What is your vision of God? For many of us our vision of God is too small, or even too aloof. We live in ways which reveal that we are unaware that God has a dream for the world, that God has hope for the way the world can once again be. We live as if God is around, but not near – God is really not involved in the life of the world.
Roxburgh and Boren, in Introducing the Missional Church express that: “God’s dream for the world is about redemption of all creation, not just individuals getting into heaven; it is about the restoration of life as God intended it to be; it is about realigning life around God and God’s ways” (pp. 101-102).
God is involved in the life of the world. God is involved in the lives of each human being (cf. John 3: 16-17). God’s hope, God’s passion, God’s desire is for all humanity and for all creation to be made new, restored to a wholeness, a shalom that is rooted in the very heart of God.
And where do we see this dream of God’s being demonstrated?
In the most unexpected place!
God has called and continues to call a people to be the sign of God’s dream for the world. Indeed, we are a broken and imperfect people, all humanity is. We are a people who are “jars of clay” (cf. 2 Corinthians 4: 7ff), vessels in whom God chooses to be present. God chooses to use that which is weak to reveal what restored life can become. It would seem that if God had sat in any of the numerous leadership seminars offered over the past 25 years, that God would have come up with a better plan, but God chooses to enact God’s dream through a broken people, who are developing ears to hear, opening eyes to see, hearts that are open to discover and understand, lives that are willing to be shaped and transformed, in order to demonstrate how God intends human beings to relate to one another.
The question becomes whether we seek to continue living in ways we think are best or whether we are open to being realigned by the Spirit of God to be the sign of God’s dream for the world demonstrating a different reality in being human. Living life with God is all about reorientation.
When we arise each morning – do we seek to live our own lives, seeking our own purposes, seeking our own ends, or are we willing to be part of a larger dream for humanity – a dream that continually challenges us to become human in ways we have never perceived, becoming more humane, becoming more compassionate, becoming more loving, merciful, faithful, courageous, hopeful – becoming complete human beings.
If the latter, then our life will be one of continual reorientation – a continually orienting ourselves to Jesus Christ (who is the embodiment of God, God who came to dwell among us), a continually embracing of Jesus Christ, a continually openness to the Spirit of God, of Christ, because in so doing, in our becoming like Jesus, we become a people demonstrating what it is to be truly human. This involves a purposeful aligning ourselves to God and the ways of God as revealed in Jesus Christ – it involves an aligning of ourselves to the Story and Vision of God (which we will explore more in detail next week).
Dare we align ourselves with God’s dream for humanity by opening our lives to being a sign of God’s dream?
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another important message roland--thank you!! WOW did you write earlier, "Be the God you want to see in the World!" I have this at our computer and your messages align so to this thought---what a huge responsibility we have to respond in this manner----------yes yes yes
ReplyDeleteI do not think I have ever written, "Be the God you want to see in the World," but I would imphatically say, "be who God wants you to be i the world!"
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