Are we Safe, or are we Good?--by Linden Malki

"Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."  Aslan the Lion in C.S. Lewis' book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a "Christ figure" who understands that there are times that we are not called to be "safe," but we are always called to be Good. 

Jesus was not "safe" when He drove the moneychangers out of the Temple.  He was not "safe" when He healed and forgave people in front of those who did not understand who He was and where His power came from. He was not "safe" when He talked with a Samaritan woman and a Phoenician mother. He was not "safe" when He dealt with a Gerasene who was possessed, and a stranger's pigs went off the cliff. He wasn't "safe" when He hung out with tax collectors and other outcasts under the nose of the Establishment types.

 He was not "safe" when He resurrected Lazarus, entered Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, and found Himself in front of a hostile Sanhedrin, a Roman governor, and hanging on a cross.

Three days later, He was safe--but His followers were not; 10 of the disciples, as well as Stephen and Paul and many more died painfully. Over the centuries, the world has killed millions of His followers.

We are not always called to be martyrs, but there are other times we should not be "safe." Jesus said that whoever harms a child is not "safe". Even today, there are times, places and situations that are not "safe" for those who stand up for those who are in danger.

This weekend we are reminded of those who have endured unsafe places so that others might be safe.  May we understand that as long as there is Evil in the world, "O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand. Between their loved home and the war's desolation!"  Are we thankful for those who have put others' safety ahead of their own?                                             

The Source--by Linden Malki

The last few weeks we've been talking and thinking about being "safe" people, who can deal effectively with conflicts in the various relationships we are part of in our familties and the communities. These conflicts and crises aare nothing new; we find them all through Scripture as well as in our contemporary lives. As I have been researching these stories, I have noticed that especially in the Old Testament, there are many mentions of situations that are often dealt with through the intervention of God Himself. We see God dealing with Abraham and his family situations, and more crises moving down through Isaac and Jacob, and on down through the history of God's dealing with these tribes of people He is attempting to teach His lessons to. Obviously, if they had all listened, a fair number of disasters could have been avoided. But there was an additional thread running through this history. We see the familiar thing--God telling people, through His servants and prophets, the same things that we've been taught through Scripture, and through the teachers He has sent to us.  We have no excuse for not knowing what He wants of us.

But it's not enough to know the words. There's another thread I kept finding, especially in the Psalms. Almost half of the Psalms include something more: the writers are asking not only for the rules and the lessons, but for help. Opening my Bible to a random page of Psalms, I find this: "Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers" (Psalm 141), and this "I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy." (Psalm 142) and "For your name's sake, Lord, preserve my life" (Psalm 143). These writers are not just asking for advice on what they should do; they are begging for active intervention in their situations. They know that they cannot do what needs to be done on their own strength.

There is another thread that runs through this as well: "I will exalt you, My God the King. I will praise your name for ever and ever." (Psalm 145) It's not enough to know the words! We need to ask for His strength, and then to praise His name for the result. Yes, it is important to have the instructions, but as His followers, we have a whole additional source of power: God Himself, His Son and His Spirit.

Risking It All in God's Hands--by Linden Malki

           
God is all-wise, but also willing to take the risk  of having made creatures who are free. If we recognize Him, and are willing to live this life on His principles, we will have rewards beyond our imagining. If we insist on living life on our own terms, we are responsible for the result. We are capable of great good, and also of great evils. We live in a world that is not safe, but we will be taken care of if we choose to follow Him. This doesn't mean than nothing bad will ever happen, but that we will be taken care of in ways we cannot understand ahead of time. Our lives, our jobs, our families are unpredictable, except that we know that living life in God's way is better than not. Yes, bad things can happen, but we are responsible for each other. Even disasters give us the choice of working together for each other, or giving up, or taking advantage of a situation for our own perceived benefit (which usually is not ultimately good for us or others). I recall my husband, facing a third round of cancer therapy after two  remissions, commenting that "God gives us choices, but this is not one of them." We were blessed in that he had had the joy of seeing our kids and grandkids grow up in those years, and were facing life with the best that we could do for them, knowing that they were in God's hands.


 God has given us the information and ability to take or avoid responsibilities for ourselves, our
families, and our communities. We can be realistic about our decisions and deal with the results, or we can blame others for what happens and try to avoid responsibilities--which usually means that we also avoid the opportunity to change the situation. We can try to shift the responsibilities to everybody else, but the only person we can actually change effectively is ourself,  with the power (if we accept it) of God, available to us if we are willing to honor it.  It's much easier to sound off and tell every body else what they should do, but there are a few things we need to remember: we don't know all the factors in the situation; we are limited in our power but unlimited in our greed if we let it have its own way; and we will be held accountable at some point, in this world and/or the next, for what we have done. We don't know all the ins and outs of everything that happens; are we willing to trust God, who does know, and do what He calls us to do--which may involve risk, but also offers the best answers if we trust His judgment over what we think is best in our limited understanding.

The Family of God-by Linden Malki

Being a member of "God's family" is a choice that we make. In one sense, all human beings are children of God, but we need to make the step to identify with His people. Back at the beginning of God's calling of His people, it was important to recognize the need to take a positive step to maintain ritual cleanliness in His eyes. We see this back in the earliest days of God's calling Aaron and his family to prepare for their offerings to God by being washed in a basin set apart for this purpose.  Also, as the Law developed, it included the command to wash to restore yourself after various

deliberate and inadvertent types of disobedience or uncleanliness. By the time of the New Testament, communities maintained ritual washing pools with access to clean running water; these pools have been found in many first-century communities, including the fortress at the top of Masada.  As the Jewish communities regrouped after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the first thing they were commanded to provide was a "mikva", or ritual bath.  To this day, Jewish communities maintain the mikva for ceremonial washing,  and adopting converts into the communal family. 

When John the "Baptist" showed up at the Jordan River, preaching repentance to the people and offering this ritual bath of repentance and restoration, this was a familiar procedure to the Jews. When Jesus showed up, John was given recognition of Jesus as the Messiah, but this was the beginning of a new understanding of what this meant. Jesus' disciples continued to baptise those who wanted to follow, but it wasn't yet clear what was involved. At Pentecost, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Peter offered baptism as a new beginning and a new relationship with God, which was open not only to Jews but outsiders as well, and this was not recognized by some of Jesus' followers, who were still seeing this growing community as being for Jews or those willing to accept the full Jewish law only. As we read the story of this developing community, and stories of those who had been "outsiders" now welcome to this new identity as followers of Christ, we find God leading the way in welcoming the Samaritans, the Ethiopian official, the Roman centurion and his household, and all sorts of interesting people who had been outsiders until now, into His Family, symbolized by the ancient ceremony of baptism.

We have seen this over the centuries; even when the church has tried to maintain control over this ancient practice, we have seen God calling people outside of the organized church to bring people into the family. The Reformation and its predecessors welcomed people outside of the formal church structure, and baptised people on their own commitment--which opened up their welcoming people beyond the church who claimed control over the community, and restored the practice of baptising believers on their profession of faith. We are called to welcome all who are touched by God's mercy into His Family, and baptising in His Name.