Yesterday I joined some students for a conversation about putting our faith into action. One of my interns asked the students what motivates them to action. Their answers were honest and mostly biblical, “It is commanded”, “It relieves our guilt”, “It is what Jesus did”, “Other people need us”, “It’s how we show God’s love to the world” and “It gives us a vision and purpose for our lives”. Their answers were honest and biblical and yet I was slightly disheartened that most of their answers fell into the category of “have to” rather than “get to”.
We follow a Leader who poured flour and oil into the empty pots of a widow and multiplied loaves and fishes for the hungry masses. We walk in the steps of a Savior who went out of his way to let outsiders know that they were insiders and who couldn’t stop himself from healing every disease and sickness. And you know what I find fascinating? There is no record, not even one small passage that says, “With head hanging low, and with a heaviness in his spirit Jesus turned to his disciples and said in a weary and sullen voice, ‘I guess we have-to go put our faith into action.’ And so Jesus begrudgingly rose to his feet and dragging his toes in the dirt he continued on with the arduous task of the kingdom.”
I’m not saying that Jesus woke up every morning and said, “Yippee, lots of work to do!” and then sprung into action from dawn until dusk. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that when the lame man walked Jesus grinned from ear to ear and when the little girl who had been dead got up out of bed I think he might have let out a ‘yahoo’ or two. When the prostitute found new life and the tax collector gave back what he had stolen I have to believe that Jesus was joyful and don’t you think when he told his disciples the story he said, “Guess what I got to do today?” And don’t you think that Jesus was bubbling with anticipation when he stood on the beach waiting to tell Peter that he was still included in God’s work even after Peter had messed up?
As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we get-to be involved in a movement that puts the whole world back together. A movement birthed out of the generosity of a God who simply could not help himself but to give. A God who loved the world so much that he withheld nothing from it, not even his most cherished possession, his only son. The movement we are all a part of is one that finds its origins in outpouring and its joy in generosity. We get to be involved in a movement where starving people are fed, lame people jump for joy, lonely people find friends, unnoticed people are seen, the earth is healed, and people are set free from their fear of death and their captivity to sin.
Jesus tells his followers that they should follow his commands and put their faith into action, because in this way they get to remain in his love and in this way their joy will be complete. I pray that this day, this week, this life you will find yourself grinning, bubbling, and letting out an occasional “yahoo” or two because you are so filled with joy because you get-to be about the work of the Kingdom.
Yahoo!
