We are living at a time when anti-corruption movements are gaining the strongest momentum with Anna Hazare spearheading the Jan Lokpal Bill. The bone of contention is how to present a strong Lokpal which includes all the Leaders and all sections of Bureaucracy, i.e., the Legislature, Judiciary, Executive and N.G.Os. etc. under its umbrella. It seems like a desperate attempt to restore the lost sense of honesty and accountability in the people. The irony and idiosyncrasy is that each party has taken a sanctimonious attitude and even those who heavily indulge in corruption also have joined the anti-corruption rallies across the country. My view is that there is no other stronger Lokpal bill than an honest and transparent conscience.
Well, Jesus introduced the strongest Lokpal bill ever when He gave the Sermon on the Mount in Palestine. Initially people could not understand it but when they understood it on Pentecost day, it was accepted whole heartedly for three centuries. But Church Leaders and Elders rejected it when Constantine made Christianity the state Religion in 313 AD and Christianity gradually became an establishment. Since then Sermon on the Mount was never lived by the majority of Christians. We have produced a few exceptional Christians, individuals and saints but never created a Christian culture. Anna Hazare was put in jail and Jesus crucified for their ‘bills’!
In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5,6 & 7) Jesus writes the charter of the Christian life. It is a revolutionary teaching. The beatitudes, far from being passive or mild, are a gauntlet flung down before the world’s accepted standards of pride, power, prestige, pleasure and possessions. Thus they become clearer when set against their opposites. The opposite of poor in spirit are the proud in spirit. The opposite of those who mourn are the light-headed, always bent on pleasure. The opposite of the meek are the arrogant, proud and the aggressors. The opposite of the persecuted are the people who always “play it safe’, and compromise. In the beatitudes Jesus said in effect what he later said explicitly: “Those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles” do thus and so, “but it shall not be so among you” (Mk. 10,42,43; Lk 22,25,26).
Not only did the Beatitudes cut across the ethic of that time and also of our time; they cut across the sacred law of Moses. They are not “principles”, but jets of light and love kindled against the darkness of the age of dishonesty, corruption, oppression and lack of compassion. Those wielded power both Religious and Political during the time of Jesus were as corrupt and dishonest as those of our times. Jesus changed the negatives of the old Law into positives: the old “thou shalt not” became in his lips and life “blessed are they that…” He changed its narrowness into wide horizons. The love shown by the old law toward friends is shown in the new law also towards enemies, and the loyalty formerly given to one nation is now to be given to all mankind. He changed its shallowness into depth: the constraint that beforetime rested on the act now rested on the motive and intentions. Christ brought forgiveness for failure; new power to strengthen new resolve. He redeemed the old Sabbath in the new Lord’s Day; old Passover in the new table of the Sacrament. ‘Love is the fullness of the law’(Rom 13,10). Jesus’ law searches the heart. The old law was inscribed on tablets of stone; the new law was written on the inmost heart. His law has a universal sway. Everyone is under His rule.
In Jesus’ law God is revealed as a loving Father and human beings as His children forming one single family. The word Father is key to the Sermon on the Mount. It occurs seventeen times – sufficient proof that Christ is concerned with much more than an ethic. God’s love is universal: he lavishes sunlight on the selfish and the generous, and sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
There are six instances (Mt. 5,21-48) where Jesus’ Lokpal proves to supersede all other bills including those of the Mosaic ones in dealing with dishonesty and corruption at its very roots. They are laws concerning Murder, Adultery, Marriage and divorce, Oaths and truthfulness, Revenge, and Love.
The first instance concerns murder, strife and contempt. Under the old law only murder and other “extreme” offenses are reckoned guilty of death, but under Jesus’ law angry temper is similarly judged. Anger and contempt are incipient murder. Killing is not done by guns and knives alone, but by contemptuous sneers and by the casual indifference that regards human beings as less than human. Under God’s fatherhood we are all brothers and sisters. We are brothers and sisters because we are first children of God. Quarrelling is wrong because it is alien from His nature. His law appeals to the heart, soul and the conscience of man. Human law courts address themselves to the action which is external and visible, and every law has a loophole and the smarter ones escapes through that and is declared innocent. Jesus’ Lokpal bill aims at the motive, intention and thought, the beginning of an act (Mt 5:23,24,28). The law of Jesus is so searching that even the inmost thought must be offered on the altar. The ethic of Christ thus drives us into the deepest places of prayer.
The proposal that a man with a grudge should quit his worship, even to leaving his gift before the altar, is not any depreciation of worship: it is rather the exaltation of worship. For God sees the inmost motive, and He must be worshiped in truth (Jn 4,24) – worship being the crowning act of life; and a heart harried by grudges cannot offer any wholeness of adoration. Brotherliness is the first cult in Christian worship or any religious worship for that matter. Thus a man is not safe from murder and anger, from arrogance, contempt and indifference.
Second and third instances: So strong is Christ’s insistence on the virtue of purity as passport to his kingdom that he carries adultery back beyond the lustful act to the first look of the eye and to the first inception of desire and motive (Mt 5, 27-32).
Fourth instance: Jesus says that oaths are a token of the loss of truthfulness. If dishonesty and lying had not become a habit, there would be no need for oaths. Therefore the remedy is speak the truth. The best commentary is James 5,12 “Let your ‘yes’ be yes’ and your ‘no be no’, lest you fall into condemnation”. God cannot be honoured better except by truth of the lips and truth in the heart (Mt 5,33-37).
Fifth instance is on the law on Revenge: The world of Jesus’ day was under the law of revenge and retaliation: “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”. The Mosaic law, the Code of Hammurabi, and the Roman law all required that the wrongdoer should “get as good as he gave”. Jesus here proposes a gentle revolution. Christ insists that his followers must not resist the evil doer. Revenge is not sweet, despite the proverb; it is poison, strife breeding strife in endless circle (Mt 5, 38-42).
Sixth instance: The new law of Love – “Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you”. It goes against the ethic of Christ’s day. In the Old Testament enemies were hated and friends were loved. Jesus would have no fences around the word neighbor. Jesus quietly insists that the man who curses us is a neighbor, and also the man who persecutes us for our religion, and the man who hates or despitefully treats us. To the Christian the word neighbor is as wide as mankind (Mt 5, 38-47).
Sanctions in Jesus’ Law: Jesus’ Lokpal bill provides stringent measures to curb corruption. Jesus advocates and requires stringiest discipline… “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out(Mt 5,29-30). The discipline is levied with the key phrase, “it is better for you to enter life maimed” than to miss the gate. The purpose of discipline is abundant life. His prohibitions are always means to enrichment. The central concern of his law is the joy of the kingdom. The pruning is for the sake of the fruit.
What happens to Nagaland and the North East if this bill is passed?
In the Religious field: Jesus will not be the monopoly only of one Church or sect; No Church will be exclusively for ‘the born again’ people but will include the poor, sinners, drunkards and the marginalized; Jesus will return once again to most of the Churches; People can profess and practice the Church of their conscience and choice; Church leadership will take the form of servant Leadership; Church will no more be a hierarchical institution.
Economic: Prosperous economy; Prices will come down as the blood stained money making industries flourishing on extortion notices and AK 47 will shut down; globalization will have a human face and profit will no more be the focus of business and relationship but sharing & solidarity; we get the correct measure of meat we pay for.
Social: Tribalism, communalism, casteism, parochialism etc. will give way to fraternal concern as we accept God’s Fatherhood; no more scams, money laundering, bribes, extortions, graft, divorce, abortion, rape or fratricide; gun culture will give way to a culture of compassion, and communal harmony and the blossoming of a civilization of Love.
Political: Political parties will come together to work for the good of the people; voting as per conscience; politics of the ‘Our Father’ rather than of money and muzzle power. Then certainly Nagaland will be for Christ and will have a Christian culture.
Negative effect: Church leaders will oppose it; politicians will reject it and the protagonists will be crucified, for change is not impossible but mediocrity is more comfortable.
Jesus summarized the whole law and the Religion in one sentence: “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” (Mt 7,12) so that you will “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”(Mt 5,48). No other bill is required for a perfect person and a perfection nation. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Cor. 5,17).
Well, Jesus introduced the strongest Lokpal bill ever when He gave the Sermon on the Mount in Palestine. Initially people could not understand it but when they understood it on Pentecost day, it was accepted whole heartedly for three centuries. But Church Leaders and Elders rejected it when Constantine made Christianity the state Religion in 313 AD and Christianity gradually became an establishment. Since then Sermon on the Mount was never lived by the majority of Christians. We have produced a few exceptional Christians, individuals and saints but never created a Christian culture. Anna Hazare was put in jail and Jesus crucified for their ‘bills’!
In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5,6 & 7) Jesus writes the charter of the Christian life. It is a revolutionary teaching. The beatitudes, far from being passive or mild, are a gauntlet flung down before the world’s accepted standards of pride, power, prestige, pleasure and possessions. Thus they become clearer when set against their opposites. The opposite of poor in spirit are the proud in spirit. The opposite of those who mourn are the light-headed, always bent on pleasure. The opposite of the meek are the arrogant, proud and the aggressors. The opposite of the persecuted are the people who always “play it safe’, and compromise. In the beatitudes Jesus said in effect what he later said explicitly: “Those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles” do thus and so, “but it shall not be so among you” (Mk. 10,42,43; Lk 22,25,26).
Not only did the Beatitudes cut across the ethic of that time and also of our time; they cut across the sacred law of Moses. They are not “principles”, but jets of light and love kindled against the darkness of the age of dishonesty, corruption, oppression and lack of compassion. Those wielded power both Religious and Political during the time of Jesus were as corrupt and dishonest as those of our times. Jesus changed the negatives of the old Law into positives: the old “thou shalt not” became in his lips and life “blessed are they that…” He changed its narrowness into wide horizons. The love shown by the old law toward friends is shown in the new law also towards enemies, and the loyalty formerly given to one nation is now to be given to all mankind. He changed its shallowness into depth: the constraint that beforetime rested on the act now rested on the motive and intentions. Christ brought forgiveness for failure; new power to strengthen new resolve. He redeemed the old Sabbath in the new Lord’s Day; old Passover in the new table of the Sacrament. ‘Love is the fullness of the law’(Rom 13,10). Jesus’ law searches the heart. The old law was inscribed on tablets of stone; the new law was written on the inmost heart. His law has a universal sway. Everyone is under His rule.
In Jesus’ law God is revealed as a loving Father and human beings as His children forming one single family. The word Father is key to the Sermon on the Mount. It occurs seventeen times – sufficient proof that Christ is concerned with much more than an ethic. God’s love is universal: he lavishes sunlight on the selfish and the generous, and sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
There are six instances (Mt. 5,21-48) where Jesus’ Lokpal proves to supersede all other bills including those of the Mosaic ones in dealing with dishonesty and corruption at its very roots. They are laws concerning Murder, Adultery, Marriage and divorce, Oaths and truthfulness, Revenge, and Love.
The first instance concerns murder, strife and contempt. Under the old law only murder and other “extreme” offenses are reckoned guilty of death, but under Jesus’ law angry temper is similarly judged. Anger and contempt are incipient murder. Killing is not done by guns and knives alone, but by contemptuous sneers and by the casual indifference that regards human beings as less than human. Under God’s fatherhood we are all brothers and sisters. We are brothers and sisters because we are first children of God. Quarrelling is wrong because it is alien from His nature. His law appeals to the heart, soul and the conscience of man. Human law courts address themselves to the action which is external and visible, and every law has a loophole and the smarter ones escapes through that and is declared innocent. Jesus’ Lokpal bill aims at the motive, intention and thought, the beginning of an act (Mt 5:23,24,28). The law of Jesus is so searching that even the inmost thought must be offered on the altar. The ethic of Christ thus drives us into the deepest places of prayer.
The proposal that a man with a grudge should quit his worship, even to leaving his gift before the altar, is not any depreciation of worship: it is rather the exaltation of worship. For God sees the inmost motive, and He must be worshiped in truth (Jn 4,24) – worship being the crowning act of life; and a heart harried by grudges cannot offer any wholeness of adoration. Brotherliness is the first cult in Christian worship or any religious worship for that matter. Thus a man is not safe from murder and anger, from arrogance, contempt and indifference.
Second and third instances: So strong is Christ’s insistence on the virtue of purity as passport to his kingdom that he carries adultery back beyond the lustful act to the first look of the eye and to the first inception of desire and motive (Mt 5, 27-32).
Fourth instance: Jesus says that oaths are a token of the loss of truthfulness. If dishonesty and lying had not become a habit, there would be no need for oaths. Therefore the remedy is speak the truth. The best commentary is James 5,12 “Let your ‘yes’ be yes’ and your ‘no be no’, lest you fall into condemnation”. God cannot be honoured better except by truth of the lips and truth in the heart (Mt 5,33-37).
Fifth instance is on the law on Revenge: The world of Jesus’ day was under the law of revenge and retaliation: “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”. The Mosaic law, the Code of Hammurabi, and the Roman law all required that the wrongdoer should “get as good as he gave”. Jesus here proposes a gentle revolution. Christ insists that his followers must not resist the evil doer. Revenge is not sweet, despite the proverb; it is poison, strife breeding strife in endless circle (Mt 5, 38-42).
Sixth instance: The new law of Love – “Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you”. It goes against the ethic of Christ’s day. In the Old Testament enemies were hated and friends were loved. Jesus would have no fences around the word neighbor. Jesus quietly insists that the man who curses us is a neighbor, and also the man who persecutes us for our religion, and the man who hates or despitefully treats us. To the Christian the word neighbor is as wide as mankind (Mt 5, 38-47).
Sanctions in Jesus’ Law: Jesus’ Lokpal bill provides stringent measures to curb corruption. Jesus advocates and requires stringiest discipline… “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; if your eye causes you to sin pluck it out(Mt 5,29-30). The discipline is levied with the key phrase, “it is better for you to enter life maimed” than to miss the gate. The purpose of discipline is abundant life. His prohibitions are always means to enrichment. The central concern of his law is the joy of the kingdom. The pruning is for the sake of the fruit.
What happens to Nagaland and the North East if this bill is passed?
In the Religious field: Jesus will not be the monopoly only of one Church or sect; No Church will be exclusively for ‘the born again’ people but will include the poor, sinners, drunkards and the marginalized; Jesus will return once again to most of the Churches; People can profess and practice the Church of their conscience and choice; Church leadership will take the form of servant Leadership; Church will no more be a hierarchical institution.
Economic: Prosperous economy; Prices will come down as the blood stained money making industries flourishing on extortion notices and AK 47 will shut down; globalization will have a human face and profit will no more be the focus of business and relationship but sharing & solidarity; we get the correct measure of meat we pay for.
Social: Tribalism, communalism, casteism, parochialism etc. will give way to fraternal concern as we accept God’s Fatherhood; no more scams, money laundering, bribes, extortions, graft, divorce, abortion, rape or fratricide; gun culture will give way to a culture of compassion, and communal harmony and the blossoming of a civilization of Love.
Political: Political parties will come together to work for the good of the people; voting as per conscience; politics of the ‘Our Father’ rather than of money and muzzle power. Then certainly Nagaland will be for Christ and will have a Christian culture.
Negative effect: Church leaders will oppose it; politicians will reject it and the protagonists will be crucified, for change is not impossible but mediocrity is more comfortable.
Jesus summarized the whole law and the Religion in one sentence: “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” (Mt 7,12) so that you will “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”(Mt 5,48). No other bill is required for a perfect person and a perfection nation. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Cor. 5,17).
