Ministry to Children

by

Asking for Water

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” John 4:7

I did not get past this verse. In another time and space, I would have just skimmed past this verse moving on to the meat of the story. However, this time it was different. I stopped where Jesus asked for a drink. This is where it all began. The rest of the story would not have happened if Jesus did not ask for some water. It wasn’t a pretext to have a conversation with this woman. The gospel makes it very clear. Jesus was exhausted. He was genuinely thirsty. The woman went to the well at a time when there was nobody around. This is very telling of her state in her own society. She was an outsider in a society of outcasts. She did not expect anyone to be there, especially not a Jewish man. It was Jesus who initiated the conversation. He needed her help because he did not have a bucket to draw water. She did and He was thirsty. That was all that mattered for Jesus.

I never ask any help from our children and teens. Maybe it is because I can only see their needs and not what they have. If I was thirsty by the well and saw one of our boys drawing water with a bucket, I still would not ask for water. I would be thinking about the bucket; wondering whether it was clean and where it has been…I would be thinking about the condition of the bucket more than the person who was using it. If someone whom I consider to be clean and hygienic was drawing water using the same bucket, I would not hesitate to ask for some water. My thoughts would be directed towards the person. Such is life. I don’t want to be like this but I live in this reality. Jesus shows us a better way to live our lives.

Jesus did not see a Samaritan woman. He just saw someone who has the capability to share whatever she has received. The prove of this comes much later in this story. He saw in this woman someone who had something to offer to him. I need to ask myself if I look at our children and teens and think that they have something to share with me. It would only make them appear to be more human to me. If they are always at the receiving end, they will never be my equals. They never be truly humans to me. Maybe the woman wouldn’t have been willing to receive what Jesus had to offer if He hadn’t been willing to receive from her.

The woman was shocked that Jesus was willing to receive anything from her. She was understandably suspicious. Why would a Jewish man want anything from her? She wasn’t afraid of Jesus. She wouldn’t have engaged him if she thought that He was dangerous. Nevertheless, she was suspicious. We have to admit that it is a little strange. Jesus could have asked his disciples before they left him to get some water for him. The disciples were astonished perhaps even a little scandalized (John 4:27) when they saw what had unfolded. Jesus never explained Himself. He was thirsty and this woman despite who she was or what she had done, was able to give Him water. This was all that mattered and this is all it took for us to learn great lessons about the Living Water.

I wanted to write something about the whole text but my mind was stuck on this verse. It stayed with me through the many activities we did with the children this week. I felt the absence of Ruan. We haven’t seen him this week. Last weekend, he introduced us to his girlfriend. On Monday, she was with another teenager. His romantic escape did not survive the weekend. Unfortunately, it was enough to send him running away to hide and recover from his wounds. We did not see him the whole week. His absence made our hearts lonely. Our weekly trip to the foot specialist with Gabriel will end this coming week. His foot is healing perfectly. This means that next Wednesday will be the last time we will walk together to this center and chatting about everything and nothing. I have been praying for his healing but I am going to miss our walks to this place together. The weather has also been unforgivingly hot this week. There were days where the heat had drained all the energies of the children. They were not up to doing anything. Most of them did not even come of their hiding places. We missed seeing most of them. It made us feel like our week wasn’t complete.

I realized that something has happened in us. We can spend weeks not seeing our friends here, which just happened recently. Everyone likes to stay cool and indoors during the summer months here. The heat kills all desire to interact with people. We are fine with this. However, when we don’t see our children for a day, we feel that our days are empty. I thought that we were coming here to help to give their lives some meaning. Now, it seems like that we have received something from them. They have refreshed our lives with their presence. We were thirsty and tired and they came and gave us something to drink.

Perhaps on another occasion, I would not have admitted to this. It makes me look weak and even pathetic to say that I need these children and teens to enrich my days. Then, I read that Jesus was tired and wasn’t ashamed to ask a Samaritan woman for some water. He wouldn’t have had the conversation with her if he wasn’t willing to admit that he needed her help as well.

The simple gesture of Jesus has revealed to us that we cannot show compassion and love to people unless we are willing to let them see that we need them as well. It may be just a glass of water but for the Samaritan woman, it gave her a place in the gospel for eternity.

Maybe you are wondering where I am going with all this. I am not going anywhere. I am just happy to be here where God has given the grace to admit that I see these children giving me something with their lives. Not just to admit that we need them, but also the grace to receive the good things that they have to offer us. They have made our lives richer and perhaps now they can listen to what we have to offer as well.

Share Button
by

Celebration of Life: A Problem at a Perfect Time

I don’t know how to introduce Gabriel. He is a paradox. He is one of the most interesting teens, yet has no particular interest in anything. He doesn’t like to draw. He is illiterate but never shown any interest in learning how to read. The only thing he wants to do is play Uno. On his birthday, we got him a deck of cards. He thanked us for it and then asked us to keep it for him. He was afraid that he might lose it. Then he never asked for it again. I have been wanting to share about this young man for a long time. However, I was afraid that my description of him might make you think that Gabriel is just an unmotivated and apathetic teenager. This would be a false impression of this fascinating young boy. Despite his lack of interest in almost everything, there is something in him that made us connect with him almost immediately when we first met him three years ago. I had to wait for the right moment to share about young Gabriel and it finally came.

Our children and teens are like stain glass windows in God’s eternal church. Some windows are located in places where the rays of sun shines through it first thing in the morning. Others reveal their beauty in the later part of the day. There are some windows that are hidden in obscure corners. Their colors and beauty are not seen easily. You have to wait for the right time of the day to capture their true glory. The sun has to shine at a perfect position and it does so only for a brief moment. It is easy to miss this opportunity if you are not attentive. These windows are often overlooked and even considered as dull and uninteresting. However, they are God’s windows. Therefore, they cannot but contain the beauty of the divine Artist. Perhaps, their exquisiteness is not obvious to the casual transient but through the grace of God, some of us are privileged to be present at the right place and right time to gaze upon this beauty. With Gabriel, the precise moment came when he had a problem with his foot.

No one likes to go the free clinics here, especially the homeless. There are only handful of places in society where the homeless are treated with dignity. Government agencies are rarely part of this handful. Despite this fact, Gabriel went to a clinic on his own. He had plantar warts on the sole of his foot. He mentioned it to me once and I offered to take him to the clinic but he refused. This time the pain must have been unbearable for him to face the condescending attitudes of the staff in these clinics. He got an appointment for a treatment but he missed it. It wasn’t deliberate. He could not find anyone to go with him and did not feel confident to go alone. He wanted to reschedule another appointment and asked us to accompany him. The administrative staff at the clinic was not interested in making things easy for him. He wanted Gabriel to provide some paperwork first which was not previously necessary. At this point, it is pointless for me to go on about the convoluted process. The end result was that Gabriel almost gave up getting any treatment for his problem. Fortunately, in Brazil, there are licensed alternative medicine. They are private and cheaper than the regular private doctors and they tend to treat people more like human beings. We asked Gabriel if he wanted to go to these specialists. We told him that we would take care of the expense. He did not expect this and did know how to react. He just smiled and thanked us quietly. The other children and teens heard this too. We could see that they were pleased with our offer. The normal envious reactions were absent in this case. They must be aware of the pain that Gabriel was suffering with his foot and so did not demonstrate any form of jealousy.

The appointment was on a Wednesday. Gabriel was wearing the best clothes he could find and waiting anxiously for us. In the initial consultation, the podiatrist told us that his problem was treatable but it has advanced and required several sessions. Thus began our weekly excursion to the specialist center. It became our personal one-on-one time with Gabriel. On our first trip, Gabriel started talking about his family. He has ten brothers and sisters. Not everyone has the same father, he said. On another occasion, he told us that he has never met his father. He also revealed that he was not able to read because he needed glasses. Unfortunately, his mother never provided them. As he began to share bits and pieces of his life with us it became obvious that Gabriel was neglected from a very young age. He suppressed his interest in things because he knew that no one would be concerned and help him to develop them. It was his defense mechanism. He also asked us about the letters from Florida. He had never shown any interest in them previously. He wanted to know how we received the letters. It never occurred to us that the postal system was a mystery to him and perhaps the other children too.

With each trip to the podiatrist, we saw that Gabriel was not really a teenager without any interests but one who was afraid to express them. He asked me to read a letter that he received from someone in the States. I had kept this letter with me for months and suddenly now, he was ready for me to read to him. The person who wrote the letter talked about working as a volunteer with seafarers. This perked his interest. He asked if I could help him write a reply immediately. He asked her if she knew stories about the seafarers’ experiences in the high seas. He wanted to know if the writer of the letter has ever travelled to different countries. He confessed that he always interested in foreign countries and what they were like. He started asking me about the countries I visited. We sat on the floor of the church square and talked about traveling. He wondered if he could do it one day. I assured him that it was not something impossible or absurd but was within his reach.

A simple trip to the podiatrist has given this young teenager to courage to show his interests again. Perhaps he realized that they won’t fall on deaf ears. He has already asked my help to write two letters. He expressed an interest in learning how to read and write and wants Mary to teach him. All the sudden our apparently unmotivated teenager has been given a new surge of energy. All because he realized that he is not going to be ignored. This is perhaps something new in his life and consequently it has caused a fresh reaction in his outlook of life.

When we met Gabriel for the first time, we wondered why his parents never came looking for him. He was such a sweet and kind young boy. I am glad that we have our Wednesdays with him. They have given us a vision of this stained glass window of God and to capture its beauty was worth the wait.

Share Button
by

Not without Grace

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Eph.4:7

The question came out of the blue. We were just drawing and talking as usual. Ruan was asking questions about things we did at home. He said that he would like to visit our home one day. He knew that we did not have a TV and he was intrigued by this. He wanted to know how we occupied our time. He was overall curious about everything we did away from the streets. Then all of the sudden, he just asked this question; “Why don’t you just adopt me? I want to live with you.” There was a moment of silence. All the years we have been here, this was the first time any of the children have asked this question. There was an awkward silence.

There was an easy way to answer. I could have said that legally this is not possible. Ruan is technically not an orphan. However, this would be the coward’s way out of this situation. Besides, Ruan knew this deep down. He wasn’t asking us to take him home immediately. He asked in jest and yet there was a seriousness to it. He wanted to know the boundaries of our relationship. He was curious to know if adoption or even acceptance into our household was something that was on the table with us. The rest of children and teens were silent and pretended to draw or color while secretly listening. They wanted to know how we would respond to this question. We were wondering about this ourselves. How can we answer Ruan and the other children honestly?

The problem is honesty. Frankly speaking, I like the way things are now. We come to the streets everyday and spend time with the children and teens and then we go to our quiet home. It seems like a good system. Everything is going well. Our time with the children is time well spent. Our conversations have grown and we are talking about deeper things and they are not afraid to ask us some tough questions present including the one just mentioned. We are learning to see God’s grace working in their lives and hopefully they can perceive this in us too. We love spending time with the children and teens and we can say this honestly. I also like going back to a quiet home and spending the evening reading and relaxing. The time we spent alone has become sacred to us too. We have grown accustomed to the way things are now. We don’t perceive a need to change anything because of the simple fact that we don’t want changes. Unfortunately, a simple question from a young boy whom we have grown to have strong affections is threatening to devastate this so-called comfortable situation. It is almost as if God is asking us through him how far are we willing to go from here. In a way, it is a “yes” and “no” question. The children were waiting for an answer from us. We needed some guidance to give the right answer. However, I was afraid of going to the Bible. It might tell me something that I don’t want to hear for now. My fears were right.

I did not look to the Bible for the guidance but the Word of God spoke to me despite my deliberate negligence. It did not happen in some mystical way but rather through the regular and traditional means. I was in church and the lesson read from the lectern was from Isaiah;

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
…….and to bring the homeless poor into your house;” Isaiah 58:5-7

According to the text, this was the worship that God considered to be true and acceptable. At that moment, it seemed to me like an unreasonable request on the part of God. Not many people would sign up to serve Him if they knew that this was the standard. Whenever we hear such tough sayings from the Bible, we have two choices before us. We can pretend they are not for us but written for specific period and age where homeless were nice, clean and jolly fellows who would be a joy and pleasure to bring into our homes. Since we have different kind of homeless today who can be dangerous and mentally-ill, we don’t really need to heed these verses. The other option is just face the Truth and say this is God’s word for me. Keeping in mind that the scripture is not telling us to go out and grab the first homeless people we see and bring them to our homes. It does tells us that serving God involves openness to radical changes in our lifestyles.

Since we are here to serve the homeless, we only have one choice and that is to face the Truth.

God’s standards are always the best standards for us to live our lives. His standards are not given to impose a heavy burden on us. God is not interested in making us feel bad or guilty. He is genuinely concerned about the poor and their welfare. He wants to help those who in need in a way that would really help them. His standards are a manifestation of His love. They are the only true guide to help us understand how to love our neighbor the way He loves us. Besides, they help to keep us from feeling self-righteous. We need high standards to keep us humble and open to learn from others.

As human beings, we adapt to different circumstances easily and once we are settled in our space, we don’t like changes. It is just not natural to like changes. This is the way we are and God obviously knows this. This is why He always gives the grace to change. Without grace, it is impossible for us to garner the strength and courage to modify our lives. In a way, those who say “no” to changing their lifestyles for the sake of the gospel are saying “no” to the grace of God.

We told Ruan that at this precise moment God has called us to be a family to all the children and teens here in the streets. If we took him to our home, then we could not come to the streets everyday like we do now. We won’t be able to dedicate ourselves to the rest who need to have parents in the streets too. The answer was met with approval among all the children including Ruan. The answer we gave was based on our understanding of God’s grace. We move in the direction that His grace lead us. The fear of change will always be present in our hearts but grace will help us to move forward despite this hesitance. Perhaps there will come a time when we will have to take someone into our home and when that time comes, God will give us the grace to do it. For now, I’ll enjoy my quiet nights.

…the Lord said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me 2 . Corinthians 12:9

Share Button
by

Children Connecting with Children

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16

I made a simple challenge to write letters to our children and teens in the streets. Quite a few people took up the challenge. The letters came in slowly but steadily, then we got a package. It was a bunch of letters written by children from a church in a small city in Florida. The letters were open and honest in a way only a child could write and get away with. We decided that we were going to read these letters first. We decided to read one letter at a time. We did not want to overwhelm our children. Most of them have never received a letter in their lives.

We read the first letter to a young man named Sandro. I wrote a brief description of Sandro to the churches and in it I stated that he liked airplanes. Two children wrote to him. One was older and the other was obviously a very young child. The latter drew a picture of a plane and wrote his wish for Sandro;

“Maybe one day you could get your own airplane and fly around.”

Sandro listened intently while smoking a cigarette. He smiled and said that this was his wish too. He is twenty but he still is very childlike. Listening to the words of another child just brought out the childlikeness in him in spite of the cigarette in his hand. He looked at the picture. It was the artwork of a eight year old. He liked it and said that he was going to keep it. He is good at art. He wants to draw a picture as a present for this young boy. The other letter was from an older girl. She talked about airplanes as well. She shared that she wants to learn how to fly as well. Something that she shares in common with Sandro. They both ended their letters saying that Sandro was in their prayers and they want to hear back from him.

Oh yes, there was another question from the young boy. He wanted to know if where Sandro lived there were cars, buildings and an airport. He wrote that where he lived there were just cars all around and buildings. Sandro thought about the question for a while. He said that he should write that São Paulo has everything that the city where this boy lives has. I told him that this wasn’t true. The letter was written in a small town in the Florida. São Paulo has a hundred times what they have there. We were surrounded by gigantic skyscrapers as we were having this conversation. I told Sandro that it was hard for someone who never been to this city to imagine the immensity of São Paulo. Sandro smiled and was trying to process what I said. In his mind, everything in America is big and wealthy. He could not fathom that he was living in a city bigger and richer than the one where this boy lives. However, the wealth of the city where they live has little bearing on their personal lives. They both come from two extreme realities. However, this difference did not stop them from having a simple connection through a thin slip of paper and with some rudimentary drawings.

The next letter we read was for Felipe. It was from a young girl this time and from her letter, we gather that she must be about ten years old. Felipe lost his dog whom he loved dearly and I mentioned this in my letter to the churches. The young girl used this to create a connection with Felipe. She seemed to understand what it means to lose something or someone precious.

“I hope that you are not lonely without your dog. If you are, you won’t be anymore because I am your new best friend.”

There was no ceremony or hesitance in her offering her friendship to Felipe. He listened to it and had a shy smile on his face. He was touched by this offer. This child did not hide her motivation for writing this letter. She wanted to have a strong connection with Felipe. He did not laugh it off as a childish gesture. He was able to perceive the genuine intention of this child. However, it wasn’t just a one sided offer. She thought that Felipe could help her as well. I wrote that Felipe likes the Old Testament stories. She wrote a verse from Hosea 12:1-2.

“Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt. The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.”

She asked if Felipe could write back to her and explain the meaning of these verses. I want to see what he is going to say about it. It seems like a random verse but that again, it could mean something special to her. I reckon that it is just an attempt to say that she believes that Felipe has something to offer to her as well.

The final letter that we were able to read this week was for Ruan. It was a simple letter and it said,

“I want to let you know that we are praying for you and when you get into trouble, God is with you and He will forgive you.”

It brought a smile to Ruan’s face immediately. He is always getting into trouble. He is a mischievous boy. However, it wasn’t the words that touched him. It was the intention. The child who wrote this letter did not judge Ruan and focused instead in a gracious and forgiving God. Ruan said immediately that he wanted to write to her back.

There are many more letters from children and adults. I have read letters from adults above the age of seventy. The children marveled that people lived that long. They thought Mary and I were ancient. Now, we were introducing people to them that were older than us. All letters were received with a shy smile. Even those feign that they were not interested, could not help but listen to the words of people who have written to them. They were happy to hear their names being mentioned in the letters. It was a sign that someone out there knows their names. Besides this, we are seeing some unforeseen consequences developing. Felipe who has a low self-esteem started getting interested in English. He is beginning to show interest in learning how to draw and improve his writing skills. Ruan is beginning to read simple words and has been doing his exercises with Mary faithfully. These are just some of the consequences. However, there is something that is also something else happening that is deeper and more meaningful. It is opening doors for us to talk about their responsibility to people. They have lived most of their lives abandoned by their families and society. They have lived without having any responsibility to fellow human beings. Now, they are receiving unconditional love in form of letters from children and adults who have nothing to gain from them. It is an invitation to be connected to them through the bonds of friendship. Now, they have to learn how to respond. I believe that they want to do it but they don’t know how. Perhaps, this is something we can help them to do this year.

Share Button
by

A Culture of Life

Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas,[a] and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’-Luke 19:11-14

“For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”-Luke 19:26

It seems like the wrong person is always getting elected. This is often coupled with the fact that he or she always belongs to the party that we oppose vehemently.

With every new president, some things get better and others worse. It doesn’t matter who they are or their party affiliation. It is a cycle of life just like everything in nature. It goes on independently of the presidents and the politicians. We spend our time investing our passions and energy on something that just happens naturally. Jesus definitely did not participate in it. When he was asked about his political affiliation, Jesus simply responded, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jewish authorities: but now is my kingdom not from hence (John 18:36).”

Each election cycle tends to bring out the worst in people and we have to ask ourselves this important question; what is our role as Christians in all of this? It is understandable that those who do not subscribe to the Christian faith put their faith and hope in this political reality. They believe that this material kingdom is the be-all and end-all. They judge it as the foundation and basis for all endeavors and even perhaps their access to God or some sort of spirituality; not unlike those who attempted to construct the Tower of Babel. As Christians, we know the end of this story: utter chaos. We should also be wary of any talk about utopia or greatness or unity. All these illusionary goals can indeed become dangerous idols. Without God, none of this is possible. However, having said this, God does not need our manipulation to achieve them in this world. Historically, political entities that have attempted to establish utopian-like existence have resulted in many disastrous things. When we unite people without true love and God’s grace, we need a common enemy or a scapegoat to hate. Hatred for a common enemy becomes the basis for unity or utopian societies. This is not just an opinion; there has been extensive study on this done by a renown sociologist and philosopher, Rene Girard, in his major work, The Scapegoat. Nothing good comes out of this. If we want peace and greatness, then politics is definitely not the way to achieve this, especially the kind of politics presented by this world through its deceiving media. As Christians, we should ask ourselves; why do we insist on constructing the Tower of Babel when the inevitable result is chaos? Perhaps, we should focus on something more concrete as Christians. There is more to life than politics. The people in the text above asked Jesus a political question and Jesus responded with a parable. It wasn’t the answer that they were expecting.

We also have lived through a tumultuous political period in the Brazil in the past few months. A couple of months ago, sirens and helicopters were constantly heard from our apartment because of riots and protest. These were daily occurrences. However, everyday whenever we went to the streets, it was business as usual for thousands of people. The political climate did not change the basic reality of the everyday people. Eventually the protests died down and everyone realized that politics was just getting in the way of everyday life. I would say that this is not true politics. It is the media trying to stir up dissent and strife while pretending to be purveyors of the truth. What they say has very little to do with everyday life. When the people asked Jesus about the coming of Kingdom of God, they wanted to hear media politics. Jesus gave them an answer, showing them something completely different. He revealed how to be really political in the Kingdom of God.

I would recommend reading this parable in its entirety.

It was strange that Jesus would use a ruthless nobleman as the protagonist. In other places, Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was not like the kingdom of this world and yet the nobleman in this parable was very much like the princes of this world. Therefore, we can take it to understand that the nobleman is not a definitive depiction of God. I believe that his role is used to emphasize the chasm between those who are in the “know” and those are not in this political system. This system operates on violence and dominance and Jesus presented it as such. It does not mean that he condones it. Whatever the noble does is beyond the control of the servants but they are not helpless spectators. The interactions between the noble and his subjects are nothing out of the ordinary in this parable. He behaves exactly the same way as any king of his time. It wasn’t a democracy: it was a tyranny. Even in such hostile conditions, we, as servants of God, are not helpless. We can still be real participants in the political life of the God’s kingdom. It has everything to do with using our gifts that God has given to us.

I have to confess that I find it tedious when people say that they feel blessed to born in such and such place whenever they hear the plight of the poor in other countries. Their criteria for being blessed is material wealth. This is fine for someone who is not a Christian or rather, for those who are not interested in being a citizen in God’s kingdom. However, true blessing is gauged by our application of the gifts that God has given us to do something productive for the Kingdom of God. Saying that we are blessed and doing absolutely nothing is very much like being the the servant who said, “Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.”(Luke 19:20). God does not need to be reminded that He has given us something we can share. He wants to know how we use what we are given for the greater good.

We have heard countless of times that the world is promoting a culture of death. It has said been so many times that it has become a cliche. Electing politicians into office is not the way to avoid suicidal traits in society. If anything, it would be the weakest way to counteract against the tragic trajectory of the world. Policies are not going to bring the hope of life into the hearts of people. Material wealth does not going to bring joy: if so, suicide rates would be the lowest in wealthiest countries, but the opposite is true. Only the gospel can bring hope and joy. God has given us the gifts that we can use within our capacity to promote the culture of life that the gospel proclaims. It is not just voting pro-life which may be just a tactic of media politics. The Kingdom of God demands that our lives promote the joy of life in others through loving them. Loving others is not pointing out the mistakes in others but living our lives in a way that would make our neighbors desire to know the life and person of Jesus who is the foundation of our hope and joy.

This week, Ruan surprised us. He invited us to go to his house with him. It was the first time in three years that we got such an invitation. He informed us that he told his family about it and they were open to the idea. We have known Ruan for a while now and he hardly mentions anything of his family. Suddenly a letter from a church member in Florida is opening all kinds of doors. He wanted to send a picture of his family to this person and this was the main reason for our invitation. We met his mother and sisters. We did not know that Ruan had a new step-father whom he mentioned minutes before we got to his house. He was also very excited to introduce us to his grandfather who is just a few years older than us. It seems like he is the most consistent male presence in his life. The house was small but it was cramped with things. It contained most of the modern conveniences including a large TV. Ruan’s mother was mad that he preferred to sleep in the streets than at home. She believes that she provides everything to entice him to stay at home but he just refuses. He did not say much but he wanted to tell his mother about us and that he was learning to read and write. Unfortunately his mother was too busy being mad at him to listen to him. It was a little tense and we decided to ease the tension by taking pictures and explaining why he wanted to take them. It was our first visit and I don’t foresee any future visits unless Ruan initiates it. This first visit was important for him. He wanted us to meet his family and we are glad that we did.

We don’t know why Ruan is in the streets. Besides having all the material conveniences, his house was tiny and they had more than five people in a space of a small living room. However, it wasn’t the lack of space that brought him to the streets. One thing we know for certain that no child in his or her right mind would want to be far away from her/his mother and sleep in the filthy streets. Ruan prefers the streets more than his home. Something happened to cause this. We cannot change this something. It is beyond our capacity. We cannot change his family dynamics. It is the way that they have learned to function in this life. They don’t see anything wrong and we have no right to tell them otherwise. However, there is something that we can do. We can show Ruan that he is indeed a valuable person to us. We have the capacity to care and love him within our limitations. To do this, we don’t need the approval of the government; we don’t need a proper social and political climate or the ideal family situation. All we need is to recognize God’s presence in our lives and in the lives of others. However, we cannot do this work alone. We need the participation of others who are interested in Kingdom politics and not media-frenzy spectator politics. Real godly politics is where people reach and touch the hearts of their neighbors and help them see Life. From what I have been seeing, partisan politics regardless of which side we choose, promotes death; death of relationship, death of love and death of intelligence.

I am not saying all political systems are the same. Some systems appear to build good towers of Babel, but they can never be the Kingdom of God. This is a Kingdom of Grace and Love. It is not brought about by our workings. It is given to us through the person of Jesus. We did not vote Him into office but He chose us. He has given us the power to be His instruments of Life in this world. One day, He is going to ask each one of us what we have done with our gifts. We hope that on this faithful day, we can bring Ruan forward and say, “Our gifts have taught us to see the beauty of Life in this little child.”

This, my faithful Christians, is the culture of the Kingdom of God.

 

Share Button
by

Letters, Literacy and Related Events

“Do you know what I want for Christmas?” Ruan asked Mary. She was a little hesitant. On one occasion, Ruan asked for a cell phone for his birthday present. The other children just laughed when they heard this. They reminded him that presents are not something we demand from others. Now, he was talking about Christmas gifts. She thought that it was going to be another absurd request. He did not wait for her response. He just came out with it and said, “I want to learn how to read and write before Christmas.” It was definitely unexpected.

About a year ago, Ruan came up to us and told us that he wanted to learn how to read and write. He is thirteen years old and completely illiterate. He has been to the public school but never learned the basics. He is not the only one. In fact, most of our children and teens are illiterate. Only a handful of them are able to write their own names. However, none of them ever displayed any interest in learning or education in general. All of them have had negative experiences in the school system. After hearing stories about the precarious schools in the poor neighborhoods, we can understand their aversion. Recently we have noticed a change in their attitude towards learning. They are asking us to do more educational activities with them. The amazing thing is that the initiative comes from them and not us. We can’t really pinpoint one single incident that awakened this growing intellectual curiosity. I believe there are a series of events which contributed to this and they share one common denominator, which is relationship. The children have discovered the value of education within the context of human relationship. Prior to this, they have associated school and learning as something institutional and distant. They did not see the relevance of their knowledge in real life. Now, they want to learn because it makes sense to them within the context of a friendship.

I believe Bruno has a major part to play in this but his participation is unintentional. He loves to learn English and is self-motivated learner. Everyday he waits for us with a list of words that he wants us to translate into English. He is always coming up with new phrases and he wants to know the meaning of certain words and how to use them. The children noticed that Bruno has always tons of things to talk about with us. They wanted to be part of this but they did not know how. Some would sit next to us and just listen quietly. They noticed that the subject was about a movie or a book and it always connected to something educational. Ruan was the first one to ask our help. He wanted to read the books like Bruno and have access to the things that we talked about. Then Felipe started asking questions about the English language. Alex approached us and wanted to know if we have books about animals. One by one they begin to open up to us about their specific interest. They saw that their interest could be a means of building a stronger relationship with us. In a way, they are right. Their interests give a glimpse of the things that they like and care about. When they share it with us, they are giving an access into their souls.

Then the letters started coming. Ruan was the first one to receive one. It was from a church member in Florida. When I read the letter to him for the first time, he hardly said anything. He was impressed that someone would take the time to write to him. Then a few months later, we received some more letters for the other children and teens. The reaction was always the same. They listened quietly and all of them smiled when I told them that they were written by people from a far away land. After a while, nothing was ever said of these letters in our presence. However, unbeknownst to us, these letters were topic of conversations in the evenings when the children and teens were by themselves. The letters have created such an impact that some of the children began ask us why they did not receive any letters. They want to correspond with someone in the churches in Florida. I told them that letters are like a conversation. We don’t have to wait for someone else to initiate the conversation. They can do it as well.

In the past month, Ruan has been practicing writing with Mary. He even decided to forego a trip to the beach with the rest of the children because he did not want to miss his lessons with Mary. A couple of days ago, he asked if we would help him write the letter. Mary wrote down what he dictated;

“Dear…I really liked the letter you sent me and especially the Christmas card from last year. I thank you for praying for me. I want to tell you about my family…..I, Ruan, have three sisters but my favorite sister is four months old.….I want to make a Christmas card for you and hopefully I can send it to you with this letter….By the way, have you ever seen a alligator, if you can, please send me a picture of one…Please continue to pray for me and my family. By the way, my mother’s name is Andrea…”

Every single word written here flowed out of his heart without any guidance from us. This is the first letter Ruan has ever dictated in his life. I am sure that it won’t be the last. Maybe he might attempt to write the next one by himself.

“What do you do in your free time?”

The children have been become increasingly curious about our lives. They want to know what we do when we are not with them. We told them that we don’t have a TV at home. They were shocked. It is something unimaginable for them. We told them that we like to read and having a TV takes our away time away from books. Bruno, trying to find something common with us, started talking about books that he wanted to read. He threw out names of some classical literature. The others got a little jealous because they did not know names of any books. Some of them have never had any access to books in their lives. To rectify this, I decided to take a Roald Dahl book to the streets recently. He was one of my favorite authors when I was a young boy. I have acquired several of his books in Portuguese with the hope that some day I can give it to our children to read. For now, I just wanted to share some of my favorite books with them. I showed the book to Ruan and told him that if he learns how to read well I will give him a book like this one. His face lit up. He immediately grabbed the book out of my hand and showed it to the other children and said, “Look what Uncle Stephen bought for me to read one day.” The others looked on and I could see that they were a little envious. I did not say anything. Hopefully their jealousy will give them the desire to read as well. Bruno asked about the author. I told him that he was the one who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This led into a long conversation about other books of this author that were made into movies. The children were familiar with the movies but they never knew that they were based on a book.

My most memorable time in school was when we had lessons with our favorite teacher. It did not matter what the lesson was. It was almost irrelevant. If the teacher was a loving person who truly cared about us, whatever subject he or she taught was interesting. Education is fun and exciting when it helps to bring us closer to one we love. I had forgotten about this essential and crucial aspect of education. Education on its own is dull and uninteresting. However, if it opens the door to wonderful world of warm human relationship, then it becomes marvelous and exciting.

Ruan is progressing gradually everyday. He recognizes new words every day. He likes to sit next to Mary and listen intently to her instructions. He has developed a ritual. He practices writing or reading first and then he wants to play checkers with me. He has been faithful in his lessons everyday. I think that this Christmas he is going to get his wish.

Share Button
by

Limited Space

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” -Luke 19:1-5

The children like this story. It is a story to which they can easily relate. They identify themselves with Zacchaeus. At first glance, it is hard to see the connection. The man in the story was wealthy and corrupt. He did not lack anything materially. Our children are homeless. They sleep under a bridge. They don’t have any possessions. Besides all these differences, they see something in Zacchaeus reminds them of themselves. Many of us may not want to identify ourselves with him. We prefer to think that we are better than him. For most of us, this story is an example of the power of God’s grace. We liken the person of Zacchaeus to that of a drug dealer, or a politician standing for Presidential election or someone we would like to easily allocate into the cesspool of objectionable personality. However, our children see a complex human being in Zacchaeus not unlike themselves.

We know how this story ends, even our children are very familiar with it. We tend to focus on the ending and ignore some interesting details in the story. The author of the gospel saw that it was important that we knew about Zacchaeus’ physical stature. His small stature wasn’t a physical ailment or some other impairment that warrants special attention. It was just something that helps to give an insight into Zacchaeus’ personality. The gospel wants us to go beyond the superficial assessment of a person in society. It requires to question why a person is the way he or she is. The story tells that, because of his height, Zacchaeus could not participate in the event of the day; the arrival of Jesus in Jericho. Even though he possessed wealth and power as a tax collector, it did not give him privy to the one of the most important events of the city. He was an outsider and most likely had always been an outsider. No one cared that Zacchaeus couldn’t see Jesus. In fact, no one cared if he existed or not. This must have been the story of his life. He was alone and had to make his way in this world. He chose the wrong way to do it. He was ruthless and unkind. He stole from people and the flaunted his wealth. People began to notice him. They despised him but he apparently did not mind this as long as they were forced to acknowledge his existence.

The more we get to know our children the easier it becomes for us to see the connection between Zacchaeus and them. The thing that brings them to the streets is not poverty; it does have a small contributing role but it is not the major reason. Our children don’t mind being poor. They can adapt to it. However, they do mind being neglected and ignored. They don’t demand too much attention but they want to know that their existence is important to someone. Most of them have suffered a trauma which caused them to flee to the streets. It is not even the tragic circumstance itself that brought to the streets. It is the unfortunate fact that no one cared enough to notice or help them through their traumatic experience. They take refuge in the streets hoping that someone will notice them. Those who engage in criminal activities don’t do so because of survival. They can have food and clothing without stealing. They can even buy drugs with the money they get from begging. However, people only notice their existence when they steal. People only think of the homeless children when they do something negative. Most of the time, they are invisible because they occupy such a small space in their lives or society just the like the man of small stature in the story from the gospel.

Zacchaeus was hidden from the crowd but Jesus noticed him anyway. This was a dream come true for him. He did not need to do anything to be acknowledged. Jesus knew him by name and broke bread in his household. The people despised the fact that Jesus wasted his time and energy on this person. People liked to crowd around the person of Jesus. They often spoke of Him. Unfortunately most of them hardly understood what He came to do. He came to look for those whom we want to forget in society. In this story, it was a wealthy man; in others, this person was a forgotten widow or a homeless beggar. They come from different social backgrounds but they share a common trait. All of them occupy a small place in the hearts and minds of people, so small that it is easy to forget that they exist. Most of the time, people don’t even think that they deserve God’s grace. Strangely, God chooses these people to help understand the meaning and immensity of His grace. However, if we choose to remain in our hatred and apathy, then we won’t be able to see or appreciate it.

Zacchaeus had been taking from people all his life. He found his identity in possessing things aggressively. However, now he discovered that this was unnecessary. He changed. He became a giver.

One remarkable change in our relationship with the children over the past few months is the fact that they are beginning to offer things to us. Usually it is some simple snacks. They have done this before as a courteous gesture but now there is a subtle difference. They offer us things that they buy with their own money. They even insist that we take it when we politely refuse. They want us to have something of theirs. They don’t want our relationship to be one-sided. They want it to become a mutual relationship. They want to be generous with us. This is a sign of genuine spiritual transformation; generosity always begets generosity.

Zacchaeus experienced God’s generosity and he could not help but become generous himself. However, he did not try to give to Jesus anything. There was nothing he could offer Him that would measure up to what he had received. Jesus had given Zacchaeus his existence. He realized that even though the world around him had ignored him all his life, Jesus knew him by name. No amount of money or power could compensate for this gift he had just received. The only thing he could do was to follow the example of Jesus. He gave to those who couldn’t reciprocate and he also undid the wrong he had done in his life. He had spent his life taking and now it was time to give.

There are Zacchaeus all around us. Some are rich and powerful and some are poor and isolated. They are people whom we like to forget. However, they are not different from us. They are just like us trying to find a place in this world. They are just like us trying to find a reason to justify our existence. The only difference perhaps is that they are more aware of their anonymity in this world then the rest of us. God chose Zacchaeus to show that even though you are despised and hated by the world, this does not disqualify one from God’s grace. The children understand this valuable lesson. They are glad that Jesus chose to dine at Zacchaeus’ home. It gives them hope. It gives us hope as well.

Share Button
by

The Weak and the Strong

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”-Luke 18:11-14

A fight had broken out. We were in the middle of it literally. Ruan and Alex were fighting where we were sitting. We were unintentionally the cause of the fight. Alex was being difficult and he used some foul language. Ruan confronted him. He thought that it was inappropriate to use that kind of language in our presence. The next thing we knew they were throwing punches at each other. Ruan is only 14 but he is almost twice Alex’s size who is two years older. Things went from bad to worse. Alex emotionally disintegrated right before our very eyes. His face turned red and tears flowed profusely. We pleaded with them to stop but their passions had taken control of them completely. Before anything could be done, a punch landed on Alex’s face and he lost his balance. His head hit the steps. Blood started to ooze out a gash just above his right eye. Alex became hysterical at this point. He was screaming away at Ruan and was wailing like a two year old. Ruan just sat down in silence.

Alex went to the side of the cathedral and sat there alone. He couldn’t stop crying and he then laid down on his side. To make matters worse, he started to hyperventilate. He looked like he was going into shock. We tried to calm him but he was inconsolable. Ruan became remorseful for his actions and came over to apologize. However, Alex was not in the right frame of mind to accept anything from anyone. We began to get worried. It seems like he needed medical attention, and then he slowly started to breathe normally. Throughout this time, Ruan sat behind him and said that he was sorry. Alex continued to bleed from his wound but he refused any first aid from us. He stood up and walked away in a daze. We remained at the steps. Our minds were reeling from the whole incident. We have never seen any of our children or teens break down in this manner before. We have never seen them in such a vulnerable and fragile state.

All it took was a simple altercation. It is something that happens on a daily basis in the streets. Everyday we walk by people fighting over the silliest things. Maybe it sounds strange to some readers but it is the reality in the streets here. Alex navigates in this world daily. He always appeared to be comfortable in this environment. Maybe he believed that he was immune to the violence until a punch landed on his face. The aggression revealed to him that he was just as fragile as anyone. Perhaps it was too much for him and he couldn’t handle it. For us, it was heart breaking scene. We saw a teenager revert to the young lonely child. We had a glimpse of the hidden frighten child in the teenage body of Alex. There was nothing we could do or say that would help Alex.

There is something in us that wants to show the world that we are strong and better than others. This was the basis for the fight between the boys. In the end, the only thing that was obvious was how weak we are as human beings. We stood and watched Alex in tears and broken emotionally. There was hardly anything we could do to make it better. Ruan has physical strength and sometimes he does things to appear like a bully. In reality, he has a tender heart. He wants to be a good person but ends up doing things that hurt others like Alex. He is unable to do the good he so desperately wants to do. Alex wanted to show everyone that no one can push him around. The only thing he managed to reveal to the world was how fragile he really is.

The Pharisee in the above parable wanted to believe that he was better than the tax collector. He thought that he was stronger than the tax collector who has succumbed to the temptations of life. Unfortunately, in his attempt to show off his strengths, he ended up revealing that he was much worse. The tax collector showed the better way. He acknowledged his utter weakness. Maybe because he did not have much of a choice. Society had already condemned him for being a traitor. His weakness and vulnerabilities were open for everyone to see and judge. In a strange way, this involuntary exposure of his personal and moral frailties made him open to receive something better and greater. It has given him the wisdom to discover a different and a more lasting and powerful source of strength.

We saw Alex and Ruan a few days later. They were talking and joking around together. Ruan came up to us and said that we were late. We were not. We arrived at our usual time. Ruan and Alex were early. They usually show up later in the day. There was something different about them. Ruan was more affectionate. Alex approached Mary and started telling her about things that happened to him over the weekend. There was a tenderness in the way they interacted with us. I think it has something to do with being vulnerable. The fight was a simple altercation in the eyes of many. However, the Holy Spirit transformed it into an encounter where all our frailties were revealed. It has given us the courage to admit that we are weak and now we are ready to discover our true strength in the redeeming power of God’s love. Perhaps this is why the boys were not afraid to share their love and affection with us. They no longer needed to pretend to be tough. They just needed to be themselves. The strength will come from the One who is truly strong.

Share Button
by

Eternal Answers

And Jesus said, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”- Luke 18:7-8

I want to start with Boethius. No, it’s not a name of a teenager in the streets. He was a philosopher from the sixth century. I always begin my reflection with an encounter in the streets. Today, I want to take a step back. I am going to someone furthest away from our reality. Boethius is from a time and culture completely different from our reality. Yet, I believe that he has something relevant to say to us and even our children living in the streets.

I encountered Boethius for first time in his book, the Consolation of Philosophy. It was an involuntary introduction. It was required reading for Medieval Philosophy. Recently, I had a reunion with him. I purchased his book again. It wasn’t for any particular reason except for the fact that it was on sale. Capitalism helped me revisit Boethius and I am glad for it.

The book is not an academic treatise on philosophy. It is a reflection of a man who was faced with an uncertain future. It was a question of life and death. He was imprisoned unjustly and his fate depended on the whims of an unreliable and corrupt king. His life until this point had been quite stable and prosperous and now everything dissipated with the looming possibility of a painful and humiliating death. Boethius needed to find solace in this chaos. This book is the result. Strangely, as I was reading the parable of the unjust judge quoted above, this book came to my mind. Jesus said that God answered prayers swiftly. God answered Boethius’ prayer for justice swiftly but in the way many would not have hoped.

Boethius was trying to understand the question of evil and good, God’s timing and his timing, fate and destiny, and why bad things happen to good people. Questions that drown our hearts and minds when we are faced with an existential crisis. He did not resort to simple religious formulas. He faced difficult issues boldly. He was persistent to discover the Truth or God’s justice in this case, just like the old woman in the parable when she confronted the unjust judge. Perhaps, the major difference was that Boethius did not believe that he had to keeping insisting on an answer. He wasn’t questioning a corrupt judge. He was having a dialogue with Lady Wisdom. He was confident that he would receive the answers at the right time. He did and perhaps they helped to face his imminent death with tranquility.

Boethius was executed immediately after the completion of this work. His death was slow and painful. Many would say that he never received the swift justice that Jesus promised in the quote above. However, we need faith to understand God’s justice. For many in the world, God was silent in Boethius’ case. It is because they have a concept of justice which is superficial and worldly. Boethius has been gone for more than thousand years and yet he is remembered. His greatest work was the one he produced in the last moments of his life. The people who played a role in this unjust trial are nothing but names today. No one remembers them. Their lives have no influence today. Boethius, on the other, still speaks to us today. A boy in the streets once asked us about life and death and suffering. I remember talking about Boethius and his concept of eternity. What he had to say about the subject were simple but it’s profundity is still discussed today. The young man I spoke to was able to grasp what I shared about eternity. It brought it some comfort to his soul. He had just a lost a dear friend when he asked this question.

The most powerful words of the parable from Luke are the final ones. Jesus ended the parable with a question; will the Son of Man find faith in this world when He returns? I have heard and read this parable since I was a young lad. I had always focused on the judge. I missed the point. I confused God with the judge. I thought that it was necessary to keep insisting with God until He gave in and answered my prayers. I am not alone in this. There are churches that have built their theology of prayer based on this. We treat God as if he is an unreasonable bureaucrat who will only answer our request when we dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Jesus was representing a different picture. He was teaching via negativa. God is nothing like the judge or us for that matter.

This is more consistent with the other teachings on prayers;

“..your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”-Matthew 6:8

On one occasion, Jesus taught;

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”- Luke 11:11-16

If anything, Jesus reveals to us that we do not need to twist God’s arm to attend to our prayers. He is always willing and swift to answer our prayers. The problem lies not in God but whether we are able to discern God’s response. Sometimes we ask the wrong things from God and we don’t get the answer we want. Job wanted God to give him a satisfactory answer to the perennial question,“why do bad things happen to good people?” The story ends with a different answer, one more pertinent to the nature of God. We often ask God for something contrary to His nature and we don’t get an answer.

Our children in the streets beg all the time. In theory, they beg because they need money for food but in reality, they want to buy drugs. They can get food for free whereas drugs cost money. They never beg from us. Even if they do, it is usually done in jest. They know our answer. They know that we know how they use their money. Most importantly, they know that we have a different kind of relationship. Occasionally, a new arrival to the streets will ask us for some spare change. It doesn’t take long for them to realize that they will receive nothing from us in terms of money. Some will close themselves to us and our relationship will end there and then. There are others that will figure out that our refusal to succumb to their pecuniary demands is due to the fact that we are willing to offer something more valuable and enduring. If they are willing to wait around and get to know us, they will discover what we want to give to them.

Boethius wrote the Consolation of Philosophy when he knew that he could be facing a slow torturous death. I am sure that he prayed for justice. God answered his prayer. He did not allow Boethius’ enemies get what they wanted. They wanted the memory of his life to be completely erased. Instead, his imprisonment contributed to his name being remembered till today. Our fears are mostly based on being forgotten. The greatest injustice is being treated as if one does not exist. We don’t want to be forgotten and considered irrelevant. Sickness and death are the inevitable things in life that threaten our very existence. Most of our desperate prayers stem out of these situations. The widow in the parable refused to be forgotten and the corrupt judge conceded to her pleas. God is nothing like the unjust judge. He does not forget us. The problem is whether we trust Him enough to know that He will remember us.

The parable tells us that the woman got what she wanted because she was willing to wait. In our relationship with God, we don’t have to convince God to do what is just. We just have to wait. Waiting is trusting. We don’t wait for justice because of the eloquence of our prayers. We wait for justice because our God is a good God. However, God’s justice is not to be confused with giving us what we want. His justice is giving what is really and truly important to us.

Justice was given to Boethius even though he died. The world would say that he had based on his life on a false hope. They have eyes but they do not see and ears but they do not hear. They think of justice purely on materialistic principles. Our faith should help us to understand reality in terms of eternity. It is something that only could be understood by faith. It is no wonder that the major truss of the Consolation of Philosophy is on the concept of eternity. God answers our prayers swiftly. The response is understood in terms of eternity. We need faith to see this. This why Jesus asked the question, will He find faith on earth when He returns?

Share Button
by

The Joy of Being An Unworthy Servant

“Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”- Luke 17:7-10

These are tough words for a modern world.

Just listening to the words, “unworthy servant” and “duty” sounds oppressive and manipulative. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. It is enough to send anyone running away from Jesus and Christianity. Once again, the gospel proves itself that it is serious about the Truth. If it wasn’t, these verses wouldn’t be it. There is nothing apparently positive and joyous to say about these verses. However, it is still the gospel. The good news still embedded in these tough words. We cannot just ignore and discard them. They have something powerful to say to us. Perhaps even more so in this modern culture in which we find ourselves.

We live in a world that is starving for compliments. They represent recognition and honor to us. However, we don’t like it when others receive them instead of us. It seems to provoke feelings of jealousy in most of us. I remember song in the eighties by a British musician, Morrissey, called, “We hate it when our friends become successful.” It might as well be the secret anthem of many people like myself in our private thoughts. I am not sure if compliments and recognition create unity but I am sure that they generate a spirit of competition within us. Maybe this is their purpose in this world. They exploit the weaknesses of people and make them work harder against each other.

The words of Jesus are meant to liberate us from the world of competitiveness where we must try to prove ourselves better than others. They help us to see the Truth about ourselves. We are “unworthy servants”. It sounds harsh but the Truth is grounded in Love and meant to liberate us from lies. It is a lie that we can prove our worth because we are unworthy. However, this doesn’t hinder God from choosing us to be His servants.

Every Thursday, there is a kind and devout man who goes to the cathedral for the afternoon mass. He comes up to us without fail and shakes our hands and tells us what a wonderful work we are doing in the streets. Most of the time, he does this in the presence of our children. We usually feel a little awkward and embarrassed mainly because we know in our hearts that we don’t deserve his compliments. There is something wonderful happening in our midst. However, there is nothing that we can honestly take credit for. It was God who made this into a reality for us. This is God’s project that He has allowed us to participate in. We could not have even said, “Yes” to God if it wasn’t for His grace. We are here because of His grace. The so-called success of our time in the street does not depend on us alone. It also depends on the children and teens. They make the choice to spend time with us. We cannot be there doing anything worthwhile if there is no one to participate in our activities. The children and teens are just as gracious and generous with their time as we are. One can argue that we chose to be there instead of being elsewhere. The children chose to be there with us too. They could be doing other things with other people. Instead they chose to be with us. Behind all our choices is our Heavenly Father who bestows upon us all good things. Therefore, none of us deserve any compliment for doing something that is beyond our control.

At this point, I would like to do something that I don’t usually do. I am going to tell how not to read this post. Please don’t confuse it as a thinly disguised testament of humility. It is anything but this. It is a reflection on the text above. I found much joy and peace in knowing that we are just unworthy servants doing something which is beyond our capacity and yet, we are given the privilege to be part of this. It is this joy that I would like to share. Actually, it is not just for us but everyone who wants to live their lives as a testimony to the gospel. It is a joy to know that we are all unworthy of serving God and yet God still include us in His ultimate project in this world.

One of the joyous things of knowing that we are unworthy servants is that the burden of success or failure is not dependent on us. First of all, there is nothing to gauge success in this world. Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. Therefore, there is nothing in this world that can be remotely compared to His standards. Our present ideas of success are based on principles of the reality. There are no possible graphs and charts that we can conjure up to determine what the Holy Spirit considers as success. The change and modification in our personal attitudes towards our neighbors is the essence of the fruits of the Spirit. Those who try measure the performance of their ministry through the means of this world have failed in the Kingdom of God. Even though they might prove themselves to be successful in the world, they have allowed worldly standards to contaminate their calling. All because they think in their hearts that it is necessary to show that they are worthy servants of God. In reality, no one is worthy and this is why we are in constant need of His grace. There is freedom that comes with this awareness. We are liberated to serve willingly and joyfully even when nothing apparently happens because our self-worth is not based on results. It is based on the privilege of being part of God’s actions in this world.

In this world, everything is geared towards reward. According to Jesus, there is no reward for the unworthy servant. The servant shouldn’t expect one. No rewards means no competitive spirit. This does not mean that there is not a goal. To the contrary, the goal is quite perfectly clear; it is to be a faithful servant. When we do this, we will discover that no reward is necessary. Service in itself is sufficient. I know a friend who has been a priest for many years. He never considered himself a charismatic leader or successful pastor of a large congregation. He was faithful in visiting the sick and widows. He was always available when someone needed spiritual guidance. He did exactly what a priest is supposed to do. Whenever he left a congregation to serve another, he always left people in tears. They did not want to lose the pastor that helped them see Christ clearly in their lives. This very pastor once told me that doing the right thing is reward in itself. I will never forget these words because they are God’s words to me. I have found them to be a living reality as we participate in God’s project here. For Mary and I, the reward is being on the steps of the cathedral and waiting for the children and teens. Knowing these children and learning to discern God’s presence in their lives makes life splendid and beautiful for us. We believe that this awareness is mutual. The children seem to enjoy being with us too. This is because we are all where God wants us to be. This is the reward. Being exactly in the place where God wants us to be. Willing to be God’s unworthy servants is enough. God will make the rest happen. I believe that there are countless number of people that will testify to this Truth.

This seemingly heartless and tough saying of Jesus is actually a most powerful and liberating Truth for us today. The desire for recognition and honor has left many tired and depressed in this world. People are forced to prove their self-worth and end up losing their dignity in the process. Knowing that we are unworthy servants of God has the opposite effect because our unworthiness doesn’t stop God from including us in His service. The only possible reason for this is Love. It gives God great pleasure to include His children in the things that He is doing. We don’t deserve this and there is nothing we can do that would prove our worth for the task. God just wants to give us the privilege to be part of the things He is doing. He wants us to share in the good things He is doing in this world like a father who wants to share special moments with his children. He will give us the grace and strength for us to fulfill our duty. However, we should never confuse His grace with our own personal merit. There is no room for meritocracy in the Kingdom of God. There are just room for unworthy but faithful servants.

Share Button