Boasting only in Christ

Boasting only in Christ

2 Corinthians 11: 21-33

VV 30-31: If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.

Many of us are knowingly or unknowingly habituated to the sinful practice of boasting. We boast of our heritage, talents, riches and many more in this line that shows off our strength and beauty to the world. But do we ever boast of our weaknesses? In this Pauline passage the negativity attached to boasting is subverted to regard it as a potential device to glorify God; but only when someone is ready to boast of his/her weakness.

It was a practice of the Roman emperors to boastfully list out their exploits to create awe and respect among their subjects. But they deliberately held back any set backs from such lists. Later on many Christian itinerant preachers have imitated this imperial practice of boasting on one’s achievements. Paul claims that in matters of virtue, home city, country of origin or number of churches planted he matches point by point with those who boast of their own heritages. He had an edge in the listing of his sufferings as it surpassed that of his competitors. His imprisonments, floggings, many “near-death experiences” and anxieties regarding the fruits of his labour in a hind sight made him a real minister of Christ through participation in his sufferings. He was boasting in his weaknesses as they always revealed the power of God in its most majestic manifestation. The Church today boasts of its inflated image of strength and riches by conveniently hiding its weaknesses. Historically, whenever the church relied too much and boasted on its strength, and failed to assume vulnerability to serve the vulnerable, its mission came to a standstill. It is the readiness of the church to assume the vulnerability for Christ’s sake that creates the scenario for the manifestation of God’s power through the Church. It is time for us to come out of the cocoons of false securities to assume and eventually boast of our weaknesses that may become means revealing the glory of God’s reign.

Prayer

Almighty God, give us the courage to boast of our weaknesses that we may love to share in your sufferings to share the good news. Amen

Jealousy that kills brotherly love

Jealousy that kills brotherly love

Gen 37:1-17

v. 4. When his brothers saw that their father loved more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

It is interesting to see why Joseph becomes an irritant speck in the eyes of his elder brothers. Reasons are possibly three; 1. His father loved him more than others, 2. He outsmarted the rest in practical wisdom and 3. His father’s special care for Joseph was because of the fact that he lived as a motherless child. He was courageous enough to call a spade a spade. He never felt any fear in pointing out the injustices around. Joseph hadn’t done anything special to earn the favor of his father. He always tried to be truthful to God and himself and in that attempt he could not keep silence when an injustice unfolded in his sight. Joseph had to report about the ill-deeds of his brothers as he felt that such deeds are detrimental in the points of view of both the perpetrators and the victims. The narration and interpretation of his own dreams were not simply intended to show himself as a greater being than his brothers, but it was his attempt to understand his vocation as he felt that God entrusted responsibilities to him. None of the three reasons cited above were things intentionally aimed at harming his brothers.  It happened as Joseph tried to understand his familial roles as a son, a brother and more as a steward of his father’s household in the light of the faith that was taught. Joseph could see his special abilities as strengths which could be made use to redeem whole of his family from possible difficulties. But for his brothers his special abilities were a cause of jealousy. They desire to kill him, abandon him or even sell him to strange traders from foreign land. Their attempts to eliminate the other brother results in them becoming unable to engage the situation in the peace of mind. When our goodness is challenged in similar situations of life, we need to pray to God to have a perception of the situation from the point of view of God’s will and to submit ourselves to the fulfillment of that will.

Prayer

God of grace, help us to see our situations of life from the vantage point of your will for us and our neighbors lifted from the narrow ghettos of our cramming life. Save us from the bitterness of jealousy that kills brotherly love in our relationships. Amen

Let life flow with its power that heals

Let life flow with its power that heals

John 5:1-9

Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. (Verses 8-9)

The setting of the text is Jerusalem in one of the grand celebrations of a Jewish Festival. The word Bethesda (name of the pool) derives from two Hebrew words, ‘Bet’ and ‘eshada’ that can together mean ‘house of flow’; refers to the occasional new bubbling in the pond, which was believed to be a stirring of the water by an angel.  The gate to the Jerusalem city near to this pond was also referred to as the sheep gate; may be because the sheep for sacrifices in the Temple were brought through this gate. The temple was not merely a religious institution, but as many studies show it, was also an economic institution. There were a lot of transactions happening related to the ritualistic cycling of festivals and related sacrifices. That means the location, where this story unfolds, was a place with a lot of hectic activities happening. It is right to imagine that it was a crowded market place too, as it was a place with some religious significance.

There were people flocking with different intentions. The people who controlled the space wanted to make advantages, both economically and socially by manipulating the crowded situation. But there were also people like the paralytic, who had no role to play, but simply to remain as mute spectators of the happenings. They were fending on the charity offered by the passersby. The mythical story of the angel stirring the pond was not adequate enough to inspire the paralytic as it lacked any enthusiasm, newness or palpable hope. He was not even daring to stare into the waters as it remained a stagnant reality without anything fresh gushing up. In spite of the great flow of things and people through the sheep-gate and the place surrounding it, we see that certain stagnant corners are created, maintained and designated for the “unwanted” like the paralytic. Despite the din and bustle around, he finds his space as a stale space. The long accumulated sediments of the motives of covetousness, profiteering and coercion of the powerful, making the occupants of the space paralytic.

Jesus appears from nowhere, as if he was not invited to the situation, as his descend from heaven was not a response to any invitation. Jesus asks the man whether he wants to be made well. He reacts in his presuppositions. He bemoans his predicament. It implies that Jesus’ proposal of a healing seems to be a total impossibility for the man. Jesus makes healing simple and the task achievable. The three imperatives (rise-take up your bed-walk) in his speech to the man seemed workable, though it involved hard efforts. The imperative was to break out of the stagnant life that was stifling the man to be a blessing for the world, but a burden.

Healing on Sabbath becomes a point of contention here. Sabbath violation is a serious discrepancy for the orthodox Jews. Jews oppose Jesus, because he turns out to be a threat to the handlers of the religious system. The defense of Sabbath law in another way is the defense of an entire way of ordering of life of faith. And most often that ordering is decided by the power of the profit making ideologies of a ‘marketized’ religion. The healed man and Jesus together focus on new possibilities of man’s new life.  Jesus’ challenge is to the practice of the religious establishment in restricting the power of life of the people, who are designated to the corners of isolation and rejection. Paralysis symbolizes the sickness we incur because of violating the cardinal imperatives of loving one’s neighbor and loving God.

There are stagnant corners in the din and bustle of the highly marketized religiosity around us. Our task is to help people unleash the uncontainable power of life to make the flow of life to resume. Let us be people who love each other, love God and be channels of God’s blessings for the world.

Grace that Grants Courage to Remain as the Disciples

Grace that Grants Courage to Remain as the Disciples

Luke 22: 31-33

V. 32. “But I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Rely on Grace that perfects our inadequacies

Mission is in spite of us and not because of us. In spite of our frailties and failures God make use of us to achieve God’s purposes. It is soothing to know that God cares for the ones who have failed and even for those who will meet with failures in future in their attempts to deliver the tasks entrusted by God. In trapeze in circus, we see the artists dive over the lofty swings fearlessly. It is nothing but the widely stretched out protective nets kept underneath gives the trapeze artistes the confidence to deliver dangerous acts and entertain the crowd. A disciple succeeds as he/she learns to trust and rely more and more on the grace of God-the grace that cures and perfects our brokenness and inadequacies.      

Know that Christ Intercedes for us

It is heartening to know that Christ Jesus continually intercedes for those who are called to be his disciples. Simon Peter the greatest among the disciples is reminded that Satan would have sifted him away easily like wheat, but Jesus’ intercession sustains the disciples including the like of Peter in their tasks. Peter, a seemingly coward man with a lot of anxieties is turned out

to be a strong disciple, who shares in Jesus’ sufferings and death to fulfill God’s will on earth. In John 17: 15 Jesus prays to Abba God that, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” The knowledge of Jesus’ intercession will definitely strengthen us to embody the deep commitment of a true disciple.

Prayer

Gracious God, Help us to always meditate on your abounding grace that sustain us in our discipleship practices. Amen

The Lord, who reinstates

Mk. 10: 36-40

The Lord, who reinstates

V. 39: “Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be batized…”

Discipleship demands right perception

Verbs like “to see”, “to hear” and “to comprehend” do represent some important dimensions of being a disciple. The experience of discipleship becomes meaningful when the called out disciples possess the right vision, hearing and comprehension. It is required to live a life in tune with the dynamics of God’s kingdom. Disciples are called to maintain the right perspectives and understanding that may help them to be the servants of the kingdom always. But very many times they fail to grasp the gravity of their call and this makes Jesus to scold them for not being able to see, hear and comprehend properly (Mk. 8:18,21). When the framework for understanding and perceiving the realities are set by the exploitative and coercive values of the imperial Rome disciples need to depend on a different framework characterized by the will and love of God for the world.

Discipleship demands solidarity with Jesus’ cup and baptism

The disciples appear confused as their demand for right and left seats of the glorified Jesus shows. They are not at all able to see Christ’s glorification in connection with his inevitable passion. Their modality of perceiving Jesus’ glory is no different from the way it is understood by the tyrant lords of Palestine’s neighborhoods. Rome had divided the bodies of people into two categories namely the honestiores (Noble) and humiliores (lay or ordinary). It was “normal” in such a context for anyone to long for the life of a noble like John and James. But Jesus had warned them regarding this danger (10:42-43).

Discipleship in dependence on reinstating grace

Disciples as led by Jesus are heading towards Jerusalem, the seat of religious and political power. Jesus foretells the torture, dispersal and eventual death that are to befall on them (9:31, 10:33). Jesus knew that to remain in the path of obedience to abba God, his disciples were in need of grace in abundance. The last Supper is an occasion, where this becomes crystal clear. Disciples need grace from God to stand in solidarity with Jesus resisting the possible scattering. And it is the grace that searches after the sinners and failed that gather them together after the resurrection. The confidence of a disciple is drawn from this knowledge of perennially reinstating grace.

Prayer

Dear God, Sustain us by your grace to stand in solidarity with the passion of Your Son Jesus and to see things as he has seen. Amen

God's reinstating Grace!

Reflecting on God’s reinstating grace in awful silence!

Job 42: 10-17

V. 10: “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

There may be many who feel that their life is undergoing frequent setbacks; that they do not have control on anything; that the unending episodes of tragedies have squeezed meaning out of their existence. The book of Job offers them a vision of God that may recharge and refresh them to be out there to shoulder life’s responsibilities once again. Job the protagonist of the Book of Job is a shattered human being. One by one he loses everything that offered his existence any meaning. He loses his wealth, he loses his dear ones, he loses his health, his dignity and selfhood and is expected to curse God for everything and die. But the Book of Job features deeply engaging dialogues of this ailing man with both world around him and God who is the creator of that world.

The behemoth, Leviathan and the roaring sea (Job 40-41) in which they live are symbols of chaos in the created order. But the chaotic forces of the world are seen to be controlled and contained by God. It is somewhat enigmatic to know that the beautifully ordered cosmos is also laced with forces of chaos. Therefore the human life as it enjoys the goodness of the ordered cosmos; also has to encounter the challenges of the chaotic natural and social world around.  The vision that Job arrives at is that of a divine who is so immanent and at the same time transcendent of the life that is a mix of cosmos and chaos. He sees the divine in perfect control of chaos and instead of destroying or dispelling chaos God nourishes it into beautiful and meaningful matrices of life. This vision of the divine makes Job to lay his hand over his mouth in awe (Job 40:4). Our pains and sorrows can be turned into matrices of stronger and refreshed life, if we will be able to surrender ourselves to the care of the one who is charge of every happening in our life.

Prayer

Dear God, Help us to take our refuge in You, when life’s tempests abound. Amen

Let's call them their names-The Christmas of the "forgotten angels"

The Christmas of the “Forgotten Angels”!

On January 6, the day the church celebrated the epiphany of the Lord, we had a rare privilege to be part of a very special Christmas celebration. The celebration was arranged by HOPE (Heavens Own Precious Eyes) a ministry of the Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Houston to serve the people, who live with severe mental and physical disabilities. Christopher

and Chandler (brothers), Nishant, Justin, Mathew, and Samuel were the heroes of the celebration. They sang songs, danced to the tune of Jingle bells, read from the Bible both in English and Malayalam versions and continuously made noises that expressed their joy and feeling of jubilation. The feeling of accomplishment that reflected on their faces after each item was a real joy to watch. They had to take many folds of earnest efforts than ours to make that evening possible. The endurance of the parents in taking care of these youth, whose needs are often met with laborious sacrificial efforts, worth special mention here. One of the parents, Rev Roy of the Anglican Church prayed at the start of the service with these words; “God Almighty, our hearts are filled with thanksgiving and praise for choosing us to parent these your special children”.

The prayer reflected the bold faith that help those parents to relentlessly love their children. Christmas is all about God’s initiatives in reducing the distance between heaven and the earth. God the creator and sustainer taking the form of a human baby and lying in the

manger in a stable shows the wonder of God’s love drawing near to the world that God created. And I think the events like the “HOPE Christmas” reduces the church’s distance from people living with disabilities. It was a joy to see the church incarnating to embrace the often “forgotten angels” in our midst. The Immanuel MTC has a special “Sunday School” for them. There are people who volunteer to take care of these youth on their “Sunday School” days. This may be the only “Sunday School” that happens on other than a Sunday. So long, the church had been churching or pastoring the strong and the meritorious in our community. Keeping the people with

disabilities in asylums and special homes. We often tend to neglect these angels by calling them names like “demented”, “handicapped”, “dumb” etc. It is good to see the church growing in its sensitivity to be dare to bring them into the sanctuary to worship with them, sing praises with them. Each and every sound that they made were not nuisance to the carol service, but adding special charm to it. Let us stop calling them cold names that stigmatize them, but instead call them lovingly CHRISTOPHER, CHANDLER, NISHANT, JUSTIN, MATHEW, and SAMUEL.

May the almighty God enable our church to grow in this ministry!

Photograph courtesy: Johnson of Immanuel MTC, Houston