Walking where Jesus Walked
Matthew 3:13-17;
Did you notice that the twelve people Jesus sent
Into
the harvest were not all the same.
In fact they
were radically different in their outlook,
Their political
perspective and even their faith.
You had
Peter, Andrew, James and John- fishermen;
Philip and Bartholomew friends from
Thomas who was a no nonsense
guy;
Simon a
Zealot who advocated a military solution;
Matthew who was a tax collector;
And Judas
who ultimately betrayed Jesus.
These guys were nearly as different
as the group of
twelve people I went to
Our group included Rob the
Presbyterian Minister,
Sam the Interfaith director,
Jamal and Behrooz the Muslims,
Nissim, Moti
and Michael the Rabbis,
And Mary the Presbyterian
Elder
Just to mention a
few.
And yet God called each one of us to
witness to what we saw
Just
as God called each one of those first disciples to witness
To
what they saw and learned as they were walking
In the footsteps of Jesus.
One thing we learned is that it’s hard
to walk where Jesus walked.
It’s hard
physically because Galilee and
And valleys and the distances Jesus
must have walked
From
And then
from
Traveling
in the
Included a lot of walking up and down hills.
But it’s also hard emotionally because
the
A land of tears and fears.
There are Palestinian tears because they
have been moved
out of their
land and continue to suffer at the hands of
the Israelis
settlements, check points and evictions.
But there are also Israeli tears as we visited
the Holocaust
Museum
which tells the story of 6 million Jews who died in WWII
and there are present day fears as they are surrounded
by countries
that wish they didn’t exist.
I went to the
And
visited the church on the spot where Jesus wept
Over
It’s hard to imagine a political
solution.
As
I walked in the footsteps of Jesus I was aware that
The
day after I left George Bush was walking in my footsteps
(even if he didn’t know it.)
From a political perspective it seems
hopeless.
When
you hear about the security walls that divide Palestinian
Territories
from Israeli territories and even from each other;
When
you encounter the three story wall that is around
And
when you are go through the security check point
just to get into
the place where Jesus was born
it’s hard not
to despair over this place.
But that’s where our faith becomes real.
Whether
or not Jesus was born at the precise spot of the
Church
of the Nativity built by
Jesus
was born into
2000
years ago even as it is occupied today.
And
when we went down into the Grotto,
I couldn’t help but be moved by my Muslim
friend Behrooz,
from
and
worshipped, just as the Magi had 2000 years ago.
And
we gathered at the place- Christians, Muslims and Jews
And
we sang-
“O Little
Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent
stars go by.
Yet in Thy dark street shineth, the
everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee
tonight.”
From that point on our trip was filled not with despair but hope.
We
were starting to see the
Each others eyes but through “the compassion of Christ”.
That’s
where today’s text comes in.
When
Jesus walked through the
he walked with compassion- he wasn’t judging
And
condemning people rather he was
Teaching,
proclaiming good news,
And healing.
That became our mantra during the second
half of our visit.
Rather
than trying to convince each other or our presenters
That
our perspective was right or theirs wrong,
We
simply tried to hear with compassion.
At the Western walk we heard the sadness
of the Jews as we heard
The story of the destruction of the
When we talked to young Palestinian
people we heard their stories
Of
fear as they were forced to go through check points
Just
to get to another part of their country.
And when we visited the Church of the
Holy Sepulcher where the
Cross
of Christ and the burial of Jesus are memorialized
We
took time to pray.
One
of my Jewish friends noticed the tears in my eyes
And said “We haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.”
I responded by saying: “This is the good
part.
This is the
place at the cross where we realize that no matter
How difficult things may look that God
cares for and with us.”
This was a turning point in the trip for
me.
And
it seems to have been a turning point for others.
We
talked to a Muslim Sheik who spoke of dialogue
Between
Muslims and Jews and Christians as part
Of the solution to the conflict in the
We
heard from a Rabbi who told of his work helping
Palestinians
whose homes we being demolished
And
we thought of another Rabbi long ago named
Jesus who
stood up for and with anyone
who was oppressed.
When
we traveled to
Family
who had lost their land and everything in 1948
And
had been forced to leave
Our
Jewish friends were able to respond “I hear your pain.
This is what
I’ve been taught about that time. It’s different.
But I hear you and appreciate you as
well.”
When
we went to the
Christians
and Jews and Muslims for the atrocities that had
Been
committed by a Christian nation upon the Jews
In
WWII and know that God felt all of our pain.
At the end of our trip we went to
where Moses saw
the promised land but was unable to enter it.
As we read the story in Hebrew and
English we were aware
That we too had seen the
promised land of peace
In
the
We were
aware that we might not realize it
in our
lifetime but we still had hope,
because this is the land where Jesus
had compassion on the crowd.
And while we were on that mountain, our
Israeli guide
Pulled
out a tape recorder and played the speech, “I have a Dream”
By Martin Luther King Jr.
I have that same dream for
It
doesn’t come from my or our trip.
It
comes from the compassion of Christ we discover when
We
walk in his footsteps. Amen