Tales of India
(Rutgers, November 15, 1998; 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C )
Luke 21:1-4 (not lectionary; NT, p. 87);
Luke 1:68-79 (psalm from Christ the King Sunday; NT, p. 59)
Bombay produces even more movies than Hollywood,
and no flight on Air India to London and onward to Delhi is
complete without the viewing of one or even two Indian films.
Reminiscent of the good old Hollywood musicals of Gene Kelly's day,
just about every Indian movie features characters
who burst into song at critical moments in the plot.
Actually, as I reflect upon it, Indian movies,
with their outbursts of song, are reminiscent
not only of the good old Hollywood musicals,
but also of the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke,
chapters in which Luke narrates the births of both
John the Baptist and Jesus
and along the way, at critical moments, offers us
no fewer than four outbursts of song-
those of Mary the virgin,
of Zechariah the priest,
of an angel and the heavenly host,
and of Simeon the righteous.
The lesson I just read is the second of these four songs-
the one that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist,
sang upon the occasion of his son's ritual circumcision.
At the conclusion to his song, Zechariah proclaims:
"By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness + in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."
Here Zechariah proclaims that
the true end of God's redemptive purpose for persons on earth
is to create for all who are oppressed and in any way estranged
conditions of peace and well-being.
N ow the week that lies ahead is a week in which we are invited
to consider our pledges to the work of God through the mission
of this congregation. And it is appropriate that we be reminded
that Jesus's bringing of such light into the midst of darkness
was accomplished through the unstinting offering of himself
for the well-being of others.
If we want the light to break forth in today's darkness then we need to
be like Jesus-giving fully of ourselves to the cause of God's peace.
Or else we need to be like the widow described in our first lesson,
the only person encountered by Jesus
during the critically important last week of his life
who is singled out for full and complete praise.
Roger Franklin has read for you the story of this woman,
a destitute widow living in Jerusalem,
whom Jesus saw when she entered the temple's Court of Women,
to which all Jews had access.
There Jesus saw her approach one of the 13 trumpet-shaped chests
that stood ready to receive people's offerings.
She was but one of a multitude of city residents and pilgrims
who had come to the temple to make their charitable offerings
as they prepared to celebrate the Festival of Passover.
Preceding her in line had been numerous persons of means,
who out of their abundance had placed in the chests
significant amounts of money which could do much good,
but which nevertheless represented relatively small
percentages of their available wealth.
In contrast, the only money the widow had was 2 coins, 2 quarters-
$.50-but she put both quarters into the chest.
The text doesn't explain why she did this,
but in my preacher's imagination I think it must have been
an act of joy responding to her experience of the blessing of
God's dawning light upon one such as her who sits in
darkness and the shadow of death.
It must have been an act responding to her experience
of dawning light through an offering that was
intended to help others experience the peace of soul
which she had sensed.
Now, as most of you know, I was on study leave in India
from October 23rd to last Monday.
And my return late Monday night to the First World
from my two-week sojourn in the Third World was a shock,
for I was returning to a land filled with persons of means
from a land filled with both figurative + literal "widows,"
a land in which 51% of the people have barely
food enough for one simple meal a day.
I stand here today in awe and wonder at the strength and generosity
of the Indian Christian community, a desperately poor community
that continues to bring light into the midst of social darkness
by offering themselves and their resources to others
so that others may be guided to peace and well-being.
In all of India, Christians number fewer than 3% of the population;
in North India, where I was, they number just 5 million, or 1%.
And of those 5 million, 90% come
from the group of untouchables known as Dalits-
the oppressed classes who for the most part
work the fields of landowners
in exchange for a tiny percentage of the crop.
90%, from the desperately poor.
Few rural churches can support a full-time pastor
so many pastors serve 10, 15, or even 20 congregations,
traveling from one to the next by bicycle
along dusty, rocky, rutted roads.
Twice I and the five others I traveled with
were privileged to worship with village Christians in Punjab State
and to be sparked by the flame of their commitment to Christ.
A 40-minute ride north from the Punjabi city of Jalandhar
brought the six of us and two retired Indian ministers
to the village of Rajpur for a Wednesday afternoon service.
1 of the Indian ministers was the former pastor of the district.
Only ten of the families in that particular village were Christian-
about 50 people out of the 200 living in the village,
but that afternoon some 50 other Christians had walked or cycled
from nearby villages to join the visiting guests from America
in the worship of God.
The service was held, as always, outdoors
in the small, barren brown yard adjacent to the pastor's home,
for as in most villages there are no funds to erect a church
even though a simple church structure can be built
in rural India for less than $1,000.
Chairs had been set up in the yard for the guests,
and the 100 or so smiling villagers of all ages,
from infants to octogenarians, sat crosslegged on the ground,
as they were accustomed to doing.
There were no hymnbooks-most of those present were illiterate--
but the congregational singing was full-throated and Spirit-filled,
for most Punjabi Christians have memorized
100 or more biblical Psalms set to Punjabi folk tunes
and accompanied by drums and a breadbox-sized hand organ
called a harmonium.
I was called upon to say a few words
with one of the retired Indian pastors serving as my interpreter.
I shared with them the good news that Jesus had come of God
so that all peoples in the world might be redeemed,
and that during his ministry Jesus had spent almost all
of his time with rural villagers rather than city folk
for it was the poor + humble + simple of heart
who proved most open to receiving the gifts
of God's presence and of God's word,
which Jesus offered.
Before one of the Indian ministers preached the sermon,
a scripture lesson was read in Punjabi
by a radiant 16-year old village girl named Neena Masih.
I don't understand Punjabi, but it was easy enough to tell
that Neena's reading was both fluent and heartfelt.
I learned later that Neena is the one girl in the village who has
completed 10th grade,
the highest grade available free of tuition in rural India.
I asked her through our interpreter what she wanted to do.
She said she wanted to go on to 11th and 12th grades
and college, but that she had no money to do that.
I asked her what she was doing meanwhile,
and she responded, "Nothing."
After the service, all six of us Americans were escorted as a group
to each of the ten Christian homes in the village,
where we were received with great cordiality and hospitality.
The faith and hope and love of the Christians of Rajpur
lifted the hearts of us six American Christians and renewed
our sense of the vitality of Christ's church in the world.
And I left with the distinct feeling that our presence
in faith and solidarity with the Christians of Rajpur
had lifted their hearts as well and had helped renew
their sense of worth + dignity in the sight of God.
Our second experience of village worship came six days later
further north in the Punjab, in the village of Shahpur.
In touring this all-Christian village, we needed to divide up so that
at least one of us could visit each of the many Christian homes.
And afterward we came together in the largest home, joined
by six village singers, drummers, and a harmonium player ,
for an evening of Christian music, prayer ,
and Psalm-singing.
At the end of the evening, I noticed my wife Margaret putting
two 5-rupee notes into the hand
of the widely respected leader of that community of faith
and exchanging some words with him.
Now, two 5-rupee notes are worth only about 25 American cents,
and I was puzzled that Margaret had offered for the work of that
community of faith such an apparently insignificant gift.
While driving back to our lodgings, I asked Margaret about it,
and she told me this story,
a story that puts most of our stewardship to shame,
a story that restates powerfully the messages
found in today's two scripture lessons.
When earlier that day we had divided ourselves up
to visit all the homes in this entirely Christian village of Shahpur ,
Margaret had been directed into what was obviously
the smallest, barest, and poorest home of them all.
Inside were only a young woman and her infant son;
though young, she was apparently a widow.
Now, Margaret grew up in India,
so she understands Punjabi pretty well,
and she even speaks it a bit, although haltingly.
So first the woman asked Margaret to pray a blessing
on her home, which Margaret did.
Then the woman asked Margaret to pray a blessing
on her infant son, which Margaret also did.
Somehow, despite the limitations of her Punjabi, Margaret felt that
in that time of prayer God had been able to use her as an
instrument for bringing to this woman
the promise of the Song of Zechariah, the promise which says:
"By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness + in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
For you see, after Margaret had concluded her prayers,
the face of the woman was abeam with joy.
Then she, who was among the poorest of India's poor,
reached into a hidden jar and pulled out
its entire contents-two 5-rupee notes-25 cents.
She placed them eagerly in Margaret's hands,
and asked her to use them for God's work
to help others.
A tale from India for us to ponder upon this week
as we consider our stewardship.
Let us pray.
O God, be with us this week as we consider our pledges to y our
ministry through this community of faith. Use us, we pray-
ourselves, our time, our money-to bring the tender mercy of your
dawning light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, that they may be brought to peace and well-being. In the
name and for the sake of Christ. Amen.
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