Ask and ye shall Receive

Holy Communion at St Giles Thursday 17 March 2011

Gospel Matthew 7

Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory.
The Lord is a great God, O that today you would listen to his voice.
Harden not your hearts.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N.
All Glory to you, O Lord.

Judging Others

¹ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.

⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

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; those who seek find; and to those who knock, 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! ¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
All Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Sermon on Mount.
Jesus turns from one issue – God and Mammon – to another. How to treat one’s neighbour. Do not judge or condemn.

This is not just prohibition. Not a rule to follow. Rather, it is a way of calling for mercy on our part. We should be tolerant and show humility. If we are this way, the result inevitably is we would not judge and would not condemn others.

Also, in condemning others we often fail to condemn ourselves and are hypocritical. Hence, remove the log from your own eye before pointing out the speck in your neighbour’s eye.

Verses about pearls and swine are hard to explain in this context. But there follows a passage on prayer. Children, and many adults find this teaching hard. Why if Jesus exhorts us to ask, and ye shall receive do we so often not get those things we pray earnestly for?

Do we in our sin ask for the wrong things? Are we selfish in praying for our loved ones and ourselves? Do we talk too much in our prayers, and not listen enough? Surely silence and waiting upon the Lord should be the bulk of our time of prayer.

The clue may be in what is promised. In Matthew God promises to give us good things in answer to prayer. Who can judge what is good for us but God alone? In the equivalent passage in Luke 11, the promise is slightly different.

¹³ 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

This then is our prayer, especially during Lent. To wait upon the Lord. To ask for those good things he has promised us. And to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide, counsel and be with us, both now and for evermore.

Amen