WITNESSING TO CHRIST IN HOSTILITY

UELCI – WICAS Indian Lutheran Women’s IX Triennial Conference & South Asia Lutheran Women’s Conference, Dhyana Ashram, Chennai 24-26 November 2008

Bible Study Presented by Jessica Richard on 25 Nov 2008, 9.30-10.15am

© Jessica Richard, November 2008.

WITNESSING TO CHRIST IN HOSTILITY

Immediate context of the meeting: All of you are meeting together here as women belonging to UELCI/SALC. There are many issues you are discussing and addressing in these three days – Contextual issues and administrative issues. In all of this you will be discussing not only the issues itself but also addressing how we as Christian women in India could respond to these issues as well. The overall theme of this conference is “Witnessing to Christ in Hostility”. I believe this theme has been chosen because of the general climate today in our country of religious fundamentalism and the blame game of who or which group is more ‘fundamentalist’ than which group. Our context as Christians in India today: I think this theme has been chosen because all of a sudden we, Christians in India, find ourselves in a new reality: as targets of hate campaigns and targets of violence from other groups of people in our country. This new reality has shaken our complacency that India is a secular democracy. Most of us feel that we are being unfairly targeted. Most of us also want to ask, “Why us?” – We have been model citizens in this country and have tremendously strengthened the educational and health frameworks in this country; we have not indulged in violence; we have not forced our beliefs on anyone (though we are accused of doing so) but have passed on the message of love, justice and peace through whatever work we have done. So how do we respond to hostility? What could be the possible responses

Slide 2 (Overview of the session) Possible responses to hostility: (Book of Esther)

- Defense - Appealing to the law of the land for justice with god’s help - Tit for Tat: Offense and Violent offensive action

(Jonah) - Introspection:

o Hostility as a chance to introspect on our individual roles as witnesses

(Example of Early Christians & Stephen’s Speech) - Evaluate if we value our ‘Religion’ or our ‘Faith’ (in a god who dwells with

us when we are an obedient, dynamic and courageous people): hostility as a chance to evaluate our beliefs and positions as a church and set our houses in order.

Response to Hostility: Pre-Christian example of the story of Esther: We are all familiar with the story of Esther. We know the book of Esther is about how god saved the Jews from destruction. However it is seldom recognized that Esther is




also a book that talks of how the Jewish people responded to hostility – a threat to destroy their lives – with violent offensive action.

Slide 3 A few points from the story about how Jewish leaders – Esther and Mordecai – and the Jews responded to hostility that threatened the lives of Jews:

1. Mordecai went into mourning in sack cloth, weeping and wailing through the city when he heard of Haman’s decree that Jews in the empire of Ahasuerus would be killed on the 13th day of Adar (Es 4:1-2)

2. There was great mourning among the Jews (Es 4:3) 3. Esther fasted and prayed and asked all Jews to fast and pray 3 days before she

went to appeal for the rights of the Jews to the highest authority of the land – a foreign king, Ahasuerus (Es 4:16 – 17)

4. Esther appealed to Ahasuerus for a counter-decree. The decree Mordecai and Esther framed granted Jews the right to (Es 8:11-13):

a) Assemble b) Defend themselves c) Destroy, slay, annihilate forces of any people or province attacking

them d) Plunder their goods e) Take vengeance on their enemies

Slide 4 5. No one could withstand the Jews because the fear of them had fallen on the

peoples (Es 9:2). All government officials and royal officials supported the Jews (Es 9:3). Yet we see that the Jews put all their enemies to the sword, slaughtering and destroying them and did as they pleased to those who hated them (Es 9:5) => 500 were killed in the citadel of Susa.

6. Esther asks the King for a second day of fighting in Susa and that the ten sons of Haman (who had already been killed) be hung on the gallows (Es 9:13) => 300 were killed in Susa

7. The total killed in provinces other than Susa = 75000 of those who hated them Yes we would all like to look at the book of Esther as the book of God’s providence. But sadly, according to me, it is not a story that can be taken, by us who live after christ, as an example of how we can respond to hostility, however violent. It is certainly not an example of responding to hostility that the example of Christ would direct us to follow. The second approach to hostility would be to look at Hostility as a chance to examine ourselves as individual witnesses: We need to stop and ask ourselves if we are justified in asking this question “why us?” Facing hostility is a good chance for us to introspect about our own beliefs and positions we stand for. Let me talk about Jonah, as an example to help us reflect on what we stand for. We are all familiar with Jonah’s story. Let’s look at Jonah the person and the prophet to see if we share similarities with him.

Slide 5 Jonah’s particularism: Even at a time when king Jeroboam of Israel was doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord saw the distress of Israel and prophesied restoration of Israel’s borders through the prophet Jonah (2 Kings 14:25-26). So Jonah was a prophet who was probably very sure of God’s continued grace and compassion for Israel. We have no account of Jonah hesitating when his call came as Moses or




Gideon did. He was confident of his calling. Jonah was unable to move from the conventional theology he had been taught and had grown up with. He was attached to the institutionalized form of religion and believed in the primacy of the Abrahamic covenant and Mosaic covenant made by god to the people of Israel. Jonah’s arrogance: Jonah was reluctant to deliver god’s call for repentance to a ‘foreign’ nation – which nation, according to Jonah could probably be the nation who would probably bring about Israel’s downfall in later years (as predicted by Jonah’s possible contemporaries Amos and Hosea) Jonah’s preaching or his witness was half hearted. He only preached the message once - to a city that took 3 days to walk across, he preached the message in one day. Then he went away from the city and put up a tent for himself awaiting the destruction of Nineveh. Jonah had been preaching repentance to a hardened and stiff-necked Israel for so long that he thought that it wasn’t possible for an ‘evil, foreign’ nation like Assyria to repent on hearing god’s call. As part of a hardened nation like Israel who had witnessed god’s mercy and compassion on many occasions through history and yet hadn’t repented, Jonah too was not open and could not understand god’s compassion and mercy for a foreign nation. Jonah thought he knew the ‘proper’ way for God to conduct god’s self. He thought god was wrong in changing god’s mind and forgiving Nineveh when they repented. Jonah believed that God should not change god’s mind (Jonah 3:10 – God changed god’s mind about the calamity … and did not do it) Jonah’s dogma: Jonah believed that the covenant relationship of Israel with God was exclusive. He believed that Israel alone was the chosen race. Even at the end of the Jonah narrative we see Jonah’s failure to understand or respond to god’s compassion because his dogma clouded his mind. His hardened belief in the exclusive covenant rights of Israel to God blinded him from understanding the enormity of god’s grace, mercy and compassion that included all peoples and not just Israel. I see three points we need to reflect on for ourselves from the person of Jonah:

1. Jonah failed to realize he was dogmatic and needed to repent. We, as persons called to witness, must understand and acknowledge that we have our own shortcomings and ingrained dogmas we have grown up with some of which we need to repent of.

2. Jonah was blind to his own exclusivism and particularism. There is a need for us as Christians to cast aside our narrow notions that we Christians are the only chosen ones. We have to be careful we do not become arrogant in this knowledge so much so we look down on others’ beliefs and practices. We are chosen as instruments to signal god’s message to others – this is a responsibility more than a privilege, it is a stewardship more than a position of pride, authority or dominance.

3. Jonah failed to realize that his witness was half hearted. We need to acknowledge that sometimes our witness has been reluctant and half hearted like Jonah’s. Like Jonah, we preach god’s forgiveness without forgiving those we




are preaching it to in our minds. We call others to repentance while we ourselves do not see our need to repent in some areas. We call others to repent while, like Jonah, in our heart of hearts we don’t really believe they are likely to repent or are even worthy to be forgiven.

Jonah’s example shows us of our own need as individual Christians to introspect and reflect on ourselves in our roles as Christian witnesses. When and how hostility functions? The next aspect we need to turn to while we face hostility as witnessing Christians is to understand when and how hostility functions. We know that we are a minority living amidst a majority culture (though we are not the only minority group around). This is a fact of life for us not only in India but in South Asia as well. This situation is true not only for us today but also for the first Christians or the early followers of Jesus in the NT times. They were a new group of believers in Christ and his message who were drawn from among the resident Jews in Palestine and from the diaspora, and included gentile believers from other faiths as well. They were a new, minority group amidst the ancient and established Jewish and Roman religions. So next let’s turn to the story of the early Christians and the story of Stephen in particular to understand when and how a majority reacts to a minority that is a threat and how we could respond to hostility in constructive ways. Let’s look at Acts chapter 3 &4 to understand the nature of this new minority group, the early Christians The context of the early Jesus movement as seen in Acts: Let’s first look at the context of the early Christian movement or Jesus movement (because they weren’t yet called Christians then): Ask audience to read out texts

- The bold witness of Peter and John, who were uneducated and ordinary men (Acts 4:13) was creating a stir with the miracles and signs they were performing as well as their message that Jesus, whom Pilate & the high priests had killed, was indeed the Messiah whom the Jews had been awaiting for ages.

- They were imprisoned for their miracles and their message. After their release Peter, John and other believers pray for boldness to speak the word and also ask god to perform signs and wonders in Jesus name (Acts 4:29-30).

- Acts 4:32 says that all the believers were of one heart and soul and no one claimed private ownership of any possession, but everything they owned was held in common.

- Acts 4:34-35 also says There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold … and it was distributed to each as any had need.

- Acts 5:14 Believers were added to the Lord in great numbers. People were beginning to believe that Peter and John could heal the sick and drive out unclean spirits.

� What we see is a dynamic community of people: drawn together by their belief in Jesus as Messiah and by singleness of purpose. They preached. They shared everything. They cared for each other and for the needy. They defied the religious authorities and preached and continued their ministry (Acts 4:19; 5:29)




Slide 6 We see it is at this point when their boldness grew, their witness was strong and their numbers grew that the high priests took action – Acts 5:17 says, then the high priest took action

After seeing this picture of an idealized community of people in Act 4 and 5, suddenly in Chapter 6 we begin to see some fissures - cracks that give us a clue that not all was well. There were some disagreements (as is to be expected with any group of people).

Suddenly we see that those who were mentioned as being of one heart in chapter 4 are now described as having two groups within them: The Hellenists and the Hebrews; Two separate language groups within the group of Jews in the Jesus movement - One speaking Aramaic of Palestine and another, the group of Jews who had immigrated from the diaspora and settled in Jerusalem but who spoke Greek.

We need to notice that though there was a problem between these two groups about daily distribution of food to the widows, they did not let this problem divide them; instead they found an effective way to solve it. There is a lesson for us as Christians and as a church to learn from this – not to let day to day, administrative or ecclesiastical problems divide us as a body of Christ. This was a practical, administrative matter related to the daily ministry of serving the needy or of keeping accounts of this daily service. The twelve disciples decided they needed to delegate this work so that they could focus on spreading the word of god. Seven were chosen for this work. They were men of good standing, men of faith and full of the spirit and of wisdom. Stephen was one of these seven.

We see that though the twelve disciples delegated the chosen 7 to tackle practical day to day affairs of the ministry, it was not a strict division of work. The seven also did what the twelve apostles were doing – preaching, performing signs and wonders. Acts 6:8 says Stephen was full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Still on Slide 6 After the seven were chosen and commissioned by the apostles, we again see Acts 6:7 saying the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem and more importantly it says a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith – now this was again a huge threat to the established religious authorities of the Sanhedrin and the Temple. => Here again we should notice that the number of disciples of Jesus were increasing and the number of leaders among them who were powerful witnesses was also increasing. Again, as in the case of Peter and John, this is when there was hostility against early believers. 5 Steps a majority uses to tackle a minority threat: Living as a minority amidst a majority we should learn to discern the various possible ways in which a majority could attack when they are threatened. Acts 6:9 – 13 shows us 5 steps in which a majority culture that is threatened reacts when a minority group becomes a threat in terms of numbers and/or impact. (Have someone from the group read the text)




Slide 7 1. They argued publicly with Stephen (failed as they could not argue against

Stephen’s wisdom and spirit) (6:9) 2. They secretly instigated false allegations against Stephen – that he

blasphemed against Moses and God (6:11) (Misinterpreting the preached word by appealing to the religious touchstones of the majority group’s dogma i.e. The Law) (In our context there are false allegations that we Christians are proselytizing or converting forcibly or by allurement)

3. They stirred up the mob and those in power – people, elders and scribes (6:12) (In our context today in Orissa a mob is stirred up while simultaneously there is a chorus from those in political power)

4. They suddenly confronted him, seized him and brought him before a council (6:12) (use of systems of control that are in their control –, the police, law, political power)

5. They set up false witnesses – that Stephen was against the holy place (the Temple of Jerusalem), that he was against the law and that he was trying to change the customs handed down by Moses (threat to the existing culture) (In our context Christians are accuse of being western and our practices as being a threat to the majority’s way of life)

Types of witnessing: We all know that Stephen was stoned and how Stephen responded even while being stoned: He prayed that Jesus receive his spirit and he asked god to forgive his attackers (Acts 7:59-60).

Slide 8 Not all of us can be dramatic witnesses like Peter, John and Stephen. Not all of us are placed in situations like Stephen was placed in and had to give up his life for what he believed in. Not all of us as Christians in India live in a context of constant hostility like the Christians in Khandmal or are asked to make huge sacrifices and be public witnesses to shame and violence like Sister Meera has. Some of us may be called to witness in such dramatic, courageous and public ways. Some of us are called to be witnesses in dramatic and visible ways (as pastors, speakers, leaders of missions and mission organizations etc.,) while some of us are called to witness in quiet yet equally powerful ways (in our work, in our homes, in our churches, in our neighbourhoods, in administrative work, in writing, and through the very lives we lead). Let us remember that all forms of witness are equal and preaching need not be considered a more important form of witness than other forms. In Acts 6 we have seen serving tables or keeping accounts and preaching of the word were considered equally important. Stephen had the wisdom to do both. Next I want us to look at how the speech of Stephen helps us to introspect about our beliefs as a collective witness. Religion Vs Faith: We have seen how we can discern how hostility to a minority functions. If we hope to respond to hostility in our context today, we as Christians in India also need to reflect if our present ‘religion’ and the trappings of our religion is in line with the actual faith we were called to. To understand this, I want to focus on what Stephen said before he was killed.




The speech of Stephen in Acts 7 is very long. I want to pick on certain themes in Stephen’s speech and see how they can help us reflect on whether our religious dogma is in line with the faith we were called to.

Slide 9 Stephen explained what he believed in and why it was different from what the majority Jews believed in as their dogma.

- Israel’s rejection of prophets: Stephen made links from the history of Israel and pointed out how Israel had repeatedly rejected the leaders and prophets sent by god. [They rejected Moses who led them out of slavery, received the law and gave it to Israel; killed the one who foretold the coming of Jesus; betrayed and murdered Jesus himself Acts 7:52]

- Israel’s idolatry: Stephen pointed out how Israel had repeatedly turned back on

god by failing to keep the law though they were the ones chosen to receive it. Acts 7:38-39. [Idolatry; Going after other gods when they had the commandments; Ritualism; Narrow understanding of the letter of the law and not the spirit behind the law]. This resulted in God turning away and sending them into exile and yet they did not repent (Acts 7:43)

- God’s dwelling: Stephen believed that God did not dwell in the Temple at

Jerusalem but dwelt with the people of god while they were still “resident aliens” in lands that were not their own and while they were a journeying nation in the wilderness. [God was with Abraham in Haran before he or his descendants entered the ‘promised land’ because he was obedient; God was with Joseph in a foreign land; God was with Moses who was a ‘resident alien’ in Midian because he was obedient;]. Stephen points out that God does not dwell in houses made with human hands (Acts 7:48). [God was with a journeying people in the OT; in the time of early Christians and in Stephen’s time God was with a people who were a movement - a bold, defiant and dynamic source of change.]

There is a need to analyse what we believe in and make changes from within to get our priorities right. When the Babri masjid-Ram temple episode happened most of us wondered why it was being magnified into such a big issue between Hindus and Muslims and most of us Christians stood as mute spectators. Now when our church buildings are being attacked and ransacked we are shocked. I am not belittling the magnitude of what the attacks on church buildings and Christian property signify for us in India today. They are heinous crimes to be punished fairly by the law of the land. I’m not saying we should simply cow down and take what is done to us. It is our right to stand up for our freedom to practice our faith; it is our right to seek the safety of our lives and property. Many of our churches, church leaders, church agencies and secular NGOs and the secular media are admirably doing this in appealing to the justice systems in our land. We have good examples on how to respond to hostility in and through the lives of Dr. Graham Staines and his family – who continue their mission despite all they’ve been through. We have a current example of Sis. Meera who despite rape, trauma and abuse has laid herself open to possible shame and verbal abuse again by coming out into the




open with the statement on her rape and her rightful appeal for justice for the crime against her.

Slide 10 I’m only saying that simultaneously as we fight for our rights peacefully, we as Christians called to witness in times of hostility, also need to reflect on whether the buildings that we call churches are more important than the message that we preach that is sown in the hearts of people. We need to have a wider understanding of where god dwells. In Stephen’s speech we see that:

- God dwells in the midst of an obedient people and in the midst of people who, in obedience to a call, are on a journey like the people of god in the OT; Just as Abraham or even his descendants - did not ever see the Promised Land, yet he obeyed and journeyed – and god dwelt with him. Just as Moses did not ever enter the Promised Land yet led a people with whom god dwelt as they journeyed to it;

- God dwells in the midst of people who are bold, dynamic, growing, agents of change as the early Christians were.

As Stephen pointed out, we need to realize that god cannot be encountered in a Temple that has become more important than the actual presence of god as seen in Jesus or in a Temple that has become a symbol of institutionalized religion, authority and power.

Slide 11 Yes, we need to fight for our rights as full citizens in this country. However we need to remember that no community can claim itself to be above the need for introspection, the need to put our house in order and the need to courageously and honestly reflect if our established religion is in line with the faith we were called to in Jesus. We need to remember that we cannot stagnate and become a community whose priority is our church buildings and church properties. We cannot afford to be complacent and become an ‘institutionalized’ religion – and to be honest Christianity in India has become an institutionalized religion - rather than a movement for change. We need to understand that as Christians we cannot take up arms and go into offensive and violent action like the Jews in the book of Esther did. We need to realize we cannot be like Jonah who stuck to his religious dogma and could not discern the signs of god in his times. We need to acknowledge that God dwells with us when we are a people who listen to god and obey god’s call to journey to wherever and whatever god leads us to. We need to be like Stephen who was able to look beyond the outward symbols of his religion and understand the essence of his faith and stand for faith in the dynamic signs god was performing in his time.

Bible study by Jessica Richard,Project Editor, South Asia Bible Commentary Project,

Chennai, 25 November 2008




(I request this as part of our responsibility as women who acknowledge each others’ work and as a small part that we as women undertake in setting an example in giving due credit for any source of work we use:If you would like to quote this bible study in your writing or in your preaching and speaking assignments, please acknowledge this document and author as the source. No part of this bible study is to be quoted in full or in part without acknowledgement to this document and author as the source.) Resources read in preparation for this Bible study:

1. Bible, NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION WITH APOCRYPHA, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989

2. David Chadwell, UNITY AND UNIFORMITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH, Chapter Nine, © 2005, http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/chadwell/book9c9.htm

3. Eung Chung Park, EITHER JEW OR GENTILE, pp14. http://books.google.co.in/

4. Faussett, A. R. THE BOOK OF JONAH, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary, http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/JamiesonFaussetBrown/jfb.cgi?book=jon

5. Frederic Bush, RUTH/ESTHER Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 9, Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1996.

6. Frederick Fyvie Bruce, THE BOOK OF THE ACTS, pp 130-134. http://books.google.co.in/

7. The JPS Biblical Commentary: Jonah, Jonah’s Lesson in Divine Mercy, Article is excerpted from Jewish Publication Society. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Prophets_1460/TOLiteraryProphets/MinorProphets/JonahSimon.htm#

8. Nithin Sridhar, Orissa clashes, Missionaries & Christian fundamentalism, Posted:1/14/2008 2:00:37 PM, www.iVarta.com

9. Paul Borgman, Paul Carlton Borgman, THE WAY ACCORDING TO LUKE, pp 285-286 http://books.google.co.in

10. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer & Roland E. Murphy (Eds.), THE NEW JEROME BIBLICAL COMMENTARY New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1990,1968.

11. W. Kelly, Allan, Ed. THE MINOR PROPHETS, Section 5, 1870. STEM Publishing: The writings of J. G. Bellett: Jonah http://www.stempublishing.com/authors/bellett/MINORP05.html

12. Wayne Brooks in http://en.allexperts.com/q/Bible-Studies-1654/chapter-1-book-Jonah.htm

13. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jonah

14. http://www.thebibleforstudents.com/study_notes/Acts_6-8.html

WITNESSING TO CHRIST IN HOSTILITY

Documents

Transcript of WITNESSING TO CHRIST IN HOSTILITY