What it means to ask the Lord for what we want

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a departure from our usual lectionary cycle. We have revisited the creation stories in Genesis to study God and ourselves, to marvel at the miracle and mystery of life. We have taken time to remember and give thanks for our creaturely status and our blessed relationship with the creaturely world, particularly in our relationships to family pets.

This Sunday we return to the lectionary and find the Sons of Zebedee - James and John - asking to be elevated in position, to be placed at the right and left hand of Jesus. James and John want a promotion! They are so full of passion and excitement for the Good News they want to help oversee things and make good things happen for this created world trying to find its way back to union with God. What could be wrong with that? Nothing, nothing is wrong with this, though Jesus gives wise counsel and gentle pause.

The interaction between James, John, and Jesus gives us insight into what it means to ask the Lord for what we want. It gives us insight into prayer, passion, and how our deep longing to serve Jesus is ever entwined with our own limited human perspective, with our ideas of what is desirable or undesirable. We don’t know what we don’t know, and thank goodness Jesus walks with us daily as we live and grow and have this human experience.

See you Sunday!