Longing

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Those who follow Jesus will be hungry and thirsty along the way. They are filled with longing for forgiveness of all sins and for complete renewal; they long for the renewal of the earth and for God's perfect justice."

Is this really what those who follow Jesus in the United States long for? Is it really what I long for? Certainly, I long for forgiveness and renewal for myself. And, certainly, I want it for others, but do I really long for it? To long for something seems to be a more serious yearning.

Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

I hunger and thirst for a lot of things. Admittedly, my own righteousness more often than Gods'. I mean, who doesn't want to be right? I, like most Americans, want to be right, to have the finer things in life, the right house in the right neighborhood with the right car wearing the right clothes having the right electronics, right dreams, right goals, right body, right schedule, right job with the right company, etc., etc., etc.

So how can I long for God's righteousness? How can the church help to heal this absurd longing for things? I think the best way for communities of faith to alleviate our insatiable desires is to stop modeling it! How many times have people of faith been in church meetings longing for church vans, bigger organs, family life centers, more young families, more tithers, more state of the art equipment, more, bigger, newer, better? We can't model justice while continuing to live unjustly.

Lord, help your people to learn to say no. No to suffering. No to injustice. No to personal righteousness. No. Lord, may your kingdom come.