CREATIVE EKKLESIA: TOWARDS A LIVABLE WORLD

“Creative Ekklesia: Towards a Livable World”116^th UTS Anniversary and Church Workers Convocation

November 14-16, 2023

UTS Salakot Chapel, Dasmariñas, Cavite

 

Scripture Text: Revelation 21: 1-12

 

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home^[a] of God is among mortals.
He will dwell^[b] with them;
they will be his peoples,^[c]
and God himself will be with them and be their God;^[d]
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for^[e] the first things have passed away.”

⁵ And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. ⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless,^[f] the polluted, the murderers, the sexually immoral,^[g] the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

 

Vision of the New Jerusalem

⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And in the spirit^[h] he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names that are the names^[i] of the twelve tribes of the Israelites:

 

Introduction

Warmest greetings and felicitations to all of you who have come to this year’s UTS 116^th Anniversary Celebration and Church Workers Convocation! We are happy that we have with us in this celebration UTS Alumni, Church Workers from the Conferences of UMC and UCCP, seminarians, faculty and staff and friends who have joined us in this occasion to experience our community life and learn from each other new ideas and embrace new perspectives that would inspire us in our Church work, and even in our family life.

 

The theme, “Creative Ekklesia: Towards a Livable World,” is a courageous attempt to delve into the what has been considered as “creative” or artistic expression employed in our Church Ministry. I know for a fact that since I started my pastoral ministry in 1991, I have never stopped being creative or applied my native and gained artistic skills arts in pastoral ministry. 

 

Surveying my own creative skills through the years ranges from fine arts which refer to forms of art that are created primarily for aesthetic and intellectual purposes, rather than for utility or practical function. These artistic disciplines are often appreciated for their visual, auditory, or performative qualities. 

 

Fine arts encompass various traditional and contemporary forms. I have skills in fine arts, but occasionally used to produce art work. These skills include freehand-drawing and charcoal and water color painting, poetry and prose, drama script writing, wire sculpting-- wire sculpting is a form of art that involves creating three-dimensional sculptures using various types of wire. Artists manipulate the wire to shape and form objects, figures, or abstract designs. This medium allows for a great deal of flexibility and creativity. Also, I can sing and dance a bit. Landscape photography using a smart phone camera.

 

However, for persons and for Church Workers in particular with passion for justice and peace like the biblical prophets, they have used their prophetic imagination to address the gruesome situations of their time, even to the point of losing their lives for telling tyrannical and hard-headed leaders their violation of human dignity and for defying 

God’s will for the people to live in peace. 

 

O N E

Prophetic imagination is enigmatic. The likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and Ezekiel used symbolism that are intriguing and bizarre which the modern readers could not easily grasp because of its complexity, at other times they acted like soothsayers, telling people what will befall on the monarch and the entire nation. A soothsayer is a person who claims or is believed to have the ability to foresee or predict the future, often through the interpretation of signs, omens, or supernatural insights. Soothsayers have been historically associated with divination practices and are often depicted as individuals with special insights into events that have not yet occurred. The term is commonly used in the context of ancient or mystical predictions.

 

Apocalyptic prophets reveal their imagination in the context of persecution either physically imprisoned, serving jail sentence for subverting the interest of a monarch or psychologically isolated and in the process of historical review and analysis, reach the point of indignation and rebellion. 

 

Their creative means to ventilate pent-up revulsion is to write their resistance in symbolic forms that consequently rewire their brain with the fire of justice--human brain "rewiring" generally refers to neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. This process can occur in response to learning, experience, or changes in the environment. 

 

They spread their wings of hope for radical change for the reversal of the present chaotic and evil situation in which they and many people suffer and destined to become blood sacrifices of the tyrants to the gods of violence and death.

 

In Revelation chapter 7 we can read how the four of the seven angels have sounded the trumpet and disaster happen. The angels made the clarion call on the people on what will befall them for their lack of knowledge of God’s will for life and somehow, they have acquiesced in the midst of persecution and killings of those who believe in God in Jesus Christ. 

 

The first angel sounded the trumpet and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.—This is creative apocalyptic drama of cosmic anger and unprecedented destruction, and annihilation experienced by modern society in varying degrees. 

 

 Next, the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.—A creative description of natural phenomena getting out of control, targeting the sea—the symbol of chaos and consequently turned to blood signifies environmental pollution e.g. the phenomenon of redtide or red planktons, and killed living creature in the sea, and destroyed the ships---civilization’s transnational trade carriers that encroached local economies and forced people to slavery.

 

¹⁰ The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— ¹¹ the name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.---A creative imagery of aerial bombing and hurling of guided missiles from air and fall on populated areas similar to recent Israel’s bombing of Gaza strip and other areas relegated to Palestinians that killed children, women and men in thousands. (Aljazera pictures captures the light in the sky.)

 

¹² The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.---A creative symbolism of celestial convergence like multiple eclipses, lunar, solar. This can occur when celestial bodies align in such a way that one blocks the light from another. This points to the evils perpetuated in the high places of governance in church and society, where accountability and transparency—light – has been struck by corruption of ethical standards,  and the code of decency.

 

T W O

In a livable world, there is no sea, there is renewal and healing. Sa isang mapayapang at masaganang daigdig wala na ng dagat, merong pagbabago at pagpagaling.

 

From those creative apocalyptic symbolism, let me elaborate on Revelation 21 as an imagery for the ‘livable world”. There are two important features of this passage which provide resources that may renew our imaginations. 

 

Quoting Greg Carey’s reflection, he said, 

First, the new creation features no sea. The sea’s absence may trouble us at first. Almost all of us love water. We take particular pleasure in the ocean. (For Revelation’s readers, “the sea” means the Mediterranean.) But for Revelation the sea’s absence belongs with the eradication of death, mourning, crying, and pain. As it does in some other Jewish literature of the period, the sea is where evil empires operate. In the great war Satan takes his stand alongside the sea, and the wicked beast arises out of that very same sea (Revelation 12:18-13:1). The beast makes war against Jesus’ followers and kills many of them. 

 

Moreover, the beast is closely aligned with the great city; after all, Babylon rides upon the beast’s back. When the “great city” is destroyed, those who mourn include especially political rulers (“kings”), merchants, and sailors (18:9-20). The beastly empire conducts its military and diplomatic operations on the sea, just as it handles commerce on the sea. In Revelation the sea’s absence does not reflect aversion to the world; instead, it’s part of Revelation’s condemnation against an empire that uses war and commerce to oppress ordinary people. (unquote)

 

In our context, we could hardly survive without the sea because we are culturally connected with the life of the sea. We live in the Philippine islands and our identity and sustenance is largely dependent on the marine resources, such as fish, sea weeds, and various kinds of seafood. The sea missing in the new earth and heaven for the original readers was the elimination of conflict and domination. This sounds very familiar to us because of the issues surrounding the West Philippine Seas where contending geopolitical powers guard and greedily salivates to exploit the rich and abundant marine resources. The material sea, will still be there in a livable world  but the sea will no longer be the place of contention. 

 

We have our own personal life experiences that can be considered as “seas” such as pain, mourning, death and frustrations, and the more debilitating is trauma. The need for trauma healing arises from the profound impact that traumatic experiences can have on an individual's mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Trauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events that overwhelms an individual's ability to cope. This can include experiences such as violence, abuse, accidents, natural disasters, or other deeply distressing situations.

 

In that new earth and heaven, we will have more pastoral counselors who are equipped with trauma therapeutic healing approaches to that involve counseling, psychotherapy, support groups, and other interventions designed to help individuals process their experiences, develop coping mechanisms, and move toward a healthier and more resilient state. Most importantly, the sources of trauma will be eradicated. Inhabitants of God’s new earth and heaven no longer think and behave as predators or prey, but intentionally establish relationships that are based on justice, compassion and love. 

 

Furthermore, Greg Carey notes, “that the new city comes down to us from heaven. We do not go up to it. Revelation does not imagine the saints escaping this world for a heavenly reward. On the contrary, the saints inhabit a brand new world created right where they live. This new world may not have a sea, but it does include a river, “bright as crystal” (Revelation 22:1). This new world hardly represents an escape from everyone else and their troubles. When Revelation says God has come down to dwell with mortals (21:3), it means it. The loud voice proclaims, “These peoples will be God’s” (21:3). Drawing again from Isaiah’s vision, Revelation describes “the nations” walking in the light of the new city (21:24) and finding healing therein (22:3; see Isaiah 60:11; Jeremiah 3:17). Revelation envisions a renewal, not an escape.”

 

 

T H R E E

Working towards a livable world means:

§  We should be able to envision the new reality out of the perplexing situation we experience in our lives and in the communities, and in the larger society we live.

 

§  We should be able to articulate the vision and the means in achieving and arriving at the new earth and heaven that we characterize as just, sustainable and peaceful world.

 

In this connection, Robert Jensen, in his essay “Is the Future of Agriculture Perennial?”, (Lund University, Sweden, May 8, 2019.] talks about apocalyptic proclamation, saying, “Responsible apocalyptic thinking and assertion does not assume a script already written by a divine hand nor offer pseudo-scientific predictions, but rather reminds us of the importance of dealing honestly with reality even when it is frightening, and holding onto our humanity, which is even more important when we’re frightened. 

 

Given the severity of the human assault on the ecosphere, compounded by the suffering and strife within the human family, honest apocalyptic thinking and assertion is grounded in a systematic evaluation of the state of the world is not only sensible but an obligation. (unquote)

 

§  Also, we should be active participants and not just onlookers and bystanders in the change process in Church and society, and establish unity and solidarity with like-minded persons and get organized for change. But this goes with a warning that we should be careful in associating with those whose claims about God and about the Church are expressed in superlatives, and devalue the life and ministry of our Churches and our faith-witness programs.

 

§  The Church can use its creative and artistic abilities to delegitimize powers and principalities that hindered abundant life to be experienced by the people. 

 

Anent this, another reminder is given by Robert Jensen saying, “Speaking apocalyptically need not leave us stuck in a corner with people predicting lakes of fire, rivers of blood, or bodies lifted up to the heavens. Rather than thinking of revelation as divine intervention of ending this present corrupted world, or the delivery of a clear message about some fantastic future above, we can engage in an ongoing process of revelation or apocalyptic proclamation that results from an honest struggle to understand, a process that requires a lot of effort and commitment. Things are bad, systems are failing, and the status quo is past its expiration date. We are not facing the end of the world, whatever that would mean, but the end of this phase of human history governed by the existing systems—the end of profligate use of dense energy, hoarding of surpluses, and rule of entrenched hierarchies .”.(unquote; italics are supplied).

 

CONCLUSION

 

Finally, journeying towards a livable world should enable us to use all the creative means to express our prophetic and apocalyptic social vision rooted in our faith affirmation and ethical commitment. This requires only honesty and courage. This prophetic-apocalyptic tradition’s calling out of injustice requires not only the willingness to confront the abuses of the powerful but to acknowledge our own complicity. To proclaim apocalyptically requires us first to see honestly—both how our world is structured by systems that created and perpetuated unjust and unsustainable conditions, and how we leaders and members of the Church have supported those systems. We must confront the powers that be, and ourselves. 

 

My friends, listen:

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among us.
God dwells with us and the world;
We are God’s peoples, 
and God Godself will always be with us and be our God; 
God will wipe every tear from our people’s eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.” Amen.

God’s home is with us

Sermon: “God’s home is with us”

An inaugural address as new President of Union Theological Seminary, Philippines

18 July 2023

by Frank J. Hernando

Scripture Text: Revelation 21:1-3

21Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them

1. Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat, Anhyeong  haseyo! Chalchenneseyo? (Translation: Magandang araw po, Kumusta po kayo?) Members of the Board of Trustees, Leaders from the UCCP and UMC, our school administrators from PCU, and Church Educational Institutions, esteemed colleagues and guests and my dear fellow learners in UTS, I greet you all in God’s shalom!

2. Today is a milestone in the life of Union Theological Seminary for the changing of leaders in the institution, but the traditions and heritage of faith and history remains intact, but the future direction of leaderships and strategies to achieve the common goals and objectives can either be sharpened or dulled. 

3. The information that the UCCP search committee for the new UTS President called my attention that I was shortlisted and was one of the top three nominees for the presidency, I was bit elated and amused, because I was busy figuring out how to go about revitalizing UCCP’s Church Educational Institutions (CEIs) which were the subjects of my dissertation writing program for the Doctor Education degree at PCU. 

4. Then the day came when I was the one selected and recommended to be the next UTS President and I was really wondering why should this happen to my career life. But, of course I accepted the challenge of becoming the new UTS President, which can be daunting, however relieved with the assurance that I’m not doing this alone, but supported with good intentioned people who have the genuine concern for relevant, responsive and progressive theological education.

4. The national leadership of both churches, the UCCP and UMC have been confronted with many issues and concerns in the operation and management of their Ministerial Formation Centers  (MFCs) which had been impacted by the economy of the Church, the nation and the international community. The effect of global economic crisis on the national economy impacts the amount of financial outlay the Church puts into theological education scholarship, faculty resource development, salaries social benefits and educational resource facilities. 

5. Financial viability and stability of the MFCs have been dependent on tuition fees either paid by parents or by scholarship guarantors or a combination of both and other sources. The UCCP had a moratorium on theological education funding in the past few quadrennia. That was a sad situation that happened when the church coffer was on the red or running on deficits due to various constraints and difficulties. That period in Church history impacted the recruitment of seminary students as a large number of those who decided to study to become pastors came from low- income families and the Conferences that sent them to the seminaries were also on the dire economic straits.

6. On the other hand, when the Church is financially viable wherein the Church is able to generate adequate financial resources from major and additional sources, such as the Wider Mission Support (WMS), Property Development Revenues, Program grants from overseas partners and others, it can sufficiently support ministerial formation program carried out by the MFCs.

7. In the recent developments in terms of financial and fiscal policy formulation of the UCCP, it has been planned that theological scholarship funding should increase from30 to 50 percent every two to four years to ease the burden of students’ families, local church and Conference in supporting their students in the seminaries. Also, seminaries like UTS that have started to generate financial resource through property development have provided scholarships to students.

8. Partnership between MFCs, the Local Churches, Conferences, institutions, ecumenical organizations can be strengthened by:

a) Impressing perceptual re-understanding of theological education or ministerial formation as the responsibility of the entire Church. When this sink-in among members’ consciousness will enable them to heighten their commitment and increase their participation in the work of the MFCs such as the UTS. This will result in mutuality of goals and objectives in ministerial formation program, they will collaborate in new and evolving strategies in managing MFCs, and in designing new modes of teaching and learning processes that adapt to the changing local, national and global situations.

b) Renewing and revitalizing communication processes between local churches, Conferences, national offices and the MFCs. Financially stable local churches should be convinced of their role as stakeholders in the ministerial formation program carried out by the MFCs. They should increase their level of financial support to MFCs through scholarship fund either directly remitted to the MFCs for scholarship or by constantly increasing and committed share to the Wider Mission Support (WMS). 

c) Diversifying fund raising campaign for scholarship, faculty development, salaries and benefits for MFCs teachers and staff, and infrastructure development. Diversifying means overcoming dependency on donations but also in developing properties that are assigned to the MFCs and inviting humanitarian and philanthropic organization to partnership projects such as social and ethical policy research, humanitarian response to injustice and peace issues, and other kinds of projects that can enhance the impact of the seminary to the immediate and larger context.

d) Initiating strengthened and streamlined property development by the seminaries and supported by the General Assembly to ease financial difficulties and sustain the economy of the Church for the next 50 years and specifically to support theological education or ministerial formation, leadership development and raising the basic and advance competencies of church workers in performance of their pastoral duties and functions. 

e) Co-operationalizing Continuing Theological Education (CTE) program between the MFCs, the Office of the Church Workers Ministry, the Conferences. MFCs should provide the physical space and make the faculty resource to actively take responsibilities in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the required CTE program and assist in the development of training programs that will enhance the teaching-learning strategies for church workers on the field.

Finally, the UTS vision, mission and goals which are best articulated in the core values will continue to guide the ministerial formation program of the Churches. The core values which are:

1. Christ-like faithfulness

2. Ecumenical Openness

3. Prophetic boldness

4. Contextual timeliness and 

5. Compassionate witness

will continue to provide direction, flesh and bones to the theological formation processes of students, faculty, the Board of Trustees and the ecumenical community.

We pray that God’s abiding and sustaining love will continue to unite us and enable us to do greater things in the work for the kingdom of God. Mabuhay ang UTS! God bless us all!+++End

———————- ———

References:

1. Greg Carey http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2682

2. Barbara Rossing, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1696

“Bringing light and hope to the masses in these changing times”

“Bringing light and hope to the masses in these changing times”

21 March 2022

Keynote, WVC Annual Session

Pitac, Tibiao, Antique

 

By Frank J. Hernando

 

Scripture Texts:

 

Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.

 

Ephesians 4:4

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called.

 

John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

 

INTRODUCTION

Maayong hapon sa inyo tanan nga kauturan ko. Isa ka mainit nga pangamusta gikan kay Bishop Melzar D. Labuntog, ang aton General Secretary. Iya ginapaabot ang iya nga pagpakig hugpong kag pangamuyo nga ang ika—72 nga WVC Annual Session diri sa UCCP Pitac mangin makahuluganon kag madinalag-on. 

 

Karon nga ika-apat nga tuig sang aton quadrennium theme amo ang, “Bringing good news of light and hope to the masses in these changing times.”  "Pagdala sang maayong balita sang kapawa kag paglaum sa katawhan sa nagabag-o nga panahon."  Gusto ko mamalandung sini nga tema kaupod ninyo sining WVC Annual Session.

 

O N E….The good news of God’s face is shining on the people.

 

I have chosen the text from Numbers chapter 6: 24-27, to expound the theological understanding of God’s blessing and how God’s light that originates from God’s face shines on us and God’s people. 

 

Bringing good news of light, is the act of presenting light or knowledge and understanding in a dark and desperate situation. The coined phrase “groping in the dark” is a literal description of not seeing your way or your surrounding and use your hand to find your way. Verse 25  ‘Kabay pa nga pakamaayuhon kamo sang Ginoo.  Kabay pa nga ipakita sang Ginoo ang iya kaayo kag kaluoy sa inyo. Kag kabay pa nga magmaalwan ang Ginoo sa inyo kag hatagan niya kamo sang maayo nga kahimtangan.’ “Sa sini nga paagi mapahayag nila sa mga Israelinhon kon sin-o ako, kag pakamaayuhon ko sila.”

 

This gives us the idea that while our minds are clouded with so many concerns and to a certain extent we couldn’t figure out what needs to be done, we come to God in prayer for illumination, kita nagapangamuyo para masanagan ang aton hunahuna kag makahimo ta mga /tikang para maangkon ta ang kaluwasan  sa mga butang nga naggapus sa aton.

 

In our Judeo-Christian tradition, we end our worship service with a blessing or benediction. This prayer of blessing is equally powerful to the worshiper as they mentally prepare to move from the worship place to exit and move back to their homes or go to other places during the day and during the week. There is that psychological and spiritual feeling of being zapped by the Spirit, bestowing a renewed power and reassurance that we are not alone, that the light from God’s face will continually shine upon us. 

 

Larry Broding tells about the Jewish practice of giving a blessing, he says: this famous verse of blessing from Numbers actually has two components: those giving the blessing and the blessing itself. God instructed the priests to give the blessing on the people (and, by extension, on the nation). In medieval Jewish commentary known as Midrash, some writers noticed a contradiction; how could God command the priests to bless the people, when God himself promised to bless the people directly (Deuteronomy 26:15)? In typical rabbinic fashion, the writers used Scripture to explain Scripture: My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. (Song of Songs 2:9) Pareho sa usa. Tan-awa, ara siya sa guwa nga nagatindog sa kilid sang amon dingding kag nagalingling sa akon sa bintana. In this interpretation, God is the lover peering behind the wall. When the priests raised up their hands and spread their middle and ring fingers to form a triangle image, the fingers symbolized the lattice of the window through which God could see and be seen.  

 

T W O….The good news of God’s blessing on those who live out God’s covenant of peace

 

Moreover, we learn from our Bible study of the prophetic books in the Old Testament that God will prosper the life of God’s people when they follow the provisions of the covenant. When leaders of God’s people would not fail to institute justice based on the communal land tenure system and the just appropriation of resources, in such a way that no family would be impoverished and no one oppresses and exploits their neighbors. Each person and each family should live in peace, or in sustainable socio-economic life. 

 

When the leaders are able to provide for the socio-economic needs of the people and have provided  security, they experienced blessing from God. In our nation since 2020, when lock downs were imposed in the entire country, our economic and social life have been adversely impacted. In August of 2020, the number of unemployed persons reached to a peak of 7.0 million, while in May last year there are over 4+ million. The last fourteen months (March 2020-May 2021) at the time of the pandemic, there were among us church workers who could hardly survive, economically speaking, those in rural churches who do not have the internet connectivity could not hold their worship services and in effect could not collect offerings as source for their salaries or honorarium.

 

It has been our experience that the stringent lock downs and quarantine protocols imposed by the IATF and carried out by the LGU and the police have stifled the rights of people to be gainfully employed and violated people rights and neglected people’s welfare needs such as food, mass testing, free hospitalization and others. There were financial and in-kinds ayuda, but these did not suffice the dire need for food and medicines of the millions of families on a daily subsistence wages.  

 

Worse still, the pandemic was an opportunity for the government to pushed its agenda for the approval of the Anti-Terrorism Law. Ini nga kasuguan ang magpadamo sang human rights violations, kay ang iyang Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) maka aresto kag maka-detain tubtub 14 dias, bisan wala sang kaso nga ginpasaka sa korte.  This was the time as well for our Church, especially our mission for the indigenous people in UCCP Haran was subjected to redtagging and some of our church workers in the Bicol region were arrested due to trumped up charges hurled against them. 

 

As a Church and as Filipinos, whether we have fixed income or farmers, or workers on a daily wage, have been impacted not so much by the Covid-19 virus itself but by the  prolonged lock downs and by the implementation of repressive laws. Our nation lacks the blessing from God because of the sins of our leaders. In the middle of the lock down in 2020, we have learned of the corruption of the money of Philhealth, the use of brute force in cracking down on labor leaders and the arrest, incarceration, and killing of NDFP peace negotiators.

 

The biblical blessing in verses 24 to 26 is further explained by Larry Broding. In 6:24, the blessing called upon God to bless and keep the people. By blessing, the writer meant fulfillment of the covenant. God promised Abraham numerous descendants and land; the blessing called on God to make the population numerous and to enrich the land for an abundant harvest. By keeping, the writer meant saving the people from evil, any force that would weaken the covenant promises.  

 

Meanwhile in 6:25, the blessing called upon God to show his face and his graciousness. Showing his "face" meant his presence; his graciousness meant his loving activity. When God made his covenants, he showed his face (revealed his presence) and his graciousness, choosing these people over any other; keeping the covenants would renew his presence and activity. "To look upon" had an active intent; it meant "to give favor to." The last part of the blessing in 6:26 was the end game of this and all Hebrew blessings: peace or "shalom," that sense of God's presence and peaceful dominion over the cosmos  

 

T H R E E…The good news in the proclamation of our collective hope for God’s salvation

 

Our collective hope is centered on our faith in God through Jesus Christ. We are a people filled with indefatigable hope for the manifestation of God’s saving grace especially in the most challenging situations of life. On a personal level, we feel like we are losing control of our personal and family life. Even the most economically stable individuals can succumb to a feeling of alienation from oneself, family and significant people. There are times when we thought there is no way out of our troubles, or the insinuations of how bad our behavior was, or the blame game that people played out on us may be too much to bear. In silence, we need to listen to God, let God’s light shine upon our face and give us peace.

 

Our faith in God who revealed godself in Jesus Christ has survive thousands of years, many who have shared what we believe in have continued as loyal and committed members of the many and differentiated members of the body of Christ. Our Church, the UCCP has undergone many challenges as a young Church in the world. Our seventy three years old Church is still young in comparison to the Catholic, Orthodox and Reformed Churches in the world. 

 

Management experts believe that persons’ generation and their life’s goals have a bearing on their job performance Classification of generations has been made by managementhelp.org: 

Traditionalists or Silent Generation - 1945 and before

Baby Boomers - 1946-1964

Generation X - 1965-1976

Millennials or Gen Y - 1977-1995

Generation Z or iGen or Centennials - 1996-present

 

My generation of UCCP leaders are from Baby Boomers and Generation X generations. Baby Boomers have been branded as the generation who were educated in college in the 1980s, rose to leadership in the 1990s, many became corporate managers, and they have overcome economic depression by their determination to attain middle class life. 

 

Many of our present Church leaders, whether from this generation or in the succeeding generations, have committed their lives to the ministry of Jesus Christ. They are not perfect human beings, neither angels nor saints, but their commitment to be part of making the UCCP vibrant and witnessing Church is remarkable. Despite the challenges, they pursue a leadership that shows God’s blessings to our local churches and conferences and to the Filipino nation.

 

Moreover, the Faith and Order Commission (FOC) outlined what is Light and Hope in The UCCP Statement of Faith. It says, 

The “light and hope” of our faith that speak to us during this time of pandemic are also discernible in the letters of The UCCP Statement of Faith. 

•   When we start understanding that the earth is God’s and all that dwells therein; that the earth no longer belongs to temporal sovereigns and empires but entrusted to all of God’s children and everyone in the earth community. 

 

•   When we confess that Jesus is no longer simply one who sits on a throne in heaven but one who came down, lived with the poor and vulnerable and gave his life that the least may live.

 

•   When we start affirming that the Spirit of God is creatively and powerfully at work in history and creation, empowering people to challenge the powers and principalities (sinful structures) that are wreaking havoc on the life of people and the planet.

 

As a Church we have carried out programs at the national level that express our common vision, mission and objectives. These programs were responses to the needs and aspirations of the local churches and conferences to bring about the light and hope to the communities where are churches are located, the nation and the world:  

•  Production of Sunday School Materials. All Sunday School lessons on the Declaration of Principles for E.Y. 2020 – 2021 were already published. This material is part of our Catechetical Curricula, together with UCCP Statement of Faith and Vision, Mission and Goals. Our Writers Pool consists of five church workers. 2. Conceptualization for the next Sunday School guide was conducted via Zoom Communications. The material will focus on Church Membership and will be accomplished by 10 church workers and lay people. 3. Christian Education and Nurture Month Resource Guide was published in our website. We provided the liturgies and sermons for Children’s Sunday and CEN Sunday. However, the material for Youth Sunday and Fellowship of the Least Coin were provided by the National Christian Youth Fellowship and National Christian Women’s Association, respectively.

 

•  Salary standardization for Conference Ministers. CMs monthly salaries which are below 18k have been subsidized. Support assistance for retired church workers, hospitalization and mortuary assistance have been given. There are other programs being conducted to improve the leadership and training of church workers through the conferences and jurisdictions.

 

•  Our WMS showed a new high in January 2021 with a total of 1.8M.  We have averaged 1.36M in the last 5 months (January-May 2021). This was our average before the pandemic started.  We have exceeded 10M in 10 months (Jan-Nov. 2021) vs. a target of 8M for the year.  This is a very positive trend considering the following circumstances: Church worship gathering is limited to 50% at best! Unemployment and underemployment remain high. Considering that we continue to experience various forms of lockdown, circuit breaker, bubble, and other new names they may come up with, this is a very impressive performance.

 

•  The Joint Venture Agreements for the hospitals were established with the Apple One Medical Group, Inc. The real properties where the hospitals and the Sunergia building are standing on are all on-lease, and no UCCP land property has been sold in perpetuity. The lease rentals will fund the Church Workers Welfare Fund, National programs, share to the Conference programs, Retirement of Church Workers, etc.

•  Humanitarian responses through relief and rehabilitation programs have been made through the support of our international partners. The UCCP Humanitarian Agency has recently been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it is called United Care.

•  The setting up of the Church Workers Fund, for supporting the Church Workers salaries and benefits, which has an initial fund of 50 million but needs around 250 million pesos to generate income for the benefit of our church workers.

•  There are other programs that will be mentioned during the sharing of Bishop Fely Tenchavez. 

 

In view of the May 9 Philippine elections, given our faith in the God of history we will be guided how we should choose our leaders in the country who by their commitment and work for justice and peace will eventually bring blessings to the entire nation and not to intensify the disparity among the economic classes in society. We hope that this will be less violent and generally a peaceful transition in leadership will ensue.

 

With the collective leadership and ministry of the Western Visayas Conference, we hope that the local churches will be truly become the locus or centers of the mission of the Church, wherein the local church lay leaders and church workers will have mutual understanding of what the local church should be doing for the prosperity of the communities where they are located. 

 

Conclusion

Bringing light and hope to the masses in these changing times is allowing God to make the Church a blessing to the Filipino people. The life and ministry of the Church are the means through which God’s face shines through the difficult situations in life. The life of the Church should provide hope for the members and the communities. We know that God’s love and care continue to sustain us and we should not fail to proclaim that God in Jesus Christ is our source of unity, healing and reconciliation.

 

God’s intention through Jesus Christ is to act-out our hope in concrete expressions of our faith. That we embody God’s justice and love in the world, not just talking about it, but by living it out. Not through vain articulation of ideas that divide the church, but by showing our genuine concern for people in desperate situations in the communities we live in. As God’s people we have to say the blessing once again:

 

The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace. Amen.

 

Ang Ginoo magpakamaayo kag magtipig sa inyo,

Ang Ginoo magpakita sang iya kaayo kag kaluoy sa inyo

Kag ang Ginoo magmaalwan sa inyo kag hatagan niya kamo sang kauswagan kag paghidaet.’

 

 

 

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Source material: Larry Broding (Copyright 1999-2021).

http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/Seasonal/MotherOfGod/FR-MotherOfGod.html

 

For Numbers 6: 22-7

 

What does the word "blessing" mean to you? How do you know you have been blessed?

 

The Vulcan hand greeting was one of the more memorable images from the 1960's iconic television series, Star Trek. According to Leonard Nimoy who played the Vulcan "Mr. Spock," the idea for the hand greeting came from memories of his youth as an Orthodox Jew. Once a year, the men of the congregation who were known as "Kohen" (i.e., descendants of Aaron) would place their prayer shawls over their heads, raise their hands in the way made famous by the Vulcan hand greeting, and repeat the Aaronic blessing from Numbers. Nimoy said the sight of the blessing left an overwhelming impression on him as a child.

 

As Nimoy's story above tells us, this famous verse of blessing from Numbers actually has two components: those giving the blessing and the blessing itself. God instructed the priests to give the blessing on the people (and, by extension, on the nation). In medieval Jewish commentary known as Midrash, some writers noticed a contradiction; how could God command the priests to bless the people, when God himself promised to bless the people directly (Deuteronomy 26:15)? In typical rabbinic fashion, the writers used Scripture to explain Scripture:

 

My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. (Song of Songs 2:9, NAB)

 

In this interpretation, God is the lover peering behind the wall. When the priests raised up their hands and spread their middle and ring fingers to form a triangle image, the fingers symbolized the lattice of the window through which God could see and be seen. (For more information, see the commentary of Rabbi Ismar Schorsch from an article in Belief.net)

 

While this interpretation might not date back to the time of Jesus, it is insightful. The person blessing was one who mediated the presence and power of God.

 

The blessing itself was highly stylized. It consisted of three verses (Numbers 6:24-26) with two clauses each. In Hebrew, 6:24 had three words, 6:25 had five words, 6:26 had seven words. The progression to seven words indicated the complete blessing of God, since the number seven symbolized fullness. To make that point clear, in 6:27 God stated "I will bless them;" the "I" in Hebrew made the verse emphatic.

 

In 6:24, the blessing called upon God to bless and keep the people. By blessing, the writer meant fulfillment of the covenant. God promised Abraham numerous descendants and land; the blessing called on God to make the population numerous and to enrich the land for an abundant harvest. By keeping, the writer meant saving the people from evil, any force that would weaken the covenant promises.

 

In 6:25, the blessing called upon God to show his face and his graciousness. Showing his "face" meant his presence; his graciousness meant his loving activity. Again, notice the connection to the covenant. When God made his covenants, he showed his face (revealed his presence) and his graciousness, choosing these people over any other; keeping the covenants would renew his presence and activity.

 

In 6:26, first part of the blessing in this verse repeated the blessing in 6:25 (turning face toward people and showing graciousness) but also intensified the blessing. "To look upon" had an active intent; it meant "to give favor to." The last part of the blessing in 6;26 was the end game of this and all Hebrew blessings: peace or "shalom," that sense of God's presence and peaceful dominion over the cosmos. (In his greetings, Paul wished his audience "grace and peace;" both words were interchangeable since both referred to the presence and activity of God for the faithful).

 

The last verse stated that when the name of God was invoked, he would bless the people (invocation of YHWH's "name" was the same as calling upon the power of God).

 

For Jews, this blessing and the ones giving the blessing were bridges back to the covenants God made to his people. For Christians, God blessed his people through one mediator, Jesus Christ. He was the presence of God who gave his followers God's power. In this sense, the blessing became a prophecy God fulfilled. Christ was this one blessing; his life (grace) is our blessing.: 

 

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Source reference: John Allen, The Politics of Incarnation—John 1:1-18, https://politicaltheology.com/the-politics-of-incarnation-john-11-18/

 

For NT

 

The Politics of Incarnation—John 1:1-18 (John Allen)

To those familiar with a Western account of the incarnation, Native American frameworks can provide illuminating and challenging alternative perspectives. Within such perspectives, rather than the grand cosmic flow of history, it can be our more immediate spatiality that comes to the fore.

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

 

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

 

The Word became flesh and lived among us, but it did not take Christians too long to get wordy about Jesus. In the first hundred years after Jesus’death, Christians battled over what words would precisely describe the divinity of Jesus, his relation to the Trinity. The more scientific impulses of our nature sought to take the great mystery of the incarnation and place it into an understandable framework. Jesus, the man of Nazareth, became in the early Christian imagination one who shared God’s very essence, or substance. Unless of course you were one of those who thought that Jesus shared a similar substance to God, or perhaps that the whole business of substances was an inappropriate way to discuss such a transcendent God.

 

These debates were carried out throughout early Christian history, and they were carried out by brilliant and faithful disciples who were seeking to make sense of the miraculous and mysterious story of Jesus Christ for their time. They also tended to emphasize in their thought scripture that offered clues as to how Jesus and God were to be understood in relation to one another and in relation to human history.

 

The prologue to John has long been seen to indicate that Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, was somehow the embodiment of a person of the Trinity, who existed co-eternally with God. This is a vision of the mechanics of the incarnation that concerns itself primarily with the question of history and time. Prevailing Christian theologies have persisted with this emphasis on history and time. Christians today imagine human history divided into Old and New Covenants. We anticipate Christ’s coming again in the future. We hope that the world is progressing ever closer to God’s kingdom and perhaps we suspect that it is first plunging towards some apocalyptic end.

 

In his book God Is Red: A Native View of Religion, Vine Deloria notes that, whether liberal or conservative, American political ideology uses “the idea of history as a thesis by which they validate their ideas.”[1] All familiar western political ideologies judge themselves and each other as history unfolds. They seek schemas that appear to aid in the progression of history.

 

Deloria notes that in contrast, Native people have tended to consider the world from a spatial viewpoint. Accordingly the practice of seeking religious truth was one of “continuous process of adjustment to the natural surroundings and not a specific message valid for all times and places.”[2] In such a way of seeing the world, any sense of time and history becomes subordinated to the present experience of the community in their place.

 

This is a challenging framework for western minds to contort themselves into, but I suspect that if we could begin even to glimpse such a vision of the world the incarnation would begin to feel different. Now Jesus has not come to interrupt history and set it on a new course that will unfold under God’s careful and attentive presence. Instead, God came to live in Galilee. The Word became flesh and lived among us.

 

This portrait of God and Jesus in the prologue to John offers a grand cosmic vision of an unfolding history. But they also state that God’s intention is to become like the stuff of this world and live in specific moments in our world, in our communities, in our lives. The challenge that I hear to contemporary Christians in this vision of the incarnation is to talk a little less and let their words take on some flesh and skin and live in the world.

 

God’s incarnational intention is that God’s story gets lived out in recognizable ways in the world. Not only over some grand cosmic saga, but also in the way we engage the specific broken places in our communities and even in the forgettable interactions we have with our neighbors.

 

God’s incarnational intention is that God’s presence becomes unmistakable in our midst because the faithful have put their bodies, and not just their language, into effect for what they believe to be true.

 

God’s incarnational intention is that the faithful enact our hope in liturgy and protest. That we embody God’s justice and love in the world, not just by speaking it, but by living it out. Not through testing philosophical edicts against the long arc of history, but by showing up in the world we have, as the people we are, to make God into