When I remember the stories of the first handful of men and women who took Jesus’ words and ways seriously, I wonder about our potential. When I think how the actions and words of those men and women spawned a worldwide, generation-spanning, communal movement — which has clearly become the single most dominant force for good the world has ever known — I wonder what our potential is. When I think about how one little church (Antioch), so convinced of God's love for ALL men and women, sent out missionaries who reached ALL nations with the transformative good news of Jesus, I ponder our potential. When I think about the maturity of love and wisdom in the people of Living Streams Church, as well as the challenges and needs surrounding us in Phoenix, I can’t help but long to see all our potential become kinetic.
This Sunday we are kicking off a sermon series called “Kinetic Righteousness.” My hope for the next 8 weeks is that we would all catch a vision to see our righteousness become kinetic. Moving our inward devotion to Jesus into outward, tangible expressions of his love. And this is not just a Sunday thing. We will be engaging with Life Groups and providing outreach opportunities for our church to truly impact our community here in Phoenix.
The prophet Isaiah gives us some intriguing visions about the righteousness God desires. The first vision is of God plugging his ears and being sick to his stomach when he sees people gathering together to talk about righteousness and sing about righteousness, but not lift a finger to help others. The very next mental picture Isaiah gives is God pleading with His people saying, “Instead let there be an outpouring of justice, and a parade of righteous living” which flows out of the temple or church community. Later in the book of Isaiah, we see God frustrated at the way His people are fasting. God wants them to know He is not impressed by their fasting hunger pains and somber faces. God is honoured when their fasting of food results in hungry people being fed. He longs to see their sacrifices create benefit for those who are hurting.
In the New Testament book written by Jesus’ half-brother James, we see another picture of the righteousness God accepts. “When we keep a tight reign on our tongues, keep ourselves unspotted from the world, AND look after the orphans and widows in their distress,” we are doing the righteousness God delights in. Later, James goes on to discuss how a person’s faith is dead if it produces no works.
Another Biblical picture declaring the righteousness God longs to see is when Jesus cursed the tree because it bore no fruit. God has not invited us to be planted by His streams of grace, love and truth so we can be fruitless or self-serving. He wants our lives to produce fruit for the hungry and hurting around us.
Lastly, the songwiter Jon Foreman sings a song that I love where he describes heaven as the place where the righteous right the wrongs. There is no doubt God wants us to be righteous, but I think the greater righteousness Jesus is after is more about us doing righteousness — not simply talking about it. In the economy of heaven it is a good thing to not do wrong, but it seems the Biblical writers want us to know it is a greater thing to right a wrong.
So get ready, my friends. We are praying for a move of God’s Spirit just like in the book of Acts. We are praying for an empowering from God's Spirit so we make our contribution as a part of the worldwide, generation spanning, communal movement Jesus started. And we are praying for all the dormant potential gifts and callings each one of us has in and upon our lives to burst forth into kinetic righteousness — all for the glory of God and the restoration of this broken world He so loves.
David