Be not righteous overmuch

Ecclesiastes Chapter 7
[15]In my vain life I have seen everything; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil-doing.
[16] Be not righteous overmuch, and do not make yourself overwise; why should you destroy yourself?
[17] Be not wicked overmuch, neither be a fool; why should you die before your time?
[18] It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand; for he who fears God shall come forth from them all.

Where is the line drawn in being righteous overmuch?? I think if there is such a line, I may have crossed it sometimes...

When should I insist that something should/should not be done...

Gospel without boundaries

A few months ago I went to South America, and I was partly stunned and also admired the ingenuity of Jesuit missionaries in fusing traditional Incan religion with Catholicism. Throughout the whole trip, I thought about what is acceptable in spreading Christianity, where the line should be drawn in mixing “pagan” religious customs with Christianity. (I am well aware that our own brand of “Christianity” is already a mixture of multiple pagan traditions, just that most of us don’t even realize it.)

We often set boundaries on what is or is not acceptable in Christians. Last night during the missions class, the example the teacher shared was about a polygamist in Africa. He was not accepted in church because he was a polygamist. He refused to disobey Jesus (by divorcing his wives) to become a member of the church. His argument was that polygamy was not explicitly forbidden by Jesus, but divorce was.

Rather than the boundaries we have presumed, we should do it by a “centred” approach, not looking at things through the actions themselves, but by the purpose of the actions, or where the direction of the action is centred. (I seemed to explain it inadequately without the diagram from the lecture notes.)

The Spirit safeguards the universalism in God, where Jesus represents the uniqueness of God. And the work of the Spirit precedes evangelism.

Salvation analogy exist in many cultures, they may represent revelation of God in some of the traditional customs or folklore, an example the teacher used was a tribe that was waiting for their "saviour" which was just like the missionaries who came.

Mission is not only to evangelize, but also to know God better, in the ways through which He reveals himself.

We should open our minds to observe and listen, and recognize the local traditions/customs that direct people towards Christ’s particularity. The church can also broaden its knowledge on God in the process, and we can recognize the universality in revelation.

Apart from people from another culture, she also talked about different people in our own community.

If there were no young people in church, we would have done a lot to recruit more, but then how come we don’t ask why there are no/few disabled people in our church? Is it really because there are none in our district? Or because of the physical constraints that they cannot come?

The concept of the disabled God has been proposed, Jesus still carried the marks from the crucifixion after resurrection. Hence, despite the impairment, the disabled are still made in God’s image. The cause of their suffering may be due to isolation or exclusion rather than the physical disability itself. Rather than healing the physical problem, the church should heal their social dysfunction. (She gave an example of a charismatic church that had no idea what to do about a disabled kid, after failing to "heal" her after repeated prayers.)

And we are interdependent with the disabled, they are not subjects of our assistance/pity alone.

Apart from the physically disabled, what about ex-drug addicts, and those suffering from mental illness?

Recognise our calling in our own community, and do not just focus in spreading the Gospel in our own social circle.

(Since this is derived from my notes, so may be a bit brief and difficult to understand... hmm...)

Notes on Sermon about Psalms Chapter 1

Ps.1
[1] Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
[3] He is like a tree
planted by streams of water,
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
[4] The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
[5] Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
[6] for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

v1 walk-> stand -> sit
This is an unconscious process (to sin/to become wicked)

counsel/plan: isolated
way: life direction
seat= assembly: become one of them

v2 "in the Lord's law delight, in the Lord's law meditates"
This is written in contrast within "not in" for v1
The time is day and nite!

v3 In Palestinian wilderness, trees grow only next to streams. Growing of fruit takes time.

Computer/TV (vs Bible/sermon) make us experts in wasting time, they also make us more self-centred, just do according to what one likes (e.g. remotes control)
Now we tend to receive the messages that we like, rather than according to whether they are true or not.
Efficiency becomes the utmost important.
However, we forget a lot of things need time: our 修養, relationships

The time we give to others are usually less than what we require of ourselves.
Jesus' parable on 70x7 time, it's about the one who is doing the forgiving.

What we reap depends on what we invest.

v4 The ungodly are like chaff. Chaff and tree--> both plants, but tree has life and roots.
We don't usually see the roots of the trees, but they are very important.
Chaff moves, only because it was moved, not because it has life.

Time, investment, where you’re immersed in--> what you reaps
Everything needs time, but the world tell us: we have no time to wait for the fruits.

Learning the lesson--> I'm way too addicted to the computer world.

We are Ready to Listen

Healing, sovereign God,
overmatch our resistant ears
with your transforming speech.
Penetrate our jadeness and fatigue.
Touch our yearnings by your words.
Through your out-loudness, draw us closer to you.
We are ready to listen.
Amen.

Walter Brueggemann, from Awed to Heaven, Rooted to Earth

Another prayer from Walter Brueggemann

You are the God who is simple, direct, clear with us and for us.
You have committed yourself to us.
You have said yes to us in creation,
yes to us in our birth,
yes to us in our baptism,
yes to us in our awakening this day.

But we are of another kind,
more accustomed to “perhaps, maybe, we’ll see,’
left in wonderment and ambiguity.

We live our lives not back to your yes,
but out of our endless “perhaps.”


So we pray for your mercy this day that we may live yes back to you,
yes with our time,
yes with our money,
yes with our sexuality,
yes with our strength and with our weakness,
yes to our neighbor,
yes and no long “perhaps.”

In the name of your enfleshed yes to us,
even Jesus who is our yes into your future. Amen.


From Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, Walter Brueggemann

And Then You

A very good prayer I just read on the web

And Then You

We arranged our lives as best we can,
to keep your holiness at bay,
with our pieties,
our doctrines,
our liturgies,
our moralities,
our secret ideologies,
Safe, virtuous, settled,
And they you -
you and your dreams,
you and your visions,
you and your purposes,
you and your commands,
you and our neighbors,
We find your holiness not at bay,
but probing, pervading,
insisting, demanding.
And we yield, sometimes gladly,
sometimes resentfully,
sometimes late… or soon.
We yield because you, beyond us, are our God,
We are our creatures met your your holiness,
by your holiness made our true selves.
And we yield. Amen.

Walter Brueggemann from Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth

Justification

Wanted to buy this book for some time, but waiting for another of my fav author's book (which is scheduled for release in late September), so that I can save on the shipping...

NT Wright on Acts

NT Wright Chinese Intro

Chinese intro about NT Wright and New Perspective on Paul

When I tried to introduce his ideas to my fellowship last year, it was so difficult, because really not much Chinese material available...

認識賴特(N.T. Wright)

新保羅觀 New Perspective on Paul

Worship and work must be one!

I have been reading a Bible study book on justice and mercy. The lyrics of this song was quoted for reflecting what we meant by worship nowadays. Do we worship to get a good "feeling" of "being spiritual"? What do we mean by worship? Are we worshipping God or worshipping the worship itself??

This song is originally written in Sri Lanka. "Worship and work must be one." We are committed to serve humanity and seek a just and healing society.
(Biblical references: Isaiah 1:10-17,, Amos 5:21-24, Micah 6:1-8)

Lyrics:
Worship the Lord!
Praise the Creator, the Spirit, the Son,
raising our hands
in devotion to God who is one!

Raising our hands as a sign of rejoicing,
and with our lips our togetherness voicing,
giving ourselves to a life of creativeness,
worship and work must be one.

Worship the Lord…

Praying and training that we be a blessing,
and by our handiwork daily confessing:
we are committed to serving humanity,
worship and work must be one.

Worship the Lord…

Called to be partners with God in creation,
looking to Christ for each day’s inspiration,
we must be ready for risk and for sacrifice,
worship and work must be one.

Worship the Lord…

Bringing the bread and the wine to the table,
asking that we may be led and enabled,
truly united to build new communities,
worship and work must be one.

Worship the Lord…

Now in response to the life you are giving,
help us, Creator, to offer our living,
seeking a just and a healing society,
worship and work must be one.

Worship the Lord…

Listen to the song here.