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.