Do we know God’s likes and dislikes?

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. (John 9.31) Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains" (John 9.41)

Please read the entire chapter 9 of the Gospel of John for context.

Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John is about a blind man who was healed by Jesus on a Sabbath. This act of Jesus stirred up a controversy over sin and its physical signs. Being blind meant that the person had sinned. Or someone in that person’s ancestry must have sinned (9.2-3). Jesus challenged the views of the establishment and presented a view that is perhaps very difficult for us to understand. What is that view?

Isn’t it true that when we pray and feel that we are bonding with God, we tend to believe very strongly in the first verse quoted above? This is what the Pharisees also believed in very strongly! Interestingly, today in the context of Pakistan, the religious people promising a return to the values of their religious system also have similarly strong belief. This begs me to conclude, that, no matter Jew, Christian or Muslim, every person who estimates his/her relationship as strong with God, tends to fall for the arrogance of thinking to know what God wants!

But Christ has a different perspective! Christ is very clear and swift to point out that those who have the arrogance to think that they "see" what God wants, are the ones whose sin remains! What are we to make of that? I feel that Christ wishes us to accept our inadequacies as humans. We need to accept that we are blind. That it is only the Amazing Grace that saves us, and makes us ‘ see ‘ (John 9.25) And that sight is only there when we continue to accept our blindness! And in so doing, accept the amazing perpetual work of God’s Grace!

May God continue to bless us!

The First and the Second Commandment.

Jesus answered, "The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The Second is this, ‘You Shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."

Please read the entire passage of Mark 12.28-34 for context.

I am sure every Christian is familiar with the verses quoted above. In fact, in most of our churches before the "Confession of sins" during the worship service, the congregation recites "Our Lord’s Summary of the Law with Responses" which is based on these verses. This is how important these verses have been in our Christian tradition.

Why? The context in which we live in Pakistan is consumed with debates on "Tawheed" the oneness of God! We Christians are often told that we are "Kafirs" because we do not believe in "Tawheed"! Well, I believe that the verse quoted above leaves no confusion concerning our Christian concept of the relationship with Our one Lord God! So not much needs to be said about the first commandment. It is clear and self-evident.

The second commandment is also self-evident! We are to love our neighbor, as we love ourselves. So what is so difficult about these verses? Let us ponder a little on what was the context in which these verses emerged. The Scribes, who are the typical opponents of Jesus in the Gospel according to Mark, approach Jesus with the problem of the "first principles". They wanted a simple formula, which would give them the assurance to heaven in afterlife, and pride of being religious in this life! Isn’t that what we all fall for? A simple formula which would help us get everything in an instant!

Jesus’ response was direct quotations from the Scriptures! (see Leviticus 19.1-37) Why? This way the great literary ones could not hold anything against our Lord! But also, because Christ wanted to set their religious concepts right. Love of our one God is definitely the most important, but equally important is our dealings with our brethren! If we only believe in Christ so that we can prove our greatness, and in so doing, hurt others, we need to think again about being religious.

May God help us love our One God, and in the same instance, give us the strength, wisdom, heart and soul, to love our neighbor like our own.

May God continue to bless us.

Submission to God

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. (Matthew 6.26)

When I was a child, this verse used to amaze me. I wonder why! Today, when I reflect on this verse I am reminded of my student’s poem, which, she wrote at age ten. A few lines from Anum Khalid’s poem are as follows:

Look at the goat
How innocent she is
Look at the lion
How brave he is
Look at the cat
How cute she is
Look at all the animals that God made
They are a gift of God
for us
to love and live in this world!

Perhaps at age ten, a child’s thoughts are structured as "look at this and look at that"! Perhaps, this is how a child views the world; in very simple "look at" way of thinking and then tries to make sense of why such and such thing exists and how. It is interesting that in Anum Khalid’s case, she answers both these questions: How? Because God made them! Why? Because all qualities such as innocence, bravery, cuteness, exist so that we can love and live in this world!

I think this is why this verse spoke so well to me as a child. It starts out, "look at the bird’s of the air" and then it tells me that the bird’s are entirely dependent on God for their food, shelter and basic needs. Perhaps this is the quality, the complete submission to God, that God wanted to teach us through the creation of Birds!

Of late I have developed a fondness for birds. Each time I watch my birds fly or swim or just sit around, I am reminded that God wants me to completely submit my life to God’s will!

May we all think like children and through very simple questions of "how" and "why" and through very simple child like thought patterns accept our total submission to God!