Focus July 2016

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FOCUS July 2016 Vol. 4 No: 3

Book Review - Legacy of a Patriot, Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam - Page 16

Cover Photo: God the Father on His Throne, Westphalia, Germany, painting in late 15th Century

A Publication of Diaspora FOCUS Editorial – Kingdom of God and its Values - Page 3

Obituary – Dr. Thomas Abraham, New Jersey, U. S. A. (1933 – 2016) – Page17

Kingdom Values, Rev. Dr. Valson Thampu, Trivandrum - Page 5

The Reverse Logic for Growth, Dr. Zac Varghese/God’s Kingdom, - Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph Page 18

Economics of Life – Some Reflections, P. Jegadish Gandhi, Bangalore - Page 7

The Kingdom of Heaven, Prof. Plammoottil Cherian, M. Div., Ph. D., Buffalo Grove, IL - Page 19

Biblical Quest for Kingdom Values, Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam - Page 11

A Love Feast of the Kingdom of God, Sermon by Rt. Rev. Abraham Mar Paulos - Page 22

Kingdom Values and Its Relevance Today, Dr. Zac Varghese, London - Page 14

Citizens of Kingdom of God, Fr. Thomas Punnapadam, SDB

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Editorial The Kingdom of God and its Values Jesus came to announce and establish the kingdom of God. In the beginning of Mark’s Gospel we see the announcement: “The time has come”, he said, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark1: 15). Then on, Jesus’ teaching focused on the kingdom of God and its values. His kingdom was an upside down kingdom and the kind that world had never known. He was a glorious revolutionary, and His ideas and action did not fit in with the religious establishment.

The Jewish idea of the Messiah and the kingdom at the time of Jesus had exclusivity about it because of their experience of election, exodus, exile and return, promises, covenants, blessings, occupations, the rise and fall of two Jewish kingdoms and many kings. Jesus’s inauguration of the kingdom of God was an all-embracing inclusive kingdom. It was a call for an immediate change of heart and direction of life, an invitation to a new way of being Israel. The royal banquet is open to all, but should be careful in having the right dress code. St. Paul explained this inclusivity beautifully in his letter to the Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3; 28). Jesus experienced hostility and violence from the Jewish religious establishment for this inclusivity.

and fundamentalism are weapons of mass destruction as we see today in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and other parts of the world with Boko Haram, ISIS and such terrorist groupings with their suicide bombers.

This realisation made Bonhoeffer to argue for a ‘religion-less Christianity’ He warned against religious distortions which clashed with total reliance on God’s love and Spirit. Therefore, we must not think that canons and regulations of churches are based entirely on the kingdom values. Jesus’ focus was not on the comfortable Jewish religious establishment of the Temple and its functionaries, but on the people who lived on the margins of the society. He came to communicate God’s ‘giftlove’ to the world (John 3: 16). Religions enslave people and spy on the freedom that God gives to humanity. Jesus found that the people were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9: 36).

The kingdom values that Jesus declared are good news for the orphans, widows and poor; Jesus speaks for the voiceless and the marginalised people. This understanding led Archbishop William Temple to say, “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members."

‘Healing the fractured world’ is the core agenda of the kingdom of God. The healed-world is the kingdom of God. This healing is brought about through human liberation. This liberation is through developing a longing for justice, quest for spirituality and hunger for relationship. Religious conditioning prevents us from developing those essential kingdom values. Kenosis is an important aspect in acquiring the kingdom values.

The manifesto for establishing the kingdom is laid out in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6), which has nothing much in common with kingdoms of the earth that existed before or after that declaration. Institutionalised religions have nothing much in common with the kingdom of God. Christianity considered to be based on pure untarnished biblical faith on Jesus and His teachings. After the apostolic times, there have been many deviations from the original path. These deviations and heresies continue to exist in the multiplicity of Christian denominations and faith groups.

Emperor Constantine’s conversion gave the Church power, status, and authority; it brought the Church into the public domain and became a respectable club; to maintain this acceptability and respectability all sorts of people joined the Church and used it to further their ends. The Church used its authority without any consideration for the kingdom values. Christianity became a political agency of empires; we saw this again and again during the Western colonial supremacy over the world. It wiped out many indigenous cultures and traditions. Politicians of all colour and creed use religion as a bargaining chip for acquiring power.

The Old Testament talked about God of Abraham and Jacob or of Israel’s God. Now various religious adherents imprison their gods for their own strategic game plans. Religious fanaticism

St. Paul sums up many of the qualities necessary for the Church community to stay strong and united to express the kingdom values. They will have the belt of truth safeguarding inner integrity; the breastplate of righteousness around a community of people put right with God and living aright together; feet fitted with peace, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation protecting hearts and heads (Ephesians 6:10-18); and the sword of the Spirit–God’s word (Hebrews 4:12). This is how a praying church maintains unity under pressure on the frontline of the spiritual battle. This spiritual battle includes our liberation from superficial religiosity against which Jesus warned us: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5: 21). We are living in a ‘kingdom is here, but not yet’ reality. The need to surpass the puritanical and superficial religiosity is beautifully expressed in the attitude of the elder son in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32).

The elder son went about his daily routines of looking after the estate of his father with great discipline and vigour. Although he lived with the father in a house, he was homeless. The younger son returned home with repentance and utter remorse, but the elder refused to enter the home and stood outside the embrace of the father in his self-justifying righteousness. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes are representatives of this elder son who destroyed the essence of Judaism and reformed it into an instrument of power. The kingdom that Jesus preached is a kingdom of love. The elder brother forgot altogether about his

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childhood innocence of living and playing with his infant brother in the aristocratic autocracy of managing the estate of his father.

Love has no place in his rulebook of management, for him it is all about a balance sheet of income and expenditure and making a profit at the expense of the kingdom values. The culture or values of the kingdom is love. Kingdom is where the king is and the king of this kingdom is the creator God, who is love. Without much of an effort we can identify ourselves and our churches with this ‘elder brother syndrome.’

The kingdom values are based on responsibilities and relationships, relationship with God and relationship with neighbours. Tolstoy wrote: “Those who say they love God but dislike their neighbours are lying to others; those who love their neighbours and do not love God are lying to themselves.” We live in a loveless world, for a loveless world is Godless world; a loveless world has a God-shaped hole in it. St. John is very clear about the relationship between love and fear. In the 4 chapter of his first letter he says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made in perfect love.” Fear is crippling and destroys relationships; because of fear we hide things from friends and relations. Fear is the root cause of all violence and wars that we see today in all parts of the world. Indifference to human needs is against kingdom values as the rich man in the story of the Lazarus learns. The life in the kingdom is about a Eucharistic living of taking, thanking, breaking and sharing. th

Discipleship is God’s master plan for His kingdom. It is in discipleship we express the kingdom values. Disciples were commissioned to serve, commissioned to preach the kingdom values, commissioned to heal the sick and raise the dead (Matthew 10: 8). The first disciples of Jesus faced two significant temptations; one of self-glorification, for they argued amongst themselves for recognition and seats of importance; the second temptation was self-pity of the sacrifice they made in following Jesus. In every way Jesus calls us to make a complete break from our former attachments. In Christ we have become a new person altogether under unmerited and costly grace; ‘In Christ, we are a new creation.’ In this newly created life, we are blessed with a kingdom within us; it is in this awareness we are duty bound to express the kingdom values in all our dealings.

We are free men and women in this newly created life with the awareness of kingdom values; this is a life of discipleship and we have freedom in this discipleship (Galatians 5: 1). We give up this freedom when we do not live by the grace and not express fruit of the Spirit and becomes slaves again. This is selling the inheritance like the prodigal son, and walking away from home, walking away from the kingdom within us. Freedom is what we have in Christ Jesus, freedom to be sons and daughters of God and the privilege to address our God as ‘Our Father.’ It is heartbreaking sin to sell that inheritance for other transitory honours and comforts. It is absolutely clear that God has called us to a life in freedom, using our free will. We must make sure that we do not use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever we want to do or to build our empires of power and influence and destroy that freedom altogether and become slaves to our desires.

What happens when we become disciples of Jesus? Jesus brings spiritual gifts into our lives, much as the same way as fruits appears in an orchard. We begin to have affection and

gift-love for people, we develop serenity, and a sense of compassion and empathy in our hearts. We begin to express fruit of the Spirit in our Lives (Galatians 5: 22). We will have true humility and peace. We find ourselves involved in real commitments (koinonia), not needing to force our way into other people’s lives; we will be able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. These are values of the kingdom and the benefit of becoming the citizens of the kingdom of God. Under the values of the kingdom, we exchange independence for interdependence. ‘No man is an island,’ we are created for relationship and our lives are interwoven together. Solitary Christian is a paradox. Christ calls us into fellowship with Him and others. We are to submit to the authority of Christ, and we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. It is here we learn to live in an ‘I-Thou’ relationship with others. It is only when we are deeply united with one another in love, and then the world will begin to know the truth about Jesus, the Christ and His kingdom values. Revd Dr. Valson Thampu’s article links the kingdom of God with authority, obedience, freedom, love, transformation, unity, and growth. Professor Cherian develops the theme that the kingdom of God is for all people who develop qualities of humility, purity of heart and peace making through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

God’s unconditional love is open to all human beings; it is possible that our free will and self-centredness may prevent us from accepting this unconditional love. Professor Jegadish Gandhi’s reflection on ‘Economics Life’ gives another refreshing understanding on the kingdom values. He says: “The ‘manna economy’ or ‘enough’ teaches us to limit our consumption because all we accumulate will evaporate and decay, no matter how rigidly we grasp it. The Economy of Life is founded on just relationship between peoples, recognizing common vulnerabilities between peoples, and accompanying struggles of people in different parts of the world. It is relational economy.”

Fr. Thomas Punnapadam, SDB, in his deeply thoughtful article, challenges us to ponder that an authentic Christian is not the one who has submitted oneself to the ceremony of the baptism or the one who blindly performs certain rituals and babbles some prayer formulae. We are very grateful to all the contributors to this issue and looking forward to their continued prayers and support. We are humbled and grateful to God for making this message available to more than 100,000 people across the world through this journal. May God continue to bless our readers and writers and empower us to spread His good news.

The Editorial Board http://www.issuu.com/diasporafocus http://www.scribd.com/diasporafocus Disclaimer: Diaspora FOCUS is a non-profit organization registered in United States, originally formed in late Nineties in London for the Diaspora Marthomites. It is an independent lay-movement of the Diaspora laity of the Mar Thoma Church; and as such Focus is not an official publication of the Mar Thoma Church. It is an ecumenical journal to focus attention more sharply on issues to help churches and other faith communities to examine their own commitment to loving their neighbors and God, justice, and peace Opinions expressed in any article or statements are of the individuals and are not to be deemed as an endorsement of the view expressed therein by Diaspora FOCUS. Thanks. www.facebook.com/groups/mtfocus

E-Mail: mtfocusgroup@gmail.com

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Kingdom Values Revd Dr. Valson Thampu, Trivandrum I often wonder what we associate with the word ‘Kingdom’. Most of us have not lived in monarchies. None of us has experienced earthly kings and queens at close quarters. We have seen some them from a distance; we have the moon and the stars. Of course, we are not the poorer for it.

Similar is the case with the word ‘values’. Why do values matter to us? Should they? To what extent? Why, when? Duty, let us say, is a value. Or, being dutiful is. I am choosing ‘duty’ because it is the nearest to us. Does it get us excited? If it does not, what about more challenging values like truth and love? Most people think that loving is easy! That is because they haven’t even tried to love. It is the most difficult of all values. Else, loving would not have been turned into a Commandment.

or even hear about. Of course, we love to be obeyed. Well, having to obey anyone, including God? That is a different matter.

Why so?

This is where the shaping value of the Kingdom comes in –love.

Jesus found obeying his Father his food and drink, and not an irksome obligation, because he and his Father were one. This means only one thing. The Father and the Son are Love itself. It is not that they love each other. It is that they are Love. So John, in his Epistle says, “God is love”.

Let us return to the Kingdom; it is this concept that shapes the values that concern us here. What is our idea of the Kingdom of God? The shaping idea of any kingdom is authority. So, the Kingdom of God is a way of life shaped by the authority of God. Authority is quite simple. That which can enjoin obedience on us is authority. If we subscribe to the value of authority, we obey. It is as simple as that.

Now, let me state the most obvious. We do not like authority, do we? More precisely, we do not like to be under authority. We are quite different from the Roman Centurion who said, “Sir, I too am a man under authority…” He found it natural and healthy. Not so we, or our children. We think authority is old fashioned. We live in a culture that idolizes individual liberty. And we –especially our youth- think of authority as incompatible with freedom.

Freedom is central to biblical spirituality; for Jesus came to set the captives free. But, in biblical thought, authority is the stepping-stone to freedom! Moses must derive his authorization –and authority- from God before the people in Egyptian bondage can be liberated. Jesus has authority from God; so he can set us free.

But that is not how we see things today. To us, the less authority there is, the better it is for freedom. We taught our children this insanity. They rebel against authority, especially God’s authority and our authority. What have we achieved? Our children go and become the slaves of silly, stupid people (Now, don’t tell me that Jesus has told us not to call any one stupid. But the stupid are stupid, nonetheless. You don’t have to call anyone stupid. You must know if someone, especially the author, is stupid!)

Jesus has authority. To me that is the shaping Kingdom Value.

Jesus’ authority –it is quite important to emphasize this- derives from implicit obedience to God the Father. That is what St. Paul says. In the Letter to Philippians, he links the supreme authority of Jesus –every knee shall bow and every tongue confess- to his perfecting obedience to the Father, even unto death on the cross.

So, obedience is the visible form of the value of Authority. There is a problem here too. Obedience is the last thing we want to do,

Love is spiritual alchemy. It turns the base metal of complying instructions into the gold of obedience. There can be no obedience without love. Where love is absent, coercion rules.

Coercion is to Mammon, what love is to God. So, when Jesus warns us against serving Mammon, he is also instructing us against resorting to force or subterfuge of any kind.

In the world, Jesus says, highlighting a crucial contrast between the Kingdom of God and the world, “men love to lord over others. But it shall not be so with you.” Lording over is authority, as the world knows authority. It is an anti-value in the Kingdom.

Yet, who can deny that this is how authority is exercised in our midst? The problem with the world is not, primarily, that it has perverted authority. It is that it has rejected and crucified love.

We have created a world of willful lovelessness. Our idea of authority is too narrow to accommodate love.

Such authority cannot empower obedience. It only inflicts conformity, at best, and slavery, at worst. In the Kingdom, obedience is a powerful thing. Its power is transformative. So Jesus says to Simon and Andrew, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. Since you and I are not theologians, we can understand this quite easily. According to Jesus, Kingdom obedience is transformative. How I do I know if I am obeying or simply slaving? Not difficult at all. Are you, in the process of obeying, being transformed? If not, just pack up and go. Run for dear life!

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Why do you think the Bible says that obedience is the most sweet-smelling sacrifice? Frankly, since the earthly mission of Jesus, this is the only valid sacrifice. Obedience is the privileged means provided for our transformation. Consider every instance of ‘obedience’ in the four Gospels. You will find this without fail.

Each time someone obeys, he or she is transformed.

Conversely, each time someone fails to obey, the outcome is sad and unfortunate. Think of the rich, young man who went to Jesus. And compare it with the experience of Zacchaeus. No further argument is necessary.

We need to return to love. Love, in Jesus’ scheme of things, is the energy of growth. It is not some pleasant, sentimental trip, or anaemic feel-good factor. It is a forceful thing, like cracking open the shell of the seed that the kernel may sprout into new life. It is an unorthodox force, like the one that rolled away the stone from Lazarus’ tomb. It is a reckless and extravagant thing that saying things like, “Damsel, get up” after she is dead and clean gone. It is a subversive thing like stretching one’s hand and touching a leper in the law-ridden Jewish (or, for that matter, any) community.

What strikes me with particular force about the Kingdom is the incredible growth of everything within it. What, do you think, miracles are? How do they happen? The seminal miracle is growth, and not sensationalism. The miracle of water turning into wine, the loaves multiplying and the rebuking of the storm are examples. The tragedy in man’s world is our stagnation. Man has always been suspicious of, and uneasy about, the growth and empowerment of his fellow men and women. God created freedom. Man turned into slavery. Slavery is inhospitable to growth. You are a slave if, even when you are loafing footloose and fancy free, you don’t grow. The curse is that this principle of paralysis -our refusal to grow- is often masked under piety. There is no Kingdom value, which does not have a powerful bearing on our growth.

“Fruitfulness” is the metaphor Jesus uses for growth. The proof that we abide in him and he, in us is that we are abundantly fruitful. The hallmark of the Kingdom is that its citizens have “Life, and life in all its fullness.” On the other hand, the axe is already laid to the root of the tree, which is barren. Fruitlessness is a Kingdom anathema. The barren fig tree withers away under the heat of Jesus’ disapproval!

There was only one, among the twelve disciples, who did not grow. That was Judas. Either you grow and become fruitful. Or, you sell the Master and, with the thirty pieces of silver, buy fruits for yourself. (That is why halter, like, fruits, is on the tree.) There appears to be no via media. We are fooling ourselves by thinking otherwise.

“A new Commandment I give unto you,” Jesus said in the dying moments of his earthly mission, “that you love one another”. The world will know that Jesus is the Son of God, not through dramatic miracles or gigantic crusades, but by our love. This is where we have been found wanting grievously.

That brings us to another key Kingdom value: unity. Unity is the outworking of love. The most formidable stumbling block in the path of the Gospel is our raging, multiplying disunity. What I have never been able to understand is how we can live fragmented as a community and parrot our ecclesiology! We are the body of Christ. All are limbs. He is the head. Can limbs live

disunited from each other, so long as they are united with the head? So, the old chorus was right, “Yes, they’ll we are Christians by our love.”

It needs to be emphasized that where there is love, there is growth. Love is the energy of growth. This is easily seen. If you love a subject, for example, you will grow in the understanding of that subject. If you don’t, you will remain a bonsai. The foremost need of Christendom is the growth of the community of faith “in stature and in favor with God and human beings.” Small men cannot represent a great faith. They will only caricature it.

It is in the nature of love to “abide”. Jesus came to be with us.

“Abide in me, and I in you,” he said in words that cannot be improved in simplicity and profundity. This ‘being with’ happens naturally and joyfully wherever there is love. Hence the striking contrasts between the Kingdom and the world. Alienation stalks the faltering steps of our species in this world of organized lovelessness. This puts the focus on “outreach.” The purpose of this outreach is to ‘be with’. It is not conversion. We are sent out to sow the seeds. The harvest belongs to the Lord, who is the Lord of ‘being with’. For aught I know, this ‘being with’ is the harvest! Sometimes we call this heaven. (You don’t agree?

Pray, think!)

What, in the end, is the essence of Christian mission? Is it not to bear witness to the Kingdom? The Kingdom of love and oneness? The Kingdom of being with? The Kingdom in which all are neighbors, and none, alien? The Kingdom in which “middle walls of division” cannot, and shall not, stand? We reach out, not as preachers but –if Jesus is heeded- as ‘sheep among wolves’.

Sheep is the symbol of meeting needs. Wolf is a symbol of predatory wants. It is time we realized that the foremost need of our world, and of human nature, is the need to be with. So, Jesus says to Zacchaeus, “Zacchaeus come down; for tonight I must stay with you.”

That is the Kingdom invitation, addressed to all who are perched on the brittle branches aloneness and alienation. It is the wedding invitation of the Bride to a whole humanity, represented symbolically by the woman with an issue of blood, suffering hopelessly on account of the secret bleeding of inner alienation that she can’t even confess to anyone. So much for our freedom in this world that we know and love. Hence, too, the Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall be children of God.” Editor’s Note: Revd. Dr. Valson Thampu is an ordained Minister of Church of North India; he is an educator, theologian, who was the former Principal of St Stephen's College, University of Delhi, from 2008 to February 2016. He is a prolific writer and has authored many books. He is also a translator of books from Malayalam to English, and has received prestigious awards. He was also a member of the National Minorities Commission and currently, he is a patron of the Abundant Life. This is an exclusive article written for FOCUS.

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Economics of Life: Some Reflections Dr. P. Jegadish Gandhi, Bangalore Preface In creational dynamics, God has created a web of social relationships inclusive of economic aspects of life. “The Economy of God” is a quotation from 1 Timothy 1: 4.

“Economy” is from the Greek word “oikonomia” which primarily signifies the household management. It is used with the intention of stressing the focal point of God’s divine enterprise, which is to distribute, or dispense Himself to man” (Witness Lee). In God’s economy, things are often upside down and inside out, at least from our perspective, because we tend to value things differently from what God does. “In God’s economy He is at the centre, in the human one, we are.

For the Christian, all of life falls under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Christian life has implications for the believer’s attitude towards wealth and poverty. It is not surprising, then, that economic matters are prominent in the teachings of the Bible and the social ethics of the Christian Church.

God’s economy is an economy of life and love, which flows out of the very life of the Triune God. Life and all its riches are both an expression of God’s very being as creative love and a gift of God. As sacred gift, the riches of life must be approached with humility, regarded with reverence and respect, and valued as precious, never being taken for granted. An economy of life is marked by regard for the common good. Individualism, competition and greed deny human flourishing because the fullness of our humanity is not found in wealth but in relationship with each other and the world around us. We need community for our wellbeing.

Systems and structures, which breed individualism and competition, deny the nature of our humanity and lead to isolation and despair. In God’s household people are safe, secure, cared for and valued. The household shares all it has with concern for those most in need. This is a system of cooperation, justice and equity, which is characterized by love and marked by generosity.

Dialectics and Dynamics of “Economics of Life” God’s justice is at the core of the Economy of Life, which is measured by the quality of life of those dwelling in the margins (Matthew 10:42). It widens the circle of inclusion to embrace all who have been pushed to the edges by economies of profit and competition. It is an economy of collaboration, a caring economy, which lifts up the values of solidarity, mutual interdependence and relationships. It is embedded in society and ecology, and guarantees that all people and creatures live in dignity. It is nurtured by ethics and aesthetics. Peace is its fruit.

The Economy of Life affirms the importance of social relationship in production and reproduction as well as the dynamics of the ‘spirituality of labour’, that is: giving birth, nurturing children and elderly, tending the land, rearing the animals, attending to the symbiotic relationship in nature, etcetera.

Attachment to material goods leads to the accumulation of wealth for its own sake, whereas detachment leads to its recirculation back into nurturing the common good. Theologically and ontologically, renunciation means to be detached from the material, i.e. the relative and the unreal

because it passes away and to be attached only to the Absolute and the Real (Luke 12:15).

The statement on “Just Finance and an Economy of Life” calls for an ethical, just and democratic international financial regime “grounded on a framework of common values: honesty, social justice, human dignity, mutual accountability and ecological sustainability” (WCC Statement on Just Finance and an Economy of Life). We can and must shape an Economy of Life that engenders participation for all in decision-making processes that impact lives, provides for people’s basic needs through just livelihoods, values and supports social reproduction and care work done primarily by women, and protects and preserves the air, water, land, and energy sources that are necessary to sustain life.

The Economy of Life embodies God’s vision of koinonia, where healthy communities flourish in peace and harmony with one another and with God’s creation (Acts 2:42-47). In today’s world, we do not see God’s vision of koinonia. In the midst of the poverty, suffering, oppression, economic exploitation, and abuse of power that shape life for the majority of the world’s people, as well as the torture and increasing death of the Earth and all her beings, God weeps with us in our pain and vulnerability. The Economy of Life is where all creation glorifies God, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, so that all may reach fullness of life (John 10:10). It is therefore the foretaste of the reign of God, where we celebrate life in the midst of the ‘impossibility of life’ through our commitment to radical restructuring of the prevailing economic order. In the Economy of Life, power is shared as a system of checks and balances, and all people – regardless of class, gender, race, caste, sexual orientation and religion – have a voice and participate in decision-making at all levels.

Building the Economy of Life “An economy of life is not only possible, it is in the making, and justice lies at its foundation”. The enormous economic changes of recent years have highlighted problematic aspects and disturbing trends in our prevailing economic system. It will never be able to eradicate poverty nor safeguard God’s wondrous creation. The belief that God created human beings as part of a larger web of life and affirmed the goodness of the whole creation (Genesis 1) lies at the heart of biblical faith.

The whole community of living organisms that grows and flourishes is an expression of God’s will and works together to bring life from and give life to the land, to connect one generation to the next, and to sustain the abundance and diversity of God’s household (oikos). Economy in God’s household merges from God’s gracious offering of abundant life for all (John 10:10). Thus, we express our belief that the “creation’s life and God’s life are intertwined” (Commission on World Mission and Evangelism) and that God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).

God, the Master Economist!

Jesus Christ came so that “they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). To live abundantly one must first have access to the necessities of physical life, including food,

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drink, and shelter. Abundant life also requires a community – a place where an individual can find human love and concern.

In short, abundant life requires the effective functioning of the entire household. To follow Jesus and to preach the Good News is to be concerned with all aspects of our community life together, spiritual, physical and interpersonal. Throughout the Bible, God manifests a deep concern for economic justice and economic well – being among God’s people. The theologian Douglas Meeks argues that one of God’s primary roles in the Bible is to be an Economist. God the Economist acts in history to assure that the household of God’s people is a just household, where all have the resources necessary for life. A clear message that God is not only concerned with the spiritual life of God’s followers, but that God also cares deeply about their economic life. Both individual economic decisions as well as the economic structures of the church and the government are subject to God’s judgment and God’s demands.

In building the Economy of Life, we must learn deeply from the perspectives, experiences and spiritualties of those who dwell in the margins and with whom Jesus Christ identified (Matthew 25:40) women, indigenous peoples, adivasis, migrants, people of colour, refugees, dalits, and others. The ‘manna economy’ or ‘enough’ teaches us to limit our consumption because all we accumulate will evaporate and decay, no matter how rigidly we grasp it. The Economy of Life is founded on just relationship between peoples, recognizing common vulnerabilities between peoples, and accompanying struggles of people in different parts of the world. It is relational economy.

In this context, human wellbeing is measured in terms of continually increasing material prosperity, ‘progress’ is economic growth and when economic growth slows or stops, human progress is said to be halted. Ecological wellbeing is not a factor other than those earth’s resources, extracted, exercised, processed and refined, are essential for economic growth. Over the last decade of the 20 century and the first decade of the 21 century, we have had to come to terms with the knowledge that this current global economic agenda, what is often referred to as neo-liberal/neo-classical or (radical) free-market economics is failing to achieve prosperity for all, is causing violence and destruction to people and the planet an is entirely unsustainable in its current form. th

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Our present stark global reality is so fraught with death and destruction that we will not have a future to speak of unless the prevailing development paradigm is radically transformed and justice and sustainability become the driving force for the economy, society and the Earth. Market fundamentalism is more than an economic paradigm: it is a social and moral philosophy. During the last thirty years, market faith based on unbridled competition and expressed by calculating and monetizing all aspects of life has overwhelmed and determined the direction of our systems of knowledge, science, technology, public opinion, media and even education. This dominating approach has funnelled wealth primarily toward those who are already rich and allowed humans to plunder resources of the natural world far beyond its limits to increase their own wealth.

The neoliberal paradigm lacks the self-regulating mechanisms to deal with the chaos it creates with far-reaching impacts, especially for the impoverished and marginalized.

We must cultivate the moral courage necessary to witness to a spirituality of justice and sustainability, and build a prophetic movement for an Economy of Life for all. This entails mobilizing people and communities, providing the required resources (funds, time and capacities), and developing more cohesive and coordinated programmes geared toward transforming economic systems, production, distribution, and consumption patterns, cultures ad values. We must challenge ourselves and overcome structures and cultures of domination and self-destruction that are rending the social and ecological fabric of life. Transformation must be guided by the mission to heal and renew the whole creation.

An Alternative Paradigm

Economic Growth vs. Real Growth Since the beginning of history, humans have pursued wealth and the power it affords, but it is only relatively recently that, as John Cobb writes, the world itself has become ‘organized around the service of “Mammon”, that is, wealth’. The pursuit of ever-increasing wealth has driven the development of the systems and structures, which now define the way our world works. These systems and structures are financial, geared to the making of profit, and they are global. They assume that eventually everyone will get a share of the wealth: as long as the systems of production and consumption are not limited, eventually the money will ‘trickle down’ and those who are now poor will one day be rich too.

As a Church it is incumbent upon us to explore what might be the alternative to Christian understandings of the meaning of ‘progress’ and ‘wellbeing’ and how these understanding might shape the way we live as people in community connected with the planet. How could the dominant cultural values of acquisitiveness and greed, materialism, competition, consumerism and individualism be challenged by Christian values such as justice, peace, compassion, community, hospitality, generosity, truth and grace? This statement offers a Christian perspective on human and ecological wellbeing. It offers some principles for an alternative economic vision to help us transform the world: principles which arise from an economy of life grounded in the love of God for the good creation and the vision and hope for the flourishing and reconciliation of all creation with the Creator and source of life.

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What all Economics about?

Growth as it is measured by ever-increasing wealth and profits are actually not human progress in a sense that reflects the creative flourishing of human beings, but simply ‘greed’. It is time to reconsider growth if we are to ensure the planet’s survival for future generations. We must reconsider growth also as we recognize and accommodate the inherently cyclical nature of economies. Above all we must reimagine and redefine our success, our progress, as societies and nations according to how well we support what is necessary for the flourishing of all people, including: Financial security for a reasonable standard of living, decent and meaningful work education, healthcare, secure housing, appropriate social services, “opportunities for cultural, technological….. social and spiritual development”, the right to “participate in decision-making in the community” and vibrant, safe and inclusive communities.

Understanding that economies are vital, living, human made, and shaped by our ethical choices can help to improve our decisions-both individually and as a society.

Christian, believing that God is love, that it was out of love that God gave birth to the world, that all that is necessary for life to flourish is provided by the Creator and that God’s will is for the flourishing and reconciliation of all creation, live life out of genuine hope, believing that transformation is possible. This is not a wild or shallow optimism that is satisfied to rest on the idea that all will be OK in the end, but a commitment to engage as active participants in the reconciliation of the world with God. Economics is specifically concerned with a particular aspect of household management: the distribution of the physical resources of the household. It is not enough for Christians to define economics in a morally neutral way as “the allocation of scarce resources”. Our faith gives us a moral context out of which we are called to affirm a stronger positive statement.

As Christians, we are called to provide life to all within our household. Thus, for the Christian economics can be defined as the management of God’s household so that all may have life.

What is economics, anyway? ‘It provides a user-friendly explanation in simple, clear prose, of the science and morality of economics. These seem to be neatly separated into descriptive and prescriptive (normative) economics, facts and values. Those educated in the humanities or with a Reformed theological view may consider that nothing is value neutral and will find the distinction too neat and simple, but they will not find an economist for whom morality does not matter ‘Beyond Economics’ begins by arguing that while there’s nothing wrong with affluence, there’s more to the abundant and truly happy life. The discussion on how economists these days tend to pontificate, and how they ‘find themselves cast in the role of high priests’ is of interest. The idea the public has of economics as a ‘science’ and of economists as people who always recommend good policy gives economists enormous power.

Because an economist says it, it’s almost unchallengeable. The fact that anything an economist says is based on a series of assumptions, some of which might be unverifiable, gets forgotten.

An economic system, however, is just that-a system. The word ‘economics’ comes from the Greek oikos meaning

‘house’ and nomos meaning ‘to manage’. The economy is, therefore, literally about how the household is managed. It is a construct developed to serve the needs of people in the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services and inherently value-laden, as its design will depend on the choices made about the priorities and management of those human needs.

Our ‘progress’ measured not in monetary terms but as human and ecological wellbeing, including how well we achieve the building of just, peaceful and sustainable societies where individuals are secure in their lives, free from fear, violence and persecution, and able to participate in a meaningful way in their community and society. The question of whether an alternative economic model, which decentralizes the “too big to fail” economies, and returns to localized economies is viable was an important part of the conversation. In such a model, strategies such as micro lending were lifted up as a potential pathway to achieve sustainable economic justice.

The deregulation of markets in the last three decades has allowed the build-up of a system, which promotes insatiable consumption of human, and natural resources and thus evergrowing economic and social imbalances.

The realization of an Economy of life will entail a range of strategies and methodologies, including, but not limited to: critical self-reflection and radical spiritual renewal; rightsbased approaches; the creation and multiplication of space for the voices of the marginalized to be heard in as many arenas as possible; open churches, civil society and state actors, and among various disciplines and world faiths to build synergies for resistance to structures and cultures that deny life in dignity for many; taxation justice; and the organization of a broad platform for common witness and advocacy. It will be a space to develop joint campaigns and advocacy activities at the national, regional and global levels with a view to enabling policy and systemic changes leading to poverty eradication and wealth redistribution; ecologically-respectful production, consumption and distribution; and to develop healthy, equitable, post-fossil fuel and peace-loving societies.

Personal economic experiences provide insight into the problems and promises of our economic system and give individuals the authority to speak about their economic concerns. There is knowledge and authority shared by all of us who are daily participants in this economy, working, buying, and budgeting. We can validly criticize or praise this economic system as it affects our lives. Those who have experienced economic pain or economic injustice have authority to speak about their suffering. The church and its members need to claim this authority as they address economic issues.

The economic way of looking at life is through the economic approach to analyse social issues that range beyond those usually considered by economists. Unlike Marxian analysis, the economic approach does not assume that individuals are motivated solely by selfishness or gain. The analysis assumes that individuals maximize welfare as they conceive it, whether they are selfish, altruistic, loyal, spiteful, or masochistic. Their behaviour is forward-looking, and it is also consistent over time, In particular, they try as best they can to anticipate the uncertain consequences of their actions. Forward-looking behaviour, however, may still be rooted in the past, for the past can exert a long shadow on attitudes and values.

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“Economic relations have something to say to us about how we see our humanity in the context of God’s action. A household is somewhere where life is lived in common; and housekeeping is guaranteeing that this common life has some stability about it that allows the members of the household to grow and flourish and act in useful ways.

A working household is an environment in which vulnerable people are nurtured and allowed to grow up (children) or wind down (the elderly); it is a background against which active people can go out to labour in various ways to reinforce the security of the household; it is a setting where leisure and creativity can find room in the general business of intensifying and strengthening the relationships that are involved. Good housekeeping seeks common wellbeing so that all these things can happen; and we should note that the one thing required in a background of wellbeing is stability. “Housekeeping theory” is about how we use our intelligence to balance the needs of those involved wand to secure trust between them (Rowan Williams).

Role of Economists Today Economic ideas and ideologies have been instrumental in influencing the course of the history of humankind from time immemorial. Economic practices appeared in real life long before any theory about them existed. Economists describe the commercial and material relationship between man and man, man and nature and man and society”. There are many disputes among economists, too but not about the fundamental principles of the science. They disagree on how to apply the principles, on what policies should be adopted in particular circumstances and on judgements about the importance of various factors in particular situations.

As a Christian economist, I see my calling as helping to make this world an easier place to live in by releasing people from material want and deprivation. I also want human beings to flourish and express the goodness of God in the gifts he has given them. The role of the economist changes drastically when we introduce development agencies (the World Bank, IMF, etc.) whose goal is to influence the operation of the market. Given the longer chains of reasoning needed to determine the impacts of various policies, the economist becomes even more important to the decision makers who take on an active role in intervening in the economic order. In this context, the economist becomes a “Saviour”. The economist as “Saviour” is overly ambitious regarding the effectiveness of his policy recommendations. What this means is that as government becomes increasingly interventionist it requires economists to act as “Saviours” in order to provide recommendations as to how the government should intervene.

Without active policy recommendations from saviour minded economists, the government cannot effectively act as “Player”. In other worlds, when the government assumes the role of “player”, there is a strong incentive to employ economists provide recommendations for social and economic intervention and control to correct social ills. The most important realization is that the economist is not a saviour. He cannot recommend a formula that can be simply imposed via government intervention that guarantees economic growth. The economist plays an important role in shaping public opinion and ideology, which is critical in achieving long-lasting institutional and social change.

Economists are only a section of a battalion that is to conquer the poverty. Without production, engineering, entrepreneurs, farmers, competent and honest administrators, whatever economists say will just evaporate into thin air. We must be organized for success.

Economics is for life…. But not for all of Life!

The truth is that many of us do our level best to worship God and Mammon simultaneously, and see no reason why we should choose between them. But the moment our use of money is dictated by something other than our response to the two-fold command to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves, we give way to that idolatry against which the Bible constantly warns us.

The simple life-style has sometimes been confused with that austerity which the dictionary defines as ‘harsh, stern, and stringently moral’. The simplicity, which lies at the heart of the Christian life, is far removed from that. It does not deny the enjoyment, which can come from good food and drink and pleasant company.

But it knows that we must not be ruled by these things. They are servants, which all too easily can become dictators. And over-indulgence nearly always leads to under-enjoyment. The call to a simpler life-style is not only a response to pressing needs of an unequal and unjust world. It is a summons to reconsider our priorities and to sit loose to the things, which can so easily enslave us. The life of a disciplined simplicity is a life of freedom and enjoyment, in which a man is enabled to become more sensitive and alert to the claims of God and his neighbour upon his time, wealth, and talents, and in so doing discover anew what it is to be truly human himself (Edward Patey).

Modern economy is propelled by a frenzy of greed and indulges in an orgy of envy and these are no accidental features but the very causes of its expansionist success. If human vices, such as, greed and envy are systematically cultivated, the inevitable result is nothing but upholding the theory of “ends justify the means”. The Bible enjoins a healthy materialism, but not a materialism, which puts things on the throne of God. It acknowledges God as the creator of all and men as his steward. The Christian life has implications for the believer’s attitude towards wealth and poverty. It is not surprising, then, that economic matters are prominent in the teachings of the Bible and the social ethics of the Christian church. An economist is not Messiah, but like John, the Baptist, he will prepare the way, by pointing out bad as well as good, for better standards of living for vast majority of people.

Both theologians and economists always look beyond themselves envisioning a better life.

Editor’s Note: Dr. P. Jegadish Gandhi is the founder chairman of Vellore Institute of Development Studies (VIDS) and also the secretary of the Association of Christian Institutes for Social Concern in Asia (ACISCA). He is a prolific writer and speaker especially on Biblical subjects and Human Rights issues.

He can be contacted at his e-mail address: jegagandhi@gmail.com or by phone: 011-91 98940 51256

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Biblical Quest for Kingdom Values: In the Foot Steps of the Good Shepherd Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” V.16: have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice,…….”

Modeling Christ on Us: I would like to reflect on the text I have read from the 10th chapter of John. The imagery of a pastor as shepherd may seem to be obsolete in an age of ultramodern concepts and ideologies. Modeling ourselves on Christ rather than modeling Christ on us is most appealing to the human mind.

The good shepherd is the one who has been raised from the dead. It is our faith that the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead is always available for us to initiate the ministry of Jesus in history with the power of the Holy Spirit. In the gospel accounts of Jesus’s resurrection we find Jesus as the one who communicates with two strangers on their way to Emmaus. (Lk.24). The story reaches its climax when the guest becomes host for the group. As theological educators and pastors we have to ask again and again whether we are “in the company of Jesus, the Galilean/Jesus of Nazareth (Matt.26: 69-71) who qualified himself as a good shepherd. All the disciples of Jesus had enjoyed the freedom to fail him. So we read in St. Matthew 26:56.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled”. The communicating Shepherd”-I have come that you may have life, have it abundantly(Jn.10):10) is also the confronting Christ. He confronts the thieves, wolves and the robbers who come to steal, to kill and to destroy. “The confrontation is meant to restore or reinstitute the deserted ones. As we read in Lk.19:10,”the son of man came to seek and to save the lost” The lost ones are not the perished ones. They are the misplaced or the displaced ones. They are very often called ‘useless ones’. Really speaking they are “used-less ones”. Our care for the marginalized or the lost ones makes us great. Greatness is not taught in the seminary as a subject. In the Seminary, one’s attitude to life and to the least is being formed. I am indeed happy that the Senate has introduced Dalit and Tribal studies as a compulsory course in the B.D. curriculum. The confronting shepherd after his resurrection has commissioned his disciples “to make disciples of all nations”. I wonder very much whether the text speaks of converting one from one religion to another or from one denomination to another! It only speaks of the priorities in discipleship the boundary of the gospel is not between

religion and religion. The boundary is between life and death, righteousness and unrighteous love and hatred.

When we pray God, in your mercy, transform the world (Theme of the 9th assembly of the WCC), there is always an urge in us to transcend the boundaries of religion and geography. The care of the pastor should not be confined to the boundary of his or her church. The Great commission in Matt.28: 19 have to be studied afresh in the context of “following Jesus”. The Greek word for “making disciples” in its verbal form (matheteusate) has a sense of discipling people to live in the liberative praxis.

The rod and the staff in the hand of the shepherd as in Ps. 23: 4 are meant for disciplining as well for protecting and guiding the flock of God. The phrase “making disciples of all nations” may mean a call to change situations of bondage powers and principalities. In the life style of Jesus the good shepherd, there is always an element of dissent voice for a counter culture.” In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” (George Orwell). Martin Luther King has rightly cautioned us, “The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die”. In the Christ centered koinonia, there is always space for the celebration of love. As shepherds, glory of love and justice and truth has to be demonstrated in relationships and they have to simplify their lives and to integrate their knowledge with love and compassion.

The Other Belongs to You and Me: Christ in relation to all people is too accepted as the mission paradigm for evangelization. “Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking out in the same direction.” (A De Saint Expiry) The Kingdom of God belongs to those who care, love and share. As theological educators, there is a moral responsibility to break down all forms of enmity, including religious and cultural

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barriers in the process of realizing the one new humanity for all, which God has given to all in Christ. “To walk alone is egotism; to walk with others is solidarity; but to walk for others is spiritual nobility.” A few years ago, someone asked Metropolitan Chrysostom of the Mar Thoma Church: “Your Grace, the Syrian Christian Community to which you proudly belong to is not even capable of producing a heretic down through the centuries”. To this question, the Metropolitan replied with a sense of humor.” The Syrian Christians have owned Jesus Christ as the savior of their own community and monopolized God and Christ as their paternal property”!

This is the biggest heresy!” The crusading spirit of mission has led the people to seek only the answers without raising authentic questions of life. True Jesus Christ is the “yes “of God’ (2 Cor.1: 19). But what are the questions for which he is the answer. In age of convergence,” the other “also belongs to Christ, the great temptation of the disciples of Jesus is to remain on “this side of the lake/river” without taking risk to go to the other side (”Let us go across to the other side” (Mk.6: 35) is the missionary style of Jesus. There are people who fill up the suffering of Christ in a different way. (Col.1: 24).”Jesus said, “He who is not against us is with us” (Lk.9: 50). The logical necessity to think and to pray for the other is beautifully illustrated in a prayer of the WCC as, “Almighty God as your son, our savior was born of a Hebrew mother (Lk.1: 26-38), but rejoiced in the faith of a Roman soldier (Matt.8: 5-10), welcomed Greeks who sought him (Jn.12: 20-26) and suffered a man from Africa to carry his cross (Mk.15: 21). So teach us to regard the members of all races as fellow heirs of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, our Lord.” In the ministry of Jesus, there is a call to integrate the East and the West, the North and the South, the rich and the poor, the Jew and the Greek, the Dalit and the Brahmin. The first item in the common minimum program of the UPA government is worth recalling: “To preserve, protect and promote social harmony and to enforce the law without fear or favor to deal with all obscurantist and fundamentalist elements who seek to disturb social amity and peace”. This indeed provides a platform for the Church to pursue the gospel mandate for justice and peace. This happens only through a holistic understanding of Christian ministry as portrayed in the Lord’s Prayer... If God is addressed as “Our Father”, the disciples of Jesus cannot exclude other people. The reference to “earth” and “kingdom” makes the prayer ecological and ecumenical at the same time.

The other could be the “ones outside the gate” (Hebrews: 13:12) .The ones outside the gate have been identified as the ones integrally related to the Mother Earth. They are “the least”, “the lost” and “the last. “They are the Dalit’s (to the land), the Tribals (to the forests) and the fisher folks (to the sea). Tsunamis in the South and the South East Asian countries have provided ample opportunities for all people to break the boundaries of caste and creed.

“Temple, mosque and church have disappeared for a while. In times of disaster and crisis, people act as

“angels of heaven on earth”. As birds of the same nest, they acted as channels of grace and agents of change.

There is readiness to wear the tags of social amity. No doubt, the roaring of the Sea brings forth mercy and compassion. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

There is meaning in each curve and line we see in nature.

Social amity is possible only if people relate themselves to one another by touching at the bleeding point in sharing food and forgiving one another. The Church, being the people of God, is called upon to minister to the peoples of God.

Pastor and Lay People are Enablers: The shepherd goes before the sheep. An enabler is more than a leader. In him there is a combination of strategy and character. He participates in the work of God not as collies of God but co-workers with God. Mission is participating in God’s mission for the whole creation (Mk.16: 15-17). There is no idea of God’s participation with us. (See 1 Cor 3:9-Tou theou sunergoi)-Robing Peter and paying Paul is alien to the philosophy of the good shepherd. As one who inherits the legacy of Jesus, the pastor is called upon to follow him and to “unload (or hurling) on Him all his cares (1 Peter 5:7) in his/her earthly journey.

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In the Gospel according to Mark chapter 1, there are two models of discipleship. The first one is the model of Simon & Andrews. - Casting a net into the sea-. They were men of action- the second one is the model of James and John. -Mending the nest-. They were engaged in the ministry of restoration. Pastor, as good shepherd has to manifest wide range of skills: to act as a psychologist, social worker, hospital chaplain, an administrator, supervisor, philosopher, communicator Etc. He is to be known as a practitioner of several arts!

Like Jeremiah, he has to sit with the people where they sit, like Nehemiah, he has to entertain an unrest for the unfinished task, like Andrew, he has to search the resources of the crowd. Like Paul, he has to become “all things to all people”.

Accommodation and flexibility are hallmarks of the religious. He has to show readiness to risk Christ for Christ’s sake. He has to remember that confidence in ministry comes not from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong. Love and compassion alone matter in life Paul says, “I do not count my life of any value to myself” (Acts.20: 24) I did not shrink from doing anything helpful (Acts: 20:20) A pastor’s care for the flock whether inside or outside the fold is the measure of greatness Caring for the entire creation is for the preservation and enhancement of God’s gift of life. In this context, we need to think of training eco-priests and prophets in the Church.

Voice of Dissent: In a consumerist society, you and I are addressed as a customer. Quite often the letter of communication lends with the cordial greeting “yours temptingly! The prime intention is to make market friendly people. What is desirable is to make people friendly markets! You and I are tempted to drive always on the Fast Lane culture of competition. We are tempted to follow the philosophy of the Thieves, Robbers and hirelings in Jn.10.They ask the question which the robbers in the parable of the Good Samaritan had practiced: “What is mine is mine and what is yours is also mine” (Geevarghese Mar Osthathios). The thieves and robbers represent the forces of disintegration. They symbolize destructive possibilities. They speak the language of terror, which cuts across the very roots of human rights, freedom and sustainable development. The exploitative (for personal gain either for self or for companies), the manipulative (to enjoy the fruit of others labor without sweat) and competitive (against one another) seem to be philosophy of postmodern consumer giants. Food; Music and Movie (K.M. George) have been uncritically eulogized for the survival of humanity. In a consumer society, all our needs are made wants. Consumerism is described as “with the money we don’t have, we buy things we don’t need, to impress people whom we do not like” (The Week). F In our fight against with the wolves and robbers, as the

prophet Zachariah puts it, we need to remember that we succeed not by military might, or by our own strength but by his spirit. (4:6)” Pastoral Challenges: In a globalized world, the challenge is to stand on the side of the cross which means to get involved in the struggle of the people to be human-The birth of Jesus in a migrant family compels us to see our civilization through the eyes of the weak and the vulnerable. The agony of the internally displaced persons all over the world and the struggle of the indigenous people for their selfdetermination and right to land, language and culture are stories of oppression in the world today which provide the context for the text of Christian ministry .The question of safeguarding human rights of all people is integral to the ministry of the Church. In this context, the right to know and the right to interfere have become crucial concerns of the world community. In the person of Jesus, the good shepherd, there is a divine compulsion to discern the signs of the times.

Affirmation of life for all- to have the quality of life- is not an option in Christian ministry. The pastoral ministry assumes tremendous significance, as it has to protect the weak and the marginalized. In his Republic Day message (2000), the late president K.R. Narayan warned us against ignoring the poor in a liberalized and globalized economy.

He said, “Beware of the fury of the present and long – suffering people. He exhorted the nation to make “safe pedestrian crossings for the underpowered India on our three-way fast lane of liberalization, privatization and globalization.” In the footsteps of Jesus, there is a call to carry the dying of Jesus in our body. Kenosis and necrosis must go hand in hand. Life through death ought to be the true pastoral style of living. Let our love abound more and more” (Phil.1: 9). Our lives are to be like rivers and springs nor reservoirs or cisterns.

Editor’s Notre: Rev. Dr. M.J. Joseph, M.Th., D. Th, is the former Director of the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore. He has also served as Professor and Principal, Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam, India.

As a former member, Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, he is widely known for his ecumenical and ecological contributions. He has served as Secretary Board of Theological Education, Senate of Serampore College (University). He currently serves as Convener, Ecological Commission, of the Mar Thoma Church. Dr. Joseph has also authored several articles, poems and books available both in English and Malayalam languages.

E-Mail: drmjjoseph_65@yahoo.co.in

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The Kingdom Values and its Relevance Today Dr. Zac Varghese, London, UK As ‘the kingdom of God’ is everlasting, its values are ever living too. From this perspective we need to admit with total humility and gratitude that values of this kingdom is every bit relevant to us today as it was when it was declared during Jesus’ Galilean ministry. However, the kingdom of God is an ‘already–but–not yet’ reality.

Present realties do not match with our expectation for a New Jerusalem–a city without a Temple, a new creation, as we read in Revelation; however, we have a certain hope in Christ that it is a glorious future waiting for all people of faith. It is a future of heaven and earth coming together. The kingdom expectations are ‘fulfilled without consummation.’ The theology behind this is often confusing with the emphasis on the prosperity gospel of ‘naming and claiming.’

One of the ways of understanding the kingdom of God is by seeing it as God’s way of putting the world right with His salvation plan or rescue mission for the human race.

Our self-centered rebellion separated us from God. Our attempt to ‘go it alone’ has been a cataclysmic blunder because instead of gaining freedom we have found ourselves enslaved to evil and utter selfishness. Although God could have just crushed this rebellion by force, he didn’t. Instead, he launched an alternate strategy of unconditional love, a long and costly process of trying to bring the human race back to Him. He inaugurated His kingdom by paying a very costly price and therefore, this kingdom is a very valuable and priceless as illustrated in the parable of the hidden treasure (Mt 13: 44-46); it has its own unique value system and it is the gold standard on which other worldviews are compared.

Much of Jesus’ teaching applies to the kingdom, and it is very much relevant to us now. As the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13: 31-32) taught, the kingdom is at present hidden and easy to overlook. But it is, in fact, a powerful and active force for change in all situations of life. Like yeast in dough, it works slowly and silently. In spite of its apparent insignificance, the kingdom is unstoppable because it is God’s work. Unlike some of the Old Testament and other forgotten worldly kingdoms, the kingdom of God knows neither geographic boundaries nor ethnic or racial restrictions; its extent is universal and people from all nations have an invitation to become citizens of this kingdom. Jesus is at the heart of the kingdom. Today, as in the past, people will only enter the kingdom through Jesus, because He is the way to the kingdom, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14: 6).

The gospels make it clear that nothing is more important than belonging to the kingdom. The kingdom is so

valuable that no expense or sacrifice is too great to enter it. One of Jesus’ sayings sums up the importance of the kingdom: ‘And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?’ (Mark 8:36).

Kingdom is a gift; it is under the grace and favor of our Lord. Jesus says to his disciples: ‘It gives your Father great happiness to give you the kingdom.’ But to gain this kingdom requires humility and self-emptying. The parable of the pearl of great value does not just teach that the kingdom is valuable; it teaches that we have to act to get into it (Matthew 13: 45, 46). Jesus talked about the kingdom as having a narrow gate that needs to be walked through.

The basis of the entry to this kingdom is to have complete trust in Jesus. Yet because being in the kingdom is to be under the rule of the king, two other conditions exist. The first is repentance. Jesus says, ‘Turn from your sins and believe this Good News!’ To repent is to reject anything that will get in the way of the kingdom. The second is commitment. To enter the kingdom also involves taking Jesus as the one and only king of our lives. ‘God, not man, is the king’, said Oliver Cromwell. This may sound like giving up our freedom, but there is freedom in the kingdom to become the children of God. Jesus greatly valued the innocence of children, their purity and trust, for Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3). This kingdom is within us and the kingdom values should become our values too. Under that circumstance our identity becomes defined by the kingdom values. We cannot just have a detached attachment to it. We are a people of multiple identities and we have an identity crisis and confusion causing violence for creating forcefully certain religious and cultural identities by destroying others. But our

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Kingdom-based identity in Christ should be foundation of all our identities. Oscar Wilde claimed 'most people are other people.' We thrive on otherness of the other and lose our concern inclusiveness and humanity.

the that the for

Kingdom values are stated in a passage in Matthew’s Gospel that has become known as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Some thought of it as impossible ethics, but others have found in it the finest statement of the highest morality that mankind has known. The ways of looking at the Sermon on the Mount have been conditioned by cultural environment. Archbishop Blanch wrote: “It means one thing to a well-endowed capitalist society; it means something rather different to a poorer member of a third world country.” Jesus preached the gospel of His kingdom not only during His Galilean ministry, but also after His resurrection, right up to the day of His ascension (Acts 1: 3-10). Therefore, it is quiet important for us to think about its relevance for us today in our cultural context.

throne in favor of Jesus as the indwelling king of the kingdom within us. Jesus also broadened the law. He summarized the values of the kingdom like this: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and your entire mind.” This is the first commandment. The second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In answer to the question: who is your neighbor? Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. What is the relevance of this parable today?

Bias for the poor is the only option for Christians today.

What is needed today is a greater commitment for establishing kingdom values and Christian social teaching. Thanks to Pope Francis, Holy Father is giving us meaningful leadership for this through his simple lifestyle. Option for the poor is implicit in our faith in a God who emptied himself for us to enrich us with His ‘costly grace.’ As each person is created in the image of God, respecting the inherent dignity of being a human is fundamental to our standing before a just and loving God. Therefore, it is important to ensure that everyone has an equal moral and legal standing, and distributive justice is available to everyone. The present refugee crisis is a challenge for all of us to revoke kingdom values. The issues of fairness in a world of unjust inequalities based on class, incomes, economics, culture, religion, ethnicity and politics demand a fuller understanding of the kingdom values.

God gives His people the gift of Holy Spirit to help them live out the life in the kingdom in all its abundance. In John’s Gospel we read about abiding in him: ‘for a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.’ The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to be a helper who will allow us to be connected in this ‘fruitful’ way to Jesus through grace.

Receiving the Spirit, following His guidance, and living under His empowering grace enable us to live the sort of lives that God wants us to live today. Therefore, kingdom values (poverty in spirit, meekness, righteousness, kindness, purity of heart, peace-making) are the results of the faith in a living God. These are similar to the fruit of the spirit expressed by Paul in his letter to Galatians (Galatians 5: 22-23).

Religions relied on sacraments and external symbolic actions in the ancient times or following the letter of the law, but Jesus brought motives and desires under God’s concern. The tabernacle worship described at length in great detail in the Old Testament (Exodus and Leviticus) was very restricting, prescriptive and legalistic; today, thanks to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, we are able to worship God and enter his presence whenever we want to through our prayers. For Jesus, religious purity was no longer about external actions of wearing religious masks; it was about internal attitudes. We must abdicate our

The values that Jesus described as being appropriate to the kingdom surprised and astounded His audience of the time. It has not lost its importance in any way for us today as they are eternal values, but we need to look at in the context of ‘Human Rights’ and human dignity.

Justice VK Krishna Iyer’s comment in the Hindu Newspaper on 24th Dec 2008, under the title ‘Remembering a Glorious Rebel,’ is worth remembering: “Was not the kingdom of God that Jesus held up but the forerunner to socialism, social justice, secularism and democracy? He was a raging egalitarian and an invisible socialist and an economic democrat.”

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Book Review: Legacy of a Patriot

Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian Polity in Perspective Edited by Prof. Dr. P. J. Alexander, Published by T. M. Varghese Foundation, Trivandrum, Kerala, 2015; 481 pages; Price: Rupees 1100.00 Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam Let me begin with an often-quoted proverbial saying of Bernard Shaw.” Life levels all men; death reveals the eminent”. Truly in his physical presence on earth (Nov.14, 1889 – May 27,1964) and after his spiritual enthronement, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the Independent India remains an unforgettable Colossus of Indian polity. None could erase his footprints on the sands of time because of the indelible marks he had left on India’s development scenario. He is remembered for what he did as a political visionary. The book published under T .M. Varghese Foundation has done a yeoman service to the socio-political annuals of India by switching the lights for India’s renaissance. Shri. T. M. Varghese “being an outstanding Patriot and Humanist” and one of the tallest leaders of the Freedom Struggle, will certainly rejoice over the rereading of the political history of the country through the legacy of a noble soul like Nehru. The bold initiative under the leadership of its editor, Prof. Dr. P. J. Alexander and a spectrum of high ranking people through their 23 Papers compiled in the book (481-pages) evoke the sparks of wisdom and wit in the 125 the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru. The logic behind the volume has been well stated by the editor as: “On this occasion, the 125 Birth Anniversary of this eminent son of India, we at the T. M. Varghese Foundation thought of asking some very outstanding people who do not sing paeans on Nehru or attempt to devalue his contributions or assets generated by him, to write on some aspect of Jawaharlal Nehru and his legacy which they considered important”(p.xii). The vigor of their enthusiasm manifested through their individual penning ability of the Nehruvian era will certainly illumine the readers. The editorial guild has brought out its genius by incorporating a section under the title, “In His Own words.” This is a collection of well known speeches of Nehru made in the Parliament and other places which are worth recalling. (Pages 437-449) The section under the title “-Last Will and Testament”(456-461) contains several streams of thought springing from the hearts of the great leader. He wrote, “I have received so much love and affection from the Indian People that nothing that I can do repay even a small, fraction of it, and indeed there can be no repayment of so precious a thing as affection”. Jawaharlal Nehru is well known as a secularist who has revealed the religiosity of a humanist for nation building. Contrary to the Greek proverb, mega billion, mega kakon (A big book is a big bore), this book has a charm of its own even though the book is bulky in its size. th

Let me look, first of all, at the book content- wise. After a brief sketch of the objectives of T. M. Varghese Foundation by its Director, an attempt has been made to brief the political life of T. M. Varghese by attributing sterling qualities of a statesman who invoked others with the question: “How to make sacrifices for the country’s freedom”? In his memorial essay, B. Vivekanandan writes, “He (TMV) was large hearted,.. A man of absolute integrity, a magnetic personality, a brilliant speaker, filled with hilarious humor, peace-loving and soft spoken…” (p. xxvii). The

writer is at pains to say that TMV had found a worthy idol in Jawaharlal Nehru. Thus the all India ranking of the book adds its prestige remarkably.

India is indeed proud of a political icon with a multifaceted personality. The versatile character of an individual creates ripples for social renaissance in a pluralist country like ours. The being of the leader is as important as his leadership style. As a secularist, as Justice K. T. Thomas observes, he had been obsessed with the question as “how to create a secular nation in a religion saturated society”(p.34). In his essay, Prof. Cyriac Thomas, under the title “A Leader with a difference” pays glowing tributes to Nehru when he wrote, “… a knowledgeable person, who could effortlessly touch upon any topic under the Sun-history, geography, literature, poetry, economics or planning, religion or philosophy, paintings or culture”(p.41). All the contributors to the volume pay their memorial tributes with one voice under the banner that he was an “inspiring leader as a writer, Nehru was more than a historian (T. P. Sankaranku Nair).

As the Architect of modern Science and Technology, he laid the foundation for programs in Nuclear energy, defense research, space research, agriculture and industry. In this respect, Nehru was a pioneer par excellence. The articles by Jacob George, Mary George, and several others bear testimony to it. All the essays have their own individual merits. The last 3 essays (21, 22, and 23) give us a critical evaluation of Nehru’s legacy and they form a class of its own.

Rajan Gurukal’s article under the title “A Gandhian Critique of Jawaharlal Nehru” (Pp.379-396) is significant as it speaks of the pluralist character of the nation. Nehru and Gandhi epitomize the unity and diversity in the country. The editor has rightly inserted a photograph of them in the book where both of them speak in silence. To quote Rajan Gurukal, “It is relatively easy to identify the contrasts between the strategies each evolved towards overcoming the economic, social and political issues of the nation in the making. At the same it is hard to do an easy on the instances of Gandhi publicly criticizing Nehru, for history hardly provides any concrete evidence of it. In fact, Gandhi was largely silent about his criticisms of Nehru.”(pp.379-380). It is indeed remarkable that Nehru had great admiration for Gandhi, which he had expressed in his funeral tribute: “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere” (p.439).

Both of them had celebrated the “many legitimate diversities” as we find in their lives. In his article, “Rising Challenges to Nehru’s Legacy “Varghese George (pp.397-406) speaks of the political manifesto of government today; he writes: “Nehru’s legacy is facing challenges at the conceptual level and in the daily conduct and style of India’s current leadership” (p.399). The author has a point to make when he says that the nation has to move with the times. The dissenters of Nehruvian political strategy “accuse Nehru of being naïve, romantic, idiotic and what not”. (p.405). The essay under the title, “Rethinking

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Nehru”, Uday Balakrishnan (pp.407-434) begins with a lament.

“The 125 birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru in 2014 was the saddest in living memory. Downplayed by the government without even the issue of the usual children’s day postage stamp, and trivialized by the Congress party, Nehru has seemingly fallen off the shelf for the first time since Independence. (pp.407-408). The writer concedes that there is a growing ignorance of Nehru and His times in the present.

“Getting to know Nehru” requires a political will with lots of generosity. As a reviewer, my attempt is only to create an interest in the book and to give a respectful homage to the national leader who had bequeathed to us the noble ideals of sathyam, sivam and sundram for the transformation of the nation at the grass roots level. The initiative of T. M. Varghese Foundation under the directorship of Prof. Dr. P. J. Alexander is laudable. The editor’s earlier mega volumes, Society and Politics (Festschrift edited by T. P. Sankarankutty Nair, 1998) and Policing India in the New Millennium (edited by Dr. P. J. Alexander (2002) do really add luster to the political classics of a nations. A student of political history should possess all these three volumes as political and cultural treasures. There are so many labors of love in all these outstanding works. th

Obituary: Dr. Thomas Abraham, New Jersey, USA (1933 – 2016) Dr. Thomas Abraham (Kunju) who has died in Florida aged 83, on Wednesday, 18 May, 2016, was variously a prominent physician, philanthropist, one of the early builders of the Mar Thoma Church in North America, and the founding president of the Association of the Mar Thoma Physicians Dentists (APDM). th

Kunju was born in Kerala, India on February 23, 1933 to Mr. M.T. Abraham and Mariamma Abraham, he was raised in a deeply devout Mar Thoma Syrian Christian family. He attended Ashram Higher Secondary School in Perumbavoor, Kerala and completed his college education from Mysore University.

Afterwards, he achieved his MBBS degree from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India and later received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1984. He taught pathology at Bangalore Medical College, Bangalore, India. Kunju married Mariamma Mathai (Marykutty) in 1963 and moved to the United

Kingdom where he worked for the National Health Service for 11 years as an Orthopedic Surgeon. In 1973, they moved to New York City, where he completed a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the State University of New York, Downstate in Brooklyn, NY. He was Board Certified in his specialty and worked at Harlem Hospital Centre in NY, where he was also a faculty member of the Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. He also taught at City College of New York, NY. Dr. Thomas Abraham and his wife, Mr. Mariamma Thomas (Marykutty) were members for the very first Mar Thoma Congregation at the Indian YMCA, London, in the Sixties before they migrated to the United States. Dr. Abraham was also associated with the formation of the Mar Thoma Church Diocese of North America and Europe and was an active member of many of its committees and commissions. He represented the diocese in the Mandalam (House of Representatives) and the Mar Thoma Sabha Council (The executive Committee of the Mandalam). He was closely associated with the late Dr. Zacharias Mar Theophilus Suffragan Metropolitan and the development of Santhigiri Ashram and the medical clinic there. He also participated in the formation of the FOCUS movement for bringing together the Mar Thoma Diaspora across the world.

APDM was indeed his major interest for the last 25 years; it was inaugurated in the presence and with the blessings of Most Rev. Dr. Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan and the Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom Suffragan Metropolitan at a public gathering of physicians, dentists, medical students, interns, residents and their families in August, 1991. It was founded to foster Christian fellowship and to promote international medical and dental missionary work with the major focus on the special needs in India. Kunju is survived by his wife Dr. Mariamma Thomas, and their children Dr. Abraham Thomas, Mr. Mathew Thomas, and Miss Marina Thomas.

Kunju and Marykutty together were an amazing spiritual force in helping people whenever people needed help medically, socially and spiritually. They opened their home in New Jersey for people who arrived from Kerala for settlement in early years, and it was the first port of call for many people from Kerala.

They created an ideal Christian home. Kunju was a great conversationalist and storyteller; Marykutty prompted and encouraged him to tell stories; he had an amazing sense humor, his memory was phenomenal and he was good in recollecting many interesting incidents with wit and vigor. He often recited many humorous Malayalam lyrics to lighten up a gathering of friends and relations at their beautiful New Jersey home. He had that amazing innocence of childhood in his face, speech and movements; he also had the innocence of wisdom and the innocence of heavenly calmness and peace in all his interactions. Kunju understood the meaning of Matthew 6: 33 and followed it in his life: “Seek the kingdom of God first, and its righteousness and everything will be added to you. ”We will certainly miss this most sincere and innocent gentle giant. We offer our condolences to the family and friends–and thank God for Kunju’s life, friendship, and service. May his soul rest in peace and resurrect in God’s glory.

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The Reverse Logic for Growth: The Use of Uselessness

The Kingdom of God (A Poetic Reflection)

Dr. Zac Varghese, London, UK

Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam

China has a legend about the use of the uselessness; it is based on the assessment of Carpenter, Shih, about the biggest oak tree in China. It was a very tall and vast tree so that a thousand oxen could hide behind it. Shih said that the tree was useless for the following reason: “make a coffin it would rot quickly; make some furniture and it would fall into pieces; make a boat from it and it would sink; make a pillar and it would be worm-eaten. This mighty tree is useless and good for nothing. That is why it is so big and lived so long; no one would cut it because it is useless.”

The oak tree was very hurt at the above comments of Shih; the tree decided to have a quiet word with Shih and asked him, “What exactly are you comparing me with, with ornamental fruit trees, trees such as the hawthorn, pear trees, orange trees, citrus trees and other such fruit trees? Their fruits are plucked when they are ripe and the trees suffer. Because they are useful, they suffer, and they are unable to live out the years that Heaven has given them. They have only their usefulness to blame for the destruction and pain wrought by the people who exploit them. It is same with all things. I have spent long time studying the art of being useless and I have perfected the art of uselessness and this is very useful to me. If I had been of use, could I have grown so vast?”

The rich get richer at the expense of the poor because they do not use it up for the common good. When people eat lot of calories and do not use up energy, it becomes fat deposits on all parts of the body, and grow wider and heavier; for such people, obesity becomes a curse or even a sign of beauty and affluence; in old classical paintings fat people were presented as a thing of beauty and blessed, we see angels hovering around them. This useless deposit of fat has its benefit for some because obesity is a source of comfort and income generating opportunity for the healthcare industry complexes. We now have endless dietary advice and exercise programs.

Thus, the use of uselessness can be extended to many other areas of life including the institutionalized Church.

The Church was useful when it was lean and looking after the real needs of people, but because of uselessness of the functionaries of the institutionalized Church, it has become affluent and rich and lost its founding principles of a Eucharistic life of ‘taking, thanking, breaking and sharing.’ We aspire to live in ‘the corridors of power and not in the expanses of divine grace.’ The Oak Tree has a story to tell! It is good to be useful and become lean in the process.

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom Without hording earthly goods, Without frontiers, Without cultural invasion, Where diversities are reconciled, Without suppression or oppression of human rights, Where identities are preserved.

The Kingdom of God is Kingdom Where justice and peace kiss each other, Without marginalization of the weak Where faith, hope and love make their way Without any feeling of the raping Mother earth To the entry of the Eternal Without blocking the falling of dews from Hermon on Zion Without losing the appetite for righteousness in relationships.

Where the splendor of nations Of the world are brought with jubilation.

The Kingdom of God in our midst is Without weapons, Without domination, Without manipulation, Without exploitation, Without torture, Without hunger, Without discrimination, Without linguistic fanaticism.

The Kingdom of God is An eclipse of the Kingdom (heaven) on earth, To strive for them Through programs and projects Is the celebration of life.

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The Kingdom of Heaven: Character and Inestimable Value Prof. Plammoottil Cherian, M. Div., Ph. D., Buffalo Grove, IL Introduction The first Biblical occurrence of the word “kingdom” is in reference to the called out people, (chosen people if I may) as they were waiting to enter the Promised Land. When Israelites were in the valley of Mount Sinai, the Mosaic Covenant given to them stated, “Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me, above all people; for all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19: 5, 6). However, the expression “The Kingdom of Heaven” is a unique theme in the New Testament, which appears to have been built from the Old Testament references of the everlasting kingdom God will establish (Exod. 19: 6; Ps. 145: 11-13; Dan. 2: 44: Zech.14: 9).

Daniel in interpreting the dream of Nebuchadnezzar prophesied that “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2: 44). The entire Biblical theme is built on the concept of the everlasting Kingdom of God. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the character, significance and values of the Kingdom have been forcefully advanced. The disciples and the general populace, who embraced the theme of Jesus, however misinterpreted it strictly to be an exclusive Jewish political kingdom free from the Gentiles and the Roman subjugation. John the Baptist used the phrase for the first time as he preached in the wilderness of Judea saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

While Mathew uses the phrase, “The kingdom of God” (Matt.

12: 19: 24; 21: 21, 31, 43), Jesus used both the expressions “the kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of God” somewhat interchangeably (Matt. 4: 17; 19: 23, 24; Mark 10: 23).

further taught that kingdom of heaven is “redemption” or for those who are redeemed (Luke 21: 29-31). Hence the Gospels clearly link salvation, redemption and eternal life with the Kingdom of heaven in a futuristic sense. In its true meaning, the “kingdom of Heaven” refers to a theocentric kingdom on earth and in heaven (in a futuristic eternal sense). The Kingdom of heaven is where the rule of God prevails and God’s blessings avail to obedient people. (Matt. 28: 19, 20; Mark 16:15). In order to gain some knowledge of the kingdom of God we must analyse its character, nature, values and significance in relation to eternity from the entire Scriptures.

The Kingdom of God Now and in Future The present experience of, and the future coming of the kingdom of God (heaven) was the central message of Jesus.

When Jesus taught his followers to pray, the heart of the petition was “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), reminding us to do everything as it would be in the heavenly realms. The main concept is that, on earth we practice the principles of God’s kingdom, allowing God to guide us, discharging our duties on earth as subjects of the kingdom of God. It is for this purpose that God came down to us but most of the world did not receive Him, or rather rejected Him (John 1: 11). However, the scriptures also reveals that one day, "The LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one." (Zech.

14: 9; Dan. 2: 44).

Jesus taught the truth of the kingdom of God and how we might be partakers of it through parables. Just before His crucifixion Jesus assured his disciples that they would share the joy, happiness and fellowship of the Kingdom with Him in the future (Luke 22: 22-30). Finally Jesus assured all believers that He would return in glory to bring the blessedness of the Kingdom for whom it shall be prepared (Matt. 25: 31-34). While Jesus’ teaching emphasizes that all earthly kingdoms must try to govern by the values of the kingdom at the present age, the kingdom of God is to be fully realized in the future, designated for those who are redeemed (John 3: 5-7). Kingdom of God should be practiced, as a prologue to the divine Government Jesus would establish upon his return. The phrase Kingdom of God appears 4 time in Matthew, 14 times in Mark, 32 times in Luke; twice in John, 6 times in Acts; 8 time in Paul’s Epistles, and once in Revelation (12: 10).

Character of the Kingdom

Moreover, the Gospel message of "entering the Kingdom of God" is linked with salvation and redemption (Luke 18: 25-26; Matt. 19: 24-25; Mark 10: 23, 26). For example, When Jesus describes how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, the disciples reacted "who then can be saved?" In answer to this question Jesus explained that the Kingdom is linked with 'eternal life' (Luke 18: 30; Matt. 25: 29; Mark 10: 30). Jesus

The character and the values of the Kingdom of God are the opposite of those that dominate the world kingdoms. This is well illustrated in the beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. Ch. 5-7). Like the Ten Commandments, though each of the eight beatitudes stands distinct, they can be easily grouped into two sets of four. The first four (poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and those hungry for righteousness, (Matt. 5: 3-6) specifically deal with one’s relationship with God. The first sets the stage for the second (those who are merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and persecuted for righteousness sake, (Matt. 5: 7-12) which has more to do with one’s relationship with another. From these it is

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evident that the essential characters required for the kingdom of God are: Humility; Righteousness; Purity of heart; and Peace loving. When Jesus started His ministry on earth the conditions were quite different and, therefore both John the Baptist and Jesus called with a message, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 3: 2; 4:17) that signalled urgency. It challenged the status quo of the religious leaders implying that changes were needed in their relationship with God, their teaching of the Word of God, their administration of the civil government, in their personal behavior, and in their relationship with others. It certainly aroused interest in many who followed him, but jealousy and hatred by those who ruled.

Just after explaining the beatitudes, Lord Jesus first reaffirms that the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament (OT) theocratic rule as the governing code of God’s kingdom on earth. Secondly, Christ explains that our attitude to OT Law will determine our place in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5: 19). Jesus emphasizes that He came to fulfil the law. “Do not think that I came to destroy, the Law or the prophets. “I did not come to destroy but to fulfil” (Matt. 5: 17). This is where some independent denominations or New Age churches fail by misinterpreting that the old laws have been removed and Christ enacted a new law of independence from the old. Nowhere in the New Testament have we found that the Mosaic Law has been replaced. In the Sermon on the Mount, first Jesus teaches that the laws of the kingdom of heaven deal with the thoughts and motives as well as overt acts (Matt. 5: 27, 28; 6: 1-6). Secondly, Christ sets forth the perfect standard of righteousness demanded by the law (Matt. 5:48), and that He is the righteousness of God through whom we attain redemption, as Paul vividly explained (Rom.3: 22, 6: 14; 2 Cor. 5: 21). Thus both the OT laws and all of Christ’s teachings are a part of the Holy Scriptures, which is inspired by God, and therefore profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16) for the redeemed of all Ages. As Christ is the fulfilment of the law, we now abide by the teachings of Jesus but the divine design of the law God established will abide forever as affirmed in the Scriptures, “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matt. 5: 17, 18). Everything will be accomplished when Christ returns, and hence the Law remains effective.

Nature of the Kingdom A Living and Holy Kingdom. God’s presence in the person of Jesus Christ being with us is the nature of the kingdom of heaven. The nearness of the kingdom of God is presented to the

world through the teachings of Jesus and its application in our lives. Abiding in Jesus assures joy and happiness in spite of all the turmoil the worldly kingdom present us. This is what Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The whole of animate and inanimate objects in the universe are the creation of God, but humanity is uniquely moulded by the hands of God, brought to life with His breath while all the plant and animal species were spoken into existence. We are to form a living and holy kingdom, creating a heavenly realm on earth. “Be holy as I am holy” (Lev. 11: 44; l 1 Pet. 1: 16).

Jesus illustrated the living nature of the kingdom of God through parables of trees sprouted from seeds, growing, flourishing and yielding plentiful fruits. Examples are the parable of the sower, the parable of wheat, and the parable of the mustard seed (Matt. 13: 1-9; 13: 24-30; 13: 31-32). All the seven parables in Matthew 13 illustrate the kingdom of heaven with the sowing of the Gospel in the world during the present age, which began with our Lord’s personal ministry and will end with the harvest. It is interesting to note that tares also grow with the wheat and only one-fourth takes permanent root and be fruitful. Lord himself explains this (Matt. 13: 18-23). The seeds of the kingdom of God (Gospel) are planted into the garden of our hearts, and like any other seed they should grow, multiply and be fruitful. This is the essence of what Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is within us. “For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17: 21). Apostle Peter clearly reminded us this “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1: 23). Yes, the kingdom of God is vibrant and full of abundant life, and so should our life, if we are to be part of that kingdom.

A Righteous Kingdom. Throughout the Bible righteousness is a main theme of the kingdom of God. Taken together every aspect of the kingdom, Apostle Paul explains that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but the experience of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14: 17).

The author of Hebrews says that Christ will rule over the kingdom of God with the scepter of righteousness on the throne which shall be forever and ever. (Heb. 1: 8). Those of us who are baptized to become members of the kingdom must grow daily in the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3: 21-22). While living on earth we must conduct ourselves cloaked in the garment of salvation arrayed in the robe of righteousness. Isaiah compares the robe of righteousness as the ornaments of the bridegroom and the jewels of the bride on their wedding day (Isa. 61: 10). We must have Jesus’ righteousness as our own because “God made Him who had no sin, sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5: 21). Christians are not immune from the hatred, trials, tribulations, temptations and persecutions of the real world, but we must overcome these. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5: 10). Certainly, the kingdom of God belongs to the righteous as it is evident that the immoral and unrighteous will have no part in the kingdom of God (1 Cor.6: 910; Rev. 22: 15).

A Kingdom of Power and Eternal Light. Those who seek God’s kingdom are meek and powerless according to world standards as they are required to put down their swords (John 18: 36). But they carry the sword of the Spirit, the word of God,

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more powerful than any other weapon. It is with the power of the Spirit that Jesus healed all kinds of sickness and diseases.

Jesus equipped his disciples with the same power. While sending them away, Jesus told his disciples “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you” (Luke 10: 8-9). Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10: 17-19).

Contrary to the kingdoms of the world, the future kingdom of heaven will have no sorrow, tears, worries, sickness, hunger, thirst, death and no darkness or night (Rev. 21:1-5). The kingdom of heaven does not need the sun or the moon to shine, for the glory of God gives light, and the Lamb is its lamp (Rev. 21: 23; 22: 5). Remember, while on earth Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12) and His eternal light shines throughout this age and the age to come. Kingdom of God is mighty and powerful to win over the world by the Spirit. When we are troubled on all fronts while on earth, remember the words of Jesus, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16: 33).

A Kingdom of Peace and Healing. Revelation 21 and 22 describe the new heaven, new earth, New Jerusalem and the new paradise with its crystal clear river, its streets and the tree of life. The twelve gates of the city, each of which is adorned with a distinct pearl and its streets are inlaid with pure gold radiant as a crystal. John’s final vision was, “A river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit, every month. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22: 1, 2). Ezekiel had a very similar vision nearly seven centuries earlier (Ezek. 47: 12). I have pondered over this, and researched much to find an answer to why the kingdom of God will have flourishing trees with leaves that have healing power. Healing what? It cannot be that there is some kind of sickness foreseen in the Kingdom of God. We see the tree of life first in Genesis (2: 9; 3: 23) and then in Revelation (2: 7; 22 :14). All the nations of the earth were in turmoil, quarrelsome, encroaching upon others, fighting, ethnic clashes, looting and destroying each other with no peace for themselves.

Symbolically, as Ezekiel who himself was a captive in Babylon (2 Ki. 24: 11-16) foresaw what Christ would achieve. Christ reveals that those redeemed of the different ethnic and national background, the Gentiles and the Jews, all were grafted into the tree of life, permanently healed, like the lamb and the lions in the same pen.

Metaphorically, the tree of life is Lord Jesus who was lifted upon the tree (John 12: 32) by whose stripes we are healed and the leaves represents the power of salvation. The leaves of trees on earth by contrast will fall to the ground, but the leaves of the tree of life are ever flourishing with its power of healing, bearing fruit for nutritious food. “I am the bread of life,” (John 6:35) Jesus declared, while on earth. When the Jews wandered in the desert for forty years, they were sustained by the “bread of heaven” rained down (Exod. 16: 4). However all who ate the manna in the wilderness were dead. But Christ is the bread that came down from heaven and those who fed on Him and now redeemed, allegorically are in the kingdom of heaven where

there is no hunger or thirst, represented by the tree of life bearing fruit, leaves signifying permanent healing, and sparking crystal clear water quenching thirst forever. The presence of Christ not only nourishes us with abundance of sweet fruit but also full of healing power and water from the river of life. What an amazing metaphor, indeed?

Conclusion The kingdom of God is for all people of all time of all nations who willingly share in the faith of Abraham, having developed the qualities of humility, purity of heart, righteousness, and peace making through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Most of us live very religiously claiming to share in the character and values of the kingdom like Nicodemus. However, the words of Jesus to Nicodemus who meticulously practiced all the laws as taught by Pharisees are important here. “Verily, verily I say to you, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3: 3). The kingdom of God is so treasured, so priceless, that it is worth abandoning all to attain it. Many who claim to be Christians have never found the gates of the kingdom because either they haven’t searched with all their hearts or searching at the wrong place. “You will seek me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29: 13).

Whether we have found it by chance or after thorough searching everywhere to find the spiritual truth of the pearly kingdom, the fact remains that we discovered it and we pursue it to be within its walls, and never to lose it. In our search for the kingdom of God, let us not be deprived of eternity like the rich young ruler (Mark 10: 17-22).

We must truly see the inestimable value of the kingdom of God, forget everything earthly and run the race fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God? (Heb. 12: 2). If we run the race truly seeking the kingdom of God, we the little flock need not fear, for it is our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luke 12: 32). May our prayer always be, “Thy Kingdom Come”! Amen!

Editor’s Note: Dr. P. V. Cherian received his doctorate in Life sciences from Indiana State University, He was engaged in research and teaching in health sciences at the Medical Schools of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After a lifelong career of fifty years of teaching and research, he retired from Saginaw Valley State University. A Loyal and faithful member of the Mar Thoma Church, he was involved in the formation of the Diocese of North America and Europe and served as the Associate Secretary of the Diocese from 1982-1990. He has served in the Diocesan Council, Diocesan Assembly, the Editorial Board of Mar Thoma Messenger, and member of the Clergy Selection Committee for Diocese of North America. He took Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Theological Seminary, in Indiana, USA. In his retired life he is engaged in strengthening our people in faith in a culture that challenges all moral codes and shifting rapidly into secularism. He is a speaker for conferences and conventions and currently writing a book on science and theology. E-Mail address: drpv.cherian@gmail.com

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Love Feast of the Kingdom of God Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Paulos Episcopa (Sermon delivered at Maramon Convention 2008) "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.... Then he said to his slaves, the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast. Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests." [St. Matthew 22:210] The cited scripture portion draws attention to a banquet or a feast. Banquet insinuates to celebration or a luxurious festivity divulging abundance and sumptuousness. Present-day culture is that of a banquet. The essence and epitome of this refinement, we call by the fond name Globalization. Everything in a global stature got a tinge of macro nature. Though once we cogitated 'Little as beautiful', now we are attuned with the phrase, 'Big is beautiful'. The monopoly of modern Super Markets cause eventual depletion of traditional village markets.

Now nobody cares for family get together, all are interested in Mega Family Meals. Simple micro-frameworks have given way for all-encompassing ultra-generic-striving frameworks.

We learned the lessons of feasts from Jesus Christ in New Testament. In the simplicity of life, Lord Jesus made serious instructions through common conversations. Our Lord Jesus laid down example of profitable edifying discourse at our tables, when we are in company with our friends and relatives in feasts.

We are familiar with many such occasions in the New Testament where Jesus took part in feast and eventually it turned out as a venue for His public mission.

The occasion of the beginning of the signs of Jesus and manifestation of His Glory, itself, was in the feast of a marriage in an obscure corner of the Galilee. [St. John 2:1-11] Christ, His mother and disciples were principal guests at this celebration.

There was a compelling need at this marriage feast. The mother of Jesus solicited Jesus to help out in this difficult situation. The servants at Christ’s word filled up the water-pots to the brim. It is worthy to note here that Jesus did the marvelous things with association of the servants of the house who were considered unimportant after the preparatory hard works.

Another occasion of a feast we read in St. Luke 7:36-50. This scripture portion is also another discourse of our Savior, in

which He spiritualizes the feast he was invited to. One of the Pharisees desired Jesus that He would dine with him. Lord Jesus accepted his invitation, went into his house, and sat down to eat. An unnamed sinner, a woman, from the city entered the house, stood behind Jesus at His feet, weeping in deep humiliation for her sins. She began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair and kissing His feet and anointing them with perfume. Jesus taught us at this feast that one, who is forgiven more, loves Him more.

I would like to present here four thoughts to ponder on in connection with the feast.

1.The Kingdom of God is identical to a Feast: That the Son of man came eating and drinking, conversing familiarly with all sorts of people; not declining anyone in the society neither publicans nor the Pharisees, accepting the friendly invitations both of the one and the other and being good to all. He ate and mingled with all, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, elite and downtrodden, all class of people alike. He pledged his solidarity with sinners, publicans and prostitutes. This is an experience of a feast and at the same time that of Kingdom of God. The Holy Communion what we are partaking is the foretaste of the Kingdom of God. Kingdom of God is one, which is already come and is coming. Eating and drinking is not of the utmost importance in the feast of the Kingdom of God. St. Paul teaches us: "For the Kingdom of God are not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." [Romans 14:17] As the second petition, in the Lord's Prayer we pray, 'Thy Kingdom Come.’ Where God reigns, there is the Kingdom of God. While giving rules about feasting, Jesus told, blessed are they that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Christ promised His disciples that they should eat and drink with him in his kingdom. They were the partakers of the Lord’s Supper and ate bread in the Kingdom of God. Christ invited the whole nation and people of the world to partake in his gospel feast. There is provision enough for as many as they come and the prophet Isaiah prophesied this feast.

2. Discipleship is identical to a Feast: Partaking in a value-based feast is discipleship. Lord called His disciples to be with Him and to be sent. Jesus is calling all to His discipleship for lived experience. It was the experience what the twelve disciples received while they were with Jesus for 3 1/2 years. It is an experience ‘to taste and see that God is good.’ Jesus called His disciples as friends. Friends are the ones who dine with Him. Discipleship is costly, dear and expensive as it is companionship with the Cross. The present day friendship is a give-and-take friendship. If you give companionship to me, I too will give companionship to you. Jesus wished His disciples to live with Him and eat with Him. 3. Word of God is a Feast: Psalmist says from his own experience that ‘the Word of God is sweeter than honey to his mouth. They are more desirable than gold, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Lord Jesus Christ, when He reposed himself hard, reached near Jacob’s well. Being wearied with His journey, He sat on the well.

His disciples went into the city to buy food. Jesus gave a

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spiritual discourse to the Samaritan woman and told her "whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.". He told to the returning disciples, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."

Further Jesus clarified them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." Jesus had opened the treasure of the Word of God to His disciples to enjoy to the fullest extent. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of Lord and in His law he mediate day and night. We read that Jesus delighted in the Word of God from His early age. To meditate in God’s Word is to discourse with ourselves and to achieve vitality with the appropriate nourishment.

In the Old Testament Lord God told Ezekiel, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." He opened his mouth and Lord fed him the scroll.

Ezekiel fed the stomach and filled his body with the scroll, which God gave him. He ate it and found it was sweet as honey in his mouth.

4. Holy Communion is a Feast: Holy Eucharist, the Messianic banquet, is a rejoicing festivity and a sign of plenteousness or jubilation. God makes us guests of honor and serves up the Body and Blood of Christ as our totem meal. The establishment of the Eucharist itself was taken place in the atmosphere of a Feast. In the night of the feast of Passover, while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed, broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Then He had taken the cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." All the legal feasts of rejoicing were summed up in this sacrament.

Jesus broke the bread and distributed it as the father of a family or the Master of a feast doing it. He was bruised for our iniquities, as bread is broken. Jesus told formerly that He is the bread of life [John 6:35]; and upon this metaphor, this sacrament of Holy Eucharist is built. As Jesus told us to celebrate it for the ages till His Second Coming, Holy Eucharist is a feast of feasts.

Lord prepares and lays out two tables before us. One provides an intellectual feast of the Word of God to nourish, purify and inspire with words. The second table is laden with the sacramental feast of the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught us the basic norms for calling for the feast.

"When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment" [Luke 14:12]. “Invite the poor and maimed, who have nothing to live upon, nor are able to work for their living.

They are objects of charity who want necessaries and God will recompense us with His blessings.”

Obituary Mr. Jacob Ninan (1931- 2016) Mr. Jacob Ninan, who has died aged 85, on Wednesday 18

th

May 2016, was born in the Sankaramanglam family of Eraviparoor, Kerala, on 11 June 1931. Jacob left for Singapore in June 1953 after completing university studies.

He first worked in Malaysia with Prudential Insurance Company; then he pursued his legal studies in London and returned to Singapore as the regional manager of an American reinsurance company. th

During his early years in Singapore he was a very active member of the St. Thomas Mar Thoma Syrian Church and in particular with the Youth Fellowship, holding various offices of responsibility. He was also a Sunday school teacher and also its principal till the family immigrated to the UK in August 1980. He was a keen sportsman from his student days, especially football and athletics. His greatest passion was badminton, which he continued to play till almost to the age of 83.

In the midst of his hectic life he found time to get married to Dr. Elizabeth Jacob and was blessed with two sons. On arrival in England, the family initially settled in South Yorkshire and, later after retirement, in November 2002, moved to Bedford to await the arrival of the first grandchild, Rohan. Jacob’s joy knew no bounds and Rohan was the apple of his eye. Later with the addition of two more grandchildren, Ruben and Serena, he completely indulged in loving them; in the process he became a child in their company.

Jacob slipped very peacefully from deep sleep into eternity to be with the Lord the loved and worshipped. He was a gentleman and a highly respected member of the community. People who knew him always commented on his gentle qualities and amazing generosity. He was also a member of the Sinai Mar Thoma Church, North London. The funeral service was on Friday, 3 June at the St. James Anglican Church in the beautiful village of Biddenham in the presence of a large number of relatives and friends from all parts of the UK. rd

Editor’s Note: Mar Paulos Thirumeni is presently serving as the Diocesan Bishop of the Adoor. Malaysia – Singapore Diocese of the Mar Thoma Church. [Extract from the devotional message delivered at Maramon Convention 2008, original in Malayalam: Translated for Light of Life by Editor Dr. Rajan Mathew Philadelphia, USA, Source: www.lightoflife.com

Jacob Ninan is survived–and sorely missed–by his wife, Lucy, two sons–Saju and Sajeev, daughter-laws, and three grandchildren. The members of the FOCUS Community offer their condolences to the bereaved families and friends. May his soul rest in peace and resurrect in God’s glory.

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Citizens of the Kingdom of God Fr. Thomas Punnapadam, SDB. The life and mission of Jesus is perfectly summed up in his own words, the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:14-15). Scripture scholars are agreed that the Gospel according to Mark is the oldest of the written Gospels found in the Bible. These words of Jesus are considered to be one of the very few sayings, which scholars agree are an exact record of the words of Jesus. This verse is often referred to as the programmatic summary of the life and teachings of Jesus. The springboard and immutable anchor of divine mission of Jesus was to sow the seeds of the Reign of God in human hearts and establish God’s rule on earth.

An authentic Christian is not the one who has submitted oneself to the ceremony of baptism or the one who blindly performs certain rituals and babbles some prayer formulae. A true Christian is one who every moment of his life is inspired and guided by the values and virtues Christ invites us to live by. In fact there are many non-baptized Christians, just as there are Christians only in name. The programmatic summary of Jesus’ life and mission and his invitation to follow him, challenges all Christians to purify the widespread misconceptions about religion and ethics.

It is universally accepted that religion and moral life are inseparable; in fact they are the two sides of a single coin. It cannot be denied that purely rational ethical systems do exist.

Nevertheless the religious springboard of a fruitful ethical life is too powerful a reality to be ignored. One of the greatest blunders often made in religious education is the over-emphasis of religious instruction on dogmatic truths to be intellectually assented to or rituals to be performed to the marginalization of practical moral demands.

The teaching of Jesus is more radical than appears at first.

Jesus makes it clear that religious experience precedes religious demand and that moral values are an articulation and consequence of God- experience. Christianity is primarily good news, not good advice.

The Kingdom experience is the font and summit of religious commitment and consequent morality. The term Kingdom of God could often be misunderstood in economic and geographical terms as material welfare or a territorial entity.

However Jesus makes it absolutely clear that it is an inner ineffable experience of the Fatherhood/Motherhood of God. His warning is clear beyond doubt: The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ’Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you (Lk 17:20,21) Jesus first of all assures us the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. This means that the fullness of God’s revelation and the new covenant that God had promised was being fulfilled in his person. The fullness of revelation the people of Israel were waiting for is that God is not a demanding avenging judge, but a most loving parent, an unconditionally loving father. The core of religion is this path to the Abbaexperience, the enlightenment to experience God as no threat to human beings, nor a judge to be feared or placated, but an unconditionally compassionate loving father and a most intimate friend.

This awareness can deepen only with progressive repentance.

Repentance is another Biblical concept often misunderstood. It is not sorrow or regret for one’s failures but a humble acceptance of one’s total dependence on God. The ultimate sin, the only sin in a sense, is the refusal to acknowledge the supreme God and live by one’s radical dependence on God and the consequent obedience to divine commands. The sin of the Pharisees, the sin Jesus most severely condemned, is this sin of self-righteousness, the proud refusal to accept one’s radical dependence on God. This is most evident in the forthright diatribes Jesus pronounces against Pharisees in the Gospel of Mathew (Ch 23) and in the enlightening parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Lk 18:9-14). This is the life-mission of Jesus, to take away this ultimate sin, as John the Baptist emphatically proclaimed: Behold the Lamb of God who takes the SIN of the world (Jn 1/29).

A deepening experience of the Kingdom transforms the core of one’s being and enlightens us to the values of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God does not mean food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22,23).

With this heavenly peace and lasting joy deepening in the depths of one’s being, one learns to love and care for another as for oneself. The other appears more and more as a reflection of one’s own self and less as a threat to one’s being and happiness. All external and superficial differences of bodily appearance, cultural specifications, language and education, social status and even nationality and religious affiliations fade away. One realizes that there is no need to compete or compare oneself with another.

The clear, subtle, often ignored, distinction between value and virtue needs to be reckoned with here. Values do not make a man moral. Knowing and doing are far from being synonymous.

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Virtues are indeed skills for a happy, contented life. Virtues stimulate us to will what is right, not just value what is good.

Virtues are basic skills, which help to navigate through life. Only an ever-deepening Kingdom experience can transform values into virtues.

Genuine religious experience unites human beings as nothing else can. As a consequence, a genuinely moral life brings people together. Kingdom morality is universal morality. The deepest moral values cut across religious affiliations. The final goal of morality is to make us like God. God is one. Morality is not to make life hard but pleasant; morality unites and does not discriminate or divide. As an ever-deepening, ineffable inner experience, the Kingdom of God gives everyone a radically new sense of one’s identity, a universal value-system and an integrated life-style.

Religious instruction is unfortunately focused on providing intellectual information and knowledge about spiritual realities.

However the challenge of religious education is to transform concepts into experience, truths into a life-style. To the extent one is helped to have a constantly deepening religious experience, to that extent life will be transformed.

A search for and an awareness of a deeply significant individual and collective identity is indeed the ultimate secret of a personally contented life as also a socially integrated and harmonious one. Human history repeatedly proves that human beings are prepared to invest their whole being and even sacrifice their very lives in their effort to establish and defend their individual and collective identity. The world of today confirms this. Individuals and groups spare no effort to establish their particular identities as nations and cultures, social classes and economic groups and as followers of particular religions. Every human being and social group can lay claim to possess and be enriched by multiple identities.

Certain identities tend to segregate and discriminate while others help to integrate and unify. The only way to an individually joyful and socially harmonious life is to focus on identities that break down barriers and boundaries than fortify them. It would not be an exaggeration to aver that if one can speak of an absolutely universal identity that every human being can lay claim to, it is the immutable core identity of being citizens of the Kingdom of God. A deeply satisfying and empowering sense of self-identity has always been and continues to be a major concern of every human being, groups of people and nationalities. As Great thinkers like Amartya Sen have enlightened us, focusing on false and narrow, superficial and transitory identities can lead to the outbreak of violent and self-destructive behavior. The numerous wars being waged all around the world convince anyone of the truth of this statement. It would not be an exaggeration to aver that one of the greatest problems facing the world of today is the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State and their terrorizing activities. All their activities are inspired by a particular understanding of God, religion and the goal of life.

This awareness of theirs is a source of incredible motivation that gives them courage even to sacrifice their own lives as suicide bombers and volunteer soldiers of the caliphate.

Christianity like any other religion is confronted with this challenge in the world of today. Though Christianity lays claim to being one of the major religions of the world, Christians cannot honestly claim to be living an exemplary moral life as the first Christians did. The first Christians had the unique grace of sharing the experience of the life-witnesses of Jesus’ life and actions. For the early Christians it was not a matter of achieving God’s love but of celebrating it already at work in their lives. We often fall into the error of substituting good advice for good news. Instead of salvation we proclaim morality. However as the Kingdom experience deepens, the values of the Kingdom naturally become the guiding light of daily living and all social relationships. The timeless teachings of Jesus are primarily focused on the call to wholeheartedly trust in the Fatherhood of God and experience the incredible metamorphosis this engenders in one’s life style and value systems. The incredible healings and numerous other miracles recorded in the Gospels confirm the definitive spread of the reign of God. For us Christians our faith is the ultimate source of lasting identity collectively and individually. True grace is to awaken to the reality of our identity as citizens of the Kingdom of God, rather than as people owing allegiance to particular religious denominations. The persistent courage to live by the values of the Kingdom can come only from a deepening experience of intimacy with God in one’s life. The Golden rule, the unconditional acceptance of every one as a child of the God one worships, the awareness that every human being is one’s brother or sister, are principles that can transform this world far beyond all human dreams. This is the noble call extended to each and every authentic follower of Christ today.

May Your Kingdom Come. This petition from the Prayer Jesus himself taught us, is the most comprehensive, universal and timeless petition, the only one the human beings actually need to make. When the Kingdom comes in its fullness, all human desires will be fulfilled beyond all human imagination and expectation, because the immanence of God will be fully experienced. This will enable everyone to live not by slavish and blind obedience to man-made laws but by concretizing the values of the Kingdom.

Editors Note: Father Thomas Punnapadom, SDB., is a priest of Malankara Catholic Church and is based in Bangalore, India. He is a theologian and prolific writer and regularly contributes to FOCUS online magazine and we appreciate the support.

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