The Outsiders | Where God is Working

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent. Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today's debaters? Hasn't God made the wisdom of the world foolish? In God's wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn't come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21 (Common English Bible)

While we're waiting for God to show up in the places that make sense – in the big churches with impressive buildings and large budgets, in the ministries with celebrity pastors and national platforms, in the movements that look successful and influential – God is working in the places we're not even paying attention to.

God is working in the recovery group meeting in a church basement that most of the congregation doesn't even know exists. God is working through the community center in the overlooked neighborhood that's giving kids a safe place to go after school. God is working through the people organizing mutual aid networks to help their neighbors pay for groceries and rent. God is working in the lives of people doing kingdom work without ever calling it that – people who are loving their neighbors, fighting for justice, and serving the least of these while the church is busy protecting its reputation and its buildings.

We miss this because we're looking in the wrong places. We're waiting for God in Jerusalem while God is working in Galilee.

And we miss it because the work God is doing in Galilee doesn't look like the work we expect. It doesn't come with press releases or marketing campaigns. It doesn't have a large social media following. It doesn't fit our categories of what successful ministry looks like.

Paul understood this. He told the Corinthians that God's wisdom looks like foolishness to the world. God works through what the world considers weak and foolish to shame what the world considers wise and strong.

This is the same pattern we've been seeing throughout this series. God invited foreign priests to be among the first to worship Jesus. God stepped into the water with sinners. God called fishermen and tax collectors to be disciples. God started Jesus' ministry in Galilee instead of Jerusalem. Over and over, God works in unexpected places through unexpected people in unexpected ways.

And we keep missing it because we're convinced God should work the way we would work. We're convinced God should show up in the center, not the margins. We're convinced God should work through people with credentials, not ordinary people doing ordinary acts of love. We're convinced God should bless what already looks blessed.

But that's not how God works. God shows up at kitchen tables where people are caring for aging parents. God shows up in hospital waiting rooms where people are sitting with the grieving. God shows up in workplaces where people are fighting for fair wages for their coworkers. God shows up in neighborhoods where people are organizing to stop displacement and gentrification.

And most of the time, the people doing this work have never been to seminary. They don't have platforms. They don't have large budgets or impressive buildings. They're just ordinary people loving their neighbors, and God is working powerfully through them.

So maybe the question we need to ask isn't "Why isn't God showing up in the places we expect?" Maybe the question is "Why aren't we paying attention to where God is actually working?"

Because God is working. Right now. In your neighborhood, in your city, in the overlooked places and through the overlooked people. The question is whether we're paying attention. The question is whether we're willing to look beyond our Jerusalems and notice what God is doing in Galilee.

Prayer:

God, forgive us for being so focused on where we expect you to work that we miss where you're actually working. Forgive us for waiting for you in Jerusalem while you're in Galilee. Open our eyes to see the kingdom work happening all around us—in basements and community centers, through ordinary people doing extraordinary acts of love. Help us recognize your work even when it doesn't come with press releases or platforms. And help us join what you're already doing instead of waiting for you to show up where we think you should be. Amen.