Please Tell them Father

Have you ever felt embarrassed? Well, I did. This was when I was just about to start saying Mass.
Did you say Mass? Yes, when I was just about to start saying Mass. A young boy came to me and asked me about giving. "Father John, is not that the Bible says 10% of our income belongs to the Lord?"
"Yes", I responded with great suprise.
Looking straight at the congregation, the young man said to me , "Then, tell them father!"
Not knowing what to say or do, I pretended to ignore him. But the young man did not have it. He repeated, "Father John, tell them. Go ahead! Tell them!"

I immediately held his hand and said to him, "help me to the congregation." I am not sure what the congregation thought I was after when I slowly moved to the mic and said, "The young man has something to say to us all." I gave him the mic and in simple words, he made his case.

"The Bible says 10% of our income belongs to the Lord! Not me! But the Bible. 10 % !"

After this experience, I asked myself so many questions. Why did the young man insist that I should tell the congregation about giving 10% of their income? Is it that he sensed that I am afraid to do so? Or was he just pointing to some shortfalls in my sermons? Maybe, he was sent by God to remind me that I should tell people the truth about what requires! Whatever was the case, I remained convinced that God speaks to us in different ways!

As a minister, I am afraid to speak like that young man about what God requires from us. As such, I misdirect people into thinking that the Bible has nothing to say about giving. Yet, the Bible is full of bigger demands to "give" not just our 10% but all that we have and all that we are. Indeed, if we totally give ourselves to God, to an extent of speaking like St. Francis of Asisis, "My God My all," the question of giving 10% of our income to the Lord will fall in place. In fact, you will not need Father John or my young man turned prophet to remind you. Is this not Jesus meant when he said "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."Matthew 6:33

Is God a boy or a girl: A sunday School answer

Two weeks ago, I had a chance to ask the Children of Christ Church, Hyde Park, what they thought of God. I had so many good answers but two were surprisingly theological. One boy told me that he had seen God in the Church standing in front of the altar. When I inquired about this vision, the boy told me that God was speaking to me!

Wait a minute, "you mean God was in Church speaking to me?" I immediately followed up the question with another child. This time, it was about the gender of God. "Do you think God is male and female?" After pausing for sometime, the young girl spoke softly, "I think, .....God must be both?" After the service, I walked to the girl and asked her why she thought God was both. Her answer is even the more revealing. "Because God created both male and female. It is only fair that God is both."

I have struggled with the girl's answer and I am forced to reflect on it. Why should God be both in the world where gender seems to define one's role in Community? I am a father of girls and I love them so much but I hate it when people feel sorry me for having only girls. I am proud of my girls but the world still think boys are better. Honestly, I love my girls very much and I will let you have your boys with pride.

So is God a girl or a boy? I am aware of what theologians call "a God problem." Feminist have rightly argued that traditional theology ignored the feminine attributes of God. For this reason, God has been presented as a male almighty with unlimited powers over the earth and humanity. For this reason, they advocate a return to a feminine Goddess Gaia. Conservatives on the other hand have argued that God should always be called Father. After all, Jesus called God father. So is God mother or Father?

My Sunday school girl taught me something, however. God should be both. Imagine how many seminars we have held to prove or disapprove the gender of God. The little girl provides us with a theological answer, God is both. God is our Mother and Father, a very present help in time of need. What a lesson for us all who need a loving Mother and Father on our side.

Seeing the land of the promise

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, ... 4 And the LORD said unto him: 'This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying: I will give it unto thy seed; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.'

As I read this passage of Deuteronomy 34:1-6, I realized that we have reached the last of his story. At first, I was filled with rage that how could God allow him the torture of seeing? Is this another indication that our God is not fair?

In fact, nobody knows where he is buried. At least I am happy that he is among the two prophets who appeared with Jesus on the mount of the Transfiguration. Well, I am not going to dwell on the details of where his body went.

Why did God show Moses the land of the promise but not allow him in. Of course, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not see it but it was Moses who was asked to bring these people into the promised land. Moses died just before the promise became a reality.

Why did God allow him to see the land but not to enter it? It is because he broke the tablet of stones! I would not want to join the debate on the reasons. My concern as is to look at the positive aspect of Moses' end! He had seen the land of the promise but never entered it.

By now, you must be thinking about Martin Luther King Jr and his I've been to the Mountaintop speech. Like Moses, King gazed on the promised land but never entered it. For those of us who are worried about his fate, King said, "it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Through his personal sacrifice, we have Barack Obama running for president.

Or maybe you were thinking about those brave women who saw a day when women will be allowed to vote and lead this nation. Susan B. Anthony, yes even Lydia Chapin Taft! Most of them looked over the land but never entered it. Yet their labor led to our won Barbara C.Harris, becoming the first woman Bishop in the Anglican Communion. Hillary Rodman Clinton, the first woman to challenge men for president!

Friends, our stuggle against sexism and racism might take more than 40 years but that does not mean change will never come. We might die before our cause wins, but it does not mean we have lost. Remember, seeing the land of the promise is the greatest honor we can experience since it allows us to see how the world would become when our battle is done. It allows us to see the beauty of life without isms and gives reasons to exist.

As Christians, we are called to love others as ourselves. We may not enter or live in that land yet helping others get into that land makes us enter it before they do. Imagine where the world would be without people like King Jr, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Stephen Bantu Biko and countless others who saw the promised land but never entered it?

This is my Story

Tell me about that woman

This is my story

Which I have longed to tell

To all those who are willing

To help me find my way!

This is my story

Which the world needs to hear

To learn how to treat humanity

As valuable despite their sex

One sex is the image of God

Another is the image of the devil

It is the devil’s gate way

That theologians have condemned

As being responsible for the fall

That led man to die

And so I am punishable for that sin!

Wherever I go

I see that woman

The daughter of Eve

Paying for her sins

Blamed on her mother

By the world of men!

Wherever I go

Women are found

Without them nothing moves

Yet in pain they all live

Persecuted and ignored

As though that is what they exist for

In this world of men!

Mother is Supreme!

Mother is Supreme!

When I forget to thank my mother

For all the burdens she endured

In bringing me into this world,

And for all the lessons she taught me,

Then my Wells will dry up

For soon or later I learn

Mother is Supreme!

Life is Uncertain

Life is uncertain

Especially for An African Woman

Belittled, beaten and butchered,

Taken as nothing but property

With no education, no employment

She hardly runs away

Longing for the running brooks

The brooks she never finds.

Rocked in hunger, poverty, and death

Her society blames her

Nobody trusts her

Sorrow is all she knows

As she tries to feed her child

Like nature she longs

Running brooks

She desires

That never comes.

Where shall I go?

She asks

Give us our daily bread

Awaitin' just enough to feed

She sleeps without food

Only to awaken the dawn

For daily bread

She longs

Like a thirsty deer longs!

My body is food

My blood is drink

She receives with determination

Amidst her hopelessness and gloom

Longing for death

Not running waters anymore

Thus She understands

Life is uncertain

Death is certain

Happy are those who have trodden

For soon or later

All shall all join

In longing for brooks

That weaves her vision to yours!

Dedicated to Doro-phie

My beloved sister whose death, I will always seek to honor.

We will not fear Change

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble

We will not fear

If the earth should change

The mountains shake in the heart of the sea

And its waters roar and foam

And mountains tremble with its tumult.

Would you not fear if the earth moves or changes? How about if the mountains shake in the heart of the sea? Who is courageous enough to be at peace when waters roar and foam? Ask a fisherman what this means. Call them tornadoes or hurricanes! Katrina is still in our minds. If Peter and James were here, they would tell you that you are out of your mind to be at peace when waves rise, even with Jesus in the boat! In fact, only a confused person would tell me to be at peace when the earth changes or to sit when the water starts getting into the ship? The two movies, Titanic and Poseidon illustrate what I I am talking about. If you do not like history, the Tsunami, Katrina and Ike are the best examples!

Was the Psalmist aware of what would happen when the mountains shake in the heart of the sea? We all saw the waters coming from the sea and today we are told that the earthquake was felt across the planet. How on earth would the Psalmist invite us to say that God is our refuge and strength in such a situation? How on earth would Jesus tell people of New Orleans and other places affected by floods not to be afraid?

Until recently, the media controlled my analysis of the disaster and I joined thousands of people who blamed God for this. I asked the same questions the media asked, “Where was God in all this?” Little did I pay attention to all those who survived those mighty waters. I remembered that little girl, that little baby and that old lady. I remembered those who survived floating and holding onto trees. I also remembered those who helped others. I asked myself, how did all those young kids conquer the Tsunami? This is also true with many sad stories. The Rwanda genocide is another example. Despite being evil, Hotel Rwanda shows God at work. Of course, disasters can come but God is ever present with us. Only those who have eyes can see the ark surviving the floods. To me, this is the meaning of the story of calming the storms. Amidst the troubled waters and waves, the disciples called on Jesus for help. Amidst the Rwanda genocide, some people entered Hotel Rwanda. Amidst the floods of HIV/AIDS, many babies are saved. Amidst the flood of cancer, we have many survivors. To this we may all shout amen!! If we ask many of them how they survived those situations, their words will have much in common with the Psalmist, “Because our God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”