ﾒThis is the gist of all worship: to be pure and to do good to others.ﾓ ... Swami Vivekananda

Talk on the Christian Perspective by Dr. J. Eduardo Perez Valera, Professor Emeritus, Sophia University, delivered in Tokyo on June 10, 2007

The fact that representatives of various religious traditions have gathered here today to discuss and reflect over these insightful words of an illustrious Hindu religious leader, is something truly significant. I say so because in assemblies like this, people gather not with an attitude of confrontation but of dialogue and cooperation, and they come not to teach others but to learn from them. Of course, I must admit that both as a human being and a Christian my preparation for this dialogue has been insufficient. Certainly, I have a sincere desire to learn from my brothers and sisters of other religious traditions, and to cooperate with them to the best of my ability. However I know that this desire of mine is contradicted by the fact that I know little of other religions, and I realize also that within this ignorance of mine may lie a hidden feeling of pride. Yet, there are two points of which I am absolutely certain. I am certain that in the plan of salvation preached by Christianity every religion has a unique role to play, and I am certain also that I have no desire to be influenced by my pride. On the contrary, I wish to be freed from it. Based on the doctrines of my Catholic faith I shall hereafter reflect upon these words of Swami Vivekananda, and thereby hopefully make my own contribution to this inter-religious dialogue.

In the Gospel of Saint Mathew, Jesus Christ said, ﾒBlessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God,ﾓ (Mathew 5:8). Such purity certainly includes being purified from all sin. However, as we all know, the meaning of the word ﾒsinﾓ changes according to the context. In legal terms to break the law would be a sin, in ethical terms to steal the property of another would be a sin, and in every society an act of cruelty, even if it were not classified as a sin, would yet be condemned by all. However, examples like these do not convey a clear idea of the Christian meaning of sin. For a Christian sin is a theological term, meaning an offense against God and a rejection of his love. For example in the Old Testament, a part of the Bible precious to Christians, we see the sin committed by king David the ruler of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, when he willfully plotted and killed a man in order to marry his wife. When a prophet named Nathan helped him to reflect on his crime, David realized for the first time that he had sinned. He then turned to God and confessed saying, ﾒI have sinned against you. I have done what is evil in your sight.ﾓ Unless a sinner makes a similar confession, we cannot say that he has acknowledged the depth of his sin. In chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke, we have the parable of the Prodigal Son narrated by Jesus Christ. Here, the young man took his share of his fatherﾕs property, converted it into money, traveled to a far-away country, and wasted it all. Later however, when he repented, he returned to his father and said, ﾒFather, I have sinned against God and against youﾓ (cfr. Luke 15:11-32). In Christianity therefore sin is in reality an offense against God.

However, a Christian believes that his sin can be forgiven by an all-merciful God. Forgiveness of sin can be regarded as the second creation of God. Just as God first created heaven and earth, his second creation is a pure and sinless human heart. And how does he bring about this second creation? He does it by pouring out his divine love. This is a point we need to reflect over.

In the Bible, both in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy, and in the New Testament in the Gospel of Mark, we find a commandment to love in an unconditional and unrestricted manner. When Jesus was asked, ﾒWhich is the greatest commandment?ﾓ He replied, ﾒThe greatest commandment is this. Hear O Israel, the lord our God is one. You shall love God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, and your whole strength,ﾓ (Mark 12:29-30). Of course, the ability to love in this manner is a gift given to us by God. In the second letter of Peter it is written that through this gift God will save us from the lust and corruption that we see around us, and permit us to participate in his own nature (2 Peter 1.4). That is to say, by the pouring out of his love that washes away our sins, we are qualified to partake of the life of God. And this is not all. In the Old Testament we read that the people were expecting a Messiah who would bring them peace, a peace that includes all gifts and surpasses all understanding, and in the New Testament it is stated that those gifts shall be given to us to the extent that we receive the Spirit of God. Saint Paul the disciple of Christ declares that the ability to love in an unrestricted manner is nothing less than the fulfillment of the divine promise, the pouring out of the Spirit of God, a promise that was made to all those who would receive the Messiah (cfr. Rom. 5. 5). This gift of the Spirit of God includes in a sense all divine gifts, and being pure of heart is one of them. Hence a ﾒpure heartﾓ is not something we obtain by our human effort. Rather, is it a gift we receive from God, because we have received his Spirit through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
 
Swami Vivekananda said that to be pure and to do good to others is the gist of all worship, and I have tried to explain what purity of heart would mean to a Christian. Purity of heart is not only to be free from sin. It means also receiving the gift of the Spirit of God, and receiving the Spirit of God means to be saved. It is hence the essence of our salvation. But how does such salvation manifest itself? It manifests itself in the manner described by the words on Swami Vivekananda, namely in ﾒdoing good to others.ﾓ

When explaining the Christian notion of sin, I stressed the fact that in the final analysis any sin committed against a human being is a sin against God. But if that were true, would not an act of kindness to another also be a kindness shown to God? Christ himself answered this question when he said that a good deed done to the humblest person was a deed done to himself, and any refusal on our part to help a person in need, a person we are obliged to help, would be a refusal to help Christ himself. (Mathew 25: 31-36). In the New Testamentﾕs letter of St. James, we have the following sentence that corresponds to the words of Swami Vivekananda, ﾒThe religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world,ﾓ (James 1.27).

We have just said that an evil done to a human being is an evil done to God, and the Bible supports our conclusion that any good done to a human being is also a good done to God. However, this is not the entire teaching of Christianity. For Christians, to live is to lead our lives in imitation of God our father. God makes the sun shine on both the good and the bad, and causes the rain to fall on both the just and the unjust. God does not regard those who hate him as his enemies. On the contrary, he loves them and forgives them. The teachings of Christ may be traced back to this passage where he says ﾒYou should be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect,ﾓ (Mathew 5:48). This type of perfection is possible only if we, with the help of the Spirit of God, make our entire life an imitation of the life of Christ. Christ referred to the person who betrayed him as a ﾒfriend,ﾓ and he prayed for those who were going to crucify him saying, ﾒFather forgive them, for they know not what they do,ﾓ (Luke 23:34). Hence, from the perspective of Christian faith, what Christ gave to humanity was the ability to imitate God, by following his own example. Christ reflected the purity of God and served humankind, and for us Christians, imitating Christ would be the gist of all worship. ･