Pastorgraphs: "Ethiopian Vigil"
On
August 2, 2005, a decade ago, I wrote a Pastorgraph entitled “The Veil
and Holiness of God” describing an Ethiopian worship service held at
Christ United Methodist with over 200 Ethiopian Christians in
attendance. We are still home to the Ethiopian Christian Day Center.This week, our Ethiopian friends held a three-night prayer vigil following the horrific murder and beheading of their brothers and sisters by ISIS. Again, the sanctuary was packed.
Our connection with the Ethiopian Church not only links us with the terrible news regarding Christian persecution all over the Middle East, but also connects us with one of the earliest links to First Century Christianity.
In Acts 8, soon after the birth of the Church at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit guided Philip the Evangelist to the Gaza Road. There Philip encountered the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the book of Isaiah regarding the Messiah. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” he replied. So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Using this passage as his text, Philip preached Jesus to him.
“As they continued down the road, the eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.” (Acts 8:36-39, “The Message” Edition)
The Ethiopian Church exists from the earliest historical church documents. This is evidence the eunuch returned home and established one of the first branches of Christianity. Many scholars believe the Ark of the Covenant was taken to Ethiopia, and may still reside there. But the church has suffered greatly from various religious persecutions down through the centuries.
I recall as a lad hearing hell-fire-and-damnation radio evangelists. They scared the heck out of me when they asked what I would do if some pagan army overtook America. “What would you do,” they asked, “if those pagans held a gun to your head and said “Deny Christ or die.”? The reality of that horror has arrived for many Christians all over the world. Most American Christians cannot begin to imagine the price our brethren around the world are facing to hold true to their faith, even today.
As I participated in their prayer vigil, my heart broke for their families and friends who have died, or lost everything, fleeing to refugee camps with only the clothes upon their backs. Many are drowning at sea in overloaded boats. All simply because they are Christians. Death seems certain if they do not flee. Like most refugees, they simply want a better life for their children. They risk death to find a place of safety for their families. What parent would not do likewise?
As I look into the faces of the Ethiopian children and youth, I am so grateful they are here. But so many of their relatives are being tortured, murdered, raped, and enslaved. And “the rapture” isn’t coming soon enough to save them the great tribulation or most horrible death.
Immigration, yes the dreaded “I-Word”, takes on a whole different context when viewed from martyr’s eyes. Thank you, Italy, and other countries who are providing safe haven for these asylees. It is high time America fixes our broken immigration system so we can better do our part.
Otherwise, we fail the most critical test. “Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was a stranger and you did not welcome me…’” “Lord, when was it that we saw you a stranger and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:42-46)
As I participated in their vigil, I didn’t understand a word spoken in their native tongue. But I understood everything. The similarities to Catholic/Anglican worship were unmistakable. With their veils and traditions, once again they converted our Chancel into the Holy of Holies.
In San Diego we have more Ethiopian Christians than you might imagine. (Plus Haitians, Eritreans, Marshallese, and Christians from all over the world.) They risked everything to come to a country where it is “comfortable” to be a Christian; something taken for granted by most of us. It reminds us that a Faith that costs us nothing is not Faith at all.
He who endures to the end shall be saved.
For Christ’s sake,
Bill Jenkins
From the Quote Garden:
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
~ Matthew 10:28, King James Version
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