Jesus has AIDS

If I said Jesus has cancer. Or diabetes. Or asthma. No one will give a fuss. I have, in the past, argued that Jesus might have been gay, a woman, a Palestinian, and an African.

But most of us have problems when we hear that Jesus has AIDS. Because we have been socialized to identify AIDS with promiscuity, with illicit drug use, with divine punishment, with sin. And the Jesus many of us worship cannot be promiscuous, will not touch or even be in the same room with weed, and, of course, is a perpetual virgin, and sinless.

What is the international symbol for HIV AIDS prevention?

When you turn the red symbol on its side, what does the symbol represent?

My dear friends, the world has AIDS. Close to 40 million of our sisters and brothers are living with HIV. About 1% of all our sisters and brothers, aged 15 to 49, are living with HIV.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, over 35 million of our sisters and brothers, each one created in God's image, have died. One million last year.

"For God so loved the world with AIDS that God sent God's son..."

Do we have problems with that interpretation? Or we only think that the world that God loves in our favorite Bible verse is that part without AIDS?

And what did God's Son say, the One God sent to a world with AIDS?

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

I have AIDS and you, like the priest and the Levite, do not stop to help me and pass on the other side of the road.

I have AIDS and you abandon me to die, on the street, alone, full of sores, like Lazarus.

Jesus has AIDS.

He is the two-year old orphan whose parents died from the disease. He is the young prostituted woman victimized by human trafficking. He is in San Lazaro, in RITM, at the Lung Center waiting for a blood transfusion. He is the one wrapped in your embrace this very moment. He is the one whose face you see in the mirror.

Jesus is a person living with HIV and AIDS and he is one of us.

And he is here with us right now.

Amen.

#WorldAIDSDay
#PreventionNotCondemnation

Parables book now on Amazon!

Reading the Parables of Jesus inside a Jeepney.

Thank you very much for all your generous support. Maraming salamat po!

In its first week the book was #1 in Hot New Releases in New Testament Criticism and #11 in the 100 Bestselling Books in New Testament Criticism.  After 30 days the book was #2 in Hot New Releases in New Testament Criticism. And #5 in Hot New Releases in Jesus, Gospels, and Acts.

During its Holy Week Sale last March 22-26, the book went back to #1 in New Testament Criticism, #4 in Biblical History and Culture, and #7 in Jesus, the Gospels, and Acts.

Widows, Strangers, and Orphans

Most of us grew up memorizing the names of the Twelve Disciples. In the Synoptics they are all men. In I Corinthians and in the Gospel of John they are a collective, The Twelve. Better. 

When we are quizzed to name the best among the disciples, we would probably volunteer Peter, James, and John. Some will add Mary Magdalene. But only a handful would say Jesus's mother in John, the Samaritan woman in John, and the child who offered five barley loaves and two fish. Also in John. 

Yes, my friends, a widow, a stranger, and an orphan. The three kinds of people closest to God's heart. 

The Gospel of John celebrates the Discipleship of the Unnamed.  Whom do we see at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of Jesus’s earthly ministry in the gospel? It is Jesus’s mother. Motherhood is discipleship. For millions of people in the world, LOVE is spelled, M, O, T, H, E, R.

Among the four gospels, with whom does Jesus spend practically a whole chapter's length in conversation, in dialogue, in mutual exchange of ideas? A stranger. A Samaritan. A woman.

For so many people today who find themselves strangers in foreign lands; refugees because of war; displaced and dispossessed because of greed, hospitality is discipleship.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not tell us where the barley loaves and fish that led to the feeding of the hungry 5000 came from. John does. It came from one of the hungry 5000. A poor child. The rich in Jesus’s time ate wheat. The poor had barley. The child offered five barley loaves and two fish. Are these enough to feed thousands? Of course not. But these are enough to inspire and birth miracles.

From August 8 to 31, Union Theological Seminary received a special blessing from God. The Lumad Bakwit Iskul composed of those closest to God's heart: widows, strangers, orphans, and more came to live with us. To teach us. To challenge us. To test our convictions. To show us grace under pressure, selfless gratitude, and true grit. 

And to remind us of our promise. To go to Galilee. Where Jesus is already waiting for us. 

The International Day of the Disappeared and the Empty Tomb

We, who call ourselves Christian, should not forget that the One we call Lord and Liberator was an Executed God. He was abducted in the dead of night, unjustly tried, beaten, tortured, and executed between two rebels. Then his body was thrown into a borrowed grave. In the Gospel of Mark, at dawn on Sunday three of his disciples, all women, visit the grave to anoint his dead body. They find the grave empty. There was no body.

Jesus had disappeared.

The Gospel of Mark ends with the women described as silent and afraid.

Jesus had disappeared.

Today, August 30 is the International Day of the Disappeared. We are invited to stand in solidarity with friends, colleagues, comrades, and families of the missing who continue to seek peace based on justice, and in remembrance of the thousands of desaparecidos in the Philippines, in Palestine, in many Third World countries, and around the world.

Like the women at the tomb, many of us are silent and afraid. Like the women in the tomb, we want to find The Disappeared. We want to find them alive. Or if they are dead, we want to find their bodies. We want to anoint them with fragrant oils. Maybe build a monument or set up a memorial for them. We want closure.

But the message of the young man in the empty tomb is as real today as it was thousands of years ago… Jesus is not in the tomb. He is risen. He is in Galilee… Waiting for you.

We believe in the resurrection. We believe that good will always triumph over evil; that faith is stronger than fear; that love is greater than indifference; and that life will always, always conquer death… We also believe that The Disappeared will rise again in the tens, in the hundreds, in the thousands who fight and struggle for justice, for peace, for liberation.

The Disappeared are not here. Like Jesus, they are risen. They are in Galilee where the good news is preached to the poor, where the hungry are given food, where strangers are welcomed, where liberation is proclaimed to the captives…

The Disappeared are waiting for us.

[reposted from August 30, 2011 blog entry]

READING TEXTS THAT WERE NOT WRITTEN FOR US

Let us get things sorted out first. Historians tell us that the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek. They tell us that it was put together across one thousand years. Its latest materials is about 2 thousand years old. Its oldest, over three thousand. Take Paul's Letter to Philemon. It is a letter from Paul to Philemon. Paul and Philemon are dead. What we have is a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a two-thousand year-old letter. In Koine Greek.

We love reading texts that were not written for us!  We do this all the time. Our spouse's cellphone messages. Or our children's. Literary classics. And, yes, Scriptures. I've argued for years that most people read scripture as windows to the past (historical methods), as story (literary methods), and as mirrors (cultural studies).

When texts are read as windows to the past, we are basically listening to the dead. Hearing echoes. We might not admit it but most of our cherished values come from the dead. From departed loved ones. The works of favorite authors and composers who died before we were even born. Then there's tradition. The narratives, beliefs, behavior of a particular family, community, people that has been handed down from one generation to the next.

When we read texts as a story we assume that the story "always happens." That the text has a life all its own. That there is meaning in how the story elements of plot, characters, and setting interact. This is why we name our children after characters in books, in movies, in songs. This is also probably why so many celebrities win in our elections. We vote for the "characters" they play instead of the real, flesh and blood, people behind these characters.

Finally, when we read texts as mirrors we presuppose resonance. What we read strikes a chord deep inside us: as individuals, as a community, as a people. Thus, these are "readings as." As people of color, as LGBT, as children, as Indigenous Community, etc.

One can argue that the first is reading texts as time-bound; the next, reading texts as timeless; and the last, reading texts as timely.

Interpretation is always perspectival and particular. Interpretation is always plural. In the end, as followers of Jesus, the key question has been, and will always remain, is our reading about loving God and serving people? Especially the least?

Jesus always took sides. We must as well.

YESTERDAY AND EVERY DAY

Yesterday 76 members of our seminary community, led by our president, joined the United People's SONA. It was, for many, a liminal moment. A rite of passage. A baptism of fire. Actually, more water than fire... And we were prepared with our umbrellas and raincoats. And boots! Yesterday, 76 members of our community woke up earlier than usual, others did not even sleep, to prepare streamers, banners, rice, hard-boiled egg, and Adobo. Yesterday 76 members of our community waited for our jeepneys to arrive and spent over 4 hours in those jeepneys going to and from Commonwealth Avenue. Yesterday, 76 members of our community walked 6 kilometers to be a part of the thousands who protested against the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, and the War on the Poor that Duterte and his cohorts have declared against the Filipino People. 

Yesterday, individually and corporately, 76 members of our community participated in embodying our core values: prophetic boldness, ecumenical openness, compassionate witness, contextual timeliness, and Christ like faithfulness. Yesterday, Monday, July 23rd 2018, 76 members of our seminary community experienced what majority of our people experience EVERY DAY.

Every day, millions wake up at dawn to ride jeepneys, buses, and trains in order to go to work. Every day they have to line up to get these rides that take up to four to six hours of their lives in traffic. Every day, millions walk 6 or more kilometers a day to go to school or work. Or to get clean water. Every day, countless people spend hours under the sun, without umbrellas, or under the rain, without raincoats, toiling. Farmers, fisher-folk, laborers… Mostly overworked, grossly underpaid. Trying to make ends meet. 

Many surviving, each day, on one meal of rice and hard-boiled egg. No adobo. Struggling against death forces; working for life in its fullness. Do not forget this. Ever! For so many of our sisters and brothers our yesterday is their Every Day! 

Remember our core values? I'm pretty sure all of us know them by heart already. Those values are best embodied, like we did yesterday, in the every day of the masses. Eventually, our yesterday will be a weekend integrating with basic communities. Then two summer exposures of 6 to 7 weeks each. Then a full year. 

In the fullness of time God decided to go on community integration. We call it the incarnation. In the Gospel of Mark, God is always coming out. Out of heaven; out of the home his disciples wanted to be the locus of his healing; out of the tomb! He was a woodworker based in Nazareth most of his life. Then he leaves Nazareth. He started spending a day or two among the fisher-folk by the Sea of Galilee. A weekend with farmers. A year with the masses, displaced, dispossessed, disenfranchised, who protested against the conjugal dictatorship of the Roman Empire and the Judea Elite. 

In the fullness of time, God decided to leave heaven to be with those whose only hope is God. And God is still with them, every day. As they work for life in all its fullness. And God is waiting for us. Yes, for you. And for me.

So that eventually, our yesterday becomes every day. Amen.

[post-People's SONA reflection]

Volume 2, coming soon!

Reading the Parables of Jesus inside a Jeepney came out eight months ago. Thank you so much to everyone who got a copy, the Kindle or Print-on-Demand version. Many among you actually got more than one copy. Some even have both versions! Thank you as well to the UCCP's National Christian Youth Fellowship that distributes the book in the Philippines.

I cannot thank you enough. Volume 2 will be out very soon. I hope you continue reading more of the Parables of Jesus inside a Jeepney. With me.

Duterte and the Parable of the Trees

Most of us identify parables with Jesus. But two of the most powerful parables in the Bible are found in the Old Testament. One is more popular, Nathan’s when he confronted King David. The other is the Parable of the Trees.

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!

The Philippines has a Bramble in Malacanang. He is opportunistic and insatiable. He has sucked the life out of thousands among the people he has sworn to protect and serve. Every day, his 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.

  

ONE DOES NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE

One should not live on bread alone. There is always more than one way of reading a text. I am pretty sure you’ve heard countless homilies on the First Temptation. I offer another one.

Given the reality of hunger and starvation under the Roman Empire, eating plays an important theme in the Lukan landscape. Luke’s Jesus as a baby was laid on a manger or a feeding trough. Jesus’ body, represented by bread, is broken and shared among his disciples. 5000 eat together in the wilderness. Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness, ate nothing, and is challenged to turn stone into bread.

One does not live on bread alone. A person does not live on bread alone. God did not create us to eat alone!

The empire is built on greed, power, possession, property, and commodification. For the empire, when one is hungry, one eats. When one is thirsty, one drinks. One eventually eats and drinks even if one is not hungry or thirsty. One eventually hoards. Like the Rich Fool. Like the rich young ruler. Like Zacchaeus until his encounter with Jesus. Thus, the rich in Luke is told to sell everything they have and give the proceeds to the poor.

Humanity was not created to eat alone. Eating is a communal thing. The most sacred of our rituals is a community breaking bread together. The most remembered ministry of the early church was its open table. Remember that line from the prayer our Lord taught us? Give US today our daily bread. Give US. It's not Give ME!

Our daily bread conjures up manna from heaven. God gave manna to the Hebrews so that everyone could have food one day at a time. Hoarding was not allowed. Each one was expected to make sure that everyone had food for one day. Today. Tomorrow is in God’s hands. Unfortunately, we don’t believe so. We play God and make sure that we have food not just for tomorrow but for as long as we can. This is why today, this day, 25,000 children will starve to death while there’s one country in the world that has resources enough to feed 40 billion people!

Finally, lest we forget and start thinking that we Christians are supposed to provide all the bread that the world needs, let’s go back to scripture. The five barley loaves and two fish that birthed the miracle that fed 5000 hungry people in the wilderness did not come from Jesus. It came from one of the hungry.  According to the Gospel of John, it came from a poor, hungry child with five loaves and two fish. The bread that Jesus took, blessed, broke, and shared during the last supper, a great thanksgiving that eventually became our most cherished sacrament, did not come from Jesus.

No one deserves to be alone. God did not create us to be alone. God did not create us to live, to eat, to die alone. This is why we confess that in the fullness of time God became one of us. Immanuel! 

So that we will never, ever, be alone.

COMING OUT!

I would like to believe that the incarnation is really about God coming out.

In the Gospel of Mark, God comes out of heaven. One can argue that God actually escapes from heaven. Compared to the Matthean and Lukan versions which state that “the heavens were opened,” the Markan passage states “the heavens were torn” apart. In Mark, God comes out of heaven and does not return!

I would like to believe that the incarnation gives us a clearer vision of who God really is: the God who wants to be one of us; the God who always takes the side of widows, orphans, and strangers; the God who is waiting ahead of us in Galilee where many of us do not want to go; the God who loved sinners, prostitutes, lepers, rebels, outcasts, and eunuchs; the God who dearly loved Mary of Magdala, Simon Peter, the Beloved Disciple, and, yes, the young man in the garden; and, finally, God-with-us, Immanuel, the One who will never, ever, forsake us.

I would like to believe that you believe these as well.

[from Revelation E. Velunta, "Disciples, Eunuchs, and Secrets," Pages 89-107 of Disruptive Faith, Inclusive Communities: Church and Homophobia, Zachariah and Rajkumar,Eds., ISPCK/CISRS, 2015]

FORGIVE US, TISOY! A Letter to Genesis. From Revelation

Tisoy, when you went out to buy load last June 15th no one expected that you won't be able to come back home. No one expected that you will land in jail. No one expected you will die a senseless, violent death shortly thereafter. Not you. Not your loved ones. No one!

No one expected you, a young man who walked 17 steps from where you lived to buy prepaid cellphone load, to be arrested for alarm and scandal. And no one expected you to be beaten to death while in the custody of those legally sworn to protect you. NO ONE!

In Genesis 22 there's this story about a father and a son. Those of us who call ourselves Christian know this story. The father was expected to offer his son. The son expected to be sacrificed. But both expectations did not come to pass. We care so much for Abraham and Isaac to let the story run as expected. It was a ram that was killed. An animal was sacrificed. And we do not care!

A culture of impunity pervades our world. Worse in our country. The present dispensation legislates sin, criminalizes dissent, and demonizes the poor. The War on Terror and the War in Drugs have left thousands dead, displaced, and dispossessed. The people in power, god-players, define who are human and who are less than human; those created in their image and those who are not.

And every single day those they define as different, as deviant, as dangerous, as dirty, as enemies, as drug addicts, as istambays, and, yes, as animals are sacrificed. And those of us who are so proud to be called followers of Jesus? We, actually, do not care!

We have slogans that go "Open Hearts, Open Doors" and "Radical Hospitality" but our homes and our institutions are locked and unwelcoming to people like you. You will be sent away if you enter our temples shirtless. You will immediately be sent away even if you attempt to enter the gates of our most holy places. You can't get a job, even for a denarius, in our offices. We require at least 2 years of college. You barely finished 4th grade. And, please, don't try wooing our children. No tricycle or jeepney drivers or daily-wage earners for our children. Definitely, no istambays!!! They deserve better.

We are as guilty as Duterte and his ilk for demonizing Istambays.

We are supposed to preach good news to the poor, take the side of those whose only hope is God,offer our lives--like salt--so that others may live, and help dismantle oppressive structures that produce the unemployed, the underemployed, the Istambays.

But we have badly lost our way. Forgive us, Tisoy. Please!

Jesus, forgive us.


Revelation

[photo by Pastor Jochebed Joyce Flores Lovendino, taken during Genesis "Tisoy" Argoncillo's wake]

A Letter to the Juniors

Dear Juniors,

If we read our Bibles and pray everyday, we will grow, grow, and grow in the knowledge that there are two kinds of sermons in the New Testament that can get one killed. Both we find in Luke’s work.

In Acts 20, Paul preaching goes on and on and on that eventually Eutychus, a young person sitting by the window, falls asleep and falls to his death. In Luke 4, Jesus preaches a “gospel for the poor and liberation for the captives” in Nazareth, before his town mates, and almost gets killed for doing so.

As you begin your three or four-year journey here with us at Union Theological Seminary, we will try very hard to teach you how to preach like Jesus!

Let me remind you of the Student Christian Movements’ favorite bible passage.

Jeremiah 1:7-10
1:7 The LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you,” says the LORD.1:9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. 1:10 Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.”

This is the kind of message, then and now, that can get the messenger killed.

So, Jeremiah’s reaction to God’s call was natural. When he said, “I am too young,” he meant more than his age. He was afraid. Jeremiah’s mission was to proclaim judgment and redemption. He was to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted. Do not forget, Jesus was almost killed when he preached his first sermon. It was natural to be afraid. Even Moses was afraid when God called him to deliver God’s people from bondage. Jeremiah’s message to nations and kingdoms still stand. Moses’ call to liberation is as important as it was 3 thousand years ago. And Jesus’ message of good news to the poor, the one that eventually led to his arrest, torture, and public execution, is as vital and as relevant as the first time it was preached.

On December 10, 1948, in a rare moment of grace, humanity came together and proclaimed that the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family serve as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world; that it is essential, if humans are not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last a resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law; that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; and that they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of solidarity.

The world expressed its collective commitment to these declarations.

Moreover, 70 years ago, the world proclaimed that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. 70 years ago, humanity pledged “never again” to the injustices wrought on the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, and their children, and we declared “enough!” to the inhumanities effected by emperors, kings, and their ilk.

Unfortunately, today there are still emperors, and kings, and rulers who wield power over life and death. And two of these are in the White House and in Malacanang. There are still sons and daughters whom these kings order to be tortured and killed. There are still countless and nameless sons, daughters, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers who are abducted, never to be seen again. Everyday, in our country, in Palestine, in so many parts of our world, daughters and sons, many not even 12 years old, are violently taken away from their loved ones: snatched, imprisoned, and violated.

There are still young children who are arrested in the dead of night for throwing stones at tanks and armored personnel carriers. There are still rural health workers who are illegally detained and branded as communist bomb-makers for working among the poorest of the poor in the most far-flung barrios. And there are still bishops, priests, pastors, nuns,deaconesses, and youth leaders whose bodies are impaled for opening their homes, their hearts, and their lives to those whose only hope is God.

Today, 70 years after, the emperors and kings are still alive. Their empires and kingdoms still stand. But so is Jeremiah. So is Moses. And Miriam. And Deborah. And Jesus. They were alone in the biblical text. Right now, today, in our context, they are not. They are legion. They are alive in the different movements for life and liberation around us; alive among the youth and young people struggling for peace based on justice; alive wherever faith is stronger than fear; as they have been for the past 70 years. And much, much earlier.

Emperors and kings have the power to kill. But God's power is greater than death. The empire can kill Bishop Alberto Ramento but God can raise up ten more to take his place. Kings and rulers can kill Father Tito, Father Mark, and Father Nilo but God can raise up thirty to take their place.

For every prophet whose blood is spilled for love of country, for serving the people, for ministering to those whose only hope is God, God will raise up more...

God always will.

The Parable of the Istambays

Istambay can be translated as people who "stand by," "hang around," those waiting for opportunities to work, bums, or even "hangers on."

Istambays are now the targets of Duterte's peace and order campaign.

Many among us associate Istambays with the poor, those who lack education, those who live from one day to the next. Tragically, more of us think they are foul-mouthed, unruly, and prone to criminal behavior because they are poor, they lack education, and live from one day to the next. We even think they are lazy, are controlled by their emotions, and are always grumbling.

We have forgotten that if Jesus were alive today, he'd be one of them. And a target of Duterte's campaign.

Historians tell us that Jesus and his band were poor, lacked education, and lived from one day to the next. Anyone who reads the Gospels knows that Jesus was foul-mouthed. And Simon Peter as well.

That both the Roman and Judean elite wanted this unruly Galilean troublemaker dead to keep their brand of peace undisturbed is attested both canonically and extra-canonically. The fact that Jesus was crucified as a criminal requires no special pleading.

One of the most powerful stories of this istambay many of us confess as our Lord and Savior is the Parable of the Istambays in Matthew 20.

Research has shown us that the unemployed reached up to 15 percent during Jesus’s time. And a denarius is subsistence pay. Just enough for a person to eat for one day.

We confess that we, like Jesus, preach Good News to the poor, but every time we preach on this parable we take the side of the rich landowner. We celebrate his benevolence, his generosity, his being a symbol for God.

And we blame the Istambays for grumbling, for being ungrateful, for being unemployed, for being Istambays.

Diversity and Taking Sides

There are 66 books in the Protestant Bible. 73 in the Catholic Bible. The 39 books of the Protestant Old Testament is a Christian appropriation of the Hebrew Bible's 24. There are now over 5,700 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. No two of which are exactly alike. (There were 5,360 when I was in Graduate School.)

There are over 2,000 English translations of the Bible. Two of the most widely circulated are the King James Version and the New International Version.

Most of us know this already: the Bible is not a book. It's actually a library. And since it's a library, it offers theologies. Read and compare 2 Samuel 24.1 and 1 Chronicles 21.1 and you'll understand what I'm pointing out. Paul's and James's understanding of faith is a study in contrast.

When one reads the Resurrection accounts in the Canonical Gospels, one discovers that there were three women at the tomb in Mark, two in Matthew, an undisclosed number of women in Luke, and only Mary Magdalene in John. The herald of the resurrection was a young man in Mark, an angel in Matthew, two men in Luke, and Jesus himself in John.

The Bible is a wellspring of diversity. Dictators and despots have used it to perpetuate their regimes. Liberation movements have used it to ground their causes. Churches have used it to disempower, dehumanize, and demonize people of color, women, indigenous peoples, LGBTQi, people living with HIV and AIDS, PWDs, and many more. The disempowered, dehumanized, and demonized have used it to rise above their oppression. And most, actually, don't read it. It is the world's number one bestselling book. But buying one and reading it are two different things.

In the Philippines, the Bible has been used to legislate sin, to criminalize dissent, and legitimize tyranny. It has also been used to birth solidarity and resistance.

Diversity is a gift. But diversity in a world led by the likes of Trump and Duterte and dominated by systems and structures of greed, power, and privilege is tokenism. Thus, those of us who confess to follow Jesus preach good news to the poor, not simply good news. We follow the One who proclaimed blessings to the poor and declared woes to the rich.

We take sides. Like Jesus did. Because God always does.

IF THE CHURCH HAD VIBRANIUM...

We should work with Cuba so that the most disenfranchised peoples in the world will get the best education and the best medical services available.

We should cooperate and collaborate with indigenous communities in healing and nursing Mother Earth back to health. We should also invest in national industrialization for the poorest counties and empowerment programs for the people there.

We should also help provide the 666 billion dollars that is needed to address with finality world poverty, hunger, safe water and sanitation, decent housing, basic literacy, and universal health services.  

And, finally, if we had vibranium, we must charge the United States of America and the State of Israel with multiple counts of crimes against humanity!

BUT WAIT, WE DO HAVE VIBRANIUM! 

BUT WE DON’T CALL IT THAT. WE CALL IT LAND. BONDS, STOCKS, SPECIAL FUNDS. VAST RESOURCES. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. POWER. INFLUENCE. WE HAVE SO MUCH. 

We do have vibranium. And we have failed! 

UPRISING!

Whether we read the Bible or the Jewish historian Josephus or the Roman historianTacitus, one thing is crystal clear: Jesus lived and preached an alternative empire. Historians tell us that he lived a life of open healing and shared eating, of radical itinerancy, of empowered egalitarianism, of human contact without discrimination and without hierarchies, and of preferential option for the poor. 

And Jesus was executed by the Roman Empire because of this. A life totally dedicated to the liberation of the poor and the powerless is a very dangerous life. Those who follow the Galilean Jesus, actually, follow an executed God. 

Never forget this. Any movement that seriously serves the poor will be harassed, threatened, and, oftentimes, stopped by the privileged and the powerful. The ongoing harassment of Sr. Patricia Fox and the murders of Fr. Tito Paez and Fr. Mark Ventura are but three examples of this stark reality. Archbishop Oscar Romero was murdered by state agents. He gave his life as a ransom for many. He once declared, “You can kill me, but I will rise up in the People of El Salvador.” Anasthasis which is translated resurrection can also be translated Rising Up. Or much better, UPRISING!

Over and over in the Gospel of Mark, especially in chapters 8, 9, and 10, Jesus tells his disciples he will be handed over and be crucified. But God will raise him up. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, the disciples at the tomb are left silent and afraid by the young man’s challenge: the one who began the movement, the one who was executed, the one they expected to find dead inside the tomb was not there. God has raised him up. God had begun an UPRISING.  And the young man at the tomb says, “Tell the disciples and Peter.” Tell the ten and Peter.

Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, one seed produces many seeds. LET ME REPEAT THAT: UNLESS A SEED FALLS TO THE GROUND AND DIES, IT REMAINS A SINGLE SEED. BUT IF IT DIES, ONE SEED PRODUCES MANY…

For every one that offers one’s life for serving the people as a ransom for many, God will raise up ten. For every ten, God will raise up a hundred… For every hundred, a thousand.

Why "Kingdom of God"?

Historians tell us that Jesus and his band could have proclaimed Family of God
Or Fellowship of God. Or People of God. Or Church of God.
Even Synagogue of God. But they did not.

They instead proclaimed, Kingdom of God.
They also preached Good News to the Poor. Liberation to the Captives.
And Peace based on Justice.

All Anti-Imperial rhetoric.
Subversions of the pillars of the Pax Romana.
Scandalous. Dangerous. Rebellious.

Often, you and I forget that we follow an Executed God.

How to Read the Bible

Many among us grew up singing, "Read your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow..." The truth of the matter is this: many Christians do not really read the Bible. What we love to read are the devotional guides: The Upper Room, Our Daily Bread, and the like. Actually, many seminaries and divinity schools do not require their students to read the Bible. Go and check their syllabi online.

Students are required to read books about the Bible. Classes in Hebrew Bible or Old Testament require students to read Anderson, Gottwald, Bruggemann, and not the 39 books from Genesis to Malachi. Classes in New Testament require students to read Ehrman, Brown, Levine, but not the 27 books from Matthew to Revelation.

Students of Hebrew and Greek read grammar books and many do not even get to see the actual Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.

So, we don't really read the Bible because most of us grew up reading other things. But most of us did grow up with the Bible. We grew up hearing the Bible! During Scripture Reading, via homilies, in Sunday School, through the stories our elders taught us.

My friends, the Bible was written to be heard. For centuries Christians heard the Bible. Printed copies were rare and exclusive to the rich and the learned. The printing press changed all that. Now almost everyone has copies of the Bible. But this does not change the fact that our most cherished sacred text was written to be heard.

So, what's the best way to read the Bible? Out loud. With others. In community.  Listen. Hear your Bible, pray every day, and you'll grow, grow, grow...

Immanuel (Prayer for Interns)

Dear God, Parent of us all, as we leave this sacred place let us celebrate the promise of Immanuel. Let us not forget that in the fulness of time you left heaven to be with us because no one needs to be alone. No one, ever, deserves to be alone.

And Immanuel only makes sense in relationship.

No one can serve as God's presence to oneself. To be Immanuel is to serve as God's presence to another. Help us remember, it takes at least two people to affirm Immanuel!

As we read our Bibles and pray every day, we will grow, grow, grow in the realization that Jesus was one of a pair. Throughout his ministry. Until his death and beyond. There was always Mary Magdalene.

Mary was Jesus's Immanuel.

As our interns leave the portals of our beloved Seminary, you are sending them out to serve as Immanuel. Being Immanuel is, often,  a thankless ministry. Look at what happened to Mary Magdalene. Historians tell us that the early church had three pillars. Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene. But today most have no idea about her discipleship, her apostleship, and her leadership. Actually today, Roman Catholics celebrate Peter. While Protestants quote Paul more than Jesus.

Who among us know anyone named Mary Magdalene? Forgive us because most of us have internalized the demolition job church and society have done to Jesus's Immanuel.

Our interns  will face a lot of challenges in their internship. They will receive a lot of criticism. They will cry, they will get frustrated, they will get disheartened.

But they will persevere because they know that, despite the fact that there are over 100 million Filipinos and over 20 million Sri Lankans right now, there is someone who is so alone.

That someone might be a person living with HIV and AIDS demonized for his/her sexual sins. That someone might be a driver, a former OFW, whose 15-year old jeepney has been marked as worthless. That someone might be an ALCADEV teacher facing harassment and death threats from the very people sworn to protect her.

That someone might be a church worker who has to deal with sexual harassment from superiors and colleagues. That someone might be a young person who has to face her pregnancy alone.

That someone might be a single parent struggling to make both ends meet while caring for her family that many call dysfunctional. That someone might be a labor union leader being hunted by armed goons for standing up for labor rights.

You did not create us to be alone, yet right now, someone is.

And when our interns meet this someone, then he or she will cease to be alone. Never forget this. Ever. The best way to experience God's presence in our lives is to be God's presence in someone else's life.

So, go. Let us all go. Interns, go. Graduating Class, go!

Be Immanuel. Because no one deserves to be alone. Be Immanuel and encounter the other, among the poor, the dehumanized, the dispossessed. Be Immanuel and experience God.

Amen

[Interns' Commissioning, 4 April 2018, Union Theological Seminary, Philippines; photo from Pastor Kakay Pamaran, UTS Field Education Office]

Los Desaparecidos

We, who call ourselves Christian, should not forget that the One we call Lord and Liberator was a victim of state-sanctioned murder. He was abducted in the dead of night, unjustly tried, beaten, tortured, and executed between two rebels.

Many Jesus Scholars tell us that nobody knew what happened next. There are those who say that his body was left on the cross, to be feasted upon by wild dogs. Others say he was probably thrown into a mass grave. Still others say his body was placed hastily into a borrowed grave.

Paul writing in the 50s never talks about the empty tomb. The story of the empty tomb in Mark arrives at least two decades after.

And the Markan story is clear. There is no body. The women came to mourn, they came for closure, they came with spices. Jesus had disappeared!

Whether we talk about the Philippines, Argentina, Palestine, and many more places in the world, countless cannot mourn or find closure because their children, their parents, their comrades, their teachers, their students, like, Jesus, have disappeared.

Like Jesus they walked and worked with those whose only hope is God. Like Jesus their lives were dedicated to struggling for peace based on justice. Like Jesus, they were threats to the rich and the powerful. And like Jesus, they all disappeared!

Like the women at the tomb, many of us are silent and afraid. Like the women in the tomb, we want to find The Disappeared. We want to find them alive. Or if they are dead, we want to find their bodies. We want to anoint them with fragrant oils. Maybe build a monument or set up a memorial for them. We want to mourn. We want closure.

But the message of the young man in the empty tomb is as real today as it was thousands of years ago… Jesus is not in the tomb. He is risen. He is in Galilee… Waiting for us!

We also believe that The Disappeared has risen again in the tens, in the hundreds, and in the thousands who continue what they begun: fighting and struggling for justice, for peace, for liberation. Like Jesus, they are in Galilee where we do not want to go; where the good news is preached to the poor; where the hungry are given food; and where liberation is proclaimed to the captives…

The Disappeared are waiting for us to pick up where they left off.

[photo from ManilaToday]

Black Saturday took longer than 24 hours!

That Jesus of Nazareth was executed via crucifixion by the Romans is a historical fact. That Jesus is Risen is a confession of faith. Those of us who went to seminary learned this early in our ministerial formation. John Dominic Crossan has argued that "Good" Friday brought about "Black" Saturday which eventually birthed the "Easter" Faith. And that Saturday was longer than 24 hours. Much, much longer.

Let me explain.

Students of the Bible will discover right away that the writers of the New Testament books have different interpretations of the Resurrection.

Paul has several. First, appearances. The Risen Christ appears to his followers. Next, Jesus's resurrection as the first-fruits of the general resurrection. Third, the Church as the Body of the Risen Christ.

There are no appearances in Mark. Since almost all historians agree that the gospel ends in 16.8, what we have is a young man proclaiming that Jesus has been raised and is waiting in Galilee. In Matthew, Immanuel, the "I Am" is with his followers until the end of the age. In the Lukan narrative, the first book, the gospel is about Jesus. The second, the Acts of the Apostles, is about the Risen Christ working through the Spirit. In John, Jesus is alive whenever and wherever one offers one's life for a friend.

Historians tell us that most of Paul's letters were written in the 50's. The Gospels, 20 to 50 years after.

It is also fascinating to note that in the gospels, the announcement that Jesus has been raised come to from a young man, two men, an angel, and even Jesus himself (in John). The number of women who came to the tomb vary, the only constant being Mary Magdalene. And in Luke and John's accounts, no one recognizes the Risen Christ when they first encounter him.

Why so many interpretations? Because diversity is the most important gift from God. God did not create duplicates. But more importantly, the breadth and depth of God's grace defy boundaries and borders.

In the end, to believe in the resurrection is to live lives believing that goodness will always conquer evil; that hope is stronger than despair; that faith will always triumph over fear; that love is more powerful than indifference; and that life will always, always, conquer death!

LAST WORDS

Last words are important to many of us.

Famous last words include Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” and Antonio Luna’s “P---- Ina!” My late mother's last words to me, when we were in the very cold Emergency Room of the Philippine Heart Center, were: "Anak mainit, paypayan mo ako." My father’s last text message to me was: “Thank you.”

And, of course, the most famous last words ever memorialized would be Jesus’s as found in the gospels: Mark and Matthew have one; Luke has three; and John has three. Many Christians do not read the Bible. We read books about the Bible and parts of the Bible. If the Gospels were movies, the way most of us “read” is akin to watching only parts of a movie, not the whole show. Now, who among us only watch parts of a movie or telenovela--5 minutes of Black Panther or 10 minutes of FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano?

The Gospels are complete narratives. I propose studying Jesus’s Last Words based on that fundamental assumption. In other words, if Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John were movies or telenovelas, then Jesus’s dying words play important roles in how the stories play out.

MATTHEW

If one reads Mark and Matthew from beginning to end, one will discover that both narratives privilege Galilee as locus of God’s activity. Most of Jesus’s healing, teaching, and preaching ministry happen in Galilee. In the Matthean and Markan narrative Jerusalem is bad news. Jesus is betrayed in Jerusalem. Jesus is arrested, tortured, and executed in the Holy City. Jesus dies in Jerusalem. One can even argue that God forsakes Jesus in Jerusalem, thus at the point of death he cries, “Eli, Eli lama sabacthani?” or “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Many of us who grew up in church and in Sunday school remember the countless number of Bible verses we memorized. Many of us hated the ritual. I know I did when I was growing up. We thought those verses were useless until something happened in our lives and then the verses suddenly took on a life all their own. The Jesus of Matthew was rooted in the Hebrew Scripture. At the lowest point in his life, near death, Jesus was not blaming God. He was quoting Scripture. Psalm 22 to be exact.

I have witnessed people pass from this life to the life beyond and quite a few were quoting scripture. Remember that Matthew does not end with Jesus dying on the cross. The gospel ends with God raising Jesus from the dead. Psalm 22 begins with despair but ends with triumph and an affirmation of faith in a God who saves; a God who liberates. Especially the least among the least. Go and read it. Jesus’ last words in Matthew celebrate the promise of Immanuel. In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone. God is with us. Always.

MARK

In Mark, Jesus cries, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani” and dies. Unlike Matthew, the risen Jesus does not appear in the ending. Check your Bibles. The gospel ends in 16:8, where we find women silent and afraid. What we have in the story is a young man who tells the women that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee and will be waiting for them there. Jesus is not in the tomb. He is not in Jerusalem. He is not where we want him to be. He is back in Galilee where his ministry began. And he is waiting for us there. And we are afraid. Why?

Because we know that this path will eventually lead to the cross. We know that following Jesus will lead to suffering and, yes, death. Unlike Matthew, Luke, and John where we find beautiful stories of the resurrection—Jesus appears to Magdalene, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, by the beach and eats breakfast with his followers, Mark offers a young man with a confirmation of a promise – Jesus is risen just as he told you. We do not see Jesus. We are told to believe he is risen. And it is only in going back to Galilee, in places we do not want to go, in ministering among the poorest and the most oppressed, that we will eventually find him. The last words of Jesus in Mark are dying words. The gospel does not end with Jesus’ triumphant words as a risen Lord but with a young man’s affirmation of God’s resurrection power: that hope is stronger than despair, that faith is greater than fear, that love is more powerful than indifference, and that life will always, always conquer death.

“He has been raised. He is not here!” Do we believe the young man’s words?

LUKE

Many Filipinos love the Gospel according to Luke. I read somewhere that our favorite parables are The Prodigal Son and The Good Samaritan. Both come from Luke. A lot of the scriptural support for the Roman Catholic Church’s theology of preferential option for the poor is based on Luke. God is definitely pro-poor in Luke. Jesus’s birth is announced to poor shepherds. Jesus's first sermon, which almost gets him killed, is a proclamation of good news to the poor. And this God who loves the poor so much is most often described as a loving parent. From Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, to Mary, the mother of Jesus, to the Father of the Prodigal Son who waited patiently for his son’s return, to Father Abraham who takes poor Lazarus into his bosom… the Gospel of Luke reminds us, offers us metaphors of God’s unconditional love as parent. At the cross, two of Jesus’s last three words in Luke are addressed to his father. Jesus says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” If God is our parent and we are all God’s children, then we should ACT as brothers and sisters. This means not behaving like the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, or like the Rich Man in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. This means acting like the Good Samaritan who did not consider the wounded Jew as an enemy but as a brother. Jesus in Luke challenges his followers to love their enemies and to do good to those who hate them. Jesus set the example.

We call ourselves Jesus’s followers, but do we really follow? If Jesus is our "Kuya" then our words and our deeds should remind others of our "kuya." Bombing Afghanistan, invading Iraq, trampling on Philippine sovereignty in the guise of "visiting rights"-- are Jesus's brothers and sisters supposed to do these things? Jesus says to one of the criminals crucified with him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Filipinos are social creatures. The worst punishment for Filipinos is solitary confinement. Many Filipinos turn on radios and televisions when they are alone, not to listen or watch, but simply to create a semblance of community. God’s salvation is a community project. No one can be a Christian alone. When God saves, God saves communities and peoples. To celebrate the incarnation is to celebrate that God has left heaven to be with us. So no one lives and dies alone. God is with us. In the midst of death on the cross, Jesus reminds his fellow victim that he is not alone. “Hindi siya nag-iisa.”

Then Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke follows Mark and Matthew’s lead here. Jesus also quotes an Old Testament Psalm. In this case Psalm 31. It is also like Psalm 22, a Psalm of deliverance. Jesus believed in a God who will never forsake. And God does not forsake Jesus. Many of us pray Jesus's prayer before we sleep at night. We commit everything to God, yet we stay up all night thinking of so many things only God has control over. Let us follow Jesus. Even in death, he knew that he was safe in God’s hands. We are never alone. We will never, ever, be alone.

JOHN

If one reads the Gospel of John from start to finish one will discover that the story celebrates the discipleship of the unnamed. In other words, the most effective followers of Jesus in the story have no names. The Samaritan woman by Jacob’s well, who runs to her people to share her experience with Jesus, is unnamed. The young boy who offers the five loaves and two fish so that Jesus can feed over five thousand people is also unnamed. The beloved disciple who plays a role bigger than Peter’s in the story is also unnamed. But most important of all, the only disciple who we find at the beginning and at the end of Jesus’s life is also unnamed: Jesus’s mother.

We find the two—Jesus’s mother and the beloved disciple—at the foot of the cross. Jesus says to them, “Woman behold your son; behold your mother.” Jesus asks that his two faithful disciples take care of each other. Love is the key theme of the Gospel of John. God became human because of love. The world is supposed to be blessed by our love for each other. Jesus in John leaves his followers only one commandment—for us to love one another as Jesus loved us. Mothers behold your sons; sons behold your mothers; parents behold your children; children behold your parents. We are members of the family of God and our primary task is to live in love for each other, like a family: each one willing to offer one’s life for the other.

Then Jesus says, “I thirst.” Again, in the Johannine story, particularly in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus is the Living Water. Thus, many people find it puzzling that the one who says he is Living Water is suddenly thirsty. And he is given vinegar by his executioners. Like Matthew’s, Mark’s, and Luke’s quotations, John’s “I thirst” represents a quote from the Old Testament--Psalm 69. Faith draws strength from the past. Like Daniel’s three friends who faced death yet believed in a God who will deliver them as God has delivered in the past, Jesus affirms the same unwavering faith in a deliverer God. And God did deliver Daniel’s three friends. And God delivered David (who wrote the Psalm). And Jesus believed God will deliver him, as well.

Then Jesus says, “It is finished.” The End. Jesus is dead. Remember the only commandment Jesus left his followers in the Gospel of John—greater love hath no one than this, that one offers one’s life for another? Jesus does exactly that. His life was an offering. And we are challenged to do the same. At the beach Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Jesus… We are asked the same thing. Can we love as Jesus loved? Jesus was not alone when he faced the cross. And his last words on the cross affirmed his faith in God, in people, in the transforming power of love and life, and empowered him to face death.

Psalm 22 which Jesus quotes in Matthew and Mark, Psalm 69 which he quotes in John, and Psalm 31 which he quotes in Luke celebrate a God who delivers, a God who liberates, a God who will always take the side of the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed, a God who will not forsake us. And God did not forsake Jesus.

And God will never forsake us.

[Based on the Tagalog version preached at Binan UCCP.]

Why Jerusalem?

Over twenty years ago I had the privilege to attend a meeting of the Jesus Seminar. There I met John Dominic Crossan, NT Wright, Marriane Sawicki, Robert Miller, and Marcus Borg.

During the meeting I asked the group why did Jesus need to go to Jerusalem? His Galilee-based movement was doing great. Going to Jerusalem was suicide. Even his disciples knew this. They did not want to him to go to Jerusalem. It did not make sense. But Jesus went anyway.

Crossan volunteered John 7 where Jesus's brothers tell him, "No one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world!"

We all know how this story ends.

Gabriela Silang did not need to take over leadership after Diego was assassinated in 1763. Jose Rizal did not need to go back the Philippines in 1892. Bonifacio did not need to go to the Magdalo camp in Cavite in 1896. Ernesto Che Guevara did not need to go to Bolivia in 1967. We also know how these stories ended.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem with over 5000 people, mostly farmers and fisherfolk, waving palm branches, Pontius Pilate entered the city from the opposite direction. With a Roman Legion. 6000 professional soldiers. Jesus did not need to go to Jerusalem. But he did anyway.

First came a movement. Then an execution. But surprise of surprises, the movement continues. To this day! Thus, movement, execution, continuation. But the greatest of these is continuation.

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DANCE IS A LANGUAGE OF FAITH

The oldest Christian tradition, quite possibly formulated within the first decade from Jesus’s crucifixion, is the Christological hymn that Paul quotes in Philippians 2: 5-11. Many Hebrew Bible scholars agree that the oldest tradition from Ancient Israel, quite possibly already circulating a generation or two from the Exodus event, is found in the book of Exodus. Chapter 15: 20-21 to be exact. 

Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for God is highly exalted. Both horse and driver God has hurled into the sea."
This passage, over three thousand years old, challenges many of our most cherished practices and traditions. First, the main characters in this oldest poem are women. Not men. Second, their faith expression is dancing, not preaching. Third, their leader is a prophet, not a priest; a woman, not a man; Miriam, not Moses.
Let me say it again: In this most ancient Hebrew Bible account, we have women, we have dancing, and we have a prophet, Miriam. Dancing is one of the oldest forms of worship. Dance is a language of faith. 

Melinda Grace Aoanan once said: “To sing to to pray twice. To dance, on the other hand, is to pray three times!” To dance is to celebrate the cycles and circles of life. To dance is to offer thanksgiving for babies born and loved ones departed, for bountiful harvests and sweet-smelling rice, for dreams realized and abundant life for all.

To dance, in Miriam and the women’s case, was to celebrate God’s liberating acts. Dance is a language of faith.

Remember this, my friends. An ancient people enslaved for centuries find themselves free. Yahweh had delivered them. God had heard their cries. God had come down to liberate them. God had accomplished what God had promised. And what is the first thing they do to celebrate their deliverance? THEY DANCE. 
God continues to deliver people from bondage. God continues to liberate those who are imprisoned. God continues to hear the cries of the oppressed and of those whose only hope is God. And what are we supposed to do to celebrate God’s continuing liberating acts? We actively participate in God's mission. We proclaim Good News to the Poor. We become the salt, and the light, and the seed God calls us to be. 
AND WE DANCE!

[image from http://www.atzmut.com/the-womens-dance/]

Unless a Seed Dies...

Seed. Salt. Light.

These are very powerful metaphors that the Church has used, for centuries, to describe itself. All these metaphors come from the Gospels. (The Church as the Body of Christ is Pauline.)

Unfortunately for the church, it has forgotten that all three metaphors require self-giving, require emptying, require death...

A seed dies... Salt dissolves... Light burns out.

The Church needs to remember its Crucified and Risen Lord. There is no Resurrection without the Crucifixion.

SOUP and SALT

The world needs soup.

Unfortunately, millions of people cannot even have or afford a decent cup of hot soup. So many people are so poor they gargle water for breakfast, take hot water for lunch, and force themselves to sleep at night in place of supper. Mas emphatic sa Tagalog: Marami tayong kababayan na mumog ang agahan, nilagang tubig ang tanghalian, at tulog ang hapunan. 
When Esau, in the Genesis 25. 29-34, came to his brother, he was close to death. And he asked for soup. For billions of dispossessed people who struggle against death forces everyday, the promise of life in its fullness is actually a hot bowl of soup. For countless people who face the violence of starvation each and every moment of their lives, God’s shalom is a hot bowl of soup. 
When our sisters and brothers’ homes and livelihood are destroyed by flash floods, relief operations bring soup. When schools offer feeding programs to malnourished grade school children, they are fed soup. When our churches and church-related institutions welcome the homeless and street-children into our “soup kitchens,” guess what we offer them? 
But you and I know this, soup is more than food for the hungry and drink for the thirsty.  It is also just wages for workers, homes for the homeless, justice for the oppressed, care for the sick and dying, welcome to the stranger, land for the landless, liberation for those in bondage and captivity, solidarity with those whose only hope is God. 
The soup that can meet the world’s hunger is the soup we cook together. Every one contributing what each can. Because we are each other’s keepers. If God is our parent, then all of us are sisters and brothers. 
Those of us who call ourselves Christian do not have the monopoly on soup. We have an ingredient to share. This is probably why Jesus calls the church, salt of the earth. Soup tastes better with salt. 
But soup does not need salt to be soup!

God Loves the Cosmos!

Yes. God loves the cosmos.

But for so many of us who memorized the verse, it's God so loved the World. And for most, the line really means God so loved (state your name).

It's actually, God loved the Cosmos! God loves the heavens, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Earth. Mountains. Oceans. Rivers. Rocks, pebbles, sand.

God loves rooted people. Finned people. Four-legged people. Winged people. Two-legged people.

God loves Moslems. Buddhists. Rebels. Indigenous peoples. Refugees. Rohingya. Migrants. Palestinians. PWDs. PLHAs...

God loves the cosmos so much that God decided to become one with the cosmos, a two-legged person. A two-legged person whose loving was experienced as life lived for others.

John 3.16

Many people love this verse.
Many people actually believe it's the Gospel in a nutshell.
Many people even think it's what the whole Bible is about.

Many people, unfortunately, do not read the Bible. Most hear it read out loud, in church, once a week.
Many people who love John 3.16 have no idea what John 3.15 is about. Or John 3.17.

Many people who love John 3.16 have no idea what John Chapter 3 is about. Or what the Gospel of John is about.

Many people who love the Bible have no idea what the Bible is all about!

Pray or Make a Whip?

The cleansing of the temple which happens during Passion Week in the Synoptic Gospels might have been the primary reason why Jesus was arrested, tortured, and executed. The narrative comes at the beginning of Jesus's ministry in the Gospel of John.

How do we imagine this scene? Jesus drives the sheep and cattle out of the temple. He pours out the coins of the money changers and overturns their tables.  And he has a whip which he makes himself!

Many of us cannot imagine Jesus raging with anger. Many of us cannot imagine Jesus doing what the passage tells us he did.

When the temple which is supposed to represent God’s presence among God’s people becomes a den of thieves that takes  advantage of the poor and the most disenfranchised; when institutions that are created to remind people that Yahweh is liberator and deliverer of slaves and the most dispossessed become systems that proclaim the rich as blessed and the poor as sinners, what do we expect the One whose name means ‘Yahweh Liberates’ to do?

Pray? In this occasion, he makes a whip.

When women who are supposed to have equal rights with men still receive salaries much lower than men; when they face harassment, discrimination, and violence in places that are supposed to be safe; when they continue to experience blame and demonization when they are victimized, what do we expect women and those who confess to follow the One whose name means ‘Yahweh Liberates’ to do?

Pray?
#IWD2018

Interpretation is always plural!

Diversity is a gift. No two of anything is exactly alike. No two interpretations as well. There are other ways of reading. Interpretation is always plural.

In the New Testament we usually assume that we have four interpretations of Jesus. Mark's, Matthew's, Luke's, and John's. Actually there is more. There's Paul's, Peter's, and all the other writers of the letters. And then there's John's (the author of Revelation).

Every moment of our lives, those of us who call ourselves Christian, need to answer Jesus's question: "Who do you say I am?" And if there are over one billion of us, then there are over one billion answers to that question.

Interpretation is always plural but it does not mean that everything and anything goes. We are talking about Jesus. The one who proclaimed Good News to the poor, liberation to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and the year of the Lord's favor.

We are talking about Jesus. The one who demands that the rich sell everything they have and give the proceeds to the poor. We are talking about Jesus. The one who stormed the temple and called it a den of thieves!

Interpretation is always plural but if our interpretation of Jesus does not resonate with the Jesus who always took the side of those whose only hope is God, then our interpretation is off the mark and we are following the wrong Jesus.

Like Donald Trump!


[Artwork from the National Episcopal Church, Tom McElligott, Emmy Kegler.]