Taming Power

"Power corrupts." This is a famous saying. To this we may add saying, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." David's sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) is a typical illustration from the Bible on the corrupting influence of power.
David happens to see Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and he wants to make her his wife. But it is not easy even for the king in Israel to take the wife of another person. So, he devises a plan. He was the king and Uriah one of his employees, the best way to possess Uriah's wife is to get him killed. So the king sends Uriah to battle. David also tells his commander to position Uriah in the most vulnerable place where death is sure. And thus he manages to get him killed in the battle! And when the news of Uriah's death was brought to David the king, he makes a stoic comment: "It's Okay, the sword kills both sides." It is natural. David then sends for Bathsheba and she became his wife. The story goes on to say that her son became the next king in Israel after David. A perfect plan: but David would not have done this a few years ago when he had no power.

The David without power was a different person. He was a fugitive for a while; running away from king Saul who was chasing him. One day he had a golden opportunity. He and his enemy who seeks his life happened to be in the same cave. He could have drawn the sword and killed his enemy who was sleeping right in front of him. Instead, he said, "I will not lay hands on the Lord's anointed" and left him there. However, he just cut a piece from Saul's garment to prove that he was very close to him and could have slit his throat open. The Bible says that even that action, that is cutting a piece of his cloth hurt David's conscience. Then he was a fugitive; he had no kingdom, no power and no army. Now the same person who became king would devise a plan to kill an innocent person so that he can possess his wife. In the process he would risk the lives of many other soldiers involved in the battle. In the process he would bring shame upon his countrymen by choosing to lose a battle. It was a match fixing of a sort. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
How can those who are in leadership protect themselves from the corrupting influence of power? First of all, by realizing that none of us have absolute power. God is ultimate. Secondly, power has corrupting influence on us only when we are too conscious of power. Finally, take power as an opportunity to serve and not to control. Then there would be so much freedom and purity in the use of power.

Knowing Christ....

The knowledge of Christ that strives to make him known as Paul did by his life is possible only when we are willing to move on beyond ourselves.

In Philippians 3:10, when Paul talks about knowing Christ, he is not talking about a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. By this time (almost towards the end of ministry and life) Paul have had that knowledge. Nevertheless, he is talking about knowing Christ as a continuing process that culminates in attaining resurrection from the dead. I am even tempted to think that the expression "to know Christ" is a synonym for Christian life. Christian spirituality is a process of knowing Christ in increasing measure each day until we see him face to face in eternity.
This knowing of Jesus requires rejecting everything that stands on the way of intimacy with Jesus. Raimondo Panikkar, a leading Christian theologian once remarked: "To arrive at God, we should not stop at us." That means if we are on a journey to know Christ, we should explore beyond ourselves. Paul seems to be doing that. He wrote: "I Consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish..." (Phil. 3:8). This knowledge of Christ is at a cost. That is to lose everything that stands on the way of that knowledge.
Egoism is the greatest enemy of this knowledge. Egoism is the pre-occupation with oneself. In this thinking, the self become paramount in ones thinking. This is when I am at the centre of my thinking, and I strive to become the focus of attention. Such a pre-occupation with one's self hinders knowing Christ. That is why Panikkar's words become meaningful: "To arrive at God we should not stop at us." The knowledge of Christ that strives to make him known as Paul did by his life is possible only when we are willing to move on beyond ourselves.

Devotion: Sacrificial Extravagance

I looked up Wikipedia for a definition of the word "Devotion" and was surprised to find that in Christianity "devotion" is identified with Bible Study. And that is very much true. When someone says that s/he had devotion in the morning what they mean usually is that they read their Bible. However, the meaning of the word is quite different from studying the scriptures.

Devotion is being devoted to someone or something. It is ardent love or surrender in love. Many Hindu Bhaktas understand and practice devotion in that sense. However, in Christian spirituality we often tend to forget this aspect though it has a very prominent place in the Bible. For example, Jesus asking Peter if we love him more that all that he has is certainly a demand for ardent love and total surrender in love (John 21:15). Loving God is a dominant theme in both the Old and New Testaments. See for example the command in Deuteronomy 6:5: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

John 12:1-8 is a passage that deals with this theme of devotion where we find Mary engaged in a practical act of devotion to the Lord. There is another story, which is similar to this in Luke's gospel (Luke 7:37-50) where a woman identified only as a "sinful woman" washes and anoints Jesus' feet. The woman mentioned there could be different from the one in John 12:1-8 or the same. However, that is definitely another act of devotion. Then again we see Mary's devotion expressed in contrast with that of Martha's service in Luke 10:38-42. Here Martha was involved in caring for Jesus, probably preparing food for Jesus and his group. However, Jesus commends Mary as he endorsed that he chose the better; that is to sit at his feet and listen to what he has to say.

There are a number of other cases that we cite in order to argue that devotion to God in the sense of ardent love and surrender is very much part of Christian and biblical practice. However, what I would like to focus here is on the act of devotion.

First of all devotion emerges out of a deep sense of obligation to God. This is very graphically expressed in Luke 7:37-50. What makes people resort to such acts of worship which humbles them and calls for self-sacrifice for the sake of expressing their love for their God? Jesus explains it as a sense of having received (in this case forgiveness) more from God. It is a matter of perception. A proper perception of what we have received from the Lord leads us to an obligation to reciprocate that in acts of love.

Secondly, devotion also involves listening to the Lord and enjoying his presence in our lives. This is what Jesus brought out through the contrast between Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. There is no question that Martha believed in Jesus as much as Mary did. However, the Lord expects us to express our faith in acts that please him. Just as two people who are love, enjoys being together and talking to each other, Jesus expects us to be with him and listens to him. Peter had learnt this early in his life with Jesus. John 6 talks about a crisis that arose in the Jesus movement. Many those who were following Jesus left him because they found his words hard. Then Jesus asked the twelve disciples who were in the inner circle if they also would like to leave him. However, Peter's reply to that is remarkable. He asked, "Lord! To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" That is Peter's reason for following Jesus; he has found the presence and words of Jesus indispensable to him.

There were two sisters and the eldest one has to read bed-time stories to the youngest every day. Tired of her chore, one day she decided to record the stories on tape and play to her little sister every night. When she introduced the tape to her sister, the little girl refused to use it saying, "it hasn't got a lap." That is important: it is not just the story that matters, the presence and voice of the sister matters too. So is the disciples' attachment to the Lord.

A final observation that I would like to make is that devotion also takes us to sacrificial extravagance. In John's gospel (John 12:1-8) Mary anointed Jesus with a very costly perfume. The cost of it is estimated by Jesus' treasurer (Judas Iscariot) as equal to one year's wage. To save that much money a person has to work more than a year! Critics of Mary's act called it "extravagance" and "waste". Ardent love for Jesus takes us to the extreme of sacrifices and giving. Giving to the cause of the Kingdom of God should not be considered as a funding the church or mission finances but expression of our love for God. Giving must be considered as an act of devotion. There is a joy that comes from giving out of love for Jesus. Augustine's words may someway illustrate it: "Where your pleasure is there is your treasure; where your treasure is, there is your heart; where your heart is, there is your happiness." Giving thus is an act of devotion: it is delighting in the Lord!

In order to inculcate devotion in us we need to have a sense of obligation or indebtedness to Jesus. This is thus expressed in acts of devotion as experiencing his presence and an eagerness to hear voice daily in our lives. Then it may take us to acts of devotion which involves sacrifice from our side.

The Days of Antipas

"The days of Antipas" means not only a period of persecution but a period of perseverance as well. It signifies the days of believers who withstood the pressures from outside to surrender.

In the church in the city of Pergamum, there were some people who remained faithful to Jesus in the days of severe persecution. Apostle John calls these days of persecution "the day of Antipas" (Rev. 2:13). 
The Antipas mentioned here should not be confused with Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Herod Antipas was a wicked ruler whom Jesus called "fox". He is the one who offered the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter to his daughter. He might have tried to kill Jesus and presided over Jesus' trial. However, the Antipas mentioned in Revelation 2 was the bishop of Pergamum, a pagan city in the first century AD. The name means "against all." There is a great contrast in the names--Herod was against all that was good, however, Antipas the bishop of Pergamum was against all that was bad.
Living in a pagan city and witnessing to the power of Jesus was not easy. The city of Pergamum was a center of pagan worship where sacrifices were offered to demons. That is why the Bible calls this city "... where Satan has his throne" (Rev. 2:13). An ancient writer, Simeon Metaphrastes records that the demons of this city appeared to the people there and told them that since the power of Antipas was casting them out they cannot live anymore in that city. The people approached the conservative governor of the city to restrain Antipas. However, Antipas refused to budge and had to pay a very high price of his defiance. The aged Antipas was thrown to the brazen altar alive and was roasted. His martyrdom is celebrated by some orthodox churches on April 11 every year.
Some members of the church of Pergamum "remained true" to the name of Jesus even in this difficult times. "The days of Antipas" means not only a period of persecution but a period of perseverance as well. It signifies the days of believers who withstood the pressures from outside to surrender. Believers in various parts of the world are going through persecution. We need the grace of God to turn this period of persecution to "days of Antipas", the days of those who withstand the pressure to surrender their faith.

How to Handle Offenders

People think that they can create a better world by annihilating all those who are against it, but Jesus may not agree!
Recently, in Mumbai a man who appeared to be a thief was beaten to death. The people did not care to hand him over to the police, but they took the law in their own hands. That's what the Jewish leaders who brought the woman caught in adultery also wanted to do (John 8:1-11). Their thinking was very much in line with that of the legal and social systems of our day: the best way to get rid of sin is to annihilate the sinner.
Those who commit crimes or sins continue by trivializing their act. People can always point out to bigger crimes and get away with their "small" offenses. They can always justify saying that they are not the only ones who does such things. We live in a day when people think that paying penance is the be best way to get over sin and its effect. Mahatma Gandhi once told a person who killed a Muslim boy during the riots following India's partition that he can get over the guilt by adopting a Muslim boy and bringing up as his own. That hardly removes the guilt in the eyes of God, but may help us to manage the guilt feeling. Modern psychiatry teaches us to manage anger, get over guilt feelings, etc. but hardly reconciles us to God.
In every act of sin, at least three parties are involved. One the offended, against whom the sin is committed. The second the offender, the one who commits the sin. However, often in the modern thinking the third party is often ignored. That is God. Every act of sin has grieved the heart of God and every sin is committed against God. Penance may sometimes help the offender by helping to feel good; it may also help the offended also. Revenge may help the offended. None of these removes the guilt in the eyes of God. that requires forgiveness from God. Unless we hear God's voice saying "Go Now..." (John 8:11) it is not forgiven. Only God can do that, and that is what Jesus did to this woman. His way of handling the sin is not by trivializing sin, nor by annihilating the sinner but by transforming the sinner to a saint, someone forgiven
There was a woman who claimed that she get direct revelations from God. A committed Christian wanted to test her and asked her to find out from God about the sins he committed while in college. The following day he approached this woman to find out what God's reply was. She said that when she asked God about the sins he committed in the past, God told her that he doesn't remember any. Sins forgiven by God are forgotten for ever!
An offender continues until caught. Once caught the s/he may not be spared. However, the Lord let us free from the guilt of sin on one condition. That is a commitment not to sin again, to have a desire to live lives that are upright before him. That is why he said to this woman, "Leave your life of sin!" (John 8:11). It is a call to holiness: "Be holy as I am holy". When tempted to trivialize our sins let us remember we can come to Jesus for cleansing.

Prayer and the Sovereignty of God

" Confidence to pray stems out of the realization that God is in control of our situations. He can control and conquer the situations that we go through."
Why do we pray to God? As all our actions must have some explanations, we must be able to explain why we pray to God. The prayer of the Psalmist is "Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless" (Psalm 108:12).
One of the reasons for this prayer is the confidence in God, which is reflected in verse 13: "With God we will gain victory, and he will trample down our enemies." The second reason is the realization that the human power is worthless. The psalmist cannot trust in human power in order to win the battle that he is engaged in.
However, the most important reason is a realization of the sovereignty of God over the nations. The divine oracle cited in verses 7-9 is the basis of the prayer in verse 10. In this verse God's authority over the nations around Israel is spelt out. Israel's enemies, and particularly the country of Edom with which they are engaged in the battle now are at God's disposal. He can parcel it out as He likes, he can treat some as his washbasin, and some are like the place where he will throw his sandals. In other words, it is God who decides the destiny of the nations and thus God is able to protect each nation.
Confidence to pray stems out of the realization that God is in control of our situations. He can control and conquer the situations that we go through.

Guidance for Strangers on Planet Earth

“Listening to God through His Word must be a daily habit and ordering our life according to the revealed will of God must be an instinct.”

I cannot drive without maps. During my short stay in the US a few months back, I always asked people for their ZIP code and downloaded a map with driving directions from Yahoo.com. I found this more dependable than calling up friends and getting the directions to their house over the phone. Being new to the country, I needed reliable guidance and I always depended on Yahoo maps!
I am a stranger in this world too. I am moving forward in life. Every day new people, new circumstances, new challenges encounter me. I never been there before in most of these situations and I hardly know what to do. I desperately need guidance in life; some authority to tell me what to do, what to say and how to react.
The psalmist who penned Psalm 119 was also in a similar situation. However, he is more poetic than me. He says of himself: "I am a stranger on earth" and prayers "... do not hide your commands from me" (Psalm 119:19). Psalm 119 is a psalm about the Law of God. It extols the benefits of obeying the Word of God. In the Word of God, we find correction and rebuke. There are times when pride corrodes my mind and I need the Word that cleanses me.
Living life according to the Word is a delight. It is more than the delight and pride that you have when you knock at the door of your friend and say you made it (by following the driving directions), and your friends eyes widen with surprise. That is why the psalmist could say, "your statues are my delight, they are my counselors" (Psalm 119:24).
There are many guideposts in modern culture. However, there is only one time-tested guidepost for our life. That is the eternal Word of God. Listening to God through His Word must be a daily habit and ordering our life according to the revealed will of God must be an instinct.