A preacher's task

One of the realities of the call of a pastor (in my experience, at least) is that even when one doesn't need to prepare a sermon, they often appear in ones head anyway. Sunday, March 21st was my first Sunday in the occupied Palestinian territories; the new Bethlehem was visiting with and learning from the outgoing Bethlehem team. We all went to worship at Christmas Lutheran Church in the old city, where Rev. Mitri Raheb serves as pastor.

Well, as I neither speak nor understand Arabic, I wrote my own sermon on the Gospel text as Pastor Raheb preached in Arabic. Here is the sermon I scribbled on the back of our hymn inserts based on Mark 10:35-45:

What does it mean to be a slave [v.44] to the other?

v. 42: "Jesus...said, 'You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. [43]Not so with you....'"

How the tables seem to have turned here in Palestine and in Jerusalem!
The Gentiles (or non-Jews) are now the oppressed!

Not so with you.
Not so with you.
How do we keep from being the oppressor?
Last week, I was part of a conversation with two Palestinian men in their late 20s, Basil and Mahmoud, regarding their village outside of Bethlehem that will be surrounded by the separation barrier (in the form of a concrete wall). They want to change everything about the situation around them and were adamant about their desire. Yet, one thoughtfully said, "There is always the danger of the oppressed becoming the oppressor."

How do we keep this chain from continuing?
How do we end the pattern of the oppressed becoming the oppressor who in turn becomes an oppressor?
How can we be different from the trend that precedes us?


Not so with you.

We are called to a different Way.
We must choose the other Way.
But, can we? Will we?

I was so surprised and relieved -- no, humbled --
that Basil's dream is of a single state where people want to live together in spite of their differences.
A single state where they choose the other Way -- the Way of Christ, the Way of Allah, the Way of Yahweh and covenant.

Is it utopian? I suppose some will call it that.
But that young, passionate firebrand of sorts -- an idealist philosopher --
who grieves and is angered by what has happened and continues to happen and what may happen
has a dream such as this fills me with hope and gratitude.

May we hear the call to be slaves to the other
to serve and give on oneself for the other and for the whole.
This means that you have to let go of your own agenda
and turn to enter into the invitation to be a part of God's dream and God's Way.
Amen