The following post was written by Todd Harrington, and published on his blog on November 2nd, 2009 (reference link to his blog and article). I met Todd on my trip to Swaziland. He is a pastor at a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Members of their church are supporting a carepoint in Swaziland in the Nsoko region. His article shares insightful perspectives about our role in doing good works Christ has planned for us.
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Haggai 2:21-22 “I am about to shake up everything, to turn everything upside down and start over from top to bottom——I will take you as a signet ring, the sign of my presence and authority. I’ve looked over the field and chosen you for this work.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We have the responsibility and the privilege to be a part of a great shake up! We have the invitation to live and play in God’s kingdom which is a great shake up! This kingdom is topsy turvey and it is subversive. In this kingdom the first will be last! The weak will be strong! The wronged will forgive! People will pray for their enemies! What seems obvious is made unclear in this new shake up! You are and I are invited to join in the work of this kingdom. According to Ephesians, this is what we were created for. We were created to join in the work of God here and now in this world. We are created to care for the orphans, the widows, the poor, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, the lost, and the needy. If you and I are not, then we are not fulfilling our ultimate purpose. We are to be about a great shake up! This shake up is beyond us, greater than us, and one that we can not accomplish….we simply join in the work and serve well, serve thankfully, and serve until the end…...knowing that we have played our small role in this great shake up!
“A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN”
Poem by Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador;
He was assassinated for speaking
Up for God’s kingdom and justice in 1980
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection…..No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We
provide yeast that produces effects beyond
our capabilities.
We can not do everything and there is a sense of liberation in
realizing that. This enables us to Do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning
a step along the way
an opportunity for God’s Grace to enter and do
the rest.
We may never see the end results….
We are prophets of a future that is not our own.
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