October 28thFive Minutes on Friday #47
October 26 – Saint day of Noah
The story of Noah and his ark is well known to children and adults. The charming spectacle of the animals proceeding two by two is one of the beloved images of scripture. It nearly overshadows the darker aspect of the story: God’s determination, on account of human wickedness, to make an ‘end of all flesh’ on earth. And yet, God provides a way for humans and animals to survive and flourish.
Robert Ellsberg points out two significant truths about the Flood story: First, we do not walk with God for ourselves alone. The call to righteousness carries with it a responsibility for the entire world and its inhabitants.
Second, through Noah’s faithfulness, God makes a universal and unconditional covenant with ALL living creatures: ‘Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth again.’
Ellsberg concludes: ‘The challenge for us as Noah’s descendants is…the defense of our common planet and its delicate ecology. For the earth itself, as we now know, is a fragile ark. If it becomes uninhabitable there will be no other lifeboats.’ [All Saints – Robert Ellsberg, 466]
GOD RUMORS
Don Benedict, the head of the Community Renewal Society and one of the most tenacious and honest social activists of our time, once said, "The job of the urban church is to keep alive the rumor that there is a God."
SUNDAY – October 30
Today is Anabaptist Heritage Sunday, a day to remember our heritage with gratitude, but also a day to commit ourselves to living out the truth of gospel as our foremothers and forefathers did. For reflection I offer some choice quotes by Anabaptist writers:
‘True evangelical faith, cannot lie dormant, it clothes the naked, it feeds the hungry, it comforts the sorrowful, it shelters the destitute, it serves those that harm it, it binds up that which is wounded, it has become all things to all creatures.’
‘I can neither teach nor live by the faith of others. I must live by my own faith as the Spirit of the Lord has taught me through His Word.’
‘Lord of hosts! When I swim in the merciful waters of your grace I find that I can neither plumb nor measure the depths. ‘ [Menno Simons]
“From the very beginning of the movement in the sixteenth century, Anabaptists shared a deep suspicion of the so-called Schriftgelehrten - the university-trained scholars who, they claimed artfully dodged the clear and simple teachings of Jesus by appealing to complex arguments and carefully crafted statements of doctrine. In other words, they confused theological discussions with lived faith.” [John Roth]
“I was inspired by the radical faith of early Anabaptists, but I don’t want us to be stuck in the 16th century… Anabaptism now has a culturally diverse body,” says Hyejung Yum, co-founder of Sowing for Peace, an intercultural peace ministry based in Toronto.
The YABs committee 2015-2022. From left: Ebenezer Mondez (Philippines), Tigist Tesfaye (Ethiopia), Larissa Swartz (USA), Makadunyiswe Doublejoy Ngulube (Zimbabwe), Oscar Suárez (Colombia), and Jantine Brouwer-Huisman (Netherlands).
The YABs committee is made up of a representative from each continent and a mentor. This committee changes every six years after the Global Youth Summit.
The YABs staff mentor for 2022-2028 is Ebenezer Mondez (Philippines).