“The Resurrected Lord” – Vicar’s Message – April 2014

In a few weeks we will reach the greatest day for Christians experiencing the joy of celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. St. Paul said, “If the Lord has not resurrected our preaching is useless and your faith is useless”. St. Paul could say that authentically because he had the personal encounter with the resurrected Lord at the gate of the city of Damascus. St. Paul’s life afterwards was completely dedicated to the preaching of Christ. There is no one in the history of the Church to compare with St. Paul who took all risks and sufferings to carry the Good News to the pagan world. The world in which Jesus Christ was never heard, the world where so many gods and deities have established their own material kingdoms, and the world where established religious norms, rules, ideologies etc. were strongly controlling the crowds, it will not be easy to bring in a new spiritual message. But St. Paul’s conviction was so strong to take any risk to take that message to the pagan world. St. Paul’s personal experience became the simple reason to proclaim Christ. Such a powerful event is the resurrection of our Lord.

In the Orthodox tradition we greet each other saying, “the Lord is risen” and respond, “indeed He is Risen”. This affirmation is a continuous process in our life, not simply part of our Creed or the liturgical life. Holding that faith in the risen Lord is the foundation of Christian faith and life. But is it part of our conviction and consequent life style? Looking at the present Church no one will say that. Our faith is in the books, in the words and in the worship. There is a saying, “the cow in the books will not eat the grass”. It is true. Faith in books will not help us to be practical Christians. There the question arises how far is the resurrected Lord a part of our life? If we truly believe in the resurrected Lord we will exhibit the following:

1. Witnessing Christ will be the Priority: The Apostles and the evangelists went all over the world witnessing Jesus. They had the power, the conviction and readiness to face consequences to witness Christ. In fact their witness did not help them personally to increase their material prosperity. Most of them became martyrs. The true meaning of the word martureo in Greek is to witness. That is how the word martyr came into English language. Witnessing means to die for the concept or the person. How many will become a martyr for Christ today?

2. Words of Christ will be our Guide: In a world where so much ideologies and philosophies in addition to personal convictions are overpowering our mind, it is nearly impossible to decipher the words of Christ. Accepting the norms and ideals of Christ is not a fashion today because the ideals of Christ clash with the ideals of the present world. All kinds of atrocities, lies, mistrust, unholy relationships, etc. that are being used as survival kit in the present world; there is no place for love, affection, humility, unity, cooperation, care for others and so on. Everything is materially defined including parent-children relationship. Who is our guide?

3. Church of Christ will be our Target: We now live in a world where almost all Churches and Christian denominations are trying to establish their own individuality and identity. As a result, each one has to criticize, scandalize, demean, and mock at others as imperfect. Maybe Jesus’ words, “why do you try to remove the speck in the eyes of your brother while you have a log sitting in your own eyes” is relevant today. Unless we join hands with the rest of the Christian world, a particular denomination or Church will not have any clout. Thus we become divided. The divided house is weak and will fall. The world around us Christians know now that we are a bunch of people with false claims of our faith. Can we have Jesus as our only target?

Therefore, shall we have a new approach in our life to understand the resurrected and living Lord who is the master of all who believe Him? Jesus says, “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:23.

Lovingly, Fr. M. K. Kuriakose

This message is published in April Newsletter.