Monday, November 28, 2011

Listen to the Voices of the meek by Biji M.Raju


Listen to the Voices of the meek

Text:  1 Samuel 9:1-14

This passage illustrates the story of a man who went in search of his father's lost donkeys and founds a kingdom instead. This is the preface for the first anointing of Saul a benjimate as king of Israel who was sent out by his father to search for his lost donkeys which had strayed. Saul and the servant searched for the donkeys in vain. As time goes Saul feared that his father might have been worried about them leaving the thought about the lost donkeys because they were far away. So when Saul  decided to return home then his servant said that there was a man of god in the town,  man of honour, whose words always come true. He also said that perhaps the prophet  will tell us about the journey on which they have set out. It was very absurd that the servant knew about Samuel and told  Saul of his presence in the city in the land of zuph. This may disturb us and sound very strange. We suppose that the name of Samuel could have been as  familiar to all the people of Israel as the name of Gandhi to the people of India. But for Saul it was something new. Doesn't this indicate that here was a family living entirely outside all religious connections, entirely immersed in secular things, hearing nothing about godly people, and hardly ever even mentioning their names? .
Verse 7 also says about  a custom in Israel that if a person want to a meet a seer, they should have a present  as a token of respect. When Saul thought of the present he should bring to the man of God, he found his hands empty. Here again the poor servant came with solution that he can present the money that he had to the man of god to tell about their way, a quarter shekel of silver. A quarter shekel of silver would have been equivalent of a week or so of wages for the ordinary working man. This would be appropriate considering the value of the donkeys that had been lost.  On other hand we can say that the poor unknown servant is the reason why Saul to get the kingship, the greater privilege for a Benjamin, a small tribe could never have aspired to dominate over other large tribes in Israel
                   In the bible also we see many people like this whose service and help enable others to get blessings in their life. For an instance in 2 kings 5 we can see Naaman getting healing on account of the initiative of an unknown young slave girl.
                 Dear friends, in our society and in our church we see many people like this who don't have any name or identity or any recognition. But in the fuss of the society we cannot see or hear their voices. We are not ready to recognise or honour them nor hear the voice or cry of the meek. When we hear the voices of the meek we consider it as silly, because we feel that we are more experienced, educated and sometimes far better in the social status . But these incidence of unknown servant and unknown slave girl shows that the voice of the meek may lead to change and blessings in our lives. There are many barriers  which restricts us from hearing their voice, the barriers of economic status and social statuses. We should overcome our barriers to build the Kingdom of God.  Jesus Christ who is the model for our mission and vision gives importance to the poor widow's offering   rather than all the other rich offerings.
          In our midst we also see such persons whose silent actions and works result in the greater achievement of society as well as our church. We neither recognise nor listen to their words or hear their cries. Don't we think that they were  only the stepping stones for our success. Don't we close our eyes and ears to the cries of the poor, low and downtrodden, who lose everything even life, in the name of development and modernization. We should also be sensitive to their voices. It is our responsibility to respond to their voices, some time the voice of cries. How much importance are we giving to their cries? their cry for their land, rights etc.  For instance the land acquisition for power projects in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, lot of people lost their land and their right to  live. What's our stand towards the victims of the so called developments. As a theological community, the follower of the Christ, the revolutionist for the poor, what's our stand?. In Matthew 25 last judgement is based on our attitude towards the poor and needy.
what is our response towards vulnerable.   Will we become an agent for a change ?
May the almighty strengthen us to become agents for a sea change. Amen
[Biji M.Raju, the preacher of this sermon, is a second year B.D student in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai.]