This Good News which we cling to in hope is that, despite our restless and often fruitless seeking for meaning and belonging, God Himself sought us. God seeks, and God finds.
“I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” - Bono, 1987
There is a restlessness that comes from seeking and not finding. Though, for many of us, there is an even greater restlessness which comes from seeking without really knowing what we are even looking for.
I know this restlessness. It is part of my compulsion to open my email over and over again all day long. I am not expecting good news, and I often do not even like the emails that do show up. Nevertheless, I open my inbox repeatedly every day. I go to certain news websites and check the headlines. I skim a few articles. Minutes or moments later, I feel the itch to do the same.
And I am not alone. Fortune.com shared in 2023 that Americans unlock and check their smartphones an average of 144 times per day... every day. And once we have our face in the phone, it grabs our attention for an average of 4 hours and 25 minutes per day... each day... every day.
I like to think I am more exceptional than average, but I am probably closer to the top of this bell-curve than I want to admit. That means I unlock my phone just about every 5 to 6 minutes for all 16 hours I am awake, every day. Every 5 minutes of every waking moment I act on the urge to look at my phone (and that is not counting the time I resist the urge).
Check out Cal Newport’s work, Digital Minimalism, or any number of other great resources on the specifics of how we interact with various technologies and their impact on our brains and culture. My point here is that such experiences are “habits of searching.” Such technologies tap into something visceral.
There is a restlessness which comes from seeking and not finding. Though, for many of us, there is an even greater restlessness from seeking without really knowing what we are even looking for.
Around 400 AD, Saint Augustine published his spiritual autobiography, Confessions. It is recognized as one of the most important works of all Western literature. He says to God in prayer, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” In God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier we find who we truly are. We discover our identity and our purpose in Him.
In God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier we find who we truly are. We discover our identity and our purpose in Him.
But apart from such a relationship, we are restless, searching, and seeking. We find ourselves willing to climb the highest mountains, run through fields, crawl, scale walls, and even hold the very hand of the Devil to satisfy our deep longing and seeking, only to find that none of these feats of ours will ever fulfill who we were created to be.
We search within our glowing screens. We look for meaning and answers. We search for belonging and connection. We search for wisdom and joy. We look for hope and peace. And we find hints of each of these as we go down rabbit holes of hyperlinks or endless swiping and scrolling deeper and deeper down, as if we could scroll our way to what our hearts are longing for.
In Luke 7, John is searching. He is longing and looking. He sends messengers to ask if Jesus is what he has been searching for, or if he needs to keep looking elsewhere. And Jesus sends John’s disciples back as witnesses to what they have seen and heard as they were sent to seek on John’s behalf.
The promises of Isaiah are being fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus. What the people of God have been seeking for centuries is being completed in Jesus. The restorative reign of God is manifest in Jesus.
The headlines are attention grabbing: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The sensational report of the dead being raised seems to be as good as it could possibly get! But then Jesus adds the crescendo to finish the list with the most important activity of all: The poor have the good news preached to them.
We are often aware of our need for physical and temporal healing. And God does work both miraculously and through various vocations to provide for such care. But what the depths of our souls were made to long for is a right relationship with God. This only comes by God’s grace, through faith, as the Good News is shared.
This Good News which we cling to in hope is that, despite our restless and often fruitless seeking for meaning and belonging, God Himself sought us. God seeks, and God finds.
Later in Luke, Jesus says of Himself, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (19:10). Jesus’ mission was to seek and to save the wandering, the restless, and the rebellious. In other words, Jesus came to seek and to save people like me, and people like you.
When Jesus had found some who were lost (like we read about in Luke 15 in the parables of the Lost Coin, Lost Sheep, and Lost Sons), He still had not found all He was looking for. He says in John 10:16, “I have other sheep that are not [yet] of this fold. I must bring them also.” So, He sends His disciples in His name to seek out and bring His wandering daughters and sons home into the fold:
“All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Having been sought and found, we now go and seek. God has blessed this heaven-sent mission with His promise and His presence. But we are not done yet. We still have not found all we are looking for. So, we continue to seek. That is who we, as the Church, are. We are those who have been found, and who have been sent to seek in His name.
May King Jesus give us hearts that long for His wandering daughters and sons to find their way home. May He give us a faith that trusts His Spirit’s work to call all people to a living relationship with Him. And may He give us a willing obedience to be His sent ones who would seek in His name. Amen.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Luke 7:18-28 (29-35).
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Luke 7:18-28 (29-35).
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast-Dr. Peter Scaer of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Luke 7:18-28 (29-35).
