Some years ago I mentioned in this blog that this is the time of
the year (September 15-October 15) to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Indeed,
this month has many reasons for us to be thankful about it. This month also give
us many reasons to ponder on monumental events like Columbus Day – with all its
implications for the human race (both positive and negative), United Nations
Day – an achievement of the great possibilities humanity has by working
together to solve problems, and Halloween – a reminder not to take things too
seriously.
Yes, there are many things that we can write about. Last
year I mentioned some statistics and facts about Latinos in the United States,
how they have impacted our lives, our culture, and how we see ourselves.
Clearly we are a different people than we were 50 or even 30 years ago. In the
last 10 years we have seen how the Latino population in the U.S. has grown to
become the largest ethnic minority in the country. In the next 30 years we will
see even more changes as we experience how the so called racial/ethnic minority
groups in the U.S. will become the largest segment of the population. By then
we will also see that many of our sons and daughters-in-law might be from a
country in Latin America, or some-other-place in the world. We might see that
many of our grandchildren and great grandchildren might have as their surnames
Rivera, Rodriguez, and Santos instead of Smith and Jones.
As a Puerto Rican pastor (“born and bread” on the island of
Puerto Rico) working in English speaking churches, ministering to an American
population so different from the reality I grew up in, I represent the reality
of coming changes. Indeed, I am only the beginning of a trend that will
continue to grow and alter the way we see ourselves and the world around us.
This time we know what is coming, and it is not a bad thing, and we can prepare
for it by opening our hearts, our church doors, and our communities. This time
we can be prepared to make our churches and our communities more welcoming and
more hospitable to the people God is sending to be in our midst.
Indeed, I truly believe that we are at the verge of one of
the greatest opportunities for our church and for the nation. Certainly the demographic
changes taking place now will impact our lives in the U.S. but also the lives
of people all over the world. We are at the verge of a renewal of our values
and our ideals as a people, especially as God’s people.
This is a time to be bold with our faith, this is a time to
be courageous about our commitment to Christ and to the proclamation of the
good news of the Kingdom of God about which Jesus preached: “The kingdom of God
has come near to you” [is here] (Luke 10:9).
My brothers and sisters, when we announce that the Kingdom
of God is at hand or near to us, it is not a figure of speech. You see, in
Hebrew, the words "to come near" mean: "To be at." Many
people are confused about what the Kingdom of God, or of Heaven really means because
of the poor Greek and English translations of the Hebrew word “Karav.”
When Jesus says that “The Kingdom of God has come near you”
we need to hear it in his Hebraic context. Instead we hear it in its Greek
context with the use of the word “engiken,” which translated means “has come
near.” If we turned this word back into Hebrew we get an entirely different
meaning and understanding because the Hebrew will tell us that the Kingdom of
God is
here: with the arrival of Jesus the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated
(John 1:14). God has pitched his tent with us, with the entire human race. We
are not alone!
The Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God is always --
present tense -- it is now, according to the Hebrew usage and the understanding
of the Jews at the time of Jesus and also within rabbinic usage even today. So
the opportunities are before us to open our lives, our churches, our
communities, and our nation to these great things that God is doing in our
midst, to the people who have come to be in our midst. God is certainly
presenting us with the opportunity to join him in making his Kingdom invitation
a reality for all the people around us. Come, let us join him!
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