Bridge of Hope

This iconic ancient bridge is called Stari Most (in translation - Old Bridge) and it gave a name to the city which grew around it. The city is called Mostar - Bridgetown in English. The bridge was built by an Ottoman (Turkish) architect in the XVI century. Its 70 feet tall single arch spans the gorge of the river Neretva in Herzegovina. Years ago, as a teenager, I walked across this bridge when my family visited what was then Yugoslavia for lovely Adriatic holidays. I still vividly remember Mostar and its bridge; I was in Europe, but the smells, the sounds, the sights offered me the magic of the Orient.
    Unfortunately here I must correct myself. I crossed that bridge, but it was not the bridge which you see on this picture. Just few years after our visit, xenophobic, islamophobic madness broke up in Yugoslavia. Weak, opportunistic, vile politicians woke narrowminded nationalism, utilized some old pseudo-Christian prejudices against Islam and instigated a civil war accompanied with horrific genocide. One of the side casualties of this war was also this historic architectural marvel. It was shelled and fell down to the river.
    Thankfully, that was not the end of the story. People around the world learned about some of the worst atrocities, diplomats got involved, NATO finally intervened and stopped the ugly fratricide. Instigators were ousted, captured, jailed, prosecuted and sentenced at the international criminal court. Eventually international organizations such as World Bank, European Union, Aga Khan Trust (Muslim Cultural Organization), UNESCO (United Nations’ Education and Culture Arm) together rebuilt the bridge as a powerful symbol of inclusivity and hope. We all must stand against rude and brute politicians who want to divide people, nations, religions, races .... Come this Sunday to celebrate the promise and hope of bridge building.

Magic and Moral Code

Forget voodoo dolls if you wish - the proper Biblical and Ancient Near East curses were written on bowls and then ceremoniously smashed. That might be the reason we have in the Bible so many allusions to the wicked being broken, smashed or crashed into pieces. Blessings on the other hand were bestowed with the laying of hands and more important blessings were sealed with ceremonial feasts.
    In the formal religious setting, blessings and curses were collected into lists and became one of the sources of the religious moral code. The Hebrew Bible contains substantial lists of curses and blessings for instance in Deuteronomy 27-28. Jesus (or an early church) also composed such lists of blessings and curses. They are called Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew 5 and Blessings and Woes in the Gospel of Luke 6. They tell us what is under Jesus’ blessing and what is being cursed.
    If we extrapolate Jesus’ blessings and curses into our current idioms it could be quite a surprising reading! Blessed are the poor and those who advocate for them, the downtrodden and those who help them, those who are passionate about social justice, those who strive for civil rights and those who do not act with violence. Cursed, on the other hand, are the selfish plutocrats, the gluttons of power, the vainglorious “celebrities” and the arrogant bullies.
    Don’t Jesus’ blessings and curses outline a quite clear and coherent divine moral code? What would you prefer: to be cursed or blessed by Jesus? Smashed to pieces by God or entertained at God’s table? 

Prudent Simplicity

Be cautious like a snake and innocent as a dove, my father quoted to me Matthew 10:16b as I went into the ministry, shortly before I departed for seminary. Soon, I gained my share of the first-hand experiences with the totalitarian secret police and their techniques of interrogation, threats and blackmail.
    This biblical verse came to me quite naturally when I was preparing our November 9th post-election vigil. And I thought of it again while planning the service of ordination and installation of the church officers this Sunday. Those trustees, elders and deacons will lead us in uncertain, turbulent and probably quite dark times.
    I researched the biblical passage in the original Greek; I also looked it up in different translations. I referenced several commentaries and checked the linguistic and theological dictionaries. I also came across a sermon by Martin Luther King Jr. exactly on the same passage. It was titled "A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart". Thus I discovered a different MLK than I had known before from media and from school. This was not a courageous justice fighter and rousing public orator but rather a caring pastor thoughtfully equipping the faithful of his church in the ongoing struggles for justice.
    I cannot slavishly repeat that sermon this Sunday; it would not be true to the spirit of MLK. In the almost 60 years since it was delivered, the world has changed (the struggle for justice is not over, but it has shifted) and our biblical and theological understanding has also changed (deepened). But that sermon remains a powerful inspiration and encouragement pointing us in the right direction, to the roots of our faith. There, in the Bible and in our faith in God, is the reliable source of courage and strength to resist prejudice and hatred and for the fearless struggle for justice.

Epiphany Gifts

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh - these are three well known gifts of Epiphany which the Magi presented to baby Jesus. But the Epiphany story itself brings gifts also to its audience, its listeners or readers; three spiritual gifts, as if they were intended for us today!
    Magi are misty figures, their story is clearly legendary but it is also radical, if not outright revolutionary. The magi emphatically came from a foreign land. We are not told precisely where they hailed from, but we know enough to surmise their origins as being somewhere in today’s Iran. Further, their very titles Magi (singular Magus) hint they were high ranking officials of Zoroastrian religion. And finally we are told that they observed and fallowed star/s.
    Our cultural and especially political climate these days might be dimmed with ignorance, xenophobia, denial of reason/science and with suspicion if not outright hatred towards non Judeo-Christian religions. And here, in one biblical story, we are presented with this powerful refutation of all this alt-right nonsense.
    At the beginning of the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, we hear about these strange and mysterious foreigners from Iran and with them we recognize the biblical nod towards their foreign religion, and the appreciation of their insight which we would now call the science of astronomy. This story sets the stage for the rest of the Gospel of Matthew and presents us with true Epiphany Gifts - appreciation of strangers, respect to other religions, and embrace of science.
     Come to celebrate with us these divine gifts of Epiphany.

Climate Prayers

Recently I came across this reproduction of an old newspaper clipping. It stated it was from the August 1912. (A few days before my grandpa started school!). Naturally, I was suspicious - we have been inundated with so much fake news lately! I was suspicious but also curious, so I did a little research. My search lead me to Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa (The New Zealand National Library) and in it, I found The Rodney & Otamatea Times (electronically available from the first issue in 1901 through the end of the year 1945). Here is the link to the full page 7 from the 14th of August, 1912.  And here is an actual clipping from that page with the article within its immediate context (a delightful example of early 20th century journalism).

(By the way, the newspaper is still published in Auckland under a simplified name The Rodney Times.)

While doing my research, I also realized that there was no real reason for my original suspicion about ahistoricity of this article. French physicist Joseph Fourier made the first scientific observations about greenhouse affects of atmospheric gases as early as in 1820's. By 1896 (that is correct, 1896!) a Swedish chemist and future Nobelist, Svante Arrhenius, proposed the first scientific formula for calculating the planetary greenhouse effect. Within this historical context the article in the New Zealand newspaper makes perfect sense. In 1912 they were popularizing what was, by that time, a well established science. On the other hand it is almost unbelievable that one hundred years after the Kiwis could read a popularizing note about global warming in their local weekly, we are about to have a government composed of nitwits who are denying, rejecting and actively undermining this old, well proven and solid science.

Why am I writing about this in the Friday Message? Because it is a serious matter! It is a matter of survival for this Planet which God entrusted into our hands. This Sunday, the first Sunday and the first day of the New Year, we will gather in worship to raise prayers for, and to protest on behalf of the climate and the environment of our Planet. Inspired by an ancient old tradition, our prayers and display of protest will have the form of the prayer flags.

Christmas Parables

How come the Bible gives us two stories about Jesus’ birth?
Do you remember our Sunday School’s Christmas Pageant?  On the Fourth Sunday of Advent our children clearly presented this duality. But why is it so? Why do we have in the Bible two different and even incompatible stories?
Because both stories are not factual descriptions of the events but they are, in essence, parables. Both nativity stories are a part of a long Jewish tradition of Mashalim, way of explaining important moral or theological points through stories. Thus both biblical stories about Jesus’ birth are in fact such parables illuminating the mystery and miracle of incarnation; explaining why and how God became human. The individual facts of those two stories are different and hardly compatible but the underlying themes are similar. Divine presence coming to our world is faced with: 
1) political hardships - a bureaucratic persecution by Romans (Luke) or thugs sent by Herod (Matthew)
2) surprising welcome  - by migrant workers (Luke) or pagan dignitaries (Matthew)
3) early hardships - homelessness in a stable (Luke) or refugee status in Egypt (Matthew).
It is clearer above the brightest star that God’s incarnation is not some sugar coated melodrama but from the very beginning a genuine solidarity with the poor, the downtrodden and the alienated - that is the greatest mystery and joy of Christmas and its parables.

Now guess from these two pictures which other two parables are going to illuminate and help us celebrate the Christmas miracle of incarnation on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Inextinguishable Light

This is my most beloved symbol of light. It is a symbol of light which does not look anything like it! It is a symbol of light which does not shine, a symbol of light which itself is usually brown or black. It is a lei made of kukui nuts; in English they are known as candlenuts. Kernels from these nuts, as their name suggests, were strung and used for candles, or pressed and their oil used in lamps. Thus, the kukui nut became the dark symbol of light.
    Originally, the leis made from kukui nuts were reserved for the teachers, priests and chiefs who were known for their insight, knowledge and wisdom. Candlenuts were a symbol of knowledge, understanding and enlightenment. Advent this year brings us not only ever shorter days, but also the spreading darkness of ignorance, ineptitude and incompetence. Candlenuts represent a fitting metaphor for inclusive, hopeful, invincible enlightenment. Come this third Sunday in Advent to be encouraged and empowered by divine light.