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?
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.
