BETHLEHEM AND THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE
As we approach Christmas, Bethlehem features prominently in our scriptures and carols. We encounter Bethlehem in everything from “O Little Town of Bethlehem” to Micah 5:2 whose prophecy announces, “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel…” Caught up in our carols and scriptures, it’s easy to forget that Bethlehem is a real city where people just like us live out their lives.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is one of the oldest churches in the Christian world. It may also be the oldest place of Christian worship continuously in use since the earliest centuries. The Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helena, visited Bethlehem in 325 and vowed to build a church over the cave where Jesus was born. Work started by 333 and the church was dedicated in 339. Across many natural disasters and amid many wars, the church has remained the beating heart of Bethlehem.
Bethlehem itself is located on the West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War. It has been the site of two Palestinian uprisings or Intifadas and continuous conflict between Muslim and Christian Palestinians and Israeli settlers who regularly displace them from their traditional homes. Since the beginning of the current war between Hamas and Israel, over 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers and another 3,000 injured. Israeli forces have arrested and imprisoned another 4,500 West Bank Palestinians.
Christian Palestinians still live in Bethlehem and 80% of the town’s income derives from Christian pilgrims who visit, especially at Christmas. Usually the town is brightly lit and bustling with pilgrims at Christmas. But not this year according to a recent news article. Shortly after Hamas’ October 7 attack and the beginning of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, the Patriarchs and heads of other Christian churches in Bethlehem issued a joint pastoral letter. They wrote, “…these are not normal times. Since the start of the War there has been an atmosphere of sadness and pain. Thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, have died or suffered serious injuries…. despite our repeated calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence, the war continues…we call upon our congregations to stand strong with those facing such afflictions by this year foregoing any unnecessarily festive activities. We likewise encourage our priests and the faithful to focus more on the spiritual meaning of Christmas in their pastoral activities and liturgical celebrations…”
Church leaders then cancelled all Christmas celebrations. Bethlehem’s bright Christmas lights and bustling streets have gone dark. As Pastor Munter Issac of Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran church wrote, “While the world is celebrating, our children are under the rubble. While the world is celebrating, our families are displaced and our homes are destroyed. This is Christmas to us in Palestine.”
It is heartbreaking to watch what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel. I am certain that what is happening in Jesus’ birthplace must be breaking God’s heart. And I am also convinced that it is precisely why a tiny baby was born of Mary in Bethlehem long ago. Christ came to show us another way to live with one another than endless cycles of retribution and violence. The Child born in Bethlehem comes to reconcile us to God and each other. Sometimes reconciliation needs to happen within our own divided hearts. Sometimes reconciling peace is needed not just between peoples at war but in relationships between family members, friends, or co-workers where resentment and hurt has built up over time. Or where factions of our polarized social, economic, and political clans seem determined to eradicate their opponents. And sometimes the hardest peace to make is peace with ourselves.
May this season’s spiritual celebrations strengthen us – as Bethlehem’s Christian leaders ask us to do – so we may stand strong and be ambassadors of peace and reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) in our fractured, broken world.
Christmas blessings,
Pastor Thomas