Dearly Loved ones in Christ,
Dear Loved ones in Christ,
Greetings in the name of our precious Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us thank and praise God for His providence and guidance throughout the last year.
New Year is a time when we make an evaluation of the past year and take positive decisions for a blessed new year. Relationship plays a major role in shaping our day to day life. Relationship with God, relationship with humanity and relationship with God’s created world needs our thinking in this regard. Right relation with God, spontaneously sets order to other relationships. Abraham, called the patriarch and father of the faithful, is depicted in the Holy Scriptures as trying his best to maintain a right relationship with God and the people of his time. He was called by God for a new relation which is described at length in the book of Genesis.
The call of Abraham, for a different phase of his life, implies on the concept, one God, one people and one culture. The present world is called a global village. This concept finds its place in the Abrahamic call. People’s life is patterned by a particular way of thinking and in such a mindset it becomes very difficult to think alternatively. Reluctance to change, results in alienation, indignation, violence, wars and sometimes cruel death. In the New Year, God has prepared for us with His promises, recourse to an attitude and an approach like Abraham to experience the fullness of lifeGod Decided for Abraham.
God made a radical decision for Abraham and he placed himself in God’s plan. “Go from your country and your kindred and nation” Genesis 12:1. God says, “Abraham, leave your family, your place, your culture and your very nation, for I have a different plan for you”. To Adam and Eve, God gave the option, what to eat and what not to eat. The first parents could not withstand the temptation of what not to eat, thus, the fall. Therefore, God had to decide the best for Abraham. During Abraham’s time, there was no structured society or a disciplined community. God wanted to bless the world through Abraham, for which he had to listen to the divine imperative. Not knowing, what was in store for him in the future, Abraham accepted Gods decision.
Abraham Responded to God’s Decision: Abraham, at the age of seventy five, placed himself in God’s plan. Abraham responded to God’s decision, “So Abraham went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abraham was seventy five years old when he departed from Haran”, Genesis 12:4. Humanly, it would have been a very difficult thing for Abraham to move out, leaving his kith and kin, culture and context behind. For him God’s decision was foremost than worldly considerations. Abraham’s response to God’s visionary decision becomes the basic teaching, new heaven and new earth, one shepherd one sheep, one God one people and one world. People not knowing this serious teaching creates difficulties by their loyalties to caste, creed, colour, race, culture, language, etc.
Generation after generation people commit transgressions, and terrible mistakes bringing divine wrath upon them. God sent His messengers to repent, amend people’s way of life and turn back to God. God sent Jonah to Nineveh. Despite his initial hesitation, he preached “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrow”, Jonah 3:4. The whole nation from the king to the ordinary citizen and even cattle fasted, sat in ash and regretted. Their response was so spontaneous; God changed His plan of destruction. The city of Nineveh responded to the divine correction. God is with us in Jesus Christ, the incarnate, the incarnate, saying “Listen, I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you and you with me”, Revelations 3:20. This offer of God is available to all at any given time. God wants to be part of our family, fellowship, society, community and every bit of our life. He is ready with His offer of life in all its abundance. He wants us to respond and accept His offer. He doesn’t like the role of a visitor among us. But He likes us to make Him the designer, supervisor and perfector of our life. Abraham’s obedience and response to God’s decision made him the father of the faithful.
The year 2014 is being looked forward with a lot of hope by all. People are expecting that something progressive, meaningful and favourable should happen in this year. All our expectations are possible, provided we have the right relation with God and the and the resultant meaningful relation with human beings and nature. Be reminded of Abraham’s relation with God which brought lot of blessings to the generations, even to us, today. Enter into a new covenant relation with God as Abraham did and enjoy the fusion of the new relation for ourselves and share the same with many people.
May God bless our Church to be a constantly growing faith community in the changing circumstances of human values needs and hurts.
With all good wishes and prayers,
WISH YOU ALL A BLESSED HAPPY NEW YEAR.
JohnyAchen
