Ask, Seek and Knock

Brad opened the service by thanking everyone involved in making Saturday evening's Valentine Sweetheart Banquet a special occasion, especially Leonard Armstrong who prepared the feast, Susie Newman, Susie Lane, Nancy Vanderscheuren and Ed Newman who served as MC for the entertainment portion of the event, plus special guest Corianne Lee.

The quartet began the worship time with the Gaither Trio song "God Is Good" followed by "If That Isn't Love." After a time of worship and the offering, we listened to the reading of I Corinthians 3:1-9.

Ask, Seek & Knock

Pastor Brad began by sharing how he's lately been studying the Sermon on the Mount as a whole as opposed to the piecemeal manner in which it is often contemplated where we think about the Beatitudes at one time and the story of the house built on a rock another time. By meditating on the sermon holistically, new insights can be gained.

Today's message was on prayer, but Brad wanted us to see that this section where Jesus taught us about prayer is integrally related to what precedes it, words of caution about judging others. Jesus' words, "Ask... seek... knock" are given to us in the context of relationships. Interestingly enough, what immediately follows is the Golden Rule, "Do unto others..."

If Christians would conduct themselves with the attitude of ask, seek, knock we might get more headway in our relationships and our efforts in the world. Ask means to get permission. Seek, in the original Greek, is to seek and keep seeking. Knock means don't barge in, don't force things.

As mentioned, the section just before this is dealing with horizontal relationships. Jesus takes things into a vertical direction, but it is still about relationship, only now He addresses our relationship with God.

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

God is our Father, and like a good Father He responds to our requests. Just like earthly fathers, he cares and listens. Yet, as C.S. Lewis notes, prayers are not always granted. God, who is perfect, knows what we need and responds with our best interest in mind.

Brad noted that God is unchanging in character, and raised the question whether it is futile for us to try to change His mind when something has been decided. He then cited two examples where God did indeed change his mind, the first being in Exodus 32 where Moses interceded on behalf of Israel. The second time was when Isaiah visited Hezekiah who was dying and God gave the king another fifteen years of life. In other words, if we ask, sometimes we really can change God's mind.

Pastor Brad cited an especially good prayer for certain circumstances. "Lord, if this is of You, may it increase. If it is not of You, may it go away."

Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. This is what God wants us to do. This is how we show our earnestness.

When seeking God's will, Brad affirmed that the more important thing is not what we do but rather who we become. God's aim is to make us like Jesus, and our character is more important than whether we move this direction or that.

Ultimately, God's desire for us is a relationship with Himself, that we pursue Him more than "answers."

As the Scripture states, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." What this means is that when we know and understand God's heart we can move in greater harmony with Him.

It's like at a party when your spouse is across the room and he or she indicates it's time to go with that look in the eyes. So it is we know God's heart and intent by looking full in His face.

Prayer is not a technique. It is not something mechanical like pushing the right buttons, or an incantation where you have to say the right words. It is a relationship.

Knock, and keep on knocking.

In closing we drank in again the words of that great hymn Be Thou My Vision.

First in the Pool

Pastor Brad, having been at a conference all week, yielded the pulpit to Pastor Dave Eaton this morning, but welcomed us warmly and led the service. In his opening remarks Brad reminded us that everything we do matters. For Christians, life is not simply a "holding pattern" till Jesus returns. Our actions here matter and we're on earth to make a difference.

Announcements were several.
1) Saturday is the Sweetheart Banquet here at the church, featuring delicious hors d'oeuvres, exquisite cuisine and scrumptious desserts by Chef Leonard, followed by a modest evening of entertainment. You can't beat the price... free (with a suggested donation of ten dollars for those who are able.) 5:30 p.m. Saturday the 12th.
2) Paula S. reminded us that a number of folks from the church will be going as a group to see a theatrical production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None at St. Scholastica the weekend of the 19th. Call Paula if interested in being part of it and to suggest whether Saturday eve or Sunday at two is best for you.
3) Susie Newman shared that if anyone is interested in more information on being a mentor through Mentor Duluth, give her a call.
4) Deacons meeting is Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.
5) This Wednesday will be an Adventure Club Fun Night with sledding and a bonfire.

Darlene played a beautiful medley of Open Our Eyes, Lord and Be Thou My Vision to begin the service in earnest. After leading us in worship, Brad read to us from John 5:1-15, the passage from which today's sermon would be derived. After a time of prayer, Pastor Eaton brought us the message.

First in the Pool

The Pool of Bethesda was a place of expectation. The basis of this expectation was a belief that at certain times the waters would be stirred and the first into the pool after the stirring of the waters would be healed. In fact, some translations of the Bible include a verse explaining the basis of this belief, in verse four: For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. (KJV)

This "stirring of the waters" was not something that occurred daily. It was an occasional event, and unfortunately for those who were especially debilitated, the least seek could usually reach the pool faster and get there first.

The story tells of an invalid who had been poolside there for 38 years. It is probable that at this point he had lost hope of ever being healed. Possibly he was paraplegic, and most certainly a man with hygiene issues, a man neglected and ignored. But when Jesus saw this man, He had compassion.

The story records three statements that Jesus made to this man that are applicable to all of us who are in need.

1) "Do you want to get well?"
We get used to things. When things become familiar to us we often don't even notice them anymore. We often adopt an attitude of resignation to our problems and some people even get a sense of identity from their misery.

What Jesus was saying is, "Do you have the will to be healed?" The man himself began like many of us do, making excuses. In his case, he said he had no one to help him into the pool. But why was he alone? Why did he have no one there? Has he alienated the people who once loved him?

2) "Get up. Pick up your mat and walk."
Grace is an amazing thing. God is willing and able to help us. This man's healing was wholly grace, but for grace to take effect it required a response of faith. To his credit, the invalid when instructed attempted to obey, and was indeed healed. God did it, but the man had a response of faith.

Note the reaction of the religious leaders though. They were no rejoicing. Yet had they noticed him before? Had they shown compassion to the man before? Instead they are critical legalists. Spiritual legalism is a life sucking spirit. The problem was in the early church and is often with us today.

3) "Stop sinning"
As He addressed the woman caught in adultery, so Jesus spoke here an important third statement. We have been healed to bring glory to God and to leave behind what does not bring honor to Him.

As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2)

The important thing for each of us in our relationship with Jesus, which gives us the strength to follow that which God has called us to be and do.

After a story about a man who rescued a drowning swimmer, we celebrated the Sacrament of Communion.