What Our Hearts Long For
Yearning: a feeling of intense longing for something
It seems like the year has barely begun, yet Holy Week has already arrived. As I was praying about, and considering different passages for this week, one theme came to my mind again and again: yearning. We will all spend our lives yearning for different things. When we are born, we yearn for comfort and nourishment. As we grow older our desires continue to change and develop, but never disappear.
Many religions promise freedom from this perpetual cycle of yearning. The goal is to become “enlightened” and do away with our base desires. The problem with this idea is twofold. First, none of these religions can really deliver what they promise. They don’t do away with our yearnings, they just make (poor) substitutions. You can rename them, reassign them, or even hide them, but we are built to yearn. And that is the second issue, our yearning is not a design flaw or product of the fall.
Humanity was designed to yearn for things. Adam desired a companion that was his compliment. In the Garden, I fully believe that Adam and Eve yearned to walk with God and be with Him. The difference between then and now is that we live in a fallen world where our yearnings are twisted and even our good yearnings can go unfulfilled.
All hope is not lost, though. Into this tragedy comes the One who fulfills our yearnings and remakes our fallen desires. While we could certainly trace this idea throughout the entirety of redemptive history, we find ourselves in the middle of Holy Week. One of the things that fascinates me about the Gospels in general, and the Holy Week narratives in particular, is the unbridled passion with which the people receive Jesus. Zacchaeus climbs a tree and the disciples sing praises and lay down their cloaks. Crowds come out of Jerusalem to ask questions and throng around Jesus when he is in Jerusalem. Even those with more nefarious motives greet the approach of Jesus with passion. Judas schemes and the Pharisees muster opposition at every turn. Even as the attitude of the crowds shift and the Romans enter the picture, no one is ambivalent about Jesus.
To be sure, from first to last, misconceptions and wrong motives abounded. The disciples were looking for a political hero. The crowds were expecting to be wowed by a prophet. The religious leaders were scared of Jesus upsetting the delicate balance of power. And the Romans, well, they just wanted to maintain “peace” at all costs. None of the people fully understood what Jesus was doing, but they all recognized that Jesus was striking at something near and dear to their hearts. To encounter Jesus and be indifferent was simply not an option.
And that is what we are really looking at this week. All of us are yearning for something. What is it that you are yearning for? Is your heart yearning for a Savior, even if that Savior will flip the “money-changing tables” of your heart? Or does your heart yearn for safety and self-reliance? Are we yearning to be like Christ, or just to be “good people”? I also want us to consider this as a church. What is it that we long for as New Covenant Presbyterian Church?
We all lead busy lives, but I hope you will take a minute and slow down this week. Take some time to read, to pray, and to listen. Take some time and really consider, “What does my heart long for?”
Until next time…
In Christ,
Mike
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