What did Jesus say?
In response to the question 'what is the greatest commandment?' Jesus responds: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'" (Matthew 22:37-39)

Jesus illustrates what the Old Testament prophets had harked on about for centuries; loving God and loving others are two sides of the same coin. We can't profess our love and commitment to Jesus without that love impacting the lives of those around us. Over 2500 years ago the same point was being made by Amos and Isaiah, both of whom gave radical critiques of Israel for their hypocrisy in understanding and undertaking worship. For these writers Israel's life of worship had become ritualised, routine and focused around key festivals, actions and days. Through Amos, God rejects Israel's worship because the poor were being abused and denied justice, whilst the rich got richer and richer (Amos 5:11-27). Isaiah redefines our understanding of fasting or devotion to God by addressing similar issues, highlighting that the kind of fasting God desires, is a life committed to ending injustice, feeding the poor and helping those who need assistance (Isaiah 58).

More recently the idea of 'integral mission' has emerged to help put form to the outliving of our faith in words and actions. Integral mission means that our faith in the transforming grace of Jesus has social consequences as well as spiritual ones. We can't simply focus on our own spirituality and relationship with God without loving others, standing up for justice and serving the poor.

In short if we're not caring for others or serving our communities, yet are still singing about how great God's love is, we've seriously missed the point. And that's what the Noise is all about... acting out of love, compassion and with a heart to bless those in our local communities!

What did Jesus do?
Jesus revealed God to the people around him. He performed miraculous signs, healed the sick and was a great teacher too. On top of all this he dealt with real people and did down to earth things for them. By not judging the woman caught in adultery, or by speaking with a Samaritan woman, or just through inviting tax collectors into his home, Jesus broke social conventions to show God to others. In these small acts and gestures he was illustrating some of God's love, grace and compassion for His creation whether or not he expressed that with words.

In simple terms the Noise is really just a way of doing what Jesus did, expressing God's love to our neighbours. The Noise gives us a chance to do small acts of service - things that go beyond the normal societal expectations, because we love God and want people to know that.

(Thanks to Soul Action website for content of this page)