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If you are looking for a video to help move your congregation from complacency to action, here is one that I recommend God Grew Tired of Us. I saw this video at the Northeastern Upper Atlantic School of Christian Mission in early July. It is a documentary that follows some of the young men who were among the “lost boys” of Sudan as they relocate to the United States from their refugee camp.

 

John Dau is one of these men. In the film he makes this haunting statement as he described the horrors of his early life: “It was as if the last day, as people say in the Bible, that there will be a last day, that Jesus Christ will come, and whatever on Earth will be judged. That was my imagination. I thought that God felt tired of people on earth here, felt tired of the bad deeds, the bad thing that we are doing, yet God is watching on us. I thought God got tired of us and he want to finish us.”

 

For many of us, our imaginations shut down when we try to project ourselves into places of such dire condition as the people in the Sudan experienced. It is easy to say that the problem is too big and we are too small. Yet without taking small steps, we will be unable to take larger ones.

 

If we allow our local church energy to focus on building membership and meeting budgets and not on participating in God’s mission, it is at the expense of being the Church. Faith development goes far beyond faith that we will be able to meet our expenses and pay our apportionments. Fully developed faith has feet and is walking.

 

Steve Manskar, the Director of Wesleyan Discipleship at the Board of Global Ministries, recently wrote: “When we shift our understanding of mission from what we do to get people into the church to participation in God’s mission for the world and living as citizens of God’s reign, then acts of justice become an essential part of Christian life and work.”
 

Take a small step: help a refugee family in your local community.

 

Take another step: learn more about their homeland and the issues that forced them to leave, perhaps undertake a mission study.

 

Take yet another small step: visit a community action agency and find out about the needs they are unable to meet.

 

And another step: find out if there are justice-related issues behind the needs.

 

More steps: be in prayer, ask God for guidance and inspiration for ways to respond to the cries for justice, and take the next step.

 

I do not believe that God grew tired of the little children who trekked a thousand miles from their homes. I believe that Jesus Christ was right there walking with them. But, I do wonder if God is getting tired of us. What does the Lord require of us but to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God? This is the walk of faith. Do no harm, do good, stay in love with God. Small steps? Big steps? Let’s get walking.