A Community of Child-like Trust
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
If you were to read the entire Sermon on the Mount through without stopping, by the time you get to the middle of chapter 7 you might feel a little overwhelmed. Jesus has set the bar very high for us. In paragraph after paragraph, he calls us beyond ourselves, to a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees, and to lay down our lives in ways that are unnatural to us. So at this point you might be thinking, “I can't do this!” So perhaps that's why this section in 7:7–11 is placed right here.
In this section, Jesus reminds us that we have a good Father who is there to help us and provide, and what he wants most from us is to ask for the help that we need. You could say this little section is about prayer, but more broadly it is about our relationship with God. Jesus says that through him we can relate to God as a little child relates to a loving parents, holding back nothing of our need and expecting that God will provide as a good Father does. You could say that Jesus is offering an “upside-down” vision of personal maturity: that the the really mature person knows that they are a little child, depending on the Father for everything.
As you prepare for worship this Sunday, consider the following:
Do you think there is any reason that this section follows Jesus’ teaching on not judging others? How might Jesus’ teaching on our relationship to God relate to our relationship with others?
What is the significance of Jesus telling us to ask, seek and knock? What does that say about us and about God?
What are some obstacles that keep you or us from praying and asking God for our needs in the way that Jesus describes?
What do you think are the “good gifts” that Jesus promises God the Father will give us, especially in the context of the whole Sermon on the Mount?
Matthew 7:7–11
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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!