Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Preaching on today’s scripture readings is not easy. The reason simply is that in life, neither do we get haggle with God the way Abraham did, nor do we always receive whatever we ask, find whatever we seek, and not every door opens when we knock. On Thursday, I visited the family of an eleven-year-old child who was killed in a car accident along with his father. When you encounter such intense grief, what do you say? What do we ask, what do we seek, which is the door at which we knock? Coming Wednesday I have this child’s funeral. My struggle is not trying to haggle with God like Abraham. My struggle is not asking, seeking, and knocking. I am struggling to simply finding words. As the grieving mother said to me, “There are no words!”
Perhaps you have felt similarly. There are times in my life too when words have failed to capture my sentiments.
Having said all this, we still have today’s readings with which to contend. What shall we make of the conversation between God and Abraham? What shall we do with Jesus’ words, “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”? (Lk 11:10).
I would like to reflect upon these questions in three points.
The Relationship
First, I could not help but notice that, in one way or another, all the three readings are about relationship. The conversation between God and Abraham borders on comical but also reveals the depth and quality of their relationship. Abraham’s sense of awe yet familiarity with God, his conversational style yet his acknowledgement of God’s power, his willingness to haggle with God without crossing the boundaries exemplifies a deep and intimate relationship. From Abrahams side it was a relationship of reverence and trust. From God’s side it was relationship of openness, compassion, and mercy.
Jesus takes the divine-human relationship even further. He taught his disciples to relate to God as Father. In my own personal prayer, I address God as father and mother. In the same reading Jesus also uses an analogy. The parable about a friend brothering his closest friend at midnight invites us to think our relationship with God in terms of friendship.
It seems to me that, first and foremost, these scripture readings are about relationship. They invite us to reflect on our own relationship with God. If we wrote a story about how we imagine God’s relationship with us; about how we describe our relationship with God, how will that story read. If we had to find key words to describe our relationship with God, what words might we use?
Ask, Seek, Knock
What do we do about “ask, seek, and knock”? I don’t have to impress upon you that we do not receive everything we ask for, find everything we seek, and not every door we knock opens. Life has probably taught us that already. Perhaps, the more important thing to understand is that if indeed we could receive everything we asked for, find whatever sought, every door would be open at every knock, life would play out very differently. Even as parents and friends, we do not give whatever our children or friends ask and seek. And why? Because if life worked that way, many important lessons of life would never be learnt.
Perhaps, then, this passage separates life and eternal life. Luke says, in today’s gospel reading, “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" (Lk 11:13). Whereas in life we do not obtain everything we ask, find everything we seek, and we do not find every door open, it is the opposite in when it comes to eternity. In fact, nothing comes in the way when we ask, seek, and knock at heaven’s door.
One of the messages for me in today’s scripture is – life may disappoint; eternity will not.
Ask, Seek, Knock… Continued
We still have not unraveled “ask, seek, knock”. My reflection thus far lays limits on our asking, seeking, and knocking. In other words, I have said that asking, seeking, knocking doesn’t always yield the desired results. Yet, I am one of those people who believe that our relationship with God should be such that we dare ask for whatever it is we need. This does not mean that we can ask for those things that God cannot give. For instance, we cannot ask God that God help us rob a bank. Nothing evil can come from God.
The point I am trying to make is that we should let our relationship with God drive our dependence on God. Abraham had a relationship so deep and intimate that he was able to haggle with God. Even though Sodom and Gomorrah were not spared Abraham’s relationship with God remained intact. As Jesus teaches us, if our relationship with God is like that of a child with a father, then we should have the confidence to bring any and all of our needs before God. Again, if God is indeed our friend, then, we can come before God with confidence and trust. In fact, it is our relationship that leads us to ask, seek, and knock. The focus here is not necessarily on what we get from God in return but on the relationship. Even if we do not get what we ask, find what we seek, and even if doors we knock do not open, our relationship stays intact. After all, at the end of life’s journey, when we enter the door to eternity, all that we asked and sought will be fulfilled in Christ. On that day, the most important door will be open for us – the door to eternity.
As we celebrate this Eucharist, let us come before God with confidence. God cares and provides us as a father for his children. Today, God gives us the very Body and Blood of God's Son. That is the door to eternity itself.
- Fr. Satish Joseph