Tonight's Message

Message: I'm talking about the Clay cups I mentioned at the beginning of the month tonight. I know it will be impacting to the students. Not because of my but because they have hearts of gold and want to serve and help others.

Below is the message:

The Story: India is the largest democracy in the world. This means that they boat of having a government where not only are all people created equal but they all get an equal say in elections. One would think this would be a wonderful place to live. All men are equal, no racism, no prejudices, just all people equal.

The truth of the matter is that long ago the priest of the religion of Hindu set up a caste system. If you don’t know what a caste system is think of it like a pecking order. Kind of like high school, seniors are the best and can do anything they want; juniors are still cool but just need to listen to the seniors. Sophomores really just need to keep quiet unless they are liked by the juniors and seniors. Freshman are just punks but still tolerable.

In India there are 4 classes of people or castes. There is nothing you can do to change castes or status you are merely born into a caste and you will die of that same caste. This isn’t such a bad thing if you are in one of the top castes but if you are of a lower you are stuck.

I said the Priests set up this caste system thousands of years ago. Which caste do you think is the highest caste? Brahmins or priest. Next comes the Kshatriyas: soldiers and administrators. Then the Vaisyas: the commercial class and then the last the Sudras: the farmers and peasants.

Being of the lowest caste is pretty rough life. People ignore you, think you are white trash; you are prejudiced against just for being born poor. I have a horrifying thing to tell you. There is a caste lower that the lowest class. These people aren’t even considered good enough to be of a caste. They are called Dalits. Dalits means “broken to pieces” “outcaste” and “untouchable”. Another meaning of the word is “mistake to be born”. The rest of the nation treats these people as if they are mistakes to society, they are as good as never born. These people rank in treatment lower than animals.

There was a law passed about 50 years ago in India stating that society could no longer treat these people as badly as they were doing. But the law has meant nothing. One prime example of how rejected these people are this: Dalits by law are allowed in restaurants and other places. But if a Dalit is given a beverage they are given the drink in a cheaply made clay cup. After the Dalit drinks of the water the cup will be broken and thrown away so no one else will be contaminated by their “dirtiness”. Dalits are not allowed to draw water from the community wells. Because of this Dalits are forced to sit by the well and beg someone of a higher caste for a drink. Normally no one will give them a drink, sometimes they will but they will give it to them in a clay cup. If the shadow of a Dalit crosses that of a high caste that person is considered dirty and must go through a cleansing process.

In the wake of the Tsunami we are all aware that part of India was hit. One of the communities that were struck was a Dalit community. Naturally when they lost everything they went to refuge camps. In these camps they were told to go away that there was no assistance for them. They were told that they would be given no help. They weren’t even given the tools to bury their dead just alcohol so they could get drunk to forget the stench.

Boys playing Cricket, a British form of baseball, at school get into a verbal argument. One side was Dalits the other was of a higher caste. Most of the Dalits were able to escape but 3 were caught by the higher caste. They were drug inside a house and forced to drink urine from a shoe at gunpoint. Then the police were called and they spend 8 days in jail.

I hope I have described to you in enough detail the horrendous treatment these people must endure. This doesn’t just happen to a few people but to the whole society. 25% of the population of India is Dalit, which is about 250 Million. Wow!

Well the song we just heard is from Caedmon’s Call and is called share the well. The band went on a world mission’s trip last year and go to know the Dalit’s story and their need. They wrote this song with authentic Dalit people playing the drums in the background and Dalit vocals. It is about the story of the clay cup and the oppression of the people. They wrote the song on two levels. On the physical level that the people are just oppressed, they need education, food, water, and a chance to succeed.

They also wrote it on a spiritual level. God created and I believe intended all humans to be treated as equals. I believe that the Bible teaches us that salvation is for all man. If we think of the water as Jesus Christ and the well just happens to be the place where it is kept. I think the water in that well is available to all man. God does not look at outside appearances or cares what caste you are part of. He loves you for who you are. It is only when a Dalit hears the gospel of Jesus do they know that they are loved by God the same. They are taught by Hinduism that they are sub-culture. Lower than dirt and outcastes. When they hear about Jesus they realize their worth and they receive salvation not only from their sins but from thinking they are worthless.

Listen to this song again. This time I have a clay cup for you. Inside this cup is the story of the Dalits. On the cup is a website that you can go to learn more about the Dalits and their story and you can do a google search for Dalits and read lots of their stories.

There is enough Jesus to go around: We do no have a monopoly on Jesus. He is for all people and his sacrifice covers a multitude of sins…whether we like it or not. Over time and I don’t blame you guys I think you’ve learned it from someone older than you and even older than your parents. We figured that if we can’t control the water (Jesus) then we can control the vessels (ourselves). We treat sinners like they are filthy, we give them only a little portion of Jesus and that’s the portion we want them to have. Then when we are done giving them charity we go back to our safe corners and break the cups so we don’t get dirty. Jesus wasn’t afraid to get dirty and I believe that he asked us to no be afraid also. He wants us to give to people freely his love. He asks us to be the vessels.

Do you view unbelievers as a lower Caste?
Are you willing to reach into the sin and see the believer?
Even if it means getting a little dirty?
Will you share the well?

Call to action: You may keep the cup free of charge. Please keep in mind that these cups cost me $.25 a piece and I don’t mind covering your cost. But please know that the average Dalit makes a quarter a day. For this next week I am asking every person to go without one thing that costs them money. When you go without take that money that you would spend and put it aside. Next Wednesday bring the money and we will give it to an organization that helps the Dalits.