KINGDOM ACTION

"Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

What does it mean when the Spirit of the Lord says to us as a congregation, "Arise, shine; for your light has come."? It means one definite change in our relationship with Jesus and with the Kingdom of God. To "arise and shine for our light has come" means that we move from what could be called the "passive phase" into the "active phase." Many of us , even up to this moment, have been serving the Kingdom of God in a rather passive way. We react and respond to situations and problems that come up, but there is a lack of aggressiveness in us, perhaps because we're not quite sure what we're supposed to do. We feel like laborers in the market place waiting to be hired.

"If God would only show me clearly that I'm supposed to go to China, or if God would make clear to me that it's now time for me to sell everything that I have and go down to Mexico City and start preaching the gospel on the streets, I would do it. And it would be a great relief to know that that's what I'm supposed to do."

The problem is, that life keeps going on in it's dull routine. We buy, sell, acquire, get rid of. We get up in the morning and say a few prayers, have our breakfast, go to work, come home, have dinner, watch the news, read the paper, fall asleep and go to bed. Get up in the morning, say a few prayers, have breakfast, go to work, etc. We come together on Sunday. Maybe once during the week we get fellowship somewhere. We try occasionally to speak a word about Jesus to people. But we're all frustrated ... it's all pretty tame and it's all pretty passive.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 5:14-16

And in these words from Jesus which parallel the passage in Isaiah, we have again a call to come out of that passive faith into the active. To throw off the bushel and move out of the life that's so ingrown and inward and withdrawn and safe and careful and cautious, and move into a life of risk and boldness and victory and power and action so that as we do this the Kingdom of God through us begins to have an impact on people around us. And people begin to see evidence of the Kingdom of God through us. But how does it happen? How do we get out of this rut and move from passive to active?

The first forty years of Moses' life were spent as a Hebrew in the Egyptian court among the royalty. But he was an outsider and he knew it, and everybody else knew it. And he felt like an outsider. He was frustrated. He belonged with those Hebrews over there who were miserable. They were having a terrible time, and he felt guilty. He could look out the window and watch. Once-in-a-while he could ride by in his chariot and give a Hebrew a little money. "But what can I do?" he would say to himself. "What can I do? What can I do?" Moses continued to live a passive life. He went with the flow of circumstances. And he hated himself for this. Then one day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and he flies into action. "At last I have something that I can really do." He pulls out his sword and kills the Egyptian. After looking both ways to see that nobody's watching, he buries his body in the sand and feels greatly relieved because, "At last I've done something!" But the next day when he sees a Hebrew beating a Hebrew and tries to settle the dispute he's rejected.

Moses is not appreciated by the Hebrews. He's in danger from the Egyptians ... what can he do? He tried to "arise and shine" but he did it before his light came. He wasn't responding to God, he wasn't doing it in faith. So his one-man revolution lasted less than twenty-four hours.

Then Moses does what you and I so often would like to do ... he runs away. He disappears in the mysterious wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. He becomes a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian and he lives an even more passive life. He has to take care of the sheep, he has to chase the wild animals away, he has to go to work every day, he has to look after his wife and sons...but time is going by and he's getting older, and what does he have to show for his life? .... Until the day he stumbles over this burning bush. He sees the bush and he hears his name being called, "Moses! Moses!" He stops to look. "Take off your shoes, you're standing on holy ground." Moses obeys. "Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." And with this Moses moves from the passive mode into the active mode. And for the next forty years of his life, until his death, he never stops.

Now when the Spirit of the Lord says to us, "Arise, shine; for your light has come," he is calling us to come from the passive to the active mode. Not just as individuals, but as a Body.

While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.  Luke 5:1-3

Up to this point in Peter's life, Peter, though he was a hard-working man, and a man with an active mind, as far as his relationship with the Kingdom of God was concerned, he was passive. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, he attended the temple on the holy days, he took the trouble to go down to the Jordan and listen to John the Baptist. He even heard Jesus speak a number of times and was deeply impressed. But he kept saying to himself, "What can I do? I'm a fisherman, I have to make a living." Now Jesus says to Peter, "Arise, shine; for your light has come, it's time to move from passive to active, Peter." And so we read in Luke chapter 5 verses 4 through 11:

And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord." For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

It was at this point that Peter moved from passive to active. And for the rest of his life he was out there hauling people into the Kingdom of God ... drawing people into the Kingdom ... catching men and women. We have come, I believe, to such a juncture, not just as individuals, but as a flock. And it means to "arise and shine, for your light has come," that we move from passive to active in four specific areas.

First, "arise, shine, for your light has come," means active worship. Active worship as opposed to sitting and meditating, which has its purpose and its value, but it's got to move beyond that. As opposed to dreaming dreams, which also have their purpose, but it has to go beyond that. "Take off your shoes, you're standing on holy ground," and Moses has to jump. He's got to act ... take off his shoes. That was an act of worship ... active worship ... that's an act of repentance. It's a turning away from his old life and from himself and showing honor to God. Or, when Peter in the boat falls down at Jesus' feet and says, "Depart from me for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord," that's worship ... active worship. He's not just thinking the thoughts; he's doing something ... he's repenting! "And when they brought their boats to land and forsook everything and followed Jesus," that's worship ... active worship. It's repentance, it's turning away from their past and moving with tremendous faith and great joy in a new direction of following Jesus.

Worship just can't be the same all the time. It has to move. It has to grow. It has to advance. And all the time, it begins with the repentance of being me. "I repent of myself, Lord God. I take my shoes off before you and I honor you." That's how it always begins. And then it goes into active praise. And every model for worship that we have in scripture is not the dreamy kind, it's loud and it's alive and it's in there with everything we've got as we see in Revelation chapter 5 verse 6:

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth; and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying,

"Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals,

for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God…'

…worship, active worship loud, strong, clear, joyful.

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and tongues (and what a glorious thing. That's what we have here ... we have such a wonderful mix, let's do something with it), clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Active worship) And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen!"  Revelation 7

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Romans 12:1

Spiritual worship isn't just sitting and brooding. Spiritual worship is action with the body ... the offering up of the body, of our strength, of the best of our mind. Not just emotion without thought and not just thought without emotion but bring them together and let them fuse in our bodies and begin to worship the glory which has come to us.

"Arise, shine; for your light has come."

Second, "Arise, shine, for your light has come," means active prayer .... as opposed to sitting in the chair thinking and looking out the window and brooding and checking your watch and saying, "Okay, I've put in my fifteen minutes." Active prayer that comes into the presence of God.... bold, confident, joyful, thankful and asks. This is what Jesus teaches us every time he talks about prayer. He talks about being aggressive.

"Ask, and it shall be given you. Knock, and it shall be open. Seek and you will find."

Do something… don't just sit there and wish. And so he tells us in Luke chapter 18:

And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.' For a while he refused; but afterwards he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming."' And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night?"

Notice that the elect are not sitting in chairs brooding, they're crying to him day and night.

Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily.

.... active prayer .... aggressive prayer. I'm not encouraging blasphemy. I'm not talking about trying to be buddy-buddy with God. God is holy and we have to take off our shoes, but he wants us to come into his presence. He wants us to cry out. Don't sit there feeling sorry for yourself! Come on, let's move, let's act, let's pray!

"Arise, shine, for your light has come."

.... you can pray.

Thirdly, "Arise, shine for your light has come," means active faith translated into deeds. We take this faith and we put it to work ... we do something with it in our families, our work, our neighborhoods, among our friends. So there's not just feeling, but action. If all we do is walk around with a feeling of faith but it never translates into any kind of deeds, our families and the people we work with and our neighbors will never know anything about Jesus. It only happens when it's translated into deeds. Take the bushel off.

"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works (your actions) and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

So we take the mercy which has come to us through the cross and we begin to turn it around and give it to the lives we touch.... that same forbearance, that same generosity, that same kindness, that same patience, in deeds to the people around us and they are blessed. "Arise, shine, for your light has come."

...you can do it.

Finally,

"Arise, shine, for your light has come," means active witness. From the Book of Acts, chapter 1 verse 6:

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."

And this happened. They received the Spirit and they became his witnesses. Now we have received the Spirit and are receiving the Spirit and we are his witnesses to the whole world beginning in your own city that Jesus, crucified and risen, is Lord ... to get over our shame of actually saying that. And that he is coming back to call to account everyone who has ever lived on this planet. To aggressively proclaim that that is so. Calling people to repent before Jesus and trust Jesus and follow Jesus and obey Jesus ... walking with Jesus into the Kingdom of God.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come."

Don't be afraid, take off the bushel and witness.

Those first eighty years of Moses' life were not wasted. Forty in Egypt... forty in the wilderness. They were a preparation. And everything he learned during those eighty years came in handy. But those first eighty years would have been wasted if, at the burning bush, Moses had failed to move from passive to active.

The early time of Peter's life when his relationship with the Kingdom was passive was not a wasted period. It was a beneficial time and it would bear fruit for him in later years. But it would have been wasted if, in the boat that day, Peter had not moved from passive to active.

Now the time has come for us ... and it revolves around a single question that the Spirit of the Lord puts upon us today. He says to us, "Are you ready to say 'yes' when the Lord God says to this flock and to everyone here, 'Go, I'm sending you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt? From now on you're going to be catching men. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to my Father who is in heaven ... your Father."

Let's throw off the bushel and move and act beginning this day. Move from wherever we are right now into active worship, active prayer, active faith, aggressive witnessing.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."