Silliman University Church Reflections

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good, pleasing and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2)

It is a privilege to speak before this distinguished gathering of Christian educators to share closing thoughts on the theme of your 48th Assembly: “Christian Schools Facing Challenges: Preparing Youth for Responsible Citizenship.”

In Rom. 12:2, Paul observes the vital link between what we learn and what we become; between faith and action in the world.

I don’t think there is anyone in this room, who can deny that Christian schools are challenged, because to some extent they are conformed to the world (albeit, involuntarily). Ex. If your nursing enrolment is disproportionately larger than the rest of the colleges combined, it is a challenge to cope with the expected decline of demand for nurses and therefore of enrolment in nursing, in the coming years.

But that is only one example. If there is a global financial crisis, if we cannot seem to have a political will to reverse global warming, if the moral life of the nation is in crisis, surely Christian schools must also be in crisis, at least a crisis of conscience? Or is it right that everything is in crisis and only we are not affected? If everyone is going crazy, and we are not, then we must be doing well? I don’t think it comforts anyone to think that we are not a little crazy, if everyone else is crazy. The common workaday mind is to conform. Better to be a little crazy with the majority, than to be sane by ourselves?

Of course some may seek comfort in the fact that some are crazier than others, so it must be fashionable to be a little crazy.

Some would argue that the crisis is specific. That globalization is just imagined and the crisis is confined only to the US. But the interrelations of the crises – global warming, global recession seems more earth changing, more Biblical in proportion, forcing us to review our assumptions and seek renewal.

One astute educator of the small association of CREATE UCCP, Dr. Cesar Agnir, enumerates several variables that triggered the financial crisis — “the subprime mortgage crisis, investment vehicles such as “derivatives” which Warren Buffet calls “Financial WMD”, “mark to myth” asset valuation models which did not reflect real values; government reluctance to rein in risky investments.”

If complex investment vehicles called “derivatives” are allowed without regulation then Warren Buffet is right to call these investment instruments “financial weapons of mass destruction.” Which is what exploded and which now requires US$ 3 trillion in bail out money to rehabilitate.

Agnir notes that “what is significant about the crisis is that many socio psychologists and behavioral economists say quite bluntly that the failure of government to regulate boils down to two fundamental human failings – greed and hubris or pride (which are the same failures of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden). Greed or the insatiable lust for money and other forms of material wealth. Hubris, or the arrogance that derives from delusion that the great size of one’s holdings alone will insulate them from any economic distress. Now the entire economy must contract to reflect a more realistic value.

Agnir concludes “This troubled world, including our benighted country, needs intercessors with clean and faithful hearts, who will plead with the Lord to spare the right hearted from His wrath over widespread greed, rapacity, hubris and corruption. For God has ceased to be central, but has become merely peripheral in the lives of many of us in the midst of wordly preoccupations.”

Going back to Rom 12:2, Paul emphasizes that what we learn determines what we become.  Do not be conformed but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, by education. The implication is we need to take Christian value formation more seriously, teaching the Bible not as a history book but as living Word: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
Col 3:16

In the US there is growing criticism that the school system ignores God and therefore it teaches pupils to ignore God. Religious instruction is banned in public schools, the US Supreme Court has ruled on the grounds of the principle of the separation of church and state. Perhaps, the financial crisis, is a result of a prior crisis in education which fails to renew minds fundamentally from their natural moorings. When people can no longer reign in massive greed and hubris, when they think that it is alright to build wealth from non existent value, then they are not able to discern the will of God and are not capable of moral judgement.

As J. Gresham Machen says it well: “”Education that trains the mind without training the moral sense is a menace to civilization rather than a help.”

The results are predictable enough. Moral relativism. Financial and political weapons of mass destruction.

Christian schools teach students to understand and live all of life with an eternal perspective, while maintaining a daily, personal relationship with God. This relationship is able to nurture faith and enables the renewal of the mind. It begins with a healthy respect for God, as the ultimate judge. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalms 111:10) When we are fearless of the consequence of our immoral acts, we are uneducated and doomed.

Let us pray that we will “Prepare the Youth for Responsible Citizenship” by helping them to “renew their minds, so that they may discern the will of God, the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.” May God bless Christian schools. May God bless the new set of Trustees and Officers of ACSCU.

(Message for the Commissioning of Officers and New Members of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Christian Schools Colleges and Universities, 7 pm, May 12, 2009 at Silliman Hall)

As ministers, we’re reminded not to get too sentimental about motherhood (nor to idolize mothers) because for some:

(a) motherhood is an accident, and not always a welcome one;
(b) for some, biological motherhood isn’t possible;
(c) for some, mothers weren’t all that nice;
(d) for some, motherhood under the very best of circumstances is still less than a bed of roses.

For all its stumbling blocks, motherhood is a beautiful part of God’s creative plan to bring love and caring to to the world. Motherhood is God’s gift, an earthly example on how to love and to bear good fruit. Our text today is written in the context of a farm. Jesus explains an agricultural metaphor, about the relationship between vine, branches and fruit. He says “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you. I am the vine you are the branches. Whoever abides in me will bear much fruit.”(1-5)

The figure of the vine is often used in the OT to refer to Israel. Isaiah 5: 7 says “the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah are his cherished plant.” This means that God delighted in Israel. God considered Israel a cherished plant because this plant is the means by which God will reach out and bless all the nations.
 
But in the New Testament, there is a change. Jesus is the true vine. And those who believe in Him become the branches. If we abide in the vine, we will bear much fruit and become the means for others to receive God’s blessing. Notice that the purpose of the vine is to bear fruit. We know that bearing fruit is important for Jesus. Remember the parable of the sower and the seed and the parable of the talents? Remember also how he cursed the unfruitful fig tree (Matt21:18-19). Bearing fruit is to be in a position of being able to share a blessing to others.

Our purpose as Christians is to abide in Christ so that we might bear fruit. Not just any fruit, but a special fruit, a fruit of the spirit. As we abide in Christ, Jesus Christ becomes evident in and through us. And as we manifest Christ, others are blessed. He is seen in us as we manifest His character (Gal 5:22-23). He is evident in us as we carry on the work He began when He was on earth (see Acts 3:6, 12-16; 4:13). Being fruitful, then, is manifesting Christ in our lives and becoming a blessing to others.

Second, the branches are the instrument through which the fruit is produced. While our Lord produced much “fruit” when He was physically on the earth, He now produces “fruit” through those branches who believe in Him. Through the believers who manifest His Lordship.

Third, these branches only bear fruit in union with the vine. The branches obtain life through the vine; they are sustained by the vine; they produce fruit through the vine. The only way to bear fruit is for the branches to abide in the vine. I am sure that we have produced all sorts of fruits. Bad fruits as well as good fruits. Perhaps it is time to examine our fruits and see if we are still connected with the vine? Can we recognize our fruits as pleasing to God?

Fourth, the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine. He removes the lifeless, fruitless branches—which were never truly “in the vine”. He “prunes” the fruitful branches, so that they will bear even more fruit. When our temporal interests become paramount, rather than God’s glory, then we may fall short of what God’s Word teaches. Our purpose in life is not to “fill our cups” with good things; it is to abide in Christ so that we may bear fruit for Him.

Fifth, the Word is the instrument which God employs to tend the vine. The Word is the instrument which God employs to cleanse the branches. Put in different terms, the Word is the sharp cutting edge by which God prunes us and “removes” the unfruitful branches.

And this is where motherhood comes in. In the verses which say “Abide in me, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, neither can you. If you abide in me you will bear fruit. “Apart from Me, you can accomplish nothing.” We can probably produce many things on our own, but we can produce nothing that pleases God if we do not abide in the vine. Wealth per se, great honor, prestige, great accomplishments, per se, do not please God. What pleases God are the fruits of the vine that we bear — love, compassion, mercy because we abide in the vine.

The secret is in the word abiding. In John’s Gospel, abide is used in the sense of “dwell in a place”, stay in one’s dwelling place, dwelling at home. And here we honor mothers who bear the fruits of love, who teach us how to dwell in and make homes. We can understand Jesus words, I am the true vine and my father is the vine grower, better because we have mothers who are the home makers. Mothers are home makers, who first teach us about love and caring.

Someone said: The most creative job in the world involves fashion, decorating, recreation, education, transportation, psychology, romance, cuisine, literature, art, economics, government, pediatrics, geriatrics, entertainment, maintenance, purchasing, law, religion, energy and management. Anyone who can handle all those has to be somebody special, a special blessing. Mothers are homemakers.

Home is the center of the universe. Home is where we feel comfortable, and can really be ourselves. Home is a place of safety and security. Home is our base of operations; it is at the center of what we do. Home is where you find your strength for life; it is where you eat and sleep. Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found. Home is our dwelling place.

After appreciating our earthly mothers as examples of love by virtue of their being home makers, we can then take one higher step and say, The Lord is our spiritual dwelling place — the true vine, the true home for our souls. The true source of our life and strength. The true dwelling place of refuge and security. Jesus is the reason for our fellowship and community. He is where our heart is. When we abide in the Lord, when the Lord is our dwelling place, then we certainly will bear His fruit and become a blessing to others.
 
Thank God for our Mothers who lead us to the Lord Jesus.!

(Sermon delivered in Silliman church, 9 am, May 10, 2009)

Our text this morning tells us about Jesus the Good Shepherd and also a little about our accountabilities at work. This being Labor Sunday, the text is appropriate. Jesus calls himself as a servant, a worker serving His Father as a Good shepherd. To him is entrusted the salvation and welfare of the sheep in many sheepfolds, which he aims to lead and gather into the household of God. Jesus is a worker who takes care of the sheep knowing each sheep individually. He provides food, shelter, water, and care. Psalm 23 is the classic rendition of the Good shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters…yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…”KJV

The good shepherd is skilled in leadership and communication. The sheep know him by the sound of his voice and by the touch of his staff. But Jesus also points out there are shepherds who are really thieves and robbers. There are hirelings (subcontracted shepherds) who run away when wolves come. He differs from them, in that he gives his life for them, while the hirelings run away and steal. This is because they work for pay (verse 13) and have no concern for the sheep.

Let me propose 3 applications for us:

1. The Lord is our shepherd we shall not want

The picture of gentle sheep contented with their leader, grazing lazily in the grass, lying down beside a pure stream is so difficult to conjure in our country today. I am sure there are contented sheep who have found their perfect place of employment, (often greener pastures abroad) where they hope to work and contribute their utmost until retirement. There are contented sheep in Silliman too I am sure. There are those who have realized Jesus words “I came that they may have life and life in abundance.” John 10:10.

But somehow TV news footages in May jar our sense of reality as workers march in the streets and demand higher wages in Cebu, Manila and Davao. We see footages of thousands of workers in England and the US charging into police out of frustration for jobs lost in the global recession. We see footages of Job Fairs and thousands of people pushing to get inside, demanding to be interviewed by labor recruiters, many for jobs abroad. An academician talked on TV about job mismatches. Colleges are not preparing for the kind of workers they need. Many college graduates need to be retrained, they said.

Except for a few, the majority of Filipinos cannot truly say, I shall not want, can they? They can say “The Lord is my Shepherd”. Full stop. They cannot say “I shall not want.” Because they want a job; They want a higher salary; they want a good working environment. They want safe and clean water; a clean environment?

How do we reconcile this statement? “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”? We are a Christian country, but why do we want so much? Is it our shepherd’s fault? Or should we understand this to mean, abundance is a reality that refers only to life eternal? I think we need to postpone deciding on those until we get to the next point.

2. Second point, We are shepherds of other sheep V16

Our text says that Jesus has his flock taken cared of. But in v 16, Jesus says “I have other sheep who do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. John is telling us that Jesus is the good shepherd, who loves us, and gives up his life for our sake. He gives us a full life, a life with meaning, a joyous life in union with Him. The amount of gifts and possibilities given to us are truly enormous.

But material abundance is not everything. Love is everything. Sharing is everything. Abundance therefore refers to a full life of love and sharing in the here and now, as well as in the life afterwards. Remember the rich man who gave morsels to Lazarus? He was not abundant. He was poor in spirit.

Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, our Good shepherd. He desires abundant life for us. But abundance is not an individual achievement. It is given in relation to the command to love the neighbor.

In history the believers lived in abundance, even in times of persecution and want. Acts 2:42 ff tells us, the believers “devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles, and to a common life, to the breaking of the bread, to prayer. And awe came upon everyone, and many wonders were done through the disciples. All who believed were together, and had all things in common.” There was Shalom, union with God, peace, nothing missing, nothing broken. 

The community of faith became abundant in love as shepherded by the apostles. They shepherded one another. How well we have shepherded each other will reveal how abundant we have become?

3. We need to deal with wolves and thieves (v

One of the things I have learned in Silliman is the way we handle external and internal enemies. You must have heard of the Exodus and the way some people are trying to say, Silliman grabbed their lands. And this problem is not yet going away. We do have enemies. How do we deal with them? We deal with them in a redemptive way. We have talked to them, given them opportunities for scholarships, acknowledged the contributions of their ancestors to the mission of the university, recognize their needs, given service to their communities, but never by surrendering the truth and the mission.

We also have to consider that sometimes, we are our worst enemies. We forget that we are called to be shepherds. We are content to be tended like sheep. We idealize the sheep. We simply receive blessings but do not give out blessings. That is not abundance. In fact, we are the Body of Christ. We are the body of shepherds. Sometimes we never graduate from being the sheep. And being selfish, sometimes we graduate to become the wolves and the thieves ourselves.

There are stories of priests devouring their members and vice versa. We have hearts that are capable of being cruel, deceptive, manipulative, greedy, and selfish. These things cloud our judgment and hearing of what God wants and demands from us. Sometimes we are tempted to say, “I don’t care what happens, I’m going to….do what.? We do things that will make us happy, make us feel good, make us have a good time. We may aspire for the good life. But we can never have the good life without the truth and the mission.

And so to the question for today, what are we working for, who are we working for? We answer: Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd. We are working to be shepherds of the flock of this generation, so that they may have abundant life. But abundant life must not be achieved by surrendering the truth and the mission. In fact, we can only shepherd by upholding the way, the truth and the life. This is why we are here. This is our mission. So help us God.

(Sermon delivered in Silliman Church May 3, 2009)