For Such a Time like This…

Current ministerial designs and patterns are more or less rooted in a Christology emerged out of witness of the followers of the Church and its ministry. Terrence W.Tilley’s book The Disciples’ Jesus offers us a clear indication to the ethos of Jesus movement namely God’s reign in practice, specifically a reconciling practice. However, such a practice will have to necessarily undergo three steps: confrontation, resistance and discipleship. In our context, for such a time like this, we should keep all three components in a logical pattern.

“For such a time like this” Re-imagining Christian public witness” is a challenging prophetic ministry, a ministry which is defined within the wider framework of destruction and hope. This theme refers to two major dimensions namely the Diaspora situation of Esther and changing patterns of contemporary Christian witness. As we begin a new academic year, there are two important theological tasks to be rememebered.

1. Developing a politics of Recognition

According to the Global Bible commentary “Esther is a lower-class woman who is subordinated to the power f the king and the imperial orders… who demonstrates wit and courage as an active and daring participant in the struggle for the survival of her people”(Croatto:2004, p.137). The milieu of this saying “for such a time like this” is a Diaspora context.  Mordecai stands for the dignity and rights of the Jews, the Diaspora people and Esther follows what is shown by Mordecai. And she finally says “If I perish, I perish”.  This is an affirmation of absolute commitment and dedication.

On June 1 2014, Shinie Antony wrote in Sunday Herald about happiness: “It traces its origin to nothing more concrete than the hope that springs eternal in the human heart”. While re-imagining Christian public witness today, it is a vital concern we confront, with regard to the life situation of millions in our country and across the globe who are denied voice. Since we have voice, space and freedom of expression we don’t often realize the value of identity and dignity.

How do we assess the gravity of “such a time like this…”? As theologians we may have to find a possible re-imagination between positivism of modernism and skepticism of postmodernism. It is very important for us to believe that we are called to serve God and humanity “for such a time like this”. It is a process of experiencing a pilgrim with God for making a change in this world. Our calling and responsibility is not for mimicking someone who had gone before us, but to create a fresh ministerial and theological frame work and structure for the mission and ministry of the Church.

2. Establishing life-affirming Communities

If we can say we are touched by the call “for such a time like this”, new perspectives will surely enable us to see the depth of understanding of God’s ministry today. It is not a mere ritual or status but taking right decisions for carrying the cross in order to become the sojourners of God in this world. We are given a responsibility to define our role today. Sojourners of God today are not the formal ecclesial order, but the migrants and voiceless people who live on the edges without any space or voice.

The voice raised by Esther should not be simplified as she stood firm before a very powerful empire/colonial power. Living in a colonized situation is something very dehumanizing experience. Christianity very often stands with colonizing forces since Constantine era. “For such a time like this” we need to take a position of decolonizing process by all means. It should be part of our theological training. How best we address the neo-colonial empires? The challenge here is to create a horizon of life-affirming inclusive communities of people all over the world.

Unfortunately, Christian traditioning process could not address the issues of religious pluralism and multi-culturalism. In such a context we need to develop a politics of recognition (Taylor: 1995, 75) in order to address the shifting paradigms in our society. Esther 4:4 points to such a scenario where Esther could re-imagine the politics of recognition within the colonial framework. It demands an extraordinary courage from our side to view the condition of the God’s sojourners today. It is a two-fold engagement namely understanding the politics of recognition and creating a horizon of life –affirming inclusive communities. These are the two basic challenges today in the ministry of the church “for such a time like this..”As we begin a new academic year let us re-dedicate ourselves for doing the ministry of theological education meaningfully.

David Joy, Professor, Department of New Testament

(Preached at the UTC faculty retreat on June 8, 2014 at the Mor Augen Chapel, T. John College, Bangalore).