The Best of all is God with us

  Who will bell the cat? The idiom “Who will bell the cat?” originates from the fable The Mice in Council. The mice decided to put a bell around the murderous house cat so that he could no longer sneak up on them. However, the trouble starts when it’s time to decide which mouse will risk his life to put the bell around the cat’s neck. The moral is clear: making plans for a great outcome is not good enough. It should be achievable despite the risks involved. Otherwise, it serves no purpose. Easter Sunday, April 21, saw a horrific bomb attack in Sri Lanka on unarmed civilians who were in Churches and hotels. I heard the news while at the Methodist Centre, Kumbichangkulama, Anuradhapura. I had gone there along with my wife Sharmila and Rev. Anura Perera, Chairman of the Southern District, to celebrate Easter with the Methodist community. A week before, on Palm Sunday, April 14 th , while I was worshiping with them, we were attacked by a group of young people. It was perpetrated by a...

Straight talk in the Church   A few years ago, I met with two other senior church leaders to have a straight talk with another senior church leader. He had deliberately made his way through a loophole to get what he wanted, and that was disturbing his church. Having started with a general conversation, we moved on to say that we needed to have a heart-to-heart, straight talk with him on the above-mentioned After five minutes, he moved out, saying, "I have another engagement." It seems like one of the dysfunctions in churches revolves around the topic of "hard conversations". Especially we who are pastors have a shepherd's heart, and we do not enjoy difficult conversations. We dread them. They can give us "sleepless nights and knots in our stomachs", which are hard to explain. We are expected to be diplomatic and kind. We are called to extend God’s grace and forgiveness to others. But when it comes to correction, rebuke, or confrontation, to say it’s ...

  And are we yet alive, And see each other's face? Glory, and thanks to Jesus give For his redeeming grace! This is the traditional opening hymn that is sung by all Methodist Conferences around the world. Since 1982, I have been a member of the Methodist Conference in Sri Lanka, and I have sung this hymn heartily ever since. We who participate at Methodist Conferences must ask whether we understand the relevance of this hymn to our Methodist gatherings. I was sad to see this hymn being sung as the processional hymn at a Methodist Conference held recently. Most of those who walked in the procession did not even sing because they had to "watch their steps". The majority of the audience was more interested in watching those going in procession. Only a very few sang the hymn but never smiled or acknowledged the presence of others while singing "And are we yet alive". This shows that even the leadership of the Conference has not captured the meaning or purpose of thi...

                              The First Methodist Conference of Sri Lanka, 1814            The month of August every year is significant for the people called Methodists in Sri Lanka. The Annual Conference of the Methodist Church meets in Colombo for its annual deliberations. The Methodist clergy and lay leaders representing different parts of the island gather for deliberations on the mission work of the church. The gathering elects the President Bishop, the Vice-President and other officials for a term and is the supreme decision-making body of the Church. The annual Conference is a great tradition of Methodism, introduced by John Wesley in 1744. John Wesley has recorded the following: "In June 1744, I desired my brother and a few other clergymen to meet me in London to consider how we should proceed to save our own souls and those who heard ...

  The Spirit of Judas in Modern Churches Judas is mostly remembered for his betrayal of Jesus. But this is not the whole truth about Judas. When looking deeper into the relationship between Jesus and Judas, it seems that he would have been an admirer of Jesus as the expected Messiah. Otherwise, later, how did Jesus choose Judas to be one of his twelve apostles? The twelve apostles spent time together, travelled together, and shared meals together with Jesus. Jesus seems to have developed confidence in Judas to the extent of appointing him as the keeper of the common purse (treasurer). Jesus may have chosen him for what he was and what he might have been, not for what he became! However, at the anointing of Jesus by Mary in Lazarus’ home, another side of Judas’ life is revealed (John 12: 1ff) …Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. Isn’t Judas repeating almost the same thin...

 The "Arrestable" Jesus At the time of writing this reflection, the Sri Lankan Society is debating the arrest of people on various charges. Some seek legal intervention to avoid being arrested. Others flee the country and go into hiding. Those with high connections have got away without arrest. I was moved to reflect on how Jesus faced his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, which I believe will be thought-provoking for us. The arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is recorded in all four Gospels of the New Testament. However, John (the writer of the 4th Gospel) presents the arrest of Jesus from a different perspective (John 18:1–11). He does not mention Judas' betrayal kiss. Instead, he records that "…. Judas brought a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. They arrived at the garden carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons." The opposing forces had come together with Judas for the nighttime arrest of Jesus, the Messiah. Th...

                                                                                                       A self-proclaimed prophet who is building up a cult in Sri Lanka has caused a huge uproar because of derogatory comments he made about Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. This is not the only incident of this nature. We have had extremist Buddhist monks with political agendas attack the beliefs of Christians and Muslims. Sadly, the authorities haven't done much to bring them to book. Sri Lanka is a country where Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity are practised by its people. If we allow these irresponsible behaviours, we will be playing into the hands of those who are waiting to d...