Groaning of Creation: Celebrating Life in the Midst of Death (Romans 8:22-23, 26)

Whenever we think of ecological concerns this is one of the portions that often come to our mind. Through this passage, Apostle Paul invites us to broaden our understanding of God’s salvific mission in our midst which includes the entire community of creation. The passage that we just read serves as a summary statement and the important message we get from it is that the saving purpose of God is not only for human beings but also for the entire creation. Creation and salvation are not contradictory terms. Most of the sermons that I have heard on “Groaning of creation” gave me the message that “the earth is going to die and the creation is groaning”. But, the re-reading of today’s text will help us to understand this Groaning of Creation in a different way taking the positive side of the groaning or the cry of creation.

The 2004 Nobel Prize winner for peace Wangari Maathai, founder of the green belt movement in Kenya, took the initiative to respond to the groaning of earth and women. She said, “It is the little things citizens do. That’s what will make a difference. My little thing is planting trees.”

By re-reading today’s text under the theme “Groaning of Creation: Celebrating Life in the Midst of Death.” We are led to ponder on three points.

1) The Groaning God: The Immanuel in Solidarity with the Groaning Creation:

As we know, the root word for the Spirit is ‘pneuma’ in Greek and the Hebrew equivalent for this term is ‘Ruah’ which is feminine in gender. So, when the Holy Spirit groans it is the groaning of the Divine feminine. When we take it in this sense, we can see an embodied God, who on her body, experiences the pain of the creation. In the groaning of the Spirit, we meet God in the midst of the sufferings and struggles of the creation.  For Paul, the groaning of the whole creation is for the freedom from the bondage to decay. We can see the pain of God in the cry of the Spirit. Here, God’s pain is described as silent cries that words have limitation to express, and the ineffable cry of the Spirit reveals the depth of God’s pain. (V: 26) The Greek term used here is ‘Stenagmois’ which means sighing or lamenting. The cry of the creation reveals the crucified God in our times. God gets wounded by the human sinfulness which causes  death and destruction, and the Spirit groans because of the human sin towards the creation and the creator. This cry of the Spirit is not to judge or curse the creation but for the redemption and the promise of ‘new-life’ or the ‘new earth’.

The groaning of the Spirit indicates that the divine is ready to give the creation, both humans and non-human beings the vocation of co-creators. Therefore, the Spirit groans because there is the possibility of transformation. In spite of our sinfulness, God allows us to participate in the divine’s creative work. We can see many references from the Bible which tell that the groaning of the creation is seen as the groaning of God. In the exodus event, God sees and hears the cry of the enslaved people. God groans for them and God prepares Moses to liberate them. Here, God is a co-sufferer in the midst of their struggles. God becomes Immanuel. I understand this term as ‘In-Manual’ that is God is in human form and with humans, participating in the suffering and struggles of the creation.  Thus, Groaning of Creation enables us to have an alternative understanding of God as the ‘Groaning God’. The groaning of the Spirit empowers us with the alternative that is not of defeat and death but, of the resistance and the assurance of new life. So, this passage gives us an image of the groaning God who takes up the pain of the creation and is always in solidarity with the groaning of nature and women. In the present scenario, the image of God as divine feminine has a greater significance where the atrocities against nature and women are increasing day by day.

2) Groaning of Creation: A Testimony of Resistance and Resilience:

In Verse 22, it is clearly mentioned that the creation is groaning like a woman in labour pain. The Greek words used to denote the groaning of creation is ‘Sustanase’ which means groan and the pain or suffering as of a woman in child birth is ‘Sunodenei’. The Greek word for creation is ‘ketasis’ which encompasses the whole world, human and non-human beings. These two groanings are connected with ‘khai’ in Greek which means ‘and’; thus we can see that the pain of nature and women are seen equally, leading to the ecofeminist view in the Bible. When there is any change, there is the factor of pain but the groaning is a symbol of resistance. Resistance overthrows the prevailing dispensation and leads to transformation. The whole world is crying for the release from pain as a woman cries during child birth. The groaning of the nature is seen as the sorrow of the nature i.e. suffering of the animals, destruction of the plant life, natural catastrophes and also the crying of the wind and sea. But the nature stands striving against the atrocities that human beings do against her and I would like to see it as the protest against the injustice, using the tool of resistance.

She is referred to as the illiterate heroine, her bold actions and expressions inspired the community. She led the protest which was the conflict between ecology and development, a quarrel between the rich and the poor, a clash between rural and urban, a conflict between the state and its people. She cried for the people and listened to the cry of the earth; and thus she started the campaign against Coca-Cola, in Plachimada. She is none other than Mylamma, the founder of the Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samiti (Anti Coca-Cola Struggle Committee) who spearheaded the campaign. Her efforts succeeded in shutting down the multinational giant Coca- Cola. The shutdown of the Coca Cola bottling plant at Plachimada has made international news and is often characterised as a David vs. Goliath Story. The Coca Cola plant remains shut down since March 9, 2004.

Mylamma’s agitation illustrates the fact that women have brought a different perspective to the environment debate. Mylamma groaned for the life of Adivasis and for the life of other creations. She stood as resistance against the multi-national giant in renewing the life of the people and the earth which was destroyed.  Thus, the cries of creation and of women are not in vain but in gain. Therefore, we can understand this cry as cry of resistance and not surrender.

3) Groaning of Creation: A Labour Pain Giving Birth to Alternatives:

In verse 23, we can see that the new world comes through the glorification of God’s children. The redemption of the children of God in Romans also signals the redemption of the entire creation. We can see this also in Isaiah chapters 24-27.  It clearly says that groaning is for the redemption. In line with v. 22 a woman in the process of labour, sheds tears which results in a redemption - a new life. Women themselves also undergo certain changes with the pain. The groaning of women during the process of child birth is between life and death. There are opposing forces which prevent the new life from coming out the womb but women labour by resisting those forces and bring out the new life. The fulfilment of hope of the new life is accomplished through resistance. According to Barrett, the present labour pain is giving promise of the cosmic birth of the new age. This groaning results in victory and joy. So also, the cry we hear from the earth is not a cry that heralds death but a cry which leads to new life for the community of creation. This gives us the courage of hope to believe that “a new earth is possible.”

The Nilppu Samaram (Standing Strike) by the Adivasis demanding their land rights started on July 9 under the leadership of Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS). The protesters stood for 162 days in front of the Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The success of this agitation marks the channelization of the society’s demand for rightful living conditions for the minorities through peaceful persuasion.  C. K. Janu, who led this standing strike, was born in a tribal village in Kerala. She took up the cry of her people for their rights. Her cry was the cry of hope that the government would do the needful for their rights.

This example shows that the cry is not of defeat and death, but of hope. C.K. Janu demonstrated to the world that women take pain not for death or defeat but as a mark of hope and redemption. The pain of the standing protesters was with hope of a new life which will come into realization, when the clauses in their petition are implemented. Creation is a continuing process and that is the greatest mark of hope. Even the new heaven and the new earth vision in the Bible in Revelation 21 assures us of the element of hope and not the death of earth.

Dear Friends, groaning is commonly seen as result of failure, defeat and often despair. But this text says that groaning signifies the power of resistance and deep hope. The text also shows us a God, who groans along with the creation. The cry of the creation is an insignia of resistance. It obliges us to perceive it as a life-affirming process, to sustain the cosmos. Our cry becomes the emblem of hope when we regain our courage and faith in considering it as the cry for hope.

This alternative thinking helps us to join the creation in the process of resistance by standing against the unjust structures, with the hope of the new life.

It is our encounter with the Spirit that helps and inspires us to respond to the groaning of creation. Bishop Paulos Mar Gregorios considers human beings as the “priests of creation” with the role of interceding, sacrificing and enabling the creation in the process of liberation from groaning and death. Jesus’ main concern was life; here the life providers (women and nature) are discriminated and oppressed by the patriarchal society. When the life givers are liberated from the clutches of patriarchy, the life in abundance which Jesus envisages comes true. Churches are also part of this social system. As future leaders and ministers of the church, Friends, it is our ‘response’ and our ‘ability’ to make the church aware of the present scenario, and to liberate the life givers, the victims of patriarchy from their bondage. It is also our responsibility to be interceders, listeners and voice givers so that we can empower the creation in the process of resistance and fulfil the hope for a new life.

We can participate in this process by taking the groaning of creation as our own cry. We are called to be an advent community. It is challenging to be part of resistance because our unhappiness results in happiness.

We can make this practical, when we are ready to listen to the voice or cry of the creation for resistance and hope. Are we ready to discern the cry of the Divine feminine? Are we ready to voice out the groaning of the creation, which is celebration of life in the midst of death?

May the triune God help us to open our ears and minds to be partakers in this challenge to create a new world. Amen.

Leaha Susan John

BD IV

Reclaimed and Proclaimed Hope (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

What came across our minds yesterday morning, when we were watching the video which was presented at the start of the worship? Let me speak for myself. I thought, O yes, seen from a youth perspective the church is boring and dead. I completely agreed with what the narrator was saying. When the video paused for a while I thought the preacher was going to dwell on how the church has failed to the youth. I did not see the reversal that was coming. Did you? I thought it was amazing how the reversal of the order just did away with all the negativities and sought to affirm instead. What was supposed to be dead was suddenly brought into life. Where there was no hope, hope was rekindled.

Something of such reversal from death to life took place in the read passage. What emerges from the text is the enduring message of hope. But the hope expressed here is not a wishful thinking or a feeling. Hope can be defined as a desire, expectations or goals that seem difficult to achieve but may somewhat be realized, something that will happen in the future but is not sure, nevertheless attainable and possible. The meaning of hope undergoes a shift in this vision of Ezekiel. Hope is given a whole new meaning and significance as it now comes to mean source of life. This drastic change in the meaning here can be better comprehended when we think about what do bones represent. Bones are usually associated with and represent and depict death and dangers.

The description of bones as “very dry bones” suggests a situation or condition of complete hopelessness. The bones were not just bone but disjointed bones, each bone separated from the other and spread everywhere that it implies an irreparable disunity. The text here depicts the beyond despair situation of Israel. Under the powerful Babylonians, Israel in exile was a dead nation, deprived of her land, her king and her temple. Regaining it was not only an almost impossible task but also an impossible dream. But mission impossible it was from a human point of view, for God it was mission possible.

Let us imagine ourselves in place of Ezekiel. Walking amidst the heap of bones, if we are asked the same surprising and ridiculous question of whether the bones can live, the natural answer will be, no doubt, a negative one. By bringing back the dry bones to life, God’s power as the creator, the Lord over life and death is revealed and displayed. But it was not to be a matter of mere display of God’s power. Human participation was required. Since God is the creator, the act of re-creation here could also have been carried out by God alone. But we see that human in the form of Ezekiel became the agent of re-creation. The task of bringing the dry bones back to life was fulfilled through Ezekiel, the agent of God. Human task and responsibility in sustaining the life of God’s creation as an agent of God is emphasized here. And thus the question, Can these bones live?, no longer remains a question but an invitation to be obedient to God’s will and to be dependent on God.

The scene described in the text is much like a field which had witnessed combat or slaughter, a realistic depiction of our world today. These days there is never a day that passes by when we do not read or see pictures of people being slaughtered in numbers. Though not bones, they too represent a lifeless condition. As agents of God, we need to ask few questions to ourselves. The very purpose of our ministry is to give hope but the realities around us do not evoke much hope but constant fear. Have we failed to make any impact on the life of the people and instead became dry bones? Are we not challenged to do something about our world?  The text gives us direction to rise up from such discouraging scenario and bring about the reversal of the gruesome and hopeless reality around us. And we can do it by acknowledging God’s power and by obeying God. Without God any human effort is wasted effort. Ezekiel’s reply to the question of God was not an evasive act but an act of conceding human impotence before God’s power. To do such, requires of us to have an attitude of humility. Then and there we let go off all our human vanity. Like Ezekiel, we will begin to see not through our eyes but through God’s eye. We will begin to speak God’s word instead of our words. And when God’s word is spoken things are sure to happen. There will be reversal of death to life and hope will be reclaimed and proclaimed.

S. Ngatar  Ruivanao

MTh II

“The Comforting God amidst Difficult Times” (Zech 8:18-19)

Assalamu alaikum and Eid Mubarak. “Ramadaan” or “Ramazaan” a festival celebrated by our Muslim brothers and sisters across the globe has a special impression on me. I fondly remember celebrating this festival with my friends of Islamic faith along with friends from the Hindu and other faiths. A time of great joy, celebration, embracing each other with love and respect, the aroma of “Athar”, a special perfume, and not the least, the food, Biriyaani, haleem, sheer khurma and all the best Hyderabadi delicacies one can imagine, and we all friends, irrespective of religion, class and caste, used to eat all varieties of dishes. And now I miss all of those celebrations.

At this time of celebration of Ramzaan, it would be apt for us to reflect in the light of the read passage, on the theme “The Comforting God amidst Difficult Times”. Zech 8:18-19, gives the same festive mood, as we usually see during Ramzaan. The end of a long fast and a festive mood of celebration and joy. These verses are the closing words of Zechariah’s prophesy, as scholars rightly believe that chapters 1-8 are the words of prophet Zechariah and 9-14 are works of redactors. This is because it is a common phenomenon of a prophecy to end on a note of hope, as these verses do. These words appear as a response to what the people ask the priests and prophets about mourning and abstinence in Zech7:3, and the following verses in chapters 7 and 8 are the response of God. The different months of mourning mentioned could refer to different destructive events like the enemies of Israel laying siege over Jerusalem, the captivity and destruction of the temple and so on.

The prophet’s motive here was to encourage the disheartened and disturbed Jews, and to revive “the impulse of building the temple”; this we could understand from the fact that the time Zechariah prophesied was from 520-518 BCE and the temple was built in 516 BCE. The prophet was successful in encouraging and lifting up the spirits of his people, by proclaiming the prophecy and promise of God about the restoration of Jerusalem, “a dramatic metamorphosis from fasting to feasting”. Taking this into account, as the situation demands, let us for a moment consider the following:

1. Is Zechariah’s prophecy, the promise of God, only to the Israelites of sixth century BCE? Here I mean, does it not have any relevance to the present context?
2. Or is it applicable only to the present day Israel, as a nation?
3. Or does it have messianic elements of hope concerning the whole creation?

Some scholars would critically say that the book complacently assumes that the promises made in classical prophecy were completely fulfilled in the restoration of Jerusalem in sixth century leaving nothing further to be hoped for. And some would resolutely argue that it speaks about the present Israel’s occupying the promised land. There could be different opinions and arguments. However, the Lord’s declaration far exceeds mere restoration. According to Zech 8:16-17, Israel would become a place of blessing, security and spirituality.

We know what the present situation is. Israel’s attack on the Palestinians, who are forcefully evacuated from their land and made to live as refugees in their own country, limited to a tiny piece of most densely populous land, deprived of most of amenities and even food supplies, would rather be deemed not to be what God would have intended. We see an adamant attitude of Israel to seize the whole land from the Palestinians and form a complete Israel Nation, which they say, is “the promise of God”.

The fulfillment of God’s promise is appended with certain “things to remember” and of course, “ought to be followed”. And certainly, forcefully occupying others land is not what God should have really intended. It is mentioned in Zech 8:16-17 and in the last part of v19 about the qualities the nation should have. We also often see as in Exodus 22:21; 23:9; Lev 19:33, God admonishing the Israelites to be kind to aliens or strangers, reminding them of their disastrous state in Egypt. If at all the Palestinians are to be considered as the “aliens or strangers”, is what Israel doing, right? In this context God surely would have reminded them of the holocaust by Hitler in the place of slavery in Egypt. In any case, it is obvious that Israel is defying God’s command regarding the actual qualities of the promised land or the resident aliens.

If God’s Promise of turning the fasting into feasting seeks a context for its right application and reinterpretation, it is the fasting and mourning of the children, women and men who lost their dear ones, who are amputated by shelling of sophisticated weapons, who lost everything, even the least, what they have. This message has to be proclaimed to those, our fellow brothers and sisters, who longingly wish to celebrate the end of their holy month of fasting and for a decent and peaceful living.

The cease fire proposed by the Hamas, in order to have at least a temporary time of tranquillity during the “Eid” is declined by Israel saying that the Hamas keep shooting rockets at Israel. Despite worldwide protests and solidarity to the Palestinians, Israel continues its inhumane war under the strong support of the diplomatic silence of many nations and religions. What could be the Christian response for such a time as this? It is good to know that there are some Jewish organizations which oppose this war. A Greek orthodox church has sheltered about a 1,000 Palestinian Muslims who fled from Israeli shells devastating their Gaza neighbourhood. And they have found shelter in this building, the city's 12th-century Greek Orthodox Church, which they otherwise would rarely or never enter.

If we continue to debate on our theological stands and propositions and ignore the cries of the suffering, may be, God shall not be pleased with such attitude. 

Let us wish and pray at this time of Ramzaan that, God, who promised hope to those mourning and fasting over their siege, captivity and destruction, saying that, the fast and mourning shall no more prevail but be turned to be seasons of joy, gladness and cheerful festivals, shall abide with and comfort the victims of unjust war in Gaza. And may Allah who promised in Al-Talaaq 65:2 that “whoever fears Allah – He will make for him a way out (from every difficulty)”, shall deliver our brothers and sisters from such difficult times. Because God is the Comforting God amidst Difficult Times.

Ameen.

Paul Karunakar Nalla,

BD IV.