The greatness of simplicity: In Memoriam Samuel Escobar

I first met Samuel Escobar in 1990. At that time he was living in Madrid, where he had come from Pennsylvania to defend his doctoral thesis, a task he had to postpone for years for reasons that are not relevant here.

Since his daughter Lily lived in Valencia, he often visited our city. It was on one of these visits, through a mutual friend, that we had the opportunity to meet for the first time in an enjoyable and pleasant leisure activity of which Samuel often reminded me: a boat ride on the lagoon.

Many years earlier, when I was a theology student, I had the opportunity to become acquainted with his writings in the magazine Certeza (Certainty) and others on topics that Christians hardly talked about, such as economics, politics, social justice and the inculturation of Christian mission.

The articles and books of Samuel Escobar, René Padilla and Pedro Arana helped me to broaden the horizon of my theological thinking, which was so limited at the time.

Above all, they allowed me to understand and learn that the only way to believe and live the Christian faith with relevance is to create a common ground for dialogue with the socio-cultural, political and religious paradigms of each historical period.

Around the year 2000, after his retirement, Samuel came to live in Valencia with his beloved and much-remembered wife, Lily.

But it was not until 2008, when the evangelical Baptist church of Quart elected me as its pastor, that I had the opportunity to develop a relationship of teacher to disciple, as well as a deep friendship with him, because despite his outstanding academic, teaching and missionary training, and despite being a well-known and respected figure throughout the world, it was impossible to live with Samuel without feeling the welcome and warmth of Christian brotherhood on equal terms from the first moment.

Taking advantage of his expository ability and teaching experience over so many years, I decided to 'use' him in the pulpit to work with me in preaching and training the church, an activity that lasted for many years.

This led us to preach several books of the Bible over the years, and three books were born: James: The living faith that drives mission, Ephesians: Living against the tide and Proverbs: Lives under construction, the latter with a dear sister of the church of Quart, Lola Sanchez.

The content of those books, with a strong pastoral character, was the transcription of sermons, which we adapted by giving them a literary style. Our target audience was universal, because our intention was always to write a type of theology that was capable of touching the needs of the people, more than academic theology, without undermining the biblical and theological depth that we wanted to give to our writings.

The coordination of this project was long and careful in order to provide a worthy final product, but in the many meetings we had to complete all the contents, I had before me an extraordinary teacher, humble, simple, competent, and with a versatility that made the theological discussions necessary to shape the books pleasant and easy.

Our agreement was almost total when the final ideas took shape and, by the grace of God, we were able to write the three books, the profits from which (as with all my books) we dedicated to charitable works.

For many years we met often for lunch. Those meetings were an oasis of peace and joy for him in the midst of the pain of his beloved Lily's absence. And they were for me too, who cherished and remembered those times.

It was there, around the table, between deep theological dialogues, laughter and trivial conversations, that we deepened an intimate friendship that lasted through the years.

Samuel went to be with the Lord at the age of 90. Like all believers, he had his faults and virtues, his lights and shadows, but the greatness of his simplicity and his extraordinary legacy as a man, husband, father, grandfather, missionary, teacher and writer will live on in time for the benefit of God's people. Soli Deo Gloria.

Eduardo Delás is a evangelical pastor in Valencia and Doctor in Systematic Theology.

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