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In touch

Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

Blind spots

‘It shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without revelation.’ Micah 3:6

Context

• The whole world remains shocked at the raid made by Hamas on Israel during a sabbath when one of the best spy networks, defence systems and military organisations in the world was outwitted and caught sleeping. What happened illustrated the failure of the strategy followed by Netanyahu and his political allies over a lifetime. He now faces the near impossibility not just of destroying Hamas, but of rescuing some 200 men, women and children held hostage. Israel has already killed and injured many more civilians in Gaza than the number of Israelis slaughtered in the Hamas attack, but Hamas has not been weakened, and an increasing number of countries are calling for peace, saying that the violence is already too terrible.

• Israel’s reaction of blind rage at the Hamas attack resembles the regime change in Iraq by Bush and Blair after the 9-11 attacks. This was in spite of massive demonstrations against war and the fact that claims that Iraq had ‘weapons of mass destruction’ were false. Countries which reacted to acts of terrorism in this way cannot hope to be heeded when Israel feels the same kind of hurt and wants to retaliate.

• The blind spot may be traced back to inadequate divisions of the Ottoman empire when it collapsed a century ago after the First World War. Then, after the Holocaust which was ended with the defeat of Germany in the Second World War, the creation of Israel permitted the expulsion of non-Jews from their homes and lands into refugee camps. The state of Israel has never made peace with the people it made refugees. These remain today; no return has been permitted, and Jewish settlers have continued to drive non-Jewish people out of what we ought to call The Holy Land.

This Holy Land contains sites precious to the three Abrahamic faiths, with

1. The City of David, and the remains of the final Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Romans, plus the burial places of Patriarchs.
2. The sites of the birth, ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.
3. The Islamic Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque.

It should be a place of peace, but instead (Micah 3:12) people ‘build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!’ The need for ‘good news of the kingdom [which] will be proclaimed throughout the world’ (Matthew 24:14) has never been greater.

• It can be done. Apartheid was ended in South Africa, and it needs to end in the Holy Land. Religious-based tribal violence was ended in Northern Ireland with the Good Friday agreement, and agreement is needed in the Holy Land. A just peace settlement was achieved in Europe after the Second World War and nations which were at loggerheads for centuries are learning the ways of peace.

• But peace is fragile. We now see that within our own nations, Britain, or France in particular that there are people who identify with combatants on all sides of the conflicts over the middle east. The need for peace has never been greater, because without it there could be civil wars everywhere. The world has had enough of those who, echoing Micah, cry peace while declaring war. Unless a different attitude is displayed, leaders of nations will be complicit in the war crimes that are being committed in the Holy Land.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

• The middle east remains filled with the blind leading the blind (See Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s memorable picture). Wikipedia notes the circumstances in which Bruegel painted - a place of conflict like that seen today. We sing sorrowfully, following Bob Dylan ‘When will they ever learn?’

• After the fall of Jerusalem and the expulsion of all Jews from the area, faithful Jews remained true to their belief in God and found they could hold together their community of faith, trusting in a loving creator wherever they found themselves. It echoes the faith of the prophets who wrote in the time of the first exile from Jerusalem. In the present disaster I commend the journalism of 972 magazine and the views of ICHAD, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

 

Questions for discussion

• How can we reach out to people who are hurting because of this conflict? Can we offer comfort without taking sides?
• What do we say to people who cannot consider a ceasefire because they would see it as an admission of defeat?
• How can we offer aid which is not seen as strengthening people who are at war?

The Revd Dr Tom Ambrose is a priest in the parish of the Ascension, Cambridge.

 

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

Blind spots

This week we explore authentic role models and living by example.

As Christians, we should not just be kind and loving in our heads, we should be these things in our actions too – this is Jesus’ message in this week’s Gospel. We must put others first and do good deeds even when no one is watching – because it is what God, our ultimate role model who is endlessly loving, would do. This is an important message, as at the moment there is so much violence in the world, especially in Ukraine and the Holy Land.

How do we respond as Christians? This week I saw a news article that the ‘Rotary’ charity on the island of Guernsey have launched an appeal, where people can donate shoeboxes of toys, clothes, and toiletries for Ukrainian children. A small teddy bear, a pair of gloves, and a tube of toothpaste? These may not seem like presents to us, but the kind of thing your parents automatically buy you, or you have plenty of at home. But to the poor people caught up in warzones whose homes have been destroyed and without access to supermarkets or supplies, these things can bring real joy.

Just as Christ reached out to everyone without exception, supporting others like this is an outward sign of the kindness and generosity which we as Christians ought to live out. Perhaps in the coming weeks as we begin to think about Advent and Christmas, you might give a donation to support civilians in warzones abroad, or even a good cause closer to home. After all, we as Christians have said ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ and try to follow the way he taught us in the Gospels.

Christ teaches us to love everyone so, whatever we do in the coming weeks, let us pray as much as we are able for peace in places where there is war. In this way, we live our lives according to what we believe. Our reward might not come in the form of popularity or social media followers or money and treats, but Jesus will know, and our reward will be great in heaven.

Joe Allen is a recent graduate of the MA in Theology at the University of Exeter. He works as a Pastoral Assistant in the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, alongside coordinating the work of a fundraising charity for a major churchin central London.

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