“Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.”

Controversy is no stranger to the book of Revelation.  Rarely is a commentary so mainstream or midstream that it doesn’t cause a furor about this closing book of the Bible.  Doctrinal rivalries about it give Christianity a bad name. Actually, maybe it’s not the doctrinal disparities at all…maybe it’s the lack of love Bible scholars have toward those that disagree with them.

Either way, Revelation’s second and third chapters detail the Spirit’s messages to the seven churches of Asia Minor.  Last, and probably least, is the message to the church of Laodicea, the lukewarm crowd that gets spit (or vomited, depending on your translation) out of Christ’s mouth (v. 17).  So when Jesus says he stands at the door — presumably of the church, not an individual’s heart — the question, and thus the controversy, is: is this a church of genuine believers?  Or is this a bunch of CINO’s (Christians in name only)?  Would the same Jesus who says he’ll never leave us nor forsake us really spit/vomit us out of his mouth?  What are we doing in there, anyway?  And do the white clothes (v. 18) represent garments of salvation as we find elsewhere in Revelation?

The answers will reveal whether or not Christ’s knocking at the door is a salvation knock or a fellowship knock.  Whoever in the church opens the church door will enjoy Christ’s company over food. But is this a first time fellowship (salvation) or a restoration of what they had before (fellowship)?  See, the controversy rolls on.

As I pondered this controversy, I began to think of other places where the idea of knocking occurred in Scripture.  My mind quickly went to Matthew: “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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (7:7-8).  It struck me that the idea contained in these two verses wasn’t about us wringing goodies from the hand of a stingy God.  It was all about the kind of God that would give, allow us to find and open up to anyone who asks, seeks and knocks.  What kind of God does that?  Certainly not a tightwad or a penny-pinching cheapskate.  “Which of you, if his son ask 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!” (vs. 9-11). acrostic

Then this question popped up: What had to happen for these kinds of answers to come from this kind of God?  With a broken and unfixable (from man’s perspective) relationship with God, it wouldn’t be possible simply by our asking, seeking or knocking. No, something had to precede our action: God’s action and initiative that would fill the void, cross the gap and close the wound.  It would have to be Christ making the results of asking, seeking and knocking.  And that happened on the cross (Romans 8:32).

Finally, I began to raise this question: If God tells us to ask, seek and knock, do the Scriptures mention anywhere that he does that for us?  Does he ask for us?  Seek for us?  Knock for us?  As an aside, we might be familiar with the a-s-k acrostic that is found in “ask”, starting off our searching trio.  But the answer is a clear yes.  Back in Revelation 3, we clearly see Jesus knocking.  That is immediately followed by this: “If anyone hears my voice…”  What would Jesus be saying with his voice while he knocks?  Wouldn’t he be calling, asking if anyone was home, if anyone would open the door?  Isn’t he asking for a favorable reply?  Of course.  That takes care of the ‘a’ and the ‘k’.  Where is the ‘s’, the seeking?

In John 4, Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well.  She tried to worm her way out of a delicate situation.  Here this Jewish man was in her presence not only talking to her, but also showing interest in her well being.  Trying to avoid her personal sin, she shifts the discussion to the proper place for worship.  In his response Jesus tells her that the Father seeks true worshipers (v. 23).  There’s your ‘s’.

Because God is a seeking God, he sent Jesus who asks and knocks.  For his kids, they can ask, seek and knock and find positive responses.  Does God find similar positive responses from us?