PostScript: #IAmLahore #IAmBrussels #IAm

God, the great 'I Am', brings peace in the midst of fear (John 20.19-31).

Introduction

Jerusalem. Three days of mourning. Passover – a time for celebration – had instead become a time of darkness for Jesus’ disciples, who had witnessed the murder of their beloved friend and Lord. On Sunday evening they gathered together for comfort in a locked room – locked to keep out those who might seek to do them harm; locked in fear (John 20.19).

Pakistan. Three days of mourning. Here, darkness fell on Sunday – Easter Sunday. What should have been a time of celebration for Christians in Pakistan’s Punjab province became a time to grieve, as a suicide bomb attack tore through crowds at a park and fairground in Lahore, killing more than 70 people and injuring at least another 300.

Where is peace to be found at times like these?

Context

Last year, the extremist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar bombed a Roman Catholic church in Lahore, killing 15 people and wounding 70. That same terrorist faction has claimed responsibility for last Sunday’s attack, with a spokesman saying, ‘We have carried out this attack to target the Christians who were celebrating Easter.’

Christians are a minority in Pakistan and face growing persecution there. The charity Open Doors has placed the country at number six on its ‘World Watch List’ of countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. According to Open Doors, ‘Christians experience more violence in Pakistan than almost anywhere else.’

One Christian man injured in the blast, Nadeem Gul, told The Guardian newspaper: ‘We have had to learn to live with fear. Every time there is a religious festival we Christians feel a looming sense of threat. We cannot be happy on our holy occasions.’

Reflection

In the midst of their despair and fear, Jesus comes among the disciples, greeting them with a simple, yet challenging message: ‘Peace be with you’ (John 20.19). Peace is not always easily won, nor easily received. The wounds in Jesus’ hands and side show the cost paid for his peace, and his compassion for the disciples is shown as he allows them to see his wounds and then gently repeats his message of peace to help it sink home. Then, at last, he breathes upon them the gift of the Spirit. They are still in physical danger but with this peace that comes from God, in the Spirit, they will ‘have life in his name’ (John 20.31) and strength to go out from the locked room. Let us pray for the Christians in Pakistan that God will send his Spirit to them now, to comfort and strengthen them so that they too can ‘have life in his name’.

Was Thomas the only doubter among the disciples? Or just the one who had to wait the longest for the sign he needed to believe? Mary was first to meet with the risen Christ and though she brought the disciples the news, they were still terrified as they waited in that room. Perhaps they too needed to ‘see the mark of the nails in his hands’ (John 20.25) before they believed. They rejoice once Jesus ‘showed them his hands and his side’ (John 20.20), just as Thomas did a week later. We all long for tangible signs of hope and peace in which to put our trust, especially when facing suffering that is all too visceral and real. For the disciples those signs came from meeting Jesus in that room and the gift of the Spirit – in which we too can share. We can also meet with Jesus in the words of the Gospel, where ‘these [signs] are written so that you may come to believe’. And just as the disciples, commissioned by Christ, eventually went out from that locked room to become peace for others (Acts 5.12-32), we too can become peace, using our hands to be the hands of Christ in this world. As the stories in Acts teach us, that will sometimes be a costly experience for us. But if peace is with us, it is there not just for us, but to be with us wherever we go, ready to be poured out for others.

Bombs are indiscriminate. While the Lahore attack may have targeted Christians, many of the victims were of other faiths. A brief follow-up report in Tuesday’s The New Day newspaper (p.3 – the brand new The New Day does not have a website) says that of the dead who had been identified at that point, 14 were Christian but 44 were Muslim. To combat terror, love, too, must not discriminate. While it is natural to feel most sympathy for those who are in some way like us – whether that be the citizens of Brussels going about everyday Western life when they were attacked, or our Christian brothers and sisters in Pakistan with whom we mourn this week – let us also aim to remember in our prayers and actions those with whom we have less in common. The gospel message of peace is not to be kept to ourselves but to be shared with others: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ (John 20.21) So, as we #PrayForPakistan let us remember not just the Christian victims but all who were devastated by this tragedy.

Prayer

On social media networks such as Twitter, the hashtag formula #IAmXYZ has become a popular way of expressing solidarity. The origins of this expression probably stem from that famous scene in the film Spartacus. But as we type out #IAmParis, #IAmBrussels, #IAmAnkara, #IAmLahore, etc., we are also typing out God’s name: I AM.

As you read or contribute to the conversation on those hashtags, each time you see those four characters – #IAm – reflect on them, calling on God’s name with a silent prayer for hope and peace where it is needed.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, tweeted a simple prayer which we too can offer to God in our intercessions: ‘We pray for the victims of Lahore to the crucified God, who brings hope in despair, whose love is with the victims, who promises justice’.

Questions

How much did you know about the situation facing Christians in Pakistan before the recent atrocity brought it to the world’s attention? Is it easy to ignore some situations because they are too far away, or the people in the middle of them are too unlike us?
What steps can we take to widen our perspectives on the world, so that we can truly see where God’s peace is needed?

You might find it helpful to explore some of the related questions raised by The Guardian journalist Martin Belam’s personal comment piece on Medium, where he tries to think about why it is so hard to get people to listen to stories like the attack in Lahore, compared to those focused on Brussels and Paris.

Action

Find out more about the situation facing Christians in Pakistan – e.g. by reading the material on Pakistan from charity Open Doors or that from the similar Roman Catholic organisation Aid to the Church in Need.
You could support the work of one of the organisations through regular or one-off prayer or giving.
See also the suggestion for young people – adults may find these helpful too.

Young people

Draw your own simple hashtag banners on A4 paper as a visual prayer for the people of Lahore or other areas of need locally or around the world. On a global scale you might think of stories that have hit the headlines like the attacks in Brussels and Lahore, or less well-known tragedies such as that in Al-Asriya, near Iskandariyah in Iraq, where 17 boys and a number of adults were killed by a suicide bomber at a local football match.
There might also be local situations of which you are aware. Your banner could be as simple as a written hashtag in the formula #PrayFor or #IAm, such as #PrayForPakistan, #IAmLahore, or #IAmBrussels. But you might want to go further and decorate it with the colours of the national flags or with signs of peace and love such as a dove, or heart.
Afterwards, you could display the banners somewhere in the church as a reminder of the continuing need for God’s peace and comfort in those places, even after the journalists and media attention have moved on to the next crisi

Rebecca Froley was formerly web editor of ROOTS, and now works in web publishing as a digital engagement analyst and product owner.

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