Jer. 20:7-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt. 16:21-28
One of the very important events in the
history of struggle for Indian independence was the Historical
Salt March. During the British Colonialism in India the British Salt Tax
rule was imposed, making it illegal to sell or produce salt. Gandhiji saw it as
an injustice to the people of India. Gandhiji decided to protest against it. He
decided to lead 78 people through 240 mile journey from his Ashram to
the
coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, on 12 March 1930. It involved
high risk. Hence, veteran politicians, and experienced leaders warned
Gandhi about its consequences and tried to dissuade him. But, Gandhiji was
determined. Thousands of Indians, inspired by his non-violent demonstration and
strong will joined him on his march to the sea. It is a common experience
that people try to be in their comfort zone, and try to dissuade
those who struggle to come out of it. Because it involves risk; it
means daring into the unknown; it brings a lot of challenges, and it causes
suffering.
In today’s Gospel Jesus shows his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third
day be raised. The Apostles could not accept it. This revelation was contrary
to their concept of Messiah as a warrior king, who would sweep
the Romans from Palestine and lead Israel to power. They had
been brought up with the idea of Messiah of power and glory and conquest. To
them the idea of a suffering Messiah the connection of a cross with the
work of the Messiah was incredible. Hence Peter took Jesus aside and began to
rebuke him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.' But
he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block
to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’
Jesus faced the crucial temptation at the
beginning of his public life. The temptation followed him throughout his
life. At every crucial point of his life it came back in different forms.
And here Peter is offering it to him now. Peter was urging upon him the very
things which the tempter was always whispering to him. Peter was
confronting Jesus with that way of escape from the Cross. The fact that it
came from the one who loved him, made the temptation more acute.
There is an old Chinese
folktale about a young Chinese maiden, Mulan, who learns that her
weakened and lame father is to be called up into the army in order to fight the
invading Huns. Knowing that he would never survive the rigours of war in his
state, she decides to disguise herself and join in his place. Unknown to her,
her ancestors are aware of this and to prevent it, they order a tiny disgraced
dragon, Mushu to join her in order to force her to abandon her plan. He agrees,
but when he meets Mulan, he learns that she cannot be dissuaded. She has
decided to risk everything in order to save China. Hence he also decides
to help her in the perilous times ahead.
Just like Mulan’s ancestors tried to dissuade
her from her noble attempt, there are times when fond love seeks to
deflect us from the perils of the path of God. But the real love is not
the love that holds a soldier back for fear of war, but the love
that sends him out to obey the commandments of chivalry. The real
love does not seek to make life easy, but to make life great.
When a bud goes through the pain of
bursting, it is transformed into a beautiful flower. When a pupa
struggles out of a cocoon, it is transformed into a charming
butterfly. When a chicken breaks the shell and comes out it becomes a
lovely bird. When a seed bursts the pod and falls to the
ground it begins to grow as a plant. When we undergo the suffering and pain
of life we get strengthened. Arthur Golden reminds us that “Adversity
is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that
cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” (Arthur
Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha) St Paul wrote: “Suffering produces
endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope
(Romans 5:3-4).” Suffering is not the last thing in life. It leads us to
something greater as long as we are ready to accept its challenges. “A
bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the
turn.”
Jesus confronting the disciples with
the challenges of Christian life, in today’s Gospel. There are three
things which a man must be prepared to do, if he is to live the
Christian life. First he must deny himself. He must take up his cross. He
must follow Jesus Christ. To do this we must be able to accept
challenges and take risk in life.
Jesus asserts emphatically, “whoever wishes
to keep his life safe, will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my
sake, will find it. The man who plays for safety loses life. If we
meet life in the constant search for safety, security, ease and comfort we are
losing all that makes life worthwhile. If our decisions
are taken from worldly-wise and prudential motives, we are losing the
focus of life; and our life becomes selfish and earth bound.
Anatomically modern humans originated in
Africa about 200,000 years ago, reaching full behaviour modernity around 50,000
years ago. Ever since millions of human beings existed on the face of the
earth and disappeared into oblivion. In January 2011, the human population
was estimated to be about 6.94 billion. But how many of the people who occupied
the earth before us are remembered. A few people. A Socrates, a
Moses, a Buddha, a Jesus, a Gandhiji, a Mother Theresa and so on. We remember
them because they made their life radiant with service; they
made their life reaching for the stars, instead of keeping it earth bound.
They rook risk in their lives.
It is simple lesson of history that
it has always been the adventurous people, who were able to write
their names on history because they ignored their safety and security.
They helped the world to change. They helped the world to grow. They helped the
world to invent new things. Unless there had been those prepared to take
risks, many a medical cure would not exist. Unless there had
been people prepared to take risks, many machines that make life
easier would never have been invented. Unless there have been mothers prepared
to take risk no child would have been born. The world is made a better place to
live by the people who are prepared to take risk.
We, too, can achieve it. Sacrifice a
little time and pleasure to do something greater. Give up the comfort of home,
to visit an ailing man in the village. Sacrifice the joy of watching a
movie, to help a poor student to get her books. Give up the pleasure of a chat
with the friends to render a little service in the church. Ignore the pride of
replacing the present decent TV with the latest available one, to help a
homeless man build a home. Accept the pain of donating a little blood to save a
life. Like this we can find hundreds of ways to make our life meaningful
and worthwhile.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Christian life
is the sacrificial life. When we practice little acts of kindness
we are writing our name in the history of time. We will be remembered by
many even after our departure from this world. Let us listen to the teaching of
Jesus, “whoever wishes to keep his life safe, will lose it; and whoever
loses his life for my sake, will find it.” Amen
Satish