Esao Basumatary's worship and sermon

Esao Basumatary, BD IV, conducted his evaluatory worship and sermon on 20th August, 2008. The theme of the sermon was "A call for God's inclusive mission through transformation." The text was Matthew 8:5-13 (Jesus healing the centurion's servant). The sermon was divided in to three sections: (1) Preparing ourselves to be transformed for God's mission - self transformation, (2) Becoming an agent of transformation for God's mission and,( 3) Practicing God's inclusive mission. His major emphasis was that unless one has been transformed one cannot be part of God's mission: To change others we have to change ourselves first. To teach others we have to learn first. Being transformed is the precondition to become an agent for God's mission. God's mission is inclusive. Inclusive mission is participating in God's mission by joining hands with others who work for the upliftment of the marginalized regardless of religion, caste and economic status. Basumatari in a prophetic tone asked: what right do we have to make discrimination of people as superior and inferior if God does not make any discrimination among God' creatures? Everyone and everything that God created has got its dignity and unique identity. Discrimination comes not from God but from the evil one. The mission of inclusiveness is to witness that God's grace is for all, God's love is for everyone; this is a very important aspect of mission particularly relevant to our Indian pluralistic context. Gospel is that the Kingdom of heaven is for the least and those who love the least.

Basumatari started his sermon narrating how the message of this text came clear to him in his personal life when his father got paralyzed after a stroke; immediate and costly treatment became necessary. Many people prayed for his father and some extended a helping hand to meet the medical expenses. In a poignant statement he pointed to the implication of such generous act: "It was not only my faith, but also the love and prayers of others and also their willingness to help that saved our family from a great loss." He has emphasized the point that we are not only helped by God but also by people who are willing to help us in difficulties. The role of the centurion has been such a one. He took the case of his servant to Jesus. He acted as an agent of transformation. For such an act of kindness the centurion needed to be self transformed first. Basumatari explained self-transformation thus: Self-transformation means healing one's own attitude towards a relationship of love. It is a call to change our attitude, character, thoughts and relationships with other fellow beings. Jesus' appraisal of the centurion's faith has been a direct challenge to the oppressive authorities to change their attitudes. Basumatari quoted from Fr. Raj Irudaya, Director of Arul Kadal Jesuit Seminary, the leader of the last Gurukul Retreat, who said, "A humanized person will humanize others." Here is a humanized centurion who has become an agent of transformation, that enabled him to humanize others. Basumatari's Order of Worship was well prepared and went well with the theme of the sermon. Esao Basumatari belongs to the Bodo Lutheran Evangelical Church, Assam. We wish and pray that God may give him opportunities where he can make use of his leadership qualities in the service of the Church.