Lent 5 - John: Following

Lent 5 – John
John 12.20-33

Whoever serves me must follow me… (Jn 12.26)

I’m troubled by the images I see when I read this passage.

“Some Greeks”—whose simple request “to see Jesus” starts the whole discussion. Jesus’ ministry—the work he is doing, preaching, teaching, healing, standing up for those who are suffering—has attracted people outside his community, the gentiles, the “other.” This frightens the religious leaders and speeds up his timeline, but it also shows that Jesus is not just for the chosen ones. His is a universal message of new life.

But it is also a message of death…a dying grain of wheat that only “bears fruit” when it dies (v 24). “Those who love their life lose it”—not a punishment, but a statement of how life is. The reality of a life too-well-loved is that, lived only for itself, it does not produce any fruit. When it dies nothing is left.

Then I come to “those who hate their life in this world”—these are the ones who have eternal life? These must be the ones whose lives bear fruit—leave something behind when they die, like the grain of wheat which dies, falls to the earth and sprouts again. Like Jesus.

And in the next breath Jesus says, “Whoever serves me must follow me…” (v 26) So this is not a really a story about Jesus, but about us. Living and dying, living life in a way that uses life up, so that new growth sprouts from the dying….

I’m thinking about Hana Shalabi again. Choosing to use her life—all of it—so that she can get a message out to the world: People are dying here in Palestine….look at us! This life we are living—we hate what is happening to us! We are treated as subhuman, humiliated at the checkpoints, arrested without being told why, kept in prison without ever having been convicted of anything. To the Israelis, our lives are worth nothing….but my life has

worth. I will do the only thing I can do behind these bars…..refuse to cooperate in this unjust system in the only way that is left to me…..refusing to eat.

Lying in prison, waiting for her life to end—in pain, mental confusion, debilitating weakness, difficulty breathing. Determined to continue her struggle. Confident that something new will come from her death, that new growth will sprout from her dying. Trusting that God will bring something new from her sacrifice. [Photo: Hana Shalabi's mother holding her picture--Reuters]

What is there for me to learn from this? Who will receive new life from her death?

If you have not done this yet, go to Amnesty International’s action alert and sign the petition for Israel to end its policy of administrative detention.

Gracious God—of those who love their lives too much and of those who hate what their lives have shown them—give us courage to walk where you lead. Amen.

Lent 5 - Hebrews: Obedience through suffering

Hebrews 5.5-10

He learned obedience through what he suffered…. (Heb 5.8)

Arguments about Israel and Palestine often degenerate into questions of who has suffered most. This gets us nowhere. There is plenty of suffering on both sides; it is not a contest anyone wants to win.

Lent requires us to examine suffering. Lent’s 40 days are preparation for a suffering Holy Week Jesus—whipped, mocked, beaten, bones broken, nails driven through his hands and feet.

So, when I read yesterday the report of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel about the effects of Hana Shalabi’s hunger strike on her health—her suffering was what drew my attention. She is in the 34^th day of her hunger strike in opposition to Israel’s policy of administrative detention—imprisonment without being charged with a crime. She began her hunger strike to call the world’s attention to her own imprisonment and the more than 300 other Palestinian prisoners who are being held without being charged with a crime—no trial, no evidence, no clue as to the crime they are alleged to have committed. She is also protesting the degrading and violent conditions of her arrest, interrogation and imprisonment. [Photo-Aljazeera: Despite many in Palestine committing to nonviolence, little attention is paid by Israel or the international community to those starving for justice (EPA)]

Because of her fast, Hana’s life is now threatened. The report from Physicians for Human Rights reports that "she suffers from a low heartbeat rate, low blood sugar, loss of weight, weakness in muscles, yellowing of the eyes and high levels of salt in the blood which [has] affected her kidneys, causing her pain in her sides, especially the left side, as well as pain in chest bones." [Photo-Aljazeera: Despite many in Palestine committing to nonviolence, little attention is paid by Israel or the international community to those starving for justice (EPA)]

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk writes in Al Jazeera, “Physicians for Human Rights said that Shalabi cannot sleep because of pain; she also suffers dizziness and blurred and occasional loss of vision. Ms Shalabi told Mahameed that she took salt last week, but refused to take any more and is living on two litres of water a day.”

He continues, “The sad yet noble situation of Hana Shalabi is also well expressed by Yael Maron, a spokesperson for the NGO, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: ‘The story of Hana Shalabi, like that of Khader Adnan before, is, in my opinion, a remarkable example of a struggle that's completely nonviolent towards one's surroundings. It is the last protest a prisoner can make, and I find it brave and inspiring.’"

Some suffering to ponder in this season.

Write in support of Hana: http://freehana.org/

God of the widow and the prisoner, be with Hana and all the Palestinians detained without charges. Help us to follow your words and find ways to minister to prisoners, wherever we are. Amen.

Lent 2 - Mark - Like Peter

Lent 2 – Mark
Mark 8.31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders….and be killed….and Peter….began to rebuke him.(Mk 8.3)

We Westerners have a tendency to intellectualize and reshape Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and death, preferring to focus on the resurrection—hence our empty crosses and our over-the-top Easter celebrations. We create vast bureaucracies (police, prisons, armed forces, hospitals, nursing facilities) that insulate us from suffering. Like Peter, we don’t want to hear about suffering and death.

The political world of Jesus and his followers, however, was very different—mass crucifixions, beatings, imprisonment and torture by Rome’s soldiers, were common. While we can hardly relate to these conditions, millions of people around the world endure this suffering daily.

In a May, 2011 speech President Obama talked about the Arab Spring and the young Tunisian who began a revolution by setting himself on fire. The president honored Mohamed Bouazizi for his desperate act. Listen to a 2-minute clip of the speech.

When I heard the president say this, I was appalled—I wondered, What does it take? Must Palestinians torch themselves to get the world’s attention?

The president went on to make the connection between the freedom movements of the Arab Spring and our own Civil Rights movement: “There are times in the course of history when the actions of ordinary citizens spark movements for change because they speak to a longing for freedom that has been building up for years,” the president said, comparing Bouazizi’s actions to “the defiance of those patriots in Boston who refused to pay taxes to a king, or the dignity of Rosa Parks as she sat courageously in her seat." [source: ABC News]

I was reminded of the President’s words again a couple of weeks ago when I heard about Khadar Adnan’s hunger strike in Israeli prison. This Palestinian’s own “longing for freedom” has compelled him to say NO in the only way he can—refusing to eat. Adnan was arrested on December 17 and has been held in “administrative detention” ever since. He has no right to see the accusations against him; his lawyer is not permitted to see the evidence; he has no right to see his family, or to speak with his lawyer. He can be held indefinitely and resentenced without trial. (see a report of his arrest and detention in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper)

Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Amnesty International, and the Carter Center appealed to Israeli officials for his release.

In his speech, the president also said, “And you can't have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail.” He was talking about Bahrain, but the statement describes Israel too. Twenty-one elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council are among the more than 300 Palestinians also being held in administrative detention by Israel. These men are labeled terrorists because they advocate for and end the Israel’s occupation of Palestine. They have not been charged or convicted for any crime.

Adnan has written from prison, "I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.” He ended his hunger strike on February 21, after reaching an agreement for his release in April. [photo: Reuters]

Gracious God, you know so well the suffering of your people. Even the birth of your son was met with violence and death, as empire fought to maintain its power. Give us courage to witness the suffering in our world. Help us to understand our own role in our twenty-first century empires and strengthen us to resist oppression. Amen.

Lent 1 - Mark - The Kingdom of God has Come Near

Lent 1 - Mark

Mark 1.9-15

...the kingdom of God has come near…. (Mk 1.15)

Jesus stands in the water in the Jordan River; John baptizes him. It is a turning point in Jesus’ life—no longer a child traveling with his parents to worship in the temple. This scene marks the beginning of his ministry, a public act of commitment to what God has planned for him.

And a public affirmation by God: “You are my Son, the Beloved.” Publicly claiming Jesus and bestowing a blessing, “With you I am well pleased.”

Every time I witness a baby in white at the baptismal font, family gathered around, I imagine God responding in the same manner, saying to the baby, “With you I am well pleased.”

God has created each of us in God’s own image and we know of God’s pleasure in creation….pleasure in each creature, not just those who are brought to a baptismal font….pleasure in the baby born in the African desert, pleasure in the baby born in Cairo’s slums and pleasure in the baby brought to my own congregations’s font.

Khader Adnan (for background, see Ash Wednesday post below) has been much in my thoughts this week:

—I am frustrated that the only way this Palestinian prisoner could

make his story known was to engage in a hunger strike;

— am angry that 308 other Palestinians are also being held without charges;

—I am curious about what made Khader Adnan decide to give up his life with his wife and two small girls, knowing he will never even see his third unborn child;

—and I am distraught that my tax dollars support the Israeli military, knocking on doors in the middle of the night, arresting Palestinians every day.

Khadar was arrested at his home in Arabeh, about 20 miles from Nazareth. And, although Muslims do not baptize, Khadar has also assumed adult responsibilities—as husband, father, graduate student, and his choice to support the struggle for Palestinian freedom.

“Immediately,” Mark’s writer tells us, Jesus was sent into the wilderness—where he ate no food—40 days of discipline, preparing himself for the work ahead. And the writer reminds us that the authorities were arresting those, like John, who proclaimed the “good news of God.”

If we look carefully, we still witness glimpses of the kingdom of God coming near—kindnesses done, or a new baby welcomed into the community. But Mark’s gospel reminds me that the well-being—the shalom—God desires for us sometimes comes with great suffering and tragedy. The text reminds us that the end of the old world and the beginning of the new are birthed only violently, with the heavens torn apart, the veil of the Temple torn in two. Will Khadar Adnan’s fast birth such shalom?

Read his wife’s story of why Khadar Adnan engaged in the hunger strike. Randa Musa writes in The Guardian. [Photo shows his daughter Maali holdig a poster calling for his release.]

God of all creation, you have shown that you desire only goodness for us and for all of your creation. Show us how we can protect and nurture what you have given us. Show us how we can bring in your good news-announced reign of shalom. Amen.

Ash Wednesday - No Palestinian Gandhi?

Ash Wednesday - the Fast that I choose
Isaiah 58.1-12

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice
to undo the thongs of the yoke
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke. (Is 58.6)

OK, I know that Ash Wednesday is NEXT week, but by then it may be too late.

Westerners often lament that there is no Palestinian Gandhi. I wonder if they know about Khader Adnan, who has been held in an Israeli prison without being charged with any crime, since December 17. During that time he has been beaten, forced to sit shackled to a chair in painful positions, humiliated by his guards, his religion insulted. But still there are no charges against him.

Incarceration without trial is called “Administrative Detention.” Other countries also practice this, including the United States, but human rights groups protest the practice--being held without charges and trial is a denial of human rights. International law allows for administrative detention only in the most extreme cases, for people who pose a threat, when there is no other way to prevent danger. Over the years Israel has held thousands of Palestinians in Administrative Detention, for periods of several months, to several years. At the end of 2011, there were more than 300 Palestinians being held in Administrative Detention, including 21 elected members of the Palestinian legislative council and one child (age 16-18) (B’Tselem).

Adnan has been on a hunger strike--now for more than 58 days--to protest the violence he is experiencing in detention and the failure of the Israelis to charge him and other detainees. Doctors from Physicians for Human Rights have examined him and warned him and the Israeli prison system of the risk of death. They explained in graphic terms that the body cannot survive without water and that a hunger strike lasting more than 45 days causes damage to the body’s organs.

Anat Litvin, director of PHR Israel’s Prisoners & Detainees Department, states: “The fact that a person does not know when his detention will end nor the nature of the accusations brought against him, makes administrative detention unbearable, and similar to torture. Adnan’s hunger strike is clearly endangering his life, but should be also seen as a legitimate protest of a man trying to keep his dignity in face of gross abuse of his basic rights as a human being.”

Amnesty International has called on the Israeli government to charge him or release him.

Adnan has written, "I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.” More….

Read more about Adnan’s struggle for his human rights...

Is not this the fast that I choose…..to loose the bonds of injustice…..?

Gracious God, as we reflect on our mortality this Ash Wednesday, we remember Khader Adnan. You have given us abundant riches of freedom and opportunity. Help us use these gifts to loose the bonds of injustice for those who live in bondage.. Amen.

Email President Obama to protest his imprisonment: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Email Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu: http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Public+Applications/PublicApplications/
Email Secretary of State HIllary Rodham Clinton: http://contact-us.state.gov/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTMyOTMyMDI0MC9zaWQvbnQzZGlNUWs%3D

A sample message: Please release Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, or charge him with a crime. He is protesting his imprisonment with a hunger strike and he is near death. Torturing Palestinians will not bring peace.