Engaging the Treasures and Possessions

Engaging Treasures and Possessions

Luke 18: 18-32

V. 22. “There is  still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven...”

The inherent connection between kingdom of God and the disposition to wealth is discussed here. For the Pharisees of Jesus’ time salvation was a taken for granted inheritance of the children of Abraham. But for Jesus it is something to be acquired by making ones relationships right. Right relationship impinged on right disposition to wealth. St Luke records; “where your treasure is there your heart will be also” (Lk. 12:34). In Lk 18:18 following, the ruler’s treasure is said to be his possessions, rather than in his desire to serve God and God’s poor. “Treasure” and “possessions” according to this biblical text are different connotations. ‘Treasure’ is hearts devotion and ‘possession’ is the material circumstances that is expected to sustain life and moreover bring comfort to life. The overemphasis on comfort and craving for luxuries tend to misjudge the ‘possessions’ as our ‘treasures.’ The probability of selling and giving (the thought of dispossession itself will lead him to a knowledge of heavenly treasures that is worthy and lasting) his possessions to the poor guarantees the ruler “treasure in Heaven” (v.22).  

We cannot serve God and simultaneously pursue wealth (Lk. 16:13). For the rich (those who find their treasure in possessions) it is difficult to experience God’s sovereignty, because their wealth turns them away from the poor and their dependence on God. Wealth can become a pursuit that displaces the priority of serving God. And in this sense wealth hinders the entry of the ruler into God’s kingdom. The hyperbole of the ‘camel entering through the eye of the needle’ highlights the difficulty involved. Jesus distracts the ruler from his distractions of having treasure in possessions by hinting that there is something more to life than mere possessions.  St. Matthew was a disciple who left the tax booth to find his treasure in following Jesus (Mk. 13,14). Are we able to feel Jesus distracting our distractions by pointing our devotions to that eternal destiny of life that has intrinsic connections to the ‘making right of relationships’ with the poor in this world?

Prayer

Lord of our Life, help us to find our treasure in serving and following You. Amen

Fall: Deviation from the Purpose of Creation

Fall: Deviation from the Purpose of Creation

Matthew 7: 15-23

‘Fall’ is falling from the creator’s expectations

The Western Medieval Theology of ‘fall’ had fixed the ensuing missiological and ministerial understandings of the church around it's presumptions for so long. Those theologies focused more on the biologically transmissible effects of the ‘fall’ of first human couple at Eden on rest of the human generation. It emphasized the proposition that humanity is inherently sinful and fallen. In this premise the church’s mission got framed as the repairing of the fallen nature of humanity. It was more or less a defensive and negative approach to the human nature. Reading through Jesus’ teaching in this passage helps us to have a different take on this subject. Jesus affirms the inherent potential of every human being to bring out good fruits . A deliberate and careful nurture of those potentialities to take it to the fulfillment of creator's expectation of fruition is the call of every individual human creature. Therefore ‘fall’ and ‘sin’ are nothing but falling from the expectations of the creator God.

Mission is nurturing the potentials to bring forth goodness

Jesus compares father God with a benevolent gardener, who with utmost care and immense hope nourishes each and every plant in the garden (John 15:1, Mt 15:13). Human life is expected to reflect the glory of the creator and the mandate is to grow up as a good tree bearing good fruit (vv. 18-19). But very many times the human race fails the expectations of their creator by yielding to the destructive influences that pretend to be divine (v.15). Our rootedness in God makes our life authentic and fruitful. The Eastern Church traditions see mission as the equipping of the laity through worship and sacraments to stay connected to the lord of life and bear fruits in their daily lives to become agents of God’s blessings for the world around. Each and every individual is said to have the potential to manifest fruits reflecting the creator’s goodness. Do we, as the church, a people who realize this potential to become a blessing for the world? Let us not deviate from the purposes of God in us.

Prayer

Gracious God, help us to bear fruits for the stability of your kingdom and stay focused on your purposes for the creation. Amen

Gift of God in Christ redeems the fallen

Romans 7: 14-25

v. 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Law of sin Vs law of God

Sin is not merely a situation created by a wrong decision or choice of ours. But it is a reality into which we all are born. As we are brought up in a sinful habitat our inclinations are towards sinful choices. St. Paul laments this inclination that often lands him up in doing what he ought not (v. 16). Paul brings out an idea of human psyche in the light of his understanding of Jewish law and the Christian understanding of forgiveness, grace and new life revealed through Jesus. For him the human psyche is the site of war between two types of contrasting laws.

On the one hand is the law of God and on the other hand is the law of sin (vv. 22-23). Paul is said to be delighted in his innermost self, which is filled and guided by the law of God. But his flesh and its members are said to be the captives of the law of sin that counters the purposes of the law of God. The overwhelming influence in human life imprisons them in a body of death and its fear. God’s gift of Jesus is said to be the way out from this body of death (vv. 24-25).

The counter-reign of Grace in Jesus

The reign of death is countered by the reign of grace in Jesus, the gift of God for the human race. This gift doesn’t come to us as a reward to our righteousness, but as undeserving grace in spite of our many transgressions and wretchedness (v. 24-25). This counter-reign of grace in Jesus reconstitutes the fallen human nature by putting out of operation the old sinful nature. One of the specialties of this gift unlike other gifts is that though it is given, it still belongs to the giver. Thus the recipient of the gift is also bound to obey the giver of the gift as the gift is enjoyed and experienced. Let’s be thankful to God for this gift of God in Christ that comes to us with the hope of a renewed life.

Prayer

God of grace, Help us to be obedient to your will in our lives as we continue to experience your restoring grace in our sinful lives. Amen

Holy Baptism: Birth from Above

Holy Baptism: Birth from Above

John 3: 1-8,

V.3. Jesus answered him, “very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (NRSV)

This text from the Bible presents the experience of the kingdom of God as a deliberate perceptive change prompted by faith in Jesus, the Christ. The text helps us also to build a broader theological understanding of baptism. The stress of the passage here is not on the ritual dimension of baptism, but rather a figurative dimension. The context of the saying is Jesus’ interaction with a Pharisee with the name Nicodemus. He would have been a very learned man with deep knowledge of Jewish law and customs. He was regarded by the people as their teacher and a well approved leader at a very young age. He approached Jesus as he was impressed by the impact that Jesus had on people through his ministry. Jesus’ healing and restoring ministry among  the wounded and broken people of all social categories of Palestine had really amazed him. He acknowledges Jesus as one who “has come from God” . He felt that Jesus' deeds reflected the glory of the divine. The ability to see God and God's reign is a result of the ‘birth from above’ (v.3). It is a qualitatively new and different perception of reality granted because of one’s conscious linking with the ways of God. Here baptism is nothing but an unconditional yielding to the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus as the obedient Son of God, yields to God’s Spirit in his lifting up on the cross and eventual glorification. Jesus said, "and when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12: 32)." The children after their baptism are lifted up from the font and kept on the air for while by the priest signifying this "lifting up." St Paul explains Christian baptism as solidarity with the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:4). Lifting signifies death as well as resurrection. Each Christian through a deeper experience of baptism yields to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be lifted up to glorify God.

Prayer

Loving God, help us to yield to the guidance of your Spirit through a recounting of our baptismal experience. Amen

Do Good to Your Tormentors

Do Good to Your Tormentors

Gen 45: 1-15

v.5. “And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Let the bad experiences help us grow in maturity and grace

Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Mt. 5:44). Doing good to ones tormentors is not as easy as it is said. Joseph was loved so dearly by his father Jacob over all his brothers. But his envious brothers had done injustice to him that could never be forgotten or forgiven in human standards (Gen. 37:18ff). Now the scene is reversed and Joseph is the highest officer of Pharaoh in Egypt (Gen.42:6). All his brothers are at his mercy. The pain and sufferings that were endured by Joseph had not made bitterness to abound in his heart against his brothers. Instead it made Joseph to grow in maturity and grace of God. The way Joseph perceives his sufferings inflicted by his own brothers is reconciliatory and curative. Joseph says that, “for God sent me before you to preserve life” (v.5b).

Let forgiveness bridge distances in relationships

Joseph draws his brothers closer to him by removing the distance that exists in their relationship (v.4); though the fact is that the distance was something deliberately created by his brothers. The reunion with his brothers makes him weep and hug them as closely and tightly he can. Joseph simply forgets the untoward incidents of the past and thinks only about his responsibility towards his ailing family. Jesus on the cross not only forgives his tormentors but seeks his Abba’s forgiveness on them, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34). Forgiveness is a quality that grows in us when our dependence on God’s guidance and providence become strong.

Prayer

Dear God, may the sufferings and pain we endure in our relationships with others help us to grow in maturity and grace. Amen

Not Haste but Rhythm

Not Haste but Rhythm

Leviticus 25:1-7

V.4- “But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”

Humanity stepped into the 20^th century with hubristic pride in the human capabilities to control and appropriate the environment for their advantage. The “advances” in science and technology propelled the human activities to manipulate the nature for the maximum comfort and pleasure. The dignity and right to life of all other beings over the face of the earth was undermined at the pretext of human progress. Agriculture had turned out to be a profiteering activity rather than a life sustaining enterprise depending on the providence of the Almighty. The century ended in a very sad and remorseful mood, because the humankind realized the folly of overexploiting the resources of mother earth. The human haste to success and profit had left them unmindful of the rhythmic natural processes that replenished the decreasing resources. The serious irreparable depletion of resources had not only questioned the triumphal scientific and technological march of the humankind but threatens the very existence of life on God’s earth. The selected text for today’s meditation reflects the wisdom of an ancient people who were led out of slavery to build up a community based on the vision of justice, peace and integrity of creation provided by YHWH through the commandments at Sinai. 

In ch. 25 we see the Lord continue to speak to Moses on ‘sabbatical cycles’ mentioned in ch. 23. There are weekly and corresponding yearly cycles of activities and rest prescribed by the Lord. The rest is a holistic concept that includes not only human subjects, but servants, animals, birds and even the land that produces the fruits of labour. Sabbath was a cyclical cure prescribed for the sinful profit-motives in cultivating and over-exploiting the land. In the sabbatical year the land was left fallow. The land is not aggressively dealt with for profits, but is left to its own to allow the entire natural replenishing to happen. The Kandha tribe of Western Orissa never uses a metal hoe to plough the land, but only a wooden one. They believe that a metal hoe may hurt the mother earth. We need to take lessons from the wisdom of such primal people to find a way out of the tragedy in which we find us today. Sanctity of life is a very broad and integral network, the land, rivers, mountains, marshy places, forests and rocks share in it. To deal with land in haste to make profit is a sin and to engage them respecting the rhythm of the nature that God sets is the just and right way of life on God’s earth.

Prayer

God of lands and rivers, help us to be mindful of the rhythms of the nature and engage with it respecting the sanctity of life. Amen