Thy Kingdom Come - Anthem by Raj Pattas, Rachana & Rahul Jestadi

Drawing the Faith: Welcoming Church with little acts of love

When the church doors are open, Jaiho in his drawing reflects welcome as offering hospitality to people with needs, particularly with little acts of love which include offering crisps and drinks, first aid, sleeping bags. When asked what is the message he conveys through this drawing,  Jaiho says, when opening the doors of the church make sure to welcome those people in need.  

For more about welcome, a reflection on Matthew 10: 40-42 visit this link: 

http://thepattas.blogspot.com/2020/06/welcome-we-are-little-church-open-for.html

Welcome: We are a little church, open for little people, with little acts of love - Reflecting on Matthew 10:40-42

With the lockdown easing, churches now are preparing to open their buildings with much care and are taking all safety precautions and doing risk assessments, the question that comes to the fore is who is welcome now to the church building? I have seen some notices outside the doors of some churches that read, “This church is now open for private prayer.” The immediate thought that followed was “for whom?” is it to the general public? is it to the church members? is it to the Christians in the neighbourhood? When I enquired is it open to the general public, I heard that they are now open for their members, only at certain prescribed times and are not publicising it widely. With the infection still not under control and with the limitations of volunteers, I understand that the church buildings will not be open as widely as they were open previous to COVID. Such hesitancy in opening the church buildings as widely as they were before, raises some theological questions about the being of our churches, and specifically about a theology of welcome today in and through our churches. In the context of post-lockdown, who are welcome to the church? The straight answer might be, “yes, all are welcome*” but in reality “are all really welcome?” In moving forward, my prayer and hope is to say, “Welcome, we are a little church, open for little people with little acts of love.”

 

The gospel reading from Matthew 10:40-42 is part of Jesus’ homily to his disciples as he sent them out on an outreach. In the whole of chapter 10, we see Jesus giving instructions, exhortations and some tips on their journey for the outreach. Towards the end, Jesus instructs them about welcome. Jesus explains four types of welcome to them. Firstly, whoever welcomes the disciples welcomes Jesus who sent them, and eventually welcome God who sent Jesus. Secondly, whoever welcomes a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Thirdly, whoever welcomes a righteous person will receive such a reward. Fourthly, and more importantly, whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple will not lose their reward. The first three welcomes, welcoming the disciple, welcoming the prophet and welcoming the righteous person are words of instruction to those disciples, but the final welcome offering a cup of cold water to one of these little ones is an invitation for action to the disciples on their journey. I want to call the first three welcomes as privileged welcome and distinguish that with the final one as prophetic welcome. I will now attempt to tabulate some of the characteristics of these two welcomes, for it then puts into perspective the kind of welcome we as churches can offer in this post-lockdown situation.

 

Categories	Privileged Welcome	Prophetic Welcome
People	A disciple, a prophet and a righteous person	Little ones – people who are vulnerable and on margins,
Provision	*Offering welcome *The Greek word used for welcome is ‘dechomai’, which is used for ‘feast’ also. Welcoming is most naturally followed by a feast.	Offering even a cup of cold water
Power	Powerful people	Powerless people
Profit	A reward follows – no guarantee that they will not lose their reward	Truly Jesus said, none of these will lose their reward

The above table provides us the distinction between the two kinds of welcome, which I think are relevant for our contexts today. Most of us are comfortable in offering a privileged welcome, welcoming the powerful and the privileged into our folds and we take pride in doing that. Welcome and offering hospitality is part and parcel of the church’s DNA. However, Jesus’ invitation to action - that whoever offers even a cup of cold water, leave about offering a feast to the most vulnerable and little ones in our society, as a prophetic welcome - is a challenge for us in our mission today. Welcoming the unwelcomed into our midst is prophetic, welcoming the excluded into our midst is prophetic, welcoming the outcaste into our midst is prophetic and welcoming the little ones of our society is prophetic. Jesus is inviting us to embark upon such a welcome, for Jesus himself was welcoming such little ones in his society unconditionally. Jesus by teaching about welcome to his disciples was in a way affirming that #littlelivesmatter for him and for his mission on earth. As we now prepare to open the doors of our church buildings, we are called to offer welcome in a prophetic way, by receiving the little ones into our midst and affirm #littlelivesmatter. 

 

The relevance of this text for us as church is to be a place of welcome, in fact prophetic welcome announcing with our actions that we as churches are open for little people, for little people’s lives matter a lot to us and to our faith.

 

1.     Welcome the little people:

To be prophetic in our welcome, we are called to welcome and receive little people of our society today. As churches we have been engrossed with membership and have always worked in keeping up the number. When there is a decline in the membership, some people are concerned that the relevance of our church is being lost. The words of Jesus of “whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones (42v), challenges and inspires us in our faith journey. The relevance of our churches can be felt when we as churches become spaces of welcome to ‘one of these little ones,’ the little ones of our society. If opening our church doors is not possible due to health and safety issues, we as a church should go to those little ones and affirm to be a space of welcome. Last week, I was at a local school which has been in a deprived area where fresh food is being distributed to the parents of the children in that community. I had to see that poverty is a reality right in the town I live in the UK, and had to think what is the relevance of my faith in Jesus Christ in such a context. When there are many children that are living in poverty, is Jesus not telling us “whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones” and challenging us as churches to offer welcome and hospitality as part of Christian faith commitment.

 

2.     Welcome with little acts:

One of my childhood favourite quotes was, “to be faithful in little things is a big thing,” for I have pencilled it on all my books. I understand how important is to be faithful in little things, for that is a big thing. Jesus spoke to his disciples by saying, ‘whoever gives a cup of cold water,’ a little thing to these little people that is welcome. In the context of early Palestine, people lived under a scorching sun, and offering a cup of cold water was a big thing to quench the thirst. I recognise here Jesus’ emphasis on little acts, which matter a lot. During this lockdown we have witnessed simple acts of kindness on our streets like helping our neighbours with their shopping, bringing their prescriptions, sharing food etc. It has been great to see so much kindness among communities. In seeking our relevance as a church, I think it is important to nurture such little acts of kindness, for little acts put together can make a big ocean of kindness. In the context of child poverty again, little acts like collecting fresh food for children during school holidays, talking to one another the reasons for child poverty, writing letters to our MP about issues around poverty etc. all matter for us as a welcoming church.

 

3.     Welcome as a little flock:

Jesus was talking to the 12 disciples, a little flock, who were not a mega church. Church is about little faithful flocks, where we support one another and care for one another. In the culture of quantifying everything in terms of numbers, we undermine the value and importance of little flocks. If we are really serious about being relevant as a church, we are called as little flocks to accept the invitation of Jesus to welcome the little ones in our community by offering a cup of cold water, may be in our context a hot cup of tea/coffee to start our welcome. I really wish there are some church notices outside the doors of our churches when we open that read, “we as a little church are open to the little people with little acts of love for you here.” Welcome and hospitality is not dependent on the size of our church or with the membership of the church. I am reminded of Archbishop William Temple words that “the Church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not yet its members.” Though I understand that charities and agencies do such things for others, the point is church’s commitment for people outside of its fold should not lost. As little flocks if we as churches can be there for our community, particularly for those on the margins offering welcome and hospitality, we as churches find relevance today. Otherwise our church doors might be open but we will remain closed with irrelevancy.

 

'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 the 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 child in the little town of Bethlehem, God in Jesus has become 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 exists God and god like-ness. 

 

May God grant us strength as we begin to open the doors of our churches as little flocks to be sensitive in our welcome to those little people offering little acts of love. During lockdown the notice that caught my attention was “This building is closed, but Church is open.” That spoke about our church as people offering love to the community. Post-lockdown, my prayer is, “Our building is open and our little church is wide open with little acts of love.” May God the Spirit help us in being and becoming a prophetic welcoming community, offering love particularly to those on the margins around us.

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta

25^th June 2020  

Pic credit: http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2011/01/11/the-best-of-little-things-matter/

 

Stockport Interfaith - Our dreams for a Just world 2020

Drawing the Faith - Hagar weeps for thirsty and hungry children

Jaiho in response to the story of Hagar weeping and lamenting when her son Ishmael was dying of thirst from Genesis 21: 8-21, has done this drawing. When asked what is the message you want to convey through this drawing, he said, "Hagar is weeping today and praying not to see the death of children in their hunger and thirst, and so we need to care for these children and should be there whenever people need help." 

Father's Day Telugu Song - Raj Patta & PJ Mani Lal

Things that can be seen only by the eyes that have cried: Lament as a subversive prayer - Reflecting on Genesis 21:8-21

 Did you know that there are 5.1 million people in UK living in households with children who have experienced food insecurity since the lockdown began? Did you know that Bolton has high levels of child poverty, which is 27, 291 children living in poverty? Did u know that 1.5 million children would have gone hungry during the summer holidays without a food voucher? Thanks to Marcus Rashford, who has written an open letter to the MP’s asking to continue to provide food for children in summer during these strange times, to which the government heeded to. When child hunger and child poverty are so real in our contexts, what is the role and function of church today? What does living faithfully as disciples of Jesus Christ mean for us today?

 

In the text, Genesis 21: 8-21, Hagar, an Egyptian who served as a slave and her child Ishmael were sent out into the wilderness by Abraham with some water to drink. As they walked, wandered in that wilderness under a scorching sun, Ishmael reached the edge of death due to thirst. Hagar leaves her child under a bush, for she did not dare to see her son dying out of thirst but does not go far away, sitting opposite her son with a hope against hope. Hagar out of her desperation lifts her voice, weeps and prays, “Do not let me look on the death of the child” (16v). At this point it is also important to recollect Hagar ran away from her mistress’ harsh treatment and encounters the messenger of God  at the spring, a well in the desert in Genesis 16:13, and it is here that Hagar names God, perhaps the only person to name God in the scriptures. Hagar, a slave from Egypt, a person of different colour to Abraham and Sarai, names God as “El-Roi” which means ‘God who sees,’ for she in her conversation with the messenger of God, understood who this divine is and therefore names the divine. So, Hagar already had an encounter with the divine previously and therefore now when her son is on the edge of death due to thirst, she in her weeping, she in lifting her voice was invoking this ‘God who sees’ to intervene and save the child. In that wilderness, which was a kind of lockdown, Hagar laments for her child, knowing that ‘God who sees’ is a God who listens and offers hope to her child and thereby to herself. From Hagar’s weeping I hear a lament, where she raises her voice and demands of God to save her child. This week during a theological conference online, I have heard churches becoming spaces where people can lament openly and aggressively, and the book of Lamentations has become an important theme at the Pandemic theological discussions. Hagar’s prayer was a lament because she was expressing her cry to ‘God who sees’ not to allow her to see the death of her child. Her cry was a lament, for she received a promise from ‘God who sees’ in Genesis 16 that God is going to make a multitude of generation through Ishmael, and why is God allowing the death of her child at this point. What do I mean by lament? Lament in the setting of faith for me is a public outcry in the presence of God looking for hope, in protest against a system and structure within a community. Lament is a subversive way of praying, ranting at God in favour of life, and towards dismantling notions of status quo which includes religious exceptionalism. Lament provides an understanding of God, who chooses to be on the side of the oppressed.

 

Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa, the Archbishop of Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also known as ‘Romero of Congo,’ (named after Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in El Salvador for speaking out against the military government in 1980) worked tirelessly and courageously for the cause of peace and justice in the context of Rwandan genocide and eventually was shot dead in 1996. One of his famous sayings come to my aid in understanding the power of lament that I hear in the prayer of Hagar. He said, “There are things which can be seen only by eyes that have cried.” In the lament of Hagar, in her tears, in her weeping, she has seen abandonment, she has seen loneliness, she has seen thirst, she has seen nearing the death experience of her son, she has encountered ‘God who sees’ and ‘God who hears’, and she has seen hope offered by God. There are things which can be seen only in the eyes that have cried.

 

Hagar when she lamented, she was crying out loud against a system that has left her and her child in the wilderness, and when Ishmael is on the brim of death, she laments in that wilderness looking for hope from God, whom she had an encounter previously with. “Do not let me look on the death of the child” (16v), these are the only words recorded in the text as a lament of Hagar, and in the rest of the story we witness her silence or her being silenced when she was sent away into the wilderness. To understand the depth of her lament, I (ad)ventured to ‘hear to speech’ this text from the perspective of Hagar. If Hagar were to narrate her own story at that place in the wilderness, this is one of the many ways that I think she would have narrated her story. I confess that as I narrate this story from Hagar’s perspective, all along my male privilege is exposed, drawing me towards repentance.

 

If Hagar narrates her story:

 

Early in the morning, long before the sunrise, when it was still dark, Abraham, through whom I bore his first descendant, deserted us and sent us away into the desert. All that he gave was some left-over food and a skin of water and left us into the dark.

 

Here I am with my son Ishmael, deserted now to be a single parent, did not know where to go, and started to walk and wander through the wilderness. Coming from a Black Ethnic Minority community, an outcasted community, I was treated as a property of my master at their house and was inhumanly pushed out from their house. After a brief walk in the woods, my child and the love of my life Ishmael felt hungry and I fed him with food and water. Towards the end of the day in that scorching sun in the desert, we were thirsty and couldn’t continue our walk. We woke up the next day thirsty and searched for an oasis in that desert and could not find any water. All I hear is my love weeping for water. I couldn’t see my son dying of thirst, and I left him alone near a bush and was weeping at the other end, crying out loud in desperation and in helplessness, thinking what kind of God is this? Where is this ‘God who sees?’ Can God come and save us from this thirst? I lamented to God in that wilderness “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” I did not want to see the death of my child in front of my eyes. There are things which can be seen only in the eyes that have cried. I wept, wept, and only wept.

 

 I might be the only woman, perhaps the only slave woman who had a conversation with God in the Scriptures, calling God as ‘El -Roi’ (God who sees). Yet, Abraham, who couldn’t overcome his patriarchal dominance, deserted me and my son. And now we are dying of thirst here.

 

At that moment, ‘God who sees’ saw our plight and heard our cries. God subverted the system that Abraham used to claim to be of God, by coming in rescue of a slave woman and to her child. God manifested that God is a God who consciously takes sides with the oppressed and is not limited to those who claim God to be their own.  In fact, the patriarchal writers of the text in Genesis, did not record my plight and cries, they only mentioned that God heard the cries of my child. Yes, God did hear the plight of my son, for God gave life by quenching our thirst with a well of water. The angel of God called on me and I have heard the voice: “What troubles you Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is and your weeping from where you are. Come lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” As I heard the voice, my eyes were opened, my heart was opened and my whole being was filled with hope for a new life.

 

God sent a water angel and checked the matter from my end and strengthened me by providing water to us from a well which was very near to us. Immediately I drew water from that well, filled the skin with water and quenched the thirst of Ishmael. Water gave us a new life to me and my son, for through water my child was ordained to become a great nation.

 

I realised without water; life is nearly death. For I have seen it with my own eyes, for my son was nearing death from thirst, and was longing for fresh water. By drinking water from the well, Ishmael my son came back to life. When my son and me were dying of thirst, God sent an angel with water from a well. God’s responded to my lament in a practical, timely and relevant manner. God did not do a magic to save the life of Ishmael, but helped us to draw water from a well nearby, which we did not realise that it was there. Even though Abraham deserted me and my son, God did not leave us nor forsake us. God gave us waters of life so that we become a stream of life for many generations. God watched over me and Ishmael, for Ishmael grew up, made a living in the wilderness of Paran and became an expert with the bow, for he was well known for hitting a bullseye with his bow. By the way we have recognised and experienced the presence of God in the wilderness, for I am a testimony to a ‘God who sees,’ and Ishmael lives up to the meaning of his name in his testimony to a ‘God who hears.’  

 

As I narrate this story, I recount several people across the world today in 21^st century who are dying thirsty, due to lack of water, in fact lack of fresh water. There are many who are ‘quintessentially outsiders’, marginalised on gender, social class, caste and ethnicity, and have been yearning for fresh waters to save their lives.

 

The God of Hagar is a God who sees and is a God who hears, for the God of justice, sees and hears the cries and tears of communities who have been living under stigma, discrimination and exclusion. The God of Hagar comes to the thirsty communities with wells of fresh waters, quenching their thirst and granting life.

 

When Hagar speaks, she exposes the powers of patriarchy of the faithful people. When Hagar speaks, she invokes a God who sees and hears the plights of the thirsty communities, thirsty for water and thirsty for justice and peace. When Hagar speaks, she is firm in addressing the thirst of her children. When Hagar speaks, she overcomes stigma and discrimination inflicted by race, caste and such other prejudices. Let those that have ears listen to Hagar and strive for a just world, where water will be accessed by all people freely and justly.

 

In the context of growing child hunger in the UK in particular and in the world in general, these words of Hagar, “Do not let me look on the death of the child,” reverberates as our lament, and as our prayer today. There are many around the world today crying out “I can’t breathe” may be that would have been what Ishmael was crying out loud in that wilderness.  God in our context is inviting us to be and become wells of fresh water where we can quench the thirst of several people dying out of hunger and thirst and also offer hope to people who are unable to breathe due the pressure of prejudice and discrimination.

 

Alluding to Emmanuel Katongole, a Ugandan Catholic theologian who explains three constitutive elements that belong to the theological practice of lament, allow me to draw three lessons for our faith communities from the lament of Hagar. Firstly, lament as a protest, Kantongole calls it ‘critique,’ where the society has forgotten the experience of weeping. Because of the growing individualism, and with the culture of growing personal well-being, we have lost the sense of fraternity in our societies. Though this lock down has enhanced the neighbourliness by talking to one another on the streets, it has not gone beyond the confines of our own streets, leave alone going as far as to the wilderness. Hagar lamented offering a critique of her patriarchal society, and today we as churches are called to lament of our insensitivity and indifference that we show towards people who are different to us. When child poverty is on the rise in our communities, when Black lives not mattering with ongoing sagas of discriminations and oppressions, when fear of the strangers has been increasing, perhaps as we return to our churches and places of worship, we are called to lament of our complacency, of our insensitivity and indifference towards others.

 

Secondly, the grace to weep – the church as a community of lament. This phrase ‘grace to weep’ was from Pope Francis’ homily at Lampedusa, his first visit outside of Rome, at a Refugee camp, where he was inviting the faith communities to join in the heart of divine pathos, for a call to the church is to reimagine her location which is at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Hagar’s lament is an invitation for us today to be a community of lament speaking openly in the public space for the plights and pathos of children who are pushed to poverty and for the plights of the refugees. Liberation is an invitation to join with Jesus into situations of weeping and offering a way of light by being and becoming wells of fresh water to the thirsty community around us.

 

Thirdly, lament as “suffering -with” – the power of compassion. This grace to weep is an invitation to be in solidarity with people who are suffering and joining with them in their suffering, in their weeping. Hagar wept as Ishmael wept, and demanded ‘God who sees’ to act and demonstrate compassion for her dying son. As faith communities our calling is to offer lament as our willingness to join and suffer with those who are suffering. When the claps have finally stopped on our streets it is time to keep continuing the acts of compassion which should extend beyond our confines to the margins of our societies.

 

On a final note, as part of my imagination I think Hagar and Ishmael, having tasted the hope from God after their laments, would have dug several wells in that wilderness and beyond, ensuring that people’s thirst is quenched. By such acts of digging wells, they would have demonstrated the presence of God and strived in turning that wilderness into a liveable place, offering hope through community building around wells. As a church should we not become a well of fresh water to our community around us quenching the thirst of many Hagars and Ishmaels?  

 

May God of Hagar and may the God of Ishmael grant us as communities to see things that can be seen only through the eyes that have cried for water, food, peace, love and justice.

 

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta

18^th June 2020

Pic credit: https://theshalomcenter.org/wellsprings-life-hagar-rosh-hashanah

Drawing the Faith - Sarah Laughs

Jai ho explains, "On a hot day when Trinity appeared as three strangers, Abraham received and hosted a dinner to them. On hearing that Sarah shall have a son at her old age, Sarah laughed out loud," 

When asked what is the message you give through this drawing, Jai ho replies, "It's ok to laugh, and God loves those who express their faith through laughter." 

Herewith i also attach a litany of laughter which was written based on the same text: 

A Litany of Laughter

Based on Genesis 18: 1-15

 

I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son

Response: Sarah laughed 

 

God does not live in shrines made of human hands

Response: Laughter 

 

God is not served by human hands as if God needed anything

Response: Laughter 

 

Trinity kneels in solidarity with Black lives matter

Response: Laughter 

 

When members at our churches are dwindling is there hope for Christian faith?

Response: Laughter 

 

Churches are now called to recognise and collaborate with God’s work in our communities

Response: Laughter 

 

God is a collaborator God working with us and journeying with us towards a new creation

Response: Laughter

 

God’s love is all embracing and loves equally all people irrespective of one’s identities

Response: Laughter 

 

We are moving forwards towards an uncertain future rather than to the old normal

Response: Laughter 

 

Is anything too wonderful to the Lord?

Response: Laughter 

 

God who chuckled when Sarah laughed and revealed Godself to them,

Help us to laugh with Sarah

and recognise that you are hearing our laughter

and are offering hope to us,

for laughter is a site of your divine intervention in our lives. Amen

 

 

@rajpatta

13^th June 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Litany of Laughter: Based on Genesis 18: 1-15

I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son

Response: Sarah laughed 

 

God does not live in shrines made of human hands

Response: Laughter 

 

God is not served by human hands as if God needed anything

Response: Laughter 

 

Trinity kneels in solidarity with Black lives matter

Response: Laughter 

 

When members at our churches are dwindling is there hope for Christian faith?

Response: Laughter 

 

Churches are now called to recognise and collaborate with God’s work in our communities

Response: Laughter 

 

God is a collaborator God working with us and journeying with us towards a new creation

Response: Laughter

 

God’s love is all embracing and loves equally all people irrespective of one’s identities

Response: Laughter 

 

We are moving forwards towards an uncertain future rather than to the old normal

Response: Laughter 

 

Is anything too wonderful to the Lord?

Response: Laughter 

 

God who chuckled when Sarah laughed and revealed Godself to them,

Help us to laugh with Sarah

and recognise that you are hearing our laughter

and are offering hope to us,

for laughter is a site of your divine intervention in our lives. Amen

 You can read reflection on "laughter as a way of prayer in the presence of God" on this link: http://thepattas.blogspot.com/2020/06/laughter-as-way-of-prayer-in-presence.html

 

@rajpatta

13^th June 2020

 

 pic credit: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/156077943320471465/

 

 

 

 

 

Laughter as a way of prayer in the presence of God: Reflecting on Genesis 18: 1-15

When I keep speaking and writing about reimagining Church as God’s work in the community, as we move forward to an uncertain future, I hear people chuckling and laughing to themselves at these ideas. They ask me back, when we return to the ‘normal’ our numbers in the church will become small and the future of Christian church is becoming dim, isn’t God’s work in the community too abstract to understand church today? When I posted Jai ho’s drawing of Trinity kneeling in solidarity with Black lives matter last week, I was trolled to not ‘degrade the word’ asking me ‘how can God bow before humans?’ I heard them laugh. These incidents helped me to reflect and ask, is my understanding of reimagining church and God unrealistic and is it a laughing stock? No, these incidents do not deter me to offer hope as the Spirit leads me, for I realise it is ok to be ridiculed. Some are cynical about moving forward to a new future, some are afraid of the future of Christianity for they think everything is in their hands to control. Some are laughing at the ideas of reimagining the church today. It is ok to laugh, for we never know it can serve as a way of prayer and as an expression of our longing for a new future.

In Genesis 18, Abraham hosts three strangers by the oaks of Mamre, offering a radical hospitality by sharing the best portions of food, freshly kneaded bread, tender beef, milk, curds and engaged in a conversation with them after they finished eating their meal. One of the strangers on enquiring where Sarah was, promises, “I will surely return to you in due season and your wife Sarah shall have a son” (10v). Sarah on hearing what the stranger said, began laughing to herself, asking can she have pleasure with her husband in their nineties. Barbara Glasson has recently written on “A Good Laugh” and sought hope in the laughter of Sarah. Barbara writes, “She (Sarah) was told in her ripe old age that she was going to have a baby and laughed out loud and even named her son Isaac (which in Hebrew means ‘He laughs’) after that outburst of merriment – thank you Sarah for seeing the ridiculous side of Divine action.” Sarah laughed when she heard news about something impossible, which Barbara explains Sarah seeing the ridiculous side of the divine in action.

In the patriarchal (where men assume power and discriminate other genders as inferior to them) society of Abraham, women were restricted to the private spaces, for Sarah had to do all the cooking for the guests, but had no chance of coming out to meet and speak to the guests. But the divine who came as strangers by enquiring Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” (9v) was trying to break open those patriarchal stereotypes that women are limited to the domestic private space and men are out in the public space. On hearing from Abraham that Sarah was ‘in the tent’, one of the strangers spoke loudly so that Sarah can hear, and pronounced that in due season Sarah shall have a child. Then Sarah laughs to herself. The tent was her own space, for over the years that space would have been a space for her to weep, to laugh, to pray, to lament and to sit in silence. On this occasion, Sarah in her own space, in her own freedom, laughed to herself, for all that she had was, she and herself. Out of the fear generated by the patriarchal society, later on Sarah denies that she laughed and Abraham insisted that she did laugh (15v), for I think the stranger-guests and Abraham would have heard her chuckle from inside the tent. But for Sarah, laughter was an expression of her freedom, an expression of who she was and served as an act of subversion for her. It was an act of subversion against the patriarchal society which confined women to a private space like the tent, and never allowed them to laugh out loud in the public spaces.

On hearing Sarah’s laughter, the strangers respond by allowing the divine in them to come out and speak. The activity of God as they spoke can be seen in at least four ways.  Firstly, there was a revelation to Abraham that it was God who has come in three strangers(13v). Secondly, on hearing Sarah’s laughter God responds, “why did Sarah laugh and say “shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Thirdly, on hearing Sarah’s laughter, God explains God’s character, for God works in wonderful ways and surprising ways, for it is mentioned “Is anything too wonderful to the Lord?” (14v). Fourthly, God offers hope that in the set time and in due season Sarah shall have a child. In a way Sarah’s laughter provoked the God in the strangers not only to reaffirm the promise that God made to Abraham in making a great generation but also to make it precise and particular as a defined God-moment out of which that promise will be realised. It is therefore important to acknowledge a divine spark in the laughter of Sarah, which is helpful for us in our faith journeys.

Sarah’s laughter served as a way of Prayer:

On hearing the stranger’s words that in due season that Sarah shall have a son, Sarah couldn’t contain her laughter and laughed to herself. In that laughter, I see a prayer, a subversive prayer that is expressed in emotion. For in that laughter as Sarah spoke to herself with a question, “after I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” (12v), she was being heard by God. In her laughter as a way of prayer, Sarah was not questioning the supernatural power of God rather was asking can she and her husband have pleasure at their age and time. Sarah’s laughter as a way of prayer demonstrates that the God she believed in is not a God who works through unrealistic fantasy, but a God who works through them. Sarah’s laughter was not a laughter of cynicism but a laughter of realism, where prayer is about realistic things. Our prayers therefore reveal the kind of God we believe and the kind of God we believe is exhibited in the way we pray. When Sarah laughed, God not only heard and responded to her laughter as a way of prayer, but I think God would have joined in laughing with Sarah to fulfil the promise God has made to her.

Catherine M Wallace asks “what makes us laugh, after all?” For which she replies, “we laugh at incongruity, at discrepancy. We laugh at the ridiculous and the unexpected. Laughter testifies to our perception of the difference between what is and what ought to be. When we laugh at ourselves, we rise above our own situations. We refuse to be defined either by our failures or by the betrayals and the failures of others.” When Sarah laughed, she was rising above her situations which were defined by patriarchy and she was refusing to be defined by the failures that the society has put on her as a child-less woman. Sarah laughed, and that laughter served as a way of prayer and such a prayer was heard by God.

I also see a creative prayer in Sarah’s laughter. A prayer with no salutation, no calling on the different names of God, no quoting of scripture, but a prayer where she asks a question to herself. That opens us to understand that as Sarah laughed, the presence of God was opened, for God began to respond to Abraham. In verse 13, we see immediately the change in the tone of the conversation where “the Lord” began to speak.

Sarah’s laughter opened the Revelation of God:

On hearing Sarah’s laughter, God was quick to speak to Abraham, opening wide the revelation of God. Till then Abraham knew the three people as strangers and suddenly, he had to hear the voice of God spoken through them. Sarah’s laughter did not make God angry. The patriarchal society demeaned and diminished Sarah’s laughter as a sign of unbelief to the promise of God, but there is freshness in Sarah’s prayer which was seen in her laughter. The laughter of Sarah was not seen by God as offensive, for God on hearing the laughter of Sarah did not curtail God’s promise nor cursed Sarah at that point, rather God revealed God’s character of doing wonderful things in their lives offering hope to them. It was because of Sarah’s laughter that God spoke to Abraham, reassuring him, ‘is anything too wonderful for God?’ Sarah’s laughter paved the way for the actions of God’s wonderful acts to flow on in their lives. It is important to recognise that God’s wonderful acts includes the participation of human beings, for God works wonders through and with God’s creation and creatures.

Sarah’s laughter made God to offer hope that in due time and season they shall see a wonder in their lives. God’s wonders are not like magic, and thankfully God did not turn Sarah and Abraham into a young couple and then gave them a child. God in their old age creates pleasure among them and paves the way for an offspring. When things unfolded as promised, I can imagine Sarah would have kept laughing at every point of her life that followed and eventually named her son Isaac, after her deep spiritual experiences of laughter with God, which served for her as a prayer. God acts in God’s own times and seasons, offering courage, hope and perseverance to people.   

One of the features of lockdown has been sharing jokes about our shared living experiences. As we hear Sarah’s laughter, we are called in our reimagining the church, to recognise that laughter serves as a site of divine intervention and to be reminded that when we laugh at every ridiculed situation, God’s presence is with us. For Abraham and Sarah there was uncertainty about their future, anxiety in moving forward and when Sarah heard something unexpected from the divine, she couldn’t but laugh, laugh at herself and laugh out loud so that the divine who came as strangers along with Abraham heard her laugh. In her laughing, Sarah gathered strength, Sarah gathered courage, Sarah offered a prayer, soon to know that God is offering new life that will bring new possibilities in their journey of life. It is easy to go back to the ways we have always been doing in the life of the church, perhaps longing to reboot the old. But God’s ways are different, inviting us to step into an unknown future offering new possibilities. Laughter is a natural expression of human spirit, and when future appears bleak, when things are annoying around us, when going gets tough, laughter as a faith space helps us as a defiance against all those oppositions. May the courage of Sarah be with each of us so that we can laugh at ourselves on hearing that God is leading us into an uncertain future with a confidence of new hope in Jesus Christ. Let us together join with Sarah in laughing out loud and celebrate hope, for God works wonderfully through each of us. God hasn’t given up on the Christian faith nor on the church, but is leading us to offer hope in our community by building on laughter, kindness, peace and justice.

Allow me to conclude with an old Tibetan proverb: The secret of living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure. 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta                                                                    

11^th June 2020

Image credit: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/150166968800847463/

Drawing the Faith - Trinity on their knees

Jai ho in response to Jesus' final words to his disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) "go and make disciples of all nations(ethnicities)" has drawn the Trinitarian God kneeling on the road in solidarity with #Blacklivesmatter joining all those people demanding racial justice. Jai ho says, "Trinity is one God in three reflections." 

They don't lift their Bible over their heads: They love their Bibles

Look our two beautiful Dalit Christian women my mom Indira n my mom in law Kumari holding their own Telugu Bibles closer to their hearts, for God of the Bible is at the heart of their lives. They don’t lift the Bible over their heads nor held it upside down. They love their Bibles. Bible truly meant to be a lamp unto their feet n a light unto their paths in their journey towards liberation. God of the Bible granted life, dignity, respect n transformation to our lives

https://twitter.com/rajpatta/status/1268873973833568256?s=20

Com(e)missioning as Love in the face of uncertainty: Reflection on Matthew 28: 16-20

As lockdown eases out, it is no longer returning back to the normal, but we are called to move forward towards an uncertain future, relying on the assurance of the presence of God with us always. In that movement towards an unknown future, what are our specific tasks as followers of Jesus Christ? As I hear from people around, I gather for some, their immediate task is to open the church building either for worship or even for private prayers maintaining two meters distance, following the guidelines. For some others it is coming together for fellowship which they have missed for more than ten weeks due to this lock down. For some others it is to open up their building to the groups that have been using it so that they can pull up their financial resources. The kind of tasks that we take up as we move towards an uncertain future defines our purpose and relevance of being disciples of Jesus Christ today.

On this Trinity Sunday, the reading from the lectionary Matt 28:16-20, has been the final words of the risen Jesus as recorded my Matthew, which are known as ‘the great commission’ where Jesus commissions his disciples with certain tasks to do. I use the word com(e)mission because it was an invitation of Jesus to come and join with him in those specific tasks in the mission of God, and according to Taiwanese theologian C. S. Song, the only commissioning Jesus was interested was that of love. Little did the disciples know what their future would be like, as they gathered there on that mountain. Their future was very uncertain. They did not know what would it be not to have Jesus physically with them anymore. They did not know what would it be for them as a team to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ into that unknown future. They cannot just go back to their fishing careers, and not continue the mission of Jesus forward. There was an uncertain future ahead of them. Here they have come to encounter the risen Jesus, not knowing these are the last moments that they are spending with him.

When the eleven men disciples had their first encounter with the risen Jesus on that mountain in Galilee, even though some worshipped him and some others doubted him (17v), Jesus assigns all of them with equal tasks to do as a continuation to his ministry. Jesus did not mistrust those who doubted him, nor eulogised those worshipped him, but kept his trust equally on all his disciples and entrusted them equally the tasks to continue. The disciples were not all on the same page, for on meeting the risen Jesus they reacted differently, each according to their own conviction. The disciples then mirror so much like our church folk today, with different opinions, with different perspectives and with different approaches. Jesus like then even today does not discount any perspective and trusts all of them equally, for on hearing from him through the women disciples they have all come to witness the risen Jesus Christ. Jesus entrusts the tasks to his disciples not based on the disciples’ reaction on meeting him, but entrusts the tasks based on his equal trust that he has in all of them, no matter whether they demonstrate their faith in worship or in doubt. The key factors in assigning the tasks to his disciples are: firstly, God in Jesus is faithful for God trusts impartially in Jesus’ disciples, irrespective of their identity, faith and gifts. Secondly, all that matters for the disciples is their encounter to witness the risen Jesus.

To the disciples who were moving towards an uncertain future, Jesus sandwiches the words of his com(e)missioning between a preamble and an epilogue that provides assurance and strength for them. As a preamble Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (18v). One of the concerns of the disciples was about power and authority that they would face in their future, for they were already known as the disciples of Jesus, the messiah, and were most sought after to be imprisoned. The first century Palestinians were living under the fear of the occupation of Roman empire, who exercised power ruthlessly over them, and the disciples knew that Jesus was publicly executed by that empire for preaching the Kingdom of God over against the Kingdom of Rome. The disciples were also concerned about the kind of opposition that they would face from the authorities of the Jewish temple religion as they move forward. In light of such fears as they move towards their uncertain future, Jesus assures his disciples that all authority, be it in heaven or on earth has been with him, so that neither empire nor temple religion can exercise power over them and can curtail their work. As we read through the Acts of the Apostles, we recognise this assurance coming true in the lives of the disciples, that despite all the oppositions from the powers of their time, the gospel of Jesus Christ flourished through the witness, the wonders and the work of these disciples. The com(e)missioning of disciples was foregrounded on the assurance of Jesus that no power is above him, and God in Jesus moves and works with them contesting the oppressive powers and offering life to all people.

The epilogue of Jesus for these com(e)missioning words, where he said, “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (20b V) is also very reassuring for the disciples. Jesus assures his disciples that he will be with them not sporadically, not only in times of trouble and need, but ALWAYS. In the Old Testament lesson for this Sunday from Genesis 1, we read about the creation of God. I know we have discussed this question earlier, where did God do his creation? To answer this question, we need to answer another question, what/who was before the creation? Now to give a summarised answer to both these questions, it was God alone who was before creation, and so there was no space which was not of God. So, God created this creation in God’s own space, and therefore God has seen it as good in everything God created. The presence of God has always been there in the entire creation, before the creation as the Spirit hovered over the waters, right from the day the creation came into being, and throughout histories will be in all the futures to come. So, Jesus when he was reassuring his disciples that he is with them always, he was reaffirming that God in Jesus is always with them to the end of the age. Jesus was reassuring his disciples that there is no time or space where there is an absence of the presence of God. In a way Jesus was offering hope to his disciples to move forward into the uncertain future with all courage and grace, for Jesus is with them always (depth of God’s presence) and to the end of the age (length of God’s presence.)

Jesus assigns four tasks to his disciples as they move towards an uncertain future (19-20v).

1.     Go therefore: 

The first task that I recognise that Jesus was entrusting to his disciples was to go, to move, to proceed from that mountain, from the present state, from their previous experiences and from their previous normal to an uncertain future. Jesus was pumping confidence and hope as he was inviting them to go. That invitation to go was a wakeup call for them not to be complacent with their experiences and memories that they have shared with Jesus, not to get struck in that present moment of venerating the encounter of seeing the risen Jesus, not to be withdrawn because of their fears, but to go, go to the uncertain future with the accompaniment of the power of Jesus and the presence of Jesus with them.

2.     Make disciples of all nations:

The second task that Jesus entrusts his disciples was to make disciples of all nations. The original Greek word used for ‘nations’ was ‘ethne’ which is also translated as ‘ethnicities,’ for it serves as the root to the word ‘ethnicity.’ In their com(e)missioning, the disciples were called to make disciples of all ethnicities. At Pentecost we have seen that people from all nations (ethnicities) gathered and understood their languages being spoken there (Acts 2:5). In the entire book of Acts the task of discipleship was to celebrate the inclusion of people of all ethnicities into the fold of God’s love. In the vision of the new earth and new heaven, it was mentioned that the nations (ethnicities) will walk by its light (Revelation 21:5). For the early church it was ‘making’, but in reimagining it for our times, it would be ‘becoming’ which is an ongoing process. So, what does “becoming disciples of all ethnicities” mean today? 

The times in which we live today particularly are defined on one hand where it is reported that Black Asian Ethnic Minority group members are at high risk of dying due to this pandemic than the rest of the populations in UK, and on the other hand, discrimination, oppression and killing of Black people based on racial prejudice has been continuing unabated, what does make disciples of all nations and ethnicities mean to us as followers of Jesus Christ today?

In our becoming disciples, it starts by affirming in the equal image of God among all people of all ethnicities. Becoming disciples is upholding in the equity and equality of people of all ethnicities. Becoming disciples is contesting the supremacy of one particular ethnicity over the other, for such division is against the design of God’s equal love for all. Becoming disciples is respecting the diversity of ethnicities and is accepting one another in love and with grace. Becoming disciples of all ethnicities is to join in solidarity with those people who are demanding justice for people who are crying ‘I can’t breathe’ due to the knees of racial prejudice put against their necks. Are some churches globally guilty of suffocating creative thinking and closing down ‘breathing spaces’ of reimagining mission relevant for our times?   The disciples of Jesus continued this mission to make disciples of all ethnicities in the early church as they moved into the uncertain future and accomplished it to their best possibility, following in the footsteps of Jesus in discipling people. It is also important for us to recognise that Jesus did not say make ‘members’ of a particular church of all nations, nor Jesus said make ‘leaders’ of all nations. Discipleship is the key task entrusted to the disciples in moving forward, to which we are called to carry it forward. In the current scenario of online worship services, as many appreciate the participation of big numbers, the key question that needs a wider discussion is ‘how is discipleship nurtured at these online spaces?’

3.     Baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy spirit:

Having made the disciples, the task further was to baptise them in the name of Triune God. Baptism is an invitation to join with Jesus in his death and resurrection experience, a task Jesus invites his disciples to com(e)mission as they move forward. Paul in Romans 6:3-5 writes:

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Baptism is also an invitation for the disciples to walk with the triune God in newness of life in their public spheres. The disciples as they moved into the uncertain future, baptised people as act of public testimony of experiencing new life offered in Jesus in their lives. Baptising people is a public witness to their new creation experience. Also remember the words of John the Baptist who proclaimed that he is baptising them with water, whereas the one who is coming after him, Jesus “will baptise you with Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus was inviting his disciples to baptise like him with Holy Spirit and fire, which is burning down all injustices and boundaries drawn to oppress people. Baptising people is not about a numerical count, as to how many people did we dip in the water, but a public act of celebrating new life in Christ, critically reflecting on their old self, and also forgoing their privilege. Jesus’ baptism of fire is an invitation for a deepened and self-critical reflection on oneself where he forges a new identity for the Kingdom of God, which does not privilege any one by their ethnicity, by their gender or colour, but which will be governed by inclusivity, justice, equality and liberation. Therefore, to baptise people is an invitational call for a self-critical reflection on the privileges of power and domination, and foraging for a renewed community in Christ. As we move into the uncertain future from this current lockdown, the task for us is to offer that newness of life in Jesus to people around us, by giving up our own privileges and powers.

In the context of growing hunger and poverty in our contexts today, baptising people is to offer newness of life by meeting their hunger and addressing their poverty. In the context of the ongoing racial discriminations, the invitation to baptise is to join with people who have been discriminated based on their colour in their struggles for justice and be part of a new by practising equality and by respecting them as people. Baptising people is also about giving up our privileges and to identify with the weak and the marginalised people.

4.     Teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded to them:

The final task that Jesus com(e)missions the disciples was teaching people to obey everything that Jesus has commanded, which can be summed up in loving God and loving our neighbour. The disciples moved into the uncertain future by teaching people in every context the importance of loving God which is manifested in loving neighbour and a stranger. Their lives were a teaching demonstrating the love God towards their neighbours, who included, people of all ethnicities, migrant people, people from non-Jewish backgrounds, slaves, young and old people. Their love for the neighbour did not know any limits, by which they witnessed and taught about loving God. In our context today, if we are failing in not loving our neighbour, we are failing the very gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our call as we move into the uncertain future is demonstrating the love of God as Jesus commanded by loving the neighbour and loving the stranger, particularly those who do not look like us and who do not believe like us. There is a longing and belonging of people who have been pushed to margins and have been oppressed because of their identity, the first thing on our movement forward is to offer an unconditional love towards the ‘other’ just as Jesus commanded, preached and practiced.

The call for us all is to reimagine these tasks that Jesus has given to his disciples as we move into an uncertain future by going into the communities, living out our discipleship by offering hope and newness of life and by demonstrating love beyond any measures to all people, overcoming the barriers and divisions that we have drawn based on our privilege and prejudice. Let’s be assured of God in Jesus’ power and presence to be with us, so that we join with Jesus in com(e)missioning for the kingdom of God offering signs of hope for new creation. Let us move forward into the uncertain future in all boldness, courage, love, and grace, for God in Jesus works with us and through us in realising the new creation here in our midst.

Allow me to conclude in a prayer that I have written during the week, as a prayer of solidarity for #Blacklivesmatter

Every knee shall bow

In weeping for George Floyd who lost his breath

Every knee shall bow

In protest against the knees of prejudice that put him to death

Every knee shall bow

In repentance for white supremacy whose oxygen is discriminations

Every knee shall bow

In solidarity with those protestors demanding justice in ‘this-crime-nations’

Every knee shall bow

In defiance of the oppressive status quos in the society

Every knee shall bow

In respect for those who dream and strive for equality

Every knee shall bow

In support of Black people who are beautifully made in God’s equal image

Every knee shall bow

In giving up our privilege and identifying with the powerless in our global village

Every knee shall bow

In anger at the silence of people on the face of injustice now

Every knee shall bow

In prayer for peace, for equity, for justice, for action, for forgiveness, for grace and for love.

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta,

4^th June 2020

Pic credit: https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/17160/the-commissioning-of-the-disciples