The God Who Sees

3rd Sunday after Pentecost, A

June 29, 2014

Genesis 22:1-18

Introduction

Our Old Testament reading for today is known as the testing of Abraham among Christians or the binding of Isaac among Jews (Hebrew, Akeidat Yitschak, or simply Akeidah). This is the well-known story of how God tested the faith of Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his only and beloved son, Isaac.

The illustration above was painted by the great 17th century Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. It was said that when Rembrandt was researching on how to depict the sacrifice of Abraham, he went to the marketplace to see how Jews slaughtered animals. He observed how a sholchet--a kosher butcher--would slit the neck of a chicken in order to drain its blood according to Jewish Law (see Leviticus 17:13). So he painted Abraham not as about to stab of Isaac but as about to slit his throat.

I. God tests our faith. (Genesis 22:1-2)

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham..." (v. 1). In the Bible, the word for 'to test' is the same word as the word for 'to tempt'. In Hebrew, the word used here is נִסָּה nisah, which both means 'to test' or 'to tempt'; while the Greek word used in the New Testament is πειράζω peirazo, which also means 'to test' or 'to tempt'. (The word used here in the Septuagint is επειραζεν, epeirezen, which is the intensive of the word πειράζω peirazo.)

But in English, 'to test' has a positive connotation while 'to tempt' has a negative connotation. For example, in that famous passage in the Epistle of St. James, πειράζω peirazo is translated as 'trial', as in the New International Version:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials (πειρασμός, peirasmos) of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

and also later in verse 12:

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial (πειρασμός, peirasmos), because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. (NIV)

But in the very next verses, πειράζω peirazo is translated as 'to tempt':

When tempted (πειραζομενος, peirasomenos), no one should say, "God is tempting (πειραζομαι, peirazomai) me." For God cannot be tempted (απειραστος, apeirastos) by evil, nor does he tempt (πειραζει, peirazei) anyone; but each one is tempted (πειραζεται, peirazetai) when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has been conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15, NIV)

Regarding the word "temptation", W. E. Vine says,

[I]n a good sense, [peirazo is] said of Christ and of believers. Heb, 2:18, where the context shows that the temptation was the cause of suffering to Him, not a drawing away to sin.... [S]o in a similar passage in 4:15; in all temptations which Christ endured, there was nothing within him which answered to sin. There was no sinful infirmity in him.... [I]n Heb. 11:37, of the testing of O[ld] T[estament] saints, in I Cor. 10:13, where the meaning has a wide scope, the verb is used of testing as permitted by God, and of the believer as one who should be in the realization of his own helplessness and his dependence upon God.... (W.E. Vine's Concise Dictionary of Bible Words, Article: "Tempt")

Sa Tagalog, ang salitang 'pagsubok' ay may positibong kahulugan ngunit ang 'tukso' ay may negatibong kahulugan. Tungkol sa salitang 'pagsubok', ayon sa Tagalog Topical Study Bible,

Samantalang pinipilit ni Satanas na pahinain ang ating pananampalataya at tuksuhin tayo upang magkasala, sinusubok naman ng Diyos ang ating pananampalataya upang palakasin ito. Maari at madalas na ang dulot ng pagsubok ay sakit at paghihirap ngunit nais ng Diyos na lumapit tayo sa kanya at magtiwala na ang kanyang ginagawa ay para sa ating kabutihan.

Tungkol naman sa salitang 'tukso',

Ang tukso ay hindi dapat ipagkamali sa pagsubok ng Diyos sa ating pananampalataya bilang paraan ng pagpapalakas, sapagkat hindi tayo tutuksuhin ng Diyos upang magkasala sa kanya.

God uses trial and testing (the foregoing expression used here as a hendiadys) in order to prove our faith. In his trial of Abraham, he asked him to sacrifice his own son,

Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains I will tell thee of. (Genesis 22:2, emphasis added)

God often asks us to take what we value most and asks us to sacrifice it to him. "Take now your (fill in the blank), who/which you love...and offer it as an offering." For example, can we sacrifice God a little time for prayer and Bible reading? God often tests our obedience by asking us to sacrifice the thing that is most dear to us.

II. Abraham is an example of obedience. (Genesis 22:3-10)

When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, we do not read that of Abraham resisting or hesitating. He was prepared to obey God until the end. He traveled to Mount Moriah (future site of the Temple in Jerusalem) on donkey and took with him Isaac and the wood upon which his son would be sacrificed.

The (attempted) offering of Isaac can be seen as a prefiguring of the offering of Jesus Christ. Both Isaac and Jesus were only and beloved sons (cf. Matthew 3:17). When Abraham placed the wood of the burnt offering on the back of Isaac (v. 6), it reminds us of when Jesus bore on his back the wood of the Cross (cf. John 19:17). Just as Isaac was bound and placed upon the wood (v. 9), Jesus was also placed upon the wood of the Cross in order to be sacrificed. It may also be interesting to add that rabbinical teaching says the Isaac did in fact die of shock as Abraham was about to slay him, but the voice of the Angel of the LORD brought him back to life. If so, this is an interesting parallel with Jesus Christ, we literally died on the Cross and rose again from the dead on the third day. Even our Christian New Testament carries the idea that Isaac figuratively died and rose again:

By faith Abraham, being tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son: Of whom it had been said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able even to raise him from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure (παραβολη, parabolē). (Hebrews 11:17-19)

III. God blesses obedience (Genesis 22:11-18)

As Abraham "stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son" (v. 10), the Angel of the LORD called out to him and ordered him to stop the sacrifice.

God recognized the obedience of Abraham:

"Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." (v. 12)

God also blessed the obedience of Abraham by renewing his promise to him:

By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (vv. 16-18)

God is a God who recognizes obedience and blesses it!

Conclusion: Adonai Yireh, the God Who Sees/Provides

When the Angel of the LORD stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, he also provided a ram that would be sacrificed in lieu of Isaac. Once more, this is a picture of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross. He is both the sacrificed Son and the ram of offering. Thus, Abraham called the name of the place יְהוָה יֵרָאֶה Adonai Yireh, 'The LORD will see'.

This name is sometimes rendered as "Jehovah-Jireh" in English and translated as "The LORD Will Provide", the interpretation of which was popularized in Don Moen's praise song "Jehovah-Jireh". The word "Yireh" means 'will see' (third person imperfect aspect), which comes from the root word ראה raah, 'he sees' (third person perfect aspect). But also "yireh" is used in other places in the Hebrew Bible as 'will provide' (see v. 8: "The LORD will provide [yireh] himself a lamb for a burnt offering...").

There is no real contradiction between the translation "God will provide" and "God will see". God saw the obedience of Abraham so he provided a ram which was offered in place of Isaac. God sees the need of his people, and thus he will provide their needs. Amen.

The God Who Hears

Second Sunday after Pentecost, A

June 22, 2014

Genesis 21:9-21; Matthew 10:26-33

Introduction

Last Sunday, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, I said that I would be beginning a new sermon series based on this year's Old Testament readings based on the Revised Common Lectionary (according to the usage of The United Methodist Church--the UMC uses an independent lecta continua stream for the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel readings during Ordinary Time while other churches like the Roman Catholic Church uses a lecta selecta approach where the Old Testament reading is related to the Gospel reading). Last Sunday we studied the story of Creation in Genesis chapter 1. Today we continue with an episode in the life of Abraham the Patriarch.

As we can recall, Abraham (formerly Abram or Avram) was a man from Ur of the Chaldees whom God called and made a covenant with (Genesis 12). Among the things that the LORD promised Abra(ha)m was that God would make him into a "great nation" (Genesis 12:2). But we also read that ten years after God called Abra(ha)m to move into the land of Canaan and promised to make him a great nation, Abraham has yet to have a single child (Genesis 16). So Sarah his wife gave him her Egyptian maid Hagar to be his wife so that Hagar can bear a child on Sarah's behalf.

We need to acknowledge that today's Old Testament reading is a difficult text and we need to eliminate certain misconceptions and clarify certain things in order to fully understand the text.

I. Hagar was not an "other woman" and Ishmael was not an "illegitimate child"

I believe that Hagar and her son, Ismael, have suffered much injustice under "Christian" (read: Western) biblical interpretation; viz.: Hagar is Abraham's "other woman" and that Ismael was his "illegitimate child". And that Abraham having a child with Hagar instead of with Sarah is their attempt to make a "shortcut" of God's plan, so God's blessing was not upon him. (It also does not help that St. Paul compared slavery to the Law with Hagar in Galatians 4:24-25.)

In Jewish Law, illegitimate children are called mamzerim (singular, mamzer). Among Christians, children are considered "illegitimate" when they are born outside the bond on marriage (e.g., between unmarried people or a married person with someone not their spouse). But in Jewish Law, the only children considered mamzerim are those born from forbidden relations, which are listed down in Leviticus 18. According to the orthodox Jewish website, Mechon-Mamre,

The offspring of such marriages [those prohibited in the Torah--G] are mamzerim (bastards, illegitimate), and subject to a variety of restrictions; however it is important to note that only the offspring of these incestuous or forbidden marriages are mamzerim. Children born out of wedlock are not mamzerim in Jewish law and bear no stigma, unless the marriage would have been prohibited for the reasons above. Children of a married man and a woman who is not his wife are not mamzerim (because the marriage between the parents would not have been prohibited), although children of a married woman and a man who is not her husband are mamzerim (because she could not have married him).(http://mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/marriage.htm#Forbidden)

Therefore, Hagar is considered a "secondary wife" to Abraham and her son Ishmael is a legitimate son of Abraham! Looking at our text, we can read that God acknowledged Ishmael as a son of Abraham and that God will bless Ishmael and make him into a great nation (Genesis 21:13)!

II. What does it mean that Ishmael was "mocking"? (v. 1)

The Hebrew word translated as "mocking" in verse 1 is a difficult word to understand--even among Jews! The word used here is מְצַחֵק m'tsacheq, which is often translated as "mocking", but also 'to laugh at' (Genesis 17:17) , 'to play' (as in Exodus 32:6) and 'to make sport' (Judges 16:25; but see also Genesis 26:8 where Isaac was probably "making out" with his wife Rebekah). One rabbinical interpretation says that this means that Ishmael was biting Isaac on the neck to suck his blood! But is interesting to note that the word m'tsacheq is related to the name of Isaac: יִצְחָק Yitschaq, which means 'he laughs'. Whether Ishmael was merely playing with or mocking Isaac, this incurred the wrath of his mother Sarah.

III. Could Hagar carry Ishmael on his back? (v. 14)

In this chapter, Ismael appears to be portrayed as still a boy. In some translations of the Bible, Abraham places the skin of water and puts it on Hagar's shoulders together with Ishmael (v. 14). When the water in the skin ran out, the text says that Hagar placed him under a shrub and he was crying because of thirst (vv. 15-16). But Ishmael was around 14 to 15 years old at this time (Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born, Genesis 16:16, and 100 when Isaac was born, Genesis 21:5; plus one year for the time Isaac was weaned).

Perhaps the difficulty can be eliminated when verse 14 is translated as

And Abraham arose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and strayed in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. (Jewish Publication Society version, emphasis added)

--Meaning, that it was the water skin that was placed on Hagar's shoulder, and she and Ishmael were send away. Ishmael was not placed on his mother's shoulders.

But this does not completely remove the difficultly. In verse 16, Ishmael was called a "child" (יָּלֶד yaled) but a "lad" (נַּעַר na'ar) in verse 17. One rabbinical interpretation is that Ishmael grew up into a young man in the space of one verse!

Hagar and Ishmael represent those who have been cast out, but God's blessing is upon them.

Thus, for me, when Hagar and Ishmael were cast out, they represent 1) the cast-out ones (v. 10); 2) the poor ones, whose resources are limited (only a skin of water, v. 14); and 3) the helpless ones (when the water in the skin ran out, vv. 15-16). And they also represent those whom God hears and delivers (vv. 17-20).

First of all, God heard the voice of the child (v. 17). The name Ishmael means 'God will hear', the name given to him by the Angel of the Lord before he was born (Genesis 16:12) (which proves that the child was not "illegitimate" and therefore not blessed). When the outcast are cast out, God hears them!

Second, God provided a spring of water so that Hagar can refill their water skin and drink (v. 19). When the outcast have their resources exhausted, God provides for their needs!

Third, God was with Ishmael as he grew up (v. 20). When the outcast are cast out, God comforts them with his own Presence!

Conclusion

In today's Gospel reading, the Lord Jesus sent the twelve Apostles to mission "to the lost sheep of Israel" (Matthew 10:6). The Apostles were not cast out by the Lord but in their mission, but they ran into a chance of being rejected ("whosoever shall not receive you", v. 14). They also had very limited resources (they were not to bring money, bags, extra clothes and shoes, not even a walking staff, vv. 9-10). And yet the Lord promised that their needs will be taken care of ("For the workman is worthy of his maintenance", v. 10, John Wesley New Testament). What Jesus said to the Apostles when he sent them out in mission bears repeating:

And be not afraid of them who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather be afraid of him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. Yea, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Amen.

The Trinity and Creation

The First Sunday after Pentecost, A
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
June 15, 2014
Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Introduction

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the First Sunday after Pentecost or Ordinary Time. Today we celebrate our faith in one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not mention the word "Trinity" nor is there any verse that says "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one God." Rather, we come to believe in the Trinity by taking into consideration what the whole Bible says. The Bible says that there is only one God, as contained in the ancient Jewish declaration, the Shema:

שְׁמַע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָד.

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

At the same time, the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God; for example, in Philipians 2:6: The words "in the form of God" does not mean the same thing as "the image of God". The Greek word for "form" is μορφη, morphē, which in the whole New Testament applies only to Jesus himself (cf. Mark 16:12). But the Greek word for "image" is εικον, eikon, which applies to humans (e.g., I Coirnthians 11:7 and 15:49, & c.) but which can also apply to Jesus (e.g., Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3). In other words, "the image of God" applies to both humans and Jesus because Jesus is also human; but "the form of God" only applies to Jesus because he is divine.
 

Meanwhile, the Bible is also clear that the Holy Spirit is God, because he is called "Lord": "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Today, I would like to begin a sermon series on the Old Testament, specifically on the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. For Year "A", the Revised Common Lectionary (according to the usage of The United Methodist Church) gets the Old Testament readings from the Torah (plus Joshua and Judges) during the Season after Pentecost (or Ordinary Time), which stretches from June to November. No many Christians, the Old Testament is a "closed book"--even though it comprises two-thirds of the Bible! In the coming months, we will unlock the riches of the Old Testament (the Jewish Scriptures) and see its relevance to us Christians today.

What is the role of the Holy Trinity in Creation?

I. The Father

In Genesis chapter 1, God the Father is the Creator: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (v. 1). This is the basic affirmation of the Bible.

God creates out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo): "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" (v.2). This does not mean that there is something existing before Creation; that there was already "earth" and "waters" before Creation. This is simply the Bible's way of saying that there is nothing before Creation; and out of this Nothingness nothing can come. In other words, something cannot come out of Nothing.

God creates by his Word. "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light" (v. 3). It is through his Word that God brings something out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo).

God affirms that his creation is good. "And God saw the light, that it was good..." (v. 4). When God creates out of nothing, he creates good. Nothing good can come out of Nothingness; only God can bring good out of Nothingness.

But God the Father was not alone in Creation. The Holy Spirit was moving upon the face of the waters (v. 2). In the Creation of man, God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness..." (v. 26). The Son and the Holy Spirit have their role in Creation.

II. The Son

Jesus Christ was existing before Creation, just as the Father existed before Creation. "In the beginning existed the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). This Word was Jesus Christ. By his Word the Father created all things, and this Word was Jesus Christ. Everything was created through Christ, and without Christ nothing could be made: "All things were made by him, and without him was not one single thing made that was made" (John 1:3).

Jesus Christ was not only involved in Creation, but also in the making of all things new. The Bible tells us that Creation was ruined because of sin. But "if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation: the old things are passed away" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

III. The Holy Spirit

In Genesis chapter 1, we read that in the beginning, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep"--that is, nothing existed except Nothingness. But we also read, "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (v. 2). According to Bishop Emerito Nacpil, in his book "A Spirituality that Secularizes" (Vol. 1),

The Spirit is God reaching out to the formless void, the deep covered with darkness... This reaching out of the Spirit which is of God and from God is what establishes...the binding bond between God and the heavens and the earth... (p. 35). [It] means making creation possible out of its non-possibility in the pre-creation condition, which is Nothing (p. 36).

The Bible also says that the Holy Spirit is involved for the renewal of nature. Psalm 104 tells us of the beauty of Creation and of God provides for all his creatures, whether animal of human. After describing death, the taking away of breath and the returning to dust, the psalm tells us in verse 30, "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth." The Holy Spirit is not only involved in Creation, but also in it's renewal!

Conclusion

One of the stories in my Philippine Literature class is the Bikol epic-fragment entitled "Ibalong" (see the story in my educational blog and my review of the play staged by Tanghalang Pilipino). It is the story of a ruler named Handiong and his son Bantog who came from a faraway place and settled in the rich land of Ibalong. In order to make room for their people, they cleared the forest and killed all the monsters that lived there. They were resisted by the snake-woman Oryol and the monster Rabot but they were defeated by the humans. The golden age of Ibalong came with the founding of a town and the invention of agriculture, cooking, writing, & c. But in the end the town was swept away by floods and earthquakes, as if the destruction of nature was so much that it destroyed them.

As Christians, part of our responsibility to Creation is to recognize that it is created by none other than the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And since Creation is made by the Triune God, it is our responsibility to take care of it. Amen.

Living Water

The Day of Pentecost, A

June 8, 2014

John 7:37-39

Introduction

Today we celebrate the Day of Pentecost, the end of the Easter Season. We read in our first reading that Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples "when the Day of Pentecost was fully come" (Acts 2:1). Pentecost (πεντηκοστή, pentekoste) is the Greek word for 'fifty days', thus Pentecost is the fiftieth day of Easter (seven weeks of seven days plus Easter Day itself). The Day of Pentecost is also considered the "birthday" of the Church because the Church was born with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples.

What is the Day of Pentecost? Pentecost is the ancient Jewish festival called the Feast of Weeks, or in Hebrew, Shavuot. It is called the "Feast of Weeks" because it is a "week" (shebuah) composed of seven weeks. According to Leviticus 23:15-16, the Day of Pentecost is computed after the Sabbath after the Passover. Thus, Pentecost always fell on a Sunday, the day after the seventh Shabbat. (Remember that Jesus celebrated a Passover supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, which was the eve of the Passover. He was crucified the following day, Good Friday, which was the Feast of the Passover itself.)

According to Jewish tradition, the Day of Pentecost was the day when God gave the Law (including the Ten Commandments). Just as fire descended on Mount Sinai at the giving of the Law, on the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples to give birth to the Church!

"In the last day, the great day of the feast" (John 7:37) In our Gospel reading, Jesus stood up on the last and greatest day of the "feast". This is not the Feast of Pentecost but the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2), called Sukkoth in Hebrew. According to the Bible, the Feast of Tabernacles is an eight-day festival celebrated starting the fifteenth day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (Leviticus 23:39). During this time, the Jewish people are commanded to construct and live in "booths" (in Hebrew, sukkoth) as a reminder that they used to dwell in tents (tabernacles) during their journey to the Promised Land (Leviticus 23:41-42). "The last and greatest day of the feast" is the eighth day, when the Jews hold a solemn assembly (astereth; Numbers 23:35).

In Jewish tradition, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles is called Shmeni Atzeret. On this day, the Jewish people pray for rain!

On this day there was the greatest concourse of people, and they were then wont to fetch water from the fountain of Siloam, which the priests poured out on the great altar, singing one to an other, With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. On this day likewise they commemorated God's miraculously giving water out of the rock, and offered up solemn prayers for seasonable rains. (Notes Upon the New Testament)

(We can remember that Jesus healed a man born blind at the pool of Siloam in John 9.)

So we can see that when Jesus stood up on the last and great day of the Feast of Tabernacles and talked about the Holy Spirit as a "spring of living water", the Jewish people were pouring water on from the pool of Siloam on the altar of the Temple and praying for rain!

What does Jesus mean when he talked about "living water"?

I. Living water can only come from Jesus (John 7:37)

Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." Jesus is the only source of living water. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman,

Whosoever drinketh of this water, will thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, will never thirst... (John 4:13-14a)

That is why Jesus said that only those who believe in him can have this living water (v. 38).

Jesus told the Samaritan woman the whoever drinks water from the well where they were talking, even it was dug by the Patriarch Jacob himself, will still thirst and will have to go back to the well again. Such are the things of this world! The world can give us food, drink, clothes, money... But these cannot truly satisfy a person. We will always want more food, more drink, more clothes, more money.... Only Jesus can quench the thirst of a thirsty soul.

Happy are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)

II. Living water flows out of a person into eternal life. (John 7:38)

Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, out of his belly (as the scripture hath said) shall flow rivers of living water" (v. 38). In the language of the Bible, "living water" is fresh, flowing water, as opposed to still, stagnant water. That is why his imagery of living water is flowing water: "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". Jesus described the water that he will give to the Samaritan woman as a fountain:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, will never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, will be in him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)

Speaking of everlasting life, only Jesus can bringing everlasting life. The things of this world like food, water, clothes, & c. can only bring life in this world (olam hazeh) but not in the world to come (olam haba). When a person believes on Jesus, everlasting life will spring from him like water from a fountain.

III. Living water is the Holy Spirit who is given to the believer. (John 7:39)

St. John the Apostle and Evangelist explains that the living water Jesus was talking about is the Holy Spirit: "This he spake of the Spirit, which they who believed on him were to receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (v. 38).

In the New Testament, there are seven verses (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; John 1:33; John 3:5; Acts 8:35; I John 5:6 and 7) where the words "water" and "Spirit" occur. (In linguistics, this is called "collocation"). One of these is John 3:5:

Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

This Spirit is the one that is given to us in the Sacrament of Baptism. In all of the seven verses where the words "water" and "Spirit" occur, the context was that of Baptism. When Jesus commanded his disciples to "go...and disciple all nations", he commanded them to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). We may not have felt anything because we were children when we were baptized or there did not experience "supernatural" signs if ever we were baptized as an adult. But we can rest assured that in the Word of God that whosoever believes on Jesus shall receive the Holy Spirit!

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit comes not only as tongues of fire as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, but also as living water. This living water comes only through Jesus Christ himself and accessible by faith. Things of this word cannot truly satisfy us because they are temporary. But when the Holy Spirit is in our lives, we shall have a fountain of living water that will spring up into eternal life. Amen.

The Ascension of the Lord

Seventh Sunday of Easter, A

Ascension Sunday

June 1, 2014

First sermon preached at Alfonso United Methodist Church

Introduction

Today is the June 1, the first Sunday of June and the beginning of the new Conference Year 2014-2015. Today is also the Seventh Sunday of Easter, also celebrated as Ascension Sunday. According to the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven forty days after his Resurrection. This year we celebrated Easter last April 20. Counting forty days, Ascension Day is May 29, which is a Thursday, but it may be celebrated on the following Sunday.

The Ascension of the Lord is a time of transition. It marks the end of the bodily presence of the Lord on earth and the beginning of his indwelling presence in us through the Holy Spirit. According to our first reading today (Acts 1:1-11), Jesus appeared to his disciples on different occasions during a forty-day period after his Resurrection. Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem "but to wait for the promise of the Father" (v. 4), i.e., the Holy Spirit.

Today is also a time of transition. We mark the end of the faithful ministry of the Rev. Jheny Agaser here at Alfonso UMC and the beginning of the ministry of yours truly. Our church itself is in a time of transition. We are saying goodbye to our old chapel which has served us for years and we are in the middle of the construction of a bigger and better chapel for the glory of God!

For us Christians, the Ascension of the Lord is a time for us to wait for the coming of Jesus. When the disciples saw how Jesus was ascended into heaven, two angels ("young men in white apparel") told them,

Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen him going into heaven. (v. 11).

While we are waiting for the coming of Jesus, what should we do?

I. We should "open" the Holy Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45)

When the Lord Jesus appeared to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, he opened (in v. 27, διερμηνεύω, dihermeneuo, 'expounded'; in v. 32, διανοίγω, dianoigo, 'opened', also used in v. 45) to them the Scriptures--specifically the Jewish Scriptures, which the Jews call "the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms" (v. 44). (In Hebrew, the Torah [the Law of Moses], the Neviim [the Prophets] and the Ketuvim [the Writings; of which the Psalms is part]. Hence, the Jews call their Bible as the TaNaKh.)

As Christians, it is our duty to "open" the Scriptures. But the job of opening the Scriptures is not getting easier. Now it is easy to buy a Bible from the bookstore or download it into our smartphones. But despite of this the Bible remains a "closed" book--even to many Christians! Many Christians do not read the Bible anymore, or not longer like biblical sermons. This is exactly what St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy:

Preach the Word; be instant in season, or out of season....  For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but will heap to themselves teachers, according to their own desires, having itching ears. And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables. (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

This Conference Year, let us make a commitment to "open the Scriptures". We should not just settle for what "feels good" or what is "relevant". We should be committed to know what God is actually saying in his Word!

II. We should proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:46)

As Christians, it is our duty to open Scriptures and help people understand what it means. What shall we proclaim? That it was "necessary" for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead (v. 46). Our "opening" of the Scriptures should be centered on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

The central message of the Bible is Jesus Christ himself. That is why when Jesus expounded the Scriptures to his disciples, "he explained to them the things in all the scriptures, concerning himself" (v. 27). This is the reason we have three scripture readings in the liturgy: the Old Testament points forward to Jesus; the New Testament (Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation) point backward to Jesus; and the Gospel are about Jesus himself.

As we "open" the Scriptures, we should always ask ourselves, What does tell me about God, (or Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit)? As St. Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus,

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, through the knowledge of him. (Ephesians 1:17)

III. We should preach the repentance and remission of sins in His name. (Luke 24:47)

As we open the Scriptures and proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we should also preach the "repentance and remission of sins" (v. 47). But preaching repentance and the remission of sins is not the popular thing to do. In fact, it can be an offensive thing to do. Some people even defend sinful behavior and call them "alternative lifestyles".

The word repentance (μετάνοια, metanoia) means 'to change one's mind' and remission (ἄφεσις, afesis) means 'release from bondage or imprisonment' and 'forgiveness and pardon for sins'. To repent means to change one's mind about sin--to see how destructive it is in our lives. To be remitted of our sins means that we are released from the bondage and imprisonment of sin. Repentance is the action of man (but we should always remember, only by the grace of God) and the remission of sins is the action of God, made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Kaya po pag tinamaan kayo ng sermon ko, huwag po kayong magagalit. Unang taon ko pa lang naman kaya kung may tamaan man ako, 'di ko sinasadya. Ang dapat nga ay magpasalamat tayo sa Diyos dahil nararamdaman pa rin natin na gustong baguhin ng Diyos ng buhay natin para sa ating ikabubuti.

Conclusion

As we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, and as we begin this new Conference Year, let us commit ourselves to the opening of the Scriptures, the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the preaching of the repentance and remittance of sins. May we be so committed until we see this Jesus who was taken into heaven comes again. Amen.