“Creative Ekklesia: Towards a Livable World”116th 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 116th 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.
