Today’s Scripture Reading (February
21, 2015): Hebrews 6
The list of captives
executed by the Islamic State, or at the very least while they are in the care
of the Islamic State, continues to grow. And for many the frustration of this
situation in the Middle East is that many of the executed appear to be
non-combatants. For the most part these are not soldiers who have been caught
infiltrating IS territory. They are the journalists and the aid workers that
are working hard to make the Middle East and the world a better place to live.
Somehow it feels so unfair for these victims to have gone out of their way to
be of help, in an area and to a people in need of their help, and end up just another
name on the executioner’s list. It seems to violate our highly developed sense
of what is right and what is wrong. And it is tempting to ask if the IS
understands what it is that they are doing. I mean, don’t they know that if
they want to get their message out to the world, it is these journalists and
aid workers that are in the position to do exactly that. We would almost expect
there to be an interview with someone (cue Brian Williams trying to get back
into the good graces of the news viewing public), airing the grievances and
injustices that IS has with the rest of the Muslim world as well as with the
cultural West. Our message to the IS seems to be, if you would only talk to us,
maybe we could come to some kind of an understanding.
The problem
with that kind of thinking is that it assumes that the IS has a message that it
wants to get out to the world. The truth is that that is false thinking. The
Islamic State is really just employing a strategy perfected by the pirate
Edward Teach (better known as Black Beard) over 300 years ago. Teach was known
for carrying lit fuses in his beard, creating this halo of smoke that seemed to
pour out of him. It was as if hell itself had become personified in Teach
presence. Because of this, Teach seldom had to fight. The appearance of his
ships on the horizon often simply resulted in the ones being chased giving up
before a shot was even fired. For the Islamic State, this is the goal. They
want their presence in the world to instill terror in all of us. There is no
communication needed. Just an understanding that they are the rulers of this
domain, and we are not. And according to that strategy, you do exactly as they
are doing. To fall into their realm means that you will die no matter who you
may be. It is also why many experts seem to be coming to believe that as the IS
makes their ransom demands, the people that they are holding for ransom have
already died. This is not about demands that can be met, it is about terror that
can be instilled in the rest of the world.
So we will
continue to send aid workers (it is simply part of the conscience of a developed
society) and those aid workers and journalists will continue to die. There are
those among us who will mourn their death and cry out to God wondering why a
sovereign being as all powerful as he is, would allow such a thing to happen.
God’s reply will continue to be that he sees and he knows. And he will not
forget the sacrifice made by those who have sought to love and work in the troubled
areas of our world. That their sacrifice will be recognized, they will have
found honor in and with him, but more than that, because of their love this
world will be changed. I am naïve enough to really believe that it will not be
the missiles fired from Allied planes that will eventually bring down the
Islamic State. It will be the love and work of the aid workers, it will be the
practice of chasing after truth by the journalist, all of whom they will continue
to capture and execute, who will eventually bring the regime to an end. God is
not an unjust God who will never forget the actions of those who work to make
this world a better place. Rather, he will continue to work through their
lives, and their sacrifice will make this world a better place.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Hebrews
7
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