Our God with Struggling People”

“Coming of the Messiah is Good News for the Oppressed”

God of life…

Wake us up with your life giving Words.

Splash our faiths with your Truth, which can make gasp and catch our breath.

Draw us deeper into the depths of our Spiritual lives, where we may learn to realize more by your life giving words.

Surprise us with deeper meaning of the Scriptures which would help us to enlarge our vision and action.

Fill us with the sense of urgency to perceive and obey your powerful words.

Renew and strengthen our faiths.

In Jesus name we pray………… Amen

Advent is a special season in Christian ecclesial faith and tradition, marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing for deliverance and for justice.

Advent is a season of hope and expectation within the context of exclusion, poverty, untouchability, oppression, violence, stigma and discrimination and injustice in the world. The joy of advent contrasts sharply with the suffering people who live in the edges of the society. Over these centuries we as faith communities have learned that everyone who is excluded from the mainstream of societal life, and our calling as Christians adherents demands leadership in demonstrating love, compassion, solidarity, accompaniment and expressing practical care and support to all who live on the edges of different societies.

Advent is also a time of real hope of light. The messianic hope expressed in Christian faith at Christmas time goes hand in hand with the hope that during the course of time concerted efforts by all levels of society will bring to all rightful access to the societal life.

The given passage for this morning meditation (Malachi 3: 1-5, James 5: 1-9 and St. Matthew 11: 2-11) gives the bottom line to the theme of, preparing the way for the Messiah. We shall also relate the theme with ‘Preparing ways for the Messiah are the messages to the Oppressed.”

The coming of the Messiah is Good news for ALL. If so, can the message be Good news for the oppressed and the oppressors? In general Good news to one sect would be bad news for the other sects. Since, the ultimate aim for the Messiah’s coming is to liberate, save and redeem the oppressed and the oppressors. So, the given scripture passages is helping us to see the Good News for all.

The Scriptural backgrounds are informing the adherents that, John the Baptist, is a God appointed person to prepare the way for the Messiah. Unfortunately he was imprisoned by the rulers on the anti-national activism charges as one who was promoting an ‘alternative kingdom by Messiah’. While he was inside the prison he heard about Jesus and his work which made him to be curious to know whether Jesus was the Messiah, since the works of Jesus were similar to the expected messianic activities such as blind receive sight, lame walk, lepers cleansed, deaf hear, dead raised and poor hear the message of liberation. To find this out,John the Baptist sent his disciples to find out whether Jesus was the Messiah? His disciples asked Jesus “Are you the one is who is to come or do we have to wait for another? (Matt 11:3). Jesus replied (V.4), go and tell John what you have heard and seen.

John the Baptist was introduced (Matt 3) as a radical revolutionary and social activist who had no faith in the religious leaders such as pharisees and sadducees and the bureaucrats of that time, who were the causes for all kinds of social injustices, exclusion, discrimination and they divided society by claiming that they were the descendants of ‘Abraham’ who was supposed to be the father of faiths. Even John the Baptist went to the extent of expressing has agony over them by calling them ‘broods of vipers’ and warning them of the ‘wrath of God was upon them.

Thus, he called this religiously affluent sect for repentance since this particular sect divided the society with unreasonable faith justifications such as ‘purity and pollution, untouchbility and exclusion, discrimination and marginalization which are still considered the factors which divide society and send the poor and untouchables to go and live on the edges of the society. Even today the People Living with Disabilities, HIV and ADIS and other such discriminations, Dalits and Adivasis, Economically poor and villagers are excluded from societies and there are huge gaps between those groups and the people who live at the Centre of Societies.

John the Baptist strongly believed that, such divisions are not Godly and against the will of God. So, he preached and promoted the alternative kingdom which would treat everyone as equal and as screated by God and in God’s image.

The Words and works of Jesus performing miracles and healing were so soft and passive. It looked as if both belong to different or opposite schools of thoughts and opposed to each other. But, John the Baptist found a difference in Jesus and his work. What is the difference or what made John the Baptist to see Messiah in Jesus? As a Scripture reader while pondering upon the theme we would be able to see three possible reasons what made John the Baptist to see Messiah in Jesus.

1. Edges to the Centre:

John the Baptist believed that, the Person and works of Messiah would bring the people who live on the edges of the society to the centre ,because those who are excluded and discriminated by the religious beliefs such as purity, pollution, blessings, grace, sin, wrath of God, punishment, curse of God and so on… Even today some of us would still believe that prosperity is a blessing and poverty is curse, sound health is blessing and ill health is curse, physical normalcy is a blessing and disability is due to wrath of God. John the Baptist strongly believed that, such discriminations are against the will of God. So, he tried to mend the gap by making religiously dominant and powerful to repent and to accept all others including the people who live on the edges of the society.

The works of Jesus were found liberative and had the same nature which was expected from the Messiah. Works of Jesus were unearthing the understandings of discrimination, stigmatization, marginalization and exclusion and promoted the understanding of ‘inclusive God’ by facilitating the people to move from the edges to the centre. In many places Jesus said to the people who moved from the edges to the centre to go and tell the people who were living at the centre that, they are liberated from their bondages and now they are eligible to live at the centre. So, Messiah’s liberative activities empower and emancipate the people to move from the edges to the centre. This is one of the points that, John the Baptist saw Messiah in Jesus.

We all belong to a faith community which is committed to follow and reflect the Messiah in its life. What would be our answer to the question how many of the people who live in the edges of the society amongst us and worship with us. We are often satisfied by saying they are with us. But the question here, are we with them since Jesus was with them. The Advent challenges the faith based communities to adopt a ministerial engagement which would bring people who live at the edges of society to the Centre of society.

2. Privatization to Secularization:

In Matt 3, when John the Baptist was critical about the people who live at the centre of society claiming that they are the descendants of ‘Abraham’. In the wilderness he warned them that, if they have had such religious arrogance and self-claim, even the lifeless stones would rise up against them. Here he challenged and questioned the ‘privatization’ of faiths. He had a strong belief that Messiah was for all, not for the selected or chosen few. So, he called the pharisees and Saducees to repent and move from privatization to secularization of faith. This secularization does not mean to remove God from faiths but making God available for all. It is biblical and scriptural. God of the Bible is God of all. So, John the Baptist called the so-called self-claimed chosen ones to repent from the privatization of faith in God to be secularized and make God available and God’s community (church) is for all. God of the Bible is God OF all and God FOR all.

Is Church inclusive today?

James 5: 19 talks about the purification of Gold and Silver. Both metals are found purified but still to make them valuable again they are purified. The advent challenges us to REPENT and PURIFY ourselves from corrupted faiths such as the spiritual and religious arrogance and fundamentalist faith affirmation to make God of the Bible and Church to be available for all. Let us repent from the stigmatization and discrimination which make a group of people excluded from the very faith lives of the society.

3. Solidarity to Accompaniment:

Several of our faiths expressions have become historical, traditional and ritual. Some of our theologies and affirmations also have become academic and intellectual. These make our faiths stale. But John the Baptist found a difference in Jesus’ work. In general people follow leaders and even John had several followers but Jesus is different in this. Jesus ministered to the untouchable, discriminated, ill and marginalized people to move from the edges to the centre not in order to make them followers but he accompanied them. Many a time most of our missional and ministerial expressions are solidarity in nature. Occasionally the faith groups visit them and express and register their solidarity and also involve in some activities to move towards centre. But are we accompanying them as Jesus did?

This Advent calls us to strategize our mission activities moving from solidarity expressions to accompanying presence. God has sent his SON to accompany the people who moved from the edges to the centre. Church as an expression and embodiment of Messiah, are we accompanying the discriminated, polluted and untouchables?

Postlude Comments:

How many of the religiously, socially, economically, culturally, historically and traditionally oppressed, discriminated, untouchables, stigmatized and excluded are worshiping with us?

Are we ready to worship with them? Are they also created by our God? In what way as a traditional and chosen Christian I am higher? When God is inclusive can I exclude?

As Jesus accompanies all, as an individual and faith community am I an accompanying partner to all the fellow pilgrims in faith and societal journey.

If you are challenged please join in praying…

“God of the voiceless,

Make me angry about the injustice and oppressions by the faiths and faith based communities.

I will go to the boundaries of faith experience to facilitate the people who live on the edges of society to move towards the centre.

I as a person who belongs to a traditional faith community, I repent for my spiritual arrogance of privatizing you who is supposed to be God of all and help me to accompany others as your child.
I know, I will find you and show you in my faith journey.

In Jesus name I pray…………. Amen.

May this Advent celebration highlight the significance of converting darkness to light in the lives of the people who live in the edges of the society and at the centre of the society. May this Advent celebration be integrated with the mission agenda of the Church towards accompanying the needy with God’ presence.

Wishing you all a very meaningful Christmas and responsible New Year 2012.

(This sermon was preached by on the 11th Dec 2011 at the CNI -All Saint’s Cathedral, Nagpur).