I'm Looking for Something

Big Idea: As individuals, we all are looking for a place with structure [unmovable]. It is a place of love, mercy, and justice (Micah 6:8). Yet, God has even better than we could ever imagine.

Introduction

The night of April 3, 1968 was a night to remember. On this night there was a tumultuous thunderstorm, and through it gathered 3,000 activists into Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. There, they rushed into the doors of this historic building to await the arrival of a revered leader who had impacted all of their lives in a way that was unparalleled.

Yet, 30 minutes passed...45 minutes passed… 60 minutes passed…and he wasn’t there. He did not show up. The crowd grew anxious as they awaited the arrival of their leader who they hoped would move the crowd with profound expressions of inspiration and encouragement. Yet, they would soon learn that he had been held up at the airport due to a safety precaution that was an attempt to protect his very life.

Ninety minutes from the expected time of his arrival, in comes the dynamic speaker and the crowd is overjoyed with his presence. The ever-so confident leader approached the podium, took a brief pause to gather himself, and then began by commending the audience for braving the night’s storm. And though he attempted to exude the strength of a warrior, those closest to him recognized the fragility of a man who had spent most of his life fighting for the welfare of others.

The natural sounds of a thunderstorm moved the fearless leader to the humility of a child in the middle of their first hurricane. His occasional flinch at the unexpected shouts of the storm was telling of a man who was tired, weary, and afflicted by the burden of loving his fellowman. On this night stood the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to deliver what would be his final sermon on the eve of his assassination.

Though the toil of a long fight for freedom was obvious, the content of his message was delivered with clarity and conviction. In his address, he mentioned how difficult the road forward was. He stated, “…the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around.”

He added that there were 1300 of God’s children in Memphis, Tennessee suffering— “sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights.” He shared of the struggles experienced in Birmingham, Alabama—how hundreds of activists were attacked by dogs and fire hoses, and even experienced imprisonment. Yet, with peaceful protest they withstood the acts of Bull Connor, which drove him into all sorts of confusion. He didn’t know how to respond to their noble and honorable protest.

The question on my mind as I recall the things Dr. King did for the sake of others is, why? Why did Dr. King commit to this life?

Dr. King once said on another occasion, “If a man has not found something worth dying for, he is not fit to live.”

Though he was a minister, Dr. King understood the value of bringing justice and equality to people of color while here on earth. He stated in his speech that night,

It’s alright to talk about “long white robes over yonder,” in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It’s alright to talk about “streets flowing with milk and honey,” but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day. It’s alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.

With this conviction, Dr. King lived with what he called an agenda. His agenda was building equitable communities of fair treatment. He believed black people are children of God who are worthy of and entitled to the same benefits as others.

I want to emphasize Dr. King’s vision of a here and now reality of God’s providence and blessedness. He did not have this vision of a heavenly inheritance, only. Rather, as a minister and believer, he desired an heavenly hope and an earthly reality.

I submit to you, this is the reason Dr. King was so successful. He believed in working towards a tangible place and reality, which would impact real lives. This was enough to motivate anyone to make even the greatest sacrifices. At the end of Dr. King’s speech in Memphis, he stated,

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to have a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

I hope you get the point here. My point in reading all of these statements is to relay Dr. King’s yearning for a better world, a better city, a better community, which is shared by every person who has made up their mind to live for God and suffer as Christ has suffered. Romans 8:18-25 states,

Romans 8:18–25 NLT

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

What Martin Luther King Jr and every human that has faced any element of oppression is looking for is what Abraham is looking for in the text we read earlier.

Exposition of Hebrews 11:8-10: Looking For the City

Abraham’s family was from the land of Ur. Ur was a city in Mesopotamia that was known for its prominence during the Early Dynastic period ( BC 3000-2350) (EBD). Early on, Ur was one of three important population centers in Sumerian and Babylonian civilization. As a oval shaped city, it had harbor facilities along the Euphrates River until the course of the city shifted 12 miles east from the city’s western limit (HIBD). When the river shifted the city, it lost both its population and prominence (HIBD).

Now, Abraham was born approximately 2166 BCE, which means he lived in Ur after its prominence. He was there to see the fragments of its oh so distant success and prominence. It would have been quite easy to leave Ur to get the things God promised Abraham. Essentially, staying in his father’s house would not have been as appealing or critically important as we might assume, considering the state of Ur. The only thing that would have given Abraham cause for pause is the inheritance he may have gotten from his father’s house. However, God promised Abraham his own inheritance, which would have been more attractive than what he may have received from his father.

We see in Genesis 12, God gave Abraham three promises:

Make Abraham a great nation

Bless Abraham and make him famous

Abraham will be a blessing to others

From this once prominent land, Abraham left to discover a land that God had promised him. One question that is on my mind as I read Abraham’s story: What was Abraham looking for?

If we were to read Moses’s account, we would simply conclude he wanted some land, a large family, a great name, and an opportunity to do a bit of good deeds for others. However, this was not the case at all. Abraham wanted something far more meaningful than what meets the eye. It is not until we read the writer of Hebrews’ account that we see clearly.

In Hebrews 11:8-10, the writer of Hebrews is drawing an extremely important parallel to the instability of Ur and the supposed stability of the city who’s builder is God. Abraham was not simply looking for individual blessings. Rather, he was looking for a city.

Why would Abraham be on the search for a city? He was looking for a city, because he had seen what an unstable city can do to a people. He had seen what it had done to his family. Therefore, the command to leave his mother and father was not simply a command, but perhaps an answer to prayer of some sorts.

However, there’s nothing in what God promised Abraham that alludes to him getting or finding a city. Land? Yes. A large family? Yes. A great name? Yes. But a city? Not a hint of a city is mentioned in the promises Abraham received from God.

The desire for a city happens after Abraham gets to the land and is living in it (Hebrews 11:9). Abraham is wondering in the land that God promised to give his seed, and he develops a desire for a city. First, we should understand what Abraham had in mind when desiring this city.

The word city means a large and densely populated urban area (larger than a village). That is, Abraham has a desire for a crowded city. Yet, not just simply a crowded city, but a city with foundations. Foundations mean it’s unshakable or it has support. So then, Abraham was looking forward to a crowded city with stability and structure; one that cannot be shaken.

With this desire, we must ask the question how could such a city exist? With the way the world was shaped and controlled by the sin of man, how could such a city be? Abraham’s answer is God is the architect and builder. That is, God has designed and built it.

Where did this desire come from? It came from the unction for justice and righteous we all are given when meeting and following God. What Abraham is desiring is simply the natural response one develops after knowing God.

Right here, I must say, as we suffer in this world, we also desire the justice of God in our life—right here and now. If anyone tells you any differently, they are not being honest. We are all longing for a better world—no matter how good we may assume the world we live in is at this present time.

If you were to go to a single mother or father and ask them what they are looking for, they would tell you in a round about way, I’m looking for a city.

If you were to ask the 1,176 families who loss a family member to police brutality, they’d tell you they are looking for a city.

If you were to ask the 620,000 American babies that were aborted in 2020, they’d say we are looking for a city.

Ask half of the world’s population who are living on less than $6.85 per day, and they will tell you they are looking for a city.

How about the 1 billion people in the world living without electricity, the 2 billion people living without drinkable water, and another 3.5 billion without proper health care? They would tell you, they’re looking for a city.

All of us, are craving this city that Abraham looked forward to. We toil and wrestle for the life that only can be found in the city that God builds. And by virtue of finding this city, we simply do our best to build it ourselves. We seek this city, which, no doubt, would be found without poverty, sickness, oppression, and harm. And these things may surely be maintained if man should only live responsibly. Yet, no man can build it themselves. They must rely on the building power of God.

The Bridge: Keep On Looking for The City

Brothers and sisters, keep on looking for the city and you will get it. Keep on searching for the place where God’s rule is established and hope abounds. You will get it! Make whatever sacrifices must be made to obtain the best that can be received on this side of earth.

But I must admit, you will not get everything your heart desires on this side. God has put something in our hearts that is far to big for this earth to give. The writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 11:13, 39-40

Hebrews 11:13 NLT

13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.

Hebrews 11:39–40 NLT

39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.

The writer of Hebrews is trying to encourage us to seek the city that God is building among us in the earth. Yet, it also wants us to seek the city that is being built in eternity which will be inherited by those who live in faith.

Have faith

Faith is a way of saying trust and have confidence in God.

See it from a distance

Understand what God has prepared for you, even though you can’t see it with your natural eye.

Greet the city

Be happy enough about something enough to welcome it and greet it as if it is there; anticipate with pleasure.

Confess it

Openly declare what it is you are expecting

Live as foreigners

Live with your allegiance to the city you are waiting on. Therefore, I am a socio-political stranger to anything that is not the city I am looking forward to.

When we do these things we immediately make things better, because our mind has been adjusted to the things that resemble the kingdom of God.

We must always seek all we can have down here. And let us always be reminded—whatever we are not given here on earth will be given to us in eternity.