Discovering Our Messiah Within

Discovering Our Messiah Within

Rev. Dr. Wilfredo J. Baez

Matthew 22:41-46              

10.26/14

Leonard Cohen wrote these words:

Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water

And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower

And he knew for certain only drowning men could find him

He said. “All men shall be sailors then until the sky can open

And he himself was broken, long before the sky can open

Forsaken almost human, he sunk beneath your wisdom like a stone.

And you want to travel with him and you want to travel blind

For you know that you can trust him for he’s touched your perfect body with his mind.

Who do you think the Messiah is?   Is he the descendant of David?  Is he the descendant of Abraham?  Is he the descendant of Adam?  Or are David, Abraham and Adam his descendants?

I have spent most of my life searching for the Messiah.  I have wanted a Savior.  From time to time I have become frustrated in the search.  Sometimes I have even thought to have found my Messiah only to have lost him.  At other times I have determined that I don’t need a Messiah.  I would rely upon my own resources.

My search has taken me long and far.  It took me to California.  That was a worthwhile trip, but ultimately a fool’s rush.  I’ve thought to go even further; to Jerusalem, Burma and to India.  It took me from psychological, philosophical and religious perspective to another. All of these were worthwhile in their own ways, but all proved ultimately to be a fool’s errand.

You may know this Neil Young song:

I want to live,
I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold.
It's these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching for a heart of gold.

And I'm getting old.
Keep me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold.
I've been in my mind,
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold.

God gathered the angels in his court.  God was worried that humankind was too smart for their own God.  God knew that human beings would want to possess wisdom but would then think that they knew it all.  So God decided to hide wisdom to make it hard for humankind to find.  Where shall we hide it God asked the angels?

One of the senior angels said “On the top of Mount Everest.”  “No” said God.  “Human beings are ingenious.  They’ll find their way to the top of the mountain.”  Another senior angel said, “At the bottom of the Pacific ocean.”  “No” said God.  Human beings possess the capacity of plumbing the deepest seas.  That is too easy!” A third senior angel said, “Let’s hide it on a planet” billions of light years away.”  “No: said God.  “Some of them are technology geeks. They’ll figure a way to get there fast.” Many other ideas were shared.  Finally the newest angels said, “I know the last place human beings will look.  They are always looking outside of themselves.  Put it in each human heart.”  “That’s it!” said God.  “They won’t look there until they have exhausted every other possibility.  They will be discouraged and exhausted from their search.  And they will realize just how valuable this wisdom is and use it responsibly.”

Where are you looking for your Messiah?  Where are you looking for spiritual wisdom?  Where are you looking for happiness?  The Israelites were looking to their scripture for their answers.  They were looking to their teachers and traditions.  They were looking to their own experience.  They were relying upon their minds to figure it out.   They were looking up and out to a faraway

heaven and this and that idea of what God was like and God’s kingdom was like.  They were looking to the blowing winds of change.  The only place they weren’t looking was within themselves and among themselves.  God was present within them all along.  There was no place to escape from or escape to.  The Promised Land, the Kingdom of Heaven was already present.  It is already present.  They had overlooked it.

 One more song, this by Carol King:

Way over yonder is a place that I know
Where I can see shelter from hunger and cold
And the sweet-tastin' good life is so easily found
Way over yonder, that's where I'm bound
I know when I get there, the first thing I'll see
Is the sun shining golden, shining right down on me
Then trouble's gonna lose me, worry leave me behind
And I'll stand up proudly in a true peace of mind
Way over yonder is a place I have seen
It's a garden of wisdom from some long ago dream
Maybe tomorrow I'll find my way
To the land where the honey runs in rivers each day
And the sweet-tastin' good life is so easily found
Way over yonder, that's where I'm bound

Maybe tomorrow I’ll find my way; How about today?  How about right now?  How about right here?  God is with you, Emmanuel.  God is with us, Emmanuel!  Surely the Presence of the Lord in this place!  What if God was one of us!  They’ll be no more death, no suffering.  God will be our God and we will be God’s people.  God is our God and we are God’s people. 

It is not our wisdom that matters.  It is God’s wisdom.  Let God’s wisdom be our wisdom.  The Messiah is coming back.  The Messiah has arrived and coming back, everyday more and more, not outside of us and beyond us, inside of us and among us.