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

Suffering and Christian identity: Revisiting Christian witness

I Peter 4: 12-19

Introduction

In the enactment we can see how Constantine was surprised after seeing the disabled bishops who carried pain and agony as a result of witnessing Christ. In the midst of persecution they witnessed Christ and paid for that. When we look into this pericope we can understand that identity and suffering are two major issues that the author is addressing here. It explains how suffering is important as part of Christian identity to witness Christ. The early Christians were instructed by the author to uphold their identity in the midst of persecution and thus this instruction became a resisting power to keep their Christian identity alive. In this context it portrays suffering as an essential point to get salvation. 
 

Here we will look into Christian identity in terms of Christian values that is revealed through Jesus Christ.        We will see the text and try to understand how suffering became an identity to witness Christ.

Background. We can understand from this letter that the readers were facing suffering and persecution for their faith. (1:6-7, 2:18-20, 3:1, 13-17, 4:1-4, 12-19, 5:10). The identity of the opponents is not mentioned in this letter. We can say that all opponents came together to persecute their common enemy (2:12; 4:3; 5:8-9).  There are at least two possible groups of agitators, Jews and non-Jews.

The purpose of the letter is to encourage believers to stand fast while they undergo suffering and distress in that age. Achtemeier says that the letter is prepared “to strengthen the readers in the ‘now’ of their suffering and persecution by assuring them that the future of glory will transform their present condition as surely as their present situation transformed them from their past. They are encouraged to confront persecution because a great reward will be theirs on the day of salvation. Such persistence is exhibited by living a godly life, living as good citizens, model slaves, gentle wives, and understanding husbands. When believers live in such a way, they indicate that they are placing their hope in God rather than in the joys and comforts of this world.

Verses from 14-16 says that believers would encounter suffering because of their faith and it simply reveals that the faith of believers was under threat in the entire Greco- Roman world. Threats, discrimination and occasionally loss of life were there aganist Christians everywhere.

It was not a state sponsored persecution instead the suffering was local and sporadic. According to Elliot the readers were not aliens by virtue of their faith. They were resident aliens and strangers in the region addressed by Peter. The believers in 1^st Pet are the new people of God, but as God’s people they are discriminated against, and mistreated.

1. Suffering as a tool to build up resistance against dominant structures.

The earlier community was represented as alienated and strangers by the dominant powers. Christians were the outsiders, strangers both socially and religiously. They were considered as a potential danger to the public order and social weal. They were under the shadow of suspicion. In the midst of oppression Peter says, to live for Christ is important rather than everything. So Peter says that “if you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of god rests up on you. But none of you should suffer as murderer, or a thief, or a wrong doer, or a mischief maker; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God.” (4:14-16). 

Here the author is trying to strengthen his hearers to stand before the life threatening situations. Peter uses the theology of suffering, in that suffering is allowed by God to refine the faith of believers. Refining the faith is also understood as a resistance making process aganist the dominant structures of society which tries to wall the Christian identity and meaning of life with their own understandings and meaning. In this sense we can identify the meaning of the cross as a greater resistance model of Jesus Christ aganist the existing dominant structures in the Greco- Roman context.

Many a times Indian Christians have suffered a lot from communal forces and ideologies like Hindutva. Some years before Khandamal Christians underwent severe persecution and they showed courage and thus it became a culture of resistance. A year ago two bishops were kidnapped in Syria.  Christians in Pakistan continue to go through painful situations. Hundreds of Christian girls were kidnapped recently in Nigeria. Violence aganist Christians are being reported in India from many places. Even the Mar Thoma mission spread in different parts of India endures persecution in different ways. The story continues. We can see the position of people who still own their Christian identity and faith in the midst of different predicaments. This itself is a culture of resistance. Suffering is not merely a loser’s propaganda, rather it is a strong weapon to fight against any sort of injustice and dominant structures.

2. Suffering as an experience to encounter anti-human social issues and strengthen Christian identity

This portion portrayed suffering as a response to address and overcome several social issues. Like all biblical writings it is also conditioned by, and reflects certain set of social circumstances. On the surface that response appears to be formulated in predominantly theological terms. Because of their Christian identity they suffered. As the problems which the letter addressed were not merely religious but also social, the letter may be assumed to have been designed for social as well as religious effect. Here theology is used as a tool to address various issues. Apart from scripture, knowledge, and tradition, the experience of the people became a key source to formulate theology.

The marginalised and Dalit Christian’s suffering is a tool to articulate theology and thus it can address real social situations. As like the receivers of this letter, the Dalit Christians in India are alienated and denied their rights only because of the identity ‘Christians’. It is very difficult to understand in what way the constitution of India has denied the rights of Dalit Christians. The suffering continues but Dalit Christians hold on to their faith in God which helps them to address various issues. Dalit theology is the best way to articulate faith in God on the basis of the realities especially in the midst of suffering and agony. Suffering has become an identity through the articulation of faith, upholding values and empowering themselves. Thus Dalit theology has become a courageous step to stand against injustice. We can identify that suffering is inevitable when we stand for justice. Jesus himself suffered by taking the side of the weak and vulnerable.

 In our life journey we are often tempted to remain within the comfort zones which give security to our life. But we are called to share in the suffering of our fellow beings. Real ministry happens only in our solidarity with those who are suffering. The churches or individuals who are not able to participate in the struggles of Dalit Christians cannot claim to be churches or Christians. This ecumenical institution is a better platform which helps different churches to come together and to understand more about the pain and pathos of Dalit Christians.    

Conclusion

This portion converts suffering as a core character of Christian identity to witness Christ in our life. It also teaches us how suffering functions as a resistance process in search of Christian identity. It helps us to make a counter understanding about the meaning of suffering and the inevitable role of this concept in our Christian life and meaning making process. In our living context are we able to take up the challenges against Christians to keep our Christian identity alive? Can we consider suffering as a resistance power to fight against injustice?

May the merciful God help us to keep our identity strong in the midst of persecution and suffering in order to revisit the meaning of Christian identity. Let us walk through the corridors of sufferings. Amen. 

 

Liju T Varughese

BD IV

(Preached for the trial sermon on July 7, 2014 at the Ziegenbalg chapel, UTC)