And here we go...

This is Columbus.

After a seventeen months in the doldrums, I think it is time for me to get to writing about the issue of this world from the unique perspective that I can offer. Hopefully this blog hasn't fallen into complete disrepair and maybe a few followers will still pick up on what is written here.

And just to close up this little re-introduction, I'll give a brief update on my life. Since last we met, I was a short-term recruiter for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, traveling around the Midwest to persuade young Lutherans to sign up for the Young Adults in Global Mission program. Afterwards, I matriculated at the largest Lutheran university in the United States, Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana. In December 2010, I completed my work towards a master's degree in international commerce and policy in one year and graduated with highest distinction, placing me in the top five percent of all postgraduate degree candidates.

That's my life for the past year and a half with more to follow soon.

Welcome home sermon

(As prepared for delivery)

Good morning congregation!

It has been quite a while since I have been able to say those words to this group. Pastor Chatman asked me to deliver the sermon today, and I will be honest, at first I agreed and then for a couple of days I had wished I had not agreed. One thing that I have realized is that I have a very difficult time sharing the specifics of my time in South Africa. I do not know why, but it is just the way I feel.

I hope you don’t mind, but this sermon today isn’t going to be a day by day listing of the things that I did in South Africa. There will, of course, be time for that, but later. I think one of the lessons I learned in South Africa is much more important to be shared with you today. Being good Lutherans, I also know that our justifications need to be scripturally based as well; so please let me reference the Transfiguration of Jesus, specifically Matthew 17:9 where Peter, James, and John had a mountaintop experience with Jesus and on the way down the mountain Jesus says “tell no one about the vision.” So, of course the specifics are important about my trip, but not right now.

Pastor Chatman, I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to have to use a dirty word in church. In Global Mission we call it the “m” word, “missionary.”

I would like to start with a question to the congregation. How many missionaries do we have in the house today?

(Pause for response)

Pastor Chatman, I think we have a bit of problem.

Well, Pastor Chatman, if you and the congregation don’t mind I would like to impart one of the first lessons of missionology to those present.

(Wait for Pastor Chatman’s response)

Well, I’m going to tell you one of the first things you have to acknowledge about mission – it’s hard. It is not a comfortable thing to do mission. When we do mission, you have to talk to people you might not have wanted to talk to, and go places you might not want to go. You may even need change the pew you in.

I will, however, share with you my favorite story about “mission” from the Gospel. I’m going to chose the version of this story from Luke’s gospel in the ninth chapter; I imagine many of you are familiar with this story since your youth. This is the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The childhood version that we’re told of this story is that Jesus, through miracle, feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fish. I do not dispute that event occurred; however, I would like to provide another interpretation that became clear to me during my time in Johannesburg.

What if I told you, that we’re capable of the same “miracle” that occurred in this story? I think most of you would like at me as if I were a mad man. That’s fine, before this year in South Africa I would have done the same.

I beg the pardon of those of you who prefer to focus on the divinity of Jesus, but this year has revealed the importance of Jesus’ humanity to me. The importance of Jesus’ humanity is revealed to me through this story and exemplified in John 10:10 – “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus was fully human in order to show us how to live our lives.

If this story is about magically multiplying manna from heaven then a lot of us need not apply. I believe this story is about showing how to live our lives when we truly believe in the message and gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. If we look a few verses before the actually story of the feeding, we notice that this crowd had been following Jesus’ ministry for a couple of days at this point. Now, obviously, things were a bit different in those days – there were cars, there was no McDonalds’ take aways. So, if you’re going to leave your home for a number of days – you’re going to be smart and take the things you need. That means these people brought what they needed to be nourished for a few days of following this man. After being in South Africa – a country where hunger and poverty are very real issues – you realized that the miracle contained therein is that Jesus taught us how to share what we have by sharing what he had.

Magic manna from heaven isn’t going to work for the poor, tired, and hungry of this world. But a real solution, found in the Gospels will. We can feed five thousand with few resources; the question is are we looking for the easy answer to the question posed in the Gospel, or are we willing to look within ourselves – which is a place where Jesus can be found – to find answers?

I hope that in the year I’ve been gone that this church has become ready and willing to realize that we are able to feed five thousand, and that we must now ask ourselves if we are ready to feed five thousand.

I would like to simply close with these words: let’s get to work.

"The Issues" (part one)

This is Johannesburg.

With this blog, particularly in reference to my time in South Africa, I have tried to place the focus on people and issues here in South Africa that the outside world should know about, particularly my primary audience in the United States.  As my time in Johannesburg nears its end, I would like to share how the big issues of South Africa have personally affected me as a person that I am.

At first when I tried this I realized it could end up being far too long of blog post; as such I will try to post every couple of days on a different issues about South Africa and the issue's meaning to me.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

The HIV/AIDS infection rate in South Africa is higher than anywhere else in the world.  Statistically, four in 10 people that you know or meet in South Africa have this disease.  When I look at numbers like this the first thing that comes to my mind is the statistical problem of underreporting.  With a disease that creates such social stigma like AIDS, I cannot imagine that all persons with AIDS in South Africa actually admit to it.

The hardness of the reality AIDS creates in South Africa first hit me at a training session with my youth soccer club which caters to ages 10-15.  One of the boys said he would not be able to make it to the next training session; as his coach and being interested in his life, I asked him why not, to which he responded, "I have to go to the clinic.  I have AIDS and need my treatment."  In that moment I realized that this 12-years old boy did not have AIDS because of his own choices, but rather because of the choices that he had no say in - choices made before he even existed or was a twinkle in anyone's eyes.

This experience reinforced somethings that I already knew, and taught me something new.  It reinforced that fact that we must fight against AIDS with every sinew of strength until a cure is found.  It reinforced the sex-education curriculum I was taught in middle school and by my mother; and if anything showed me that it needs to be expanded so that it's principles are second-nature to all adolescents.

And it taught me something slightly more philosophical.  It taught me the difference between society as a community and society as a collection of individuals.  In South Africa there is the term ubuntu, which roughly means "I am, because we are."  Those three simple lines of dialogue between the young man and myself finally made me understand ubuntu.  The person that he is, the person that I am, or the person that you are is not because you are an amazing individual that has the power to overcome all obstacles, but rather the end result of innumerable forces, both seen and unseen, acting on you, for you, through you, and despite you - whether those forces or positive or negative.  I am, because of the circumstances in my life that I could not possibly have any control over.  I am who I am because hundreds, if not thousands, of years of choices and actions taken.

When we take decisions, even the most deeply personal ones, we must realize that they effect so much more than our own personal spheres of influence.  We are so much more than the sum parts of our personalities, psyches, etcetera.

Good night and Godspeed.

Happy Mothers' Day

This is Johannesburg.

Today is May 10, 2009 and it is Mothers’ Day worldwide. With that being said, I would like to send special greetings to all the mothers who read this blog, in particular Mrs. Mary Johnson, Mrs. María Roberts, and Mrs. Jenny L. Johnson. Without these three mothers in my life, I would not be the young man I am today, nor would I even be here. So, unequivocally and undeniably I would like to say Happy Mothers’ Day to those three women.

As I think of Mothers’ Day I begin to ask myself, “If I could give one present to all of the moms in Africa and the developing world, what would I give them?”

A child is a gift from God, but for many mothers in the developing world this “gift” comes far too early in an adolescent’s life and is more of an onerous burden than anything else – physically and psychologically. One reason that young girls often bear children is the cost of education and the family’s need to turn a buck on the dowry offered from a male suitor. If these girls were able to stay in school longer, many adolescent pregnancies would be avoided in the developing world.

So, if I could give one gift to mothers of the developing world it would be an education for their daughters to ensure that these young girls stay in school longer and delay pregnancy until their bodies are more able to handle it. Also, by ensuring higher educational attainment, these young girls are more likely to have a higher income level than if they’d truncated their educational careers; these translates into a higher likelihood of avoiding the complications in childbirth that can result in the death of the mother and/or child.

As we attend church more Mothers’ Day, hopefully we can remember those mother’s who labor and work and sweat out of love for their families – all of them, everywhere around the world.

Good night and Godspeed.

John 20.19-29

On Sunday, April 19, 2009 I was privleged to deliver the sermon message to the Midrand congregation of the ELCSA Central Diocese's Western Circuit. The highlighted portion is the sermon text from John 20.19-29; followed by the sermon.

The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.

After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”

Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the other when Jesus appeared to them. So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”

A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”

Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”

Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”

(As prepared for delivery)

Today’s sermon text is from the Gospel according to John. The text presents us with two very important and much related stories: the Great Commission, and the story of Doubting Thomas.
The Great Commission appears in all four Gospels, and in the Book of Acts (which is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel). The Great Commission is also a text that has caused a lot of trouble for Christians from the north. Western Christianity has interpreted this piece of Scripture as its mandate to go all over the world and do many things. Taking Christianity to people isn’t necessarily a bad thing…but there is a saying in my family, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” As history tells us, Westerners went to many different locations with the Bible in one hand to give to people while they were taking from people with their other hand. With all that being said, I shall try to deliver the best message I can giving my inherent prejudices that I possess as an American coming to South Africa.

There is a standard interpretation of the Great Commission that the members of this congregation have heard more time and time again. I would like us to use the Great Commission as a text to look inward as we seek to convert people with this text; we look inward to convert ourselves first because until we take the first step to fixing our broken lives, we cannot do that for others.

It’s very easy to say that we’re Christian. I can say whatever I please, whenever I please. I can say that I’m South African, I can say that I’m German, I can say that I’m Japanese; but that doesn’t make those statements true. As easily as I made those statements, I believe many people go around saying they are Christian with such ease. Obviously, I’m not talking about people in this congregation, but I’m sure we all can think of someone like that. I want people to know that we are Christians everyday of the week, not just when we wear our black and white uniforms on Sundays. I can wear a uniform with a big golden cross around my neck, but that doesn’t make me a Christian. Our actions and our behaviors determine our religion.

God does not ask as much from us as we think; simply to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mk 12). I think that loving God is the easy part of this equation; the more difficult of the two is to love our neighbors as ourselves. I believe it is difficult because it is very easy to be selective about who are neighbor is or what constitutes love. How many of us see a beggar on the street when we are driving or when we’re walking? How often do we ignore that person because it is easier than engaging them? I think that ignoring that beggar and acting as if they do not exist is a sin; how can we, as Christians, ignore God’s creation? If we are truly Christians and we love God then we are called to acknowledge that God lives and work through that beggar just as much as we believe God does so for us. Even if we don’t have any change for the person, just talk to them.

We can already see how neglect for God’s creation is affecting our environment through the massive amounts of pollution, deforestation, and extracting of the planet’s natural resources. As a human race, we’ve already shown what we can do when we don’t care about any of God’s creation in terms of nature. We’ve also shown, throughout history, what we can do when we don’t care about God’s most favored natural resource – human beings. Are we truly prepared to answer to God when our Divine Majesty asks why we acted with such blatant disregard for all the things placed in our lives?

Like I said, a person’s religion is not revealed in the eloquence, rather in their exploits.

Micah 6:8 tells us exactly how God wants us to behave. We must act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. I would like to think that these three requests are easy, but they aren’t. History and time has shown us that they’re very difficult apparently. So let’s start doing it here. If Christ’s church is to persevere throughout the ages then it will not be because it hid behind archaic traditions, social clubs without purpose, or the articulacy of a few. If Christ’s church on Earth survives, it is because we decided that the model of Christ’s life is more importantly lived as an example than used as a proselytizing tool.