What God is Doing in the World, Right Now

It’s Friday, which is the day I normally post one of my sermons. I preached this one last weekend, and I was vibrating. I think I actually exploded. More than once. The content touches something that I hold so deep within me that it’s a little scary, to be honest.It’s about saying yes to God.It’s not about being perfect, or being doubt-free, or being fearless.It’s not about moving to Africa (unless it is about moving to Africa, like my friends Bill and Sharon, who actually are moving to Uganda for a year).It’s not about sacrificing everything you ever loved so that you could do something you always hated.It is about being swept up in a story that is big & beautiful. (And broken and unbelievably messy). It’s about getting honest about what you see in the world, getting generous with what you offer to the world, and getting serious about what God is asking you to do in your corner of it.It’s about saying yes.It’s about answering THANK YOU with YOU’RE WELCOME instead of NO PROBLEM, because it will be a problem to enter into this kind of a story. It will be costly, and it will cause problems. It’s about welcoming people to the gifts that you offer, even when it’s a problem. (Thank you, Mark Labberton, for that one. The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor is inviting me into some very good things).It’s about seeing to the shalom of your brothers and sisters. Which is everybody. And shalom doesn’t just mean peace, as in absence of war. It also means completeness, wholeness, and well-being.I don’t believe the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Don’t buy the fear and doom that some religious people are peddling right now. Yes, it’s messy, and yes, it’s very broken, but God is at home in that kind of hot mess. It’s where God does God’s best work. It’s what God is doing. Around the clock. Right now.I believe God is transforming the world, and God is inviting you and me to be a part of it, simply by being honest about what we see, generous with what we have to offer, and serious about what God is asking us to do.So, enjoy this sermon. Then wonder about what God is asking you to do. Then be afraid. Then freak out. Then make a list of 57 reasons why doing that would be a terrible idea.Then say yes.https://vimeo.com/69004371