SCRIPTURE: Judges 4:1-7
TEXT: THEME: INTRODUCTION This year my thinking has been looking at Thanksgiving from the perspective of native peoples. The native people are ‘Akamai,’ smart, ma’a to the land, ocean, weather, hunting, fishing, farming and the seasons. They are welcoming, seeing the humanity of the stranger upon their shore, crossing into their boundaries. Native people shared what they have, taught what they knew, and help immigrants who were different from themselves. Distinctive, kind, hospitable, generous, and gracious. The immigrants were weary from their travels, hungry, unhoused, disoriented, frightened, sick, poor, adventurist, opportunist, religious, escapees from oppression, in survivor mode, or colonizer. Together we could blossom, create something blended but these are examples of the stranger taking possession of the lands of their host. In a culture that could not conceive of an audacity of any person to think that they could possess what The Creator had given to all. Then refuses these first inhabitant the right to own land, representation in courts or even the right to vote. I was thinking about the native Americans and the Hawaiians. This seems to be the biblical model of Joshua. A model that was prevalent in their day. A model that continues to persist today with boundaries defining possessions rather than responsibilities. We see this with Abraham as head of the homestead, to Joshua recapturing and re-inhabiting abandoned lands, to Judges who execute justice and later Kings who reign. Yet Contrary to this model, is Jesus the Messiah. Not conquering territory but proclaiming the nearness of the Kingdom of God, in every nation, in every country and in every principality, where those who believe find citizenship in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is something blended together, with a future all could appreciate, be fulfilled, have joy, hold the value of our cultures, be in mission together and in relationship with God and with each other. I am not thankful because immigrants have taken over native lands and now rule. But by listening to the Prophet’s voice, all of these citizens could create a community beyond nationalism, race and lost native lands. We can find our common ground in belief in God and pursuit of justice over evil. A community that is not afraid of the new immigrants on our shores thinking that they are here to rob us of what we have, just as they did to their hosts. SCRIPTURE The pattern of our human-ness repeats itself. From thinking about God and others, to only thinking only about ourselves and using others to get what we want. Our Prejudice, selfishness, greed, insecurity, desire, and anger divides our nation and weakens our community. Divisions makes us susceptible to attack and defeat. Our manipulation, bickering and blaming creates mistrust and suspicion. This time King Jabin of Canaan conquers a weaken Israel and holds them captive them for 20 years. Having a common enemy, a common cause, a common hope for freedom and a common value unified these people around the unusual. Amongst themselves is a prophetess, whose is not identity by who she is married to, but as ‘a woman of fire.’ A woman judge of Israel. She calls her assistant Barak to rally the troops for a battle against King Jabin, telling them that the Lord had said, “I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his 900 iron chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hands.” Deborah is like a Joan of Arc. Ironically, she would not be allowed on some pulpits in our ‘modern-day’ churches because of their view of God is too small, egocentric, sexist, and racist. This common enemy was beyond, sexism, race, land, ideology, creed, foods, and people. A coming together, a fusion into strength, a movement to change the course of history, as 10,000 from the tribes of Israel respond to the call and defeat King Sisera. APPLICATION What is God calling us to do beyond our comfort, to trust in God’s designs of goodness? The promise land that Abraham and Sarah chased with their descendants, is the same place where the fighting between Israel and Hamas is now. But the promise land of Jesus is the Kingdom of God. As we understand it, it is in every kingdom, in every nation, in every rule, and in every principality. Not confined to a physical piece of real estate but to its citizens who believe in God and its people. Then Heaven, become more about where God dwells than a place where we go to after we die. We are at a turning point where the door to many of our pasts have been closed. And what was, will never be able to rise again. But we are here, with those memories, with those values, with that culture, with our belief, with our hopes and together with others, whether strangers, kamaainas, or newcomers we can fuse something together to that does not lose our distinctiveness but becomes a part of something that we all have a part in creating. Honoring the past, respecting each other with value and joy. It comes with discerning the voice of God, in faithful people. Sometimes we see the differences first, before we decide to listen. Listen first then decide if that was the voice of God or not no matter what the people look like. Then we could hear the voice of agape in aloha, the voice of shalom in namaste, the voice of compassion in suffering. The people, God is building, is way bigger than what we can think of. There is a church, compiled mostly of newcomers who have embraced the local customs, ways, ideologies, love, culture, and respect. The church has maintained their culture although multicolored. They have taught those from someplace else, to be like us, to think like us, to value the things that we hold in our hearts like us. So, no matter what color their skin maybe or where they are from, they can be a part of us. Then learn from others, discover what is wise, good, insightful and adapt it into our ways and blend the orange with the lilikoi and guava, to make the People of God. CONCLUSION I am thankful that God is not welded to the past. God moves and builds on the foundations of old into the something new. We can get stuck just trying to keep the old going and miss where God is leading today. God is leading in household, through families, speaking to us as through prophets, the Bible, worship, and prayer, to advocate for justice and join others in the struggle against evil. I am thankful for the community of the church, that we can be this together.
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