Bethlehem Lutheran Christmas Church

This past Sunday we had a day free of class so we went down from Jerusalem to Bethlehem for church.  We attended the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church on a recommendation from a professor.  It was a complete joy to be there.  As someone who grew up Lutheran, there were many aspects of the service that were familiar to me, but the fact that the vast majority of it was in Arabic was quite unfamiliar.  Even through the church is Lutheran the service is in Arabic because that is the language of its people.  The church has about 200 members most of whom are Palestinians.  These people we living under Israeli occupation behind a 25 foot wall.  And they are Christians living among majority Muslims.  Nothing is easy for these Palestinian Christians.

(The inside of the church.)

(The dome of the church.  The Arabic reads "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men.")

(A stained glass window depicting the flight to Egypt by Mary and Joseph.  All the stained glass tell the Christmas story.)

The English bulletin that was provided told us that the stain glass with the flight to Egypt has been particularly powerful for this congregation because 2/3 of them are refuges themselves.  In 1948 during the Israeli War of Independence (the Palestinians call it the Nakba which means "the catastrophe") Israel forced around 750,000 Palestinians from their home into the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.  The Christians I worshiped with on Sunday are a part of those refugees.  Sometimes American Christians feel the need to support the Israeli occupation of Palestinians because they believe Israel is fighting Islam, but they often forget that we have bothers and Christians who are living in this land and struggling.  They are refuges in a harsh place; we must pray for and support them.

The service ended with the hymn "Christ of All Nations."  Singing it with Christian Palestinian Refuges who are my brothers and sisters was more powerful than words.

"O God of every nation,

of every race and land,
redeem the whole creation
with your almighty hand;
where hate and fear divide us
and bitter threats are hurled,
in love and mercy guide us
and heal our strife-torn world.

From search for wealth and power
and scorn of truth and right,
from trust in bombs that shower
destruction through the night,
from pride of race and nation
and blindness to your way,
deliver every nation,
eternal God, we pray.

Keep bright in us the vision
of days when war shall cease,
when hatred and division 
give way to love and peace,
till dawns the morning glorious
when truth and justice reign
and Christ shall rule victorious
o'er all the world's domain."

Saint Ann's Church

EA few days ago we went to visit Saint Ann's church in the Muslim quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Tradition tells us that this is the place where Mary was born and where Jesus' grandmother (St. Ann) lived.  It is also next to the pool of Bethsaida where Jesus healed a blind man in Mark 8.  The church is a magnificent building made completely of stone with fantastic acoustics.  We took song time to sing Amazing Grace and Let Us Adore in the sanctuary.  But something surprising and interesting lurks in the church.

When you stand back at look at the whole, it is symmetrical, grand, and awe inspiring.  The previous pastor said that the church was designed to declare the majesty of God.  It certainly does.  But when you look closely some of the details do not add up.

(Notice the tops of the columns.  The front one is ribbed and the back is plain.)

(Notice again the difference between the tops of the columns.)

When you look at the details the building is not symmetrical.  The capitals of the columns are all different.  The height of the columns' feet are uneven.  Even the height where the arches meet the wall of each side are unequal.  The pastor said that this was designed to show the imperfection of people that make up the body of Christ.

I found this to be an amazing picture of God's gracious act to use sinners.  Praise God for His mercy.  Praise God that He uses broken sticks to draw straight lines.

The Wailing Wall

A few days ago we went to the western wall of the Temple Mount, known as the wailing wall.

This place is the holiest sight in Judaism because it is all that remains of the Temple that existed in the first century and was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.  The stones are huge and can be twenty feet long and weigh a half-million pounds (not an exaggeration).  The larger ones, on the bottom, can be dated back to the time of Jesus.

Jews are here 24/7 praying.  On Thursdays there are bar-mitzvahs after bar-mitzvahs.  Religious practices are constantly happening.  Men are singing Psalms in Hebrew and women are weeping.  The devotion people show at the Wall is incredible.

(A photo showing the notes with prayers that are shoved into the cracks of the Wall.)

Like any religious pilgrim when I arrived I put on a yamaka and prayed at the Wall.  It was incredible.  God is definitely uniquely present at this place.  I'm not sure if it is because is it the site of the Old Temple or if it is simply because their are many seeking Him here.  I would lean toward the latter.  But He is here.

I began to pray my favorite Psalm, the 27th.  Verse four became more real to me than it ever has been before since I was paying it at the Wall.  "One thing I have asked of The Lord, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of The Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of The Lord, and to inquire in His Temple."  When David wrote those words he was speaking about the place at which I was praying (or as near as makes no difference).  And for me being there made the longing for His presence a greater reality in me.  May you and I always long to be in the presence of our God, to dwell in His house forever.

Jerusalem Day 1

Yesterday was my first day in Jerusalem and it was incredible. We took an overview tour of the Old City, the heart of Jerusalem, and were introduced to the city's beauty and complexity. Even though it was only the first day I would say that I had five amazing experiences: the tour and seeing the Holy sites (Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, and Al-Aqsa), meeting the owner of a 386 year old shop, talking with a solider, being sung to by a random old Jewish man, and eating ice cream at a shop playing Gangnam Style.  

(The military commissioning in front of the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock)

In the evening a few of us went into the Old City to wander and hang out. When we made it to the Western Wall, or Wailing Wall, we found that there was a military commissioning ceremony happening right in front of the wall.  As we watched we began to talk to a female solider named Y'el (I think that is how it is spelled). In the least threatening way I could, and pretending to be totally ignorant of the situation, I asked her about the Palestinian situation.  Her response was incredible.  She began by saying that she does not want them in her country.  She does not want to give them money or to work with or for them. She is annoyed that they have other Arab Muslim countries to go to while the Jews only have the one country of Israel.  She believes that while the Jews have been divided, the Palestinians have been united on destroying Israel.  And since 1948 they have not been working on building their own country, but on destroying Israel.  She thinks that the Israeli army is simply doing what they need to do to protect their people. 

Much could be said in response to her claims (and I refrained during the conversations, maybe I'll push buttons later). It is clear that she has been exposed to the diversity of Jewish thought on the issue but not on the diversity of Palestinian thought, because Palestinians are far from being united in their attempts to destroy Israel. Also, the Palestinians have been unable to to build their own country because they are living under an apartheid occupation in which they cannot move freely due to checkpoints and walls, cannot drive around certain places because of Jewish only roads, cannot establish a real government because Israel has claimed its sovereignty through occupation, and cannot feel safe in their own houses due to frequent home demolitions.

This city is amazing and beautiful, but extraordinarily sad. So much oppression and violence has been birthed here because two people groups are living in fear of the other. This place desperately needs the reconciling work of Christ.  As I walk through this city and land I will be praying for peace. I will be praying that the presence of God will move people toward forgiveness and compassion.  I will pray that people will make friends across social boarders and learn that peace is possible.  Please join me and "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Ps 122:6). 

Orvieto, Italy

Yesterday and today marked the beginning of my six week trip through the Holy Lands.  It started with a twelve hour layover in Rome and, in order to make the most of it, we went to the town of Orvieto, about an hour and a half north of Rome.  It is an absolutely beautiful town located on the top of a hill and surrounded by steep cliffs.  We took a trolley up to the top, walked to a small restaurant and ate delicious homemade, Italian pasta and grilled chicken.  After eating and feeling exhausted from our ten hour flight we walked around the city and found something amazing.

The cathedral in Orvieto is a stunning building.  As you walk through the narrow Italian streets you can begin to see its towers over the roofs and are shocked that something so large is there.  The front is cover with fantastic, detailed mosaics of Jesus, Mary, and the saints.  Inside (they would not let us take pictures) is a single huge room with extraordinarily tall ceilings and thick pillars.  It is impossible to walk in and not feel small in comparison to the largeness of God to which the cathedral testifies.  The architects of this place successfully communicated the glory of God through their work.

After walking through the church we found an overlook from which we could see the valley below.  Beautiful does not begin to describe it.  Like the cathedral, the rolling Italian landscape exemplifies the glory of our great God.

But the sad thing is that in a land full of cathedrals and landscapes that powerfully communicate the wonder of God lives a group of people who are so far from Him.  Italy is less than 1% evangelical and nominal Catholicism runs wild.  Pray for this country.  Pray that people's eyes will be opened to the many ways God is showing Himself.  Pray that Italy will come to see the goodness and beauty of Christ.