Silliman University Church Reflections

I learned to ride bicycles as a boy. We lived near the Burnham lake where bicycles were rented. At first, it was difficult to strike a balance with two wheels. But friends taught me to paddle, to be able to balance. And I did. But weaving into a crowd of cyclists is another matter. The more I tried to avoid oncoming cyclists, the more I tended to slam into them. My eyes would focus on the face of the cyclist, and slam…After several scrapes in the knee, elbows and busted lips, I found the solution. When a cyclist approaches I switch my focus further ahead and on the bigger picture. It works, I never bumped anyone again. The secret is not to stare at what you don’t want to hit. But look farther ahead and it is smooth cycling.

Perspective is important. When we focus on small things, we lose perspective. When we focus on the big picture, we see things properly. Focusing ahead enables us to maneuver around obstacles.

So this morning, let me talk about perspective. If we are focused on our fears, we will likely crash on to them. But if we focus further ahead, we will likely avoid crashing.

Our journey as United Church of Christ in the Philippines , cannot be made without faith and without perspective. It was faith that built the Evangelical Union in 1901. The Evangelical Union was the coming together of American missionaries – Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, United Brethren, Baptists, Disciples, Episcopalians and many others. They came together because of the big picture. Most Filipinos were Catholics needing Reformation, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. If each of the missionary groups, went on their own, they would be concentrating themselves in certain areas and leaving other areas unattended. They would be competing with each other. They would have to mobilize greater resources to build churches, hospitals, seminaries.

The missionaries decided to band together in the Evangelical Union, to share scarce resources, assign mission responsibilities covering the country, and eventually to establish one evangelical church. This quickly enabled the growth of Protestant faith in the country.

And so, even though Silliman Institute was built by Hibbard who was a Presbyterian, it would be Frank Woodward and Frank Laubach Congregationalists, Elmer Higdon of the Disciples, Clayton Witmer of the United Brethren, who would soon bring in their gifts to make Silliman what it is today.

In 1929, four churches – Presbyterians of the Visayas, Congregationalists of Mindanao, United Brethren Ilocos and United Church in Manila merged to become the United Evangelical Church partly realizing the vision of EU. In 1943, the evangelicals in the Japanese army forced the establishment of the Evangelical Church in the Phil. In May 25, 1948, the 1929 merger, the 1943 merger, the Phil. Methodist Church and others came together to form the UCCP.

Our church is the fruit of the spirit of unity, in the effort to be an effective witness to Christ to a nominally Christian society. Our ancestors came together, from Visayas, Ilocos, Mindanao, not certain sometimes fearful about differences in forms of worship, sacraments, polity, theology, that made coming together difficult. But we are sure that in Christ, we are united, and we are called to discover, part by part, with patience and tolerance, the areas of our oneness. Even our present difficulty in confirming pastors is a unique struggle between the Presbyterian and Congregationalist polities. Presbyterians give more weight of authority on the Council. Congregationalists give weight to the authority of the congregational meeting. But UCCP is a unity movement that requires extraordinary faith, love, hope, and patience. In fact, one of the main lectures during the UCCP founding assembly delivered by Bp. Cipriano Navarro was “Patience a Prerequisite”

The Methodists took a long time to join and then only a section of them did– the PMC. They were afraid of cutting off the umbilical cord from the mother church. But we learned to move on in faith and unity, confident that our fears will be found to be baseless and that if there will be difficulties, the Holy Spirit and the love in our hearts would sort it out for us. We would never be 60 if not for that faith and confidence in HS. Neither can we move a single step forward without faith. For 60 years, we lived in faith guided by Prov. 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him. And he will make your paths straight.”

How did we do it? By faith. 1^st principle – Focus on the big picture of God. We are not worriers. There is always something to worry about. Are our seminaries preparing pastors well? Are our leaders honest? Can we trust others? Can we live with brothers and sisters, who sing different hymns from us and who use ? instruments? It is easy to focus on our differences or on the weaknesses of others of which there are many, but let us not forget that God is infinitely larger than our preferences, and infinitely wiser than our ways.

2^nd principle is – Focus on what is unseen, rather than what is seen. If we had looked for financial security first, we would have remained like the Methodists, receiving subsidies from our mother churches. But the Unseen God is our security. What is seen is often the fantasy. What is unseen is the powerful reality. Our ancestors were filled with the Spirit in building churches on their own, by the power of the unseen Christ who prayed in J17 – I pray for those who will believe in me, so that they may all be one.“ God is invisible but our hearts are open to Him. The unseen is the reality. What is seen is an illusion or only a small part of reality. The unseen reality is seen by vision of faith. I will  pour out my spirit on all, sons and daughters shall prophesy, youth will see visions and the old persons will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)

2 Cor. 4:16-18 explains why unseen is more important than what is seen. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

3^rd principle is focus on God who is in control, not on our inability to control. Understand that God has a plan even for our differences. God is carefully working it out. He is in control, when we allow ourselves to be used for God’s purpose, not when we control God.

For us, things do not happen by accident. They happen on purpose. Nothing catches God off-guard. Nothing surprises him. He is carefully and with great skill, weaving our differences together into his plan. Rom 8:38 “We know all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are called according to his purpose. Even when we cannot see how our difficulties could be a part of God’s plan, we believe that it is. We hold onto that faith.

Can we trust that God loves us and knows what he is doing even though we may be confused? Can we walk in faith, not in fear. The perspective of UCCP is unity in the unseen Christ, a perspective of faith. This perspective will get us into friction with others. But let us remember that it is through friction that a gem is polished. Faith will bring us fire that may become too hot at times. Let us remember it is through the intense fire that the finest metal is molded. Let us persevere and push through the present task until we come through on the other side… walking by faith, each day, discovering our oneness with Christ in joy. And that is our perspective. Unity is the reality of our faith. Division is an illusion.

(Sermon delivered 25 May 08, Silliman Church)