By Brian R. Gumm
The Scripture from Ephesians guiding
Thursday's prayers for the abducted girls in Nigeria focused on the
Lordship of Jesus Christ, the name above all names, the name to which
ultimately every knee on earth and in heaven will bow, and every tongue
will confess as "Lord."
I'm alluding there to another Scripture, this from Philippians
2:1-11, which talks about the kenotic/self-emptying nature of Jesus'
lordship. It is not a lordship enforced by the power of the sword, but
rather it's a power born of suffering and absorbing the world's
violence. It is a path that Jesus calls his disciples to walk,
individually and collectively in his body, the church. We are to be a
crucifom/cross-shaped people.
Today (Friday's) daily prayer focuses on God's justice, which in this
situation we actively and desperately desire. In the face of such
horror, even people far separated from it such as myself want to see
these innocent girls redeemed and the men responsible brought to face
justice. But both our burning desire for justice and concrete
expressions of justice must themselves be brought under the Lordship of
Christ. We must think carefully about what God's righteous,
compassionate justice might look like even in horrific situations such
as this.
Yesterday I saw a provocative post written by a Nigerian-American
woman, Jumoke Balogun: “Dear Americans, Your Hashtags Won’t
#BringBackOurGirls. You Might Actually Be Making Things Worse.” I
discovered it immediately after posting yesterday's refection. I'm
American and I used the hashtag in my post title (and did again with
this one). Uh oh. I certainly don't want to make things worse, so I read
the post with great interest. Here's a resonant passage:
“It heartens me that you’ve taken up the mantle of spreading
“awareness” about the 200+ girls who were abducted from their school in
Chibok; it heartens me that you’ve heard the cries of mothers and
fathers who go yet another day without their child. It’s nice that you
care.... Here’s the thing though, when you pressure Western powers,
particularly the American government to get involved in African affairs
and when you champion military intervention, you become part of a much
larger problem. You become a complicit participant in a military
expansionist agenda on the continent of Africa. This is not good.”
When I see Christians in the US (including some fellow Brethren)
immediately jumping to petitioning the US government to step in and
"help" in this situation, I get nervous for all the reasons that Balogun
cites (and she references numerous data about US involvement across
Africa, which I've also been tracking). The very recent misadventures of
US military involvement in various African states has led to some
pretty horrific unintended consequences, which shouldn't be surprising
to anyone on the planet right now because they're of the same nature as
US involvement in any number of countries around the globe in the past
few decades.
Paul Schrag, in an editorial for the “Mennonite World Review,” cites
how Christians in Nigeria, including the EYN, are struggling to resists
the demon of violent retaliation even in the face of protracted violence
in their country.
As the leader of a historic peace church, (Samuel Dante) Dali says he
must protect himself from being overtaken by hatred. He views the
militants as victims of demonic possession. “A true Muslim would never
kill anybody,” he says. His greatest fear is that he and his people will
succumb to a spirit of enmity and allow the demon to possess them as
well.... Whether persecuted or comfortable, Christians everywhere must
battle the evil spirit of hatred--and its companions, prejudice, and
suspicion. Dali can see clearly the demon that stalks him. He knows whom
he might hate, and he would recognize the emotion if he allowed it to
overtake his soul.
For Christians who don't have the supposed privilege of stable host
societies and powerful forces that maintain a relatively luxurious way
of life (i.e. most of the Christians in the world), isn't it ironic that
it's the church under persecution who is struggling mightily to embody
the way of peace Jesus calls all Christians to?
The prayer guide for today also has this very important passage from a
Church of the Brethren Annual Conference statement on nonviolence in
the way of Jesus. I'll quote the entire passage:
“God's revelation in Jesus Christ provides a very different sort of
answer to the perennial questions intended to justify violence on behalf
of victims. Yes, disciples are to care deeply about victims and act on
their behalf. But what they do should be in accord with the teachings
and spirit of Jesus. Moving against the life of another human being is
never in harmony with what God has revealed in Jesus... Even when
terrible inhumanities are being threatened or perpetrated, disciples
refuse to become agents or advocates of violence. They cry out with
victims. They intercede and pray against the powers of destruction. They
may be called into actual accompaniment of victims, sharing their
jeopardy, working at mediation, and joining with them in nonviolent
resistance to those who victimize them. They seek the Spirit's guidance
into creative initiatives that can show the judging love of God to those
who move against others.... God's intent proclaimed in the Gospel is
that all human beings, individually and corporately, give themselves to
Jesus Christ and his way. Disciples should strive to make that intent
manifest in their lives and witness. They must not, therefore, give
their support and blessing to governmental policies and actions that are
in stark opposition to the way of Jesus. They seek to propose and
promote policies and actions by government that do have some congruence
with his way.”
The "some" in the last sentence is incredibly, incredibly important.
Yes, we Christians live on planet earth and must engage with the powers
of this fallen age. Sometimes large, powerful governments can enact
policies and actions that have some congruence with Jesus' way. But
there are other powers also at work in those seats of government, and
not every spirit is of God, so I would argue any such congruence is very
tenuous and rare.
May God grant vision, imagination, and power to those who can take
concrete steps toward the rescue of these girls and bringing righteous,
compassionate justice to the perpetrators of such evil. And may God stay
the hand of those who would be too quick to assume and seek a farcical
justice that would only give birth to further injustice and more,
horrendous unintended consequences. And as the prayer guide suggests:
"Pray that the girls will put their trust in God and not feel
forgotten."
Kyrie eleison. Lord, hear our prayers for justice. Spirit, guide our prayers for justice. Amen.
-- This piece is used with permission from Brian R. Gumm,
recently ordained to ministry in the Church of the Brethren, who blogs
from Toledo, Iowa, and does educational technology work for Eastern
Mennonite University. Find his blog at http://restorativetheology.blogspot.com .
Source: 5/13/2014 Newsline
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