The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. And the first to forget is the happiest…
In March I attended a conference in Bethlehem. After two days of travel and no sleep, I was quickly reminded why I love Israel/Palestine and its people and its diverse culture and its struggles. I love it because in some ways it is a microcosm of what the world looks like condensed into this little speck on the world map.
People love deeply, hate intensely, and struggle to find a way that is peaceable and, fail more than they succeed. But in hope against all hope they continue to press on and find the way of peace and hope and love. This land is where the three great religions reside and collide with full force. BUT, there are the few who are making groundbreaking strides toward reconciliation and pressing the envelope to find out what the love of Jesus and the peace of Jerusalem look like. Some think “the audacity!” While others, like me, see it as courageous.
I listened and I watched and I engaged in the lives and conversations of the individuals. I heard the tension and I saw the hope in their eyes and I experienced the love that spilled from their hearts. I heard the anguish of both sides and the failed attempts of past peaceful conversations. But I saw courage and I saw humility. I witnessed a highly regarded Messianic Pastor disregard the pleas of other Messianic leaders to not attend only to have their full support when they understood his resolve and his deep conviction to be present. His presence made a difference and moved the beauty of fellowship in Jesus to another level in this land. I saw a Palestinian named Labib spill from his lips words of humility more clearly, brilliantly, and magnificently than I had ever witnessed. I listened to him call his people to enter into the stories of their Jewish brothers and to embrace and respect their pain. I heard a man named Sami remind everyone in attendance that peace will not occur without one’s heart being converted to Jesus, the Christ.
I sat before Dr Kim who told his story of persecution and separation from family as a small boy in Korea. I watched him weep in expressing that he, too, knew the pain the people of this land feel (Remember, tears do not come easily nor freely for an Asian man. This was deeply moving). I sat spellbound by a European Messianic Jew whose historical family knew wealth and death at the hands of the Nazi’s. He is a theologian and an intellectual, but the cry of his heart is for peace in the Body of Christ and the salvation of all people and his people, the Jews. When he stepped down from the podium, he fell into the arms of a Palestinian, Bishara Awad, (President of Bethlehem Bible College) weeping in front of a crowd standing in applause. Before the week ended, Bishara stood in front of 600 people and made a promise that he would call the President of a respected Bible college in Israel to have dinner with him. A step forward in what is a well-known schism between the Palestinian and Messianic Church. It is a step, but it is a most important one. We are so quick to hurl insults and judgments at one another, but we are unwilling to be daring and courageous enough to invite someone to sit and to talk and to know their story.
I have had the privilege to stand up 39 times wearing a tuxedo with friends in their weddings. I have attended 100’s more. Not once do I recall when the groom walked out that anyone made a big deal about how great he looked. But I always saw people everywhere looking behind them with great anticipation. And when she, the bride, walked through those doors there were the gasps, the tears, and the smiles because of her beauty, and all stood in adoration. This is who we are as The Church. We are The Bride of Christ and I still believe that if we would be courageous enough to believe Jesus, our lives would evoke this type of awe and this amazing honor and this great anticipation, because this world will see His beauty in how we relate to one another.
BUT it will take deep conviction, a true humility, our own conversion, the willingness to suffer persecution, weeping over our own sin and for the lost, and it will take a promise to believe that Jesus is indeed enough in order to show the world that He is beautiful.
A few days later my friend, John, and I were in Gaza. Our last evening we received the call we had hoped would come through. It was our friend who I call “Z.” He is a top official and he had been out of the country. He had only been back for a few hours from a grueling four days. But he wanted to see us. In his exhaustion he greeted us with a smile from ear–to-ear followed with big hugs and kisses. We sat with him for an hour drinking Turkish coffee and mint laced tea. We covered a myriad of topics and gave him, a gentile Doctor, a copy in Arabic of the book of Luke, who was a gentile Doctor. He was so pleased and was anxious to read it. Before we walked out I told him that we pray for him. I said that we felt closer to him when we knew how to pray for him. He said that words from our lips could be deceptive and that the God of the universe knew what was in our hearts. He encouraged us to sit before God with a silent, open heart. He would know our requests. Our Palestinian friend who accompanies us while we are in Gaza reminded “Z” that The Holy Scriptures says that God knows our requests before we even ask. So my friend, John, from England asked if he could pray? “Z” was very receptive and so John prayed for just 60 seconds, silently. There were no words or sighs. But there was a “Holy hush” in that moment and it was awesome. He looked up and we all said, “Amen.” “Z” smiled and was touched. He said that when we say “Amen” we have made a request and God is listening. We walked outside and he showed us the olive tree planted for his son who died. He showed us the plants he had purposely chosen for his garden. He delighted greatly in God’s creation and expressed such joy and thankfulness for these beautiful expressions of God’s provision. He asked us to be with him this summer so that we could be together and sit in his garden and read together, drink together, speak together, and be silent together. As we left, he embraced us, encouraged us, and kissed us.
We love this wonderful friend of ours. We respect so much of what he is. There is little we would agree upon. But being with him is where it begins. It is having a presence and building trust. It is being pure in our friendship and believing that if God orchestrates the opportunities to be with a man like this, then we obey and move forward. Mark 3:14 states that Jesus appointed 12 to be with Him. He would later send them out to “preach.” We give little attention to the “being with” aspect of theology. There is a whole lot we can learn about “being with” someone. Our friend, “Z,” teaches us what it means to “be with” someone. And in our being with him, maybe, just maybe, he would see something of Jesus in us and in this, he would learn to love this Jesus and trust Him because he has seen “the hope” of Jesus in us. But before that can happen we must be together and sit in his garden and read together, drink together, speak together, and be silent together because it is just the way it is here and it is the way of Jesus…
