Fill… Spill… Thrill…

Bishop David deFreese
Nebraska Synod, ELCA

“Hear, Oh Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

Anita and I have just returned from the Bishops’ Academy pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Thankful for the experience, we will be processing and reflecting for quite some time what this opportunity meant. Its impact is profound.

At the risk of being too simplistic, please allow me some preliminary observations:

Thank you … Because of the timing with the incursion of Gaza and the war that was being waged, I was touched by so many of your expressions of concern and promises of prayer. We felt lifted and cared for. Those in the Holy Land who invited us, did not waver in their desire for us to come, and we simply trusted that they would not place us in harm’s way. They were very trustworthy.

Purpose was to accompany … In going, our main goal was to accompany our partner church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, in their ministry. Because of the increased tensions of the fighting, our presence spoke even deeper to the shared journey among Christ’s Church. When is the best time to be a friend but when the need is real and the caring is not easily given. Rarely have I ever experienced a more genuine welcome. The power of being together in difficult circumstances cemented the value of our being the church together. This effort at accompaniment witnessed volumes to the people of Israel and Palestine to walk and struggle together.

Awareness through listening … Our itinerary was very intentional and thorough in its evenhandedness. We spent a great deal of time with governmental and religious leaders of both Israelis and Palestinians. We listened to a wide variety of people with very diverse perspectives on this incredibly complex situation. We had dialogue with Christians, Jews and Muslims. We observed how life, government, enterprise and education were conducted on the ground. We spent time at the Yad Vashem (Holocaust museum), the checkpoints, the Wall, the settlements, housing demolitions, synagogues, mosques and churches. We listened to school children describe their lives and their futures.

Heartbreaking … One of my deepest sadnesses is the reality that dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians is non-existent. They live in a land together, but there is no conversation. One life-long Israeli who is a strong, committed peacemaker acknowledged that until he was 47 years old, he had never spoken to a Palestinian on a personal level. Palestinian high school children had never met an Israeli.

Another tragic observation … was the use of humiliation and the effort to strip others of human dignity. The Wall is a tragic barrier that does not offer security but rather hateful division. Jobs, healthcare, families and communities are cruelly divided. Checkpoints are used to degrade those without power. Garbage and human refuse is used as projectile weapons to disrupt the marketplace. God has called us to a much nobler way of living together. Christ must weep … as we did.

Hope … We were encouraged by the resilience and faithfulness of so many of the people we met. There are those, on both sides, who hunger and thirst for peace … who go beyond rhetoric, actively striving to change this context of continuing conflict. They have grown beyond competing in their suffering to concrete efforts to live together in harmony. They are trying.

The church is a unique voice, calling for proactivity rather than reactivity, striving to overcome victimhood with vision. This small band of Christ’s people build bridges for dialogue, empower individuals in the community in the midst of so much disempowerment, and in the context of despair, celebrate the mystery of the risen Lord of life! Their ministries are vital and transformative. They are making a difference!

Astounding complexity … The Holy Land is a deeply divided place with a long history of hostility. Solutions are not clear nor answers easy. But God is not absent.

I implore you to prayer, to engagement in learning about this tragic situation, and to humble conversation on how we can respond as Christ’s people. How can we care for those who are hurting? Our Lutheran theology points us always toward the cross of Christ, which calls us to walk with those who suffer, to acts of costly discipleship and to respond as “little Christs” to our neighbors. May God bless us and use us.

Blessings!

Bishop David deFreese