The Menno Melange

My most recent sermon (05/29/05) focused on Biblical stories of going back home to potentially unpleasant situations. Using the stories of the returns of Jacob, Moses, Joseph & Mary, and the prodigal son, I discussed how returning is often necessary to resolve problems of the past, and how important it is to do so in a way that doesn’t create new problems. Then I turned to today’s headlines and pointed out current situations of the same phenomenon, like the Republic of Georgia and the state of Israel. Here is an excerpt:

A similar situation is happening right now in the state of Israel. Israel as a country, a modern political entity, is quite young. It’s only been around for a little over fifty years. In World War II worldwide anti-Semitism culminated in Germany’s Nazi regime trying to exterminate them from the face of the earth. Hatred of the Jews was common in North America, but more so in Europe. After the war, when everyone realized just how much the Jews had gone through, the international community realized that it could no longer sit idly by and allow this kind of hatred. They also decided that it was time to create a Jewish state, so they gave them back the Promised Land. Once again, Israel was a nation. Very soon, Jews from all over went back home, to the Promised Land.

The problem was that were already people living in the Promised Land. The Palestinians had been living there for centuries, but through political and military pressure, some of them were forced to give up their homes and their land, very often with no reimbursement. After years of being pushed around everywhere else, the Jews returned the favour and started pushing around the people living in their reclaimed land. Very soon they began to become militarily aggressive, and they went to war to increase their borders. They were going home as though nothing had changed. In Exodus we read about the Israelites wandering in from the desert, and following a decree from God, they enter the Promised Land and attack the inhabitants. This time however, they entered the land with a decree from the United Nations, and the U.N. did not sanction any military aggression on behalf of Israel. But Israel was aggressive. They went to war to enlarge their land. They kicked lots of people off of their land, Arabs, Palestinians, Christians, and Muslims. In creating a Jewish state, they took away the rights of any non-Jews.

Because of all of these evil things that the Jews were doing, the Palestinians began to hate the Jews. Out of that hatred, they fought back and committed evil as well. Suicide bombers, political assassinations and general disobedience have all successfully created a feeling of fear and hatred in Israel. Hatred creates more hatred. Bloodshed invites more bloodshed. Evil welcomes only evil.

Many people see this event as having more apocalyptic significance than political significance. This means that they think the forming of the nation of Israel has nothing to do with politics and international governments and everything to do with the end of the world. They look to the prophecies in the Bible about the end times, and they interpret certain verses to suggest that when Israel is a country again, then the end is near. I’m not disagreeing with that interpretation, but even if the re-establishment of Israel as a nation is God’s doing, that doesn’t mean that we can ignore what’s happening there.

Note: I used this opportunity to plug a series of conference supported lectures by Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Abuna Elias Chacour of Israel from May 29 to June 3 in different parts of Ontario
This week, we have the opportunity to hear the story of what’s happening over there from the mouth of man that lives there. Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada has invited Abuna Elias Chacour to give a series of lectures. Chacour is an Arab Christian who works in the Israeli city of Ibillin. As a child, he and his family and his entire community were kicked out of their village and forced to live somewhere else. After months of pleading and lobbying with the government, they were finally allowed to return home. But as they approached their homes from the distance, military jets flew overhead and bombed the village to the ground. This kind of story is common in Israel. Palestinian villages are regularly destroyed so that the military can build roads, dividing walls and new Jewish settlements. But instead of fighting back, like a lot of Palestinians do, and like a lot of us would too, Father Chacour decided to improve things. Because of his work, Jews, Muslims and Christians are learning to live together peacefully. They are learning to break the cycle of hatred and violence. In his lectures, he will be discussing what he’s doing to break that cycle, what we can do to break that cycle there, and here in our own lives.

Father Chacour cannot go back home. He cannot return to his quiet peaceful village as though everything is the same. In response to that, instead of complaining and hating and fighting back, he has begun to work to improve the situation, and to restore the love and dignity that each person deserves.