Just Asking

Kingdom Heart Sermon Series

Ever had that experience, in city, maybe a downtown area, walking down street, see someone who you suspect is a homeless person

immediate temptation to avoid that person, to maybe slant away a little, not make eye contact

part of your concern is that they’re going to ask for assistance, they’re going to want you to give them some money

And it’s easier to avoid question altogether than to have to say “no” to that request, feel bad (but not so bad that you want to give money)

one of dynamics that’s happening in that kind of scenario is what Dallas Willard describes as “power of request”. There is power in simply asking.

We feel that when someone asks us for something - whether it’s homeless person wanting money for meal or neighbor asking to borrow a tool or friend asking for help to get something done or, as in our passage today, our children asking for something. We want to be able to say “yes” to them.

Jesus is teaching us here what it looks like to live in Kingdom of God, and one central way we do that is by just asking, requesting. To simply ask is a way of living out heartfelt love for all others, what we’ve been calling a Kingdom Heart.

Two foundational principles that have been basis of our series so far

First is that central to being part of Kingdom of God is to develop a Kingdom Heart, which is rooted in agape love, heartfelt love for all others. Love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength - and we love our neighbors as ourselves. This is heart Jesus wants to nurture in us.

Second principle is that Jesus is one who can teach us how to have Kingdom Heart. In fact, he is only one who can teach us how to have Kingdom Heart. So, if we’re going to have this true inner goodness, we must hear words of Jesus and put them in to practice.

Prayer / Matthew 7:7-12

The Power of the Ask

Jesus is teaching here about power of the request, of asking.

Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

When we hear this, we should be thinking along lines of proverbs, this is general wisdom for living.

in other words, Jesus isn’t saying that every time you ask, you’ll get what you’re asking for, every time you seek, you’ll find what you’re looking for, and every door you knock on is going to be opened. Some requests are turned down, sometimes we don’t find what we’re looking for, and sometimes door stays shut.

Idea is that this is generally true. That’s whole idea of proverbs, speak to way life works. And because it is generally true, you want to hear these words and put them into practice - to be people who ask, seek, and knock.

Typically, when we read this passage, we think about this in terms of praying. That if we ask God and seek after him, he will respond to us.

And this is true - and we’ll get to that.

But first I want to talk about it not about what this means for our vertical relationship with God, but with our horizontal relationships, ones we have with each other.

Dallas Willard makes point that Jesus is teaching us about prayer, certainly, but that he is also giving us wisdom about how we are to live life generally.

That this dynamic of request, asking, is way that Kingdom of God operates, its central to life in God’s kingdom - so we should practice power of request with one another. And I want to spend some time talking about what that’s all about.

General goodness of people

Other day, we had some neighbors over for dinner, and they have a five year old boy, Tobias, cute kid. And he was super excited about seeing our kittens. When they came to house, he pulled out string he’d brought to play with them.

We thought, we’ll eat dinner first and then Tobias can interact with kittens.

Tobias was having none of that. He went right to where kittens were.

Great evening, at end of evening, we’re saying good-bye, and I was about to say to Tobias, come on over anytime to play with kittens. And I caught myself. Jason will not appreciate that. If I say that to Tobias, you know what’s going to happen next. He’s going to be asking all time - can we go over and see kittens? I want to play to kittens. And Jason is going to have to be bad guy who says “no” to his kid.

This is exactly Jesus’ point here. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Jesus is talking about fact that we live under this general law, basic way that God made us as human beings, basic human decency.

Same general goodness Jesus referenced before in his Sermon on Mount, when he was teaching us to love our enemies, greater love. Part of his point was that tax collectors, they love those who love them, the Gentiles they greet, they welcome warmly their “people”, their friends (you tend to treat well those people you like, people who treat you well). Most people do that. Nothing special about it. Jesus is saying that same thing is true of asking - way we generally treat one another.

Parents, even those that might not be greatest in other ways, still want to delight their kids on their birthdays, on Christmas, give them that toy they’ve been aching over

Sometimes we refrain from asking for help in some way because we know that people will feel burden to try to help us, and we don’t to be burden to others.

Jesus’ point isn’t that this is one way to get what we want - or that it’s all about getting what we want, he’s teaching us about Kingdom Hearts.

Heart of the Community

Jesus is teaching us what life in Kingdom Community works when we have heartfelt love for all others. Asking - seeking - knocking is how we lovingly interact with one another. Jesus is teaching us that this is way we are to live out all of our relationships, because heartfelt love expresses itself by asking.

All along, Jesus has been teaching us ways that we shouldn’t be interacting with one another

Because Jesus knows that we can use anger or contempt as weapon, as way to get people to do what we want. When someone is not acting way we want, we’re getting frustrated, we yell, we get angry - manager yelling at their employee, coach speaking condescendingly to player, parent with child.

Even way we use our words, Jesus wants us to speak plain, honest truth - let your yes be yes and your no, no. Because temptation is to use our words in deceitful or manipulative ways to get people to think or act in way we want them to.

Last week we talked about condemnation engineering, using judging (condemning) and pearl pushing against others. It’s way of compelling others, straightening them out, you guilt or shame them into doing what you want.

We can be tempted to use all these ways because there’s vulnerability in simply asking. Person might say “no” to what we’re asking. We hedge our bets, improve our odds by acting in anger or using manipulative words, guilting them.

But in Heavenly Kingdom, in this community, we simply ask. We request. We do this in what Willard calls, genuine and free relationships, where there is real sharing of hearts.

And this is possible when we’ve learned to control our anger and contempt, we don’t condemn or judge or use our words in manipulative ways.

As Willard says, “Asking is indeed the great law of the spiritual world through which things are accomplished in cooperation with God and yet in harmony with the freedom and worth of every individual.”

This is true power of asking, it’s how God created us to lovingly interact with each other in way that does honor freedom and worth of every individual.

Notice that Jesus sums up his teaching here with what is known as the Golden Rule: So in everything, do to others what you would have them to do for you.

You want to be treated that way, treat others that way.

You want your freedom and worth to be honored by others, honor the freedom and worth of others. You do this by asking.

When I was in college, I took a Water Safety Instruction class. Part of the class involved teaching us how to work with those who were disabled, so they could enjoy swimming safely.

So, we practiced that, we’re all around pool, on the deck, and one of us sat in wheelchair, playing role of disabled person, and rest of us were supposed to figure out how to get them in water safely.

We’re going through all these strategies, trying to figure out the best way to pick them up and lower them into the pool.

after going through all that, teacher pointed out one glaring mistake, one thing we did not consider. Asking. Asking person in wheelchair. We had failed to honor their freedom and worth.

God never does. He always honors us this way. He never forces or compels or treats us with contempt or manipulates us with words of deceit or condemnation.

You see this in person of Jesus, Jesus lived out dynamic of request. Throughout Gospels you see Jesus asking, often asking for help.

Asks woman at the well for a drink of water, “Will you give me a drink?”

And speaking of disabled persons and pools, In John 5, Jesus approaches invalid laying next to pool of Bethesda. He’d been invalid for 38 years. What does Jesus do when he sees him? He asks. “Do you want to get well?” Because this is way of Kingdom, how we love each other freely and fully.

Consider Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me”. An invitation is form of asking. I’m inviting you, how will you respond? We have freedom to choose to follow Jesus, or freedom to go our own way. There are consequences to either of those choices, but there is always freedom to choose.

Proper request gives others freedom to say, “no” (or “yes” or “maybe” or “I don’t know” or “can you give me time to think about it” or whatever else might be needed.)

And, of course, God treats us in way that he wants us to treat him. God asks. He honors our freedom and worth by asking. And he invites us to do same by asking him.

Prayer, at its most basic, is request. Is asking. It’s asking within Kingdom, way life is within Kingdom of our heavenly Father, where there is real sharing of hearts, genuine and free relationships.

God wants us that only for us with each other, but with him as well.

It’s out of this relationship, genuine and free relationship with God, that we are to pray, to ask.

Jesus reminds us of how wonderfully generous Father is. If you, though you are evil, know about giving good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him.

He is good. His heart overflows with generosity. Daily we experience his gifts, they simply flow out of his goodness, pouring into our lives (whether we recognize it or not)

Other morning I woke up, one of those days, I felt refreshed and ready to go…gift of sleep, rest. I’ve been giving thanks for how God simply makes things flourish - honestly, doing some yard work - pulling weeds. Plants just keep growing. And not just plants, animals - foxes at Mountain View Elementary. World God’s given us, flourishing with life.

And if this is true of prayer, that it’s simply asking Father as part of Kingdom living, way genuine loving relationships are lived out in Kingdom among us, then that teaches us some things about praying (asking).

Dallas Willard says that we start by praying for things we are truly interested in.

Movie with Sandra Bullock called Miss Congeniality where she plays FBI agent, Gracie, who has to go undercover in beauty pageant. Comedy, fish out of water movie, she’s more rough and tumble.

Hosts are asking each of the contestants, “What is one thing our society needs most?” And each of the contestants responds by saying, “World peace.”

Until it’s Gracie’s turn. Gracie’s response is, “That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.”

Crickets from crowd. Awkward silence - until she adds the response every other contestant has given, and World Peace. Clapping and cheering.

With God, we aren’t to pray for things just because we think those are things we should be praying for, these grandiose prayers - that may be wonderful needs, but often remote to us, things we have little interest or knowledge of.

We’re praying out of genuine loving relationship, we should pray for what truly interests us.

If we consider examples Jesus gives, he’s describing children asking their father for basic needs (bread, fish).

We ask, trusting that God wants to us to bring to him concerns that are on our hearts.

We know, based on everything Jesus has taught us so far that if those things are being driven by anger or contempt or lust or selfish desires - God will not grant those prayers.

If same way that no good parent would grant such request.

As Dallas Willard says, “Prayer is matter of explicitly sharing with God my concerns about what he, too, is concerned about in my life. And, of course, he is concerned about my concern and, in particular, that my concerns should coincide with his.”

which is a way of saying that more we come in honest and genuine relationship to God, asking for things that truly interest us, more our hearts will be united to his, and more our interests will reflect what He is interested in.

We will ask for very things he most wants us to ask for. And he will joyfully grant them.

Because that’s kind of Father he is. And that’s exactly how he wants us to be with him - and with one another, sharing our hearts with one another, because we’re living way God made life to be in His wonderful kingdom.

So, will you live out heartfelt love for one another by asking, seeking, knocking? Just asking.