Jinu John's Worship and Sermon

Jinu John conducted his Evaluation worship and sermon on 24th September, 2008. The text for the Sermon was Mark 14: 22-26.  with the theme, "Eucharist as the exhortation of Christ's socio Political Mission." There was a skit to introduce the theme. The preacher analyzed the text by using socio political method of hermeneutics. Usually Eucharist has been explained as ritual of salvation or a memory of Jesus' martyrdom. For the preacher the Jesus' Eucharist is a socio-political act. In the Eucharist Service the Church is supposed to witness to the socio-political mission of Jesus. The Greek word artos (bread) refers to a celebration of resources. Bread symbolizes the toil and sufferings of people working in the field. By lifting the bread and uttering "This is my body," Jesus is recognizing the sweat and toil of people. Jesus is "giving thanks" (eucharist) for the work of the laborers in the field. The preacher quoted the famous lines of Rabindranath Tagore who asked people to go to the field to see God and not to the temple. It is interesting to note that Mark records this event after the cleansing of the temple and cursing of the fruitless fig tree.Jesus give thanks not for th temple but for the labour of the people, bread.

The second century Bishop Irenaeus has viewed eucharist as  thanksgiving for  the blessings of creation: When we offer bread and wine we remember  that Christ is the "word through the trees bear fruit, the springs flow, and the earth yields."  In the context of passover meal Jesus' eucharist is symbol of liberation. Scholars like Chilton  have argued that the usage of bread by Jesus acted as a strong condemnation on the cruelty to animals in the name of sacrifice. Eucharist requires from  us acts to abolish  cruelty, exploitation and oppression.

Eucharist is a sharing of resources: one feeds the other.   Unless the receiver become another sharer of bread there is no meaning for the eucharist. Also it is an act of reconciliation, a foretaste of the reign of God, where God and people, outcastes, women, sinners participate. Jinu John quoted an incident in the life of the Bartolomeo de las Casas  (1484-1566) one of the early Spanish Dominican  Priest who worked for the liberation of the Indian slaves  in Venezuela  in the early days of the colonization. A passage which Bartolomeo  read for  the Mass from Sirach 34: 22-27 has opened his eyes. The passage reads: 

 ²²   the gifts of the lawless are not acceptable. 
²³The Most High is not pleased with the offerings of the ungodly,
   nor for a multitude of sacrifices does he forgive sins. 
²⁴Like one who kills a son before his father’s eyes
   is the person who offers a sacrifice from the property of the poor. 
²⁵The bread of the needy is the life of the poor;
   whoever deprives them of it is a murderer. 
²⁶To take away a neighbour’s living is to commit murder; 
²⁷   to deprive an employee of wages is to shed blood. 

 Reading this passage Bartolomeo realized that the bread he was about to offer is the property of the poor. He refused to celebrate the Eucharist  and set back to Spain to get  a charter from the king to free the slaves in the Spanish world.  Bartolomeo was not able to free the slaves but he committed his life  for the struggle of the Indian slaves. He knew that unless the slaves are free the eucharist has no meaning. Another Columbian priest Camillo Torres refused to celebrate  eucharist untill justice is achieved.  the   The West saw Christ as a strong channel of  creating new colonies. Today also many Christian preachers are  bothered about souls and not  bodies. The sermon began with the experience of a Dalit writer, Heera Bensoda, who was chased away from her friend's home from the dinner table when the family cam to know that she belonged to an untouchable caste. The preacher challenged to make the eucharist as an occasion for human liberation. Jinu who belongs to the Mar Thoma Church is a talented singer and we hope and pray for a successful ministry in his church.