SCM Teachers’ Conference - 17 Oct 1954

St. Peter wrote his first Epistle to the Jewish Christians scattered by persecution to various parts of Asia Minor. The Christian Church was threatened with persecution by the Roman government, and the apostle writes this Epistle to encourage the Christians to hold fast to their faith. All the old titles used about God’s people, the Jewish nation, are now being applied by the apostle to describe the Christian Church. The Christians are God’s chosen generation, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, His peculiar people.

What is the distinctive mark of a Christian? He is a man under a call. He bears the name of Christ not because of his virtue, not because he is superior to others in moral character. It is not because of certain definite conclusions he has reached about God and man. He is a Christian because he has responded to a call. If we read the Bible we see how everyone who has left his mark for good upon its pages has heard a voice and obeyed it. We have Abraham and Moses and Samuel for example in the Old Testament – men who left their country and home and did their appointed tasks, because they were sure that it was God who had called them to their work. Similarly in the New Testament disciples of Jesus are drawn from the lakeside, the fig tree and the tax gatherer’s desk around Jesus at the sound of His call. We have the supreme example of Paul who is arrested in a headlong campaign of destruction, and his life completely changed by the supernatural summons of Jesus. If you examine the long history of the Christian Church you will find men and women in every land and in all generations joining the ranks of Christ’s kingdom as He names them and says, ‘Follow me.’

Coming nearer home, if you had asked our forefathers, the founders of the Christian Church in Jaffna, to relate their supernatural experiences, they would have spoken most enthusiastically of the wonderful way in which God called them to serve Him. They would have stated quite emphatically that God called them out of the darkness of heathenism, into the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They would not have claimed any special merit for having been picked out from others in the community. They had no clear intellectual apprehension of the truth they were called upon to witness to. They were not superior to others in any moral quality they had attained. Yet God was pleased to call them to leave their old ways of life and beliefs, often leaving their homes and kindred, to follow Him. And they left all and followed Him.

You will remember the words of our lord to His disciples in His last discourse to them on the eve of His death: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” He knew how important it was for them to realise the fact that it was Christ who had chosen them in spite of their unworthiness. That knowledge and the conviction of having been called by Him, was to be a source of inspiration and strength to them in their future work when they had to face opposition and persecution, and when they were disheartened by their own failures and betrayals.

St. Peter reminds his fellow Christians of the distinctiveness of their calling as he rallies them to the faith. They are being oppressed and ostracised. Government officials were looking down upon them. Society was making them feel that they were an odd and eccentric people. Under these circumstances they were becoming hesitant, doubtful and alarmed. They were in danger of losing their faith. “Don’t give in,” Peter cries. “Remember the darkness in which you once lived, and how without asking or effort you were ushered into Christ’s wonderful light by His call. From the mass of mankind He singled you out. He handpicked you by his wisdom and love. You are a chosen race; you are a consecrated people. You are God’s own possession – You are God’s own property.” This is what the text means.

Today we have spent a whole day in conference trying to draw up a programme of activity for the SCM units in our schools. I may say that the aim of the SCM is to enable the Student Christian Community to effectively witness for Christ by its worship, study, evangelistic efforts, social services and other activities. In the words of St. Peter our aim is to shew forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. You will remember how St. Paul describes before King Agrippa the call that came to him from Jesus on his way to Damascus. (Acts 26). Christ appeared unto Saul and said: “I have appeared unto thee for this purpose – to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the gentiles unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God.”

At the conclusion of his speech he said, “Whereupon O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” It was made quite clear to the apostle that Christ had called him to be a minister. ‘For this cause have I appeared unto thee – to make thee a minister. To go among the gentiles, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.’ To shew forth God’s praises, to minister and to witness – that is the purpose for which we are called. Our attendance in such large numbers today is evidence of the fact that we all feel the greatness of the responsibility placed upon us.

We all realise that the Christian community, particularly the small groups in our schools, are in danger of losing their effectiveness as witnesses in the present state of the society. We are being pressed on all sides, and out witnessing is not as strong and vigorous as it might be. We are no more the favourites of the Government which we once were. We are a minority in a minority. It does require much courage and the spirit of sacrifice to stand up for Christian values and standards of conduct. The world has become so materialistic that we may be laughed at if we show interest in spiritual matters. Often we have lacked courage and we have failed to proclaim our faith. Sometimes we have been too shy to let other people know our devotion to our Lord and to His cause. The situation of the Christian Community in our country today must be similar to that of the churches to which St. Peter wrote. Therefore we need to bring before us constantly the message of St. Peter to the churches of Asia minor. “You are a chosen race. You are a consecrated people. You are God’s own possession.”

It is God who chose us to serve him. We who bear the name of Christ today have either heard God’s call come to us directly and personally, or indirectly through the community to which God’s call had come. If at present our realisation of God’s call to us is only through the community to which we belong, the day must come when we should experience the call of God come to us directly. It is the conviction that we have been called of God that will enable us to be His witnesses wherever we are.