The Gift of Longing

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing."

C.S. Lewis (from "The Weight of Glory")

There is longing in every human heart because God created us needy.  We are carried in the womb for 9 months and emerge needing to be washed, fed, and carried.  Young children are completely dependent on their parents for love, provision, protection, nourishment, and training.  Unknown to little ones (and many older, independent folks too) is we have spiritual needs which outweigh the physical ones which are signaled by our bodies like hunger, thirst, and fatigue:  the need for forgiveness and redemption by God because we are sinners.

C.S. Lewis touched on a unique aspect of the human condition:  an appreciation of the arts, of music, pageantry, and beauty.  Our taste in clothing styles, music and cuisine differs, but the appreciation of skills and creativity beyond our own captivates and enraptures.  We long for love and acceptance, to be appreciated, to accomplish something significant and worthwhile.  This longing may be numbed or go dormant by cynicism or perceived failures, but the desire remains.  Have you ever known this longing, a dream that is felt more fully when awake than asleep?  Whether this longing burns bright or has died down to embers, it is a need only fully satisfied in God.

Isn't there a longing in everyone to be wanted, even to be needed?  We all want to be chosen, acknowledged as belonging, valued for who we are--though flawed.  The great God who created mankind has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ and called us all to Himself.  The beauty of His invitation to know and live with Him forever is not on the basis we are numbered among a select few but His awesome greatness and love for all.  The fabled courage of the knight risking life and limb against a fire-breathing dragon to save a princess only hints at the longing we have to be so courageous ourselves and is put to shame by the love demonstrated by God for us.  We want to be the brave knight but we are better cast as a vain and unfaithful damsel who grows to love her own reflection over all else.  While we were yet sinners Jesus Christ died for us so we could be saved!  All the songs and poetry of the world together cannot outshine this truth which eternally satisfies our deepest longings.

Worship the LORD in the beauty of His holiness!  Even now He is preparing room in His kingdom for all who return His love with trust.

Sought Out by God

I enjoy metal detecting as a hobby.  A few years back I bought a quality detector which has the ability to "discriminate" between various metals on a scale from 1 to 99.  The readings correlate with a change in tone which helps a detectorist (also called a fossicker in AUS) to choose quality targets.  I don't want to spend a lot of time digging up bits of foil or rusty nails when I could be digging coins.  Even with discrimination the depth and size of the object can give a signal that sounds better than reality.  My detector has the ability to completely silence a custom range to prevent digging up scrap iron or tiny bits of foil which saves a lot of time.

While I was digging through sand today I considered how Jesus had the power to discriminate, to know the hearts and minds of people without them uttering a word.  He could have gone only to the people who would be open to discussion or willing to believe, but He didn't.  Jesus actually did the opposite, going specifically to sinners who had need for repentance.  He ate with tax collectors and sinners, people the Jewish religious leaders avoided like lepers to avoid any uncleanness.  When Jesus went to a feast given in His honour, Luke 5:30-31 says, "And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" ³¹ Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."  Jesus sought out the people others had written off as unclean and sinning because they had need to repent of sin and by grace through faith in Jesus receive forgiveness and salvation.

Isn't God awesome and gracious to seek out people whose lives resembled a burnt-out rusted heap in a junkyard?  Other people may see us as a waste of space or a liability but God sees an opportunity to bestow His love and salvation.  It wasn't that He saw potential in a person to improve, like a collector seeks out rusted out cars to buy on the cheap to restore:  only Jesus has the potential in Himself to bring people dead in sins to life and can transform an eternal soul to have a relationship with Him never before realised.  God has sought out us sinners the world could not help, comfort, or save and has become our living Hope through the Gospel.  God loves people who have been created in His image despite our sins, and He loves those who choose to love Him because He is worthy.  This love, forgiveness, and redemption we could never hope to earn but we gratefully receive by His grace.

The Jehoram Lesson

The life of Jehoram in scripture is a most cautionary tale.  He was made king following the passing of Jehoshaphat, a king who was godly and loved by the people.  Jehoram was given the throne by birthright and his base character was quickly exposed when he killed his brothers and followed the ways of the idolatrous king of Israel.  We imagine a person will "rise to the occasion" when given a position of power but the opposite is true:  they can use their power to do more evil than ever.

With resources and a position which could have been employed to do great good for God's glory, Jehoram led the nation astray.  After years of idolatry, cruelty, and wickedness, God struck Jehoram with an incurable illness.  2 Chronicles 21:20 tragically relates, "He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one's sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings."  Did you see that?  Jehoram, "to no one's sorrow, departed."  What a legacy to have attached to the opportunity he had to excel as a honourable man, son, brother, dad, husband, or king.  He was offered the opportunity to receive the blessings of God and be a blessing but became a curse and byword.  He was not missed.

Jehoram was buried in the city of David because of his relation to King David, but he was not afforded the honour of being buried with the kings.  He did not live up to the honour and responsibilities of his station before God or man and thus was shamed even after a painful and prolonged illness which led to death.  He did not have the pity of even his immediate family, for to no one's sorrow he departed.  Do you know what is more profitable and useful than being mourned after your passing?  To use the days God has given you on earth to love one another as Jesus loves you.  Even the kings and leaders the people mourned greatly over were not present to receive the accolades and kind words spoken about them.  Better to honour God in life in all dealings with men because He is the One who supplies eternal rewards and honour by His grace.

If Jehoram had not been king, his corpse would have been viewed as no better than unclean refuse by his subjects.  Christians in this life may be despised for holding fast to their integrity and faith in God, but such are precious in the Father's sight.  Psalm 116:12-16 speaks of our motivation to live as ones loved and redeemed by God--not to earn His love:  "What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? ¹³ I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. ¹⁴ I will pay my vows to the LORD now in the presence of all His people. ¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. ¹⁶ O LORD, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds."  We deserve worse than Jehoram for our sin, but praise God He has offered us the cup of salvation, inclined His ear, and loosened our bonds because we are precious in His sight.

The Christian Tradition

A conversation I shared with a brother from church started me thinking about the impact of tradition in our expressions of faith and obedience.  Traditions in themselves are not necessarily good or bad but because of our bent towards formula, routine, and self-righteousness they can divorced from the original purpose or reasoning behind them.  We can adopt a legalistic view of what should be done when and how things must be to be done right--typically with our own experience setting the gold standard.

Take water baptism for example:  depending on your culture and Christian denomination beyond the theology there is great variety in the view of baptism, who is qualified to perform a baptism, how it is practically done, and the reasons behind it.  It may be we rely upon our own experience (which was likely impacted by tradition to some extent) rather than the scripture to form our ideas of why baptism in water is important.  Some imagine a person cannot be saved without it, and others downplay it altogether because it is not a "salvation issue."  The Bible is clear salvation occurs by faith in Jesus before baptism in water and not dependent on it (Acts 8:37, Acts 16:30-31) but was practiced in obedience to Christ (Matt. 28:18-20) and identification with Him (Acts 10:44-48).

One of the buildings our church moved into had a baptismal on the stage I believe we only utilised once:  our "tradition" was to go to the beach for a picnic.  We made a day of it and headed down to a nice spot in Mission Bay.  After lunch people made their way to the beach with guitars and sang worship songs.  A pastor addressed the people who gathered from the church and curious onlookers to explain we were having a baptism and why.  People stepped forward to be baptised and queued up to be baptised by a pastor or elder who prayed with them before immersing them in water and lifting them up to applause from the crowd.  I realise this experience would be considered strange or even bizarre by some because their traditions are different.  It is important I do not look back upon my experiences as free from tradition because the ceremony was relaxed and did not involve donning white robes.

No matter what church you attend, it is likely (to some degree) tradition has impacted what things are done and how.  It is the scripture--not tradition--which is to dictate why things are done and we can hold to God's unchanging truth with freedom to honour Him as He directs.  If the reason for us doing something are not supported in scripture, we are under no obligation to continue in it.  Growing up we often held a "sunrise service" early on Easter morning, yet there is no biblical mandate for this.  There is certainly nothing amiss with rising before dawn on Easter to remember with awe and praise our risen Saviour Jesus Christ.  One might say if Mary was willing to go to the tomb before it was day out of reverence for Jesus who she expected to find dead, how much earlier should we rise in honour of our risen King!  Tradition can be justified and staunchly defended as better and right, but that does not make those who keep it spiritually superior over anyone else.

Let us have our traditions but in identifying them as such let us not attach any moral or spiritual obligation to keep them beyond the scripture.  Doing things causes tradition to become an obstacle that hinders people from following Jesus in truth.  The Pharisees were masters of this, straining at gnats but swallowing camels.  Let us follow the scripture in step with the Body of Christ according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, giving grace to others whether they hold to a tradition or not.  Our call is to be convinced in our own minds and not give place to the devil through self-righteous judgments of others.  The Christian tradition Jesus established is one of freedom to worship and honour God according to the Bible and the leading of the Holy Spirit, not to follow tradition as the end in itself.