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A Theme for Life

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A Theme for Life EDITORIAL A Theme for Life By Revd Canon Terry Wong When I first arrived as the new Vicar of the Cathedral, I heard In fact, selective love is not love at all. Think about the severe much feedback on the ministry areas that can grow or be condemnation on showing partiality in the second chapter of improved on. There was one unusual feedback. This member James. told me that if the church is to have something to focus at for a new season, it should be love. You may have heard about Rudolf Hoss. A doting father and a loving husband, he spent his evenings with his family. He was Love!? That really got me thinking. a warm and loving family man. What was his work during the day? He was working as the longest serving camp commandant Isn’t love something that is timeless and should mark the very of the Auchwitz Concentration Camp during World War Two. heart of the life of the Church? Do we need to declare “A Year He supervised the genocide of thousand of Jews and other war of Love”? It would be strange for a clinic to declare, “2016: A prisoners and invented ways to systematically and efficiently year to help the sick to recover.” We normally do not specify eliminate them. By day, he was a mass murderer. And in the what is fundamental to an organization. That suggestion evening, he will bring hs children out on horse rides and kissed caught me by surprise. them tenderly to sleep. What was missing here? But should I be? What condemned him finally was not who he loved, but who he didn't. One Sunday, as I was touring the ground, an exasperated Singaporean (not sure she was a church member) came up to I had just attended a Leadership Conference in London. The me and complained about the many foreigners on our ground theme was "Leading out of Love." Again somewhat surprising on Sundays. She used the word “infestation” a few times. I that a conference of this stature should have such a generic thought that is a word reserved for rats, cockroaches and theme. But it was a wonderful reminded of the primacy of other troublesome insects. She expected me to share in her love to life and ministry. Hearing an interview of Jean Vanier disgust (I should add that I do suffer from katsaridaphobia!*). was an eye-opener. He founded the L' Archie communities for I was wearing my collar and returned a rather vicar-ly smile, those with developmental disabilities. It made me think of the “Eh? Sister, why is that a problem?” She was surprised that I need for Christianity to truly take root in our Asian cultures, was surprised by her remarks. Instead, I was surprised that she and fertilize it for generations till we truly understand how to was surprised. We momentarily stared blankly at each other, love. co-surprised as fellow Singaporeans, but in our worldviews, it could not be more different. If anything, the life of Jesus reminds us again that God crossed many barriers to show us His love. And just as important, how This is xenophobia. I don’t condemn or judge her. Perhaps to love. To love like God, we need to come out of our tribal and she has had a negative experience with a foreigner. I only familial tendencies. Like Jesus, we need to meet them face to felt a deep sense of grief that even with all our education face, eat with them, laugh with them and occasionally cry and supposed civility here in Singapore, many still struggle with them. Jesus often laid hands on the sickbefore they were to love beyond the familiar. There is still tendency to see a healed. That you can only do in proximity. He saw and treated person, framed in his or her tribal background of race, culture, them as persons made in His Father’s image. language and political affiliation. The “us and they” is a barrier that needs crossing. As Paul has said, “Here there is not Greek May His grace help us to learn how to love like He did. It is a and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, theme that deserves a lifelong pursuit. slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11) *Fear of cockroaches EDITORIAL TEAM Advisor: The Right Revd Rennis S. Ponniah Editors: Revd Canon Terry Wong, Ms Lucilla Teoh, Ms Sasha Michael, Mrs Karen Wong Designer: Mr Mark Lee Email: [email protected] Website: www.anglican.org.sg Printer: Hock Cheong Printing Pte Ltd Diocesan Digest©The Diocese of Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, and recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Diocese of Singapore • www.anglican.org.sg • MCI (P) 113/04/2017 Issue No 267 DIOCESAN MAY 2017 Digest IT’S HARVEST TIME BY BISHOP RENNIS PONNIAH “Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.” John 4:31-38 ave you ever been so happy that you did not need to eat? Jerusalem, Jesus sees the spiritual hunger of the common people In this account in John 4, Jesus did not need food because and their readiness to receive the Good News of the Kingdom. He Hwas exhilarated by the prospect of many, many lives being In her response, Jesus saw a ripe mission field. And He was not hungry and ready to receive the good news of the Kingdom of wrong. Through her, her whole community came to believe the God. Good News of a new life in Jesus. Our Lord’s vision of a mighty harvest was triggered by the Hence, with the eyes of faith, Jesus said to His disciples, openness and positive response of just one woman He met at “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I the well. Hungry for love, this Samaritan woman was trapped in tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for an immoral life. She was a social outcast. To avoid the glares and harvest.” (v35) murmurs of people, she had come at mid-day to draw water from the well. There, she met Jesus and responded positively to his HEAR AND BELIEVE WHAT THE LORD IS SAYING conversation with her. Struck by His person and His words, she “There is four months to the harvest’ is a Hebrew farmers’ forgot her social standing and ran excitedly to her community proverb to mean that there is always a waiting time between saying, “Come and see. Could this be the Christ?” The encounter sowing and reaping. But Jesus says that the fields are already ends with the villagers saying, “… we know that this is indeed the ready for harvest, meaning that the moment you sow, you will Saviour of the world.” (v42) find the crop ready for harvest. Dare we believe that such a time In Samaritan territory, outside the formal religious life of is upon us? BISHOP'S MESSAGE I believe it is so. This conviction has been brewing and growing By creating space for God, we are allowing the Potter to in me for some time now. I believe the next three years (2017- mould us into vessels for the Harvest. 2020) will be “Harvest Time.” The Scriptures (Isaiah 60:1-3; Micah 4:1-5; Colossians 1:4-6; Revelations 7:9-14) speak to my soul that in the midst of thickening darkness, the light of God is shining; in the midst of great moral confusion, there is spiritual hunger for the truth, and in the midst of hardened secularism and religious- ethno militancy, the love of Jesus will prevail. I believe that God in His mercy is bringing about a spiritual awakening in all seven countries in our Diocese. Our church in Nepal is leading the way: the number of people worshipping in our Anglican congregations has increased from 9,000 to 12,000 over the last two years since the earthquake in 2015. It encourages us to believe that God will create a spiritual hunger in the people and He will revive His church to passionately reach out to them with the Good News of Jesus Christ that people are drawn to the b) Pray for revival light of God’s love and when we share the Gospel, that they will Revival is God’s work – when He acts in mercy and might to be ready to receive Jesus Christ personally as their Saviour and turn the hearts of people to Him, He does so in response to ‘crying follow Him as Lord.
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