Bethlehem
24 August 2022
He was born in Bethlehem. Ah, not Jesus. Elias. Elias Nawawieh is a new friend. And he was born not in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania or even Bethlehem, Georgia. (Did you know there was such a place out towards UGA?). Elias was born in THE Bethlehem of the Holy Land. We’re thrilled he joins us at COS this weekend for a tag-team sermon this weekend. In our third installment of the “O the Places You’ll Go” sermon series, we’re going to Jesus’ neighborhood!
As a boy of Bethlehem and Palestinian Christian of the Holy Land, Elias will bring a wonderful perspective about what he knows of Jesus’ neighborhood—what it was like in Jesus’ day and in 2022. Elias and family dedicate their livelihoods to guiding people through key faith spots and moments of the Holy Land, taking more ELCA bishops and congregations than anyone else.
Scripture is unflinchingly rough describing the duality of Bethlehem. A place simultaneously of glory and gore. Bethlehem is the site of the world’s most spectacular concert: a heavenly host “rocking it” in five-star jubilation and exultation over the birth of the universe’s savior. But Matthew 2 describes how in a fit of jealousy, Herod “killed all the children in and around Bethlehem . . . (resulting in) wailing and loud lamentation.” Mothers refused to be consoled because their children were no more. Still today, Bethlehem features catharsis and conflict. Thousands take hope visiting the site of the holy birth while thousands of others struggle with the tension bubbling between Palestinians and Jews.
Similarly, Martin Luther is unflinchingly rough describing the duality of our own lives. As long as we breathe on earth, we are simul justus et peccator, or simultaneously saint and sinner. We know it’s true. We feel alive when using our God-given gifts to support a community-improving project. But in the same 24-hours we can’t believe the biting words leaving our lips in a heated disagreement or the ill-will we wish upon those with whom we disagree.
Why can’t there be perfect places and people? Ha. I guess that’s why Jesus was born to Bethlehem to live with us. Jesus wanted to make our neighborhoods his neighborhoods. Our challenges his challenges. Jesus wanted to show us how to take our opportunities and transform them into opportunities to love for him. Lutheran Christians read a Bible and follow a Savior featuring the honesty of our reality: life is hard, but there is hope. There is a chance to connect to Jesus’ pathway of joy and life.
This Sunday, I hope we’ll be blessed in a special way listening to how our new friend from Bethlehem, Elias, describes his love for our long-time friend from Bethlehem, Jesus. O the places he’ll help us go. Lessons to learn and inspirational moments to cherish. Certainly, in the sermon, yes. But also, in January as he coordinates a tour group including Pastor Miriam and David Beecher. And then in June 4-13 when he leads a group from Christ Our Shepherd, including LuAnne and me. If you’d like to hear more about the trip, please join us in the Fellowship Hall this Sunday at 12.10 PM and/or click here for an overview. https://www.eliastours.com/tours/christ-our-shepherd-lutheran-church-holy-land-pilgrimage-with-rev-fritz-wiese. As Elias says, “you’ll not only see what God did thousands of years ago, but you will be a part of what God is doing in the Land today.”
Following to special places with you,
Pastor Fritz
Let us pray.
Dear Father, thanks for sending your son to walk among us in Bethlehem and beyond. To boat and teach on an actual lake, to be baptized in a specific river, to pray under in an identifiable garden, to die and rise in a particular town. The fact that Jesus spent time in “real” places makes it easier to feel you “really” love and understand us. Keep leading us to places, people, and opportunities in which our faith and identities feel real as can be, for and with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
