Faith

No free pass at Lent – Monday, 5th week in Lent – Daniel 13:41-62/ John8:1-11

We tend to repeat our sins because we commit them behind closed doors. No one has seen what we have done and so the shame of our sin eludes us. But if we were caught in the act of sin, we would wish the earth would open and swallow us so that we would not have to face the shame of what we have done.

A woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. The Bible is sensitive, her name is not mentioned unlike the unmerciful on WhatsApp today.  For this woman, this was not just a matter of shame it was a death sentence. The law of Moses mandated death for adultery; such was the gravity of the sin and the desire to protect the sanctity of the institution of marriage. Today, infidelity would at the most, cause an eyebrow to be raised not a head to be chopped off.

We know from Chapter 7 of the Gospel of John that Jesus has come to the temple for the third time. It was the feast of Tabernacles. The religious authority made their hate for Jesus quite clear and they had murderous thoughts that they wished to inflict on Jesus.

Today’s text tells us that Our Lord has spent the night in the Garden of Gethsemane. This must have been his go-to place when he came to Jerusalem. It is here that he spent his last night before his passion and death. Judas knew Jesus’ go-to place in Jerusalem. He had no problem finding Jesus when he betrayed him. To get there Jesus would have left Jerusalem by one of the Eastern gates and crossed the Kidron valley. We are told that he returns to the temple early the next morning where he teaches in the temple.

They bring him a woman (it could be a man; it could be you or me) caught in the act of committing adultery. Public shame and a religiously sanctioned death now await her. Ironically, even though she was caught in the act of committing adultery her partner in sin seemed to have conveniently disappeared. Now she is paraded before Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees with a clear intent to ‘trap him.’

They want to know what Jesus thinks of the law of Moses that ‘permitted them to stone her to death.’ The law of Moses did sanction death for adultery, but it never sanctioned the manner of death that they claim Moses gave them. In any case, this was a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-dont situation. The religious sanction of death had been suspended by the Romans and appropriated as a civil right that could be enforced only by the Romans. If Jesus fell in line with the law of Moses, he would have broken Roman law and if he condoned the woman’s sin to any lesser penalty then the accusation of the Jews, that Jesus had come to change the law and the prophets, would ring true. The author of life is being asked to sanction death.

“Let he who is without sin, be the first to cast a stone” is not just a clever answer that helped Jesus get out of a rock and a hard place. Our Lord is addressing both, the frailty of life that succumbs to sin and even more, the reality of religious arrogance that points fingers knowing that their very lives are sinful. We are told that Jesus, bent over and writing on the ground, straightens up to straighten the self-righteous religious leaders.  The Pharisees and the scribes walk away. It’s a walk of shame led by the elders.

Jesus is left with the woman. The circle of shame that surrounded her has disappeared. This was her opportunity to make ‘her case,’ and defend her sinful action; she was tricked by the man, this was her first time, and this happened by mistake. Yet she says none of this. She stands in her shame before one who has not shamed her but saved her.

Scripture tells us that Jesus who has still been writing in the ground straightens up again but this time not to straighten her but to look at her straight in the eye. He offers her forgiveness but not a free pass. She is to sin no more.

Lent is that time when the circle of shame is lifted and you stand face to face with Jesus but Lent is not a time when we get a free pass. Like the woman, we are to sin no more.

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We serve not a cause but a cross – Fifth Sunday in Lent – Year B – Jeremiah 31:31-34/ John 12:20-30

The Gospel of today is a little more than the halfway mark of the Gospel of John. John has 21 chapters and we are in chapter 12 and Jesus has entered Jerusalem (12:12). Unlike the synoptic Gospel where the triumphant entry of Christ is towards the three fourth mark of the Gospel, John places it almost in the middle.

Today’s Gospel is the last public teaching of Jesus before his death. Look carefully and it Palm Sunday when Jesus teaches this text. In chapter 13 Jesus washes the feet of the disciples (found only in this Gospel) and then proceeds to deliver a very long ‘farewell discourse only to the twelve. This discourse spans from chapter 13 to 18.

The Gospel of John has recalled for us the raising of Lazarus and we know that because ‘the crowds’ ‘believed in him’, the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish religious body, plotted to kill him. Interestingly, they justify his death, “it is better that one man die for the nation than have the whole nation destroyed.” (11:50).

Jesus is in the temple and has now got the Jewish religious authorities all riled up. Verse 19 of our text has the Pharisees exclaim in horror, “look the world has gone after him.” Don’t put this down to mere sour grapes. The Jewish religious authorities were walking a tight rope with their Roman overlords. The Chief Priest himself was a Roman appointee and the one flash point that would bring the might of the Romans down on them was talk of a liberator; a Messiah.

The Gospel of today tells us that there were Gentiles who approached Jesus. We are told they are Greek. It was not uncommon for Gentiles to travel to Jerusalem. The temples outer court was called the court of the Gentiles. Perhaps these Greeks had come to the temple but it is not the temple they now seek but the Lord of the temple. We may build beautiful houses of worship but never seek the Lord in whose name we have built it.

The Gospel does not tell us if they are granted a private audience through the good offices of Philip and Andrew but it does tell us that it prompted Jesus to teach publicly for the last time. At Canna, Jesus told his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” Now in 12:23 Jesus tells us that ‘the hour” has come. He speaks of it as the hour when he is to be ‘glorified’.

On reading the passion of Christ, none of it sounds like glory; it is suffering in its worst form. It is futile to approach this text with our human mind, rather with the mind of God. We seek human glory that has crowns and castles; Jesus sought to win the favour of the Father with a crown of thorns and a cross. HE sought to do the will of his father.

That ‘will’, is spelt out in this last public teaching. It is the will of humility and obedience. The grain of wheat is to fall to the ground in order to produce fruit. It is the will that demands that we chose to be nothing in order to become everything for God. It is a will that demands that we hate our life (to be understood as love less) in order to love God more. It is a will that demands a life of service to cross rather than a life of service to a cause. It is to this ‘glory’ that we work and it is this life of glory’ that pleases the father.

Christ made no bones about his hour of glory. It took him to a cross; it nailed him to a cross and he made an instrument of shame into the instrument of glory. What you wear around your neck is not an ornament but an advertisement and a testimony of your faith. Wear it with pride

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Shooting the messenger does not kill the message – Saturday, 4th Week in Lent – Jeremiah 11:18-20/John7:40-52

Reading the prophets of the Old Testament in our New Testament times can often be hard, especially when we apply our understanding of life to this text. When we read texts such as the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, we may conclude that the prophets often sound petty, harsh, vengeful and wrathful. But dig deeper, go beyond the surface of a text, read more and discern the context and your mind opens up entirely.

For six centuries before Jeremiah, God kept his covenant with his people. They had a clear understanding in place, one that God repeated several times to them and one that is repeated in this very chapter of Jeremiah, ‘You shall be my people and I will be your God.’ (11:4) But we know that they chose Ba’al (vs 17) the lord of dung or the god of flies. (humans seem to have a brilliant sense of choice even when what they choose is the lord of dung)

It is in this context that Jeremiah is sent by God. He is plucked against his will from a non-descript town of Anathoth to prophecy to a people who, as we know from this text, plot to kill him. The text of today pops at you even if you don’t want it to; the comparisons to the life of Jesus are in your face.

Both Jeremiah and Jesus are sent by God with a message. The message does not begin with destruction it begins with a call to come back, to make restitution for a broken covenant; at its heart, it was a message of love. Was the message harsh to hear? All messages of warning are harsh to the ones who have broken that law. Both Jeremiah and Jesus were rejected by their own; Jeremiah’s people from Anathoth wanted to kill him (verse 21) Jesus came to his own and his own did not accept him, they rejected him and finally killed him.

Shoot the messenger all you want, the truth of the message stays. This is a lesson we ought to learn because wishing God’s message away and pretending we got rid of the messenger does not stay the hand of God in executing his anger.

Is God’s wrathful response justified? Is wrath becoming of a loving God? Would you not be if your love was spurned for six centuries? Would you not be if all you did over six centuries was to send messengers hoping for a reconciliation? Would you not be if all you got in return was the plotting of your innocent prophets and the death of your son? Don’t arrive too quickly at a shallow accusation that God is vengeful at heart; it speaks poorly of your shallow approach to the divine.

Interestingly we also hear in our closing verse the lament of Jeremiah. This text, by the way, is the first of six such laments of Jeremiah. In this lament which is identified by the words, “for to you I have committed my cause” (yes it sounds familiar..into your hands I commend my spirit). In this lament of verse 20, we hear Jeremiah ask for retribution (verse 20) against those who conspired against him (verse 9). Does that make a prophet, a holy man of God sound petty?

What I take away from this text is not that which sounds petty (attempted murder is not petty) but his approach to those who wanted to kill him. Jeremiah did not become judge, jury and executioner. He did not execute his brand of justice on them, he rather left it to God. There are several people whom you understandably have murderous thoughts against. Take your case to God and leave it there. Vengeance is mine says the Lord (Romans 12:19).

When you read this text, don’t get caught up with our understanding of it but look at it from God’s eyes.

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Do you have haters in your life? Friday, 4th Week of Lent Wisdom 2:1,12-22/John 7:1-2,10,25-30

The Bible teaches us the way to heaven but also reflects the reality of those living on this earth. Take for example the desire of many to be loved and to win the approval of all around them. This is humanly impossible and unrealistic. This is because people perceive reality differently. After all, our socio-cultural and religious backgrounds are so divergent.

The Holy Father. Pope Francis completed eleven years of his pontificate two days ago. Catholics on the internet were abuzz. Some even denied him to be our Pope suggesting he was the agent of Satan and others who hailed his pontificate as reflecting the very mercy of God. If this could happen to our Holy Father (whom I also don’t seem to always agree with) then why should lesser mortals like you and me not experience similar negativity from people around us?

In chapter seven of the Gospel of John, Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to Jerusalem for the third time. The Festival of Booths or Tabernacle is one of the three major festivals that drew Jews to Jerusalem. Jesus is teaching in the temple. The crowd (indicative of many) think that he ‘has a demon’ in him (7:20). Jesus confronted them because they claim to keep the law of Moses yet that very law said you shall not kill, and they desired to put Jesus to death. (7:19) Yet not even the temple police were able to arrest Jesus.

Scripture now tells us that it was the last day of the festival and Jesus proclaims himself to be the source of living water for all who thirst. At once we are told that there is a division among the people. While some think he is a prophet, others think he is the Messiah then doubt sets in questioning his lineage, and the place he comes from.

I want to make three reflections here.

  1. Christ himself, the Son of God was called the devil. I think Pope Francis needs to take comfort when Catholics who are unchristian in the way they speak their mind attack him. The Church does not belong to you and me the Church belongs to God and his Holy Spirit will guide the Church. No one says we cannot express our thoughts even when we disagree with the Holy Father, but it is how we do it that brings scandal to the Church.
  2. The second reflection is also based on the Gospel. It is clear that Christ had his share of disciples, followers and admirers but he also had his share of haters who as we know managed to crucify him. We will not always have people who love us no matter what we do. Christ did not go into mourning because he was criticized; he went about his father’s business.
  3. A large majority of the people in your life love you but sadly they don’t tell you they love you or appreciate you. Ironically, ten percent don’t like you and some of them positively hate you and they make sure you know they hate you. We tend to focus on the ten per cent who constantly attack us (I am not saying we should not be open to criticism) and we forget the large majority of people who love us but never voice their appreciation. Here is what we learn from Christ, move on and focus on those who love you. The haters have a constant agenda of hate and no matter what you do they won’t change.

Christ was innocent (reflected in our first reading) and yet they attacked the sinless son of God… we are just mortals.

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When God ‘repented’ – Thursday, 4th week in Lent – Exodus 32:7-14/John5:31-47

When children shine, a mother or father is happy to take the credit for the child’s success.  Yet should that very child fail, the mother will say to the father ‘YOUR daughter’ or the father will say to the mother, ‘YOUR son.’ Everyone, it seems wants to be surrounded by success stories, failure is hard to accept. God, it seems, is no different.

The book of Exodus bears witness to the love of God who with his arm outstretched defeated Pharaoh, a god in his people’s eyes. God led his people through the wilderness, enduring their grumbling and dissent yet never failing to provide for their needs. In Chapter 20 of the book of Exodus God gave them the ten commandments and then till chapter 31 elaborated every detail of how the law was to be kept. God instructed Moses for forty days and these are recorded from chapters 20-31. Eleven chapters is all it took for the people to abandon God and make themselves a golden calf to worship.

The text of today begins with God disowning his people like an angry parent. He tells Moses, “Go down now because YOUR People whom YOU brought out of Egypt have apostatized.” God was furious, mad enough to ask to be ‘left alone’ so that he could plan the destruction of his people. Moses however, was the only one to be spared.

This would have been a great opportunity for Moses to ‘submit his resignation’ and be left in peace. These ungrateful people who even wished to stone Moses (17:4) had shown nothing but ingratitude. Yet the heart of Moses is seen in this text. He knows that the act of infidelity on the part of his people was a line they foolishly crossed. God had given them ten commandments and they could not even keep the first. He could have abandoned these ungrateful and treacherous people who had not even spared God and yet he pleads with God to spare them.

When you deal with God long enough you know his SOP and Moses had been with God long enough to know God’s every heartbeat. He appeals to God with cunning yet with love. He seems to work on the ‘ego of God’ (poetically speaking). ‘If you execute your plan of destruction, you are going to look very silly in the eyes of the Egyptians from whom you rescued your people,’ Moses says to God. Your actions of ‘saving your people’ will look very shifty when your wrath will burn on them in the wilderness. This is Moses, not just at his clever best but exercising his compassionate heart. Should God change his mind, then these ungrateful and fickle-minded people will be his to lead forward on a long journey ahead.

The English translation of the Bible tells us that God changed his mind, but the Hebrew translation reveals much more. Moses had laid the emotion thick and his emotional blackmail worked. But read the text in its Hebrew and you will also realise that God did not just ‘change his mind’ (as the English text reads in verse 14) but that God REPENTED.

You might think I made a mistake and should have typed, RELENTED instead of repented. No, he did not just relent, the Hebrew translation reads as ‘repented.’ Elsewhere in the Bible, naham translates as ‘to be sorry’ or’ repent’ especially when its subject is a human. God was beside himself that he almost came close to breaking a promise he made in Genesis 8:11 to never again destroy the earth.

Ironically, God feels sorry for his anger even though he did not execute it. He is the blameless one who took on the sins of the world. The reflection on our part is obvious. He is the sinless one who repents of his thoughts to destroy us. We are the sinful ones and yet we do not repent of our actions that destroy the holiness of God.

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