filling us with hope, not dread

I think all to often the church has had a very narrow focus for its ministry. The church is called to engage the world.....all of it. It is called to move beyond its often parochial vision of ministry. I look at many church members who are literally exhausted by keeping the machinery of the church going and attending meetings to hear the minutes of the previous meeting and plan when the next meeting will occur. We need a new vision in the church such that we truly engage the world in a kind of dialogue on all of the real issues in life that really matter to all of us. Yesterday we celebrated Australia Day, and at this point it is important to ask ourselves just what it means to be an Australian. There are so many Australian issues to which Christianity brings a perspective. One such issue that stands out to me is the opportunity we have as Christian people to dare as followers of Jesus, to be compassionate and welcoming to asylum seekers at a time in our society when that is unpopular. Just as those early fishermen, we need to have our sites raised with a fresh vision about what engagement with other people whose ideas, whose heritage, whose lifestyles are different than ours really means. That to me is the "call" that Jesus lays on us all.

This can all be great encouragement to us, a sign of hope. We often are left with wondering if there is anything we can do for the kingdom. Many believe they can do nothing, they are helpless passengers in the ship of the church rather than crew. But we need to remember, God took a refugee like Moses, God took a young man like Jeremiah, God took a stubborn man like Jonah, a young naïve woman like Mary, ordinary people like the disciples, filled them with hope, not dread, and used them.