Recently, there
was a news in the newspaper that two young ones, a brother and a sister of age
13 and 14 went to attend visa interview at the US Consulate. Both of them were
uneducated. When asked what’s the reason for their visit to the US, they said
that they are going to serve as domestic helpers in their master’s home. Both
of them were denied visas. Forced child labour has been increasing in our
country. In a recently held survey it says Mumbai is one of the leading cities,
where children are taken as forced labour.
In an ILO’s
report, India and China suffered from the highest incidence of child labour.
Out of 240 million children caught up in
child labour, 180 million children are caught in the worst forms of child
labour that include child prostitution and trafficking.
Experiences
across the world reveal that children and young ones are among the most
vulnerable ones. Andhra Pradesh in India, is the state with highest number of
child labour. Most of them are school drop-outs and are taken captive into the
bonded labour, and their humiliations knew no bounds. These children work for
meager wages with poor hygiene facilities. Unfortunately working as labourers
has become hereditary. Who will take care of these child labourers? When rest
of their friends of their age are going to school and are enjoying their
childhood, these child labourers carry huge rocks, and are exploited of their
childhood. Who will listen to their cries? Who are responsible for their tears?
The passage read
to us from II Kings 5:1-14, is a story which is a well known story right from
our childhood. NRSV titles it as “the healing of Naaman”. The other epithets to
this passage are “power demonstration narrative” according to Devries,
“historical narrative” according to Eissefeldt. For most of us it is Elisha,
who is the hero of this passage, or the mighty Naaman the centre of attraction
in this passage. But there is another
powerful character in this story, the nameless, the unknown captive, child
labourer young girl who introduces Elisha to Naaman and paves the way for
liberation. But this little young girl, though brought as captive by the mighty
captain Naaman, but still becomes the channel of liberation. This young girl
was “UPROOTED YET SPROUTED”.
I would like to
divide this passage into three sub-sections :
1.
Deeply rooted in faith
2.
Uprooted from culture
3.
Sprouted in liberation.
1.
Deeply rooted in faith :
Until the young
maid was brought captive from her own land,
nation Israel, this young girl had
her grooming and nurture in her home and land. She should have had a
strong Faith nurture at her home or she should have been a good Sunday school
student. Her deep rooted faith was reflected in a foreign land. In verses 2 and
3, her deep faith is manifested.
a.
Her confidence in the prophet
Elisha, the man of God to heal depicts the deep faith she had in the God she
trusted and in the prophet she has known. Her deep faith is revealed by her
belief that, “God is the healer of any disease, and heals anyone, irrespective
of any region and any status, “even the oppressor”. The faith of this little
one is worth commending.
b.
Her deep faith is also seen in
her love for her oppressor, Naaman, who brought her as a captive. Naaman, with
all his power and pride, would have dragged all her people during the war, yet
this young girl’s deep faith taught her to love her enemy as herself. She did
not want to take revenge on her oppressor, but was kind enough and made herself
as the channel of liberation. This shows her deep commitment and faith in her
God.
c.
Her deep faith in her God is
seen in her service to her mistress. Since she was brought forcefully, she can
be arrogant and can be adamant to her mistress. But knowing the dis-easiness
her mistress was undergoing because of her husband Naaman’s disease, and the distress
her mistress would have been suffering for being barren and childless due to
Naaman’s disease. In such a situation, the young girl’s deep faith made her to
serve and be comforter to her oppressor mistress.
Thus, this young
girl had deep roots in her faith, and such a faith made her to participate in
her oppressor’s liberation.
2.
Uprooted from her culture :
Imagine this
young girl with her strong faith, I bet would have become a magnanimous
prophetess, if she would not have been brought away as a captive to the kingdom
of Aram.
This young girl
of faith was uprooted from her family, her school, her friends, her
relatives, her land and from her culture. In verse 2, it says, in one of their
raids, the Armaneans had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel.
This young girl would have been smart, good looking and so the conquerors
uprooted her. When she was uprooted forcefully, imagine this little girl, she
was totally cut off from her sentiments, her emotions and that would have
affected the wholistic growth of this child. The young girl was made a stranger
in that foreign land.
When all the
friend of this young girl were going to school, she was forced to work as a
labourer. When all her friends at home were playing, she has to sweep and
serve. Having been uprooted from her land, this young girl was oppressed in
every sphere of life. She would have lost her name, which their parents have given, and I think that’s
the reason, there is no mention of a name to her. Her identity is shattered She
would have been a poor girl, and her life as a slave would have been made much
more poorer. This little girl has to forego her childhood, and was exploited.
But for the
invaders, the life of this little girl did not matter. All that mattered was
their strength and power and to make slaves and oppress them. For her being
uprooted, this little girl was denied life and life in all its fullness. She
was made a slave, a bonded labourer and a ‘no people’ in this stranger’s land.
She was just made a toy and could not see the person in her.
The Hebrew root
for the word ‘raids’ means “to cut” or “penetrate”; and these Armanian troops’
raiding was to cut and separate the people from their families and their land.
This young girl’s family was raided and she was uprooted from her culture. She
is oppressed and all her visions for a bright future were shattered. The young
girl was uprooted from her culture.
3.
Sprouted in liberation
This young girl
though uprooted, but because of her deep rooted faith in God, sprouted in and for liberation. The young girl though was
oppressed by her captain master, never thought of taking revenge on him. With
her little faith, yet strong faith, the young girl became a channel for
liberation to her master, thus a participant in the mission of God.
When Naaman,
with all his power and strength would have visited all the hospitals in the
country. All the well-known physicians
would have attended to him. But still there was no cure. Added to his disease,
his dis-easiness made him much more depressed. The young girl noticed the
hopeless condition of her captain and did not curse, “Better this cruel master
suffer and die with this disease”. She did not think eye for an eye, tooth for
a tooth. But empathized with her master,
and showed the way towards healing. One should also commend her courage. A
slave girl has no space to advice or suggest to her mistress and master. But
her confidence in her God made her to be courageous. Imagine if Naaman rejected
to dip in the river of Jordan, and would have returned unhealed, I am afraid,
this young girl would have been hanged to death. Here one should also notice
the role of the servants of Naaman in verse 13, who convinced him and became
channels of healing. Thus both the young
girl and the servants who were oppressed championed liberation and healing to
their master Naaman.
The young girl
with her strong conviction in God, and by her strong belief that God can
heal anyone, made her the sprout and
blossom liberation to her oppressor.
The passage is
silent about what happened to this young girl after Naaman’s healing. If Naaman
would have had received total liberation, I think he would have released the
young girl and sent her to join her family and land.
Thus the young
woman, though uprooted but yet sprouted and became a catalyst in liberating her
master.
Application :
What is the
relevance of this reflection for us as individuals and as a community? I
believe, this reflection has a challenging relevance for us today. Primarily I
want to draw out three main lessons for us from this passage :
1.
Let us work towards strengthening our Faith :
The young girl’s
faith in God is a challenge to all of us. We should strengthen our faith. Most
often our faith is conditioned and yet at times very narrow. We need to be
committed to our calling, and it is our faith in God, which should make us to
participate in the struggles of the people. We need to guard against exclusivism, we tend to be with. As P.D.
Devanandam says, “it is my faith, which makes me to participate in nation
building”. So our faith should be strengthened so that we can be in solidarity
with the oppressed. Therefore let us pledge to strengthen our faith and reflect
our commitment in God, in all our endeavours.
2.
Let is work towards eradicating the child labour and liberate the
bonded labour.
While slavery
persists in our age in various forms, the bonded labour system is considered to
be one of the most virulent and the most prevalent contemporary forms of
slavery. Besides grinding poverty, unemployment and such other factors, the
socio-cultural factors like the abominable caste system etc. are responsible
for the perpetuation of this scourge. It is high time for us today to abolish
child labour and bonded labour, and make children to enjoy life. With Jesus
Christ, as our strength and example let us take up this mission of liberation
to children. Specially the empowerment of girl child is the need of the day,
for there is a high rate of drop-outs from schools among girls. Swami Agnivesh,
the Chairperson of Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) says, “If we do not
eradicate child servitude today, we will be responsible for perpetuating
poverty, abject misery and sickness of millions of adults in the world”.
Therefore let us abolish child labour and say no to the bonded labour. The
Church should take up this challenge seriously, and should join hands with
other networking like-minded partners. If at all today’s children be tomorrow’s
citizens, let us strive to abolish child labour in India.
3.
Let us work towards a theology of liberation to the oppressor :
The recently
held international consultation on ‘Dalit theology and a theology of the
oppressed’, came out with a statement, calling churches to develop a theology
of liberation for the oppressor that would seek their repentance,
reconciliation and removal of systemic and structural practices of caste.
The young girl’s
theology can be a starting point in this endeavour. That God is God for the
oppressed and the oppressor, and healing or liberation comes from God to all
people without any reservations, even to the oppressors. If Jesus’ critique of
the social structures of his day or even Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Educate, Agitate and Organise can be one
methodological dimension in this pursuit, on the other hand, the young
girl’s love for the oppressor and even the servants of Naaman and this
girl’s courage to tell about
liberation to the oppressor can also be the other methodological
dimension in developing a theology of liberation to the oppressor.
As oppressed
communities, I think it is not a virtue to take revenge on the oppressor, but
rather love the oppressor and tell the oppressor the method of liberation, and
be channels of liberation. Jesus’ love for all and the conscientisation to the
oppressor like in Luke 19:1-10, can serve as the guidelines in constructing a
liberation theology for all. I know this is not sufficient, but let us all work
to develop a liberation theology for all both the oppressed and the oppressor.
I think this is the greatest challenge for us all as a theological community.
Dear Friends,
-
Let us strengthen our faiths,
-
Let us strive towards
abolishing child labour, and
-
Let us work towards developing
a liberation theology to the oppressor.
Towards that
end, may the good God help us to achieve and work towards the extension of
God’s kingdom here on earth. Amen.
-
Gurukul Chapel – II Kings
5:1-14 (21.11.2004)
