10+ Months Later

Tonight Jennifer and I broke up. It was a mutual decision: we'd been together for 10+ months, and it was time to decide whether this relationship was going somewhere significant or not.

We decided that since we see the world very differently, it was best to go our separate ways. I'm Christian, she's not. I want to marry a Christian, she does not want to become one.

We didn't use a "sharp knife" though, in our split; I'm not sure if that's wise or if that will come back to haunt us.

I'm thankful for Jennifer, and for all that God's taught me through her. She's a lovely woman. I hope and pray that she will find Salvation.

As for me, I'll be laying low for a bit, patching up my wounds.

Prayer Works

Prayer works.

Today my co-worker Darren asked if I could get him a Bible. Apparently his girlfriend wants one too: they both want to begin reading Scripture.

Also, I found out that Omar, a friend I'd met in the Philippines is now a follower of Isa-al-Masih, Jesus the Messiah.

God works in the lives of people through his church, and particularly, through prayer.

Al Watan...Again!

I've been visiting my favourite restaurant in Vancouver a lot lately. Today will be the third time in the last 10 days, and, I may go again Friday.

Today I'm having lunch with James. On Friday, with James and Scott. Last Friday I was there with Jim.

And last week Wednesday I was there with Jennifer and two of her friends, Kari and Cristina. Here's a pic Jennifer took afterwards. Note the new lunch special prices: at $6.99, it's still the best lunch in the city.

And of course, the short conversations with Khalid and Noor are always pleasant too!

The Life Of Beatitude

After spending a few weeks in the book of Acts, we return to the gospel of Matthew (4:23-5:20). The background to our reading is that Jesus has been baptized, he has endured severe testing in the desert, and his ministry has begun: great crowds follow him wherever he goes (4:23-25), and whatever he does, whether it is preaching, or teaching, or healing, or expelling demons, whatever he does, he does with great authority (7:28-29).

With this in mind, we arrive at the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is on a mountain, preaching repentance and the kingdom of God (4:17b). The setting would’ve stirred the imagination of all those present: it was on a mountain that Moses received the law which revealed God’s will for his people. Is Jesus a prophet in line with Moses? What does he have to say about the Messiah, God’s Anointed One who will come and save Israel?

And in this setting, Jesus reveals to us that he is both, in line with Moses and the prophets, and yet, he’s distinct, unique: Jesus is introducing something new. And the theme that he uses to make his point is ‘the beatitudes’ (5:3-10): qualities of persons and actions that will receive their full reward when God’s kingdom comes.”1

Virtually all of the beatitudes are drawn from the Old Testament. The 3rd beatitude, for example, “Blessed” are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (5:5): this verse has Psalm 37:11 as its background: “But the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” Or the 6th beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (5:8): this is taken from Psalm 24:3-4, which describes among those who can climb ‘the hill of the Lord’ ... the one who has “clean hands and a pure heart”, the one who does not lift up his soul “to what is false...”.

And the same can be said about being the “salt of the earth” (5:13), “the light of the world”, and “the city set on a hill (5:14). These phrases express in pictorial terms what it means to be God’s people: we are to be pure, holy, and set apart. Jesus was completely ‘in line’ with the law and the prophets.

However, Jesus also introduced something new because he made an audacious claim: he claimed that he fulfilled the Scriptures. Verse 17: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them” (5:17).

There are various translations or interpretations of the word “fulfill”, but the most appropriate one seems to be “completion”: Christ brought the law to its destined end. The Hebrew Scriptures pointed beyond themselves, they pointed forward to someone else. This someone else was Christ, who inaugurated the kingdom of God. “His ministry [brought the Scriptures] to full measure by supplying the final revelation of the will of God.”2 That is why Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God as being ‘at hand’ or ‘near’. Jesus brings in that which the Old Testament looked forward to; he transcends the Old Testament, but far from abolishing it, the Old Testament culminates in him.3

This audacious claim - to be the fulfillment of Scriptures - was what brought revilement upon Jesus, and it was what ultimately led to his death on the cross. How could salvation possibly come from someone who embodied the beatitudes! And for that matter, this is the reason we as Christians experience revilement today. We’re called “backward”: we do not claim loyalty to the powers and principalities of this world (Ephesians 6:12), precisely because power and pride are their mantra. We know that this can only result in death.

Instead, we rejoice (5:11). We rejoice because we are saved into a kingdom that brings wholeness and peace; saved by a Servant who gave up the very seat of heaven to identify with the death of this world, and thereby bring life.

We rejoice, because as we live this new life, God by his Spirit draws others into this heavenly community, and as that happens, the Father is glorified. Living the Kingdom-life brings glory to the Father (5:14).

And finally, our hearts are gladdened (5:12), because living a life of beatitude comes with great rewards; rewards not necessarily realized today, but guaranteed in the future: the promise to co-inherit God’s kingdom, the promise to vindicate the just, and the promise of the establishment of God’s perfect kingdom.4 We are indeed fortunate. We are indeed blessed.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen ✠

-----

1- Daniel J. Harrington (S. J), The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 1. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1991), 84.

2- R. T. France. The Gospel according to Matthew. An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985), 114.

3- R. T. France. The Gospel according to Matthew. An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985), 114.

4- Daniel J. Harrington (S. J), The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 1. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1991), 82-83.

Blessing

I've noticed that whenever I sneeze, she doesn't say "Bless you", much less "God bless you." I think it's because she realizes that the minute she says or wishes a blessing, she has a conundrum on her hands: "Who will bless?", "What is a blessing?", "What is there to bless?", and "Can I wish a blessing?"

Give her credit: for being true to her colours. She doesn't believe in someone bigger, wiser, stronger, and smarter than us who speaks into the everyday situations and happenings of this world, and therefore, to speak of blessings is a mute point. It's a lie.

Give her credit for staying true to her convictions.

But what a world that leaves us with: no blessings to give, no blessings to receive, no hope, faith, or love to give or receive. No mystery...just a cold, hard, flat, shallow, isolated, and above all, empty and meaningless world.

Such a world I want no part of.

A New People: The Watershed Moment

A watershed moment is an important period, time, or event that marks a change or division. It’s a critical turning point, as when on June 20th earlier this year, a young woman bystander was shot dead while watching protests against the presidential election results in her country Iran. Her death was a watershed moment, because someone captured it on video, and broadcast it around the globe. It fueled the protests that were already ongoing, and it provoked outrage throughout the world.

In a similar way, the controversy of Acts 15:1-31 is a watershed moment in the life of the church. It’s a critical moment because it changed the focus of attention of the church profoundly. Before this point, the mission to the Jews was the first priority; but after this point, after the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, “attention [was] given unequivocally to the establishment of Gentile [faith] communities.”1 That’s why the Apostle Paul is the central character in the rest of the book of Acts.

God’s activity among the Gentiles was categorical, it was unambiguous and undeniable. And what made all of God’s actions so undeniable were the stories of conversion, Gentile conversions.

Paul and Barnabas report these conversion stories in various places on their way to the church in Jerusalem (15:3). And once in Jerusalem, the storytelling continues: they tell of all that God is doing (15:4), relating his signs and wonders among the Gentiles (15:12).

The Apostle Peter’s stories are telling also. In our present text, he re-tells - albeit indirectly - the story of Cornelius’ conversion. It’s to our benefit, that we read it again for the 3rd time (Acts 10, 11, 15): “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith.” (15:7b-9).

And finally, James reiterates Peter’s words; he relates how God visited Gentiles, “to take out of them a people for his name” (15:14). One thing stands out in James’ words: the word “people”, laos, was until then only applicable to Israel. James here expands this definition beyond Israel: God visited the Gentiles, adding to himself anyone who would call upon his name.2

The early church bore witness to God’s activity among them as they experienced these stories of salvation: these stories shaped their understanding of God and their interpretation of Scripture, both, the Old and the New Testament, the Torah and Jesus.3 And we too are witnesses of Christ, made real to us through the Holy Spirit; we too experience salvation stories, whether our own, or our neighbour’s. They teach us who God is and how he acts in this world.

And so, taking these wonderful conversion stories, handed down from Luke’s generation all the way to our own, and based on our experiences of the resurrected Christ in our lives and in the life of the church, we can say along with James and the rest of the apostles: “And with this the words of the prophets agree...” (15:15); ‘God is doing something new!’

And how true the words of the prophet Amos, that “After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old.” (15:15-17, Amos 9:11-12).

God continues to make for himself, a laos, a people. And this nation is based not on ethnic origin or ritual observance, or for that matter, this nation is not based on economic status, or any other kind of status or hobby horse we value or grasp for; rather, God’s nation is a people of faith: faith in the risen Lord Jesus; or in the words of Peter, faith that “...we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus...” (15:11). And since God has shown himself to be without discrimination, we, the Church, must do likewise.4 This is something we need to take very serious: do we welcome everyone, or do we only welcome those who are like us...?

This then was that critical moment: the church caught up or got on board with the work God was doing in the world: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us...” (15:28). May these be our words also.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen ✠

-----

1- Luke Timothy Johnson. The Acts of the Apostles. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 5. Ed. Daniel J. Harrington (S. J.), (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1992), 268.

2- Luke Timothy Johnson. The Acts of the Apostles. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 5. Ed. Daniel J. Harrington (S. J.), (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1992), 264-265.

3- Luke Timothy Johnson. The Acts of the Apostles. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 5. Ed. Daniel J. Harrington (S. J.), (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1992), 278-279.

4- Luke Timothy Johnson. The Acts of the Apostles. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 5. Ed. Daniel J. Harrington (S. J.), (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1992), 280.

2 Kilos!

I hiked the Grouse Grind 4 times in the past 10 days, and I've lost 2 kilograms.

Who needs a diet program when you've got a mountain to climb 45 minutes from your doorstep?

I love Vancouver.