Brown's Daily Word & India update11-20-08

Good Morning.
We are a just one week away from Thanksgiving Day. John Reynolds, in his anecdotes of the Rev. John Wesley (1828), tells the story of Wesley’s student days at Lincoln College in Oxford. A porter knocked on Wesley’s door one evening and asked to speak with him. After some conversation, Wesley noted the man’s thin coat (it was a cold winter night), and suggested that he had better get a warmer one. The porter replied: "This coat ... is the only coat I have in the world - and I thank God for it." When asked if he had eaten, he replied: "I have had nothing today but a draught of spring water ... and I thank God for that." Wesley, growing uneasy in the man’s presence, reminded him that the headmaster would lock him out if he did not soon return to his quarters. "Then what shall you have to thank God for?" Wesley asked. "I will thank Him," replied the porter, "that I have dry stones to lie upon." Deeply moved by the man’s sincerity, Wesley said, "You thank God when you have nothing to wear; ... nothing to eat ... [and] no bed to lie on. I cannot see what you have to thank God for." The man replied, "I thank God... that he has given me life and being, a heart to love Him, and a desire to serve Him." The man left with a coat from Wesley’s closet, some money for food and words of appreciation for his living testimony. Wesley later wrote these words in his Journal, "I shall never forget that porter. He convinced me there is something in religion to which I am a stranger." Psalm 65 is one of the Thanksgiving Psalms. "Praise awaits you." (literally, “To you, silence [is] praise"). A difficult phrase, this may imply that “silence is praise”. It may sometimes be the height of worship, in other words, to fall silent before God in awe at his presence and in submission to his will. "Our vows will be fulfilled is Israel’s response to God, for the blessing of answered prayer and forgiveness that he gives them." The Israelites believed that blessing was reciprocal; as God blessed them they had to respond in order to complete the cycle. Therefore, in this verse, they respond to his blessing by honoring the vows they made (at time of their prayer of need). "To you all men shall come. All humanity can find grace and forgiveness from God. . . [How fortunate] are those you draw near to you." This implies that not everyone accepts God’s grace, though it is available to all. God fills those who draw near to him with the good things of their house (i.e., abundantly blessed).The God of grace reaches out to his people when sin overwhelms them; and that is worth celebrating! The emphasis in the Psalm now turns to the God of might, that is, the Lord of nature and man. His power to put the unruly in their place is as welcome as it is formidable. "The hope of all" (verse 5)… does not imply that all men trust in God, but rather, that they should. The mountains, which seem awesome and secure, and the sea that roars with all its power, are still subject to their Creator. Nature, regardless how impressive and daunting, is under the control of the God of might. The God of might subdues even the warring nations, frightful and ruthless in their pursuits. The whole expanse of the earth, from east to west, praises its Creator. In the Psalm, Israel offers praise to the Lord for his omnipotence. He is the all-powerful God, greater than any of the pagan gods. He is so powerful is he that both nature and nations revere him. It is hard to surpass the Psalmist’s imagery of the fertile earth given in vv. 9-13. It begins with an analytical description, and then moves to poetry, where the hills and fields put on their finest clothes and make merry together. The imagery is spectacular. It is best to read portions like this slowly if you want to absorb the majesty the Biblical writer intended. That "the God of plenty provides all that the earth needs to bring forth crops to feed its inhabitants" is impressive, given the understanding of the pagan nations around Israel. Ancients believed in fertility gods, who, when properly manipulated, caused crops to grow. Good harvests meant that the gods were happy; lean years meant they were angry. Pagan worshippers, in this model, became responsible for the outcome of their crops. Their works directed their outcome. The Psalmist roundly contradicts this fallacy, declaring the God of plenty as Creator and sustainer of the earth, bringing forth the crops on His own accord. So good is God to the earth, and so healthy and vibrant does the earth feel that she "joins Israel in songs of praise"! Imagine the hills, meadows and seas singing their praises to God! When the community of Israel gathered to worship, they gave thanks to God for his grace, might and providence. It is the God of Grace who, when they were overwhelmed in sin, forgave them mercifully. The God of Might preserved them amid threats from warring nations and natural disasters. The God of Plenty fed the earth so that it might feed the people. Israel worshipped the magnificence of his providence; giving thanks for the past and future. We are a people prone to notice what is missing, rather than what is present. Our goal must be to give thanks to him who controls every aspect of creation, to respond to his blessing with thanks, praise, adoration, offerings; reciprocating to his blessing with fervor and delight, facing each day in the presence of Almighty God. The porter’s response to Wesley’s cynicism was, "I thank God... that he has given me life and being; a heart to love Him, and a desire to serve Him." Wesley’s journal entry was "I shall never forget that porter. He convinced me there is something in religion to which I am a stranger."
With Great Gratitude,
BrownThe Bible on One page

http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm


Orissa: Britain to put pressure on India
Hasan Suroor
LONDON: Britain and other European Union countries are to put pressure on the Indian government to protect Christians in Orissa and to ensure that victims of recent violent attacks by right-wing Hindu groups are able to return to their homes.
A EU delegation will visit Orissa next month to study the situation and make recommendations. Orissa would also be on the agenda of the next India-EU human rights dialogue to be held soon.
This was stated by Lord Bach, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Ministry of Justice, while speaking during a debate on Orissa in the House of Lords. He said the British government “unequivocally” condemned the incidents and urged New Delhi to uphold the right to freedom of religion.
However, Lord Bach rejected calls for an inquiry into the activities of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the U.K. on the ground that the organization was not “proscribed” either in India or Britain.
“The U.K. government doos not consider the VHP to be a terrorist organization under our law. The organization is proscribed neither here nor in India, nor does the Indian government classify it as a terrorist organization. Obviously, decisions on proscription must be proportionate and based on evidence that a group is involved in terrorism as defined in the Terrorism Act 2000,” he told a member who said the VHP, registered as a charity in Britain, had made a number of inflammatory statements.
Responding to members’ concern on the situation in Orissa, Lord Bach said: “The United Kingdom unequivocally condemns the recent violent attacks against Christians that have led to deaths, injuries and widespread displacements in Orissa. We have expressed our concerns to the appropriate Indian authorities in Delhi and London. The U.K. will continue to urge the Government of India to uphold the right to freedom of religion. Our High Commission in Delhi, along with European and other partners, continues to monitor the situation in Orissa.”
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Restore confidence, Central team tells Orissa govt.
Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Orissa government was on Wednesday urged to restore peace in violence-hit Kandhamal district, where the situation remained tense in the aftermath of attacks on Christians, and to ensure that a bandh was not held on Christmas.
"We have requested the chief minister (Naveen Patnaik) to make efforts to stop such a bandh on December 25, a major festival day," leader of a central ministerial team and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters here after meeting Patnaik.
On Pawar's suggestion, Patnaik said "there should not be a bandh on December 25."
Patnaik, however, did not make any appeal to the Sangh Parivar which has called the statewide bandh on the day to refrain from it.
Pawar said, "While the minority community is afraid of returning to their villages, tribals have left their villages for jungles out of fear of the police."
He suggested that village heads along with police and block level officials should be made members of the peace committees, which would help in restoring peace at the grass-roots level.
"We need to provide just the confidence," Pawar said, adding that the people should feel that their life and property was fully protected.
The central team also comprised Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah and Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar. Disapproving of the December 15 deadline given by the Sangh Parivar to nab the killers of VHP leader Laxamanananda Saraswati, which led to the outbreak of the violence, the Pawar urged the state government to gear up the investigation.