Servants Healing the World

Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday
Week of March 29, 2009
Isaiah 50.4-9a

The text comes from a section of Isaiah that describes the nature of the “Suffering Servant.” If we compare this section to verses 1-3, we see a contrast—two very different ways of wielding power. Verses 1-3 speak of a God using forceful action—to dry up the sea, turning rivers into desert. Beginning with verse 4, a different kind of power is explored—the power of the tongue, the power of teaching, and the power of listening, a power that submits to the mistreatment of others as a way of overcoming them. This power comes, not from the servant’s own skills, strength and endurance, but as a gift from God.

Gandhi used this kind of power as he led thousands of Indian peasants in passive resistance which eventually brought down the powerful armies of the British Empire and liberated India. The writer of the Suffering Servant song is thinking of this kind of power—the power of a skilled tongue, open ears, perseverance, standing together. Isaiah says that this kind of power has been promised to us by God.

Many people in Israel today are using this gentle power that quietly resists injustice. They see that Israel’s armies, its tanks and helicopters, its missiles and bulldozers are not making Israel safer. This is the power of a group like the Families of the Bereaved, which brings together families of people killed on both sides of the conflict—Palestinian families whose sons have been killed by Israeli soldiers and Israeli families whose daughters have been killed by suicide bombers. They come together to listen to one another, to hear the story of the other, to find their common humanity and to endure their suffering together.

This is also the kind of power a small synagogue in Denver is using to bring people together—Palestinians and Israelis—for a concert for peace and reconciliation. They are doing it to raise money for Open House, a community center founded to bring reconciliation between Palestinians and Jews in the town of Ramle or al-Ramla, now in Israel.

In 1948, the Palestinians living in al-Ramla had been forced to leave their homes; Bashir’s family fled to Ramallah. Later that year, Dalia’s family, refugees from Bulgaria, moved into Bashir’s family home, with the lemon tree in the backyard; they were told it had been abandoned. In 1967 Bashir and Dalia met and through the years they listened to one another’s stories and got to know one another. With the support of both families, as well as a Palestinian Christian family, the house with the lemon tree was transformed into a community center named Open House, to support healing and peacebuilding for Jews and Palestinians and for visitors from around the world.

Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open House - On April 25, in Denver, Temple Micah is hosting a concert to raise funds for Open House, a place of healing and hope for their rabbi, Adam Morris, who visited Open House last summer. Musicians David Ross and Hal Aqua will lead the concert band in an evening of music of peace, hope and justice. The concert is at 7:30. You can be part of this work of reconciliation: Purchase a ticket online for $18, or $20 at the door. Read more about Open House: www.friendsofopenhouse.org Read The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolin.

Reading for Peace -The Lemon Tree is the book for the next Reading for Peace book discussion in Denver, Tuesday, May 5, 7pm, at my home, 1965 Hudson St. You are welcome! Learn more about Israelis and Palestinians through their stories and join us for lively discussion, even if you don’t finish the book.

Oh God, your suffering servant shows us a new way of power, your gift to your people. Help us to be your servants—in large or small ways, in the ways you show us, among the people you give us. Open our ears and our minds; open our hearts to your leading. Help us to be healers of your broken world. Amen.