The Subtle Boldness of Jesus

Mike Hosey, Elder

Jesus knows how to challenge us with the truth. He has a way of both stretching our understanding of the truth, as well as deepening it. Interestingly, he boldly uses subtle techniques to accomplish that goal.

Consider  His very bold, yet subtle teaching at the Feast of Tabernacles in John, chapter 7.

The feast that Jesus attends in that chapter is outlined in  a couple of places in the Old Testament. For instance, in Leviticus 23:33-44, God required His people to have an annual feast in which they lived in booths or tabernacles for 7 days.  It was to remind them of how God provided for them when they lived in temporary booths in the desert during their exodus from Egypt. By the time Jesus was walking the earth, that very joyful feast had taken on a couple of new practices. One of those practices was that the priests would draw water from the river of Siloam (these drawn waters were called the waters of Salvation in that day) then they would march them around the temple courtyard and pour them on the altar as a sacrifice.  One thing that this symbolized was thankfulness for rain -- which was a kind of provision for their lives.

When Jesus attended this feast he told the people that if anyone was thirsty that they should come to him and drink, and that if they believed in him they would then have rivers of living water flowing from them (John 7:37-38).  Was Jesus using this moment to point out boldly, yet with subtlety, that He was the fulfillment of that feast, and that He was the provider, and that He was the river of salvation?

Later, probably at the same feast, he does a similar thing. During the feast of booths four large lamp posts would be lit. Each post was about 75 feet tall, and each had four large lamps -- so sixteen large lamps altogether. People would hold torches and lamps and dance throughout the night in the glow of these lamp posts. Jesus tells the people that He is the light of the world, and whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness (John 8:12).  Was Jesus, once again being bold yet subtle, and teaching that he was the provider and the reason for the feast? Was he referencing Isaiah 60:19-22?

In order to really understand this subtlety, one must  listen carefully, and study his word!

The Mangrove Swamp

Mike Hosey, Elder

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the island of Palawan in the Philippines.

As I surveyed one particular area with a local missionary, I was stricken with how the rows of shacks and thatch huts on both sides of a single street were nearly uninhabitable.

They sat on the edge of a mangrove swamp. At high tide, the Sulu Sea flowed in to the level of the street and up to the bottoms of the houses which were perched on feeble looking stilts.  When it flowed out, it left a muddy and wet slew of mess and muck.

And it seemed as though the sunlight sank into the drabness of those shacks rather than reflect back to my eyes. It vanished through gaping cracks in the walls, and broken doors, and dark holes in roofs. The bit of sun which did return, came back only with the colors of sadness and poverty.

 

A child stood beside the street. No parent or adult stood near him. In fact, I saw no parent or adult that might be his anywhere at all.  Another child sat peeking from her home, hidden in shadows. I trained my camera on her and zoomed in.  Her face seemed sad.

The people here existed somewhere on the spectrum of human conditions between the point of extreme poverty, but not yet quite to the point of misery. 

 

These people were displaced from other islands within the Philippines. Some were driven from Muslim territories. Some were moved here because of their poverty by governments or the economic powers that be.

It's difficult to understand a place like this without actually seeing it in person. To rise above such a place, these people will have to depend on the love of others.  And even though I've seen where they are, I know that I will likely forget about them while in the midst of the wealth in which I live. 

This is not that much different from those who don't know Jesus here in America. They're caught between the points of poverty and misery. They often don't know this because they've never experienced anything better. They'll depend on the love of others to show them the way out. But I'm afraid that we often forget about them in the midst of our own wealth of praise and worship.

Let us not forget about those people close to us . Let us lead them to a better place.

A Message From the Philippines

Mike Hosey, Elder

I am writing this edition of "reflections" on our last night in Tinagong Dagat, Palawan, Philippines. It is a beautiful place.  We will miss it.  And we will never forget the friends we have made here. Tomorrow we ride to Puerto Princesa, and the next day we catch our first plane home.

Buddy and I have seen and done many things in our short time here.  One thing I am learning is that every experience of the third world is a bit different from another.  But there are a few things that all places in the third world share with all places in the developed world. People need Jesus in all those places.

So because of that, we've preached the gospel; warned people of the consequences of sin; helped a missionary improve his reach and power; enouraged people to evangelize; and we've prayed for people.  We've prayed for the sick and for the lost. In one of our outreaches, we personally prayed for individual people, one after another, for half of an hour or more.  The look of need and desperation in the eyes of some of them was something I cannot describe adequately with words. You just have to see it.

But as I write this, I am most moved by the teamwork involved to bring the gospel to these people.  Funding must flow in from givers all around the world. If those people don't give, then the team here in Palawan cannot do their job as they now do.  The individuals on the team here must be committed to each of their jobs. The cooks that prepare the food for the hungry at the outreaches must volunteer their time, the praise and worship team must practice and volunteer their time to praise the name of Jesus, the driver must drive the bus, the people who pick up and clean up, must pick up and clean up.  If any of these team members fail in their job, the whole job can potentially fail.

Finally, I've noticed the joy in the faces of missionaries and native peoples when someone outside their country comes to visit and help them with their work. We will never be as effective as they are at bringing Jesus to the people of the countries where they do their work.  But one thing we can do when we go is offer them a kind of encouragement that they just can't get any other way.  And encouraging one another is an integral part of teamwork.

Thank you Fellowship Church for doing your part to help the people of Palawan, Philippines!

There Is No I In Team

Mike Hosey, Elder

Her refusal to be part of our team shocked me that evening. I was genuinely taken aback. At 19, I prided myself on hard work and mission accomplishment, and I thought everyone else should share those values, too.  In all of the places I had worked before, everyone had always cooperated with one another.

But not this night.  

I was the crew leader for the deli of a large grocery store outside of Houston, TX. My job was to manage the nightshift. On this night, the floor of the deli had become littered. Since it needed to be presentable to our customers, I asked one of the women in my charge to clean up her floor space while I tended to other duties. She replied, "I was hired to slice meat, not pick up trash."

Of course, she was hired to do more than slice meat. But even if her statement had been true, it reflected a severe flaw in her ethics. She was concerned only for herself, and not for the mission of the store or her busy coworkers.  She possessed no team ethic, and apparently could not see how mission accomplishment for the store also meant eventual benefit to her.

That mindset can creep into the church as well.  We can become so focused on our own personal ministries, that we unconsciously belittle the ministries of others. Or we only participate in church when we are getting some personal benefit out of it. Or we won't be a part of some endeavor because we don't like the music, or the graphics, or the methods being used. And we don't see the bigger picture.

Paul warned the Philippians about this. He urged them to be a team -- to be of a single mind (Philippians 1:27 and Philippians 2:2). He told them not to do anything out of selfish ambition, and to look out not for their own interests, but rather, the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-5).

But perhaps his most telling statement comes in his praise for Timothy. In describing all the leaders under his influence, he said of Timothy, "I have no one else like him. He looks after the interests of Jesus, but everyone else looks after their own interests." (Philippians 2:20-22)

Timothy was a good team player who kept the mission in mind, and probably would have picked trash up off the floor!