The Lenten- Musings
31
Wednesday, February
13
Read: Mathew 12
The
grief, horror and trauma that followed the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary
School, Newtown was something that not only that people of Newtown experienced,
but people who were miles and miles away also experienced some element of shock
and grief. The whole nation was united in the moment of grief and at that
painful moment people from all walks of life, people from different faith or no
faith came together for the sake of humanity to show concern and to show
solidarity with the grieving people of Newtown. It is at the time of crisis and
grief that the Church can be a pillar of strength and hope for the suffering
people. The trauma and the grief of the people in Newtown had not even died
down, when one finds that the Church is raising an unwanted controversy in the name of faith, at a time when the Church should be helping
the people to rebuild their broken lives.
The
incident that is causing more shock and grief is the attitude and the way the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod[LCNS], has
handled issues out of Inter Faith Prayer meeting that was held in Newton, in
the aftermath of the shooting. This was a prayer meeting attended by President
Obama and host of other different religious leaders. The controversy began when
Rev. Rob Morris the pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church was reprimanded
by the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod [ LCMS] for leading a prayer at the
Inter Faith Prayer Meeting along with clergy from Muslim, Jewish, Christian and
Bahai faith. This was because the constitution of the church prohibits clergy
from participating in meetings or services with people of other faith. Thus
according to the President of LCMS, Mathew Harrison, the presence of Rev. Rob
Morris at the Newtown joint worship and prayer violated the constitution of the
church and his action offended members of the denomination also.
This
being the case, Rev. Rob Morris apologized, but after stating that he believes that the
participation in the joint prayer vigil was not act of joint worship but on the
contrary an act of community chaplaincy. But now the action of President who demanded
an apology from the pastor has led to an uproar and fresh bout of criticism
from among members of the church. The members feel that the President through
his action seems to be very intolerant and insensitive to the feeling of the grieving
residents of Newton. Now with the President being criticized by the members of
the denomination, it was the turn of the President to tender an apology at the
way this issue was handled. He has been very genuine in his apology whereby he
acknowledges that he had handled the issue in a very un Christian way and by
his action, the pain of the grieving community has only increased. He has also
sincerely asked for forgiveness and patience, to work together for the welfare
of the community and also being faithful to Christ and the gospel message. At a
time when the church and members of the church needed to be very prudent and
wise, be a channel of peace and hope, we somehow seem to emphasize more on the laws and constitution that govern
the church rather than thinking of how these laws could be used for the benefit
of humanity.
Emphasis
on the law or emphasis on the need of the common man?. This was also a issue
that Jesus had to address in his ministry. The Jewish society was very
structured in terms of how life has to be lived, strictly bounded by the laws
of Moses. These laws were actually given so that human life is made holistic
and there is order and harmony in life. But what really took the upper hand was
the application of the laws without incorporating neither ethics or morality in
its interpretation. In Mathew 12, we find a confrontation taking place between
Jesus and the Pharisees. The confrontation happens on two occasions. The first
occasion was when disciples pluck grains and eat them and secondly when Jesus
heals the man with a withered hand. In both these cases, the Pharisees argue
that Jesus and his disciples goes against the law. In this passage you find Jesus
addressing two needs of human being. One the need to satisfy hunger and
secondly the need to function fully in term of physical health. Jesus justifies
the disciples action of plucking the grain to eat so as to satisfy their
hunger. What Jesus was teaching was that it is good if human being can control one's
appetite for food but that does not mean that if I eat when I am hungry, at
times that some people consider inappropriate, I am guilty of sinning or doing
something against the law.
Secondly
you have a man who is not able to function because his hand is withered. Both
the Pharisees and Jesus sees the man from two different perspective. Pharisees cannot
see the pain or the frustration that the man is going through his life, on the
contrary Jesus only saw the helplessness and the pain that the man goes
through. It is his crisis in life the invokes Jesus into action, an action of
healing where Jesus is not concerned what the law states, because He is the
Lord of the Sabbath. What was important for Jesus is that if the law does not
alleviate the suffering of the common man, then one should have no issue in
overriding the rules of the law, but if the law is helpful in alleviating the
suffering of the common man, it is ok to take refuge in law that has been laid
down. It is this truth that the church,
the community of believers need to reinforce in ones life as we observe lent.
There are a number of believers who fast during lent, but let us not make
fasting a law or a practice without truly incorporating its true meaning and essence and let not our laws
and rituals force us to be insensitive
to the needs of others. If our rituals and laws inhibit the church from being channel of peace, blessing and hope, then it
is high time to either change the laws or it is high time to redefine those
laws. Let lent be a season where we could be more caring and sensitive to the
needs of others, rather than just certain observance of ritualistic fasting and
other dietary laws.
