06082022 – John 14. 8-17
Just so you know, I checked beforehand with Miss Kinga on this reference. You are going to fill in the blank. You’ve got this. I have faith in you.
The year is 1965.
The Album is “Out of our heads.”
The group is the Rolling Stones.
You guys, fill in the blank, ready…
“I can’t get no __________________”
Good job!
I knew you could do it!
So, I ran across “a wisdom writing.” It is the Book of Ecclesiastes, actually!. Once attributed to King Solomon. And in the second chapter, I found this:
“I denied myself NOTHING my eyes DESIRED; I REFUSED my heart NO PLEASURE…when I surveyed “all that my hands had done” and “what I had toiled to achieve, EVERYTHING was MEANINGLESS, a chasing after the wind; NOTHING WAS GAINED under the sun.”
WOW, just wow!
Scary! This could have been written today!
We live in a crazed world – driven by a crazed pursuit of MORE.
The more the merrier, I guess.
The MORE, the better.
More THIS. MORE that. MORE of Everything.
We have bought into it, hook, line, and sinker.
More money
More love.
More relationships.
More technology.
More happiness.
More goals.
I DESERVE it all.
Our culture has sold us the dream and we WANT IT. The Ad Agencies did a good job…
We live in the “NEVER TOO MUCH CULTURE.”
In our society, in our culture, in our world, we are constantly on a never ending search for fulfillment, happiness, and satisfaction.
I tell you, we cant get no ________________________________.
Money, Cars, Houses, Trips, Vacations, Clothes, Electronics and Technology, we want it…
You name it…and we want it.
Someone else has it…then, we want it too! COVETING it is called.
This constant need for SATISFACTION within us – has been capitalized on in education, in literature, in Hollywood, in all forms of advertising. Watch a commercial. I mean, REALLY WATCH a commercial. They will tell you WHY you need something. Without it there will be NO JOY in your life. Without it, you will be UNFULFILLED. Without it, you will be lacking…
If only you had this…
If only you had that…
Then, you MIGHT be happy. You MIGHT be complete. You MIGHT be whole. You MIGHT be like millions of other people who need it too!
PURCHASE this and you will become SATISFIED.
And we try, and we try, and we try, but we cant get no ____________________.
But it is not JUST US.
It has been around for a long time.
Go back to Genesis. Go back to the garden. Were Adam and Eve satisfied? They had everything, they wanted. And yet they wanted more. They wanted WHAT they were told they could not have. When they ultimately got it, were they satisfied? NOPE!
But they wanted it still.
I thought about the hype behind the movie…TOPGUN: Maverick…
“I Feel “the need” for speed!” They weren’t satisfied. Push the envelope. Get MORE. More is better. OVER THE EDGE…over the top. And as a result, someone is raking in the big bucks…
I thought about our Gospel for today. Three years of time. Three years of commitment. Day in- Day out with Jesus, was NOT ENOUGH!
Healings, miracles, resurrection, teachings, carry-out for 5,000 of your closest friends…lepers healed, the lame jumping…the blind leading others…water flowing into Merlot and Chardonnay…nothing was enough! Maybe it never is…
WE WANT MORE.
WE DESERVE MORE.
MORE IS BETTER.
Show us the Father. Then we will be happy. Then, we will be fulfilled. Then, we will be satisfied. Honest! We will never ask for anything ever again! Promise!
And the weird thing is, it is not just us. YES, we live in a “consumer focused world.” We live in a “fast functioning and over producing society”-where change is constant.
But it seems as if, we are NEVER satisfied.
WE CANT GET NO __________________.
“Show us the father and we will be satisfied they said.” Liar, liar.
The truth of the matter is – it seems like there is no satisfying us. God really has his hands FULL with the likes of us. Doesn’t he? Amen.