Exonerating Jonah

We have been very unkind to Jonah. No character of the Bible has suffered so badly at the hands of Bible interpreters and preachers like this man often pictured in a long robe and a long beard. Sometimes pcitured in the belly of a huge fish! Christians and Jews of all ages are equally guilty of this. They pick up a negative image of this poor prophet from early childhood as the Sunday School teachers use their flannel graphs and tell the children not to be so disobient as this disobedient prophet! And when these children mature to adulthood they become Sunday School teachers and preachers to continue the millennial old negative propaganda against this prophet of Israel.

Jonah was not that bad! He ran away from the presence of the Lord, I agree! Probably, he did not have read Psalm 139 especially verses 7 -10 of that psalm: "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. (Psalms 139:7-10 ESV).

Not only him, even long after him, the people of Israel thought that the presence of God was limited to certain places. This is what the Samaritan woman quizzed Jesus: "The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” (John 4:19-20). So, he thought he can get rid of this nagging God if he left the country and sailed for a far away place, beyond the reach of the Hebrew God!

Now, running away from his country to avoid the presence of God, that is a serious charge! But tell me which prophet of Israel was not fed up with this God who always demanded too much from them. Moses, complained to God many times when he was under stress, Elijah wanted to die unable to carry on, Jeremiah wept, protested, argued with God, Isaiah was despondent, the list can go on! We all are tempted to do it. It is just human.

Sleeping at the bottom of the ship while a storm was raging and every sailor was praying to his god is quite an achievement! Who can sleep peacefully amidst such a turbulance? Remember what you did when when you are 40,000 ft above the Atlantic and the pilot turned the seat-belt light on with a warning that the plane is facing turbulent weather? You made a sign of the cross and closed your eyes but were not able to sleep until the plane got back to a smooth path? Jonah was not sleeping, I think, was pondering "O God, you are here too! You got me?"

The story portrays an ordinary human being. It tells us what any prophet would do if God asks him to do something that he has never done before. Not just prophets all devout persons have limits to their patience and endurance. Jonah had reached his. That explains his behaviour.

But what I like in the story of Jonah is that he did something that many godly people normally won’t do. First of all, he knew what is wrong! He was a good troubleshooter! He told his fellow sailors that it is the hand of his God who created heaven, earth and sea! Many of us are equally good trouble shooters as well. But the difference is that Jonah not only found out what is wrong but he admitted that he is responsible for it! That many of us don't do. We normally score very low as troubleshooters, but very high as trouble-makers. Even when we succeed in locating the reason for the problem we tend to park it at somebody else's door! Taking up responsibility for the mess we created is often not in our nature. Now, I want Jonah to be exonerated at least on this ground! Long live Jonah!

Rights, Duties and Duties without Rights

We are very conscious of our rights. Students go strike for their rights so do factory workers, government staff and even in a family individuals insist on their rights, though they may not go for a sit-in.

Conflicts are bred when people insist on their rights. Two ships collided head on in the Black Sea killing hundreds of people in 1986. The reason for this tragedy was simple! Both captains insisted on their right of way and were not willing to yield! By the time they realized that they were on a collision path it was too late!

Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister once reminded his people that there are no rights without duties! People who insist on their rights often ignore that they have duties to perform. Those who ignore that obligation have no claim on rights.

However, the Bible extends the correlation between rights and duties further than an issue of priority; that is the question of right first or duty first. In 1 Corinthians 9 Saint Paul illustrates through his own life that sometimes we will have to surrender our rights for the sake of our duties.

He had every right to travel with his wife on his missionary tours. We are not sure if he was married and a widower or he was never married. Whichever way it goes, he travelled without the company of a wife. However, that was not the practice Christian circles those days. Other Apostles took their wives on their trips (1 Corinthians 9:5). As a minister of the gospel there was nothing wrong in being rewarded for his service (1 Corinthians 9:6). That was the practice of the apostles and that was also supported by the scriptures (1 Corinthians 9:13-14). However, Paul did not insist on this right also. Rather he chose to work and earn his support so that he can preach free without burdening the people to whom ministered (Acts 18:2-3). He had many such rights but he did not insist on any of them.

At least two times he states that he did not insist on his rights (1 Corinthians 9:12, 15). Why did he not insist on his rights? His reason for forfeiting his rights is that it may hinder his duty of preaching the gospel. So for the sake of his duty he would rather give up his rights.

Sometimes, preachers may become such heavy weights that smaller people may not be able to come closer to them. In such scenarios the gospel suffers. Many times inisting on our rights we lose friends, opportunities for conversation and even opportunities for service. When forfeiting our rights for the sake of gospel we don’t lose anything but make great profits by winning souls for Christ.

Bin Laden: Avenge, Revenge, Justice!

Osama Bin Laden was shot dead and buried in the Arabian Sea by the US Navy Seals. President Obama announcing the death of United States' most wanted enemy said that "Justice is done!". There were celebrations all over the United States celebrating the death of the most hated terrorist who allegedly is responsible for the death of many Americans. The excitement was so hight in some places that they did not care who really died. When the news was announced, some students who were celebrating in an American university shouted cheefully that "Obama is shot dead," not realizing the subtle difference in the two names!
There are lot of questions to be answered. First of all, what is "justice" and how justice is done?
Justice is righting wrong. Justice means that somebody has caused someone some sort of distress and that situation has to be corrected. There are many ways of righting the wrong. Restraining the person who did the wrong thing and making sure that person will not do it again is one thing. But that is the second step. Removing the disadvantage that the victim suffers is the first step. Then comes the second step of making sure that it will not happen.
When someone robs a person, the person is caught, he has to return what he has robbed. The wrong is corrected. Then the robber is restrained or corrected so that it will not happen again. However, this really doesn't apply to murders. The murderer has taken from the victim and his dear ones something he cannot return, that is life. However, the disadvantage that the victim suffers can be corrected. The ways the Old Testament deals with this is instructive. If the murder was intentional then the murderer has to pay by his life. He will be killed. If the murder was unintentional then the murderer can take refuge in one of the asylums called "cites of refuge" and spend the rest of his life there or will be caught and executed.
In both cases, justice is done by removing the disadvantages that the victim suffers. In ancient agrarian societies number mattered. The families with larger number of people were better off than smaller families. That is, the sheer number of workforce was crucial for their life, prosperity and security. When a family or clan is killed the murderer and his group gains an advantage over them. This can be corrected only by the death of a member from the family or clan of the murderer; and nobody is responsible for this other than the murderer, so his life has to be taken. By keeping the murderer in one of the cities of refuge he is restrained by participating in the life of his community. Thus "An eye for an eye" approach was a primitive form of ensuring peace and prosperity.
This clarifies the words "revenge" and "avenge". There is a huge difference between "revenge" and "avenge". Revenging is to return the evil for evil. It has no other motivation or purpose. However, "avenge" is correcting a situation and bringing justice by returning the same or similar act. Revenge is retaliation but avenging is to bring justice. The Old Testament "An eye for an eye" thinking was a avenging than revenge.
This same principle doesn't apply to modern situations. By killing the man who is responsible for the death of thousands of Shias (Saddam Hussein), or American civilians in WTC attack (Osama bin Laden) the disadvantage that the victims or their families suffer is not corrected. All that they get is the feeling that he will not be able to do it again to anyone else beside satisfying their thirst for revenge. However, there are number of other ways of making sure that he will not doing it again than killing him and revenge is not Christian at all.
Killing a person terminates not only life but opportunities for that person to be a better person in life. In Christ there is a standing invitation to all humanity to change, to shed hatred. To deny any person that opportunity is a denial of God. To conclude that a person is beyond correction is arrogance. The modern world has denied Saddam Hussein, Velupillai Prabhakaran, Bin Laden and many others that opportunity. What we have done is gross injustice to our Christian conscience!

Easter: Your Search Ends Here!

Easter settled a big question. Was Jesus a failure or not? At his arrest and crucifixion his opponents and also his disciples thought that he has failed, he is another failed Messiah of Judaism who led a popular movement duly suppressed by the Roman military power. However, when they found that the tomb was empty on the third day they knew that he was not a failure but a victor. He rose from the dead. "O death where is your victory, O death where is your sting?" Death had grip on him only for a few hours and he for ever overcame death.

However, it took some time for his disciples to come to terms with this reality. Mary and other women did not remember that he had claimed that he will rise again. They went on a wrong search at the wrong place. They were not supposed to search for him in the tomb he was buried. Because he was not going to be there on the third day. They longed to see his dead body again, but that is the wrong thing they were looking for. Many continue similar searches for truth making pilgrimages to places to find truth there but truth is not a place and cannot be found in any place. Jesus is truth and he is not be confined to any pilgrim places.

However, meeting the risen Jesus altogether changed her search and the mindset of the disciples who verified that the tomb was indeed empty. They found the linen wrapping in the grave, but did not bother to keep a few pieces of this to be venerated later. For them they have met the risen saviour and having him back to "walk with them and talk with them" is far greater than keeping some rags to venerate. When I have the reality of Jesus Christ why should they settle for something less.

Easter Sunday come with the message: Your search ends here, if you begin a walk with the risen Lord.

Finishing Well

People start in style however the end may not be always as glorious as the beginning. In a sprinter event, every runner brims with confidence at the starting point and it is difficult to say which one will win. Some give up after a few feet, some trail far behind and the eyes of those in the gallery are no more upon them. Some may faint in the tracks. Some give up when they hear the crowd cheering the winner. However, there are a few whether the winner is decided, though the finishing line is still far away, still run in style and finish. They don't care if they are the last. They were committed to the race.

Finishing the race and finishing it well is what is important when that race is Christian life. The Bible reminds us that Christian life is a race.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-12 ESV).

In Christian life the prize is not just for those who finish ahead of others but to all those who finish; it is not a race where only the first three are honored. It is a race where all those who complete the race are honored because it is not a test of speed but of perseverance.

Moreover, Christian life, is not an race with its end in itself. It is a qualifying race, a race that prepares us and qualifies us to another level of existence where there is no race at all. There times stands still, it is called eternity.

It is true that Christian is called to a life of eternity. But eternity should not be imagined not only in terms of time but in terms of its quality of life. New Testament construes eternal life very much in line with the Greek concept where it is the life of the ages or the life of the gods. It is possible to have a taste of it while on earth. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36 ESV).

Jesus was not talking about eternal life in terms of its quantity but the quality. We are invited to live that quality of life now on earth but we will experience it for ever amd in its fullness when life on earth comes to an end. For that to happen, the life on earth, which is considered as a race through alien land has to come touch the finishing line. Finishing it well and in style is thus very important.

Finishing well first of all means to run the full course of the race and qualify for entry to the eternity waiting for us. Bible also gives examples of people who gave up in the middle of the race. Paul has a few examples of those who gave up in the middle:

“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim 1:18-20 ESV).

Finishing well is more than dying and having a Christian funeral. It is dying with the hope and assurance that we are going somewhere better. We may call it dying with Christian hope. One of the criminals crucified with Jesus had that assurance before he breathed his last. He was so fortunate to have the saviour of the world by his “side” at the time of his death! No one will be so lucky. However, we can still die with the saviour by our side and be carried to the presence of God if we have faith and hope enough. Dying with a smile on the face is so great!

I have been by the dead bodies of modern day saints who died of various causes. One thing that I have noticed is the peace and tranquility that is frozen on their face. Sometimes a smile of great satisfaction still lingers on the frozen pale lips. They died peacefully and with lots of hope. That does not mean that their death was painless. Some died of massive heart attack, and some had painful cancer for years but at the point of death they had faith and hope that helped them “finish well.”

Some years back I head this story of a terminally ill godly patient counting down his days on earth. He had a bed by the window in the hospice room that he shared with others. Many of those who shared the same room with him were not believing Christians. He was so weak but he will turn his head towards the open window and describe the beautiful sights that he could see. He would look through the window and describe what he saw: of meadows, placid lakes, rivers, singing birds and flowers. When he died many of his roommates wanted to move to his bed by the window with a view that opens to beautiful landscape. One of them was lucky enough to the get that coveted bed. He was disappointed the first morning itself. He looked through the window eagerly as the dawn broke but there was absolutely no view there, a high concrete wall just two feet from the window even banned breeze from entering that room. The patient who died was not seeing what is outside the window, he was in fact seeing through the roof, the sight of heaven above; because he knew he was going there and was filled with faith and hope.

My mother has been my inspiration always though I had her only for the first eight years of my life. In fact six years, because bed-ridden for two years before she died at the prime age of 41. Most of my memories of mother is when she was sick and have to do with her death and funeral. She knew she was dying and those who loved her did not want her to die. But she had accepted the fact that she is going home and did all that she could do to make the life of those who she is leaving behind happy. She asked her husband to marry again, she called her children to her bedside and distributed her belongings according to their age. Prayed for them and entrusted them to God's hands. One day with her widely open at staring at the ceiling she told her family that she see roses of different colors, angels in while glowing apparels and the like. She requested those around her bed-side to sing songs of hope and requested her favorite ones.

Her friends and prayer partners were not willing to give up. One day they gathered around her bed in fasting and prayer, trying to twist God's hand. They were sincere people. When the prayer which lasted for hours was over, she told them quite calmly: “I have seen the shores of the Beulah land, I have to go, can’t turn back now, don't hold me back! Let me go!” Within a few days she went flew away to Beulah land is enjoying the presence of her Savior and Lord. She finished well!

Some of us may be allowed lot of time to prepare for the Beulah land. But when sick, is important to know whether we are moving towards healing and being pulled out of the pit, or moving towards the shores of eternity. That requires some discernment which only God can give. However, a Christian has to be ready for the home-call.

However, there is a false gospel that is so widespread that deprives Christians the privileged of “finishing well.” They teach never to give up and they fight to the last minute even when it is clear there is no point fighting. I have come across sick people who hoped that they will be healed. They could not think of sickness as a chariot God has sent to take them home. They were taught that all sickness could be fought and won. I came across a dear brother whose father died on a prayer mountain praying for his healing till the last minute. He could not take time to prepare himself for the shores eternity. He was taught that all sickness can be healed by prayer.

I was by the side of a 51 year old widow who was diagnosed with some rare disease for which no cure is still found. Doctors have told her and the family that she will eventually die of this sickness but they cannot tell how soon it would be. Medical science has no hope for her. I knew it was incurable but also believed that there was nothing impossible for God. However, I felt the need to prepare her for eternity. One day I gathered enough courage after praying many hours for her to ask her a simple question. “If it is the Lord's will to call you home, are you ready? I will continue to pray for your healing.” She replied that she is not ready to die and believed that God will heal her. She called people with gifts of healing and prophecy to pray over her. One after another continued to assure her that she will be healed. In spite of all the prayers, she died within a few months, still fighting a battle she was not supposed to fight at all. Her sickness was a chariot that was waiting for her, but she could not see it and those spiritual specialists deceived her.

The problem with the prosperity theology or the “name it and claim it” teaching and the triumphalist preaching is that it deprives people a closer walk with God towards eternity through their struggles. They are not teaching growth but survival. They teach people to do well in this life as if there is no life beyond. They don't prepare people to “finish well.

I knew of a young man who owned a brilliant mind that was corrupted by the prosperity teaching. He devoured the “name-it-claim-it” literature uncritically. He was convinced and preached that children of God will not die before they reach 70, never die in an accident, will not fall sick, etc. He used to drive at high speed since he believed that he will not die in accident. However, at a very prime youth he died in a car accident leaving behind his young wife and two children proving all that he claimed and preached were wrong. Sadly, the proof was his death.

Historically, Christian church believed that people have to be prepared to go! The Last Unction or its equivalents in various traditions were saying bye to the dear ones and encouraging those who are dying to look forward to a life beyond the grave. That great tradition is wiped out and replaced by a mind-set of rebellious refusal to go! It is that rebellion manifested in the form of healing ministries without discernment that should go if we want to see more people “finishing well.”

The Waterproof Bible

The Duckback (a trademark) raincoats were a craze in my school days. As its name makes it clear, the coats made of waterproof material rolls the water just like water doesn't make a duck's back wet. I had water proof watches, the manufacturers claimed you can wear underwater (scuba diving, snorkeling); but I did not go that deep but tried it while swimming. However, during my recent visit to Christian bookstore in the city, I came across a rare exhibit: The Waterproof Bible!

What is the Waterproof Bible for? For scuba-divers, swimmers, surfers, white water-rafters? Do they have enough time to read the bible while their mind is on their activities? Are they down there to read the Bible or to watch the corals and fish? The manufacturers doesn't have any suggestions regarding its possible uses. However, they suggest a catch-all use: it is safe to take it outdoor without the fear of being spoiled by water. I understand that, on a rainy Sunday morning, when you run from the car park to the church building you can even hold it over your head to protect you from rain. When you get to the church foyers just wipe it on your trousers. You can read it holding a cup of coffee in the other hand without the fear of the coffee spilling over it. The pages are printed on synthetic waterproof material, the manufacturer says on the cover.

Great idea! A bible for outdoors! Wait a second, is not what the Bible meant for?

The Bible has been a indoor book for centuries. The Jews venerated the Torah and followed the rabbinic traditions. They had it rolled up around gold-plated handles and kept inside jackets. It was taken out from the room where it was kept with great reverance and handed over to the reader very carefully on the Sabbath in the Synagogues. After the reading it was returned to its place again ceremonially with reverence. It was kept away from contact with anything that may make it unclean. Some Jewish sects took it once in a year on the festival of the Revelation of Torah. They took it out to the street in a procession, but still carefully covered and guarded.

That is what the Christian church did with the Bible as well. It was kept in door, away from the people for its message was intended. Until William Tyndale, Martin Luther and other reformers, the ordinary people never had a chance to see what the Bible look like. It belonged to the monasteries and church altars. It was in languages that common people did not understand.

However, the situation changed almost five hundred years ago. Tyndale put in the commoners tongue and he had to pay for it with his life. Martin Luther and many others did the same and the work goes on. The Bible is available now in all the major languages of the world.

Bible is for common use, Saint Paul had told Timothy long back. It should be read by everyone who can read and afford to have a copy or read to those who can't read or have access to it. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” (1 Tim 4:13 ESV).

What was public reading of the reading in the early centuries like?

It has to be taken out to street corners and coffee shops. I remember preaching in a street corners when I was hardly thirteen! That was part of the training elders of my Bible-loving church insisted that boys (growing up to serve the Lord) should have. They went preaching in the streets almost every Sunday. Then when I grew up I had a Soul Winners Bible, which helps one to lead a friend from Bible verses to another which talks about human depravity to salvation through Christ. Finally, comes the point when you lead the friend to Christ and you prayed the sinners prayer together. So we had to take the Bible to coffee shops, hostel rooms and any place where two people can sit together.

Carrying a copy of the Bible was a mark of an identity for the members of the Christian community that I grew up in. We clutched our Bible proudly as we walked to the Bus stop to catch the bus to church or Sunday School in view of the people in our neighborhood. It was a proud statement that I am a Bible-believing Christian. It meant a lot in a world where Christians who did not take Bible seriously abounded.

The Bible has gone through changes in is physical appearance in the process it has become more fit for the out-door. From the tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written to the leather scrolls was a big change. Then, from the rolled leather to bound papyrus sheets was another huge change. From there on to paper and then to the printed books and now on synthetic waterproof material. Somewhere in between it came on computer media: floppies, CD's and Online. Instead of public reading to communities gathered around in candle lights now we have dramatized audio-Bibles. It is not sheets of paper bound together but an app on our our mobiles and digital devices. It is now more portable, user-friendly (one doesn't have to know the order of the books to locate a passage), and the audio one makes us multi-tasking (listen to it while you drive or having a foam bath in the bathtub!).

It was expensive to buy a copy of the Torah scroll in the ancient days. Only the rich could afford it. Only rich monasteries could have a copy of the Bible. Having a copy of the printed Bible still an expensive affair for many Christian communities. However, some of us are so fortunate, We can have one in our bath, one in our car, one in our lap-top and another on our cell phone. We don't have to carry one to church also, it will be on the screen, scrolling to the exact verses the preacher refers to.

Does this mean that we are becoming too casual about the sacred scripture? Yes, it is a possibility. Is Bible now a product too personal. Just for me? It seems so. The reformers liberated the Word of God from the specialists and gave to the commoners so that they can hear the voice of God directly through its pages. That they may grow and share it with other and make others grow in the knowledge of God.

That's what the Bible is for and as long as that purpose is served, I don't care a bible that is not waterproof. However, a waterproof one is welcome.

The Bible stands though the hills may tumble,
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble;
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands. —Lillenas.

Christian Faith as Allegiance

Christian spirituality has to do with a system of beliefs, so we tend to think. We often equate spirituality with beliefs and rituals. However, in the light of the Bible, spirituality is not something that you believe or do but something that you belong to. Let me put in another way, it is not belief but belonging.

What did Peter had to do when he left his father, the net and the boat when Jesus called him to follow him? He did not have to sit for a membership test. If he had, I am sure he would have failed! All that he had to do was to leave what he had (what belonged to him) and follow after Jesus. He was no more a man of the lake, he belonged to Jesus. Ask James, John and even Paul who came to the scene much later. They just changed their allegiance. They had to reorder their relationships and loyalties so that they belonged to Jesus.

"What shall do to be saved?" the terrified jailer of Philippi screamed at Paul and Silas? What did he mean by "being saved"? He might have Paul preaching about Jesus who is the savior of the world. He was an employee of the Roman empire and by law accepted the fact that Caesar is Lord or divine. As a Roman citizen his allegiance was to the Caesar. Paul's answer was not to believe in a system of doctrines, but "believe on the Lord Jesus". It is to accept the Lordship of Jesus which demands that he denounce the Lordship of Caesar over him.

All that the Apostle demanded from their audience was confession of sins and confessing that Jesus is Lord. They did so in absolute obedience that the Lord had given them: to make disciples. The apostolic ministry in the first century was to make followers of Jesus and not believers of Jesus.

However, this change of allegiance, like any allegiance is not devoid of a set of beliefs. They had to believe that God has sent Jesus to this world, they had to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. They had to accept the fact that all humanity are sinful and needed a savior and that savior is Jesus of Nazareth who is God. However, it is the order that matters. Their faith is primarily an allegiance to Jesus and what they had to believe was to make that allegiance and to foster it in the days to come. Belief was at the service of this allegiance and not a substitute to it.

Jesus always thought in terms of relationship; that is why he called those who put their trust in him "my sheep" and his disciples "friends".

 

Have we not reduced Christianity to a set of beliefs and have lost this dimension of our relationship with Jesus. When we imagine Christian spirituality in terms of beliefs only we don't regret about the unholy alliances that we have made with the world and its sinful system.However, Jesus demands our absolute loyalty.