Skip to content

Sivin Kit's Garden

Planting Seeds for a Better World

Menu
  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing
Menu

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!

Posted on 27 November, 200827 November, 2008 by Sivin Kit

This Advent Season starting on Sunday would be a good time for those of us who are celebrating the move of God to put things right in this world which has so much going wrong, to give our “presence”  even before we start thinking about “presents” for the Christmas season. The Anti-ISA PJ Vigil (now with a police permit!) is every Sunday (8pm – 9.30pm), at MBPJ Civic Centre.

My friend Steven Sim wrote something to encourage pastors and church leaders (as well as the younger generation – hope in includes me 🙂 ) to take part in peaceful gatherings like this. He used the word priests to describe us, I’d prefer the word pastor and would be terrified with the word prophet. 🙂

For me, when I light a candle and stand with fellow Malaysians and friends to stand against what I see as unjust, I’m also practicing praying on my feet and with my eyes wide open.  It’s a form of silent witnessing which complements the need for us to speak out against injustice, and speak for fairness available to all (even those we may disagree with).  At this stage of my own Christian journey and understanding, I hear the quiet call of Jesus inviting me to follow him in this way as part of what it means to be a Christ-follower in Malaysia.

The end goal is not just reactive to the current context we are in, that maybe a beginning but what is needed is a glimpse, a dream and a vision of what can be, and that means we’re standing for a world that is characterized by justice, peace, mercy, respect and harmony. I believe this is in line with the vision of the Kingdom of God Jesus was talking about and inaugurating by his coming.

Apart from a little faith perspective above, the fact is there are many who have walked before us. This struggle with the ISA and related acts which results in many detained without trial has been a long and lonely journey. Those like Kak Laila who blogs at Merah Hitam would give us a realistic picture of what the struggle really means, less we slip into some romantic idea when it comes to civil disobedience and peaceful dissent (I overheard someone say “civilized disobedience”!).

So, while I’m encouraged and challenged by Steven’s words below. I’m also cautious that we do not and must not turn our participation into a “pat on my back I achieved something” or worse any self-serving interest of glamour and fame. It’s a little terrifying to have the spotlight on us pastors who are often seen by many as “six days invisible and one day incomprehensible” 🙂 For what it’s worth, I find myself humbled by Steven’s piece.

Our participation is only part of the bigger piece where educational improvements , legislative reform, grass-root movements, spiritual input, political changes, etc,  all converge towards the change that we seek.  Every small step, every prayer, every blog post :-)  and every effort big or small, visible or invisible counts! And perhaps more importantly, my hope is our presence  as pastors would open up the channels for us to hear the gentle whisper saying to the world that the God of Justice has not abandoned us! He continues to call us to walk in his will and his way today!

vigil_pastors_pat_lu

(Thanks to Pat Lu for the photo)

*  *  *

The Collared Ones by Steven Sim

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
   and your young men shall see visions,
   and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
   in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”

Priests at rally.

“Thus saith the LORD.” sermon in front of the city council building, reminds me of Jim Wallis and friends at the Capitol


A white priest and a black priest, yin yang harmony to counter the chaos of the world


Hot, but not MBPJ Idol. Joel did say, “.your daughter will prophesy”.

The collared ones have dedicated their lives as servants of the Most High, choosing a path of discipleship and servant-leadership as pastors of the people of God. At times, wearing the collar means taking a counter-culture stance of obedience to god than to the socio-economic or political trends of the day.

When the collared ones walk the street in public protest of a certain issue they are not advocating any party’s political biases, but rather, they speak as prophets of the Most High, condemning by their presence and words the injustice, the indignation done to fellow humanity by the powers that be. Their message is not socialism or laissez faire, neither left nor right, neither liberal or conservative, but rather, their cries were those of Jeremiah, who spoke on god’s behalf,

“Why do you contend with me?
   You have all transgressed against me, declares the LORD”

And their proposal is not to overthrow one form of government for another, at least that’s not the focal point, but rather, again speaking as god’s mouthpiece,

“Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts and I will return to you.”

That is, not a coup de etat, but an offer of a new lease of life, a second chance with god the One that matters the most. And at times, with so many choices on the menu of political ideologies, perhaps this is what we needed the most, a fresh word about politics without party, justice without vengence, love without a price-tag and life, life in abundance.

March on collared ones.

Lord, I pray for the collared ones as they live their lives in obedience to you in their vocation. May Your servants prosper, Amen.

(The priests shown in this post are the Reverend Anthony Loke and the Reverend Sivin Kit. The lady speaking behind the mike is Trisha Yeoh. These photos were taken at the PJ Anti-ISA Vigil on the 23rd November 2008 – by taken from the Reverend Sivin Kit)

*  *  *

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Moved to Medium
  • The End | The Beginning
  • I Will be Back …
  • It’s Been a While …
  • GE13 Malaysia: Who to Vote for? (A Christian Contribution)

Recent Comments

  • Malaysia: Government Vows to Review Web Censorship Law After Protest · Global Voices on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • List of Participants in Internet Blackout Day! « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • Join Us and Support Internet Blackout Day « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • JB on Imagining My PhD Journey
  • Alex Tang on Imagining My PhD Journey

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

CALENDAR

November 2008
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
« Oct   Dec »
  • Academics
  • Bangsar Lutheran Church
  • Beyond
  • Bible
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Christian Year – Lent
  • Church
  • Conversations
  • Emergent/Emerging Churches
  • Events
  • Family
  • Five Sentences
  • Friends in Conversation
  • Fun stuff
  • Gracious Christianity
  • Ideas
  • Images
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Lists
  • Lutheran
  • Lutheran Church in Malaysia & Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Meditation
  • Micah Mandate
  • Mission
  • Movies
  • Music
  • New Stuff
  • Norway
  • Norwegian Notes
  • Personal
  • Philosophy
  • Podcast
  • Preaching
  • Prezi
  • Project 365
  • Random Links
  • Random Thoughts
  • Random Tweets
  • Random Utterances
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • RoH Malaysia
  • Second Thoughts
  • Seven Series
  • Simple Steps
  • Spirituality
  • Technology
  • Theology
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • World
  • Worship
  • Writing

Archives

  • November 2020
  • November 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • June 2003
  • May 2003
  • April 2003
  • February 2003
  • August 2002

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Pages

  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing

Social Media

© 2022 Sivin Kit's Garden | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme