The Journey 145
Read: Luke 7:36-50
Another church is now creating storms and getting nation wide attention in this country. This is because of a sermon delivered by its Pastor on Sunday May 13. The church- Providence Road Baptist Church at Maiden, North Carolina and the Pastor whose sermon is in the centre of controversy is Pastor Charles Worley. In his sermon, Pastor Worley told his congregation that people who have the same sex relationship orientation should be put in an electric fence in such a way that they cant get out and separating each of them on the basis of their gender. He proposed in his sermon that they should be provided food by dropping from above, and that since they don't have the ability of procreation, the population will eventually die. This radical stand of the Pastor has forced Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State to file a letter with the Internal Revenue Service with a request to examine tax exempt status given to the Providence Road Baptist Church, since they believe that sermon like these violates the federal tax law. But look at another church. This church is the National Community Church in Washington DC. This church organizes a weekly event called as Ebenezer Coffee House, which is drawing about 200 people each week. What the church does is through such fellowship, is gather individuals together, discuss and plan as to how the church can give better care to the people who have the same sex orientations both inside and outside the church. This was reported by a Christian organization called Exodus, whose objective is to provide support to individuals with same sex orientation, to transform their life through the power of Christ and to live out a biblical sexual ethics. The stand taken by the two church seems to be so paradoxical. One condemns while other tries to redeem. It is in such paradoxical context that the parish or the local church is called to share the transforming power of our Lord.
This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my parish”. The biblical portion that we are meditating is from Luke 7: 36-50. As we discussed yesterday, Jesus has come to the house of a Pharisee to dine and as he dines the woman comes to the presence of Jesus. There is no interaction between the woman and Jesus. She wipes the feet of Jesus with her tears and she pours the perfume on his feet. The Pharisees seeing the woman starts condemning both the woman and also Jesus, stating that if Jesus was a prophet he would have known the character of this woman and he would not in any way associate with the woman. Contrary to the beliefs of the Pharisees, what Jesus does is very noble. He tell a parable to Simon, whom I presume invited him to his house, about redemption and forgiveness. Later Jesus tells the woman that her sins are forgiven and tells her that her faith has saved her and she is asked to go in peace. The Pharisees take a stand of condemnation without addressing the issue of how to redeem the woman, on the contrary Jesus addresses the issue of how to redeem the woman whom the Pharisees claim to be a sinner without condemnation. Jesus through this parable and the way he encountered the woman gives us a model to follow both for the believers and the church. What the parish or the local church needs to do today is to make its witness both credible to the world and faithful to the Lord. To engage in such a ministry we have to see how we could redeem people from their sins, rather than condemning them without understanding their context or their world view.
Parish become transformed when the members focus more on redemption rather than condemnation.
Another church is now creating storms and getting nation wide attention in this country. This is because of a sermon delivered by its Pastor on Sunday May 13. The church- Providence Road Baptist Church at Maiden, North Carolina and the Pastor whose sermon is in the centre of controversy is Pastor Charles Worley. In his sermon, Pastor Worley told his congregation that people who have the same sex relationship orientation should be put in an electric fence in such a way that they cant get out and separating each of them on the basis of their gender. He proposed in his sermon that they should be provided food by dropping from above, and that since they don't have the ability of procreation, the population will eventually die. This radical stand of the Pastor has forced Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State to file a letter with the Internal Revenue Service with a request to examine tax exempt status given to the Providence Road Baptist Church, since they believe that sermon like these violates the federal tax law. But look at another church. This church is the National Community Church in Washington DC. This church organizes a weekly event called as Ebenezer Coffee House, which is drawing about 200 people each week. What the church does is through such fellowship, is gather individuals together, discuss and plan as to how the church can give better care to the people who have the same sex orientations both inside and outside the church. This was reported by a Christian organization called Exodus, whose objective is to provide support to individuals with same sex orientation, to transform their life through the power of Christ and to live out a biblical sexual ethics. The stand taken by the two church seems to be so paradoxical. One condemns while other tries to redeem. It is in such paradoxical context that the parish or the local church is called to share the transforming power of our Lord.
This week we are meditating on the theme “ Transformation in my parish”. The biblical portion that we are meditating is from Luke 7: 36-50. As we discussed yesterday, Jesus has come to the house of a Pharisee to dine and as he dines the woman comes to the presence of Jesus. There is no interaction between the woman and Jesus. She wipes the feet of Jesus with her tears and she pours the perfume on his feet. The Pharisees seeing the woman starts condemning both the woman and also Jesus, stating that if Jesus was a prophet he would have known the character of this woman and he would not in any way associate with the woman. Contrary to the beliefs of the Pharisees, what Jesus does is very noble. He tell a parable to Simon, whom I presume invited him to his house, about redemption and forgiveness. Later Jesus tells the woman that her sins are forgiven and tells her that her faith has saved her and she is asked to go in peace. The Pharisees take a stand of condemnation without addressing the issue of how to redeem the woman, on the contrary Jesus addresses the issue of how to redeem the woman whom the Pharisees claim to be a sinner without condemnation. Jesus through this parable and the way he encountered the woman gives us a model to follow both for the believers and the church. What the parish or the local church needs to do today is to make its witness both credible to the world and faithful to the Lord. To engage in such a ministry we have to see how we could redeem people from their sins, rather than condemning them without understanding their context or their world view.
Parish become transformed when the members focus more on redemption rather than condemnation.