One of our faculty, Dr Stephen Backhouse, was invited to be part of the Archbishop’s Housing Commission. Here he writes about the purpose of the Commission and what he and others contribute from a theological perspective.
Dying Every Day – To Live!
Dying to our own agendas…
The last day of our trip to Morocco overlapped with the Pope’s visit. We had just completed the final module of our Certificate in Transformational Ministry at the Margins with 40 French-speaking Sub-Sahara African migrants. I was tired but excited after having spent time visiting house churches and engaging with serious missional leaders from ten or so different countries.
That day, Saturday, March 30 the Pope arrived for a two-day visit. Security was tight, and only people on pre-approved lists could attend the special smaller gatherings where he was speaking. Gracie and I weren’t on any lists. Students and faculty from the ecumenical theological seminary where we were teaching who were on the list gathered excitedly, ready to travel together by bus to one of the venues.
While I was waiting around, hoping to somehow be able to go, Gracie came over and asked me to help her pray for a French woman who had had a chronic illness for over 25 years. Christian, one of the African pastors who was on the list had also told me that he would rather take us to pray for a man from one of his house churches whose legs were totally paralyzed than see the Pope. He had told us that he’d likely be coming by later that afternoon to take us to this young man’s house. I wasn’t in the mood to pray for anyone- tired from four days of straight teaching and ministry in French.
Jesus’ journey to the feast in Jerusalem in John 5 did come to mind though—the story where he stops at the sheep gate and prays for a man paralyzed for 38 years. Stopping and praying for this man appeared Jesus’ priority over anything else.
Getting my will in alignment with Jesus’ priorities rather than seeing the Pope or being a tourist in Morocco felt like a kind of death. A Scripture from Romans 8:36 came to mind, which I’m finding myself called to remember and come under throughout each day, every day.
Just as it is written, “for your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
I reluctantly agreed to pray with Gracie for the French woman, as students and faculty left excitedly to get on the bus to see the Pope. We saw the Spirit move to bring healing and freedom– a beautiful experience! As we were wrapping up we got a call from Christian, the house church pastor from Cameroon, telling us he was on his way to take us to pray for the paralytic.
He flagged down a taxi and we headed out to one of the marginalized neighborhoods where many migrants find inexpensive housing (see video link below). The neighborhood had been cleansed of petty criminals—which normally abound, days prior to the Pope’s visit. We followed Christian through streets and alleys until we came to the paralyzed man’s house.
As we entered the smell of urine was strong. The 26-year-old man with paralyzed legs lay on a bed- immobile. His name is Jesus! He’s a worship leader from Afrique Central (Central African Republic) who had been unable to move his legs at all for over a year. We prayed for him and saw his excitement and faith build as his back pain left and he began to move his feet and legs. He insisted on attempting to get up, without out help, and was able to stand.
I think of the verse right before Romans 8:36:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
We left feeling like we were experiencing the verse following– Romans 8:37.
“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”
As we left Jesus’ room, Christian’s five-year-old daughter tugged on his arm, telling him God was telling her to pray for a blind Morocco Muslim woman who sat by the entrance to Jesus’ apartment. Christian did an about face—returning with his daughter to the woman and her friend. He explained what God had told his daughter. The two women were deeply touched, kissing the girl’s cheeks. The little girl boldly stretched out her hand and prayed for the woman’s eye to be opened in Jesus’ name. If anyone could reach these two Moroccan women, this little girl seemed like the perfect missionary.
Surrendering to Jesus’ will involves dying to our own agendas. “Being put to death all day long” might mean relinquishing our own plans, comfort, security—whatever needs to die in favor of following a higher calling. Abundant, resurrection life awaits us.
Submission as Resistance: Romans 13 in the light of Psalm 2
The prophetic witness of Christians before the State has too often been muted by a surface reading of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 13:1-7, with its infamous “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Rom. 13:1).
A Fresh Look at Jesus’ Final Judgment Parable
Bob Ekblad has spent 25 years in international mission and is particularly passionate about working with the poor and ethnic minorities, as well as teaching on Mission and Social Justice.
To read more from Bob and to find out about his work, visit his website here.
A judgment parable…
Jesus’ parable of the judgment of the nations is often presented in ways that associate our treatment of anyone who is hungry, thirsty, a foreigner, naked, sick and imprisoned as synonymous with how we treat Jesus. Many Scriptures clearly call us to care for the poor, excluded, immigrants and prisoners. But numerous details in this parable suggest a different interpretation.
Jesus here teaches on the future judgment of non-Jews (the nations=ethnos), whom he commissions his disciples to evangelize and make disciples of before he departs (see Matthew 28:18-20). This parable is not about the judgment of nation states as institutions (though they will be judged), but about Jesus’ future response to how people treat his followers who go out spreading the word.
In this parable the King, who is also a Son of the Father in Heaven, returns and is enthroned. He calls non-Jews together and like a shepherd he separates sheep from goats. He says to the sheep, identifying himself as their shepherd:
“Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
“For I was hungry… thirsty… a stranger… naked… sick… imprisoned” and “you gave me food… drink… hospitality… prison visits.”
These “righteous” don’t understand when they had done this for him, this Son of Man– the shepherd King. They hadn’t recognized him or made the associations he names.
“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me’ (Matt 25:40).
Who exactly are the King’s “brothers” and also “the least of these” in this parable?
For most of my ministry I read this as referring to anyone in the category of hungry, sick, naked, a foreigner, or prisoner. This interpretation puts permanent pressure on all non-Jews to serve everyonewho fits into these categories—or else you will be accursed and sent into “the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (25:42).
Is this the motivation Jesus is suggesting we should have as we minister to the poor, immigrants, refugees and prisoners? I don’t think so. God’s abundant and tender love for the poor and excluded is the only sustainable motivation.
I think that this parable is about God’s judgment of non-Jews who receive or reject followers of Jesus as they go to fulfill Jesus’ commission to make disciples, baptize and teach.
The King states “to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them,you did it to me.”
In Matthew Jesus consistently refers to his disciples as his brothers distinct from blood brothers/sisters (see Matt 12:48; 28:10).
A key Scripture is Matthew 10:40-42, where Jesus says to his disciples:
“The one who receives you receives me,” and “whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink… shall not lose his reward.”
Jesus also calls fellow believers to treat one another as brothers and sisters (Matt 18:15 35; 23:8) of our common Father in heaven.
Western Christians may find identifying Jesus’ followers as the hungry, thirsty, naked, foreigners, imprisoned of this parable difficult due to our distance from the ragged and persecuted state of early Christ followers and today’s persecuted believers and precarious ministry workers. Yet Christians today are marginalized, persecuted and martyred like never before in history in many places throughout the world—including inside our prison system.
Jesus’ disciples who carry on his mission were sent out in vulnerability, without money, extra clothes or even sandals (Matt 10:10), as persecuted “sheep in the midst of wolves”—a big challenge to us now. They were often strangers and even foreigners as they went from village to village and to foreign lands, fleeing persecution (Matt 10:16-23). They were dependent upon people’s hospitality (those people of peace who received them). But they were often rejected, persecuted, imprisoned and martyred (Matt 5:10-12).
In Jesus’ parable on judgment, receiving them equals receiving him—a total identification. Jesus’ identifying himself, the King with the “least of these” represents his deliberate inclusion of the humblest of his recruits who go out on mission. When we receive a humble disciple of Jesus, Jesus says we are receiving the King, the Son of the Father himself.
May we welcome, provide for, care for and advocate for those who minister in Jesus’ name. May we intercede for the persecuted church worldwide, and be inspired ourselves to join the company of Jesus’ brothers and sisters—even the “least of these,” knowing that even if the world does not always receive us, Jesus has our back.
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Households of Resistance and Hope
For years now David has focused on households as sheep pens, identifying “people of peace” as Jesus directed in Luke 10. We call these “households in transformation”, whose hosts welcome Jesus’ sent ones–offering hospitality, receiving prayer for healing and the message shared about Jesus’ transforming love.
Seen and Acknowledged
“What’s your name?” I asked. “Sean” which he pronounced seen. I then told him that God notices him all the time and knows his pain.
Warming our Hearts towards Immigrants and Refugees
A hardening of attitudes toward immigrants and refugees is increasingly noticeable in Europe and North America of late.