis of their guilt. What you see are people searching for those things that you know only God can give them. Then you rush to the conclusion that, since they are searching for the gifts of God, they must be searching for God. The problem with fallen humanity is that, in our fallen nature, we want the gifts of God without God.”[15] What want miracles without being a bother to God.

I believe what Aquinas is suggesting is something that we may struggle with ourselves. When you find yourself seeking, what is the true intent of your seeking? If you are seeking your keys, is it because you simply want to know where your keys are at or is because you need your keys to go somewhere. If you are seeking to come to church, then what is your intent? Do you come to church because it is part of your routine or do you come to church to grow your faith? While the disciples are caught in a storm in the Gospel of Mark, we read that Jesus intended to pass them by (Mark 6:48) because he knew they are going to be oaky. When calling upon the seventy in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells them to go where he intends to go (Luke 10:1) because he knows that his time is running short and he is not going to be able to make it to every place that needs to hear the good news. Over and over again, we are challenged to question what the intent of our actions are. We are challenged to think about what it is that we are seeking.

When we seek God or search for God, what is the intent of our seeking and searching? Are you seeking God the person? Or are you seeking what God can do? More often than not, when we say we are seeking God, we are seeking His works, His deeds, His teachings, His lessons, and His Son. We seek God’s healing, His comfort, His guidance, His mercy, and His safety. When we seek Jesus, we seek his unconditional love, his presence, his salvation, and his grace. When we seek the Holy Spirit, we are seeking to be empowered and cloaked in glory. And when we seek God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, what is our intent for seeking them out? Why do you need them in our life, at that particular moment?

Jesus said the seeking of the kingdom of God is to be our top priority when he said: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be added unto you” (Matthew. 6:33). Seeking after God—what God does—is the main and central business of the Christian life. The day we met Christ was the day we started a lifelong pursuit to know him more deeply and more fully. Let us understand that seeking is the business of the believer. Jesus said to those who are believers and are seeking that if you seek, you will find. But keep in mind Jesus doesn’t say when or where or how we will find. He merely says we will find. Jesus is waiting for you to seek him, so that you will find him. What are you seeking today?

Knock. Finally, Jesus said, “Knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Let me take you to the last book in the New Testament, the book of Revelation, where we read in the third chapter Jesus’ statements to the churches of Asia Minor. He gave rebuke and compliments to various aspects of the churches.

Jesus said to the lukewarm church: “I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.  Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.” (Revelation 3:19–20). How many times have you heard this text used in the context of evangelism? The gospel is preached and then the preacher says: “Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. If you will open the door and ask Jesus into your heart, he will come in and abide with you forever.” There are two things I want to say about this text.

First, the context in which Revelation 3:19–20 was initially given not as an evangelistic context. Jesus was not knocking on the hearts of unbelievers, but at the door of the church. That may seem strange, because we like to think that our church is open for anybody to come in. Certainly, our doors are always open for Jesus to come in. (And sometimes they open by themselves because of the wind!) Jesus Christ, whose church it is, should not have to knock to come into his church. However, there are tens of thousands of churches in this world that forbid Christ from their entranceways. The last person invited into those churches is Christ himself. I know we are not one of those churches. But if Jesus knocked on the door of our church, would we let him in? Or would we be afraid to answer the door?

Second, we say to the unbeliever: “Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, and if you open your heart, he will come in. Please ask Jesus to come into your heart.” I’m going to challenge you here a little bit: Jesus does not knock on the door of people’s hearts. You do not become a Christian because Jesus asks you to let him into your life. Rather, we become a believer because we knock on the door of Jesus and ask him to come into our life. If Jesus was the one knocking, he could be knocking a long time sometimes—because at times we fail to make Jesus our priority. Jesus has the power to enter our heart and life whenever and wherever he chooses. He doesn’t ask us, we ask him. He doesn’t knock, we knock.  When Jesus enters the heart of the unbeliever, he does not bother to knock. He comes in and opens the door for you. It is Christ who lets himself into our hearts to abide with us forever through his grace.

For many people, just standing at the door of Christ is a big accomplishment; then having enough courage to knock is a miracle. The sooner we choose to knock on the door of Christ, the less time the devil has to work on our life. If you knock, the door will be opened. Can you think of a moment when Jesus turned away anyone who knocked on his door? Has Jesus ever refused to answer the door when you have knocked? Probably not. All Jesus is asking is that you knock on the door. That knock will let him know that you are ready to follow him.

Have you ever waited for Jesus to knock on your door? Have you ever waited for Jesus to ask you to do something? Have you ever waited for Jesus to seek you out on your terms? If you find yourself waiting—instead of knocking, instead of asking, instead of seeking—just think about all the time you are allowing for the devil to enter your life. The time has come to ask, seek, and knock for Jesus to come into your life. We can’t wait any longer.

 

Movement Three: What is the Church Asking, Seeking, and Knocking on?

What Jesus is telling his disciples about asking, seeking, and knocking involves being persistent and realizing that Jesus will respond to them individually. However, another way to read this text is to ponder the perspective that Jesus is talking to the church.

Let’s return to that famous quote from President Kennedy: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”[16] For starters, Kennedy was asking the people to realize that the country was already doing a lot for the people and asking it to do one more thing could have potentially caused a detrimental tipping point of disaster. Therefore, he asked the people to begin asking themselves what they could do for their country. Essentially, how could they serve the country instead of the country serving them. President Kennedy was encouraging the people to ask, seek, and knock for the future of America and her people.

Now, when it comes to the church, when using President Kennedy’s ideology, it becomes a wakeup call. “Ask not what your church can do for you…” Sometimes we seek a lot from the church—pushing the church to do things that it is not capable of or ready to do because of limited resources. We want the church to meet us where we are, do what we want it to do, make it into something that it is not meant to be. Granted, the church should find ways to meet people where they are. The church should find ways to meet the needs of its people. The church is here for each of you. The church exists because of each of you: your faith, your belief, your commitment, your dedication. The church should be willing to answer your questions, seek you out, and answer the door when you knock. The church is here for you. But sometimes the church needs you just as much as you need the church.

However, you are also here for the church. “Ask what you can do for the church…” What are you willing to do for your church? What is the church asking of you? If the church is seeking you, will you let if find you? If the church is knocking on your door, will you answer and let it in? We all have a responsibility to the church. We all are given the task to grow the church, to expand the church, to improve the church, to bring life into the church, to maintain the upkeep of the church, to keep the faith of the church alive, and to make the church a place and space where people want to be. What are you willing to do for the church? Why do you choose to call this church your church?

As a church, we should always be willing to ask questions. But what questions are we asking and why are we asking those questions? What about those questions is going to help grow our faith and grow our church? As a church we should always be willing to seek and search. But what are we seeking? Who are we searching for? As a church, who is knocking on our door and are we answering? What sort of ideas, dreams, and hopes are standing outside our door and waiting to come in? What and whose doors are we knocking on?

I invite you to think about how this church has changed over the decades. Think about how it has physically changed. Think about the people that once worshipped here but are no longer here. Think about the moments that brought fear and disappoint to the church. Think about the moments that brought joy and laughter to the church. Consider those that should be here worshipping with us today but aren’t. Consider how the church has grown physically and spiritually. Consider the future of the church. Ponder the questions that need to be asked to keep our church alive. Ponder the opportunities for ministry that the church should be seeking, searching, and pursuing. Ponder how when you came knocking on the doors of this church, someone invited you in. Think about what we have done together as a church. Think about what comes next for the church!

The church will always do what it can to meet your needs, your ideas, your dreams, your hopes; but what can you do to meet the needs, ideas, dreams, and hopes of the church? Ask what you can do for the church, seek what you can do for the church, and answer the door of the church when someone comes knocking. Jesus is inviting us, as a church, to ask, to seek, and to knock so that we can continue to be the church this community needs, that we need, that you need. “What can you do for the church?”

 

Conclusion:

To bring this message to a close, I want to remind you again of the two parables that Jesus offers to his disciples. The first parable encouraged us to be persistent. When we ask God to do something or ask something of Him, we must be persistent, but not pushy. God will answer our request on His time and His answer will be what we need and not necessarily what we want. When we search for God, me must not give up after a few minutes if we haven’t found Him yet. We must not give up in our search for what can change our life. Sooner or later, what we are searching for, we will find as long as our faith and belief and trust in God are present. And when we knock, we must give Jesus time to answer the door. Jesus will answer as long as we keep knocking and don’t walk away.

The second parable motivates us to do the right thing. In terms of asking, when we ask, we must ask not from the state of greed but from a state of love and grace. What we ask God should come from the goodness of our heart. In terms of seeking, we are invited to seek what is good, what is just, what is righteous, and what is fair. We are not to seek the “Spirit of the Flesh”—sexual immorality, impurity, corruption, idolatry, sorcery,…, strife, jealousy, anger quarrels, dissensions, factions, or envy (Galatians 5:19-21)—but rather seek the “Fruit of the Spirit”—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). We are to seek those things which will lead to our salvation. And lastly, in terms of knocking, we are to knock on those doors that lead to change for ourselves and for others—those doors that conquer sin and administer goodness and great joy for all people.

These two parables not only lead us to thinking and acting like Christ, but they encourage us to really think about what it is that we are asking for, searching for, and the doors we are knocking on. What Jesus tells his disciples are words of personal reflection, but at the same time his words grant the disciples the chance to look around and hear and witness what and why the world is asking, seeking, and knocking. We can ask Christ and the church for a lot of things and each of them will respond in their own way. However, maybe what Jesus is actually telling us is what President Kennedy sought from this nation 64 years ago; and that is, what can we do for Christ and what can we do for the church to keep them both alive in our heart and within creation.

As adults, we may not ask as many questions as we did as a child, but we still are asking questions today. So, I leave you with five questions in which I hope you will ask yourself on a daily basis: What are you asking for today? What are you seeking in your life? When are you truly and faithfully going to knock on the door of Christ? What can you do for your church and the church do for you? And what are you willing to do for Christ? Ask, Seek, and Knock…

Let it be so…

 

Closing Prayer:

Let us pray: Dear Jesus, we have heard your parables and have taken their meaning to heart, but we ask for clarification so that what we ask for gets us closer to your love, that what we seek leads to your faith, and the door that we knock on is the door of your salvation. In your precious name we pray, Amen.

 

Benediction:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” These are the words from Jesus to you. Hear them, receive them, and proclaim them as Christ fulfills your requests.  May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; and May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26). In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit go forth walking with Jesus to a new resurrection. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

 

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Gonna_Be_(500_Miles)

[2] “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” has become a live staple at the Proclaimers’ concerts. The duo played it at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push at Murrayfield Stadium on 6 July 2005, the final concert of Live 8, to symbolize the conclusion of “The Long Walk to Justice”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Gonna_Be_(500_Miles)

[3] Ray Downing, “How Far Did Jesus Walk”, an online blog post published on February 21, 2023: https://www.raydowning.com/blog/2023/2/20/how-far-did-jesus-walk#:~:text=His%20journey%20was%20not%20a,he%20walked%20approximately%203%2C125%20miles.

[4] National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-john-f-kennedys-inaugural-address

The inaugural ceremony is a defining moment in a president’s career—and no one knew this better than John F. Kennedy as he prepared for his own inauguration. According to National Archives, a government website, Kennedy noted that “He wanted his address to be short and clear….” Reports have indicated that Kennedy began constructing his speech in late November of 1960; and while his colleagues submitted ideas for the speech, the speech was distinctly the work of Kennedy himself: his words, his thoughts, his ideas, his dreams, his commands and demands of and for the people.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] What President Kennedy put into action was what Jesus told his disciples several centuries before. Jesus said in the Gospels of Matthew (20:28), Mark (10:45), and John (13:1-17), “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

[8] “As Adults We Ask 119 Less Questions Every Day,” Preaching Today, https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2015/november/6111615.html

[9] And even before the first parable, Jesus teaches the disciples, after sharing with them the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), what to say when they pray: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial” (Luke 11:2-4).

[10] Keep in mind that a few verses late in Luke Chapter Nine, Luke tells us that the disciples were afraid to ask Jesus for clarification on what he stated.

[11] Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights: Insights on Luke, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2012, pg. 291.

[12] Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights: Insights on Luke, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2012, pg. 292.

[13] Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights: Insights on Luke, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2012, pg. 292.

[14] Martin B. Copenhaver, Jesus Is the Question: The 307 Questions Jesus Asked and the 3 He Answered, Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tennessee, 2014.

[15] R.C. Sproul, “Asking & Knocking,” https://learn.ligonier.org/sermons/asking-knocking

[16] National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-john-f-kennedys-inaugural-address