What else is drug addiction except
that kind of search for a final solution? Drugs are attempts to
numb ourselves against the pain of loneliness. They are attempts
to help us forget the deep longing for fellowship that is inside
of us.December 5, 1999 Mark 1:1-8
Sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma
What else is drug addiction except
that kind of search for a final solution? Drugs are attempts to
numb ourselves against the pain of loneliness. They are attempts
to help us forget the deep longing for fellowship that is inside
of us.
And doesn't pornography represent the same sort of thing? Isn't it an attempt to get us outside ourselves and put an end to the loneliness that is in us? And if you want to gauge the depth of loneliness in our society today think about the fact that 50 new pornographic web sites are added to the internet every day. This in addition to the thousands that are already there.
And when the truth be told, not even other people can bring to an end our deep longing for fellowship; not even other people can put an end to our loneliness. In his book, Reaching Out, Henri Nouwen talks about how we burden our relationships with divine expectations. In other words, we expect of them the kind of things only God can provide. Because we expect of them something that only God can give, we cling to them desperately and, therefore, frighten them away. In this way we prevent them from giving to us the limited companionship human beings are capable of giving. Or we ourselves withdraw from them, because they can't meet our divine expectation; and we move on from one relationship to another or one marriage to another looking for that person who can save us from our loneliness.
Our situation is like that of the people who went out into the wilderness to hear John the Baptist. They were sick and tired of their loneliness. They wanted this longing for fellowship to be fulfilled. They had tried all the ways of dealing with this loneliness that we try and none of them worked. From the very best of them to the very worst of them, they were tired of living with this longing. The very fact that they were willing to leave the comforts of the city to make this trek into the heat of the wilderness is symbolic of their longing to change their lives.
And John did not disappoint them. He gave them the words that could save them, and he gives us the words that can save us. The message couldn't be simpler: "Repent and believe!" Those are the words that enable us to live with our loneliness and ultimately have the kind of companionship that we need. We have heard the first word many times. Repent. It means that we are to do an about face. It means that we need to turn our backs on our vain attempts to put an end to our loneliness. Drugs, pornography, and having divine expectations of limited human beings are not the kinds of things that are going to enable us to deal with our loneliness. And the second word that John uses is "believe!" Trust that God has sent us a savior who will help us live with our loneliness and eventually give us the companionship and wholeness which we seek.
In the last issue of The Lutheran Ronald Klug talks about being an Advent Christian. It is an excellent article. I encourage you to read it. Klug says that an Advent Christian is one who recognizes that the deep unnamed longing within us is really a longing for fellowship with God. And there is nothing that can help us deal with this longing except God.
He talks about how he served as a missionary in Madagascar and how he often felt like a stranger there and how he still feels like a stranger here in a country where many people are caught up in pursuits that lead them away from God. And he talks about all the blessings that he has received in fifty years of life and yet at times he still finds himself asking the question, "Is this all there is?" Then, he quotes something C.S. Lewis once said about our restless longing, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." In other words, that deep longing within us is really a longing for God and our true home is in heaven.
He defines Advent Christians in this way. They will never find total contentment in this world because they long for complete fellowship with God. They believe what Jesus says, "I am with you always, to the end of the age." But they also feel God's absence. And, so, in the season of Advent and throughout the year, they remain thirsty for God and pray, "My soul longs for you, O Lord, as a deer longs for the flowing streams." (Psalm 42:1)
Klug asks what it might mean when an Advent Christian tries to live out the words, "repent and believe" ? He suggests that we need to take out some time to fast during the Christmas season. He is not talking here about fasting in relationship to food. He is talking about fasting in relationship to the media and all the voices in the world that tell us that this longing in us is going to end if only we will indulge, indulge, indulge. We need to turn off the television, stop reading the newspaper and spend some time apart.
And what should we do with that time? We should use it to feast on the food that enables us to live with our longing and enables us to draw closer to God. And what is the food on which we should feast? It is the word of God and the bread of God.
And what does it mean to feast on the bread of God? It means to have high regard for Holy Communion and to trust the promises that are attached to it The promises are that in it God draws closer to us, and we receive the gifts of forgiveness, the power to lead a new life, and the gift of eternal life.
And how do we feast on the word of God? It means doing what we're doing today: gathering to hear God's word and gathering to think and pray about the implications of God's word for our lives. And how intently we listen and how intently we think and pray enables us to live with our longing by drawing closer to God and living with others in the right way.
I don't know about you, but I have spent far too much of my life trying to deal with the longing that is within me by ways that do not work or by expecting divine things out of limited human beings. We are called to repent of such things, to turn our back on them and to turn in faith to Christ. He is the only one who can enable us to live with our longing.
So, how is it with you today? Does your heart ache? Do you have this longing that no one nor anything has ever been able to satisfy? Do you resonate to what C.S. Lewis has said, "I have found in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy" ? Then, embrace the longing that is within you as a gift of God. Don't deny it and don't try to deal with it in ways that do not work. Turn away from such promises and turn toward the Savior who has come and who continues to come through his holy bread and his holy word He will embrace you and enable you to live with your longing. He will enable you to be ready for Christmas and ready for life.
Copyright 1999 by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma