Saturday, October 27, 2012


THE GOSPEL’S REPUBLIC 
John 8, 31 - 36.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.”

            Devotion to our country is deeply rooted in our nature. It is a source of power and strength, inspiring noble ideals and heroic sacrifices. Loyalty to country enhances a person’s character. This comes by the proper use of freedom. The word “freedom” is not to be taken lightly; and Jesus certainly did not, since he knew how easily it could turn to licence and bind a man to falsehood and lead to self-destruction. So he would work to liberate man and put him on the way to that wholesomeness that is at ease with God and fellowmen. No one can claim this freedom by a natural privilege, either by being a descendant of Abraham or being born after 1947. To belong to an elect nation needs more than the negative claim of not having been born of prostitution into an idolatrous people. No one becomes free by the accident of birth into a particular caste or nation or community. A slave owner is as much or even more a slave than his subjects.  Just as Christ invited the Jews to imitate the faith of Abraham rather than make a nominal appeal to descent from him, so also he invites us Indians to confront our freedom and respond courageously to the call of God in this particular moment of our history, which is a far cry from ethnic pretentious and caste peculiarities. One who refuses Jesus Christ makes a pact with the forces of falsehood and hands himself over to the culture of death. 

            So what do we see in Jesus?  Here is one who scouted the claims of the Pharisees, denounced the false certainties of a frozen religion and invited the people’s faith in him as the ground of their freedom. What scandalous provocation! Such a person, they thought, ought to be ostracised, left among the enemies of the people, the schismatic Samaritans and despised classes, or to the power of evil. And that is precisely where we find Christ, among the sinners and outcasts and those who have not broken through to freedom.  

            Just when the opposition touched a very high point of tension, Jesus affirmed that HE IS greater that Abraham himself. In fact, he attributes to himself the supreme title of the divine liberator of all peoples: “I AM”.  “I Am” will lead us into freedom and the future of unlimited possibilities, even if it means going by way of the cross and hardship. When as a nation we have put aside our hubris and false sense of independence and allowed the one who is greater than Abraham to take over our lives, we shall realise what the true freedom of God’s republic is. 

            Our patriotism does not stand under the claim of an exclusive nationalism, any more than loving one’s mother implies despising other mothers. Our country plays a rôle in the ensemble of nations, which is greater than itself. Different countries exist that they might enrich one another. Today especially we need to ensure that the call up of patriotic feeling is not based on selfish retreat. It is within our country and through it that we must work for the world’s renewal. Such action presupposes that our country exists and is in robust health, which in turn supposes moral discipline. Corrupt individuals do not make for a strong nation. Even this is not enough, for a country that wants to be strong must also be loved. And our love for India is not real unless it bears fruit in love and fair treatment for all its citizens, whoever they may be. This is consonant with God’s desire for nothing less than complete human authenticity, which offers a wide palette of enriching attitudes. Freedom is a necessary risk. God took a “risk” with his creation, and since he has conquered the human heart through the pierced and risen heart of Jesus Christ, we can confidently hope that the nation, self-assured in its material and human resources, will undergo a change of heart, and that all will yet be well. 

            While to the present leaders we pledge our co-operation, we recall with affection the leaders who have died, so also our brave soldiers who shed their blood on the field of battle. A nation that forgets its past has no future and deserves none. The future, as far as we can see, is shadowed in trials, and calls on our courage. But the best stories of heroes are about those striding bravely into an unknown tomorrow, full of risks. So, trusting in one another’s loyalty and, above all, in the God of exodus, who will lead us, we march with strong hearts and firm steps, for we “have many miles to walk and many promises to keep.”

 
 

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