There's a book called Into the Wild. It's a true story about a guy who left his family and all real connection with people and lived the life of a vagabond. He ends up in the Alaskan wilderness where he dies. I think the most memorable thing from the book is something that the guy actually wrote in his Journal: "Happiness only real when shared."
After pushing everyone and everything away, he found himself alone. I think that he desired to be alone. Once he finally arrived at nearly the epitome of solitude, he felt lonesome and took note of it. He may have been searching for happiness, but when he got to the place that he thought he would find it he was severely disappointed. He died alone in the cold of the Alaskan wilderness alone and unhappy. He starved to death out there. But food was not the only thing in which he found himself starved. He had ripped out community. He had ripped out family. He had ripped out friendship. He had ripped out communication. He had ripped out love. Oh the emptiness he must have felt! He had no source of replenishment. When he found himself completely drained, he had no support, nothing to give him hope. A note was found at his base camp. It was an urgent plea for any passerby to stay put until he returned again. That note wasn't found until it was too late.
Pushing people and problems away is never a solution. Life cannot be sustained in solitude. Happiness, however temporary, is found in community. The traveler had chose solitude, but what if solitude is not a choice? What if you are the one who is abandoned? What happens when you are deserted and are on empty? How do you refuel when you can't pick yourself up and you're all alone?
After Jesus's resurrection, at the very end of Matthew 28 Jesus says that he is always with us. This statement would be empty if it came from anyone other than Jesus. The man was just brutally killed and was as dead as can be. And yet, Jesus was there, alive in every sense of the word. Not only that, but he had just announced his authority. I'm led to believe him completely.
Isolation is not an option. Jesus has shown us the importance of community. The good that comes from it is undeniable. A community that can bear each others burdens and help each other pull through the most difficult times is one to be sought after. However, when we find ourselves all alone we should be reminded that we are never truly alone. Jesus is with us. If we reject this too, we are calling on death. How more isolated can you be than dead? If happiness is in community, and we even reject the community and support of an all-loving all-present God, could we possibly find ourselves on a more isolated and unhappy road? That's a road to death, a road to a cold, isolated place in which no one really wants to be. And yet, people do it everyday. People push friends, family, and God away. People want to live lives where they are in complete control, where everything is subject to their terms, where they do what they want whenever they want, where they are the most powerful, where they are king, where they are happy. That place doesn't exist. We need to recognize that we are not in complete control and we are not all-powerful. When we try to obtain that control, we find out that it isn't satisfying. We aren't happy enough when we get to be as powerful as we can be. And there is no true support system when we reach our power limit. What person could possibly lift you back up to your unreachable power height when you've placed everyone else at such a low level? No one. Us humans, when we strive for power, we don't find that happiness. We don't find love. We certainly don't find community. We find isolation. No one desires to live in your kingdom. It's very clear that we humans corrupt when we obtain a lot of power, just take a look at a history textbook. All kingdom's fall on this earth. We simply can't sustain a kingdom where happiness and community reside. Also, we know that happiness isn't found in isolation either. So where do we go if we can't establish our kingdom that we desire to have control of, we can't be happy in isolation, and we can't create a community that won't fail?
Jesus told us of his authority. Jesus told us of his love. Jesus told us of his kingdom.
Jesus holds the key to how we can live in community and live in joy, a happiness that won't fade. If Jesus has this kingdom that holds what we desire most, surely we want to live in that kingdom. Luckily, he has invited us to live in it! There's one thing though: it's his kingdom, not ours. This means that he is king, not us. If he is king, then we are subject to him. He must have control. This kingdom is offered freely to us; in fact, God came to us as Jesus so that we can become a part of it. We have never been exposed to another kingdom like it. All other kingdom's are a burden to live in, but his yoke is easy. All other kingdom's that claim to be powerful have bloodlust. This kingdom doesn't seek to destroy. In fact, other kingdoms are their own destruction. There is no isolation in this kingdom nor is there death!
The beauty of the kingdom of God is that all that reside within it have the utmost veneration for it's ruler and they love each other as themselves. When you fall down, the entire kingdom is there in support. But who ever heard of a king that is there himself? This is the only powerful kingdom where the ruler is truly humble in that way.
Don't continue to seek the living among the dead. Please don't seek isolation when what you really seek is already available and found elsewhere. Please don't seek your kingdom when we both know it will fail. Forsake your vagabond life; quit wandering from place to place without a home. You already have a perfect home for you. Submit to king Jesus, a just and righteous king. Live in his kingdom where you will find community, joy, love, and rest. Our inevitable death and isolation from God was paid by none other than Jesus himself, so that we can live in his perfect kingdom forever.
