GO FOLLOW. GO FISH.

Friends, many among us used to sing a song that went, "I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me." I haven't heard this song sung in years. Probably because we have stopped fishing for people. Why is that? We have stopped FOLLOWING JESUS.

What have we done instead? We praise Jesus. We worship Jesus. We proclaim Jesus. We declare, "Christ above all!" We do everything in our power to make other people look like us; pray like us; act like us. We have stopped doing what Jesus told us to do in order to fish for people. FOLLOW HIM! 

Why is that? Because following Jesus is hard. It is easier to praise, worship, and proclaim Jesus than to follow him. It is very dangerous. It means loving our neighbor, which includes the unlovable and, yes, our enemies.  It means taking up the cross. It means going against empire. It means being red-tagged, vilified, and demonized. It means being crucified. It means offering one's life as a ransom for many. 

Jesus is, right now, waiting for you and me to follow him to Galilee. By the sea. To go fish for people.

Friends, another song comes to mind. We have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back! 

*Art, "St. Peter and St. Andrew," by Peter Koenig (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives)

GOD IS NOT IN HEAVEN ANYMORE. PART TWO

Last Sunday's Gospel Reading on the baptism of Jesus reminded us that, in Scripture, God does everything possible to live among God's people here on earth--whether it is God descending on Sinai, journeying with the Israelites via the tabernacle, taking residence at the temple in Jerusalem, and fulfilling the promise of "Immanuel". 

This Sunday's Johannine Reading resonates with the same theme: God finding ways to live among God's people here on earth. The number of sermons and commentaries on "The Lamb of God" is voluminous. But contemporary Hebrew Bible scholarship-- especially on the Priestly Tradition in the Pentateuch--can help us better understand the meaning of "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Whether it is about Mount Sinai, the  Tabernacle, the Jerusalem Temple, and eventually, the territories of ancient Israel and Judah, the blood that is offered as purification (or sin) offerings acts as ritual detergent. "Sins" make God's dwelling places "dirty". The offerings and its related rituals (washing hands, bathing, etc.) make sure that God has a welcoming place God can call home among us.

Remember when we were children? Remember all the rituals we did to keep our homes clean and welcoming? Remember all the times we had to wash up, bathe, brush our teeth, and wear fresh clothes when we were expecting guests? 

In other words, my friends, the blood of the lamb makes the whole world, including you and me, spotlessly clean so that God can dwell among us. For the Christian, Jesus is the reason the whole world is cleansed. For the Christian, Jesus is the reason God is not in heaven anymore. 

Praise the Lord!

#ChooseJustice

#FreePalestine

#LoveGodServePeople

#ClemencyForMaryJane

#DutertePanagutin

#MarcosSingilin

#DefendMindoro

*image, "The Lamb of God" at the Basilica dei Santi Cosma e Damiano (Rome, Italy), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.

GOV. JOSEPH, KING DAVID, KING SOLOMON, AND PRES. TRUMP

Many times the church turns to the Bible to find biblical characters who embody ideal leadership. Many times the church find the wrong models. Like Joseph, David, and Solomon. 

Genesis 47 tells us of how Governor Joseph oppressed the Egyptians. He introduced a famine relief system that required that all the people give up all their money, their livestock, their land, and their freedom so that they do not starve to death. 

2 Samuel 11 details how King David raped Bathsheba and had Uriah, her husband, killed in battle so that he, David, can possess her. 

1 Kings 9 and 2 Chronicles 8 tell us how King Solomon enslaved both the Canaanites and his own fellow Israelites. He replaced the tribal confederacy with 12 economic zones and introduced forced labor to undertake his infrastructure projects for the Lord.

Friends, these are explicit in the biblical text. 

Tragically, we have been so enamored with Joseph the Dreamer, David the Slayer of Goliath, and Solomon the Wise that we do not see the stark truth before our very eyes. People suffered and died under their leadership. 

The same applies to Donald Trump. Millions are so enamored, actually blinded by the trifecta of myth, mysticism, and MAGA that they cannot see the truth of his dictatorial, fascist, and violent regime. People have suffered and died under this administration. People will continue to suffer and die. 

Lest we forget, Joseph, David, Solomon, Trump, Netanyahu, and, yes, Marcos and Duterte all believe in God. They all believe that God is on their side. But even Satan and his minions believe in God. King Herod who executed John the Baptist believed in God. Even the Chief Priest, Joseph Caiaphas--who collaborated with Pilate to have Jesus executed--believed in God. 

I'm pretty sure that ICE Agent Jonathan Ross, who murdered Renee Nicole Good, believes in God as well. Adolf Hitler certainly did. 

Belief in God does not excuse these men from the evil they have done. And in the case of the aforementioned heads, and former head of state, the evil that they continue to do.

The untold suffering and senseless deaths of people will go from bad to worse because terrorists occupy the White House, Malacanang Palace, and many halls and corridors of power.

My friends, they need to be stopped. And the sooner the better. 

*Image: OBJEKTIV, 9 January 2026 (American Attack on Venezuela)

#ChooseJustice

#FreePalestine

#LoveGodServePeople

#StandWithVENEZUELA

#MarcosSingilin

#DutertePanagutin

#ReneeNicoleGood

GOD IS NOT IN HEAVEN ANYMORE

Yes, you read that right. God is not in heaven anymore. God has stopped watching from a distance.

There are so many people who are fixated on going up to heaven. There are those who do most of what they do in order to secure themselves a place up in heaven. There are also those who believe that investing their 70 to 80 earth years on "heavenly" endeavors--putting numerous bills in the offertory, donating land, building air-conditioned churches, and making sure that everyone accepts Jesus as their Personal Lord and Savior--will get them a reward in the afterlife that spans eternity. A mansion over the hilltop. 

Then there are those who read their Bibles, pray everyday, and grow, grow, grow in the realization that many times in scripture, God does everything possible to live among God's people here on earth. Whether it is coming down to liberate God's people from slavery, descending on Sinai to give the Law, journeying with the Israelites via the Tabernacle, taking residence at the Temple in Jerusalem, and fulfilling the promise of "Immanuel", God wants to be with us.

Given the choice, God wants to come down. We, on the other hand, want to go up. 

Sunday's Gospel Reading from Matthew talks about the baptism of Jesus by John. Mark and Luke have parallel versions. Only Mark reports that the heavens were torn or ripped apart when the Spirit descended upon Jesus. Sunday's text resonates with divinity's need to come down. The passage says that the Spirit descended like a dove. I would like to believe that the Spirit tore or ripped the heavens apart because the Spirit could not wait to leave heaven for earth. 

And, do not forget this, ever: the Spirit that came down has not gone back up to heaven. Because Jesus is still here. The Risen One is still down here on earth, particularly in places and spaces where we do not want him to be; in places and spaces where we are afraid to go. He is waiting for us to join him as he works among the destitute, the discriminated, the disenfranchised, the dehumanized, the occupied, and the silenced.

My friends, God is not in heaven anymore. God has stopped watching from a distance.

*art, "John baptizes Jesus," JESUS MAFA, 1973 (Cameroon), from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.

THERE IS A BRAMBLE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

 

Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, “Reign over us!”

But the olive tree said to them, “Shall I leave my fatness with which God and people are honored, and go to wave over the trees?”

Then the trees said to the fig tree, “You come, reign over us!”

But the fig tree said to them, “Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?”

Then the trees said to the vine, “You come, reign over us!”

But the vine said to them, “Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and people, and go to wave over the trees?”

Finally all the trees said to the bramble, “You come, reign over us!”

The bramble said to the trees, “If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.” (Judges 9:8-15)

The tree is a common metaphor for Ancient Israel. In the parable, trees go seek for a king. The Olive, the Fig, and the Grape are asked. All say, no. All are much smaller than the Cedar of Lebanon and are, therefore, incapable of “waving over” or reigning over them. All three know the purpose of their creation and were not tempted to covet a role that was not theirs.

Finally, they ask the Bramble.

Scholars tell us that bramble are opportunistic and insatiable. They are capable of sucking the life out of other trees. Moreover, they have the capacity to deprive other trees of sunlight and starve them to death! 

There is a Bramble in the White House. It is opportunistic and insatiable. It has sucked the life out of thousands among the people it has sworn to protect and serve. Every day, its minions and programs, anti-poor, anti-youth, anti-life, deprive the most vulnerable and the basic masses of the fullness of life that God wills for God’s children.

Its marching orders echo that of Caiphas, the High Priest who collaborated with Pontius Pilate in the murder of Jesus of Nazareth. Caiphas told his minions, "It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed."

These days, we call this pre-emptive strike. 

Thus, it is better to eliminate "enemies" in order to arrest the dangers they pose on the the American White Way of Life. It is better to do strategic attacks against sovereign countries to make the world safe from drugs and drug lords. And secure these countries' oil reserves in the process. It is better to criminalize dissent, demonize resistance, and curtail basic freedoms than to have the whole nation destroyed by godless and leftist ideologies. It is better to have one man or a few thousand men, women, children abducted, jailed, deported, or killed for the good of the majority than to have Trump and his ilk's MAGA way of life derailed. 

There is a Bramble in the White House and it needs to be cut down. Now.

#ClemencyForMaryJane

#LoveGodServePeople

#ChooseJustice

#FreePalestine

#MarcosSingilin

#DutertePanagutin

#StandWithVENEZUELA

*Photo from Prospect Magazine

DO YOU BLEED?

The Bible is a library. It is multivocal and pluriform. The Canonical Gospels are good examples. They begin their narratives in different ways. Mark starts with an adult Jesus who is baptized by John in the Jordan. Matthew has a birth narrative that features Magi who follow a star and spend two years searching for the child. Jesus was already a toddler when they reach Bethlehem. Luke's version has angels announcing the birth and shepherds visiting Jesus as a newborn baby lying in a manger. John's origin story, which is Sunday's reading, begins in "The Beginning."

Many people who memorize Bible verses know John 1.1 (with Genesis 1.1 and, almost everyone's favorite, John 3.16). The Word became Flesh and lived among us. God has stopped watching from a distance. 

Stories of Gods taking on human form abound in many of the world's mythologies. Many of the heroes of ancient peoples were demigods or super humans. For the Gospel of John, when the Word became Flesh, the Word was totally and fully Flesh. In other words, God was not Superman disguised as Clark Kent. God was Clark Kent. God bled.

For the Gospel of John, God Incarnate gets tired and thirsty; eats and drinks with family and friends; experiences love and loss, and cries, like all of us. God Incarnate takes the side of the poor, feeds the multitudes, experiences betrayal, and suffers torture and crucifixion by empire. Like many among us. Especially these days. 

God bleeds. God dies. God is one of us. 

My Friends, to believe in the incarnation is to embody justice, accompaniment, solidarity, and life-giving, like Jesus did. The incarnation required a warm body: Jesus’s. The incarnation still requires warm bodies: yours and mine. 

Especially these days! 

*photo of a newborn baby from shutterstock images. ID 223586497. 

SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM THE "HOW MANY SQUARES DO YOU SEE?" COMMUNITY

 

https://a.co/d/0Bki8bT

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!

It is time we took another road. Over and over again we take the same road. We never learn. We imagine that doing the same thing will change the outcome. It never has. It never will. 

The Empire strikes back--always. In the case of the Magi, innocent children were massacred. And innocent children will continue to die as long as we try to save Baby Jesus from Herod. We should stop. He is not a baby anymore. He also does not need saving. The Magi did that already.

The Empire always strikes back. There are more Herods today. They are purveyors of war. Last year alone, over 2 trillion US dollars were spent on the arms industry. Over half a trillion more was spent in the illegal drug trade. The War on Terror and the War on Drugs have left a trail of suffering and death on the innocent. Over 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have been massacred by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza and the West Bank using US-made arms and weapons of mass destruction.

Thus, you and I need to be wiser. We need to be Magi-er. We need to be more sensitive to the warnings in our shared dreams. We need to know when to beat swords into plowshares--and when to beat plowshares into swords. We need to take other roads.

We need to do all these to make sure that the massacre of the innocents in the Holy Land and elsewhere ends now! 

We need to make sure that those responsible--the Herods, Trumps, Netanyahus, Marcoses, Dutertes, and their ilk--are made accountable. 

We need to act, wherever we are, right now!

["Scene of the Massacre of the Innocents," Leon Cogniet, 1824]

THERE WAS REALLY NO INN IN BETHLEHEM

Let us point out what Christmas Eve's Gospel Reading does not say. 

The text does not say that Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem when Mary was about to give birth. The text does not say that Jesus was born in a cave or stable where most of us imagine he was born. The text does not say that Jesus was born among animals. More importantly, the text does not say that Bethlehem was unwelcoming of the Holy Family. It doesn't say that they were sent away by an innkeeper. 

Now, what does the passage actually say? And what do decades of archeological, sociological, and anthropological research about Ancient Palestine tell us? 

There was a census, and everyone went back to his or her hometown to register. Joseph went with a pregnant Mary to Bethlehem because he was a descendant of David. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn, a son, wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no space for them in the guest room. (The Greek term is kataluma. The NIV and NRSVUE translate it correctly as guest room, not inn. Kataluma is also used to refer to the upper room in the Last Supper.)

Joseph and Mary go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. They travel about 150 kilometers. She is pregnant so the trip probably took a while. They get to Bethlehem, Joseph’s hometown. I’m pretty sure a relative or two would have welcomed them in his or her home. This act of hospitality is as true today as it was then, especially among peasants. Don’t forget, Elizabeth, Mary’s relative lived nearby in the Judean hill country. They could have stayed with her and Zechariah if there was no room in Bethlehem, but they did not. Joseph’s relatives had space--just not in the guest room. 

Archeology has shown us that most peasant homes in Ancient Palestine were a one room affair. There was a yard usually shared with other homes where communal cooking was done. The immediate space through the main door of the house had a mud-floor where animals were brought in at night to keep the home warm and the animals safe. A manger or feeding trough was part of this area. The animals were let out first thing in the morning.

Side note: When Jepthah in Judges 11 vowed to sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his house, he was thinking of the animals being brought out first thing in the morning. Not his daughter.

The main family section, oftentimes a bit elevated from the animal area, was where the family did most of its affairs, mostly resting and sleeping. Homes, in those days, were really shelters because most chores were done outside or on the roof. Stairs to the roof were outside the house. Many homes had space for guests in the main family section or a small guest room--sometimes, for those who can afford, on the roof (hence, the upper room). 

When Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem, the home of Joseph’s relative was filled, the guest room occupied, so they stayed with the family in the main room. When the time came, the animals were brought out of the house, the manger cleaned and prepared and served as a crib for the newborn. 

My friends, the first Christmas happened when Palestine was under Roman Occupation. Life was very, very hard. Fifteen percent of the population was unemployed. Half of the people survived on a thousand calories a day which meant they were slowly starving to death. Average life expectancy was 28. 

But despite all these, many remained faithful to what Yahweh required of them: to welcome the stranger. There should always be space for the guest, a meal of fish and bread, and a place to lay one’s head. Kataluma. 

Jesus was born among those whose only hope is God, among peasants who shared a small house, among the poor who offered the best to a pregnant couple, among kin who opened their simple, one-room home to welcome the birth of the Messiah.

My Friends, millions among us are dealing with joblessness, homelessness, and hopelessness. In the midst of these, how do our lives proclaim, Immanuel? How do we actualize "God is with us?" How do we welcome God who comes as a stranger? Or as a baby? 

*Art from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library digital art collection, JESUS MAFA, 1973, Cameroon, mafa001 ("The Holy Family")

 

RETHINKING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY, CANON, AND INTERPRETATION

 

The Bible is not a book. It is a collection of books. It is a library. The Protestant Canon has 66 books. The Roman Catholic's has 73. The Orthodox' has 79. The Ethiopian Orthodox' has 81. The Jewish Canon has 24.

This very short work argues that this ancient library is important to many people, but its authority, canon, and interpretation are always shaped by context and community. It is not a science library, nor does it provide all the answers to life's questions. Instead, it is a diverse collection that can be used to heal or harm, depending on how it is interpreted and applied.

https://a.co/d/03636wq

IMMANUEL!

I have always argued that Immanuel, "God-with-Us," serves as the thread that binds the 28 chapters of the Gospel of Matthew together. Sunday's Gospel Reading, in 1.23, proclaims that Mary's son will be called Immanuel, meaning "God-with-Us" (echoing Isaiah 7.14). At the end of the Gospel, in 28. 20, Jesus proclaims, "I am with you always..." God-with-Us to the end of the age!  

The Gospel has one promise to its hearers and readers. It is not complete understanding. It is not triumph nor victory. It is Immanuel. 

We will never, ever, be alone. 

What does it mean to experience Immanuel, to experience God's presence in our lives? Many times we forget that the best way to experience God's presence in our lives is to be God's presence in someone else's life. 

Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Visit the prisoners. Welcome the stranger. Care for the sick. Clothe the naked. Befriend the lonely. Protect the most vulnerable. Stand with Palestine. 

Be God's presence in someone else's life. This Christmas. And always. 

THE GREATEST

Sunday's Gospel Reading reminds me of Muhammad Ali. Today, people will not hesitate to describe him as "The Greatest"--with the same energy he called himself "The Greatest," to boot! 

But those same peoole who praise Ali now often forget--deliberately, even--the times in Ali's life when many treated him with hostility, disdain, and called him a "loud-mouthed nobody". Especially in the 1960s. 

His close friendship with Malcolm X, his decision to become a Moslem, and his being a conscientious objector against the Vietnam War made him one of the most hated men in America. Like John the Baptist, he was one voice crying in the wilderness. 

Sunday's reading also reminds me of young Emmet Till. His abduction, torture, and lynching at age 14 in 1955 for allegedly offending Carolyn Bryant and the acquittal of his murderers illustrate the depth and breadth of racism, injustice, and evil that victimize the most vulnerable in society: children. 

Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the world continues to treat prophets and children as dispensable and replaceable nobodies.  Prophets are silenced while children are traded. Prophets are vilified while children are comodified. The criminalization of anti-genocide protests worldwide and the murder of thousands of children in Gaza illustrate this tragic reality. 

Sunday's reading reminds us how Jesus feels about prophets and children. For him, they are the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. But that's for Jesus. He always took the side of those in the margins. 

How about us who take pride in calling ourselves followers of Jesus? Where do we stand? 

*images of Emmet Till (from the Emmet Till Research Collection, Florida State University Library) and Muhammad Ali (shadow boxing underwater, 1961).

**The song "Greatest Love of All" was composed for the Muhammad Ali biopic in 1977. George Benson did the original recording. Whitney Houston's 1985 version made it a worldwide hit. 

PREPARE YE!

"Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" and "Day by Day" from Godspell are two of my favorite childhood songs. Every time I think of John the Baptist, the former starts playing in my mind. 

Sunday's Gospel Reading is about John. Ancient Israelite tradition expected the prophet Elijah to return and prepare the way for the Messiah. Christianity believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and, thus, his forerunner, his "Elijah" is John the Baptist. 

The word of God came to John in the wilderness. Not in Jerusalem, not inside Herod's temple, not even in a synagogue, nor through the Saducees, Pharisees, and Scribes. 

The wilderness conjures up a lot of ambivalent images for us who study scripture. God appeared to a hardheaded Moses through the burning bush in the wilderness. The Israelites wandered almost aimlessly in the wilderness for forty long years. Many of them died there, including Moses. Like John, the wilderness played a key role in Jesus' early ministry. The wilderness does not seem like a very hospitable place.

Yet, many times, God reveals Godself in the wilderness--in spaces and places we don't expect God to be. In spaces and places we don't want to be! 

God anointed John to prepare people for a new way: not the way of Emperor Tiberius, Herod, his brother Philip, Pontius Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, or their ilk. Not the way of many Pharisee and Sadducees whom John called a brood of vipers. He told them, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." 

God's way requires repentance: a complete turnaround; a 180; a change in the opposite direction; deciding to stop pretending but actually living our lives loving God by serving people, especially those whose only hope is God. 

If we don't follow God's way, if our creeds don't translate to deeds, if we don't repent, then God is able, from stones, to raise up God's children. 

*art, "John the Baptist preaching in the desert," (JESUS MAFA 1973), available at the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives.