God in Public Square

God in Public Square 

Light looked down and saw darkness.  “I will go there," said light. Peace looked down and saw war.  “I will go there," said Peace. Love looked down and saw hatred.  “I will go there," said Love. So the Lord of Light, the Prince of Peace, the King of Love, came down and crept in beside us. It was journey towards the public square and margins

Birth of Jesus in Public Square: Matthew and Luke present Jesus’ birth in Public space or in other words at the margins. Jesus could have born in the Palace (Centre of Political Power) or he could have born at the heart of Jerusalem (Centre of Religious Power) with all kinds of majestic and luxurious facilities. But God has chosen a crowded public space for God’s son’s birth and later we find Jesus in cattle shed. What are the lessons we learn from the Public Square birth of Jesus?

1. God Mocked the Powers of this world: By taking birth in the public square, God revealed the truth that becoming powerless is God’s Power. Being at the margins is God’s way. God questioned the human made power centres and God declared that God is absent in all self-created human power centres where language of exploitation, violence, are heard instead of the language of justice and love. 

2. God Sanctified and Valued the Margins: By taking birth at the margins, God sanctified the so called unholy, unhygienic, places as sacred spaces and thereby God redefined the human presuppositions that people who live in the margins are sinners and unwanted. God sanctified the margins and thereby sanctified the people at the margins and transformed them into a scared and responsible community. 

3. God’s Mission in God’s own way: By taking birth at the margins God communicated to the whole world that God’s mission is beyond human calculations and God never let God to be domesticated by human agenda. God is beyond human made institutions, theologies and images. God will never let God to be a tool in the hands of human beings.  But human beings are created in God’s own image to let themselves to be the tools in the hands of God. 

God is absent in the power centres (which always cater and protect human strength and human will and wish) and lives among the afflicted, broken, abandoned, and weak. Do we search God in today’s power centres, shopping malls, over eaten Christmas feasts, or extravagant Christmas celebrations? 

God is at the margins like Koodamkulam, slums, peasants, labourers, struggles of dalits and women and we are called to join in God’s journey towards margins.

God is not a tool to be used by humans but we are called to be used by God and God is beyond our understandings and calculations. Do we try to domesticate God or do we mould ourselves according to God’s way…..

Rev.Sajeev Thomas(sajeevachen@gmail.com)