Orang Asing

    Saya telah tinggal sebagai orang asing di Indonesia selama hampir 22 tahun. Saya bersyukur karena sebagai orang asing di sini saya dapat bertemu dan berkenalan dengan banyak orang yang dari latar belakang yang berbeda dari saya. Oleh sebab itu, saya dapat belajar banyak tentang berbagai perspektif yang berbeda, belajar bahasa-bahasa yang berbeda, dan mengenal budaya-budaya yang berbeda, bahkan dapat menikmati makanan-makanan yang enak dan lezat yang sebelumnya saya tidak pernah makan. Akan tetapi, ada hal-hal yang negatif juga, yang saya hadapi. Salah satunya, bahwa saya harus setiap kali mengurus ijin tinggal untuk tetap tinggal di sini. Baru-baru saya dapat masalah sedikit dengan hal itu dimana saya bisa dikeluarkan. Puji Tuhan akhirnya semua berjalan dengan baik.

    Baru-baru saya membaca dari satu dan dua Petrus di dalam Alkitab saya, dan disitu rasul Petrus menamakan orang-orang percaya sebagai orang asing. Dulu saya pernah membaca pasal itu, tetapi sekarang baru saya lebih pahaminya. Rasul Petrus katakan dalam 1 Petrus 1:17: "Dan jika kamu menyebut-Nya Bapa, yaitu Dia yang tanpa memandang muka menghakimi semua orang menurut perbuatannya, maka hendaklah kamu hidup dalam ketakutan selama kamu menumpang di dunia ini ." Dan di dalam 1 Petrus 2:11 berbunyi: "Saudara-saudaraku yang kekasih, aku menasihati kamu, supaya sebagai pendatang dan perantau, kamu menjauhkan diri dari keinginan-keinginan daging yang berjuang melawan jiwa." Sebagai orang asing, kami sepertinya bukan milik negara. Semua orang asing baik orang tua atau orang muda, mau orang kaya atau miskin, harus urus ijin tinggal untuk tetap tinggal di dalam negara. Rasul Petrus katakan kalau kita ikut Yesus Kristus kita harus sadar kalau kita adalah orang asing di bumi. Kalau kita orang milik dunia ini (orang dunia asli) maka kita akan ikut dunia dan mengikuti apa saja yang orang dunia buat, termasuk mengikuti keinginan-keinginan daging. Dia menasehati kita untuk menjauhkan diri dari keinginan-keinginan yang salah itu. Singkatnya, kita harus hidup takut akan Tuhan dan bukan takut akan apa yang dunia bilang.

    Saya mau ingatkan kita semua bahwa kita adalah orang-orang asing di dunia. Saya ingin mendorong kita semua untuk hidup sebagai orang asing, dengan kesadaran yang penuh bahwa kita tinggal di dunia ini hanya untuk sementara saja. Kewarganegaraan kita bukan di dunia ini tetapi kewarganegaraan kita adalah di sorga. Jadi mari kita berbuat baik kepada orang lain dan menghormati Tuhan - apapun terjadi - dengan mata dan hati tertuju ke rumah kita yang asli dan yang indah.    

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Strangers on this Earth

    Living as an expat in a foreign country has great advantages. You get to meet many new and wonderful people who have different backgrounds than you. You get to learn to communicate in another language, experience a different culture, and even expand your appreciation of different foods. However, it also brings into your life some stressful things, one being that you always have to be on your toes and fully aware of the status of your visa. Recently, I ran into difficulties with this and had quite a scare. I thought I might even get kicked out of the country.

    Let me try to explain to you how I felt when my status in this country was called into question. Besides being very frightened and in a state of shock, I also felt a depressing weight of sadness come over me. I thought to myself, 'No matter how long I live in this place, I will always be considered a stranger, a foreigner, one who doesn't really belong.' Those who belong here, no matter what mistake or evil thing they do, can never be kicked out of this country. They can certainly get punished but they cannot be kicked out.

    Recently I was reading the first and second books of Peter in my Bible and I came across the analogy of believers as foreigners. I had read it before, but I hadn't understood it as well as I did that day. "Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear" the apostle Peter says in I Peter 1:17. And further on, he adds "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul" (I Peter 2:11). As a foreigner, you don't really belong. You are usually only there for a while, and you always have to get permission to stay. For me, I always try my best to adjust to the culture, but people seem to shrug it off when I make blunders, because after all I am a foreigner. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, Peter suggests that you see yourself as a foreigner and not as "authentic" people of the world. If we are truly people of this world, then we would belong, and we would let ourselves behave worldly, following sinful desires and doing whatever other people happen to be doing. Instead, he urges us to curb those sinful desires and live in reverent fear of our Creator. 

    I want to remind us all that we are foreigners on this earth and to encourage us to live as such, being fully conscious that we are only here temporarily. Our citizenship is not of this earth but our citizenship is in heaven. So let us do good to others and honor God while we are here -- no matter how tough things may get -- as we set our eyes and our hearts on our true and beautiful home. 

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Ku Hilang Buta Bercela

     Saya tidak tahu pasti tetapi saya mengira bahwa semua orang buta pasti ingin sekali agar bisa melihat. Saya tidak bisa bayangkan bagaimana kalau saya menjadi buta. Saya berpikir saya pasti merasa sendirian dan pasti merasa gelap dan takut. Tetapi, apakah kita selalu menginginkan penglihatan secara spiritual? Apakah kita sadar bahwa kita sering buta karena kurang percaya Tuhan? Apakah kita sadar kalau kita sering berada di dalam keadaan gelap?

Yohanes pasal sembilan bercerita tentang seorang yang buta sejak lahirnya, lalu disembuhkan oleh Tuhan Yesus. Pasal ini sulit dipahami tetapi yang saya tangkap dari pasal ini adalah bahwa banyak orang berpikir jikalau dia melihat tetapi sebenarnya dia buta, dan bahwa ada orang-orang tertentu yang sadar akan kebutaannya (secara spiritual) lalu dapat melihat. Laki-laki muda yang disembuhkan secara ajaib itu, sudah bisa melihat secara fisik. Tetapi dia tidak melihat benar-benar sampai dia mengatakan, “Aku percaya, Tuhan!” dan sujud menyembah Tuhan Yesus (ayat 38). Setelah itu, Yesus mengeluarkan satu statement yang luar biasa. “Kata Yesus, ‘Aku datang ke dalam dunia untuk menghakimi, supaya barangsiapa yang tidak melihat, mendapat melihat, dan supaya barangsiapa yang dapat melihat menjadi buta’” (Yohanes 9:39).

Saya pernah kenal seorang yang tuna netra. Dia tidak beruntung dapat disembuhkan oleh Tuhan Yesus seperti laki-laki muda yang di dalam Yohanes 9. Tetapi itu tidak apa-apa. Sewaktu dia masih di bumi orang ini melihat hal-hal yang orang lain tidak dapat melihat. Sekarang dia sudah berada di sorga dengan penglihatan 100 % sempurna.

Orang yang buta itu dikenal dengan nama “Bapak Matheos”.  Bapak Matheos menjadi inspirasi untuk saya dan untuk banyak orang. Sejak kecil Bapak Matheos sudah buta. Dia lahir di kampung di Pulau Sabu, tiga saudara sekandung meninggal dunia waktu dia masih kecil, dan orang tuanya terpisah. Aduh, susahnya. Hidup di kampung, mengalami kematian tiga saudara, mengalami perceraian orang tua, dan dia dan Ibunya harus bersusah paya mencari nafkah sendiri. Itu saja sudah sulit Saudara, tetapi di atas itu semua dia tidak bisa melihat. Tetapi Bapak Matheos diajari tentang Tuhan, tentang pengampunan dosa lewat Yesus Kristus, dan dia percaya bahwa Bapa di sorga akan memeliharanya.

Bapak Matheos tidak menikah. Tetapi sebagai orang dewasa dia tinggal di kota Kupang dimana dia  bekerja sebagai tukang urut, secara khusus ke orang-orang turis di hotel. Yang sangat luar biasa adalah dari hasil usaha itu hampir setiap tahun Bapak Matheos kembali ke kampungnya di Sabu, dimana dia mencari anak-anak dari keluarga-keluarga yang kurang mampu dan dia membawa anak-anak itu ke rumahnya di Kupang dan membesarkan mereka. Banyak dari anak-anak itu mendapat pendidikan yang baik, bahkan ada yang menjadi polisi, penjahit, dan lain sebagainya, bahkan menjadi pelayan Firman yang luar biasa. Sebelum Bapak Matheos meninggal, ada 36 anak dari kampung pernah tinggal di dalam rumahnya yang dibimbing dan disekolahkan oleh Bapak Matheos. Kenapa dia mau buat begitu? Kenapa Bapak Matheos tidak menggunakan uang dari hasil jeri payahnya untuk membeli makanan yang enak atau membuat rumah yang sangat bagus dari pada membuat rumah yang lebih sederhana? Saya kira karena dia punya visi yang luar biasa. Dia merasa senang sekali kalau anak-anakmya itu dapat dibesarkan dengan baik dan menjadi produktif bagi gereja dan bagi masyarakat. Dia tahu kalau hidup ini bukan hidup yang terakhir tetapi ada kehidupan yang jauh lebih indah yang akan datang.

          Seringkali di dalam hidupnya, Bapak Matheos mendapat kesulitan yang berat. Tetapi dia kelihatanya sangat kuat menghadapi kesulitan-kesulitan hidup. Dia percaya bahwa Bapanya di Sorga melihat dia dan akan memeliharanya. Jadi dia terus taat kepada Tuhan dan melayani orang lain. Pertanyaan saya untuk diri saya sendiri dan untuk semua, apakah kita “melihat” seperti Bapak Matheos? Apakah kita merindukan untuk melihat secara spiritual sama seperti orang buta di dalam Yohanes 9 yang rindu untuk bisa melihat?

Saya ingin menutup tulisan yang sederhana ini dengan lagu "Ajaib Benar AnugerahMu" yang mengingatkan kita tentang betapa kita juga adalah hilang dan buta dan bercela. Marilah kita menyanyi lagu yang terkenal ini dengan penuh hikmat dan semangat:

Ajaib benar anugerah
Pembaru hidupku!
‘Ku hilang buta, bercela
Olehnya ‘ku sembuh.

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Was Blind But Now I See

     I cannot know for sure, but I am guessing that at the very top of any blind person's wish list would be to be able to see. I have been asked the question before, if you had to choose between sight and hearing what would you choose? I know my answer would be sight. I don't want to minimize the huge loss that deaf people have to deal with, but for me I think losing my sight would be even worse. How lonely and scary it must be to forever be shut in darkness and to have to grope your way around to find things.

    I wonder, do we sincerely long for and desire spiritual sight? Do we realize how often we are blinded by lack of faith and grope around in spiritual darkness? John chapter nine is a difficult passage to grasp. I do not claim to understand it well even yet, but one point that I do get is that many people claim to see yet are actually blind, and that there are some who realize how blind they would be without Christ, and so really see. In that chapter, a young man blind from birth was healed by Jesus. He received what he had probably longed for all his life -- sight -- from Jesus. But he does not truly begin to "see" until he says, "Lord, I believe" and then worshiped Jesus (verse 38). Then Jesus gives a profound statement: "For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind" (John 9:39). 

    I knew a blind man before. He was not so fortunate as the one in John 9 who received his sight miraculously from Jesus. But it didn't matter. While he was on earth, he saw things many others did not see. And now he has 20/20 vision in heaven. "Father Matheos" as he was called by everyone, was an inspiration to me. It is not quite clear if he was blind from birth, or if he became blind because of an early childhood illness. But one thing is clear, he didn't remember ever having been able to see. Life must have been very tough for a blind boy from a poor village on a poor island. He lost three siblings while he was still young and on top of all that his parents divorced. Young Matheos was left with mom who had to try and earn enough money to feed herself and him. It would have been hard enough living in his shoes without having been blind, but on top of it all he was also blind! But he was taught about God, and about forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, and he simply trusted that his Father in heaven would take care of him. 

    As an adult, Father Matheos lived in the city of Kupang, where he had built a house for himself, and he massaged tourists in nearby hotels to make a living. He regularly went to his little hometown on the island of Sabu to recruit under-privileged kids to take back with him to Kupang where he helped them get an education. Some of those kids' school fees were paid by their parents if they could afford it, but many came out of Father Matheos' own pocket. All told, before Father Matheos died, he had had 36 village kids live with him at some point in their lives and at the very least he influenced their character and walk with God, while a large percentage of them actually got an education. Why did he do it, we ask. Well he had a vision. He himself had not gone far with his education but he knew that learning to read and write would help these kids to read the Bible, know about God, and live a more productive life for their families, their churches, and their communities. So he preferred to eat plain rice and vegetables and live in a simple louse made of palm branches and palm leaves so that he could make a difference in their lives. And he knew that this life was not the end but that he would have a beautiful, eternal life later anyway.

    As Father Matheos grew older it was discovered that he was suffering from diabetes. He struggled with it until he died. His simple trust in God always amazed me. I knew he couldn't possibly pay his doctor visits and medicine with his meagre and often sporadic massaging money. So I began to give him money after church on Sunday when I knew that he needed to go back to the doctor that week. He was very grateful and would report back to me the following Sunday how it had gone. But one day there was an emergency. He was very sick and knew he had to go right away to the doctor. So he had one of his kids lead him to the doctor's office. He saw the doctor, who checked him over and gave him a prescription for more medicine, and then Father Matheos calmly explained to the receptionist that he didn't have enough money to pay at the moment. He explained that he knew a lady whom he was certain would pay it as soon as she found out about it. And the amazing thing is, the people behind the desk who heard the story simply smiled at him and gave him the help he needed! 

    Father Matheos often did not know how a thing could be possible, but he did not seem to worry about it. He believed that his Father in heaven was watching him and would care for him. And so he continued to be obedient to God and to faithfully serve, despite the appalling circumstances that he found himself in. My question to myself and to us all is, do we "see" like Father Matheos did? Do we long for spiritual sight with an intense longing, as blind people long to see with their physical eyes? Let's sing this song again with renewed understanding and fervor:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see...

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