Family Roof

1 Chronicles 23:6

All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.

I miss my dad. Possibly highlighted by my mom coming over to visit us this weekend. But with her friends, meaning not with dad. Another likely stirrer was last week, when I promoted an event to a group of more or less forty pastors. My rapport line was: ‘I’m a PK and being here, seeing you, made me miss my dad more’. Yes, I call him as often as I could. Share funny updates of his apos and post pictures every week and whenever possible. But nothing beats the daily routines of waking up and eating breakfast with him; watching noontime shows and laughing-out-loud with him; and our favorite pastime of course, exasperating my younger brother, and sometimes my mother, hahaha! I’ve been under his roof for thirty years and all I wish then was to go out and pursue independence. Now out for seven years, it’s funny I’m missing being back in.  Guess it’s true: there’s no place like home :>

As heir to the throne, the young Solomon possibly grew up in a roof with stricter rules. I can imagine the other princes already out and free to play, while he stayed for a couple more hours taking ‘Kingship 101’ class. And his tutor? No less than his father, the king himself. Lately, all he talked to him about was the Temple plans. David mentioned it was for him to build it, but he’s all-out helping with the preps. Very dad-like: helping with homeworks, ‘til just before the final answer! So first, it was just a list of logs and gold.  Later it was a record of people, and more people. But there was something noteworthy about how his father grouped them. Something familiar and close to home. Like the singers and gatekeepers in this chapter and the next, David clustered them according to families, specifying that fathers were to train and supervise their sons. I wonder, why not group them according to skills and assign them to a master teacher? What’s in a family set-up that makes work relationship better? Isn’t it more prone to clashes and conflicts? Yes. But isn’t love and support even deeper there?  Solomon experienced that firsthand. It may seem more difficult to have a father for a mentor, but it sure was more sincere and very meaningful.

A magazine show last night featured young girls calling themselves gangsters. You can easily guess why they were out in the streets: they were parentless. Some, not because they’re orphans, but because they were abandoned. Their concept of love, security, and relationship became distorted since then.  Truth is, what we learn from home is what prepares us for life. It’s why it’s coined the basic unit of our society.  Our relationship with our kids is what they will always refer back to in their contact with the world. And our relationship with ours is our obvious direct upline. That’s how God designed it. And it’s purposeful, beautiful and doable. It defies and is beyond status and limitations. Parents have no excuse. God Himself modeled it to us. Allowing us to call Him our Abba so we could have a picture of what’s it really like, especially when ours failed somewhere. Mine was not perfect either. But he did the best he knew how. And thank you Dad for that. (Mom too!) So grateful to God I was placed under your roof.  See you soon :>

Four Bods

1 Chronicles 23:6

David divided the Levites into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

We all heard about that story about Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody. Long and short of it was that while the first three assumed and argued it was each other’s job, nobody was already doing it. Or not doing it. My family has another version of that. Film title was Household Chores. Lead role was our mom, representing everybody.  My sister and I alternated as nobodies. We’re villains to anybody, played by my younger brother. Our favorite line? ‘He’s not just anybody here. Let him play lead on this!’ Dad’s place was more like a supervisor. He kept calling us with another name though: ‘Somebody…’, and almost always, his next spiel was  ‘…help your mom!’ But we stick to our character of course. We’re a pro - - lazy pro! hahaha :> 

Magnify those four characters to thirty-eight thousand Levites, and it would sure be a disaster. With Israel’s number growing to a million, imagine the humongous task of assisting the priests in receiving all those offerings and sacrifices. You’d say it would require everybody doing it. But there’s also the task of supervising, officiating, judging, gatekeeping, baking, cleaning, and singing. Somebody had to do that. But in order to make sure it’s done excellently, I’m sure David didn’t just choose anybody at random. The singers, for instance, were trained under their fathers ‘til their level reached skillful. And definitely, it was made sure that nobody will forget his duty. If God said that the lamp should be burning before Him at all times, signifying His presence in Jerusalem, imagine the implication if you were found sleeping on your duty? David wouldn’t take that risk and so he divided the Levites into groups and specified their duties and schedules per family. In the next chapter it even mentioned a scribe named Shemaiah recording the priests’ names in the presence of David and all officials. Their names may seem boring and a drag to our daily readings, but not without purpose. It’s what we actually need to become a pro.

Given only eight weeks to prepare for the kids VBS in our church, the initial push was to get everybody in and start moving. But by everybody, basing on today’s text, means giving each one a specific task, and schedule, and workmates, and supervisors, if possible written and in public - -  to ensure that he or she would not assume that somebody or anybody’s hand was already on it.  We want nobody giving such excuse. Praise God for His Word sparing us from those unnecessary frustrations and time-wasters.  He Himself, though timeless and infinite, orchestrated work seasons and a list of To Do’s as His way of sending us blessings and satisfaction. He is the One who appointed us to be part of the body. Thankfully, not to do everything. But to do a specific something, for anybody in need. It may appear insignificant at first, but it doesn’t mean we’re a nobody. Somebody died for us, remember?

Dream House

1 Chronicles 17:4

Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in’.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling so weak and heavy. I think the headache grew worse when I saw the already-messy house shouting my name. But I promised my husband I’ll keep myself in bed, and so I did. Lying there, I started praying. My first liner was ‘Lord, what do you want me to tell you?’ It was silence for a while. Then in faith I uttered praises. Soon the house issue surfaced and it vented out frustrations I never thought I had. I was just asking Him for provision so we could paint the homeschool room. I went sobbing when our conversation moved to having a house of my own. The cry was more because of the struggle between want and need. Am I asking a lot or should I accept my lot? Should I plead in faith or must I count His blessings instead?  

When my words finally died down, I opened the Bible for my daily reading and guess what? It was that account when David and God were talking about houses!  I had to stop at every verse because I had to sob my heart out. It was undeniably God talking to me! Of course, I prayed not to take it according to my desired-interpretation. So here’s the story: When David was finally settled as king, with a beautiful city named after him, he saw the discrepancy between his cedar house and the Lord’s tent.  He saw it in his heart to build God a temple and the prophet Nathan even encouraged it. But God said no. That wasn’t His plan, nor His command for anyone. It‘s never people doing something great for God. It has always been God displaying wonders to His people. He brought David’s remembrance to how he was taken from following the flock to be ruler over Israel. And if David thought that was it, here’s more: ‘I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth; I will provide a place for My people Israel so that they can have a home of their own;  I will subdue all your enemies; your offspring will be the one to build a house for me; and I will establish your throne forever’. It was like God saying, ‘You want to build a house for me? No son. I will build a house for you!’ 

I may not have the luxury of sitting in a cedar palace, but I’ve once and many times told God how it’d be better if we’re well-off so we could best serve Him. This chapter is proof it doesn’t work that way. He need no earthly things to build His heavenly kingdom. Bringing it home, I saw the foolishness of seeking after beautiful structures when His gift is to establish our family in a loving relationship with Him: ‘I will be (your) Father and (you) will be my son.. and I will never take My love away from (you)’.  Anything better than that? And who said He can’t provide me with a home? He who can orchestrate a chapter to match my heart’s cry, can sure prepare a place for me to match His heart’s delight. Giving has always been heaven’s idea. He can throw open its floodgates for blessings to pour out and we may not have room enough for it. So yes, I will keep asking - - actively praying. For while waiting, I will continue serving and counting daily blessings. That’s my take home. Note yours.

Far From Home

1 Chronicles 5:18, 25

The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men ready for military service--able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle. But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

It is now a common thing for Filipino homes to have at least one relative abroad. Pushed by the scarcity during and after the Martial Law years, the skilled and believed-smarter ones thought best to leave our homeland for greener pastures. Who would blame them? They’re even regarded as today’s heroes - -mainly because every dollar they send not just eased our family lives, but the general economy as well.  Most of them not just survived the perils of foreign land, they succeeded in leaps thus the decision to settle there. What they do not usually admit is that it isn’t always green in winterland. Filipinos in the diaspora are often faced with depression, discrimination, and real danger. There, many realize that money, though changes everything, isn’t everything.

When the Reubenites and the Gadites first saw the Transjordan area, they immediately were drawn to its green, well-watered soil. Many say it’s the best rural scenery in Southern Syria.  Seeing it suitable for their large number and livestock, they asked Moses for it to be their inheritance. God allowed it, provided that they will continue to help their brothers claim the promise land. They kept their word then went back to their chosen land to settle. There they trained themselves to become great warriors and they grew famous. The Bible made sure to note that it was because they prayed and trusted in God, and it was He who won the battles for them.  But like Lot choosing the plains of Jordan for its richness despite living alongside Sodom, the two tribes and the half of Manasseh’s were exposed to pagan cultures surrounding them.  And like Lot’s wife turning towards Sodom saltily consumed her, the Transjordan tribe’s compromise brought them into Assyrian exile. If only they realized early on that it wasn’t their skills, nor the soil, that’s blessing them richly, then, their chosen land could have really been a promising land. 

We all want our lives to be better, best if possible. Lining down our priorities, there’s our family’s health and comfort, our kids education, our own career paths, our retirement and our parents’, and a lot others. Next question will be the means toward those ends. That’s why OFWs happened. They sought fertile soils, sometimes at the expense of family separation and their physical exhaustion caused by multiple jobs round the clock. It’s a hard exchange. And we salute them for their sacrifices. But in light of our scripture text today, our prayer is that they wouldn’t forget that although God allowed them to settle in the land of their choosing, their prosperity is still all from Him. And amidst all immoral and materialistic influences, let’s continue to pray they’d choose God and not compromise. There’s always winter in greener lands. A coldness that can only be survived in the embrace of God’s warmth. Take His hand, let Him keep you safe. Know that in Him, you're already home.

Unseen Guest

2 Kings 3:11b

But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?" An officer of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah."

Discovery Health had this article entitled ‘Can a person remember being born?’ Nah, I won’t even try to translate their medical-slash-scientific explanations here -  the terms are way too big for me. The best I picked up was the relationship of verbal development to our memory. That if we don’t have the words to describe the event when it happened, most likely, we couldn’t describe it later even with the available vocabulary. That makes sense. No wonder one of my earliest memories was that plaque in our family wall that reads ‘Christ is the Head of this House, the Unseen Guest at every Meal, the Silent Listener to every Conversation ’. I even remember mispronouncing that last word as ‘conver-cha-tion’. It probably was my first memorized rhyme ever. But most of all, I know, back then, that helped me imagine God being near us all the time. God was so right in instructing His people to write His words on the doorframes :>

When King Joram went out to pursue Moab, God was not just the unseen Guest, He was uninvited actually. There was no mention that His will was consulted or if His help was needed. Not even when King Jehoshaphat, a supposedly believer, joined in.  These two kings planned what they thought best and that’s it. Their scheme was to take the long route through the desert so as to fetch another ally, the King of Edom. From there, they’ll  march towards south of Moab for the surprise element. That made sense – except for the words desert and seven days walk.  Nursing mothers will never miss that detail :> But nobody’s perfect. Nobody but One. Seeing eternity in a flash, God knew their waters will dry up, that they’ll be distressed and soon be dead! And so from behind the scenes, He told Elisha to pack and go with the army as an unseen, uninvited guest.  Even before their jugs were empty, God had already filled the gap. Even though they called Him not, His care followed them nonetheless.  His prophet was there as proof that He’s an ever-present Help in time of need.  

God’s timing is perfect. On the dot, no second-delay. Not even prayerlessness will keep His grace from coming alongside us. His Help has long been sent, as early as eternity past, for our receiving. He’s always been in our camp for as long as we can remember. His tools are complete for our anytime, out-of-the blue contingency needs. Even if we consider Him our last resort, or we want Him kept hidden. If God made waters to flow and fill a desert valley for the ungodly Joram and the compromising Jehoshaphat, imagine what they’d see if He was their Invited Guest!  I wish I have more time to poetically rephrase that family frame and share it here. I just feel it presents Jesus passively using those words ‘unseen’ and ‘silent’. In a sense He is. But as part of our lives, He is not. He is a relational God. We can actually see Him at work in and through us. And He is never silent, for His Words are written and revealed. Well I guess let's just choose a real bible verse as wall post next time :>