اهلاً و سهلاً, يسوع

Wilkommen!

I hope you all had a very enjoyable Christmastime. =) This Thursday I went to a concert of Bach music; the choir and the orchestra were really tremendous. One of the lines that stuck in my mind the most was from the chorus of a bass solo which started with a resounding "Wilkommen!", welcoming baby Jesus into this world. Another of the sections spoke of little Jesus making his bed in our hearts:

Ach, mein herzliebes Jesulein,
Mach dir ein rein, sanft Bettelein,
Zu ruhen in meines Herzens Schrein,
Das ich nimmer vergeße dein!

When the bass sang, "Wilkommen!", I immediately thought, "Ahlan wa sahlan!" (the same phrase in Arabic). "Ahlan wa sahlan" is a phrase very loaded with cultural meaning--it evokes the tremendous importance of hospitality in traditional Middle Eastern culture, the importance of making a place for visitors and guests, of honoring and valuing them. I imagine that such cultural values were also held by the people here of Jesus' time.

So it really struck me when I realized that Jesus was in fact not welcomed nor honored, neither in birth, life nor death. He was born in a manger--"because there was no room for them in the inn." Not only did the innkeepers not find a way to make room for the King of Kings, but Joseph and Mary must have had relatives in Bethlehem--even if they or their families hadn't lived there for a few generations, traditional cultures place a far greater emphasis on extended families than modern Western culture. So even a second- or third-cousin would normally take in a pregnant, poor couple of relatives. But such was the disgrace of Mary's seemingly illegitimate pregnancy that even her relatives would not take her in, let alone an innkeeper. Jesus was "despised and rejected" (Is 53:3), as a baby and most thoroughly on the cross. But though we did not welcome Him in, still He says to us, "Come, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28).

It also made me think of Palm Sunday, when Jesus came into Jerusalem amidst shouts of "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" Yet only a week later, the same city stood by--even actively took part--as He was nailed to a cross.

This week Bethlehem had a lot of celebrations welcoming the birth of Jesus. Some of these "ahlan wa sahlan"-s were heartfelt and sincere, while others seemed to be more political or cultural in nature than anything else. In fact, the biggest event at the Nativity Church for most people seemed not to be welcoming in the birth of the Anointed King of Kings, but the appearance of the not-yet-coronated King of Palestine, Abu Mazen. Many people had "sightings" of this famous figure; I did not see him, though he probably could see me through the tinted windows, as I stood only a few feet away from his motorcade. But I wasn't disappointed--that night there was a much greater King to welcome into the world, and into my heart once more.

My prayer for all of us is that we may welcome in this baby, despised and rejected all His life but beckoning with open arms nonetheless. May our welcomes not be so short-lived as those of Palm Sunday, but may they last even through our own crosses. And when we face Him in judgment, may this humble King say to us, "Ahlan wa sahlan, my good and faithful servants!"

Veni, Veni, Emmanuel

Greetings,

Guess what? I got tickets to go to the midnight mass at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem! So on Christmas Eve I'll be going to two services now, first a 7:00 service at a Syrian Catholic church, which is in Aramaic, Jesus' first language; and then the midnight mass at the Nativity Church. I'm very curious what it will be like; I don't want to expect too much of a "spiritual" experience, but I think certainly as a cultural experience it will be fabulous. =) (In past years, I heard that the main attraction people would come for is to see Yasser Arafat--"Come celebrate the birth of Jesus, AND see Yasser Arafat!!" -- but obviously this year things are a little different.)

This Sunday we were singing some Christmas hymns, and I realized that every time I sing about Bethlehem or the birth of Jesus, it really touches me, knowing the place and loving the people here. We sang "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem," and there's a line that says "Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by." It made me think of just the night before when I was walking home from the checkpoint, looking up at the beautiful stars, on this cold, silent, beautiful winter night. (Who knows if Jesus was born in winter--he probably wasn't--but the imagery of God coming to us into the darkness and cold, first with the light of a little star, then growing to become a blazing sun of resurrection glory, is very apt.) I also particularly appreciated the words of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel":

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
Who mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
...
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease
And be Thyself our Prince of Peace

I'm growing to love the people of Israel more as I spend time here. So it really tugged on me to hear the first verse talking about the captivity of Israel--her sin--and the glorious news of Jesus' coming to save and set free. Oh, may it be known here!

I was talking to a guy I met in Jerusalem from Brazil and then the US who's going to be in the Israeli army in just a couple weeks. (He said, "It'll be the greatest job in the world! Just think about it--fighting in God's Army!") It was hard for me in certain ways to talk to him knowing the pain many of my friends have suffered under the Israeli army, but we had an interesting conversation nonetheless. At the end, he said, "Well, you and I probably agree on one thing--this mess isn't going to be sorted out until the Messiah comes. When he comes, he'll make things right." And I thought, "Oh, may the Messiah come in your heart, my dear, lost boy! You're not going to shoot your way to heaven; it's by the wounds of this very Messiah that we are healed."

I know that the hearts of people in this land will not be bound together by anything but the love of Jesus. But it's so hard for people to see that when "The Church" has failed in such monstrous ways to show and exhibit that love. So, as always, my only hope is that God would reveal Himself through the Holy Spirit, and Himself be our Prince of Peace.

Anybody who's reading this, I just have one request: If you know any Arab or Jewish people, please love them. There's already enough pain and struggle for both people groups for us to add onto it with our own stupid prejudices. The more I look at this conflict, the more I think that a huge part of its roots lies in the terrible mistreatment of both Jews and Arabs by the "Christian West," of which I and most of you are a part. So we have a crucial (literally) role to play. May the joyous, self-giving love of the cross be the only thing we give to them, and to everyone else in our midst. Veni, Emmanuel, et dona nobis caritatem tuam.

Pax in Christo,

Seth

Precious As Chocolate

Peace in the Lord,

I've had some very good and challenging experiences in the last few days which I wanted to share with those who read this. I have a friend from my Hebrew classes in Jerusalem who invited me to his 30th birthday party/Shabbat dinner last night, so of course I was very happy to come. He's an American, and all except one of the guests were Americans as well. (I was the only non-Jewish person in the room; that's the first time I've encountered that social situation.)

All of the people I met there were interesting and thoughtful people, and we had some very good conversation (as well as very yummy food, I might add). It was good to simply hear the perspectives that they, as Israeli citizens or American Jews, had on the conflict and various issues of daily life here. Afterwards, one of the guests took me back to the checkpoint, and as we were driving I talked with her about my desire to love people on both sides of the conflict. She agreed, but said that it's difficult to get to a point where you can really have an empathy, a gut reaction to the suffering of both sides. She has studied the issues in the conflict, spent time with Palestinians, and yet when it comes down to her emotions, she reacts more strongly to stories of her own people suffering than to Palestinian suffering. I confessed that I have a gut reaction to Palestinian suffering, but not so much the other way, and that I wanted very much to develop that same empathy for Israelis.

It made me think about spending time in Israeli areas this year. I definitely have wanted to know Israelis in a daily life situation, especially Israeli believers in Jesus, but I haven't seen an easy way to do that during this visit. I could always just wait until after my school is done, but this friend challenged me that having that experience would help me even in my studies. Which I know is true. So I pray that if this is something God wants for me, He would open up the doors for me to spend a couple months in Israeli areas, volunteering somewhere (at a kibbutz?) where I could know Israelis as people, and hear their stories and their perspectives on the conflict. I believe that having such experience would not detract from my love for Palestinians, but in fact would refine and strengthen it, making it more of God's heart for both peoples, and not just blindly accepting the prejudices of one or the other side.

Tonight I had another very good conversation with various volunteers and guests at the college. We started talking about responses to injustice, and how an unjust response to injustice simply furthers the cycle. A friend here from South Africa (Afrikaaner) told us of what she saw during the breakup of apartheid in her country, and how God broke down so many walls between blacks and whites there, especially in the churches--how the main police chief there became born again through the proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation commission, and publicly repented of his involvement in violence and oppression towards blacks. She said everybody was predicting a bloodbath if apartheid was torn down, but what really happened was so encouraging, and that was because of the actions of key black leaders (and some white as well), who applied Christian teaching to the issues.

One guest from Britain told us a story which I wanted to share with you all. He said that a Palestinian believer here was visiting at Bishara's house (the president of the college) with his mom, and the Israeli soldiers stormed in and said he was under arrest. They pleaded, but to no avail; this man was taken to a prison in the desert, which was notorious for ill treatment of prisoners. He managed to take a New Testament with him, but the soldiers when they found it mocked him and took it away. In the prison, they beat and tortured him severely.

Meanwhile, there was an Israeli believer, a young man, who was called up into the reserves. He was assigned to a notorious prison in the desert, and he told his dad he would refuse to go there. But his dad said, "Look, if you don't go, they will send someone else who will have less concern for the prisoners than you. So go, and let the Lord use you as a light in this dark place." He went, and soon found out about this prisoner. He went to visit him one day, told him he was a believer, but the prisoner didn't know if they were just trying to trick him. The soldier gave him a Bible, which he snuck away (even though he knew it might get him into trouble again), and then the soldier offered him a sandwich. "How do I know it's not poisoned?' he thought. The soldier noticed his hesitance, so he took a bite first and said, "Here." He offered him water; same thing--the soldier took a drink, and then gave it to the prisoner. After soldier had left, the prisoner prayed to himself, "Lord, if this man really is my brother in the Lord, next time may he bring me some 'Elite' chocolate [a popular Israeli brand]." (Just like Gideon with the fleece!)

Lo and behold, the next time this Israeli soldier had the opportunity to sneak in a visit, he brought with him Elite chocolate! The Palestinian brother took the chocolate and kept the wrapper as a testimony. What a beautiful and moving example of the twenty-third Psalm:

You prepare a table before me
In the presence of my enemies.

After some time, this prisoner was finally released, but because of the torture he continued to have serious health problems, internal bleeding and urinary-digestive tract problems.

Some time later, while this man was at seminary in Cairo, Israeli soldiers once again came into his mother's house. "We're looking for _____!" (his older brother.) His mother, knowing what her other son had suffered in prison, and being a very excitable person in general, was severely tempted to hate the soldiers and lose it completely. But when her son had returned, he had told her the story of this Israeli brother who had helped him. He had kept the chocolate wrapper in his Bible as a bookmark, and on the opposite page was written, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you." She said about that, "My son taught me what I should have taught him."

So when these soldiers came into her house , she panicked, but prayed that God would give her love for these soldiers. "Good morning!" she bellowed.

"Good morning?" they said. "What are you talking about? Nobody says 'good morning' to us in Beit Jala." Then they said, "There are rocks out on the street. Your son put them there, and we are arresting him."

"What rocks? My son didn't put them there, but if you would like he can remove them for you."

"No, we are arresting him! Where is he??"

Suddenly without thinking, she stretched out her hands and blurted out, "Blessings on you!! Blessings in the name of the Lord!!" At this, the shocked and bewildered soldiers ran out, went back to the jeep and took off! (I guess God decided that they would be most blessed by being out of her house!)

Meanwhile, while the intifada was still going pretty strong, this Palestinian family invited this Israeli brother to their house in Bethlehem (which I think may have technically been illegal--I'm not sure). In any case, it was certainly extremely abnormal for a Palestinian family in the West Bank to actually invite an Israeli soldier into their home (most often they would come quite uninvited). But even more, when the mother met this soldier for the first time in her house, she looked at him, embraced him and said, "You are my son." Imagine, the mother of a tortured Palestinian prisoner, embracing an Israeli soldier as her own son!

Oh, God is so good. Our sin is so great, so blinding, so deeply entrenched in our thinking and our behavior. But God does wonders in those who entrust themselves to Him. And He's shown us how to love our enemies by loving us in Christ. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).

May this love of God in Christ be precious to you today, like Elite chocolate to a tortured prisoner, like a table set before you in the presence of your enemies. And may you all be reconciled to God, just as this soldier was to the Palestinian mother, who embraced her former enemy, saying, "You are my son."

Seth

PS Please pray for me, that God would be refining my heart, giving me a gut love for Israelis and Palestinians, and if He so desires, opening a door for me to live with Israelis for a time this year.

PPS I've had Elite chocolate now, and it's really yummy. =)

Crazy love

Peace be with you,

I'm reading a tremendous book right now by Brother Andrew, author of "God's Smuggler" (which by the way is also a tremendous book, about Brother Andrew's work behind the Iron Curtain smuggling in Bibles to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union). It's called "Light Force," about the Christians in the Middle East and their struggle in the conflict. It's a very challenging and encouraging book. One paragraph especially challenged me:

[Someone asked Brother Andrew what he's learned in his years in the Middle East--] What had I learned? Well, there were a few important lessons. I verbalized one of them: "There are no terrorists--only people who need Jesus."

Johan had heard me say things like this many times, but that was a shock to my American friend. "I'm serious," I said. "If I see them as enemies, how can I reach them? I've often said, if you see a terrorist with a gun, get close to him, put your arm around him, and then he can't shoot you. As long as we see any person - Muslim, Communist, terrorist - as an enemy, then the love of God cannot flow through us to reach him. Each of us has a choice. I can go to terrorists and love them into the Kingdom. And the moment I love them, they are no longer my enemy. You don't hate a friend."

Did God love David? He was a murderer and an adulterer. Did God love Paul? He was a murderer too, a persecutor of the Church. What about the people of Nineveh in Jonah's days, whose wickedness had "come up before" God like a stench. If God loved them, then who are we to say we should not love them as well? 1 John 4:20-21 says, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."

At this moment, we are so tempted to ask as the expert in the law did to Jesus, "And why is my neighbor?" Who is our brother? Even Muslims? Even Arabs? Even "terrorists"? Does 1 John mean we just have to love Christians, or just our family, or just Americans? Jesus' response to the expert in the law was the story of the Samaritan who had mercy while the religious leaders passed by on the other side. He expanded the man's vision of who he was called to love and show mercy to. Are we willing to do the same?

The more I see the conflict in the Holy Land, the more I see the power of Jesus' teachings in this context. I learned a song based on the words above in 1 John that a dear African-American sister in the Lord taught me in Lebanon, which usually made my eyes tear up when I sang it. We as humans are so divided, so torn up by sin and all the conflict it's produced ever since Cain and Abel--so separated from God by this sin. But God came to reconcile us to Himself on the cross, and to reconcile us to each other (2 Cor. 5). What good does it do to call ourselves Christians if we do not love the people right in our midst?

I was talking to a friend of mine here, a Palestinian who's lived in the US a lot. He was telling me how one day an Israeli missile dropped through his apartment, in a spot where he'd been standing just moments before. (Praise God, he was all right.) And he thought, "You know, I've talked to American Christians, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, who give money to Israel to defend itself, so they go and buy these bombs. So this bomb that almost killed me could have been paid for by my brother in the Lord." Do people realize where all the bombs they drop go? Do people know where the bullets hit? How will people feel on Judgment Day, when they have to make an account of all the bombs and bullets they sent to destroy homes and lives? We rain down judgment on others, on "terrorists" and people who "hate freedom," but what will we say if God measures us with the same measurement? "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."

Oh, but how can I say these things, challenge the Church with the words of Her Bridegroom, without falling into the same trap myself? Am I too not guilty of judging Christian Zionists, judging American evangelical militaristic nationalists? Do I not make the exact same mistakes as them? The only place I have to turn is the cross, where my sins were paid for in love. What is the verse right before the one I quoted in 1 John? It says, "We love because He first loved us."

If loving people, especially loving people who have hurt us or those close to us, were easy, more people would be doing it. It's because it's so hard that Jesus says "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35). It's the very difficulty of loving that becomes the witness for Jesus' love. If loving people were easy, then it wouldn't be a remarkable thing when it happens. But when people come together in love because of the love God has given them in Christ, then the world wakes up and says, "Wow, where did this love come from?" And they will know that it's because of Jesus, that He's the source of this love.

This book of Brother Andrew had a remarkable quote in it. A leader of a well-known Islamic organization in Lebanon said to Brother Andrew:

"Brother Andrew, you Christians have a problem," he told me. Well, I
know Christians have many problems, but I was curious what this Muslim
leader would tell me. "What do you think our problem is?" I asked. He answered: "You Christians are not following the life of Jesus Christ anymore." That was an interesting observation from a fundamentalist leader. It really hit me hard, so I asked him, "What do you think we should do about that?" He said, "You must go back to the Book."

When we go back to the Book--in deeds and heart, not just words--we will find that Jesus is calling us to a lifestyle that is as radical in our times as it was in His. We are called to follow the life of Jesus Christ, a man who died at the age of 33, publicly humiliated and executed by the established powers. And He said, "No servant is greater than his Master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:1-20).

I got an interesting e-mail from a friend of mine in Colorado, who said she admired me because "everybody is talking about doing these things, but you're actually out there doing it." Though her words encouraged me, I also felt acutely that I'm not there yet. Just hopping on a plane halfway around the world doesn't do it--we need to be real witnesses of the risen Lord in our lives to people, walking by the grace of God. There's still so much that needs to be broken down in me, so much that needs to be pruned before I will bear fruit to the glory of God. But praise God that He's the gardener, and He's able and willing to prune away at me even if it hurts. Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener when He rose from the dead--maybe she wasn't so wrong after all.

This is a pretty long message, and honestly I don't know who reads this webpage. But anybody who's gotten this far, I just have one request: Pray that God would make me into a servant. I've seen in the last month just how much I rebel against being a servant, and yet I also see in God's Word that I am to be "slave of all" (Mark 10:44), as I emulate the King who became a slave to set His people free. And I'm not even a King! (Well, the Bible does call us a "royal priesthood," but of course God made flesh, serving in humility, is worlds away from me serving somebody.) To be honest, I don't feel like I'm very good at a lot of the things the Bible College wants me to do (some yes, but a lot no), and I get frustrated and feel kind of worthless when I know that most people could do a better job at the kind of practical things they need. But for one, I don't want to give up on God teaching me how to be a practical servant, and two, I want my attitude to be right with God, whatever the circumstances. I don't believe I'll be packing boxes and cleaning toilets forever, but if that's all I ever do, if I serve as unto the Lord, it's a fragrant offering to Him. "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked" (Psalm 84:10). God is the source of eternal joy! So of course I would rather serve in His presence than be a king away from Him. But pray that God would give me patience and strength, and would allow me to actually be a blessing in practical ways to people here, as well as allowing me to be a blessing spiritually.

One other word, and I'm done. I want to encourage you all to remain in Christ, throughout every single day, in every single circumstance. He is the one that bears fruit in us to the Father's glory, and He is the "author and perfector of our faith," the "starter and finisher" of the race that we can only run as we fix our eyes on Him. As Brother Andrew's book says, if we focus on the darkness (and to be honest, in this place that's pretty easy to do), we won't be able to see. Only as we look to the light that shines in the darkness will our own lives be filled with light.

By the way, I got a chance to meet Brother Andrew in person last week; he's a very gracious and enthusiastic person. I think he's in his eighties, but he moves like a gazelle. "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall [that's me]. But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Oh, Lord, let me rest in You as you start and finish my race, that I may run in the strength that you give me.

Love you all with an undying love in the name of Jesus,

Seth