Dining with Cornelius
Acts 11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35
Free Community Church
May 2, 2010
I forgot to put in my preaching dates in my calendar and was prompted by Su Lin’s posting on Wednesday followed by an SMS the next day. My hope of a relaxing week evaporated. As it turned out, the Lectionary readings are fixed and the roster of regular preachers follow an order and the theme for this Sunday happen to be The Inclusive God, an important concept.
The passage in Acts finds Peter the “Pope” of the emerging church in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus dreaming about food on the rooftop in Joppa. The Psalmist sings about how inclusive God the Creator is in the entire creation. Revelation reveals the new thing that the Divine Creator is doing. And the Gospel John commands us to engage in a relationship of love for one another.
The critical charge leveled at Peter by exclusive Pharisees was “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Behind this question is that in traditional Jewish law circumcised Jews do not eat with uncircumcised Gentiles. There is a gulf or a chasm between the two communities. Jews do not sit around the dinner table or floor with the Gentiles. Jews exclude Gentiles.
Table fellowship is an important act in the ministry of Jesus as we recall. When Jesus encountered the tax collector up in the tree He stopped and called up to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house” (Lk 19:5). The response of the crowd is telling. “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner” (Lk 19:).
In this feature of table-fellowship Jesus shared with the marginalized, oppressed, rejected, despised and stigmatised. The Pharisees questioned Jesus’ behavior by asking his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mt 9:11; see also Mk 2:16; Lk 5:30). They further made the accusation against him. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:2). Jesus was even maligned by some of being “a glutton and a drunkard” (Mt 11:19).
It is our custom that we eat together as family members for bonding and with others to establish friendships, strengthen relationships and develop trust. But increasingly we are not spending enough time for table fellowship these days and eat and run at best. Many kitchens in our homes are closed and we depend upon kopitiam kitchens in the community. As a result we dine alone and exclude others.
The German theologian Walter Kasper points out,
In the east, even today, to share a meal with someone is a guarantee of peace, trust, brotherhood and forgiveness; the shared table is a shared life. In Judaism fellowship at table had the special meaning of fellowship in the sight of God. Each person at the table ate a piece of broken bread and thus received a share in the blessing spoken by the master of the house over the whole loaf. Finally, every meal is a sign of the coming eschatological meal and the eschatological fellowship with God.”
The American theologian Albert Nolan saw “the impact these meals must have had upon the poor and the sinners. By accepting them as friends and equals Jesus had taken away their shame, humiliation and guilt. By showing them that they mattered to him as people he gave them a sense of dignity and released them from their old captivity. The physical contact which he must have had with them at table (Jn 13:25) and which he obviously never dreamed of disallowing (Lk 7:38-39) must have made them feel clean and acceptable. Moreover because Jesus was looked upon as a man of God and a prophet, they would have interpreted his gesture of friendship as God’s approval of them.”
Whenever the Church gathers at the Lord’s Table, the Eucharistic table, sinners, the broken, the marginalized are reconciled to God and to the human family. It is a table of inclusion and none is excluded.
It was not just a simple meal that Peter had with Cornelius with his relatives and close friends in cosmopolitan Caesarear. Luke had given us a fuller account of this event in Chapter 10. Cornelius was a Roman Centurion, a commanding officer, a Gentile but a devout man who fears God. He sent emissaries to Joppa to look for Peter and invited him to come to his house. Meanwhile Peter had his vision in Joppa where he saw “something like a sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air” (Acts 10:11-14) for him to eat. Peter hesitated for tradition regarded them as unclean and profane. But he was convinced by God who said “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
With that perception Peter leapt over the wall that separated the Jews from the Gentiles, crossed the line between the sacred and the profane and broke down the barriers between clean and unclean. He then proclaimed to the family of Cornelius and said: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” After he baptized all of them they praised God by saying: “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.” (Lk 11:18).
In this account in Acts, the Divine Creator regards all living things as sacred and clean. In Psalm 148 the Psalmist praises the Creator for sun and moon, heaven and waters, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy winds, mountain and hills, fruit trees and cedars as sacred objects. Like Luke wild animals and cattle, creeping things and flying things are clean creatures. The Psalmist also included kings, princes and rulers of the earth and all peoples, young men and women alike and old and young together as persons of sacred worth. This is what Revelation teaches us about the Creator making all things new. This is the grand vision before us.
Jamie was on target when she preached last Sunday about our concept of God and how we shape our lives according how we view God to be. Both of us have our tertiary education in biology and I went on to study theology. We have been influenced by the scientific method and trained to analyze and find out the cause and effects of any event. We keep an open mind. When she visited me last week for lunch together I shared with her the reading of new theological book published in 2006 with the title “Theology Matters”
The author raised the issue of different images of God in today’s complex and challenging world. He wrote that “Christian tradition is saturated with personal images of the Divine: father, son, advocate, teacher, rabbi, shepherd, mother, lover, friend. Jamie preached that too and added other interesting images including that of driver, master chef and even GPS to navigate our travel on this earth.
The leading feminist theologian in our time, Sallie MacFaque is critical of the dominant traditional patriarchal and monarchic God images. Whenever I hear only of Father God even my masculine ego is troubled. Whenever I hear only of Lord God and King I feel uneasy. We leave out women, half of humankind, who hold up the earth. These images convey domination and hierarchies in relationships. That is why the Jews were so critical of Peter dining with the Gentile, Cornelius, one of another tribe, race and ethnicity.
They have constructed the image of God as the one who played favorites and regard themselves as Chosen People. Their God is the King of the Hill and subjugated all other tribes and nations in warfare and killing the innocent women and children of their enemies in battle. All these is chronicled and glorified in the pages of the Old Testament. Yahweh is the victorious warrior who rules over all and is the Judge and the Lawgiver. We are pre-occupied with sin and salvation. Jews have nothing to do with the non-Jews or Gentiles for God is partial only to Jews. They and they alone are God’s people and all others are even referred to as “no-people.”
The Jews enacted the purity laws and ceremonial rituals to exclude others in their select and elite community. Leviticus chapters 11–26 listed in detail clean and unclean foods, rituals after childbirth or a menstrual cycle, regulations for skin infections and contaminated clothing or furniture, prohibitions against contact with a human corpse or dead animal, agricultural guidelines about planting seeds and mating animals, and decrees about lawful sexual relationships, keeping the Sabbath, and forsaking idols These legal and religious codes encompassed every aspect of being human—birth, death, sex, gender, health, economics, jurisprudence, social relations, hygiene, marriage, behavior, and certainly ethnicity, for Gentiles were automatically considered impure.
It may come as a surprise to many to learn that what we view early Christianity or traditional theology a progressive force at that time. Judaism was the conservative force. Early Christianity was a force then that is the cutting edge and the radical religious movement of the day. They were the ones who explored the radical and explosive new thing of including the Gentiles in the early Church.
It was with this understanding of God that they acted. Jesus, Peter and Paul reacted in promoting inclusivity. I must quickly add that inclusivity does not imply uniformity.
We need to value the distinctiveness and uniqueness of God’s people.
“A wise teacher was speaking to a group of eager young students. He gave them the assignment to go out and find a small, unnoticed flower somewhere. He asked them to study the flower for a long time. “Get a magnifying glass and study the delicate veins in the leaves, and notice the nuances and shades of color. Turn the leaves slowly and observe their symmetry. And remember that this flower might have gone unnoticed and unappreciated if you had not found and admired it.” After the class returned, the teacher observed, “People are like that. Each one is different, carefully crafted, uniquely endowed. But you have to spend time with them to know this. So many people go unnoticed and unappreciated because no one has ever taken time with them and admired their uniqueness.” The book that I mentioned earlier has for its front cover the details of a green leaf.
It is time for us to more seriously affirm diversity and recognize differences in the human situation. We are to embrace the principle of inclusivity in spite of our differences and respect them. We are to acknowledge that our Creator has created each one of us unique. We are called through our uniqueness and differences to interact with one another and to follow the parting commandment of Jesus that the Gospel of John recorded:
”I give you a new commandment that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
It is not easy to love those who reject you. It is a challenge to love 75 million Anglicans whose leaders formed the Global South and whose reason for existence is to proclaim that homosexuality if a sin.
It is a further challenge to love Kong Hee of City Harvest Church for posted this Daily Devotion especially for his 32,0000 members. It is published last week on April 26, 2010.
“ l Corinthians 5:6 Explicitly referring to sexually immoral Christian, Paul says, “But now I have written t you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral…not even to eat with such a person”(5:11). Again referring to Christians who live unrighteous lives: “Do you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, no adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites…will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you…” (6:9-11). If a Christian is living in sexual immorality, and you offer him your fellowship, not only do you profane God’s Word, you are excusing him from the responsibility to repent and forsake his sin.
This is the challenge to our church today. FCC as a unique inclusive Christian Church has an important mission to fulfill in a divided and conflicted world and demonstrate inclusivity. In our present context we are called to embrace the world and find out where God is already working in and then together to participate in that divine continuing work of making all things new.
God’s inclusive nature is reflected in creation according to our Psalm and according to Peter in dining with Cornelius. How can we in FCC reflect this inclusive God.
Affirm diversity in all dimensions
Accept inclusivity in all situations
Acknowledge creativity of God in all conditions
And reflect our inclusive God.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Comprehensive sexual Education
(Playing safe with traditional conservative sexuality education is no solution to wholesome and safe sex. In succumbing to conservative forces we are exposing youths to sexual problems. Are we sacrificing our youths when we ignore progressive and comprehensive sexuality education?
The prominence given by Straits Times to this letter in its printed edition is a sign of hope - YKH)
ST Forum
Home > ST Forum > Story
May 3, 2010
SEXUALITY EDUCATION
Will it arrest the slide?
I REFER to last Thursday's report, 'Ministry picks groups to teach sexuality education'. While thanking the Ministry of Education (MOE) for selecting and auditing sexuality education in schools, I would like to raise some questions with the intention of improving the quality of such education.
In present society, we cannot expect much that effective sexuality education will come from parents. So this has to come from the school system. Meanwhile, the Internet is filled with readily accessible sites which provide bad rather than good information about sex.
Before approving the applications of six external vendors of sexuality education, MOE checked their track records and ensured that the sensitivities of our multi-religious and interracial society were taken into consideration. But the important factor is the effectiveness of sexuality education.
The chosen external vendors use traditional values and methods in their sexuality education programmes. But statistical reports in recent years indicate a rising trend of sexual activity among youth, teenage pregnancies, abortions and incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. By reverting to traditional approaches, we will not arrest this alarming trend.
Innovative and comprehensive sexuality education programmes have been abandoned because of conservative pressures. The question is whether youth are helped by traditional sexuality education programmes.
Are we dealing with sexuality education comprehensively? Are there programmes in other places with positive results that can benefit our youth?
And are we willing to take some risks to improve the quality and efficacy of sexuality education?
(Playing safe with traditional conservative sexuality education is no solution to wholesome and safe sex. In succumbing to conservative forces we are exposing youths to sexual problems. Are we sacrificing our youths when we ignore progressive and comprehensive sexuality education?
The prominence given by Straits Times to this letter in its printed edition is a sign of hope - YKH)
ST Forum
Home > ST Forum > Story
May 3, 2010
SEXUALITY EDUCATION
Will it arrest the slide?
I REFER to last Thursday's report, 'Ministry picks groups to teach sexuality education'. While thanking the Ministry of Education (MOE) for selecting and auditing sexuality education in schools, I would like to raise some questions with the intention of improving the quality of such education.
In present society, we cannot expect much that effective sexuality education will come from parents. So this has to come from the school system. Meanwhile, the Internet is filled with readily accessible sites which provide bad rather than good information about sex.
Before approving the applications of six external vendors of sexuality education, MOE checked their track records and ensured that the sensitivities of our multi-religious and interracial society were taken into consideration. But the important factor is the effectiveness of sexuality education.
The chosen external vendors use traditional values and methods in their sexuality education programmes. But statistical reports in recent years indicate a rising trend of sexual activity among youth, teenage pregnancies, abortions and incidence of sexually transmitted diseases. By reverting to traditional approaches, we will not arrest this alarming trend.
Innovative and comprehensive sexuality education programmes have been abandoned because of conservative pressures. The question is whether youth are helped by traditional sexuality education programmes.
Are we dealing with sexuality education comprehensively? Are there programmes in other places with positive results that can benefit our youth?
And are we willing to take some risks to improve the quality and efficacy of sexuality education?
Sunday, April 25, 2010
ASIA PACIFIC ECUMENICAL NEWS (APEN)
25 April 2010
People’s forum urges ecumenical movement to speak for voiceless and to accompany them in their struggles
KUALA LUMPUR (APEN) – “Asian churches are in a situation similar to the frog in the water that is slowly allowed to boil unaware of the rising temperature until it is too late.”
This was stated here by a gathering of faith-based social activists and church leaders, held from 12-13 April, prior to the 13th general assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).
They said that “church often fails to act” in the economic, social, political, and cultural realms, and added that “The activities of the church are mostly limited to maintenance, self-preservation, amassing wealth and privileges.”
The participants, who came from different parts of Asia to attend the CCA-organized People’s Forum, noted that the church “tends to avoid conflicts especially where its own interests may be put at risk,” and as a result it is in “danger of losing its identity and reason for being.”
The People’s Forum began with a bible study by Reverend Rienzie Perera, associate general secretary for finance and relations of the CCA, who challenged the churches not to be conformed to the world but to transform it as followers of Christ.
Dr M P Joseph, a professor from a theological university in Taiwan wanted the churches to be “informed, transparent, accountable, responsible and self-critical” and be in solidarity with the poor and the vulnerable.
The forum felt that the ecumenical movement has become “empire building and ecclesial-techno-bureaucratic.”
“The ecumenical movement must amplify the voice of the voiceless and accompany in their struggles,” it said.
Affirming the message of justice, hope, love and the biblical notion of the fullness of life for all, the forum noted that the ecumenical movement has a prophetic role to challenge the systems that are based on “greed, violence and competition.”
In a presentation on “Tourism: A challenge to justice. A call to Asian churches” Caesar D’Mello, director of Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism said that “tourism industry as structured today is a factor in third world poverty.”
He noted that there are cases in different part of Asia where tourism is becoming a tool for community, social, political and even physical violence, and hence a threat to peace.”
The forum also discussed peace building in the militiarized Korean peninsula and the Kamir valley, conflicts and human rights in the Asia region and the churches’ engagement with people’s movements in the context of globalization.
The pre-CCA assembly forum urged the CCA to encourage its member churches and related organizations to support the Korean Ecumenical Forum and similar initiatives that promote trust and understanding between the two Koreas.
It also urged the CCA to create its capacity to support member churches to engage in efforts for building peace, especially to strengthen peace initiatives of the churches in India and Pakistan in relation to supporting the interests of the people living in the Kashmir valley.
The participants recommended the Asian ecumenical body to continue and develop ecumenical pastoral visits including fact-finding, study and solidarity missions, and provide support to member churches to protect victims of human rights violations, displaced persons, refugees and other asylum seekers.
One of the objectives of the forum was “to draw implications for churches’ mission amidst broken, bruised and brutalized people and communities.”
25 April 2010
People’s forum urges ecumenical movement to speak for voiceless and to accompany them in their struggles
KUALA LUMPUR (APEN) – “Asian churches are in a situation similar to the frog in the water that is slowly allowed to boil unaware of the rising temperature until it is too late.”
This was stated here by a gathering of faith-based social activists and church leaders, held from 12-13 April, prior to the 13th general assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).
They said that “church often fails to act” in the economic, social, political, and cultural realms, and added that “The activities of the church are mostly limited to maintenance, self-preservation, amassing wealth and privileges.”
The participants, who came from different parts of Asia to attend the CCA-organized People’s Forum, noted that the church “tends to avoid conflicts especially where its own interests may be put at risk,” and as a result it is in “danger of losing its identity and reason for being.”
The People’s Forum began with a bible study by Reverend Rienzie Perera, associate general secretary for finance and relations of the CCA, who challenged the churches not to be conformed to the world but to transform it as followers of Christ.
Dr M P Joseph, a professor from a theological university in Taiwan wanted the churches to be “informed, transparent, accountable, responsible and self-critical” and be in solidarity with the poor and the vulnerable.
The forum felt that the ecumenical movement has become “empire building and ecclesial-techno-bureaucratic.”
“The ecumenical movement must amplify the voice of the voiceless and accompany in their struggles,” it said.
Affirming the message of justice, hope, love and the biblical notion of the fullness of life for all, the forum noted that the ecumenical movement has a prophetic role to challenge the systems that are based on “greed, violence and competition.”
In a presentation on “Tourism: A challenge to justice. A call to Asian churches” Caesar D’Mello, director of Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism said that “tourism industry as structured today is a factor in third world poverty.”
He noted that there are cases in different part of Asia where tourism is becoming a tool for community, social, political and even physical violence, and hence a threat to peace.”
The forum also discussed peace building in the militiarized Korean peninsula and the Kamir valley, conflicts and human rights in the Asia region and the churches’ engagement with people’s movements in the context of globalization.
The pre-CCA assembly forum urged the CCA to encourage its member churches and related organizations to support the Korean Ecumenical Forum and similar initiatives that promote trust and understanding between the two Koreas.
It also urged the CCA to create its capacity to support member churches to engage in efforts for building peace, especially to strengthen peace initiatives of the churches in India and Pakistan in relation to supporting the interests of the people living in the Kashmir valley.
The participants recommended the Asian ecumenical body to continue and develop ecumenical pastoral visits including fact-finding, study and solidarity missions, and provide support to member churches to protect victims of human rights violations, displaced persons, refugees and other asylum seekers.
One of the objectives of the forum was “to draw implications for churches’ mission amidst broken, bruised and brutalized people and communities.”
ASIAN PACIFIC ECUMENICAL NEWA (APEN)
25 April 2010
Church feels discriminated, but has a message
KUALA LUMPUR (APEN) – Worship in local churches by the participants during general assemblies was always an important part in the life of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).
The just concluded 13th general assembly of the CCA, which gathered here some 300 church representatives, observers and fraternal delegates from different parts of Asia and outside, was no different.
The local host, the Council of Churches in Malaysia, facilitated the assembly participants to worship at the local churches in and around the Malaysian capital city on Sunday 18 April.
When the majority of the participants attended different mainline churches for worship, a group of six attended the Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church (GSMCC), which does not belong to any mainline or “wider church.”
The sermon by the pastor on that Sunday afternoon service was on the familiar biblical theme, “Love thy neighbor.”
“We have our own individuality,” said a church member, and added that we have been moved by the “power of love and the love of Jesus.”
Music has been important part of the worship, which encourages people with musical talents to join the worship every Sunday.
Besides the Sunday worship, the church also has thrice-a-week group meetings to discuss and reflect on issues concerning them.
Personal counseling has also been an important function of the church, the pastor told the group from the CCA assembly, which concluded on 21 April.
When the opening hymn “Amazing grace” was being sung, the small worshipping place became full with more than 30 people in the congregation.
The GSMCC is small church, which was started in 2008, to provide spiritual and moral support to people with a different sexual orientation.
It was started for a diverse community of Christians, including the “gay community.”
According to the GSMCC, “We are a Christian church that affirmed the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed.”
The church is an extension of Metropolitan Community Church New York and seeks to
enlarge its membership through the internet.
Facebook and Twitter are used to promote the work of the church.
“The discrimination we face due to our sexual orientation makes us feel excluded and rejected,” the pastor said during a conversation.
He wants the mainline churches to “hear our story.”
The GSMCC leaders told the visiting members that a good amount of support came from heterosexuals.
The church membership is open to “absolutely everyone regardless of your gender, race, denomination, religion, sexual orientation, cultural background…”
“You have a message, which you have to share with the wider churches,” senior pastor from Australia told the congregation after the worship.
Reverend Yap Kim Hao, the well known Asian ecumenical leader has been a staunch supporter of this community.
He has been reminding them about the importance of their ministry.
Yap Kim Hao, the first Methodist bishop in Singapore and a former general secretary of the CCA, has been actively involved in the ministry of the gay community in Singapore for the last few years.
He serves as the pastoral advisor of the Free Community Church whose vision is to be “an inclusive community that celebrates diversity in living our God’s love and promises of abundant love for all.”
The circle of God’s love is wider and the wider church must share the love of God with communities like GSMCC, the Australian pastor told the congregation.
The CCA assembly participants who attended the worship were from Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan and India.
Email GSFMY2008@gmail.com for more information.
25 April 2010
Church feels discriminated, but has a message
KUALA LUMPUR (APEN) – Worship in local churches by the participants during general assemblies was always an important part in the life of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).
The just concluded 13th general assembly of the CCA, which gathered here some 300 church representatives, observers and fraternal delegates from different parts of Asia and outside, was no different.
The local host, the Council of Churches in Malaysia, facilitated the assembly participants to worship at the local churches in and around the Malaysian capital city on Sunday 18 April.
When the majority of the participants attended different mainline churches for worship, a group of six attended the Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church (GSMCC), which does not belong to any mainline or “wider church.”
The sermon by the pastor on that Sunday afternoon service was on the familiar biblical theme, “Love thy neighbor.”
“We have our own individuality,” said a church member, and added that we have been moved by the “power of love and the love of Jesus.”
Music has been important part of the worship, which encourages people with musical talents to join the worship every Sunday.
Besides the Sunday worship, the church also has thrice-a-week group meetings to discuss and reflect on issues concerning them.
Personal counseling has also been an important function of the church, the pastor told the group from the CCA assembly, which concluded on 21 April.
When the opening hymn “Amazing grace” was being sung, the small worshipping place became full with more than 30 people in the congregation.
The GSMCC is small church, which was started in 2008, to provide spiritual and moral support to people with a different sexual orientation.
It was started for a diverse community of Christians, including the “gay community.”
According to the GSMCC, “We are a Christian church that affirmed the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed.”
The church is an extension of Metropolitan Community Church New York and seeks to
enlarge its membership through the internet.
Facebook and Twitter are used to promote the work of the church.
“The discrimination we face due to our sexual orientation makes us feel excluded and rejected,” the pastor said during a conversation.
He wants the mainline churches to “hear our story.”
The GSMCC leaders told the visiting members that a good amount of support came from heterosexuals.
The church membership is open to “absolutely everyone regardless of your gender, race, denomination, religion, sexual orientation, cultural background…”
“You have a message, which you have to share with the wider churches,” senior pastor from Australia told the congregation after the worship.
Reverend Yap Kim Hao, the well known Asian ecumenical leader has been a staunch supporter of this community.
He has been reminding them about the importance of their ministry.
Yap Kim Hao, the first Methodist bishop in Singapore and a former general secretary of the CCA, has been actively involved in the ministry of the gay community in Singapore for the last few years.
He serves as the pastoral advisor of the Free Community Church whose vision is to be “an inclusive community that celebrates diversity in living our God’s love and promises of abundant love for all.”
The circle of God’s love is wider and the wider church must share the love of God with communities like GSMCC, the Australian pastor told the congregation.
The CCA assembly participants who attended the worship were from Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan and India.
Email GSFMY2008@gmail.com for more information.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
FRINGE DIALOGUE EVENTS AT CCA GENERAL ASSEMBLY APRIL 2010 IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
1. Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies
The Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia, Ng Moon Hing who is the current President of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, its General Secretary, Rev Dr Hermen Shastri and Rev Thomas Philips, President of the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) invited me to attend the event at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies–Malaysia. IAIS pursues high calibre academic research on Islam in contemporary context, with the aim of elaborating ethical and intellectual principles of Islam and promoting interfaith dialogue.
IAIS had invited Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches to speak on “ Future of Muslim-Christian Dialogue: Prospects and Challenges.” Dr Tveit was in Kuala Lumpur to attend the General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia. He was moderator of the Church of Norway - Islamic Council of Norway contact group and the same for the Jewish Congregation contact group. He also was a member of the Inter-Faith Council of Norway.
The host who presided at this important event was Professor Dr. Datuk Osman Bakar, now Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and Deputy CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies–Malaysia. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Prince al-Waleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. When we met him before the meeting he recalled that he first participated in the Interfaith event in Kuala Lumpur organized by the Christian Conference of Asia in the seventies when I was the General Secretary. It was good to re-establish this link.
Dr Tveit in his address shared his experience in Christian-Muslim dialogue in Norway where the Christians are in the majority with Muslims as a tiny minority. The situation is the opposite here where the Muslims are in the majority. There are lessons to be learnt of dialogue between Christian-Muslim relationships. It calls for tolerance and respect of differences as we engage in building bridges of understanding between faith communities leading to a peaceful society.
2. High Tea with Anwar Ibrahim
Following this event the Christian group was entertained by Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition Leader in the Malaysian Parliament to High Tea at his private residence for over two hours even though he was busily engaged in the campaigning in the Hulu Selangor bye-election immediately after our meeting.
At the outset he recalled his connections with the Christian community when he acknowledged my first meeting him in the “ceremah” or dialogue sessions in the home of the former Opposition Leader, the late Dr Tan Chee Khoon. He also acknowledged the assistance given to him when he first started Abim’s (Malaysia Islamic Youth Movement) school for drop-outs from ecumenical sources in the early seventies. He participated in a few CCA events subsequently.
Anwar Ibrahim had just returned from his visit to the United States and was promised support from the leaders there as well as other countries in his current Sodomy Trial. He is optimistic about his prospects of acquittal. He has furnished irrefutable medical evidence that the sexual act did not occur.
We dealt at some length about the use of the name Allah and he expressed his concern. We discussed other issues arising from the present political and religious situation in the country.
The group expressed their appreciation for his contribution to Malaysian politics and assured him of their support. An old friend from the early sixties, Goh Keat Peng, is the liaison person.
3. Prime Minister Najib Razak
The Christian Conference of Asia concluded its business officially and the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, met with the remaining less than one hundred delegates who were waiting to board their planes to travel home the day after it ended. Najib had returned from Japan early on that day of the event at the Grand Seasons Hotel which coincidentally also houses the offices of vocal Malay rights group, Perkasa.
At this encounter he narrated his 1Malaysia concept for religious and racial unity in Malaysia. I expected the PM to repeat his speech which he delivered to the Foreign Correspondents Club meeting in Singapore recently. I did not bother to change my flight to take part in this event.
Present were the newly-elected general secretary of the CCA, Reverend Dr Henriette T. Hutabarat Lebang, who is also the director of the Institut Telogi Gereja Toraja in Indonesia; Anglican Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft; and the Vatican’s diplomatic representative to Southeast Asia, Salvatore Pennacchio.
Malaysian Insider, an influential online news portal, reported that the Malaysian delegates “felt the words still rang hollow, and expressed doubts that Malaysia was moving from mere tolerance to acceptance and mutual respect as espoused by the prime minister.”
“Utusan Malaysia should be here,” the church leader said on condition of anonymity, referring to the Malay-language national newspaper.
The Umno-owned daily has been at the forefront of criticism against a recent Cabinet-endorsed committee to promote harmony and understanding among religions in Malaysia.
Another local church representative noted that the PM’s speech steered clear of mentioning religion, and focused instead on the social and economic elements to promote unity and mutual understanding among communities from diverse backgrounds.
‘There’s a place under the Malaysian sun for everybody’,” the church leader said, citing the PM, but he appeared skeptical of Najib’s sincerity in his own message.
“He may say this here but he likely says something else in front of a different audience,” he pointed out.
“He’s got to add substance to his stand,” he added, noting that as a Malaysian delegate, he was hoping to hear “something more tangible” from the PM.”
4. Interfaith Project for Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
Preman Niles in his D T Niles lecture at the General Assembly traced the development of CCA from the beginning of a Movement of Friends to the Movement of Movements to the present stage of Movement of Churches. There is always the danger of institutionalizing any movement. There is also the risk of having a movement which is cut off from the churches.
Perhaps the time has come for Christians to partner people of other faith communities to engage in a common project of service to the whole human community. Increasingly we find ourselves as a Christian community in a human community which is religiously diverse and including those who do not hold any religious conviction. We then link up into a network of local projects/programmes for mutual enrichment and support and then seek further linkages regionally and globally.
One such effort is for me to work with Bhante Dr K Gunaratne, a Sinhalese Buddhist who is resident in Singapore for over ten years. We met one another in the Inter-Relgious Organisation in 1995. When he was engaged in a relief mission last year at the conclusion of the Civil War in Sri Lanka I decided to join him to visit the Internally Displaced Persons camp for the Tamil Tigers undergoing re-education.
We have now moved on to establish an Education Center for enrichment classes including English and Computor classes for upper secondary students. It will also provide interfaith education and reconciliation initiatives. Located in Vavuniya which has a Tamil majority in the north we will enhance the dialogue programme which is already in existence among different religious leaders in the community.
Bhante Gunaratne made a special trip to Kuala Lumpur to meet with the church leaders from Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankans in diaspora from Australia, United Kingdom and the United States. It was a time of clarification of the project which aims to engage in the process of reconciliation between the Sinhalese and the Tamils and moving forward to a new future for the country.
5. Good Samaritan Metroplitan Community Church
Delegates to the CCA General Assembly were dispersed in small groups to different churches in the city for the Sunday Worship Services. I posted the notice introducing Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church (GSMCC) for them to register so that the logistics could be arranged.
A group of eight chose to attend the Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church which was organized a little over two years ago. Within the group were a Pastor from the Uniting Church in Sydney, Australia, CCA staff responsible for the programme of HIV/AIDS, two journalists from India and Pakistan.
The journalist from Pakistan filed her report of the visit to the Church. I was surprised it was published in the Conference Daily newsletter the following day.
Naveen quoted Pastor Joe Pang: “This Church welcomes absolutely everyone - regardless of their gender, race, denomination, religion, sexual orientation and cultural background. The Church contains a diverse group of members including people from the “gay community.” We aspire to be a church of diversity. We believe in the power of love and healing” says Pastor Joe. The discrimination we face due to our sexual orientation makes us feel isolated. We ask the churches to hear our story, but we often refused a listening ear” he further added.
Pastor Joe ended by saying: “ We are glad CCA participants attended our worship. We pray with you and support the theme of the Assembly: Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal.”
6. Personal Notes
My relationship to the Christian Conference of Asia was early in my ministry in the beginning of the sixties. I was invited to attend the 3rd General Assembly in 1964 in Bangkok. Early I had met the founder, D. T. Niles of Sri Lanka of what was then known as the East Asia Christian Conference. He was a leader with great charisma of the Methodist Church in Ceylon and became the first General Secretary of EACC. He took the liberty to select the members of the Continuation Committee and I was included in his list and was elected to that office. In the 5th Assembly which met in Singapore I was elected General Secretary in 1973 and served till 1985. The name was changed to the Christian Conference of Asia since then
I have made many friends since I was related to CCA and made new ones till today. A General Assembly is an occasion to renew and form friendships in the ecumenical movement. The meeting is a time to review the ecumenical programme and to chart new directions of mission and service for the churches in Asia.
We look forward to another five years of witness and service to the people in Asia by individual Christians, member churches, and CCA.
The Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia, Ng Moon Hing who is the current President of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, its General Secretary, Rev Dr Hermen Shastri and Rev Thomas Philips, President of the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) invited me to attend the event at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies–Malaysia. IAIS pursues high calibre academic research on Islam in contemporary context, with the aim of elaborating ethical and intellectual principles of Islam and promoting interfaith dialogue.
IAIS had invited Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches to speak on “ Future of Muslim-Christian Dialogue: Prospects and Challenges.” Dr Tveit was in Kuala Lumpur to attend the General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia. He was moderator of the Church of Norway - Islamic Council of Norway contact group and the same for the Jewish Congregation contact group. He also was a member of the Inter-Faith Council of Norway.
The host who presided at this important event was Professor Dr. Datuk Osman Bakar, now Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and Deputy CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies–Malaysia. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Prince al-Waleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. When we met him before the meeting he recalled that he first participated in the Interfaith event in Kuala Lumpur organized by the Christian Conference of Asia in the seventies when I was the General Secretary. It was good to re-establish this link.
Dr Tveit in his address shared his experience in Christian-Muslim dialogue in Norway where the Christians are in the majority with Muslims as a tiny minority. The situation is the opposite here where the Muslims are in the majority. There are lessons to be learnt of dialogue between Christian-Muslim relationships. It calls for tolerance and respect of differences as we engage in building bridges of understanding between faith communities leading to a peaceful society.
2. High Tea with Anwar Ibrahim
Following this event the Christian group was entertained by Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition Leader in the Malaysian Parliament to High Tea at his private residence for over two hours even though he was busily engaged in the campaigning in the Hulu Selangor bye-election immediately after our meeting.
At the outset he recalled his connections with the Christian community when he acknowledged my first meeting him in the “ceremah” or dialogue sessions in the home of the former Opposition Leader, the late Dr Tan Chee Khoon. He also acknowledged the assistance given to him when he first started Abim’s (Malaysia Islamic Youth Movement) school for drop-outs from ecumenical sources in the early seventies. He participated in a few CCA events subsequently.
Anwar Ibrahim had just returned from his visit to the United States and was promised support from the leaders there as well as other countries in his current Sodomy Trial. He is optimistic about his prospects of acquittal. He has furnished irrefutable medical evidence that the sexual act did not occur.
We dealt at some length about the use of the name Allah and he expressed his concern. We discussed other issues arising from the present political and religious situation in the country.
The group expressed their appreciation for his contribution to Malaysian politics and assured him of their support. An old friend from the early sixties, Goh Keat Peng, is the liaison person.
3. Prime Minister Najib Razak
The Christian Conference of Asia concluded its business officially and the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, met with the remaining less than one hundred delegates who were waiting to board their planes to travel home the day after it ended. Najib had returned from Japan early on that day of the event at the Grand Seasons Hotel which coincidentally also houses the offices of vocal Malay rights group, Perkasa.
At this encounter he narrated his 1Malaysia concept for religious and racial unity in Malaysia. I expected the PM to repeat his speech which he delivered to the Foreign Correspondents Club meeting in Singapore recently. I did not bother to change my flight to take part in this event.
Present were the newly-elected general secretary of the CCA, Reverend Dr Henriette T. Hutabarat Lebang, who is also the director of the Institut Telogi Gereja Toraja in Indonesia; Anglican Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft; and the Vatican’s diplomatic representative to Southeast Asia, Salvatore Pennacchio.
Malaysian Insider, an influential online news portal, reported that the Malaysian delegates “felt the words still rang hollow, and expressed doubts that Malaysia was moving from mere tolerance to acceptance and mutual respect as espoused by the prime minister.”
“Utusan Malaysia should be here,” the church leader said on condition of anonymity, referring to the Malay-language national newspaper.
The Umno-owned daily has been at the forefront of criticism against a recent Cabinet-endorsed committee to promote harmony and understanding among religions in Malaysia.
Another local church representative noted that the PM’s speech steered clear of mentioning religion, and focused instead on the social and economic elements to promote unity and mutual understanding among communities from diverse backgrounds.
‘There’s a place under the Malaysian sun for everybody’,” the church leader said, citing the PM, but he appeared skeptical of Najib’s sincerity in his own message.
“He may say this here but he likely says something else in front of a different audience,” he pointed out.
“He’s got to add substance to his stand,” he added, noting that as a Malaysian delegate, he was hoping to hear “something more tangible” from the PM.”
4. Interfaith Project for Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
Preman Niles in his D T Niles lecture at the General Assembly traced the development of CCA from the beginning of a Movement of Friends to the Movement of Movements to the present stage of Movement of Churches. There is always the danger of institutionalizing any movement. There is also the risk of having a movement which is cut off from the churches.
Perhaps the time has come for Christians to partner people of other faith communities to engage in a common project of service to the whole human community. Increasingly we find ourselves as a Christian community in a human community which is religiously diverse and including those who do not hold any religious conviction. We then link up into a network of local projects/programmes for mutual enrichment and support and then seek further linkages regionally and globally.
One such effort is for me to work with Bhante Dr K Gunaratne, a Sinhalese Buddhist who is resident in Singapore for over ten years. We met one another in the Inter-Relgious Organisation in 1995. When he was engaged in a relief mission last year at the conclusion of the Civil War in Sri Lanka I decided to join him to visit the Internally Displaced Persons camp for the Tamil Tigers undergoing re-education.
We have now moved on to establish an Education Center for enrichment classes including English and Computor classes for upper secondary students. It will also provide interfaith education and reconciliation initiatives. Located in Vavuniya which has a Tamil majority in the north we will enhance the dialogue programme which is already in existence among different religious leaders in the community.
Bhante Gunaratne made a special trip to Kuala Lumpur to meet with the church leaders from Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankans in diaspora from Australia, United Kingdom and the United States. It was a time of clarification of the project which aims to engage in the process of reconciliation between the Sinhalese and the Tamils and moving forward to a new future for the country.
5. Good Samaritan Metroplitan Community Church
Delegates to the CCA General Assembly were dispersed in small groups to different churches in the city for the Sunday Worship Services. I posted the notice introducing Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church (GSMCC) for them to register so that the logistics could be arranged.
A group of eight chose to attend the Good Samaritan Metropolitan Community Church which was organized a little over two years ago. Within the group were a Pastor from the Uniting Church in Sydney, Australia, CCA staff responsible for the programme of HIV/AIDS, two journalists from India and Pakistan.
The journalist from Pakistan filed her report of the visit to the Church. I was surprised it was published in the Conference Daily newsletter the following day.
Naveen quoted Pastor Joe Pang: “This Church welcomes absolutely everyone - regardless of their gender, race, denomination, religion, sexual orientation and cultural background. The Church contains a diverse group of members including people from the “gay community.” We aspire to be a church of diversity. We believe in the power of love and healing” says Pastor Joe. The discrimination we face due to our sexual orientation makes us feel isolated. We ask the churches to hear our story, but we often refused a listening ear” he further added.
Pastor Joe ended by saying: “ We are glad CCA participants attended our worship. We pray with you and support the theme of the Assembly: Called to Prophesy, Reconcile and Heal.”
6. Personal Notes
My relationship to the Christian Conference of Asia was early in my ministry in the beginning of the sixties. I was invited to attend the 3rd General Assembly in 1964 in Bangkok. Early I had met the founder, D. T. Niles of Sri Lanka of what was then known as the East Asia Christian Conference. He was a leader with great charisma of the Methodist Church in Ceylon and became the first General Secretary of EACC. He took the liberty to select the members of the Continuation Committee and I was included in his list and was elected to that office. In the 5th Assembly which met in Singapore I was elected General Secretary in 1973 and served till 1985. The name was changed to the Christian Conference of Asia since then
I have made many friends since I was related to CCA and made new ones till today. A General Assembly is an occasion to renew and form friendships in the ecumenical movement. The meeting is a time to review the ecumenical programme and to chart new directions of mission and service for the churches in Asia.
We look forward to another five years of witness and service to the people in Asia by individual Christians, member churches, and CCA.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Home > ST Forum > Online Story
Mar 24, 2010
Profits should not be charities' aim
I REFER to last Saturday's report, "Charity commissioner questions City Harvest" and the letter from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Urban Redevelopment Authority and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, on the same day ("Drawing the line on commercial deals"), which said: "A charity's main purpose is to provide public benefits through its charitable activities."
Churches like other religious organisations are classified as charitable institutions. The core business of a religious community is to cater to the religious needs of its members and to provide charity to the poor and needy. Funds from members and the public are solicited primarily for that purpose. Its purpose is not profit-making and accumulation of financial assets for further investment in the business and commercial sectors.
Historically, business activity in printing and publishing, religious supplies, media and communication is meant to enhance the religious outreach. The investment of surplus funds is directed to equity blue chip stocks and rental of properties. As has been rightly pointed out by the Government they are "not to subject the charity's assets and resources to unacceptable risks". And that includes speculating in the stock market. It is further questionable for the religious community to set up a separate business entity in order to avoid taxation.
Whatever surplus funds the religious institution gets each year is not meant to be accumulated for the purpose of engaging in business and commercial activities. Exceptional risks are taken in profit-making activities and they deviate from the nature of charitable institutions.
The relevant authorities should provide regulations and enact legislation to address this situation.
Yap Kim Hao
Mar 24, 2010
Profits should not be charities' aim
I REFER to last Saturday's report, "Charity commissioner questions City Harvest" and the letter from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Urban Redevelopment Authority and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, on the same day ("Drawing the line on commercial deals"), which said: "A charity's main purpose is to provide public benefits through its charitable activities."
Churches like other religious organisations are classified as charitable institutions. The core business of a religious community is to cater to the religious needs of its members and to provide charity to the poor and needy. Funds from members and the public are solicited primarily for that purpose. Its purpose is not profit-making and accumulation of financial assets for further investment in the business and commercial sectors.
Historically, business activity in printing and publishing, religious supplies, media and communication is meant to enhance the religious outreach. The investment of surplus funds is directed to equity blue chip stocks and rental of properties. As has been rightly pointed out by the Government they are "not to subject the charity's assets and resources to unacceptable risks". And that includes speculating in the stock market. It is further questionable for the religious community to set up a separate business entity in order to avoid taxation.
Whatever surplus funds the religious institution gets each year is not meant to be accumulated for the purpose of engaging in business and commercial activities. Exceptional risks are taken in profit-making activities and they deviate from the nature of charitable institutions.
The relevant authorities should provide regulations and enact legislation to address this situation.
Yap Kim Hao
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Who has the Exclusive Claims to Absolute Truth?
Who has the Exclusive Claims to Absolute Truth?
The Christian Post (Singapore) published recently an article by a Protestant theologian which includes this passage: the missionary document of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church, Nostra Aetate: "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions." This does not yet mean that these religions are "vehicles" of salvation. They are, to use the term coined by the early Fathers of the Church, merely a "preparation for the Gospel". In some sense the nuggets of truth found in these religions loosen the soil of the hearts of pagans and make them receptive to the Gospel. But salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, "for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Is this the current belief of the majority of the Christian community? I fear there are people of other faith communities who have the same view as stated by these Christians. When we refer to one another as pagans and have similar exclusive claims to absolute truth then it becomes a stumbling block to dialogue and interfaith relations that we have to contend with. It is time for all of us to critically evaluate such truth claims honestly and with integrity in our pluralistic society.
The Christian Post (Singapore) published recently an article by a Protestant theologian which includes this passage: the missionary document of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church, Nostra Aetate: "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions." This does not yet mean that these religions are "vehicles" of salvation. They are, to use the term coined by the early Fathers of the Church, merely a "preparation for the Gospel". In some sense the nuggets of truth found in these religions loosen the soil of the hearts of pagans and make them receptive to the Gospel. But salvation is found only in Jesus Christ, "for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Is this the current belief of the majority of the Christian community? I fear there are people of other faith communities who have the same view as stated by these Christians. When we refer to one another as pagans and have similar exclusive claims to absolute truth then it becomes a stumbling block to dialogue and interfaith relations that we have to contend with. It is time for all of us to critically evaluate such truth claims honestly and with integrity in our pluralistic society.
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