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1 Adventist Heritage Center From: Sent: To: Subject: Tamara Karr Monday, September 11, :25 PM Adventist Heritage Center FW: Monday Trending From: Adventist Review On Behalf Of Adventist Review Sent: Monday, September 11, :41 PM To: Tamara Karr Subject: Monday Trending 1

2 A Personal Message from Ted N.C. Wilson Regarding Recent Disasters Read More Cliff s Edge - The Calculus of the Cross I Prayed for a Bible Newest Mission Boat in the Amazon Builds on Decades of Service Who Is My Brother? Am I his keeper? 2

3 Not Just a Cycle Watch Now Copyright 2017 Adventist Review, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you opted in at our website. Our mailing address is: Adventist Review Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these s? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list 3

4 Search Subscribe Menu is editor of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide. His next book, Baptizing the Devil: Evolution and the Seduction of Christianity is set to be released this fall by Pacific Press. SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 n 1973, American Ursula K. Le Guin wrote The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, a short plotless story about a city brimming with happiness and delight. The utopian tale begins by depicting a summer festival with children riding horses in a race as part of the celebration in Omelas. The air of morning was so clear that the snow still crowning the Eighteen Peaks burned with white-gold fire across the miles of sunlit air, under the dark blue of the sky. There was just enough wind to make the banners that marked the racecourse snap and flutter now and then. The narrator even gives readers room to customize the bliss of Omelas for ourselves. Despite the well-being and joy already revealed, we re allowed to mold our own vision of what this utopia should be. Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time. Perhaps it would be best if you imagined it as your own fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you all. Why so happy and at peace? The narrator gives one reason (of many): A boundless and generous contentment, a magnanimous triumph felt not against some outer enemy but in communion with the finest and fairest in the souls of all men everywhere and the splendor of the world s summer; this is what swells the hearts of the people of Omelas, and the victory they celebrate is that of life. Amid the pleasure of Omelas, the narrator concedes that in the cellar of one of the beautiful public buildings a small child is locked away in wretchedness where it has been kept for years in isolation from any human touch except for an occasional kick by the warder. The dark room of captivity is empty but for a couple of mops, with stiff, clotted, foulsmelling heads, which the child fears. The imp s age is hard to tell because its growth has been stunted. The child hadn t always lived there; it can even vaguely remember sunlight and its mother s voice. In the ocean wave of grace, all willing sinners are washed clean. The Griffith chu poor treatmen

5 The child used to scream for help at night, and cry a good deal, but now it only makes a kind of whining, eh-haa, eh-haa, and it speaks less and less often. It is so thin there are no calves to its legs; its belly protrudes; it lives on a half-bowl of corn meal and grease a day. It is naked. Its buttocks and thighs are a mass of festered sores, as it sits in its own excrement continually. The people of Omelas know that the child is there, that it has to be there, and that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child s abominable misery. Hence, Le Guin s utopian tale of Omelas, a place so much better than what we experience here except, that is, for the unfortunate child upon whose wretchedness all Omelasian joy, prosperity, and peace depended. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is a poignant example of the utilitarian calculus, the notion that we can justify any deed by the amount of pleasure or good, in contrast to the amount of pain or evil, it causes. The greatest good for the greatest number, that idea, which, though it sounds reasonable, proves how deceptive reason can be. After all, wouldn t this calculus justify enslaving 1 million people for the peace, happiness prosperity and joy of 25 million? Or 100,000 slaves for the peace, prosperity, and joy of 50 million? Ten thousand for 50 million? One thousand for 100 million? Plug in the numbers yourself. Which work for you? This thinking is common because it sounds reasonable, sensible, so, well, utilitarian. It s nothing new, either. Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish, (John 11:49, 50). Though not a bad calculus itself (one man for an entire nation) the numbers get better because, as John says, Christ s death wasn t for the whole Hebrew nation alone, but for the scattered children of God (John 11:52), that is, for all people who will be redeemed. In reality, instead of our hope dependent upon a wretched child locked in a basement, according to the gospel our hope is dependent upon Christ wretched on the cross. Ellen White wrote, It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became a Man of Sorrows, that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy. God permitted His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable glory, to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse. He permitted Him to leave the bosom of His love, the adoration of the angels, to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and death. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5. (Steps to Christ, p. 13). When humanity violated the moral freedom God had given it, only the death of One equal with God, Christ Himself (John 1:13), could pay the penalty for that violation. Though the narrator never explained why the child had to suffer for the sake of Omelas, Scripture is clear about why Christ had to suffer: God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). He himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by whose wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24). The gospel is Christ in the basement of Omelas for us. Only unlike the child, Christ went voluntarily; and unlike those who, finding out about the child, leave the city (they are the ones who walk away from Omelas ), the Lord having computed the utilitarian calculus knew that the suffering of Christ on our behalf was more than worth it. Clifford Goldstein is editor of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide. His latest book, Baptizing the Devil: Evolution and the Seduction of Christianity, is out now from Pacific Press. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content.

6 Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events What Concerns You about the Church? Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

7 Search Subscribe Menu SEPTEMBER 8, 2017 People used to tell me I would amount to nothing. Then I met Jesus. y name is Shatrina Jones. I am 29 and I grew up in Timber Creek, a remote Northern Territory community in Australia. I never attended church; the only thing that brought me close was a funeral. My family was very cultural. My grandfather was an Aboriginal elder but he was also a pastor back in the 70s so I guess that s why I knew a little about Jesus. When I was 12 my parents split up. Mom took me and my siblings to live with her family. That s when I went to my first church but I didn t understand much about Christianity. At 17 I started smoking because the other girls were doing it. At 18 my family arranged for me to marry a young man through our cultural ways. I had never been with anyone before him. I had my baby boy at the age of 19 but I broke it off with his father because I realized he didn t love me. I chose to raise my son Joel on my own. When he was about five-years-old I started drinking and eventually using drugs, mostly marijuana. I loved to party and I thought I was so cool. I started getting into public fights and twice ended up locked up in a cell. One night my sister and I got into a big argument with my family and they kicked us out of the community. So we went to stay with our sister in the city. I began to question my life but I was still partying. We moved from one community to the other, still drinking and smoking marijuana. In the ocean wave of grace, all willing sinners are washed clean. The Griffith chu poor treatmen [Photo: Adventist Record] Shatrina with Pastor Don Fehlberg, left, of her baptism. [Photo: Adventist Record I m just going in circles, I thought. Is there more to life than this? I was searching on YouTube for gospel music when I came across a song called I Surrender. It touched my heart and tears started to flow down my cheeks. I thought about all the bad things I had done.

8 I went online to find a prayer to give my heart to the Lord. I read it and then and there I surrendered my all to the Lord Jesus. Then I started doing Bible studies. I didn t have a Bible so I downloaded a Bible app on my phone. I prayed for someone to come with a Bible. A couple of days later literature evangelists Marian Jones and Sue Wilson came to our door selling Bibles. After ordering my Bible, they gave us a little book I really liked. It was the story of a little Aboriginal girl named Bett Bett who talked to the stars. I read it that night. At the end of the book Bett Bett talked about the Sabbath. I was confused so I prayed to God to explain it to me. The next morning Marian and Sue came back and happily explained it to me. That night, I went to a Sunday church. I asked the pastor s wife about the Sabbath but she quickly shut me down. I was even more confused. I went home and prayed that God would help me find the right church. The next day Pastor Don Fehlberg, his wife Eileen and a local elder arrived at our door. Talking to Pastor Don made me realize I had found the true church. I looked at my sister and said, This is the church I choose. She agreed. My life started changing and I began to live by biblical principles. I gave up drinking, smoking and marijuana in one day. When I realized my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit I also gave up unclean foods. My sister and I decided to go home to Timber Creek. We apologized to everyone we had wronged. Since returning home, my sister and I have shared what we have learned with our family. We try to encourage them to follow what we have learned. One year later in July 2017 I was baptized by Pastor Don and assisted by Andrew Johnson. All my life people told me I would amount to nothing. I searched for their love and approval but I found nothing until I found Jesus. He made a nothing into something beautiful. I found love, not from family or from a man, but from Jesus alone. I owe my life to Jesus. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content. Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events What Concerns You about the Church? Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

9 Search Subscribe Menu Inauguration of the Luzeiro XXX mission boat last month. The boat will provide medical and spiritual care to underserved communities along the Amazon River in northern Brazil. [Photo: Leandro Reis, ADRA Brazil, Amazon Region] Senior Correspondent, Adventist Review SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 Luzeiro XXX will provide medical and spiritual care to isolated communities he Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Brazil s Amazon Region inaugurated a new mission boat last month. The launch of Luzeiro XXX follows a decades-old tradition of mission vessels providing medical care across the vast Amazon basin, said church leaders in the region. The Luzeiro project is not only a forerunner of ADRA s presence [across the region] but also essential to inspire new generations to understand the value of [the pioneers ] sacrifice and service, said ADRA Brazil Director Jefferson Kern. We are happy to support and coordinate this initiative. In the ocean wave of grace, all willing sinners are washed clean. The Griffith church acknowledges poor treatment of ministers

10 Inauguration of the Luzeiro XXX mission boat last month. The boat will provide medical and spiritual care to underserved communities along the Amazon river in northern Brazil. [Photo: Leandro Reis, ADRA Brazil, Amazon Region] In an to Adventist Review, ADRA Brazil s Amazon Region Director Brad Mills shared some of the new boat features. Luzeiro XXX is a 69-foot wooden vessel complete with three suites for its full-time missionaries to live in, he wrote. It also includes a full kitchen and a second floor where hammocks can be hung. Mills shared that Luzeiro XXX will be deployed to an area accessible only after almost two weeks of boat travel. It will be staffed by a full-time missionary boat captain, a physician, a dentist and a nurse, he wrote. Additionally, there will be monthly volunteer opportunities for healthcare professionals, who will be able to support the services provided to residents of dozens of isolated villages. Decades of Mission Service In a statement, Northwest Brazilian Union Mission President Gilmar Zahnhighlighted the long history of mission boats in the region. Pioneers opened the way and set the path in the Amazon so that new generations can be inspired to follow in their footsteps, he said. According to Mills, the first Luzeiro boat lighthouse in Portuguese was inaugurated on July 4, 1931, by Leo and Jessie Halliwell, American missionaries to Brazil. The church then continued to operate the mission boats project for several decades. In the late 1990s, however, the program began to downsize until the day came where there was no active Luzeiro boat left along Brazilian rivers. Ten years ago, a group of Adventist church members joined forces with the local conference and the Northwest Brazil Union Mission with the dream of getting the Luzeiro boats operational again. Members knew therse were many villages with no Christian presence across the Amazon basin. They were convinced Luzeiro boats could be instrumental in reaching the unreached in that area, by providing villagers with medical missionary work. Over the next several years and with much effort, boats began to operate in the Amazon once again. Currently, Luzeiro boats are providing much needed medical care and village development in areas of the Amazon with no Adventist presence. Why Luzeiro Boats Are Important Zahn highlighted the mission boats role in bringing people to Jesus. Luzeiro boats service is not only relevant but also essential for evangelistic outreach, he said. In my eight years serving the Adventist Church in northwestern Brazil, I have learned to love, respect, and support the project. Indeed, professionals working on the Luzeiro boats provide not only wholistic care but also follow-up opportunities, explained Mills. The Amazon Lifesavers program places missionaries to live in the villages and cater to the spiritual needs of the people, he wrote, sharing that as a direct result of these initiatives, dozens of new churches have been planted across the region. Zahn agreed that the role of Luzeiro boats is essential for evangelism. They prepare the way and open the hearts of the people to God s Word, he said. The [project s] ultimate goal is to encourage people to accept Jesus as their guiding lighthouse in their lives. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content.

11 Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events What Concerns You about the Church? Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

12 Search Subscribe Menu An aerial view of the Za'atri camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. In 2015 the population of the camp was estimated to be 83,000. SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 umerous stories in the first book of Scripture in one way or another wrestle with this rhetorical question asked by the first older brother: Am I my brother s keeper? They all give the obvious answer: Of course! Was Abraham his nephew s keeper? Yes, several times (Gen )! Was Ishmael his half brother Isaac s keeper? He should have been, but he was quickly banished (Gen. 21:9). Were the twins Esau and Jacob each other s keeper? No? Later, yes? Were Joseph s many brothers jointly their brother s keeper? Certainly not when they sold him into slavery. Was Joseph keeper of his 11 brothers? The book of Genesis concludes with Joseph providing a safe place for his brothers and their families. As the stories of Scripture continue, violence and intolerance of others entrench themselves in society as clans become tribes and tribes become nations and alliances form. Some groups of people place those seen as others into slavery. The hatred Cain felt toward Abel spreads to entire communities of people as the human situation degrades. While there are brotherly and sisterly moments in Scripture (the book of Ruth, the call of the prophets especially the book of Jonah, for example), the separation and hostility between people groups seems rock-solid. Certainly the Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians, and Babylonians were Israel s enemies, not Israel s brothers. Cain s denial of responsibility for his brother becomes the norm. In the ocean wave of grace, all willing sinners are washed clean. The Griffith chu poor treatmen The Gospel Record In Jesus day His hearers still wanting to diminish their responsibility for others debated a slightly different version of the question: not Am I my brother s keeper? but Who is my brother? or Who is my neighbor? Those most cautious against outsiders believed their brother and neighbor to be those only of their own kinship group; your brother was one only of your own blood. Others, more generous, expanded the notion of neighbor to include at least all Jewish people living in their own village. The most liberal of the day believed that any Jew one met was one s brother and therefore neighbor. But still, care and responsibility were due only within the boundaries of one s ethnic group. Then came Jesus. He expanded even the most inclusive view, giving it radical new dimensions. His parable of the good Samaritan made it clear that a Samaritan related, but beyond the immediate ethnic group was also indeed a neighbor (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus tells the parable while on his way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), walking through Jewish and Samaritan villages

13 and encouraging His disciples to go ahead of Him preparing the way (Luke 10:1ff.). But what happened in territories even beyond these? What happened when Jesus went into enemy territory, that is, into Gentile land? Do the questions Am I my brother s keeper? or Who is my brother? apply there? In Mark, the very first Gospel written, we have a clear answer to Cain s challenge of whether we are responsible, and how far our responsibility to care extends. The answer comes through a rather difficult story, one in which Jesus surprises us with the distinction He makes between people who are children and people who are dogs : But from there He [Jesus] arose and went away to the border of Tyre [and Sidon]. And He entered into a house. He had wanted no one to know, yet He could A border wall near Brownsville, Texas. not escape notice. But immediately a woman heard about Him, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit. She came and fell down at His feet. Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He said to her: First let the children be satisfied, for it is not right to take the children s bread and throw it to the dogs. But she answered and said to Him: Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children s crumbs. And He said to her: For these words you may go; the demon has left your daughter. And she went to her home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon had gone out. Then He returned again from the border of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee up to the region of the Decapolis. 1 This Greek, Syrophoenician woman, referred to in Jewish idiom as a dog, can certainly not be a sister to Jesus, can she? She s not even a neighbor, is she? One can imagine Mark s Jewish Christian readers asking such questions. And Jesus the one who radically expanded the category of neighbor and brother in the good Samaritan parable and earlier in this first Gospel (Mark 3:31-35) seems to call this unnamed woman with the sick little daughter a dog. Why? One can argue that the canine reference was to a lap dog rather than a scavenger dog, since Greeks sometimes had pets. But most scholars reject such an idea not only because it imposes contemporary culture onto the first century, but also because it does not resolve the problem: who wants to be an animal, even a pet? One can argue that this is only a parable about the gospel going first to Jews, then to Gentiles, though the parable's implication is to Gentiles as dogs. Isn t that troubling especially today? One can argue that Jesus was testing her faith, and that she more than passes the test. But how should we understand Jesus apparent reluctance to heal? Admittedly, Jesus' response to people in need does exhibit great variety. Then again, what if it is a test and she fails? You may respond that in Mark s Gospel people fail a lot, but Jesus never gives up on them. One can argue that Jesus was testing His disciples, using their own insulting and prejudiced language in a way that hooks them into the discussion; then He turns the tables on their thinking about those outside the Jewish community. Perhaps, Mark doesn't give that answer yet, because he doesn't even mention the disciples as Matthew does (Matt. 15:21-28). 2

14 Putting Ourselves in the Picture Looking at the story in its cultural setting helps: Jesus was doing what any honorable male in his culture would do when confronted by a strange woman. She was out of line to be so aggressive. She should have had a male ask on her behalf, rather than just burst in on Jesus. But since Jesus challenged other aspects of His culture s patriarchal values (and will again even before the end of this story), why does He seem to buy into His society s racism and sexism at this point? It is certainly a difficult story. Jesus appears to be calling the Greek, Syrophoenician woman a dog. It may have sounded to some like a standard insult, although probably one she had heard many times before. It bothers us. Did it bother her? How could it not? Although it probably didn t surprise her. There were clear and well-established boundaries between Jews and Greeks in the first century. There were strict rules of not eating together there would be no sharing of food or fellowship. Interestingly, Jesus challenged some of these very traditions about eating and those who were unclean earlier in this same chapter (Mark 7:1-23). So why on this occasion does He seem unwilling to put His own arguments into practice? This episode and this woman call for particular attention. This was a surprisingly different kind of woman. A close reading of the text reveals that she was likely an aristocratic woman of Greek ethnicity living in the territory of Tyre 2 on the Mediterranean coast. During times of scarcity the wealthy of Tyre were known to take the bread from poor Galilean farmers. 3 In social status she is above Jesus, yet this mother falls at Jesus feet. Both she and Jesus are out of place, in the borderlands, and Jesus first words to her underscore this uncomfortable location. Literally, they are on the border between Syrophoenicia and Galilee. But they are also on the border of other boundaries: male/female; Jew/Greek; lower class/upper class; Galilean (depleted of bread)/syrophoenician (taking bread). Am I my brother s keeper when we are living on such borders? when the brother is across the border? when differences that separate are highlighted and unavoidable? Who is my brother, my sister, my neighbor at the border between Israel and Jordan? at the border between Sudan and South Sudan? Ukraine and Russia? North Korea and South Korea? Mexico and the United States? What about the uncertain and confusing borders of conservative and liberal? Then the story takes a surprising turn. Scripture says: But she answered and said to Him: Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children s crumbs. And He said to her: For these words you may go; the demon has left your daughter. This Greek, Syrophoenician woman the only person in Mark s Gospel to address Jesus as Lord observes that the dogs are already eating! Simultaneously with the children, the dogs are eating crumbs under the table. Call her what you want, she knows she has a need that must be cared for: her daughter must be free of the demon. She is convinced that Jesus can heal. She is convinced that a crumb of His healing power is sufficient for her family. And Jesus affirms her words, performing the only miracle in Mark s Gospel done from afar. Jesus Expansive Ministry The very next action Jesus takes after this encounter in Mark s Gospel is to go to the Decapolis 10 cities on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, alien territory where foreign Greek culture flourished and was held out as the ideal (Mark 7:31). There Jesus will heal a deaf man who couldn t speak properly. Jesus will blur more boundaries when over on that other side of the Sea He will take seven loaves and a few small fish and feed a huge multitude (Mark 8:1-10). This time it isn t people from Jewish villages (Mark 6:30-44), but non-jewish foreigners, and just like the earlier miracle there are broken pieces (crumbs) left over (Mark 6:43; 8:20).

15 Jesus mission had expanded to include Greeks! The questions Who is my brother? Who is my sister? Who is my neighbor? were receiving shocking answers: Greeks of the Decapolis, the hungry of the region, great multitudes who had been strangers. Jesus encounter with the Syrophoenician woman modeled the disciples' prejudices to teach them a desperately needed lesson. 4 The episode is a turning point in Mark s Gospel: the family of God includes people across borders! Cross Cultural Understanding Recently a sabbatical project took me to two continents where I interacted with people from 15 different countries, people beyond my own borders. I conducted a survey of five questions about this story of the Syrophoenician woman. 5 The responses reflected the way culture affects our reading of a passage, and how we are blessed by those readings. Those from Asian cultures tended to focus more on the domestic aspects of the story: of the mother-and-daughter relationship, village life, the frequency of scavenger dogs near doorways, and where families eat meals in storefronts. While many did not express concern that Jesus appeared to be labeling the woman a dog, they were definitely interested in the dog part of the story. Australians tended to want to explain or address the demon-possession description of the daughter. What caused the daughter s malady? How to understand demon possession then and now? All readers were shaped by their own cultural setting: by their assumptions about mangy dogs or household pets; by understandings about the spirit world or skepticism about demons; by borders and language barriers; by cultural clashes and gender assumptions. Crossing cultural borders myself caused me to imagine the challenges Jesus Gentile mission must have faced as He interacted with people who didn t know the stories of Abraham; or who were unfamiliar with the Ten Commandments; or who had different assumptions about what and how to eat; or with whom one should share table fellowship. Imagine the cultural clashes between Jesus disciples and the secular Greeks of the Decapolis. Yet the disciples were to learn that these Greeks, even their oppressive Roman colonizers, were still their brothers and sisters and neighbors. Although it was a slow and painful process, the Christian community would eventually come to include Syrophoenician women and men as sisters and brothers. 6 The healing power of Jesus is that amazing: it can transform Greeks and also the people who used to call them dogs. For Mark s readers their households were to be inclusive, and their radical inclusivity was embodied every time the community celebrated the Lord s Supper. As Jewish Christians and Greek Christians ate together remembering Jesus broken body and spilled blood, they embodied broken-down boundaries between people. As challenging as life is at the borders, borders do not have to be barriers. But it sure isn t easy to put into action. Where are borders acting as barriers today? I think of the faces of Syrian refugees living for years in camps along the borders between countries; Rohingya boat refugees from Myanmar refused asylum; children riding trains from Guatemala and southern Mexico to the United States in order to escape drug violence. Some faces that feel even more foreign include: ISIS fighters; Americans who hold up flags while using anti-american rhetoric; advocates of Al-Qaeda and sharia law. Who is my brother? Mark s Gospel challenges me. If Jesus is the Christ, if the gospel is here, then all these people are my brothers and sisters.

16 Looking for Answers Am I my brother s keeper? is not an innocent question. A simplistic, plain reading of this important text misses its real meaning. It must be read literarily rather than literally. It is not a question requiring an answer. It is actually a lying wrongdoer s denial of responsibility and accountability. I do not know where my brother is, Cain said to God. Am I my brother s keeper? (Gen. 4:9, NRSV).7 It wasn t really a question seeking an answer. It was a denial. The intent was clear: Don t blame me. It s my brother s fault, not mine. All readers of the story condemn Cain s denial of responsibility. And the next question God asks Cain is: What have you done? Listen; your brother s blood is crying out to me from the ground (verse 10, NRSV). God s question echoes throughout the ages: What have you done? Because of Scripture s clear condemnation of Cain, we carefully avoid asking his question when we see refugees, homeless, or hungry people. We know God s response, so we change the question to: Who is my brother? And quickly respond, Other Adventists, right? OK, I ll expand the answer to other Christians. Perhaps even to all Christians living in my country. But Mark reminds us of a Jesus who crossed borders into the region of Tyre and met a woman with whom he had nothing in common. She was what many considered a dog, but by the end of the encounter her needs were cared for; her daughter was healed. Then Jesus began a preaching and healing ministry across every border His feet could take Him. If we stay close to Jesus, our brothers and sisters are those both in our villages and across borders who need care: the hurting and the hungry of our world. To believe Jesus ministry was about the kingdom of God arriving (Mark 1:15) is to embrace His model of justice; that is, to work for a just society. To follow the radically inclusive Christ means that we do not ask the question that avoids responsibility. But to the question Who is my brother? we respond: our brothers and sisters are not only those living in our town, of our same nationality and ethnicity, who embrace our faith, but they are those across the many borders of our world. Come: learn from Jesus that a Greek, Syrophoenician woman with an unclean daughter is our sister. 1. My own translation of Mark 7:24-31 from Koine Greek. 2. Tyre was considered a traditional enemy of Israel (see Isa. 23). 3. Eugene Boring, Mark: A Commentary, The New Testament Library (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), p Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1898), pp. 400, The survey and research project had been approved by the Institutional Research Boards at La Sierra University and at Asia- Pacific International University. 6. Boring, p Bible texts credited to NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. Kendra Haloviak Valentine, Ph.D., is a professor of New Testament Studies for the H.M.S. Richards Divinity School at La Sierra University. Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events What Concerns You about the Church? Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.