Practical Theology: “On Earth as it is in Heaven”.

Reflection on Session Three.

In the previous sessions, we discovered God as the one who calls and sends. Being is being-sent, being-for-the-other. Just like God is totally for us –pro nobis-, so we too have to be totally for others. We are called to be gracious presence in other people’s lives, signs of God’s grace for them. If existence is totally graced, how should witness to this grace or to this vocation of mine in the presence of the other? What are the values, attitudes and behaviors that witness my being-for-the-other? This is the concern of Levinas. For him, philosophy is first and foremost an ethical endeavor. The other is the reason and the purpose of my being; and the ethics of the other is my way of being.
It is really fascinating to see how Levinas, after surviving the Shoah, made this jump of faith and came to understand his life as vocation, a call to be for others. I wish all survivors of human and natural tragedies would come to such a faith. And this is the purpose of practical theology. The practical theologian is one who helps others to realize that their lives are not per se; but rather, they are theological, meaning they are channels through which God is reaching out to others. Also, questions of suffering, death and human condition are among the recurrent questions in ministry. How to give hope in such situations? Moreover, the question of being-for-the-other is at the core of what Christian ministry is all about and the challenge of the Gospel that says the first has to be the least; or the son of man came to serve, not to be served.
For being victim of Nazism, Levinas is arguing against totalitarian systems and the philosophies of immanence. Such attitudes tend to focus on the “I” as the center of the universe. A person, a country, a nation, a culture, an institution, or a church does not exist per se. Such understanding may lead to tragedies like the holocaust. Rather, Levinas is leading us toward the rediscovery of transcendence. A voice outside of me is calling me, and awaiting my response. This transcendental turn is not a mere mystical attitude, but rather an ethical demand: the transcendent is revealed in the face of the other, the one I am for. Thus, being-for-the-other is being responsive and responsible of the other. Responsibility and hospitality are some of the core values of Levinas’ ethics. The other appears in my life both transcendent and vulnerable, handed over to my responsibility. In welcoming the other and being for him/her, I set myself vulnerable to him/her and give him/her priority. I abandon myself to him/her as servant or slave. I am called to be the diakonos of the other, the host and hostage of the other. Only in this way am I a mystic, when I am able to discover and obey to the call of the Holy One in the begging and supplicant eyes of the other. The presence of the other is like a fire in my guts urging me to intervene, to protect his/her life because s/he has no one else to count on. Indifference is one of the greatest sins of our time. Like the Lord said, whatever is done to the little ones is done unto Him.
It seems to me that Levinas is arguing in favor of the intrinsic unity of spirituality and ethics. While my Christian spirituality and faith are the reasons of my hope, Christian ethics is the expression of that hope. The love of God and the love of the neighbor are the two facets of one commandment: love. This love means responsibility, hospitality, and service. Contrary to Cain, I am my brother/sister’s keeper, guardian and responsible. As Christian, I should be able to answer to the question: “where is your brother [sister]?” (Gen 4:8-9). This requires a prophetic attitude toward totalitarian, exclusivist and indifferent systems. Also, in terms of hospitality, we are called to welcoming, generous, compassionate, and non-judgmental people. Like Jesus, the disciple has to go to the margins and invite the cripples, the lame, the lepers, and the blind to the banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven. The church is a fellowship, a communio, where everyone is welcomed, promoted and loved. Finally, service is the core meaning of the word ministry. The church, as disciple of Christ is at the service of the Kingdom of God, at the service of humanity. We are called to take the attitude of the insignificant servant. Thus being a minister in the church means being totally committed at the service of others, to sacrifice one’s life for the others. We should not wait for or expect reciprocity in order to serve others. Therefore, responsibility for, hospitality and service toward humanity are the way the church gives hope to people and lives it vocation.
However, the conviction of being-for-the-other is the fruit of an experience of someone being-for-me. As Christian, I am ready to die for the others because someone higher, Jesus, has died for me. This experience of total loving gratuity impels me to love others. As he has done for me or in memory of him. The motivation and the model of my love for others is the love of God for me. Levinas seems to miss that sometimes we “the other” to others, in need or beneficiary of others’ love. Otherwise, we may fall in misconception of thinking that we have to bring freedom to other country, democracy to the barbarians who kill each other, civilization to those primitive cultures, or development to those poor people of Third World countries who die from hunger and diseases. Or as missionary, I am not the savior of people to whom I am sent, but rather I have to live as brother among brothers and bear together in faith the burden of life. Therefore being-for-the-other is only the way toward being-with-the-other. God is for us because he wants to be with us. In Jesus, he reveals himself as Emmanuel, God-with-us, one who showed us solidarity. Service is directed toward communion. And this is the meaning of Trinity.
Moreover, the terminology that Levinas uses does not propose a shalom vision, where violence, persecution, suffering. Talking about a host hostage seems to perpetuate the cycle of oppression. We are called to be partners, brothers and sisters serving each other. Thus, though not expected, reciprocity has to be the fruit this brotherly service. Love one another as I have loved you, says the Lord.
All in all, Levinas is a great witness to a faith that, purified in suffering, comes out big, deep and more convincing. Being-for-the-other calls forth an ethic of responsibility, hospitality, and service. When facing the other, we are not only facing the other, but also the Totally Other.