NOVEMBER 2008 | ARTICLE |
|
||
THE ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE CONSUMED ME |
King David was zealously aspiring to build a Temple for God to dwell in among the people, but was not allowed because of his hands spilling a river of blood that was the foundation stone of erecting an Israelite empire or kingdom, despite God was not in favour of having a king, as the Almighty wanted to lead His flock by Judges whom He used to choose from time to time. God’s presence till the time of King Solomon, the son of David building a permanent building in Jerusalem was compensated by the tent of the Tabernacle that had to be carried during their exodus journey from Egypt to Palestine. “They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “see that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on mountain”, Heb.8: 5. Moses made the tabernacle according to the design given by God on Mount Sinai, while He dwelt with Moses for giving the Ten Commandments. Brooding over the presence of God and a permanent worshipping place for the Lord, King David’s passionate desire of building a House for the Lord and worshipping Him sincerely found its expression in this verse, “For zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me”, Ps.69: 9. Though there was no methodical instructions how to worship God while giving the 10 commandments, it was implicit that how and where the worship had to be done. Moses’ five books delineate such things meticulously.
Pattern and form of worship: This is thus proved basically that there is a set covenant formulated by the builders of the church. Such set rules or manuscripts though were written was not incorporated together with the bible, the subsequent wreckers of the early faith make it as an opportunity for mushrooming the numbers of the sects by misinterpreting the bible, despite the early faith is imbedded in the bible in very mysterious ways. The biblical treasures are hidden in a subtle way for the terrestrials, or in other words for the nominal or wayward or cultic Christians.
We can ascribe two reasons for not maintaining the codified set rules like that of Moses’ Pentateuch for the NT Christians, firstly, they were under the impression that the Lord would come to collect them during their lifetime, secondly, they also were not sure that bible would be printed and truck loaded in every corner of the world or could be presented in a match box size or in internet web, so that everyone could read and deal it in their own way.
The Holy Church: Because Jesus is the head and the flock the body, we are expected to be holy. This symbolic holiness of each member is attained through the sacraments that the Lord prescribed through the priesthood which has the authority of forgiving the sins of the repenting flock. Just as the Aaronite priesthood of the OT prescribed the imperativeness of worship and its raiment, utensils and vestments, the items and the venue used for the bloodless sacrifice, despite a difference in the ingredients, also is same and sacred. As a prelude to the bloodless sacrifice of the New age, the eternal High priest Melchizedek( Jesus) king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High, and He blessed Abraham, the Father of faith, Gen.14: 17-24; Heb.6: 19-7.3. Since then as a token of his gratitude Abraham gave a tenth of everything to God. Because Jesus has given His Body as our bread and drink, we offer everything and ourselves, not the tithe only, for the service of God in our worshipping places and also among our fellow beings. We may do such things to an extent for the temple sacrifice, but the most important is not the sacrifice alone, but also all our dealings that are done justly and truthfully towards God and our brethren. “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless, Mt.12: 7; Ps.50: 23.
Symptoms of the New Age: General Body meetings: In my youth days we used to have meetings in the parish assembly halls, but all these auditoriums now are for food caterings and public theatres that bring money and popularity for the church. In such a scenario, the parish meetings have become a part of the Holy of the Holies, claiming that the sacrosanct meetings are a part of our worship; thus the church has become a place of these meetings and a fortress for the vicar for inducing scare tactics, saying that the parish meetings are all part of the worship. The clergy that attribute holiness to these meetings inject fear into the minds of the devotees, so that the vicar and his cronies can do anything that they want. The fear of God has vanished away from the clergy and the so-called believers, as they think that a decorated church and celebrating festivities in a grand and elaborate way conjure up God for their own advantages. They pre-plan all what they want to decide and the meetings are stage managed in tune with their previous arrangements; hence a sane person tremble to go for a General Body meeting that usually propagate holy hooliganism. The inside of the place also where holy credentials and puja indispensability are kept are lately decorated like pagan worship places, like electric decorations, colourful frills or thoranams that block the Heavenly luminosities and decorated Christmas trees with Christmas gifts and the raiment of Christmas father who give gifts benevolently and taking photos and displaying the valuable roles of each self-assumed heroes in sports, camps, choir and many other public and social activities, making an impressions that the ‘holy’ cosmetics are venerated where the golden urn holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, the tables of the covenant and the mercy seat were placed once, Heb.9: 1-5.
In spite of claiming that the church is holy, all sorts of cheap jokes and vulgarities, character assassinations that make acrimonious scenes are the usual pattern of these meetings. A determined minority that hijacks the vulnerable ones by threats and false statements bring many of them to their knees. They pervert the truth deliberately by twisting with sugar-coated statements. The audited Accounts are many times proven to be a procession of falsities and a procession of fraudulent super computer gimmicks that could tarnish the genuineness of certain individuals and elect their own bravados for running the parish affairs. Such scenarios are artificially created, so that they could do defame certain persons. The religious Ministers’ ejaculations these days are that let the senior people retire, like in the days of King Rehoboam, and the youngsters take charge of the parish for better management, making a false veil that the computer is a Heavenly invention. The Computer technologies are helpful, provided the data that are fed are not falsified.
Many of today’s clergy, together with their associates, doesn’t hesitate to go to any extent and prowl upon the innocent ones by pointing out their victim’s personal, family and social dealings that seemingly create a black aura, as if they were all angels of light. Many priests hire the youth and electrify them with all sort of new versions of modern spirituality and religiosity. This type of political and real estate spirituality has really sedated the church that sends out the committed youths and their family members to the periphery or to the other religious wolves of charismatic venues. If the fear of the Lord has disappeared from the clergy and the flock, who can salvage the shpherdless flock. Litigations, scuffling, feuding and conflicts are the outcome of such acrimonious situations which have struck the last nail on the coffin of the Apostolic churches. Personal gratification that mortifies the body of Christ is the last sign of the doomsday religiosity.
Righteousness of God: Parish or hierarchical Elections: The clergy and laity work together for this spiritual suicide that devastates our inner strength and moral fibre. Borrow the good side of the voting system, because we have already assimilated within the gamut of the political hierarchy, but don’t become a carbon copy of the secular mechanism that is not allowed to stimulate religiosity or godly appetite because political system is devoid of spirituality of any particular religion, as there are different religions and castes and ways of worships. Morality and religiosity are the common denominators of religion and politics, not any faith or creed of any religion. Our day to day running of the parish with this sort of an amalgam of anything heterogeneous is not a healthy climate for inculcating human relationship that is the grease of our sound existence. We borrow any filth that can help the money-making venture for the parish and also bring glory for ourselves. Instead of religion becoming a role model and educating the secular system, it is a pity that religion has become an identical twin of the ruling hierarchy. The religious places have become a copycat culture of business enterprises and eating and drinking merriment cafes that also is authenticated by inappropriate biblical verses that sound like ‘devil quoting the bible’, the reason for youth and women power to be highlighted and edified, Is.3: 12.
If we follow Jesus, we have to fight against, firstly, the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and Herodians, then, secondly only against the invading Caesar. We become a prey of Caesar when there is disunity among us. But it is certain that one who girds with the weapons of this formula, one will lose his head. Jesus whipped out such business zealots that encouraged these sorts of soul-killing trades from the Temple ramparts during the last week of His crucifixion. The cosmetic piety that hides a multitude of sins for the sake of satisfying the lust of the flush, though one knows the normal way of religious life, is the art of the people with the leavened bread, Mt.16: 11. Jesus sold off His life for the last crime He did by evicting the Shylocks from the Temple. Hatching any plot, saying blatant lies and pulling the legs of the fellow worshippers is a style of our parishes or church meetings during these days of money-harvesting turbulence. But it is only a tip of the iceberg, what is underneath below has no measure or weight or depth. In such an adverse climate, it is better to stop such elections and go back to the culture of the early church that used to select people by casting lots, Acts.1: 26. No more time left to waste our spiritual resources that cannot be enhanced in this age of apostasy.
Zeal for the House of the Lord: It has really been denigrated as a place of robbery because we have killed the real spirit of worship. We made it unholy through the vanity celebrations and business interests that bring money and pervert the true spirit of chaste faith. Those who intend to go to hell after their death should celebrate their birthdays and wedding anniversaries and other pagan celebrations in this life because we don’t get another chance as there is no room for any enjoyments in the place where wailings and gnashing of teeth are our inheritance. We bury the dead with musical bands and long funeral processions because we also celebrate together at the same time their birth celebrations by angels and the faithful departed ones in Heaven where their virginity continue in luminous gaiety and mirth for ever. One who longs to have an eternal birthday should abstain from all sorts of superfluous enjoyments here. The contemporary writers of Jesus wrote that Jesus never laughed in His life because of His overburdening with the sins of humanity. Instead of sharing and working for the emancipation of the afflicted ones we celebrate in the church all such banalities that are lately imported into our spirituality menu.
While we celebrate such ephemeral prayers after the worship that ask for a happy exit from this plane, is it necessary to pray for a merry birthday when Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection and ascension that carved each individual’s salvation is assured, provided we also move in that orbit? Have our clergy that say “wish you a happy birthday after the Holy Eucharist” condescended down to the level of street merry makers who sing Hurray, ‘He is a jolly good fellow’? Female and gay clergy that are added to the list of abominations of desolation of the Holy Spirit are the final -day saga of the end of the dying planet that is benumbed by climate change, global warming and other geriatric symptoms, Mt.24: 15. The list for the abominations of desolation of the Spirit of God is vast and unending. The first sign of the final day scenario of finishing of this planet is a sign of the real estate spirituality of the knocking off time of this planet. “…there will not left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down”, mt.24: 1-2.
Real estate spirituality: The same dubious time of Jesus has already blossomed now. Only a slim minority care for the physical or worshipping purity or holiness of the House of the Lord. Only the bishops were allowed to sit in the Basilica or they were only empowered to bless the devotee with a cross in the bygone days, but things have changed dramatically because of the crossbreed theology from the four quarters of the world. Just as the Jewish hierarchy earned good name and high-profile status by the desecration of the Lord’s House, the super-tech era that consumed all the higher values of life and spirituality is thriving by defiling the Holy name of God and His House, highlighting that the church hierarchies are the gatekeepers of Heaven for any Nick and Harry. But for believers, it is a testing time of uncertainties and multiplicities of standards. Those who live ahead of their times in today’s carnivorous world, are put under immense pressures, torments and tortures by the Judases who do anything for 30 silver coins. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”, Jn.20: 29.
|
Back | Home | Top | ||||||
Email this Link to a Friend | Send Your Feedback |
THE CHRISTIAN LIGHT OF LIFE PUBLISHED ON FIRST DAY OF EVERY MONTH |