This is the text and most of the visuals I used when I shared at church last Sunday. It sounded like God really blessed people through it, so I thought I’d pass it on.
This morning I have the opportunity to share about my five years in Thailand, and the great challenge of condensing it into 20 minutes. Let’s see, that would be about four minutes per year, less than 30 seconds per month…. No, don’t worry, I won’t try to do that. I’ll just give some highlights, some snapshots into what God was doing that I got to be a part of.
For people who aren’t familiar with what I’ve been up to: in October I returned from five years of living and serving in the slums of Bangkok, Thailand. My team and I worked alongside local Thai church leaders to reach out to the poor in that city. Our vision was to see God’s Kingdom coming to the slums. What that meant to us was not just spiritual salvation, but healing and justice and things made right in all of the brokenness in those slums. So we worked with people in the communities to address their felt needs, to become empowered to work for change, as well as sharing verbally about Jesus to those who were interested. We partnered with a Thai foundation to minister to tangible needs in the slums. And ultimately we wanted to see churches planted, led by Thais in Thai ways, that reached out holistically to its neighbors, and reproduced to other communities. Later I’ll give some examples of how we did those things.
When I found out that today the church celebrates epiphany, I thought that was really cool timing. Because in the last few months I was in Thailand I watched my slum community have its own epiphany. The meaning of this word in Greek is similar to “manifestation” or “revelation”. We say things like “I had an epiphany!” often to mean we figured something out, had a flash of insight. But the Biblical epiphany means God making himself known to man. His initiative, not ours. God coming to live among us, rather than us figuring out how to get to God. Jesus was born into our world, born into each of our hearts, born into that slum in Bangkok. I was there in Thailand as a missionary, but really it was God doing the work, drawing people to himself. I just got to be along for the ride.
At epiphany we often reflect on the magi, or wise men, and their journey to Bethlehem. The passage I chose from Colossians captures beautifully what it is that these magi discovered, what it is that my neighbors experienced and that I got to experience anew as I saw their child-like wonder of new faith.
(Colossians 1:15-23) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
There is so much packed into this passage. It’s rich with meaning and symbolism. I’m going to just touch on two themes and how I experienced this in Bangkok. The first is this idea of Jesus being the “fullness of God”, which was “pleased” to dwell in Jesus, to dwell in our flesh and walk our earth. This is an incredible thought! Look at who Paul says this is—the “image of God”, the creator of everything, the one who holds all things together. This is who came to live among us as our friend.
The magi saw the sign of the star, and even though they were not Jews, they still sought out Jesus. These were dignified astrologers, and yet when they discovered Jesus, this small, vulnerable child, they fell down and worshipped. It’s quite the scene to picture! One might imagine them coming to see Jesus and being less than impressed—I mean, he’s just a child, and born in a barn, to an unwed mother… But instead, they clearly experienced something about Jesus that caused them to realize this is no ordinary child. And he wasn’t—he was all of God’s fullness, made flesh and blood. And for me, the fact that he did choose to be born in such humble conditions, rather than in a palace among the rich and powerful, causes me to worship him more, not less. Jesus was, and is, pleased to dwell among the ordinary, the poor, the weak.
This kind of seeking, and then having an experience with Jesus, is often how Thais come to believe. Most Thais worship a variety of gods and idols, and those who have begun worshipping Jesus often talk about how different an experience it is. They talk about how they feel that God, rather than their idols, is alive, how they feel like Jesus is right beside them as a friend. While Buddhist spirituality has some positive benefits in the lives of its followers, it lacks a love relationship with God. In Jesus, they discover a living God pleased to dwell among them.
This first picture is of a typical Buddhist temple, and the second is at one of our combined worship services. These are three believers from a slum community doing a traditional Thai dance in worship. » Read the rest of the entry..
