BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

THURSDAY AFTER FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

I pray my title got your attention. Today is Mark 10:32—45

Today James and John ask if they can be “at his right and at his left.” They think Jesus is going to become our equivalent of President and even more…and they are looking for a promise that they will get some really great political appointments. If we think about who will be at Jesus’ right and left in a few days’ time, then you and I will wince—the place of two thieves.

James and John struggle with what some of us struggle with. Some of us think following Jesus means that we will somehow enjoy a favored place—or in religious speak—a blessed life. In point of fact we do receive a blessed life…it is just that we have a different idea of what a blessed life is as compared to God.

My parents used to say “be careful what you ask for.” As people who had more life experience, as people who could see the bigger picture, they often could see the foolishness of my request. When we ask God for certain things we have no sense of the big picture, and we at times like James and John, often have a misguided understanding of just how things are going to work out. The lesson is the same. I needed to learn to trust my parents…to be faithful to them…to not go behind their backs to get what I wanted at all costs…because I believed they had my best interest in mind. Now I am adult (at least chronologically) and so while the lesson is the same, I think I have to remind myself that my posture and attitude towards God needs to be that of a child…one who believes that God has my best interest in mind…so…be careful what you ask for.