Lent 3 - Exodus: Our Neighbor's House

Lent 3 – Exodus
Exodus 20.1-17

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…. (Ex 20.17)

These ten “words” to Moses on Sinai are God’s gift—a gift intended to bring happiness and prosperity to the people God chose to be a light to the nations. These words—this gift—are given a special holiday in the Jewish calendar, Simchat Torah, when the Torah is carried in joyous procession and the blessings of God’s good order are celebrated. These ten rules show us a way of life that will bring good health, well-being and abundant life. This is God’s desire for us.

Hearing these words, we know our shortcomings. We are not living the way God intended. Each of these commandments conjures images of the suffering and misery we endure because we are unable to live up to God’s intentions for us.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…..

Houses in Palestine are a particular source of suffering. Many Palestinian families lose their property because their titles to the land are not recognized by Israeli courts and they are evicted.

Other families want to add a room or remodel the bathroom or put on a new roof. When they apply for building permits they are denied. When permits are granted, the permit often costs more than the construction.

Some Palestinian families live for years under the threat of having their homes bulldozed. The demolition orders are issued and the family waits….the soldiers could come any morning…next week, next month, or three or ten years from now. They never know when. Since 1967, more than 24,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian houses are destroyed to make way for settler-only roads in the West Bank. Palestinian houses are destroyed to create parks for Israelis. Houses have been destroyed in Bethlehem to clear the land for building Israel’s security wall. Houses in the northern edge of the Gaza Strip have been demolished to create a buffer between Palestinians and the Israelis living near the border with Gaza. Houses are demolished as punishment when a family member is convicted or suspected of attacking Israelis, sometimes damaging or destroying neighboring homes in the process.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) works to stop demolitions and rebuilds houses every year, to replace homes destroyed by the Israeli military. On January 23, Beit Arabiya (“Arabiya’s house) was destroyed for the fifth time. Beit Arabiya is a home belonging to Arabiya Shawamreh, her husband Salim and their seven children. Each time the house has been rebuilt by ICAHD's Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists. [In the first photo, Salim and Arabiya stand in front of their home. Second photo is the rubble left after the fifth demolition]

“ICAHD Director, Dr. Jeff Halper, standing astride the ruins, vowed to support Salim and Arabiya in rebuilding their home. ‘We shall rebuild, we must rebuild forthwith, as an act of political defiance of the occupation and protracted oppression of Palestinians,’ said Halper.”

Beit Arabiya is part of a Bedouin community in an area where Israelis are expanding their settlements in the West Bank. Although the residents claim the land, Israel does not recognize their claims.

Gracious God, you have given us an abundance of good gifts, but we have failed to distribute them equitably. We abuse your gifts and the power you have given us over your creation. Give us the humility to admit our failure and the courage to stand up for human rights and to rebuild our world according to your desires for us. Amen.

Lent 2 - Mark - Like Peter

Lent 2 – Mark
Mark 8.31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders….and be killed….and Peter….began to rebuke him.(Mk 8.3)

We Westerners have a tendency to intellectualize and reshape Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and death, preferring to focus on the resurrection—hence our empty crosses and our over-the-top Easter celebrations. We create vast bureaucracies (police, prisons, armed forces, hospitals, nursing facilities) that insulate us from suffering. Like Peter, we don’t want to hear about suffering and death.

The political world of Jesus and his followers, however, was very different—mass crucifixions, beatings, imprisonment and torture by Rome’s soldiers, were common. While we can hardly relate to these conditions, millions of people around the world endure this suffering daily.

In a May, 2011 speech President Obama talked about the Arab Spring and the young Tunisian who began a revolution by setting himself on fire. The president honored Mohamed Bouazizi for his desperate act. Listen to a 2-minute clip of the speech.

When I heard the president say this, I was appalled—I wondered, What does it take? Must Palestinians torch themselves to get the world’s attention?

The president went on to make the connection between the freedom movements of the Arab Spring and our own Civil Rights movement: “There are times in the course of history when the actions of ordinary citizens spark movements for change because they speak to a longing for freedom that has been building up for years,” the president said, comparing Bouazizi’s actions to “the defiance of those patriots in Boston who refused to pay taxes to a king, or the dignity of Rosa Parks as she sat courageously in her seat." [source: ABC News]

I was reminded of the President’s words again a couple of weeks ago when I heard about Khadar Adnan’s hunger strike in Israeli prison. This Palestinian’s own “longing for freedom” has compelled him to say NO in the only way he can—refusing to eat. Adnan was arrested on December 17 and has been held in “administrative detention” ever since. He has no right to see the accusations against him; his lawyer is not permitted to see the evidence; he has no right to see his family, or to speak with his lawyer. He can be held indefinitely and resentenced without trial. (see a report of his arrest and detention in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper)

Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Amnesty International, and the Carter Center appealed to Israeli officials for his release.

In his speech, the president also said, “And you can't have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail.” He was talking about Bahrain, but the statement describes Israel too. Twenty-one elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council are among the more than 300 Palestinians also being held in administrative detention by Israel. These men are labeled terrorists because they advocate for and end the Israel’s occupation of Palestine. They have not been charged or convicted for any crime.

Adnan has written from prison, "I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.” He ended his hunger strike on February 21, after reaching an agreement for his release in April. [photo: Reuters]

Gracious God, you know so well the suffering of your people. Even the birth of your son was met with violence and death, as empire fought to maintain its power. Give us courage to witness the suffering in our world. Help us to understand our own role in our twenty-first century empires and strengthen us to resist oppression. Amen.

Lent 2 - Romans - The Faith of Abraham

Lent 2 - Romans

Romans 4.13-25

...but also to those who share the faith of Abraham…(Rom 4.16)

With these words from Paul’s letter to the Romans, we take up where we left off on Monday—we shall read the text carefully as Paul interprets God’s covenant with Abraham, to see what we can discover about what God intends for us.

Paul writes here with a specific purpose. There is a conflict in Rome between followers of Jesus who are Gentiles (non-Jews) and those who are Jewish. It is important to remember that during Paul’s lifetime, there is still no clear “Christian” identity. These followers of Jesus view themselves as good Jews, as did Jesus himself. They are following a Jewish prophet who is calling people back to God, in the tradition of Isaiah, Micah et al.

Only gradually did the followers of Jesus realize that they were no longer Jews, but had a separate identity as Christians. Remember, Jesus was not trying to start a new religion. He was a reformer, calling the Israelites back to the relationship God desired for them—a relationship modeled on their forebears, Abraham and Sarah. Like Martin Luther, Jesus and his followers did not set out to start a new religion.

I use the term “Jew” here to simplify, but in fact, a “Jewish” identity was not formed until after the dispersion in 70 CE, when the Temple was destroyed and the community was forced to gather around the rabbis and their teachings. Before this, God’s people probably referred to themselves as followers of the one true God or Judeans. Paul is most likely writing in 57-58 CE.

The context of Paul’s letter to the Romans

In Rome, the Jewish members of the community apparently want their Gentile companions to convert to Judaism—to be circumcised—before they can join the community. In these verses, Paul looks to Abraham’s faith as the model and asserts that it is God who creates faith in human hearts. Faith does not depend on human actions like circumcision.

Does this sound familiar? The issue in Rome is ethnicity—who are the rightful heirs to God’s promise? The conflict in Israel/Palestine today centers on these same questions. Who are Abraham’s heirs? Who is entitled to the land that Abraham settled?

Paul finds his answer in Torah, which he knows well. He reminds us that God’s plans were for “many nations.” God’s plans are much bigger than we can imagine. God is not limited by our prejudices and our ideas of what is right and wrong, what is fair and just. God has plans that include everyone, not just the people we deem deserving. While we are busy dividing ourselves into insiders and outsiders, God works to include everyone. While we make rules about who can be part of the group, God is working to make sure the tent is big enough for everyone. Paul reminds us faith is not created by our actions, but by God’s. The land waits.

Gracious God, your creation is so much greater than we can imagine. We try to claim your love and grace for ourselves, excluding those we deem unworthy. But your prophets and teachers remind us that your love is bigger than our schemes. Help us open our hearts to your way of hospitality, welcoming and treating everyone with dignity. In the name of your son, our prophet. Amen.

Lent 2 - Genesis - A Multitude of Nations

Lent 2 - Genesis

Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16

...this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations….I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. (Gen 17.4-6)

God’s covenant with Abraham. This is the sticking point isn’t it? Many atrocities are rationalized on this covenant—homes bulldozed, resisters arrested and tortured, children stoned on their way to school.

Christians are often confused by the covenant with Abraham—if God gave this land to Abraham, isn’t it justice to give Palestine to the Israelis for a state?

This rationalization is based on several murky assumptions. Here are a few I have observed:

• Ignorance of the context—both of the ancient text and modern political realities
• Interpretation of the text itself, a failure to read the text carefullly
• Identification of the modern state of Israel with ancient Israel
• Assumption that present-day Jews are Abraham’s descendants
• An unexamined mixture of religion with the emergence of nation-states in the nineteenth century

I’ll briefly touch on the first three today, because a careful reading of the covenant texts does not support Israel’s claim to all the land from the Jordan to the sea.

The context of the written text—

Most biblical scholars today believe that Genesis was written by at least three writers and editors. The story was told orally for at least a thousand years before it was written down, the oldest writings date to the time of Kind David. Abraham likely lived around 2100 BCE; David ruled about 1000 BCE.

Now, don’t dismiss the oral tradition as inaccurate; people who rely on oral transmission of their history are very adept at remembering details and use storytelling techniques—like repetition and commemorative festivals that enable these stories to stay the same for generations.

The stories in Genesis have a purpose. When you write, you have a purpose, don’t you? I have a purpose with what I write here—to share how I have come to understand the Israeli/Palestinian question in a new way, as I have gotten to know Palestinians and hear their stories. Why did someone write Abraham and Sarah’s story during King David’s reign?

A careful reading of the text—

I lifted out some phrases above for us to consider. God’s covenant in verse 4 promises Abraham will be the ancestor of “a multitude of nations.” Not one nation. And, just in case future generations might think this a typo, the writer restates it twice, using the plural: “kings” and “nations”—for Abraham (v4) and then again for Sarah (v16). Sole ownership of the land was not understood by these Israelites of David’s time.

Modern Israel ≠ Ancient Israel—

The corollary to this is that today’s Israelis have not lived in Palestine since ancient times.They have come from many places. There are two branches of Jewish people: Sephardic (Mediterranean) and Ashkenazi (European). The majority of Israelis today have come to Israel from Eastern Europe. In his controversial book, Shlomo Sand challenges the Jewish narrative (The Invention of the Jewish People, 2009).

Reassessing the DNA evidence, researcher Ellen Levy-Coffman, writing in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy in 2005, has described the Jews as “a mosaic of people.” Her research shows that contemporary Jews come from a great variety of ethnic groups.

No easy answers here, but much to ponder…..

God of all the nations, we forget that you are much greater than our stories, that you are creator of all. Give us humble hearts so that we remember to honor all of your creation. Amen.

Lent 1 - Mark - The Kingdom of God has Come Near

Lent 1 - Mark

Mark 1.9-15

...the kingdom of God has come near…. (Mk 1.15)

Jesus stands in the water in the Jordan River; John baptizes him. It is a turning point in Jesus’ life—no longer a child traveling with his parents to worship in the temple. This scene marks the beginning of his ministry, a public act of commitment to what God has planned for him.

And a public affirmation by God: “You are my Son, the Beloved.” Publicly claiming Jesus and bestowing a blessing, “With you I am well pleased.”

Every time I witness a baby in white at the baptismal font, family gathered around, I imagine God responding in the same manner, saying to the baby, “With you I am well pleased.”

God has created each of us in God’s own image and we know of God’s pleasure in creation….pleasure in each creature, not just those who are brought to a baptismal font….pleasure in the baby born in the African desert, pleasure in the baby born in Cairo’s slums and pleasure in the baby brought to my own congregations’s font.

Khader Adnan (for background, see Ash Wednesday post below) has been much in my thoughts this week:

—I am frustrated that the only way this Palestinian prisoner could

make his story known was to engage in a hunger strike;

— am angry that 308 other Palestinians are also being held without charges;

—I am curious about what made Khader Adnan decide to give up his life with his wife and two small girls, knowing he will never even see his third unborn child;

—and I am distraught that my tax dollars support the Israeli military, knocking on doors in the middle of the night, arresting Palestinians every day.

Khadar was arrested at his home in Arabeh, about 20 miles from Nazareth. And, although Muslims do not baptize, Khadar has also assumed adult responsibilities—as husband, father, graduate student, and his choice to support the struggle for Palestinian freedom.

“Immediately,” Mark’s writer tells us, Jesus was sent into the wilderness—where he ate no food—40 days of discipline, preparing himself for the work ahead. And the writer reminds us that the authorities were arresting those, like John, who proclaimed the “good news of God.”

If we look carefully, we still witness glimpses of the kingdom of God coming near—kindnesses done, or a new baby welcomed into the community. But Mark’s gospel reminds me that the well-being—the shalom—God desires for us sometimes comes with great suffering and tragedy. The text reminds us that the end of the old world and the beginning of the new are birthed only violently, with the heavens torn apart, the veil of the Temple torn in two. Will Khadar Adnan’s fast birth such shalom?

Read his wife’s story of why Khadar Adnan engaged in the hunger strike. Randa Musa writes in The Guardian. [Photo shows his daughter Maali holdig a poster calling for his release.]

God of all creation, you have shown that you desire only goodness for us and for all of your creation. Show us how we can protect and nurture what you have given us. Show us how we can bring in your good news-announced reign of shalom. Amen.