You are all children of God
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We started this year’s activities with a planning retreat of CFC leaders at the Franciscan retreat house in Lamluka on 11-12 January. I was asked to give the first four talks of the CFC teaching on Foundations for Christian Living, including the talks on “Sons and Daughters of God” and “Brothers and Sisters in the Lord.” As I reflected on the events during the first quarter of this year, God’s message seemed to revolve around the principal message of these teachings. The core message of these talks is found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians: For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God (Gal 3:26,28, 4:6-7). Paul tells us that since we are children of God, we are therefore to treat one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord. But in practical terms, what does it really mean to be a brother? How can we describe and capture the essence of being a brother? Some years ago when we were still in Jakarta, our youngest son, Jon, who was then around eleven years old and studying at the Jakarta International School, wrote a school essay on the topic, “What is the best thing that has ever happened to you?” One day while Jean was putting his room in order, she found this essay among Jon’s things from school. It was marked A+. In this essay Jon wrote about some incidents involving himself and his elder brother, Jenner, who was then around seventeen and a senior at the same international school. Jon related that on some evenings Jenner would leave the house to join his friends. He would do this by jumping from the ledge outside the window of his bedroom. To reenter the house, he would request Jon to keep the side door unlocked. Thus Jon would pretend to be asleep, and when everyone was sleeping, he would cautiously come down from his bedroom to unlock the side door. Jon ended his essay by saying that the best thing that ever happened to him was to see a note the following morning pasted on the door of his bedroom saying, “Thanks, Jon.” After reading this essay, we could not get ourselves angry. Instead, we were touched by the vivid portrayal of a very special relationship between two brothers. The essay was a magnificent description of brotherly love. Jon and Jenner were truly “brother” to each other. What they did was certainly not the right thing to do – to be, so to say, “partners in crime” – but one could not help but be touched by the very special bond, the extraordinary affection that existed between the two. My brothers and sisters, if we are indeed sons and daughters of God, then we are brothers and sisters in the Lord. And if we are brothers and sisters, should we not then support one another and care for each other? Should we not – like Jon – be available to make that extra effort to assist our brothers in whatever way we could? And should we not in return express our gratitude – like Jenner – for whatever love and care extended to us by others? Should we not reflect more profoundly on the essay of Jon? On 25-26 January, Jean and I went on mission to Yangon to give the teachings on covenant orientation, evangelization training, and financial stewardship to the new CFC community. At the end of the session that Sunday, as Jean and I prepared to leave for the airport to catch our flight back to Bangkok, a slightly handicapped man, probably a friend of one of the members, approached me requesting that I pray over him. I placed my hands on his shoulders and began praying over him. As I usually do, I had my eyes closed when praying in tongues. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see that a few more people were lined up behind him also wanting to be prayed over. In order not to miss our flight, I shortened my prayers for each one of them. But I saw that the line had become even longer, as more and more people lined up to be prayed over. It was a very touching sight for me. While I had very much wanted to give more time to each one, we had a plane to catch. Thus I ended up saying a very short prayer in tongues for each one of them. My brothers and sisters, as we hurriedly left for the airport, I felt very much closer to the members of the CFC community in Yangon. A special bond had developed making me feel that they were truly my brothers and sisters in the Lord who hunger so much for the word of God. They looked up to us as their elder brother and sister who serve as conduits of blessings from the Father, who help them to feel more closely the presence of Christ, who assist them to receive more readily the fruits of the Holy Spirit On 7-9 March, we conducted MER I and HER I in Yangon, together with Edgar Dante and Marichu Mondigo. At the retreat, I cited Galatians 3:26. I emphasized that before we are husbands and wives, we are first children of God and hence brothers and sisters in the Lord. As brothers and sisters in the CFC community, we are able to more readily show kindness, patience and forbearance towards each other. But as husbands and wives, why do we seem to have some difficulty? Within the community, we greet each other with a kiss. But why do we have difficulty greeting our spouses with a kiss? When a sister wants to talk with us, we listen. But why do we have less patience listening to our wives? We treat other members of the community gently. But why are we less gentle with our wives? Why do we behave this way towards each other as husbands and wives, when our nearest sister is our wife and our closest brother is our husband? Why is it that as husbands and wives, we seldom treat one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord, when it is easy for us to behave in that manner towards other members of the community? At the end of the retreat, we were deeply touched when two couples shared that the retreat had made them realize that indeed their spouses were children of God to be treated with love, honor and respect. One husband said that he felt so “light” after the retreat, having been unburdened of fears, hurts and sins of the past. On 22-23 March, the entire community of Bangkok went on a weekend retreat at Baan Phu Waan. As a final exhortation at the end of the retreat, I recalled how we behaved like children during the fellowship the previous evening – playing games, singing songs and just having lots of fun. For over an hour, we were oblivious of everything around us, focusing only on the game being played at that particular moment. We forgot about our concerns at the office and at home. There were no engineers or accountants, no diplomats or musicians, no rich or poor. We were all like little children enjoying each other’s company – as brothers and sisters in the Lord. My brothers and sisters, I urge you to reflect on Gal 3:26. For husbands, ask yourself the question: If my wife is a daughter of God and therefore my sister in the Lord, should I not love her dearly and care for her more tenderly than anybody else? For wives: If my husband is a son of God and therefore my brother in the Lord, should I not love him dearly and respect him more deeply than anybody else? For all of us: If we truly believe that we are all children of God and heirs to the kingdom of heaven, should we not proclaim this Good News to all those who still have not heard it so that we could all become one in Christ Jesus? And when we do, I am certain that we too will say – like Jon – it is the best thing that ever happened to me! |
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