The Orthodox Response to the 30 Martyrs of Libya
To: all peoples who have heard of the beheaded and shot Ethiopians in Libya
Date: 04.22.15 in the year of our Lord
Grace to you from the Lord Jesus Christ, his good and heavenly Father and life-giving Spirit,
First and foremost, may all glory be to God. Secondly, may God give you all health, longevity and spiritual wisdom to withstand the malice of this present age, and every age until you fall asleep with the Lord or his Second Coming and judgment of the goats and the sheep.
Holy Synod (council of bishops):
I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. (Revelation 7:14-15 NASB)
The Orthodox Synod of Ethiopians in Exile has sent these verses to feed its flocks of believers dispersed outside of their ancestral lands. As a sheep of one of said flocks, it is my duty to present their thoughts before I present mine.
His eminence, Head of the Archbishops Merqoreywos, says "all Ethiopians must put their differences aside, and cooperate through love and oneness (unity) for the peace, oneness and development of Ethiopia, and to justly lift this tribulation that has reached the Ethiopian peoples."
Virgin Mary's Orthodox Church of Ethiopians in Los Angeles, CA:
One of the shepherds of my local parish, Aba WeldeTinsaey, known as the New Apostle for his evangelical work in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand, preached to the hurting peoples of the Los Angeles area during a candle lit vigil of vespers and fit-hat (releasing/funeral service) that was had in honor of the habeshas who have fallen asleep with the Lord in the Mediterranean Sea, South Africa and Libya.
He says, "The Psalmist tells us what we have heard with our ears we have seen. We have read about martyrs in history books and from the Synaxarium, the apostles and the prophets. Now, with the Orthodox faithful from Ethiopia and Egypt, we have seen them with our eyes. What a blessing! In this age, the so-called age of wisdom, with technology everywhere, and people risking their lives to save non-human entities, including insects and trees, we see people slaughtering people like sheep. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. The Proto-martyr Stephen said this whilst being stoned to death by his ethnic brethren, but he had hope in the risen Son of Man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom he saw sitting on the right hand of God the Father. Daesh (ISIS) broadcasted this evidence of entrance into heaven of the Ethiopians and Copts to the whole world, just like the Romans broadcasted Jesus' public shaming of the Romans... We don't get along. Even within Orthodoxy we are split apart. But, now it is imperative that we all get along. Brother, sister, neighbor, enemy, teacher, student, employer, employee, aunt, uncle, black, yellow, red, white, Muslim, Christian etc. Like us, the Muslims believe Jesus will return, and the Jews believe the Christ (who they don't think is Jesus) is coming. Why don't we all get along and ask him who he is when he gets here?"
Moi:
We should learn from what God the Father's words say in the scriptures, God the Son taught us indeed and the God the Holy Spirit guided the Ethiopian and Coptic followers of The Way to do in Libya. I invite you to hear the voice of the Spirit.
we, whom are fleshly, mind the things of the flesh and do the works of the flesh, instruct us in the work of the Spirit, make us understand the law of the Spirit and lead us to The Way of the Spirit (the divine liturgy of St. Dioscorus)
It is easy to mind the things of the flesh and do the works of the flesh. It is easy to have a reactionary and ephemeral response to hardships like these. It is easy to Otherize Daesh and all of their minions. It is easy to call them devils, and forget that no matter how inhumanely they act, they are still humans made in the image and likeness of God. It is easy to plead for the Ethiopian regime to bomb Daesh as the Egyptian regime has bombed them in response to the slaughter of its citizens. But, where is our citizenship?
As for us, our citizenship is in heaven, from which we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20 EOB)
What do we look like when we are instructed in the work of the Spirit and understand the law of the Spirit and our lead to The Way of the Spirit?
Therefore, if there is any exhortation in Christ, any consolation of love, any communion of the Spirit, any tender mercies and compassion,make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Do nothing through rivalry or conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Do not just look after you own selfish interests but each one of you should consider the interests of others. Let the following be in your mind, which was also in [the mind of] Christ Jesus. He who existed in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped. Instead, he emptied* himself, taking the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross! (emphasis is my own, Philippians 2:1-8 EOB)
The Apostle St. Paul, Healer of the Sick, is the (thee) instructor of wisdom. He uses four synonymous phrases to instruct his sheep that it is of the utmost importance to treat all other human beings as more important than we treat ourselves. It is important to prioritize them. As often as we think of using the restroom and eating meals, we should prioritize others in our thoughts (prayers), words (conversations) and deeds (actions). This is especially true of Others (the bullied, afflicted and marginalized).
But, how seriously can we take his instruction? I mean... what if the homeless person you want to help is smelly? What if you help a friend out and they ignore you for months? What if someone spills coffee on your all-white nettela (shawl) and your all-white dress or your all-white pants and doesn't say sorry? What if a guy with muddy boots stomps on your Jordan's? What if President Obama won't acknowledge the Armenian Genocide? What if the police don't like black people?
obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross!
We who are the nation of the cross, as Daesh appropriately refers to us, have a burden and a blessing. The burden is to do what St. Paul says. The blessing is from God, and will be on judgment day. The Copts and Ethiopians slaughtered by Daesh had this burden and will receive this blessing. St. Paul has put pressure on us by revealing to us the instruction of the Lord. It is so simple to understand, and so hard to do. If people dirty our apparel, we must pronounce to them the Timon and Pumbaa dogma of "hakuna matata." If we are Armenian, we must pray for President Obama whether he acknowledges the genocide or not. If we are beaten to a bloody pulp by South Africans, because we are not the right kind of South African or African or human, we must bless them. If the police badmouth us, we must thank them.
Jesus prioritized the most evil people on the face of the planet before himself, and he is God. How much more prioritization of others and Others must we do if we are not even God? We must be totally submissive, through love. This is the gospel. This is the good news. This is the cross that dangles from millions of peoples' necks. This is foolishness to non-Christians and nominal Christians alike. This is what caused many to retreat and exclaim
This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it? (John 6:60 NASB)
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of the Virgin Mary, have mercy on Daesh and all of us sinners who walk in the flesh. Instruct us to walk in the Spirit, that we may live according to your word. As you instructed us, we pray like this
Our Aba in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is
in heaven, give us this day bread that sustains us, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, do not bring us to final judgment, but rescue us from the evil complainant, for yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen (truly) ::
Peace be with you all,
ሄኖክ ኤልያስ ነጋሽ አወቀ