Call to Action

Isaiah reminds us that faith is never meant to stay safely contained inside of sanctuaries. Faith, true worship, spills out into the world, into the streets. It feeds the hungry, it houses the homeless, it clothes the naked, it protests and breaks systems that crush people, and it repairs those that can heal people. God says, if you do this, if you live this way, then light will break forth like the dawn through you. [00:45:35] (41 seconds)  #FaithInAction

Isaiah promised that if we do, then our light will rise in the darkness, then our ruins will be rebuilt, and we will be called the menders of the broken and the restorer of livable streets. That's the kind of church the world is hungry for. That's the kind of church the world needs. A church that preaches Jesus and then goes out the doors and activates the love of Christ into the lives of the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the broken. [01:03:52] (39 seconds)  #LightRiseInDarkness

I want us to remember that as people of faith, we have a responsibility to repair the breach. We have a responsibility to live our our faith in a way that makes a difference in the world. It is not about just me going to heaven. It can't be. It's about me and everybody else going to heaven. And I have to find a way to share my story, to share my experiences, and you have to find a way to share your story, how God has moved in you, how God has led you to the time and the place where you are today. [01:01:17] (44 seconds)  #RepairTheBreach

God says, I don't want you to just stop eating food for a little while, and I don't want you to hit yourself or hurt yourself. I want you to help people. So Isaiah tells us the kind of things that God really loves. God loves it when we first share food with people who are hungry, we welcome people who feel left out, we help people who are being treated unfairly, and we care when someone is hurting. [00:29:48] (33 seconds)  #FeedWelcomeHeal

The people are doing all the religious things. They're going to church, or for them, they're going to temple. They're worshiping. They're doing the sacrifices. They're praying. They're showing up at least. And God yet says, that's not the fast that I have in mind. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight. Is this not the fast I choose? To loose the bonds of injustice, release wicked restraints, to untying the ropes of the yoke, setting free the mistreated, and breaking every yoke? [00:44:08] (42 seconds)  #TrueFastForJustice

Jesus picks up the same theme and presses it even further. He looks at ordinary people, fisher folk, laborers, day laborers, folks just trying to survive from day to day to day. It says, you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Not you should be. Not one day you will be, but you are. You are these things. [00:46:26] (32 seconds)  #SaltAndLightNow

And then he says, salt doesn't exist for itself. Light doesn't shine for its own benefit. Both only matter when they are used, when they make a difference. Faith that never leaves the shelf isn't faith at all. James says in his letter, one of my favorite books of the bible, that faith without works is dead. And as Methodist, our founder John Wesley said the same thing. [00:46:59] (33 seconds)  #LoveShapedAction

The world doesn't need more religious religious performance performance that that is is not not backed backed up up. With action. The world doesn't need more pious people that act like they've never heard of Jesus. The world needs people shaped by love who are willing to act and who are willing to cross barriers, to embrace a broken and hurting humanity, to feed, to speak, to repair, to stand with the vulnerable and the broken. [00:53:17] (41 seconds)  #KindnessIsCourage