Raising up a new Generation to Transform the World- by Joice Esther, BD IV

Text: Mark 6: 14-29

"I study well. But my sir Nagesh will hit me on my head always. He will come to our home he will sleep on my mother's bed. When I go to my mother to sleep near her, he will throw me from the cot. My mum will do nothing but laugh, on seeing this. One day I got severe hurt in my head and it was bleeding because of his cruel act. The two will drink something from the bottle and will start dancing and they will tell me to clap for their dance. My mum will also beat me if I ask her for food or I go to sleep near her in the night. My sir will drop the ashes of his cigarette on my head, and when I shout unable to bear the heat, he will put off the cigarette by pressing it on my lips. He will kick me if I cry unable to bear the pain. I don't know my father, my mum said my father died and now I should call my sir as my father. How can this cruel man be my father?"

This was the story and cry of a 6 year old girl named Dhanusha, who was admitted into a hospital for treatment, as she was deeply wounded with the hot iron rod on her toe, and several other wounds all over her body caused by a hot iron box, a blade, and a lit cigarette.

Who is the cause of this cruelty? It was none other than her own mother who had an illegal relationship with her old friend named Nagesh soon after her break up after 6 months of her marriage life. In order to hide their own mistake they two started torturing this poor innocent 6 year old girl. And when this girl Dhanusha innocently told the neighbours about what is happening in her home, they two got angry and rebuked her. And finally a woman neighbour reported this case to the police. Now Dhanusha is being taken care by the government.

Open any daily newspaper today and the headlines will proclaim the real life stories of abuse from around the world and from all stratas of society. We live in a society in which physical, emotional, verbal, spiritual, racial and sexual abuse is seldom out of the news. The story and the text make me to think to look at the issues where one generation afflicts pain and suffering on the vulnerable generation of children. At the same time the children are the sources of wisdom and community life for us.

One of the first things children are taught on their first day of school is how to stand in line. Eager to please, they become good at it. The tragedy is that, too often they find themselves at the end of society’s line. And that is where they stay, while others with more size, influence, and resources jump in front of them. This is what happens to children in today’s world all the time. Something has to be done on their behalf. We get only one pass at childhood , and yet it dictates the quality of the rest of our lives. What we think, feel, experience, and endure in this earliest phase is the single most important indicator of what the rest of life is going to be like.

Children are the most numerous and most needy people on the planet. Never in history have there been so many children and never have so many of them been at great risk. Children make up nearly half of the world’s population. The 4/14 window describes a demographic season of life comprising the years between ages 4 and 14. The term 4/14 window was introduced by Dan Brewster. It is an urgent appeal to consider the strategic importance and potential of the 1.2 billion children and youth in the 4/14 window. It is a plea to open our hearts and minds to the idea of reaching and raising up a new generation from within the vast group. A generation can experience personal transformation only by ripping apart the predominant generation, and by rebuilding a new generation in order to become agents for global transformation. This is what we cull out of today's passage.

Ripping apart the Predominant Generation

The marriage tangles of the Herod family are quite incredible, and their inter- relations are so complicated that they become almost impossible to work out. Herod Antipas was married to a daughter of the king of the Nabataean Arabs. He had a brother in Rome also called Herod. The gospel writers call this Roman Herod, Philip. This Herod who stayed in Rome was a wealthy private individual who had no kingdom of his own. On a visit to Rome, Herod Antipas seduced his brother's wife and persuaded her to leave his brother and to marry him. In order to do so, he had to put away his own wife by breaking two laws. He divorced his own wife without cause, and he married his sister- in-law, which was a marriage, under Jewish law, within the prohibited relationships. Because of this adulterous marriage and Herod's deliberate seduction of his brother's wife John the Baptist without hesitation rebuked him. In spite of John's rebuke Herod still feared and respected him, but with Herodias, it was different. She was implacably hostile to John and determined to eliminate him. She got her chance at Herod's birthday feast. She was a woman who did not hesitate to use even her own daughter to achieve her own cruel ends.

It was infinitely worse that she used her daughter for her evil purpose and made her as great as a sinner as herself.

There is little to be said for a parent who stains a child with guilt in order to achieve some evil personal purpose. Here was a royal princess who acted as a dancing girl. For a royal princess to dance in public was a surprising thing, because in those days, kings are pleased by the dances of the prostitutes. In this passage, both Herodias and Herod played a negative role by being a reason for the destruction of the life of Salome. We need to reflect on the manner in which they destroyed their daughter’s life. Herodias wished to eliminate the one man who had the courage to confront her with her sin. When her daughter danced and pleased the king and was given an opportunity to choose whatever she wants, the little girl Salome ran to her mother innocently as any other child would do in order to know what she wants. She strongly trusted that her mother would suggest the best thing but Herodia used that innocence not for the betterment of her daughter but for herself. Children believe that parents are the ones who would choose the best thing for them and parents are the ones who know what is good for them.

But in this passage we are forced to ask the question whether the family is a safe place for children. If we want to answer this question the answer would be a big “NO” because Herodias and Herod have placed a foundation to destroy the future of Salome. Chaitanya and Nagesh as we see in the illustration have been a foundation to destroy the life of Dhanusha to achieve their evil ends. What makes parents to lay such a foundation to the destruction of their children’s lives? Our society is possessed by the demon of patriarchy, casteism, dominance of adults over children, economic and fundamentalistic religious attitudes. The psychological remnants of patriarchy are like a psychosis that affects most of the children's thoughts and actions. Parents are the first teachers and children are taught to obey their parents without questioning. In this passage we find that the head of John the Baptist is no way useful for her betterment but still she did according to her mother’s word. Even Dhanusha, though she does not like to accept her mother’s friend as her father, she was forced to do it. This is how the society enforces on children the desires of others or elders.

Statistics show that children are the most fragile, unorganized and thus exploitable human beings,- the main targets of abuse. 10 million children suffer forced prostitution; malnutrition kills 35,000 children under five every day. The number of street children has grown to 100 million. Fifteen million children have been orphaned as a result of Aids. According to the World Health Organization, 85% of the world's orphans are between the ages of 4-14, orphaned girls are easy targets for sexual exploitation. The Orphaned boys within 4/14 window often turn to crime or drugs and prone to become abusive in adult relationships. Abusive child labour and trafficking are serious threats in many parts of the children's world. Children are sold for different kinds of exploitation and slavery, for pornography, for forced labour, and for organ transplantation. Most of us are aware that poor children are at risk, actually all children are at risk. Millions are at risk from poverty, but millions are also at risk from prosperity. Many children have everything to live with but nothing to live for. The above statistics urge us to draw our attention to the unheard cry of the children who cry within themselves to rip apart the predominant structure and to rebuild a new world of their own and thus to form a new generation.

Rebuilding a new Generation:

A society is constructed always to the desires and the knowledge of the adults but never the children have been the locus and focus of the construction of the peaceful society. Herodias daughter fulfilled the desire of her mother by requesting the king to give the head of John the Baptist who rebuked her mother’s illegal relationship. Dhanusha suffered a lot innocently without sharing her sorrow to anyone. She tolerated her agony for her mother’s desire. This is the plight of many children who are used by their parents to fulfill their own selfish desires. In the contemporary society we find many fathers abusing their children especially the targets being daughters of sexual abuse in order to fulfill their desires. The unfulfilled desires of the parents are imposed on their children. Whether something destroys the future of the children is rarely considered.

For children, today is all about tomorrow, by nature, they look to the future, since so very little of life lies behind them. Everything worthwhile is “in front.” the future is waiting to happen for them. In their mysterious and wonderful minds, children observe, absorb, and apply a tremendous amount of information from their earliest moments. They are busy discovering their world, finding their place in it, figuring out what they might do. It is delicate and formative span of time. When children live in a nurturing, safe environment surrounded by family, friends, and a supportive community of people who love them, believe in them, and affirm their lives, they dare to dream of what they might become, which will be a helpful instrument in rebuilding their future through which a new generation can be formed.

Children are more than what we think they are. They can do more than what we think they can do. Their dreams today will become the realities of tomorrow. Herodias and Herod have placed a negative influence in the mind of Salome. Herod was a man who could take a firm stand on wrong things, even when he knew what was right; and such a stand is the sign not of strength but of weakness. He honored a foolish oath and broke a great law. He made his reckless promise to Salome without thinking. He kept his promise to Salome because he had made it in front of his companions and was unwilling to break it. He feared their mocking, their laughter; he feared that they would think him weak. He was more frightened of the criticism, and perhaps the amusement, of his guests than the voice of the conscience. This is what happening in our life, many a time we give importance to others and what they will say about us, in this serious search we forget or refuse to listen or learn from our own children.

Their daughter from childhood would have learnt to obey their parents and do what ever they say, but it is the responsibility of the parents to guide the children in the right path not for their own selfish gains but for the betterment of the future of the child. Children who learn from the present experiences continue to live in their future based on the values learnt in the past. In this passage Salome is taught to take a life of an innocent individual and for sure this definitely would have made an impact in her future. Her parents have through this incident taught her that life is dispensable. Children should be laid with a positive foundation so that when they understand that they need to rip apart the predominant generation they also understand how to rebuild a new generation. Unlike, the parents of Dhanusha and Salome we are called to unlearn from them and to motivate children in building a new future and rebuilding a new generation.  

Conclusion:

Mark’s gospel portrays Jesus’ love and attitude towards children. The teaching about the place of children in the kingdom of God contains three truths; first, children model the essence of saving faith and discipleship. Becoming like them is required in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Second, to welcome a child – that is to accept, love, value, and respect a child – is to welcome Christ himself. Finally, as Jesus made very clear, whoever neglects, abuses, hinders, or turns away a child from faith will face God's severe judgment. The gospel elevates children to the place of honour in the kingdom and acknowledges their moral agency. Children are addressed as responsible members of the family of God. Mark 6:14-29 portrays how irresponsible parents for their selfish desires spoil and rupture the future of the child. Dhanusha cannot imagine a father in her mother’s friend who was very cruel to her. The illustration and the gospel portion portray the negative attitude of parents. But at the same time we cannot generalise that all parents destroy or make a negative impact on the children’s lives. There are many parents who gave up their desires in order to fulfil our desires. Today’s children are tomorrow’s rulers. If today they are moulded in the right path, we contribute to the nation a good ruler so that they can rip apart the predominant structures and strive to rebuild a new transformed generation. As we celebrate children's Day, two days from now, and this year as International Children's year, we are encouraged to raise up a new generation which transforms the world of the children for a better world.

Amen.

[This sermon was prepared and preached by Joice Esther, Fourth year BD Student of Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai, India]