Out of the Harbour

Epilogue

One question people often ask me is, "Do you miss Doulos?" I would recall a beautiful white ship, the onboard book fair and my floating home of four years. But my answer would be, "Not really, I don't miss the ship... it's the people I miss the most."

Doulos was all about people. Without the people, Doulos was just a shell. I also realised that the ship was only a tool used by God for His purposes for a particular season. Doulos' time has come to a close, but her sister ship Logos Hope continues to sail for God's glory.

If I could live my life all over again, would I have chosen this path? Yes, if this is what God has planned, I wouldn't want it any other way. There is no greater joy than obeying my God, being where He calls me to be, doing what He calls me to do.

Dear Reader, has God spoken to you? Is He calling you to pray for a specific community? Or to give towards supporting missions? Or to join the harvest field as a fellow worker?

I want to encourage you to draw near to God and seek His will for your life. When you hear His call, respond in love and absolute surrender. Yes, you will have to count the cost. But, after that, may you obey your Heavenly Captain by taking the first step of faith to follow Him... out of the harbour.

"The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice." - Psalm 97:1 (NIV)

- Choo Jiamin, Out of the Harbour

"A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for." - William Shedd

HOB

A week or so ago, I received an email from Toby telling the rest of us (who used to stay in HOB) that 13 Kexby Avenue had been put up for sale. And it looks like the place has already been sold. I wonder whether there will still be students living here come the next academic year.

As the house of 3 bearded Brits (and myself) - hence the moniker HOB, 13 Kexby Avenue had all that we could have asked for. A huge garage in which we once held a party (and never again), an attic (which happened to be my room - or rather, where I slept) with a view of York Minster, even a pear tree in the garden which we never watered yet bore us pesticide-free fruit. Not to mention the great location just off campus, opposite The Retreat. But what makes HOB more than a house are the memories.

As an international student, I had the option of staying on campus for the duration of my degree. But in the middle of my first year on campus I started praying for housemates and God just provided 3 incredible housemates as well as a house for us at 13 Kexby Avenue - out of nothing!

HOB has been used for standard student activities such as curry nights, movie nights and Mario Kart nights. In God's providence, HOB has also been used for late night worship and theological discussions (very late night/overnight), early morning prayer meetings, Small Group Leaders' Own Bible Study (SLOBS@HOB), Christian Union grub crawls, house parties (HOB Presents), New Word Alive reunions and a few unforgettable conversations :)

13 Kexby Avenue will never be HOB again, but it was an amazing experience while it was.

"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

How to Read the Bible

We usually read the Bible as a series of disconnected stories, each with a "moral" for how we should live our lives. It is not. Rather, it comprises a single story, telling us how the human race got into its present condition, and how God through Jesus Christ has come and will come to put things right.

In other words, the Bible doesn't give us a god at the top of a moral ladder saying, "If you try hard to summon up your strength and live right, you can make it up!" Instead, the Bible repeatedly shows us weak people who don't deserve God's grace, don't seek it, and don't appreciate it even after they have received it.

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods

Interpreting Abraham's Dilemma

"Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."" - Genesis 22:2 (NIV)

Many readers over the years have had understandable objections to this story. They have interpreted the "moral" of this story as meaning that doing cruel and violent things is fine, as long as you believe it is God's will. No one has spoken more vividly about this than Søren Kierkegaard, whose book Fear and Trembling is based on the story of Abraham and Isaac. Kierkegaard ultimately reasons that faith is irrational and absurd. Abraham thought the command made no sense at all, and contradicted everything else God had ever said, yet he followed the command.

Would this command have been totally irrational to Abraham? Kierkegaard's interpretation of the story does not take into consideration the meaning of the firstborn son in Jewish thought and symbolism. Jon Levenson, a Jewish scholar who teaches at Harvard, has written The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son. In this volume he reminds us that ancient cultures were not as individualistic as ours. People's hopes and dreams were never for their own personal success, prosperity, or prominence. Since everyone was part of a family, and no one lived apart from the family, these things were only sought for the entire clan. We must also remember the ancient law of primogeniture. The oldest son got the majority of the estate and wealth so the family would not lose its place in society.

In an individualistic culture like ours, an adult's identity and sense of worth is often bound up in abilities and achievements, but in ancient times, all the hopes and dreams of a man and his family rested in the firstborn son. The call to give up the firstborn son would be analogous to a surgeon giving up the use of his hands, or of a visual artist losing the use of her eyes.

Levenson argues that we can only understand God's command to Abraham against this cultural background. The Bible repeatedly states that, because of the Israelites' sinfulness, the lives of their firstborn are automatically forfeit, though they might be redeemed through regular sacrifice (Exodus 22:29, 34:20) or through service at the tabernacle among the Levites (Numbers 3:40-41) or through a ransom payment to the tabernacle and priests (Numbers 3:46-48).

When God brought judgment on Egypt for enslaving the Israelites, His ultimate punishment was taking the lives of their firstborn. The firstborns' lives were forfeit, because of the sins of the families and the nation. Why? The firstborn son was the family. So when God told the Israelites that the firstborn's life belonged to Him unless ransomed, He was saying in the most vivid way possible in those cultures that every family on earth owed a debt to eternal justice - the debt of sin.

All this is crucial for interpreting God's directive to Abraham. If Abraham had heard a voice sounding like God's saying, "Get up and kill Sarah," Abraham would probably never have done it. He would have rightly assumed that he was hallucinating, for God would not ask him to do something that clearly contradicted everything he had ever said about justice and righteousness. But when God stated that his only son's life was forfeit, that was not an irrational, contradictory statement to him. Notice, God was not asking him to walk over into Isaac's tent and just murder him. He asked him to make him a burnt offering. He was calling in Abraham's debt. His son was going to die for the sins of the family.

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods

Abraham's Dilemma

One of the central figures of the Bible is Abraham. Like most men in ancient times, he longed for a son and heir who would carry on his name. In Abraham's case, however, that desire had become the deepest desire of his heart. Finally, beyond all hope, a son was born to him. He now had all he had ever wanted. Then God asked him to give it all up...

"Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." - Genesis 22:2 (NIV)

This was the ultimate test. Isaac was now everything to Abraham, as God's call makes clear. He does not refer to the boy as "Isaac", but as "your son, your only son, whom you love". Abraham's affection had become adoration. Previously, Abraham's meaning in life had been dependent on God's word. Now it was becoming dependent on Isaac's love and well-being.

The centre of Abraham's life was shifting. God was not saying you cannot love your son, but that you must not turn a loved one into a counterfeit god...

Isaac was a wonderful gift to Abraham, but he was not safe to have and hold until Abraham was willing to put God first. As long as Abraham never had to choose between his son and obedience to God, he could not see that his love was becoming idolatrous.

- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods

O Great God of Highest Heaven

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." - Psalm 73:25-26 (NIV)

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." - Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV)

Philosophy and Theology

In a passage that has always remained with me, the young Friedrich Nietzsche envisaged the following scene. Once upon a time, on a little star in a distant corner of the universe, clever little animals invented for themselves proud words, like truth and goodness. But soon enough the little star cooled, and the little animals had to die and with them their proud words. But the universe, never missing a step, drew another breath and moved on, dancing its cosmic dance across endless skies.

Has Nietzsche described our fate? Does anyone know we are here? Or care? Does a faith in God relieve us of the horror of this scene once and for all? Or is this scene inescapable, not because it can be firmly established as the final truth, but because it remains a possibility that haunts and menaces faith like a ghost? And in constantly menacing faith, does this eerie scene in fact help to constitute faith as faith, which does not see in whole but only in part?

That question, that cluster of questions, is for me the way the issues of philosophy and theology get raised, the two together. The two have always overlapped for me, intertwining and communicating with each other in kind of endless contest and collaboration that constitutes their history across the centuries. The philosophers and the theologians go for the "ultimates", the deepest questions we ask ourselves, or better, that keep imposing themselves upon us.

Philosophers and theologians are slightly unstable types, people who have been knocked off their pins by such questions, who have been drawn into an exploration of the outer and inner space of our lives. Each proceeds with a wary eye on the other, ranging over much the same territory - God and ethics, our origin and our destiny - sometimes jealously and combatively, sometimes cooperatively, conducting a kind of lover's quarrel over the ages...

One of the marks of philosophy and theology, for better and for worse, is that the arguments go on and on. As one wag has put it, "philosophy" means "unanswerable questions", and "theology" means "unquestionable answers".

- John D. Caputo, Philosophy and Theology

Trusting God

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." - Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." - Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

Hello Hurricane

HOB item at Aaron & Becky's wedding :)

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." - Matthew 7:24-25 (NIV)

Quotable Quotes

"The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for men." - John Stott

"The Son of God became a man so that men might become sons of God." - C. S. Lewis

Baptism and Discipleship

By baptism we are made partakers in the death of Christ. Through our baptismal death we have been condemned to death and have died, just as Christ died once and for all. There can be no repetition of His sacrifice, therefore the baptised person dies in Christ once and for all. Now he is dead.

The daily dying of the Christian life is merely the consequence of the one baptismal death, just as the tree dies after its roots have been cut away. Henceforth the law which governs the life of the baptised is: "Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin" (Romans 6:11). From now on the baptised can know themselves only as dead men, in whom everything necessary for salvation has already been accomplished.

The baptised live, not by a literal repetition of this death, but by a constant renewal of their faith in the death of Christ as His act of grace in us. The source of their faith lies in the once-and-for-allness of Christ's death, which they have experienced in their baptism.

This element of finality in baptism throws significant light on the question of infant baptism. The problem is not whether infant baptism is baptism at all, but that the final and unrepeatable character of infant baptism necessitates certain restrictions in its use... As far as infant baptism is concerned, it must be insisted that the sacrament should be administered only where there is a firm faith present which remembers Christ's deed of salvation wrought for us once and for all. That can only happen in a living Christian community.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Fulfilling the Law

Jesus manifests His perfect union with the will of God as revealed in the Old Testament law and prophets. He has in fact nothing to add to the commandments of God, except this, that He keeps them. He fulfills the law, and He tells us so Himself, therefore it must be true. He fulfills the law down to the last iota. But that means that He must die, He alone understands the true nature of the law as God's law: the law is not itself God, nor is God the law.

It was the error of Israel to put the law in God's place, to make the law their God and their God a law. The disciples were confronted with the opposite danger of denying the law its divinity altogether and divorcing God from His law. Both errors lead to the same result. By confounding God and the law, the Jews were trying to use the law to exploit the Law-giver: He was swallowed up in the law, and therefore no longer its Lord. By imagining that God and the law could be divorced from one another, the disciples were trying to exploit God by their possession of salvation. In both cases, the gift was confounded with the Giver: God was denied equally, whether it was with the help of the law, or with the promise of salvation.

Confronted with these twin errors, Jesus vindicates the divine authority of the law. God is its giver and its Lord, and only in personal communion with God is the law fulfilled. There is no fulfillment of the law apart from communion with God, and no communion with God apart from fulfillment of the law. To forget the first condition was the mistake of the Jews, and to forget the second the temptation of the disciples.

Jesus, the Son of God, who alone lives in perfect communion with Him, vindicates the law of the Old Covenant by coming to fulfill it. He was the only Man who ever fulfilled the law, and therefore He alone can teach the law and its fulfillment aright.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Through the Mediator and For the Mediator's Sake

By [Abraham's] willingness to sacrifice Isaac, he shows that he is prepared to come out into the open with the breach which he had already made secretly, and to do so for the sake of the Mediator. And at that very moment all that he had surrendered was given back to him. He receives back his son. God shows him a better sacrifice which will take the place of Isaac. The tables are completely turned, Abraham receives Isaac back, but henceforth he will have his son in quite a new way - through the Mediator and for the Mediator's sake. Since he had shown himself ready to obey God literally, he is now allowed to possess Isaac though he had him not - to possess him through Jesus Christ.

No one else knows what has happened. Abraham comes down from the mountain with Isaac just as he went up, but the whole situation has changed. Christ has stepped between father and son. Abraham had left all and followed Christ, and as he follows him he is allowed to go back and live in the world as he had done before. Outwardly the picture is unchanged, but the old is passed away, and behold all things are new. Everything has had to pass through Christ.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Costly Grace

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner... Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

The Call to Discipleship

When the Bible speaks of following Jesus, it is proclaiming a discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made dogmas, from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture which afflicts the conscience. If they follow Jesus, men escape from the hard yoke of their own laws, and submit to the kindly yoke of Jesus Christ. But does this mean that we ignore the seriousness of His commands? Far from it.

We can only achieve perfect liberty and enjoy fellowship with Jesus when His command, His call to absolute discipleship, is appreciated in its entirety. Only the man who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets His yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way. The command of Jesus is hard, unutterably hard, for those who try to resist it. But for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.

And if we answer the call to discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions and partings will it demand? To answer this question we shall have to go to Him, for only He knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow Him, knows the journey's end. But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship means joy.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship 

Going Upstream

"It is not only my task to look after the victims of madmen who drive a motorcar in a crowded street, but to do all in my power to stop their driving at all." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Another Year has Dawned

I'm writing this post from Bern in the German-speaking heart of Switzerland, where I'm staying with Aaron & Becky (and their extended families) for a few days before heading to Zurich for their wedding on Friday. The house we're putting up at belongs to a friend of the bride's father and is big enough to accommodate both sides + guests (around 20 people). It also sits atop a hill and has a magnificent view of the snowcapped mountains and surrounding countryside. On top of that, there's a piano and a guitar. What a blessing to be able to hang out with everyone (and spend time on my own reading Bonhoeffer) here!

"Bonhoeffer was as open as any man could be to all the things which make life beautiful. He rejoiced in the love of his parents, his sisters and brothers, his fiancée, his many friends. He loved the mountains, the flowers, the animals - the greatest and the simplest things in life. His geniality and inborn chivalry, his love of music, art and literature, the firmness of his character, his personal charm and his readiness to listen, made him friends everywhere. But what marked him most was his unselfishness and preparedness to help others up to the point of self-sacrifice. Whenever others hesitated to undertake a task that required special courage, Bonhoeffer was ready to take the risk." (From the memoir by G. Leibholz in The Cost of Discipleship)

I usually bring a book or two to read on trips and I asked God which book I should bring on this particular trip. Interestingly, a friend (Elaine) recently passed me The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and recommended that I read it. So maybe there's some stuff in the book which God wants me to think about...

New Year 1945

With every power for good to stay and guide me
Comforted and inspired beyond all fear
I'll live these days with You in thought beside me
And pass, with You into the coming year

The old year still torments our hearts, unhastening
The long days of our sorrow still endure
Father, grant to the soul Thou hast been chastening
That Thou hast promised - the healing and the cure

Should it be ours to drain the cup of grieving
Even to the dregs of pain, at Thy command
We will not falter, thankfully receiving
All that is given by Thy loving hand

But, should it be Thy will once more to release us
To life's enjoyment and it's good sunshine
That we've learned from sorrow shall increase us
And all our life be dedicated as Thine

Today, let candles shed their radiant greeting
Lo, on our darkness are they not Thy light
Leading us haply to our longed-for meeting?
Thou canst illumine even our darkest night

When now the silence deepens for our harkening
Grant we may hear Thy children's voices raise
From all the unseen world around us darkening
Their universal paean, in Thy praise

While all the powers of good aid and attend us
Boldly we'll face the future, be what it may
At even, and at morn, God will befriend us
And oh, most surely on each New Year's Day!

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

In February, when the Gestapo prison in Berlin was destroyed by an air raid, Bonhoeffer was taken to the concentration camp of Buchenwald and from there to other places until he was executed by special order of Himmler at the concentration camp at Flossenburg on April 9th, 1945, just a few days before it was liberated by the Allies.

Random Thought

If I had a dream car plate, it would be SDG 828X.

SDG - Soli Deo Gloria
828 - Romans 8:28
X - Christos (Greek)