I was going through some moving boxes
recently and found some old books of poetry from my days as an English Lit
major. I happened on a series of poems from the poet Rumi. He lived about eight
hundred years ago in Persia. Rumi wrote
frequently about longing, as in wanting, needing, mourning, lusting after, or craving
something. I believe that Rumi practiced Sufism but in his verse I found some
ideas Jesus had taught 1200 years earlier. There was a lot of longing among the people in
those days. Jesus’ disciples lustily and greedily argued about who would sit at
his side when he came into his kingdom. Jesus had a “come to Jesus” talk with
them. Thomas needed tangible proof of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus answered, “Stick your finger in my wounds.” Sick,
hungry, and demon possessed people followed Jesus craving healing and
restoration. Jesus answered them in spades and to several he said, “Go and sin no more.” Many of them
longed for the coming of the promised Messiah; and then they mourned Jesus’
death as the end of their hopes.
Longing, Rumi wrote, comes in many
forms and it is sometimes a lonely and painful pursuit. But, as Jesus taught,
longing can also be redemptive and fruitful. We can learn and grow from our
longing. Out of Jesus’ death and resurrection, a people of faith grew; caring
and fruitful congregations sprang up feeding the hungry, welcoming the
stranger, and fighting for justice. And the Church continues to grow and spread
across the planet.
Preachers chirp on about our
longing for—anticipating--the coming of Christ into our lives. We live between
memory and hope; we are fed and encouraged by the memory of Christ’s coming years
ago and pulled forward by the hope that he will come again, somehow, somewhere,
into our life. The Christian Church is in a period of longing, a time of
transition and “re-forming” that will end up in a church with more integrity,
strength, and witness than it has had in a long time. In our life together as a
people of faith, we see youth who long for the freedom of adulthood, middle
aged adults who long for firm bodies and quick minds of youth and older adults
warehoused in “facilities” who are tired and sick and long for death. Some in
the church long for inclusiveness, others for an ample operating fund. Staff
long for more volunteers and pretty much everybody prays for more members,
peace in the world, and a rapidly improving economy. We have to remember that
the kingdom of God will not come through wishful thinking (I do not see our
longing as just wishful thinking). The Kingdom of God will come by way of God’s
grace and we see glimpses of the kingdom coming in our ministry together. I
imagine, though, that God is walking among us, listening, watching . . . and
thinking, “They are learning from their
mistakes, growing more patient in their waiting, more generous in their
poverty, more thankful in their scarcity, their vision more focused to seeing
Jesus in their midst, ears more attuned to listening to him. I like what I am
seeing. Let’s see how it turns out.”
I’m feeling
it with you, God. But let’s not stretch this thing out too long. Blessings,
Lee.
