( Exodus 19:1-6 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Akündigungen391.4 KB ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
The 10th Sunday after Trinity has Israel as its theme in a special way. The lectionary I have on my computer at home says, "Remembering the Destruction of Jerusalem". It is about the relationship, Jews and Christians, about how we understand the choosing of Israel, and about remembering God's faithfulness to his people, as we hear in the verse of the week: "Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen for an inheritance." It is a controversial day, especially in Germany of course. That has probably led to changes in the choice of text. Today I do not want to use the prescribed text, but another one that allows us to reflect more generally on the topic of Israel being chosen.
The Israelites at Mount Sinai
1-2 The people of Israel left Rephidim, and on the first day of the third month after they had left Egypt they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai,
3 and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The LORD called to him from the mountain and told him to say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants:
4 “You saw what I, the LORD, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me.
5 Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people. The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people,
6a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests.”
Dear congregation
If we grew up as Christians and went to Sunday school, we grew up with the thought as a given: God chose Israel as a special nation. We forget what a monstrous thought that is, and how strange it actually is. A tiny spot on earth, barely bigger than our province of Gauteng, a weak nation, mostly enslaved by great powers all around, - this nation is supposed to be somehow special to the Creator of the universe. And indeed, the fate of this nation still moves the world today. But why single out one particular nation? In Pietermaritzburg we had an Indian colleague. She was a Christian theologian but had Hindu friends and family. She once told me how a friend of hers said, shaking her head, "You people"- and by that she meant Jews, Christians and Muslims, "You people have a God who only reveals himself in the Middle East". Is that true? Does God reveal himself only in tiny corner of the world, when he has created the whole world in a wonderfully diverse way? Why did God choose a particular nation? And was it really only always a blessing for Israel?
It makes me think of a scene from one of my favourite films. Many of you may know the film "Fiddler on the Roof". Tevye, a Jewish milkman from the Russian village of Anatevka, has just heard that the persecution of the Jews is on the rise again and will soon reach his settlement. He looks up and asks God: "I know, Lord, we are your chosen people. But can't you choose someone else for a change?"
Election gives privileges but also problems. We already see that in the Joseph story. Surely the first culprit in the story is the father, Jacob. Why does he have a favourite child? That's fine for Joseph for a while, but in the end, Jacob does a lot of harm to his favourite, because the brothers' envy is actually unavoidable. And then things go badly for Joseph. And the father too, who thinks he is dead.
Having a favourite is also the original sin of a teacher. I'm sure most teachers have a pupil they're particularly good with. But if you somehow give this pupil preferential treatment, then the teacher must know that this pupil will suffer massively. It is hard for fellow pupils to forgive such a thing.
So, is God being unfair? Does he favour one nation, bestow his special blessing and protection on it, only to then expose this nation in a special way to the hatred of other people and cultures? Is being "special" really a good thing? Didn't all those people who had a special reputation also have special problems? Abraham, Moses, the prophets?
God chooses a nation. And then - if you follow the traditional Christian interpretation - he then sends into this nation his Son, who behaves in such a way that he is completely out of the ordinary and seemingly calls into question everything that these people believe. During his life, and even more so after his bloody crucifixion and alleged resurrection, most do not want to believe him. Is that really surprising? But now God withdraws his blessing, and instead places it on the people who believe this rebellious Jew, and cast out those who stand by uncomprehendingly, and want to stay with the old patterns of belief. Did God reject his people after they did not acknowledge Jesus? Some texts seem to say so, and the apostle Paul wrestles with this in his letter to the Romans. Christians in the last centuries have claimed this again and again and considered themselves in the right when they wanted to persecute or even wipe out this rejected nation. Some may still know the song "Jerusalem, Jerusalem" from the 'Missionsharfe'. It takes up the theme of "weeping over Jerusalem", which was still the Gospel reading for this day in the old Pericope order. It is a clear theology of rejection that did its part to justify the persecution of the Jews.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou so high enthroned,
at Hou dwelling place dear to God, thou heaven under the moon;
now with thine own under a curse, wretchedly oppressed:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ever we weep for thee!
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, until one day thou shalt be converted,
and honour our lamb, whom thou hast pierced, with true penitence;
Until thou bow before the Saviour, before his side stab:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, always we weep for thee!
Yes, this is still how it is written in my 'Missionsharfe', which I use regularly in St Peter's. Such thinking was completely normal for centuries. It was only after the horrors of the Nazi era that people began to ask, are Christians allowed to see it that way? Anti-Semitism has by no means been eradicated. But the counterattack is not helpful either - the argument that one is not allowed to criticise Israel at all, no matter what they do. Is any criticism of the state of Israel also anti-Jewish? Don't you have to separate the two?
Israel Sunday is therefore a highly explosive theological and political topic, and especially when it comes to the history of Israel, one can hardly separate theology and politics. Anyone who ventures into it is entering a minefield. Nevertheless, I want to venture into it today - full steam ahead, because a few years ago I had an insight that helped me a lot on this topic. So, I will pass it on, happy to receive feedback.
A few years ago, when I was struggling with a sermon on Israel Sunday - I had representation in Nordrand, in other words a purely German congregation in front of me - a memory suddenly came back to me: it had nothing to do with Israel and Palestine at all. It was an article I had once read about Robben Island and the international "Free Mandela" movement.
In the 1980s, there were more and more groups, especially in Great Britain, who had taken up the slogan "Free Nelson Mandela". This brought some unrest to Robben Island. Some of the detainees, especially those from the younger 76 generation, were angry that they were singling out Mandela as an individual. There were many other prisoners, and all of them had sacrificed a lot, lost a lot. Mandela himself did not want to be separated from the collective as an individual. But at some point, the protest died down. Everyone saw: To mobilise people, you need a face. "People relate to a cause with a face. The slogan "End Apartheid in South Africa" left most people in Europe pretty cold. "Freedom for Mandela" ignited. The concert for Mandela's 70th birthday in London was seen by an estimated 600 million people worldwide. Even today, if someone knows nothing about South Africa, I will rather put Mandela's autobiography in their hands than an abstract history book. Schools have also recognised this for a long time. To introduce pupils to the problems of the Nazi era, you start with Anne Frank. The world was drawn into the stories about the Taliban through Malala Yousafzai. If anyone needs a testimony that you can't lump all Muslims together - there it is. Greta Thunberg gave a face to the global environmental movement. Why her, why not countless others who also stood up? These are the great mysteries. Why Israel? Why Abraham or Elijah? Not because they were heroes, always strong in faith, without moral fault. They were all quite complex people, and the more we learn to understand and see that, too, the more they draw us into their story.
God, who created us humans, surely also knows quite well how we operate. So, he keeps calling individuals, and bringing together around them a group, a community, that can carry the truths forward. But it is invariably about much more than these individuals or these groups. Mandela's story is about the whole of South Africa, Malala's is about the question of the role of women in Islam, about the education of girls, about what Islam wants to be in the 21st century. Greta's is about the future of our entire globe. And with Israel? Is it only about Israel, or about God's story, the salvation of the whole world? What then does it mean that Israel is chosen?
This is my interpretation, of course - but I think God is definitely continuing his story with the people of Israel. They are not simply left behind, even if the focus has moved away. God is concerned with the salvation of all people, with the whole world. Perhaps it is precisely there in Israel and Palestine, amid the greatest conflict, that something new must happen that creates and facilitates peace between the religions, perhaps also gives Muslims and Jews new access to the message of God's love in Christ? Perhaps a new reformation that brings people together and does not drive them apart? None of us know that yet. Of course, it is also possible that a breakthrough will come from somewhere else - perhaps from China or Africa. But a new movement somewhere will not leave Israel untouched. I am quite sure of that. God continues to write, and I suspect that it will again not be without suffering and pain, but in the greatest darkness God's promises will once again guide us.
What does this mean now for our relationship with Israel? Firstly, that we realise how much blessing has come from this small nation and gratefully acknowledge it. Secondly, that we realise how much we can still learn from their traditions and especially from their writings, also from their customs and traditions now, which still deserve some respect. And thirdly, that we remember that it is about the whole world and not about supremacy. That means that we treat them as we would treat other nations: Support where appropriate and challenge where injustice is done. And that goes for all their neighbours as well. And finally, of course, always pray for a peaceful solution in the Middle East, always pray for peace in Israel. There is a saying that there will be no world peace without peace between religions. God can bring about such ways. We have the right to pray for it.
God's story needs a face. That face is called Israel, and then the Jewish man from Nazareth, Jesus, who also drew us to God's people. What is the next chapter? No one knows, but I am quite sure that the author of this story is a merciful God who still shows mercy, much more than we suspect or will ever understand. Nevertheless, it matters what part we play in this story. I pray that when a new breakthrough comes, a new reformation or whatever it will be called, I will recognise it as the work of God and not oppose it so that later generations will have to weep for me or us because we did not recognise God's appointed hour.
God has also carried us on eagles' wings. We sing it often in the song, "Praise to the Lord the Almighty." He has blessed us and in Christ we have become a nation of priests who can pass on God's blessings to others.
The beautiful word shalom thus becomes a call and a command. Shalom to you all, shalom to Israel.
And may the peace of God, which is higher than all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen