“To
be faithful in little things is a big thing”
Big-ness
& Big-Talks :
Have
you ever heard of a Church named as 'little flock'? On googling I did
find some churches named after 'little flock' but their mission
statements forces us to probe whether they have ever lived as
'little flock?' Have you seen Christians of 21st century
calling themselves 'little flock?' The demography of global
Christianity today is unevenly characterised on the one hand by the
expansive nature of Christianity with numbers rapidly growing in some
parts of the world, and on the other hand witnessing the shrinking
numbers of Christians in other parts of the world. One of the visible
markers of the expansive character of global Christianity is the
growing culture of 'mega churches' where the founders and the
followers of such churches take pride in the capacity capability of
their Churches and boast of tens and thousands of people attending
their worship services. Such mega culture of the churches speaks the
language of capitalism, where the mega rich leaders of such churches
proclaim that he or she is in the business of Jesus Christ, whose
corporation is an 'Unlimited' enterprise. These churches encourage
people attending their churches on becoming rich as being 'blessed'
and preach on 'prosperity' as a blessing that follows those who
believe in their teachings. The language and practices of these
growing dominant mega churches are part of a colonial project where
they colonize simple Christians by exploiting their vulnerability of
faith all in the name of riches, wealth, blessing and treasures. This
has a huge influence on the kind of God-talk and theology that these
mega churches project and articulate. Out of this grand mega culture
emerged the ideas of God as all powerful, God as almighty, God as
King of Kings, Lord of Lords etc. for it is the rich who associate
God conveniently to be rich, powerful and strong like them, and
therefore talked of God in those expansive and expensive terms.
In
the background of this context, we now read Luke 12:32 -40, where the
gospel comes afresh 'Do not be afraid little flock for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' (v32) , which comes
as a call towards a theology of littleness, for church exists as
'little flocks' and God is located in 'littleness,' in contrast to
the churches as 'mega churches' and God and God-talk in the
vocabulary of 'bigness.' From the parable of the rich fool in Luke
12:13-21, we acknowledged that Jesus' teaching as 'life is not in the
abundance of riches or possessions' and 'life is not me, my and mine
alone.' Luke presents in this chapter about Jesus' exhortations on
wealth and earthly treasures, and intersperses it in the context of
fear, anxiety and worry. In this particular text, we see Jesus
calling the listeners as 'little flock,' and then explains about what
it means to be little by way of selling the possessions and then
linking it to slaves, who are the little ones of his times for they
have been waiting for the Son of Man's coming. This text therefore
helps us to unravel a theology of littleness, for it is a gospel
imperative for our times.
Little
Flock and Theology of Littleness:
Who
according to Jesus are the 'Little flock?' For that would define the
character of littleness. We need to see this question in three
different perspectives. Firstly in the historical perspective, it
were the disciples who were listening to Jesus as he was preaching to
them. Therefore in the context of the multitudes following Jesus,
this little flock of twelve disciples could have been the 'little
flock' to whom Jesus mentions not to be afraid. In the context where
Roman armies were counted in tens and thousands, Jesus' dozen
disciples represents the 'little flock.'
Secondly,
in the theological perspective, Jesus introduced himself as 'good
shepherd' and mind you not as 'big shepherd,' by which he was always
trying to locate himself in the 'little flocks' and affirm in their
identity as being little. If he believed in mega flocks, he should
have identified as mega shepherd, but he was a good shepherd, who had
come to give life in all its fullness. 'Little flocks' represented
the minority people in contrast to majority, for Jesus said elsewhere
that, 'wherever two or three are gathered there he is present' for
God in Christ locates among the littleness. Littleness theologically
is further understood that Jesus became a human and took on the form
of a slave, the powerless, for the sake of slaves to pitch his tent
among them so that he is willing to struggle along with such
communities ensuring liberation and freedom. Littleness of little
flocks is further understood by his engagements with the outcastes,
women and poor of his times. God in Jesus is born as a little baby
in the little town of Bethlehem, God in Jesus has became a child
refugee as he fled into Egypt and God in Jesus resided, identified
and was crucified in all his vulnerability. Jesus therefore had to
categorically say that unless a person becomes a little child, he or
she is not eligible to enter the Kingdom of God. When his disciples
were arguing among themselves who is the greatest, Jesus picked up a
little child as a greatest, for he acknowledged that in the
littleness exits God and god like-ness.
Pope Benedict therefore
affirmed in the theology of littleness as he said, “The
theology of littleness is a basic category of Christianity. After
all, the tenor of our faith is that God's distinctive greatness is
revealed precisely in powerlessness. That in the long run, the
strength of history is precisely in those who love, which is to say,
in a strength that, properly speaking, cannot be measured according
to categories of power. So in order to show who he is, God
consciously revealed himself in the powerlessness of Nazareth and
Golgotha. Thus, it is not the one who can destroy the most who is the
most powerful...but, on the contrary, the least power of love is
already greater than the greatest power of destruction.”1
Thirdly,
in the eschatological perspective, no doubt all those who follow the
values of the gospel that Jesus taught which include hard facts like
selling of possessions, sharing of resources etc. will certainly be a
small group, for in Jesus movement many left grieving on hearing such
altar calls to go sell their possessions, to give up their riches
etc. and therefore they will be little flock and little group any
way, and as such Jesus was calling them 'little flock.' Probably that
was the reason in Luke's second volume, which is Acts of Apostles, he
mentions that the early Church gathered in houses and had everything
in common, where they shared their resources among them. They were
'little flocks.' Jesus says, “It
is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”32
verse says, not to be afraid of Rome, of any circumstance for Father
out of his good pleasure gives you Kingdom. In other words, Kingdom
belongs to the little flocks and little ones. Jesus else where picks
a little child and says that kingdom of God is like them. Kingdom of
God is of the little ones, for little ones by the God of little ones,
for God in God's pleasure grants this Kingdom to the little ones.
Little
Flock and Spirituality of Littleness
The
calling to these little flocks is to sell their possessions and give
alms, which is the first characteristic of littleness. God in Jesus
is a God of littleness who calls not to build barns to store the
possessions, but to sell their possessions and give them as alms. By
selling the possessions one joins Jesus movement, who along with
Jesus identifies with the homeless poor communities, who do not have
a place to lay down their heads. By accumulating the possessions one
distances from Jesus movement, for one cannot serve Christ and
Mammon. Giving alms is not to a mere act of charity, but is a
responsibility which is linked with selling of possessions. With
possessions, one is big, strong and powerful, but by selling of
possessions and giving alms one becomes little, weak, and powerless.
It
was said of St. Theresa of Alva that she always displayed the
spirituality of littleness. “When
we think of Thérèse we think of a specific kind of spirituality -
her Little Way.
It is a way of trust and absolute surrender to God's intimate
presence. Scripture is her source and inspiration. Three texts in
particular bring into focus the heart of Thérèse's doctrine:
"Whoever is a little one, let them come to me." Proverbs,
9:4 "For to the one that is little, mercy will be shown." Wisdom
6:7 "As one whom a mother caresses, so will I comfort you; you
shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall fondle
you." Isaiah 66:12-13
In
a prayer to Christ, Thérèse sums up her spirituality for us:
"O Jesus! Why can't I tell all little souls how unspeakable is Your condescension? I feel that if You found a soul weaker and littler than mine, You would be pleased to grant it still greater favors, provided it abandoned itself with total confidence to Your infinite Mercy. I beg You to cast Your Divine Glance upon a great number of little souls. I beg You to choose a legion of little Victims worthy of Your LOVE!" 2
Little
Relevance:
- It is only the vulnerable, the powerless and the little who can speak of a God who exits among littleness, and therefore such an exposition has emerged out of that subaltern voices and communities who speak of a God like them. For it is the good pleasure of Father to give them the Kingdom of God. Mind you, Kingdom of God comes in such littleness, like in a mustard seed and not in the colonial expansive terms.
- Unless our churches become Sunday schools, kingdom of God may be a distant reality. By which, I mean unless we become like little children congregating and exploring God in our vulnerability, and in our marginality, our ecclesiology has less relevance.
- Let us stop building huge Church structures, towers and buildings with lavish comforts, for the church is called to identify with the homeless, poor, refugee and crucified communities, for only among them, among the little flocks and amidst littleness church happens.
- Are our churches willing to become like little flocks? Living out the characters of littleness, inculcating the spirituality of littleness.
- Theology of littleness – challenges us to sing not 'let the poor say I am rich', but other way 'let the rich say I am poor and let the strong say I am weak.'
Rajbharat
Patta
1http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/30344-the-theology-of-littleness-is-a-basic-category-of-christianity
2http://showcase.netins.net/web/solitude/vilma5.html
Pics Courtesy:
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