A Movement

Isaiah 56:1-3 - The Lord says, "Be just and fair to all, do what is right and good. For I am coming to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you. Blessed are they who do this. Blessed are those who keep the sabbath day holy and keep themselves from doing wrong. Do not let the foreigner who commits his way to the Lord say, 'The Lord will never allow me to be part of His people.' And do not let the eunuch say, 'I am a dried up tree with no children and no future."

When St. Patrick began evangelizing Ireland, he said, "I want the one who visits us to observe more of a movement than an institution, with small provisional buildings of wood and mud, a movement featuring laity more than clergy. We want it to be more imaginative and less cerebral, closer to nature and its creatures. A place that emphasizes the immanence of Christ and the providence of God rather than His transcendence."

This passage of scripture is one that I have been memorizing and meditating on this past week. Through this step of faith that we are taking as a family, I have had a new appreciation and longing to be close to God and in His word. As I meditated on these verses this week, I noticed a few things that have challenged me and thought I would share them with you.

1. What we are to do as God's people is simple and not rocket science.

~He simply wants us to be just and fair and do what is right and good.

~He then wants us to simply do what He does. The very first thing God did after creation was rest. All through the scriptures, God gives us an example and He simply says do this... Do what I do.

~Keep life simple... don't make it harder than it has to be.

2. Live among people

~He talks about the two extremes of people in the Jewish culture.

a. The Eunuch - the most devoted to Christ and the one who sacrificed the most for Christ

b. The Foreigner- the one who was not accepted because he was deemed detestable

~Both are accepted in God's eyes and have just as much right to the inheritance of the kingdom. Do you treat all people that way?

3.Living among people provides opportunity to serve and love.

~Both examples are found questioning things about how God views them and what their future looks like. They are both wrestling with purpose and acceptance. When we live among people, doing what is just and fair, and what is right and good, and living like Christ lived, people will come to us with life's tough questions and we can point them to the hope that lies in the next verses of Isaiah 56. Read it for yourself.

As I think and pray about what our future holds, I get excited amidst the fear because we are hopefully stepping into something that is not just something we do, but it is a movement that helps all people see that there is a hope and a future. Read God's word. Pray for us in this transition. Live among people and follow Christ's example.