My daughter Evelyn’s favorite song as a young toddler was “One Day” by the Hasidic Jewish reggae/hip-hop beatboxing artist Matisyahu (honestly). I take credit for this. (Oh, the joys of having exclusive control of the iPod in those days…) In this song Matisyahu offers a vision of “one day” when people will abandon violence for peace:
All my life I been waitin’ for / I been prayin’ for, for the people to say / That we don’t want to fight no more /There’ll be no more wars and our children will play / One day…
Matisyahu’s vision recalls the Old Testament prophets’ hope: “God shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3; Isaiah 2:4).
Like the prophets in the Old Testament, Matisyahu is unhappy with the present state of the world. In his song “King without a Crown,” Matisyahu longs for a Messiah:
What’s this feeling? / My love will rip a hole through the ceiling / I give myself to you from the essence of my being / And I sing to my God all these songs of love and healing / I want Moshiach (Messiah) now
Of course, those of us who confess Jesus as Messiah believe the Messiah has already come. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, God the Father through the Holy Spirit frees us from slavery to sin and death. We should give thanks to God for this deliverance. However, at the same time, I think we also need to embrace Matisyahu’s angst. He’s right: the world isn’t as it should be.
In this series on 1-2 Thessalonians, we’ve seen how central the second coming of Jesus is to Paul’s theology. Nearly every chapter in 1-2 Thessalonians mentions the second coming. Jesus is coming back, and this gives us hope! Still, though, even as we anxiously hope for the second coming of our Messiah, I sometimes feel the same angst as Matisyahu and the prophets. The world is unjust. Life isn’t fair. Our society is founded by and sustained by violence and injustice. Sin has corrupted everything. Things aren’t the way they should be. Stuff ain’t right. This makes me “want Moshiach now.” But, thanks be to God, I know that “One Day” is coming when God will make all things right.