Christmas Message from Dr. Mitri Raheb, Pastor Christmas Lutheran Church

Christmas, Peace and the Wall

Dear Friends,

Our Christmas message this year might sound a little unusual. For many it might not be too “Christmassy”. Christmas has become the feast of “a sort of peace” that no one really can fully describe. In fact, it is kind of a “cheap peace”, which is something to preach about when one is not well prepared, or a bit of wishful thinking, when one is not ready to do much. Personally, I am bored with all of this talk about peace around Christmas time. Christmas has become a season for “joyful peace talkers,” rather than “blessed peacemakers”.

In our Palestinian context, “peace talk” is often a good recipe for managing the conflict rather than resolving it. As the world continues to talk peace, Israel continues to build the wall and while Christians continue singing “O little town of Bethlehem”, Israel makes sure that this town stays as little as possible. As little as 2 square miles, surrounded with walls, fences and trenches with no future expansion possibilities whatsoever.

No one understood what peace really is like St. Paul. He himself, a former Jewish leader, a zealot, a persecutor, and a hard liner; he committed himself to making sure that a wall of separation is built and kept between his community and its enemies. He was ready to attack and even terrorize whoever dared to question the importance of this wall for the security of his community. However, this same radical person was radically transformed. He had a unique encounter that made him discover what peace really means, and he described it as “breaking down dividing walls of hostility.” (Ephesians 2, 14) From that moment, the zealot Saul became the passionate apostle Paul. His great discovery was that if God himself in Christ has broken the walls of hostility between the human and the divine, then there is no place for walls between peoples, tribes, cultures and nations. For his conviction, he was ready to pay a heavy price.

At a time when a wall of hostility is being built around our little town, we at the ICB commit ourselves anew to breaking down all walls of hatred and hostilities, be it concrete walls or ideological, racial, political, social, and economical ones. From the hometown of Christ we have no other message this year but this of St. Paul: “For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us”. We wish you nothing less than to experience this transforming power of Christmas to strengthen you in 2004 in your commitment to breaking down walls, to peacemaking and to bridge building.

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church

General Director of the International Center of Bethlehem

Bethlehem, December 23, 2003

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