“Unless a grain of wheat…”

In church last Sunday prayer was requested and offered for the freedom and safety of the Afghan man who had been arrested under threat of death for converting from Islam to Christianity. As we were praying, though, I found myself wondering if we were praying for the right thing.

Was it only two weeks ago that we read the words of Jesus “Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal”?

In the kingdom of the world death is the worst that can happen: The end of everything, the horror of utter finality, nothingness itself. In the kingdom of God, however, death - as someone described it - is nothing more than changing out of dirty, ill-fitting rags into clean, new, tailor-made clothes. In the kingdom of God, as Paul said, to die is gain.

Here in our little town just a few weeks ago the movie “The End of the Spear” played in the local theatre, the story of the five men who were killed while attempting to take the good news of Jesus’ love to a violent tribe in Ecuador. This story illustrates the truth of Jesus’ words as it tells how those five seeds resulted in incredible fruit that is still being borne 50 years later.

I cannot imagine what Abdul Rahman is going through. As I pray for him I also pray that I never experience anything like it. But here is a man whom the whole world is suddenly aware of, and is watching to see how the Afghan government and Muslim authorities act. What if he were a seed that God wanted to plant? How then, should we pray? Perhaps as Jesus did himself in that same passage: “Father, glorify Your name”.

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?