“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures. Genesis 1:31. I heard tell of a young pastor who was called to a sizable church. His friends warned him that the congregation was far too big for him. His immediate response was simple: “Don’t worry, I’ll cut it down to my size once I get there.” To discern what it means to be God’s servant, and to actively seek God’s light, is a grand invitation. It requires trust in God, in life, and in a vision of what could be. It is astonishing what can be accomplished through us when we simply trust God. Most of us are not called to live out our faith in a massive, public way as did any of the famous religious or spiritual leaders whom we may admire. Many people who experience God’s claim upon their lives do not change their jobs. Instead, they become changed people. They develop a distinct set of values and a way of living that runs entirely counter to a culture that measures success by wealth or status. Our response to God’s call transforms our daily choices. Even if our external circumstances stay exactly the same, the way we view other people, our life, and ourselves become filtered through our trust in the Divine. The deep, spiritual reach of the human soul is to connect to God and to one another. In our modern world, people often hesitate to assert that what they do is a direct calling from God—and we certainly know the historic and contemporary harm committed by those claiming to execute “God’s will” destructively. We, too, emphasize our sinfulness. A middle school student once told their teacher that they had been saved and baptized in their local church. Later that day, the teacher saw this same student being reprimanded by another teacher. The first teacher remarked that they thought the student had recently been saved at church. Without a moment’s hesitation, the student responded, “Yes, but I have not been delivered yet.” We may think that God’s greatest work is our known universe—the planets, stars, animals, galaxies, and everything beyond our known world. However, God said something about humans that God never said about anything else. Looking at our first ancestors, God declared them and us “very good.” We are the greatest work of God! Though we are not perfect, we are made a little lower than the angels. As a Christian community, we affirm that there is more grace in God, and more of God in us, than there is sin in us. We are God’s greatest work, and that is exactly why God in Christ died and rose again for us! A beautiful, positive way to think about our motivation to seek justice and love mercy and walk humbly with God is captured by the great theologian and Christian mystic Howard Thurman, whom I knew, and we affectionately call “Uncle Thurman” in our household. He wrote: “Do not ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” To paraphrase Uncle Thurman for us today: Ask what makes you come alive as a member of this society and your church or spiritual community, and go do it! Because what the world needs more than ever is a community of people who have truly come alive. Andre Dubus wrote in A Father’s Story that “religion is believing in God; faith is believing that God believes in you.” May we refuse to look away from the broken places in our world and find the courage to build campaigns of hope motivated by our sense of social justice and being God’s beloved greatest work. Frederick J. Streets is Professor in the Practice of Theology and Social Work at Yale Divinity School. Previous ​“Faith Matters” columns: • Faith Matters: Uncertainty Bears Possibility• Faith Against Evil• After The Resurrection: Now What?• Let’s Join A Love Revolution• From Redemption to Revelation • Self-Restraint In The Age Of Distraction• Faith Matters: Will You Cross The Road?• Faith Matters: Jesus Remembered Immigrants• Faith Matters: 17 Steps To Self-Care• Extreme Compassion• Put A Shovel In The Ground• Start With The Foundation• True Sanctuary• Kingdom Questions• Faith Matters: Faith Over Fear• Faith Matters: Scar Glory• Faith (Still) Matters• Missions Ride on Faith• Why I’m Called To March• Faith Matters: Not Moonwalking• My Prayer For Peace Unity• Faith Matters: Belief In Action• Faith Matters: Gaza  Ramadan• Faith Matters: On Passover  Redemption• Faith Matters: Freedom Struggles  Holy Week• Faith Matters: Welcome The Stranger• Faith Matters: Beyond Neutrality• Faith Matters: The Lightened Yoke Is Love• Faith Matters: Combat Negativity With Compassion• Faith Matters: In The Middle• Faith Matters: Three Scandals• Faith Matters: The Three Hounds Of Hell• Faith Matters: In Praise Of Empathy• Faith Matters: Focus On God• Faith Matters: How To Say Goodbye• Missing Catherine• Faith Matters: Divine Light In Times Of Darkness• Jesus Islam• Faith  Famine• A Stick Of Faith• Faith Matters: For All The Saints• Waters That Unite Us The post God’s Greatest Work appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less