"What did Jesus’s death change?"

I often go and visit my Grandma. She was raised a Catholic, but lately she has come to question both the teachings she received, and her own faith. We often have long conversations about it together. Last time we met, she asked me this:

“What did Jesus’ death change, exactly? People still kill each other. There are still wars, there is still suffering. So what did his death achieve?”

This is both a simple question, and a deep, rich theological one; one that is not easily answered. But I keep thinking about it since she’s asked me, and about what Jesus’ death means to me.

Something strikes me: not only did Jesus know it he was going to get himself killed, not only did he do nothing to prevent it, but he talks like it’s all part of a plan. He meant to die. If this is the case, his death must have had a purpose.

Jesus is well-known for the Beatitudes, which give an idea of happiness that runs contrary to the way things work in the world: blessed are the poor… the meek… the merciful. This rings beautiful, but not quite true, does it? The poor suffer, the meek see their right denied, and the merciful are taken advantage of. Those who assert their rights and forcibly take what they want seem to be the ultimate winners. Harder still, Jesus said we should love our enemies, pray for those who harm us, and not resist evil people.

Ad he certainly lived by those words. As I said in Friday’s post, he came to serve; and when he was arrested, not only did he not resist, but he rebuked those who wanted to defend him. He lived out his teachings to the very end.

Jesus’ death demonstrates the depth of God’s love. If you believe, like I do, that Jesus is God made flesh, then his death is the ultimate sacrifice of love – giving his very life to us. Some people are willing to die for a cause (or even to kill). God certainly doesn’t kill for a cause, and he doesn’t die for one, either: he dies for people. He dies for us. As St Paul puts it, one could possibly die for a good person; but God loves us so much he died for us even though we turn our backs on him and on everything good. He shows us how far he is willing to go in his love for us. He demonstrates that God and humanity don’t have to be enemies.

Scripture indicates that sin (the evil inclination to look after our own interests at the expense of everyone else) causes alienation. It separates us from God, it causes conflict between us and within us, and it separates us from nature as we damage and destroy it. Jesus takes humanity’s sin upon himself in all its ugliness and horror (and fully identifies with our humanity, even though he never sinned). By doing so, he sets us free from the dominion of evil. This is redemption: not only are we forgiven for our wrongdoings, but we are free to serve good instead of evil.

However, as my Grandma pointed out, evil still seems to have the upper hand in our world. I think part of the answer lies in the fact that redemption starts in individual hearts. Jesus frees us, individually, from the grip selfishness and evil have on us, so we can strive to do good instead, and be his co-workers to transform the world – to redeem it. But he doesn’t force himself on anyone. If we choose to remain in sin, selfishness and hatred, he will not force his love on us. It is ours to accept – or reject. And as long as people reject love and goodness, there will be evil in the world.

Yet the story is not complete if we stop at Jesus’ death, and we cannot fully apprehend the meaning of it if we don’t take into account what came next.

Death is the ultimate alienation, isn’t it? When one is dead, one is no longer able to have a relationship with anyone – not with God, not with others, and not with the world. Death is presented by the Bible writers as the final consequence of sin. But what if Jesus defeated death?

His early followers claimed that the tomb was empty, and that they saw Jesus again – alive. If this is true, then he truly has defeated death. He has shown us that his death indeed changed something: he has reversed the very power of death. He claimed that whoever believes in him will live, even if they die… His resurrection demonstrates that this wasn’t an empty claim.

Jesus’ resurrection also gives us hope of a life to come, not just for us individually, but for the world. Today, as St Paul said, the whole world is suffering in birth pains – but this means new life is coming. The work is in progress, but one day it will be completed. This is our hope and our faith. 

In this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

 

In this dark world, it's not only because I believe in Jesus' life that I have hope: it's because I believe in his resurrection, and thus, I believe he has defeated death and evil.

Tonight, I remember

Tonight is not about me, or us, or about terrorism.

Tonight is about absolute love. Tonight is about Jesus of Nazareth. Tonight is about the God who comes down to earth to live, suffer and die with and for us.

Jesus' disciples believed he was the Messiah, a King sent by God who would bring about peace and justice. Yet, he didn't come on a war horse. He didn't come to conquer.

He came to serve. He gave his time and attention to the poor, the sick, the needy; to women and children. He spent time with the despised, the lowly, the "sinners". He washed his friends' feet.

And then, he gave his life. He talked about loving enemies and not resisting an evil person - and when they came to arrest him, he did not resist. In fact, he rebuked his friends when they tried to defend him using violence. He was tried unfairly, condemned unjustly. And he died.

He died because he loved us. He died, as he said, as a ransom: his death redeems us. To redeem means "to buy back". You redeem a slave to buy his freedom. Jesus, through his death, redeemed us from evil to buy our freedom, so we could belong to good instead of evil. 

Tonight is about the One who loved us enough to suffer and die for us. Tonight I will forget about the world and its strife, and remember Jesus, who overcame evil with good, overcame hate with love, overcame, incredibly, through his death.

Let us fight terrorism

22 March 2016. I was having breakfast when I heard the news. Terrorists had struck Brussels.

I felt immense grief. My heart went out to victims and their families. I have no idea how such pain and terror must feel.

All the same, I remember that this pain and terror is part of daily life for millions of human beings in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Yemen. My heart grieves for those suffering every day all around the world.

And I feel overwhelmed by the same fear and grief than after the Paris attacks: fear for Muslims, as Daesh tries to create a rift between them and the rest of the Western population.  

Just as I did in November, I refuse to be consumed by fear, hostility and hate, and more than ever, I stand by my decision to love my Muslim brothers and sisters and to pray for my enemies. 

I choose love. I choose to fight terrorism in my own way. Would you join me? 

Terrorism, by its very definition, aims to terrorize us, and, in the more specific case of Daesh, to drive us apart from each other through fear, hostility, hate and rejection. If we're scared, the terrorists have won. And if we are overcome by fear and hatred for those who are Muslims, for refugees and strangers, they have won, too. So here is my plan to fight terrorists:

1. Let's not give into fear. Let's not allow them ruin our lives. We will all die, my friends, but, contrary to people in the Middle East, we are very unlikely to die in a terrorist attack. So let's not be afraid to go out, travel, go to big cities such as Brussels, Paris or London. Let's carry on with our lives and enjoy our freedom.

2. Let's not give in to hatred. Let's reach out to the other, the stranger. Let's welcome everyone without prejudice, whatever their nationality, ethnicity, religion; whether they have been living among us for decades or whether they have just arrived as immigrants.

3. Let's build relationships. If we have friends who are from another culture (even - gasp! - Muslims), let's spend time with them, deepen our friendship. Let's ask them about their culture, their passions, their values. We live in a multicultural society: they are among us. They're our neighbours, our colleagues, our local shopkeepers. They sit next to us on public transport. So if we don't know them, let's get to know them! Let's say hello; let's invite them for coffee, for a meal or for a movie.
 
4. Let's get informed. Let's not believe everything we see in the media (especially social media). Let's check information - check sources. Let's read serious articles and books about issues that concern us. Let's talk to people who are insiders and know their stuff: ask Muslims about their faith. If we want to know about refugees, let's ask the refugees and people who work with them (ask me about my work! I love to talk about it. What would you like to know?).
 
5. Let's celebrate diversity - the human race is made up of so many beautifully different people!

6. If we are believers, let's pray. Let's pray for peace, for love, and for unity; let's pray for compassion and mutual understanding. Let's pray for God's Kingdom to come - the Kingdom of reconciliation that Jesus came to bring.

I love this picture of my two friends, Lexi and Sara, because to me it represents friendship beyond our differences. My hope and prayer is that events such as the Paris and Brussels attacks will bring people together, not drive them apart.

Salah: prayer.

On Friday, Salah Abdeslam, one of the terrorists responsible for the Paris attacks, was arrested in Brussels. He had been on the run for several months.

When I heard he had been captured, I felt relief - relief that a dangerous individual is now in the hands of the police, and is no longer a threat. My heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones in the attacks. I am glad that justice will be done and that Salah will be held accountable for what he did.

However, I have no urge for violent retaliation towards him. First, because I don't want to sink down to hatred and violence. Then, because I have that crazy notion that he is not all that different from me: Salah Abdeslam is a human being.

It reminds me of the post about Hitler  holding a little girl's hand that floated around the internet a while ago. Here is an extract:

"Yeah. It’s fucking scary [the picture]. It really is. Do you know why?

It’s because you’re seeing that he wasn’t, in fact, a monster. You’re seeing in this picture that he was a man. He was a man, and that’s really the saddest part of it all.

[...] The number one mistake anyone could ever make in history is making the assumption that only inhuman monsters are capable of doing terrible things.

Stop dehumanizing Hitler just so you can reassure yourself that “normal” humans aren’t capable of doing bad things."

This is true of Hitler, and this is true of Salah Abdeslam. Evil is part of human nature. I am not saying it's a good thing at all - I am appalled and scared at the evil I see in human beings (including in myself). I am just saying that we should face up to this: as human beings, we are all capable of terrible evil. And sometimes, there are reasons why people fall into evil.

Before I go any further, let me be 100% clear: I do not condone terrorism and violence, and I grieve at destroyed lives. I do not seek excuses for those who engage in such acts. I am; however, willing to try and understand why they do.

If I had been born a second- or third-generation Muslim immigrant, torn between two cultures; if to most white people I had never been anything but "the Arab", or even the "fucking Arab", if I had been denied job opportunities on that ground alone... if I had felt despised and rejected by the society in which I lived, and then someone had come along and told me, "Come, sister, you will be respected and valued with us. You will be part of something great. You will be a hero. Others will no understand why you do it, but you will accomplish something great for God." Would I have believed it? Would I have been caught up in the lie and violence? I hope not, but maybe I would have. I do not ask that we excuse them, only that we understand why young people become violent radicals - and be willing to change our own behaviour so we don't become part of the problem too.

I also believe that all humans can change if they decide to do so. No one has to remain a monster. More than that, I believe that in Jesus, the opportunity is given to everyone to turn themselves around ("repent") and receive God's transforming love. In fact, this is why I am strongly against the death penalty: when you kill someone, you rob them of the chance to change and become a better person, forever.

Salah was supposed to blow himself up but backed out. It could be self-preservation kicking in, it could be something else. He may have had second thoughts about killing other people. In any case, I am glad he did not blow himself up. He is apparently cooperating with the police, so I hope this will help further dismantle the terrorist network he was a part of. I also hope he will feel genuine remorse for his actions.
 
You see, when I heard Salah Abdeslam had been arrested, the first thing that popped into my head was to pray for him. Pray for a fair trial, pray that he won't become the number one scapegoat of a much larger problem. And pray that the grace of God may touch his heart and transform it for good, somehow.

In Arabic, Salah means "prayer". And so I pray that this young man's life may be radically changed and become a true prayer - a testimony of a changed life.

Facebook baby

"Dear Mum,

I turn 18 today. I am now, supposedly, an adult. From now on, I am considered capable of handling myself and responsible for my own actions. I can create my own life; I am a blank slate.

Except I am not. I already have 18 years of digital history attached to my persona. Granted, I have largely contributed to it in the last 8 years or so. But before that, Mum, it was your doing, and I had no say in the matter.

I understand how your heart glowed and beat with overwhelming joy as you first held me in your arms, a tiny, helpless, crumpled little creature. I understand you earnestly thought I was the most beautiful thing ever to behold, and that the world ought to see me and wonder. I understand your pride as I took my first steps, said my first word, drew my first scribble and rode my first bike. It's only natural you wanted to take pictures of all those precious moments so we could, as a family, treasure the memories in the years to come.

I even understand you needed to vent your frustration when I couldn't sleep, and when I took ages to be out of nappies (especially at night), and when I started talking back to you, when I wouldn't work in school, and when you thought my teacher was a bully.

But Mum, did you really need to post all of that online? 

The first 18 years of my life have been more recorded and documented than a scientific experiment, and been made as public as a reality show. Today, Mum, I feel my personal life and history are not my own: they're public property for everyone to see.

I know you did it because you love me and because you're so, so proud of me. But did you ever stop to think how I'd feel about it later?

Do you remember the embarrassement you felt when Grandma showed your baby pictures to a flock of cooing friends, or worst, to your first boyfriend? I feel that embarrassement multiplied by your 359 Facebook friends and your 874 Instagram followers. I have no privacy.

You were an adult when you registered on social media. You made a choice regarding your own privacy, and you chose to be present online. You chose what you would share. You had heard that anything you posted was no longer private, but public. You made that choice for yourself and there is nothing wrong with that because it was your own life, your own choice.

But Mum, you never asked my 3-hour-old self whether I wanted to be on Facebook.

How do I handle my digital footprint now, the one I never chose to have?"