Choosing To Seek Hope and Joy

THE EASTER SEASON provokes a desire in me to find hope and joy again. I don’t want to wallow in misery just because my limited vision can see only a bleak future. Instead, I am choosing to seek hope and joy because I believe that God does indeed empower and guide us. I claim the daily practice of putting my hope in the divine, not our human condition. God seeks our well-being. We must remember this amid the onslaught of trauma brought on by humanity failing to do the right thing.

The post-Easter reflections are more positive in tone. I chose to be optimistic because life goes on, we still have good work to do, and the fight does not end. We still have to care for one another, and we hope that others will care for us. In all of these, I hope that we will find once again the power of prayer and divine love. There are resources we can seek for help, guidance, and support, and I am one of many who have received such generosity and kindness. I invite you to find your own versions of the divine and/or the mystical. The immaterial and unseen surround us, guiding us, especially in our moments of despair and need.

I end my reflection with a prayer for people and nations that are going through turmoil and upheaval. Join me in offering a prayer that we may bring peace wherever we can.

May 4

Finding Joy

Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

TO DESCRIBE ACTS 9:1-20 as Paul’s “conversion” narrative is to assume that Paul converted or changed his religion from Judaism to Christianity. The problem with this assumption is that, before 400 C.E., Christianity as an institutional religion had not been established. In fact, many early church historians argue that the ways of Jews and Christians did not fully and clearly part even during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages (see Adam H. Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed’s The Ways that Never Parted). Paul was never a Christian because “Christianity” was yet to exist. Rather, Saul/Paul accepted the “calling” (not conversion) to become a leader of the followers of the Way (as they called themselves, according to Acts 9:2). He used his colonized name (Paul) instead of his ethnic Jewish name (Saul) so that he would be more readily accepted in his mission to the Gentiles. While Peter in John 21:1-19 was too afraid to share the gospel, Paul immediately responded to the call by feeding the sheep of God. According to Acts 9:19-20, Paul immediately shared the gospel in the synagogues after the scales on his eyes fell off. Paul cannot contain his joy from meeting the risen Christ.

In this post-Easter season, we need more of the type of joy Paul experienced. Paul was unabashed in his faith even if many communities questioned his motive and his past — after all, Saul was a mass murderer of the followers of the Way. I wonder if Paul could ever be a leader in modern-day churches — boards of ordained ministry might refuse to ordain someone like him. And yet, God called Paul. Perhaps God prefers those who genuinely have changed and seek joy in their calling more than those who want to become leaders to buttress their egos and hunger for power.

May 11

Sheep and Shepherds

Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30

THIS WEEK'S PASSAGES include several sheep/lamb references: God as the shepherd of animals (Psalm 23:1); Jesus Christ as the Lamb (Revelation 7:9, 14); followers of Jesus as sheep (John 10:26-27). Stretching the ovine discourse further: Even Acts 9:36-43 does not escape anthropomorphism, because Tabitha’s Greek name, Dorcas, means gazelle (an animal in the Bovidae family). The practice of using animal imagery for people abounds during the time of Jesus and even today.

I don’t mind being called a sheep of the Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Like sheep, I feel helpless and in need of protection. I seek Christ’s guidance in my life by listening to the divine shepherd’s voice. I acknowledge my frailty. In my 40-some years of living in this world, I have come to realize that I need both the divine and my fellow sheep. Sometimes I find comfort looking at stained glass that depicts Jesus as the shepherd holding us as sheep in his arms.

Unfortunately, the recent political climate in the U.S. has turned a benign word and animal into a derogatory one. People from opposing political viewpoints are calling each other “sheep” — someone who blindly follows a leader. Anthropocentrism has co-opted animals and animalization at the behest of name-callers and political strategists whose goal is to put down the other, no matter the cost. What baffles me most is when Christian nationalists label those with whom they disagree “sheep.” I am baffled because Christians should be calling ourselves sheep for our Shepherd, Jesus Christ. We are the ultimate sheep, because we follow not by sight but by listening to the voice of the Shepherd. Perhaps it has come to the point that we want to be the shepherds who forcefully sacrifice other sheep in the name of hate and selfishness. We have ironically turned the salvific passages into death-dealing orders that separate those who are othered and animalized in the name of the Lamb.

May 18

Wiping My Tears Away

Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35

AMID THE BEASTS, bowls, seals, angels, and other enigmatic imagery in the Book of Revelation, one passage offers solace in the face of death and loss: Revelation 21:4. As a pastor, I have used this “wipe every tear” passage to console bereaved families and loved ones. I wish that Revelation would conclude with 21:4. but the author of Revelation continues with his preference for vituperative rhetoric by including 21:8 (a “fiery lake of burning sulfur”), a verse so horrific that the lectionary conveniently omits it.

Verse 8 is a horror text, especially for queer folx. Some scholars have interpreted verse 8’s phrase “sexually immoral” (porneia in Greek) as referring to queer sexuality. It is not. Rather, porneia is an umbrella term for sexual acts deemed immoral, however broad and unclear that seems. If verse 8 is taken literally, then many of us will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur because we have had moments of cowardice, faithlessness, idolatry, sexual immorality, and duplicitousness.

Thank goodness Revelation ends with 22:21, which speaks of God’s grace. After all, doesn’t John’s gospel say that God is love? We are commanded to love one another because God loved us first (John 13:34-35) and forgives us (Acts 11:18). I really hope the kindom of God, this new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2), is ruled with love. For now, I read verse 8 in the context of verse 4, because it seems that the author of Revelation wrote verse 8 while he was wiping away his tears. I wonder if he wrote the verse as he witnessed or remembered the death of his family and friends at the hands of the Roman Empire.

May 25

Pray for Political Leaders?

Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22 – 22:5; John 5:1-9

I AM A CHRISTIAN who explicitly condemns President Trump’s violent words and cruel actions. I do not support his unjust policies or his anti-democratic leadership. They are damaging our country and hurting people in the U.S. and around the world. Yet, I have decided to pray for him. Acts 16 shows Paul, once a destroyer of the church who went house to house dragging men and women to prison (see Acts 8:3), now converted to the Way of Jesus and praying with the women by the riverside near Philippi. Praying for protection from President Trump’s violence and for his conversion to the Way of Jesus in no way condones his actions. Instead it recognizes that he (and the powers and principalities using him) is an opponent to be reckoned with. One can curse him and hope for the worst. I’d rather pray for his conversion and ask God to intervene. It’s naïve to think that he will change, but there is precedent in our scriptures — and some of us are called to this intercessory prayer.

I am not a Christian nationalist, but I believe that nations can act with justice and compassion and do good in the world. That is why I pray for Trump. In 2019, social movements in Algeria, Bolivia, Iraq, Lebanon, and Sudan pushed out unjust leaders who once appeared invincible. Last year, Syrians ousted the al-Assad regime that ruled Syria for more than 50 years. Overturning unjust leadership does not always produce a more just government, but social movements can open political space for democratic renewal. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann calls Psalm 67 a “psalm of orientation” because God is in heaven and guides “the nations of the earth” (verse 4). However, it can be difficult to believe that following God can lead nations to justice while also recognizing that a relationship with God (for individuals or nations) can never be gained through domination. It must be freely chosen.