The psalmist sings - “Our Soul is waiting for the Lord.” It is a truth so basic to our humanity, but in our human faults of pride and selfishness, we can’t realize that truth.
We know something is missing. We look for something more in our life. It may be called by different names - meaning, purpose, or satisfaction. It is the realness we need from this life.
We look where we should not be looking. We look to a certain places, certain things, and even certain people.
That’s what Paul was telling the Corinthians. Friends your looking in the wrong place. Some were looking to Paul as the answer. Others preferred Apollos. (1 Cor 3)
Those Christian’s of Corinth didn’t have focus. They didn’t have center.
Paul blames it on the immaturity of their faith. He has been feeding their faith and scripture as you would feed a child milk. That seemed to be what they liked. Some liked Paul’s brand of milk. Some liked Apollos brand of baby food.
They were not ready for solid food. They were not ready for a mature faith. So, the people of that early Christian community of Corinth were looking in the wrong place, looking to the wrong person, and looking to the wrong things.
They should have been looking to God. God should have been center of their faith. Not the preacher. Not the evangelist. Maybe, they did not know how to find that center. So they looked in the wrong places. They were merely being human.
The imperfection and fault of humanity is our our folly. We live our life as if there is something more important is to be found outside of Christ. Even though God is always with us and always drawing nearer to us, we find it hard to stay close to the Father.
We find ourselves off course. We either have not found or have lost our center in relation to God. Maybe, something flashy catches our eye or a new trend becomes popular. A new hip worship service, a flashy preacher, or a new church building that all the movers and shakers attend. They can cause us lose focus by taking our eyes and heart off God
Despite what our human ideas and thoughts, God has not changed. God’s desire for has not wained. How do we return our focus to that?
“Follow me.” says Jesus. Follow Jesus to his center, just like the crowds in the gospel.
After he healed the sick, touched the wounded, cast out demons, and fed the multitudes - Jesus went to a quite place to pray. The crowds followed him. Those who were paying attention found that Jesus’ was focused on prayer. Jesus turned to prayer for the strength, love, and presence of God the Father.
The realness people are looking for - meaning, purpose, and satisfaction - in this earthly life can be found with prayer. From that center we can realize the love and presence of God which is our meaning, our purpose, and our satisfaction.
Our Soul is waiting for the Lord.
Amen
