Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Priority of Prayer: Prayer in Action - Reflection from I Timothy 2:1-7




This week I had four different occasions to sense the priority of prayer and to reflect on prayer.

I was at an interfaith meeting this week and the theme was ‘the power of prayer’ – where each faith representative explained the understanding of prayer from their own religious faith experience. I gathered at that meeting that God doesn’t need our prayers, but we humans need prayers to encounter God. There I also recognised, the kind of God we believe determines the kind of prayer we say, and the kind of prayer we say defines the kind of God we believe.  An interesting experience.

On Friday, I was at the climate strike at St. Peter’s square in Manchester joining the global wave of strikes demanding justice for climate emergencies organised by the Youth strike 4 climate, where tens and thousands of people gathered in solidarity for climate justice. We as faith communities, as Methodists were part of this strike. I have heard the speeches of anger by young people. At the stroke of 1pm – all alarms went off – to symbolise that time’s up – act now for climate – a wake up call for climate emergency. As I reflect on it, I realised that protest as a prayer, which stemmed out of anger against the system and policies – to save the planet. I also realised that prayer is a wake-up call to attend the climate emergency. And prayer is action – for the youth demand “action now.” Yet another interesting experience.

On Saturday in the morning, I attended the Heatons Prayer breakfast – a time of prayer early in the morning at 8am. The leader, who led it divided the time into four slots – asking people to pray in praise of God for the good things, - pray for other churches and the community in Heatons – pray for the government, council and for those in power and authority – and pray for the Christian initiatives in and around Stockport. It was a corporate prayer – a time joining with other Christian believers in prayer – praying for common concerns – praying as a time of fellowship – prayer expressing our Christian commitment. A good experience to join in prayer early in the morning with tea and breakfast.

On Saturday in the evening, I heard a friend of mine Ebi preach at our Indian Christian fellowship – his testimonial – his story – his faith in God – how God listens to his prayers and answered him at every step of his life. For him, if prayer is speaking to God, reading the Word is God speaking to him – and he emphasised that both those are very key for our discipleship. For him in any situation and in every situation – prayer is the priority – and his faith is God answers. Ebi said, if you pray you need to act – demonstrate love in action. It allowed me to reflect on the strength of prayer.

All of these incidents – in line with the lectionary for this week from 1 Timothy 2: 1-7, which again was a passage read at the Prayer breakfast yesterday– is a call for us reminding the priority of prayer for us as a church at a time like this.

1 Timothy 2 is a very contentious chapter in the Bible, which was received by people across the theological spectrum – specially with the leadership of women – but the Church moved on believing in the Spirit of God for God created and called both men and women equally, for which we rejoice and celebrate about.

Paul was writing to young Timothy a pastoral letter with certain guidelines for the life of the church and for his personal spiritual growth. He mentions the priority of prayer : for he begins this second chapter – “first of all” – it is not committee meetings, it is not community work, it is not even preparing a sermon – but urging about the priority of prayer. Many a times we are too busy with the work of church and work at church or busy with our own life issues – work – family – holiday etc. I think this morning it is important to set right the priority which is prayer.

But what is prayer? – According to Rowan Williams – Prayer is connecting to God, a time of pause like in holiday, and body responds differently

From 1 Timothy 2: 1-7

1.      The methods of prayer : there are a varieties of prayer – Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions and thanksgiving (SPIT) – there is no one size fit for all kinds of prayer – These are the terms which were part of the local community who were living under an empire. – a blend of legal and temple terms.
2.      The members of prayer – for everyone – for all – no distinction in prayer – but a special mention of kings and those in power – for in that context they were ungodly and oppressive – whose oppression was unbearable – no peace in that context – persecutions – so by calling on their memory – Paul was trying to express his Christian love by praying for them. He explains the purpose of praying where people can live in peace and harmony.
3.      The mediator in prayer – Jesus Christ – who died as a ransom for all – so that the knowledge and truth may we learn – As an intercessor – Jesus again demonstrates love in action – prayer demands an action –  Jesus was an answer to the groans and cries of all those who were in oppression and in chains as a messiah – who gave himself as a ransom for all. Prayer demands sacrifice – Prayer demands action.
4.      The ministry of prayer – Paul calls himself who is a testimony to the truth of Christ – as a herald, as an apostle and as a truth bearer – those who are in the ministry of prayer – Prayer is a herald – a public proclamation – Prayer as apostolic – as one who was sent – including our story – Prayer as truth bearing – speaking truth to powers


Relevance:

1.      Prayer is a call to action – Put that priority on – demonstrating love – for our prayers have become too wordy with quite a rhetoric
2.      Seek the spark of divine in you for you may be an answer to someone’s prayer
3.      As church we are called to be a herald of prayer, an apostle of prayer and a truth bearer of prayer – Time to act now.


I want to conclude with a prayer written by Paul Coelho – the author of the book “The Alchemist”

Lord, protect our doubts, because Doubt is a way of praying. It is Doubt that makes us grow because it forces us to look fearlessly at the many answers that exist to one question. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect our decisions, because making Decisions is a way of praying. Give us the courage, after our doubts, to be able to choose between one road and another. May our YES always be a YES and our NO always be a NO. Once we have chosen our road, may we never look back nor allow our soul to be eaten away by remorse. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect our actions, because Action is a way of praying. May our daily bread be the result of the very best that we carry within us. May we, through work and Action, share a little of the love we receive. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect our dreams, because to Dream is a way of praying. Make sure that, regardless of our age or our circumstances, we are capable of keeping alight in our heart the sacred flame of hope and perseverance. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, give us enthusiasm, because Enthusiasm is a way of praying. It is what binds us to the Heavens and to Earth, to grown-ups and to children, it is what tells us that our desires are important and deserve our best efforts. It is Enthusiasm that reaffirms to us that everything is possible, as long as we are totally committed to what we are doing. And in order for this to be possible…

Lord, protect us, because Life is the only way we have of making manifest Your miracle. May the earth continue to transform seeds into wheat, may we continue to transmute wheat into bread. And this is only possible if we have Love; therefore, do not leave us in solitude. Always give us Your company, and the company of men and women who have doubts, who act and dream and feel enthusiasm, and who live each day as if it were totally dedicated to Your glory.

@rajpatta
22nd September 2019

Thursday, September 12, 2019

To Paul: A Letter from Onesimus - Postcolonial Response to Philemon 1



Dear father Paul,

Onesimus, a liberated person in Christ Jesus, a freed slave from Philemon.

To Paul, my dear father who showed God’s grace to me as a fellow prisoner at Rome – also to Timothy, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, to Junia, Lydia, Priscilla, Phoebe, Tabitha, Chloe, and several other women whose names have been forgotten and erased,  who supports Paul and his fellow workers in Christ – and to the house churches that you keep travelling and writing to:

Grace and peace to you from God our liberator and the Lord Jesus Christ, who has freed us from all bondages.

I always thank our God for your passion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Specially I thank you for your letter to Philemon appealing him in love to seek reconciliation with me. I know your love for Christ, love for church and your love for people. I thank you for building partnerships among people transcending the barriers of class and ethnicity, thereby giving a true meaning to koinonia. Your love and discipleship for Christ has given me great joy and encouragement in strengthening our church for love, because you my father and brother have refreshed and inspired the hearts of God’s people.



Therefore, I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love as you have appealed to Philemon in my case. It is none other than Onesimus – a man to be judged by the content of the Christian character and not to be judged by the colour of my skin or by the status I previously held as a slave for I am freed from slavery and bondage by Christ Jesus and I remain to enjoy that liberation Christ has granted to me.  I appeal to you my as a son who shared prison and prison experiences with you for we both experienced suffering under the empire and knew what it was to be in chains, although my chains were different than yours. Formerly when I was a slave, I was considered useless, was treated as a property, looked down as a sub-human and was subjected to all kinds of humiliation for I was perceived as a non-person.

As I explained to you the kinds of torture and suffering me and my household had to endure because of slavery. Those sufferings made me strong as a person to resist them and stand for a just system where all human beings are treated equally. For the cause of promoting life, for the cause of envisioning a just society and for the cause of giving a liberative legacy for my children, I had to ran away from Philemon. I was imprisoned for such a cause, and that’s where the love of Christ encountered me through your fellowship.

I specially want to thank you for taking my debt on you and proved how important a Christian value it is to cancel debts on poor people as an important Christian discipleship marker. By taking my debt on you, you have shown me in practice the love of Christ who took my debts on him on the Cross, for I could experience it in my life. Thank you also for writing to Philemon to receive me as he would receive you, once again emphasising the importance of welcome and reception to anyone and everyone by the love of Christ. In that reception as exhorted by you my brother Philemon has received me as a brother, as a member of his family. I knew what it was to be a slave in his household once, and I also have experienced his love as a family member, which was because of the love of Christ. Ever since then Philemon has treated me as a partner in the mission of God for we continued to work together for the realisation of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Many wondered what a beautiful sight it was to see the master and his previous slave work together as brothers and partners, which was just because of the love of and for Christ.

On a final note, dear father Paul allow me to appeal to you to call any practice of any form of slavery as sinful and unchristian, for in Christ we are all one. Any form of racism, casteism, gender discrimination, patriarchy, trafficking, child labour and such other practices, which are modern forms of slavery does not fit into the gospel of Jesus Christ, and therefore we as a Church should resist such forms and stand in solidarity for justice in every given context. Christ has come to set people like me free and I believe and will work to liberate all people who are chained in any form of bondage as a gospel imperative for me.

You are always welcome to come and stay with us and enjoy our African hospitality. My wife and children and all our Churches join me in sending their greetings to you.

The grace of our Lord and Liberator Jesus Christ, the love of God, who calls us to freedom and dignity of all people, and the communion of Holy Spirit who partakes in all our struggles for peace be with us all now and forever.

Your fellow worker in Christ,
Onesimus 



@rajpatta
September 2019

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