{"id":30807,"date":"2023-12-28T13:10:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T21:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30807"},"modified":"2023-12-28T13:10:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T21:10:34","slug":"christ-in-the-rubble-watch-palestinian-pastor-deliver-powerful-christmas-sermon-from-bethlehem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/28\/christ-in-the-rubble-watch-palestinian-pastor-deliver-powerful-christmas-sermon-from-bethlehem\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCHRIST IN THE RUBBLE\u201d: WATCH PALESTINIAN PASTOR DELIVER POWERFUL CHRISTMAS SERMON FROM BETHLEHEM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>DECEMBER 26, 2023 (Democracynow.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Christ in the Rubble&quot;: Palestinian Pastor Delivers Powerful Christmas Sermon from Bethlehem\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Md_hw_A-oIs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">TOPICS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/topics\/israel_and_palestine\">Israel &amp; Palestine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/topics\/israel\">Israel<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/topics\/palestine\">Palestine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/topics\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/topics\/religion\">Religion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GUESTS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/appearances\/munther_isaac\">Munther Isaac<\/a>Palestinian Christian theologian and pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LINKS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=juCkshyqGN8\">\u201cChrist in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Lament\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, city and church leaders canceled all Christmas festivities this year to mourn the more than 20,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza. We feature the Christmas sermon, \u201cChrist in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Lament,\u201d delivered Saturday by Reverend Munther Isaac at the landmark Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, which has received international attention for a nativity scene depicting the figure of baby Jesus in a keffiyeh, surrounded by rubble. \u201cIf Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza,\u201d preached Isaac, who condemned using theology to justify Israel\u2019s killing of innocent civilians. \u201cIf we, as Christians, are not outraged by the genocide, by the weaponization of the Bible to justify it, there is something wrong with our Christian witness, and we are compromising the credibility of our gospel message.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcript<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;We begin today\u2019s show in the occupied West Bank in the city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. City and church leaders canceled all Christmas festivities in the Holy Land this year to mourn the more than 20,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza. The landmark Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem created a nativity scene with the figure of baby Jesus in a keffiyeh, surrounded by rubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later in the show, we\u2019ll be joined by the church\u2019s pastor, the Reverend Munther Isaac, but we begin by airing his Christmas sermon, which he delivered on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>REV.&nbsp;MUNTHER&nbsp;ISAAC:<\/strong>&nbsp;Christ Under the Rubble.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We are angry. We are broken. This should have been a time of joy; instead, we are mourning. We are fearful.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>More than 20,000 killed. Thousands are still under the rubble. Close to 9,000 children killed in the most brutal ways, day after day. One-point-nine million displaced. Hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed. Gaza as we know it no longer exists. This is an annihilation. This is a genocide.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The world is watching. Churches are watching. The people of Gaza are sending live images of their own execution. Maybe the world cares. But it goes on.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We are asking here: Could this be our fate in Bethlehem? In Ramallah? In Jenin? Is this our destiny, too?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We are tormented by the silence of the world. Leaders of the so-called free lined up one after the other to give the green light for this genocide against a captive population. They gave the cover. Not only did they make sure to pay the bill in advance, they veiled the truth and context, providing the political cover. And yet another layer has been added: the theological cover, with the Western church stepping into the spotlight.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Our dear friends in South Africa taught us the concept of the \u201cstate theology,\u201d defined as \u201cthe theological justification of the status quo with its racism, capitalism and totalitarianism.\u201d It does so by misusing theological concepts and biblical texts for its own political purposes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Here in Palestine, the Bible is weaponized against us \u2014&nbsp;our very own sacred text. In our terminology in Palestine, we speak of the empire. Here we confront the theology of the empire, a disguise for superiority, supremacy, chosenness and entitlement. It is sometimes given a nice cover, using words like \u201cmission\u201d and \u201cevangelism,\u201d \u201cfulfillment of prophecy,\u201d and \u201cspreading freedom and liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The theology of the empire becomes a powerful tool to mask oppression under the cloak of divine sanction. It speaks of land without people. It divides people into \u201cus\u201d and \u201cthem.\u201d It dehumanizes and demonizes. The concept of land without people, again, even though they knew too well that the land had people \u2014&nbsp;and not just any people, a very special people. Theology of the empire calls for emptying Gaza, just like it called for the ethnic cleansing in 1948, a \u201cmiracle,\u201d or \u201ca divine miracle,\u201d as they called it. It calls for us Palestinians now to go to Egypt, maybe Jordan. Why not just the sea?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>I think of the words of the disciples to Jesus when he was about to enter Samaria: \u201cLord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?\u201d they said of the Samaritans. This is the theology of the empire. This is what they\u2019re saying about us today.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>This war has confirmed to us that the world does not see us as equal. Maybe it\u2019s the color of our skins. Maybe it is because we are on the wrong side of a political equation. Even our kinship in Christ did not shield us. So they say if it takes killing 100 Palestinians to get a single \u201cHamas militant,\u201d then so be it. We are not humans in their eyes. But in God\u2019s eyes, no one can tell us that.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The hypocrisy and racism of the Western world is transparent and appalling. They always take the word of Palestinians with suspicion and qualification. No, we\u2019re not treated equally. Yet, on the other side, despite a clear track record of misinformation, lies, their words are almost always deemed infallible.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>To our European friends: I never ever want to hear you lecture us on human rights or international law again. And I mean this. We are not white, I guess. It does not apply to us, according to your own logic.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>In this war, the many Christians in the Western world made sure the empire has the theology needed. It is thus self-defense, we were told. And I continue to ask: How is the killing of 9,000 children self-defense? How is the displacement of 1.9 million Palestinians self-defense?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>In the shadow of the empire, they turned the colonizer into the victim, and the colonized into the aggressor. Have we forgotten \u2014&nbsp;have we forgotten that the state they talk to, that that state was built on the ruins of the towns and villages of those very same Gazans? Have they forgot that?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We are outraged by the complicity of the church. Let it be clear, friends: Silence is complicity. And empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action, all under the banner of complicity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>So here is my message: Gaza today has become the moral compass of the world. Gaza was hell before October 7th, and the world was silent. Should we be surprised at their silence now?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>If you are not appalled by what is happening in Gaza, if you are not shaken to your core, there is something wrong with your humanity. And if we, as Christians, are not outraged by the genocide, by the weaponization of the Bible to justify it, there is something wrong with our Christian witness, and we are compromising the credibility of our gospel message.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>If you fail to call this a genocide, it is on you. It is a sin and a darkness you willingly embrace. Some have not even called for a ceasefire. I\u2019m talking about churches. I feel sorry for you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We will be OK. Despite the immense blow we have endured, we, the Palestinians, will recover. We will rise. We will stand up again from the midst of destruction, as we have always done as Palestinians, although this is by far maybe the biggest blow we have received in a long time. But we will be OK.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>But for those who are complicit, I feel sorry for you. Will you ever recover from this? Your charity and your words of shock after the genocide won\u2019t make a difference. And I know these words of shocks are coming. And I know people will give generously for charity. But your words won\u2019t make a difference. Words of regret won\u2019t suffice for you. And let me say it: We will not accept your apology after the genocide. What has been done has been done. I want you to look at the mirror and ask, \u201cWhere was I when Gaza was going through a genocide?\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>In these last two months, the psalms of lament have become a precious companion to us. We cried out, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken Gaza? Why do you hide your face from Gaza?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>In our pain, anguish and lament, we have searched for God and found him under the rubble in Gaza. Jesus himself became the victim of the very same violence of the empire when he was in our land. He was tortured, crucified. He bled out as others watched. He was killed and cried out in pain, \u201cMy God, where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>In Gaza today, God is under the rubble.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>And in this Christmas season, as we search for Jesus, he is not to be found on the side of Rome, but our side of the wall. He\u2019s in a cave, with a simple family, an occupied family. He\u2019s vulnerable, barely and miraculously surviving a massacre himself. He\u2019s among the refugees, among a refugee family. This is where Jesus is to be found today.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza. When we glorify pride and richness, Jesus is under the rubble. When we rely on power, might and weapons, Jesus is under the rubble. When we justify, rationalize and theologize the bombing of children, Jesus is under the rubble.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Jesus is under the rubble. This is his manger. He is at home with the marginalized, the suffering, the oppressed and the displaced. This is his manger.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>And I have been looking and contemplating on this iconic image. God with us precisely in this way, this is the incarnation \u2014&nbsp;messy, bloody, poverty. This is the incarnation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>And this child is our hope and inspiration. We look and see him in every child killed and pulled from under the rubble. While the world continues to reject the children of Gaza, Jesus says, \u201cJust as you did to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.\u201d \u201cYou did it to me.\u201d Jesus not only calls them his own, he is them. He is the children of Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We look at the holy family and see them in every family displaced and wandering, now homeless in despair. While the world discusses the fate of the people of Gaza as if they are unwanted boxes in a garage, God in the Christmas narrative shares their fate. He walks with them and calls them his own.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>So this manger is about resilience. It\u2019s about&nbsp;<em>sumud<\/em>. And the resilience of Jesus is in his meekness, is in his weakness, is in his vulnerability. The majesty of the incarnation lies in its solidarity with the marginalized. Resilience because this is very same child who rose up from the midst of pain, destruction, darkness and death to challenge empires, to speak truth to power and deliver an everlasting victory over death and darkness. This very same child accomplished this.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>This is Christmas today in Palestine, and this is the Christmas message. Christmas is not about Santas. It\u2019s not about trees and gifts and lights. My goodness, how we have twisted the meaning of Christmas. How we have commercialized Christmas. I was, by the way, in the U.S.A. last month, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, and I was amazed by the amount of Christmas decorations and lights and all the commercial goods. And I couldn\u2019t help but think: They send us bombs, while celebrating Christmas in their lands. They sing about the prince of peace in their land, while playing the drum of war in our land.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Christmas in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, is this manger. This is our message to the world today. It is a gospel message. It is a true and authentic Christmas message about the God who did not stay silent but said his word, and his word was Jesus. Born among the occupied and marginalized, he is in solidarity with us in our pain and brokenness.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>This message is our message to the world today, and it is simply this: This genocide must stop now. Why don\u2019t we repeat it? Stop this genocide now. Can you say it with me? Stop this genocide \u2014<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>CONGREGATION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Stop this genocide now.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>REV.&nbsp;MUNTHER&nbsp;ISAAC:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let\u2019s say it one more time. Stop this genocide \u2014<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>CONGREGATION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Stop this genocide now.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>REV.&nbsp;MUNTHER&nbsp;ISAAC:<\/strong>&nbsp;This is our call. This is our plea. This is our prayer. Hear, O God. Amen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;The Reverend Munther Isaac, the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, delivering his Christmas sermon on Saturday. He titled it \u201cChrist in the Rubble.\u201d Coming up, Reverend Isaac will join us from Bethlehem in occupied West Bank. Stay with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[break]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AMY&nbsp;GOODMAN:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cSong to the World,\u201d a version of the popular Christmas song \u201cLittle Drummer Boy\u201d sung by the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank. The three Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont, last month are graduates of the Ramallah Friends School and met there in the first grade. The three students who were shot now go to Haverford, Trinity and Brown in the United States. In the video shared by the school, current students sing in Arabic with English subtitles. The school wrote, \u201cOur hearts come together in prayer for the safety of the children in Gaza. May our shared prayers echo for peace and justice, weaving a tapestry of hope that goes beyond borders, embracing the shared humanity we all hold dear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original content of this program is licensed under a&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/3.0\/us\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License<\/a>. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DECEMBER 26, 2023 (Democracynow.org) TOPICS GUESTS LINKS In the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, city and church leaders canceled all Christmas festivities this year to mourn the more than 20,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza. We feature the Christmas sermon, \u201cChrist in the Rubble: A Liturgy&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/28\/christ-in-the-rubble-watch-palestinian-pastor-deliver-powerful-christmas-sermon-from-bethlehem\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1666],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30809,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30807\/revisions\/30809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}