"I need a vacation."
"We need to add bread to the grocery shopping list..."
"I need to get the tires rotated and balanced on the car."
"You need to find a different hobby - needlepoint shouldn't be so dangerous."
Needs. They are all around us. Our world dictates that there are times when something falls short of expectations, and we find ourselves stopping what we're doing and entering into problem-solving mode. It happens all the time.
"The truck needs to be fixed if we're going to use it this weekend."
"The kids need new shoes before school starts."
"I need to pay the rent/utilities/car payment/tuition/etc."
Sometimes, needs are not so routine and obvious. Occasionally, they're of a more serious nature...
"You really need to have that tooth looked at."
"You need to make an appointment about that cough."
Needs come in all shapes and sizes; in all manner of importance. And yet there is one need that far surpasses them all. When it comes to our brokenness, pain, confusion, anxieties, our bodies, minds, and spirits - there is truly one need that outweighs them all.
Jesus knew this. And he shared it a lot with those with whom he encountered. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing" (Luke 10:41-42).
I have travelled this journey of faith since my baptism in 1965 (and truly even before that through my parents' care to keep me in the company of believers). Along the way, I have found that it is easy to get distracted, to veer slightly off course, to become convinced that in order to continue the journey of faith, I need to accomplish this or acquire that. Detours are intrusive to remembering the primary issue of the faith - to keep Christ central in one's life.
As I have grown in the faith (admittedly, there is still a LOT of room to grow yet!), I have come to discern that there is truly only one need - and it always leads to the foot of the cross of Christ. I do not need a good moral teacher, although I have had many in my lifetime and I am thankful for each and everyone of them. I do not need a prophet who will point me in a new direction when I am stumbling around, even though at times I've needed a sign pointing me back to the pathway of faith.
No, what I have come to believe is that there is only one thing that I absolutely NEED: I NEED a Savior. I cannot save myself from my sin. I cannot redeem myself from my failings with God. I cannot do it alone. And I cannot use a substitute - any substitute for God's grace in Jesus Christ. I will never be made right on my own. And the only pathway that will bring me wholeness is the one that leads me to the foot of the Cross of a Crucified Redeemer Jesus Christ.
In essence, I have learned through grace and truth that my task as a Christian is not to save anyone else from their sins - only Jesus can do that. But my task is simple: I am called to lead people to the Cross of Christ. I trust that God's Holy Spirit will provide the salvation, as truly only God can. I trust that Jesus' death on the cross, and his resurrection and ascension are truly enough for the salvation of the world. I trust that in bringing people to the Cross, God will bring to completion the work that was begun in each of us in Jesus Christ. It is not my own doing - it is God's and God's alone. My calling is to show people the way to the Cross.
And the only reason I can do that is because someone did it for me. Truly this is all I will ever need.
What about you?
See you in Church.
