Jesus Christ Transforms Anyone who Comes to him
“Keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice – Gen 18:19 (NIV)”
Jesus Christ has totally changed my character, temperaments, attitudes and behaviour. Every one who comes to Jesus Christ is influenced by His holiness and supreme code of conduct, righteousness and transforms them like Him. His tolerance, forbearance, peace, love for His creations, forgiving others mistakes, total attitudinal change take place when a person grows in Christ. I have come across with many rowdies, terrorists, thieves, pickpockets, criminals, habitual trouble makers who have become docile, peace loving and tolerant citizens, gentle and holy, pastors, evangelists after accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. I can quote innumerable such persons who have turned from evil to good. With tears and with all reverence, I remember now the Australian missionaries Mr. Graham Stains and his family who worked in Orissa with leprosy patients who were totally boycotted, considered untouchables, sinners and outcasts. Without any ill feelings or shrinking of their face or feeling shy or awkwardness, they used to nurse those leprosy patients, wash and clean their ugly looking exposed wounds in their body. They showed and exhibited the pure love of Jesus Christ to the needy people in Orissa without expecting anything from them in return. A group of fanatic elements irked by the godly services of Mr. Stains and his family went to their place during one of the nights and saw Mr. Stains and his lovely two young children sleeping in the van. The fanatic satanic radicals poured petrol over the van and set fire to it. Within no time the fire spread and engulfed the entire van on all the sides. Mr. Stains and his two young children tried to escape from the van. But the mad group beat them with sticks and pushed them back to the fire. On hearing the death cry and seeing the flames shooting out from the van, Mrs. Stains came out of the make shift hut cum hospital and was terror stricken to see what was happening to her beloved husband and children. The young children not able
S. THAYAPPAN 111 to bear the heat of the fire cried, pleaded, half burnt tried again to come out of the van but the merciless, mad, sadist crowd threw them back on the fire. Within minutes every thing was over. Mr. Stains who used to silently wipe out his tears while tending to the deep septic wounds of the lepers was burnt alive like a log and his lovely two children were like a burnt out stick, body completely twisted, skin and flesh totally burnt and peeled off, hanging, hairs completed burnt, face contorted and eyes protruding. It was a horrible sight to see the condition of the burnt out bodies. Even a stone hearted man’s heart will break into pieces on seeing the horrible conditions of those gutted, disfigured human bodies. All these atrocities and inhuman acts happened right before the eyes of Mrs. Stains who was hell shocked. She had to watch all these cruel acts helplessly and her loved ones being subjected to one of the most horrible deaths in the world. She did not even know who they were and why they were doing these things to them. She was terribly shocked, became speechless immersed in her deep sorrow, shock and loss, not able to believe what had just happened. She wished that it did not happen, it was a bad dream and it was not true. But the three dead burnt out unrecognizable peeled out bodies laid out in the lawn of her small hut where they were staying indicated her that whatever had happened was true and the most horrible horrifying hell fire and the unbearable chill crying of them while the fire was burning and spreading to every parts of the body slowly and their rolling on the ground as a fire ball, kicking, shivering and shaking before all their movements stopped and their twisted body lay there huddled like a roasted duck will haunt her through the rest of her life. When the police came and enquired her, she only said, “Whatever happened is happened and cannot be undone. I have nothing against those who have done this. I pray to Jesus Christ to forgive them. Leave them”. This was telecast on all the TV channels through out the world and published in all the news papers, magazines and broadcast on all the frequencies of radios through out the world. Even the sadist soul condemned this dastardly inhuman act. Every Christian in the world heard this
news and they silently shed tears and prayed for the departed souls and for Mrs. Stains. Every church in the world silently prayed for the family of this missionary. But there was no retaliation, no revenge, no bombs, no burning out of trains or buses, no hartals, strikes or bandhs any where in the world. They silently bore this intolerable inhuman act, swallowed it and with a deep sigh, they prayed to the Almighty God to forgive those who were responsible for this merciless, cowardly, cold blooded murder and slaughter. Not only Stains, hundreds of such incidents have happened to Christian missionaries in Gujarat, Orissa, UP, Bihar and in every State in India. Many churches have been burnt and gutted down to dust, many missionaries have been brutally beaten and killed, many nuns have been raped and tortured and all these incidents have been published in news papers, telecast and broadcast in TV and radios. But there has been no retaliation by any Christian, in any place, in any part of the world. They silently bore the sufferings like Jesus Christ bore the sufferings on the cross and pleaded to the God like Jesus Christ, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:24)”. Christians cry out to the Lord like Stephen when he was stoned to death by the Jews, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin (Acts 7:60)”. Jesus teaches us to “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Mat 5:44-46)”. He has further taught us in Mat 5:39, “I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also”. Like this, Jesus Christ and all His disciples have taught the Christians and set themselves as personal examples to what they have taught. They did not tell all these things in a class room or on a public meeting or when they were sitting on a sofa, enjoying a joyous life. But they told these things when they were tortured and before they died at the hands of their butchers. The Bible imposes upon the Christians to get rid of all the bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander along with every forms of malice and to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in
S. THAYAPPAN 113 Christ God forgave you (Eph 4:31). And they follow it religiously in letter and spirit even when they are personally affected and attacked. Lord Jesus gives them the strength to endure the tribulation for His sake. That is the difference! A leader, guru, master, mentor, God or whom you follow and worship as a god should set himself as a personal example to his followers and believers to follow. Jesus Christ did that and all His disciples followed it and the believers continue to follow it. None else have done it before or ever. A religion or the mentor should mend, mould his followers and guide them to live a non-violent, peaceful, divine and sinless life. Such teachings, preachings, followings and imbibing that ideology and doctrine and accepting it as your path, life and religion can alone bring peace, love and brotherhood in this world devoid of any violence, hatred and terrorism.