It is the Lord!

9.30am Sunday 31 August, 2008

Readings: John 21:1-14

In May of this year, Kerryn-Ruth, Jane, my brother-in-law and I went to Bethlehem in the West Bank of Palestine. It was our first time to visit that part of the world and it opened our eyes to the realities of life as a Christian in the Middle East. When the shuttle dropped us off at Tantur on the outskirts of Jerusalem, having travelled from Tel Aviv airport, we immediately became aware of the constant tenseness and uncertainty of those who live in Palestine. Just to get a taxi driver who was willing to take us through the Bethlehem checkpoint between Jerusalem and Palestine took some persuasion on the part of our host. They never know from one day to the next where they will meet roadblocks, or when they will be stopped by Israeli soldiers and questioned for unexplainable reasons. It was the minister's wife, Joy, who met us at Tantur to take us to Bethlehem. She was able to come across the border relatively freely because she is Filipino. If you are Palestinian/Arab as is her husband, it can be very difficult at the checkpoints and can often take several hours. On many occasions the Arabs are required to do humiliating things, because to the Israeli soldiers every Palestinian citizen is seen as a political threat to the Jewish people and a possible suicide bomber. We could not help but notice Joy's and the driver's edginess as the taxi drove up to the checkpoint and the driver was questioned by the Israeli soldiers, and the sigh of relief from both her and the driver when after a brief conversation with the taxi driver they waved us through without even wanting to see our passports. Once in Bethlehem we met the Rev Danny Awad, Joy's husband, who had made arrangements for us to stay at the Paradise Hotel. This embarrassed us as their church is struggling financially and we would have been more than happy to sleep on the floor somewhere. We can only surmise that it was less of a security risk for them for us not to stay at their home. The Rev Danny along with his father, George, pastor the Baraka Bible Presbyterian Church, a church founded by missionaries from the Bible Presbyterian Church in the United States just over fifty four years ago. There church is only a three years younger than St David's in the Fields. The US missionaries left Bethlehem in the 1980's leaving the church under Arab leadership since that time. Pastor Danny and his family trace their Christian roots right back to the Day of Pentecost as there were Arabs mentioned among the many nationalities who were amazed to hear the wonders of God being declared in their own tongue and then listened to Peter preach.[1] (Blank screen) Many Arabs since that time have been part of the Christian Church, and before Israel was established as a nation in 1948, by far the greater majority, maybe as high as seventy percent, of the population of Palestine was Christian. Not many people are aware of that. However, since 1948 many, many Christians have either been killed or have immigrated to countries far away from their troubled land, so that now the Christian population of Palestine is the same as it is in Israel, just three percent, although the percentage is much higher in Bethlehem itself. Every fresh political crisis sees more people leaving. In 2002 during the time of the Intifada five hundred Christian families left Bethlehem, and many more applied for emigration. You can imagine what that does to the church and particularly for its leaders. This means that there is a very real possibility of the Christian church becoming extinct in places like Palestine. Throughout the world there is grave concern about the possible extinction of endangered species and many work hard for their protection and preservation, but I wonder what thought is given by Christians to the survival of Christ's church as it struggles to shine its light in that dark place. The darkness has not overcome it yet. The light of Christ still shines in Palestine, but its light is dim. The church there needs our support and prayer as it is likely to become even more difficult in the days ahead to maintain a Christian witness in that increasingly hostile environment.

We were in Bethlehem for two days, which was not nearly enough time to gain a real understanding of the difficulties the church is facing, but Pastor Danny and the congregation were grateful for our visit. Thousands of people visit the holy land each year as tourists to see the holy places where Jesus was born and ministered and died, but few are interested to see the living stones of Christ's church that is alive in the land of his birth today. Most Christians in Palestine feel rejected by the church in the West which has rejoiced in the emergence of Israel as a nation, seeing it as ushering in a new age in the fulfilment of Biblical prophecy which is perceived to be dependent on what happens to Israel. I would have been among them. However, since our visit I have come to see things in a different light, and our visit to both Israel and Palestine has raised a good many questions in my mind, particularly as to who is the true Israel? Even the Israeli people themselves are divided on this issue. The strict orthodox Jews, for example, did not celebrate the nations 60^th anniversary, which took place while we were there. They believe that Israel's true destiny is not political, and will only be achieved when the Messiah comes. I sat beside an orthodox Jew on the flight from Istanbul to Tel Aviv. In conversation he made an interesting comment. He said that Christians and orthodox Jews have one thing in common. They are both waiting for the Messiah. Orthodox Jews are waiting for his first coming; Christian's his second. In contrast to the beliefs of the orthodox Jews, the Zionists believe that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people by right as God's chosen people, and those who were in the land before they became a nation must stand aside to allow them to take possession of what is rightfully theirs. This is exactly what is happening within the West Bank. Jewish settlements, which are the little triangles on this map, are being built up all through this area, taking over land that has belonged to Palestinian families for centuries, and preventing the Palestinians from farming any land that lies near to Israeli homes. They get shot at if they do. In the early days some Palestinians were forced to leave their homes at gunpoint, or through fear. For example, in 1948, just three years after the holocaust, an entire village, Deir Yassin, was destroyed. Israeli paramilitary slaughtered two hundred and fifty men, women, children and babies. Many Palestinians panicked and fled. Entire villages were left empty which was exactly what the Israelis wanted. They just took over those people's homes. Many Arab/Palestinian Christians were left "angry, hurting, and struggling to understand the meaning of their lives. They had heard the claim that the Jews were God's chosen people, but Palestinian Christians had a hard time loving the Jews when so many had lost their homes to the Israelis and had their orchards razed so Jewish settlements could be built on their land."[2]

Since returning to New Zealand I have read Brother Andrew's book, Light Force, which focuses on visits he has made to Lebanon and Palestine since 1980. By far the greater part of the book covers his experiences with the political and Christian leaders in Palestine, and has helped to fill in the many gaps of what we were able to experience and observe in our brief two days there. As he talked with Palestinian Christians he began to discover the truth behind their suffering. It has also made him conscious of the importance of their being a living and vital local church in that part of the world. The Scripture that the Lord gave him was from Revelation 3, where in the letter to the church at Sardis, John wrote, "Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die..."[3] He believed this was God's message to the church in the West about their Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East. When he asked one of the Palestinian Church leaders what she would say to the church in the West, she replied, "I've said to God, 'These people outside have to hear our cry.' We are crying because we feel that we are alone. Because we are Arabic people, we feel we are not welcome anywhere. Israeli people, oh, they are welcome. We feel we are totally rejected, even the Christians. It's like we are not human beings."[4]

While in Bethlehem I was impressed by the Rev Danny Awad and his wife's commitment to remain there. We knew this came at a cost. It was etched in his wife's face. It is not that they have not had the opportunity to leave. Rev Danny was offered a position in a church in Dubai, which included free accommodation, free car and free education for his three daughters as well as generous holidays each year. However, he and Joy believe God wants them to stay in Bethlehem and help his father pastor the church as well as to continue to train future leaders for the church in Palestine through his lecturing at Bethlehem Bible College. They and their congregation need our prayers, prayers for wisdom, courage, strength, endurance and protection. The message of the Gospel and the peace that comes through Christ is the only hope for the situation in the Middle East. Paul said, "For he (Jesus Christ) himself is our peace ... and has destroyed ... the dividing wall of hostility..."[5]

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This is just as true for Auckland, or anywhere else in the world as it is for Bethlehem.

God's people throughout the Middle East need our prayers. But we need their prayers, too. Just as the Palestinian church has a huge challenge in reaching the predominantly Muslim population of Palestine, we have a challenge to communicate the Good News of Christ in an effective way within our community. At times I feel like the disciples of Jesus in the passage we read from John this morning. Peter and the other disciples were discouraged. Jesus was no longer with them. It had been some time since they had seen him. He had come to them on the day of his resurrection, and then a week later when Thomas was with them, and Thomas had made that tremendous confession, "My Lord and my God!" Peter and the others had gone to Galilee as they had been told.[6] However, they did not know what to do. He had told them to go into the world, but where? What was to be their message? They had run out of money because their treasurer had committed suicide. And so Peter says, "I'm going fishing." The others, including Thomas, didn't say, "Peter, wait, let's pray about this." No, they said, "We're coming, too." The outcome was that they caught nothing. The turning point came when a supposed stranger on the beach said to throw their net on the other side of the boat. A miracle took place that could only have been Jesus, and John says to Peter, "It is the Lord!"

What I believe this passage is saying to us as we come to our annual meeting this morning, is that we can have all kinds of activities, good things in themselves, things that can keep us very busy, but we need to take care, because if they are outside the direction of Christ they will come to nothing. It also teaches us that when we, like the disciples, follow the Lord's direction, miracles happen. God does impossible things. The Bible tells us this again and again. Just recently I have been reading about the miracles that Elijah and Elisha did, amazing things. (Cf the Widow's oil.[7]) Nothing is too hard for the Lord! The secret is listening for his voice and heeding what he says. This passage in John also tells us that Jesus saw the fish the disciples could not see, and when at his direction they threw the net over the other side, the catch of fish was so great they could not pull it in. He knows the people within our community that are his, and he will show us who they are as we keep in step with him. He promised that when we abide or remain in him, we will bear fruit, fruit that will last. We cannot do it on our own, but only through him.

The story finishes with this lovely touch. When they come ashore, these tired, hungry, and cold disciples find a fire going with fish on it and some bread. It was exactly what they needed at that time. Jesus was the Lord of their need, and he is the Lord of our need. Jesus provides exactly what you and I and the people of Hillsborough need. We are to share with them this truth.