Engaging the Treasures and Possessions

Engaging Treasures and Possessions

Luke 18: 18-32

V. 22. “There is  still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven...”

The inherent connection between kingdom of God and the disposition to wealth is discussed here. For the Pharisees of Jesus’ time salvation was a taken for granted inheritance of the children of Abraham. But for Jesus it is something to be acquired by making ones relationships right. Right relationship impinged on right disposition to wealth. St Luke records; “where your treasure is there your heart will be also” (Lk. 12:34). In Lk 18:18 following, the ruler’s treasure is said to be his possessions, rather than in his desire to serve God and God’s poor. “Treasure” and “possessions” according to this biblical text are different connotations. ‘Treasure’ is hearts devotion and ‘possession’ is the material circumstances that is expected to sustain life and moreover bring comfort to life. The overemphasis on comfort and craving for luxuries tend to misjudge the ‘possessions’ as our ‘treasures.’ The probability of selling and giving (the thought of dispossession itself will lead him to a knowledge of heavenly treasures that is worthy and lasting) his possessions to the poor guarantees the ruler “treasure in Heaven” (v.22).  

We cannot serve God and simultaneously pursue wealth (Lk. 16:13). For the rich (those who find their treasure in possessions) it is difficult to experience God’s sovereignty, because their wealth turns them away from the poor and their dependence on God. Wealth can become a pursuit that displaces the priority of serving God. And in this sense wealth hinders the entry of the ruler into God’s kingdom. The hyperbole of the ‘camel entering through the eye of the needle’ highlights the difficulty involved. Jesus distracts the ruler from his distractions of having treasure in possessions by hinting that there is something more to life than mere possessions.  St. Matthew was a disciple who left the tax booth to find his treasure in following Jesus (Mk. 13,14). Are we able to feel Jesus distracting our distractions by pointing our devotions to that eternal destiny of life that has intrinsic connections to the ‘making right of relationships’ with the poor in this world?

Prayer

Lord of our Life, help us to find our treasure in serving and following You. Amen

Fall: Deviation from the Purpose of Creation

Fall: Deviation from the Purpose of Creation

Matthew 7: 15-23

‘Fall’ is falling from the creator’s expectations

The Western Medieval Theology of ‘fall’ had fixed the ensuing missiological and ministerial understandings of the church around it's presumptions for so long. Those theologies focused more on the biologically transmissible effects of the ‘fall’ of first human couple at Eden on rest of the human generation. It emphasized the proposition that humanity is inherently sinful and fallen. In this premise the church’s mission got framed as the repairing of the fallen nature of humanity. It was more or less a defensive and negative approach to the human nature. Reading through Jesus’ teaching in this passage helps us to have a different take on this subject. Jesus affirms the inherent potential of every human being to bring out good fruits . A deliberate and careful nurture of those potentialities to take it to the fulfillment of creator's expectation of fruition is the call of every individual human creature. Therefore ‘fall’ and ‘sin’ are nothing but falling from the expectations of the creator God.

Mission is nurturing the potentials to bring forth goodness

Jesus compares father God with a benevolent gardener, who with utmost care and immense hope nourishes each and every plant in the garden (John 15:1, Mt 15:13). Human life is expected to reflect the glory of the creator and the mandate is to grow up as a good tree bearing good fruit (vv. 18-19). But very many times the human race fails the expectations of their creator by yielding to the destructive influences that pretend to be divine (v.15). Our rootedness in God makes our life authentic and fruitful. The Eastern Church traditions see mission as the equipping of the laity through worship and sacraments to stay connected to the lord of life and bear fruits in their daily lives to become agents of God’s blessings for the world around. Each and every individual is said to have the potential to manifest fruits reflecting the creator’s goodness. Do we, as the church, a people who realize this potential to become a blessing for the world? Let us not deviate from the purposes of God in us.

Prayer

Gracious God, help us to bear fruits for the stability of your kingdom and stay focused on your purposes for the creation. Amen

Gift of God in Christ redeems the fallen

Romans 7: 14-25

v. 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Law of sin Vs law of God

Sin is not merely a situation created by a wrong decision or choice of ours. But it is a reality into which we all are born. As we are brought up in a sinful habitat our inclinations are towards sinful choices. St. Paul laments this inclination that often lands him up in doing what he ought not (v. 16). Paul brings out an idea of human psyche in the light of his understanding of Jewish law and the Christian understanding of forgiveness, grace and new life revealed through Jesus. For him the human psyche is the site of war between two types of contrasting laws.

On the one hand is the law of God and on the other hand is the law of sin (vv. 22-23). Paul is said to be delighted in his innermost self, which is filled and guided by the law of God. But his flesh and its members are said to be the captives of the law of sin that counters the purposes of the law of God. The overwhelming influence in human life imprisons them in a body of death and its fear. God’s gift of Jesus is said to be the way out from this body of death (vv. 24-25).

The counter-reign of Grace in Jesus

The reign of death is countered by the reign of grace in Jesus, the gift of God for the human race. This gift doesn’t come to us as a reward to our righteousness, but as undeserving grace in spite of our many transgressions and wretchedness (v. 24-25). This counter-reign of grace in Jesus reconstitutes the fallen human nature by putting out of operation the old sinful nature. One of the specialties of this gift unlike other gifts is that though it is given, it still belongs to the giver. Thus the recipient of the gift is also bound to obey the giver of the gift as the gift is enjoyed and experienced. Let’s be thankful to God for this gift of God in Christ that comes to us with the hope of a renewed life.

Prayer

God of grace, Help us to be obedient to your will in our lives as we continue to experience your restoring grace in our sinful lives. Amen

Holy Baptism: Birth from Above

Holy Baptism: Birth from Above

John 3: 1-8,

V.3. Jesus answered him, “very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (NRSV)

This text from the Bible presents the experience of the kingdom of God as a deliberate perceptive change prompted by faith in Jesus, the Christ. The text helps us also to build a broader theological understanding of baptism. The stress of the passage here is not on the ritual dimension of baptism, but rather a figurative dimension. The context of the saying is Jesus’ interaction with a Pharisee with the name Nicodemus. He would have been a very learned man with deep knowledge of Jewish law and customs. He was regarded by the people as their teacher and a well approved leader at a very young age. He approached Jesus as he was impressed by the impact that Jesus had on people through his ministry. Jesus’ healing and restoring ministry among  the wounded and broken people of all social categories of Palestine had really amazed him. He acknowledges Jesus as one who “has come from God” . He felt that Jesus' deeds reflected the glory of the divine. The ability to see God and God's reign is a result of the ‘birth from above’ (v.3). It is a qualitatively new and different perception of reality granted because of one’s conscious linking with the ways of God. Here baptism is nothing but an unconditional yielding to the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus as the obedient Son of God, yields to God’s Spirit in his lifting up on the cross and eventual glorification. Jesus said, "and when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12: 32)." The children after their baptism are lifted up from the font and kept on the air for while by the priest signifying this "lifting up." St Paul explains Christian baptism as solidarity with the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:4). Lifting signifies death as well as resurrection. Each Christian through a deeper experience of baptism yields to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be lifted up to glorify God.

Prayer

Loving God, help us to yield to the guidance of your Spirit through a recounting of our baptismal experience. Amen

Do Good to Your Tormentors

Do Good to Your Tormentors

Gen 45: 1-15

v.5. “And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Let the bad experiences help us grow in maturity and grace

Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Mt. 5:44). Doing good to ones tormentors is not as easy as it is said. Joseph was loved so dearly by his father Jacob over all his brothers. But his envious brothers had done injustice to him that could never be forgotten or forgiven in human standards (Gen. 37:18ff). Now the scene is reversed and Joseph is the highest officer of Pharaoh in Egypt (Gen.42:6). All his brothers are at his mercy. The pain and sufferings that were endured by Joseph had not made bitterness to abound in his heart against his brothers. Instead it made Joseph to grow in maturity and grace of God. The way Joseph perceives his sufferings inflicted by his own brothers is reconciliatory and curative. Joseph says that, “for God sent me before you to preserve life” (v.5b).

Let forgiveness bridge distances in relationships

Joseph draws his brothers closer to him by removing the distance that exists in their relationship (v.4); though the fact is that the distance was something deliberately created by his brothers. The reunion with his brothers makes him weep and hug them as closely and tightly he can. Joseph simply forgets the untoward incidents of the past and thinks only about his responsibility towards his ailing family. Jesus on the cross not only forgives his tormentors but seeks his Abba’s forgiveness on them, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34). Forgiveness is a quality that grows in us when our dependence on God’s guidance and providence become strong.

Prayer

Dear God, may the sufferings and pain we endure in our relationships with others help us to grow in maturity and grace. Amen

Not Haste but Rhythm

Not Haste but Rhythm

Leviticus 25:1-7

V.4- “But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”

Humanity stepped into the 20^th century with hubristic pride in the human capabilities to control and appropriate the environment for their advantage. The “advances” in science and technology propelled the human activities to manipulate the nature for the maximum comfort and pleasure. The dignity and right to life of all other beings over the face of the earth was undermined at the pretext of human progress. Agriculture had turned out to be a profiteering activity rather than a life sustaining enterprise depending on the providence of the Almighty. The century ended in a very sad and remorseful mood, because the humankind realized the folly of overexploiting the resources of mother earth. The human haste to success and profit had left them unmindful of the rhythmic natural processes that replenished the decreasing resources. The serious irreparable depletion of resources had not only questioned the triumphal scientific and technological march of the humankind but threatens the very existence of life on God’s earth. The selected text for today’s meditation reflects the wisdom of an ancient people who were led out of slavery to build up a community based on the vision of justice, peace and integrity of creation provided by YHWH through the commandments at Sinai. 

In ch. 25 we see the Lord continue to speak to Moses on ‘sabbatical cycles’ mentioned in ch. 23. There are weekly and corresponding yearly cycles of activities and rest prescribed by the Lord. The rest is a holistic concept that includes not only human subjects, but servants, animals, birds and even the land that produces the fruits of labour. Sabbath was a cyclical cure prescribed for the sinful profit-motives in cultivating and over-exploiting the land. In the sabbatical year the land was left fallow. The land is not aggressively dealt with for profits, but is left to its own to allow the entire natural replenishing to happen. The Kandha tribe of Western Orissa never uses a metal hoe to plough the land, but only a wooden one. They believe that a metal hoe may hurt the mother earth. We need to take lessons from the wisdom of such primal people to find a way out of the tragedy in which we find us today. Sanctity of life is a very broad and integral network, the land, rivers, mountains, marshy places, forests and rocks share in it. To deal with land in haste to make profit is a sin and to engage them respecting the rhythm of the nature that God sets is the just and right way of life on God’s earth.

Prayer

God of lands and rivers, help us to be mindful of the rhythms of the nature and engage with it respecting the sanctity of life. Amen

Boasting only in Christ

Boasting only in Christ

2 Corinthians 11: 21-33

VV 30-31: If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.

Many of us are knowingly or unknowingly habituated to the sinful practice of boasting. We boast of our heritage, talents, riches and many more in this line that shows off our strength and beauty to the world. But do we ever boast of our weaknesses? In this Pauline passage the negativity attached to boasting is subverted to regard it as a potential device to glorify God; but only when someone is ready to boast of his/her weakness.

It was a practice of the Roman emperors to boastfully list out their exploits to create awe and respect among their subjects. But they deliberately held back any set backs from such lists. Later on many Christian itinerant preachers have imitated this imperial practice of boasting on one’s achievements. Paul claims that in matters of virtue, home city, country of origin or number of churches planted he matches point by point with those who boast of their own heritages. He had an edge in the listing of his sufferings as it surpassed that of his competitors. His imprisonments, floggings, many “near-death experiences” and anxieties regarding the fruits of his labour in a hind sight made him a real minister of Christ through participation in his sufferings. He was boasting in his weaknesses as they always revealed the power of God in its most majestic manifestation. The Church today boasts of its inflated image of strength and riches by conveniently hiding its weaknesses. Historically, whenever the church relied too much and boasted on its strength, and failed to assume vulnerability to serve the vulnerable, its mission came to a standstill. It is the readiness of the church to assume the vulnerability for Christ’s sake that creates the scenario for the manifestation of God’s power through the Church. It is time for us to come out of the cocoons of false securities to assume and eventually boast of our weaknesses that may become means revealing the glory of God’s reign.

Prayer

Almighty God, give us the courage to boast of our weaknesses that we may love to share in your sufferings to share the good news. Amen

Jealousy that kills brotherly love

Jealousy that kills brotherly love

Gen 37:1-17

v. 4. When his brothers saw that their father loved more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

It is interesting to see why Joseph becomes an irritant speck in the eyes of his elder brothers. Reasons are possibly three; 1. His father loved him more than others, 2. He outsmarted the rest in practical wisdom and 3. His father’s special care for Joseph was because of the fact that he lived as a motherless child. He was courageous enough to call a spade a spade. He never felt any fear in pointing out the injustices around. Joseph hadn’t done anything special to earn the favor of his father. He always tried to be truthful to God and himself and in that attempt he could not keep silence when an injustice unfolded in his sight. Joseph had to report about the ill-deeds of his brothers as he felt that such deeds are detrimental in the points of view of both the perpetrators and the victims. The narration and interpretation of his own dreams were not simply intended to show himself as a greater being than his brothers, but it was his attempt to understand his vocation as he felt that God entrusted responsibilities to him. None of the three reasons cited above were things intentionally aimed at harming his brothers.  It happened as Joseph tried to understand his familial roles as a son, a brother and more as a steward of his father’s household in the light of the faith that was taught. Joseph could see his special abilities as strengths which could be made use to redeem whole of his family from possible difficulties. But for his brothers his special abilities were a cause of jealousy. They desire to kill him, abandon him or even sell him to strange traders from foreign land. Their attempts to eliminate the other brother results in them becoming unable to engage the situation in the peace of mind. When our goodness is challenged in similar situations of life, we need to pray to God to have a perception of the situation from the point of view of God’s will and to submit ourselves to the fulfillment of that will.

Prayer

God of grace, help us to see our situations of life from the vantage point of your will for us and our neighbors lifted from the narrow ghettos of our cramming life. Save us from the bitterness of jealousy that kills brotherly love in our relationships. Amen

Let life flow with its power that heals

Let life flow with its power that heals

John 5:1-9

Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. (Verses 8-9)

The setting of the text is Jerusalem in one of the grand celebrations of a Jewish Festival. The word Bethesda (name of the pool) derives from two Hebrew words, ‘Bet’ and ‘eshada’ that can together mean ‘house of flow’; refers to the occasional new bubbling in the pond, which was believed to be a stirring of the water by an angel.  The gate to the Jerusalem city near to this pond was also referred to as the sheep gate; may be because the sheep for sacrifices in the Temple were brought through this gate. The temple was not merely a religious institution, but as many studies show it, was also an economic institution. There were a lot of transactions happening related to the ritualistic cycling of festivals and related sacrifices. That means the location, where this story unfolds, was a place with a lot of hectic activities happening. It is right to imagine that it was a crowded market place too, as it was a place with some religious significance.

There were people flocking with different intentions. The people who controlled the space wanted to make advantages, both economically and socially by manipulating the crowded situation. But there were also people like the paralytic, who had no role to play, but simply to remain as mute spectators of the happenings. They were fending on the charity offered by the passersby. The mythical story of the angel stirring the pond was not adequate enough to inspire the paralytic as it lacked any enthusiasm, newness or palpable hope. He was not even daring to stare into the waters as it remained a stagnant reality without anything fresh gushing up. In spite of the great flow of things and people through the sheep-gate and the place surrounding it, we see that certain stagnant corners are created, maintained and designated for the “unwanted” like the paralytic. Despite the din and bustle around, he finds his space as a stale space. The long accumulated sediments of the motives of covetousness, profiteering and coercion of the powerful, making the occupants of the space paralytic.

Jesus appears from nowhere, as if he was not invited to the situation, as his descend from heaven was not a response to any invitation. Jesus asks the man whether he wants to be made well. He reacts in his presuppositions. He bemoans his predicament. It implies that Jesus’ proposal of a healing seems to be a total impossibility for the man. Jesus makes healing simple and the task achievable. The three imperatives (rise-take up your bed-walk) in his speech to the man seemed workable, though it involved hard efforts. The imperative was to break out of the stagnant life that was stifling the man to be a blessing for the world, but a burden.

Healing on Sabbath becomes a point of contention here. Sabbath violation is a serious discrepancy for the orthodox Jews. Jews oppose Jesus, because he turns out to be a threat to the handlers of the religious system. The defense of Sabbath law in another way is the defense of an entire way of ordering of life of faith. And most often that ordering is decided by the power of the profit making ideologies of a ‘marketized’ religion. The healed man and Jesus together focus on new possibilities of man’s new life.  Jesus’ challenge is to the practice of the religious establishment in restricting the power of life of the people, who are designated to the corners of isolation and rejection. Paralysis symbolizes the sickness we incur because of violating the cardinal imperatives of loving one’s neighbor and loving God.

There are stagnant corners in the din and bustle of the highly marketized religiosity around us. Our task is to help people unleash the uncontainable power of life to make the flow of life to resume. Let us be people who love each other, love God and be channels of God’s blessings for the world.

Grace that Grants Courage to Remain as the Disciples

Grace that Grants Courage to Remain as the Disciples

Luke 22: 31-33

V. 32. “But I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Rely on Grace that perfects our inadequacies

Mission is in spite of us and not because of us. In spite of our frailties and failures God make use of us to achieve God’s purposes. It is soothing to know that God cares for the ones who have failed and even for those who will meet with failures in future in their attempts to deliver the tasks entrusted by God. In trapeze in circus, we see the artists dive over the lofty swings fearlessly. It is nothing but the widely stretched out protective nets kept underneath gives the trapeze artistes the confidence to deliver dangerous acts and entertain the crowd. A disciple succeeds as he/she learns to trust and rely more and more on the grace of God-the grace that cures and perfects our brokenness and inadequacies.      

Know that Christ Intercedes for us

It is heartening to know that Christ Jesus continually intercedes for those who are called to be his disciples. Simon Peter the greatest among the disciples is reminded that Satan would have sifted him away easily like wheat, but Jesus’ intercession sustains the disciples including the like of Peter in their tasks. Peter, a seemingly coward man with a lot of anxieties is turned out

to be a strong disciple, who shares in Jesus’ sufferings and death to fulfill God’s will on earth. In John 17: 15 Jesus prays to Abba God that, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” The knowledge of Jesus’ intercession will definitely strengthen us to embody the deep commitment of a true disciple.

Prayer

Gracious God, Help us to always meditate on your abounding grace that sustain us in our discipleship practices. Amen

The Lord, who reinstates

Mk. 10: 36-40

The Lord, who reinstates

V. 39: “Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be batized…”

Discipleship demands right perception

Verbs like “to see”, “to hear” and “to comprehend” do represent some important dimensions of being a disciple. The experience of discipleship becomes meaningful when the called out disciples possess the right vision, hearing and comprehension. It is required to live a life in tune with the dynamics of God’s kingdom. Disciples are called to maintain the right perspectives and understanding that may help them to be the servants of the kingdom always. But very many times they fail to grasp the gravity of their call and this makes Jesus to scold them for not being able to see, hear and comprehend properly (Mk. 8:18,21). When the framework for understanding and perceiving the realities are set by the exploitative and coercive values of the imperial Rome disciples need to depend on a different framework characterized by the will and love of God for the world.

Discipleship demands solidarity with Jesus’ cup and baptism

The disciples appear confused as their demand for right and left seats of the glorified Jesus shows. They are not at all able to see Christ’s glorification in connection with his inevitable passion. Their modality of perceiving Jesus’ glory is no different from the way it is understood by the tyrant lords of Palestine’s neighborhoods. Rome had divided the bodies of people into two categories namely the honestiores (Noble) and humiliores (lay or ordinary). It was “normal” in such a context for anyone to long for the life of a noble like John and James. But Jesus had warned them regarding this danger (10:42-43).

Discipleship in dependence on reinstating grace

Disciples as led by Jesus are heading towards Jerusalem, the seat of religious and political power. Jesus foretells the torture, dispersal and eventual death that are to befall on them (9:31, 10:33). Jesus knew that to remain in the path of obedience to abba God, his disciples were in need of grace in abundance. The last Supper is an occasion, where this becomes crystal clear. Disciples need grace from God to stand in solidarity with Jesus resisting the possible scattering. And it is the grace that searches after the sinners and failed that gather them together after the resurrection. The confidence of a disciple is drawn from this knowledge of perennially reinstating grace.

Prayer

Dear God, Sustain us by your grace to stand in solidarity with the passion of Your Son Jesus and to see things as he has seen. Amen

God's reinstating Grace!

Reflecting on God’s reinstating grace in awful silence!

Job 42: 10-17

V. 10: “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

There may be many who feel that their life is undergoing frequent setbacks; that they do not have control on anything; that the unending episodes of tragedies have squeezed meaning out of their existence. The book of Job offers them a vision of God that may recharge and refresh them to be out there to shoulder life’s responsibilities once again. Job the protagonist of the Book of Job is a shattered human being. One by one he loses everything that offered his existence any meaning. He loses his wealth, he loses his dear ones, he loses his health, his dignity and selfhood and is expected to curse God for everything and die. But the Book of Job features deeply engaging dialogues of this ailing man with both world around him and God who is the creator of that world.

The behemoth, Leviathan and the roaring sea (Job 40-41) in which they live are symbols of chaos in the created order. But the chaotic forces of the world are seen to be controlled and contained by God. It is somewhat enigmatic to know that the beautifully ordered cosmos is also laced with forces of chaos. Therefore the human life as it enjoys the goodness of the ordered cosmos; also has to encounter the challenges of the chaotic natural and social world around.  The vision that Job arrives at is that of a divine who is so immanent and at the same time transcendent of the life that is a mix of cosmos and chaos. He sees the divine in perfect control of chaos and instead of destroying or dispelling chaos God nourishes it into beautiful and meaningful matrices of life. This vision of the divine makes Job to lay his hand over his mouth in awe (Job 40:4). Our pains and sorrows can be turned into matrices of stronger and refreshed life, if we will be able to surrender ourselves to the care of the one who is charge of every happening in our life.

Prayer

Dear God, Help us to take our refuge in You, when life’s tempests abound. Amen

Let's call them their names-The Christmas of the "forgotten angels"

The Christmas of the “Forgotten Angels”!

On January 6, the day the church celebrated the epiphany of the Lord, we had a rare privilege to be part of a very special Christmas celebration. The celebration was arranged by HOPE (Heavens Own Precious Eyes) a ministry of the Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Houston to serve the people, who live with severe mental and physical disabilities. Christopher

and Chandler (brothers), Nishant, Justin, Mathew, and Samuel were the heroes of the celebration. They sang songs, danced to the tune of Jingle bells, read from the Bible both in English and Malayalam versions and continuously made noises that expressed their joy and feeling of jubilation. The feeling of accomplishment that reflected on their faces after each item was a real joy to watch. They had to take many folds of earnest efforts than ours to make that evening possible. The endurance of the parents in taking care of these youth, whose needs are often met with laborious sacrificial efforts, worth special mention here. One of the parents, Rev Roy of the Anglican Church prayed at the start of the service with these words; “God Almighty, our hearts are filled with thanksgiving and praise for choosing us to parent these your special children”.

The prayer reflected the bold faith that help those parents to relentlessly love their children. Christmas is all about God’s initiatives in reducing the distance between heaven and the earth. God the creator and sustainer taking the form of a human baby and lying in the

manger in a stable shows the wonder of God’s love drawing near to the world that God created. And I think the events like the “HOPE Christmas” reduces the church’s distance from people living with disabilities. It was a joy to see the church incarnating to embrace the often “forgotten angels” in our midst. The Immanuel MTC has a special “Sunday School” for them. There are people who volunteer to take care of these youth on their “Sunday School” days. This may be the only “Sunday School” that happens on other than a Sunday. So long, the church had been churching or pastoring the strong and the meritorious in our community. Keeping the people with

disabilities in asylums and special homes. We often tend to neglect these angels by calling them names like “demented”, “handicapped”, “dumb” etc. It is good to see the church growing in its sensitivity to be dare to bring them into the sanctuary to worship with them, sing praises with them. Each and every sound that they made were not nuisance to the carol service, but adding special charm to it. Let us stop calling them cold names that stigmatize them, but instead call them lovingly CHRISTOPHER, CHANDLER, NISHANT, JUSTIN, MATHEW, and SAMUEL.

May the almighty God enable our church to grow in this ministry!

Photograph courtesy: Johnson of Immanuel MTC, Houston