Reflection on His Passion

Last night I and a few of my friends, we gathered and winessed the Passion of the the Christ all over again. It was dark and quiet. And each of us pursued own own reflection as we saw the horrific crime that we committed against our God over again.

Each of us chose our own moment to identify with Christ by taking the communion. My own moment for this year was this line from the OT, which Mel Gibson had Jesus say:

"I am your servant, the son of your handmaid."

Handmaid is the female maid servant. Here the Psalmist (and MG) said that the Christ stooped so low, lower than a servant. Paul said...

"[Christ] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!"

And this was our prayer last night as we took the communion...

Jesus, on that night you broke the bread:

“This is my body, broken for you”

Afterward you lifted the cup:

“This is my blood, God’s new covenant,

poured out for you”

Jesus, this we do to remember…

It was our sins that did that to you,

That ripped and tore and crushed you, our sins!

You took the punishment,

and that made us whole.

Through your bruises we get healed.

God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on you, on you.

So, when we see His steps, we couldn't help but be confronted of where would our steps be. Beyond the cross were the joy of glory! The author of Hebrews wrote that Jesus "for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Lord God, make me a servant, like your sevant.

breaking my fast

I broke the fast yesterday. It was an accident. We had a business lunch yesterday at Thai's BBQ. When ordered the food, I asked for a Thai's ice coffee as the usual habit. Not until a few minutes later I realized that I was on my coffee fast for Lent. Thoughts raced through my mind. Should I called off the order, or should I just went on with it? I decided that I shouldn't be too legalistic about it. Humble pie is good for the soul too anyway. So, I went on with it. This Sunday I will break the fast with a Starbucks hot venti mocha mint soy easy mocha. It will be intentional. What a joy! This is the first time ever I fast for Lent. Growing up as non-liturgical Vietnamese Christians, we often thought that fast and Lent are Catholic things. Not until I am studying a bit about various spiritual disciplines, and having conversations with other Christians here in the US, then I realize that it's not a bad thing, then I decided to try it out. So far, it neither help or hurt my existing relationship with God or my life style either... May be next time I need to try something more essential to me...

Introduction to "Wimpy Theology"

My friend Rick lamented that "theology is boring" because it's all knowledge and lacks heart and soul. I would agree, but I think the problem was the terminology we used. So I replied...

"Theology is boring!" Saying that and you will receive plenty of "Amen." But what if you replace the word "Theology" with "Knowing God". Would knowing God be boring? I doubt it. The problem here is the semantic. We are conditioned to yawn when we hear the word theology. Therefore I am extremely cautious to use the word around anyone. I prefer the second term instead: Knowing God. (But not the kind of Knowing God as described in the book with the same title from J.I.Packer - I could not bring myself to complete the book). And so I think about God, and want to know about God; through Bible study and devotion and baring the souls to the brethen, and start exploring the limitation of what I know about God. Eventually each one of us start to have our own personal "theology", which is the ground for our action. I called that, "wimpy theology". And that is not boring at all...

Road Map for the Future Viet Church - Part 1

I had a brainstorming session with Muc Su Thach yesterday in which he sketched a draft of the road map for the future Vietnamese church oversea (I will call it FVC for now). For the sake of clarity, I will try to articulate what he said in the next few weeks. (It's too bad the man himself didn't write any book). But first, the disclaimer: What you are reading in this series are still mumbo jumbo by the few individuals, it could even be misrepresented by my own prejudice and interpretation. So take everything with a grain of salt and think things through. But first, let's do an opening exercise question: Take a look of an old picture of your church group about 5 years ago. How many people was in the picture? How many are still living out their faith today? What is the percentage? Then leave me a comment below. That's it - I will wait for some responses from my friends on Xanga before we get started.

Random Nuggets

1. A week ago I had an interesting conversation with Jenney. She thought that we should be faster in everything we do because we should "making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" [Ephesians 5:16]. I was arguing on the oposite that we should be slower because the Bible said, "Be still, and know that I am God" [Psalm 46:10a]. So which one is right? Should we be more rush or should we be more mellow? After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that we should rush through life faster so that we can spend time with God leisurely slower. And why was that? Here is some interesting thoughts. We often rush for this moment in order to catch up to the next moment. But when we come to the presence of God, we are finally arrived! In the presence of God is the final destination for our soul. And therefore why should we rush, but instead we should be still there in His presence and bask ourselves in the sweetness of His glory. Next time, when we feel the urge of rushing through the sacrament of communion, or through worship, or though any other components of the spiritual life: slow down. The rest of the time, you can rush. 2. Last Sunday we were studying Acts 17 with Gary. What struck me (and totally unrelated to Gary's study) was that Paul had a boss. No, I am not talking about the divine directions he got from the Holy Spirit. I am talking about Paul had human bosses, who tell even the head-honcho-Apostle of what to do and where to go. Don't believe me? Check out Acts 17:10 when Paul was facing persecution at Thessalonica, "(Person removed) sent Paul and Silas away to Berea". And then when things heated up there, "(The same person removed) immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea." [Acts 17:14] I am leaving Paul's bosses out of the text for now just to keep you wondered . But the nugget I learned was this: even Paul the head-honcho had human bosses (even from the crowd of new believers there in these two cities). So, who are we to not taking order from them? I will get back on this topic for the next time... (May be...)

Plan B

The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you." Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah. [1 Samuel 16:1-13]

God has a plan. God has a plan to rectify what went wrong. It's not that His plan went wrong and he had to now fix it. But his accomodation to the our human inclination allow rooms for things went wrong in His plan.

Saul's reign went wrong, your job derailed, I bombed my class. Was that all in God's plan? Both yes and no. He often accomodated our weaknesses in His plan A, but He has other plans: B, A prime, Beta, etc. in reserve.

God has a plan. God has a plan but He required a human to set it off. That human wil need to overcome grief and regret, fear and prejudice, in other to set God's plan in motion.

Samuel was the human agent. We are called to be the human agent. God wants His agents to overcome their own grief and regret (sometimes they take too much credits for their contributions in what went wrong). God wants His agents to overcome their own fear and prejudice (sometimes they don't give enough credits for God, who know what He is doing, and who can certaintly carry the plan out one way or another).

God has a plan. God has a plan but it often required a gradual growth from the human to fit into His plan. His plan won't bear fruit the next day; even the next ten years. God's plan often accomplished when people believe in His plan and continue to move forward, a bit at a time, closer and closer to reality.

David didn't become king the next day, or even ten years later for that matter. He grew into kingship, through sweat and blood. Most Christians grew into God's potential gradually too. Faith keep them inching toward what they don't see, a bit at a time, obedience over a long period of time.

O Lord my God, thank you for accomodate my weakness and continue to work with me. Please allow me to be a faithful servant, who gradually inch toward the goal you had set forth for my life.