The people of God, the church, every person who calls them self a Christian, needs desperately more than patriotism, more than social criticisms, more than political partisanship, and more than national fervor. We need to remember our first love, our first loyalty, our first priority. We need to remember that the way of Christ is a way of surrender.
To live well in today's world as Kingdom citizens we desperately need Gods wisdom. We need his heart. Think of all the issues that are just sitting at the tip of the tongue when we start talking about what's going on in the culture, what’s going on in the world. Think of all those issues probably racing through your mind right now, and here’s the thing, we desperately need Gods wisdom. We need his heart, his mind, his perspective, his priorities, as we navigate life and the issues in our world.
I want to talk about sacred silence in a real life situation. When conflict is on the rise, the moment is getting tense. Anger and defensiveness are rising. Hurtful words are loaded in the chamber. When the other is talking, they simply sound like Charlie Brown's teacher; wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, we hear sounds, but we're really not listening to them anymore. Right then, at that moment, a sacred silence is needed. A moment to pause, slow down, wait, be silent, even for just a few seconds. This moment is sacred. Why?
You are a teacher to someone. If God is just sort of an attachment to our lives, then let the free-for-all begin. But if he's our king, then he's our rabbi. He's our teacher and we're his student. So, our primary occupation, your primary occupation, if he's your king, our primary vocation, our primary career, if you will, regardless of what our job or career is, is to be a teacher of the kingdom through our example and our words in that order.
Faith is not a wish and there is really no such thing as blind faith in the Christian perspective. Faith is not a theoretical or intellectual ascent. It is confidence that God is king.
"There are things in this world that are not the way they are supposed to be, and they are not how God would want them to be, and genuine faith in God, according to James, compels those who have such genuine faith to do something about the brokenness that is in the world...
"Now, God can make crushed gravel into orange chicken if he wants to. He can turn grass clippings into clothing if he wants to. But his preference, his plan, is to meet needs through faith-filled people who act on their faith. See, faith that offers little more than sanctified slogans, faith that sits quietly and benignly in our heads, faith that does not inspire the hands and feet to do something in response, is what James calls, "dead faith.""
"Mercy doesn't replace judgment. It reframes judgment. Mercy says—while hanging on a cross—forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing. See, this is the way of the Kingdom. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Mercy doesn't replace judgment, mercy reframes judgment. We model Jesus and His Way when we're agents of mercy in an increasingly judgmental world where the people judging are certain their judgments are correct. Mercy reframes judgment, and God help us, the world needs a huge dose of mercy that reframes our judgment."
There are plenty of vulnerable and hurting people who not only do not believe in God or follow him, they make choices that go against him and his ways. I'm asking if you believe that there are vulnerable people crossing our paths whose vulnerability is because of their choices. What do we do then?
The Christian narrative provides a grand and sustaining vision through the difficulties that we face in life. It's not that we pretend to be joyful and then minimize the heartache as though it is irrelevant, but rather to walk with God through the difficulty and ask him to redeem the heartache by reframing it in a kingdom perspective.
In every single one of us, whether we realize it or not, there is a desire for something higher, wider, and deeper than anything this life offers. And every now and then if we listen, if we tune in, we might notice it rumbling. We might notice it rustling somewhere deep within us.