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Anyone familiar with current national news will know that the hottest topic of the moment is the Hindraf rally in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 25 November. Those who have seen foreign TV coverage or accessed YouTube would have also seen the tear gas and water cannon clips as well. Over the past two weeks, there have been numerous comments in the local press from all kinds of sources on the subject—almost all of which are critical and condemnatory. The action has now moved to the courts and it will be some time before this latest episode of Malaysian life is played out.
 
When all is said and done, we would probably feel that this is certainly not the most happy way for the Christmas season to be ushered in! Nevertheless, perhaps we should pause for a moment and ask … Does Christmas have anything to do with the Hindraf rally? Maybe it has more than we realize! Hindraf (for ‘Hindu Rights Action Force) is the front used by representatives of many poor Indians in Malaysia to voice their concerns over their continual state of material poverty and marginalization, rooted in the realities of our colonial history. Even those who are tempted to criticize them most severely for their actions and methods will nevertheless admit that they do have a strong case to make about their being victimized and neglected. After all, there is no dispute about the fact that of the three major ethnic groups in West Malaysia, the Indians are the least privileged. (We need of course to remember that the Orang Asli are in an even worse position.)

When asked about his ministry in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus twice drew the listeners’ attention to his particular concern for the poor. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news (i.e. the gospel, in Greek) to the poor’ (4:18). In his response to John the Baptist’s question about whether he was the Messiah, he replied in the same vein. Through his coming, ‘the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor’ (7:22). Scholars are generally agreed that, in the Bible, God has always demonstrated a special concern for the poor—not just the spiritually poor, but also the materially poor! 

Much of the church in Malaysia is middle-class and comfortable. Few of us know what hunger, poverty and lack of opportunities mean. That makes it easy for us to ignore crucial facts. But what about these? Half of the world lives on less than US$2 (RM6.60) a day; and more than a billion lives on less than US$1 (RM3.30) a day. One in seven people in this world go to bed hungry each day. Every 5 seconds one child dies because of lack of food; every 15 seconds, another two die because of preventable diseases; and every 60 seconds, a mother dies due to complications in pregnancy or childbirth. The list can easily go on.

It is against this background that we can begin to understand better Paul’s statement about the coming of Jesus into the world. ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich’ (2 Cor 8:9). It is true that the riches and poverty that Paul speaks about here is first and foremost spiritual. But the very fact that Paul used this to challenge the Corinthian Christians to give generously to help those afflicted by famine in Jerusalem clearly means that the passage is also directly relevant to those who are materially poor.

We may not have agreed with the methods used by the Hindraf leaders, especially their threat of violence. But the demonstration of their grievances should be a poignant reminder to us that the message of Christmas is also relevant to how we respond to the poor and needy of this world. Christmas is a challenge to us to learn to feel the heartbeat of God in His compassion for the needy, the neglected, the outcast, the hopeless and the lost.
 
Recently I finally got hold of a book that I have been wanting to read for some time, In the Likeness of God (2004), co-authored by the well-known author, Philip Yancey, and the world famous leprosy surgeon, Dr Paul Brand. It was Yancey’s description of Paul Brand that caught my eyes. Paul Brand has spent some 20 years of his life working amongst lepers in India—to some, the most dreaded of diseases—while his wife exercised at the same time a parallel ministry among the rural poor in India as an ophthalmologist. Yancey’s own life had been deeply touched through his contact with Dr Brand.

Yancey describes Paul Brand in the following words: ‘He knew presidents, kings, and celebrities, yet he rarely mentioned them. He talked openly about his failures and always tried to deflect credit for his successes to his associates. Most impressive to me, the wisest and most brilliant man I have ever met devoted much of his life to some of the lowest people on the planet: members of the Untouchable caste in India afflicted with leprosy.’ 

Yancey goes on to speak of Dr Brand’s impact on himself: ‘As much as anyone, he has helped set my course in outlook, spirit, and ideals … From him I also have gained assurance that the Christian life I had heard in theory can actually work out in practice. It is indeed possible to live in modern society, achieve success without forfeiting humility, serve others sacrificially, and yet emerge with joy and contentment …. I know no one who better illustrates Jesus’ most-quoted statement, that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”’
 
A most brilliant surgeon, wasting away his career on some of the poorest and most oppressed people of this world— when he could be making millions elsewhere! That is not the way of this world… Perhaps we should not need to wonder why most people miss out of the real meaning and true joy of Christmas all their lives! But I do wonder about you though? May you, through the grace of God, be blessed with knowing the true joy of Christmas!