Lent Day 44: We do not know

In India, elders and teachers are supposed to know everything. Whether it is their field, their area of interest or what they have been exposed to, there is an expectation that they will able to answer every question. So much that, mistakes can be made while the pressure to perform is high. Sometimes, the position of authority is maintained and held on to by such claims to know everything. Scholarship and authority are sadly seen in this way.

But Jesus did not give false claims. Neither did he claim to know everything. He spoke regarding what he had come to do. He was well versed in scripture and the way it was to be performed. Still, he was questioned because of his lack of education.

As part of discrediting Jesus, he was always asked questions. His answers were smart and effective. He did not want to appear smart but wanted to say the truth and be compassionate to the people. Many went back to their homes saying that Jesus spoke like a well learned man. But that didn’t seem to be his intention. He wanted people to know the truth and know his Father through him.

In St. Matthew 21: 23, the chief priests and elders ask him a question about his authority to teach and who gave him this authority. Jesus is very careful with his answer and his answer is in the form of a question. He asks about the baptism of John the Baptist. The chief priests and elders who usually have the answers to every question, are caught on the wrong foot. They realise that they will be embarrassed, whichever way they answer.

They think about it and then say in verse 27, “We do not know.” Perhaps this is the smartest thing that they ever said till then. They thought about the question and realised that it was much beyond them. Instead of saying something, they admit that they do not know the answer. Lent is a time for us to do just this. Saying that we do not know is a humbling process, a cleansing process, a learning process and an accepting process. When the parent says this to the child, when the husband says this to the wife, when the teacher says this to the student and when the priest says this to the congregation, it is not humiliation, but an inward understanding, knowing and embracing. This lent, shall we also have the strength to understand questions, to say no and in the process to be led to light ourselves.

Lent Day 41: The temptation of fake profiles

St. Matthew 4: 1-11 narrates how the devil tries his best to tempt Jesus. After forty days of fasting, Jesus is tired, hungry and vulnerable. This is seen as the best time to make him succumb to the unreasonable requests of the devil. But Jesus does not give up. Even after a tiring fast his mind is clear and he knows exactly what he is doing. This lent, we also have to learn how to overcome temptations. 

As we live in a world which has been taken over by social media, temptations for us also come through and in such media. We get friend requests from fake profiles with nice and even tempting pictures. In a world of isolation, this is a temptation which is difficult to overcome for many. The same method is used for honey traps, where men are lured by tempting profiles into relationships with people who do not exist. This is used to extort money, steal secrets and sensitive information and blackmail people. 

Many people fall for such traps without realising what they are doing. The more tempting a profile picture is, the more we should distant ourself from it. In verses 5-7, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. He is asked to jump as the angels of the Lord will bear him. But Jesus senses the fake nature of the words of the devil. 

We fall for fake profiles. We also fall for false requests, seeking of money and wrong information. The person on the other side is someone else and is offering something they don’t have. Yet, we don’t spend any time in thinking before accepting the request and replying to messages. This succumbing to temptation turns out to be a personal loss as there is loss of money, reputation and name. 

Lent is a good time to go through our friends list. How many in the list are actual friends? How many are fake and how many are cheating us? An audit during this time will be beneficial, to become sensible like Jesus, and to defend ourself against the temptation of fake profiles and fake requests. Such profiles will only promise and never deliver. We should rather take time to sift through the requests and accept the ones we know, which don’t have strange and beautiful pictures and which are not tempting and luring in any regard. Amen.

Lent Day 34: The assurance of the fringe of Jesus’ garment

There are certain pieces of cloth, garments, a special shirt, or dhoti which is close to our heart. It is either because it was a favourite of ours, or someone we loved, wore it. Even years later, we will take it, hold it and even smell it. There is a familiarity, a knowingness and even an assurance that the cloth gives us. Knowing that it is kept somewhere in a cupboard gives us a good feeling, and taking it and feeling it in our hand and on our face, when we are sad, gives us a lot of peace.

Touching the garment of someone we know, have heard of and hold in high esteem is also like this. We would like to touch them but don’t like disturbing them and making them feel that we are taking advantage. So, we will instead, stand close and touch their garment without making them feel awkward. It is a decent way of approaching someone we respect or love and should not be seen as something weird.

In St. Mathew 9: 21, we read, “for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I shall be made well.” This was a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years. The expectation was high because she would have heard a lot about Jesus and his capability to heal. But she also didn’t want to disturb him and thought it would be next to impossible to speak to him, request him, and get an answer from him.

When we hold the garment dear to us to our face and to our nose, we also expect something. An assurance of peace, a strength in the time of problems and a thought that we have someone who cares for us. There is only one-sided communication and the communication from the dress is non-verbal. The smile it brings to our face and the recollection of pleasant memories is itself a healing process for us. Grief is also contained to a large extend by this.  

Jesus turns around and says in verse 22, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Even though the woman till then was communicating with the fringe of Jesus’ garment, it leads to Jesus himself talking to the woman, a miracle in itself. She is instantly made well. This lent, shall we also reach out for the fringe of Jesus’ dress. Just like the garments and pieces of cloth which give peace to us. But in this case, which will talk back, assure and heal. Amen.

Lent Day 32: Our problems are our solutions

Finding solutions is not simple and yet should not be too difficult for the church. But instead of solutions, our communities end up being the problem themselves. Without trying for solutions and finally bringing out a solution, we continue to get stuck with the problems. The same thing happens with the disciples. In St. Matthew 14, the disciples present the first problem to Jesus. It is getting dark and so it would be ideal for them to send the crowd to the villages. Jesus asks the disciples to provide food and then they bring up the next problem of lack of food. 

In verse 18, to their reply that they have only 5 loaves and 2 fish, Jesus says “Bring them here to me.” Instead of adding a problem or running away from the problem, Jesus engages with the problem in the hope of finding a solution. Even though the five loaves and two fish are part of the problem which says that there is not enough food, the same thing then becomes the solution. Have we ever thought that our problems are actually the solution?!

We have problems in church with regard to family issues, relationship problems and financial hardships and difficulties to name a few. When we think about it, there seems to be no solution. This is when we should surrender to the voice of God which says, “Bring them (it) here to me.” What was till then the problem or part of the problem, becomes the solution. In the right hands the most difficult of problems are sorted out. Indians are hired for certain top posts because of their capability of finding solutions. This must also be an experience which they pick up from their childhood and place of stay. Such things make them provide solutions which others can’t simply fathom. 

The sharing of food cannot be thought of by someone from a privileged background because usually food is wasted rather than being saved there. The division of food and the sharing of food also is more easily acceptable to a person from a simple background. We need not be overly concerned that we cannot always provide solutions. Even today, we may not be able to provide solutions due to our mental blocks and inclination to do things in a certain way. Jesus’ call to “bring them here” should be a cue for us to take our so called problems to him so that we can realise that with his help, these very problems can become our solutions. Amen.

Lent Day 13: Jesus’ cheeky gospel

Today’s thought continues with the other teachings of Jesus to stay away from power, money and authority. In St. Matthew 5: 38-39 he goes a step further by saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Could it be true that Jesus tries to steer clear from the Old Testament teaching that one has to hit back, an eye for an eye!? Or is he trying to be funny, sarcastic or subtly question the hopeless system which can never offer justice to anyone?

Even though it is so difficult to comprehend, Jesus means exactly what he says. Perhaps it is even more difficult to listen to this than the other teachings. How on earth can we forgive our enemy and allow them to hurt us repeatedly, with no reaction from our side? Jesus is trying something intense here and challenging us to observe a lent, which is much beyond diet restrictions. We can restrict and even go without food but forgetting the hurt and abuse of an enemy is next to impossible. And yet we are called to do just that.

We are asked to not react. There are times when we also realise that a problem can be solved if we don’t react, if we take a walk, if we remain silent and if we choose to become strong by appearing weak. Showing our other cheek also allows us to think, to analyse, to weigh the situation and to decide whether a reaction is worth it. There is a call to give. But give not to our family, church or community but to someone who is our enemy and works against us.

This is another characteristic of a Christian which unfortunately does not exist much anymore. Was Jesus just trying to be different, unique and shocking or did he have a method behind this madness. A ritualistic way of giving hands and seeking reconciliation would be for one person to say, “Forgive me a sinner” and for the other to reply, “God forgives and so do I.” The people then switch sides and say the opposite as well. When someone seeks forgiveness, it is for some wrong that they have already committed. Our response would be “God forgives and so do I.” We would ideally not hit the person and then say, “I forgive you.”

During lent, our effort for reconciliation can only have the reply which God suggests. It is to show our other cheek. Showing our other cheek does not only suggest to be hit on that too, but to have a cheek to cheek show of reconciliation and love. Jesus is suggesting a natural Christ like or Christian response to hatred and conflict. Our response should always be towards reconciliation and not revenge. It does not matter what another person does. Our only response is forgiveness and reconciliation.

This lent, let us challenge ourselves to say “I forgive you and I love you” to someone who has hurt us. This is exactly what Jesus does when we hurt him. He shows his other cheek, to love, to accept and to care. The crowds flocked to see Jesus exactly because of this. May we also get this craziness and cheekiness to confuse and distract people so much that they respond positively to our overtures of friendship and love. Amen.

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Lent Day 11: There is a child in all of us

We are in a hurry to grow up and our family, community, society and even church would like it if we grew up faster. Lot of encouragement is given to those who according to society, mature earlier or grow up fast or faster. Those who remain like a child are scolded and compared to those who have seemingly grown up. The pressure this puts on a child is unfair. There are also houses where one parent is missing or has some addiction and so a child or children are forced to take up the responsibility of the household at a young age. We also see around us children from deprived backgrounds who don’t have a proper childhood and don’t even get the opportunity for a decent education. 

Safe spaces for children are also limited and society is not too concerned about that. It is not only that children can’t just be children but there are so called adults who are looking for chances to misuse and abuse children, again leading to children being restricted and limited in their everyday life. On the other hand, children are also treated in a way that they know nothing and so always need the help, support and guidance of adults. Churches do not take children into consideration while devising their programmes and services. The language and style of a service usually does not suit children and yet no one is bothered about it and wants to do anything about it.

This is where we have to read St. Matthew 18: 3, which says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” It appears that Jesus is inviting our attention to the importance of children, who a child is and why we should be like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. We are asked to have a child like innocence, a child like attitude, a child like framework and a child like view to life. This is directly opposite to what happens in church now. We are guilty of trying to manner and force our children into our framework and our needs.

There are two things to look at and understand here. One, children in the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church are baptised while they are a baby. It is not just that they are given child baptism, but unlike other churches, they receive the Holy body and Holy blood of Jesus Christ right after baptism. There is no confirmation at a later stage and children can receive Holy Communion right from the beginning. Two, children in the church stand right at the front of the church for service. After the priest and altar assistants who are in the altar, the children occupy the premium position in the church. Both of these things suggest the importance of children in the church. They are perceived to know the nuances of Christian faith and the importance of Holy Communion right from childhood. They also stand in the front, suggesting that they are prime witnesses to our Lord Jesus. Knowingly or unknowingly the church already gives importance to children. The problem is that it is ignored at the time of implementation of the policies of the church.

I am also guilty as a priest of sometimes feeling irritated when children make noise and speak to each other during the Sunday service. But I realise during this time of lent that I need to change my attitude towards children during the service. We also need to spend more time with children to learn about the child like qualities that impressed Jesus. Along with this, churches and homes have to be child friendly, child oriented and child centred, which will make children more comfortable and happier. Let us become a child like church this lent. Amen.

 

 

Lent Day 6: A reconciliatory demand towards repentance, justice and peace

Apart from lent and fasting, the most significant Christian form of proclamation of faith is the Holy Communion. The body and blood of our Lord binds us together, gives us hope and eternal life. St. Matthew 5: 23-24 says “So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” It talks about reconciliation, so much that, one has to stop what is being done and make an effort at reconciliation.

Bishop Oscar Romero and now St. Oscar Romero, was the archbishop of El Salvador, when he was shot at and killed on March 24, 1980, while standing behind the altar in church, preparing the gifts of the offertory. After becoming the archbishop, he became a vociferous opponent of the unjust regime which was repressing and killing the poor and the peasants. Any voice against the regime was silenced with brutal force.

St. Oscar Romero’s final two sermons are noteworthy. On the evening before his death, he preached reconciliation to the soldiers who were being used by the regime. But this was not a reconciliation whereby the church was folding before the powers of the day, but was the reconciliation asking the soldiers to repent and change. He said “I want to make a special appeal to soldiers, national guardsmen, and policemen; each of you is one of us. The peasants you kill are your own brothers and sisters. When you hear a man telling you to kill, remember God’s words, ‘thou shalt not kill.’ No soldier is obliged to obey a law contrary to the law of God. In the name of God, in the name of our tormented people, I beseech you, I implore you; in the name of God, I command you to stop the repression.”

On the day of his death he preached, “May this body immolated and this blood sacrificed for humans nourish us also, so that we may give our body and our blood to suffering and to pain- like Christ, not for self, but to impart notions of justice and peace to our people.” St. Oscar Romero talks of a reconciliation where he calls the soldiers and others to stop killing their brothers and sisters, their country men and women. It is a call to reconciliation by listening to God’s voice and God’s call to stop the repression against God’s people. He also makes a call to be nourished by the body and blood of Christ and to then give up our life for the justice and peace of our people.

Lent is not just a time to be quiet, meditative and obedient to the powers of the day. Lent is a time to make a call for repentance. That then leads to reconciliation. The body and blood of Christ that we partake of also gives us the strength to further and fight for this call for repentance-based reconciliation. To be shot at near the altar of the Lord was perhaps the biggest acceptance of the success of the fight that St. Oscar Romero was leading.

May lent remind us of the blood shed by martyrs like St. Oscar Romero. Let us pray that this shedding of blood changes our notion of reconciliation from one of bending before authority to asking those listening to authority to reform and change. Amen.

 

 

Lent Day 5: Finding a lent partner this lent

Repenting and changing is easier said than done. Many a time we are brought up in a way whereby we don’t know how to identify our shortcomings and problems. We also don’t have positive relationships and friends which and who can tell us how to change without hurting us. Even our partner may have limitations in this regard as lack of time and increasing work leads to very less time left for interaction, let alone to help each other out in this regard. We also need someone whom we respect, can listen to and whose judgment we will accept. This lent partner can be anyone and yet has to be someone who knows us well and is able to invest time to show us who we really are. It can be one’s husband, wife, brother, sister, friend or acquaintance.

St. Matthew 7: 4 says “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye, when there is the log in your own eye?” What this suggests is that we need help to identify our faults. But we also can’t rush to help someone identify their shortcomings unless we are given permission for that.

Having a lent partner is to get into a positive relationship of friendship whereby both people agree to help each other. One is not above the other and one is not more a sinner than the other. The relationship reflects love and compassion and is to help in every possible way. We need a mirror, a person who can see us and understand us. There are things we don’t know about us and not identifying them and working on them this lent would be a shame because our Lenten experience will be left incomplete.

A lent partner also just does not tell us about things we can change but also tells us things that are good about us. Things which we have never thought about. Small but important things of consequence and value. Something appreciative. A daily conversation in this regard prevents us from searching for the speck in someone’s eye and will help us find the log in our own eye. Such self-appraisal and understanding through someone’s eyes are what we miss during lent and what makes lent the opposite of what we intend it to be.

Having a lent partner is mutual and starts with the interest and permission of someone asking us to be their lent partner. It is not something where we ask someone or force someone to make us their lent partner. It is not one sided whereby we offer our help and do not want to be helped by the other person. The mutual trust, respect and honour are critical to such a partnership.

A lent partner is not just someone who loves us and is concerned about our welfare. Primarily both should be in love with Christ Jesus and follow the teachings of Christ. That should be the first thing in common and the first concern. St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8: 23 “As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker in your service.” It is of concern that people belonging to the same church and even priests who are colleagues find it difficult to share things with each other, because it can be used against them at a later point in their ministry. This is immensely sad and also prevents priests from getting good lent partners.

This can also be a realisation for priests to have their own partner as their lent partner or to have a lay person as their lent partner. The open mindedness to have an un ordained person as a lent partner will in itself be an acceptance of the willingness to be open for repentance and change. May God show us someone who can positively show us our shortcomings and start a conversation which will lead to repentance and change. Amen.

(Picture credit: featureshoot.com)

 

Lent Day 4: Mutual investments with God are not subject to market risks

We get to hear a lot of talk on saving money and how to save money. Our parents would have advised us in this regard at some point of time and maybe continue to do so. They do it out of concern and love and we end up joining savings schemes, insurance policies and even collect money in piggy banks, containers and books. It is the money we hope will help us tide over a difficult time, or an unexpected expense.

We are also scared whether such money will indeed be safe. Advertisements of mutual funds have a disclaimer at the end, “Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.” What earlier was read in a rush is now read slower and clearer. It is a warning to be careful.

There have been moments in my life when I parted with such money which was specially kept for future needs. Moments when someone passed away, someone was hospitalized, someone was going to study and someone was getting married. I sometimes wonder how nice it would be if I still had that money with me. Because of the earlier parting with savings, I ended up sacrificing my needs and the needs of my family.

St. Matthew 6: 19-20 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Jesus is asking us to invest in him and in heaven because we then don’t have to be worried about it rusting or being stolen. The way to invest our treasures in heaven is to help someone here on earth by breaking our savings. Every time we have helped someone, we have made an investment in heaven, an investment which is not subject to any risk, market or otherwise.

Lent is a time to help the poor, needy and hungry. Diet restrictions are not enough and form only twenty five percent of our effort to undergo a meaningful lent. The other three parts are prayer, reconciliation and good behavior and helping those in need with food and money. We need some solid investments in heaven through our help to others here. Even though we will feel sad of letting go of hard-earned savings, we can be assured that the investments we make will be safe in God’s hands, ready to be encashed at another time and in another form. Amen.

(Picture credit: rhetoricaljesus.com)

This lent assure others that their faith is great

Matthew 15:21-31

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶ He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

If we are to put ourselves in the place of Jesus and his disciples, St. Matthew 15:21-31 places a woman from another community/caste/religion in front of us this lent. It is not a familiar and a comfortable scene and neither was it for Jesus’ disciples and even for him. The disciples are almost irritated with the presence of the Canaanite woman and that is why they ask Jesus to send her away. They are disturbed by her shouting. Jesus makes a matter of fact statement when he says that “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” But the woman comes closer and kneels and seeks help. Jesus explains the situation to her and says that he cannot help her because it will not be fair to take the food of the children and throw to the dogs. This is when there is an unexpected twist to the proceedings. The woman says that even the dogs eat the crumbs that have fallen from the table. Jesus stops what he is doing and says “Great is your faith. Let it be done to you as you wish.”

This encounter of Jesus and the Canaanite woman speaks volumes to us during lent. We must also appreciate the wisdom of the church leaders to place this reading in churches during lent. The woman’s daughter is tormented by a demon and that is why she has come to Jesus. The problem though here is that the Jews and the Canaanites do not have that good a relationship. One could definitely classify them as enemies with a history of enmity. This is why the disciples become uncomfortable. They want the woman to go away but they cannot beat her or push her away because they cannot behave like others. They are part of the Jesus movement. So they put the burden on to Jesus. Jesus takes it up.

One must realize that our surroundings always affect us to a certain extent. We speak based on our surroundings. Jesus therefore is quite cold when he mentions to the woman and anyone else who would have been there that he has come for certain people only. We should introspect during lent and realize that we too prefer to put our burdens on to Jesus and withdraw from any worthwhile thing that we are supposed to do during lent and even otherwise. In this sense we as the church sometimes withdraw from our responsibilities and leave Jesus to fend for himself forgetting that both the bride and the bride groom form the family/church. It is not that he can’t. But who and what are we then? Jesus though stays just there and has a dialogue with the woman. He says that it is not fair for him to look at the sufferings of others as then his own community would suffer. How could he do this? But this is when the woman shows a way forward. We do not come together as communities or do not help those outside our community because we reach a road block and feel we cannot help even though some part of us wants to! The Canaanite woman offers a solution. She does not want Jesus to stop helping his community but asks for the crumbs, the fringe and blessings on the side path which his community will anyway not use. The woman opens up a vista of ministry for Jesus where his ministry gets expanded to the least and the last of communities other than his.

We as the church should open our eyes to see the Canaanite woman in our midst so that our ministry will have a scope to widen inside and outside the walls of our church. During lent it will help to look around in our church and see who is standing next to us. Are we only seeing familiar and comfortable faces? Then we are reflecting the disciples. But can we see other faces in our midst? Then we will be able to reflect Jesus in our lives. All of us represent the church. We are the church. The keys to the doors of the church are with us. During lent, can we open the doors so that others can also come in. If Jesus told the woman that her faith was great, he is also telling the same thing today. Who are we to keep others away from the grace and mercy of God? Lent should be a time when we stop saying “Sending her away” like the disciples. Instead we must be able to look at others and say “Great is your faith. Let it be done to you as you wish.” Amen.

Preparing for healthy relationships during lent

Being in relationship is an essential non-negotiable aspect of human kind and yet it is something lost on our generation. It is not that people don’t want to be in relationship but many a time they are not prepared for it and don’t know how to go about it. Schools and colleges don’t want to risk a problem and will maintain status quo of having boys and girls separated. Churches are not far behind and more or less fulfill the role of being guardians of morality. Isn’t lent a perfect time to stop thinking of morality and start thinking of good relationships with one another? Hasn’t a skewed understanding of relationships lead to enough damage in society?

Lent should not be seen as status quo or toeing the usual line but as moving away from the usual. Most of the problems we face in society are relationship problems and one among them is the relationship between boys and girls and men and women. We do not allow normal and healthy interaction between boys and girls so that they know how to relate to one another when they sit next to each other in a bus, train, flight, class room or public space. All thoughts of what to say and do are many a time influenced by movies, serials and peer group talks on the other gender. The lent season should be able to give us an opportunity to learn how to relate and behave with people belonging to the other gender.

We have behavioural problems because right from childhood various institutions have prevented us from being normal people. To be normal means to be in relationship with one another. We are brought up based on relationships of power. We are wrongly told that girls should be subservient and boys should express their masculinity by lording over the girls and expressing their power.

St. Matthew 20:17-28 has Jesus talking about his impending suffering. The mother of the sons of Zebedee request Jesus to allow her sons to sit at his right and left. Jesus says that it is not in his hands. The other disciples get angry. This despite their being and travelling with Jesus and listening to his teaching and seeing him live. Their relationship with one another is so fragile that they get into a fight. This is when Jesus explains the basis of relationships. “Those who want to be master must be servant.” For the son of man has come to serve and not to be served.

We have become a society that wants to fix something after it has happened different from the way we want it. We thrive on a media created suspense which fizzles out as soon as the story loses its significance. Because of this we have hash tags and events but do not work on fundamental aspects of life.

Our society is fractured because of socio economic disparity, class and caste divide and religious problems between communities. The lent season is an opportunity to think, understand and come together. Let us use this Lenten season to develop healthy relationships with whoever we come across. Let us do away with the awkwardness of the other and stop sitting only near people we are comfortable with or from whom we benefit. Instead let this season of lent bring about understanding and not demonizing of the other. God has created men and women in God’s image and God saw it as good. Mutual co-existence should be the motto of lent rather than making it an exclusive, individualistic exercise of self-aggrandizement and self development. After all, we are here to serve and not to be served. Amen.    

EAT well this lent

Lent is a time when we follow a 40 day or 50 day fast or diet restriction depending on the denomination we belong to. For some, lent is a time of renunciation, for others it is reflection and for some it is a reminder. Not everyone fasts and not everyone has a diet control or goes vegetarian, but everyone observes lent. It is a mind to offer ourselves as help to someone, to lend something we have to someone or just trying to relate with who we are and what we are doing. Whatever it is, we are all part of lent. 

Prior to the council of Nicea in the fourth century, it is not sure how lent was observed and whether there was such a lent as we follow now. Some even go on to say that lent was a forty hour fast! But with the inception of an official state backed Christianity, lent became part of the spiritual life of Christians. First as a preparation for baptism and then as a reminder of Christ Jesus’ 40 day fast. The fashion of the lent has also undergone change with time. People fasted completely, they gave up all forms of meat and meat products and sometimes fish too and now people in the West give up chocolate, sugar, carbonated drinks and do a carbon fast during lent. One cannot make a direct connection between a carbon fast during lent and Indian culture. But it is something which is becoming more popular now.

The Catholic Church and the CSI church and before that other churches as well have started giving calls for a green lent or carbon fasting. This is new and different . Nevertheless this is now catching on as one way of undergoing lent. The colour green also reminds us of nature and our connection with the soil. The spring time associated with lent is a season of green when the fallen leaves sprout again. But are we and the people in the church on the same boat when it comes to lent and a green lent with carbon fasting? Einstein was once travelling by train. The ticket collector came and asked him for his ticket and then said “I know you will have it with you.” Einstein nodded his head. The ticket collector came again and Einstein was checking his pockets. The ticket collector said “You are Einstein. You will definitely have the ticket with you. I know for sure.” Einstein nodded his head again. Then the ticket collector went to the next bogie and returned and faced Einstein again. This time Einstein was on his knees and was checking something under his seat. The ticket collector said “You are Einstein. I am sure you will have the ticket with you.” Einstein replied. “I know I am Einstein and that I bought a ticket. But I am trying to find the ticket so that I know where to get down!” Lent in church sometimes becomes like this. We are the ticket collectors and the congregation is in the role of Einstein.

But what should lent or a green lent be for us? We are trying to figure out where we are going and for that understanding a green lent or a carbon fast is helpful. A carbon fast for us is giving up cars and motor bikes and using public transport and cycling and walking to work and other places. This gives us a sense of triumphalism and happiness and we put ourselves on a pedestal saying lent has made us holy. But has it?

What should we do about it and how should we fast/lent and even undertake a green lent? We must look at the 40 day fast of Jesus and figure that out. What if I told you that Jesus tells us to EAT WELL during lent? You will stare at me and say “Why didn’t you say this earlier. We are already ten days into the lent. And you are saying this now?” What I mean by EAT WELL is

E- End

A- All

T- Tyranny

      and

W- Willingly

E- Elect      to

L- Live a life of

L- Love

Let us look at the passage for our meditation. In St. Matthew 4:1-10 Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights. This is when the devil comes to tempt him. It is like that in our lives too. Whenever we do good things we immediately feel more tempted.  The tempter has 3 questions for Jesus. All the questions are with ifs, similar to what happened to Jesus on the cross when those who plotted against him said “If you are the son of God, come down from the cross.” Jesus has to prove something and the person asking him to prove it positions himself as the one who has all the answers. I would like to talk about three things which will help us to EAT WELL.

1. Lent as eating late and eating after everyone else eats.

If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread said the devil to Jesus. Jesus replies “One does not live by bread alone. But by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  A green lent is a time when we can look for alternatives so that everyone in this earth can eat food equally. It is not to hoard food and make money out of it and become the king of food but to make food count. The most important of Jesus’ miracles was thus the feeding of the multitude. According to latest FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) estimates in ‘The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2015” report, 194.6 million people are undernourished in India. By this measure India is home to a quarter of the undernourished population in the world. Also 51% of women between 15 to 59 years of age are anaemic and 44% of children under 5 are underweight. On the other hand, it is estimated that nearly 40 percent of the fruits and vegetables, and 20 percent of the food grains that are produced are lost due to inefficient supply chain management and do not reach the consumer markets.

Lent for us  wrongly becomes a time to prove something. It is like going to a gym and comparing muscles. Who has more? You or me? The one with more, wins the show of muscles. It is sad that we have come to become a culture which compares one with the other. Whose lent is better?, whose fasting is better? We are trying to make the stones into bread so that we can win over Jesus. But we must rather concentrate on the hungry and the malnourished in our country and region. The devil taunts Jesus to make the stones into bread. But Jesus refuses to do so. We are also fasting and lenting so that we get something. Our fasts and lents should lead to food for all. A green fast in this sense is sharing an abundance and shortage of food or more so creating an abundance in an otherwise selfish world.

Perhaps we have to look at our churches and seminaries too. We have the infrastructure and the human resource. But we don’t seem to have the will to help the hungry. By forgoing a few things we can make money and resources for others. Jesus did not hallucinate after 40 days of fasting, rather he became stronger and gave a pointed answer to the devil. In churches we are comfortable with giving food to an orphanage but will never invite the orphanage to church!!

A Baptist moved into a neighborhood largely populated by Catholic families. While on the whole, they got along well, one habit he had was to fire up the grill on Fridays and cook steaks. After several weeks of enduring this torture, the Catholic men got together and decided the only way to end this problem was to convert the offending neighbor. So, they did. At the following Easter Vigil, he was accepted into the Church. The Catholics breathed a sigh of relief as he was baptized "You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, but now you are a Catholic." Fast forward to the following Lent. The message apparently didn't get through, because the new convert fired up his grill and cooked steaks on Friday anyway! The indignant Catholic men rushed over to see what was happening, and they found him pouring water over the meat and chanting, "You were born a buffalo, you were raised a buffalo, but now, you are a fish!" Our fasting should not be to prove something and to make people do what we are doing but to give food to the poor. We are all out to make our church members adhere to one form of fasting but it is not the fasting Jesus did because fasting rather than making him weak, made him stronger.

2. Lent as getting done the possible rather than going behind the impossible.

The devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and tells him to throw himself down so that the angels will come and save him. Jesus replies that you should not put the Lord your God to test. Our lent has become a point of showing our spiritual strength and what we have gained through it whereas Jesus always saw his fast as a preparation to lose something.

The devil knew of the powers of Jesus but Jesus was not there to show off his powers. He had nothing to prove but to feed the hungry and fight those who were keeping the poor hungry. His fight against the state was because of the injustice unleased by the state and religious authorities on the poor. It is only in watching how Jesus lived that we get a sense of what living by the word of God meant for him. His teaching (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount) and his actions disclose his own understanding of that word, what it was calling him to be and do. The kingdom mission constituted a way of healing, of solidarity with the poor, of challenging the oppressive and unjust structures of social control operating in his day, of opposing social and religious conventions that generated exclusion of the weak and the outcast. In the end, this way would lead to the cross, that means of state execution for those deemed a threat to the status quo of political and economic power.

So the test in the wilderness invites Jesus, ever so reasonably, to actualize his power in the service of comfortable self -preservation, and to accept that invitation would inevitably lead him away from the cross. If Jesus, alone in the desert, employed his power to ensure his own personal well-being and personal comfort, if he made use of his privilege and status for the sake of meeting his own needs and wants above all else, then the way to the cross would have been short-circuited.

But we have already seen in Matthew’s account what political power under allegiance to the evil one looks like: Herod the Great orders the slaughter of children as a way of protecting his power from possible threat. And the brutality of the Roman empire, with its use of military violence, mass enslavement, economic exploitation, rampant corruption, etc. was well known. Control of the empire and enjoyment of its wealth would inevitably require the ruthless use of violence, deceit and abusive power. Jesus forgoes this when he negates the question of the devil.

According to an OXFAM report, 1 % of the richest in India own 58% of the wealth. There are 84 billionaires in India with a combined wealth of 284 billion dollars. In India, women form 60 per cent of the lowest paid wage labour, but only 15 per cent of the highest wage-earners. It means that in India women are not only poorly represented in the top bracket of wage-earners, but also experience wide gender pay gap at the bottom.

For Jesus a fast or a lent means questioning this widening disparity so a fast rather than weakening us must strengthen us to the core. The real measure of our wealth is how much we are worth when we lose everything. A lent and a green lent teaches us to lose so that we can see what we are worth. This is what Jesus did. He gave up everything by his fast. Jesus’ work starts after his fast. But for us, we are tired and famished after the fast. This is where a green fast helps. It is not going behind the impossible but very much the possible. We are fixated on what kind of food we can eat and can’t eat. That becomes a problem for us. So most of the time church members see each other in a restaurant, they look at each others plate and not face! Jesus fought injustice up till the cross but he was practical about it. The devil wanted him to bring his Godly powers to test. We should also observe lent to be practical like Jesus and help others. We should not follow the devil and his quest for immortality.

3. Lent is joining God’s kingdom and saying no to other kingdoms.

A green lent is a reminder that we can pull it back. There are several people in church who want to live a life which is worthy of their calling. But they have too many EMI’s to pay. The priest wants to live a life true to his or her calling but there are too many leaders to obey. The churches want to live a life which is true to their calling but there are too many offering bowls to take care of. The tempter is at work through our lent and a green lent is an opportunity to say no like Jesus. We are saying no to bigger vehicles, trying to save fuel by driving differently and walking and cycling to show that we can live a different life for the benefit of others. We are also eating less and moderately so that others get to eat. Jesus says no to the devil and his offer of endless splendor. Instead Jesus declares his faith and says “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” The fast strengthens him to say no to all other norms and to focus on God.

We are tempted by endless things these days. In our church, young priests have their eyes set on a two wheeler, followed by a four wheeler, followed by a house and then jewellery and other things. We preach poverty but live in luxury. This is because we have ignored God and God’s kingdom and are holding on to other kingdoms. A priest who is rich is also seen as blessed by God. My mother always tells me “That priest built a house, this priest bought a car, the other priest got so much dowry. Didn’t you teach most of them?  Here we have a priest. He talks about the poor and feeding the poor. What will you live from?” I reply “I don’t know. I guess God has it figured out because honestly I haven’t.”

A green lent is an opportunity to say “I can manage because God is with me.” I can manage because God’s love is with me. End All Tyranny and Willingly Elect to Live a life of Love means that we must put a stop to all injustice in the world. But for that we must stop doing injustice ourselves. The Lenten season is not just a time to preach to others but to preach and reform ourselves.  Jesus sees everything and then says no. There are a lot of people in India working for free for the sake of those who do not have. We can try in our own creative ways to be available for others. All of us cannot be on the streets. But we can look at how we can help. The scope of a green lent is to not just reduce our carbon foot print but to see how we in small ways can be who Jesus was. It is not to be holier than others but to reach out to others and work for God’s kingdom. So, eat well. End all Tyranny and Willingly Elect to Live a life of Love. Lent is eating late and eating after everyone else eats, lent is doing the possible rather than going behind the impossible and lent is joining God’s kingdom and saying no to other kingdoms.

(Preached tonight for the evening Lenten meditation in the UTC chapel, Bengaluru.)