“How can a young person stay on the path of purity?” (v. 9) Perhaps the psalmist (songwriter/singer?) who wrote Psalm 119, an acrostic psalm, was a young person. But this is obviously not a question that only the youth should ask. Sin is no respecter of age!
To the question the psalmist anwers, “By living according to your word.” Then he goes on to show how he does it: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The Hebrew word (צָפַ֣נְתִּי, “hidden”) may also be translated “treasured.” Now that’s a revelation! What you love and cherish, you treasure and keep.
When the word of the Lord is treasured, sin is abhorred.
I don’t know how those that teach the Bible does not say Jesus is God can miss what the very first verse in the Gospel of John says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And the fact that v. 14 says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us….” implies that he was not “flesh” prior to becoming one.
So to recognize and receive Jesus (vs. 10-12) is really not to literally “accept Jesus into your heart” but to believe in him as what he truly is and embrace him: God made flesh.
Religious? So you think you’re God’s child? Don’t be too quick in congratulating yourself!
The Jews that Jesus was talking to were religious but Jesus did not think they were God’s children. Instead, Jesus said they were actually children of the devil! No wonder they were plotting to kill him. Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.”
We are to love God with our whole being–‘all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ But Jesus did not stop with the first and greatest. Why? Because you cannot have one without the other!
To love God is to love neighbor. 1 John 4:20 reads, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” Neighbor is anyone, but especially one in need.
If you love God, you must love your neighbor as well.
Christians’ attitude toward and support or non-support of Israel is in general determined by their understanding of Israel’s role in God’s redemptive work and in particular their interpretation of God’s word to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV):
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Since in the New Testament a new Israel, composed of both Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus, has been raised and formed (and replaced ethnic Israel as “the people of God”?) by the same LORD, does the promise of blessing or threat of curse still stand? Or should we now apply the blessing or curse in Genesis 12:2-3 to peoples depending on how they treat the Church, the new people of God? That is, those that bless the Church the LORD will bless but those that curse the Church the LORD will curse.
Furthermore, what does the blessing or curse entail? And in a broader perspective of humanity’s salvation and the second coming of Christ, would it really matter whether or not peoples have a special or “deep” (to borrow Barack Obama’s word) relation to the nation of Israel? Or perhaps as Luke 18:8 suggests—“…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (NIV)—the Messiah will just be looking for faith in him, and such faith or lack of it will form the basis for granting the ultimate blessing or curse.
I am tempted to try to express my thoughts in the Visayan language of my Facebook friends. But for the sake of those who cannot understand it, I’d rather not. Also, at the outset, let me say that my intention for doing this is not to vilify anyone. In truth, I have great admiration for those that stand their ground on any issue, including this one. My purpose is to present an alternative, perhaps unpopular, view of the Davao City issue that has actually already been there way before the punching incident involving the mayor and the sheriff was shown in the media (with the latter at the receiving end). And if this will help promote a friendly discussion, let me inform anyone reading this that Merwin and Doc Jon are my FB friends who became part of my life when I was assigned in Davao City as a junior intern from a Bible college I attended in southern Philippines. (And now we’re together again! Sort of.) In fact, Nong Merwin and his wife, Nang Flor, had been so nice and hospitable to me during my stay in Davao City that I often found myself at their kitchen table, eating! Daghang salamat! (Thank you very much!). It is my hope that this conversation will help all of us become more mature and enlightened in our thinking. My suggestion is that we all try to understand where each one is coming from, fairly weigh the arguments presented, and show mutual respect even if in the end we agree to disagree.
I was born and spent the first forty years of my life in the Philippines so I understand the Filipino people’s strong desire for a societal change that leads to a better life, especially to those that struggle daily to survive. And I understand why many of us have become impatient with the government officials who are as quick as a fox in pocketing public funds but as slow as snail in responding to the needs of their constituents. So when the likes of the Dutertes come into power, they are a breath of fresh air to many. And because the Dutertes have shown a strong political leadership that has effectively delivered the peace and order and the ensuing prosperity that other problematic cities can only dream about, Davaoeños wholeheartedly support them. So I think I know where my friends who disagree with me are coming from and I think I do understand them.
However, as we ponder upon how societies might go about the process of societal change, we have to remember that we are a civilized people who are part of a civilized world. And we are also Christians! So we have to ask ourselves the question: What is the civilized and Christian way of doing things that would effect change and accomplish the same goals that we so desire for our city, province or country? Some think that the use of force, killing, bloody revolution, and anything we ordinarily consider to be morally wrong are justifiable when used to accomplish good ends. They embrace an ethical theory (teleological ethics) that holds that the ends or consequences of an act determine whether it is good or evil. Communists, for example, espouse such teleological ethics. But the fact that Communism is falling tells us that the civilized world is not buying the idea. But in Davao City, this particular consequential ethics is used and supported perhaps by most Davaoeños, and I think that’s really sad because the steps they have taken lead backward. Perhaps the Duterte supporters indeed feel a sense of peace as criminals and other “undesirables” have been rooted out of their city (through “salvage”? In the Philippines the word has taken on a new meaning: “to summarily kill or eliminate”). But to those that cannot “put up” or “shut up,” do you think Davao City is a safe place for them? I doubt. A quick fix that utilizes an “iron hand” or, perhaps better, “iron fist” (and uses vigilantes who have been given by the authorities the blessing to “do what they have to do”?) is obviously not the right answer to the problems in Davao City or any other place in the world for that matter.
It is quite appalling that human rights violations in other countries such as Great Britain are also used to justify the Iron Lady’s act of violence. I don’t understand the kind of reasoning that seems to go this way: if human rights violations are also committed in other countries why criticize our mayor? There is absolutely no logic there.
As Christians, Scriptures along with reason should be used as tools as they can guide us in critiquing or promoting ideologies or in doing anything in pursuit of a better world. We need to realize, however, that Scriptures can be taken out of context, misunderstood and misused, especially when we are too eager to support an idea that for some reason we want to keep, perhaps because it’s “good for us.” On the other hand, when Scriptures are read within their context and understood properly, they are very useful for out of them we can draw principles that can guide us in our effort to “seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness” which assures those of us that actually do of the Lord’s promise: “all these things (God’s provision and other blessings) will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33; all Scripture quotations here are from the New International Version).
To determine whether an act is good or evil, I think we need to reflect on the life of Jesus: his words and deeds. Let us remember that Jesus was also born in an oppressive world controlled by the Romans and those that connived with them. And we know that he had the concerns of the poor and the needy at heart because he responded to them! But how? He performed miracles on behalf of them and gave them hope through the message of “the kingdom of God” that he preached. Did he denounce evil? Oh yes! In fact the authorities got so mad at him that in the end they crucified him! Did he lead an armed rebellion? Clearly no! But did he resort to violence (as in assault) in obeying the will of the Father? Well, let’s take a look at Jesus who appeared to have lost his cool in the temple as it is the story alluded to in support of what I’d call “the Duterte way.”
The narratives in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-16 and John 2:14-16 all show Jesus entering the temple, driving out those that buy and sell, and overturning the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. John adds that Jesus “made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle” and said to those who sold doves, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” Clearly Jesus made a whip of chords and although he used them to drive out the merchants from the temple courts he does not appear to have used them as a weapon that would inflict physical damage and pain to them. Besides, the lesson of the story is not for any of us to follow Jesus’ act in a literal way but that like Jesus we are to be passionate about the things of God and how we are to maintain a sense of awe in response to them. So if we apply it to the Davao City issue, where is the sense of awe to the things of God when God’s kingdom and righteousness are blatantly disregarded in the human pursuit of gain such as the peace and prosperity of the city? Isn’t this a case of seeking first “all these things” rather than “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”? So if there is peace in Davao City, is it the kind of peace that comes from God? And if Davao City is prosperous, is it a blessing from God? Obviously not!
Reaching a societal goal of peace and prosperity the biblical “narrow way” (the right way) may take a long time, but the quick fix of the Iron Lady of Davao City and her cohorts is just plain wrong. It is the “broad way” (the wrong way) that will lead to the city becoming a modern Babel. So if things will remain the same in Davao City, if the Duterte way will prevail, why in the world stay there?
Yesterday I went to court for a pre-trial. No, I was not charged with some crime like the ones you’ve seen on CSI. It was “just” a misdemeanor—I received a citation for “failing to stop at stop sign.”
The hearing was scheduled at 1:00 p.m. and I was notified that I had to be there 15 minutes before. So I complied. But when I got there, there was this long line of people, I assume fellow traffic “violators.” I was finally called about 45 minutes later.
The deputy judge that handled my case was a young lady, and nice looking—someone that could play the role of a young and attractive lawyer on CSI or another top crime-related TV program. She introduced herself, with a smile, and without asking me any questions about the violation I allegedly committed, she proceeded to offer a deal.
“Here are your options: 1, I can lower your citation to an illegal parking, no traffic violation record, and pay $145.00, or 2, you can go to court, lose more working hours, go into trouble looking for parking, lose the case, and in the end still pay $255.00.”
“But,” I said, “I don’t think I can admit to something I did not commit. I know I stopped. But I guess the police officer (she was a middle-aged woman, or even older) did not see me stop. I stopped behind the crosswalk and there was this huge electrical post that blocked her view.” I was telling the truth but I wasn’t sure if she believed me.
She said, “I understand. But we can do a ‘no contest’ (nolo contendre), which does not mean you admit to it. But it’s up to you. Tell you what, I had the same trouble and I did try to fight my case a few times but did not win any of them.” I guess she believed me but did not believe I could win.
“Well,” I said, “I realize that if I pursued the case, it would be my word against hers. So I guess I’d better take the offer.” Then we shook hands.
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,
whether male or female,
when they had a grievance against me, 14 what will I do when God confronts me?
What will I answer when called to account? 15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Scan courtesy of Masters of Photography
I don’t normally use a “motherly” theme for Mother’s Day. But for a change, I thought I would use one.
The texts that speak about mothers are rare. I ran a search and found this passage in Job. Instinctively, like a hopeful mother looking at an adorable baby, I was drawn to it.
However, finding what appears to be a good Scripture text for the occasion is one thing. Writing a reflection that is faithful to both the text and the occasion is quite another. It’s like wanting to get pregnant and give birth to a baby. Trouble is, you’re a guy!
I remember Thomas Beatie, the man who became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl in 2008.
Mr. Beatie was born female and named Tracy Lagondino. He had a “gender reassignment” and became legally male. But because he kept his female organs, he was able to get pregnant.
In other words, it’s not that simple to create a message for Mother’s Day from a text that was written for an entirely different occasion.
But having said that, let’s see what idea can be conceived.
Naturally, it is the last verse that immediately draws my attention:
Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
But these parallel lines that essentially ask the same rhetorical question can only make sense if taken within their context.
Job, the main character of the book named after him, was “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (1:1). He had seven sons and three daughters, thousands of animals and a “large number of servants” (1:2).
So by the standard of his time, Job was a wealthy man. Job was the combination of a holy man and a billionaire. The coolest combination, we might say.
But immediately after we are told of Job’s great spiritual and social stature, the real drama unfolds.
Job lost his children, his animals, and his servants to evil men. And as if that wasn’t enough, Job was afflicted “with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head” (2:7).
I’m not sure if it made him feel better or worse, but he “took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.”
As some have suggested, the sores might not only be painful but also itchy. So Job scraped himself with a piece of pottery. That may have relieved the itch, but I’m sure that it was then replaced with great pain.
Why did this evil happen to Job?
The standard theology of the day was to say pain and suffering was a punishment for sin. And that’s exactly how Job’s friends, who were supposed to bring comfort, understood what had happened to him. So instead of giving him comfort, their judgment of him added to his misery.
But Job was blameless. And he knew it. And he tried to defend his innocence. This passage is among his attempts to show that he was not guilty as charged.
The first verses are a set of rhetorical questions the answers to which obviously go in his favor:
13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me, 14 what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account?
Had he denied justice to any of his servants? The obvious answer is no! He would not do such a thing. He feared God.
There appears nothing special about Job’s way of thinking until we learn that in Job’s day slaves were not regarded as fully human. But unlike many slave owners in that period, Job had not treated his slaves like they were subhumans.
So Job was radical in his thinking as a believer in Yahweh. And what was the basis for his theology?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Job treated his slaves as fellow human beings because the God that made him in his mother’s womb is the same God that “formed us both” (him and his servants) “within our mothers.”
Job may had a different intention for saying what he said, but the same principle—that we are all created by God equally human—still apply.
On this day, Mother’s Day, it is good to revisit this fundamental truth.
It is one thing to give assent to the biblical principle that all human beings are created equal, but it’s quite another thing to put this principle into practice.
When we find ourselves in a position that give us power over others, the temptation to see others as less human becomes greater.
I’m sure that we all have encountered some homeless people somewhere. Some of these people are in the worst of situations—they look ugly, they stink, and their bodies might be so soiled that you can almost plant a vegetable garden on them.
Now when you come across a bum that looks like the ones I’ve just described, how do you see him?
I doubt very much if you would see in this lost soul the image of man, much less the image of God. Our usual response to people who smell and look like this bum is to get away from them. And quickly!
Now that example might be extreme, but bad physical appearance is not the only cause for looking down on others.
My family and I were enjoying our hamburgers when two men that didn’t look like bums approached us. One of them asked me for money. But I had no money. Really, I had a credit card, but I had no cash.
So I said, “Sorry.”
And as soon as he heard my sorry, he looked down on me like I was worth nothing. Apparently thinking I was Japanese, he barked, “Go back to Hiroshima!”
Just think of it, he obviously thought that he and his kind alone deserved to be in this country. But it was him that was begging!
Hitler regarded Jews with great prejudice that he tried to annihilate them. But to some extent you and I also suffer from such malady. When we have power and authority, we utilize those we deem inferior for our benefit. And I think one of the saddest is the case of many mothers.
Some people know that when they were kids, and couldn’t do anything on their own, relied on their mothers. When they are old and independent, they still want their mother to do things for them.
The problem is, mother is no longer mother but yaya or nanny! And if mother is dependent on them for things, some treat her even worse.
A Filipina friend of ours got a phone call from his son-in-law asking her to live with them. That made her happy because, instead of renting a room, she now could live with her daughter and her grandkids. And she’d be able to help them with the mortgage as well. (Her son-in-law had intimated that they could not afford it.) So she moved in with them.
But now she regrets that she did—she’s being treated not like a mom but a renter. No, worse than that!
For some reason she doesn’t know, her daughter ignores her and doesn’t treat her like a mother. So she feels that she was asked to live with them because of her financial contribution, and perhaps also to employ her services for doing household chores–gratis!
It’s a sad thing that some people treat others—even their own mother—unfairly. What’s the cure for this unfair treatment of others or tendency to look down on others?
Job’s regard for everyone, including his slaves, as equally human can definitely help us see others as fellow human beings. Looking down on others and treating them unfairly can be avoided if we do not think of ourselves more highly than we should.
As the Apostle Paul admonished, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment….” (Romans 12: 13, NIV).
19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Still Doubting
Jon Granville Gregory emulates the style of Caravaggio, using contemporary and realistic figures to show the story of Thomas encountering the Risen Christ.
From Fr. James B. Simpson and George H. Eatman’s A Treasury of Anglican Art (New York: Rizzoli, 2002). Courtesy of Mr. Eatman.
________
I’m glad that Thomas was a skeptic. That’s because I, too, am a skeptic. It’s not that I don’t believe in God or Jesus. It’s just that I can’t believe in anything unbelievable. And I’d like to think that Thomas represented me, and those like me, when he doubted.
In churches where people easily believe, skeptics may sit quietly…unnoticed. In those rare occasions when they express skepticism, they are often rebuked: “Why can’t you just have more faith?” People give them a certain look—the one that says, “What’s wrong with you?” But is there really something wrong with them?
My attitude toward skeptics is generally positive. I think it’s safe to believe a skeptic’s words than those of a person that easily accepts what she hears or reads. Why? A skeptic would normally get the facts straight first before sharing any information, while the one who easily believes may spread something that’s really nothing but a rumor.
It may sound ironic but in my “business,” which is religion, one of my greatest challenges is not making believers out of skeptics but making skeptics out of believers. Let me tell a story that may show why.
One day I was in the car with an elderly lady I gave a ride to a Bible study I lead. As a believer she was nurtured in a conservative church that had a narrow understanding of certain Christian doctrines. She was reading a book that happened to agree with her view on salvation. She thought she was right because the book confirmed her belief, and she had this idea that a book was infallible!
So I said, “Simply because somebody says it in a book does not necessarily make the statement true.”
But she weakly protested, “A book cannot be published if it contains error, can it?” (or something to that effect).
I wonder where she got the idea that books, especially so-called “Christian books”, are infallible. And I wonder if she was aware of the fact that there are other books that express just exactly the opposite view of the book she was reading. If she was, then the question she might have asked was, Which of these competing views is correct? And so I think believers are better off if they are skeptics—if they don’t easily believe what they hear or read.
But church people normally have a negative attitude toward the word “skeptic” because they associate it with unbelief, and they would rather have faith. We can’t really blame them because for so many times they have heard sermons that only rebuked Thomas. And perhaps they have not heard of anything from the pulpit that pointed out the advantage of having a questioning mind like Thomas’.
Indeed, Jesus did rebuke Thomas for his unbelief and it does appear that the Lord wanted him to believe without the benefit of evidence. However, if evidence or proof is not necessary, why did the risen Lord show himself to the “other disciples” and then to Thomas? Obviously, there is a problem here.
To the question we may reply, Was there any other way to make the disciples believe anyway? It seems to me that the way to make the disciples believe that he indeed was the risen Lord of the universe (1:1) was for Jesus to show himself to them! But one may argue that proof may be important but not really necessary. When Jesus was in “the flesh” he already told the disciples that he would rise from the dead. He revealed himself to them as well. In other words, the words of Jesus should have been sufficient for the disciples to believe. In theory that may be so, but in reality that was not the case!
At the beginning of the passage we are told that the disciples were afraid and hiding. That certainly does not look like a picture of great faith. We can assume then that all the disciples doubted Jesus, not just Thomas. Our understanding is confirmed as correct because we are told that it was only “when they saw the Lord” that “the disciples rejoiced” (v. 20)! They rejoiced because now they know for sure that Jesus’ words about himself was true—he had risen as he said (2:19) and, indeed, he was who he said he was. And that gave them courage!
So how do we solve this problem? I’m not sure if we really can. Perhaps the best that we can do is just to recognize that there is a problem. Yes, the Gospel of John was written “so that” even those that have not actually seen the risen Lord “may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing (they) may have life in his name” (v. 30). Indeed, we believe not because we “have seen” but because we have “heard,” and so we’re “blessed” (v. 29). Yet part of what we have heard is the story of doubting Thomas, and one that makes the story of Jesus even more convincing!
That’s why I think we should thank God for Thomas—he became the skeptic for us so that we may believe in Jesus with confidence! Also, I think that it will be to our benefit if we, like Thomas, have an attitude of a skeptic—in this world where lies proliferate, we cannot be easily deceived! Know the truth for, as Jesus said, “…the truth will make you free” (8:32). Having a skeptical attitude can help us get to the truth.
Like Refined Sugar: Water Falls at Zion National Park’s Emerald Pool
I’ve been to Zion National Park in Utah four times and each time was a new experience. The fourth visit was quite a treat.
We hiked and about a mile later we came behind a refreshing mini waterfall that looked like white refined sugar dropping from a ridge above and against a dainty blue sky. I stood still and for a moment took it all in.
What an exhilarating experience it was of beauty and life!
I am not sure if my first “visit” counts because my family and I just passed through the canyon on our way home from a very long road trip that encompassed five states. And it was in the middle of the night!
But it is because we went through it in darkness that made the experience unique. Except for the zigzag road ahead and the spots that the minivan’s headlights would hit, I couldn’t see anything else.
But somehow I could sense that we were in some special place. Having such feeling, I stopped the vehicle on the side of the road and turned its engine off.
I looked up and I could make out the towering peaks silhouetted against a star-filled sky. The absence of artificial light made the stars looked so big, so bright and so close that I felt like reaching up and touching them.
In the stillness of the night, I heard the sound of a rushing stream coming from below the cliff, and then a silent voice within my heart said: Yes, this is a beautiful place. Too bad, you can’t see it.
I believed in my heart that it was a beautiful place. We all believed in our hearts that it was a beautiful place.
So as we exited the canyon, we promised ourselves that we’d come back. We kept our promise. And because we’ve seen that Zion is a magnificently beautiful place, we keep coming back!
Going through this year’s Easter Sunday text in John is like that journey through Zion in the middle of the night.
Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb while it’s still dark. Obviously, it is not literal darkness that grips and saddens her heart.
Rather, it is the darkness brought about by the fact that Jesus, who meant the world to her, is now entombed in this rock-hewn grave. His death has made her heart sink into depths of great sadness.
But there’s one more thing she needs to do now: pay her last respects. Perhaps from there she could move on. But to where?
Who really knows where. But for now, as far as her relationship with Jesus is concerned, she needs some closure.
But alas! The body of her Lord is not there. Did the authorities take it somewhere? Confused and befuddled, she weeps.
I’m not sure if in her bewilderment she sees the angels as angels. Even if she does, that does not seem to help. After all, she came to the tomb not to see angels but to see the body of Jesus… so she could anoint it and move on with life, albeit a lonely one.
What a dark moment for Mary. Yet it is in her deep moment of darkness—when she could not recognize the face of the person standing behind her—that she hears the voice of theflesh made Word speak her name: “Mary.”
Hearing Jesus’ voice, a light within her is turned on—the light of faith! She does not see the face of Jesus, but she definitely hears his voice!
Recognizing Jesus, she exclaims, “Rabbouni!” Mary has recognized Jesus not by his looks but by his words!
The words of Paul, the Apostle, ring true: “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
Mary thought he was “the gardener.” Well, he is… but not an ordinary one.
This is the Gardener who, “in the beginning…swept over the face of the waters” and said, “Let there be light….” (Genesis 1:1-3).
This Gardener was the one whom John spoke about in the first chapter when he wrote:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (1:1, 3-4).
So we find Mary in the Garden. No, not the one near Calvary. But the one in Eden, where she became a witness to God’s ongoing creation in Christ.
Mary heard the Word and she believed . And that experience forever changed her. It also changed the disciples who heard and believed the Word because of her witness.
And it still changes anyone who hears and believes in the flesh made Word.
As the Apostle Paul puts it, “…even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, (she or) he is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
We believe not because we have seen; we believe because we have heard. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (20:29).
My wife and I watched Cher at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. For her grand entrance, the daring and barely clad 62 year-old Cher who looks half her age–thanks to modern science!–makes a 40-foot descent over the audience aboard what she calls her “Flying Wallenda, Evel Knievel death-mobile.” Then, to silence some critics (?) and at the expense of the men in the audience who have given in to their wives to watch her (“OK, let’s watch this bitch perform and get it over with”) she blurts out a monologue, à la comedienne. She imagines her Flying Wallenda falling on the audience and killing some of them. The bad thing is that she also dies as a result of the fall. But because she is an Oscar winner, Cher will be CNN’s breaking news! But about the rest of those who die, the news network’s ticker would simply say, “some unnamed people also died.” This may not sound that funny in print, but I had a great laugh.
Seriously, however, the joke makes me think seriously about what life is all about. Is making a name that important? Does it really matter? What if you’re just one of the unnamed folks? I think fame, or lack of it, does not determine a person’s value. I believe that every person has intrinsic value as “God’s creation.” Every person is God’s unique work of art. The sad thing is, not everyone lives according to her or his special purpose.
According to the Holy Book, people are “dead in (their) transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). And, of course, dead people cannot make themselves alive. That’s the bad news. But here’s the good news: because of God’s “great love” and “rich mercy” anyone can be made alive through faith in Christ! As the Apostle Paul puts it, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). In Christ God can “re-create” us, not as sculptures to be displayed in some museum, but as living works of art. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). And so, we are presented with an opportunity to live fully and meaningfully.
My faith as a Christian is part of me. So the things I say here may be colored by my faith. And it’s quite OK if sometimes you believe what I say. Anyway, truth is truth… even if the guy that says it is me.
No matter what image we portray of ourselves out there cannot compensate for what is lacking in here. Social media, like Facebook, have allowed us to promote ourselves. But satisfaction comes only in finding a “quality product” in us.
When you portray yourself to the world as a great person, only you really know if that is true. Knowing it is not can make you lonely and depressed. Knowing it is can give you a sense of satisfaction and joy that no amount of applause or praise can.
PENnED 