Jesus Under the Rubble
He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire. - Psalm 46:9
On Sunday we talked about how interpretations of scripture matter - how they affect very real practices in the world. We talked about how many Christians have believed that the Bible endorses God’s use of mass violence against people. Coupled with an almost unquestioned support of the country of Israel, and these interpretations of scripture can be seen as connecting directly to such strong support amongst evangelical Christians for the war that rages in Gaza today.
For context: the October 7 assault by Hamas killed well over 1,000 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians. The Israeli war on Hamas since then has killed over twenty times that many Palestinians, more than 10,000 of them children. And 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes and are facing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions since Israel will not allow aid to enter for civilians.
It may be helpful to listen to a sibling of ours in Palestine about this - to gain perspective from those on the margins themselves. HERE is the 17 minute Christmas Eve sermon by Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of one of the few Christians churches in Bethlehem (which is in occupied Palestine).
Listen to it. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you respond.