Living between the Times: a life lesson from Bono

There's probably nothing more gratifying to a preacher to hear that someone actually remembers what you say, teach, or preach. While talking with by best bud late last week, he informed me that one of our (at the time we were both involved in the same ministry) college students spoke to him about distinctly remembering two 'talks' I gave.

One was a 'talk' centered around a U2 song called "Still haven't found what I'm looking for." In the song, Bono claims to know Christ, and to know Christ "carried the cross of my shame....you know I believe it...." However, it feels like there is something more. Perhaps he's missed something?

My point was that those who know "Christ has carried the cross of our shame" still feel like we are missing something. But is not that Christ is insufficient, but that until we get to heaven we experience "groans like in the pains of childbirth (Rom 8:22)"

Everybody groans. All creation, or as R.E.M. put it, "Everybody hurts." Not just Christians.
Life is not all that we would like it to be. We don't experience the full glory and full joy of Christ while here on Earth. Our best life is NOT NOW (contra Joel O.)

However, we have been given the first fruits (first installment of what is to come in the Holy Spirit) even now-says Romans 8:23.

And so about 10 years or so later, Bono wrote a song called "Yahweh." In it he laments, "Why the pain before the child is born?" But now he's come back to Jesus, and has reflected. And so he offers his hands, and his heart BACK to Christ as he did earlier in his career as recorded in "Gloria."

This was supposed to be a blog about somebody remembering what I taught, but it turned into an explication of the joy and difficulty of living between Christ's First and Second Comings. Sorry about that. I guess you get double the info for today.