I was given the opportunity to give my testimony at NIBI’s
closing chapel, and I thought you might be interested in it as well. Here are
my notes. The Bible verses are included, but you’ll have to look up the passage
from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe yourselves.
I want to
start with a word of encouragement, taken from 1 John 1:12-14, which I’ve
changed just a tiny bit because I am speaking, not writing:
I speak to you,
dear friends and fellow children of God,
Because your
sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I speak to you,
fathers,
Because you
have known him who is from the beginning.
I speak to you,
young men and women
Because you
have overcome the evil one.
I speak to you,
dear children,
Because you
have known the father.
I speak to you,
fathers,
Because you
have known him who is from the beginning.
I speak to you,
young men and women
Because you
are strong, 
And the word
of God lives in you,
And you have
overcome the evil one.
I thank God and all of you so much for
the great privilege of living and teaching here for the past four months. There
is so much I have learned and so much I have come to love about NIBI.
As you remember from the first night
I came here, I love the stars and the quiet. And I love the library, too – and
Bong Roon’s cooking, and the mango trees. But those are the little things.
More importantly, I love NIBI’s
commitment to God’s Word. At NIBI, we wake up early to meditate on bite-sized
pieces of God’s Word, fight our after-lunch sleepiness to read aloud and feast
our souls on longer passages from the Bible, and pray, worship God, and share
how He has spoken to us at several weekly services. It isn’t always easy, but
it is an amazing recipe for growing in our faith. I know I have grown and learned
so much here, and it has been so good to be constantly in God’s Word.
Most importantly, I love all of you.
I am amazed by how you’ve welcomed me
into your community and into your lives.
I have greatly enjoyed watching you
grow and learn, even during this short semester.
I have been amazed and challenged by
your faith, courage, and love for God.
I also love how genuine this
community is. We’ve talked about the things that God tells us during quiet
time, even when it’s uncomfortable because He’s convicting us of our sins. We
don’t pretend that bad things don’t happen to us because we are Christians. We
acknowledge that a lot of tough things have happened during this semester, and
we encourage each other and ask God for help.
I’ve been reading and re-reading Jesus’
blessings in Luke 6. Sometimes they’re difficult for me to understand. But one
thing I’ve learned is that NIBI is blessed by Jesus. Here is what Luke 6:20-23
says:
Blessed are you who are poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
When they exclude you and insult you
And reject your name as evil,
Because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your
reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
NIBI, you are blessed:
·
None
of you are rich, and neither is this school – but the kingdom of God belongs to
you.
·
You
hunger for God’s Word and for Wisdom – and you will be satisfied.
·
As
you’ve watched and continue to watch many beloved friends come and go, you may
weep – but you will laugh.
·
Friends
and family may persecute you because of your faith, and the Cambodian
government may exclude NIBI from registration – but great is your reward in
heaven!
Now, none of this makes sense. The
world around us blesses people who are rich, well fed, happy, and popular. Why
did Jesus bless the poor, the hungry, the sad, and the hated?
The answer is that Jesus is the King
of a new Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven – and He is taking over the world. This
new kingdom is a new reality. It is opposite and upside-down from what the
world thinks is real.
Do you know, Jesus and his disciples
preached the good news, the gospel, before Jesus’ death and resurrection? In
Luke 9 and 10:
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power
and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them
out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick… So they set out and went
from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere…
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent
them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
He told them: “…When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before
you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near
you’”… The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons
submit to us in your name.”
The good news is not just that Jesus’ death
and resurrection saves individual persons from their sins. The gospel is that
the Kingdom of God is here! Jesus is not just saving some people’s souls from
hell – He’s taking back the entire universe from the power of hell. Jesus is
Lord, and He is turning the world upside-down, bringing everything back from
death to life. And just like the twelve disciples and the 72 others, we get to
participate, to join in God’s work.
Let me give you an example of what
this looks like. The Lion, the Witch, and
the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (which may be found in NIBI’s library and read
over vacation, hint hint…) is about Aslan returning to Narnia. This is a
Christian fantasy book, so Aslan is a lion, but he represents Jesus. Narnia is
a country that has talking animals and many other creatures, and Aslan is
Narnia’s true king. At the beginning of the story, an evil White Witch rules
Narnia. She uses her magic to make it always winter there – it is always cold and
covered with snow, the flowers never bloom, and the trees look dead because
they have no leaves. The animals and other creatures are treated cruelly by the
White Witch. Some are turned to stone by her magic wand. But all feel
imprisoned indoors because of the cold and their fear of the White Witch.
But as Aslan returns to Narnia, he
melts the snow, brings the flowers and trees back to life, and takes Narnia
back from the White Witch little by little. But he doesn’t do all of it by
himself – he allows others to participate, to join in his work of freeing
Narnia from the White Witch.
In this part of the story I’m about
to read, Aslan and two little girls named Susan and Lucy break into the White
Witch’s own castle – her own house! There they find all of the animals and
creatures that the White Witch had turned to stone. (P. 183-188, abridged)
Now, let me point a few things out:
1) At first, the animals and
creatures are under the White Witch’s control – they are stone statues. It’s
just like the control of the world, the flesh, and the devil keeps people
enslaved, imprisoned, in fear, helpless, and dead to God. But then Aslan’s
Kingdom comes. Under Aslan’s control, the statues turn back to life! The life
that God offers is as much better than enslavement to the Devil’s kingdom as
coming alive is better than being made of stone.
2) Only Aslan can change the statues
back to life, but once they come to life, they all get to participate in
spreading that life – they find more statues and call on Aslan to turn them to
life. Like them, we have no power to change others or the world, but only
participate in what God is doing.
3) Finally, Aslan doesn’t bring the
strongest warriors of Narnia with him to break into the White Witch’s castle;
in fact, he doesn’t bring any warriors at all. He brings two little girls.
Aslan doesn’t need mighty warriors.
In the same way, to show that His
Kingdom is coming only by His power, God also uses the foolish, weak, lowly,
despised… even the non-existent. 1 Cor 1:27-30:
…God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly
things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to
nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because
of him that you are in Christ Jesus…
So, you see, the poor, hungry, sad,
and hated are blessed in God’s Kingdom because they are the ones God chooses to
join in His work. You are blessed because God has chosen you to join in His
work of turning the world upside-down, bringing everything back from the power
of death to the power of Life.
Let’s pray.
Dear Lord,
We praise Your name because of this
good news: The Kingdom of God is here! Thank you for bringing us and the whole
world out of death into your wonderful life, and thank You for letting us join
in Your work, even though we are often poor, hungry, sad, and hated in the eyes
of the World.
Thank you for NIBI – for all of its
students and teachers. Thank You for the great love, faith, and courage that
you have given them. I pray that everyone, students and teachers, use the gifts
that God has given to the fullest to build up and encourage each other and the
Church. I pray that everyone would study and teach diligently, but without too
much business. May they also take time for rest, leaving room for Your voice to
speak quietly. May NIBI change and develop as You speak, and may you call the
people who You want to NIBI, especially new students and committed teachers.
I pray that the eyes of everyone at
NIBI will be on You, and that you will continually widen and heighten and
deepen their understanding of You and Your great Love. I pray that a spirit of
joy, thanksgiving and prayerfulness remains and grows in this community.
And I pray that as students from NIBI
are drawn more and more into Your life, that they would go out into the rest of
Cambodia and the rest of the world, joining with You in Your work to turn
everything back from the stone of sin to the life of God. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
