From Us To We

"So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family." Ephesians 2:19 NLT

The Covid 19 pandemic is a great revealer of the best and worst in all of us. It presents us with the opportunity to reframe our thinking to see one another as fellow pilgrims of faith to create heaven here on earth instead of godless rivals competing for greatness in a hellish and competitive world. The Covid 19 outbreak in the foreign workers' dormitories in Singapore is a grim reminder of our need to care for one another. We need to change our mindsets from "us" to "we" -  we are all members of God's family whether we are foreigners or citizens. 

As Christians we are reminded that we are to live together as the family of God. The parable of the prodigal son teaches us that some of us are like the prodigal son who squandered his inheritance seeking happiness in the pleasures of life. He had to experience suffering and much sorrow before he came to his senses to return home to his father. On the other hand, the elder brother did not find joy living with his father because he was so caught up with trying to please his father to secure his inheritance instead of enjoying his father's presence and love.

Jesus came to show us the way to dwell in God's house here on earth now and forever. He had such a close and intimate relationship with God which empowered him to heal the lame man as he told the Jewish leaders:

"So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.  For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.  For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants." John 5:19-21 NLT

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, he taught them the Lord's prayer. As I spent time in comtemplative prayer, it dawned on me that the Lord's prayer can help me to deal with envy, acedia, greed, pride, gluttony, guilt, anger, lust and fear so that I can bear the fruit of kindness, faithfulness, goodness, humility, self control, joy, patience, love and peace through the power of the Holy Spirit with Jesus as my Servant King to glorify God in my life. It is only when the Holy Spirit heals our distracted minds and deceitful hearts that we can move from the narcissitic community of  "us" to the agape community of "we".

To pray, "Our Father who is in heaven" is to remember that Christ died for all of us, Christians and non Christians. So we need to see each other as a child of God and to treat one another with kindness. This is God's antidote for the sin of envy which leads to the sibling rivalry that is epitomised in the murder of Abel by his brother Cain.

As I  pray, "Hallowed by Your name", I am reminded that I am called to live a awe-filled life and not the awful life dictated by the sin of acedia - a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world. To do so, I need the fruit of faithfulness - to persevere in the contemplative prayer of silence.

Praying, "Your Kingdom comes" draws my attention to how much suffering in the world is caused  by the sin of greed. It is heartwaring to see how the plight of the foreign workers infected by Covid 19 has opened the hearts of many Singaporeans to do good for them. The fruit of goodness is indeed God's healing for the sin of greed. We do good to others not to feel good but because we are living in the Kingdom of Heaven and feeling good.

As we pray, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" we seek to surrender our pride so that we may be filled with the spirit of humility.  The practice of contemplative prayer is to enable me to be a living sacrifice to wait on the Lord and let God transform me into a new person by changing the way I think. Then I will learn to know God’s will for my life, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 NLT)

Then we pray, "Give us today our daily bread" to counter the sin of gluttony as we affirm our trust in God's providence. In Exodus 16:14-31 we see how God provided the Jews with manna everyday when they were in the wilderness. They were commanded to collect only what each family needed. Those who tried to hoard found that the manna they kept became infected with maggots the next day. Trusting God keeps us from gluttony and helps us to develop self control in our lives.

We are set free from our guilt as we pray, "Forgive us our sins so that we can forgive those who sin against us." We need God's grace to forgive others and it is only when we have truly experienced the joy of our salvation that we will be able to forgive others. Unforgiveness keeps us from God's feasts in heaven like the elder brother who refused to attend his father's homecoming party for the prodigal son.

In our confinement at home during the circuit breaker, we need lots of patience with one another as we will be tempted to lose our temper. So we need to pray, "lead us out of temptation and deliver us from evil."  The practice of contemplative prayer increases the awareness of our negative thoughts so that we can bring them to Christ for healing. Our thoughts determine our feelings and actions which give the devil control over our lives as the apostle Paul reminds us:

"And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil." Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT

We proclaim God's Kingdom of peace where we can live without fear and affirm the power of love and reject the lust for power for the glory of God as we conclude our prayer, "For Yours is the  Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever. Amen

A dear friend passed away early this morning making death and grief so much up close and personal. Love and sorrow moves us to know God in a deeper way and to remember that we are all in the same boat of life.  In such times, we thank our Heavenly Father for His presence and His promises as we sing the song, "I'll Never Forsake You:  

"I'll never forsake you, this pain will not break you,
For I will remake you for unending joy;
My promise is faithful though now it is painful;
No power can trample My covenant love."