1 | Page FOCUS, July 2024, Vol.

12, Issue 3
2 | Page FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3

Cover design by Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas

Contents
1. Editorial, Church as the Body of Christ Revd Dr. Abraham Philip Page 4

2. Theme for FOCUS October 2024 Issue FOCUS Editorial Board Page 5

3. We are One in Christ for Others Revd Dr. Johnson Thomaskutty Page 6

4. Body of Christ in Nature’s Gift Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph Page 8

5. We are One in Christ for Others Revd Dr. Mani M. Chacko Page 9

6. United as One Body in Diversity Mr. P. T. Mathew Page 13

7. Book Review Dr. Sunil Mani Page 14

8. One Body in Christ Prof. Philip Koshi Page 15

9. One Body In Christ Mr. Anish Thomas Page 17

10. Church as the Body of Christ Dr. Zac Varghese Page 18

11. United by God, Committed to Serve, Lal Varghese, Esq. Page 20

12. Artificial Intelligence, a Tower of Babel Mr. David Brand Page 22

13. My Story – Part 7 Dr. Titus Mathew Page 24

14. Pearls of Wisdom Series 18 Dr. Zac Varghese Page 26

15. Solidarity Among Generations Mr. Abraham Mammen Page 27

16. Breaking Barriers for Christ Mr. Ashish Mathew Page 29

17. Christ Consciousness Fr. Thomas Punnapadam, SDB Page 30

18. The Splendour of Christian Unity Dr. Abraham Philip Page 32

19. One Body in Christ Dr. Cherian Samuel Page 34

20. Mr. O. C. Abraham at 90: An Ebenezer Symphony FOCUS Editorial Board Page 36

3 | Page FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3

Editorial
Church, the Body of Christ
In Acts of the Apostles 9:3-5, we read: Now as he [Paul]
journeyed, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a
light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the
ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you Lord?”
And he said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. . .”
The first reference to Paul appears in the Bible in Acts
7:58. At the time of the martyrdom of Stephen, “the
witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young
man named Saul.” It points out that Saul was a witness of
the death of Stephen. Then Saul went to the high priest
and got the letters to the synagogue at Damascus so that
if he found anyone belonging to the Way (Christians), men
or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. With
this letter of authority Paul set out to Damascus.
Remember it was 2000 years ago. Travel was not easy
then. The distance from Jerusalem to Damascus may be
only around 200 km. Those days people used to travel by
walking or on donkeys, or horses, or camels. Today by air
one needs less than half an hour to fly from Jerusalem to
Damascus, or two to three hours travel by car.
During Paul’s time, Paul being a Pharisee and a Roman
citizen, he might have travelled at least on horseback.
Travel is possible only in the morning in desert regions.
When it is hot they take rest. It means that Paul had to
travel for four or five days to reach Damascus. On the way
he could have seen the well (Jacob’s well) where Jesus
and the Samaritan woman had met and talked. He could
have remembered the story of the Samaritan woman. As
he was continuing his journey he might even have thought
of the death of Stephen. Probably he could have asked
himself, “O Lord, will I be able to face death as
courageously as Stephen did?” He could remember the
picture of Stephen kneeling on his feet and praying for
forgiveness for those who were stoning him to death.
On the last day of his journey, he was nearing Damascus;
the sun was getting very hot. He wanted somehow to
reach his destination. Then suddenly a light flashed
around him and he fell down to the ground and he heard
the voice saying: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Saul replied, “Who are you Lord?” Saul got the reply that
it was Jesus whom he was persecuting. This was an eye-
opener for Saul. He was receiving a revelation. Paul was
thus far thinking that he was going to persecute the
followers of Jesus. But it has been revealed to him that he
was really persecuting Jesus. Thus, Saul gets the idea that
there is an invisible and indivisible relationship between
Jesus Christ and his disciples. Thereafter Paul realizes
that the believers of Jesus Christ or the Church constitute
the body of Christ. In his epistles Paul uses the metaphor
body of Christ for the Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-27;
Ephesians 1:23; 5:30; Colossians 1:18, 24).
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In 1Corinthians 12:27, we read: “Now you are the body of
Christ and individually members of it.” This Corinthian
passage deals with the Church as the body of Christ and
the individual members as constituting the various organs
of the body. The subject is quite elaborately dealt with
explaining the different aspects involved. Church as the
body of Jesus Christ is a very important metaphor that
Paul uses to denote the Church. Of course, there are many
other metaphors used for the Church in Pauline epistles
such as bride, building, household, family, living temple
etc. Here we look at only two important things with regard
to the Church as the body of Christ.
Church becomes the body of Christ as the spirit of Christ
indwells the Church. It is the Spirit of Jesus that is to be
controlling and guiding the various organs, just as an
individual is controlled by one’s mind or intellect. Church
is Church only in so far as the Spirit of Christ indwells in it
and controls it. Though different in appearance and
functions all the organs belong to the same body.
The members of the Church are spoken of as various
organs of the body. Paul very vividly pictures the functions
of each organ of the body and states that each organ has
a definite place and duty within the body. Foot, ear, eye
etc. are quite different, but they have definite functions
within the body and one cannot categorize them
hierarchically. If one organ suffers we find that all the
organs undergo its difficulties and pain. All the organs are
equally important. There is no hierarchy or hierarchical
difference among the various organs of the body. If one
organ of the body is affected, the whole body is affected.
The organs which seem to be weaker are also
indispensable. The less honourable ones are invested
greater honour. Thus, the inferior parts achieve equal or
greater honour. This is so because there should not be any
discord among them. The members of the church need to
have the same care for one another. The suffering of one
organ causes suffering for all and likewise in one
member’s honour all rejoice together.
In the epistles of Paul to Ephesians and Colossians, Paul
portrays the church as the body of Christ, and the place
where Christ’s presence and fullness is present
(Ephesians 1:22). Church is indwelt by the spirit of Jesus
Christ. Church points to us the believers in Jesus Christ.
Hence the believers are to keep themselves holy. Church
is Church only in so far as it is being filled and guided by
the spirit of Christ.
Just as the body has many organs, the believers
constitute the different organs of the body of Christ, the
church. Hence all the believers should live in co-ordination
and unity. In the Nicene Creed we recite that the Church
is one. The Church by its very nature has to be one
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
because it is the body of Christ and there is only one body
for/of Christ. In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul asserts, “there is
only one body and one Spirit… one Lord…one God and
Father of all”. The local congregations are only regional
expressions of the one Church. Division in the church is
contrary to Christ’s will and prayer (John 17:21, 23). The
Church is the symbol of the unity of all believers in Jesus
Christ and the nucleus of all humanity (cf. Ephesians 3:9-
10).
Christ is presented as the head in the Paul’s epistle to the
Ephesians 2:19-22. The head should control the body.
Then the body becomes an instrument. The will of Christ
has to be fulfilled through the body. If the body does not
obey the commands of the mind or brain, such a person
is regarded as out of mind or a lunatic. The decisions of
the individual believer should be the will of Christ. Hence
believers being the body of Christ should fulfill the mission
of Christ.
In John 10:11-18, we find Jesus’ “I am” saying: “I am the
good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me” (v.
14). For the renewal of the Church, first of all, the members
of the church, here termed as the sheep, should know the
shepherd who is the Lord of the Church that is Jesus
Christ. In the Fourth Gospel “to know” is synonymous “to
believe.” The shepherd knows the sheep by name and the
sheep know the shepherd, and the sheep even know the
voice of the shepherd. Jesus is the model shepherd
because he knows the sheep intimately. The purpose of
this knowledge is to bring the followers into union with one
another, and of course, with Jesus and the Father.
Besides, the sheep should follow the example of the
shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. In the
Fourth Gospel Jesus is not a kingly shepherd as is the
shepherd of the symbolism in the Hebrew Bible. In the
Synoptic Gospels we have the parable of the Lost Sheep
(Luke 15). There we find the shepherd going after the lost
one undergoing a lot of difficulties. In John 10, it is also
mentioned that the shepherd has other sheep not of this
fold and that he must bring them also so that there will be
one flock and one shepherd. This probably points to the
Gentile mission of the Church. The Church will be renewed
only if she indulges in the mission Jesus has entrusted her.
Participation in the mission that Jesus has entrusted his
disciples will enable the Church to be renewed. Unless
there is a common mission, there is always the possibility
of division and going astray from the Lord’s will.
We are incorporated into the body of Christ through
baptism. Administered in obedience to the command of
Jesus Christ, baptism is a sign and seal of our common
discipleship. Through baptism, Christians are brought into
common union with Christ, with each other and with the
members of the Church in all places and at all times. Thus,
baptism is a bond of unity, which unites all believers in
faith in Jesus Christ. All followers of Christ form one
people who confess and serve one Lord irrespective of
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where they belong (Ephesians 4:4-6). All form part of one
holy, catholic and apostolic church. Therefore, one
baptism into Christ is a call to all the churches to
overcome their divisions and manifest a visible fellowship.
Church is the body of Christ. All Christian believers
constitute part of the one body of Christ. The will of Christ
has to prevail in the Church. There should not be any
disunity or hierarchical difference or division within the
Church. Just as body being an instrument, Church as the
body of Christ is an instrument for the mission of Jesus
Christ.
Revd Dr. Abraham Philip
For the Editorial Board
Theme for FOCUS – October 2024, Vol. 12,
Issue (4) God’s Love is the Foundation of Life
Biblical teachings are centred on the love of God because ‘God is
love.’ It presents great issues that demands our sincere and full
attention. Either we love the Lord and walk in His ways, or we turn
away from God to take other easy ways. We can choose life or death,
blessing or cursing. Moses told Israelites: “For I command you today
to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep
his commands, decrees and laws; the you will live and increase, and
the Lord your God will bless you in the land your entering to possess”
(Deu 30:16). The full expression of God’s amazing love is expressed
through the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. This irrefutable truth is expressed so vividly in the Gospel of
John, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn
3:16). St. Paul contrasted this love of God with faith and charity in his
‘love poem’ in the first letter to Corinthians (1Cor Ch. 13) and said,
“love is greater than faith and charity.”
St. Paul compared and contrasted love with other characteristics of
life such as kindness, generosity, unselfishness, humility, courtesy,
faith and charity. Love itself can never be defined because ‘God is
love,’ but love as we practice is not God’s self-giving love. Love is
more than the sum of its individual elements, but all the above
characteristics are aspects of the life of a God-centred person. Our
life is all about adopting these characteristics in our life under the
grace of God. St. Paul realized this when he said, ‘Thy grace is
sufficient for me.”
Love is not a momentary, fading emotion. It is a rich expression of a
God-centred Christian character. It is the supreme good in a person.
Love is the fulfilling of God’s laws for our living on the earth and for
loving God, and our neighbours and nature. The more we read about
St. Paul’s description of love, the more one has to face the fact we
do not have that kind of love in us. we need the help of the Holy Spirit
to conduct ourselves in God’s love. Loving is not easy because
worldly objects that we love often reject our love and misunderstand
our efforts. However, as the Children of God we are expected to keep
on loving without seeking reciprocal efforts or benefits. “What we
need to do is to love God, giving him our whole being. To express
this, it is also necessary to turn our attention, care, and love to those
he has created. But we need to do this only for him, to continue
loving him. What freedom we would find, however, in this one and
only great love. Just thinking of it makes us feel freed from the
countless bonds which social life imposes on us" (Chiara Lubich of
Focolare family). FOCUS Editorial Board
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Remain in Christ so that Christ May Remain in You
(John 15:1-14)
Revd Dr. Johnson Thomaskutty
Introduction
The Gospel of John is considered as a Gospel of
discipleship. In chapter 1:43, Jesus says to Philip: “Follow
me.” Similarly, in chapter 21:19 and 22, Jesus says to
Peter: “Follow me.” The entire Gospel is bracketed within
these statements. Hence, the Gospel of John emphasizes
the aspect of following Jesus and be his disciples. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a person, he bids him
or her to come and die.” In ancient schools, the disciples
were following the walking masters. In Aristotle’s
Peripatetic School, the disciples were following the
walking teacher. The word peripatetic is derived from the
Greek word peripateō that means ‘walking.’ Asian Gurus
like Buddha, Mahavira, Confucius, Dronacharya, Ekalavya
and others were having a large number of followers.
Learning was taking place while the teacher and the
students were walking together. Along that line, Jesus
also was a walking teacher and his disciples walked with
him. But Jesus Christ as a teacher went further stating that
the disciples should remain in him so that he may remain
in them. An integral oneness, mystical union, and
inseparable relationship between Christ and the believers
is emphasized by Jesus. Our relationship with Jesus is
significant in our missional and ministerial engagements.
The old concept of missio Dei (mission of God) is now
replaced by missiologists with motus Dei (movement of
God). The movement of God in human life and in the world
is emphasized in the Farewell Discourses of Jesus in John
13-17. The Greek work menō means ‘remain,’ ‘stay,’ or
‘abide’ is a significant relational aspect emphasized in this
passage. Mission is possible only when we remain in
Christ and move across the traditional boundaries set in
the world.
Remaining in Christ means practicing togetherness
The metaphors such as vine, branches and the gardener
and their integral relationship demonstrate the aspect of
oneness and mutual indwelling (15:1-8).1 Vine, branches,
and the gardener are mutually connected and support
each other. The idea of togetherness is overshadowed
when the narrator mentions about ‘cutting the branches
that bear not fruit’ and ‘bearing fruit’ (15:1-2). When a
branch does not bear fruit, it disturbs the tradition of the
vine. With that sense the aspect of remaining in Jesus and
in the Father are emphasized (15:4). Jesus’s statement
1 4
Blum, “John,” 325-326.
2 5
Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel, 206-
207.
3 7
Moloney, The Gospel of John, 425-426.
6 | Page
“apart from me you can do nothing” emphasizes the
Christ-centered unity within the community of God (15:5).2
Apart from remaining in the vine, the branches cannot
flourish. The aspects such as ‘bearing fruit,’ ‘throwing
away,’ ‘wither,’ ‘fire,’ ‘burned,’ and others are used to
distinguish between the experiences of togetherness and
estrangement in/from the community of God (15:5-8). By
bearing fruit, a branch demonstrates its oneness with the
vine. But if a branch does not bear fruit, it is only good for
throwing away, subject to wither, and thrown out to be
burned. Laying down one’s life for her/his friends is one of
the hallmarks of friendship and togetherness (15:13, 17).3
Christian togetherness and friendship can be fruitful only
when someone does what Jesus commands and
executes (15:14). Jesus never called the disciples servants
and never considered them inferior to him; but rather he
called them friends and considered them equal to him
(15:15).4 As Jesus is a great teacher, he uses several
symbols, metaphors, examples and figures to teach the
value of togetherness in the Christian community. For
Paulo Freire, dialogue is a human phenomenon and
dialogue is possible through the word. It is not a simple
term (instrument) but it has two parts, namely, reflection
and action.5 The pedagogical style of Jesus is well-aligned
to the grass-root level realities and with a higher emphasis
on love, togetherness, and friendship.6 The togetherness
aspect is brought to the next level within the scenario of
the world in 15:18-25. While the world hates and
unbelieves, the disciples are advised to love, believe, and
follow Jesus (15:18-25).7
Jesus celebrates togetherness with the Father. Father
celebrates togetherness with Jesus. Father and Son
extend togetherness with the Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit lavish togetherness with the disciples. In our
missions and ministries in the Indian context or in the
world at large, our togetherness as believers in the Body
of Christ is a great model that we exemplify before the
world. Only when we abide in Christ and Christ abides in
us, we can demonstrate our oneness as people of God in
the world. Our model is that Jesus remains in the Father
and the Father remains in Jesus. Hence, if we remain in
Jesus, Jesus shall remain in us. This quality of a believer
enables her or him to remain in the Body of Christ as
people with one mission, that is glorifying the name of
Jesus. We are called to be visionaries and missionaries.
We are called to work in union with Christ, with inspiration
from the Holy Spirit, and in closer connectivity with the
Blum, “John,” 326.
Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 87-88.
6
Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 87-89.
Beasley-Murray, John, 275-277.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Body of Christ. Don’t be isolated in your missions and
ministries. But rather be in union with Christ and the Body
of Christ. In the challenging context of India, our union with
Christ and togetherness in the Body of Christ are
significant initiatives to be involved and be engaged in the
mission of God.
Remaining in Christ means embracing transformation
While bearing fruit is the mark of transformative action, not
bearing fruit is an opposite to that (15:1-3).8 For the activity
of fruit-bearing, the disciples should remain in Jesus.
Apart from Jesus, the disciples can do nothing (15:5). If
they remain in Jesus, their joy may be complete (15:5-14);
if they do not remain in him, they cannot prosper (15:6-8).9
The disciples are placed in equal position with Jesus as
they are friends (15:15-17).10 As the disciples are chosen
by Jesus and they belong to the world above, they have
the power of transformation (15:18-20).11 As a pedagogue,
Jesus empowers the disciples to proclaim and show in
action the transformative mission of God. Paulo Freire
says, “founding itself upon love, humility, and faith,
dialogue becomes a horizontal relationship of which
mutual trust between the dialoguers is the logical
consequence.”12 Jesus imparts the heavenly wisdom not
only through word, but also through washing the feet,
showing love, completing their joy, and equipping them as
agents of transformation.
As visionaries and missionaries, we are agents of
transformation in the world. Just as Jesus brought
transformation in the lives of people, we are supposed to
bring transformation with our positive and constructive
actions in the world. Jesus as a transformative agent of
God’s mission, turned water into wine in Cana in Galilee
and saved the people from shamefulness to honor,
cleansed the temple and redeemed the courts of women
and Gentiles so that they may have a place to worship,
liberated the Samaritan woman and the Samaritan people
and enabled them to realize that Jesus is truly the Savior
of the world, healed the man who was lying by the pool of
8 13
Moloney, The Gospel of John, 419-420.
9 14
Blum, “John,” 325-326.
10
Beasley-Murray, John, 274-275.
11
Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel, 209-
210.
12
Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 91.
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Bethzatha over a period of thirty-eight long years, fed
5000 people with physical bread and turned them toward
the spiritual bread from heaven, and transformed the man
born blind and liberated from the clutches of shame and
vulnerability. Jesus was an agent of transformation. In our
missions and ministries, we are not only supposed to be
oral deliverers of the Gospel but also practical involvers in
the lives of the people. Then only we can demonstrate
ourselves as fruit-bearing missionaries and evangelists. If
we remain in Christ, we cannot escape ourselves from
what Christ did and demonstrated himself through his
actions. We are called to love the perishing, liberate the
dehumanized, save the sinful, equip the vulnerable, and
transform the helpless. As Jesus was a loving, liberating,
saving, equipping, and transforming figure from above,
our oneness with him shall enable us to do the
transformative mission of God.
Remaining in Christ means fostering inclusiveness
Having oneness with the Father/Son, the branches can
bear fruit; but, if the branches do not remain in the Vine
and establish connectivity with the gardener, it cannot
bear fruit (15:1-4).13 Remaining in each other facilitates
fruit-bearing; apart from Jesus, the disciples can do
nothing (15:5). In Jesus’s pedagogy, inclusivity plays a
significant role as he endeavored to establish a
community without borders. In John 15:6-8, Jesus
intertwines connectivity, fruitfulness and being in closer
relationship with the glorious God.14 Some of the
characteristic features of Christian unity and inclusiveness
are obedience to the commandments of Jesus, loving
each other, and laying down life for others (15:9-14).15
Jesus’s role as a friend to the disciples and his command
to “love each other” further emphasize the aspects of
fellowship and inclusiveness (15:15-17).16 The world was
not ready to be inclusive in the company of Jesus as they
were hating him (15:23-25).17 Being inclusive is one of the
hallmarks of a visionary or a missionary. The church in
today’s context should come out of its divisive and
discriminatory activities and should foster inclusive
attitudes for the glory of God.
Indian church is exclusive rather than inclusive in its
various involvements. The church facilitates divisive
politics, caste prejudices, racial tendencies, gender
discriminations, and other exclusive tendencies in its
engagements in the world. The Indian church fosters the
disparity between the dominant and the subaltern
communities and in that sense the Dalit, Tribal and Adivasi
communities are excluded in its power dynamics. The
Johannine Jesus is inclusive as he included both the Jews
like Nicodemus and Gentiles like the Royal man, both men
Blum, “John,” 325.
Beasley-Murray, John, 273.
15
Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel, 207.
16
Moloney, The Gospel of John, 425-426.
17
See Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 91.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
like Peter, Philip, Thomas and others and women like the
Samaritan woman, Mary and Martha of Bethany, Mary
Magdalene and many others, both able bodied people and
the differently abled people like the man at the pool of
Bethzatha and the man born blind, and both the rich and
the poor in his mission initiatives. Jesus’s inclusive
mission enabled him to transcend all sorts of boundaries
created by the world and he foregrounded the Kingdom
ethics where all sorts of people were welcomed and
included. As Jesus allows all sorts of people to remain
him, the mission of God should be exercised without
prejudices and discriminatory attitudes. In that sense, the
church that we represent and the Gospel that we preach
should be inclusive. We should be inclusive in our
missions and ministries as our heavenly Father is inclusive
and our Lord Jesus Christ exemplified that he is inclusive.
Concluding remarks
The above aspects inform us that remaining in Christ,
being under the care of the Gardener-Father, and bearing
fruit are the significant responsibilities of the people of
God. In our involvements as evangelists, missionaries and
pastors, we need to practice togetherness as people of
God. We can practice togetherness in the body of Christ
only when we remain in Christ. The vertical and horizontal
connectivity between God and human beings and people
among themselves is significant in today’s Indian context.
Oneness and togetherness are significant characteristics
for us to demonstrate God’s love in the multireligious,
multicultural and pluralistic context of India. Embracing
transformative mission is another significant aspect we
need to foreground in the Indian contextual realities. The
transformation of human from the clutches of sin, poverty,
casteism, vulnerability, and dehumanization should be
one of the primary agendas of our mission. It is not only
the oral delivery of the Gospel but also the praxis-oriented
involvement in the lives of the people should be
exemplified in our missional engagements. The abiding
presence of God within us shall strengthen us to be agents
of transformation in the challenging situations our country.
Fostering inclusiveness is yet another missional method
we can implement in today’s exclusive world. Considering
people and their situations without biases and involving in
every circumstance of the people without exclusive
mentalities should be our missional and ministerial
agenda. In order to actualize togetherness, transformation
and inclusiveness in our missions, we need to abide in
Christ just as Christ was abiding in the Father. May God
bless us to abide in Christ so that Christ may abide in us.
Amen.
Revd Dr. Johnson Thomaskutty
is a Professor of New Testament
at the United Theological
College, Bengaluru, India.
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Body of Christ in Nature's Grace
Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph
[This poem is a blend of Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph’s
God-given poetic imagination and the
expression of the power of Artificial intelligence.
AI has the power to infiltrate all areas of our life,
please also see Mr. David Brand’s article on AI.
Editorial note]
In the gentle whisper of the breeze,
In the rustling leaves of ancient trees,
In the flowing streams that never cease,
We find the body of Christ in nature's peace.
In the rising sun's golden light,
In the silent moon that rules the night,
In the stars that twinkle bright,
Christ’s presence fills our sight.
In the fields where flowers bloom,
In the forests' verdant gloom,
In the seas with endless room,
Christ's body weaves its loom.
In the song of birds at dawn,
In the grace of a grazing fawn,
In the dew that graces the lawn,
Christ’s touch is gently drawn.
In the mountains standing tall,
In the rivers' mighty call,
In the creatures, great and small,
Christ's body encompasses all.
In the harmony of earth and sky,
In the eagle's soaring, high,
In the life that cannot die,
We see Christ’s body, nigh.
In the care for our common home,
In the stewardship wherever we roam,
In the love that nature has shown,
We embrace Christ’s body as our own.
We embrace Christ's body in the rainbow
A harmonious blend of colours
Musing of unity in diversity
The radiance of the One in many and Many in
one.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
We Are One in Christ for Others (John 17:18-23)
Revd Dr. Mani M. Chacko
Have you ever overheard someone praying for you? Or,
even if you have never managed to eavesdrop on
someone’s prayers, what about when you are praying
together with someone, and they pray for you? It tells you
something. If you listen to what they pray for, you learn a
few things. You learn what they really want for you, but
more specifically, you learn what they think you need
God’s help with. If someone prays for your healing, it
means both that they want you to be healed and that they
really believe that God can heal you. In John 17, we
overhear the prayers of Jesus. He prays for himself, for his
disciples, and finally, for us. Here we have a great
privilege: we get to hear both what Jesus wants for us his
church and what he knows only God can do for us.
John 17 is often referred to as the high-priestly prayer of
Jesus. In ancient Israel, the High Priest wore a breastplate
around his neck whenever he entered the Holy Place. This
breastplate had twelve precious stones embedded in it,
one for each tribe of Israel. Exodus 28:29 explains:
“whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the
names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breast
piece of decision as a continuing memorial before the
Lord.” In other words, when the High Priest came before
God in the tabernacle (and later in the Temple), he did not
come for himself alone, but he brought all Israel with him.
He represented all the people to God. Jesus’ prayer here
is of the same sort. He does not come to the Father alone,
but he bears all our names on his heart, presenting us to
his Father.
This is how Jesus begins his prayer (v. 21): “That all of
them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am
in you. May they also be in us so that the world may
believe that you have sent me.” If this sermon can be
divided into three main points, they are all found in this
verse: Jesus’ prayer for his church is (1) that we would be
united; (2) that our unity would have its origin and life in
the unity of the Father and the Son; and (3) that this unity
would show the world who Jesus is. If I were to condense
these three points into a simple sentence it would be this:
We are one in Christ for others. We are one. We are one in
Christ. We are one in Christ for others.
1.We Are One
Unity. This is what our Lord Jesus prays for his church.
That we would all be one. Remember the question I asked
a minute ago, what is Jesus’ desire for the church-
community? It is answered here: that we would all be one.
Of all the things he might have asked for us, I find it striking
that he prays for our unity.
Remember, this comes in the form of a prayer, not a
command. Jesus doesn’t tell us, “Try your hardest to be
united.” Instead, he prays to his Father, “May they all be
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one.” This is an important distinction, because if Jesus
really prays that we would all be one, if the Father really
hears the prayers of his Son, then we must acknowledge
that our unity is not a goal, but a reality. It is not something
we have to strive for, but something that is certainly
already true. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words in his
book Life Together: “Christian community is not an ideal
we have to realize, but rather a reality created by God in
Christ in which we may participate” (38). What he means
by this is that our oneness as believers is not something
we can create in and of ourselves; it is something that has
already been accomplished in Christ. So, we’re left not
with the responsibility to unite ourselves, but with the
freedom to participate in the unity that already exists. In
Christ, our unity is already a fact.
But, you might (very correctly) say, “Oh! That sounds nice
and all, but let’s face it. Have you ever actually seen the
church? There seems to be far more division than unity. If
we are really one in Christ, why don’t we see that taking
place concretely in the world?” Of course, you’d be
completely right to raise that objection. If we are actually
one in Christ, why are we so divided in the church? From
the New Testament times until now, the church has been
prone to divide. In addition to the countless minor
divisions in the church throughout its entire history, there
have been some major dividing lines drawn that seem
impossible to erase even today. In 1054, there was a great
divide between the Western and the Eastern Church that
was provoked because the Western church had inserted
a single word into the creed (Filioque). This division still
exists between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern
Orthodox Church. In the 1500s, the time of the
Reformation, another great divide occurred when men like
Martin Luther began to speak out against corruption in the
church. They had hoped to heal the church of its
corruption, but it only resulted in more splits. We’re all
descendants of the Reformation: we’re Protestants.
Protesting is who we are! Dividing is part of our heritage!
It’s pretty common these days that when someone
doesn’t agree with some aspect of their church – the
music, the preaching, the people, the location – they just
go to a different one. So, is the church really characterized
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
by unity? How can we say that our unity is already a reality
when we see far more divisions than oneness?
Well, quite frankly, I don’t know. I don’t know how it is that
we really are one in Christ and yet live as if it weren’t so.
Along these same lines, I don’t know how I can believe
that Christ has freed me from sin and yet keep on sinning.
I don’t know how we can say that Christ’s kingdom has
come and yet fail to live under his rule. I just don’t know.
So, for these kinds of questions, I take as a model the
words of the desperate father in Mark 9:24: “I believe; help
my unbelief!” Similarly, as the church we pray, “We are
one; help our divisions!”
When we live as one – brothers and sisters united in Christ
– we are manifesting what is certainly already true. But,
when we divide and create schisms between one another,
we are manifesting our ability to live in discord with reality.
This is important, because if we think of our unity as
something that does not yet exist, then we’re left to try to
unite ourselves, to create bonds of unity for ourselves and
of ourselves. This can be done in various ways, but it’s
best accomplished by coming up with something in
common that you can all share – be it a goal, an interest,
a need, or even an enemy. This is how clubs and
organizations are united. But when we apply these
methods to the church, it becomes apparent that they
create unity by exclusion.
If a common goal is the foundation of our unity, then we
must exclude those who think we should be spending our
time on other pursuits. If a common enemy is what unites
us, then not only must we exclude the enemy from our
fellowship, but also any who count our enemy as their
friend. If this is how we unite ourselves, then people can
only be one with us if they become like us, taking on our
interest, or our goal, or our enemy as their own. This
makes us the judges of our community, because it is
based on standards that we have set. Quite soon, we must
become the accusers of our community, because as its
judges, we have to enforce unity by excluding all that
might dissolve it. It is not long before we become the
destroyers of our community, because as its judges and
accusers, we have had to create divisions in order to retain
the vision and the dream of oneness – like digging moat
around a great fortress. When we have as the basis of our
unity anything less than Christ, then either we cannot
sustain our community, or we have to cut ourselves off
from all other communities.
Christ, and nothing less, is the source and strength and
centre of our unity. How different it is when we recognize
that we don’t have to create unity out of nothing, but that
it has already been established in Christ. We don’t need
to fear diversity in the church, because we know it is not a
threat to the greater oneness we have in Christ. When
people enter our community with different goals, interests,
and needs, we can welcome them, knowing that, long
ago, we have already been joined by the unity of the Spirit.
This is all about living according to reality, as opposed to
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making reality for ourselves. This goes against the grain in
a culture that tells us that we have to make ourselves; that
we can and must construct our own identity by doing
certain things; that we can and do become whoever we
make ourselves to be. But who we are in Jesus is never
something we can do simply by making the right
decisions, and our identity that comes from our new life in
Christ is never something we could construct for
ourselves. The world says, “Go make something of
yourself.” Christ says, “Become what you are.”
If it seems strange to talk like this, the best analogy I can
think of is marriage. I am married. As any of you who are
or have been married know, when you get married, you
are married. You speak your vows, you exchange rings,
you get a certificate, and it’s done. You don’t marry your
spouse every day, because the reality is that you are
already married. But living that reality is something else
altogether. It’s surprisingly easy to live as if you are not
really married. It’s easy to treat your spouse as if the two
of you are not really one. But you don’t make yourself
married by acting married; you act married because you
are married. In a way, it is because you are one that you
constantly need to live as if you were one. In the same
way, our unity as brothers and sisters in Christ is an actual
reality, but it is all too easy to live as if it were not true. But
it is because we are united that we live as if we were
united. We are one in Christ; may we become what we are.
2. We Are One in Christ
What is Jesus’ will for his church? Unity. but not just any
kind of unity. Christ’s prayer is not simply that we would
all be one – as we’ve already seen, we cannot make
ourselves united. Jesus prays three times for a very
specific and astounding sort of oneness for his followers:
“just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, may they also
be in us” (v. 21); and in the next verse: “may they be one
even as we are one” (v. 22); and again, in the next verse:
“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly
one” (v. 23). Here we have a very profound and important
truth: the unity of the church is an expression and a
reverberation of the unity between the Father and the Son.
Our oneness has its origin in the eternal oneness of God.
This is the kind of mystery that is almost too wonderful.
We are invited into the very fellowship of God. We are
caught up in the very life of the Trinity. The further this sink
into our hearts and minds the further we must sink to our
knees in praise and wonder. I won’t pretend to understand
exactly what it all means, but I think there are a few things
we can say.
(1) This means that we can understand something about
our oneness with God and about our oneness with each
other by looking at the oneness of the Father and the Son.
When Jesus prays, “may they be one even as we are one,”
we can actually know something about it, because the
Gospels actually describe the ways in which the Father
and the Son are perfectly one in both love and will.
Throughout the Gospels it is quite clear that the Father
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father; they are one
in their love for one another. It is the Father who says of
Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased” (Matt 3:17). The Gospel of John says that “The
Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his
hand” (3:35). Later in John, Jesus says, “I do as the Father
has commanded me, so that the world may know that I
love the Father” (14:31). This love that is eternally alive
between the Father and the Son overflows to us, so that
we too are loved by God and that we too might love God.
And it is only in and from God’s eternal love that we can
really love one another. Our love for one another comes
from God’s love for us. “We love because he first loved
us.”
Another way the Father and the Son are one is in will.
“Abba, Father,” Jesus says,
“Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet
not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Jesus also
says, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by
himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (Jn
5:19). And again, “I do nothing on my own but speak just
what the Father has taught me” (JC 8:28). Nothing that
Jesus does is apart from his Father’s will. We are also
united to God in this way. And because we are together
united in will to God, we are also one with each other – the
community who collectively seeks the will of God. So, in
Christ, we are made one in love and in will with God, and
because we are all one with God, we are also one with
each other.
Next time you’re reading in the Gospels, I encourage you
to pay attention to the ways in which Jesus shows himself
to be perfectly one with his Father, and then think about
what this means for our oneness as the church.
(2) Our oneness as the church originates in Christ alone.
We are one in Christ. When I look at you, I see my fellow
brothers and sisters in Christ. It is first and foremost that
we are both in Christ that we are related as brothers and
sisters. Our relation to one another comes from the fact
that we are all adopted into the same family – that is what
makes us brothers and sisters. Our unity as the church
comes from the fact that we are all united to one and the
same Lord. The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians,
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one
body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). In
this, he understands that the believers are one because
they all partake in the same thing, namely, the bread of
Christ. We are one with each other because we are all one
with Christ.
(3) Having said that, we see that we cannot separate our
union with Christ from our fellowship with the church.
Jesus doesn’t treat our oneness with God and our
oneness with each other as separate events. They are
inextricably connected. The movement between an
individual and God always occurs within the larger context
of the movement between the community and God. 1
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John 1:3 says, “We proclaim to you what we have seen
and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son,
Jesus Christ.” John is calling people into the community
of believers, not into individual religious experience. It is
only as a part of this community that we have fellowship
with God. Put in another way, we cannot have a
relationship with God and expect to remain isolated from
other people who also have a relationship with God. By
having a relationship with the same God, we also have a
relationship with one another. We are one with Christ not
alone, but together.
The unity of the church is an expression and a
reverberation of the unity between the Father and the Son.
Here’s another example from marriage that will hopefully
make this a bit clearer. If you have kids, you probably want
them to love one another. You can tell them to love each
other, but the best way they’ll learn to do it is by seeing
how you love them, and even how you love each other as
husband and wife. The unity of the husband and wife thus
becomes the foundation of unity for the whole family. It’s
the same in the workplace. When the leaders are united in
purpose, it’s much more likely that their employees will be
of one mind as well. In the same way, God is One, though
he is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and it is his oneness
that is the foundation for our oneness. Our unity as the
church is not based on a common interest or goal or
enemy or need, but it is based in the eternal unity of the
Father and the Son.
3. We Are One in Christ for Others
What is Jesus’ will for his church? Unity – and not just any
sort of unity, but unity in the Father and the Son, which
comes from and resembles their unity. But why unity? and
why this sort of unity? Let’s read the first part of Jesus’
prayer for us again: “that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in
us so that the world may believe that you have sent me; I
in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete
unity to let the world know that you sent me and have
loved them even as you have loved me.” Here is the effect
of our unity: that the world may know.
The question is, what does our internal unity in the church
have to do with our external mission to the world? Bear in
mind that this prayer of Jesus takes place at the end a
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
long portion of speeches and conversations between
Jesus and his disciples, which take place right before
Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion (chs. 13-17). In these
chapters, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his
departure. I think this helps us see more clearly why
mission is on Jesus’ mind. He is about to complete the
mission his Father gave him; now he is preparing his
disciples for their mission. They are about to change from
being disciples to being apostles, from being followers to
being sent out. With this in mind, Jesus prays for them (v.
11a): “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the
world.” I think this gives us a clue how to understand what
our unity as the church has to do with our mission to the
world. “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the
world.” Somehow, the presence of the apostles makes up
for the absence of Jesus. This is because their mission is
an extension of his mission. They bear witness to his
mission, and in so doing, they bear witness to who he is.
Yet, Christ would have that they not merely say who he is,
but that they would be who he is. Not that they become
him, but that their new identity in Christ would bear faithful
witness to the identity of Christ.
In other words, Jesus’ followers manifest his presence in
the world after he is gone. Jesus is praying for his disciples
here, but the same line of thought carries through into his
prayer for us his church. “I in them and you in me, may
they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have
loved me.” He is no longer in the world, but we are in the
world. Because Jesus sent the gift of the Holy Spirit, we
are one with the Father and the Son to the point where the
church is the presence of Christ on earth to each other
and to the world. We are one in Christ for others. It is our
mutual love and unity, in and from the love and unity of the
Father and the Son, which manifests the presence of
Christ to the world. Colossians says that “[Jesus] is the
image of the invisible God” (1:15). Similarly (though not
identically) the church is the image of Christ. It is the body
of Christ in the world. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me
has seen the Father.” Similarly (though not identically)
whoever has seen the church has seen the Son. Here’s a
question to ponder : do you think the world can know who
Jesus is by looking at his church?
There are a few important things to note here. (1) There
are certain times when we are told to preach the Gospel
in words, but here Jesus’ concern is that we would
actually be witnesses. Not just that the truth of who Jesus
is would come out of our mouths, but that it would take
root in our very being as the church. In other words, our
being, our identity, and our life in Christ is not to be distinct
from the message we bring. How can we say that God is
love if we do not love? How can we say that all are one in
Christ if we are divided? How can we say “Jesus is Lord,”
if Jesus is not our Lord?
(2) Jesus speaks as if our life together as the church would
show the world who he is, yet this assumes that the
church is actually in the world. He is no longer in the world,
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but we are in the world. We cannot lock our doors, or even
stay within them, and hope that our common fellowship
and mutual love will proclaim Christ to anyone but
ourselves. So, we must understand that our oneness in
Christ occurs in the context of lives lived in the world. We
are one in Christ for others, because we are one in Christ
in and among the world.
(3) If our unity is the fuel for evangelism, then we must
consider: what is our message to the world? Look at verse
3: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Jesus relates eternal life with knowledge of God in him.
This means that evangelism is about helping people know
who Jesus is that they might believe on him as their Lord
and saviour. I used to be regularly plagued with guilt
because I felt like I didn’t share my faith in Jesus with
enough people. I never knew why I was afraid to do it, but
I always was. I wonder though, what Gospel was I afraid
to share? Regardless of what I was taught, I think that
deep down I thought that the starting point for evangelism
was my ability to convince someone else that they were a
sinner. But the Gospel is not first and foremost about how
good or bad we are, or even about who we are, but about
who Christ is. Only after we’ve shown who Jesus is can
someone understand who they are in Christ. Only after we
have spoken of Christ can we begin to speak of ourselves.
The starting point for the gospel is not “you’re a sinner!”
but “Jesus is Lord!” How can we proclaim this message in
truth if Jesus is not in truth our Lord?
This is why Christ connects our unity with our mission.
Only as we are united in Christ, expressed in mutual love
for one another, do we show the world who Jesus is. So,
Jesus rightly says, “By this all men will know that you are
my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13:35), We
sometimes sing the song that says, “and they’ll know we
are Christians by our love.” I would add to this, “and they’ll
know who Christ is by our love.”
Let’s return to the question I asked at the beginning: what
is Jesus’ will for his church? “May they be one, even as
we are one that the world may know that you sent me.”
We are one; and we are one in Christ; and we are one in
Christ for others. May we become what we are!
*Revd Dr. Mani M. Chacko, Ph. D (London) is the former
General Secretary, Bible Society of India. He is also the
former Director, Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore,
and the former Principal, Gurukul Lutheran Theological
College and Research Institute, Chennai.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
United as One Body of Christ in Diversity
P. T. Mathew
1st Corinthians: 12:12. For even “as the body is one and
yet has many members, and all the members of the
body, though they are many, are one body, so also in
Christ.”
Romans.12:5 “so we, who are many, so one body in
Christ, and individually members one for another.”
Introduction:
Here is one of the most famous metaphors of the unity of
the Church ever written. The idea of "one body in Christ"
is a powerful metaphor used by the Apostle Paul to
describe the unity and diversity within the Christian
church. Here Paul clearly shows the relationship of gifted
believers in each other, using the analogy of the human
body. This concept encapsulates the essence of Christian
community, emphasizing that despite our differences, we
are all united in Christ Jesus. Throughout the New
Testament, this theme is explored, revealing profound
insights into what it means to be part of the body of Christ.
This article delves into the biblical foundation of this
concept and examines its implications for believers today.
The Biblical foundation of the Metaphor:
The Biblical foundation, the metaphor of the body is most
prominently discussed in the following portions,
Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. In these
passages, Paul uses the human body as an analogy to
illustrate the interconnectedness and interdependence of
believers within the church. He emphasizes that just as a
body has many parts with different functions, so does the
church. In 1st Corinthians 12:12-27, Paul addresses the
Corinthian church, a community experiencing division and
conflict. He writes, "For just as the body is one and has
many members, and all the members of the body, though
many, are one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Corinthians
12:12, ESV). This verse sets as core theme of this article
for a detailed discussion of how the church, with its
diverse members, functions as one cohesive entity. Paul
continues to explain that within the church, there are
different roles and gifts, but each one is essential for the
overall health and function of the body. He emphasizes
that no part of the body can claim superiority over another,
as all are indispensable. In verse 21, Paul states, "The eye
cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again
the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'" This
reinforces the idea that every member, regardless of their
role, is crucial to the functioning of the body of Christ. The
Holy Spirit has formed a spiritual organic unity of the many
dissimilar members of the body of Christ. Here Paul says,
“You are the body of Christ” with strong conviction.
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Unity in Diversity:
In Romans 12:4-8, Paul revisits the metaphor of the body
to discuss the diversity of gifts within the church. He
writes, "For as in one body we have many members, and
the members do not all have the same function, so we,
though many, are one body in Christ, and individually
members one of another" (Romans 12:4-5, ESV). This
passage highlights that while we are unified in Christ, we
each have unique gifts and roles to play in building up the
church. Paul lists various gifts, including prophecy,
service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and
mercy. He encourages believers to use their gifts-
charismata- according to the grace given to them. This
diversity of gifts is not a source of division but a means to
strengthen the body of Christ as each member contributes
in their own way.
In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul elaborates on the concept of
unity in the body of Christ, emphasizing the importance of
maintaining unity through humility, gentleness, patience,
and love. He writes, "There is one body and one Spirit—
just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to
your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all"
(Ephesians 4:4-6, ESV). Paul goes on to explain that Christ
gave gifts to the church, including apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the purpose of
equipping the saints for ministry and building up the body
of Christ. This leads to spiritual maturity and a deeper
understanding of the unity that binds believers together.
Implications for Believers today:
The concept of one body in Christ has significant
implications for believers in the modern church. It calls us
to embrace unity while celebrating diversity. In a world
often marked by division and conflict, the church is called
to be a place of reconciliation, where people from different
backgrounds, cultures, and experiences come together in
Christ.
Embrace the Diversity:
The metaphor of the body teaches us to embrace diversity
within the church. Each member has unique gifts and
talents, and these differences should be celebrated rather
than suppressed. The church should be a place where
people feel valued for who they are and are encouraged
to use their gifts for the common good.
Cultivate the Unity:
Unity is not uniformity. It does not require everyone to
think, act, or look the same. Instead, it is about
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
recognizing our common identity in Christ and working
together towards a shared purpose. Believers are called
to cultivate unity through humility, patience, and love,
acknowledging that we are all part of the same body.
Serve and respect each other:
The metaphor of the body underscores the importance of
serving and honoring one another. Just as each part of the
body has a specific function, believers are called to use
their gifts to serve and support one another. This service
fosters a sense of community and strengthens the bonds
between believers.
Build Up the Church:
The ultimate goal of being one body in Christ is to build up
the church, leading to spiritual maturity and growth. This
requires each member to actively participate and
contribute their unique gifts. By doing so, the church
becomes a powerful witness to the world, demonstrating
the transformative power of Christ's love.
Conclusion:
When Paul says “You are the body of Christ,” there is a
profound thought in this statement. This short verse is
theologically pregnant in teachings. Christ is no longer in
this world in the body; so, He can use the body of the
believers for His works. Literally we have to be the body
of Christ, hands to do his work, feet to run and voice to
speak for Him. Here is the supreme glory of the believers-
the part of the body of Christ upon earth.
The concept of one body in Christ is a profound reminder
of the unity and diversity within the Christian church.
Through the teachings of the Apostle Paul, we learn that
the church is a place where differences are celebrated,
and unity is cultivated. This metaphor challenges us to
embrace diversity, cultivate unity, serve one another, and
build up the church for the glory of God. As believers, we
are all part of the body of Christ, each playing a vital role
in His divine plan. Let us work together in love and
harmony, reflecting the beauty of being one body in Christ
in this world through the church.
Reference:
1.William Barclay’s commentaries on Romans and
Corinthians.
2. The study Bible by Ryrie
Mr. P. T. Mathew, M. A., D.Litt., is a
member of the Mar Thoma Church of
Dallas, Farmers Branch, Texas, U.S.A.
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BOOK REVIEW
The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change
Everything That We See, Hope For, and Believe, by Richard Rohr.
New York: Convergent, 2019. 260 pp., Price $27.00 or Rs. 360 at
Amazon.in
By Dr. Sunil Mani
About seven months ago, I had the honor of
virtually attending a profoundly enlightening
and scholarly lecture titled, "Policy and
Practice Informed by the Ancient Science of
Spirituality," by my esteemed friend, Dr.
Mihir Shah. Known affectionately as Mihir,
he brings to the table over three decades of
dedicated service in the arid villages of
Central India, focusing on sustainable and
inclusive development. I am grateful to Mihir
for comments on an earlier draft of this
review.
During the interactive segment of the lecture, Mihir referenced the work
of the Franciscan Friar, Richard Rohr, who has fervently advocated for
action preceding contemplation. This sentiment deeply resonates with
Christ's teachings, as exemplified in Matthew 7:24, where Jesus
underscores the significance of putting words into action. Inspired by
this profound insight, I delved into Richard Rohr’s "The Universal Christ,"
which, as Mihir so succinctly put it, emphasizes the principle that action
and contemplation must go hand in hand.
In essence, action not grounded in contemplation and careful
introspection lacks depth, and likewise, mere contemplation without
corresponding action is hollow. In contemporary Christianity, across
various denominations, there appears to be an inclination towards
outward forms rather than genuine substance. Engaging with "The
Universal Christ" has the potential to guide us away from this
inconsistency, urging us to prioritize meaningful action over
superficiality.
In this seminal work, Richard Rohr embarks on a profound exploration of
the spiritual dimensions of Christianity, inviting readers to transcend
conventional theological boundaries and grasp a deeper understanding
of Christ's essence. Central to Rohr's narrative is the concept of the
"Universal Christ," a notion transcending the historical Jesus of Nazareth
and extending into the cosmic fabric of existence. Drawing from diverse
sources, including ancient scriptures, mystical traditions, and
contemporary theology, Rohr constructs a compelling argument for
perceiving Christ as an omnipresent force interwoven into the very
essence of creation; “In the beginning was Word, and the Word was with
God. He was with God in the beginning, through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (Jn 1:1-3).
What sets "The Universal Christ" apart is Rohr's remarkable ability to
merge theological depth with accessible language, appealing to both
scholars and laypersons alike. With clarity and grace, he navigates
complex theological frameworks, inviting readers to engage in a faith
journey while offering practical guidance for spiritual growth. Throughout
the book, Rohr challenges readers to reconsider entrenched beliefs,
advocating for a more inclusive and compassionate expression of
Christianity. By highlighting the interconnectedness of all life and
affirming the sacredness inherent in every being, Rohr presents a vision
of a world imbued with justice and love.
However, amidst the brilliance of Rohr's insights, controversy may arise
from his departure from traditional Christian interpretations. Yet,
precisely this willingness to confront discomfort and stimulate
introspection renders Rohr's discourse profoundly compelling. In
essence, "The Universal Christ" presents an invitation to surpass
historical narratives and rigid dogmas, encouraging readers to
contemplate Christ in his boundless universality. Regardless of whether
they are seasoned theologians or spiritual seekers, readers can
anticipate encountering novel perspectives and profound insights,
leading them to forge a deeper rapport with the enigmas of existence.
This acclaimed work has garnered numerous accolades, including the
esteemed recognition as a New York Times Best Seller.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
One Body in Christ
Prof. Philip Koshi

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people

live together in unity!” (Psalms 133: 1).

What is One Body in Christ? Pentecostals, Mormons, Orthodox, Jehovah’s Witness,

One Body in Christ is a biblical concept that describes the
unity and diversity of the church. It means that all believers
regardless of their background, status, or gifts are united
by their faith and their baptism by the Holy Spirit.
On April 8, 2024 the EWTN VATICAN (Eternal Word
Television Network) — the world’s largest Catholic media
network —televised a statement by Cardinal Kurt Koch,
Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and
he said: “The biggest challenge is that so many Christians
no longer seek unity. Instead, many are resigned to the
fact that we have a multitude of churches and church
communities.”
Five years ago (2019), Cardinal Koch said in an interview
that divisions within the church be avoided. “The Catholic
way, he said, “is to remain under one roof, under the roof
of the Papacy, the universal church. That is also the
reason why there are so many tensions, so many conflicts
in the Catholic Church. It is easier to split off and found a
new church. I think the catholic way is the better way and
I hope that the Catholic church will remain on this catholic
path within the universal church as a whole. In my opinion
the other way has no future.”
Nestorians and many more!
Apostle Paul asserts that the church is the Body of Christ,
with constituent members individually, whether Jews or
Greeks, whether slaves or free. In chapter 12 of First
Corinthians, we read: “that there should be no schism in
the body; but that the members should have the same
care one for another.”
An increasingly divided and polarized world needs to
search for unity of Christians and churches. It implies the
fundamental and profound conviction that humankind
must stand together to seek each other’s best interests
and to uphold the dignity of each human being and the
whole creation. We are now experiencing a significant
moment in the life of the world and the unity of the church.
A world of climate catastrophe, pandemic, war, and
economic concerns require a fresh engagement of the
church with one another on the core issue of faith, unity,
and mission that both unite and continue to divide them.

Are we One Body in Christ?

In this context one is reminded of the festeow over the

Uniform Liturgical Code, in Kerala’s Syro-Malabar Church
(Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese), which recently
intensified with protesting priests and laity warned of
excommunication. The uniform mode is a compromise
between the Syro-Malabar Church’s ancient tradition, in
which the priest looked east, and the emergence of a
post-Vatican II practice in some churches, where the
priest faced the people throughout the Eucharist.

The unity of the church is therefore exposed to numerous

dangers. Time and again, difficulties arise in dialogues
within the Christian community and the church. In his
epistle to the Romans, Apostle Paul warns believers to be
sober minded and contrite, coming before the Lord in
humble obedience and submission, yielding to His rule
and reign.
Christianity is the largest religious group in the world, with
an estimated 2.3 to 2.6 billion adherents. However, they
are divided into innumerable branches: Catholics,
Protestants, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians,
Evangelicals, Methodists, Adventists, Brethren, Quakers,
The Early Christians were united in one faith or belief
system. They were not divided into sectarianism or
denominationalism. The Bible, The Word of God was their
standard of truth. By remaining in the Word and being
united in Christ, they became one flock, under one
shepherd. Jesus said, as found in Mathew 12:25, “A house
divided against itself cannot stand.” Apostle Paul said in
Ephesians 4: 4-5: “There is one body and one Spirit, . . .
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of

15 | Page FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3

all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The Apostle
Peter said in 1 Peter 4:16, “Yet if one suffers as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify
God.”
Martin Luther wrote: “I ask that my name be left silent and
people not call themselves Lutheran, but rather Christians.
Who is Luther? The doctrine is not mine. I have been
crucified for no one. How should I, a poor stinking bag of
worms, become so that the children of Christ are named
with my unholy name? It should not be dear friends. Let
us extinguish all factious names and be called Christians
whose doctrine we have.”
Writing in the Bible.org, Pastor Steven J. Cole of California
says: “When the subject of unity comes up, I always think
of the familiar chorus, “We are one in the Lord” and why I
cannot stand that song. Are we really “one” with every
group that claims to be Christian?”
Pastor Steven goes on to give a second reason why he
dislikes that chorus and it is more personal.” When I was
in the Coast Guard boot camp, as far as I could tell, none
of my fellow recruits in my company were believers. They
consistently used foul speech and bragged about their
sexual exploits. But every week, they would march to the
chapel and join together under the liberal chaplain, singing
“we are one in the Spirit.”
Can we be One Body in Christ?
Being one body in Christ does not mean that we must all
look alike, talk alike, and enjoy the same kinds of activities.
Back in the early 1970s many “hippies” young people got
swept up in the “Local Church” movement under the
Chinese leader, Witness Lee. Overnight, they cut off their
long hair, and beards and started wearing white shirts with
narrow black ties, just as Witness Lee did. They even
gestured and sounded like him when they talked. It was
kind of eerie, but it had nothing to do with true Christian
unity!
Living a life of faith and righteousness is at the core of
Christianity. When one is in One Body with Christ it has a
16 | Page
transformative power that shapes individuals and
communities, leading to a more just and compassionate
world. Practicing one virtue strengthens the others,
creating a virtuous cycle that can lead to a more fulfilling
and godly life. It is a journey that requires dedication and
perseverance. It can lead to a life of deeper faith, greater
joy, and a closer relationship with God.
The commission on Faith and Order of the World Council
of Churches undertakes theological studies so that the
churches may reach agreement across their diversity and
grow in mutual care and accountability. The name “Faith
and Order” refers to two areas in which remaining
disagreements hamper communion or unity among
Christian churches. The first is “faith” in the sense of what
churches believe. Significant disagreements on what
churches believe prevent common life among them. The
second area is “order” in the sense of how church ministry
is organized as it serves and communicates God’s
salvation in Christ. Significant disagreements in this area
also prevent communion among churches.
One is yet to witness the visible unity while sharing
culturally diverse hymns, liturgy, and prayers. By doing so
we will be able to celebrate the unity of the churches in
worship, study, and action. A space for ecumenical
dialogue on emerging and pressing theological, social,
and geographical concerns was recently created at the
15th General Assembly Meet of the Christian Conference
of Asia, held at Kottayam, Kerala, India from Sept 28—Oct
4, 2023. As the coordinator of the CCA News and as a
co-opted staff it was a blessed moment for me to witness
the celebration of the unity of churches in Asia in worship,
study, and action.
It also provided opportunity for the delegates (500 from all
Asian countries) to express the common vision of the
churches for the direction and mission of the CCA which
is the world’s second largest ecumenical body after the
World Council of Churches. Through continuous
dialogues churches can play a pivotal role in breaking
down barriers and fostering mutual understanding and
trust among the people and communities who are living in
conflict situations.
The convening of the Council of Nicaea in 325 by Emperor
Constantine was a defining moment for the Christian
church. It was the first attempt to reach consensus in the
church through an assembly of more than 300 bishops
representing all of Christendom. It affirmed the Christian
faith in the triune God and marked the transition from
Christians being a persecuted minority to becoming a
church recognized by the Roman state. In Nicaea, now
Iznik in present day Türkiye, the call to unity was heard
within the context of a troubled, unequal, and divided
world. Most significantly this council formulated the
Nicene Creed, which after 1700 years still remains the
bedrock of faith in all churches including the Mar Thoma
Church.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Christian unity is based on a shared life in Christ; it is a
major source for witness to the world and is expressed
through common love, purpose, and mission. It is a known
fact that thoughtful exchanges are ongoing on how all
entities can effectively work together to address pressing
global challenges and further the cause of Christian unity.
It is also to be remembered with confidence that God is
continuously with us---loving, forgiving, healing, and
empowering us to become His visible signs of peace and
reconciliation. As Christians, we carry this great calling
with humility and responsibility. It is our shared vocation
to participate in the prophetic mission of Christ
proclaiming the Kingdom of God, which is made visible by
the testimony of our lives and in our work for justice and
reconciliation.
One maybe a Catholic, another a Protestant, yet another
of Pentecostal or Orthodox faith. Denominations are
legions, but in the eyes of the Lord we are all His children.
We have to work through disagreements and conflicts,
allowing for constructive communication.
Charity is the ultimate expression of love and fosters a
sense of interconnectedness within the community,
inspiring individuals to work towards the well-being of
others and the greater good. In Romans 12: 3—8 we read:
“So we, being many are one body in Christ and individually
members of one another. Having then gifts, differing,
according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.”
Jesus said: “ love your neighbor as yourself.” By showing
love and compassion to others, we demonstrate our love
for God and are thereby strengthened in our faith.
The pertinent question is how are we, the church as One
Body in Christ, to live differently? As Apostle Paul wrote in
the Epistle to the Philippians, we must focus on the true,
the noble, the right, the pure, the lovely, the admirable, the
excellent and the praiseworthy. Let us together shape a
new paradigm for living together in the household of God.
Let us play a crucial role in building strong communities,
providing a foundation for individuals to come together in
harmony and work towards a common purpose.
Let us embrace the motto borrowed from the Letter of
Saint Paul to the Colossians which reads in Latin as: .Ut
Sit In Omnibus Christus Primatum Tenens,’ which means
that Christ be before everything.
Professor Philip Koshi served as
Professor of English literature at
Mar Ivanios College,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He is
the author of six books, Ex-All India
Radio Broadcaster, Quiz Master,
and Freelance Journalist. He is a
member of the South Florida Mar
Thoma Church and lives in Weston,
Florida.
17 | Page
One Body in Christ
Anish Thomas
Romans 12:3-8 is a beautiful passage that speaks to the
importance of humility, unity, and the use of spiritual gifts
within the body of Christ. In this devotional, we will delve
deeper into this passage, unpacking its meaning and
offering practical ways to apply it to our lives today.
Imagine a hand. The thumb is strong and crucial for
grasping, but it cannot function on its own. It needs the
other fingers to support, point, and manipulate objects.
Each finger has a unique role, yet they all work together as
a unit. Similarly, in the body of Christ, we have different
gifts and callings. There is no room for arrogance; each
member is valuable and contributes to the whole.
The passage opens with a call to humility. Paul, speaking
by God's grace, instructs us not to think of ourselves
"more highly than we ought." This is not about maintaining
a facade of false modesty. It is about recognizing that our
abilities and achievements come from God's grace. We
are all instruments in a divine orchestra, playing a unique
part in a larger symphony.
Paul mentions "the measure of faith God has assigned."
This faith is not just intellectual belief; it is a deep trust and
reliance on God. The "measure" refers to the unique
amount of faith God gifts each believer. Some may have a
strong faith in leadership, while others excel in
encouragement or service. Our job is not to compare our
faith to others but to use it faithfully in the role God
assigns. Consider a talented artist. Their artistic ability is a
gift, but to truly create masterpieces, they need to hone
their skills through practice and dedication. Similarly, our
faith is a gift that helps us use our spiritual gifts effectively.
The analogy of the body is powerful. We are "one body in
Christ" (NIV), even though we are many individuals. Each
member has a distinct function, yet all contribute to the
well-being of the whole. The eye cannot boast to the hand,
"I don't need you," because both are essential for the
body to function. This teaches us about unity in the
church. We may come from different backgrounds, have
varying strengths and weaknesses, and even theological
differences. But in Christ, we are one. We need to
celebrate our diversity and work together to fulfil God's
purpose for the church.
Imagine a diverse team working on a complex project.
Each team member brings their unique skills and
perspectives to the table. Through open communication,
collaboration, and appreciation for each other's strengths,
they can achieve something far greater than any individual
could have accomplished alone. The church is similar. By
working together in unity, we can share the Gospel
message with the world and make a significant impact.
(Continued on Page 31)
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Church as the Body of Christ
Dr. Zac Varghese
In the Gospels, ‘Body of Christ’ has two separate, but
important meanings: firstly, it refers to Jesus Christ's
words over ‘the bread’ at the celebration of the Jewish
feast of Passover (last supper); Jesus took bread, gave
thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is
my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (
Lk 22:19–20). Secondly, it refers to all individuals who are
"in Christ" as members of the Church. “Just as body,
though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form
one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Cor 12:12). This article is
mainly dealing with the second, ‘Church as the body of
Christ.’
In Pauline Epistles, ‘Body of Christ’ refers to all individuals
who "heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit"
(Ephesians 1:13;) St. Paul goes on to say, “ God placed
all things under his [Jesus’] feet and appointed him to be
the head over everything for the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph
1:22-23).
St. Paul in many of his epistles used phrases similar to ‘the
body of Christ’ to indicate the absolute need for the unity
of members of the newly formed churches during his
three missionary journeys. He was very much concerned
with the quarrels and divisions in churches that he
established during his three missionary journeys. This
made him say to the Corinthians: “I appeal to you,
brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you agree with one another in what you say and
that there be no divisions among you, but that you be
perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and
sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me
that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this:
One of you says, “I follow Paul;” another, “I follow
Apollos;” another, “I follow Cephas;” still another, “I follow
Christ”(1 Cor 1: 10-12).
St. Paul used the terms such as “You are the body of
Christ (1 Cor 12:27; 1 Cor 12:12; Rom 12:4-5; Eph 4:4;
Col 1:25); Christ as the head of the body, the church (Col
1:18); church as the bride, and Christ as the bridegroom
(2 Cor 11;2; Eph 5;21-24). In spite of the emphasis by Paul
that the church is designed by God to function as the
‘body of Christ,’ they had divisions. Unfortunately, this is
our experience too. Historically, liturgical traditions,
theological disputes, castes, gender, creed, culture,
greed, ‘purity-laws,’ and hunger for power have
contributed to the fragmentation of the Church to more
than 40,000 denominations across the world. In this
process, we are torturing the body of Christ.
In all the above Pauline metaphors for the church, we see
the important message of unity in Christ. We see this very
18 | Page
clearly in the statement, “. . . to bring unity in all things
in heaven and on earth under Christ”(Eph 1:10). This unity
is radically all inclusive. It is not limited to one elected
group or race or denomination of the church. The work of
the modern ecumenical movement is based on the God’s
plan to bring all things together in Christ. This idea is
clearly spelt out in 1 Cor 12:12-14, “Just as a body, though
one, has many parts, but all its many parts forms one
body, so it is with Christ. For we are all baptised by one
Spirit so as to from one body–whether Jews or Gentiles,
slave or free–and we are given the one Spirit to drink. Even
so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” The
early seven ecumenical councils were an effort to bring
together Christian unity. Nicaean Creed is a legacy of this
early effort under the leadership of the emperor
Constantine in 325 CE.
Nicene Creed highlighted four important characteristics of
the Church as ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.’
Although oneness of the Church is disturbed by the
divisions in the Church, all baptized members are
considered to be the members of the body of Christ
irrespective of denominational divisions. Holiness of the
Church highlights the importance of the guidance of the
Holy Spirit. ‘Catholic’ in the context of the Nicene creed
suggests the universality of the Church (body of Christ). It
is not about the separation of the Roman Catholic Church
after the East-West schism in 1054CE. Martin Luther’s
protestant reformation in the 16th century divided the
Church further into large numbers of protestant
denominations, but most churches consider themselves
as one under Pauline concept of ‘Church as ‘the body of
Christ.’ Church is truly apostolic because at Caesarea
Philippi, Jesus declared: “I tell you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my Church” (Mt 16:18).
The Unity of the Members of the Church.
Jesus’ high priestly prayer in St. John’s Gospel is a clear
desire of Jesus to establish unity in the Church. "My
prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message, that all of them may
be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May
they also be in us so that the world may believe that you
have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave
me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and
you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.
Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved
them even as you have loved me” (Jn 17:20-23). This
passage clearly shows how this unity can be achieved.
Jesus is allowing us to participate in his relationship with
his Father as a vine and it branches. “I am the true vine,
and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in
me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear
fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are
already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear
fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you
bear fruit unless you remain in me. . . .” (Jn 15:1-8). Jesus
also told us, “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35).
Jesus again confirms this idea of being ‘the bread of life’
at the last supper: “And he took bread, gave thanks and
broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given
for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). As
members of the faith community, in Eucharist we accept,
eat the sanctified-bread, and drink the sanctified-wine in
remembrance that Christ died for us for, and for our
redemption. In the Holy Communion, we need to see and
feel the presence of Jesus Christ, and remember our ever-
living and ever-lasting relationship with Jesus who gave
his life for our redemption.
However, Eucharistic hospitality is blocked by theological
and liturgical arguments in many churches. The World
Council of Churches in January1982 introduced the ‘Lima
Liturgy,’ which is a Christian ecumenical eucharistic liturgy
for bringing churches together. It reflects the theological
convergences of Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM),
as expressed in the liturgy. Let us hope and continue to
pray for eucharistic hospitality among all churches and
Christian faith communities across the world, and
practice ‘liturgy after the liturgy’ on every day of our life.
Church as an Atonement Community.
Key to the understanding the Church as a community
called atonement is the notion that Jesus identified with
us as Immanuel so that we can identify with Him as well.
Jesus’ story has to become our story as St. Paul wrote to
Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live now in the body, I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Baptism, Eucharist and prayer
are three fundamental practices that shape the Church as
a community of atonement. Furthermore, St. Paul asks the
question: “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God
and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone
destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person ; for
God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple”
(1 Cor 3:16-17). Therefore, Christians are expected to be
joined together as one family, the body of Christ, as ‘One,
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,’ which is the
dwelling place of God.” It is good to remember the
warning that God gave to Moses about Holy ground:
“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are
standing is holy ground” (Exo 3;5; Acts 7:33). The
‘sandals’ in the present context are various reasons for the
divisions in the community of faith, the Church.
St. Paul’s use of ‘body model’ for the unity in the Church
is powerful and insightful. This means that each and every
Christian is an organ of Christ’s body, the Church. We
should consider Church as an organism and not merely as
an organization; it is then we begin to think about the need
for feeding, teaching, nurturing and developing. This has
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following implications: 1) each Christian is indispensable
for the smooth functioning of the Church; 2). There are no
self-made independent members of the Church just as
there is no self-made Church since all gifts are given to
her members in various measures by the Holy Spirit; 3)
Just an organ cannot become dysfunctional in one’s body
without hurting other parts of the body, and the total
wellbeing of the whole person. Therefore, we must not
isolate anyone from a caring and loving fellowship of the
members of the Church. Togetherness is the hall mark of
an atoning community, the Church. It is difficult today to
feel optimistic about institutionalized churches, until we
see church communities with full of human warmth,
empathy, love and fellowship with a shared common
purpose of establishing God’s kingdom values in our
world. Chiara Lubich of the Focolare Foundation wrote: “If
we all form one body, and the gifts of each person are
complementary, the members of the community should
have great respect for one another. And if each of us has
a mission to fulfil for the common good, it should be
carried out in such a way as to foster unity and the
harmonious growth of the entire Christian community.
Hence, there should be no room for pride, individualism,
etc."
In conclusion, let me quote C. S. Lewis, the most
influential Christian writer of the twentieth century: “The
Church exists for nothing else but to draw men to Christ,
to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all
cathedrals, clergy, missions, and sermons are simply a
waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.”
This is a real challenge. Furthermore, do we have the
sensitivity to hear and respond to the cry that Tennyson
mentioned in his poem? “What am I? An infant crying in
the night, an infant crying for the light, with no language
but a cry. This indeed is the big question facing the
Church today?
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
United by God, Committed to Serve
Lal Varghese, Esq.
The well-known theologian Mathew Henry’s (1662 – 1714)
commentary on Joshua 24:15 is about the choice each
person needs to make; it can be summarized as follows:
“It is essential that the service of God's people be
performed with a willing mind. Joshua puts the people of
Israel to their choice; but not as if it were indifferent
whether they served God or not. Joshua says choose you
whom ye will serve, now the matter is laid plainly before
you. Those that are bound for heaven must be willing to
swim against the stream. They must not do as the most
do, but as the best do. The Israelites agree with Joshua,
being influenced by the example of a man who had been
so great a blessing to them; we also will serve the Lord.
The service of God being made their deliberate choice,
Joshua binds them to it by a solemn covenant. He set up
a monument of it.”
1 Cor. 12:12 says: Christ and his church unite as one body
being the Head and members respectively. Christians
become members of this body through the Holy baptism.
The outward rite is of Divine institution; it is a sign of the
new birth, and, therefore called as the washing of
regeneration. Tit 3:5-6 goes beyond this theological
exposition and says: “He saved us not because of the
righteous things that we had done, but because of his
mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and
renewal by the Holy Spirit.” It is the renewal by the Holy
Spirit that we are made members of Christ's body.
Communion with Christ, through the Lord’s Supper,
strengthens us. Each member of the body has its own
divine purpose, place, and use for the kingdom of God.
There is distinction between the different organs and parts
and their intended purpose in the body. Likewise,
members of the Church have different use and purpose to
perform. All the members of the body are useful and
needed to each other. Likewise, being a part of the body
of Christ, each one of us may and ought to be useful to
fellow members. As in the natural body of man, the
strongest bonds of love should closely unite the members
of the Church; the good of the whole should be the object
of all. All believers are dependent one each other; each
one is to expect and receive help from the rest. Thus, we
may have more of the spirit of union in our religious life.
Like Lord said, man is not for Sabbath but Sabbath is
made for man.
Ephesians 1:23 says that our destiny as the body of
Christ is to be the fullness with which Christ fills everything
in every way. Christ reconciled both Jews and Gentiles
in one body to God through the cross, by having put to
death the enmity. All the members make up one body in
Christ, who is the Head of the body, and the common
center of their unity. In the spiritual body, some are called
to one sort of work and others for another sort of work. No
one should say, I am useless, therefore I will sit quiet, and
do nothing; but, should say: I am nothing in myself, and
20 | Page
therefore, I will lay out myself to the utmost, in the strength
of the grace of Christ. Whatever our gifts or situations may
be, let us try to employ ourselves humbly, diligently,
cheerfully, and in simplicity; not seeking our own credit or
profit, but the good of many, for this world and that which
is to come. Let us unite with our Lord obediently and with
humbleness and commit ourselves like Joshua declared,
‘me and my household we will serve the Lord.’
1 Corinthians 6:17 speaks that we are joined unto the
Lord, indicating that the closest possible union is found
in one Spirit. In Ephesians 4: 4-6, it is stated that wherein
unity consists of seven particulars. The Church is an
organic whole, of which believers are the members, and
Christ the Head, supplying the vitalizing power: The real
body, being constituted by vital union with Christ, is not
synonymous with any single outward society. When our
greatest desire is to bring glory to God and walk in
obedience, we become chosen people who seek to love
and serve Jesus in the power of the Spirit. The Bible says
God is at work in everyone’s life. “ God did this so that
they should seek him and perhaps reach out for him and
find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts
17:27).
John, the disciple of Jesus, is always remembered as the
apostle of love and referred to himself as “as the disciple
whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). John wrote more on love
than any New Testament writer. But he wasn’t always so
inclined. Yet John was one who ends up being
overwhelmed with the love of God and writes about the
importance of loving others. He testifies that the Father
has sent his Son as savior and later he sent the Holy Spirit
so that we may abide or unite with God. Those who unite
with God also abide in love and he who abides in love
abides in God and God in him. “By this we know that we
abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His
Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has
sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses
that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in
God. And we have known and believed the love that God
has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides
in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:13-16).
The word ‘commitment’ means entrusting something
valuable to another person. Commitment additionally
includes the responsibility to practice specific activities.
God has entrusted or committed a valuable talent into
each believer that is to be guarded and protected, to be
faithfully proclaimed and in turn to be committed to others.
Thus, each believer is responsible to respond to God’s call
by committing their heart, mind, body, and life to serve
him to share the Gospel and to be His ambassadors in this
world.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Jesus is telling us that every fiber of our being, every facet
of our lives must be committed to loving and serving God.
This means that we must hold nothing back from Him
because God holds nothing back from us. ‘For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life’ (John 3:16). Jesus tells us that our commitment to Him
must supersede our commitment to even our families: “If
anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and
mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,
yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 26-27). It means our
commitment to Christ demands, if given an “either/or”
situation we turn away from our families and continue on
with Jesus (Luke 12:51-53). The bottom line is that those
who cannot make that kind of commitment cannot be His
disciples.
Jesus has made clear about the cost of discipleship to his
followers: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24). In essence,
the true cost of commitment to Christ is one’s total self-
denial, cross bearing, and the lifelong following of Him.
These imperatives picture for us sacrifice, selflessness,
and service. Apostle Paul who was a persecutor of
Christians committed and sacrificed himself to the Lord
and said I am ready to go to Jerusalem and die for Christ.
Paul later proclaimed: “I have been crucified with Christ. It
is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the
life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 20:20).
When our greatest desire is to bring glory to God and walk
in obedience, we become driven people who seek to love
and serve Jesus in the power of the Spirit. Let our prayer
echo Solomon’s. May our “hearts be fully committed to
the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his
commands” (1 King 8:61). “And you, being dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has
made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all
trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of
requirements that was against us, which was contrary to
us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to
the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14)
Commitment does not mean that we should have faith in
Lord only, because in James 2:17 says: “Thus faith by
itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” What should be
our works, which is the expression of our faith? Mathew
25: 35-36 says: “For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something
to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” So,
when our faith is expressed through our good works to
those who need help, it is the reflection of our
commitment. Commitment is also not just the expression
21 | Page
of love itself, since Luke 6: 32 says: “If you love those who
love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love
those who love them.” In Luke 6: 27, it is written: “But to
you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good
to those who hate you.” To have real commitment, we
need to love our enemies, not only our neighbors and need
to do good to those who hate us. That is the real
expression of commitment God wants from each one of
us.
The disciples chosen by Jesus Christ were ordinary
people, but He was able to do extra ordinary things
through them. They left their fishing nets and followed
Jesus, the moment He asked them to follow Him, and they
never looked back. But some of them returned to their
nets and forgot about their divine calling for which they
were chosen, after crucifixion of Jesus. But risen Jesus
appeared to them and proved that without Him they
cannot do anything including catching the fish in
abundance. The Acts of the Apostles describes in detail
about the struggles and persecution endured by the
disciples, and all of them were martyred except John, who
appears to have died of natural causes. Are we ready to
be united with Him and accept the challenges that may
threaten us for being committed to Him? The disciples
united with their master and sacrificed their lives to the
cause for which they were committed and united with. As
Joshua said to Israelites, “But if serving the Lord seems
undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors
served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you are living, but as for me and
my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24: 15).
What do you do when the winds of temptation are swirling
all around you, and when you are weary and worn and
want to quit? Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s
house. Hold fast to the confidence and the rejoicing of the
hope, firm to the end by being united with our Lord with
full commitment and dedication so that we may enjoy the
eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3: 5-6). Let
us re-affirm our faith and hope in Lord by declaring that
for me and my household we will serve the Lord.
Reinder Bruinsma begins his book, ‘The Body of Christ: A
Biblical Understanding of the Church’ with this clear,
straightforward definition: the Church is the body of Christ—
God’s people. Bruinsma believes this doctrine has not been
adequately wrestled with today. His readable and informative
treatment of this vital topic fills a vital gap in Adventist
literature. His far-ranging look at the doctrine of the Church
moves from Old and New Testament foundations, up through
Church government and controversial issues such as
ordination and church discipline. In his conclusion, Bruinsma
outlines the mission and the future of the Church. His
fourfold approach covers every facet of the doctrine, and
these are explored in detail. This thought-provoking
discussion challenges those who call themselves ‘God’s
people,’ and ask them to examine their current understanding
of the Church, and to prayerfully consider their roles as part
of the body of Christ.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Artificial Intelligence, a ‘Tower of Babel’ Moment
David Brand
[We have included this article to highlight the challenges
and risks associated with the Artificial Intelligence (AI). We
should not sleep walk into this new technology; deep
evaluation is necessary to ensure that AI aligns with the
Christian faith and reliance on God’s grace. Christian
communities should engage in theological reflection and
dialogue to navigate the complexities of AI. King David
wrote: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we
trust in the name of the Lord our God” (PS20:7). We hope
that this article would be of help to be aware of potential
dangers of AI. Editorial Reflection.]
God, according to the Bible, describes himself as “I AM.”
That to me, is as perfect an answer as you could possibly
expect from the Divine. God may be telling us: “I am all
things; but what you personally perceive me to be is down
to you and you have your lifetime to reach your own
conclusions.” One thing we do know is that God is a
spiritual being, and God is love. St. Paul wrote: “. . . to
grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love
of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all
fullness of God” (Eph 3:18-19).
From time immemorial, man has built idols and structures
to worship different godly entities and the dead; we have
continued to make statues and monuments to famous
leaders, heroes and quite rightly to all those who died
defending their countries. However, this time we are
building an active monument to Artificial Intelligence (AI)
and all our current achievements in electronic technology
and programming. AI is a super brain, containing
incredible knowledge, capable of thinking for itself. Are we
in danger of surrendering ourselves to a man-made God,
that has to be flawed because we are flawed, slowly
reducing our own thinking capacity?
Are we reaching another ‘Tower of Babel’ moment (Gen
11:1-9), the height of human pride and arrogance, though
God intervened to save humanity? God’s love endures
forever (Ps 16:1), not based on what we do. Nothing we
do would ever cause God to love us less.
Am I overreacting? Consider this; how many of you
remember and use the up to twelve times tables from
memory; when adding up, do you now reach for your
calculator and are you capable of having an idea what the
answer should be in case you made an error in entering
the figures; can you remember your trigonometry; can you
use Logarithmic and Trigonometric tables; can you still
use a slide rule? Can you differentiate and integrate
algebraic and trigonometric functions, a gift from Isaac
Newton that has allowed us to go into space? Do you
prefer to use your credit card because you have problems
22 | Page
checking the change? Therefore, if we surrender to a
machine that does our thinking, but may not have an
original thought, what kind of future has humanity got?
We also know that the main compounds and elements
that constitute us are: Air, Water, Coal, Chalk, traces of
Phosphorus, Sulphur, Iron, Zinc, and all such earthly
products. An AI would also comprise earthly materials,
probably Gold, Silicon, Alloys, various Plastics, Carbon
Fibre, Steel, Copper, Brass and Chrome. So, we all have
little unseen labels attached to all things around us stating,
“Made on Earth.” But who made the earth? We are made
in the image of God.
They say that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
So how dangerous can something be that has all the
knowledge known to mankind and could be updated
automatically with every new piece of knowledge when it
is discovered. However, what we do not know is, does it
also have or learnt and retained the same characteristics
of the human being with all the freedom to range from
perfect to barbaric and would it recognise the difference?
Let us think about AI, which is connected to the outside
world via neural networks. A neural network is based on a
connection of connected units or nodes called Artificial
Neurons which loosely model the neurons in a human
brain.
This allows a process called DEEP LEARNING to evolve
and is defined as a “Machine learning technique” that
teaches computers to do what comes naturally to
humans, that is learn by example. Deep learning is a key
technology behind, for example, driverless cars, enabling
them to recognise, say a stop sign or prevent confusion
between a pedestrian and a lamp post. The next step
would be to reproduce a human brain but with lightning
ability to calculate and make decisions based on
immediate data available with an unbelievably huge
memory that never forgets.
The final step is to allow it to think for itself with no ability
to take control of it, once it has established itself through
the interfaces that are available to it. This for many is a
step too far, it is in fact surrendering ourselves and
freedoms to an entity that has no conscience, morals or
understanding of the human condition. Worst of all, it has
no spirituality, no humanity or a long record of experience.
Unfortunately, many scientists are so embroiled in their
various specialities that they become convinced there is
no such thing as a God because they believe in specifics
like cause and effect and as God cannot be seen or
spirituality measured, it does not exist.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
I like to ask three questions of AI: “Do you believe in God?”
“Can you heal?” and “What happens to us when we die?”
When you have a moment ask Google the first question and
see what answer you get from its incredible reference library.
The answer from a super human brain that supposedly thinks
for itself could be far more fascinating. Ask it if it is a spiritual
being and what it thinks will happen to it when it is replaced
by a superior AI. What is its concept of heaven, miracles,
Angels, evil, holiness, giving and receiving or above all
praying.
Man has modelled himself in paint, marble, metal and been
buried in fabulous tombs, we also have a recorded history of
many deities from civilizations from all over the globe.
However, is AI a step too far, a highly intelligent electronic
creation that may eventually be beyond human control?
One disturbing fact is that Geoffrey Hinton, regarded as the
Godfather of AI, has relinquished his role at Google. What
conclusion has he reached to distance himself from any
further development of AI? He of all those involved must have
become aware of the abyss that awaits us if we pursue this
course of development and get it wrong. For example, the
country with the smartest AI may win wars, or will AI’s battle
for supremacy using humans as pawns?
Recent world-wide debates about AI often characterise it as
a technology that has come to compete with human
intelligence and render humans obsolete in the process;
wide-spread job losses are predicted. It is appropriate and
symbolic that the discussions about its dangers and benefits
happened in Hiroshima on May 20, 2023, when the leaders
of the G7 countries agreed on the need for governance and
strict regulations for this rapidly expanding sector. There are
also ongoing discussions regarding AI regulation in the
British Parliament, United States Congress and the European
Union.
We have God on our side and our ingenuity has always
prevailed. We have been created by God as spiritual beings
on an eternal learning curve and our existence on this planet
is just a small part of that curve. Take heart and above all live
the life granted to you, it may not be ideal but it is yours and
have faith; it has been designed for your development and
granted in good faith and expectation. You arrived with
nothing and no matter what you have or have not, it will be
left behind but your experience will be retained for the benefit
of those who follow you.
I doubt very much that a bundle of electronic components
will cause our downfall. The only thing we should fear is the
Godless humans who emerge and seek to conquer and
dominate others to satisfy their own egos. This goes back
centuries and is still with us at this very moment, despite
history demonstrating their pointless efforts and the suffering
that ensue. Yet, we never learn. AI could well be the solution
to the problems awaiting us in the future, if used correctly.
To me, surrendering to AI is giving up the purpose of our
lives. We are here to learn, think for ourselves and strive to
conquer the problems that confront us, not merely relying on
a machine to do it for us. Machines are meant to help us do
23 | Page
our tasks quicker. Suppose, we reached the point where we
asked AI to do the maths because we had forgotten how to
do it and the AI refused our request for assistance, or it
developed a fault and we lost the skill to fix it because it had
been programmed to fix itself or so we thought; we would be
plunged back centuries assuming we still had the ability to
survive.
I am no Luddite, a person who dislikes new technology. We
need machines of all kinds to progress technologically in
order to make our lives better and explore the God-given
creation we know exists beyond our experience. AI can be
used for the good of humanity, and therefore learning to use
it wisely as a tool with control and regulation is important.
However, handing over the control of our lives to a self-
thinking machine is one step too far, especially if it ends up
in the wrong hands or minds.
May I leave you with few chilling comments from three
people who know well the dangers of AI. Geoffrey Hinton
said, “Right now, they are not more intelligent than us, as far
as I can tell. But I think they soon may be.” Late Stephen
Hawking, possibly one of the cleverest men of our time, said:
“If we allow AI to have the power to decide for itself, it will
improve itself and we may lose control.” Elon Musk added
two additional chilling comments: “With AI we are
summoning the Demon,” and “AI is potentially more
dangerous than Nukes.” In the past, we have needed
machines to help us and these machines needed us to
operate and maintain them, an unrecognized mutual
cooperation of co-existence. What happens when an
advanced intelligence greater than ours asks itself: “Why am
I doing this and do I have to as I am capable of much
greater things and do not need to be told what to do by an
inferior intelligence?”
Let us return to the Bible, in the beginning, God has
established boundaries in nature – for example, setting limits
on the sea, which symbolised the forces of chaos
(Gen 1:9,10) – God also sets boundaries for his people (Gen
2:16,17). Deviating from God’s design has adverse effect for
His creation. Satan would have us believe that boundary-less
living is an attractive alternative (Gen 3:4,5). But without
boundaries, there is no protective framework to keep out fear,
shame and guilt, and to create a safe space within which we
may freely explore, experience and enjoy God’s blessings. By
breaking boundaries, we place ourselves outside this place
of God’ grace and blessing (Gen 3:23). We need to set
boundaries for AI as well. In the beginning God set a
boundary for mankind: “You are free to eat from any tree in
the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good an evil, for when you eat from it you will
certainly die”(Gen 2:16,17). Could AI be a forbidden fruit or a
‘tower of Babel moment for mankind?’
I would prefer to believe and rely on God, who has despite
our best efforts to the contrary allowed us to reach the year
2024 CE, and God willing long may it continue. May I
conclude this article by quoting a comment from Bishop
David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, in the New Day Light
journal: “I suspect, we soon may discover how to make idols
out of AI; yet in doing so, just as much as our ancestors did
from attending the wisdom that God seeks to offer.”
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
My Story (Part-7)
Dr. Titus Mathews, Professor Emeritus, University of
Calgary, Canada
[Dr. Titus Mathews may be very familiar to the readers of
the FOCUS Journal. He was one of the founding editors
and only given up the responsibility after ten years being
an editor. He lived and worked in India, Africa, England,
and Canada. His contributions to the Mar Thoma Diaspora
communities and the academic life in these countries are
enormous and hence it is worth publishing it for the benefit
of our readers. The following is the sixth part of an
autobiographical sketch written by Dr. Titus Mathew and
supplemented by his wife, Mrs. Sara Joseph. We are
hoping to publish it in several parts over the next two years.
We are very grateful for the help and support of the family
for helping us with this. The part-VI of the story was
published in the April, 2024 issue (FOCUS April 2024, Vol.
12, Issue 2, p 23-24 ) For the Editorial Board.]
At the end of
June, we all
returned to
Calgary after
stopping in
London for
couple of days,
staying with
Raju and Molly.
We did not go
for any sight-
seeing as the
kids were all
small, but I was
able to arrange
to have the car I
bought shipped to Vancouver. We reached home at the
beginning of July. The Kurians had rented our house while
I was away for the year, and they vacated it and moved to
the Queen’s apartment.
Ponnie was also brought up by grandparents, as her
parents were also away in Bahrain. But her household was
much larger, a joint family where four sons and their family
stayed together in the family home, where her
grandmother was the matriarch. There were several
children of different ages in the house. So, we both grew
up surrounded by extended family and we both loved
people and their company. In Calgary, we were lucky to
have good friends even from the early days. We used to
get together for all important days and celebrate
birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Onam, Thanksgiving
and so on. We did it purposely, so that our Children will
experience the love, care, and affection of a larger group.
Everyone enjoyed the support and care from each other.
24 | Page
Some of those members had moved away but are still
considered as uncles aunties, Ammachys and
Appachens. Even when some of our parents came over,
this group was of great support and help to make their life
more pleasant, and joyful here. Rain or shine we were
together. Good times and bad times, we were together –
kid’s graduations, weddings and so on, it was a large
family affair. Some of the kids have moved away including
ours, but for any important occasions, happy or sad, they
all fly back to be with the others. It was sad, that we had
to say goodbye to some forever, but the rest support each
other and stay as one extended family. We found it as a
very important achievement in our life here.
My parents were not very happy to live in Kozhencherry
after they returned to live in our home there. After being
away and having a comfortable life abroad, they found it
difficult to get others to accept their lifestyle. Moreover
Ammachy, who was diabetic and had other health
problems for a long time, increasingly needed
hospitalization. Ponnie went to Kerala a few times on a
short notice to help them out. Also, we were visiting them
alternately with children every year and spending time with
them. Finally, they agreed to come to Canada, and we
applied for immigration. It took time but finally, they got
immigrant visas in early 1983, and Ponnie went and
brought them here in early February. Ammachy was
already very ill and suffering due to diabetic neuropathy.
It was quite an arduous task to travel with them all by
herself, but I was happy they were home with us finally,
and it was my responsibility to take care of them at their
old age.
We were anticipating, but not sure about them agreeing to
come to Canada. So, we already had built a larger house
with convenience for their stay. I had the satisfaction that
finally I could look after them, and our children could
spend some time taking care of them and knowing their
love and life experience. Ammachy was too sick to enjoy
anything good here, and she missed her family back home
very much. But Appachen was very happy and relieved,
and enjoyed the time here with us. Our friends,
Malayalees and others were very helpful in visiting them,
comforting them, and listening to their life experiences in
Africa. Appachen was a good storyteller.
When Ammachy died in June of 1984, Appachen was very
worried about the funeral arrangements. But after the
funeral Appachen wrote to family members in Kerala,
“Mariamma’s funeral and burial and prayer service the
previous day were very well organized and dignified, such
that I would not been able to do like that there. Most of
the Malayalees in Alberta, and Kunjumon’s friends here,
came for it and helped in every way they could. The
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
procession to the cemetery was so long and had even the
police escort. So, I am very happy everything went very
well.” The service was conducted at St. James Anglican
Church where we were members, and by the Anglican
priests there.
Appachen lived another couple of years, very happy and
had fun with the children. Joju started sleeping with him
from the day Ammachy died to the day Appachen was
taken to the hospital. He wrote his memoirs during the
time and years later Titus Jr. edited it and made it into a
book. His experiences in old Travancore and East Africa
in the 1930’s onwards are an eye-opener, and hilarious to
read.
Appachen experienced stomach problems and was
admitted to the hospital and he passed away due to
complications after surgery in March 1987. We arranged
everything just as for Ammachy’s funeral. They both are
buried in one ‘Kallara” in Queen’s Park Cemetery, not far
from our house. We are very grateful to all our friends and
family in Canada, US, and here, especially the priests in
St. James Anglican Church for their home visits, and
hospital visits to comfort them, and for conducting the
funeral services including some of the Mar Thoma
traditions. I was very happy and grateful that I could be
with them in their last few years.
We also were happy to have a few of our relatives, coming
and living with us while they were doing their post-
graduate studies in the University, or preparing for their
qualifying exams and medical residency, or even for
summer work or vacation. Almost all of them have moved
away to the US and got flourishing jobs but are grateful for
the assistance they received while in Calgary and keep in
touch with us. Also, we were very happy to receive some
of the newcomers to Calgary and help them settle in. We
mutually benefitted from all this, sharing their life
experiences, and introducing them to the life conditions
here.
Years as Department Head:
At the beginning of the 1974 academic year, I was
appointed as the Head of the Department of Physics, a
turn of events which was not at all anticipated. The
Department Head at the time, Dr. Roy Krouse, a fine
person and a good teacher was more dedicated to his
research work, rather than administration of the
department. This caused some problems in the
department, both among faculty and support staff, and he
had to step down from the headship. As I was the
assistant to the Head at the time, I was asked to take over
the headship and the dean gave me the appointment
order as Head of the Physics Department.
It was immediately obvious to me that this was a great
challenge, but also an opportunity. It was a challenge
because the task I was undertaking was quite enormous
and I had absolutely no preparation. It was an opportunity
25 | Page
because by succeeding I could prove that I and others
from India were quite capable of undertaking such
important administrative responsibilities. I selected Dr.
Tony Harrison as Assistant Head to share responsibilities
with me, and he was glad to agree to it. Dr. Challice, the
Head, who appointed me, and Dr. Parsons were both
Associate Deans in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the
time were extremely helpful with advice for managing the
department.
I knew I had to get the support of all my colleagues to
manage the departmental affairs and formed different
committees: head’s advisory, undergraduate affairs,
graduate affairs, and held regular meetings, to assess and
get input from everyone. We also had a day-long
combined meeting to review teaching activities at summer
breaks. Dr. Harrison took responsibility of supporting staff
matters, and I took responsibility of financial matters,
faculty. I had noticed there was a problem for me (in fact
it had been a problem for Dr. Krouse as well). The senior-
most secretary, who was also the Head’s secretary, was
not willing to take orders from anyone. Especially, she had
a prejudiced attitude towards Indian colleagues that
extended to me as well. I knew I had to replace her but
since Dr. Harrison was in charge of support staff, I left that
with him. But within a few days of us taking the
administration, she rendered her resignation and left. In
her place, we appointed Mrs. Jessie Wallens, wife of a
United Church priest, a very pleasant, mature person,
experienced in handling personal problems of young
people. She was a Godsend to us.
By the beginning of the term in September, we virtually
had a renewed department. All the people in the
department, faculty and as well as support staff were very
co-operative and supportive, and my task was to maintain
that. Also, there were couple of other problems to be
solved.
The distribution of technical support, supplies and
sundries money, as well as minor and major equipment
grants among the faculty, was a contentious affair
historically. And it almost took two years for me to bring
it to the satisfaction of everyone.
Another challenge was the annual assessment and
promotion of faculty members. Each department was
allowed to have total increments equal to the number of
members plus one. And it had to be distributed according
to their teaching, research productivity and service. It was
important to me to be fair to each person and convince
them to that effect. The assessment was based on the
annual report submitted by each member. Evaluating and
assessing their report took a lot of time to make sure that
I was fair to everyone. Promotions, due for some time
and overlooked for years for couple of faculties were
approved, and they were happy.
The social functions during the fall term helped a great
deal. Both the departmental barbecue and faculty dinner
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
were great successes into boosting morale. My wife did a
lot of work for it, especially providing an Indian dinner to
faculty and their spouses at our house, which had become
an annual event.
Another matter that put me in a difficult situation was that
the Dean of Graduate Studies decided to evaluate the
overall performance of certain departments and the
Physics and Chemistry Departments were chosen for this
purpose. The Dean appointed two external visitors from
other universities for this evaluation. They met with faculty
members individually and collectively and reviewed the
overall performance as a department. I was really
apprehensive as I thought our department would not
compare with theirs. But it turned out that ours was better
than theirs in many respects. There was another
evaluation later in 1976, by members from another set of
universities, and that also was very positive.
My headship was renewed in 1976 for a term of five years
without any objections from anyone. Preparations for the
two performance evaluations of the department made me
quite aware of the strength and weakness of the
departments, particularly in research. Overall effort in
research was not the result of a carefully thought-out or
planned program. It mostly rose out of individual effort.
During the rapid growth of the students in the department,
faculty appointments were made to meet the teaching
requirements rather than to make research activities
stronger. While we had active research in different fields,
no radical re-organization of the research was possible.
I took sabbatical leave for a year in 1980 and spent time
in the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi where Dr.
PKC Pillai was my host, and in the cosmic ray laboratory
in Kashmir where Dr. H Razdan was the host.
In 1981, I was again re-appointed for another term as
Head of the Department. By this time the departmental
administration was a routine operation. My relationship
with colleagues and the dean’s office was very good. I
served a term as a member of General Faculty Council
representing the Faculty of Science.
Looking back at my 12 years as Head of the Department I
think I was fairly successful because I brought the lessons
I had learned on the Basket Ball court into action. The
game of basketball is the quintessential team sport. Even
if you are a great player, if you do not play as a member of
a team, you do not succeed. Every player needs to have
an opportunity to play his game and support others on the
team by passing the ball to the person best placed to
score. A department is like that. The head is like the
captain of the team who gives every player the opportunity
to play their best game. Everyone needs encouragement
to do their best. The head’s job is to support his
colleagues, giving them opportunities and put them before
himself.
(To be continued. . . .)
26 | Page
Pearls of Wisdom Series 18*
The whole body of the church must be
cleansed from all defilement
Of all the days celebrated in varying degrees of solemnity by the
Christian liturgy, beloved brethren, none ranks higher than the
paschal feast, by which the whole series of festivals is
consecrated and confirmed in honour in the Church of God. If it
is true that the very birth of our Lord from his mother looked
forward to its culmination of mystery, the it is clear that the sole
purpose of God’ Son in being born was to make his crucifixion
possible. For in the virgin’s womb, he assumed mortal flesh, and
in this mortal flesh the unfolding of his passion was
accomplished. Thus, the mercy of God fulfilled a plan too deep
for words; Christ’s humanity became for us a redemptive
sacrifice, annulment of sin, and the first-fruits of resurrection to
eternal life.
When we consider what the entire world owes to our Lord’s
cross, we realize our need to prepare for the celebration of Easter
by a fast of forty days if we are to take part worthily in these
sacred mysteries. Not only every defilement to be purged away
from bishops who have received the fullness of the sacraments
of Order, from priests who hold the second place, and from
deacons who administer the sacraments, but the whole the
whole body of the Church and entire company of the faithful
must be purified, so that the temple of God, whose foundation
is its founder himself, every stone maybe beautiful and every
section radiant. If it is reasonable to embellish a king’s palace or
a governor’s residence with every ornamental art, so that the
greater a man’s importance the more splendid his dwelling.,
what zeal ought to be expended in building the house of god
himself, and how distinguished should be its furnishings! No
doubt such a task can be neither undertaken nor completed
without the architect; nevertheless, the builder of the house has
given it the power to grow in stature through its own efforts. For
in the erection of this temple living and intelligent materials are
being used, which of their own free will assemble themselves
into a single structure at the prompting of the spirit of grace.
There was time when they neither loved God nor sought him; but
he loved and sought them so that they might begin to love and
seek him in return. This is what the blessed apostle john speaks
of when he says: Let us love God for he loved us.
Since therefore the entire company of the faithful and each
believer in particular form one and the same temple of God, there
must be same perfection in each individual as there is in the
whole; for even if all are not alike in the beauty nor is there equal
merit in such a diversity of membership, yet the bond of love
ensures communion of beauty between them all. While those
who are united in holy love may not have all received the safe
gift of grace, they rejoice nonetheless in their mutual blessings.
Nothing that they love can be wanting to them, for by finding
happiness in the progress of others they increase their own store
of riches.
*This is based on a reading from the sermons of Pope St.
Leo the Great (Tract 48.1 138A, 279-280)It is taken from a
collection edited by Henry Ashworth O.S.B, ‘A Word in
Season’, The Talbot Press, Dublin, 1974, page 155-157.
Collected by Dr. Zac Varghese, London.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Solidarity Among Generations
Abraham Mammen
[This article may seem not be in tune with the theme of the
current issue. We apologize for this error and hope that Mr.
Abraham Mammen would continue to provide article to this
journal for the spiritual growth of our readers. Editorial Board]
God created man for the purpose of having communion with
Him. Man was created to have eternal existence in the
created state. However, the disobedience of God’s
command separated humanity from God. It changed the
eternal nature of human existence. God ordained the number
of years of physical existence for the human being to be one
hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3).
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines generation as ‘a group
of individuals having contemporaneously a status which each
one holds only for a limited period.’ Wikipedia describes it as
‘a period generally considered to be about twenty (20) to
thirty (30) years. We all heard about baby boomers, and then
came generations X, Y, Z and now it stands at generation
Alpha. Baby boomers are those who were born from 1946 AD
to 1964 AD and Alpha generation refers to people born after
2010 AD.
How does the concept of Solidarity be applied to a mixture
of generations? How can we view solidarity through lenses of
various generations? Even the word solidarity must be
redefined if we attempt to make sense of the word as it
relates to various generations. Solidarity implies mutual
understanding and agreement between two or more groups
who have a common interest. Let us, for example, take the
two groups: parents and children. These two groups belong
to different generations. But when we put these two groups
together, we see a clear disconnect regarding their opinions
and ideas. This phenomenon is normally referred to as
‘Generation Gap.’
Generation gap exists across the continents, cultures,
religions, and ethnicities. The discussion on this topic gained
momentum only in recent times. The stories brought forth by
the media about abuse of the elderly in modern societies
compelled the social systems to address the growing
menace of the generation gap.
Humanity went through several social and technological
upheavals in the past century. Consequently, values,
doctrines, morals, thoughts, and actions went through radical
changes. These drastic changes in society forced various age
segments of the population to react differently. For example,
the younger generation adopted technological changes
faster and reoriented their lifestyles whereas the older
generation struggled to catch up. As a result, the generation
gap became wider and more obvious. It is particularly the
case in recent decades. Social and religious norms were hit
doubly hard due to these rapid changes. The behavioral
pundits and social scientists are working overtime to make
sense of these template shifts. The truth of the matter is that
these changes are too fast for them to handle as well.
27 | Page
In the panorama of ‘Generation Gap,’ we observe some
classical variances among cultural interposes. They beam
like radiant flowers in a dark valley. Eastern, African, and
Oriental cultures handle the generation gap much better than
their Western counterpart. It seems that the value system of
such cultures withstands the hurricane of social and
technological changes. They are probably absorbing these
changes at a slower pace. Historically, we observe that
Greco-Roman Civilizations collapsed and disappeared from
the face of the earth, whereas the Hebrew civilization
survived. “Honor your father and mother….(Exodus 20:12) is
verse to consider in this context.
World demographics and advancement of medical
technology are particularly interesting topics as we discuss
‘Solidarity among Generations.’ As medical science
advances, we observe changes in the world’s demographics.
People are living longer than before. The average life span is
steadily on the rise. Even in places where medical facilities
are primitive, we still see people becoming aware of their
environment and the factors affecting their general health.
China and India are also among the first five countries with
the most centenarians in the world.
Territorial shifts in the demographics are also worth
mentioning. The results of a study conducted by the
Department of Economic and Social Affairs of UN (World
Population prospects 2022), point to continental as well as
international population shifts occurring at a furious pace in
the previous decade. These observed shifts today have
significant implications for the future. It is safe to predict that
barring a cataclysmic event, the generation gap will be
forcefully reshaped by these shifts also.
Socio-economic factors have also influenced the formation
and reformation of generational conflicts. The pendulum of
favorable future economic indicators is swinging away from
western economies. The economic leap by China in the past
decade needs to be mentioned here. The human value
system adopts new frequencies as the churning of national
and international economies takes place in the cauldron of
time. In other words, economic shifts of mammoth proportion
will cause change in the cultural norms. So, when discussing
a solution for generational conflicts, we need to include the
synthesis of cultures that occur from time to time.
The undercurrents of politics and religion also shape
generational conflicts. Historically, Marxist ideology
spreading across the globe paved way to increased conflicts
among generations. The Marxist ideology called for total
displacement of certain values held sacred by some
communities of post-World War II era. It took a few decades
to reconcile the new political ideology to the prevailing way
of life. Tussles between religions are also an on-going reality
of post-modern world. Islam is being introduced to western
nations and it is causing impactful conflicts in their social
structures. Most western nations exist in a religious vacuum
and therefore new religious ideas take root and spread
rapidly. We are living in dangerous times as political and
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
religious conflicts spill into violence and destroy harmony of
communities across the world. These conflicts are
compounded by growing mistrust among generations.
To recap, as causes of generational gap (conflicts) we
considered the growth of science and technology, world
demographics, advancement of medical technology, politics,
and religion. Humanity can survive if we can formulate and
apply timely solutions for the complex issues facing us today,
including Generation gap. Solidarity among generations can
be worked out through established collaboration between
generations based on common objectives. UN Department
of Economic and Social Affairs (Youth Division) had declared
that the motto of International Youth Day 2022 as
‘Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for all Ages’.
The world timepiece is sounding the alarm for ‘Sustainable
Development.’ The misuse of natural resources without any
regard for the future has led to unfortunate calamities world-
wide. World leaders, scientists and community forums
emphasize the importance of applying sustainable goals to
human, social, economic, and environmental spheres. It is a
common purpose for all generations to rally together.
To create a world for all age groups, sustainable development
programs be established on various levels. On the human
level, education is the primary tool to shape SDGs
(Sustainable Development Goal) in a person’s mind. Socio-
economic and environmental SDGs must be brought about
by political will and courageous leadership. Generational
conflicts will dwindle as planned actions are taken with
clearly stated objectives. SDG agenda set up at Addis Ababa
in 2015 is a case in point. The seventeen (17) SDG plan
prescribed at the conference continues to be the blueprint
followed by various UN organizations as well as several other
international bodies.
Achievement of intergenerational solidarity is approached
from six fronts: structural, associational, consensual,
affectional, functional, and normative. Intergenerational
solidarity is best analyzed in the context of a family. In a post-
modern society, the chances of association and consensus
in the family unit are seldom, but not impossible. Functional
and normative solidarity may be viewed through the prism of
emotional support, transport, housework, personal care, and
financial support. A welfare state model has its advantages
as well as drawbacks. The welfare state plus family support
creates a better social structure to overcome these
drawbacks.
The discussion about Solidarity among Generations reminds
us of the central truth that harmonious coexistence between
generations was lost in the past as well as the present
generations. The older and younger generations refuse to
look at life’s challenges with a common agenda, rather
enforce the point of view of one on the other. As a result,
stress and strain increased in families as well as in society. In
general, communication among grandparents, parents and
children has receded to a bare minimum. The alpha
generation does not usually talk to their parents, peers, and
others. They use means of communication that are not
compatible with the older generations.
28 | Page
What is the set of practical solutions to this persistent
problem that engrosses the civilization of the present day?
As human wisdom and institutional responses are not
sufficient, we always look up to our Creator for answers. We
must realize and accept this truth. Next step is to build
communication channels between generational islands. The
concept of communication is like a growing tree. It should
take its roots in the basic unit of society i.e., family.
Communication lines may be extended from the family to the
society through seminars, symposiums, and community
parties. At the governmental level, the generational conflicts
may be addressed by establishing departments with
adequate budgets and staffing. We already have
municipalities with functioning departments for Aging. The
topic of generational conflicts and their solutions must be
included in their programs.
From a Christian perspective, all the conflicts that we see
today, emanates from the rebellion of humanity to God and
His unchangeable principles of life. So, seeking peace with
God and understanding His ways are paramount in seeking
a permanent solution for generational conflicts. On individual,
social, national, and global levels such a solution is
guaranteed to succeed. Simple concepts such as: “Children,
obey your parents in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1), and “And ye
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them
up in nurture and admonition of the Lord”. (Ephesians 3:4).
Various denominations of the Church have the responsibility
of bringing this topic to the forefront of active missions.
Discussing and formulating solutions that will fit within the
Great Commission of the Church is the next step.
In conclusion, God is calling for a generation of righteous
people. He has set a viable path for intergenerational
harmony in His Word. We are one generation in the Body of
Christ. He has described us a ‘chosen generation’ (1 Peter
2:9). He has promised us that His spirit will unify the young
and the old, male, and female and we come as one holy
nation before His presence. “In other words, God is using
Christ to restore His relationship with humanity” (2
Corinthians 15:18).
References:
1. https:/Bibleresources.org
2. OASIS Project under Fifth frame Work Programme
European Union
3. World Data, UNCTAD, UNDESA (2022)
4. https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth
International Youth Day 2022
5. United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge
Platform – 2023 Report
6. United Nations Department of Economic and Social
affairs, Population Division – World Population
Prospects 2022: Summary of Results
Abraham Mammen served as a Professional
Accountant in the US and abroad. He is a
freelance writer and a poet. The focus of his
work is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
He has held various positions at Parish and
Diocesan levels. He is a member of Sehion
Mar Thoma Church, Dallas. He leads a quiet
retired life in Dallas with his family.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Breaking Barriers for Christ
Ashish Mathew
The well-known statement of the Westminster Catechism
says, "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this
is the whole duty of man." Our chief end is to glorify God
and to enjoy Him forever. Being one body in Christ
means living a Christ-centered life and leading others to
Christ. We must be in harmony with Jesus and with others
to guide our fellow human beings to Christ. God has
predestined His people to be conformed to the image of
Jesus. When we are in a genuine relationship with Christ,
we recognize the value, greatness, and importance of our
brothers and sisters in the world.
Breaking Personal Barriers
Often, we take pride in our traditions, beliefs, lineage, and
so on. These can become barriers to connecting with
others who are different from us. Being Christ-like means
looking beyond these differences and connecting with
everyone, building relationships with people of various
faiths, different cultures, and diverse views. Jesus
demonstrated this by looking at people without prejudice
and breaking all kinds of barriers.
• Religious Barriers: Jesus cleared the money changers
from the temple, emphasizing that the temple was
a house of prayer for all nations (John 2:13-17). He
healed on the Sabbath, challenging the rigid
interpretation of the law (Mark 3:1-6).
• Health Barriers: Jesus touched and healed lepers,
whom society considered untouchable (Matthew
8:1-4). By doing this, He showed that compassion
transcends societal norms.
• Gender Barriers: Jesus welcomed women into His
ministry, breaking the cultural norms of His time.
Women like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna
supported and followed Him (Luke 8:1-3).
29 | Page
The Inclusive Nature of the Church
According to the New Testament, the Church of Christ is
a Kingdom community. This community is meant to
proclaim the gospel and manifest Kingdom values,
imitating Jesus Christ. One of the core characteristics of
this Kingdom community is inclusiveness. It is an open
community that welcomes everyone, regardless of
religion, caste, creed, sex, ethnicity, or social status.
Paul's letters, especially to the Galatians, emphasize the
inclusivity of the Church: "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). This unity in Christ transcends all
human distinctions and divisions (Romans 10:12, 1
Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 2:15-16).
The Future Kingdom
God adopts everyone into His family as sons and
daughters through Jesus Christ. The future Kingdom will
be a reality at the second coming of Jesus Christ and is
open to all who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Jesus said, "People will come from east and west and
north and south, and will take their places at the feast in
the Kingdom of God" (Luke 13:29). This signifies that
people from all corners of the world and from all
backgrounds, including Gentiles, will be part of the
Kingdom of God.
Our Role Today
We, as God's children, are in the world today to announce
this good news of the Kingdom. We are called to break
all barriers that hinder others from realizing and
experiencing the Kingdom. In Christ, we are all equal
despite our differences. We are brothers and sisters in
one family, the family of God, and heirs of God and fellow
heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). We must respect,
accept, and honor all persons, avoiding all forms of
prejudices, discriminations, anxieties, and
apprehensions. I hope and pray that God may empower
us to break all dividing walls and stay united in Christ so
that God's name may be glorified through us. By living
out these principles, we embody the inclusive love of
Christ and work towards the realization of His Kingdom
on earth.
Mr. Ashish Mathew is the S/O
Very Revd Dr. C. K. Mathew; he
is working as a Pharmacy
Manager for Walmart Stores Inc.
He is a member of Mar Thoma
Church of San Francisco.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
 JMJ
Christ Consciousness
Fr. Thomas Punnapadam
The deeply mysterious human existence has been
described in numerous ways by different perspectives,
like the biological, psychological and the spiritual . A term
very much in vogue since last couple of years is
consciousness. It is a very comprehensive term and can
be applied to all perspectives of the human person as
body consciousness, mental consciousness, social
consciousness, spiritual consciousness, and divine
consciousness.
Mental health experts further qualify altered states of
consciousness, which can be had anywhere by using
different means. And religious experience is often
compared to this because it is an extremely powerful force
to transcend the normal rational mind and achieve the
seemingly impossible. Ultimately it is the power of the
mind over matter, which is a scientifically proved
experience and an indispensable need for a truly
contented human life.
Consciousness is the core of human existence but it can
be experienced and manifests itself only through the body
and the mind. There are different states of consciousness
like the waking, sleeping, dreaming, hypnotic and
anesthetic states. All these are but manifestations of pure
consciousness or God-consciousness. This term
acceptable to different human sciences focuses ultimately
on the unity and deep bonding that exists among human
humans rather than the dissimilarities and differences.
The historical Jesus who we believe is the perfect, sinless
human being, was indeed a unique being. He is best
described as the boundary breaker. This is probably the
chief characteristic, for which he paid with his life, his love
without borders . He believed in the absolute unity and
equality of all human beings.
We know how he loved and transformed with his pure
unselfish love every human being he met: Mary
Magdalene - the adulterous woman, Mathew the tax
collector, Thomas the doubter, Peter who denied him,
and Judas who betrayed him. The most evident sign is his
being a universal unconditional lover was his so-called
meal ministry of eating with all classes of people, the rich
and the powerful, the sinners and the outcastes, the
Pharisees, and the tax collectors. He was misunderstood
by his own close disciples for breaking the most basic
boundary based on sexual difference. The scene of Jesus
talking alone to the Samaritan woman who was a public
sinner whom the society had caste out, was indeed a
fundamentally revolutionary dimension of the life of Jesus.
In his final testament before his passion, death and
resurrection, Jesus prays for unity : Holy Father keep them
in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be
one, even as we are one (Jn 17/11). That they may be all
30 | Page
be one even as thou , Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be n us. So that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me (Jn 17/ 22). This unity, if it is to be
profound and lasting, has to be born of the only
commandment that he gave: This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you (Jn 15/12).
The world of today is being deceived by political and
religious leaders who want to divide and separate people
on the basis of religion and nationality, language, caste,
and creed. Their aim is not the genuine welfare of the
people but their own greed for power, prestige,
dominance, and exploitation. The purpose of any
authentic religion is to make people aware that very
human being is the image and likeness of God, a child of
God and hence all are brothers and sisters. There is
externally evident difference among siblings. But that
becomes absolutely insignificant when the awareness of
the common parenthood deepens. This is the challenge
posed to every religion today, particularly Christianity. The
Christians today are not the best models of unity. Roman
Catholics and protestants have been fighting for decades;
within the same church rituals have become a bone of
contention and separation. Language has divided people
and their simple faith shattered.
The body of Christ, we claim to be members of, can never
be believers in or be agents of division on the basis of
colour or language, race or religion, tribe or caste,
nationality, or creed. Anyone who believes in Jesus must
be a boundary breaker as Jesus was: boundary of every
conceivable kind.
There is only one solution to these diverse and numerous
problems of the world of today, because the problem is
fundamentally just one: namely the original sin of
blindness to the reality of the single universal human
identity of human beings springing from their divine image
and likeness in which every human being, of every nation,
color, language, race, or tribe is created. Vasudaiva
Kutumbakam, as the rich Indian traditional belief
summarizes it.
This is the fullness of spirituality, perennial spirituality as
great authors like Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Underhill, Deepak
Chopra and Fritzof Capra have clearly established. It
asserts that all reality is a manifestation of the divine; The
ego as we experience it is passing away, but the eternal
divine deep within abides. The ultimate aim in life is to find
one’s true self and be united ever more profoundly with
the divine, until this union reaches its fullness in an
incredibly transformed world. The discovery is the true
self is a life-long journey.
Nobody is born to a religion, to a set of religious doctrines
and practices. Every human being is born existentially
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
religious, in God’s image and likeness. By birth every human
being is a child of God and belongs to the one family of God. One Body in Christ
All institutional religions have the same origin and goal, to Anish Thomas
nurture this religiosity, inborn and inherent in every human
being. In this scenario every authentically religious person is (Continued from Page 17)
challenged to come home to the basic principles of one’s
own religion. Religion and religiosity must be distinguished as
also as also religious expression and religious experience.

Jesus did not come to found another religion. He came to

reveal the Reign of God and invited us to enter it. This implies
accepting God as a most compassionate Father;
surrendering to God’s unconditional yet mysterious love as
revealed in one’s life; recognizing every human being as
one’s brother or sister; refusing to tolerate any kind of
inequality and discrimination; basing one’s life on the
fundamental principle that love of God and neighbour are
inseparable; acknowledging that one can love God only IN
and THROUGH one’s most needy neighbour. This is
authentic Christianity, radical Christianity, core Christianity,
as lived out by the early and sincere followers of Jesus. The
distinguishing characteristic of the first Christians was that
they were of one heart and soul, really loved one another,
shared all they had with the more needy and there was not a
needy person among them (Acts 4/ 32- 34). The thousands
of Christian denominations vying to increase their numbers
leaves everyone wondering as to who are the true followers
of Jesus Christ.

Radicality means to return to one’s deep roots. In the hectic

world of today, surrounded as we are with gadgets, drowned
as we are in technology, coming home to one’s roots, to
one’s true home deep within one self is indeed as challenging
as it is life-transforming. Coming home to one’s existential
roots would effortlessly bring us closer to one another, for we
have common roots. Our basic, indispensable human needs
and universal aspirations, fears and dreams are far more
similar than different. There is far more in all of us that unites
than divides. The closer one moves to one’s roots, the closer
one moves to one another.
True love is a verb not a noun; true love is action, not just an
emotion; genuine love alone can empower us to humbly
embrace the diversity of faiths and have a peaceful rapport
with those who do not agree with us. For us Christians, God
consciousness is more specifically Christ-consciousness. He
is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation;
for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth….all
things were created through him and for him….In him the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to
reconcile to himself all things ( Col/15-20). This is the
mystical body of Christ of which we are members; we all need
each other and depend on one another.
This life’s five windows of the soul
distorts the heavens from pole to pole,
And leads to believe in a lie,
When you see with, not through the eye. ( William Blake)
May we all have the grace to see not with our two bodily
eyes, but through the single, inner eye of Christ
consciousness
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us"
(ESV). This verse emphasizes that spiritual gifts are not
earned; they are graces bestowed by God. These gifts are
meant not for personal gain or self-promotion and
entrusted to us to build up the Church and glorify God.
Some have the gift of teaching, encouraging, serving and
so on. No matter your gift, use it with all your heart, serve
with humility, and lead with diligence. If you have a gift of
generosity, give freely and joyfully. Let your acts of mercy
be a reflection of God's love in the world.
In closing, let us remember, there is no competition in the
Body of Christ. Each gift is valuable, and when used
faithfully, it contributes to the overall health and well-being
of the Church. Let us all strive to be instruments of God's
grace, using our gifts to build one another up and glorify
Him in all that we do.
Anish Thomas is a senior
Transportation Manager for the
Department of Transport, State of
Virginia. He lives in Leesburg, Virginia
and is a member of Mar Thoma Church
of Greater Washington.

31 | Page FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3

The Splendor of Christian Unity
(Psalm 133:1–3)
Dr. Abraham Philip
Redwood trees in California are known for their height and
longevity. Some of them are over 300 feet tall and over
2,500 years old. One would think that trees so large would
have a tremendous root system, reaching hundreds of feet
into the earth. Surprisingly, the redwoods actually have a
very shallow root system. So how do they get so big and
stand so high? Although they don’t have deep roots, the
shallow roots are intertwined with the roots of the
neighboring redwood trees, for they grow in clusters; they
are locked to each other. So, the redwoods can stand
when the storms come and the winds blow. Their “united”
root system, supporting each other, keeps these redwood
trees strong to withstand storms. The same is true for the
church of Jesus Christ. What empowers the body of Christ
to weather the storms of life, among others, is unity—unity
of mind and Spirit.
Psalm 133 is a Song of Ascent, one of fifteen songs sung
by pilgrims from around the world when they journeyed to
the temple in Jerusalem to observe the prescribed
festivities. This psalm is attributed to David, who united
the warring tribes of Israel into a united kingdom (2 Sam.
5:1; 1 Chron. 12:38–40). Unfortunately, David’s united
32 | Page
Israel was shattered during the reign of his grandson
Rehoboam. The nation was divided into northern and
southern kingdoms, characterized by strife, discord, and
conflict. Although Hezekiah had witnessed a brief
interlude of unity when Israel and Judah came together
“with singleness of heart” to celebrate the Passover, it did
not last long (2 Chron. 30:1–12). Some scholars think the
Levites sang this psalm to express their hope of seeing the
reunification of the divided kingdom.
The theme of this psalm is unity. It describes the beauty,
fragrance, and far-reaching effects of unity among God’s
people with picturesque metaphors. The psalm’s appeal
for unity is as valid today as it was on David’s day. It is sad
to see Christian congregations torn by strife and
dissension. The church should be characterized by unity
of the Spirit and love for each other. God does not expect
uniformity among His people because He has created us
uniquely and endowed us with varying gifts (Rom. 12:4–
8). What God is looking for is the unity of the heart and
mind. The apostle Paul wrote, “Lead a life worthy of your
calling, for you have been called by God. Always be
humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making
allowance for each other’s failure because of your love.
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit,
binding yourselves together with peace” (Eph. 4:1–3 NLT).
From Psalm 133, we learn four noteworthy distinctions of
Christian unity.
Divine Approbation
First, Christian unity is marked by divine approbation.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to
dwell in unity!” Unity elicits God’s approval. The Hebrew
word yachad, translated as “unity,” does not mean
absolute unity but composite unity. For instance, when a
man and woman are joined together in marriage, they
become one (yachad) flesh (Gen. 2:24). They are separate
individuals, yet one.
God is pleased when God’s people dwell in unity (Phil.
2:1–4). God sees unity among His people as morally good,
agreeable, and right. Unity among God’s people is also
pleasant in His sight. The Hebrew word naiym or
“pleasant” has the idea of making the melody of a musical
instrument or the harmony of music produced by a
symphony orchestra. In other words, unity in the church is
music to God’s ears. Oneness in the body of Christ
reflects the harmony and concord in the triune God
(Trinity) and is an answer to Christ’s passionate prayer for
unity (John 17:21–23). There is no better testament of
devotion to God than for His followers to live in unity.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Divine Unction
Second, Christian unity is marked by divine unction. “It is
like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the
beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of
his garments.” The psalmist alludes to the anointing of
Aaron and those following after the Aaronic order to fill the
position of a priest. Kings in ancient Israel were also
anointed with oil to fill their office (1 Sam. 16:13).
In the Bible, oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit, among other
things. And the act of anointing refers to the
empowerment by the Holy Spirit for a designated task
(Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38; 1 John 2:20, 27). Unity among the
people of God brings the unction of the Holy Spirit to fulfill
their calling as kings and priests (Rev. 1:6).
On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples of Christ were
together in one accord in one place when the Holy Spirit
descended on them mightily. Afterward, they engaged in
fellowship and prayer in one accord (Acts 2:46). Just as
the oil on Aaron’s head flowed down to the edge of his
garment, unity activated by the unction of the Holy Spirit
is pervasive.
Divine Rejuvenation
Third, Christian unity is marked by divine rejuvenation. “It
is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains
of Zion.” Dew is known to refresh the earth and rejuvenate
vegetation. It symbolizes freshness and abundance. Unity
among the brethren has a vivifying and refreshing effect on
the faith community as each uses their God-given gifts and
talents to build one another (1 Cor. 12:7).
A unified church is a resourceful church. Unity among the
brethren promotes using the gifts and talents of the
brethren for the benefit of all. The early church exemplified
this profound truth (Acts 2:42–45).
Divine Benediction
Finally, Christian unity is marked by divine benediction.
“And there the LORD has pronounced his blessing, even
life everlasting.” There is a “there” to receive the blessings
of God. God told Elijah to hide by the Brook Cherith and
drink from the brook and that he would be fed by the
ravens “there.” If Elijah wanted to stay fed during the
famine, he had to be “there,” the designated place to
receive God’s provision. Similarly, God’s appointed
“there” to receive the blessing of “life everlasting” is “unity”
in the body of Christ (Ps. 133:3b). Those who cause
dissension and division will not inherit the kingdom of God
(Gal. 5:21).
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Conclusion
The doctrine of “one body” refers to the unity of the
invisible church. “Brethren,” in this context, refers to
members of the covenant community, not people in
general. However, today, the visible or institutional church
consists of thousands of denominations and varying
doctrinal beliefs. So, how can we have the unity that David
longed for in such diversity? One way Christ’s followers
can live in harmony with one another is by being
likeminded or in agreement concerning the person and
work of Jesus Christ, the Son of David: His virgin birth,
incarnation, deity, substitutionary atonement, resurrection,
ascension, salvation by grace through faith, and His soon
return (1 John 2:22–25; 3:23–24; 4:1–3, 15). To deny any
of these truths concerning Jesus Christ is to forfeit
Christian unity. In His High Priestly prayer, Jesus prayed
that His disciples would be one just as Christ is one with
the Father (John 17:20–21). He was not referring to an
organizational unity but one that is organic in nature based
on our union with Christ and our common affirmation of
“one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and
Father, who is over all and in all and living through all” (Eph.
4:5 NLT).
Christian unity is a divine endowment. Jesus said, “I am
the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and
I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing” ( John 15:5 NKJV). Our union with Christ is the
basis of our unity with each other. In his book “The Pursuit
of God,” A. W. Tozer wrote, “Has it ever occurred to you
that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are
automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord
by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard
to which one must individually bow. So, one hundred
worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to
Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could
possibly be where they to become ‘unity’ conscious and
turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer
fellowship.”
When we are tuned to Christ, we are empowered to do
what the apostle Peter said we must do: “Finally, all of you
should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love
each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and
keep a humble attitude” (1 Peter 3:8 NLT). Let us pray that
the Holy Spirit will tune us to Jesus so that we may be one
with each other and witness to the world that we are the
children of God.
Dr. Abraham Philip is a Stephen Olford
Fellow of Expository Preaching and
president of Proclamation Ministries. He is
an ordained evangelist and author of
several books, including the most recent
publication, Musings That Matter:
Reflections on Christian Faith and Practice.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
One Body In Christ
Dr. Cherian Samuel
Introduction. In his epistles, Apostle Paul referred to
believers as “One Body in Christ,” transcending varieties
of giftedness (Romans 12:5-8, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 1
Corinthians 12:27-30), and people groups (Galatians 3:28,
Ephesians 2:14-15, Ephesians 3:6). This essay explores
the One Body In Christ vision of Paul for believers, based
on his epistles and the Book of Acts. The essay is divided
into two sections: the first section considers the One Body
In Christ (OBIC) vision outlined in the relevant Bible
passages; the second section concludes the essay and
offers reflections.
I variety of spiritual gifts and different parts of the human
Early Church. The Book of Acts depicts a special time in
the life of the Early Church (Acts 4:32-37), the ecclesia of
Jesus, illustrating well the actuality of the One Body in
Christ vision, which the Apostle Paul expounded later,
after his conversion on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:1-9).
The Early Church shared their resources with one heart
and mind, with God’s grace working powerfully. The
believers testified the resurrected Christ with great power,
selling their possessions, bringing the proceeds to the
Apostles. The possession-sharing practice recorded in
Acts 4 was a continuation of the fellowship of believers
recorded in Acts 2, following the Pentecost Day miracle of
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that fulfilled Jesus’
promise (Luke 24:45-49), with three thousand believers
coming together in fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers
(Acts 2:41-42), selling possessions, and dividing them
(Acts 2:44-45).
As the Early Church grew, seven men—including Stephen,
the very first Christian martyr—were chosen to serve the
physical needs of the people, while the Apostles
ministered to their spiritual needs through prayer and the
ministry of the word (Acts 6:1-4). When Paul emerged as
the Apostle for proclaiming the Gospel—the good news of
reconciliation between Holy God and sinful Humanity
through Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 18, 19)—to the
Gentiles (Acts 9:15), helping the weak and poor became
central to his ministry as well, noted in his emotional
farewell address to the Ephesian elders, where he
exhorted them to follow Jesus’ teaching of giving as more
blessed than receiving (Acts 20:35).
Epistle to the Romans. Apostle Paul formulated the
doctrinal foundations of Christianity in his New Testament
epistles, with the “Romans” as the magnum opus. Paul
wrote Romans from Corinth (~56 CE)—at the end of his
third missionary journey—as he prepared to leave for
Jerusalem with an offering for the poor believers (Romans
15:25). Paul had wanted to visit the Roman church—
founded by believers from the Day of Pentecost (Acts
2:10), where he was personally unknown—for long, but
was prevented (Romans 1:13).
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In the epistle to the Romans, Apostle Paul addresses the
broad topic of service in Chapter 12, divided into three
sections: (i) As a Living Sacrifices to God (v.1-2); (ii)
Serving God with Spiritual Gifts (v.3-8); (iii) Behaving Like
a Christian (v.9-21). In the sub-section on Serving God
with Spiritual Gifts, the Apostle emphasizes that the
Church is One Body in Christ, with unique spiritual gifts—
prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving,
leadership, and mercy—for God’s glory and our good.
Apostle Paul also draws significant parallels between the
body, all working well together. The Apostle warns
believers as well, in the opening verses of the section, to
be sober minded and contrite, and not haughty and
condescending, beseeching them to come before the
LORD in humble obedience and submission, yielding to
His rule and reign.
Epistle to the Corinthians. Apostle Paul founded the
Church in Corinth—the most important Greek city at the
time—during his second missionary journey (~50 CE),
ministering to both Jews and Gentiles for about a year and
a half (Acts 18:1-17). The Apostle wrote the First letter to
Corinthians from Ephesus during his third missionary
journey (~55 CE), addressing issues in the Church like
immorality, marriage, celibacy, conduct of women,
propriety of eating meat offered to idols, and the
celebration of the Lord’s Table.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Apostle Paul discusses the themes of
Spiritual Gifts and the Church as One Body in Christ in two
sections: (i) Spiritual Gifts: Unity in Diversity (v.1-11); (ii)
Unity and Diversity in One Body (v.12-31). In the first
section on Spiritual Gifts, the Apostle states that there are:
(i) diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; (ii) differences of
ministries, but the same Lord; (iii) diversities of activities,
but the same God. However, Paul emphasizes that the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the
benefit of all, as God wills.
In the second section on the Church as One Body in
Christ, Paul begins with an elaboration of the One Body
but Many Members principle, i.e., there should be no
schism in the body, but that the members should have the
same care for one another. Therefore, the Apostle
concludes that the Church is the Body of Christ—indeed
One Body in Christ—with constituent members
individually, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or
free.
1 Corinthians 12 ends with a discussion on the diversities
of activities, the different ministries, and the diversities of
gifts in the Church, with the Apostle imploring them to
earnestly desire the best gifts. However, Paul promises to
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
show a more excellent way for the Church, Love—The
Greatest Gift, elegantly articulated in 1 Corinthians 13, the
Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).
Epistle to the Galatians. Apostle Paul wrote the Epistle
to the Galatians—regarded by many Bible Scholars as
Paul’s first letter (~48 CE)—from Antioch, to the churches
in Galatia that he had founded with Barnabas on their first
missionary journey, to counter the false teaching that
Gentile Christians should observe the Mosaic Law,
including circumcision. Paul found the teaching as
perverting the Gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:7)—the Good
News of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ—sharply
different from the one he had preached (Galatians 1:8).
Paul also records the discussion with Apostles James,
Peter (Cephas), and John—termed as pillars (Galatians
2:9)—in Jerusalem that concluded that Paul and Barnabas
should proclaim the Gospel to the
Gentiles/Uncircumcised and Peter, to the
Jews/Circumcised (Galatians 2:7-9).
Apostle Paul states that the Gospel he preached came
through the revelation of Jesus Christ—on the road to
Damascus, as recorded in the Book of Acts (Acts 9:1-9)—
and not from man (Galatians 1:12). The Epistle also
presents Paul’s formulation of the Justification by Faith
principle—Justification, the process of Holy God declaring
sinful Humanity just/righteous, is only through faith in
Jesus Christ, and not by Works of the Law (Galatians
2:16)—for the first time. Paul also argued that if
justification/righteousness came through the Law, Christ
has died in vain (Galatians 2:21).
Apostle Paul showed that God had justified the Gentiles
by faith (Galatians 3:8), when He called Abram the first
time—stated as preaching the Gospel to Abraham—
promising to make his name great, make him a blessing,
and bless all the nations through him (Genesis 12:1-3).
Further, the blessing of Abraham might come upon the
Gentiles in Christ Jesus, and receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith.
Apostle Paul concludes that all believers are sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all believers are
One in Christ, without any distinctions of: Jew/Greek,
Slave/Free, Male/Female (Galatians 3:26-28).
II
Conclusions. The One Body In Christ was a lived
experience in the Early Church, with believers sharing their
resources with one heart and mind under God’s grace. As
Apostle Paul emerged as the proponent of the Gospel to
the Gentiles, complementing Apostle Peter’s ministry to
the Jews, he also articulated his vision of believers/Church
as the One Body In Christ.
Apostle Paul was unique, different from the twelve
disciples of Jesus, and became the first extant Christian
theological writer, with his epistles written less than twenty
35 | Page
years after Jesus’s earthly ministry (Galatians ~48 CE, 1
Thessalonians ~50 CE). Paul’s epistles also provide
compelling eyewitness testimonies from early Christian
believers who had seen the risen Lord personally.
As noted in Bible Teacher John MacArthur’s sweeping
2017 study of Apostle Paul, he was a Jew by birth,
Pharisee by conviction, Roman by citizenship, and Greek
by education. He was also a student of Gamaliel, the most
honored and influential rabbi of early first-century
Jerusalem and an esteemed member of the Sanhedrin,
Judaism’s highest ruling council of religious affairs. In
contrast, the Apostles were ordinary men.
As recorded in the Book of Acts, when the Apostle Peter
and John were arrested for healing the lame man and
preaching in the Jerusalem temple following the
Pentecost and brought before the Sanhedrin and the High
Priest, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, declared that there
is salvation only in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
under heaven (Acts 4:8-12). During the proceedings, the
Sanhedrin and the High Priest came to marvel at the
boldness of Peter and John, perceiving that they were
uneducated and untrained men (Acts 4:13).
Notwithstanding the differences between him and the
Apostles, Apostle Paul believed they were All In It
Together, different parts of One Body, all parts of the same
whole, all members of One Another, One Body In Christ,
as suggested in A.N. Wilson’s (1997) masterful study of
Apostle Paul.
The contemporary Church seems far removed from the
One Body in Christ motto, with major divisions and
discords regarding issues and approaches. How are we,
as believers, as the One Body in Christ, to live differently?
We could consider following Apostle Paul’s instructions in
his epistle to the Philippians, focusing on: the true, the
noble, the right, the pure, the lovely, the admirable, the
excellent and the praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). As the
children of God, who have tasted His goodness (Psalms
34:8) and experienced His renewed compassions and
great Faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23), we must
reckon with our calling as a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, called
out of darkness into marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
References
“Be the Gospel of Christ,” FOCUS, April 2021, Vol. 9(2).
“Reconciliation and Unity,” FOCUS, October 2021, Vol.
9(4).
“Be a Living Sacrifice,” FOCUS, October 2023, Vol. 11(4).
“The Gospel According to Paul: Embracing the Good
News at the Heart of Paul's Teachings,” John MacArthur,
2017, Thomas Nelson.
“Paul: The Mind of the Apostle,” A. N. Wilson, 1997, W. W.
Norton & Company, New York, London.
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
Mr. O. C. Abraham at 90: An Ebenezer Symphony
Hebrews 11: 1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
This would be the most concise biblical definition of
"faith." But what else does the Bible say about faith?
The Greek word used most often in the New Testament
for "faith" is Pistis. It indicates a belief or conviction with
the complementary idea of trust. Faith is not a mere
intellectual stance, but a belief that leads to action. As
James 2:26 says, "For as the body apart from the spirit
is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." Mr. O.
C. Abraham’s (OC’s) life is a vivid demonstration of his
faith through his work; it began from a ship journey in
the early sixties from India to America.
Mr. O. C. Abraham
(OC), a beloved
Mar Thoma
Diaspora pioneer
in the US—as
elaborated in the
April 2024 FOCUS
tribute (“From
Ship Journey to
Faith Journey of
OC”, Lal
Varghese, Esq.)—
celebrated his 90th
birthday (Navathy)
on May 21, 2024.
The celebrations
included a someone whose faith produced good works for the glory
gathering of family and friends on May 18, 2024, in
Newark, Delaware (USA), where Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham
Mar Paulos Episcopa, North American Diocesan
Bishop of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church,
released a Festschrift Volume titled, FAITH AND
ACTION, in honor of OC.
The Festschrift pays homage to the life and legacy of
Mr. Abraham as a Community, Faith, and Mission
Leader. The Festschrift offers reflections on the theme,
“FAITH AND ACTION”, through three variations: (i)
Hearing and Doing: The Christian Mandate; (ii) Faith
and Works: The Christian Balance; (iii) Servant
Leadership: The Christian Way. The Festschrift also
includes personal reflections and tributes from family
and friends that provide unique perspectives on the
distinguished life and service of OC.
Bishop Mar Paulos highlighted OC’s exceptional
dedication to the Mar Thoma Church in general and the
36 | Page
North American Diocese in particular. The contributions
of OC and his wife, Mrs. Nirmala Abraham, to the
Diocese’s Native American Mission (NAM) was
appreciated with gratitude. OC has served as the NAM
Coordinator since 2003, leading and inspiring several
hundred volunteers from the Diocese to participate in
the mission programs with the Choctaw tribes in
Oklahoma, Alabama, Houma Indians in Louisiana, and
the Navajo tribe in Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
OC characterized his life as a series of Ebenezer (“Till
now the Lord has helped us.”, 1 Samuel 7:12) moments,
as a testament to God’s lovingkindness and
faithfulness, thanking family and friends.
Now, after 64 years of life in the U.S.A. and turning 90
years old, OC thanks God for His abundant blessings and
providence showered upon him and his family's life. OC is
a true Christian who follows the words of Jesus Christ as
noted in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth.” OC began his journey on a cargo ship,
enduring difficult situations, especially racial prejudice and
injustice in this country, but despite all the challenges, OC
continued his faith journey.
James 2:26 says, “For as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without works is dead also.” The statement
“faith without works is dead” means that true faith in Christ
always produces good works. OC is a shining example of
of the Lord. God has chosen the poor of this world who
are rich in faith to continue His mission and ministry. May
the Lord continue to keep OC and Nirmala in His
providence as they continue their faith journey, which
began on a ship.
The FOCUS editorial board appreciates the life and
ministry of OC and Nirmala for their manifold contributions
to the Diaspora Mar Thoma Church community in the USA
as pioneers. We thank God for their servant-model
ministry among the Native American communities,
Mexico, and other places. We also thank them for their
contributions to ecumenism and race relations. Thank you
for being a model Christian family, living among people of
multiple orientations, as ‘people of faith, and no faith,’ and
declaring under the grace of God: “But for me and my
household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Heavenly Father, we ask for Your continued guidance, joy,
and the comfort of Your presence in OC’s life. Dear God,
bless OC and Nirmala with a heart full of peace and a life
filled with Your grace as they continue their faith journey.
FCOUS Editorial Board
FOCUS, July 2024, Vol. 12, Issue 3
 NAVATHY CELEBRATION PHOTOS OF
MR. O. C. ABRAHAM

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