The Journey 46
Thursday, February 16
Read: Nehemiah 2
Key Verse: “I appeal to you my brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and thought”. [ 1 Corinthians 1: 10]
                      Group, Groupism, are two words that we normally talk when we talk about the issues that a parish is facing. But take a impartial approach, whether you like it or not every church has groups. These groups sometimes are a positive aspect in the functioning of a parish but at times the very nature and objectives of the group members could be liability to the growth and proper functioning of a parish. Groupism in the parish could arise out of the cold war between members of two dominant families in the church, or it could be a rift between two dominant factions in the church, which could be based on language or the region from where the members come from or it could be a rift between two dominant organizations in the church.; One of the truth when groupism is dominant in a parish is that,  when one group takes over the administrative functions of the parish, the other groups becomes the opposition, may be literally opposing anything and everything that comes from the ruling group. History is repeated next year. The opposition takes over the administrative responsibilities and then it is the turn of ruling front then to do the job of opposition.  Some parish have another way to deal with this. The administrative functions sometimes is deliberately managed by members of a particular family or a clan. That solves the issue. But I believe the issue is deep rooted. The Marthoma Church in general and the church in North America in particular is facing lot of challenges as it tries to make it mission and ministry relevant to the future and to the next generation Marthomites. It is here that we need to seriously think our role in the whole mission and ministry of the church in general or our parish in particular.
                      On Thursday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in our parish. The character we are meditating is the Nehemiah. Nehemiah is concerned about the sad state of the walls of Jerusalem. For him the rebuilding of the walls was a matter of spiritual restoration of peoples relationship with the almighty God. Ruins stood as a testimony how people were least concerned about their relationship with God and hence rebuilding of that wall and that relationship was primary. Nehemiah does a serious evaluation of the work and starts motivating people [ Nehemiah 2:11-18], in his vision of the restoration of not only the walls of Jerusalem but also in the process the relationship with the Lord. This is when three people Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian start opposing Nehemiah. All these three people did not want the Jews to rebuild the walls for reason that were selfish. Sanballat belonged to a group that claimed to worship God but also indulged in idol worship. Tobia and Geshem both did not want to see Jews united and also being prosperous through their union with God and among themselves. I think it is here that we learn a valuable lesson from the Word. If we are united with God and with each other our land  and our parish will prosper and function cohesively reflecting the glory of the Lord and also will stand as a witness to His power. On the contrary if we are sowing seeds of discord, through our groups and groupism, we are ultimately causing harm not only to the body of Christ but to us and to our future generations. Can we rise above our selfish agenda’s and our narrow, parochial attitude to a level where we only see the goodness and progress of our parish in particular and our church in general both in terms of making its ministry and mission relevant to the next generation.                                                    
Hey which group do you belong to?.
Let us Pray: Lord your body consists of different individual, families and groups. Helps us to work together to lay aside our differences so that we stand to build and glorify you and your body– the church. Amen

The Journey 45
Wednesday, February 15
Read: John 6: 1-15
Key Verse: “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” [ Acts 20:35].
                In the fall of 2009, a family was reading an article in a tennis magazine which described how athletic shoe manufacturers were using recycled material from old shoes to make soles for new footwear. McClain Hermes, now 12, and her father Matt Hermes who was reading that article suddenly had an idea and told McClain,  Why cant we collect the shoes and give them to people who are in need rather giving them to a large company who was interested only in  making money out of these shoes”. McClain was thrilled and she embarked on the idea that her dad instilled in her and they  started “Shoes for the Souls,” a project to collect gently used footwear for the Atlanta Mission, a charitable organization that provides emergency shelter, employment assistance to  hundreds of homeless people in Atlanta. That first year, McClain collected 360 pairs of shoes for the Atlanta Mission. In 2010, she collected 1,598 pairs. According to McClain “It’s important to me to help the community and just to make them feel good and make me feel good that I’m giving back and that they’ll actually receive something that they need,”. McClain’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. The Puckett’s Mill fifth-grader was recently awarded a “Kohl’s Cares” regional scholarship for her volunteer work. McClain was one of 200 recipients chosen from more than 37,000 nominees nationwide for making a positive impact on her community. One small girl who made a difference in the community because of the influence of her father.
               On Wednesday’s we meditate on how we can become agents in the transformation of our community. The biblical portion that we are meditating is from the John 6. We find Jesus testing his disciples to see how they respond to a human need. Both Philip and Andrew has contrasting views and also on the nature of help provided. The solution that Andrew brings about is an unknown boy with five loaves and two fish. It is this unknown  boy who takes the initiative to give his share so that the needs of others could be taken care. Were there not other people who may had more food too? Why did they not give their share when Andrew would have asked them? I don't know the answers of such question. But one thing is very clear the boy has agreed the share of food that his mom specially made for him is to be given for others.  Here is a boy who is willing to give up his food so that people who are hungry could be fed. A boy who is trying to learn the lesson of life. But has already started practicing what has been taught to us. There may be have been many older people who should have been a  model or should have come forward in the time of need, but they chose to think of only their need. Society has two kinds of people: One type of people are those who will always think “ What can I get” while the other type of people think “ What can I give”
                      Our community and our society is blessed because I believe there are lots of people like this boy, unknown, unnamed who are willing to willing to experience pain and hunger so that others could experience  life in  a better way. I believe we also need to be like that boy who is ready to think about others and not just about him and then I believe we all could be channels of transformation in our community.
Where do you stand– Among people who think “ What can I get” or with the people who think “ What can I give”?.
Let us Pray: O Lord we confess that we are only concerned of our needs rather than thinking of the needs of others. Help us to see to it that we also contribute in our own way so that the life of others is blessed. Amen

The Journey 44
Tuesday, February 14
Read: Daniel 3
Key Verse: "But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” . [ Daniel 3: 18]
                      Music lovers all over the world is mourning the tragic death of Whitney Houston. A singer who dabbled with drugs and was constantly in and out of rehab, she leaves behind a legacy where success without any values has a price to pay. In fact according to John J Thomson who in “Think Christian” states that  "She had a history and a relationship with gospel music and faith that informed her work and endeared her to her fans, yet she mostly steered clear of specifically Christian ideas. She deftly referenced these in the service of deeply intimate inter-personal love songs". One of her close friends was Cece Winans who on the contrary was a singer with Christian values. They both recorded one of the most memorable songs about friendship, "Count on Me". But that is where the difference starts. Whitney achieved fame which came with a price, but Cece Winans also achieves fame but with a different standards. Working and using her talents and music for the Lord.  Her latest vision is the launching  of her brand new record label, Wellspring Gospel. She says she needed to do something to the music industry. "We just need more God-fearing companies to put out music".  In one of her interviews, when  asked to share her mission statement , she smiled and told, "To serve I'd like to be known as just a server of Christ, which is a server of people." Two friends, One paying a price for living for the world, another paying a price to live for the Lord. One who is transformed by the world, the other who tries to bring transformation to the world and in the place that one is placed by God.
                       On Tuesday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in our workplace or school. The character that we are using for our meditation is the life and ministry of Daniel. Daniel. Daniel has found favour with King Nebuchadnezzar after he has interpreted his dreams and he has been appointed in high positions. But he still has to pay a price to stand for his faith. The new test is the test of loyalty, a test of faithfulness and test of commitment and love. The King set a replica of his image made of gold and orders that everyone at the appointed time has to bow down to the image. All those people who fail to do this are threatened to be thrown into a fiery furnace.  Daniel and his friends are tested again. But they stand steadfast in their faith. They loudly proclaim their faith “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” [ Daniel 3: 17,18]. One can understand the anger and the fury that the King would have gone through when Daniel and his friends so boldly proclaim where their commitment lies. For fame, for popularity and for positions and privileges there are people today in the world who will forsake even their parents, but here are four friends who proclaim to the king and to the people assembled that even if they loose their life and their world, they will not forsake their love for the Lord.  This is witnessing, witnessing so that they could be channels of transformation where they  are placed. Can we be like Daniel and his friends where we can proclaim to others that our first love and our commitment is to our Lord and then comes everything else, the world, the fame, the prosperity.
If we stand for the Lord we wont fall for anything, but don't stand for the Lord we will fall for everything.
Just a concluding thought: The final public performance of Whitney Houston was when she sang the hymn “Jesus Loves Me”  which is fascinating, indeed. According to John J Thomson “Even so, after her many years of very public bouts with substance abuse, addiction and toxic relationships, it is certainly cause for comfort that her final hours included those simple, but powerful lines: “Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so”.
Let us Pray: Dear Lord thank you for teaching us that our first love and our commitment is to you. Help us to stand firm in that commitment even if it cost us our fame, riches and positions. Help us not to compromise our Christian values. Amen.

The Journey 43
Monday, February 13
Read: Luke 5:1-11
Key Verse: “Then Jesus said to Simon “ Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” [ Luke 5: 10]
                          The New Jersey Turnpike is a highway that we all travel. But as you come from New York towards Philadelphia on the entrance of the New Jersey Turnpike on  I-95, you will have a very small space for deviating to two different roads, soon after you pay the toll. It is within that small stretch of road that the people who drive needs to decide whether to turn to I-95 North or  to I–95 South. In my first year we clergies of the Philadelphia church’s were returning back to Philly from New York, and I was driving, but then as we were in fellowship and laughing at the jokes that was being shared, we came to entrance of the New Jersey Turnpike, and I had the confusion whether to take I-95 north or I-95 south. Boldly I took the one of I-95 deviations.  Philip George achen who was with me asked in between are we following the correct route  and I said yes don't worry, you crack your jokes, I will manage the wheel. We drove on but after about 45 minutes of drive, we saw that we were seeing some familiar spots. PG Achen suddenly said “ Hey this is New York!!!!”. I had taken the wrong deviation. Instead of taking I-95 South, I had taken I-95 North. We managed to turn back and then once again came to the entrance of New Jersey Turnpike and that is when we took I-95 South to come to Philly. That day the two hour Philly drive from New York took us almost 6 hours. Even today when I reach the entrance of I-95 on New Jersey turnpike, I remember the 6 hour drive. I think we all go through such experience where we slog and work the whole day but at the end of the day you sometime realize that all your work and effort that you put in was in vain. Sometimes this is a reality of life. But through such experiences we can learn some valuable lessons that could transform our personal life.
                  On Monday’s we meditate on how we can bring about transformation in our personal life. From this week onwards we are starting a new portion and a new character that we will meditate on. The character is another familiar person and he is “Simon Peter”, the first followers of Jesus Christ. How did Jesus bring transformation in the life of Simon Peter which made him to leave his nets, his boat to follow Jesus Christ?. In the portion for our meditation in Luke 5: 1-11, we find in the initial verses, Jesus climbing into the boat of Simon Peter and asking Simon Peter to take him away from the shore. Here is Jesus consciously coming into the boat of Simon Peter. As he goes a little farther, Jesus tells Simon Peter to put the nets again into water and that is when Simon Peter tell him about his woes as to how he fished all night long but caught nothing. All his effort and his pain was in vain. Simon Peter is going through a desolate experience in his life, where he feels his living, his profession and all the efforts that he has put into his professional job on that particular day has not yielded fruits. A day where he is may be ruing about his failure and may be even job of being a fisherman. It is here that Jesus Chris makes a difference in his life by asking him to put the nets again. We all know the miraculous catch the Peter got when he obeyed Jesus Christ.
                  I feel we may also at times go through such experience when we feel that the job that we do, the work that we did the whole day does not give us any meaning or we may wonder at the end of the day “ what did I get by working so hard”. It in this context that we need to allow Jesus to enter into our professional life so that His presence with us will transform our profession living and goals and bring meaning even to our life in general and professional life in particular.
         Depressed that you are stuck in your professional life, allow Jesus Christ to enter into your boat.
Let us Pray: Lord thank you for the work that you entrust, the job that we have. But there are times when we feel depressed about our wok and our professional life. Enrich and transform our life through your presence. Amen

 

The Journey 41

Saturday, February 11

Read: Genesis 2,3

Key Verse: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [ Galatians 5:16]

Empowerment was a catch word for this decade. Every institution both in the secular and the religious world adopted it as catchword. Hence you had seminars like empowerment of the work force, empowering the individual, empowering the woman, empowering the managers…...the list goes on. Empowerment is a positive action and it  brought about a renewal in people’s life and avenues where each person felt that they could be better citizens and individuals by their creative contributions and role in an organization or in an institution. Today everyone claims to be a empowered individual. But has the correct perspective  of empowerment transferred to all areas of our life. We live today where the attitude of people have become more self centered, focused more on individual goals and accomplishments and whose prime objective is “I will do what gives me happiness and I am not concerned as to how  my action affects others”. This has brought about a disastrous effect in every areas of our life. This attitude has also come about in our family life too.

                  On Saturday’s our theme for meditation is “transformation in our family life”. On Saturday’s we are  meditating on the life of the first family: “ Adam and Eve”. Did this concept of individual happiness or the attitude that what I do is more important, even if it has a negative effect on my relationship with others, exist in the first family? I believe it existed and that is how the first family experience rift in between their relationship, and thus sin comes into their life? We find that when the devil is tempting her to eat forbidden fruit, in the course trying to tell her to disobey God, Eve knows that God has commanded certain laws which will help both her and Adam to live a fruitful life. But Eve without thinking of Adam decides what is best for her and for her husband. She does not think how her action will affect her relationship with God nor her relationship with her husband Adam. Not only is her decision unilateral she also sees that Adam also toes here line of action. The result is that the first family get alienated from God. When God instituted the family, the responsibility was to be shared equally by both man and woman. They had to form equal and a responsible relationship where decision that they took were decided and discussed together for the betterment of their life and their family.

I believe this concept exist today in our family life. Today there are spouse or even children in the family who carry  this particular attitude “I will do what is best that I think, even if it causes hurt to my spouse or to my children or parents, I just don't  care”. Can we learn from the sins of the first family?. What God wants us in our family is an attitude where we plan and decide together, what is best for our family rather than one of the spouse trying to force his/her opinion on the other.  

Do you force your opinion in your family or do you listen and value the opinion of others in your family?

Family is a bond of collective relationships.

Let us Pray: Lord you want us to make our family life a blessed through collective effort of every  member in our family. Forgive our sins of self centeredness and our attitude of working for our own pleasure than the happiness of others. Amen

The Journey 40

Friday, February 10

Read; Mark 2:1-12

 Way back in the 90’s I was a parish priest in one of the parishes in Diocese of Thiruvanathapuram– Kollam. One day I had a paper presentation in one of the conference in the afternoon in a far off place. As I was about to leave my parsonage to attend the conference, one of my members of  a previous parish called me up and said that her husband was in hospital in a serious condition and she wanted me to come over and pray for him. I told her that I was on the way to a conference, but I will come over to the hospital to pray for her husband. When I reached the hospital,  I realized that he was in ICU, but at that particular moment, the doctors were not willing to allow me to enter the ICU. The woman pleaded with the doctors but to of no use. Finally both the lady and myself spent some time outside the ICU and we  both prayed together sitting on the bench outside the ICU. I consoled here and told her that I would be remembering her husband in my prayers. I travelled on to attend the conference, and a  few days later I came to know that my parishioner had passed away. When I went to console the bereaved family members, the wife of the deceased person came to me and said “Achen I believe my husband would have lived if only you were permitted to go to the ICU and pray for my husband”. Till this day, the lady has not reconciled to this act of the of the hospital people whom she blames for the death of here husband. Strange but true…. .                  On  Friday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in the life of the sick and the suffering people. The passage that we are using for our meditation is from the Gospel of Mark2:1-12. The word of God states that when Jesus came to  Capernaum, the news spread that Jesus was there and hence there was a large crowd with him even in the house that he had come [ v: 1,2]. This is the time the friends with their paralyzed friend comes to that place to meet Jesus. They were desperate and wanted to somehow bring to the attention of Jesus the pitiable condition of their friend. But the crowds block their passage. I think they  might have pleaded with some of them, but they would not have given heed to their cry nor their plea. Some of them would have told them “ Look we are also people in need, so wait for your turn”. Probable the insensitivity and the apathy of the people might have really made the friends of the paralyzed man go wild with rage. But they did not loose hope. They decided that the only way to get to the presence of Jesus is to intrude into his presence so that they could bring to his attention the plight of their friend. It is this motive that  makes them to go to the roof, dig a hole and then lowers the mat in front of Jesus. I think there are times when we also behave like the people in the crowd. We are not sensitive to the needs of the suffering people, we are often more concerned to see how Jesus does the healing, or we just want to just bystanders and have a look at the fun that may be going on. In the midst of these callous attitude there are people who need our help and our kind hearted attitude and our willing support otherwise what happens is that they may have to intrude into our privacy to catch our attention and to let us know the pain, the suffering that they are going through.

Have people forced their way to you to catch your attention because you have been insensitive to their needs?

The Journey 39
Thursday, February 9
Read; Nehemiah 1

Key Verse: “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish”. [ Esther 4:14]

 One of the saddest things that is seen in in some of the parishes of our church, is that the parish has a membership of more than 250 families, but the sanctuary in which they worship has space only to hold about 100 families. Every family knows that ideal church would be one where every person can be a regular worshipper and the parish should have space to accommodate everyone who comes to worship. This does not bother the people who come for worship and also for those who do not regularly attend worship. On the top of it, you have people who regularly come to the church, but prefer standing outside the sanctuary even when there is space in the sanctuary for worship. They are not concerned with the worship, nor the exposition of the Word, nor the power of people worshipping together nor willing to understand that they are actually taking the whole concept of God and his precepts in vain and folly.This scene is replica of what happened in life of the people of Judah. God has punished the people of Judah because they had hardened their hearts against Him. Moreover even the priests and the people were doing all abominable things thus defiling the house of the Lord. [2 Chronicles 36:14-16].  Thus the people of Judah are made captive by the Babylonians and soon Jerusalem is in ruins. Nehemiah is mourning not only because of the condition of the walls of Jerusalem but also with respect to the attitude of the people who are least concerned at the apostasy among the people and the lack of spiritual fervor among the people. (v. 4). The feeling that Nehemiah goes through is that of an intense emotion, which is expressed through weeping, fasting and prayer, for almost four months. On Thursday’s we meditate on how we can bring transformation in life of our parish. Are we concerned on how our parish functions or how the lives of our fellow parishioners borders on spiritual apathy, moral callousness and having no qualms in turning a holy place of worship to a place for social gatherings. It is in this context I think of the words that Mordecai says to Esther “ If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish”. [ Esther 4:14] . It is in such context that Nehemiah also stands in history. He is concerned as to why people though in captivity still has not learned from their past mistakes. He wanted them to repent and turn back to God. God needs to worshipped in sprit and in truth and he needs to be acknowledged and in other sense we need to fear him with trembling.It is here we as the  members of the body of Christ  needs to examine our lives so that we turn back from the complacency that we show in worshipping God, turn back from taking our relationship and our commitment to God for granted and in the process defiling the place of worship.Let us do and be in God’s Kingdom and in God’s “business’ in the way He wants us and also expects us to be. 

Let us Pray:  Dear Lord we are sorry that we often take our role as worshippers as granted. We are not concerned as to what is happening in your body, nor are we concerned about how our relationship with you is. Help us to be serious of our role in your body. Amen