© 2015 The Wired Word
www.thewiredword.com
There was no question of her guilt, which she has acknowledged. In 1997, she conspired with her lover, Gregory Owen, to murder her husband, Douglas Gissendaner. Owen, who took a plea deal and testified against Gissendaner, committed the actual murder, slaying Douglas with a knife, and is now serving life in prison. He testified that Gissendaner thought murder was the only way to get Douglas out of her life and still get their house and a payoff from his life insurance policy.
At the time of her trial, Gissendaner, charged with recruiting her lover to kill her husband, was offered a plea deal that would have sent her to prison for life but with the possibility of parole after 25 years. She declined the deal, was tried and was sentenced to death.
In prison, Gissendaner eventually experienced a spiritual conversion and embraced Christianity. It's almost a cliche that inmates find God in prison, but according to chaplains and visiting theological professors who came to know her, Gissendaner's turnaround in attitude and faith was real. In 2010, she enrolled in a year-long program sponsored by the Atlanta Theological Association, through which prisoners could earn a certificate in theological studies.
During the study course, Gissendaner read the book Theology of Hope by German theologian Jurgen Moltmann, who himself had found Christianity while a prisoner of war in Scotland during World War II. He went on to become a pastor and a professor.
In the book, Moltmann maintains that Christ's resurrection proclaims a future, and thus, biblical hope does not give up on life but works for something better in the here and now. He says that a true Christian does not fear the future but works to transform the present.
Those words connected for Gissendaner, and learning that Moltmann, then in his 80s, was still alive, she wrote to him. From his home in Tubingen, Germany, Moltmann answered her letter, and the two continued to correspond up to the time of her execution.
It happened that Moltmann was scheduled to speak at Atlanta's Candler School of Theology during the time when Gissendaner would graduate from her theology program, so Moltmann drove to the prison, visited with Gissendaner and spoke to the inmates at the graduation ceremony.
Taking seriously Moltmann's teachings about working to transform the present, Gissendaner developed her own ministry behind bars. Speaking to other inmates, sometimes via the ventilation ducts between cells, she'd whisper encouragement, offer prayers and recite scripture verses. When inmates were screaming, cursing guards, kicking their cell doors or throwing feces or urine at the jailers, Gissendaner gently and softly asked them to stop. She reminded her fellow prisoners that God loved them.
After some of these women had been released, they remembered Gissendaner's compassion and together went to her clemency hearing and spoke on her behalf.
In the days leading up to Gissendaner's execution, more than 500 members of the clergy signed a letter asking the state to spare her life. Pope Francis sent an appeal, and two of her children spoke in her favor. People who'd known her since her incarceration agreed that the woman she was now was far different from arrogant and selfish person she'd been when she first arrived in prison. One of her theology professors described her using the apostle Paul's words: "a new creation."
Not everyone wanted clemency for her. Douglas Gissendaner's family remained firm that she should die, saying that Douglas was the real victim and that the crime was premeditated and heinous. One minister who spoke for the record said that while he believed in the power of the gospel to change people, such change does not negate the consequences of one's actions.
In the end, those charged with reviewing Gissendaner's case decided that the ultimate consequence of her crime should not be removed.
Along with one of his last letters to Gissendaner, Moltmann, now 88, included a handkerchief. He wrote, "When the tears are coming, take my handkerchief." She wrote back to him, saying it was the most heartfelt gift she'd ever received in her nearly 17 years on death row.
Prisons have very strict rules about what items an inmate can receive in personal mail. It's not been reported whether the prison permitted her to actually have the handkerchief, but perhaps the old theologian's thought was enough.
Gissendaner wrote to him that she was beyond touched that he had sent the small piece of cloth.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Georgia Woman Kelly Gissendaner Sings 'Amazing Grace' During Execution. NBC News
An Unlikely Friendship Blossoms Between a Killer and a Scholar. CNN
The Sisters Who Struggle for Kelly Gissendaner. Times Free Press
The Big Questions
1. Can one be found guilty by the law, then made innocent through the mercy of Jesus? Explain your answer. What are some of the different meanings of "guilty" and "innocent"?
2. To what extent should a sincere repentance and receiving of Christ into a person's life be taken into consideration when deciding whether to set aside some consequences of that person's wrongdoing prior to the conversion? Who should make that decision? Should converts to Christianity be treated differently from converts to other religions, or should this apply only to Christian converts, and why?
3. Do you truly believe for yourself and for others that God can and does forgive all sinners who sincerely repent and change their lives? What qualifications would you want to put on your answer? In what ways do we become a "new creation" when accepting Christ into our lives?
4. A formal definition of Christian theology is "the study of God and Christ," but the term also means thinking about our faith. When have you been aware that you are "doing" theology?
5. In what ways was theology involved in your own receiving of Christ?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Ecclesiastes 12:12
Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (For context, read 12:9-14.)
Psalm 101:2
I will study the way that is blameless. ... (For context, read 101:1-3.)
Jeremiah 29:13-14
When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the LORD ... (For context, read 29:10-14.)
2 Timothy 4:13
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. (For context, read 4:9-13.)
All of these verses can be considered to be about the study of theology. Indeed, many seminary students, assigned to read dense books of deep theological discussion (often translated from German) would likely agree with Ecclesiastes 12:12 as they are struggling to stay awake and follow the reasoning in the text!
But working to understand what can be known of God, his ways and his expectations for us is a worthwhile and even essential endeavor if we are to be his people, as both Psalm 101:2 and Jeremiah 29:13-14 indicate.
The 2 Timothy reference suggests that even after being on the Christian way for years, Paul continued to study and read. Those weren't comic books or crossword parchments he was asking Timothy to bring him!
By the way, theology isn't limited to thick books with big words and deep thoughts. In fact, theology is something meant to be lived. Christian theologian William C. Placher writes, "When a child dies and we say, 'God didn't want that to happen,' or 'Now she's in heaven,' or even 'I don't know how to make sense of this' ... we are doing theology. In less dramatic moments, if we pray, 'If it be your will, help my mother get well,' or explain, 'No, your friend can't take Communion; she hasn't been baptized,' or sing, 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so,' all of that too is, or at least presupposes, theology." (From Essentials of Christian Theology)
Questions: If you were confined away from home for a long period and had brought nothing with you, what are the first things you would ask a friend to bring you? What are you doing these days to increase your understanding of God, his ways and his expectations of you?
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (No context needed.)
Note that God put no restrictions on who can seek him and whom he will pardon.
Questions: Do the phrases "while he may be found" and "while he is near" suggest that God is not findable and not near all the time? Do they suggest that a time may come when it is too late and judgment has fallen? Or do they suggest something about the ebb and flow of our ability to seek and find God? If the latter, what makes us more receptive at one time than another? What can we do to not miss God during our receptive times?
2 Corinthians 5:17
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (For context, read 5:16-21.)
This is the verse to which one of Gissendaner's theology professors alluded to describe how changed Gissendaner was after becoming a follower of Jesus.
Questions: Who do you know who became dramatically different in a positive way after receiving Christ? In what way has Christ made you a new creature?
Hebrews 13:3
Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them ... (For context, read 13:1-3.)
To "remember" those in prison doesn't mean to occasionally include them in our prayers, but to put ourselves in their shoes "as though you were in prison with them," says the author of Hebrews. From that perspective we can begin to understand what hearing the gospel and receiving a visit may mean to an inmate.
In the church, not everybody is called to the same tasks. Not everybody is called to visit people in prison anymore than everybody is called to teach Sunday school, sing in the choir or serve on the mission field. But these words of scripture make some kind of ministry in prisons part of our corporate responsibility as a church. Just as we seek to fulfill our duty to the hungry by supporting the local food pantry, and to help the spread of the gospel by supporting missionaries, we can also help make it possible for ministry to happen in prisons. And some of us are called to do prison ministry, whether we've responded to that call or not.
Question: What arrangements do you, your congregation and your denomination have to remember those in in prison?
Luke 23:42-43
Then [the dying thief] said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (For context, read 23:32, 39-43.)
Like the "thief on the cross" whose faith was born during his execution, Kelly Gissendaner's faith blossomed while she was in prison awaiting execution for planning the murder of her husband. She and the thief have more in common than most of us would think.
While most English translations call the two men crucified with Jesus "thieves" or "robbers," the Greek word basically means "wrongdoer." It's quite likely that these two men plotted the murders of (and may have actually done the deed with their own hand) Roman soldiers occupying Israel at the time. (Some translations use these words: outlaws, bandits, rebels, revolutionaries and insurrectionists.) The Romans did not crucify for ordinary thievery; they crucified zealots who not only pillaged Roman soldier camps, but ambushed and killed Roman soldiers. The two likely plotted and schemed, as did Gissendaner during her crime.
They deserved their punishment, as the second criminal acknowledged from his cross. Gissendaner paid with her life as well. Both she and the repentant criminal, however, experienced the birth of faith prior to drawing their last breath. The zealot on the cross verbalized his faith by saying to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus answered, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."
Questions: When was your faith born? What circumstances were you facing when you decided to follow Jesus? What made you want to be part of Jesus' group of followers? Why do you stick it out when the going gets tough?
For Further Discussion
1. When it comes to faith, how do we know what to believe? How do we know how we should live? How do we know whom to trust?
2. What role, if any, do you think God took in Gissendaner connecting with Moltmann?
3. Read and discuss Moltmann's own conversion story (found in the first several paragraphs of the CNN article in the links list above), and discuss how it made him ready to respond when Gissendaner reached out to him.
4. Why was "Amazing Grace" an appropriate song for Gissendaner to sing at her execution? Do you think she sang it solely for her own sake, or as a means of witnessing to the gospel to those who would hear her? (Grace, by the way, is a whole theological topic unto itself, as well as a gift from God.)
Responding to the News
Now is a good time to consider what God might be calling you to do to remember those in prison. Answers might include more prayer, increased financial support for your congregation's prison ministry or even direct involvement in a prison ministry.
Bear in mind that visiting prisoners is seldom an easy task, and some prisoners make unreasonable requests of those who show kindness toward them. What's more, while some people in prison have likely been falsely condemned, others may attempt to manipulate you by claiming to have been falsely condemned.
Thus, if you feel called to such work, it's wise to connect with an established ministry and learn from the wisdom its experienced workers can impart.
Closing Prayer
Thank you for theology, Lord. Make us willing to do what we can to increase our understanding of you, your ways and your expectations of us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment