Just ask

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020324.cfm
I Kings 3:4-13
Mark 6:30-34

On rare occasion the common thread running through the readings and the Psalm is bright enough to be readily identified. Today’s thread is luminescent, fluorescent and just a tad brighter than normal. The Old Testament text begins with the following exchange between God and a young King Solomon:

“God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”

Solomon replies:

“Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.”
“Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.”

And God says:

“Because you have asked for this–
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies,
I do as you requested.
In addition, I give you what you have not asked for,
such riches and glory that among kings there is not your like.”

The Psalm follows with a prayer that the Lord make the petitioner unyielding in following his directives and a refrain that the person be rightly instructed.

“With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
Lord, teach me your statutes.”

The actions of the people in the Gospel mirror the words of the Psalmist; and the response of Jesus mirrors that of his Father in the Old Testament story.

“People saw them leaving and . . . .
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.
When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.”

If there were an additional reading chosen for today it would necessarily be from the Gospel of John.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

Some might read these texts and conclude that all Christians should be healthy, wealthy and wise — provided, of course, that they are also early to bed and early to rise. On the other hand some also maintain that: Early to rise and early to bed makes a man healthy and wealthy and dead. In either case, health and wealth were rejected by Solomon in favor of the one gift of wisdom. And, since God did not perceive Solomon as duplicitous in making his request, neither should we. Still, we have the word of God today: “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” along with the teaching of Jesus as recorded by John: “. . . that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

There are occasions when people complain that God did not answer their prayer. You know that experience as well as I. A common response is that God did answer and the answer was ‘No.’ That seems inadequate both as it relates to the promise and its fulfillment - or lack thereof. Not even Jesus was able to work miracles whenever and wherever. So, what’s missing?

Let’s turn the page back to the beginning where Solomon is presented with the initial offer. The Lord may have proffered an open-ended proposition; but the proposition was understood by Solomon in the best sense. He regarded the enormity of the task before him, the importance of these people to the Lord and his own deficient position as a young king. Consequently his reply . . . his request went to the heart of the matter: I need, he says, what it takes “. . . to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.”

The prayer of the Psalmist flows from his singular situation rather than as one in charge of so many others as was the case with Solomon. But the sense is the same: I need what it takes.

With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
Lord, teach me your statutes.

And finally, the speed with which the followers rush to find Jesus speaks of an inner desire for the divine which Jesus will seek to fill by his teaching.

They hastened there on foot . . . .
. . . and he began to teach them.

The promise of the Father to give and Jesus’ assurance that whatever we ask will be given is circumscribed by just two things: Will fulfilling our request glorify God? Will fulfilling our request bring us closer to him? All else is but a blessing.

So! God made an extraordinary offer to Solomon three thousand years ago.

Today he makes that offer to you.

What will you choose?