Jesus Calls Ordinary People To Do Extraordinary Works

Text: Matthew 28: 16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Message

In the field of education we have a phenomenon called the Pygmalion Effect. Before we explore what it means let us explore the myth of Pygmalion. It is said that Pygmalion was a Sculptor from Cyprus. He was not interested in any woman in his country and therefore delayed his marriage. Finally he decided to make a statue of a woman with all love and creativity. He invested all hopes and aspirations into it. Once when he kissed the statue, the lips became warm and the lifeless form breathed life. So the Pygmalion Effect challenges the grading of a student as intelligent, average or below average. It supposes that if we expect a student to do well despite his/her poor academic record, chances are great he/she will rise to our expectations. This approach is also useful for managers and team leaders who with their positive expectations and encouragements can transform their team to do wonders.

We are meditating the very well known passage which is popularly called as the Great Commission. Jesus commissions the 11 disciples on a mountain in Galilee. It is said that when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. When we look at the people we refer as disciples, their inconsistency strikes us the most. James and John said they wanted to be on Jesus’ left and right when he came in his glory. At Gethsemane, when Jesus asked Peter, James and John to pray along with him, they dozed off. During the crucifixion they all deserted him. Peter denied him thrice. When the news of his resurrection was around, they chose not to believe it. Even when fellow disciples said they saw Resurrected Christ, Thomas chose to doubt. To such a group of men with huge inconsistencies and failures, Jesus says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Jesus is investing his expectations on a band of so called ‘losers’. But by the help of the Trinity these 11 losers change and transform the history of the world. They rise up to the commission laid down by their Master. Not only that, he also assures his presence to the end of the age.

Personally when I look at myself and evaluate my call and commission, I am aware that with all my internal contradictions and failures, I do not fit the bill. When I was ordained and commissioned to the Northeast, the thought troubled me, whether I was ready for something so challenging. But I realized that God does not call perfect people to do His work. He makes imperfect people perfect in the journey of doing His will. He also assures us his presence and guidance.

My dear friends, we live in times where negativity has become order of the day. In this fast and competitive world, where 95 and 96 is also average, there seems to be no place for ordinary people. One of my friends doing M.B.A. confided that “This is a cruel world. You have to be extraordinary and different to be in the race. Ordinary people like me have no chance of survival.” We live in times where we need to prove our worth or else we are good for nothing. What does one do? Where does one go? What is the purpose of life? My dear friends this passage is a testimony where our Saviour used very ordinary people to do extra ordinary things. There will be many people who will question our worth and integrity. But take heart. Our creator has created us for a purpose; He has invested his expectation on us. He has called us to do great things. Are we ready to rise up to His expectations?

Roshen George is from Vashi Mar Thoma Church. I happened to know Roshen through my association with Navjeevan Centre Mumbai where I volunteered for nearly 2 years. The imprint of Roshen in the lives of the Children of Navjeevan Centre is very unique and distinct. He initially volunteered to be a house brother at Navjeevan to mould the lives of the children. He also taught children maths and science. I realized his presence and guidance was an inspiration for children who were in search for role models. But who is Roshen? What is his past? After his twelth grade Roshen decided to do Engineering. After venturing into it he realized that he was not meant for it. He failed in many subjects, got back log after back log. His self esteem took a beating, he started to venture into the realm of addiction. He lost track of his life becoming a headache for his parents and a matter of ridicule and scorn for the people who knew him. He decided that he is no good and plunged into despair and depression. It is at this time that Rev Kurien George was the Director of Navjeevan Centre. He was renowned as a counselor par excellence. Roshen’s parent’s in their countless effort to help Roshen out, also approached Rev Kurien. Achen called Roshen to Navjeevan and Roshen too very reluctantly went tired of the many efforts of people to straighten him up. But when they first met, Reverend asked him what he is good at. This was a much unexpected question. He had come to believe he was good for nothing. But strangely he said he loves mathematics. Reverend assigned him the task of teaching math for the children of 9th and 10th statndard of Navjeevan Centre. He was not used to being given responsibilities. But he took this one up. He dedicated himself to teach the children. In the meanwhile Rev Kurien engaged with him and helped him to deal with his problems of addiction and failure. Through prayers, fellowship and new sense of responsibility, Roshen was slowly being transformed. Roshen confided with me “It is these children who have changed me, they taught me how to pray, I learnt the love of Jesus observing their life, and therefore I will live for these Children. I will help them in their faith journey.” This was not a momentary decision. Even today, Roshen is the mentor of the boys at the Halfway home of Navjeevan Centre at Vashi. He is a role model and a brother to them. A person who was deemed as a failure and a headache was touched by the Love of God. He was endowed with expectations that he lived up to. This ordinary man did extraordinary things because Rev Kurien used the Grace of Jesus to transform him. The transformed became the transformer. Remember, when people write you off and discard you as a failure, Jesus invests expectations on you, believes in you and transforms you. Are you ready to live up to it? 

Bread of Life: Transforming Crowd into a Eucharistic Community- Reflections Based on the Issue of “Illegal Migrants of Assam”

Text- John 6: 1-15, 25-40.

Jesus feeding the Five Thousand is there in all the 4 Gospels. But the setting and intention in John is different in comparison to the Synoptic Gospels. There is a context of Passover that sets the framework of liberation to the entire text. The Geographical Location of the crowd is on the Other side of the Sea Of Galilee or the Sea Of Tiberias. This says something about the crowd as Tiberias was the major urban centre along the lake. The city was named after Emperor Tiberius and founded by Herod Antipas in about A.D. 19. It is said that the city was built on a graveyard and therefore Jews refused to settle in this city as contact with the dead made people unclean according to the Jewish Law. Therefore, to find residents for his new city, Herod freed slaves and offered free land and house to those who would settle there.  He also built a synagogue but the ‘City of Graveyard’ was the label that city of Tiberias had to carry. The Roman rulers used to placate their vassal states by providing free bread to the people. The people were dependent on this act of charity from rulers. As the crowd is the focus of our meditation, the brief background of the crowd will help us deal with the text keeping the focus on the crowd.

When Jesus saw the crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat? (vs 5). What is interesting is Philip’s reaction to deal with the crowd. “Six Month’s wages would not buy enough bread for these people to eat” (vs 7). We see that His approach was to calculate the enormity of the crowd in monetary terms to dismiss the crowd and their needs. While Andrew searched for a possibility of gathering resources but could only get a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. Andrew tried to solve the problem with available resources but knew that the resources to feed the crowd were meager. But Jesus seeing these responses was not overwhelmed by the Crowd. He made them sit down. Vs 11 is the key of the passage which says “Then Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.” What is very interesting is that Apostle in his emphasis has highlighted the act of Jesus giving thanks taking the loaves and fish. In Vs 23 it says “ Then some boats from Tiberias came where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.” The description does not say “The place where the Lord fed the five thousand” but “The place where they had eaten bread after the Lord had given thanks.” So I assume the Apostle was emphasizing on the formation of a crowd that was transformed into a sharing community through the sacramental act of Eucharist or Thanksgiving. The author assumes the miracle of feeding the five thousand with Five Loaves of barley and two fish but he does not stress on the miracle aspect unlike what we find in the Synoptic Gospels. Seeing the provision of bread in abundance provoked the people to make Jesus the King as for them, those who provide bread for free are the rulers. Jesus resisted this attempt. John 6: 25-40 Jesus makes a binary with the earthly bread that perishes with the Body of Jesus which was presented as a “Bread from heaven.” In vs 33 Jesus says “For the Bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” The emphasis is giving life which Jesus intended to do. When the Greeks came to seek him it is in this connection that Jesus said those famous words “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24. So the understanding of Jesus of giving life is not giving bread alone but the need of incarnation into a situation that compels us to forego our ‘Self’ that refuses to die. Jesus challenged us to die to our own selfish needs and compulsions. It challenges us to be Life givers to vast section of people who live on bread without hope and community. Jesus became the Heavenly bread by espousing the biggest sacrifice that the Cross symbolizes. The resurrection gives us hope of bread that never spoils. So we see that the miracle was not Jesus feeding the Five thousand with Five loaves of Bread  and two fish but that Jesus intended to tranform the crowd into a Ecclessial Community by offering himself as a bread to be broken for the World. Jesus presents himself as the bread that was ready to be broken for the Crowd to become a community. This Sacramental Discourse of Jesus at the same time is a mission mandate where he opens himself to be broken for the Jews and the Greeks alike.

In the North East of India there are gamut of issues and crisis. One of the most evident presence one sees is the presence of the so called “illegal immigrants”. The largest labour force is formed by these illegal immigrants. They have been accommodated in places like Dhubri , Kokhrajhar, Gossaingaon areas of Assam. Government settled them in areas  notified as the land of Bodo Territorial Council. The recent ethnic violence in Assam was due to the contention of land and meager resources. These people have a very slave like existence and are deprived of all the human rights and sense of dignity. In most of the cities in the North East, they form a work force that is used as cheap labour. They live under sub-standard conditions and are paid way below the standard minimum wages. Successive governments and movements have treated them as non- entities or as the reason for dispute and disharmony. Their existences as humans are debunked. They too use their labour to win the bread. Bread is the centre of their existence. Successive governments too have only facilitated in providing them bread. Now major of the labour force in Kerala is from this section. The train from Guwahati to Trivandrum is full of these labourers. The Sleeper compartment will have 500 passengers instead of 72. One cannot imagine the conditions which they travel. When I was travelling by A.C. compartment, I ventured into one Sleeper compartment. I was shocked at the human conditions of people desperate for work and bread. When I came back to the A.C. compartment, I ordered for a specific menu. The man of the pantry told me "Sir that food is not for people like you. It is not cooked that well. We give it to the labourers in the sleeper compartment. Why don’t you order something different?" I was shocked at the gross distinction that was being made of humans. Outside the precincts of Guwahati, these people are accomodated in Labour Camps which has the feel of a ghetto. It is also used as a social marker of these dispossessed people. These very people are working on a Church project at my parsonage in Guwahati. All the boys working are between 17-20. One thing that strikes is none of the boys give eye contact and are very uncomfortable in my presence. Their identity, self esteem and dignity have been crushed under the cruelties of life. Noor Ahmed, one of the laborers confided that “ I come from a family of Imams and my father is a Haji as he has gone to Haj. But the 1998 flood devastated us and our 15 acres of land was swallowed by the Brahmaputra River. I was studying in standard 10. After the flood I came to Guwahati from Dhubri and worked day in and day out and learnt to be a maistry as we had lost everything. But once the building is built or a house is built, we are scared to enter into these homes. We are unwanted.” Church here has a lesson to learn from the Example of Jesus. When the expectation of the crowd is to be fulfilled of the needs of the bread, We have to strive for a Eucharistic community where we offer ourselves as bread. Church has to think of new outreach strategies that that transform the crowd into a community. Church at times deals with the Crowd like Philip by seeing people and their needs only in monetary terms. Or at best we try to be like Andrew who searches for resources just to fix a problem. But Jesus was not just interested in satisfying the physical needs of the people. He sees the importance of Bread that satisfies physical hunger. But Jesus was interested in the identity formation of the crowd that formed them into a  community by displaying love on the Cross like a grain of wheat ready to die to give life to many.

Let me conclude with my observations of the Northeast India. Work among the natives, among the tribals has been espoused at length. But in the context of huge migrational displacements, the existence of the illegal migrants has not been engaged with. The issues of justice and peace can only be dealt when Church has a policy or a mission strategy that strives for the rights of the so called illegal migrants. Here we need to dare to go beyond the compulsions of geo-politics and religion. The educational status of these people is abysmal which keeps them in the vortex of poverty and exploitation. They are also easily manipulated on communal lines as the discontent and drudgery of living everyday is a fact. It is the truth of National framework that has termed them as “Illegal”. We need to overcome that blindfold to accept them as humans. Talking to the labourers working on daily wages reveals that the government schools are the only source for education. The bias of teachers against the migrants denies them of quality education which leads to huge rate of school drop outs. So from then on they have believed that they are only fit to be labourers to earn bread. Ali, a painter by profession said “I went to school only till standard 4. Teachers always said we are not fit for studies. So I realized that there is no use studying. I started working from the age of 9.”

  Today the xenophobia of the local communities has forced the migrants to have artificial communities in ghettoes based on striving for bread and the struggle for self preservation. When church produces a community that is committed to die for  these brethrens of theirs so that they may have life and a meaningful community, then and only then can we pray “God of Life, Lead us to Justice and Peace.” Or else the symbol of Cross is a scandal that will judge our hypocrisy and fashionable slogans. May God of life lead us to be breads that feed the hopeless life of many a crowd to justice and peace.

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Church

Guwahati

(Readers I am aware of my naivity in regards to a complex topic. It is out of my personal struggles with my encounters with these labourers that I have written this. I am also aware that my tone is one that is patronizing)

Out of Our Comfort Zones

Text: Mark 10: 17- 22

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’ ”  He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”  Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Message

Story of the rich fool is a popular whipping boy for most of our sermons and meditations. Was he so outrageous or at fault? Or is he like us? I think it is the latter. He is very much like us and is very comfortable in life. But he is confused. In such a background he must have heard of Jesus and his acts must have thrilled him. And seeing the wonder maker he was overwhelmed and fell on his knees saying  “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” But Jesus instead of answering his question directly tries to correct him by saying “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” This actually is a very confusing statement but Jesus deemed it necessary to say so. Jesus saw the yearning and sparkle in his eyes that was full of awe and admiration. Jesus understood that the young man was Hero worshipping him.

We all have heroes that we look up to. Having a hero is very human. It gives us a meaning and cause to our lives. Rahul Dravid has been my hero for a long time now. Similarly I adore Raphael Nadal and Lionel  Messi. I am also a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan. I recently read that the brand of the New Gen cricket star Virat Kohli’s brand is getting bigger day by day. The  heroes we have reflect who we are. They fulfill some of our desires that we cannot achieve. Their achievements give us a vicarious pleasure of living a parallel life through them. I have a friend who is very graceful when I criticize him but he goes violent and berserk when I condemn or make fun of the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. I am sure many of us too have this compulsion to safeguard our heroes. It was tragic to read about the fall of an inspirational hero and 7 times Tour de France champion cyclist Lance Armstrong. The papers condemn him for having polluted the cleanest mode of transport.  Cycling. Heroes are not supposed to be fallible. They cannot cheat nor are they supposed to do wrong. If so they destroy a certain part of being that we anchored upon them.

So then the problem of depending on a hero is that it shifts the focus from us to the heroes that we worship. What they say, what they wear, what they do is important. Instead of realizing what we can do with our talents and potentials to transform the world around us, we are fixated on a vicarious alter being of us that just massages our egos. In the range of heroes Jesus too can be our hero. The stories of his majesty and his compassion place him on a pedestal that puts a gap between Him and us. Jesus today is used as an idol that justifies our living. When somebody marvels at our riches or our prosperity we like parrots affirm “It is all by His Grace. Praise the Lord”. Like the young man we too need a set formula to follow where in we can have the riches and as a bonus have eternal life too. For us good people are those who go to church, do all that is right and also people of great success. Sounds so much like the rich young man in the story. But Jesus shifts the focus from the blind Hero worship to a life focused on God. Discipleship is not saying “Praise the Lord” and sounding religious. Discipleship is faith that helps us to step out of our comfort zones. Faith transforms us from self obsession to the process of being a “Grain of wheat ready to die so that many can have life.” Faith is the sense of surrender where we can sell everything and give the money to the poor. And then follow Christ in transforming the world. It is a costly call. When I type this I am being convicted of my own hypocrisy.

I have a friend who is an Engineer by profession. His name is Sameer Pethe. I first met him when he was an engineering student participating in a debate module called Model United Nations. I was conducting the training sessions. He came across as a guy who was happy go lucky and just wanted a great job and a lot of money. I lost touch with him. When I met him he did have a great job that paid him well. But he was dissatisfied with life. Just earning money and being successful looked meaningless.  Struggling with all these questions he took a daring step. He joined an organization that helps in planned social intervention. This is way out of his comfort zone.A week back he came to a place called Morigaon in Assam that was mercilessly ruined by the floods. He is in a project that rehabilitates the flood affected people. The conditions he works under are rather risky. I felt very proud of him as he was ready to step out to transform the world around him. I have been in Assam during the flood and the riots and I fit the song that says “All the good things that nobody did.” Now to placate my conscience I will visit him this Tuesday, to gauge what exactly he into is.

In the end, my question to myself and those reading is just this. “Is Jesus our Hero that comforts us and keeps telling us I love you as you are. Be the way you are.” There is an aspect of truth in this. But this part is way too emphasized. If Jesus is our Lord and savior he demands us to step out of our comfort zones. He demands us to stop using him for self preservation and as a lucky charm. He calls us to follow him without clinging to our securities and comforts. Do we believe that faith helps us to be a blessing to others, to transform the society around us? Jesus does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be fruitful. Are we ready is the question.

Song of Grace, Song of Hope ( New Year at Koodankulam)

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)

This Advent season let us “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. Friends we too can make a difference. I express solidarity with my foolish friends who are celebrating New Year 2013 at Koodankulam, in Tamil Nadu where the people are resisting a Nuclear plant which has come to symbolize the Nation’s utmost disregard to human life and safety. These friends are foolish enough to dream in the power of people and stupid enough to think that there will be a Nuclear Free World. We need more foolish people 

Denied Access? Break Open the Roof (Along with a Petition to make Indian Railways Disabled Friendly)

Text: Mark 2: 1-12

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,  “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”  He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Message:

In this passage we see a picture of a home in Capernaum that was brimming with people to hear Jesus speak. Vs 2 says “there was no room left, not even outside the door”. The zeal to hear the Word of God is evident in this home. Jesus preached to such a zealous crowd. It is in midst of this hearing of the Word that 4 men came with a paralyzed man. They carried him on a mat where the 4 youths held the 4 corners. Since the house where Jesus was preaching was full of people ‘the access to Jesus for a paralyzed man was a challenge’. I am imagining that one of the youth requested the bearded man at the door to excuse him so that they can carry the paralyzed man to Jesus. The tall man must have rolled his eyes and said “Gentlemen we are hearing the word. Be off. Meet him during the snack time.” The 4 anonymous youths whose history or background we are unaware of, do not take no for an answer. When they are denied access, they search for other ways. What do they do? They climb on the roof top. And they did an act of vandalism. They dug the roof top. The entire crowd must have cringed at this act of defiance. Today we live in times where the buildings that we live in defines our identity and our social standing. But the 4 youths dared to declare that human life is way more important than buildings. The 4 youths after unruffling the crowd, lowered the mat right where Jesus stood. And here is the twist. Vs 5 says Jesus saw their faith. Rev Dr Sham P. Thomas says that “We believe that faith is something hidden and private. Then how did Jesus see the faith of the youths?” Karen Armstrong beautifully says “Faith is that which drives us to action.” The action of the youths who were denied access showed the tenacity to climb on the roof top and carry the paralyzed man too on the roof top. These people were driven with the desire of giving the paralyzed man a direct access to Jesus. Remember it is the crowd and the mindset of the people regarding the disabled and the paralyzed people that made Jesus inaccessible in this context. Like all the others in the crowd, the paralyzed man too had the right to have access to Jesus. When he was denied that, the 4 youths exhibited their faith through a daring action. Jesus said “Your sins are forgiven.” The moment Jesus said this there were some teachers of the law who belonged to the group of the Pharisees. They took objection to the statement of forgiveness by Jesus. It was people like the Pharisees that taught the paralyzed man that “It is because of your sins that you are paralyzed.” The paralyzed man internalized this guilt. Here Jesus is offering the man grace and releasing him not only from his physical captivity but also the mental captivity that he lived with. But the Pharisees had a problem.

Philip Yancey in his wonderful book “What Is So Amazing About Grace” narrates that there was a way to identify a Pharisee in midst of a crowd in ancient Israel. The Pharisees had a lump on their forehead. Lump on their forehead? Without reading further I started to guess. ‘May be because of the prayer position where they touched their head becoming prostrate that the lump developed’. But it was much more interesting. Yancey says “Pharisees were real heroes who tried to live by the 10 Commandments very strictly. So whenever they were out on the streets or market place their eyes were fixed on their feet as if having a conversation with it. They never lifted their head. The reason was if they lifted their head their eyes would see a house and they would covet, they would see a woman and desire, would see a neighbor whom they would love to kill. So to avoid all the sinning, they fixed their eyes on their feet and the road. All the cities had huge walls. Since their eyes were talking to their feet they never saw the wall ahead and BANG. OUCHHHHH. There might have been regular bangings and hence a huge lump on the forehead. It is also said that the size of the lump was like a medal system. Ones with huge lump were great Pharisees; the ones with small ones were those who cheated in between. Moving on, the spirituality of the Pharisee was simple. ‘No matter what, I should not sin. I will not look at my neighbor or his house, and I do not care what he does but I should not sin.’ We should ask ourselves are we like that just avoiding troubles and moving. We are so obsessed with our life and our salvation that we do not lift our eyes and look at the plight of the people. We just want to play safe.

Jesus refutes the proponents of the law. Jesus knew that the physical healing was not enough. The paralyzed man had to be released from the guilt produced by the society and asks the man “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” (vs11) The paralyzed man gets up, takes his mat and goes home in full view of the people who denied him access. And the people who denied access and cringed when the 4 youths broke open the roof said in amazement a doxology, praising God “We have never seen anything like this!” (Vs 12) As Rev Dr Sham P Thomas says “It is obvious that the paralyzed man was healed. But also the people who denied access to the paralyzed, in the end were also healed.”

My dear friends, today many differently abled people are denied access to many public infrastructures and institutions. More and more hurdles are put that deny them a normal living. They have a right to Access and a right to Excel. Like the Pharisees, we are too focused with our lives and our careers. We just do not want to get into any trouble. Are we ready to be like the 4 youths whose name and profile remains hidden, who strived for the access of the disabled and the paralyzed. “Faith is not just what we profess, it is tha which drives us to action. One of my friends Anisha Joseph along with Arman Ali have initiated a campaign to make Indian Railways more Disabled Friendly. They belong to the category of 4 youths who want to bring a change. What good is it going to do?  This may be our first thought.  But my dear friends I ask you to put your faith into action and sign the petition given below.

 “We too are disabled. The ones who lack sensitivity and are given to pessimism and cynicism are disabled of a higher kind. So be healed and join the Cause.”

https://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/make-indian-railways-barrier-free?share_id=zhqyHGYMeO&utm_campaign=mailto_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

Manger: There is Room Here for Everyone

Text: Luke 2: 1-20

Message

After World War II, father and son were walking on the roads of New York. There were stars outside many homes. The Son asked “Dad why are there stars outside so many homes?” Father replied “Son, wherever there is star outside a home, it is a sign that the family has sacrificed their son for our nation. Their sons have lost lives in the war.” The son holding the father’s hand sees the sky between two homes and sees a bright star shining. He says “Dad on the window of heaven there is a star shining. Did God too sacrifice his Son”. Dear Friends Christmas harks about a love story that shows “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 16.

a)   God has No room.

“ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2: 7. The  Inn did not have room so Mary laid her first born in a manger. The God who made heaven and Earth and all the galaxies, did not have room when he took the human form. That is the beauty of the story of Incarnation, the beauty of Christmas. I am reminded of a skit where a boy is given the role of the inn keeper in the story of Christmas. The teacher tells him that “You are an inn keeper. Joseph and Mary will knock at your inn. And you have to say in a stern voice. ‘Go from here. There is no room for you’”. The boy did his part very well during rehearsal. When the actual play started, the characters playing Joseph and Mary knocked at the inn, the boy yelled seeing them. “Go from here there is no room for you.” The girl who plays Mary acts as if she has a lot of pain. Joseph and mary start to go ahead. Seeing Mary’s pain the boy playing the Innkeeper’s character feels bad. As Joseph and mary went a little ahead, the innkeeper called them and said “Do not go, I will make some space for you. There is room here.” In our worldly calculations, our race to make a mark in our careers, to settle our lives we too don’t have room for Jesus in our hearts. This Christmas, we need to ask “Do we have room for Jesus in our hearts?”

b)   Room in a Manger

 Jesus the King of kings rested his head in a humble feeding trough for animals. Today the greeting cards and media have sanitized the manger. Most of the mangers look more like palaces than a humble stable. Near Kottarakara, Kerala the YMCA organized a Manger making competition where the best manger made by clubs, schools and churches will get the Prize. There were many entries where the mangers were musical, had disco light effects, had wonderful exteriors, had clean animals and all. So people had definite guesses of who would be the winner. When the result was announced the winners were a group of boys from a nearby slum. The manger was a very ordinary one. The judges replied saying “The award goes to these boys as their manger depicts the emptiness of the manger that we see in the Bible.” Jesus comes into the emptiness of our lives to lead us to wholeness. We live in times of huge emptiness, where we have jobs, salaries, big houses, great cars, but there is this huge emptiness in our lives. The manger symbolizes the emptiness in our lives. This Christmas let us remind ourselves that Jesus inhabits the emptiness of our lives to lead us to wholeness.

c)   God Became Accessible in a Manger

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” ( Luke 2: 8-10).

 I am sure in the city of Bethlehem there were Scholars, Pharisees, Scribes, Priests, High Priests, et al but the Angel appeared to Shepherds who lived outside the city. The shepherds were treated as thieves and no one liked them. They were outcastes. But the joy of Christmas was revealed to them. The beauty of this is that Jesus who had no room made room for those who had no room.And Angels told the Shepherds  “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Luke 2: 12.  Let us today contrast our churches with these mangers. Because it was a manger, baby Jesus was accessible to the shepherds. Is our Church accessible? Can people who are lost and have no hope encounter Jesus in our Churches?. There is a story where a black man goes to take membership in a white church. The pastor says “Pray to God and ask him if this is his will.” This was the pastor’s technique to avoid the black man from the white church. After 4 weeks the black man again meets the pastor. The pastor is not happy. He says “Did you pray to God? If yes how come you came here?” the black man replied “Yes I prayed to God. He told me, that ‘Even I am trying to enter into that Church for the last 20 years. I did not succeed, so I feel even you ill have no place in that White Church?’. The question we need to ask is where we build such huge churches, do we forget the humility of the manger?  

During the House Dedication Ceremony of the Community Centre, Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Guwahati, the committee decided to invite the labours who helped us build the community centre. Ali, Noor and Rizwan came for the ceremony but stood outside the gate. During lunch time when I went to call them, I asked them “Why are you standing outside the gate?” Noor said “Itne Bade logon ke beech mai hum log kaise aaye?” (In midst of such big people how can people like us come?) In our display of splendor and fellowship many people do not feel the “Emmanuel: God with us” that we keep reiterating in our worship. This Christmas let us open the doors of our hearts that help us see the worth of the people for “Who they are” and not for “What they have”. If we become so, we cease to be a church and become a club. Let the manger remind us our mission.

d)   “The First Missionaries of God”

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. (Luke 2: 17 and 18). The Shepherds became the first missionaries of the Love that was manifested in the manger. The Baby wrapped in the swaddling cloth lying in a Manger made it possible for the Shepherds to feel loved. The space filled their hearts with joy. It is not the power and brilliance of God that made them missionaries. Manger that became the Canopy of Love made them discern a God who loves. This love made them share this good news. This child in the swaddling clothes grew up to tell the leper, “God loves you.” He grew up to tell the prostitute that “God loves you”. He grew up to tell the Blind Bartimeus, “God loves you”. He grew up to tell the bent woman “You too are the daughter of Abraham.” “You too are Son of Abraham” he told the very short Zaccheus.

My predecessor at the Northeast, Rev David V Titus tried to open bank accounts for the Cycle Rickshaw wallahs in Guwahati. He tried to instill in them a necessity to save money. He at his own risk opened accounts for them.  He faced threats from the mafia around for doing such work. He used to go to the railway station reservation counter to fill forms for the people who were illiterate. Recently a maid came to our parsonage saying that “I have worked here as a maid when Father David was there. Wo humara bahut khayal rakha.  Wo sahi mai ek bhagwan ka admi tha” (He truly cared for us a lot. He truly was a man of God.) Titus Achen was successful in spreading the love of God not only in sermons but also in actions.

Rev Manoj Mathew, my batch mate coined Christmas in a beautiful way “Where the Infinite became the Infant”. When Jesus said "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”, He meant to relive the message of Christmas in our daily living. He asks us to step down from our lofty pedestals of human glory to the child like awe and wonder at the creation and the people that God has created. Christmas is when God humbled himself to be a human. Christmas is a call for humans  to become Human Beings. Merry Christmas

Rev Merin Mathew

Mar Thoma Syrian Church

Guwahati

Gerasene Demoniac: A Scapegoat?

Text: Mark 5: 1-20

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.[a]  When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.  This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.  For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.  Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.  He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”  For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.  The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.  When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.  As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.  Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[b] how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Reflections:

This miracle of the Gerasene Demoniac is a very powerful one. We see a man who cannot be bound by chains, who was perpetually crying and hurting himself. He lived in the tombs and was naked. He was the madman in the Land of Gerasenes and people saw to it that he was out of their collective life, living on the outskirts in the tombs. Now it is tough to find out if the Land of Gerasene is the locale in question or is it Gadara which is more plausible according to Jeffery John in the book ‘Meaning in the Miracles.’ That is why in Malayalam bible it is called “Gadara Desham”. The land of Gaderenes is mentioned in Matthew 8: 28 as well. Gadara was part of Decapolis that was autonomous Greek cities. Gadara in particular had Greek and Roman culture and was subjugated by Roman Imperialism. There was always a Legion (a unit of 6,000 soldiers) of the Roman army stationed there.

In this sense, Jesus going to this land with his disciples is an act of crossing the Boundary. It is the so called “Gentile” area. Here He sees the Demon possessed man who kneels in front of him. He declares the identity of Jesus as the “Son of the most High God”, and then pleads not to be tortured. For this man, relationship meant torture. He was beaten and chained by the people who encountered him. But he always broke open the chains. Collectively the people of Gadara were also in chains of the Roman subjugation. But they had found a scapegoat in the form of the demoniac who helped them divert their sense of subjugation. When Jesus asked the demoniac his name, he was so possessed by the feelings of subjugation that the biggest symbol of being chained was the presence of the Roman legion in the land of Gadara. Therefore the identity of the man had become the Legion. Now the foothold of the sense of possession was so strong, the subjugation so powerful that when Jesus called the demons out they requested not to send them to abyss but to send them into a herd of pigs. These pigs when they came out of the man plunged into the lake and drowned. The legion coming out of the man was a commentary of the hope of overcoming the subjugation of the social forces that get hold of us. Therefore when the people saw the madman or the demoniac sitting clothed, with the right mind, they got scared of him. They requested Jesus to leave the land. Jesus had robbed them of their scapegoat and this act of liberation was not welcomed.

John Kirkley in his essay "Do Justice" tells us the story of Claude Eatherly.  Major Eatherly was the captain of the Straight Flush, a B-59 that accompanied the Enola Gay in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Responsible for reconnaissance and assessment of the effect of the bombings, it was Earthly who gave the signal to drop the bombs. After the war, he shared his remorse with the German philosopher Gunther Anders in a series of letters that became the basis for the book, Burning Conscience: The Guilt of Hiroshima. The tall, handsome Texan was completely undone by his participation in the use of weapons of mass destruction (which earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and other honors). He was the hero According to his family, he wasn’t the same person after he left the military in the early 1950s. He was a haunted man, haunted by the inability of his fellow citizens to acknowledge the crime against humanity for which they were collectively responsible. “The truth is,” he wrote to Anders, “that society cannot accept the fact of my guilt without at the same time recognizing its own far deeper guilt.” As Eatherly’s mental health deteriorated, he seemed compelled to seek out punishment for his crime, to become the scapegoat for a nation that refused to acknowledge its guilt. In between hospitalizations, he became involved in a series of petty crimes leading to armed robbery. Eventually, he was committed to a mental institution based on the expert witness of psychiatrists.

What becomes clear here is significant fact that a society needs scapegoats to take away our collective guilt. The people who remind us of our subjugation and live it out are abandoned and put on the margins. We need the category of the insane or mad that will keep us amused at the expense and dignity of the people. Living in the Northeast one becomes more aware of the Life and impact of Irom Sharmila who has been on a hunger strike for last 12 years protesting the draconian law of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958. She has internalized the subjugation of the people of the Northeast where the violence of the state defines her existence and repealing the violent act her goal in life. She is arrested as a ritual on attempts of suicide, she is fed on the state expense. Such a sense of protest is either romanticized by one section of the society that is just happy in the cult of Irom Sharmila and the State per se has marginalized her where the narrative of National Security makes this persons attempt just a stunt that is pure madness. As a civil society these things don’t affect us as we are not able to relate with these struggles. But such protests show the collective pathology of the society that is indifferent to various forms of collective subjugations. The justification of the Crucifixion of Jesus was justified by Caiaphas the High Priest who advised “That it was better to have one person die for the people” (John 18: 14). That is the narrative that we live by. It is better for a society to have scapegoats than the status quo be challenged. So even if people’s lives are endangered, we do not care as long as we are promised electricity by the Nuclear plant in Koodankulam. Lives were maimed, women raped, people butchered and killed to qualify it to be genocide, but that does not matter now as long as the person who engineered it symbolizes progress and comfort to us, so much so that he is the hero who will run for the Prime Minister’s office. It is but a Collateral Damage that is necessary.

The healing of the scapegoat that is the Demoniac, gives us hope that is fulfilled in the words  “Blessed are the Meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5: 5). Let us be condemned of our collective subjugation and guilt in reading this text. Amen.