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Sunday, 19 April 2009

This one's for you Jess :)

It's been a while. Much has changed since last time I typed in a blog entry. I am no longer part of ROKAF, officially discharged on the 21st of December last year. My address has changed from Daegu to Seoul, where I am joyfully teaching English to little angels (k. i'll admit that most of the time, I have to imagine them as such just to keep myself from both verbally and physically opening a can of you know what on them). My hair has grown longer and my bank account...well, I finally have one with real money in them now, suppose that's a good thing. The most noticeble difference for me has been the fact that I went from sleeping side by side in a small barrack with 10 other smelly but lovable guys to sleeping alone in an empty room most of the nights (No, I don't cry...not that much...really, stop asking). I thought I would feel liberated after not having any kind of privacy for the past 26 months, but now I sometimes wish (albeit it only happens as I am walking back home after work alone on a rainy day) there was someone next to me even if it is a smelly Korean solider who snores through the night and occassionally knee-kicks me to the stomach in the middle of the night whenever it gets too hot or too cold...or just having nightmares about being in the military.
Anyways, I'm doing pretty good here despite the fact that I haven't been able to find a church like CAN, my church back in Minnesota. My co-workers have been amazing to me, praying with and for me, buying me food and encouraging me and showing me the ropes in this amateur teaching world. Some people say that if I want great people around me, I need to be that person first, but God has always done me the opposite, first planting and surrounding amazing people around me to show me that that is the standard He has for me, that He believes in me and will help me get there, planting a vision and a dream in my rather feeble heart.
Sorry, this post isn't exactly synchronized (can I use this word like this?) nor edited...I'm writing it whenever time allows me, just bits and pieces each time and I'm not writing with a central focus as you can tell...just typing for the typying's sake. Now onto the most important part of the blog...
In case you haven't heard...I will be in the states briefly, attending my brother's graduation. I'll take off on the 1st of May...landing in Minneapolis, approximately 3 o'clock in the afternoon for couple hours before heading off to Chicago...If you are around, I'd be happy to see you even if you can't stay for too long...or if our momentary rendezvous causes more moments of awkwardness than joy...I'd still want you to be there :)
Not much in my life is making sense right now but I'm learning to be content with it and just trusting God...not knowing what the future holds (as usual) and just being in the moment, giving my all, being open to any lessons this situation might be able to teach me...
'I've learnd things from the sheep, and I've learned things from crystal, he thought. I can learn something from the desert, too. It seems old and wise.' - Santiago from the 'Alchemist'-

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

So which one is it?

Since this article is rather dry...here's some music for the ears~ Clazziquai style baby!!

Alive and ever evolving word as evidenced in Mark 14:1-11 and John 12:1-11.

The passages record an identical event and yet if you examine them closely you will find that they differ in details. Does this mean one is right and the other false, in need of further examination and written off as unfit to be part of the New Testament? No, if we approached the scriptures this way, a good chunk of the scriptures would be thrown away, causing massive confusion and chaos among the believers.
To understand, one has to put the both gospels in context because they weren't meant to be viewed as a book for the masses two thousand years later living across the globe. The gospel of Mark, as I mentioned several times before, was written around 70 AD to a specific community living in the frameworks of time and space. Same with John, which was written after 100 AD, several decades after Mark, differing in time and space. By that time, the stories of Jesus had been reinterpreted and repackaged according to their theology and view of God.

For example, in Mark's account, the event took place in the home of Simon the Leper, in Bethany. It goes on to say that a woman came in and anointed Jesus on the head with alabaster jar of perfume in verse 3. In John's account, the event still takes place in Bethany but in the home of Lazarus, the famous guy whom Jesus raised from the dead. In verse 3, it says Mary anoints Jesus with a pint of expensive perfume on the feet. It goes on to say that Judas, the traitor, objected but with immpure motive, for 'he was a thief' according to John. If you have been following me so far, you would notice that in Mark, it's not Judas but 'some of those present' without the added commentary of 'for he was a thief' at the end. So what do these differences symbolize or mean?

Have you read or watched the 'Davinci Code'? It cites from the gospel of Thomas and Judas that Mary was married to Jesus and that there are some Knights (or whatever...to be honest, I didn't read nor watched the thing...you know me, I don't read much...lol) who worship her. As with all stories, as they are told and retold, the good guys become 'gooder' and the bad guys are portrayed 'badder.' So by that time, the status of Mary, who is one of the few in the gospels and the New Testament to have her name mentioned as a woman, has been raised up significantly, and by some even deified as the wife of Jesus (incorrectly, needless to say). Judas, the infamous traitor, is villified even further, and when they read this story they begin to interpret this event that way. That nameless woman must have been Mary and that it must have been Judas who instigate 'some of those present.' Even Mary's status had been upgraded, what do you think Jesus' status was by that time? When they read this story, a nameless woman turned Mary (but still a woman!!) anointing Jesus the Son of God on the head, they get uncomfortable because anointing someone on the head meant that you are declaring that person to be a king (read the Old Testament). Who is Mary to be anointing the Son of God as a king? Is she a prophet? Is she some great angel? No, so interpret the story to fit their theology as Mary anointing Jesus on the feet, worshipping him rather than appointing him a king.

The point of it isn't to say who got it right or who is closer to the actual event. No, the point is that the scriptures must become ours, it must fit in with the context that we are living in. The scriptures were written for people in the frameworks of time and space and we must recognize and acknowledge it and make it ours just as the community the gospel of John was written in, which God verified and confirmed, a seal of approval by allowing it to be part of the canon. The scriptures cannot be just someone else's good story nor a book to be studied as if reading history but it must come alive and active in us and we must engage it and own it to have it be any good for us.

Sure, reading the Word with dilligence and a good heart does that person much good, but added to that heart of worship and respect for the scriptures and our Father God, the scriptures would do us much better if we read it in context, receiving and accepting it as books and letters written for specific people groups many many years ago. As followers of Jesus, those who dream the same dreams that Jesus had for the mankind, the type of godly communities who care for the minorities and the defenseless and humbly walk before God in harmony with nature...ok, a bit longwinded there, let us not stop at dreaming but work together to attain what Jesus even gave his life for.

Sunday, 16 November 2008

The wartime gospel: Mark

We've read Mark 13 as well as Daniel, Revelations and other prophetic books and chapters as only pertaining to the end of age. Just read it alone in a basement somewhere under a candlelight on a stormy day, it can be chilling or at least a downer of the day, though I've always enjoyed a good downer. Anyways, reading chapter 13 as a passage specific to some unknown time in the future takes away much meaning for us, unless one really believes that time is here and now. I'm not here to make a point about that but to point out that the passage was written in the frameworks of time and for people living in time, not as a eternal passage to be studied and prophecy that applies to far future.

Sometimes Mark is called a wartime gospel because it was written in a time of...war. OK, so I'll try to stop being so obvious. As with other gospels, Mark was written by and for the people in Mark's community of believers. So let's dive into their situation to understand why they wrote it and how they would have heard this message.

In verse 2, Jesus talks about the temple coming down and Mark is thought to have been written around 70AD, roughly four decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Just as any little kid with some fire and pride, the Jews begin a fight for independence against the Roman empire in 66~70AD and gets beat up pretty badly. The Romans are pissed off and demolish the temple as well as just devastate the city of Jerusalem. The people in Mark's church were thinking, 'hmm...this is remarkably similar to what Jesus said would happen in the last days.' Remember, they were right in the smack of this warfare.

Then there is a reform movement within the synagogues to restore their Torah-ways because that was one way to retain their nationalities and remain united, plus they were seeing these Jews, yes, they were Jews but just strange because they believed in God but also talked about this Jesus fella, and after Sabbath they would gather together for some weird ritual where they break the bread and drink wine and do these strange things.

In verse 9, Jesus talks about being handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues and being sent into jail. This was what was happening to the church of Mark. Again, they remembered the words of Jesus and said, 'this is oddly, strikingly similar to what Jesus said would happen on the last days.' So they really thought they were living in the last days. What was to come has come.

Here we can say, obviously they were wrong and they was stupid, but that's not nice and that doesn't help us either. Leaving this passage in that way would be seriously stupid.

Rather, it is a foreshadowing of sorts of Jesus' own sufferings. After chapter 13, Jesus goes on to suffer and suffer more before being crucified. He too was handed over to the council and flogged as it was shown so elegantly in Passion of Christ, and was put in jail and even killed. Verse 12 talks about brother betraying a brother and all men hating, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, a man who ate and slept and traveled together for more than a year (I'm trying to imply that he was like a brother to him if you didn't catch that) and at the end, no disciples were around him with all men hating him.

So basically, this passage gave meaning to their sufferings because Jesus, too, suffered and endured and came out victorious in the end. By parelleling the sufferings of Jesus to their sufferings, they saw that it isn't just the Roman empire and the Jews beating them down just as the Jewish leaders and the Roman government killing Jesus, but that God had allowed the suffering and that by enduring to the end, we can be victorious and that God will reward those who are faithful and not give up. In this way, we too can find strength and courage through this passage that though we may suffer, it isn't just a meaningless suffering that all people share but that in Christ, we are on a victorious journey though we may fall into hard times, we can cling to Jesus and come out on top just as he did.

In the story of Jesus and the testimony of Mark, we can declare just as Paul did in 2 Corinthians, shaking off self-pity and despair:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Wednesday, 12 November 2008

The widow and the Roman Empire

Mark 12 v.38~44

You've read the story before, had it read it to you by your mother and preached it to you by pastors as an inspirational story of a poor widow who gave more because her heart was in the right place. And that we should be more like the widow and be generous with our possessions even when we are lacking. I'm not going to reject that interpretation since I've received much grace from it as much as you have, but simply suggest to you another interpretation. So here we go...

The gospel of Mark is a bit of road-movie. It is not centered around his teachings nor theologies but much like a road-movie, Jesus begins his journey in one place, Nazareth, and ends up in another, Jerusalem, which he enters in chapter 11 and clears out or closes down the temple. We've heard that Jesus was simply cleaning the temple out, renovating it, and doing remodeling of sorts but perhaps he was actually closing it down, pronouncing judgment which was foretold by John the Baptist (if you don't repent, the axe is ready to chop the tree down).

This story is followed by a rather historically controversial passage, in which Jesus curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit despite the fact that it wasn't the season for it to bear fruit. In fact, the famous atheist Bertrand Russell singled out this passage as ridiculous and one of the reasons why he cannot believe in a god who is so illogical and unjust as Jesus depicted in this story. At first, we might agree with him that it seems unfair, but then we would be missing the point that the author is trying to make. Here the author is using a common grammatical formula of the time, A - B - A. In this format, B is being emphasized. In verse 12 we have the part 1 of the story of fig tree and then the closing down of the temple and then back to the fig tree. The fig tree is merely symbolic of what Jesus does in between, cursing and declaring judgment on the temple, which had gone beyond the point of no return by that time (if you are interested in this, look into the parable of the tenants in Mark 12 and also Matt. 21 as well). This is just a sidenote, but here the 'faith of God' appears again in verse 22, a declarative faith, where Jesus declares something and it happens and implores the disciples to have the same kind of faith, which I talked about in my previous post via different passage.

Now, onto the main passage. Let's look at the main players in this short passage for more insight. We have Jesus (watching with his disciples), the temple treasury (surely the scribes and the teachers of the law were present as well), the poor widow and small copper coins which she puts in.

Jesus - we know where he stands with the temple and when he entered riding on a donkey in the previous chapter, he was making a light of the Roman emperor's victory entrance, riding a white horse...political commentary of sorts,

The copper coins - in earlier verses Jesus says one must give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's, and it seems as though Jesus is saying one should heed to the empire but actually what Jesus is saying is the exact opposite. He was making a point that we must protest, reject the empire and give back, kick back, and banish everything that is of the empire's. The copper coins, had the face of Caesar inscribed on them, symbolizing the empire's influence and allegiance.

The temple - like many other temples of foreign gods of the day, the Romans used the temples and its priests as its pawns, by giving them money to control them and the people. In return, the temple paid taxes to the Roman government and cooperated with them. So the temple was in line with the Roman Empire, which was not in line with the Kingdom of God. The disciples were, as they have been so far in Mark, sitting on the fence between the Kingdom of God and the Roman Empire and Jesus uses this story to illustrate how they should live.

The widow - a widow represents the poor. Widows were the one of three social categories that needed most help along with strangers and orphans. It was required by the Hebrew law to help them. Often how they were treated was the measuring stick of communities whether they were following God or not.

Finally, let's look at v. 40, where Jesus rips the scribes for devouring widow's houses. Now the scribes weren't stealing from the widows but that when the widows gave to the temple, the scribes whose salaries come from the offerings take it and also pay taxes to the Romans with it.

Now, after understanding Jesus' position against the empire and what the coin with Caesar's face on it symbolizes, and whom the widow represents, and the temple, what does this story really mean?

It could mean several things. One is that Jesus was pitying the widow, saying she gave more than the others but it's only going to fill the stomachs of the scribes and the Romans.
More positive spin, my choice as well, is that Jesus is using this story to tell us and the disciples to fight like the widow, in seemingly helpless and weak position, fights against, protests, and pushes against the mighty empire and the rotten religious system of the day, participating simultaneously in the Kingdom of God.

God has always been about justice. In Micah 6:6-8, it talks about what God wants isn't offerings or sacrifices but justice...but making sure that the weak and minority get what they deserve in the community...making sure we are in right standing with everyone...and humbling oneself before God, meaning recognizing and acknowledging God's presence and seeing the invisible God before the visible idols of the world.

What is sad is that the very judgments that Jesus pronounces on the temple and Israel two thousand years ago can very well be applied to Christians today. Are we forgetting who God is? Are we thinking we are so special? Let us remember the words of Jesus that God can make children of Abraham out of stones and that he can just as well make Christians out of stones as well. Let us never take God nor any of the privileges we have both spiritual and material and that we are living in an empire, most affluent, influential and powerful one that the world has ever seen.

Just something to think about.

Wednesday, 29 October 2008

Faith in Jesus = Being dependent on Jesus ???

What is faith?
I grew up hearing that faith is being reliant and dependent on Jesus. For those of us who grew up in the church, this may actually sound quite correct. But just for kicks, let me put that definition in a slightly less flattering fashion. Many of us believe that having faith means believing that we are powerless and totally in need of Jesus. In need of Jesus to show up at every adversary and challenges in our lives because we simply cannot do it nor does Jesus expect us to. In fact, we are almost told that Jesus expects us to fail and that's the reason he went to the cross and because of that it's fine to stay that way. To some of us, 'faith' has been nothing more than admitting that we are weak and unable to do anything.
By now, you've probably realized that I'm going somewhere with this but before we dive into the main dish, let me quote a passage from Mark (if you quote scriptures when explaining your position, whatever it may be...it legitimizes it, right?). In chapter 9:14, after the transfiguration Jesus is greeted by a mob of people arguing because his disciples (only Peter, James and John went with him up the mountain while rest waited and did what Jesus would do, curing and preaching) couldn't cure the demon-possessed young man. The story ends in a typical Jesus fashion, healing the man, but only after rebuking the disciples and the father of the young man for having no faith.
So let me ask you once more, what is faith that it is so important? Sometimes I've heard sermons using this passage to tell us that this is the very evidence that we can do nothing. However, the passage is actually about faith that enables someone to accomplish all things (v. 23). Jesus doesn't put in something alien into us when he cures us and performs a miracle. There aren't as many who think this way anymore, but in the past 'mission' meant going to a bunch of heathens living in darkness and bringing God to them as if God wasn't there in the first place and that they weren't His creation and therefore subject of His infinite love. Not surprisingly, Jesus operated and ministered in much the same way. His ministry did not consist of A doing something to B unilaterally but rather A seeing something in B and helping B to see him/herself in a new light and reach the full potential that God sown into them, bringing that treasure to the surface (insert that sometimes overused analogy of gold being refined or statue of David emerging from a dumb rock).
Anyways, back to the story...Jesus sees the DNA of God inside of us, which the Father planted in ALL of us, only good when activated by our faith, believing what God has put inside of us. Let me put it in another way. God has sown seeds, seeds of greatness...endless possibilities...miracles...five loaves of bread and two fish to feed the multitudes...sight for the blind and hearing for the deaf...hope for the crushed...and a good future for all of us inside every single one of us. It is God who sows them, but it is up to us to grow and realize that potential(Mark 4:28 "All by itself the soil produces grain...") and the key element that enables the growth is faith. Jesus doesn't want a bunch of co-dependent relationships. Jesus wants men and women of faith, who believe in what he tells them and go out in faith and do what he did. As I mentioned in previous entry, Jesus wants a healthy tree, rather than a tree who always needs attention for it to stay alive. When we study the scriptures, we must recognize what Jesus desires to tell us and make them ours, internalizing it and with it, growing stronger and stronger, more set, becoming a rock...having insight and seeing others and the world with eyes of faith, recognizing and helping the grace of God to come to fruition in individuals, communities, and nations.
We encounter Jesus through the scriptures and through those whom he has encountered already. A genuine encounter always results in us believing that we can be whom Jesus said we could be, coming away full of hope and stronger base, called faith to be his clones...so to speak.