SIBKL @Sg Buloh Sermons

Pray tell, what do prophets actually do? Exactly that. Pray and tell. They do a lot of telling-off too. So much, we gave it a number and called it "4 telling". (Or is it "4th telling"? I can never be sure.)

But anyways, they all get murdered by the state without putting up much resistance. Now I’ve too obviously set that up for an Easy Kill joke.

"I came. I saw. I konked."

That's more like it.

A sweet orange is good. So is a hot cup. And a cool breeze. A smooth pen on textured paper. Cut grass. Garlic in oil. Lazy afternoons. A proper workout. Levelling up. A stoppage time winner. Praise. A raise. Clever jokes. Chromatic chords. Clean sheets. Happy children. Fresh starts. No drama. But for how long? All that, all good, but for how long, before you turn the corner and it's gone?

Oh, do make it last. Wonder. Thrill. Safety. Laughter. Love. An endless outpouring. A torrential, neverending explosive joy. Glistening. Warm. Full. Fully alive. Pulsating. Live forever.

Hope. Trust. Wilderness.

God, can we be a constitutional monarchy with a sitting royal whose role is mostly symbolic, ceremonial, and sometimes as a check and balance for ill-composed federal governments? No?

Ok then can we be a republic with a two-party democratic system that polarises in political and socio-cultural ideologies, and in so doing, rend our nation in two across time? Also no?

Oh, how about a socialist state that is marketed to the masses as equality of all people but in reality is a living manifestation of the poor man's secret fantasies and hate for all bougie people? Still no??

Erm... Feudal system? With exploitative nobles farming out land to thuggish knights who farm said land to peasants who are made to work to the bone just to pay said knights protection money? Hmm, yeah I didn't think so.

Can we be led by violent military juntas that keep getting supplanted by other more violent military juntas? Wait that's too much like what we have now.

Can we just have a normal king then? Can? Please? Erm, God? Please?

"Everyone did what was right in their eyes." You've probably heard this used on people having different lifestyle preferences, or business units having their own strategies. No, my friends. Hermeneutic tu kena jaga sikit. This was about total moral anarchy. Dystopian lawless chaos. You'd like an example? Sure. Moral anarchy is like the time my Standard 5 Moral teacher marked-down our ethically sound test papers because our answers didn't fit the 17 nilai utama and 50 sub-nilais. One of my classmates cut the buku teks into 12 pieces and had each piece sent to every classroom in our school. Naturally, we were threatened with facing the Guru Disiplin, which in some unorthodox Christian communities is the name of the seventh book of the Bible: Guru Disiplin. For the rest of us, it's called Judges.

After 40 years in the desert, the tribes step into blank space ...Ready for it? (Is it gonna be forever? Or will it go down in flames?) The whole book is a cruel summer, screaming, crying, perfect storms. A lot of bad blood and death by a thousand cuts.

Context: Rahab left her scarf there. (It reminds us of innocence.) So scarlet, it was maroon. Now they're driving in a getaway car.

Meanwhile, Jericho falls. Castles crumbling. Achan gets bejewelled. (Not nice!) Did you have to do this? I was thinking you could be trusted. Joshua says look what you made me do. Sigh. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

So the land gets divided. Holy ground. They're done getting down with the liars and dirty, dirty cheats of the world and all they have to do is stay. I was there. I remember it all too well. A few short centuries later, this won't be their homeland anymore. It's exhausting, always rooting for the antihero.

Why did the chicken cross the red sea?

A. To passover the other side
B. To avoid Egypt like the plague
C. To make up the Numbers

Answer? All of the above.

Bonus question. What would Moses ask himself if he worshipped in a modern-day church?

A. To-rah or not to-rah?
B. Why Aaron't you here?
C. I really need new tablets.

Answer? None of the above!

What? Manna boleh!

Indeed, it would be so strange for him, where pillars in church are bad and every Tuesday there’s staff meeting. (If you don’t let him join, he will de-part.)

If you got all the answers right, congratulations. You’re an exodus expert and you don’t need to come to church this weekend. The rest, I commandment you to come.

 

Before there was tribal gathering, there were just tribes.

If you count properly, about twelve. And this is their story: kid will vibe, brothers will gripe, we’re not here for a snap but a snipe, standard family hype. More aged than salami, more cuts than origami. So barmy. They become a five plus seven nation army with more swipes than the White Stripes. (If you like, pls subscribe.) Describe archetype in 8-point type? These hacks! All flex, no smack. They’ll be longer on the road than Jack Kerouac.

"Starry starry night, paint your palette blue and grey" Wait a minute, those aren't stars. They're... kaboom! fireworks! See, if you thought that's Father Abraham looking into the starry hosts, you're wrong. It's my old man watching CNY fireworks. He said they don't make 'em like they used to. I asked him if he meant that oldskool fireworks were better. He said no, just that now they make them with machines whereas in the past they made 'em with their bare hands. "We used to taste that gunpowder in our food," he'd say, like it was a good thing. He says the same about promises. "They don't make 'em like they used to." I asked him if he meant that oldskool folks were better at keeping their promises. He said no. Just that back then they used to make 'em with their bare hands too. My old man spoke with sign language, y'see. Oh you didn't know. Sorry.

Chinese New Year is the best time to visit family, friends and loved-ones. And when we go, it really is the best chance to carry God’s peace, presence and even the opportunity to pray for someone. But these things won’t happen automatically. They require a bit of intentionality. Let’s do this together so that CNY will bring true prosperity to the lives of those we love.