Homily

Coptic Christians believe that St. Mark brought the Gospel to Egypt, which became a Christian land over the course of the first few centuries after Pentecost. But in the year 639 Muslim armies conquered Egypt, and over time, by the 14th century, the Muslim religion became the faith of 85-90% of the people. Most of the time Muslims and Christians lived in peace but things have become much more difficult especially during the last 25 years.

In 2000-2001 there were many clashes between the people of these two faiths; 21 Christians and one Muslim were killed, a new church was burned along with 35 Coptic Christian houses. In 2010 a number of mob attacks forced many Christians to leave their homes. In one coastal city a mob of 3,000 attacked the city's Coptic population and 400 Christians barricaded themselves inside their church. Eighteen homes and 23 shops were destroyed. In all of these violent incidents, the local police force did nothing to stop the mobs or maintain order. There have been continued reports of kidnapped Coptic women and girls who are forced to convert and then marry Muslim men, or be put to work as prostitutes. From time to time Christian businesses are marked with a red cross and local Muslims are warned not to shop at those stores.

After the July 2013 coup in Egypt, there have been widespread attacks on Coptic churches and businesses, with some people claiming these are the most aggressive crimes against Christians there since the 14th century. And, as you may have read, on February 21st of this year 21 Coptic men were beheaded in Libya by ISIS terrorists because they were "People of the Cross." In the video released by the Muslims it was clear that at least some of the men were praying aloud before they were murdered. They died because they were "People of the Cross."

Most Coptic Christians have a cross tattooed on their right wrist from their childhood, as a public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ. They do not tattoo themselves in an attempt to draw attention to themselves, nor to appear more attractive. By their tattoos they mark themselves out as potential candidates for discrimination, persecution and even possible death in their homeland, and now even in other countries. They tattoo their wrists not to glorify themselves but to bring glory to Christ and to profess their faith in the Crucified Savior.

You are probably aware of some of what the ISIS terrorists are doing in Iraq and Syria, funded by Arab money from other countries. Christians have been attacked and killed during a number of persecutions from this group in the past months. In the ancient Nineveh region of Iraq, men, women and children were murdered, sometimes by crucifixion, in large numbers. One Anglican minister tells the story of last December 8th, when four children near Baghdad, under the age of 15, were ordered to say the words of conversion to Islam. They refused to do it. They said, "We love Jesus. We have always loved Jesus. Jesus has always been with us." They all agreed they would not convert. They were beheaded.

This doesn't even begin to describe the level of violence directed against believers in those countries who have to decide whether to stay and risk death for themselves and their families, or leave everything behind and try to run away as refugees and face an uncertain future in a foreign country. And just think of the hardships for the elderly, the sick, the weak, the handicapped. Or...or...you could convert, stay where you are and go on with your lives. There's always that choice. But these people, for the most part, will not deny their Lord. In Iraq, where there are Syrian Orthodox believers as well as some Protestants, the largest group of Christians belongs to the Chaldean Catholic Church.

There are many, many places in the world today where your life could be at risk simply because you are a follower of Jesus. For example, in Africa, in Sudan, the murders and torture come from Muslim military groups. In India, from Hindu extremists, where violence against Christians has steadily grown over the past ten years. Recently a Christian husband and wife were burned alive in their home. In North Korea, the threat comes from the brutish Communist regime, and faith can easily mark you for imprisonment and even execution. There are various levels of persecution and discrimination for the "People of the Cross" in over 40 countries around the world, although if we want to hear about it we will have to work for it. This kind of news is rarely published in newspapers or TV reporting in the U.S. It's not considered important or newsworthy by our society's media people. Even when sometimes a small article does happen to appear about violence against Christians because of their faith, the media characterize it as the result of "ethnic tensions" or "attacks on minority groups" and the clear anti-Christian purpose of the attackers is disguised. The "People of the Cross" are not identified as the people who are suffering and even dying.

It makes me stop and think about how free I am to practice my own faith. It makes me think about how much do I truly value my own faith. I read of great witnesses to Jesus Christ around the world, even today. I read of fathers and mothers who may have to face the choice of either converting to Islam or watching their children die in front of them. I think of young people living in terrible conditions in refugee camps with no time for Facebook or iPods, driven from their homes and country for their faith in Jesus. I think of the elderly and sick who may have needed to stay behind because they were not able to flee, and the suffering of families who have to be split apart so that some may be saved.

There is a great deal of suffering all over the world for our brothers and sisters in Christ, even though most of it is kept from our sight, still there is the suffering of those who take up their cross to follow the Crucified Lord. They take up their cross. They deny themselves rather than deny Jesus. They follow Him even to prison, to the torture room, even to their own deaths. They believe in life eternal and that the Lord will welcome them into their true home if this earthly life is ended.

It is hard to stand before this cross here today sincerely without feeling some shame for your sins, some awareness of your faults. And if we do not have to face up to Muslims who have the power to kill us, at least we should face up to our own sins. But at the same time as we look on Him Who was crucified for us, we can also find hope here. We can find the forgiveness of our sins, peace for our hearts and courage to face the world as a true "Man of the Cross" or "Woman of the Cross" or even "Child of the Cross." It may not be tattooed on our wrists but let it be tattooed on our minds and on our hearts.

Dear Friends, let us pray for our brothers and sisters in faith who participate in the sufferings of Christ all over the world. At the same time let us also do something that may not be so easy to do: let us pray for their murderers and persecutors that they may come to see the light of Christ, believe in Him and take up their own cross to follow Him. Let us pray for the conversion of those who do not yet believe in Christ that they may be converted and find forgiveness Truly then let us also be sure we are carrying our own crosses the way we ought to be carrying them, and helping one another to bear the burden, because the end will not result in death, but rather glory that we cannot not describe.