Nehemiah was a man with a passion. He was driven by a love for God, God’s people and God’s city. He got ideas – big ideas, and he had the guts to believe he could accomplish them. He wasn’t super human, he was super passionate.
God’s city was in ruins; the remnant of His people still living there were living in disgrace. This is not the way it should be. It was their fault. They turned their backs on God and lived as they pleased without any attention to God or His laws. But Nehemiah also knew that if they confessed their sin and turned back to God, He would forgive them and bring them back from exile, regardless of how far away they were. He had promised that. So Nehemiah confessed his own sin, and he confessed for the sins of the rest of the people. “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.” And then he prayed for success as he went before the king of Persia, because he had an idea that he would be the answer. He would go back to Jerusalem and lead whoever was left in rebuilding the city.
At the end of Chapter One in the book of Nehemiah there is a one-sentence paragraph that seems to come out of nowhere. It jumps out at you when you first read it because it almost seems out of place. It’s the sentence: “I was cupbearer to the king.” As I was reflecting on why that sentence was there, it dawned on me: That one sentence answers why Nehemiah was the one to do this. He had resources. If he found favor with the king, he would have the strength of his army and his influence. He was in the right place in the right time. Perhaps God would give him this!
“I was very much afraid, but I said to the king…” I love this because I understand it. He was afraid in speaking of this in front of the king – “very much afraid” – but he spoke to the king anyway, because his passion was bigger than his fear.
What is your passion and what can you do with it?
I have a passion to serve God. I have a passion for the word of God and for the gift of making that word clear to people. And I have a passion to do that for you – that God has put me here to serve you. And I’ve been coming to you because I believe you have the resources to keep me doing this – to keep my family in our home. I realize it is my job to care for my family, but the current crisis is a burden too big for me alone.
We are down to days now. One of our readers has, on her own initiative, issued a challenge. It is timely. I present it to you just as it came to me:
So many people read the Catch; I don’t understand why everyone who values it isn’t giving. Even $5 or $10 from EVERY reader would take care of John and Marti. And we should do that since the Catch helps us take care of our souls. Although I’m not rich and am just an admin in an office, I’m grateful to have a job, and grateful for the Catch, and for my salvation and for my kids and my health and…. (not in order of importance, though), so I will match today’s donations up to $500. Go people! Help out! Force me to give until it hurts (financially, at least). And of those of you who have given, thank you! (but it’s okay to give more than once, just like to our brick-and-mortar churches). God bless! – Lisa
John Fischer The Catch 
My Prayers that all will be accomplished for the due date! Amen!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Common ground
This encounter, … is a paradigm for interfaith dialog in our time. Despite differences in religion, people of prayer can find common ground in their experiences of God. Dialog demands that we truly listen to the other; but, before we can listen, we must see the other as a precious human being, loved by God. There is no other path to peace in this bloody 21st century.
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Jesus-like living in the midst of other religions By Ron Cole
Many have seen the movie ” The Kingdom of Heaven ” the fictional drama of the interfaith tension in Jerusalem during the crusades. But, the reality was, there was some real interfaith conversation and radical fellowship happening in the midst of the violence of the crusades. Read the following true story with the reality of war torn places in the world like Iraq, Afghanistan,Gaza and Congo in the back of your mind. One can not wonder what possibilities of redemptive imagination and living we are missing.
In 1219 St. Francis and Brother Illuminato accompanied the armies of western Europe to Damietta, Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade. His desire was to speak peacefully with Muslim people about Christianity, even if it meant dying as a martyr. He tried to stop the Crusaders from attacking the Muslims at the Battle of Damietta, but failed. After the defeat of the western armies, he crossed the battle line with Brother Illuminato, was arrested and beaten by Arab soldiers, and eventually was taken to the sultan, Malek al-Kamil.
Al-Kamil was known as a kind, generous, fair ruler. He was nephew to the great Salah al-Din. At Damietta alone he offered peace to the Crusaders five times, and, according to western accounts, treated defeated Crusaders humanely. His goal was to establish a peaceful coexistence with Christians.
After an initial attempt by Francis and the sultan to convert the other, both quickly realized that the other already knew and loved God. Francis and Illuminato remained with al-Kamil and his Sufi teacher Fakhr ad-din al-Farisi for as many as twenty days, discussing prayer and the mystical life. When Francis left, al-Kamil gave him an ivory trumpet, which is still preserved in the crypt of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi.
This encounter, which occurred between September 1 and 26, is a paradigm for interfaith dialog in our time. Despite differences in religion, people of prayer can find common ground in their experiences of God. Dialog demands that we truly listen to the other; but, before we can listen, we must see the other as a precious human being, loved by God. There is no other path to peace in this bloody 21st century.
Francis and his brothers did not make this trip as part of the battle to regain the Holy Land. Rather, they went in opposition to the mainstream theological and political orthodoxies of the time, to meet the Muslim people, and to live among them as “lesser brothers.”
Francis and his brothers went to be present among this people who were being portrayed as evil enemies of Christ, and, in his evangelism of presence, Francis found the spirit of God to be alive and at work within the Muslim people, then called “the Saracens”. Francis admired their public, repeated acknowledgment of God and call to prayer, and he appreciated the deep reverence they showed to their holy book, the Qur’an.
While the main trend of the time was for Christian preachers to deliver strident, inflammatory sermons against Islam, Francis forbade his brothers to take part in these exercises. He demanded that his brothers be present first and foremost, living with and among the Saracens. They were to preach only if they felt that it would “please the Lord.” Francis worked to prevent the brotherhood from becoming embroiled in the grasp for civil and ecclesiastical offices and power, and kept the community’s focus on serving their neighbors for the glory of God only.
I think we need to revisit stories like the one above, of radical interfaith conversation and fellowship. Maybe acutually living in each others camp for a period of time, as Francis did, in the humble reality of Jesus…living as lesser brothers. Maybe, we too might discover a fresh, that God is alive and at work outside the boundaries of our religion.
In the opening of the John’s gospel it says, ” Jesus pitched is tent in our neighborhood, in the midst of humanity.” There is something amazingly profound that Jesus pitched his tent out side the camps of ” all ” religions. Something very outside, and yet…Jesus may be the bridge into which we may cross into all religions.
“If our convictions lead us to believe there is no hope for those outside our own faith or with no faith…” there is a danger of “treating others as if they know nothing, and we have nothing to learn”. ”Belief in the uniqueness and finality of Christ allows us a generous desire to share and a humble desire to learn”.(Archbishop Rowan Williams)
It all comes down to, “No man comes to the Father except by Me.” Either these words of Jesus are true, or are not true…. and who dares to compromise Him? We proclaim what we have been told by Him, and the decision to believe, or not believe is between the hearer and God. We are sowers of His seed. We can pull a few “weeds”, or remove a few “stones”, but the faith to receive His Word, the Good News, and be saved from sin, the unforgivable sin of rejecting God’s incredible provision for our forgiveness, is out of our hands. There is no “mixing” of ways to approach God Almighty. It’s His Way, or no way. He is God! He has made the road very narrow, but clear, and few are they that find it. Faith in Jesus Christ, and all He has said, and done, and stands for, is the Way…. and a Wonderful Way it truly is!
Wanted to comment with something I heard several years ago about giving. Apparently, at least in some Native American tribes, people give to others when it would be more logical for them to receive from others I must confess that I don’t remember all the details). The important part is that this practice is labeled as “giving until it heals”, which would certainly apply in this situation!