The Stranger Within Thy Gates
Brad Merrills
Midland SDA Church
July 9, 2022
Who is the stranger?
There is a special pleasure to being in God’s house on a Sabbath morning with believers who share our love of a relationship with a loving God, and who look forward to His soon return.
There is something special in being surrounded by people who share many of my beliefs, my hopes, my behaviors, who understand my faith.
If you have ever traveled to a foreign country, you realize that what a different experience it can be as you immerse yourself in a foreign culture. If you don’t speak the language, or speak it well you can feel surrounded by people speaking gibberish. Often there may be difficulty in figuring out how to navigate in traffic, how to pay tolls, what side of the road to drive on. The currency may be different. The gas pump may require a PIN when you pay with a credit care, but you US issued care does not have a PIN. You may now know how to make purchases etc. You feel very different. You are a stranger in a strange land.
But then, sometimes while you are traveling, you will see something familiar. Maybe you meet someone who speaks English, someone from the United States of America, someone from Michigan, someone from Midland. You have an instant connection. You are reconnected with someone from your community.
Our church is a big part of our amazing community. When our church functions correctly we support one another. We help each other, we provide friendship, we share one another’s burdens.
The Seventh-day Adventist church can often seem like a large family.
If you have been in the Seventh-day Adventist church for a long time, and you travel to another Adventist church, you will often find that you share friends or acquaintances. It is not uncommon for lifelong Seventh-day Adventists, upon encountering a new Adventist that they were not previously acquainted with, to spend time learning who they might know in common, where they went to school, who their parents were etc etc.
There is an old song by Bill Gaither that I suspect many of you know.
Chorus
I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God
You will notice we say "brother and sister" 'round here,
It's because we're a family and these folks are so dear;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.
Chorus
I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God
From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I'm not worthy to be here, but PRAISE GOD! I belong!
Chorus
I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God
There is something very special about belonging to a family, to a group, to a team.
Even if you are not a sports fan, you are very likely aware of the legacy of Bo Schembechler,the late famous football coach from the University of Michigan. He was famous for emphasizing the importance of the team, the team, the team.
Something very special is accomplished when a group of people come together for a common purpose, and support each other, share with each other, criticize each other, and bear one another’s burdens.
There are so many ways that you can identify members of the Chrisitan family, and the things that we share. We share a love for a wonderful Savior, who cares for us, and teaches us to care for each other.
Galatians 6:2
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
You may be aware of the book Believing, Behaving, Belonging, by Richard Rice, emeritus professor in the School of Religion at Loma Linda University, which talks about the role community plays in our spiritual experience, about the importance of relationships and interactions between believers,unity and about the importance of a Christian becoming a part of a community. There is a interconnectedness to believers.
In the creation story in Genesis God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone: I will make him a helper suitable for him” Gen 2:19. We are designed to be social beings, to interact with others.
Jesus recognizes this when her says, I am the vine, ye are the branches
John 15
15 Leviticus 19:10 ESV / 73 helpful votes
And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Vines are connected, and Christians are connected to each other and to Christ.
So this family, this group of ours this team, is very important.
But this morning I want to talk about something other than the family of God. About those within the fold. When we speak of us and them, I want to talk about them. I want to talk about the stranger.
Who is the stranger? By definition, it is a person, or group of people we do not know or understand. They may be from somewhere else. They may have different customs. They may have different ways of doing things. We will talk more about who strangers are in a minute.
How would Jesus have us treat the stranger?
The Bible mentions the stranger in many instances.
We all remember the Sabbath commandment. Exodus 20: 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 19:33-34 NASB
33 ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not [k]do him wrong. 34 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Sojourn: a temporary stay
Deuteronomy 10:18-19 NASV
18 He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. 19 So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:10 ESV / 73 helpful votes
And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
Social identity theory is a psychological theory put forth by Henri Tajfel and colleagues, that describes how peoples’ self concepts are based on their identification in social groups. The theory proposes that we categorize people into groups. We do this to help make sense of the world, and to understand the world in which we live. Examples of such groups might include sports teams, political parties, professions, gender, income, educational level, sexual orientation, religious affiliations, ethnic groups, nationalities etc.
We then identify with certain groups. As we identify with these groups, they become part of our identity, who we are. They give us a sense of pride, of belonging.
As a person identifies with a particular group they will also often identify groups that they do NOT affiliate or identify with. The THEM, in US vs THEM, or the out group.
Examples of in groups and out groups are all around us.
Republicans vs Democrats
Trump supporters vs never Trumpers
Those that listen to Fox News vs MSNBC
Those that are vaccinated against Covid 19 vs those that feel that it is a hoax
o Northern Ireland: Catholics – Protestants
o Rwanda: Hutus and Tutsis (Adventist Example)
o Yugoslavia: the Bosnians and Serbs
o Germany: Jews and the Nazis
o Politics: Labor and the Conservatives
o Football: The Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers
o Gender: Males and Females
o Social Class: Middle and Working Classes
Once we identify with a certain group, we then tend to compare our group with other groups. We tend to stereotype group members. We tend to emphasize the similarities between group members, and minimize their differences. We tend to emphasize the positive attributes of groups that we identify with, and the negative attributes of the out-groups that we do not identify with. This process tends to enhance our self image. It has a strong emotional impact on our identity. It makes us feel better about ourselves. This process can also lead to prejudiced attitudes and even prejudiced behavior. In extreme cases it can lead to racism and even worse behaviors.
Categorization and group identification are not in and of themselves wrong. They can be very useful.
During World War 2, it was important for sailors and other soldiers to be able to quickly and accurately identify enemy airplanes and ships. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the war, many lives were lost, because identification of enemy aircraft and vessels was too slow to allow an effective response, and many lives were lost because of this. Matthew Peek, tells the story of how this was changed.
By Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist, State Archives of North Carolina
Prior to 1941, the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps was using a system for recognition training of aircraft referred to as the WEFT System, standing for “Wing, Engine, Fuselage, and Tail.” It typically used silhouettes of only three-plan views (bottom view, head-on view, side view) for the analysis of features training. This type of training did not test the trainee’s ability to identify other views of the aircraft that he might encounter in the natural world during combat.
In 1942, a Recognition School was established at Ohio State University by psychologist Dr. Samuel Renshaw, where his method of identification of aircraft and ships was developed. Initially, Renshaw studied ways to improve reading speed. In his lab, subjects would be exposed to a series of numbers flashed on a screen for increasingly shorter durations of time. After the subjects were trained, Renshaw claimed that they could read faster with the same level of comprehension.
In 1942, a naval officer and former Ohio State University employee named Howard Hamilton came to believe that Renshaw’s research could be applied within the U.S. Navy to save lives. The Allied forces were losing hundreds of soldiers and equipment because Navy personnel were either too slow or inaccurate in identifying planes and ships as an enemy or friendly vessel. If Renshaw’s techniques could help subjects more quickly recognize reading stimuli, then perhaps the same could be done for naval personnel in recognizing incoming planes or ships.
To find out, Renshaw trained college students on aircraft and ship recognition. He found that they could indeed identify such targets more quickly and with greater accuracy than the Navy’s own personnel. Renshaw’s method essentially proposed involving presenting the aircraft in a brief flash on the screen until the military trainee was able to identify it accurately.
In June 1942 after a review of Renshaw’s work, the Navy established a “recognition school” at the Ohio State University, eventually known as the Renshaw Training System for Aircraft and Ship Recognition. The “Renshaw System” or “Flash System of Instant Recognition” would eventually become the standard recognition training practice during WWI for the U.S. military. Data revealed that Navy officers going through this training had dramatically improved recognition abilities.
Upon completion of the program, officers could identify more types of planes and ships, with greater accuracy and with faster recognition times. The identification school’s graduates took the techniques to their commands and spread them. Over a million combined Navy and Army personnel learned Renshaw’s techniques during WWII. His work is credited with saving an untold amount of lives during the war, and garnered him the Navy’s highest civilian honor of the Distinguished Public Service Award.
Being able to identify friend and foe in battle can be a matter of life and death. And we are engaged in a battle. Ephesians 6:12
[12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Parents have rightfully counseled their children to avoid speaking to stranges, to protect them from those with bad intent. Children are vulnerable, and there are evil people in the world.
Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Matt 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
We need to be aware of the presence of evil in this world, and we need to know how to recognize it, and how to defend against evil.
We can be very good at identifying evil.
But there are some pitfalls in group identity.
We emphasize the benefits of group membership. We tend to exaggerate the similarities in the group. We tend to exaggerate the differences between groups. We tend to exaggerate and focus on the negative aspect of the out group, of THEM. We also often become blinded to defects in our own group.
We also often cease to communicate with, and be a part of a community with these other groups. We withdraw from them.
Think how different groups have been labeled in our society: Those who support abortion. Those that are pro choice, those that support LGBTQ rights, those that feel that LGBTQ practice or orientation is an abomination, those that are democrats, republicans, Trump supporters, Never Trumpers, Muslims, Christians, Evangelicals, Adventists, Vegetarians, Vegans. The list goes on and on.
We may rightly have very good reason why we feel these people have wrong and immoral behavior. We may want to separate ourselves from these people. Is that what Jesus would have us to do?
In John 4 we have the story of Jesus visiting the woman at the well. Now this woman was a Samaritan. She was also a woman of ill repute. She was a member of an out group. The Bible text says, Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus could have stayed with the safe group. But He didn’t. He reached out to her. And what was the result? He made a connection with her, with her community. The Bible says He stayed two days with them. And many of them became believers. He brought the out group into His family.
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John 4:
4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
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Let’s look at another story from the Bible.
Matt 9:9As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
10Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’c For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.d”
Over and over again, Jesus four a way to bring the out group into the family.
Remember, the mission of the children of Israel was to be a beacon of light to the world, to show the world what a relationship with God was like.
The children of Israel were to be a light to the rest of the world.
Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Christian faith and practice do not allow us to withdraw from the world, do not allow us to withdraw from other sinners. Rather, Christ demands that we engage with the difficult problems our society presents, that we continue to work tirelessly to model the love of Christ for our fellow man.
If we shut ourselves off from a group of society we shut ourselves off from an opportunity to share with the love of our Savior.
Jesus gave his life to save lost sinners. Remember the story of the shepherd with 99 sheep safe in the fold, and 1 that was lost.
Jesus reminded us, that other sheep I have, not of this fold. (John 10 There will be people in heaven who were not Seventh-day Adventist, who were not even Christian.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
If you remember our scripture, it states the stranger should be treated with love and respect, the text reminds us that WE WERE STRANGERS in the land of Egypt.
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Part of the Chrisitan experience is learning to develop empathy for others, recognizing the gifts we have been given, the sins that we have had forgiven, and being willing to extend that grace to others.
Luke 10:30-37 ESV / 48 helpful votes
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. …
People most often reject Christianity, not because they reject Christ, but because the reject the un-Christ like behavior of Christians.
If we can’t walk in another’s shoes, we can’t empathize. We can’t be a true light.
You may remember the parable of the prodigal son. In this story, the ungrateful son was not a stranger in the traditional sense. He had chosen to separate from his father. He had made himself a stranger.
But strangers are more than just those from a far land. They are more than just people we don’t know. Strangers also include those who are different from us, those that dress differently, those that believe differently, those that behave differently. They may include sinners, and those that believe false theology.
Galatians 3:28 ESV
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Unfortunately in medicine we often deal with people who are suffering from addictions to things that are harmful, be that alcohol, tobacco, opiates or other illicit drugs. And addiction can cause untold harm, both to the individual suffering from addiction, as well as to their family, and those that associate with them. Many different approaches have been tried to help these unfortunate individuals. One approach that is still used today is often called tough love. It recognizes that those suffering from addiction often cause harm to others and themselves by their behavior. In addition to allowing them to suffer the result of their consequences, it often advocates that family and friends withdraw contact and support from an addict, to allow them to “hit bottom”. Sometimes addiction counselors will tell family not to send care packages, or call, their loved ones receiving treatment. It sounds like a good idea. Allow them to see the folly of their ways so they will want to change. The problem is, it doesn’t work. The failure rate with this system is dramatically higher than when addicts are connected to family, and friends who provide support, and point out how their behavior inhibits their ability to desired goals, such as family support, career goals, relationships. This does not mean that an addicts family and friends should tolerate abuse, or stealing, but it does meant that just like the shepherd will need to go seek the lost lamp, so to we need to keep reaching out to those who need our help.
Romans 14:1-23 ESV / 52 helpful votes
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. …
Over and over again Jesus approach to the stranger, to the outcast, was to seek to bring them into the fold, to make them part of His family.
When we reject and belittle those in out groups, we decrease the chance that we can fulfill the gospel commission to the world. But it also increases the risk of other harms. Individuals who are gay or lesbian have higher rates of depression and suicide than the general population. If these individuals are also members of a condemning conservative church organization, their rates of suicide are dramatically higher. Regardless of what one might think of members of these groups, we should be able to agree that we do not want our behavior to increase the risk of self harm.
In Nazi Germany, many members of the public were conditioned to view the Jews are an out group, as not being entitled to basic protections, to being worthy of abuse, mistreatment, death and extermination. Over 6 million Jews were killed as a result of this process.
We might think that this was an extreme example, and that it couldn’t happen to us. We might think that we would never participate in such depraved behavior. It has been said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Micah 6:8 What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
How would you like to be treated?
We will all be strangers at some point in time
Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
God wants to teach us to see the world through the eyes of others. Empathy is an important skill for Chrisitans to master.
Teach empathy. (for you were strangers …)
Some have entertained angels unaware Hebrews 12:13
The woman at the well, the lost sheep, the good Samaritan. In all of these stories God has a lesson. Her wants us to bring the stranger into the family. Who is my neighbor?
Service to Tash counted as service to Aslan.
Matt 25:
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Do unto others as ye would have others do to you
Matthew 25:35 ESV
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
John 3:16-17 ESV / 18 helpful votes
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Pastor who led Tutsis to slaughter is jailed
Seventh Day Adventist and doctor son herded families into church, then called in the butchers
Rory Carroll, Africa correspondent
Wed 19 Feb 2003 21.38 EST
A Rwandan Seventh Day Adventist pastor and his son who had a church roof removed to expose Tutsi refugees to Hutu attackers were convicted of genocide by the UN war crimes tribunal for Rwanda yesterday.
Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78, and his son Gerard, 45, a doctor, were found guilty of herding families into the church and summoning the Hutu milita to butcher them.
It was one of the more notorious of the 1994 bloodbath's massacres.
The two men were convicted of genocide, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity for aiding the slaughter at the Seventh Day Adventist compund in Kibuye.
Ntakirutimana, president of the Seventh Day Adventists' west Rwanda area, was one of the many clerics accused of complicity in the genocide, and the first to be convicted by the tribunal.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and his son was given 25 years.
They pleaded not guilty and they will appeal, one of their lawyers said.
The tribunal, which sits in Arusha in Tanzania, found that the pastor ferried armed Hutus to points around the church and ordered the roof removed to help them get in access and eliminate hiding spaces.
Human rights groups say that only 1,000 of the 50,000 Tutsis who lived near Ntakirutimana's church survived.
The build-up to the killing and the victims' foreknowledge of it was captured in a letter the prosecution said was sent to Ntakirutimana by a group of Adventist pastors.
"We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families," it said.
The line was used by the American writer Philip Gourevitch as the title of a book about the genocide.
The pastors who wrote it were proved correct, said the prosecution, because Ntakirutimana made no effort to stop the killing, allegedly replying to the letter: "There is nothing I can do for you. All you can do is prepare to die, for your time has come."
The father and son were also found to have helped turn a hospital compound into a killing zone.
The slaughter was a carefully planned effort by Hutus to exterminate the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus.
In three months up to a million are said to have died, many of them chopped and bludgeoned and burned.
The pastor fled to the US and was arrested in Texas in 1996. After making a failed effort to block extradition he arrived at the tribunal in 2000.
"Pastor Ntakirutimana distanced himself from his Tutsi pastors and flock in their hour of need," said one of the presiding judges, Eric Mose, from Norway.
"As a medical doctor [Gerard] took lives instead of saving them."
The pastor's sentence was lighter because the judges took into account his previous good character and his frail health.
Amnesty International welcomed the convictions as a major step forward for justice and urged the tribunal to speed up the trials of defendants who have been in custody for several years.
"It is essential that the trials are seen to be independent and establish the principle of accountability for all past and ongoing human rights abuses in Rwanda, including those perpetrated or ordered by combatants, officials and supporters of the current government," it said.
Among the crimes attributed to Gerard Ntakirutimana, who was arrested in Ivory Coast in 1996, was the murder Charles Ukobizaba, a Tutsi accountant, in the courtyard of the hospital.
Ramsey Cark, a former US attorney general, who lead the defence of Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, said the unanimous verdicts were a travesty of justice and that there would be an appeal.