Longing and kingdom

Today, watching the waves on the Sea of Galilee, I'm full of longing.

The end of the dig is drawing near. I long for home. But I also have another kind of longing: I'll miss this place and the people with whom I've worked. I'll miss writing for the middle-schoolers and their teachers.

But it's still more. It's longing for — something.

I wonder if it was longing that drew people to Jesus around this lake long ago. They probably knew this passage from Isaiah 52:

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.' Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion."

The people around the lake believed that God cared for them. They believed that someday God would show up in person and take control. They longed for the day when God would drive out the Romans and the messiah would reign.

Then they heard of this carpenter's son from Nazareth, the miracles, the remarkable wisdom. Could this be the one?

Is that what people were thinking they came in thousands to these hills?.

Jews were already using the expression "the kingdom of God" at about the time of Jesus. Jesus didn't invent it. He announced it: The kingdom of God was at hand.

The kingdom Jesus announced isn't easy. It demands repentance — feeling sorry for what you've done wrong. Repenting is what our Jewish friends are doing today, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

The kingdom also demands that we act with kindness. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man we'll hear on Sunday in church is a good example.

The kingdom is like a mustard seed — the smallest seed that grows into the biggest bush, big enough for birds to nest in it.

Hmm. A big bush seems to be a pretty modest goal for a kingdom — unless, that is, you're a bird who needs a home. Then a big bush is everything.

And that's me today: I'm just another bird. And I need a nest.

Is my longing today an echo of the longing that those thousands felt here so long ago — the longing for a kingdom still to come but already breaking forth?

If so, there is no better place to long.