real.faith blog

I’ve been turning this around in my mind all day, so I’m posing the question here. What are you most looking for in life,  an answer or a savior?

It seems the Christian community has for a long time presented itself and Jesus as an answer, The answer, no doubt. Andre Crouch even wrote a song titled “Jesus Is The Answer.” But I’m not so convinced the world is looking for an answer.

From all my conversations with both Christians and non-Christians, it seems people are not as concerned with the answers to “What should I do?” or “How should I live?” or “Am I doing the right thing?” as they are with finding a place of refuge or restoration.

Put another way, a chronically-ill person is more interested in a cure than in an answer to “why?” or “what is wrong with me?” A homeless man is more interested in food and shelter than in finding out “why is there a divide between rich and poor?” A child who scrapes his knee is more interested in stopping the bleeding than in a lesson in not falling.

Yet, for years it seems the Church has focused its attention on lessons in not falling and in quibbling about right and wrong, good and bad. We are so concerned about having the right answer all the time for every situation that I can’t help but question whether or not we are pointing to the Savior.

I’m not sure the world is searching for answers, but I am certain we are all searching for a Savior. Your thoughts?

The word Hosanna, which we commonly hear on Palm Sunday and in some praise songs, means “Save now!” It is a cry, uttered by God’s people, to the God they believe can save them from the desperation they feel. This cry was uttered two millennia ago when Jesus rode into Jerusalem just before the Passover celebration the year He was crucified.

We sing this word, and we recite it in Palm Sunday liturgies and confessions, but how often do we cry out in desperate need and longing to the Messiah we believe can save us? How often in day to day lives do we treat Jesus as our Hosanna?

As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of a clip from Superman Returns that serves as a reminder that our world is still very much crying out for Hosanna.