Tag: christianity

Christian living, religion, World Religions

Christian Reflections on Muslim Hospitality

Posted on by Jay Givens

Whenever I have been in an Muslim country, I have always noticed the hospitality offered to me as a traveler.  When I visited Turkey, I assumed it was because I was with a tour group.  In Palestine, it was more obvious. As I entered homes with my Palestinian Baptist friends, we were always greeted by the host (whether Muslim or Christian) with whatever food and drink they had readily available.  This summer, my wife and I were completely unprepared for the generosity we experienced in Morocco visiting one of our former exchange daughters.  Her family was so gracious that we hardly spent any money during our ten day visit as they provided food, accommodations, and entertainment!

Hospitality is an ancient concept.  Both the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an describe it in the positive, when Abraham welcomed travelers, unaware they were angels (Ge 18:1-8; Qur’an 11:69) and in the negative, when the men of Sodom wished to abuse these same angels disguised as travelers (Ge 19:4-10; Qur’an 11:78-79). It is no wonder, then, that the call to hospitality is found in Jewish, Christian, and Muslims scriptures.  So what can a Christian learn from the Muslim understanding of hospitality? (Ali Zohery’s “Prophet Muhammad: the Hospitable” helped me find the stories of Muhammad in the Hadith.)

Subscribe to receive email notification of new posts.

Al-Bukhari tells us that Muhammad taught that one should give “a superior type of food” to a guest (traveler) for a night and a day, then continue to host them for three days with food.  This is the duty of every person.  Beyond that, any continuation of hospitality is an offering, an act of charity, not a duty.  Muhammad also warned it was not permissible for a guest to stay to the point of critically impacting their host’s resources.

Notice how Muhammad emphasized the need to give the best (the “superior”) first.  This is significant, as you are making a good first impression.  His emphasis is not the same as the master of ceremonies at the wedding in Cana, who said people give the best wine first so their guests will not notice when the cheap stuff is served later—after they are inebriated (Jn 2:7-10).  No, Muhammad is saying we give more than expected as a way to honor our guest.  Whether given as charity or as hospitality due a visitor, you are to give your best—not “worthless things . . . you yourselves would only accept with closed eyes” (Qur’an 2:267). It is God’s gift to you, not your possession, so share it freely.

A second thing to notice is that Muhammad viewed going beyond the requirements of the culture or law as a voluntary act of charity.  This charity reflected the mercy and grace of God, but it was not compulsory to do so.  Jesus, however, made going above and beyond compulsory for his followers.  “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Mt 5:40-42).  This was not just to the traveler, but even to the “evil person!” (Mt 5:39) It was a way to “love your enemies” (Mt 5:44) rather than to treat them as they were treating you (“eye for eye”—Mt 5:38).

According to Al-Bukhari, some of Muhammad’s followers once said to him that when they were traveling and entered a home, the hosts did not provide hospitality to them.  They asked him, how should we handle this situation?  If they show you hospitality as a guest should be treated, Muhammad said, accept it.  If they do not provide for your needs, however, you should take “the right of the guest” from them.  (You could forcibly demand hospitality, in other words.) This is a very different response from what Jesus instructed his disciples when he sent them out to the villages of the Galilee.  “As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (Mt 10:12-15).  Even before you receive any hospitality, Jesus tells his followers, speak a blessing of peace upon the house.  Then, if hospitality is shown, let the blessing remain.  But if hospitality is not shown, Jesus’ disciples are not to demand it as a right.  Instead, they are to simply to revoke the blessing pronounced on the home, shake the dust from their sandals, and trust God to judge the injustice in his own time.

Finally, Tirmidhi tells us someone asked Muhammad, “If I come to a man who gives me no entertainment or hospitality and he afterwards comes to me, shall I give him entertainment or treat him as he treated me?” Muhammad replied, “No, give him entertainment.” In other words, do not repay evil with evil but honor your duty as a representative of God.  Similarly, Jesus said to do to others as we would want them to do to us (Mt 7:12).  Not only is it the right way to treat those created in the Image of God, but Proverbs tells us, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you” (Pr 25:21-22). For Paul tells us we can never defeat evil with evil, but evil can only be conquered by good (Rom 12:9-21).  Hospitality can turn an enemy into a friend.

0
Bible, sermon, Uncategorized

Nunc Coepi (Now I Begin!)

Posted on by Jay Givens

Judges 13-16

Philip Rivers was an eight-time Pro Bowl Quarterback who primarily played for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers. A Roman Catholic, Rivers frequently referenced a phrase he attributed to a nineteenth century priest: Nunc Coepi, which roughly translates as, “Now, I begin.” Rivers said this phrase helped him do his best. Whether he had a bad play or a good play, he would say, “Nunc Coepi!” (I must begin again.) Whether he threw a touchdown or an interception, he had to begin again. Nunc Coepi! He applied this to his work, to his faith, to his relationships, and to his life. So can we.

In the book of Judges, Samson is the person most discussed—four chapters. Jdg 13:2-5 begins with a great promise. Though his mother was barren and childless, the angel told her she would have a son. Nunc Coepi–she must begin again! This child was to be set apart as a Nazirite from birth. If a Hebrew took a Nazirite vow, they set themselves apart until the vow was fulfilled. Samson, however, was to be a Nazirite even from his mother’s womb. This meant he was never to drink wine or any fermented drink; he was never to touch anything dead; and he was never to cut his hair. (Normally, Hebrews would cut their hair at the fulfilment of their vow.) Samson had a divine call on his life. He was set apart to deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines.

Yet throughout the chapters detailing the events of his life, we find that Samson denied his divine call. Instead of leading the fight against the Philistines, we always read about him being with the Philistines, especially Philistine women (his wife, a prostitute, Delilah). Slowly through the story, he violated his set apart status, cavalierly flaunting the rules given to him from birth. Though we are not explicitly told he drinks wine, the town of the woman he fell in love with is specifically said to have vineyards (Jdg 14:5). A few verses later, we read about what sounds like a bachelor party for his impending wedding (Jdg 14:10-11). In many other places in the Bible, we are told that feasting included drinking. It is hard to imagine this feast didn’t also include Samson drinking.

He joked and even bragged about touching dead things! He found bees making honey in the mouth of a lion carcass he had killed earlier. He ate some without telling his parents (obviously knowing they would rebuke him), thus touching an unclean dead body. But then he joked about it during the wedding feast in the form of a riddle to outwit his Philistine companions. Later, when the Philistines were attempting to kill him, he picked up a fresh donkey jawbone and used it as a club to kill a thousand Philistines. He then bragged about this feat by composing a verse and naming the place Jawbone Hill (Jdg 15:15-17)!

Finally, to get Delilah to quit nagging him, he told her the truth about his hair, the one remaining thing that set him apart as a Nazirite. If his hair was cut, he would be like any other man (Jdg 16:16-20). Sometimes, people think his hair was the key to his great strength, but it was only the final surrender of the things that set him apart to the Lord. His strength was from Lord (Jdg 16:20) through the empowering of the Holy Spirit (Jdg 13:25).

And so, Samson squandered his great promise. The Lord left him. The Philistines subdued him and gouged out his eyes. They turned him into a blind slave who worked for them. They would bring him out for entertainment in order to mock and insult him.

Samson’s story was intended by the author of Judges as a cautionary tale for the Israelites. Like Samson, they were born of great promise. The opening of Sarah’s womb was like the opening of Samson’s mother’s womb. The Exodus story was about the sudden birth of a new people of God who would enter a land promised to their ancestors. The Israelites were also set apart. Samson was to be a Nazirite. The Hebrews were rescued by God from slavery to be his treasured possession. As the Nazirite vow had rules to obey, so the Israelites were to obey the covenant to show their thankfulness to God for redeeming them from slavery (Exod 19:4-6). Like Samson, they violated the covenant (eventually losing their set apart status in the exile). They also had a divine calling. They were to be a kingdom of priests and a holy (set apart) nation. Through their communal life, they were to bless all the nations of the earth (Gen 22:18). Yet over and again, they wanted to be like all the other nations (1Sa 8:19-20).

Samson’s story is also a warning to the church! We were birthed in great promise through Christ Jesus’ defeat of death in his crucifixion and resurrection and his outpouring of life through the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:22-24; Rom 8:9-11). We are set apart through the filling of his Holy Spirit to love one another and to live as one body (2Cor 5:5; 1Jn 3:23-24; Eph 3:6). We have a divine calling to be his witnesses, to make disciples, and to labor for his kingdom (Acts 1:8; Mt 28:18-20; 1Tim 4:10). We must remember the great promise, maintain our set apart status, and live into our divine calling.

But even if we fail, hope remains. We are told in Judges 16:22 that Samson’s hair began to grow again. The hair is not magical or embued with power. It is simply a sign that he can reclaim his Nazirite status. Finally, at the end of his life, we read that Samson for the first time prays to God! It is never too late to turn back to God or call out to him (Jdg 16:28)! “Nunc Coepi!,” Samson thought. “Now I begin!” He placed his hands on the pillars of the temple filled with mocking Philistine crowds, pushed with all the might God bestowed upon him, and we are told his attempt to fulfill God’s call was greater in his death than it had been throughout his life (Jdg 16:29-30). So his tragic life ended in a tragic, though victorious, death.

But turning to God or rededicating yourself to him doesn’t have to have a tragic end. King Josiah found a scroll announcing the destruction of his nation. He was told by a prophetess that what was written there would only happen after his death, because he had repented on hearing the words. Did Josiah say (like King Hezekiah before him), “at least it won’t happen in my day!”? No. He said, “Nunc Coepi! Now I begin!” and started a massive reform movement throughout the land, attempting to change God’s mind! Though he wasn’t successful in stopping God’s destruction of Judah, he did delay it. And we are told that there was never a king before or after him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength (2Ki 23:25)! In the New Testament, Saul persecuted the early Christians, arresting many and standing in support of their death. One day, Jesus called him. Saul could have followed Jesus in a quiet manner but allowing his past actions to hold him back from service. But Paul instead said, “Nunc Coepi! Now I begin!” He became the most influential of the apostles, writing thirteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament.

In church history, just two examples more will suffice. Ignatius of Loyola was a military soldier known for womanizing and living a worldly life. A cannonball shattered his leg during one campaign. While convalescing, he began to read the lives of the saints and to reflect on the image of Jesus on the crucifix hanging on his bedroom wall. Suddenly, he said, “Nunc Coepi! Now I begin!” He not only became a committed follower of Christ but young men began to gather around him to learn from him of his way of devotion. This group eventually became the Society of Jesus (aka, Jesuits), which launched the first truly global missionary movement. John Newton was an English slave trader. After many years, he became a Christian. He said, “Nunc Coepi! Now I begin!” and studied to become an Anglican priest. He also an active abolitionist, helping to end the slavery in England. He is probably best known for writing the words to the hymn “Amazing Grace.”

Whether in your own life, your relationships with family or friends, your church, or your community, it is never too late to start something new. The venerable Bruno Lateri was the nineteeth century Roman Catholic priest Philip Rivers so often quoted. His full statement was, “If I should fall even a thousand times a day, I will with peace in my heart turn to God, ask his forgiveness, and begin again.”

Nunc Coepi! Now I begin!

0
Bible, Christian living, current-events

Whose Land Is It, Anyway?

Posted on by Jay Givens

I recently saw a meme floating around social media: “Israel doesn’t occupy the land.  They OWN it. Gen 15:18-21.” There were multiple amens attached.  Certainly, the intent was to show support for Israel in response to the horrific attack on civilians by Hamas last October.  While there is a promise made in Genesis 15, it is curious that a verse referencing “everlasting” was not used, such as Genesis 13:15.  “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”  This promise to Abraham was restated to him (Gen 17:8), then confirmed to Isaac (Gen 26:3) and Jacob (Gen 35:12). 

The main problem with the meme, however, is that it assumes God’s promise was without condition.  That’s certainly the response of many to the meme: “God does not break his covenants;” “Truth!” “Of course!” “I stand with Israel.”  Yet the Bible itself does not support the idea that God gifted the land to Abraham’s descendants in perpetuity without condition.

Subscribe to receive email notification of new posts.

Before we consider these conditions, however, we must first address the wording of the meme.  God’s promises to the Patriarchs does not mean Israel “owns” the land.  God explicitly rejects such a concept in Leviticus 25:23.  “The land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”  God is the only owner of the land.

God set conditions that the people must not sin but obey his commands in order to remain in the land (Deut 4:1; 5:33; 11:8-9; Josh 23:16; 2Chr 7:19-22; 33:7-9; Jer 11:5; 32:21-23).  Abraham, though a foreigner at the time, was told by God that the land was an everlasting possession for him and his descendants, and they must keep God’s covenant (Gen 17:8-9).  As Abraham was a foreigner in the land he possessed, so his later descendants were also foreigners.  Before entering the land, God warned Israel that if they did not keep his commands, the land would vomit them out as it did the Canaanites (Lev 18:25-28; 20:22).  By the monarchy’s end, God tells them, “You came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable” (Jer 2:7).  These detestable acts included idolatry (Deut 4:25-27; 11:16-17; 30:17-18, Josh 23:16; 1Ki 14:15-16; Jer 16:13-15) and unethical treatment of their fellow human beings.

If Israel wanted to remain in the land, they were to follow the way of justice, treating people fairly and without partiality (Deut 16:18-20).  They were not to mistreat the foreigner living among them, but were to treat them as native-born.  “Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt,” God commands (Lev 19:33-34).  Israel was driven from the land because of violence and bloodshed (Ezek 7:23-25), because they did not care for the orphan and the poor (Jer 5:28). 

Many American Christians think they are called to unwavering support of Israel, regardless of the civilian casualty count.  Some even believe Israel is entitled to the whole land, to expel the Palestinians.  This, however, contradicts the statements above (love the foreigner, care for the orphan and poor).  I believe it also misreads the biblical story, as the New Testament authors continuously spiritualized the return to the land and the restoration of Israel, reading these as the gathering of Jews and Gentiles in Christ.  For instance, the writer to the Hebrews says we don’t look toward the earthly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22; 13:11-14), but join with the Hebrew faithful, who lived as foreigners and strangers on the earth . . . longing for a better country to come (Heb 11:13-16).  Remember, he’s writing to Hebraic Jews, saying the land and temple are no longer important.

Now God can give the land to whomever he wants, whether Israeli or Palestinian.  That is up to God.  But as Christians, we should not turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians—both Christian and Muslim—who did not take part in nor condone October 7.  We should not encourage Israel to violate the command of God, to limit retribution to no more than an eye for an eye (Exod 21:23-25).  1,200 died in Israel that day; why is it okay for 35,000 civilians to die in Gaza? (Even if these deaths have been overreported by 90%, that is still 3 “eyes” to 1!)

Even if the restoration texts apply to the modern state of Israel, they are not living by these texts.  The return described by the prophets were of a people with the law written on their hearts (Jer 31:31-34) of flesh, filled with God’s Spirit to obey the commands (Ezek 11:14-21; 36:22-32), and wholeheartedly fearing the Lord (Jer 32:36-41).  Isaiah says, strangers would be united to those returning (Isa 14:1-2).  Ezekiel adds that they would treat the foreigner residing in the land as a native-born and give them an inheritance in the land in whatever tribe they resided (Ezek 47:21-23).  God the shepherd would gathers his lost sheep, caring for the weak and injured but destroying the sleek and strong (Ezek 34:15-16).  It would seem Israel should strive to find a way to leave in peace with their Palestinian neighbors, not take their land nor prosper at their expense, lest they themselves be destroyed. 

The modern secular state of Israel does not live the righteous life described within the Hebrew Bible.  In many ways, their response is far more like the people of Ezekiel’s own day than his vision of the future people of God.  Just after Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon, the attacked people say to themselves: “Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land.  But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession” (Ezek 33:24).  Yet God tells them they violated his commands, worshiped idols, shed the blood of the innocent, defiled their neighbor’s wives, and relied on their own sword rather than on him.  “Should you then possess the land?” (Ezek 33:25-26) asks the God who was, and is, and is to come (Rev 1:8).

Subscribe to receive email notification of new posts.

0
Christian living, World Religions

Christian Reflections on the Zen Oxherder

Posted on by Jay Givens

There is a Zen Buddhist story at least 1,000 years old of an oxherder and an ox, told in ten short poems. In summary, the oxherder expends energy searching for the ox but not appreciating what he sees around him. He eventually begins to see traces of the ox and ultimately spots him. After catching the ox, he tames it and masters it sufficiently to ride it home. At rest at home, the ox disappears, for there is no longer a need for whip or rope. Soon, all merges and disappears–ox, whip, rope, and oxherder. Then, the world as it originally was comes back into focus. All is as it always had been but never perceived or appreciated before. Finally, the oxherder himself returns to his community, no longer searching or seeking what he thinks he does not have but understanding what he has doesn’t matter for he has always had what he needed. He is now free to be a blessing to others. He is content and joyful despite the circumstances of the moment.

Subscribe to receive email notifications of new posts

The story is imagined in a set of ten pictures:

A few observations from this story help me better understand my Christian faith. The first set of images is about self-centered pursuits (sin) or trying to master your own life (salvation by works). The oxherder strives to win and tame the ox, yet it is only when he begins to become one with the ox that he eventually learns to release his grasp on life and desire to control his situation. As the ox disappears into himself and then he himself disappear, he discovers that it is not his works that matter. He now sees the world with new eyes as gift and blessing. He returns to society with the selfless service we each are called to in Christ (Eph 2:3-10; 4:32).

The most important image of the ten is the empty circle. It is the act of renouncing sin and self to embrace the gift of God.  It is becoming united with Christ and understanding that this world is impermanent, but God is all in all.  It is being united with Christ and saying with the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46; Heb 12:2-3).  It is fulfilling Paul’s confession that we have died with Christ and no longer live (Gal 2:20).

The empty circle helps me understand the presence of God in the ark of the covenant.  The mercy seat, the very presence of God on earth for the Israelites, was an empty space between the wings of two cherubim that sat upon the lid of the ark.  God was not in the ark or the cherubim.  God was in the empty space.  The most real portion of the ark was the spot where no “thing” actually was.  The people wanted something tangible, something they could point to and say, “There is God!”  So God gave them something tangible, the ark of the covenant.  Yet as they pondered Moses’s teaching about the ark and the mercy seat, they realized “there” was not the ark, nor the cherubim, nor any “thing.”  “There” was the emptiness found between the two cherubim, below their outstretched wings, and above the lid of the ark.  God was teaching them that he was spirit, that this empty space was more real than the matter that surrounded it (Ex 25:19-22).

The empty circle is also the empty tomb.  Without the emptiness of that tomb, Christianity is a dead religion (1Cor 15:13-19).  There is no return to the source.  There is no entering the market with open hands.  But through the empty tomb, we discover the secret of contentment (Phil 4:11-13) so that we can seek the needs of others rather than our own needs (Phil 2:1-11).  Only when we are empty can we be truly filled (Matt 5:6).  Let us yearn for the day when God’s will is fully done on earth, when we fully empty ourselves to be and do for one another, for in that day “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of [the glory of] the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14).

Subscribe to receive email notifications of new posts

0