Ubuntu: Christ's Challenge for Breaking Dividing walls

Text: John 4: 5- 26 (Jesus and the Samaritan Woman)

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;  for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”  The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

The Message

The Philosophy Of Ubuntu is a very beautiful  one. To demonstrate this point there is a very popular story that I read in one of my mails.

 An anthropologist studying the habits and customs of an African tribe found himself surrounded by children most days. So he decided to play a little game with them. He managed to get candy from the nearest town and put it all in a decorated basket at the foot of a tree. Then he called the children and suggested they play the game. When the anthropologist said “now”, the children had to run to the tree and the first one to get there could have all the candy to him/herself. So the children all lined up waiting for the signal. When the anthropologist said “now”, all of the children took each other by the hand ran together towards the tree. They all arrived at the same time divided up the candy, sat down and began to happily munch away. The anthropologist went over to them and asked why they had all run together when any one of them could have had the candy all to themselves. The children responded: “Ubuntu. How could any one of us be happy if all the others were sad?” Ubuntu is a philosophy of African tribes that can be summed up as “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

In the passage in front of us Jesus does what he does best. He breaks down the barriers prevalent in his time. In the beginning of Chapter 4 we see that Jesus left Judea and was travelling back to Galilee. He passed through Sychar which is a Samaritan City. Normally when people travelled from Judea to Galilee, they avoided the Samaritan territory. To find that out let us look into a little bit of history.

Back in 722 BCE the Northern Kingdom of Israel was overrun by the Assyrians. To avoid rebellion the Assyrians moved some people out and moved others in. The area became known as Samaria. A couple of centuries later when the leaders of the Southern Kingdom of Judah returned to Jerusalem after some 50 years of exile, they regarded the people of Samaria as havingfallen away from true religion and so rejected their offer of help in rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem. In pique the Samaritans did their best to sabotage the building efforts. Relationships deteriorated further and the Judeans came to regard Samaritans in a negative way on both racial and religious grounds. The situation was not helped by the Samaritans building a rival Temple on Mount Gerizim. Nor were things made easier when a Judean army destroyed that Temple in 110 BCE. Meanwhile Samaritans tried to disrupt festivals in Jerusalem. So by the time of Jesus the two peoples tried to avoid each other. Most Judeans travelling between Galilee and Jerusalem would take a diversion to the other side of the Jordan River in order to avoid setting foot in Samaria. That Jesus goes through Samaria and finds time to talk with this Samaritan woman shows him to be confronting a wall of prejudice. So when Jesus sitting near a well, asking a Samaritan woman water to drink was a huge scandal. Therefore the question of the woman makes sense . “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” John 4: 9.

But Jesus engagement with a Samaritan shows His vision of the Kingdom of God that is inclusive. In his conversation of Water, that is also the need of the Samaritan woman, He offers her water that is eternal. Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” (John 4: 14) Jesus definitely was drawing on the image of Psalm 42: 1 “As The deer pants for water, so my soul longs after you.” As in this life we long for many things, many philosophies and material possessions but nothing satisfies us. It is only the Eternal water offered by God that can satisfy the thirst of our soul which will then become a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. This joy of intimacy with God Jesus was offering a Samaritan Woman, who as a Samaritan was cursed in Jewish temples and who as a woman was not considered even part of the worship. Today our witness has been tarnished by our divisions. The more we have ethnic, class, caste and religious divisions we will be like what Jeremiah said “For two evils hath My people done, Me they have forsaken, a fountain of living waters, To hew out for themselves wells -- broken wells, That contain not the waters.” (Jeremiah 2: 13). In division that we have fostered, we have forsaken God who unites all of us. The question we need to ask ourselves is the Church with all its division a broken well that has run dry?

In my seminary days my first assignment was at Vengazha Mar Thoma Church which is a Dalit Church. The idea of a Dalit Church in the fold of the larger Mar Thoma Church is long debated. But when will we learn to overcome these artificial barriers rather than just justifying it? The Division between a Church in the urban set up and the church in the Mission Field is also very glaring. The same liturgy is used with everything similar but if one asks the question “Are they integrated in the larger circle of Mar Thoma Church”, the answer is a strict no. Let me give an example of my own experience. Guwahati mar Thoma Church now has only 5 families of the Mar Thoma. The nearby C.N.I church has 56 families and more. They have people from various tribes and class. As a Parish Priest I find it a big failure on my part where we have kept the ethnic Malyalee Mar Thoma Identity intact instead of turning more inclusive where there are good examples of inclusion in a Church with whom we have full communion.

The second prejudice that Jesus broke was evident with the reaction of disciples who returned with food

‘Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?”’ (John 4: 27). A Jewish man speaking in public to a woman who also was a Samaritan was another scandal. This reaching out of Jesus to their mind was not appropriate.  30 kms away from Pune, there is a place called Mukti Mission which was founded by Pandita Ramabai for the upliftment of women and child widows. Pandita Ramabai was a Sanskrit scholar who was given the title Pandita for her command over the Hindu Scriptures. Ramabai experienced a spiri­tual crisis as she realized that "all texts were agreed that women of high and low caste, as a class, were bad, very bad, worse than demons, as unholy as untruth; and that they could not get moksha (salvation) as men." This deeply disturbed her. For further studies in 1883 she decided to travel to London for studies and stayed with the Anglican Sisters at Wantage. One day she heard the bible reading of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. This was her point of enlightenment. The approach of Jesus to a woman was enough for her to make her choice. In her fight for empowerment of women she knew the faith in Jesus and his gospel is the only answer. She was baptized in the Church of England.  Through Mukti Mission she rehabilitated more than 3000 women and girls. As her love for scripture grew she became the first person to translate the Bible into the language of Marathi.

Pandita Ramabai saw a Jesus who had place for women and was concerned about their salvation and worship. But the same church that follows Christ even in the 21st century is divided over the role of women in the Church. Patriarchal mindsets still find justification for keeping women in their places. According to the BEM Document which was adopted by the faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches in Lima, Peru in 1982 agrees that women have a role in the ministry of the Church. It simply meant women are fit for ordained ministry. The Mar Thoma Church officially responded to the BEM document as follows

“The document calls for ‘a deeper understanding of the comprehensiveness of ministry which reflects the interdependence of men and women’. We wholeheartedly support this concern. The male-dominated social order which one encounters in many parts of the world is partly a reflection of technologies used by these societies which are dependent more on muscle power than brain power. The modern developments in science and technology liberate women partly because human mastery over nature is now dependent more on brain power than muscle power. Women now are able to share responsibilities which were formerly exclusively male. This change in society must be seen as an act of God. This must be reflected in increased sharing by women in the priestly ministry of the Church. However, the Mar Thoma Church presently has barriers due to custom, culture, tradition on allowing women to share in the ordained ministry of the church. It is earnestly hoped that these will break down as men develop greater consciousness of the change of times and women become willing and open to new challenges that God is opening before them. At the same time we also earnestly hope that ways will be found so that the ordination of women does not create new barriers on the way to mutual recognition of ministry and sacraments.”

So the gist of this statement is that the Mar Thoma Church is theologically fine with women ordination but it is our culture and customs that stand as barrier. How long will we be satisfied with such answers is a question we need to ask ourselves.

As I began the meditation on the concept of Ubuntu which is very connected to the imagery of Body of Christ which is beautifully explained by Paul in 1 Cor 12: 12, 13 ‘ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.’  Let us realize that there are many divisions that are taken for granted. As a Body of Christ we are called to break dividing walls and be participants in the inclusive Kingdom of God.

P.S. As a Priest of the Mar Thoma Church, the above criticisms are written with deep awareness that I am deeply responsible for the division and inequality in the Church that I conveniently criticize about.  

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

A Song Of Grace, A Song of Hope

Text: Luke 1: 46- 55

And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

Message:

“From the Silence of Chaos God breathed the Music of Creation”. When we look at Mary’s life we know that the proclamation of Gabriel plunged her life into utter silence of chaos. Her calculations in life had gone topsy turvy. Dreams shattered and confusions multiplied. But in the midst of all this she surrendered herself to the Mystery of God by saying “I am the Lord’s Servant. May everything you have said about to me come true.” This opening up to the possibilities of God transforms her Silence of Chaos to Music of Creation. In such a background let us explore two dimensions of the beautiful song of Mary.

The initial part of the song “Harks about Amazing Grace of God”. “For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.” (Luke 1: 47-49). Mary aware of the responsibility that she has been called to, is also aware of her inadequacy in being an instrument for God. Being profoundly aware of God’s grace prepares us to be open to the possibilities of God. In a conversation with my fellow batch mate and Asst. Vicar of St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Karol Bagh, Rev Jijo Varghese narrated to me a fascinating story. Alex Haley is the Author of the colossal work “Roots” which traces 12 generation of his slaves ancestors that were traded from Africa to America in the 15th century. Journalists interviewed him at his office. They dealt with the pain of being Black and the success of the Book “Roots”. In the office one of the Journalist saw many photos gracing the walls of his office. But there was one odd photo frame that stood out. Journalist out of curiosity asked “Dear Alex I can understand the family photos and the photos of your personal glory but the one photo where a turtle on top of a fence post beats me. What is the significance of this photo?” Haley poignantly replied “ In times of such personal glory where my book is doing so well this photo reminds me of a profound truth. This turtle definitely has not climbed on the fence post, there is somebody who has placed it up there. When I look book this photo reminds me that it is not by merit that I have reached here. The grace of God, prayers of my family and encouragement of people have placed me here. This gives me perspective.” Like Mary let us be aware of our humble state from which God has lifted and placed us to do His will. God has placed us not in a position of privilege but in a place of responsibility to be his instrument, to be his witness.

The second half of the song is a “Melody of a new dream, a new vision, a new beginning.” From vs 51 Mary Sings of a New future. This song portrays that God has already brought down rulers from the throne and lifted up the humble as a thing of the past. We should remember when she sang this song Herod was still on the throne. Threat of Herod later drives her as a refugee to Egypt along with Joseph and baby Jesus. So here she was singing in faith of a new future and a new possibility where the humble will be lifted up while the Herods of the world will be dethroned. She sings of a time when the hungry will be filled and the rich sent away empty handed. Mary lived in the context of Roman imperialism where the power is all that mattered. There were many like her who were hungry, who were just statistics in the Roman Census. With all the negativity surrounding, she saw a vision of new beginnings, new possibilities and new hopes. Today we live in times of Breaking News that has numbed our senses. News of scandals, riots, sexual abuses, scams and wars have made it impossible to believe that we can make a difference. The brutality of mankind has today deprived us of any hope. Slowly we have started to believe that “Nothing is going to Change. There is no hope.” We seem to have given up. In such a context let me introduce you to the Third blessing of the Mar Thoma Liturgy.” MAY THE GRACE AND MERCY OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS TRINITY, + UNCREATED, SELF-EXISTENT, + ETERNAL, ADORABLE AND ONE IN ESSENCE, BE WITH YOU ALL + FOR EVER.” Rev Eappen Varghese, the Professor of Church History at Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam says that the “ Glorious, Holy, Uncreated, Self Existent, Eternal, Adorable, One in Essence quality of the Trinity is contrasted with the World that is Unholy, Created, Dependent and Fragile.” So the Third Blessing points to the beyond element that helps us to rise over the negativity, cynicism and pessimism that surrounds our times. The Third Blessing is a Blessing and a responsibility to dream of a new future. When the world says there is no hope, we are called to be the messengers of hope. This dream may look baseless and illogical. But one needs the madness to believe in God and the future that he holds. Can there be a world where there will be no war? A Nuclear Free world? A world free from human trafficking? A world free of discrimination, prejudices and stereotypes? A world where there will be no caste discrimination? World free of Gender discrimination? World that embraces the disabled, the deviants and the marginalized?

If the above is foolishness I am a follower of a fool who was the Son of the Woman who sang the Song. He in his foolishness preached in his sermon like this:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5: 3-12)

On the Occasion of 15 Days Lent where we remember the life and dedication of Mary, Mother of Jesus, let us too “Hark about the Amazing Grace of God” and hum the “Melody of a New Dream, a New Vision, a New Beginning”. Mary calls us to be foolish enough to believe that the grace of God is sufficient for us to dream, to have a vision. In my First year in seminary I remember meeting an incredible person called Dayabai.I was mermerised by her attire and her gait that was in complete identification with the tribal people that she works with. Her front tooth is broken and her face is wrinkled. Interacting with her we found out that her name was Mercy Mathew and her house is in Pala. She dedicated her life to be a Nun and she became one. Later she realized that she was a misfit and left that path. She took up studies in Social Work and was challenged beyond comparison.After imbibing knowledge from universities, Mercy travelled to Madhya Pradesh to become a part of the adivasis there. Initially it was pretty difficult for her to gel with them. For that Dayabai turned herself into a Goondur local. She changed her dressing style, her eating habits, her language; she even worked on every small detail like the way she walks, talks, sits, stands etc.

For five years she stayed at the house of the Sarpanch of Goondur, until the adivasis themselves built a house for her. She taught them, built wells, hand pumps, schools and all the other necessities that the Goondur clan weren’t aware of. She went out into the public to give them a taste of knowledge and power, to teach them how to live and let live. Dayabai conducted street-plays, satyagrahas, speeches, taught them to sing, dance etc. No weather scared her, no one cared for her, but Dayabai shouted aloud the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The day that changed Mercy to Dayabai was when she saw a nine-year-old boy killing a chick. She spoke to this boy for a long time inquiring why he did the brutal act, what affected him so much? Apparently, this boy witnessed the brutal death of his mother and sisters. He hid behind a basket and did all he could to stay silent. His silence resulted in the death of his family. Mercy realised that he was simply the tip of an iceberg. 

The same day, she saw an advertisement for volunteers to Calcutta to help refugees from Bangladesh. She didn’t think twice before venturing out to do just what her heart told her to. There she took care of people with small pox, chicken pox, dengue and even more contagious diseases.

Dayabai, from then on, worked for Goondur and till date, has been fighting for them. She lives alone but with nature and a dog and a cat to keep her company. She cultivates oranges, blue berries, papaya, spinach, gram, peas, and almost all types of vegetables possible. She breeds hen, horses and cows in her very own land. The words that had the deepest impact on me were her words "Every time i partake in the Eucharist, I am reminded of the broken body and blood shed by my Jesus. This inspires me to be his disciple and to be ready for any sacrifice for the fight for justice and rights of his people." Like Mary, Dayabai too is foolish enough to think that in midst of all the chaos and mayhem of the world by the grace and empowering of God, we too can dispel the forces of darkness. May this lent help us introspect our life of discipleship and may we be foolish enough to believe that the existing reality of the present world is not the final truth. There is hope and we need to strive for the world that is filled with justice, mercy and peace that our Lord preached and announced its arrival by calling it the 'Kingdom of God.'

Rev Merin Mathew
Mar Thoma Syrian Church
Guwahati

Being Sent' out of The Locked Doors To Be a Breath of Fresh Air

Text: John 20: 19- 23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Message

Before we go to the text let me share with you a folktale of the Ao Tribe of Nagaland. It is said that after the world was created the animals and birds in the jungle complained about the brightness and heat of the Sun. They always kept grumbling about the inconvenience the Sun caused their daily living. They kept requesting the Sun not to come the next day. This made the Sun very angry but he continued to appear every morning. As the complaints increased manifolds, the sun decided not to turn up this time and locked himself behind the mountains. When the allotted time came, the Sun did not rise as usual. The animals in the jungle were overjoyed and expressed their jubilation through dancing and merry making. The mighty Sun had been tamed. No more heat and no more annoying brightness. But the celebration was short lived. By the third day of the Sun not rising, the darkness and the gloom was felt all over the jungle. In the darkness food could not be found. Freedom of movement was lost. The animals that were rejoicing just 3 days back plunged into absolute despair. The Sun seemed in no mood to make a comeback. A delegation of Lion, Zebra and Deer took their request to the Sun to return to the skies. This delegations’ request was rudely rebuffed by the Sun saying “I was doing my duty that was appointed by the Creator and you kept complaining. I will not Rise again. You deserve to be in the darkness.” For a month the stalemate of a world without Sun continued. Finally a rooster volunteered to talk to the “Sun.” The animals were not very hopeful but in their despair they did not mind someone trying. The rooster with fear and trembling approached the magnificent ‘Sun’. He said “Dear Sun do not be locked behind those mountains. We need your light and your radiance. Please forgive us as we were hasty in dismissing you. But do not be under the impression that all wanted you to go. Without you, it is we, the small birds and animals who are suffering. In the dark we are attacked, we have no hope to live. We need your light and your presence. Please accept our plea.” Hearing the plea of the rooster the defiant Sun had a change of heart. He realized that the purpose of his life is to shine bright and to give light. The Sun said “I will come with you. But you have to promise that before I rise you will crow as a prelude to my rising.” The rooster readily agreed and the rooster crowed when he reached the jungle and the Sun rose in the sky to the utter delight and joy of the animals in the jungle.

Like the Sun that refused to shine, in life we too, quite often decide to lock ourselves behind the doors of fear, inferiority complex, lack of self-confidence. There may be a tragedy or a failure that has scarred us beyond comprehension. And we prefer remaining behind locked doors like the disciples in the text that we are going to meditate. They had enough reasons to be afraid of. The scars of the crucifixion of Jesus was still fresh. If Jews could kill their leader then logically they were the next on target. There also were rumors of the resurrection of Jesus in the air. How would they face him? They had been a failure. They all deserted him in the time that he needed most. In such a context a closed door that was locked was to be their only refuge and source of peace. In such a moment the risen Christ enters through the closed doors and appears in the midst of his fearful disciples. And the first thing he says is “Peace be with you.” Jesus reminds them that there is no peace behind the façade of closed doors. He reminds them a truth that he assured them before crucifixion. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” And then he shows them his hands that had the scars of the cross. How is that possible? The wounded hands and side remind the disciples and us that the resurrection still points at the cross and the costly forgiveness that Christ won for us who are behind closed doors. Even with scars, failures and rejections, Christ says that a resurrection is possible. He has won us the hope. We do not need to remain behind closed doors. He again says “Peace be with you.” And this time he breathes on the disciples. Behind the suffocation of negativity and dejection, Jesus breathed power of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. There is a beautiful transition Jesus was bringing in the life of his disciples. “From the emptiness of failure and fear he was leading them to the hope of Resurrection. From the hope of resurrection he was commissioning them out of the locked doors to reach out to people hidden behind locked doors.” He was giving them a commission. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Jesus too had a choice. To embrace the cross for the forgiveness of all or to take a convenient route avoiding cross. So in the commission too he gives his disciples a choice with the ministry of forgiveness. He knew that there are many out in the world who are behind closed doors of revenge, remorse and guilt. Jesus was commissioning his disciples let them know that they do not need to be behind locked doors. They are forgiven. As disciples of Christ let us also trace our journey with our Lord. Let us be aware that he has empowered us with a mission that we cannot avoid or pretend to be behind closed doors of the Church. We are sent out with Peace and Forgiveness with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I just finished reading “Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl who is a survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps where 6 million Jews were mercilessly and systematically killed. He observes “In the concentration camp I have seen the beast-like nature of humanity. One wonders how one human can treat the other with such absolute disrespect and disdain. Even the prisoners of the camp start losing hope and give up on life. They even betray their best friend to win favors from their captors. But even in such a place I have seen prisoners who live with hope. Who save their bread to give it to their fellow prisoners. When the captors beat them they choose to forgive them. They went about and talk to fellow prisoners giving them hope by praying for and with them. I learnt a very important lesson. No matter how cruel the situation is, one can rise above the situation and become messengers of hope and reconciliation” That exactly is the message of Resurrection. No situation or people can keep you locked behind doors. Christ gives us hope so that we can open our doors to hear, participate, cry and forgive people who have lost hope and zest for life. May The Holy Spirit Guide us. 

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

One Time meal is for Re 1? Rich man and Lazarus

Text: Luke 16: 19- 31

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,  who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.  He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.  Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’  He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’  He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Message

At the outset this parable is more of a satire that challenged the privileged class of Jesus’ time. The root of it is found in the same chapter i.e. Luke 16 verses 14, 15. ‘The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him.  So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.’ So this parable is a challenge for all of us who are engaged in the business of “Appearance Management. But before we move further let me quote to you an anecdote that I love. It is a story illustrated by Stephen Covey in his book “Eighth Habit” which I have adapted to my convenience.

“ In  a school a teacher declared to the Class 8 that the next day he would conduct a written quiz. The quiz would have a question paper with 20 questions. The students were all excited and surveyed encyclopedia, google, Wikipedia, etc. to do their best in the quiz. The day came. The teacher distributed the question papers. Their pen were in a ready, get, set, go… mode. The questions were tough but their preparations were great. Till the 19th question the sailing was smooth. But the 20th question was a stumbling block. Nobody knew the answer. One of the students stood up and asked “What kind of a question is this? Name the woman who helps in cleaning the premises of your school? Is that a question worthy of a quiz?” The teacher patiently replied. “Son, you know the name of the president of Belaruz. The name of the Fifa Player of the year comes to you as easy as breath, but the lady who has been cleaning the school premises seems invisible to you. When she walks around you don’t even acknowledge her. It’s a danger when we recognize and acknowledge people only on basis of labels and merits. We need to respect people as humans. Even if you have answered 19 questions, if u can’t answer the 20th one, my students you have failed the quiz of being good humans.”

Here in the parable set in front of us we see no reason explicit for the rich man to have gone to hell. Was his richness depriving poor Lazarus? May be. But more than what he did, the question is what he did not do. The answer is he chose not to see the poor man Lazarus who was at his gate. He was indifferent to him. It did not matter to his existence whether this man who is at his gate lives or dies. I believe being cruel to people is bad but worse than that is being indifferent to the plight of the people around us. Noam Chomsky one of the finest intellectual of our times comments about India by saying “The poverty of India is disturbing but worse is the indifference of the privileged that is baffling and shocking.” He narrates about an Indian woman who was accompanying him who refused to look outside the car. It is no wonder that it is hardly shocking for us when 24 innocent children lost their lives in a mid day meal tragedy in Bihar. It is not shocking for us when we have politicians who are so away from reality who believe one can have a one time meal for Rs 12, for Rs 5 and the most shocking was Re 1. Poor man is everywhere today but he has become invisible for us. We have become too numb to be shaken or do anything about it. James Moore drives his point in a very brilliant way.

'FEDERAL FUSES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STUDY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.'

He tells us to read it and asks us to count the Fs in the sentence above. My first answer was there are 2 Fs. But then I realized that in Scientific there is F. so the answer is 3. But I was baffled when I saw the answer is 6 Fs are there in the sentence. Even Of has an F. It just does not occur. We take it for granted. I feel the obvious Fs are like the people who are obviously visible because of their status and status symbols.  The Fs that are hidden in OF are the poor people that have become the invisible people. Their poverty does not shock us or disturb us. This is not the story of the rich man alone. This is the story of how we live. We live with utter indifference and now we have enough reasons to justify it in the name of security and well-being

.

Now the name of the poor man is a very curious one. Lazarus. It means “God is my Help.” This is the only parable where one of the persons has a name. It is easier to remember rich and important people. They have an identity. But Jesus does not see things like that. He gives name to the poor and keeps the rich man as obscure or without a name. When there is no human compassion for the poor man “God alone was the Help and source of succor.” The rich man wears purple and lives in pomp while Lazarus is full of sores languishing at the gate. There is a folklore about a pastor who was about to take charge of a Church. But when he arrives at the church he disguises himself as a ragged man with filthy clothes and long flowing beard. The parishioners tell the ragged to stay outside the gate as he was not fit to enter the magnificent Church premises. When the former pastor introduced the new pastor the people were shocked to see the ragged man who was still in the ragged outfit. When he came to the pulpit he drove a point “Today I see a gathering of people......not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples...when will YOU decide to become disciples?” He then dismissed service until next week.......Being a Christian is more than something you claim. I'ts something you live by and share with others.

The question today in front of us is, “Who is our ‘Lazarus’”? It can be the beggar in the street, the maid who works in the house, the labourer who toils to building roads or the countless labourers at the construction sites. Like the rich man in the parable we are not responsible for the poverty of these people. But the Lazarus at our gate we chose not to see. This parable has immensely disturbed me and my foolish convictions. Let the Holy Spirit Judge our deeds and lead us to repentance. Let the repentance not be empty confession but strong desire to “see.” When one sees one will act and will fulfil the second greatest commandment “Love your neighbor.” Amen

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Community Centre

Guwahati

Kingdom of God Is Like A Mustard Seed

Text: Matthew 13: 31- 32

 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Message

Let us start with a riddle.

What is stronger than God,

More Evil than the Devil,

Poor Have it,

Rich do not know about it,

If you eat it, you will die

When I first heard this riddle I scratched my head. All possible foolish answers came to my mind. I was clueless. But when I heard the answer I cringed even further. The answer of the riddle is “Nothing.” That is the beauty of a riddle that profound truth is communicated in the simplest means. Jesus also used parables in this fashion where the divine truths were communicated using simple examples from nature. In the passage set in front of us we have Jesus talking about the Kingdom of God. As many theologians point out that the word Kingdom was a stumbling block for the listeners of Jesus. It always evoked the grandiosity of the Royal legacy of Israel under King David and Solomon. It also evoked grand images of huge facades that were symbolic of the Roman Empire. So if Jesus said that Kingdom of heaven is like “Cedars of Lebanon” (The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; Ps 92: 12) he would just be playing into the imagery of grandiosity. But here Jesus says that Kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed. In Galilee the mustard seed was seen more as a weed. The Rabbis forbade people from planting mustard seeds in their garden as once it was planted it took over the garden leaving no place for other plants. It grows up to 8- 10 feet. Once the sower sows mustard seeds, he loses control over it.

Now is that what the Kingdom of God like? I guess yes. When people of faith do small acts with great love, the Holy Spirit provides growth beyond the imagination of human comprehension. I have a friend in Dubai who has an anonymous group who gather together to pray and serve the will of God. They wish to be an anonymous group that supports God’s work and mission with prayers and monetary contributions. If they come to know the need of a particular village or place, they will pray about it and come together to contribute for the cause and wish to remain anonymous in the whole process. When I came to know about their work I really believed the statement that I read recently. “Let the photos on Facebook of great charity not fool you. Greatest work of love is going on hidden far away from the gaze of the world of Facebook by people who are anonymous.”

More than the growth aspect, the emphasis is that this becomes a tree where birds come and take rest. Kingdom of God is where all people are welcome. It is where over the needs of the self, the need of my neighbor takes prime importance. To illustrate this let me tell you a very common story.

There are different versions but one story goes something like this. Once upon a time there was a mother whose son became ill and died. The mother was a wreck because of her grief. Unable to face living with the heavy burden of sadness, in desperation she went to a wise man.

The wise man listened sympathetically, thought for a moment and said.

“I think the answer to your problem will be a special kind of mustard seed. What you must do is this.

Find some home where they have not known the grief of the death of a loved one, then collect a mustard seed from the garden and bring it back to me. I will then show you how to deal with your grief.”

Strange advice the woman thought….but on the other hand….. he is known to be a wise man, so she set off on this unusual quest.

The first house she chose was that of a rich family, a huge house with large well-kept grounds. She explained her quest to the woman who answered the door. Is this by any chance a house where there has been no such grief as the grief I have experienced in losing my son? The woman who had opened the door, burst into tears. “You couldn’t have come to a worse place. Grief? Let me tell you about grief.” And she began to explain the total tragedy her family had suffered over recent months.

The woman who had lost her son listened, amazed that someone so rich might have encountered such a disaster. On the other hand she thought to herself, perhaps my experience makes me the sort of person who might understand. So she stayed a while, counselled the sad rich woman, then when the rich woman appeared able to cope a little better, off she went on her journey again.

I think you may have already guessed. The next house was exactly the same. A nice house on the outside yet another real story of unhappy experiences – and once again she left but only after helping as best she could. And then on to the next, again a house visited by grief – and the next.

But here is the curious consequence. Gradually – imperceptibly she became more and more focused on the task of helping others and more and more forgetful of her own unhappiness.

She had started with a quest for a seed – a mustard seed and her journey brought her to the point where though her grief was still there as a memory – something else was growing in its place. She started becoming a tree where the birds could come and take rest. Even the smallest wounds in our lives can heal the pain of people if we submit ourselves to God who works in mysterious ways.  

Growth is the hallmark of a Christian life. Paul articulates this beautifully in Ephesians 4: 15 ‘Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.’ Growth is painful and at the same time unpredictable and sometimes undesirable. But growth at times does not seem the focus of Christians. Bill Peddie illustrates this in a very beautiful fashion. He talks about Bonsai Christians. “You probably know that a bonsai tree is a miniature version of a larger tree which is deliberately altered by cutting or tying its tap root so that it can be a small, decorative addition to a cultivated garden, rather than the tree nature intended it to be. In terms of Christians I guess the tap root is the one that allows direct contact with the main teachings of Jesus. A bonsai Christian then is one that would prefer to function without the challenge. Given a call to mission, the bonsai Christian would prefer to return to the comfort of the familiar music and listening to familiar prayer. The bonsai Christian will seek the setting of the rich wooded pews, the carved Church furniture, the sonorous organ, – or perhaps seek the modern entertainment style worship of the large crowd and technologically savvy preacher who knows how to work the crowd. A religion perhaps that pampers and comforts has an attraction for the bonsai Christian rather one than challenges and even provokes. Yet is this really what we are born for?”

So the Challenge my dear friends is to be either a small mustard seed that has the possibility to grow and become a shelter for many or to be like a Bonsai plant that lives for just ornamental purposes. Let us critically examine our life and identify whether we have been ‘Bonsai Christians’ or people who did small things with great love. 

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

Who Defines Us?

Text: Luke 6: 27- 31

“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.  Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Message

Before we go into the message let me share a story narrated by a gentleman David J. Pollay that will set the tone for the message.

“. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.  We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by mere inches! The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and started yelling bad words at us.  My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.  And I mean, he was actually friendly! So, I asked him, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and could've sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me about what I now call, "The Law of Garbage Trucks." "Many people are like Garbage Trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it, and if you let them, they'll dump it on you.  When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. Instead, just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happier because you did." Wow.  That really got me thinking about how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? AND, how often do I then take their garbage and spread it onto other people: at work, at home, on the streets?  It was that day I resolved, "I'm not going to do it anymore." Since then, I have started to see Garbage Trucks everywhere.  Just as the kid in the Sixth Sense movie said, "I see dead people," I can now say, "I see Garbage Trucks." :) I see the load they're carrying ... I see them coming to drop it off.  And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.”

Now this story is a very inspiring one and is in sync with the Bible passage set before us. But before we go any further let us imagine that we are sitting in Church and announcement is going on. One of your friends is sitting just behind you and kicks you for fun. What would be your first reaction and the first word on your tongue? I know my answer and I do not want to reveal too much here. What Jesus is saying in the passage has been a huge stumbling block for many believers. Having faith is abstract but practicing the above said is very very difficult. So how is this ever going to be possible? For that we need to look at Jesus himself. Jesus loved his enemies and blessed those who cursed him. He prayed for his oppressors on the Cross. Reading the Bible one thing stands out when you study the life of Jesus. Jesus was deeply aware of who he was. “I Know who I am. I testify for myself.” (John 8: 18) If I ask myself ‘Who am I?’ on a plain surface it is easy to answer but I seriously do not know the answer yet. Therefore people and circumstances define me. If somebody is rude to me I just react and get back being ruder. But the other person has defined me and my behavior. If the circumstance is favorable I am in a good mood but if it is hostile I change accordingly. So the power to define my behavior and attitude does not rest with me but other people and circumstances define me.

Jesus was deeply aware of His identity and his mission in life. Therefore what people told about him did not define his behavior. “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' (Luke 7: 24). If I had such an accusation against me I would have tried my best to prove otherwise and get my reputation on track. “Loving your enemies” is a choice that we have as people of faith to set ourselves free from hatred of people that defines us. I have a choice to love. But it is a tougher choice. Growing with God is a practice that we will perfect. With all our blemishes and shines, by the grace of God we will be comfortable in our own skin. Experience of the deep love of God and the knowledge of being “His Beloved” will enable us to say along with Soren Kierkegaard  “ Now with God’s help, I shall become myself.” I still remember that when I did my first session of counseling in Navjeevan way back in 2005, the children started to run at the very sight of me. They did not like this dude who thought he knew what their problem was. These children just avoided me and hardly tried to talk. This was deeply upsetting. I felt very angry and thought “I have come all the way to understand their problem and they are not even ready to talk to me?" One day when I was all upset Moni Achen, the then  director of Navjeevan understood my predicament and told me “You cannot compel anyone to love you. You as a counselor, remind them of their past that they would love to forget. Therefore they do not like you. You have to give them that freedom. All you can do is, you can choose to love them.” That made complete sense.

These days I am reading the book “ The Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela. His life is a complete inspiration. As a man of faith who truly believed in Biblical justice he sacrificed his life for the people of South Africa. The Apartheid Government of South Africa made all the possible inhuman laws to deprive the Africans of the basic human dignity. In pursuit of the freedom of his people to live like humans, Mandela was imprisoned in Robben Island for 27 long years of his life. The best part of his youth was snuffed out by the Afrikaaner government. In his release in 1990 he strove for a multi-racial platform and was elected the President of South Africa in 1994. There were many in the African National Congress who wanted to eliminate the opponents who oppressed them on the basis of color. There was a worldwide fear of a Civil strife. But once he came to power he formed a Government of National Unity. He set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission where the white oppressors confessed of their wrongs in court and the black oppressed hugged them and reconciled. This move of “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” was hugely a success because of the life and message of Mandela. After losing the best part of his life he had every right to be bitter with his opponents. He was in a position to settle scores and take revenge. But his example of reconciliation and forgiveness became the foundation for a South Africa that was just being born. Nelson Mandela stands out as a shining example of practicing Jesus commands where hatred did not define his actions. He defined the situation with love and forgiveness. These days where he is struggling with life and death, I sincerely pray that Nelson Mandela's life inspires us to make a choice between liberating power of love and the imprisoning trap of hatred. I pray like him we choose the former. Amen

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

Are You Trying? Really?

Text: 1 Timothy 4: 6- 10

If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding%nd the life to come. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Message:

On 23rd  June 2011, I became the Deacon of the Mar Thoma Church and on 11th July 2011, the same day of my birth 29 years ago, I was Ordained as the Kasheesha (Priest) of the Mar Thoma Church. When I celebrate the two years of my ministry I need to ask myself is there anything to celebrate about. After the many Qurbanas and Sermons, how much have I changed? After writing so many meditations, have I become a better disciple of Jesus?  Well the excuse that I can come up with is “I have tried.” This to my mind is a very common excuse that we exercise. I have ever been listening sermons after sermons to be like Jesus, to follow him, going to camps and dedicating myself and then coming back to just being my old self. And all I had an excuse was, “You know, I tried.”

My mother was an athlete in her school days. There were stories that are now part of family folk lore of how fast she was. The best that I managed was in 8th Standard , I came 4th among 6 runners and felt very proud about it. Once in our school there was a selection for long distance running and I now knew this was my chance. God has a purpose for my lifeThe date was set and we had to run 10 rounds of the ground. All the friends interested started to train accordingly. I started doing sit ups one day and gave up. After a week or so the day arrived. I prayed and said “I am going to try.” We were all at the starting line. Ten rounds. That’s all. Once I cross the line, I too would be a legend. On your marks. Get set. Whistleeeeeee. And I went for the dash. I was coming first as I started with great speed. At the end of the first round, all the other athletes were far behind. Second round starts and suddenly I just can’t breathe. My leg is too stubborn. I tried harder to convince it. But it was just that. I was trying. Half way through the second round, I just could not take another step. As this was not a race but just a qualifying round, half way through, the gate that led us outside the ground came and I silently faded out. With that faded my every illusion of dreaming of having any career in athletics.

But I realized that trying was just not enough. One needs to train wisely not only in athletics but also in matters of faith.   In the passage above set before us for meditation, Paul uses the image of Athletics  when he says in vs 7-8 “Train yourself in Godliness. For, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Paul’s audiences were very familiar to Athletics as Corinth was the site of Isthmanian games, second only to Olympics in Ancient Greece. To enter these games one had to undergo 10 months of intensive training failing which one could be disqualified. Keeping this in mind Paul says “discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 1 Cor 9: 27.

One of the crudest comment I got as a youth was when one of my friend said “You are Eloquent in your sermon.” I was beaming already till he completed his statement. “But it is just words.” It just shook me up. It still shakes me. Are my sermons just words? Or am I training to be transformed by Christ? The right beginning is to believe that merely by ones will power one cannot start being the faith that one preaches. The first thing that Alcoholics are taught in their self help group Alcoholics Anonymous is that one cannot become sober just by wishing to be so. For that One needs to follow the 12 steps principle of Alcoholic Anonymous. I have adapted these 12 principles for our journey in faith.  

a)“Knowing our powerlessness to implement our faith in a world full of distractions.”

b) Believing that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to discipleship.

c) Making a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we have come to understand Him.

d) To make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

e) Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

f) Being entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

g) Humbly ask Him to remove our shortcomings.

h) To make a list of all persons we have harmed, and therfore willing to make amends to them all.

i) To make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

j) Continue to take personal inventory, and when we are wrong to promptly admit it.

k) Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

l) Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we would carry this message to our fellow travelers in faith and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

It is indeed a sobering fact to use the techniques of Alcoholics in the journey of faith. But I guess the struggle to practice our faith is as tough or even tougher than the struggle of an alcoholic to remain sober. Last Saturday as I was preparing for the Holy Communion, I started to read a 17th Century Book called “The Practice of the Presence of God” written by a Cook in a monastery who was known as Brother Lawrence. This book was compiled after the death of brother Lawrence who wrote letters to his friend about his spiritual training and discipline. “I have radically practiced the Presence of God in the most mundane affairs of my life. I do not like to cook but I pray ‘Lord, let this be pleasing to You and You alone. ’  After cooking again I pray thanking God. Every waking minute I live just to please my Master and therefore very waking moment in my life is now a prayer. It took me 10 years of sufferings to reach here but my deep sense of communion and love of God has deepened. I live only to please Him.” These verse touched a cord deep within. I was visibly moved. Have I trained myself to feel the presence of my Lord in every waking minute of my life? Do I strive to please God or I long for the approval of the people around? Is my life a prayer? Why do I get so irritated after I preach about patience? Why do I become judgmental after preaching about Love or hearing a sermon on it? Why do I fall into temptation soon after I have resolved to lead a virtuous life? Well these questions work as an inventory to know where I stand as a disciple.

In U.S after the 2nd World War, At Madison’s square, New York, Chuck, Bill and Chris were the three youths who brought the Gospel of comfort to a nation bruised with war and the after effects of Depression. It is said Chuck Templeton had a deep captivating baritone voice. His narration of the sermon kept the audience spell bound. His Conventions were well attended and his voice was the talk of the town. In 1950s Radio became a huge business. Chuck was offered a post as a News Broadcaster for his enviable voice. Initially he rejected it to concentrate on his ministry but later accepted the offer. He soon became a celebrity News Reader. He started to ignore his ministry and later on in an interview he professed “Lack of Conviction about his Christian faith which has forced me to discontinue my ministry.”

Chris Broff had unbelievable humor. People were glued to their seats once he started to speak. It is said his sermons never had a dull moment. And then he fell in love with a girl. He was rejected time after time. He started drinking. Became an alcoholic and died at a very young age. A man of promise and conviction lost the plot.

The Third man was Billy Graham. I admire Graham more for his tenacity and focus in ministry. He was a man f spiritual discipline who lived and preached his faith. Three young promising stars started ministry in difficult times. But only one completed the race. It is not how well you start, but how tenaciously you run with discipline and finish the race.

As people of faith, we need to focus on training to be Disciples of Jesus. We have tried enough. We need to be effective witnesses of Jesus. Or else the words of Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan will ring true. “Christians are ordinary people with extraordinary claims.” Let us dedicate ourselves in the training of Godliness and faith. May God give us the grace. Amen.

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrain Church

Guwahati