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The incredible thing about the resurrection in this time of Easter, when we celebrate the most important event in the church is that we are confronted with a paradox that includes two conflicting & extremely opposite realities: humiliation and glory. Both are present in the incarnation and equally central to the person of Jesus.

And the Word Became Flesh

The incarnation of Jesus embodies a radical presence that begins with the attitude he assumed- one of humility, humility to the point of death at which time he then is lifted up in glory. From humiliation to glory. Jesus surprises the powers of death with His resurrection and that resurrection power is present everyday in each one of us His followers.

The entrance of God into the world by Jesus is the fruit of an architecture that opposes the logic of any prior religion. The key to the incarnation was Jesus’ voluntary emptying of himself. The decision he made and carried out all the way to his death on the cross, embracing a reality in which he was stripped of his rights, leaving his position of privilege, and his seat above all else on the throne.

The One who created all things became human… and he did not cling to His divinity. To the degree that he not only became absolutely ordinary, but even more incredibly, he humbled himself to the point of his own death on the cross, executed as a common criminal, poor, and a pariah.

A Parable of the Seed

The descent of Christ from His throne to the earth is eloquently illustrated in Philippians 2. Here the text reveals the key concept surrounding the incarnation: kenosis or emptying of oneself.

In John12:20-33 we see extreme aspect of the kenosis illustrated in the parable of the seed that has to fall to the ground to die in order to new life. The seed is the fruit, the objective and result the farmer aims for. It is what he is working towards in the farming process of planting, cultivating, fertilizing and finally harvesting. The seed is what the farmer reaps at the end of his arduous labors. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to plant a seed, whether it be corn or beans, when you harvest the grain or seed, you are looking for the perfect specimen to store for next years planting season. When you remove the husk you look for the perfect shape, color, and even taste.

The perfect fruit is what Jesus was to God the father, and God the gardener. Jesus is the mature fruit, the paradigm of what is to be a man after God’s own heart. The one who is holy and perfectly just. The only one of whom God could say, “in Him I am well pleased”. Jesus is the climax of creation, the one who embodied God’s original plan for Adam. He is the second Adam. I could just imagine God the father’s joy as he observed His son the divine one become man. I could imagine God like the proud farmer who achieved the perfect crop, with zero defects.

What would a farmer do with the perfect harvest? Would he harvest it and store it to continually be able to marvel at its perfection? Would he enjoy it fully and consume it all? Would he exhibit it for the entire world to admire?

Well, if you were a wise farmer you would do what a city dwelling consumer would deem ridiculous. You would keep the worst corn that you harvested, for milling and turning into corn flour for consumption. Then you would take the perfect grains of corn, and to the shock of a city dweller, you would bury it in the soil.

The reason is simple. If the farmer uses his best grains for seeds, he guarantees a better harvest for the following year. The plants that will grow from those seeds will be fuller, more robust, and would produce beautiful grains for harvest. If the farmer were to harvest his crops and mill the best grains, he would lose that perfect genetic seed forever. If he plants the poor quality seeds, he will have weak plant life that will produce a poor crop for harvest. Burying something that is so beautiful so perfect is a decision that makes all the difference in the world.

Upon doing it the seeds gets saturated with water, it expands and breaks, and a new sprout of plant life surges towards the surface. A vulnerable seedling breaks ground, susceptible to many things, but with great potential and incredible energy. Even though genetically the plant is the same as the seed, the nature of the new plant is distinct from the nature of the seed. They are the same, yet different.

Christ Transformed

When Jesus emptied himself, as radical as that was, it changed his nature forever. The body that he took to the cross knew the horror of the worst kind of suffering, it knew hunger, thirst, weakness and limitations, even death. By choosing to be a seed he was transformed: God made man.

But, after his death, he was resurrected in yet an even more glorified state, and was multiplied in the body, the community of the redeemed ones. He ascended to heaven and was reproduced on earth with new hands, new feet, words and actions, carried out by the living body of Christ, the church.

We have been buried and resurrected with Christ, and we are to be his Body on earth, at least that is God’s design for us. The body that reflects the resurrected Christ on a daily basis, through us living resurrected lives.

The key to the complete emptying that Jesus lived was not only in his physical resurrection, but also in the multiplication of life that His death and resurrection produced in us. Just like the perfect seed of corn that is planted and dies, it brings forth new life that doesn’t only reflect that perfect seed by one grain, but by many grains. And just like the healthy crop that comes forth in the harvest, we are faced with the decision of the farmer over and over again. We could store them up to admire their beauty as seeds, or we could sow them into the soil again to die and produce more life through their death.

“Having the Same Attitude as Christ”

In our churches today, we are barraged with the temptation to take this fruit of the permanent resurrection of Christ and place it into a grain storage facility. There we exhibit the beautiful grain that was harvested, grain that demonstrates God’s glory, grain that fights to preserve its form and beauty, its “rights”, grain that plots its own course and creates an identify for herself. And so, we become a church/silo.

But, we all know that good grain only remains healthy and disease free for a limited period of time. Soon, it is invaded by insects, disease, and rodents. Then to preserve it, we apply toxic chemicals that destroy the invaders… while at the same time killing the “resurrected life” which was made to die to itself and produce new life.

We are called to remember and live out the truth of Kenosis in Phillipians 2:5, “Having the same attitude as Christ Jesus…“. We can choose to die to ourselves, following His example, so that new life and harvests will come through our maturity, loyalty unto death, love and service.

But if we choose to store up the glory that comes through our life in Christ, if we choose to maintain our strength and refuse to become weak, if we continually climb to the mountaintops so that we could see and been seen, if we continue to produce the exotic mega-events that pattern themselves after the logic of this world, and do church as we would run a business, competing for the prize of our own glory….then the worm of sin will destroy us. The locust of vanity will devour us.

If we continue to seek after and develop the models of the church that we have seen grow over the last 60 years, a church that, after filling herself up with properties and material wealth, political power, and influence, communications prowess through television and radio and the accumulation of wealth, we will hear the Lord say to us just as he said to the church of Laodecia: “Because you say that ‘I am rich, I have become wealthy and have no need; but you don’t see that you are miserable, worthy only of pity, poor, blind and naked.”

Choosing the Path of Jesus

Rather, blessed will we be if we choose the path of Jesus. Becoming weak and miserable in the world’s eyes, pitied by the rulers of this world and her empires, considered poor by the rich consumers, becoming naked without shame in our extravagant love for others. We can choose to be as Christ before this world in which we live and be the continuous expression of the resurrected Christ.

Imagine the resurrection that we could become if we choose to die to ourselves and live for God. May the wonder of Easter break the boundaries of our church calendar year and be relived and celebrated EVERY DAY, all year long… in and among us as the people of the resurrection. To God be the glory!

]]> http://delcaminoconnection.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=39 http://delcaminoconnection.org/blog/?p=38 http://delcaminoconnection.org/blog/?p=38#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:24:11 +0000 admin http://delcaminoconnection.org/blog/?p=38 by Juan José Barreda Toscano, RdC Argentina

“Now that it seems like all is coming to an end, I have to tell you that there is nothing greater than the love that has come through our friendship,” Jesus said to his disciples.  Friendship isn’t an objective, nor is it a mission.  It isn’t about working together on something to accomplish a goal. It is all about us together, the collective “I”, lives shared.  Do not forget this essential foundational truth,  “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” John 13:34-35 (The Message). “I no longer call you servants because in reality we are friends.   You know everything about me and I have given you all of my love.  I do not need to explain to you that the same love should flow among you:  Hope for the best for each other, cultivate a love that leads you to lay down your lives for one another. Be true friends among each other as I have been a true friend among you” (cf. John 15:13-15).

What things or circumstance could possibly cause us to forget the importance of friendships? Maybe it’s our responsibilities? Perhaps it is our drive to be effective? Or could it be our understanding of the church’s mission and the way we see our “friends” as a distant boss or overseer? Maybe we forget about friendship because of the way we place value on “our” time?  Or maybe it is because we devalue the importance of “presence” or being present in the body?

Leisure has gained a bad reputation these days — even to the point of being defined as a negative use of time by those who seek only results from human relationships. Instead, what we do find in the place of friendships are the large groups of people who gather every Sunday for a couple of hours. These groups of people have the gall, by consensus, to call themselves the church.  They even use the term brother and sister to address one another, oftentimes to hide the fact that they do not know each other’s names, histories or life circumstances.

“But is should not be that way among you…”

The church and the relationships shared among Christ followers are Christian, when they are founded on the love born out of true friendships. There is no greater priority for the church, to be the church. More than her mission, it is her reason for being, and from there it is only possible to practice the evangelization as a lifestyle that truly reveals the Good News of reconciliation.

In friendship we build connections, which move us towards transformation by the Holy Spirit, in that our commitment to the other becomes a commitment to oneself. When Jesus told us to love one another and become friends, He was breaking with one of the foundations of the world’s system that ushered in the domination of the empire – indifference. Indifference in the empire wasn’t just any indifference; it was a calculated form of indifference that was very useful to its own existence.  Slavery, hierarchies of power, and the attributions of divinity to those who held power were its best expressions.

And so, Jesus proposed love and friendship as an alternative way of living that would bring down the inhumane ideology of the empire. Servility doesn’t exist among friends. There are no impositions or intentional harm among those who love one another as themselves. Christ-centered friendship shook the very foundations of the empire.

A social inversion of values ensued where people could see one another with admiration and appreciation. Slaves became leaders of the churches, women became pastors. Foreigners became family, and the sick and rejected were embraced and accepted. Time ceased to be a commodity and a sense of wonder and meaning returned to the unexpected encounters and events of the day.   Friendships happened.

“So it shall be among you…”

There shouldn’t be a more sacred time than sharing a cup of coffee with a friend.   Nothing is more Christian than celebrating a birthday, raising our children together in community, listening to each others concerns, sitting at the bedside of one whose health is failing. There is nothing more Christian than to know that we are loved and that we allow love to happen to us.

In friendship we change practices and ideologies for the love of another.  We cannot wait for everyone to understand this because indifference courses over all social and religious groups.   Unfortunately, there will be some who attack us and oppose us for simply loving one another. This is possibly one of the most negative implications of friendship in Christ, but at the same time it is one of the greatest ways in which we will appreciate the love of others.

In the Red del Camino, we seek to be friends first. We join our lives and ministries and families together to the point of being all tied up in knots, like a net.  We run the risks that friendship carries, as most of the time our friendships end up making our lives more complicated as our relationships go deeper and become more entwined.

But, when we are bound by the Spirit, we learn, and we grow.  We learn as we walk together on the Way, which unfortunately has very few reference points. I’m not saying that our friendships achieve fullness at all times and in all circumstances, but we try as we collectively desire to follow Jesus and His way of being.

In these present times, when friendship is a condition that is questioned and suspect, we need to motivate one another to love through these God-gifted friendships; and not as a should, but as a right. No one should be able to doubt that our churches have all the right to attempt it.  We have come this far after a lot of effort, struggles and times of loneliness. But, we have also been sustained by the unconditional love of our companions on the Way of the Lord.   For them, there is no ideology, and not even a testimony, that justifies the abandonment of loving one another as Jesus loved us in friendship.

“And so we began…  and so we must continue on…”

Pastor Juan José Barreda Toscano
RdC Argentina

In this month’s Signposts, pastor and DCC board member, Doug Calhoun reflects on his time in Guatemala and how the RdC Gathering inspired him.

In each succeeding village I toured before the RdC gathering, I meet local pastors who have caught the vision of holistic mission to their communities. Though each church comes from a different denominational affiliation, these men have found camaraderie with RdC in taking the Gospel to meet the practical needs in peoples’ lives…

As I walked around observing and photographing the gathering, the energy and enthusiasm of every participant was obvious. There were older pastors, who no doubt were quite experienced in “normal” church life, now interacting with these new ideas with humor, with intense discussions, and with insight. Conversations around the meal tables picked up volume and energy as the conference continued.

By way of age contrast, the worship music was supplied by local InterVarsity staff and students, representing the younger generation’s passion for this holistic ministry.

Friday morning Robert Guerrero provided a powerful overview of the theology of the Kingdom of God and its application to the church today. You could see on peoples’ faces the deeper understanding gained in just two days of the gathering. When the time for testimonies opened, several shared gratitude in finding they were not alone in this kind of broader ministry to people. And experiencing communion across all the normal church lines was a powerful conclusion the sense of unity in the Missio Dei there in Guatemala.

As part of the closing meetings, the coordination of the network was handed over to Rodolfo Rodas. The plan for regional gatherings was also put into motion so as to make accessible the training and cooperation to more pastors throughout the diverse sectors of the country, especially seeking to cultivate the urban centers which are less represented among the Network.

At our post-conference debrief with Axel, Rodolfo, Pamela (one of the team), Robert and I, it was awesome to hear how far the movement had progressed in just a few short years of meeting. I was struck by one small part of our conversation though. Axel mentioned that he had received threats from some very powerful people because of his empowering the local indigenous leaders in the villages. He said he had laid an escape plan should the threat level rise any higher. The power brokers are completely capable of simply making him disappear. I marveled at his commitment and his perseverance in spite of that.

The next morning, I was back at Redeemer Community Church in Needham, MA, sharing briefly with my congregation what I could of the trip. We had just heard a sermon about John the Baptist’s death and rejection that Jesus himself experienced in his home town. All of a sudden saying the Apostles’ Creed and taking communion led me to an different place. I was choking back emotion as I had Axel and his family’s face in my mind as I thought of the cost of living for the Gospel.

And we, sitting there in comfort, are One Body with these brothers and sisters in Guatemala and wherever the church suffers. The Red del Camino is simply a small manifestation of the power of the Body of Christ, which follows the way of crucified Lord.  May God give us all courage to be an active and faithful participant in whatever ways we can.

By Tom Yaccino

We often find it challenging to describe to people what the RdC Network “is”. It is hard to adequately describe these grassroots movements that grow among local communities of faith who are believing and living as witnesses to Christ and His Kingdom in this broken world. But we are reassured that, while it  can at times be difficult to describe what we live and experience in the Networks we serve and support, the Red del Camino is something alive and very real. What the network is and what it is catalyzing results in incredible life-giving transformations in people and communities around the world.

When you think about the metrics driven world we live in today, this loosely structured and hard to measure Network movement presents a challenge to those who want to understand and contribute. We do find hope and consolation in the fact that the Kingdom of God, which Jesus talked so much about in his ministry here on earth, is also one of those hard to measure realities.

In his ministry Jesus emphasized again that the Kingdom has come, and it is present here and now among (us) His disciples.

At the time He shared this unbelievable news, the Roman empire was in control of all aspects of life and the Jews and gentiles alike were living under their oppressive government. Yet, Jesus says the Kingdom is near, and even present. Was it measurable? What were the indicators? What kind of base line was used to measure just how present the Kingdom that had broken into the world through Jesus was actually making a difference?

To a certain degree, the RdC Networks we serve and support reveal the very Kingdom Jesus announced.  From their gatherings, where one spirit unites diverse groups of believers around discovering and participating in God’s mission to make all things new, to churches breaking the mold to be present in their communities and contexts, the churches that are part of the RdC are reaching out to the lost and hurting and revealing powerful glimpses of God’s grace filled unconditional love, His Kingdom among us….

…those who take the time to “go and see” are impacted, challenged, and inspired to live their faith in Kingdom revealing ways…

The theologian Jonathan Edwards described the difference between hearing and experiencing God with the metaphor of honey. Reason alone allows us to perceive truth but not experience its goodness. Therefore, in order to truly know goodness we must directly participate in it. According to his example, we may know honey is sweet but we may only delight in the sweetness of honey by tasting it with our own lips. It is not reason alone that allows us to enjoy honey but the actual tasting of honey that manifests its full benefit, its true sweetness. In other words, taste touches us more deeply than mere intellectual reflection, because taste awakens the heart.

Dee and I, along with many of the network leaders have seen time after time how those who take the time to “go and see” are impacted, challenged, and inspired to live their faith in Kingdom revealing ways as they listen, learn, connect, and share with the churches of the RdC movement. “Tasting” the network in action awakens the heart…

The networks see God’s mission above any one particular mission.

The RdC Network tends to see the Kingdom as the central focus over and above the individual local church. The body, or bride of Christ, is the living organism that produces life and living expressions of the Kingdom that has come. When churches that gather have this as their focus, the human spirit of competition and comparisons is diminished. Those who come to experience the Network in action are continuously amazed to see people from church denominations that are oftentimes diametrically opposed in areas of doctrine or expressions of the faith, being such good friends and partners in Kingdom mission.

The networks see God’s mission above any one particular church’s mission. Network participants quickly share that they do not really have a “mission”, but rather belong to God and His mission to restore all things and reconcile all things unto Himself. This sense of God’s mission (Missio Dei- discovering where God is moving and joining in) marks a distinct difference from the often times divisive and competitive church programs or ministries that seek to make a name for themselves, while serving in the name of Jesus.

Another point of distinction in the RdC Network is the sense of celebration as One body as opposed to seeing individual congregations (which often leads to church rivalries). We are all a part of the One body of Christ, with unique gifts and contributions to accomplish His Kingdom revealing mission. When one church experiences transformation and hope in their communities through their faithful and risk taking initiatives, all the churches celebrate! Rather than duplicate programs from church to church, network churches compliment one another, working toward the greater good of the community.

One last unique element we have experienced in the Network is the importance of friendships among the followers. As we become friends, bonded by the love of Christ and a passionate commitment to following His lead, we experience a deep sense of community. So much so that those outside looking in question how that could be possible. We catch glimpses of the Kingdom when the “community” that God had in mind for his people actually happens!

Come and “taste and see” for yourself. And as a result grow your own churches’ passionate commitment to making all things new in Christ Jesus.

While the process of becoming a Network and working out the connections is hard, and at times difficult to measure, the fruit that comes from churches is unbelievably sweet. We see the whole Kingdom over and above the individual parts (local churches). We see God’s mission over and above the “mission” that any particular church claims to own. And we see the celebration of community through deep God honoring friendships in mission over making a name for ourselves.

We pray that more and more of you are able to come and be with the Networks, connect in their gatherings, hear the stories of Kingdom revealed through their testimonies. Come and “taste and see” for yourself. And as a result grow your own churches’ passionate commitment to making all things new in Christ Jesus.

If you would like to be a part of an upcoming network gathering in one of the 8 countries in Latin America where networks are operating, contact us to learn about how we could make your “seeing and tasting” experience possible.

hese thoughts developed in me during the recent exchange myself, my wife and over 30 other Haitian leader’s experienced during the Red del Camino’s annual gathering in the Dominican Republic.  The blessing of our being there and participating in this incredible gathering came through the loved filled invitation from our Dominican brothers and sisters of the RdC network as a means to offer us rest and reflection and strength, taking us from the challenges of living and ministering in our challenging post earthquake context. The friendships that have been forming between our churches from our divided island over the years via the RdC network, provides a beautiful living example of reconciliation in Christ.

Much of what I is shared here comes from the message I gave at Iglesia Comunitaria Cristiana de la Zona Colonial where my friend and pastor Robert Guerrero asked me to share at their Sunday service after the RdC DR gathering. The message, that I felt was prompted by the Holy Spirit, was a reminder of the reasons why we, as Christian leaders from various ethnic background who are ministering to each other, should be celebrating.  The RdC Network movement in our Caribbean context shares a special passion to see Dominicans and Haitians working hand in hand as brothers sisters of the Kingdom family, to further Christ’s restorative plans on the island we share. The RdC senses the call of Christ to keep us all united under the same red banner of the blood of Christ.

As I prepared the message, I recalled a story that a Haitian pastor friend of mine told me several years ago…  A Haitian pastor became frustrated and worried as it was getting close to the time to leave for church… He had diligently prepared a powerful message for Sunday’s sermon and was on his way to deliver it, when he realized that he could not find his reading glasses. He was sure he had placed them on the dining room table, but could not find them there. He admonished everyone in the household for having moved them. He was tense and frustrated because without his reading glasses he would not be able to share his sermon with the congregation. He would be unable to celebrate the joys of Christian community because he wouldn’t be able to read God’s word and follow his notes for the message. His joy was quickly getting quenched when his wife pointed out to him that his glasses were carefully resting on the top of his head, not on the table as he had thought. He had all the reasons and conditions necessary to celebrate this Sunday, but, unfortunately for him, the frustration and anxiety he was experiencing stole that celebration right out from under him…

He had all the reasons and conditions necessary to celebrate this Sunday, but, unfortunately for him, the frustration and anxiety he was experiencing stole that celebration right out from under him

As I recalled this story it reminded me of how we have to be careful to avoid living lives of tensions, misplaced frustrations and anxiety all the while missing the point and the blessings that are right in front of us that we should be celebrating.  Too often as Christians we live our lives the same ways that Sarah and Abraham lived as recorded in the book of Genesis…  When God shared with them His promise of a family that would as numerous as the stars and a blessing to all nations, instead of celebrating, their reaction was to laugh in disbelief. Or like Moses, in the book of Exodus, when God revealed his plans and His calling on his life, as he does with us, instead of celebrating the honor of having been called to His purposes and His plans, we give excuses and deflect the responsibility. We give many excuses to God like Moses did when he was called to the worthiest cause of bringing deliverance, peace and justice to God’s people. We often are like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who lost hope while hope was right by their side.

We are like the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders in Luke 4 who were witnessing the fulfillment of prophecies for a year of grace on behalf of the poor, the prisoners, the blind, the brokenhearted. Jesus had to remind them of it and yet, instead of celebrating, they decided to crucify him.  I share all of these examples all in light of what a group of Haitian leaders were thinking as we were traveling from Port au Prince to be part of a conference in Santo Domingo in late April.

On our way to the gathering, as we were crossing the Haitian Dominican border, one leader brought to our attention the frustrating experiences that he had some 10 years earlier, that continued plague him to this day. He told us that as a university student in Haiti at that time, he swore that he would never again go from Haiti to Dominican Republic because of the ways he was so humiliated by Dominican guards when he tried to cross the border.   When he was legally crossing the borders at that time, the guards hit him several times and humiliated him publicly all the while shouting, “go to your country, stupid Haitian”.

His recollection of this negative event came just as we were approaching the border crossing into the DR. And while we were still on the Haitian side, we saw some Haitian military personnel harassing two Dominican mechanics who crossed over the border to come help fix a car for another Haitian.  We stopped and I tried to intervene on their behalf.   Some Haitians who were observing the scene scorned me saying “you don’t know what these Dominicans are doing to our Haitian brothers in the Dominican Republic!” They wanted to give retribution by mistreating the Dominicans in Haiti. They said, ”Dominicans are upset with Haitians. They think that the reasons why their country does not progress is because of us Haitians who cross over in masses for the last 25 years. They say that we cause them to go backward. They don’t want to have anything to do with us. They have a tendency to be mean to us.” Haitians, in the same vein, tend to be very reserved and suspicious toward Dominicans and are always ready to defend themselves. The conversation among the church leaders in our vehicle went on for a long time.  At one point, I felt I had to intervene.

I said, “Let us do a reality check.  Let’s look at the situation, not from the perspective of what is going through your minds but, from the perspective of actions that can change your ways of thinking”  I added, “Sometimes, what we think affects the way we act. People need to be constantly reminded of the fact that if they change the way they act it will directly affect the way they think. As Christians, nobody nor anything should dictate the way we should treat other people. Jesus alone tells us how we should treat each other. He has already told us that our love for one another is the test that proves our identity in Him. We love each other unconditionally, we are Christ’s disciples. The reverse should be true also. When we fail to love, we are not faithful representatives of Him or His Kingdom.  If we are making progress towards becoming more like Christ our savior, even though we still have a long way to go,  we all should be reminded of this truth, and thus, take the opportunity to celebrate.”

When we fail to love, we are not faithful representatives of Him or His Kingdom.

“Where are we heading to right now?”, I asked my colleagues,  “We are heading to a three day conference in Santo Domingo”, replied one of our leaders. Then my administrative assistant who understood where I intended to take the conversation to, went on to say,  “Every single penny to cover our expenses is paid for by our Dominican brothers and sisters in Christ and their Kingdom partners who feel called by God to keep alive and strong the ties that bind our hearts in Christian love.”

We are all part of a network of churches who are passionate about the same mission. We have been purchased with one blood, and we are of one faith, one Lord, one baptism, one Spirit, one God and one hope. Now is definitely not the time to misplace our glasses and live frustrated lives while they are right on our foreheads. Now is the time to put them on, in order to see what God is doing among us and celebrate. Even after the terrible earthquake, we witnessed terrible blockages at all of the border crossings. Dominicans, even who are not necessarily motivated by the love of Christ, were making interventions in the names of organizations or governments on our behalf. Even this alone should be a reason for celebration. However, even more so, motivated by the Love of Christ, called as ambassadors of Christ for the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5), we should move one step further with our glasses.

In our particular ministry in Haiti, we are trying to impact communities by establishing local churches among people who earn less than one US dollar a day. We enjoy visiting them on a regular basis. One Sunday, at around 11:00am, we saw one member from a remote church running so fast to get back home after the service. When stopped by a deacon he admitted that the reason why he had to run back home was because it was very cloudy. He had put some seeds on the roof of his house to dry, and he did not want them to get wet if it rained.  “Remove your glasses” said the deacon.  The church member realized that it was not cloudy, it is not rainy, it was not so dark outside. He thought it was dark outside because even while he was sitting inside the church, he was wearing for the first time, a pair of sunglasses that his son had brought him as a birthday present. He had glasses on but his glasses had the wrong kind of lenses.

Let us learn to put on our glasses with the right kind of lenses so we can contemplate the great things the Lord is doing in and through us and so have reasons to celebrate.

Right after we Haitians celebrated our participation in the RdC Dr national gathering, we celebrated Easter, the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who came to reconcile us with the Father, and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. While the recovery and reconstruction of our Haitian homeland continues at a snails pace with much deception and unfulfilled promises, we are still witnesses to the seeds of hope faithfully carried out by God’s Kingdom agent, the local church. Communities of faith that are bringing life and hope to communities, families and individuals that have all but given up hope of a better life. Education for the most vulnerable, sustainable food production for families in need, water and income generation all are sprouting forth from the seeds that fall to the ground, die to themselves and allow the blood of Christ to bring new life. Let us learn to put on our glasses with the right kind of lenses so we can contemplate the great things the Lord is doing in and through us and so have reasons to celebrate.

Kingdom Investment Opportunity:

There are still unmet needs and initiatives in Haiti that need your support. Pastors, like Jepthe, are providing much needed pastoral care and leadership in post-earthquake Haiti.

One of the leaders of the emerging RdC Haiti Network is in need of housing still as he and his family are still living in a tent. Despite his own living situation, he continues to lead efforts to build houses for his neighbors in need and has blessed dozens of families through his sacrificial service and training support to local churches through the sustainable food production program (rabbit production). We need $6,000 to bless this servant with the funds he would need to build himself adequate shelter. This is especially important in this time of high risk for cholera outbreak because of the rainy season.

Give Now! Choose Haitian Housing from the drop down list

The Bizarre & Miraculous Nature of the Resurrection…

by Claudio Oliver, RdC Brazil

During Easter, the most important celebration for Christians, we are confronted with a paradox in the nature of the person of Jesus Christ—the equal centrality of both humiliation and glory. The incarnation of Jesus begins with him assuming an attitude of radical humiliation and ends with him receiving extreme glory. The surprising power of resurrection through death is something each one of us needs to be reminded of each day.

Jesus’ entrance into the world seems to oppose all prior frameworks of divine logic. The essential key to the incarnation is that it necessitated “emptying”. God’s decision was to be stripped of all rights and privileges, and His reigning centrality on the throne.  The contrast is extreme.  God, whose very nature is sovereign and who reigns from on high, becomes God who walks among us in His created order, revealing Himself without position and prerogatives.  He becomes so incredibly normal and ordinary, that when He is handed over to the authorities, He submits Himself to the common execution of a poor, criminal, slave rejected by men.

The contrast between glory in the highest and ordinary humiliation of the down and out, is based on the text from Philippians 2.  The core concept that makes the divine revelation in Jesus totally unique is ‘Kenosis’, or the emptying of oneself.  In John 12:20-33, we see a perfect illustration of the extreme nature of this teaching in the parable of the seed that falls to the ground and dies in order to bring new life through the plant.

For a farmer, the much sought after end result is the seed, which is the fruit of all his labor.  It is the goal of the process of planting, cultivating, caring for and ultimately harvesting. The process is a long and arduous one throughout the seasons for the life of the farmer. Anyone who has ever had the privilege of planting a garden, (be it some beans or corn), and appreciated the perfection of the grain that is harvested; its shape and texture, its color, or had the pleasure of revealing its core by removing it from its vegetative covering, knows that it is a wonderful and fulfilling experience!

For a farmer, the much sought after end result is the seed, which is the fruit of all his labor.

So it was in Jesus for God the Father, the farmer.  Jesus is the mature fruit. He is man as God created, perfectly just and sinless, whom God refers to saying, “in Him I am truly pleased”.  He is the maximum expression of all of creation who accomplishes what had been planned and projected for Adam.  He is the second Adam.

Imagine the Joy that God, the father, experienced in the incarnated Jesus.  He would feel like a farmer standing in his garden looking at a plant of corn, ready for the harvest, perfectly formed and colored.  The most perfect plant in the whole garden!  What would the farmer do with the exquisite perfect ear of corn? Pick it? Save it? Eat it? Exhibit it for all to see? Place it in his front office of the farming business for all who visit to see and admire?

He would feel like a farmer standing in his garden looking at a plant of corn, ready for the harvest, perfectly formed and colored.  The most perfect plant in the whole garden!

Think about it…if you were a wise farmer, without hesitation you would do what the world of consumers would deem absurd and foolish. You would take the lesser ears of corn harvested, those with imperfections and blemishes, and grind them into corn flour or process it for animal feed.  Then, you would take the perfect fruit of the harvest and do with it what would be unthinkable for anyone unfamiliar with life on the land: you would take the perfect corn and use it for seed, burying it back into the ground.

The reason behind this is simple. If the farmer reserves his best harvest for seed, each year his harvest will yield more and better fruit.  More perfect and beautiful fruit will be produced from the incredible genetic selection that it produces.  If the farmer took his best grain from the harvest to the mill, in the end he would only have flour that is eaten, but he would lose the genetic perfection of the best fruit.  If he chose to plant the imperfect seeds for the next growing season, in the end he would have a poor harvest.

Choosing to bury what is so perfect and impressive is the decision God made, that changes everything.   By choosing to plant the seed (bury it), the seed swells as it absorbs water and breaks open, it sprouts a weak and vulnerable plant as it germinates, but it is a plant full of life, energy and incredible potential.  And, in spite of the fact that genetically it is the same as the seed, the plant is of a wholly distinct nature. They are the same, yet totally distinct.

The emptying of Jesus, radical as it was, changed His nature forever.  The natural body that he incarnated suffered the horrors of hunger, cold, torture and all the limitations of humanity, including death. By choosing to be a seed, he came forth as a resurrected being transformed, changed, eternal, restored to His original glory, and recognized plainly as God.   After His death, his body not only resurrected to the glorious form that we all recognize in the person of Jesus Christ, but He also resurrected into another new form which was not anticipated…He was resurrected with new arms, legs, hands and feet, words and actions that are lived out in His new body–the church–the living body of the resurrected Christ.   We are it!  At least as we live as the Father hopes we shall live here on earth, we are His resurrected body.  The church is the resurrected body of Jesus Christ that lives out his earthly mission every day.

By choosing to be a seed, he came forth as a resurrected being transformed, changed, eternal, restored to His original glory, and recognized plainly as God.

The impact of the complete emptying that Jesus lived out is not only in His physical resurrection, but also in the multiplication that happens, the same way that it is experienced with the perfect grain of corn that is buried.   Now, it is not only one grain (or seed) that reflects the maturity and beauty of God’s creation, but also the many who are transformed by Christ that can now live out and manifest God’s presence and transforming action in the world.  Before such seeds are multiplied, they must constantly be engaged and subjected to the cycle of death and life that the farmer lives out in all his labor. Daily we have to make the decision to either guard our perfect seeds for exhibition or consumption, or bury them in the ground, and in that dying, bring forth new life for the harvest!

The very church, the community of faith (the body) that is permanently being resurrected in Christ, can choose death or self-preservation.  When we choose to save ourselves, we become like beautiful grain in a barn or a storage silo.  It looks glorious and wonderful for the world to see all the perfect grain.  We fight for our rights, we use our power and prerogatives to make our voice known and respected.  We become a church/ silo.  But, as we know, worms and disease soon invade grain that is stored away and “saved”.  When that happens we have to utilize all sorts of chemicals to stop the advances of decay and destruction. The chemicals that slow disease and decay, while temporarily prolonging life, ultimately kill the living grain.  We become the pathetic figure of a church body that because of our selfish decision to save our life, we lose it and fail to reveal to the world the resurrected Christ in the flesh.  The church must be continuously reminded of the truth we read in Philippians 2:5, “having the same attitude of Christ Jesus…” imitating Christ and emptying ourselves…dying in order to bring forth life.

The church must be continuously reminded of the truth we read in Philippians 2:5, “having the same attitude of Christ Jesus…” imitating Christ and emptying ourselves…dying in order to bring forth life.

If we follow His example, new harvests will come with more maturity, loyalty, love and glory for God.   If we chose to store up our harvests, saving the glory for ourselves, conserving our energies and resources for ourselves, if we opt to encase our beautiful grain for all to observe and marvel at us, the worm of sin will ultimately destroy us.   The locust of vanity, position and power will devour us.  Better to choose as Christ Jesus, to be miserable before the eyes of the world, pitied by the empires that be, considered poor by the rich consumers of this world, and naked without shame for the love of Christ and His kingdom.  To live is Christ, to die is gain when we become the continual expression of the resurrection that we are meant to be. May this Easter be a time of reconversion and reencounter with our resurrection calling!

To God be all the GLORY.

“‘Now that it seems like all is coming to an end, I have to tell you that there is nothing greater than the love that has come through our friendship’, Jesus said to his disciples…’Friendship isn’t an objective, nor is it a mission.  It isn’t about working together on something to accomplish a goal. It is all about us together, the collective “I”, lives shared.  Do not forget this essential foundational truth. Let me give you a new command: Love one another in the same way I loved you. Love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” John 13:34-35 (The Message)

“I no longer call you servants because in reality we are friends. You know everything about me and I have given you all of my love.  I do not need to explain to you that the same love should flow among you: Hope for the best for each other, cultivate a love that leads you to lay down your lives for one another. Be true friends among each other as I have been a true friend among you.” (John 15:13-15)

What things or circumstance could possibly cause us to forget the importance of friendships?  Do we forget because of our responsibilities?  Is it the drive to be effective?  Or could it be our understanding of the church’s mission and the way we see our Friend as a distance boss?  Maybe we forget about friendship because of the way we place value on “our” time?  Or do we devalue the importance of “presence” in the body?

“Leisure” has gained a bad reputation, even to the point of being seen as a negative use of time by those who seek results from human relationships. What we do find during our days off are the large groups of people who gather every Sunday for a couple of hours. These groups of people have the gall, by consensus, to call themselves the “church”.  They even use the term “brother” and “sister” to address one another, oftentimes to hide the fact that they do not know each other names, their histories or life circumstances.

“But it should not be that way among you…”

The church and the relationships shared among Christ followers are Christian when they are founded on the love born out of true friendships. There is no greater priority for the church to be the church.

More than her mission, it is her reason for being, and from there it is only possible to practice the evangelization as a lifestyle that truly reveals the Good News of reconciliation. In friendship we build connections, which move us towards transformation by the Holy Spirit, in that our commitment to the other becomes a commitment to oneself.  When Jesus told us to love one another and become friends, He was breaking with one of the pillars of the world’s system that ushered in the domination of the empire – indifference.

Indifference in the empire wasn’t just any kind of indifference. It was a calculated form of indifference that was very useful to its own existence. Slavery, hierarchies of power, and the attributions of divinity to those who held power were its best expressions. And so, in the context of the empire, Jesus proposed love and friendship as an alternative way of living that would bring down the inhumane ideology of those worldly structures. Servility doesn’t exist among friends.  There are no impositions or intentional harm among those who love one another as themselves.

Christ-centered friendship shook the very foundations of the empire. A social inversion of values ensued where people could see one another with admiration and appreciation. Slaves became leaders of the churches and women became pastors. Foreigners became family, and the sick and rejected were embraced and accepted. Time ceased to be a commodity and a sense of wonder and meaning returned to the unexpected encounters and contingencies of the day. Friendships happened.

“So it shall be among you…”

There shouldn’t be a more sacred time than one spent sharing a cup of coffee with a friend. Nothing is more Christian than celebrating a birthday, raising our children together in community, listening to each other’s concerns, or sitting at the bedside of one whose health is failing. There is nothing more Christian than to know that we are loved and that we allow ‘love’ to happen.  In friendship, we change practices and ideologies for the love of another.

We cannot wait for everyone to understand exactly as we do, as indifference crosses over and is a part of all social and religious groups. It is through friendship and loving one another that we grow together in this understanding. Unfortunately, there will be some who attack us and oppose us for simply loving one another. This is possibly one of the most negative implications of friendship in Christ. But at the same time, it is one of the greatest ways in which we will appreciate the love of others.

In the Red del Camino, we seek to be friends first. We join our lives and ministries and families together to the point of being all tied up in knots, like a net. We run the risks that friendship carries, as most of the time our friendships end up making our lives more complicated as our relationships go deeper and become more entwined. But, when we are bound together by the Spirit, we learn, we grow.

We learn as we walk together on the Way, which unfortunately has very few reference points. I’m not saying that our friendships achieve fullness at all times and in all circumstances, but we try as we collectively desire to follow Jesus and His way of being. In these present times, when friendship is a condition that is questioned and suspect, we need to motivate one another to love one another through these God-gifted friendships; and not as a should, but as a right.

No one should be able to doubt that our churches have the right to attempt it. We have come this far after a lot of effort, struggles and times of loneliness. But, we have been sustained by the unconditional love of our companions along the Way of the Lord. For them, there is no ideology, and not even a testimony, that justifies the abandonment of loving one another as Jesus loved us in friendship.

“And so we began…  and so we must continue on…”

A Christmas Blog by Edesio Sanchez-Cetina:

Introduction

During the very demise of the nation of Israel, when it was on the verge of total collapse and frustration, God decides that the way in which the wayward nation, his chosen people, had developed and structured itself – socially, economically, religiously and politically – brought her to a particular place in history where her future was practically doomed. What was He to do in light of this bleak outlook of the future? The destruction of the nation was already a part of His divine plan, yet He could not permit that His creation, a space where all the created order–plants, animals, human beings and the divine– would end up lost forever.

All institutions–social, economic, and political structures established by human beings, in accordance with the scriptures of the Old Testament, had failed. And this failure is intimately related to the disobedience, abandonment and unfaithfulness of God’s people toward their Creator. Unfaithfulness and injustice walked hand in hand and this was the greatest complaint God presented to the mouths of His prophets (Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah.) It seems as though having created humankind as adults, was the eternal error of God. Genesis 3-11 offers none other than error after error, evil doing after evil doing in humankind’s efforts to make their own way in this world. After another fresh start with Abraham and the Semites, with the people of Israel, first lead by judges and then by Monarchs - God finally decides to announce through the mouths of the prophets, the end to this failed era and the beginning of something new…

A new world, a new human being, and new project…

Psalm 8 talks about the creation and her crown jewel, human beings. It reveals or hints at that fact that the adult, as created by God is what a child should aspire to become– the authentic image and likeness of God the Creator. In the original creation the human as adult took center stage in the narrative, but now a child seems to have displaced him from center stage. After singing of the greatness of the divine creation, the poet affirms the following:

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger (Psalm 8:2, NIV).

Now it isn’t the adults, the great and powerful, who have the leadership to dialogue with God or to confront evil and overcome the enemy! They are children! So, that which follows in the psalm and the affirmation of the subjection of all created things under the leadership of humankind is defined by this new direction: children and infants! This connects so beautifully with what God says through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 11:3-6:

… he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, and leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

In the new creation, in God’s new project, the confrontation with injustice and evil in the establishment of the Kingdom of God, the protagonist is a little child.

To dethrone the injustices that rule and create a new world, a new kingdom reign, adults have to step aside, with all their institutions, organizations and structures. In God’s new beginning, marked by the prophetic proclamation, by the first message of the New Testament, God incarnates as the new Adam, who is not an adult, but a child, an infant.

Emmanuel, the Messiah, comes onto the scene with all his transforming creative power in the person of a child:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. He will reign on David’s throne and over His Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The first Christmas did not celebrate the arrival of an adult warrior, powerful and armed to the teeth, but rather the entrance of the all powerful God in the person of the child born in Bethlehem, the baby born in a cave, laying in a feed trough, surrounded by humble shepherds that heard the angelical announcement:

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
(Luke 2:10-12,NIV)

What a paradox! The Messiah, savior of the world, is present among us in the person of a child wrapped in diapers and laying in a manger. For Luke and Matthew, the Good News of salvation begins with God as a baby. How incredible! The eternal all-powerful God of the universe decides to break into human history as a child. This is a theological declaration that defines from beginning to end God’s salvation plan for all creation! Because God decided to become human and present himself before us as a child, He reveals before our eyes the messianic Kingdom from the perspective of a child. These two elements, at the beginning and the end of the incarnation should be seriously considered as we understand and define each aspect of the works of Christ. His ministry, passion, resurrection and glorious second coming cannot be understood fully unless they are seen through the eyes and perspective of the child that opens and closes this redemptive drama in which Christ is the main protagonist.

Similarly, here and there throughout the New Testament, like gold nuggets, we find witness to this message. To the adults who walked with Jesus it was very difficult for them to understand God’s childlike project and Jesus had to remind them over and over again in distinct ways…

I praise you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. (Matthew 11:25)

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. (Mark 10 14-16)

This system of values that Jesus taught takes us out of the world of “serious and structured” adulthood and places us right in the middle of the territory of children. In this same context, the invitation to the search for the Kingdom of God and His justice does not take us out of this territory of children. The Kingdom that is of children and the justice of God that they understand more than adults demands that in this dimension of evangelization, that children become the primary subjects and adults the receptors. Today there exists an urgency to write biblical theology that defines humankind from the bottom up and not from the top down; or as in the case of this reflection, from the child to the adult. I think that only in this way, could we discover a truly biblical theology, that God opens up the way through means and mediums that the adult is not the protagonist. These are the surprises of God.

An illustration from the Gospel of Luke…

Zaccheus the adult child who at play discovered the Kingdom of God… (Luke 19:1-10)
If we would place a tree and a child together in the same scene, the image that would jump to our minds first would be of the child energetically climbing the tree. It would be difficult to imagine anything else but this playful interaction between child and object. But, if we were to imagine a businessman and a tree in the same scene, we could probably envision a number of different possibilities. For example, if it were a fruit tree, we would imagine the businessman harvesting and selling the fruit. If it were a tree fit for lumber, we would most likely envision him cutting it down to mill and make furniture or produce some other product with which to make a profit. The sycamore tree cited in the text found in Luke was known as both a fruit and wood-producing tree.

Children climb up trees by instinct because they are children. Their minds are designed to seek out play. If adults climb trees we immediately think of some special reason that motivated this behavior (to harvest its fruit or cut down its branches for lumber.) If this adult who climbs the tree is a rich businessman we see his reasons to act in such a way as to produce profits of some kind.

Zaccheus, as Matthew helps us see in the narrative, was a rich adult, chief tax collector for Rome among the Jews. But Zaccheus did not climb the tree to gain profit, but rather he was moved by a childlike curiosity to see the talked about celebrity of the moment: Jesus. For a moment he allowed his attention to diverge from its principal attraction, money and riches, to the person of Jesus. The information we have regarding his stature is the key hermaneutical element given to us by the author to help us understand him like a child.

The climbing of the tree and the reason given for this action provide us with the first action Zaccheus reveals to us, not as the rich and corrupt adult, but as the child. He climbed the tree out of curiosity to see just who this Jesus was. It was an absurd action realized by someone whom we would least likely see doing such a thing. But, by becoming like a child he came, face to face with his own salvation. Try to imagine Zaccheus on an ordinary day, walking the streets of Jericho. An older man, thick skinned, short in stature, wearing fine and expensive clothes. Known by all around him for his position and occupation. Hated by some and admired by others. All of a sudden this same well known character is seen climbing up a sycamore tree for no better reason than to catch a glimpse of Jesus. In no part of the Gospels to we read that Zaccheus had previously met Jesus. In no other Gospel do we learn that Zaccheus had any prior knowledge or relationship with Jesus. As Luke presents this event we are left with no other alternative than to conclude that Zaccheus didn’t know much of anything about Jesus or ever met him. Everything that happened after Zaccheus climbed the tree came as a complete and utter surprise to him. The curiosity that drove him to climb the tree in the first place was the key that put him in the realm of children. He not only climbed a tree, but ran to the tree to climb it! The sense of urgency underlines again his curiosity to see and know Jesus, not the normal urgency he felt to do business and become richer. His absurd action caught Jesus attention. Because all who become like little children have open doors to the Kingdom of God that dares to welcome the fools of this world.

The second absurd action Zaccheus does is to obey the command of Jesus to quickly get down from the tree and similarly accept the self-made invitation by welcoming the stranger into his home! Zaccheus could display more childlike actions than those presented in this history… obedience to an order made by an adult, hurriedly climbing then jumping down from a tree, and welcoming a stranger into his home, these are actions that only the innocence and freedom of a child could produce. Adults measure and examine the possibilities and consequences of our actions. In our society ruled by fear of self-preservation we prefer to avoid risks.

The third absurd action Zaccheus did was to offer half of his assets to the poor and to pay restitution four times the money and resources that he had fraudulently extorted from others. What astute businessman, that operates according to the ways of this world would offer half of his assets to the poor and promise to return four times the amount of money he earned fraudulently to his victims without any legal pressure to do so? Any business minded person would know that there is no worse investment than those that are directed towards the poor. Only someone that is living inside the framework of the Kingdom of God would do something like that, “ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (Corinthians 8:9)

Even present day “Christian “ businesses and modern churches would consider what Zaccheus did as unwise and foolish. Modern reason would follow, “ Yes of course, we want to help the poor, but we should do so with wisdom and intelligence. We should accumulate several thousand or even millions of dollars, invest them prudently and with the interest we earn off of our investments, we will assist the poor.” In this way we will insure that we will never go bankrupt in our doing good. We will always have something to give to the poor. But, in this scheme, the modern church or Christian business never go poor, nor do they give all, not even half of their resources to the “poor”. The administrative overhead, marketing, purchases, infrastructure and maintenance of the offices that house the bureaucrats who manage the funds that go to the poor must be protected in order to have sustainable means to continue to assist the poor among us. Large transnational corporations are invested in order to assure good interest payments that, in turn, fuel the machine and guarantee sustainable operations in order to “do good”. But in the philosophy of the Divine and the absurd Kingdom of God the local church is the only institution that without being irresponsible can invest God’s resources in the poor full tilt out of the compassion that the Spirit of God plants in our heart.

In other words, the church is called, like Zaccheus to give all in order to gain all. It is important to take into account that nothing of personal ego or outside interests motivated Zaccheus to make this foolish decision, not even the offer of “personal salvation.” In fact, Zaccheus’s promise to give his belongings to the poor and offer restitution to his victims came after the murmurs in his house by those who were judging Jesus for entering the house of a sinner. Zaccheus, like a child, decided to respond extravagantly to the immense joy he felt in his heart for having been received and loved by Jesus in his own home. The decision Zaccheus made to become like a child was the very action that brought him close to Jesus and gave him access to the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is for children. Jesus opened the gates of the Kingdom because he responded to Him like a child.

The childlike curiosity, unbridled and even foolish actions of Zaccheus brought him close to Jesus and he opened for him the doors to the Kingdom. Today, our society needs more ‘Zaccheuss’ that are willing to become like little children, to act in ways the world might deem absurd, to come closer to Jesus and to have the doors of the Kingdom opened one by one and to reveal God’s immeasurable goodness. In an article I read recently, the following Zacharian phrase captivated me with the childlike truth of the Good News of the Kingdom of God, “ Do good blindly, and carry out indiscriminate acts of kindness.” Those acts of kindness that according to the world’s eyes would be seen as foolish and absurd are to the eyes of God the most compassionate acts that over abound in His divine love.

Conclusion

Why as we see in Biblical theology does God decide to gamble the future of His divine project on the central role of a child? What does the child indicate to us or present to us as a completely new paradigm to redefine the new creation, new Adam, new kingdom? God envisions His future Kingdom in the hands of little children because they inherently have the ability and quality of wonder. They do not have the chains the worldly systems enslave us and which inhibit us from breaking the mold, trying new things, unedited, to receive from and freely give to others without racial, social and moral fears. All of these become reality by the childlike games we freely play. In this light play becomes something very serious and even at times “dangerous” for those who are enslaved to the adult way of thinking and operating in the world.

In this Advent season, may God’s “ foolish” plan culminating in the Virgin birth, life death, resurrection, ascension, the ushering in of a new Kingdom on earth and promise of a glorious second coming and complete restoration surround us, confront us and win us over completely to His Ways, His playful redemptive plan and our role in them.

Five Questions God asks each of us individually and collectively as His Church

Question #1  Where are you?

Gen. 3:9 But Jehova God called to man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
This is not a casual question about spatial placement.  Do you really think God is asking about the wherabouts of Adam?  Of course not!  God is asking Adam why he is not where he is supposed to be. It is not about “the place” he is, but “what condition” he is in. What have you become?  Where are you in relationship to me your God and Father?

Of all that the Lord commands us to do, where are we?  Not in terms of physical place, but in terms of our condition or place in relationship with Him.  Where are you with respect to God’s purpose for you?  Where are you?  Would you respond with your location, or with an excuse?  If the church considers where we ARE in relationship to Him and His mission, we would probably not be in “rest mode” until Christ’s return.  Another way of looking at this would be, is this all that you have been able to accomplish doing things your way?  What are our priorities? Where are you?  With that one question God tried to awaken Adam’s conscience, but it didn’t work.  Is it working with us and the church we are a part of?

Question #2  Where is your brother?

Gen. 4:9 And Jehova said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? And he responded: I don’t know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?
We still hear this challenging question.  And we still respond, I don’t know.  Is what happens to him my fault or concern?  What does it have to do with me?  Or sometimes, we simply don’t respond, remaining indifferent to the needs of others around us.  The word “keeper” (from the Hebrew shamar) means “to protect, attend to, or consider”.  But we make excuses.  There are other ways we say “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  We say, “what does it matter to me what happens to those who are not of my race, religion, country, home, or political affiliation?”   It is not my problem. We say, “I don’t know where my brother is”.  We ask, “Who is my brother?”  Is it my obligation to take care of him?  God’s response is, “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper”.

In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) the rich man asks the same question in a different way.  He did not hurt Lazarus, nor did he remove him from his begging place at the gate of the house.   But, he was totally indifferent to his plight.  “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  What condemned the rich man was not what he did, but what he didn’t do.

We are reminded elsewhere in Isaiah that our brother is our responsibility so much so that if you do not take care of your “brother” you are not really worshipping God.  There is no liturgy without ministry. Isa. 1:17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed; take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. 
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Put in another way, in Matthew 25:31, from Jesus’ parable we ponder, what is the difference between goats and sheep?  The goats are indifferent to the needs of others. The rich man seems not to know that the beggar was his brother, and that he would be judged for the way that he related to him. Those at the left hand seem to not have known that the way they treated others would define their eternal destiny.  Do you know?

Question #3  What is in your hand?

Ex. 4:2  What is that in your hand?  And he responded: a staff.
Possibly the most common excuse for not doing something is, “with what”?  It is very interesting that God does not ask, “what do you need to start?”, or “what do you want me to give you?”, but rather, “what is it you already have?”

The context or conditions should not be your pretext for your response or action.  If there is a need where you find yourself, God will make you see that you need to do something.  Do not make excuses as to what you do not have. The mission begins with me and with what I have.  Most shepherds of flocks in Biblical times had a wooden staff of about 2 meters in length with a hook on the end of it.  The pastor would use his staff to walk, to guide the flock, to kill serpents and for many other things.  Even so, it was just a stick.  The staff in itself is nothing, but in the hands of God it becomes something powerful.  God can use the ordinary things we have to do extraordinary things.

Think of all the things Moses did with a long dry stick, just a piece of dead wood….  Ex. 7:20 He turned the Nile to blood; 8:17 he turned dust into fleas; 9:23 he made it hail; 10:23 he sent the locusts, 14:16 he parted the sea, 17:5-6 he made water come out of a rock, and 17:8-16 with it he lead a victory over the Amalekites.

Think of all that Jesus did with ordinary things.  All he asked the disciples was what do you have…how many loaves do you have? (Mark 6:38)    The disciples had already seen the Lord convert water into wine. Why didn’t they think that he could do a miracle now?  Many times miracles simply begin with what we have. What are the ordinary things in your church? Seats, microphones, auditorium, parking lots, meeting rooms, etc.  Are you surrendering them to the Lord to complete His mission?  Don’t use the excuse that you do not have anything so that desist from action and passively remain indifferent to the needs God reveals to you in your context.

Question #4  Whom shall I send?

Isa. 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
God doesn’t need us to qualify in order to send us, He will give us what we need and use us in our weakness.  All men and women are called by God, very few respond.  Matt. 7:13  “You can try to serve without loving God, but you cannot love without serving Him.”  The majority of the most influential people in the Bible were just ordinary folks.

By faith, are we ready to respond to this question in our everyday lives? God continues to ask us this penetrating question each time we leave the comfort of our homes and step foot into the world.  He brings to our attention the needs and situations of others, hoping we will be His instruments and vessels to bring hope, love and justice to those around us. “Who will I send?” to listen to the stories and plights of the voiceless? To give a hug to the lonely and rejected? To accompany and befriend the aliens among us?

Question #5  What are you doing here?

I Kings 19:9  There he went into a cave and spent the night.  And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
With these words God reproached Elijah, that the cave that he was in was not the place for a prophet of God to be taking refuge.  Elijah, the one who demonstrated God’s power to stop the rain and make fire fall to the ground from the sky, what was he doing in a cave with all that power?

Our churches have become our caves. We have power from the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to bring the transforming message of the Gospel to our neighbors and cities and towns and the world; but we do so only two times a week inside the four walls.  All of that power used in a cave. What are we doing in a cave with our calling?  And how can we expect to complete the mission we are called to from within a cave?

May these familiar questions penetrate us deeply and cause us to reflect on our relationship to the author of the creator and redeemer of all things, author of the mission we are called by grace to be a part of…

Posted September 2010

Iglesia Comunitaria Cristiana of the Colonial City and Centro Cristiano de Restauracion of Villa Duarte, Santo Domingo recently joined together to serve and learn alongside several Haitian churches connected to the network movement that are working for hope and justice in the aftermath of the earthquake.Robert Guerrero, pastor of ICC and leader of the RdC DR shares his thoughts and reflections on the experience below:

“Life changing experience” would probably be an overstatement at this stage of the process of encountering Haiti in both her pre and post earthquake conditions. As a Dominican , actually a “Dominican York”  (a Dominican that by accident is born in NY), Haiti has always been part of my life, even when I was not consciously aware of it, or even when I did not care.  In the DR we grow up seeing Haitians as “those people”, whether in good or bad faith, but certainly with prejudiced undertones. The stereotype, as all stereotypes that seek to place blame on others who are different and seek self-justification, was always negative. When something “good” was to be said, it was always the rare exception.

My personal faith in Jesus the Messiah, intentional friendships with Haitians, visiting Haiti itself, as well as conscious repentance is all part of an ongoing process of reconciliation that I am experiencing.  As I write this, I am in Haiti with a group of brothers and sisters (15) from my local Church as well as a partner Church of the family network we are part of (Red del Camino) serving alongside existing local Churches that are serving their own. Aside from the very humanizing impact that face to face encounters with dehumanizing forces produces in any sensitive person, this trip affirms in my heart a deep seated conviction that I have both from reading the Scriptures and humbly trying to follow Jesus the Master. That conviction is that this imperfect, weak, fragile, and many times foolish group of Jesus followers called His Church, His Body, His People, is really THE sign of hope in this dark world.

Personally, I have never seen darkness more exposed than in Haiti. I am referring to how Haiti and it’s misery brings out the darkness of the evil behind the hypocritical philanthropy that comes from the structures and systems of this fallen world. Aside from Haiti’s own spiritual and political flaws (extreme in my opinion) which makes fertile ground for “benevolent oppressor” posture of organizations and institutions, it seems as if the powers that be need a miserable Haiti in order to feed on their savior complex and that helps sustain their monstrous bureaucratic apparatus.

So much money has been poured into Haiti, and it keeps on pouring into Haiti, through governments, NGO’s, and other types of social and political organizations (including the institutional church), and the miserable condition of the Haitian people continues on, and even worsens.  While we observe lots of brand new SUV’s with beautiful inspiring organizational names plastered on their doors, and a lot of signs marking their noble achievements with vision statements included,  we saw the Haitians actually receiving just a few token gifts delivered in boxes and packages that were CLEARLY labeled and logo’ed up. The culture of dependency and misery that has reigned for so long is just reinforced, donors are satisfied, organizations become richer, and the children are still dying!

In the midst of all this misery, there I witnessed the Church of Christ, in its local - parochial expression. And my heart is filled with joy and hope. Our serving learning team has had the experience of serving alongside local Haitian pastors and leaders of very little material resource (but powerful spiritual and community resource), that are making a true difference as they live Jesus out in their communities.  I see pastor Raymond Nacius from Croix des Buquetes, gathering as much resources as he can locally and catalyzes friends, neighbors and churches to mobilizing in order to rebuild each other’s homes damaged or decimated by the recent earthquake. With a little over a few thousand dollars we are seeing homes being rebuilt.

He and his friend and co-pastor Water Dordt are also modeling promoting and facilitating small animal husbandry initiatives, with appropriate technology including egg incubators made from local materials, rabbit raising, and simple fishery tanks to raise tilapia. All in an effort to  training to local churches  and pastors in how to provide food for their local communities. While engaged in these sacrificial efforts to serve and bless their neighbors in need we learn that both Pastors Raymond and Walter and their family themselves still sleep in a tent outside their cement block home that is unsafe due to structural damage suffered in the earthquake. He says he’ll worry about his own living conditions when he sees that others in his community have safe homes to live in themselves. These faithful Kingdom workers have no SUVs, no offices, just a shabby lap top, three shovels, two old wheelbarrows, and tons of love, Jesus’ love!  They live out and spread a contagious Spirit filled sense of justice and compassion – Thy kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!

We also had the honor of meeting some fellow Dominicans Francis and Ariel from a local Church in Santo Domingo that have partnered with local Haitian leaders and with the little resources they have been able to gather from friends and partner Churches are building a villa for orphans they have taken in to provide “a safe and secure home” for these children, under the care of loving Christian families of the local community.  This was a wonderful discovery for us on this particular trip.  Meeting Francis and Ariel and Vidal (their Haitian facilitator connector), and discovering how a middle class local Church in the Dominican Republic has embraced the God’s kingdom calling to justice and compassion.

The third point of connection we are experiencing is with “Mision Recate” locally birthed Christian refugee camp that serves hundreds of  families and orphans, victims of  earthquake.  This initiative was spearheaded by wonderful Dominican woman of faith named Omaira, just days after the tragic earthquake stuck. The work among those in need continues still today through Pastor Ezekiel who mobilizes loving people that come and serve as volunteers to respond in concrete and God honoring ways to the many who were left orphans in the heart of Puerto Principe.  Again, no signs, no office, no SUVs, very little material resources.

Haiti’s hope is it’s own people. Men and women of faith that out of their love for God and the power of the Holy Spirit are sharing their five loaves of bread and two fish.  As they give what they have to God through their faithful service to others we are all seeing miracles happen before our eyes.  What a privilege it is for us to sit at the feet of these brothers and sisters to learn what it is to be true agents of God’s kingdom transformation.

Grass roots local Church friendships that partner together and seek nothing other than to lift up the name of Jesus, glorify God and love people; that respect local leadership and their communities primary role as to leading the way to recovery, is, in my humble opinion, Haiti’s hope. Jesus incarnate through his people, loving each other enough as to be willing to die to institutional imperial agendas for the sake of the kingdom.

A Note From DCC
Here at DCC we want to thank all of the individuals and churches who gave generously to these local efforts to bring healing and restoration to the families and communities that were devastated by the earthquake. A separate fund to the Haiti relief was solicited to support this Dominican/Haitian volunteer effort. In total $3,600 dollars was channeled through DCC to help make what Robert and the other volunteers experienced a reality! Thank you all who gave towards this first DR/ Haitian church based serving team!

The general DCC Haiti Relief and recovery fund executed through the Dominican RdC Network
In summary, since January we have received and channeled $223,964.57 of your donations to the Red del Camino Dominican Republics account.

Through the DR network these funds have supported the efforts that were carried out by Haitian churches in the relief stages of the disaster. Since May, remaining resources in the  fund are being channeled to church based reconstruction and recovery initiatives. $147,760.25 dollars of the overall Haiti fund have been invested to serve and support over 6,500 families in more than 20 effected communities  through the efforts of more than 36 local churches and ministries!

Funds  remaining in the account are earmarked for these church based initiatives that were presented to the network from the Haitian churches and ministries:

• $4,600 helped the reconstruction of 6 houses for needy families and the repair of one church roof, all in the Croix des Bouquests area.

• $3,600 purchased equipment and furniture for a church run orphanage in the Northwest that is helping 15 children  3 of which are displaced from the earthquake.

• The remaining $30,000 dollars will be invested next week in a rabbit food production project to be facilitated by three churches in the area of Croix des Bouquets. This family food production project will benefit more than 200 families selected by the participating churches. Funds will be transferred to the churches spearheading the initiative via DR network ministry Esperanza Intl. who has a presence in Haiti and who is offering administrative and project support as a ministry to this network church based effort!
  

The remaining $46,204.32 will be invested to support church based initiatives that are being planned to help to develop housing for displaced children, micro credit programs to help families rebuild through small business efforts, and other creative grass roots initiatives to help families provide food for themselves through fish farming (tilapia), home gardens, and other food production projects.

The network is not rushing to expend the resources, but rather is working together at the pace and within the processes that the local churches in Haiti are working within. The grassroots organizing and planning process takes time, but these are the steps that strengthen the local initiatives and help them in the long run to be more effective and self-sustaining. Please pray for the healthy working out of these processes as so many variables are stacked against the effective carrying out of small-scale local church efforts for recovery. Cultural and historical patterns of dependency brought about through political and development industry practices have embedded themselves in the Haitian context.   We will continue to carefully and slowly work together with our Haitian brothers and sisters and invest in their planned and organized initiatives until the funds are all invested.

If funds above and beyond the remaining relief fund are needed to support additional locally devised recovery and development projects, we will communicate those specific church based projects and needs with you through direct appeals as they materialize.  Until then, we will work with the funds we have so gratefully received from all of the concerned churches and friends of the network.

Look for a detailed report of the on going recovery efforts of the RdC church lead recovery efforts DR/Haiti soon!