Abraham Maslow postulated that we all share a hierarchy of needs, beginning with the need to survive. If we're starving or dying of thirst, we'll do whatever we have to do to survive... but if we aren't in danger of dying, our minds turn to security. We don't want to lose what we have. We don't want someone to take it away, and we want a place where we can keep ourselves and our stuff safe. Survival and safety are basic needs, and they will always come to the forefront if we they are threatened. But if we have a little to eat and a place to call home, we begin to seek community. We need friends. We need groups to which we can belong. Our social needs become dominant because we need to belong. However, even if we have a hundred friends, we have a need to be recognized.We want our achievements to be rewarded. We want a gold watch when we retire. We want a trophy when we win. These are Maslow's first four needs. The first two are primitive. The second two are more advanced, but taken together... fulfilling these needs will not satisfy us... because we will never be whole unless we are "self-actualized."
We have a deep-seated need, Maslow maintained, to be what we were meant to be. A musician must play music. An artist must paint. A teacher must teach . In church, we call it a calling, which as Frederick Buechner noted, is that place where your greatest joy and the world's greatest need... meet. Most of us never find this place because we simply follow one foot after another into, let's say, the grocery business... or we make a strategic decision to be in that place where we have the greatest security... or make the most money- neither of which is sufficient to fulfill us. Most of us don't have the vision or the courage to find our calling... so we're never self-actualized... and in the end, we're disappointed with our own lives. This is a shame of course... but today I want to make the point that... that Jesus is our self-actualization. As a Christian who found new life in Christ, I want to say that Jesus is the answer to our needs- big and small.
We can, in some ways, meet our needs for survival, security, community, and status... without believing in Christ. There are legions of non-Christians who have more friends than I have... and even more who have more money. People can achieve a lot without Christ... but they will never be fulfilled. They will never know the joy of shalom, and they'll never know the thrill of being forgiven. Non-Christians can get a lot done- and skip all of our meetings too- but they'll never know the wondrous feeling of knowing that they are SOMEBODY in God's eyes. I am convinced of this: people are empty! They are much greater feelings of emptiness than feelings of guilt. They have holes in their souls, holes which cannot be filled with trophies, gold, degrees, or titles. Deep down, people feel small and anonymous. The believe that no one will love them if they know them, and they suspect that they'll never be noticed unless they have the biggest house, the shiniest car, and the most stuff in town. They bluff and bluster. They laugh and cry on cue, and they wear so many masks that they forget who they themselves were in the first place.
The people who gathered around Jesus had the same needs we do. They would kill to stay alive and they would fight for a place to stay. They had a need for food and they needed water too. They needed to love and be loved, and they needed somebody to know their names. More than that, they need hope... and forgiveness... and mulligans. They worried about the clothes they wore. They worried about the stuff they had stored away. They worried about being excommunicated and isolated from their community. They worried about their families and they worried about eternity... and Jesus said I AM the answer! Come to me, he said, and I will give you living water. Take and eat, he said, of my essence... because I am the bread of life. If you're worried, call on me. If you're walking in a valley, call on me. If you want to be important and useful, feed my sheep. If you want to make a difference, let me send you on a journey of faith. In Christ, we will find meaning and a deep security. In Christ, we will be in community with saints and servants from all times and places. In Christ, we will receive our crown.
We are fulfilled in Him! Please believe me and take a leap of faith. Many people would agree that they have all the needs I've mentioned... and they would also agree that they haven't been able to fulfill their deepest needs by acquiring money and things. But when it comes to making a decision for Jesus, they turn away... and try to fulfill their needs in the same old ways that they've tried before- even though they've never worked! Maybe they just don't get it. Maybe they're not ready. Maybe they're scared. I don't know... but I do know that you will never, ever hunger again- not for love, not for forgiveness, not for worth, not for joy, not for peace, not for anything at all... because He is the Bread of Life! Amen.
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