Dear friends,
This Sunday, we continue with our sermon series with “Relevant.” And relevant, we must be. Last night, i led a prayer at the vigil for Pannir, who was executed this morning. i didn’t know Pannir’s Christian name was Paul Silas until i read his book – and the significance struck me. This is what i shared at the vigil.
i pray that we continue working towards honoring the Imago Dei that resides in every single human being, anchored in the belief that everyone deserves another chance – because no one is beyond God’s love and no one is beyond redemption.
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I originally wanted to just do an interfaith prayer for Pannir, because in this gathering, we have folks of many faiths and traditions and beliefs.
But as I read Pannir’s book, I found out his Christian name is Paul Silas. So allow me to share briefly –
A Bible passage about Paul and Silas just leapt out at me – the passage from Acts 16 where they were imprisoned – and a violent earthquake shook the foundations of the prison and all the doors were thrown open and every prisoner’s chains came loose.
But that’s what folks focus on in acts 16. The doors being thrown open and the chains coming loose.
What is significant is what followed. The jailer was going to “fall on his own sword” i.e. take his own life because he thought that the prisoners escaped but Paul and Silas did not run off once the chains came loose and the prison doors were flung open. They stayed in their cell.
Paul shouted at the jailer, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
Paul and Silas could have left but they showed one of their oppressors – the jailer – compassion and mercy. Compassion and mercy they were not shown when they were flogged.
You have heard earlier what Pannir has said and done – thinking of blood drives, supporting others, changing the world, even when he was on death row.
At the end of his book of poetry, there is a message from Pannir. I would like to read an excerpt:
“My younger brother, sisters and friends – you are the hope of humanity. The world needs your voice. Voices that change the course of history. Voices that bring hope and light, mercy and forgiveness. Voices that speak for those who can’t. Voices that little boys and girls need for their right to education. Voices that speak against underage marriage that plague society. Voices that women and children need against raging war.
Voices that bring awareness about mental health. Climate change and waste management. About human right and equality and poverty. Millions of tons of food are being wasted at one end, and millions of people are starving to death, including children at the other end.
What can our voices do to bridge this gap? You all are the most important person in the world because the future depends on all of you. I tell you this because no one tell me back then that I am such a voice. Your society needs you. Your community needs you. Your country needs you. Humanity needs you.” (page 159-160, Death Row Literature)
Pannir isn’t gone yet. I refuse to give in to despair. May I invite you to join me in prayer – whichever faith, tradition or belief that you belong to.
God of all life,
Source of mercy and truth,
We gather tonight to remember the sanctity of every human being.
No one is beyond Your love.
No one is beyond redemption.
If we declare that we believe in second chances, then we must surely reject the death penalty.
We hold before You Pannir — and his family and friends – we pray against the odds that there will be clemency.
We pray for change. We pray for compassion.
We pray for all
and all those on death row –
waiting in fear, those who have been forgotten,
and those whose lives have been marked by violence —
victims, families, communities, and all of us who are wounded by a cycle of harm.
We confess, O God, how easy it is to harden our hearts,
to believe that some lives are expendable.
But Your Spirit calls us to a higher way —
to choose restoration over revenge,
mercy over fear,
life over death.
Let justice roll down like waters,
and compassion like an ever-flowing stream.
Give us courage to say,
not in our name will another life be taken.
Not by our silence will this continue.
May we stand together —
people of many faiths,
believers and seekers,
united in the hope that every life can be made new.
Amen.
Shalom,
miak