A singer/song writer friend of mine by the name of Jim Daughterty of the folk/rock group “Spirit Farm” once wrote a song about life entitled, “This Ain’t It.”  “Well, this ain’t it,” he intones.  “This is just a stopover, a layover, now really, this ain’t it.”  You see, my friend is a Christian well versed in the scriptures having to do with life now as we know it and life ultimately as established and intended by God.  His point is this: most of us, even believers, tend to live our lives in the here and now as if this is indeed all there is.  For some of us, that concept plays out in overworking ourselves to the bone and playing so hard it kills us.  For those of us in this situation, we inwardly think everything depends on us; that this merry-go-round of our daily existence is it and the wheel spins only if and as long as we have the strength and will to keep it going.  In this case, burnout is assured.  For others of us, however, we live, spend, accrue, consume, go into debt and out of control as if there is no tomorrow.  We want our cake, we’re entitled to it, and we need it immediately or we might lose out on some happiness.  For those of us this scenario describes, just think of the environmental, historical, and economic legacy we’re leaving behind for those who come after us: a bankrupt social security, a toxic planet, spiraling insurance premiums and heath care costs, and memories of abuse, mistrust, and bitterness.  Such is the pendulum swing of thinking this existence is all there is.

    But Jesus tells us of a different, more powerful and eternal reality, a life grounded in the hope, strength, and future of God.  In what is familiarly known as his beatitudes, Jesus emphatically states what we experience now “ain’t it.”  It at least isn’t the final word.  He proclaims there will yet be onset of justice over corruption, joy over sorrow, banquets over breadlines, and being on God’s side over God being on our side.  The prophet Jeremiah says that true life is not owning a Cadillac Esplanade or even burning out for the church.  He says it’s more like a tree planted near water with roots that stretch deep down into the bedrock soil of the Spirit of God; even when the heat of life becomes too much to bear, such a tree still puts out green leaves even though the thin layer of topsoil isn’t enough to sustain it.  “This ain’t it.”  But it is it now and will be all there is for those who forget the source of their life or choose to live as if there’s no tomorrow—for them or anyone else.  Where are you in this song?

 

Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
   and make mere flesh their strength,
   whose hearts turn away from the Lord.

They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
   and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
   in an uninhabited salt land.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
   whose trust is the Lord.

They shall be like a tree planted by water,
   sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
   and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
   and it does not cease to bear fruit.

The heart is devious above all else;
   it is perverse—
   who can understand it?

I the Lord test the mind
   and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
   according to the fruit of their doings.

 

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.

They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God.

‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
   for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.

 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

‘But woe to you who are rich,
   for you have received your consolation.

‘Woe to you who are full now,
   for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
   for you will mourn and weep.

 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.