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THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE


by Oscar S. Suarez, Ph.D.

Dr. Oscar S. Suarez is professor of Ethics and Christian Theology in Union Theological Seminary, Dasmarinas, Cavite, Philippines. He presented this theological/biblical reflection at the Consultation Towards New Economic Visions held in Manila under the joint auspices of the CCA-International Affairs and Theological Concerns Desks in November 1994.

 

     First of all, let me respond to the call of Filipino tradition by saying a word of welcome to all the delegates of this conference. While I understand that most of you are not here in the Philippines for the first time, your effort to be present in this important gathering is worth a thousand gestures of hospitality. And so, in that spirit we would like you to feel at home in the next few days of ecumenical exchange.

      Ironically, however, “feeling at home” is not necessarily an experience shared and enjoyed by many Filipinos themselves who have long been struggling to survive the onslaughts of social and political life. Apparently, the very condition in which we find ourselves here gives us some feeling of dislocation. Since many aspects of our lives are dominated more and more by foreign models of political and economic governance, there is hardly any evidence that we are indeed running our own household.

     As you probably know, the Philippines is not exactly poor. We were only made poor by historical circumstances – and such circum-stances are in no way hard to explain. We make no excuses for our own shortcomings, but the more we learn about the roots of our alienations and the forces at play in our economic system, the more we realize the need to expose them. This consultation, I understand, is designed to unmask those forces as a way of shaping alternative schemes of economic cooperation among us.

      I believe many Asian countries today share a similar story and that explains why we are here – to listen to each other’s stories of suffering and despair and, at the same time, draw a shared vision of hope and life for this continent. Hence, the fact that we begin this whole process of envisioning with a biblical reflection, reveals our search for a solid foundation, a truly profound inspiration, and some clear guidelines that would finally bring us to a continent we can rightfully call our home.

    While I do not, in any way, assume to fulfill the above-mentioned purposes in this brief scriptural reflection, I am, at least, more than glad to make a humble contribution. Let me thus begin by reading a few passages from the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John verses seven to ten (10:7-10).

     So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

     I have chosen this text for this morning’s reflection because I am inspired by the radicalism of the pastoral images it depicts and the way such images shape a certain paradigm for deepening our understanding on the issues pertaining to economic and political life. In this text Jesus begins by making a messianic claim, pointing to himself as the “gate” through which the sheep must pass if they are to find pasture. Offering himself as the gate to life and prosperity, he discloses in plain language the distinct character of that gate. The fact that Jesus issues here an open invitation suggests that it is an inclusive gate. Everyone, regardless of color, gender or tribe is welcome to enter it since to Jesus every one is entitled to an open opportunity. This is an indictment against exclusivist paradigms of success in the context of a male-dominated world, a world that looks at the color of one’s skin as a criterion for participation, a world where the strong seeks domination amidst a plurality of voices.

     Admittedly, ours is a world of endless opportunities where various gates to certain pastures are being opened one after the other. In fact, there are probably too many gates open for us today by virtue of the advent of a “high-tech” society and thus the overflow of capital in modernizing and industrializing societies. But, the tragedy of the human condition is precisely that in the face of contending models of economic success, ideological options or political choices, we no longer know which of these “doors” can lead us to the kind of justice we all deserve. In this country, not a few doors have been opened by the ruling class, all promising economic abundance and liberation from much of our social ills. But most of them are inspired by some ideology of domination and control, we often end up with denuded forests, poisoned rivers, polluted air, cheap labor, abused workers, exploited women, and a servant-class to foreign investors. What we had earlier hoped to be our benefactors, as they often impressed upon us, turned out to be ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing. To them, the name of the game is economic and political hegemony, which sometimes bear the name of “trade agreements,” “free trade zones,” or “development incentives.”

    Thus in our text, it is no surprise that Jesus, fully aware of the false messiahs of his day, sought to dismiss in strong language the old paradigms of economic and political practices that only brought ruin and misery to society. He refers to the patrons of old order as “thieves and bandits” who do not “enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way.” Thieves and bandits they are, they nevertheless wield great powers, and, thus are well equiped as to be capable of forcing their way in. Yet, precisely for their trickery and deceptive methods, the sheep would no longer listen to them. For, true enough, as Jesus remarks, “the thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy.”

    I believe that in this consultation there are crucial choices we have to make. We need to ask what particular doors may be opened in such a way that we no longer fall prey to vicious wolves in sheep’s clothing. We need to ask what ideological options may inform us in our quest for a shared vision of a radically transformed economic and political life. We need to ask whether the doors and gates that have thus far been opened in Asia are in need of recasting or tearing down. We need to ask, in other words, who benefits from their very existence and who pays for them at what cost.

    Jesus’ claim to messianism, as our text attempts to explain, is justified not merely by some divine mandate, but by his historical representation of justice and righteousness – the themes quite central to his preaching of the reign of God. In complete contrast to the messianic claims of the world’s hegemonic forces, the door in which we are invited to enter reserves no room for mere self-interested parties, for those motivated only by greed or those who have no reverence for life. For Jesus it is a door to salvation and green pastures, meaning, for those who have long been burdened by anxieties and grief, hunger and misfortunes, death and sorrow. Indeed, as he puts it so aptly, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

    This single statement of Jesus touches the core drama of life in the despairing countries of Asia today. In various places as in ours, victims of natural calamities multiply almost daily. In this country alone, we are tired of earthquakes, vulcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods, you name it. This is not to mention the scandalous condition of our system of governance, the dispensation of justice, and the way wealth and power are distributed among our people. Today, when you speak of budget deficits, external debts, inequitable income distribution, landlessness, unemployment, graft and corruption at all levels of government, unfair labor practices, ecological degradation, etc., you actually speak of the many yet familiar faces of death. They may not sound alarming to a few who manage to build their fortresses in this whole desert of uncertainty, but for the majority of our people – they only mean who dies where and when. Perhaps the Philippines is among the many Third World countries that has seen too many funerals, too many deaths of various causes. None of our days pass without some news of massacre somewhere, death toll at a landslide accident, huge earthquakes claiming hundreds of lives, vulcanic eruption tearing down houses and burying entire communities, you name it, we got it.

    It is in that sense that Jesus addresses us with this most powerful words: “I came that they may have life...” Any theology that aims at building the foundations of a fundamentally new economic vision, is in essence a theology of life. As I look at it, however, it is not complete to simply call it a theology of life. Since Jesus wants us to have life in the context of abundance- which means not only that which pertains to economics, but our political and cultural world, and all that constitute the requirements of a truly just society – it is more appropriate to call it “a theology of wholeness.” To have life and have it abundantly – is to celebrate life in its wholeness. This is a theology that overcomes all dualist tendencies, that which separates, for example, the concerns of the body-politic from the sacred foundations of life, the material basis of existence from the spiritual. This is a theology that looks at life no longer in terms of fragments. For in the face of dualist and fragmented worldviews, at best all you get is partial or piecemeal justice.

    In a world dominated by fragmented relationships and truncated concepts, human beings no longer have the capacity to celebrate life in its wholeness. Somehow the ruling forces of society perceive us only in terms of our partial identities. Politicians, for example, look at us as mere voters and supporters who are visible to them only during election time; corporate bureaucrats look at us as mere workers and employees, nothing more. In the same token women are always looked upon by men as mere sex objects waiting to be exploited. But the capitalists are no better. They look at our skills and competence and all of our humanity in terms of market values and they alone decide whether we have any value at all or not. In all these aspects, the human being enjoys no experience of wholeness to speak of, only pieces and fragments of life.

    Given our theme in this consultation, the vision we are looking for puts human life and human relationships at its center, something that is radically opposed to the paradigm of relationship among objects and things in the context of the modern capitalist project. In the context of market economy relationships are made meaningful by what certain theologians call “fetishism,” some kind of a magical power ascribed to commodities and other key concepts like money, capital and power. In a world of fetish relationships commodities are made to appear like persons relating to each other. Commodities have the power to command the flow of capital and the entire market system that all too often human beings are powerless before them. In other words, fetishism promotes relationships only among objects and things. They never go beyond material relationships and that is why in that kind of set up commodities have the decisive power to command.

    That human beings are powerless before the majesty of commodities is the biggest scandal of our time. Indeed, we are living in what Marx once called “an inverted world”– a world in which objects are gods and humanity is reduced into a mere object to be exploited. Concretely, these are the underlying realities that must be unmasked if we are to deal more deeply on the depths of human misery in Asia today.

    I believe the biblical passages before us this morning address this issue if only in terms of bringing back the whole discussion of socio-economic envisioning to the question of the depths of human alienation. That Jesus came to bring life means that God’s salvific project in history puts all forces of death and alienation under rigorous interrogation. The Apostle Paul, must have his own musings on this issue as he anticipates that “the world itself will be freed from its slavery to corruption,” even ourselves who “groan inwardly while we await” what he calls “the redemption of our bodies” (Rom.8:19-24).

    Yes, life in its fullness, that is what we are looking for. For to freely and truly celebrate the wholeness of our being, is at last to celebrate ultimate justice.

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