As we are reading through this book, we've learned about how responsibilities, routines, and other things like assumptions can keep us from following the Wild Goose. But there are ways out of the cages. One of those ways out is to turn our eyes outside ourselves and begin to engage others through acts of service and meeting needs.
In Isaiah 58, we see God challenging the ideals of the religious, turns away their worship and shows them what brings him pleasure.
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel
debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food
with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes
on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at
once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your
passage.Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and
I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’ A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places
“If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit
gossiping about other people’s sins, If you are generous with the hungry and
start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow
in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the
emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered
garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old
rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your
past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild
and renovate, make the community livable again." Isaiah 58:6-12 (The
Message)
We find that God equates service to others as service to Him. Why is this, I wonder? I believe it's because God is fully engaged in what is happening in the plight of mankind. He loves his creation and desires the best for man. And his plan is to use us as his hands and feet.
What things make you sad or angry? Where do you see injustice and explotation? Can you make a difference in the life of those around you? Where you can help your neighbors? These may be indicators of the things you are called to help solve. Maybe you can save a life, through a friendship, a listening ear, giving to a cause, donating time and energy to an outreach ministry, going on a mission trip.
Let me challenge us to begin to see our world, really see. If we have to, we may have to take off the religious glasses and see it for what truly is around us. Ask God to show you where you can make a difference. Declare a fast, that you will find a need and fill it and give God the opportunity to use you as his hands.
Then the promise of God will begin to be fulfilled in our lives...healing will come, the "lights will turn on" and our lives will be full of adventure as we chase the Wild Goose! My favorite quote of all time is one by Gil Bailie: "Do not ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs are men who have come alive."
Let us hear the call of the Wild Goose calling us out of the cages of religion and find out those things that make us truly come alive and make a difference in our world.
