( Original Letter : June 11, 2003 )
To my dear friends in Christ;
Greetings to you my Brothers and Sisters! It’s been a while since I last wrote to you. I apologize for that. It was a joy for me, however, to read about your various activities. How I wished I could be with you through all that!
By the GRACE of God, the war in Iraq has come to an end. Although there’s still hostilities in some places, like the bombings that occurred recently here in Riyadh, the general fear of escalation to the other Middle Eastern countries has finally subsided. I would like to thank all of you who prayed for me, and for the whole of Middle East. I thank God for people around the world, like you, who went down on their knees and prayed for this crisis – unlike others who just made a lot of noise here and there; but had never even said a word or two in prayer for those who were directly involved.
It is through this same Grace of God that we are to be saved – through our Faith. Paul clearly states this :
“ God, Who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. ( by GRACE you have been saved ) and raised us up with Him and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. ”
Ephesians 2: 4-6 NIV
I am working in a Muslim country, in fact at the very heart of the Islamic Religion. I can’t help but notice their ways regarding their faith, like the five-times-a-day Salah, or prayers. This is a compulsory activity for them here, to the extent that all stores and shops ( even clinics ) need to close down during prayer time, otherwise the proprietor could be arrested by the dreaded Mutawah, or their religious police. The Mutawah would also roam around, and if they caught a Muslim not praying during Salah time – the guy could get arrested.
I also heard somewhere here that if a Muslim could perform certain rites and complete certain prayers for a certain number of times, there would be a corresponding reward for them in heaven. That’s why I often see people here mumbling certain words repeatedly over and over, while holding their prayer beads. And the extreme cases of course would be the suicide bombers who believe they’ll go to heaven while performing this act ( although some Muslims claim that these suicide bombers are not true followers of Islam ).
I have nothing against the Muslim people, in fact I admire their diligence in prayer (unlike some of us who pray only when it is convenient, or when others from community are with them ). But I can’t help compare them to the Pharisees, who were so much despicable to Jesus that He warned His followers to be careful of the Pharisees’ “yeast” ( Matthew 16:6 ) and mentioned seven woes against them (Matthew 23: 1 – 36 ). But, my dear friends, this is not unique to our Muslim brothers, but is also rampant amongst us so-called “Christians” (whatever denomination, sect, old or new way, etc you may be ). Remember Yano’s song “Banal na aso, Santong kabayo.”? That’s what I’m talking about.
Natatawa ako… hi.. hi… hi… hi….
Why? Why were the Pharisees despicable to Jesus? The answer would lie in what He said in Matthew :
“ If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’ you would not have condemned the innocent. ”
Matthew 12 : 7 NIV
The line “ I desire mercy, not sacrifice” was quoted by Jesus from Hosea :
“ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings. ”
Hosea 6 : 6 NIV
It’s what inside of us that matters – what’s in our hearts – and not because of our efforts, because some of our efforts were not based on the correct motives. Salvation CAN NOT be bought by what we do or what we sacrifice ( remember Sacred Duty 3 : Service with Love particularly 1st Corinthians 13? ) It is rather GIVEN to us by grace, because of our FAITH.
Going back to Paul, he talked about this topic in his letters so much that it became one theme :
“ For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ”
Romans 9 : 15-16 NIV
“ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. ”
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
If salvation can be bought by a list of things we must do, a list of things we must say, or a list of things we must give – NO ONE can be saved. Because in our human nature, all of us fall short of God’s expectation from us :
“ The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ”
Romans 3:22-23 NIV
But God, in His infinite love for us, knows that we can’t accomplish this – so He provided us a way out – and that is through Jesus Christ.
“ But what does it say? ‘The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the Word of Faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with YOUR HEART that you believe, and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. ”
Romans 10: 8-11 NIV
Remember the story of the two thieves that were crucified together with Christ? :
“ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him : ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other criminal rebuked him, ‘Don’t you fear God’ he said ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said ‘ Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’. Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today, you will be with me in paradise. ”
Luke 23: 39-43 NIV
When that criminal asked Jesus, “… remember me, when you come into your kingdom…” he actually BELIEVED that Jesus can save him – and he received God’s MERCY because of that and was saved. How many times did Jesus do this in the Gospel – giving grace to the unlikely of recipients : tax collectors; prostitutes; SINNERS. Because it is in His nature to do so :
“ God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. ”
Proverbs 3: 34 NIV
In my walk through life, I usually relied on my “galing” and “abilidad” that I failed most of the time (remember “Failure: So What?” ). But when I realized that it’s not up to me – but to the Lord – I surrendered myself to Him, and everything’s falling into place. That’s why one of the most endearing songs for me is this :
“ Only by grace can we enter…
Only by grace can we stand..
Not by our human endeavor..
But by the blood of the Lamb.. . ”
Only By Grace
Some of you may argue : So, okay.. it is through grace that we are saved, by our faith… but how about good works? Balewala ba lahat ang mga ‘yon? ( ang dami ko pa namang sinalihang activities sa Singles…. ) By no means!!!
Our good works should stem as an offspring of our love for God, because of the grace that we received from Him. Paul said :
“ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by actions, is dead…. Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
James 2: 17; 21-22 NIV
Remember my letters on Sacred Duty : we must offer ourselves as living sacrifices :
“ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will. ”
Romans 12: 1-2 NIV
First comes our faith; and from it springs our good works; but all this should be encompassed with love (Sacred Duty 3 : Service with Love ).
I hope to hear more from you and your activities back there. Marami rin akong kwento para sa inyo tungkol sa mga karanasan ko dito sa Saudi, but I’ll discuss that later on. But there’s one important one. Remember the story I narrated earlier regarding my three friends here who got stranded after they were kicked out unjustly by their company? They were stranded here for more than 6 months, struggling to get what is due them. Well, God works in mysterious ways. There was a change in ownership of the company, after the previous owner died, and by the GRACE of God, the new owners absorbed my three friends back. And now they’re back in the saddle – full of hope, full of life. Thanks for your prayers my friends!!!
Well, hanggang dito na lang muna. Medyo napahaba yata ako ngayon. I miss you all and I hope we can all get back together soon. May the Lord bless you at all times. Greet everyone with a holy kiss for me. See ya!!!
Shalom,
Brod. Pete
“Letters from my Sojourn”
© 2008
Peter Allan Mariano
Peter Allan C. Mariano
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