Good News for the Poor and Freedom for the Captives

All the people in this world have different motives in the world. Some want to become rich, some want to accumulate wisdom, some want a good name, some want to become big hero, some want to break records in all the fields, and still some want to do things which will keep them alive forever in this world. When we see the intention of Jesus, it is compeletly different from the world thinking.

Jesus was born in this world to bring joy to this world. Many people work hard to keep them joyful. Many people spend a lot of money on alchoholic drinks, games, movies, computers, drugs to keep them happy and joyful but it's all in vain. For these kind of things only brings joy which is temporay in nature.

BUt the Bible says, Jesus birth was the occasion of joy. The angel announced about His birth that He will bring you joy. And you people need not to be afraid in the life. The fear will be removed and all the uncertainities will be taken away, once Jesus comes in the life of a person.

Jesus indeed came to give us the joy and peace, He proved this when He walked on the streets of Jerusalem and other villages. His ministry was for the blinds, the lepers, the physically disabled and the people who were not supposed to be the part of the heathy community. Jesus went to those kind of people and touched them and restored their old life to new life.  He changed them by healing their problems and by showing them the love of God.

Jesus loved the people and sat with them and ate with them. This fellowship was very unique in nature, for the people of his time had never expected that the Messiah will love these kind of depraved and hopeless people. They just thought that He will come and will over throw the foreign invaders. They misinterpreted His mission but Jesus started His mission not from the high intellectuals and rich people but from the very simple lowly people of His time. This made Jesus unique  because all the kings and Princes looked for friends of their stature only but when this king of kings came, He chose to love the people who were not meeting the standard of those times in any case.

This made Jesus heard to the crowds. He was well heard by the ordinary people. They liked Him and very pleased to have Him but the rich and religious gurus of His time opposed Him for His great love for the people. He broke many rules which were imposed on the ordinary people and made people think why imposed on them rules which were very heavy to carry and to bear. This made all the ordinary people love HIM and embrace His teachings.

Today also He brings joys to the ordinary and simple people. He cares for them and loves them. He wants them to know that He came to give them joy and not to impose on the some more extra burdens. Jesus lifts up the yokes of oppression and gives freedom. He says, I will give you my joy. You come to me and open your hearts for it. Jesus invites us all to HIM to make our lives joyful.

Dear friends as we approach Christmas let's see Jesus in all the celebrations. Let's not forget Him in all the activities. Let's know that His birth brought joys to the people concerned. Jesus wants to give us hope and joy and peace. Are you looking for that ? then come to the Messiah and may your heart and cup be filled with the joys. May you enjoy HIM and praise God for what He has done through the birth of Jesus Christ in this World. 

WE thank God that we have joy because of Jesus and not because of money, children, success, and big names. They are also important but pls know that the real jOy really comes only from Jesus.

  

The caste system is the unique feature of Hinduism. It was invented to keep the monopoly of some. It's main intention was to keep some people lower so that they will serve freely and will never ask their rights (appropriate wages) and dignity. The caste system broke the people into many divisions. Caste system was imposed on people in the name of divinity, so that no one would dare to question its authority. But God has seen the misries of His people as He did in the time of Egyptian slavery. The Light of Truth has reached to the villages and cities of our country. The Truth shall uproot the evil of our society and will free those who will apply it in their daily life.

"Casteism is enslaving because it rests on a lie that God created us unequal from the birth. We are different from each other because we are unique, just as each child in a family is unique and different.Being different in our aptitudes, abilities, interests, and motivations does not make us unequal. Just as wise and sensitive parents invest more of their love , affection, time and resources in a child who is weak, we too must invest in caring for those who need greater support."*

We need to be a voice of the voiceless. We need to represent the oppressed in the media and other places wherever it is necessary. The Lord Jesus was very much interested in the people who were seprated by the false traditions, presuppositions, false philosophies and false values of his time.

Jesus sat beside the lepers, He touched them, talked to them and listened to them. Jesus also talked to the people called Samaritans. Jesus also broke the walls between clean and uncleans. He made it clear that there is no one lord and no one servant but we all need to be servant of each other to serve.

He said He has come to heal the (physical, spiritual, social and religious)sick. Jesus paid attention to the people in need. And He gave this same commision to the Apostles to carry it to the nations.

We, as Christ followrs need to do the same in our time. We can not be lover of God if can not be lover of his people. The people for whom He died and rose again.

Dear friends its time to pray, to identify, to serve oppressed with our gifts and resources. May God bless each of us to serve the needy, the oppressed (Dalits).

Jesus shall say to you...whatever you did to them.......you did it to me.

*Dr. V. Mangalwadi

Raj

Opposition is not new to Christian faith. The prophets of God were criticized by the people and the wicked kings for speaking against the sins of the people. The Prophets sided with truth of God. They criticized the people for not behaving according to God's law. They preached against sexual sins, stealing, oppression of poor and injustices. Many repented after hearing the message but others refused and instead of turning to God and to the path of rightousness they turned against God and persecuted the men of God for speaking against them.

When Jesus came preaching truth and healing people, he too face the similar people in His time. They did not like Him for teaching the Truth and for identifying with the sinners, lepers, the samaritans, outcastes, the prostitutes etc. But He did not stopped His mission but continued it even in temptations and trails. And just before His death, He gave that mission to the Apostles and disciples to carry it to the suffring people in the world and to liberate them from all kinds of bondages.

Jesus' believers carried that same message of God to the nations. One of His Apostle came to India too. And many followed him in the course of time inspite of sickness, death, persecution, the work of God continues, because, the men of God love the oppressed and people in sinful condition.

While people might be hating us for many reasons, Christian service is hated in India because it is a greater threat to the Hindu social order than the phony ones.

Consider this scenario:

 Kallu grazes his landlord's cattle. He is an illitrate, landless, poor, "untouchable" peasent who dresses in rags and goes barefoot. He gets a little cut on his dirty feet. which turns septic. He goes to the village doctor who sells him an ointment. The oitment is good, but ineffective without proper washing, badaging and shoes. kallu has little sense of hygene and the upper caste doctor isn't going to wash a Shudra's feet. The infection ulcerates and spreads. Kallu is not able to keep his job, his family is not able pay for his treatement, so he is thrown out on the streets of Kolkatta to beg and die. His family loves him, but is unable to cope with a white elephant whose "karma" is taking him to an early death. His caste may be sad for him, but the rest dont care.

A mother Teresa (or a Graham Staines) comes along and interrupts Kallu's "karmic suffering. The misionary is scandalized that a family and a culture can discard a human being with such indignity. She washes the "untouchable"s feet with her own hands. She not merely treat him but also appeal to generous Western donors to hel feed him. The misisonary belives that she is simply obeying Jesus' command to love her neighbor as herself. she dies not have the faintest idea that in fact she is stirring up a revolution. She has thrown down a gauntlet at a three thousand year old worldview and religious system. kallu is shocked to discover that he is not an 'untouchable', that he is in fact precoius. Why? The misionary says that she loves him because God does and because he commanded us to love our neighbor. "How do you know God loves me?" "I know because He sent his Son to take your sin upon himself. Jesus shed his blood as the sacrificial lamb of God to save you from eternal death in hell." Kallu can not belive anyone loves him, let alone that someone would love him enough to die for him. But the missionary is irrfutable evidence that someone does love him and holds him precious.
 
Kallu is attracted to the missioanry's belief system. His family is overjoyed by the new life that has been given to him freely. They want to convert to new faith; in fact, their whole caste has become interested in exploring a worlview that affirms their dignity. 

 The upper caste in their village are infuriated that their slaves want to escape their slavery. Weren't these folk born to serve us because of their bad "karma"? Do they now want to become our equals? Will these misionaries educate these sub-humans and make them officers- our doctors, inspecters and judges?

Who will then graze our cattle? If upper caste landlords don't prevent Kallu's conversion, their economy, life-style and culture would indeed be ruined. Options open to the upper castes? a) To out do the misionary's service. b) To condemn her, and forcefully prevent her from serving the likes of Kallu.But if they can't get the govt. to throw the missionary out of the country then, they claim their only option is c) to murder her. The misisonaries try to show the love of God in practical ways to the needy and despised.1
 
Dr. Udit Raj says, "The upper caste Hindu oppose anything which impowers marginalized people. Newborn abandoned Dalit children can be eaten by dogs and animals, but if a Christian missionary gives the same child shelter in an orphanage, the RSS,-an outfit of Hindu fundamentalists- will attack the missionary saying he is forcibly converting the child."2

Dr. S. Jayakumar quoted one source,  "The reson behind the persecution was, as mentioned earlier, that the gospel of Christ came on the one hand as a message of liberation to the poor and the oppressed, on the other hand as a threat to the Brahmins and caste Hindus.3

The missionaries obey their Lord to love their neighbor, the image of God. And they want to make the society and our courrpted culture better but some don't like it for above mentioned reasons. Should misionaries stop this work No not at all. Jesus loves us and commanded us to serve God and his people till the end of the age as He will be with us there. So the work of God, transforming the lives, cultures and society and nations still continues...

The readers may join us in prayers for the Work.

The resources:

1. Mangalwadi Vishal, The Quest for Freedom and Dignity, Bibles for the World, CO, USA.
2. D'souza Joseph, Dalit freedom now and forever, DFN, CO, USA, pp154-155
3. Jayakumar Samuel, Dalit consciousness and Christian conversion, Mission Education Books, chennai, India, p.139

The natural tendency of human heart is to identify with the higher sections of society. While everybody wants to be called a friend of highly educated, of noble birth, of good background people, Jesus did the opposite. The people (religious/political authorities) 2000 years ago had the same inclination as of today.They wanted to be entertained by the rich, religious, and  of high learned.

But Jesus stood different from the crowd. He  identified with the despised, downtrodden, the sinners, tax-collectors, the prostitutes, the Samaritans, and the uncleans.

Because of  Jesus' association with the humble and the outcaste people, He was called their friend  by the people. For some it was a shamful title but Jesus took it gladly, knowing that the the title which world offers is of not eternal value. He loved the lowely, humble, despised, the down-trodden and outcaste from his heart. It was not a showy thing for Him.

The question arises why did Jesus associate himself with the sinners and despised? The answers could be many but let me list, a few here:

1. Jesus is Creator: Jesus is the image of invisible God among us. He is the Creator, all things were made by Him. All the people love their best handiwork in the world and show them that it belongs to them. They take pride in that, It was created by them. It is same with Jesus too, He created man and woman by His hands, and He takes pride in them, for they bear His very image and were the supreme in all his handi-work. 

2. The friendship in Eden garden: In the garden of Eden, God came to meet his representative, and image bearer everyday. He showed his love, concern and care for them. He showed his friendsip with them. He came to love them. Do you remember, even on the day of fall, God came to meet them, and asked where are you? I have come to meet you and fellowship with you. But we know someting bad happend that day and the friendship was broken, but God also promised to restore it, in the seed of Woman. And from that promise, Jesus came to the world in a form of Saviour and God-friend.

3. Restoring the relationship: Satan is enemy of God, since he hated God and rebelled against Him, he also hates the people associated with their Creator. Since satan himself is not at peace, he wants others also in the same state. It was Satan's conspiracy to destroy the friendly relationship between God and humanity. And satan extends that hate compaign to God's creation, the people of His hands.

So when Jesus came to this world, He restores that relationship and unites people with people thru His death and resurrection. He makes them one in Church and prayes for them to be united as one as He is One. Restoring the broken relationships was Jesus mission.

4. Jesus was the perfect man: Since Jesus came as the perfect and sinless man in the world, therefore He loved the people and cared for them as it was intended from each perfect man. He came to show us, this is, what God wants us to be in our relations, this is how God sees us and this is how you should treat your brothers and sisters in the world. He is the perfect example of friendship, for He loved people unconditionally and without being partial in any form.

5. To give the dignity and honor : God knew, that because of sin, the world is affected very much and satan is trying to destroy the people in various ways. So Jesus, knowing that the priestly class of his time, and the political authorities did not do anything for a marginalized section of society but rather put them down, became friend of them. He restored them to the fellowship of other people and united them in bond of love.

Jesus became the friend of sinners and despised because he Created them. Jesus became the friend of sinners because, it was the real plan of God to love everyone and not to hate. Jesus became the friend of people, to show us that Son of God expects the same from all of His followers.

Jesus became the friend of sinners to show the love of God to them. Jesus became the friend of poeple to show that God the Father loves all His people irrespective of their background, color and look. Jesus, knew many have come to destory and punish them but there was none to offer the hope and love. God could not bear it, any more and therefore He manifested His Agape Love for His wonderful creation.

 Through his friendship, Jesus wanted to remove the bad labels from the people such as sinners, unclean, polluted and untouchables etc. While He was upon the earth, He called his people as His, 'children of God' 'friends', disciples', 'followers', 'saints', 'sheep', 'light of the world' "people of the located on the hills" etc. These shows, how much Jesus loved His people.

I really did not have good friend in my life. And I always longed for it but as I mentioned above the world has its own standard, so I felt some time lonely and despised but now I thank God that I have the best friend in the world. I thank Jesus for walking and talking with me. I thank Him for unconditional love. I thank Him for identifying with me and standing beside me. I thank Him for restoring my relationship with God and with many others, whom, otherwise I have thought they are my enemies. Jesus has changed my perspective to see the people.

Yes, I can say with the great hymn writor, "what a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear...

How about you friend, do you feel the same way as of me? Then know Jesus and have Him as your friend today! Get the best friend in the world has ever known!

Raj

There was a very melodious song a few years ago,  "Jahan pawano mein payal, hatho mein kangana, ho mathey pe bindiya, It happens only in India". This song beautifully explains some of the positive things of our country. When we or any one from outside hear it, It makes us feel good. It makes "India shining".

But there are bad things too, in our country and we can not ignore and neglect them. They are hard realities of India. Some of the things really do happen 'Only in India.' They dont make us "great and shining" but put a black stain on us.

We all know that Dalits have been oppressed by the Hindu religious traditions. And worst victim of the oppression are the womens and children. They suffer many kinds of stigma. One of them is Devdasi partha.

The problem: ":A report prepared by an NGO has revealed the shocking story of how lakhs of Dalit women are being forced into the devdasi system in several States of the country.The report, which was commissioned by the National Commission for Women (NCW), is a grim reminder that heinous practice - dedication of young girls from socially disadvantaged sections to Goddess Yellamma as devdasis - is not only continuing but is on the rise."*

Generally speaking, the  priestly class consider the Dalits untouachables. They are not to be seen at certain times. In the olden days, they were forced to go early in the morning to work and return only in evening after sun setting. Main reason behind this was that the shadow of these "lower humans" may not fall upon 'holy and high people'.Same is to be said of gods, in their temples the Dalits were not allowed to enter and offer worship. The 'lower class' if enter in temples it would make them unholy and polluted.

This is the sad story, And this is the double standard life. The priests and gods did not allow all the untouchables in their premesis generally but when it came to beautiful girls of the same community, the fact of being a shudra, or untouchabe was ignored. They took them as Devdasi (servant of god or goddess). "The practice of dedicating Dalit girls to the local Goddess at an young age, between five to 10, is prevalent in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"> Assam" states. This kind of practice is not limited to a particular state but prevalent in many states.The priestly class enjoy the girls of oppressed and downtrodden families.

"According to an estimate, girls dedicated as Devdasis to Yellamma and Khandoba temples in Maharashtra-Karnataka border area number about 2.5 lakh and all are from the Dalit community."*

Most of the girls comes from the fresh families, who have no history of devdasi. This tells us that more fresh families have been forced to go into this evil practice. Most of the devdasis become prostitutes: "of which nearly 40 per cent join the flesh trade in urban brothels and the rest are involved in the trade in their respective villages satisfying the libido of landlords, village heads and other influential people. A Devdasi, in a way, is considered as "public property" in the village. Rest are struggling to survive as agricultural labourers or maid servants."*

So this is the way, the 'high caste' treat the Dalits. They make rule and religion which suite them. One side they hate these people but another side they "use them as their property". And they call themselves 'high' but their the works are "lowest".

The solutions: First of all, the authorities should look into the matter. They should make it clear that where does it happen, what is the police station area. The concerned area officers and leaders  should be honord and recognized publicly who work and do some positve works for the eradication of the evil practices but also they must be  punished legally if that occur contiously and if they fail to bring this kind of evil practice to legal aspect.

Secondly, the social awakening is needed in the area. The NGO and human rights organizations should go and teach the people.The awareness of the society would play a good role.

Thirdly, The dalits should be empowerd economically. The families should be taught some skills to earn thier own bread, so that they dont depend in everthing on the local sahukars.

Fourthly, The media, radio, news paper and T.V. has to play a key role. They should write articles and publish the disadvantages of the evil practices of the villagers. The Radio and T.V. can broadcast drama, musich ,and  speech.

Fifthly, The teaching of Bible should be shared with the whole society. Let a high caste hear that it is not good to indulge in sexual relation with another girl other than his wife. Let the wife of the land lord and priest hear this. That they deserve the man, who married them and the husbands should not be allowed to go for other women for it is sin.

Let all the people know that God is  Creator of all. Therefore all the people are equal. Any daughter of the villager should not be forced in any immoral activities.

Let all the people know that God is righteous God, who will pay back as we do and deserve. God is holy God and can not be mocked. A man will reap what he sows.

Finally the True God can be fooled. He is not a stone or wood. He is the real one. He loves people, loves justice and He loves righteousness. Any one who loves True God will not hate his people. And Any one who claims to know God will not do immoral thing. The faith and actions should go together. And if any faith or tradtion propogates the evils, they must be rejected.

The Dalits themselves need to realize who is  real God. They must seek HIM who loves them and cares for them. God cares for the captives, God cares for the people in slavery. He came to unchain them. He came to share the good News with them.

Jesus accepts you as you are. come to HIM there is hope in HIM. Let the blind faith no more ruin the precious lives. Let the people be transformed including the oppressors. Then we can claim, "yes our India is shining". If the condition of Dalits continue to remain same, Our India will not shine and rather we will be people of darkness. The evils of society must be purged, with the help of all sections of society.

May God give wisdom to all of us to love, to serve, to transform, to save, to make our nation a better place, on which we can be proud of. May God help.

http://www.dailypioneer.com

*NCW Bangalore (a joint woman"s Programme)

The Hindu scriptures teaches, that the Avtars (gods) come to destroy the sinners. And it is true, as we read "Yada yada hi dharmasaya...' "jab jab hove dharam ki hani.." and "paritarnaya sadhunam, vinashaya cha duskartam...".  All these teachings basically points to the destruction of despised and sinners.

 The gods, the kings, fought against the  sinnners in the country. And destroyed them, their culture, their houses and  belongins. It is sad thing. In the name of religion and traditions the followers of same avatars continue to harass, hate, rape and kill the poor and marginalized.

The Hindus have no problem accepting Jesus Christ also. Majority accept Him as one of the Avtars, who came upon this earth. But I want to tell them, if you accept Christ as Avatar. Do not put him equal as others, for Christ stands unique in  comparision of all the Avtars, who basically came to condemn, destroy and finally to set their kingdoms on earth.

Jesus did not  come to kill, harrass, to put down, to hate, to destory or to establish his throne. But, He as God-man stands distinct from others. He, instead of taking somebody's life, gave His life for the people. He does not make difference based on birth, karma, race or caste but He loves all his people. He does not love just the Christians but being the Creator,  He loves His creation.

He says, "I have come so that they (sinners, downtrodden, marginalized, oppressed, hopeless, women, samaritans, slaves, outcaste etc) may have life (John 10:10).  He, by his death, saved the life of a very notarious robber, named Barrabbas. He by his death, put an end to the continual sacrifice of animals. He instead of taking somebody's life, shed his own blood for all. Anyone to compare with Him?

There are many people, who do not understand Jesus and his work. They must know that, He did not come to start a new religion. He did not come so that people would accept Him as their king and warrrier. He did not come to establish his royal throne. He did not come to have many wives. He did not come to establish a royal family on earth. He did not come to build many mansions, so that people would remember Him, after He is gone but his mission/goal was entirely different than the others Avtars.

Jesus became Man, so that the sinners, despised, the evildoers, hopeless and tax-collectors will become the sons and daughtrs of God. For it is said, Son of God became of the son of man, so that the sons of man, may become the sons of God."

Dear friend compare Jesus and others. One side is life giver, another side is life-taker.  One side is Shepherd, another side is thief, robbers, simple workers. 

Yes, in Jesus even today there is hope, for his word says, "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)." Yes, Jesus calls even today people, "come I will give you rest." "I will become your guest" "I will come in your house"  "I will eat with you" what a comfortable words.

Lakeer ke fakir banna chhod do. And compare Christ with others, who offer no hope on this earth and after this life. But Jesus says, I love you (John 3:16). I came for you to give you life and the blessings.

May you be able to differentiate between the SAVIOUR of the world and the others. Choice is yours...... No force ...no pressure etc.

God has given wisdom to each of us to use it.

Jesus Christ mission to this world was to save people from sin, suffering, death, condemnation, injustice and hell. His mission was to reach out the people who were living without hope. He came as  a Messiah to save and to fulfill the hope of his people. Jesus came to identify with those who were looked down, the downtrodden, the sinners, the aduterers, the tax- collectors, the uncleans etc. He, because of his association with these people groups was called the friend of sinners by the so called righteous and religious people.

Many so called high educated people and others who thought to be, of clean race, did not like Jesus for his ideas to have fellowship and union with the masses. But Jesus did not care for them and for their approval. He went ahead to peach the kingdom to the Poor, to serve the marginalized, to help those with physical disabilites, He healed many, loved the little children, and served the people in need such as hunger and thirst. He became the bread and living water for his people.

He loved the people, who were considered the lowest such as Samaritans. He not only walked in their village but also went to talk to a woman, and drank water from her. He told her that He HAS THE WATER OF LIFE AND SHE CAN HAVE IT FREELY. And later from the story (John chapter 4) we do know that this woman drank that living water by faith and became the follower of Christ, who loved her and made others love her. This woman said, I have met the living Savior and I will ask you also meet HIM personally. The people of her village also accepted her testimoney and they believed too in HIM for life. And they said, now we not only belive because you say so, but we ourselve have seen HIM and met the Saviour.

Jesus cares for his people even today. He wants to come to Dalits and other Oppressed people life and home. He wants to give them hope and life. He wants to change their life, belief, living system, the moral life, the philosophy, and want to make them His own dear children (John 1:12). It is now in the hands of Preachers, who will have to take this "Good News" to the people who are suffering and groaning for liberation. And it is for the oppressed, to accept the offer to "have life" on this earth and in heaven.

God loves his people and can not see them suffering anymore. He is sending us, his disciples and and the followers to carry out the message of LIFE to His dear children. He wants His suffring people to liberate. My friends let's say here I am, Lord send me and use me or use my gifts for the same cause.

God wants them to have life. God wants them to be liberated. God wants them to be freed from captivity. Will you play a role in it?

Raj