Prayer on the Return to Church buildings for Worship

God whose gracious spark of divinity is present among all of the creation,

During these six months of lockdown,

You have never failed in your visitations to us and

pushed our boundaries to recognise you and your work

beyond the confines of our known horizons,

reminding us that you are always at work with us

in renewing and transforming this world.

 

You have come alive in acts of generosity

That we experienced in our neighbourhood,

You have come alive in our kitchens, dining rooms, gardens,

And in our homes, in our conversations with our family members

You have come alive in our virtual gatherings, online worships,

In our family and friends zoom meetings,

You have come alive when friends called one another

To console, to help with shopping, to support and to pray,

You have come alive by listening to the laments

Of those who lost their dear ones due to this virus

You have come alive in acts of sharing food

To families affected by holiday hunger

You have come alive in the acts of key workers

Who risked their own lives in an uninterrupted stream of care in order to keep others alive. 

You have come alive in the attempts of the scientists

working tirelessly on the vaccine for this pandemic,

You have come alive in the acts of resistance for justice

By the Black Lives Matter movements and Climate Change activists,

You have come alive in the acts of resilience

In those who provided care and shelter to those people crossing the oceans as refugees

 

Living God, you are always present among us,

Weeping with us, laughing with us, walking with us and working with us

Help us to recognise that you are a ‘God with us’ and in you is our hope

 

As we return to our church buildings for worship,

Help us not to lose sight of what we have learned about our faith during this lockdown,

Help us to be channels of your love in our communities,

Transcending those walls, boundaries, positions and horizons, which we know restrict us.

for you O God cannot be contained and limited to any enclosed spaces and spheres.

 

Help us as churches to be open to all people in our public sphere,

Help us as churches to recognise that we are in partnership with you,

Rather you want to be in partnership with us in transforming our localities,

where justice, peace, equality and love

will flow to all the corners of our societies,

realising the Kingdom of God in our midst on our earth. Amen

                                                                                                            @rajpatta, 11.09.2020

Forgiveness on whose terms? Reflecting on Matthew 18:21-35

 The global pandemic today has created at least four kinds of crisis. The medical crisis, which is the epidemic itself, the economic crisis where the divide between the rich and the poor is ever widening, the psychological crisis with anxieties and mental health of several people at risk and the crisis created by racism, migration, where people from marginal communities are severely affected. The economic turmoil caused by this pandemic is pushing countries with debts in the world deeper into crisis. Earlier in the lockdown, several Christian organisations have been campaigning for debt cancellations from the powerful nations to those countries of lower economies, so that they can spend on proper medical and health facilities for their people. As churches, there is a greater role for us in thinking about our neighbours in other countries and to act so that we can urge our governments to cancel the debts of the countries in the global south.

 

Many a times, we have heard dominant groups complaining how one group of oppressed community oppress another group of oppressed community, and argue that the system of oppression has always have a spiralling effect. We need to make it clear that oppression done by any person is against the will of God, which calls to stand in the light of justice, calling to address and defeat it through liberative means & methods. However, we should not miss the larger narrative in this frame, which is the ploy of power to deviate the struggle from fighting the larger evil of dominance by trying to focus on the conflicts and divisions between and among the oppressed communities. By magnifying the conflicts between the oppressed groups, the dominance of the dominant groups is left untouched, for they continue to exercise power unabated, due to which the saying ‘the king is always right’ has gained currency.

 

Particularly in the context of the caste system, the dominant castes have always tried to divide and rule those who are born outside of the caste system, the Dalits and the Tribals. Time and again we read news about the internal conflicts among Dalits of two different sub-castes. In all of this the bigger evil of caste discrimination is left unaddressed and the dominant castes enjoy their privilege of being dominant by trying to solve the problems between two sections of Dalits. Even in the context of Black Lives Matter, many people have pointed out the faults among the Black communities by branding them with all sorts of derogatory brackets, and were trying to deviate from the bigger issue of addressing racism. It is important for us to recognise that ‘divide and rule’ has been the plot of those that enjoy power and domination and any sign of that needs to be contested at all levels in our society.

 

The passage from Matthew 18:21-35, has been one such passages which has been used, quoted and interpreted from the perspective of colonial episteme, highlighting how one ‘forgiven’ slave oppresses another of his fellow slave, by unforgiving and acting cruel to him. Towards the end the ‘forgiven’ slave is turned to be ‘unforgiven’ and further tormented to pay back his debts to his master.

 

It is Peter who is asking Jesus about the limits of forgiveness to his neighbour in a Church, who commits sin against him. Jesus replies to Peter by de-limiting the limits that he has set for forgiveness from seven times to either seventy-seven times or seventy times seven, by which he proclaims forgiveness comes unlimited and unconditional. This is the gospel of this passage. A postcolonial reading of this text further elucidates this point.

 

In a context where slavery was so prevalent under the Roman empire, this given passage, the system of slavery is left unattended by eulogising the acts of pity & power by the king, and by criminalising the acts of the forgiven-unforgiven slave. The king and his authority to employ slaves is uncontested because one of the tenets of empire is ‘king is always right.’ In order to establish that the ‘king is always right’ it has to be the ‘slaves who are always wrong.’ The forgiveness given to the slave with larger amounts of debt was only of his financial debts out of king’s ‘pity’ and by the pleading speech of this powerless person. This person though was released by the king, he continued to be called as a slave, and towards the end of the passage the king calls him ‘wicked slave,’ which conveys that this powerless person continued to live in slavery, for there has been no change in his status or personhood. Once a salve always is a slave, for this jeopardises the very understanding of forgiveness from the gospel. Did the king seek forgiveness from this forgiven-unforgiven person for being a perpetrator of the system of slavery? No doubt, the king and those in power enjoy impunity from times immemorial till today. Imagining if the king as an act of reparation has forgiven this person from his large amount of debt at one instance, waited for an opportunity at another instance to get it back by any means and took the opportunity to tormenting him till he repaid his debt back.

 

Peter has asked Jesus how many times should we forgive, and further asked is it seven times? The king in this text was not able to forgive his debtor for a second time, forget about seventy- seven times. The text rightly ends in verse 35, by saying ‘my heavenly father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.’ The king need not always be right, for forgiveness comes from God to all people of God. 

 

Allow me to reiterate the gospel once again from this passage:

 

·      Forgiveness does not come with limits or conditions, for divine forgiveness is unlimited, unconditional and is impartial, as revealed in Jesus Christ.

·      Power dynamics should not go unattended and uncontested in any act of forgiveness, for those in power don’t enjoy impunity in the sight of the God of justice.

·      Forgiveness is not based on our terms but is practiced on the terms of the God of justice.

·      Forgiveness and forgiven-ness go hand in hand, for to be forgiven is to forgive, and to forgive is to be forgiven.

·      As local churches, we are called to join in the campaign for debt cancellation

 

Forgiveness is hard work, and we have to find a way for it whether someone asks for it or not.

 

Allow me to conclude with the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for he said,

 

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession...Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

 

May God grant us that spirit of forgiveness so that we can practice it not on our own terms but based on the ethos of God in Jesus, so that love is illumined and is in action at all times and for all people.

  

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta,

11^th September 2020

Pic credit: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/forgiveness/definition

 

 

Do you know what time it is now? Recognising God’s momentous time today: Reflecting on Romans 13:11-14

Wearing a face mask now is compulsory at schools, as students returned to their new academic years. Wearing of masks when going indoors either to super markets or other places, including places of worship is now compulsory. As we return into our church buildings for worship, all of us must wear a face mask. This is to slow down the spread of the virus and to protect the most vulnerable among us, and perhaps is a sign of showing our love for our neighbour. It is understandable that for some it is uncomfortable to cover up the face with a mask in public spaces for a long time, but refusing to wear a mask out of sheer rebellion is unbecoming of the people of faith. As people of faith wearing a mask is one of the simplest forms of showing to the world that we care for our neighbours and show our love towards them, and our hope is in Jesus Christ and not in arrogance or in rebellion.

 

Paul when writing to the church at Rome as recorded in Romans 13:11-15 appeals in urgency to the early Christians to wake up and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, which comes to us with even more urgency with a challenge for our times. Putting on Jesus Christ today is shown by our love for our neighbour. It is now time for us to wake up from sleep, lay aside the works of the empire and to put on Lord Jesus Christ.

 

1.     Recognise this time as God’s Momentous Time:

Paul in verse 11, calls on the Church “to know what time it is”, for the time is ripe and the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is now time to recognise this moment in time, as it is the time appointed by God to act and work. It is interesting to note that the word for ‘time’ used in Greek is ‘kairos’ rather than ‘chronos’. It is not the ‘chronological time,’ that Paul is talking about here, rather it is the ‘appointed time’ (kairos), a time where God intervenes into our times at our end, a time for action, a time for introspection, and a time for an audit of truth.

 

Many people have interpreted this time of pandemic in their own ways, but this text is calling us to recognise that it is God’s intervening time, the times at our end where the signs of our times calls us to wake up from our sleep as a church and act for justice and liberation. If we have to demonstrate to this world that this is God’s momentous time, then we as church are called to demonstrate that love of God to all people, specially to those on the margins. I personally think, as a church we are called to do things differently from what we have always done to capture this God’s momentous time during these times.

 

2.     Reaffirming in the Nearness of Salvation:

In verse 11b, we see Paul further exhorts that “for the salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.” The distance and affinity to salvation becomes closer to people of God in their journey of faith, in relation to their love for their neighbour (8-10v). Salvation is a journeying gift of God that comes closer and nearer to those that wake up from their slumber of inaction and those that stand committed in their acts of love. Salvation oscillates between believing and discipling, and the call today is that salvation gets closer in our true discipleship to Christ, which is nothing but loving our neighbour. Is salvation nearer to us than before? If salvation is nearer to us, then we are invited to act along with God at this appointed time in transforming our lives and our world with love. Salvation is near to us, when we are near to our neighbour loving them unconditionally irrespective of their identity.

Many people have interpreted this pandemic as apocalyptic times, and we have seen a rise in people spending in the online activity of prayers. But one of the big questions that needs to asked is how do we understand salvation today? One of the marks of salvation is love for the neighbour, and that is shown in actions of care for the vulnerable and to those on the margins.

 

3.     Resisting the Works of Empire:

In verse 12, Paul further appeals “the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.” In the context of the Roman empire, Paul explains in 13 verse the works of darkness as revelling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarrelling and jealousy, which have been the order of the day, for those in power indulged in such acts and exploited the vulnerable colonized communities. In contrast to these acts of the empire, Paul urges Christians to lay aside the ‘pyjamas’ of darkness and put on the ‘armour of light’, a vestment for the day, a vestment of the Kingdom of God, which primarily exposes those ungodly deeds, dispels darkness, and liberate people and communities with and towards light. Resisting the works of our neo-empire of our times, which include exploitation, oppression, discrimination and exclusion is a call for us to put on the ‘armour of light.’

 

In the context of the pandemic, I see ‘face mask’ as an armour of light, which is a sign of our love for the neighbour. For those who can, simply donning a mask during this public health crisis can model for our neighbours how we care about them more than keeping our glasses fog free or getting a stare or two. It shows those around us that we will put their health and livelihoods before our own comforts if that means slowing the spread of this deadly virus and saving lives, as we seek to open up our communities and provide for our families. To act as if wearing a mask in this season is cowardice or not trusting the Lord is not only reckless, but it is also a fundamental misunderstanding of how God calls us to live in a broken world.

 

4.     Re-covering ourselves with Lord Jesus Christ: 

In verse 14, Paul finally appeals in all urgency to put on Lord Jesus Christ, making no provisions to gratify the desires of flesh. In contrast to the Roman dress which is muddled with power, authority and exploitation, Paul urges the early Church to put on Lord Jesus Christ, who is stained in all dust and dirt to identify with those on the margins. ‘Putting on Lord Jesus Christ’ is an act of defiance to the colonial rules of ‘putting on Cesar’, the Lord of the colonial powers. This act is to affirm in the Lordship of Jesus Christ in opposition to the Lordship of the empire. Putting on Lord Jesus Christ calls us towards defiance to the powers, and to identifying with the people on the margins. Those in power are called to pitch their tents among the vulnerable communities, for it among them God works and Kingdom of God happens. During this momentous time we are called to de-cover ourselves from the stinking chores of power and re-cover ourselves by putting on Lord Jesus Christ. Putting on Jesus Christ today is wearing a mask as a sign of our love for the neighbour. St. Augustine in 4^th Century heard the call of God from this text as he read and put on Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and eventually turned to become a great theologian for all times.

 

The relevance of this text today is therefore is to swiftly act in showing our love for our neighbour. The context of our times are so grim, for there has been a growing intolerance towards the other, increasing hatred against the stranger, increasing rise of consumerism where economy drives the society, where many people are pushed to invest on spending, widening gap between the rich and the poor, increasing unaccountability of leadership, an increasing refugee crisis, an increasing changes on our climate and planet, increasing poverty, increasing homelessness etc. and there is a sense of more urgency than ever to wake up to face and address the realities of our times. Paul’s words “The night is far gone and the day is near,” therefore conveys to us that this is a momentous time for the church and to each of us as disciples of Christ to wake us up from deep slumber of doing things that we have always done, to know that this is God’s momentous time, lay aside the works of empire and to put on Lord Jesus Christ onto our lives. Let us stop pretending to sleep and wake up with our eyes and hearts wide open to the ongoing acts of injustice and evil around us to raise an alarm for change, so that we can collectively partake and actively participate in transforming our world.

 

Let me conclude with this Masking Prayer by Caroline Beckett, which is relevant for us today.

 

 

 

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta,

4^th September 2020

 

Discipleship as “Tell-show-do-apply” kind of following Jesus Christ: Reflecting on Matthew 16: 21-28

As part of the driving test, besides theory exam, the examiner asks ‘show me’ and ‘tell me’ questions during the practical test, to test the new drivers’ knowledge about the safety of the vehicle. “Tell-show-do-apply” forms a strategy for creating an in-depth learning experience for both the instructor and the student. This week from our lectionary reading, I understand Jesus explaining about his identity and about the discipleship using this strategy, so that both his first century audience and the readers of this text today can decipher that the route map in following Jesus is “tell-show-do-apply.”

 

Ever since Peter affirmed Jesus to be the Messiah and the Son of the living God (16v), ‘from that time on,’ Jesus began to show his disciples about his death and resurrection. It is important to note that in verse 21, it is said, “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples…” On reading this verse again, I was intrigued to recognise that Jesus was not merely ‘telling,’ ‘foretelling’ or just ‘preaching’ about his death and resurrection, rather ‘began to show’ about it to his disciples. Jesus began to demonstrate his sufferings, death and resurrection at the hands of the empire, so that the disciples understand the real essence of Jesus being the Messiah and the Son of the living God. Jesus is now adding flesh to Peter’s counter-cultural declaration (21v), showing that to be a Messiah and the Son of God is to live and testify for the values of God’s Kingdom for it contrasts the empire, and the cost of such a call and living is suffering and death in their hands. However, death is not the end of it, for God offers hope and new life to the creation by raising him on the third day.  Jesus has shown about the kingdom of God to his disciples, in his acts of protest against the Roman empire, in his acts of compassion towards people and in his acts of liberating the oppressed. Jesus has always shown it by being a living testimony in every situation of his life.

 

When Jesus began showing his disciples about the suffering, death and resurrection that is to come to him, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him saying, “God forbit it, Lord! This must never happen to you” (22v). Peter said those words for he did not want to lose Jesus. But Jesus knew that his suffering, death and resurrection will not happen if he compromises about the Kingdom of God and not demonstrate the love of God to all the oppressed communities. Jesus wouldn’t prefer doing that, and did not leave any stone unturned in liberating the oppressed communities, for which he knew public execution in the form of a cross is the cost that he has to pay for such an act.

 

Jesus rebuked Peter to be a stumbling block in his mission of God, challenging him to set his mind on divine things, which was his mission with the margins, and not on human things. Liberating the oppressed on the margins has always been at the heart of the divine, and Jesus has come to tell-show-do-apply on this earth, so that his disciples and followers will do it.  Jesus made a conscious choice of brining good news to the poor and liberating the oppressed living on the margins.

 

Then Jesus told his disciples, “if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (24v). Jesus having told and shown his mission, now is inviting his disciples to do and to apply. Three things to do and apply as followers of Jesus, self-denial, taking up their cross and following Jesus. Denying one’s own self is costly, for it is said, “love is self-lessness and self is love-lessness”, so denying one’s own self is to put ‘others’ first, put love first and put love for others first. Taking up one’s own cross is an important thing to understand. Cross is the reward for standing and striving for God’s kingdom, which is to achieve peace, justice, love and equality. So, carrying one’s own cross is carrying the reward for suffering for peace, justice, love and equality. Many have misread this verse by assuming Jesus is inviting us to carry his cross, and forget that each of us has a cross and Jesus is inviting us to carry it in our discipleship for Jesus. Wearing a cross is easy, but bearing it is costly. To put it in other words, if we are followers of Jesus, there is for sure a cross for every follower, because working with Jesus for justice and peace is costly today. And then to follow Jesus, which is not as a volunteer for the gospel but a follower of Jesus by ‘telling-doing-showing-applying.’ Jesus, then goes on to say, “for those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (25v). Jesus was assuring his disciples about the strength in resurrection, for God offers hope to all those who suffer for the kingdom of God by granting new life experience.

 

Drawing a relevance of this text for us today, we are called as churches to be ‘tell-show-do-apply’ followers of Jesus. This ‘tell-show-do-apply’ is a complete package and over the times, we have compartmentalised it and have used each part of it in isolation. Or most times we have only remained as ‘telling’ churches, telling people and haven’t put our efforts towards showing, doing and applying the gospel of Jesus Christ. As churches our call is to demonstrate the love of God in our community, for which we might have to deny ourselves of our identity and offer love to all in our community unconditionally. As churches our call is to do like what Jesus is doing, to act, to dirty our feet in our working with the margins. This week at Glasgow, as you would have read that Mercy Baguma, an asylum seeker from Uganda was found dead in ‘extreme poverty’ next to her crying baby due to hunger. How can such a thing like this happen during our times today in a 21^st century advanced society, and I am angered at reading this news. Where has mercy and compassion gone?  As part of dirtying our feet, we as churches are called to hear the cries of Mercy’s who are in our localities crying, and are called to share our food to feed people in their hunger.

 

In terms of ‘applying’ Christian discipleship, it was a delight to know that the German Protestant church is sending a ship called ‘Sea-watch 4’ into the Mediterranean Sea to rescue migrants, for they do not want to stand by and watch thousands of people die in the sea. You can read more about it here on this link.[1] This is an example to see how churches today as followers of Jesus Christ are willing to carry their cross, for they are joining with Jesus in saving lives and in promoting life. Application of Jesus gospel today is the key in our moving forward. How do we translate the work of Jesus in our context today? In this application, the methodology might be different from how God in Jesus worked in his historical contexts, for God in God’s dynamism is willing to work with us to see that we are open in applying the gospel relevant to us. Discipleship today demands application of the gospel in actions, relevant for our times.

 

In the context of re-opening the church building for worship, with booking or informing well ahead who would join a service happening these days, I was pleased to hear that some people in my churches have put their names as ‘reserved,’ by which they were willing to drop off and stay at home if there are more people than the allocated number turn up for a service. In following Jesus, we are called to deny ourselves and our own priorities, and take up the cross of love for the sake of God’s kingdom here on earth.

 

May our communities around us know us as ‘tell-show-do-apply’ Christians and churches. May we keep working with passion for the cause of God’s Kingdom by carrying our own local and global crosses and follow Jesus Christ faithfully. Our discipleship in Christ is authentic when it is rooted in ‘tell-show-do-apply’ kind of Christianity. May God grant us God’s strength so that we can follow Jesus sincerely by meeting the needs of the people around us.

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta

27^th August 2020


Pic credit: https://sojo.net/articles/im-following-jesus-real-time

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[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/06/german-protestant-church-to-send-migrant-rescue-boat-to-mediterranean#:~:text=The%20German%20Protestant%20church%20will,preparations%2C%20the%20crew%20has%20said.

Who do you say Jesus is today? Towards a courageous and counter-cultural church - Reflecting on Matthew 16: 13-20

Last week during my annual leave, I started watching ‘Vicar of Dibley’ on the recommendation of my colleagues. When the villagers were waiting for a new vicar at Dibley, to their utter surprise it was a woman Geraldine, who introduces herself as the new vicar of Dibley. Who did they think the vicar would be? Since it has always been men who were vicars, the villagers at Dibley expected a gentleman to be their vicar, based on their theological and historical evidences. Against their expectations, when it was a woman vicar, it took time for them to accept her, and eventually Rev. Geraldine makes a huge difference in the community through her ministry. It was fun watching these episodes, specially Dawn French’s performance of Rev. Geraldine, as a female priest in the tiny village of Dibley is exceptional to watch.

 

In the reading from Matthew 16: 13-20, Jesus asks his disciples about his identity, asking them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Like the villagers in Dibley, the people in the district of Caesarea Philippi had their own known theological and historical expectations of Jesus, the Son of Man. For the disciples reported, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (14v). Jesus was neither content with their reply nor consented to their reply. Now that John the Baptist was dead, Jesus did not claim that he was the risen John the Baptist. Since Elijah was the greatest prophet of Jewish religion who did not see death, Jesus did not claim that he was Elijah reborn. Jeremiah was a known prophet of yester years, for he was lamenting against exilic powers then, and there was every reason for Jesus to claim that he was Jeremiah born again to lament against the colonial powers of his time. Even though Jesus’ mission coincides with the mission engagements of John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah and other prophets, Jesus was not content on taking the identity of others for himself. Jesus has his own unique identity, which he wanted his disciples to explore and recognise based on his work and mission engagements. If we read the question that Jesus posed to his disciples, Jesus was enquiring, ‘who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ and not as ‘who do people say that the Son of Man was?’ Jesus was looking for an answer in present tense.  Jesus was not content with an answer based on some historical knowledge about himself, he was looking for an answer in present tense.

 

When his identity was not fully expressed in the answers of the people, Jesus further probed his disciples and asked them, “who do you say I am?” (15v) Jesus would have said to his disciples, let’s leave what the people say about me, for they have not seen or known me as much as you have seen and known me, and therefore asked his disciples to say who he was as they have known him. It was a question to all the disciples to answer who Jesus was to them. Simon Peter picked Jesus question and replied, “you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16v). On a closer encounter with Jesus, Peter recognised the Messiah in Jesus, who the Jews have been eagerly awaiting to come and restore their land, and also recognised that Jesus is the Son of the living God. For the Jewish audience of the first century to whom Matthew was writing his gospel, they wouldn’t mind calling Jesus as John the Baptist, or Elijah or Jeremiah or another prophet, they would have thought Jesus was continuing their mission. But for Jews then, Peter’s declaration of Jesus as a Messiah and the Son of the living God was heretical and profane. For according to their belief, Messiah was a political figure who will come to restore their land, and how can Jesus, a son of a carpenter from Nazareth do that? According to their Jewish faith, how can living God have a son, for God is beyond any human comprehension for God cannot be compared in human terms of a son. Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ identity was not only counter-cultural, but was also blasphemous.

 

Jesus on the contrary, not only appreciates Simon Peter for his bold declaration about Jesus, but also reveals that such a declaration did not come to him from flesh and blood, but has come from his Father in heaven (17v). In a way Jesus accepted that yes, he was the Messiah, who has come to restore people to God and also is the Son of the living God, the Father in heaven. Peter’s declaration about Jesus was a recognition of who Jesus is, in its present tense. Peter’s declaration about Jesus was contextual, contemporary, creative, and counter-cultural, for they were based on his experiences and encounters with Jesus. Jesus then said to Simon Peter, that on such a rock called Peter he would build his church, and the gates of the hades will not prevail against it (18v). 

 

As we read this text today, two sets of questions come to the fore for our faith journey today. Firstly, who do we say Jesus is for us today? Secondly, what do we say about our church today? We have recognised earlier that Jesus was not content with some historical answers about him, but was seeking a creative, contextual and counter-cultural recognition about Jesus.

 

Allow me to answer it from my own perspective who do I say Jesus is for me? Jesus for me is God becoming human, who identifies with us, laughs with us, walks with us, weeps with us, like a friend, for he transcends all the barriers among people and builds a just and inclusive communion with God and with one another in this his creation. Jesus for me is the lens to know who God is, and a lens to know how human beings should be. Jesus for me is collaborating with each of us in the creation of God in striving towards a new-creation. Jesus for me is the one who stands for justice and sides with those that are oppressed, offering hope and liberation to them. By making such a declaration about Jesus, the call for us is to live like Jesus and work with Jesus in transforming our world to a just world.

 

What do we say about church today? Like Peter, the church is built on people who make counter-cultural affirmations about Jesus, offering hope, love, and peace to all in the community with Jesus, for the gates of hades will not prevail against it. Church for me should not be known by its membership, but should be known by its missional engagements for justice. Church for me should not be known by its minister, but should be known by its ministry in the community. Church for me should not be a private place for the saints, but a public place of comfort and care to the wounded and the broken people. Church for me should not be about prosperity and wealth, but should be about sharing good news to the poor, feeding the hungry, healing the wounded, visiting the sick, realising the captives and engaging in transforming this world to become a new creation. For no gates of hades will prevail against such a church, for Jesus is the lead to it, working with people for a new heaven and new earth.

 

As we return back to our church buildings for worship, let us keep reflecting on the need and relevance of our churches today. I have written previously, what has the community missed with the closing down of church buildings? And now what will the community around our church gain by the opening of our church building for worship? We need to prayerfully wait on God and ask God to help us envision a counter-cultural church, where we can make a difference in our community. Let us not to be content with the rich historical legacy we have had, let us not always keep singing about the past glory of our churches, rather we are called in humility to recognise that we as a church are called to share and offer hope in Jesus Christ to our communities around us. It calls courage to be counter-cultural as a church, but allowing the Spirit of God to lead us will help us in our movement forward, in fact outward as a church. The gates of the hades will not prevail against the church built on a rock, who are willing to be courageous, counter-cultural and creative in their declarations of faith and engagements of mission today. As a church if we aren’t counter-cultural, the gates of contemporary hades will prevail on us.

 

Let’s keep asking this question in our quest for re-imagining the church today, who is Jesus for us today? And what is church for us today? May God lead us and guide us so that we can be bold to be counter-cultural in our declarations of our faith and also in our missional engagements. By the way the Rev. Geraldine, the vicar of Dibley was counter-cultural in many ways and continued her mission engagements.

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta,

21^st August 2020

Pic credit: https://sermons.com/powerpoint/who-do-you-say-i-am/1456748

Are we as a church willing to walk with Jesus on waters today? Reflecting on Matthew 14:22-33

Amidst a re-lockdown measures in place due to the spike in the transmission of virus in our borough here, and as I read through the risk assessment forms of the churches in their preparations for the reopening of the church buildings for worship, I have been thinking are there any theological risk assessments that need to be addressed by us as churches. I reckon how important are the risk assessments for us to follow to keep everyone safe as they return to the church buildings. However, in our planning, all what we have been trying to do is working on how to come back to the church buildings. But personally, I think, a rather more important serious question for us to introspect is how are we preparing ourselves to come back to ‘church?’ What has the learning for us to be a church over the last 20 weeks in lockdown? Have we captured a new vision for us as a church or are we just eager to get back to what we have always been and done as a church? Where is God leading us as a church at a time like this?

 

For me, church is where Jesus is; in other words, church as a plural word for disciples is a place where Jesus is. This week’s reading from Matt 14:22-33, we have Jesus walking on the waters, and this text offers an invitation for us as church to be very different from the usual routine, to walk along with Jesus on the waters of modernity today.

 

After feeding more than five thousand people in the wilderness, Jesus stayed back dismissing everyone including his disciples to retreat and spend time in prayer. “When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.” (Matt 14:23-24) Since the boat wasn’t there for him to travel Jesus had to do something unusual and odd to reach out to his disciples, which was walking on the waters. To put it other way, in order to reach out to his disciples, his friends, Jesus (ad)ventures to leave no stone unturned and can go to any extent, even to the point of walking on the water. For Jesus taking risks was nothing new, and at this point having spent time in prayer with God in solitude, Jesus knew that there is nothing that can separate him to love his disciples, even a lake and so he walks on it to show his love for them by reaching out to them. In other words, for Jesus there is nothing that can separate him from the love of God and his love for people, neither death nor life, neither peril nor pandemic, nor height, nor depth, nor length, nor lake, nor day, nor night, nor things present, nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate him from love. At this instance, Jesus demonstrated that love for his disciples by reaching them on foot on waters. For Jesus all that mattered was reaching his disciples, for which he employs unusual and odd ways, of walking on water.

 

When Jesus does something unusual and odd, the first reaction that comes from the people was to mistake him to be a ‘ghost.’ It was well past midnight, early morning ish, when the fishermen turned disciples, were travelling in the boat to the other side of the shore, ahead of Jesus, the waves started roaring on the sea that they saw a ‘ghost’ walking on the sea. Terrified by seeing ‘the ghost’ the disciples cried out in fear. This case of fear in the life of disciples happened because, firstly, it was unusual and impossible to see someone walking on the sea, when they saw such a thing at that odd hour, they were in fear. Secondly, they mistook Jesus for a ghost or a phantom. They did not anticipate that the divine in Jesus can appear at the oddest periods of time and in the most unusual ways such as walking on water. They neither had a slightest clue to know that Jesus did this to express his love for them. The disciples were scared, fear overtook them, and they were terrified. Learning that his colleagues were petrified, Jesus comforted them by saying that “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.” Our context is no different today. Fear has taken over us for we are not able to recognise Jesus who has been coming to us at odd hours, and in odd and unusual ways.

 

On recognising Jesus words of hope, Peter takes courage in making a plea to Jesus to command him to walk like Jesus on the rough sea. Peter has personally seen and witnessed the strength in the command of Jesus on other occasions, be it in catching two boats of fish, or in stilling the storm or in casting away the demons, and therefore he makes a plea to Jesus to command him to walk on the rough sea. Jesus does not ignore the pleas made by his disciples, and since Peter has acknowledged the power of his command, he invites him to get out of the boat, to come and walk like him on the rough sea. Jesus appreciates when courage transforms people to adventure, and Peter started to walk on water towards Jesus. A rare sight for a human to walk on rough sea, Peter did it and walked for a while, for his plea was answered and became a reality.

 

This rare experience of walking on water for Peter did not long last, for as long as he kept his gaze on Jesus, he walked on rough seas as easy as he walked on the streets. When he let go his gaze on Jesus and noticed the strong winds of that rough sea, fear overcame him once again, and he began to sink in the waters. Letting go his focus on Jesus cost him dear. A diversion and deviation from the gaze on Jesus caused him to lose his balance on the waters, and was overtaken by fear and anxiety.

 

In those sinking moments, Peter cried out “Lord save me!” This shout of Peter on the one hand was an act of his confession for losing his focus on Jesus, and on the other hand it was an act of intercession, crying for help to save him from sinking. At that shout for salvation, the Grace of God came near to Peter, and Jesus reached out his hand, caught him and brought him out from sinking by granting him a new life experience. Imagine if Jesus did not come in rescue of Peter, he would have drowned. But he was found by the Grace of God, that he was saved to life and was caught by Jesus to live for him and for God’s Kingdom. In saving Peter, Jesus exposed his little faith, his doubt and healed them with greater faith and trust. The rest of the disciples on witnessing this whole episode recognised the ‘Son of God’ in Jesus and became a worshipping community.

 

On seeking relevance of this text for us as churches today, the call is in what ways are we trying to reach out to our people around us? We as churches have been very comfortable in doing what we have always done, and any slight change can cause a huge ruckus in our churches. In order to reach out to his disciples Jesus not only went an extra mile, but also went to walk on the waters with an extra smile. When Jesus did something unusual and odd in reaching out, the disciples did not recognise it was Jesus and called him a ‘ghost.’ There is no one size fit for all churches today in terms of translating what does that mean for us as churches to walk on the waters with Jesus. If we have a love for our community, we will like Jesus walk on waters to reach them, however impossible it might be, with Jesus we are called to do that. In that process there is every reason for the church to be misunderstood, like the disciples calling Jesus ‘ghost’, but it is worth taking a risk with Jesus and be prepared to be branded as a church in doing things differently.

 

This text is an invitation to capture a new vision for us as churches, which might look like walking on the waters. But we can like Peter start walking on waters when we get out of our comfy boats. Only on getting out of our boat and boxes can we as churches can walk with Jesus on the waters. Peter’s walk on the rough sea is an invitation to us, the disciples of Christ in this 21^st century, to recognise the strength in the command of Jesus, to be courageous in faith and to transform it to an adventurous faith of walking along with Jesus on rough seas of our times. My vision for a church today is that we will always remain in service of our community, addressing the needs and fears of people around us. Church is not about what happens at 11 O’clock on a Sunday but it is more about walking with Jesus on unusual grounds in love of our creation around us, and in helping people to overcome their fears and anxieties.

 

This text assures us that God’s grace helps us from sinking in the waters, for it is Jesus who is calling us to walk with him on the waters, and if we begin to sink, Jesus extends his hand to us. As church, let us be adventurous to walk with Jesus, driving all fears of sinking, for God’s grace has not given up on the church today. Church as offering Christian presence in our communities is still relevant and this current situation is an opportunity to sit together and envision a new vision for us as churches. In the waters of uncertainty, in the waters of insecurity, in the waters of anxiety, Jesus is inviting us to step out of our boats and walk with him, for he creates a worshipping community at the end. Let me remind you, it is not the worshipping community that is walking on the waters, but it is when a community recognises Jesus walking on the waters, and one of them joining with Jesus in that walk, they turn out to be a worshipping community. God is leading us a church to transform from being a frightened community to be a worshipping community, willing to do the unusual and odd things for God and with God.

 

May God grant us God’s grace so that we as a church can walk along with Jesus on the unusual and unexpected sites like on waters so that we become relevant, meaningful and worshipping community.

 

Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta

6^th August 2020

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