Remembering God for a Memorable Birthday

I was in the hospital today early in the morning. My wife has an appointment with her doctor today. While waiting for her turn to be called, I had to go around the hospital to set her needed laboratory procedures, line up in the cashier and have her listed. Then, amidst my busy task, I bumped into my old friend, Hershey, who is one of the doctors in the hospital. She was smiling from ear to ear so I thought she might be so happy to see me or she might have some good news to share. When she approached, she greeted me, "Happy birthday, Neki." I was surprised.

I almost forgot that today is my birthday. Amidst all the troubles and the busy thoughts bothering my mind, I almost forgot that today is my birthday. It's not that I wasn't anticipating it. I just got pre occupied with many things that I almost forgot.

But I did had a lot of things to do. After, the consult with the doctor, we had to run to Philhealth to update our record. Then to the school to enroll by eldest child. Then go back to the hospital to get all the lab results. After all that, I just wanted to spend some time to relax in the mall. More like cooling down from all the summer heat.

Dinner with my family was in a videoke room. That was perfect way to celebrate all of God's goodness this year despite the challenges that we have faced. I almost forgot my birthday, and that would have meant forgetting all the goodness and faithfulness of God to us this year. Seating and reflecting for a couple of hours during birthdays, allows us to remember the goodness and all the blessings God has given. Remembering God makes it a memorable birthday.

Another Life

As another year is added to our lives, we celebrate the blessings we received. As we start new careers, we reflect if this is what we want to do for the rest of our lives. We are always thankful to God for giving us this life and the opportunities we had with it. But what if we have many lives?

What if like the cats we have nine lives? What if God has given us a thousand lives? Just like the video games we play. You get to have another chance - another life when you mess up this. What would you do or not do?

We have often asked ourselves, if we could re-do our lives this is what I would have done. We have often imagined, if I would have another life, then this is how I would do it. We have dreams of how we should have lived our lives if we knew better. We could think, I would have tried to be a politician and become President of a country. We could have thought that we would have tried crazy things and not fear of dying because another life will come. We could not care of committing sinful ways because another chance will be given by another life. So, if we have another life other than this, we would have done differently.

If you are living a Christian life today, dedicating your life to God, what would you do to the other life that will be given to you? Or would you plan to do other staff and reserve your last life in living that Christian life. Maybe, become a good businessman and save enough millions to live a comfortable life instead of foregoing the rich opportunity by being a community development worker? Or maybe practice your profession as a healthcare worker and earn big money from your patients instead of receiving your daily bread as a missionary in another country? Or maybe go to church less on Sundays and make those important graduate studies during weekends that will earn you a magna cum laude in your  university.

Are you so scared to lose your life now because you want to accomplish everything  in this one life God has given you? But if you have nine or a thousand lives, you could care less. You don't need to exercise eveyday and instead smoke your self to death and drink every night and day because you still have another life to live. You just concentrate in making enough money for your family for this life and worry later about serving God on your next 8 lives. You don't have to cram all your dreams and hopes for this one life because you can accomplish the others in your succeeding lives.

Or will you give all your lives to God? Will you continue to make God your top priority every life you get? Will you always choose church over school? Will you always choose ministry over money? Will you always choose Christian vocation over worldly profession?  Will you always put God at the center over family and job? Will you always deny yourself and follow God?

Easter Sunday

Still here in Tuguegarao City.

Woke up early this morning. Found the tomb empty.

Went to Church and heard the good news. Christ is risen.

Christ is risen, indeed!

Happy Easter.

Going on a new journey starting today.

Palm/Passsion Sunday

Luke 19:28-40

Luke 23:1-49

This sermon was preached last Palm Sunday in the English Service of Kamuning First UMC. 

I also preached a similar sermon for the Vesper Service that same day.

 

Today is Palm and Passion Sunday where we celebrate the journey of Jesus from his triumphant entry to Jerusalem leading to his betrayal, torture and death in Calvary, and so I would like us to start journeying with Jesus by looking back into his triumphant entry. The gospel of Luke tells of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem as the king. It was a big parade and there were lots of people there. People praise him because of the goodness he has done. Jesus was leading his crowd of disciples as they literally go up to Jerusalem.  

We see Jesus choosing to ride a donkey, a donkey whom no one had ridden before, just like the king Solomon rode a donkey in a peaceful and humble manner as next to the throne of David. In Zechariah 9:9, we read; “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” As Jesus riding on a donkey enters Jerusalem for all the public to see and all the crowd gathered around, we can see a picture of Jesus announcing himself as the messiah – the King of Israel.  

We see people excited and happy to see their king arrive. People are waving palms and some people removing their cloaks to spread in the streets as an act of honor and respect to the entering King. Do you feel like we want to take part in that celebrations and welcome the king too? Do you also want to remove your cloaks and wave palms and spread it in the road for the entering king?

I always picture this triumphant entry of Jesus like one great parade that I am watching. Do you remember attending a parade and seeing some celebrities or personalities. I remember attending the Penagbenga Festival and waking up early to get a spot for the parade. We wanted to have a good spot so we can have a good look with all the celebrities and personalities. When the parade started, people were lining up to have a picture taken with the lead group who were riding a wrangler jeep. The crowd were excited to have their pictures taken but I just stared there because I did not know who these people were. Apparently it was the mayor and his council but I do not know them so I did not join in the frenzy that excited the crowd. Then the flower floats came with the celebrities and personalities and the crowd got excited again as they ran to have their pictures taken and ask for autographs. Again, I just stood there in the land because I did not recognize the celebrities… because they belong to GMA 7, eh kapamilya po ako eh… so hindi ko sila kilala. So I just ended up appreciating the flowers to enjoy the parade.

You see, my dear brothers and sisters, to be able to participate fully and enjoy such parade, you must be able to have an appreciation of the people involved in the parade. And so when Jesus enters Jerusalem and welcomed by a multitude of crowd, you know that these people recognize who Jesus is and the great things that he had done and can do. Now, that is the next question – who is Jesus to the crowd watching in the parade. To the disciples of Jesus who were there, they wanted to praise God for the good deeds he has done. They were welcoming a king who comes in the name of the Lord. But I was wondering, weren’t there some people who do not know who Jesus is. Like me when I attended the parade, who do not recognize Jesus?

There are people who just happened to be in the crowd but do not really know what was happening, just like many of most of the time. We find ourselves in the middle of a celebration or a parade and we don’t know who is in there. We do not recognize Jesus as king but just an ordinary guy like any of us. We do not see the greatness and the majesty of that person and so we cannot really appreciate his worth. And so like in that great parade, it is difficult for us to fully participate in the celebrations because we do not recognize the great person that is making an entrance. We cannot appreciate the significance of that person and the great things that he has done. So we do not care to have our pictures taken with him, we do not busy ourselves to get some souvenirs or autographs from him. We do not care – Keber, malay ko kung sino yan, pakialam ko.

And because we do not know him and recognize him, how can we even care when later he gets mocked, and humiliated, and tortured, flogged and punished. Further in the account of Luke, Jesus is blindfolded, they mocked him and beat him and insulted him, despite his innocence. Does it matter to you? How can we care for a person that does not matter to us? We may have pity for his pain and suffering because of how he looks but what would it be like if the person was somebody dear to us.

In the hospital, I always see patient who suffer and in pain as they get diagnosed with life threatening diseases – a mother gets diagnosed with breast cancer, a father suffers a heart attack, a little girl having leukemia or a little boy with congenital heart disease – I pity these person whenever I see them and that is the best I can do. But it becomes different when that sick person is somebody I personally know and have a relationship with – the pity for the woman with cancer turns into a personal concern, I now want to offer help to the best of my ability to the man who suffered heart attack, I want to donate my blood, share any of my resources for the girl with leukemia or simply give my time playing and taking care with the boy with a congenital heart disease.

It all becomes different if the person who suffers is somebody you recognize and care for – somebody like a king whom you worship and adore – a king who has done a great deal for your benefit, a king who will sacrifice himself even in death for your own goodness. But if you do not know the person, if you do not have a good relationship with that person, he will not matter and you will not care. You will not care if you do not know who Jesus is. It will not matter if Jesus enters Jerusalem, or if he gets tortured, humiliated and even killed because you do not know who this Jesus guy is.

But then, there were another group of people in the crowd during the triumphant entry of Jesus – and these were the Pharisees and other religious leaders. The Pharisees recognize Jesus and yes they acknowledge his claim to be king as legitimate. What these Pharisees and religious leaders see is a Jesus who is a threat to them, a king who might overthrow the powers at that time. These same religious people are the ones who plotted against Jesus that led to his betrayal, torture, mockery, suffering and death. Now, we find ourselves in the court of Pilate.

Jesus is arrested and the same crowd that welcomed him in Jerusalem shout crucify him, crucify him. Jesus was a different kind of king in the eyes of the Pharisees, scribes and his enemies – he was a threat to the status quo – a threat to those who are in power at that time and therefore they needed to get rid of him. And the crowd, he was not the kind of king they expected. And Jesus is still such a threat to most people even today – a threat to those in power – a threat to those declaring themselves as king. But Jesus entered Jerusalem and declared himself to be the king who will take over everything including their lives.

That proclamation of Jesus as king is reason for todays people to kill him, to crucify Jesus. Jesus announces that he is king – and you feel threatened. No Jesus, you will not be king. I and myself is king – my desires, my priorities in life- my career, my business, my education, my lovelife - these are the kings of my life and I want it that way. The human empire that we have built for ourselves stands in judgement against the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims. The human empire includes the church – as we have made into an organization of good people who in the outward do good things especially on Sundays. You are good, I am good and so let us form a committee for our ministries. How many committees are you a member of from the local, to the district, to the conference level? But how many of these committees respond to those in need? If there are, how many have actively participated in these ministries? And how many actually did this because of love of Christ our king?  What makes us different from the Pharisees, scribes and religious people that Jesus rebuked?

Do not shake the boat, do not change the status quo, Jesus do not assert your kingship or else we will crucify you. But to establish the kingdom of God here on earth, Jesus needs to proclaim his kingship as he enters the Jerusalem of each person’s heart. And because our priorities are all mixed up and something else sits as king in our heart, we do not want Jesus to be king and so we shout, “Crucify him, crucify him.”

Yes, we are shouting crucify him, crucify him with much gusto and passion when we also declared Hossana in the highest, blessed be the king of Israel. We have betrayed Jesus, just like the disciples. Just like Peter. Everyday, we betray Jesus with our misdeeds, but unlike Peter we did not only betray him once, not twice, not even thrice… but everytime.

Yes we are part of the crowd, we are there when we shout blessed be the king and we are there when we cry crucify him. And with the sins in our hearts, we crucify Jesus.

Sometimes we think that the triumphant entry of Jesus is just another story in the passion narrative in the Bible. That the life, suffering, torture, passion and death of Jesus is a true to life movie worth remembering once a year. What we fail to recognize is that, everyday of our lives, every actions that we take, every word that we say and even every thought that comes to our mind is part of the reason Jesus courageously entered Jerusalem despite the knowledge that it will be the culmination of his suffering and death within a week time. We often forget that the things we celebrate holy week for is not, it is NOT just a memorial or a celebration of things that happened more than two thousand years ago. The significance of Christ life, sacrifice and death is felt even today, and should be felt everyday of our lives.

In the early church, the celebration of palm and passion Sunday is the culmination of the long years of preparation for the new converts to Christianity. The Palm/Passion Sunday is the day wherein  the new converts will begin intense preparation as they will be baptized and receive communion on Easter. The Palm/passion Sunday is a time to reflect upon the question, “do you confess Jesus Christ as your Saviour and King?” For us Christians, it is a time to reflect upon our baptismal vows. It is the recognition that the one who claims to be King will willingly die in our place to give us eternal life and that we will be steadfast in our claim that He is our King.

My dear brothers and sisters, the parade has started and a certain Jesus is leading the way as he enters Jerusalem, as he enters your heart. Do you know him?

The good news my dear brothers and sisters, even before you call him your Saviour and King, even before you acknowledge him, Jesus already included you  in his plan of salvation when he entered Jerusalem .

Are you going to join in the celebrations? Will you be able to recognize Jesus in the crowd? Are you going to shout, “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord?” Will you declare him to be your saviour and your king? Or will you be frustrated in your expectations and cry out, crucify him. Crucify him?

Who is Jesus to you?

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

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day.

How do we celebrate Valentines Day if you are sick or the ones we love? What are things we can do during Valentines Day?

Valentines Day is a big day for us Filipinos to show our love to people dear to our hearts. It becomes more special if the people dear to our hearts are sick. This is the best day to show them that we love them "in sickness and in health."

Our celebration might not be traditional dinner date in a fancy restaurant or a stroll in the park or watching the latest romantic movie available. No, our celebration includes going together early in the morning to the hospital to visit the doctor in the clinic. It is holding hands while waiting for the doctors for hours in the hospital lobby. It is comforting your loved one as they get pricked in their soft sensitive kin for lab tests and vaccines. And then dining together and sharing dietary food with low salt and low fat that nobody appreciates.

At the end of the day, our celebration of the Day of Love ends with walking side by side as we head home. As we assist the dear people in our hearts in their walk, we offer ourselves as the physical strength they badly need. Then we go to the bedroom to rest. As we rest, we are praying together that God's love will be the true strength that will keep our weakened spirits and sustain our tired hearts. That God's promise of love will not be limited in the happy moments in our lives but even in this hours. For it is during Valentines Day, that we can show to those dear in our hearts, however sick they are, that we do love them.

Happy Valentines Day. 

Dirt in your Forehead

"There's dirt in your forehead."

I usually give this joke to my friends after they attend the Ash Wednesday Service. They would tell me with all seriousness that it is Ash Wednesday as if reminding me that I better get one too. Then I begin to look serious and ask them, "why put ashes in the forehead? What does it mean?" Then I get blank stares.

I have been brought up to always ask and know WHY things are done the way they are done. A case of function over form.

Why put ashes in the forehead during Ash Wednesday?

One reason (I guess there could be other reasons) is that it is supposed to be a ritual that represents an ancient Near East tradition of repentance from sin against God. Yes, repentance from sin.

Now, if my friends do not know why they have dirt in their forehead, does it not follow that they do not know what it symbolize. Does it also mean that they were not repentant? They have the form but not the function?

I am not against ashes. In fact, I hope more Christians (especially liturgical Christians like umc) practice it. I just hope that more Christians also understand what they are doing because it matters. Now, how do I remove this dirt from my forehead?

Theodicy in the Hospital

Theodicy in the Hospital

God is good, prayed me and my wife. Today was the first day and the first cycle of my wife’s chemotherapy. As we entered the hospital, I noticed the different expressions of the people around. Most of the relatives and patients sport a cheerless face. I always tell myself that the hospital is the loneliest and depressing place in the world. But I really never appreciated the impact of theodicy in the hospital context until my wife started asking me. She was a little bit nervous because she does not know what to expect and what she will feel during the therapy and after it. We went into the Chemotherapy Unit of a popular Government Hospital. She was scheduled early that day. She was assigned a chair so she was pleased with it because she doesn’t like to lie on a bed. She said it makes her feel “sick.” She was ranting about this being her first time to be hospitalized all her life then she has to undergo this ordeal. “Of the 10,000 females around me,” my wife said, “why would God allow me to be the one to suffer this exhausting disease?” Unexpectedly, the next patient was seated beside her.

The other patient seated beside my wife was a 9 year old quiet boy with a gloomy look on his face. He was pale and bloated with water all over his body.  The accumulated water over his neck area seems to strangle him and makes his condition look worst. He hardly moves and moans with every little movement he does. His mom holds him and bids him goodbye to attend to the paper works for his chemotherapy session.  The little boy looks at his mom with understanding mixed with fright and nervousness of being left alone to battle against the pain of needle insertion and the lonesomeness of battling his condition all by himself at such an early age. The kid looked at us and we can’t help but notice the grimace in his face as he battles the boredom with seating for four hours instead of playing outside with other kids with all the energy a 9 year old boy have. My wife and I looked at each other trying after the boy stared at us as if asking, “Why would God allow this to happen to an innocent little boy like me?”  

This little boy was just one of the hundred of kids suffering from a kidney disease in that hospital. The nurse told us that there were kids as young as two years old who come to them for treatment. I reminded myself, here is a boy who is just one of a hundred innocent pediatric patients in that hospital that day. The next day, there will be another hundred. If the hospital facility operates for the whole week, there should at least be five hundred innocent children suffering the same ordeal and sitting or lying in bed for treatment instead of playing outside. But that is only in that hospital. How many hospitals do we have in the Philippines? How many more little children suffer then? But that is only in this country. Imagine the other kids from other countries? How many more kids suffer from debilitating diseases? Some will be blessed to have treatment available for them just like the little kid beside my wife. But how many innocent children just had to wait and die because they do not have the means or do not have access to treatment? How many innocent little kids had their bright future cut short by life-threatening diseases? I asked myself, “Why would God allow these things to happen?”