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Sisters and
Brothers in Christ, Salaam and grace to you from the birthplace of
the Holy Child!
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and see
what has happened,
what the Lord has made known to us"
This was the invitation of the
shepherds to each other in the dark fields that holy night long
ago: let us go and see the babe. Let us find the manger and see
what the Lord has made known to us.
Today I invite you. Come to
Bethlehem and see… not just to visit us and see the holy birthsite,
but to look deeply into the heart of Bethlehem and contemplate
what you will find.
Palestinian children ask me many
questions these days:
If Mary and Joseph tried to come to
Bethlehem today, would they need a permit? Would the Israeli
soldiers let them in with a blue ID and not a West Bank ID? Would
the 30 ft (8 meter) wall surrounding the city stop them from
coming? Would they find their way around the detour where the
main street is walled off at Rachel's tomb? Would they stop and
weep with Rachel for the loss of all of her children, regardless
of their religion or nationality? Would all these things keep
them out? Would Mary have to deliver the baby at the checkpoint
at Tantur?
No. None of the obstacles then and
none of the obstacles now can stop the Lord from finding a simple,
lowly manger to be born into our world and become God incarnate.
The shepherds were terrified at
first, and then reassured by the angel. Still, it took a leap of
faith for them to make their decision to act:
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and
see what has happened,
what the Lord has made known to
us"
Why Bethlehem? Why would God
choose this tiny, inconsequential place to come into the world?
The prophets of old knew that the King would be born in
Bethlehem. The chief rabbis told King Herod to inform the Wise
Men that the babe would be born in Bethlehem, to fulfill the
prophecy of Micah:
"and you, O Bethlehem in
Ephrathah, small as you are to be among Judah's clans,
out of you shall come
forth a ruler for Israel…"
God chose Bethlehem, the least of
these places, because this was the most "fruitful" (Ephrathah)
place for the simple yet profound love of God to take root. God
chose Bethlehem because it is precisely in the humble spirit in
the midst of ordinary people that God meets the world and takes on
humanity's struggle. God chose Bethlehem, the city of bread, as
the birthplace of the bread of life. God chose Ephrathah, which
means "fruitful," to be the smallest of seeds, yet when it is sown
it grows up and becomes the greatest of all.
Isn't this always God's way in
choosing people or places? God always finds a manger with the
down-trodden, the marginalized, the oppressed, the unimportant,
the unknown and unworthy. God is always eating with sinners,
visiting the outcasts and blessing the poor and the powerless.
For he is Emmanuel, God with everyone.
As Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the
French mathematician, scientist and apologist for the Christian
faith wrote:
"Consider Jesus Christ in
every person and in ourselves. Jesus Christ is parent in the
parent. Jesus Christ is brother in the brother. Jesus Christ is
poor in the poor. Jesus Christ is sovereign in princes. For by
His glory he is everything that is great, being God by His mortal
life. He is everything that is wretched and abject. That is why
He took on this unhappy condition, so that He could be in every
person and a model for every human condition."
(Pensees, 946)
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and
see what has happened,
what the Lord has made known to
us"
In today's world, we need the
message of the babe even more. We yearn for peace and healing, we
yearn for an end to suffering, violence, occupation, terror and
hate. Many yearn to leave behind futile and fruitless pursuits to
follow the path of the peacemaker, the Lord, who is the healer,
the liberator, the forgiver. We, like the shepherds that night,
need to go beyond our fear and take those bold steps.
Imagine the joy of the shepherds
when they found that even in the midst of their fear and the
darkness of the cold night, the babe was born. They were willing
to follow the call of the angels despite their terror of the
night. Fear, uncertainty, darkness and doubt could not stop the
shepherds from getting to Bethlehem. It couldn't stop God from
coming into their midst. And it can't stop God from coming into
our midst, no matter how much turmoil and chaos swirls around us.
One of the messages of the manger is that fear and hate need no
longer hold us hostage.
Some political leaders are trying to
bring security and peace to this world, proclaiming that the power
and might of militarization will save us. But their security is
an illusion and their peace through military might is only a
charade. Far from giving us a safer world, the idolization of
violence and militarization creates a culture of fear and erects
new walls of hatred that have not existed before.
This culture of fear pits nation
against nation and citizen against citizen. Suspicion abounds
and it seems there is no one or nothing to trust. In this culture
of fear, we have carved the world into "us" vs. "them," good
vs.evil-doers. It is no wonder we are seeing social problems
erupting like never before. The culture of fear demonizes some
and dehumanizes us all. Not only does this all fail to bring the
peace, justice and security we seek, it creates even more
instability, more hatred and an even greater desire for
retaliation and counter-retaliation.
Politicians and powerful ones, hear
the invitation of the manger to do something new:
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and
see what has happened,
what the Lord has made known to
us"
Even as the Herods of the world try
to convince us that only their bombs and bullets and brutality
will save us, the babe of the manger shows us a different way.
The angels announce the good news that God is with us, Emmanuel,
even in our fear and anxiety. The child is not born in palaces of
wealth or in fortresses of violence, but in a simple stable to
poor and ordinary people. The news of the child did not come first
to the powerful but to the scared and vulnerable shepherds
watching their flock by night.
It is then, in the midst of fear and
vulnerability, Christ comes with reassurance - Be not afraid, for
I am with you always, I am the light even in your darkest night.
I am the hope even in the midst of your despair. I am your peace.
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and
see what has happened,
what the Lord has made
known to us"
Yet, even with these assurances,
still we are afraid. The power and violence brokers make sure we
stay afraid so we will accept their militarization and might as
the only answers. The culture of fear must find someone to blame,
an enemy to rally against, even if it stereotypes entire groups of
people. Today, many interpret political conflict as religious
conflict, and the actions of extremists as representative of
religions. It is tragic that today the biggest walls of fear seem
to be between religions.
We are worried that Islam has
been labeled as the cause of much of the increasing violence and
chaos, fueling the growth of Islamophobia and Arabophobia. The
Prime Minister of Norway, Rev. Kjell Magne Bundevik, in his
speech to the UNDP in October of this year, said this:
"The way Muslims and Arabs in the
West are presented by the media can alienate moderate Muslims and
reinforce the old fear felt by Europeans towards Muslims and
Arabs."
At the same time, we are pleased
that there are more and more voices of tolerance and moderation in
Islam that encourage the world to understand Islam in a different
light. In the Message of Amman, released in November by the Chief
Judge of the Islamic Court in Jordan, Sheikh Izzidine El Khatib
writes that Islam promotes life not death and has no connection
with violence and terror. We need more of these voices to
increase mutual understanding. Arab Palestinian Christians have
learned from long years the art of living with Muslims with mutual
respect and equal rights. We are ready to join these voices of
tolerance and to help build bridges between Islam and the West.
We are equally concerned when some
extremists try to equate Christianity with imperialism, violence
and hate. We are equally disturbed by growing anti-semitism in
Europe and other places in the world as well as growing
Europhobia, Americanophobia and even xenophobia. It is
especially disturbing when suffering people are refused asylum due
to race and religion. The culture of fear is the best breeding
ground for religious and political extremists, fanatics and
fundamentalists.
Those driven by fear and hate need
to hear the call of the manger:
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and
see what has happened,
what the Lord has made known to
us"
In the manger that dark night the
walls between God and humanity were breached by God's
unconditional love for us born in the infant child. The Christ
child brings peace and reconciliation, and calls all those who
have experienced the birth in their hearts to be ministers of that
reconciliation. The good news of the angels is that we don't need
these walls that divide us, because the love, forgiveness and
healing of Christ helps us to see God in the other, and not to be
afraid. God gives us the power to break down the walls and risk
looking into the eyes of our sisters and brothers who are on the
"other side" who are different from us, and see that we are all
human beings, created in God's image, deserving of dignity,
respect and equal rights. Though the Herods of our time insist on
dividing the world, the babe in the manger comes to say a decisive
"No!" to walls and instead brings all around the manger, all
nations, all people, all equal, to restore the image of God that
has been lost. Bethlehem shows us that God is found not behind
walls but in unexpected mangers where new life comes alive.
"Let us go now to Bethlehem and
see what has happened,
what the Lord has made known to
us"
This Christmas in the Holy Land and
around the world, people are hoping and praying that the time for
just peace has come. People ask us here, what will it take to
achieve peace with justice?
I believe that the walls of hatred
and animosity in the Holy Land can be broken down, but only when
Palestinians and Israelis take bold steps in a new direction.
When they are willing to see God in the other, accept the humanity
of the other, and recognize one another's equal human, civil,
religious and political rights. World leaders, too, must be
willing to set out on a new path that will uphold the dignity and
human rights of all, and to transform injustice into justice,
oppression and occupation into freedom, hate into forgiveness,
insecurity into security, and weapons of war into ploughshares of
new life. Only then will the Holy Land become the Land of Milk
and Honey for both Palestinians and Israelis.
We, the Palestinian Christian
Lutheran Church, urge followers of the monotheistic religions and
all people of faith to find the common human values that promote
love of neighbor, family, justice, equality, peace, tolerance,
compassion and reconciliation and advocate for them. Let us stand
up clearly and say that any violence or terror done in the name of
God is blasphemy. Religious and political leaders in the Middle
East and beyond, please, LEAD! Lead us from a culture of fear and
walls to a culture of reconciliation and bridge-building that
builds trust between nations and religions. Set us free from the
violence, injustice, occupation and oppression that have held us
hostage. Give us the support we need to make this coming year the
time to tear down the walls and bring a just peace.
Let us go now to the manger, all
those who live in darkness and fear,
those who have power and those who
have none, Palestinian and Israeli, occupied and occupier,
American, European, African, Asian, Austrailians, all religions
and faiths in our common humanity;
Let us go, not as enemies with
occupation or violence or oppression,
but as human beings, all in the
image of God, deserving equal human dignity and respect;
Let us take the risk, politicians
and people of faith and courage, to go through the wall that God
has breached to follow the way of wall-breachers, bridge-builders
and peacemakers, not just peacetalkers.
The babe in the manger is born for
you, for me, for the world, to be the Prince of Peace, the Broker
of Justice, the Healer of the Breach. Let us go together on this
new journey and sing a new song of justice and peace:
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend
to us we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in, be
born in us today;
We hear the Christmas angels the
great glad tidings tell,
O come to us, abide with us, our
Lord Emmanuel!
Amen.
May you have
a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! Pray for peace and work
for justice in 2005.
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