Something There is That Doesn’t Love a Wall
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Epiphany, Year A (RCL)
Matthew 2:1-12
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord, the day when the wise men from the East arrived at Jerusalem, and after first being detained and speaking with King Herod, journeyed onwards towards Bethlehem, towards that City of David to see for themselves with their own eyes the King of the Jews, the Messiah, the Christ child lying in the manager. If you look closely at our crèche up here by the altar rail, you’ll notice the addition of three kings, of three wise men, three sages who come bearing gifts which represent power and wealth, the finitude of human life, and the glory to come in the resurrection. Look closely at the manger and you’ll see the three men from the orient that journeyed thousands of miles for their faith and helped to draw the world’s eye to that babe, to that infant king wrapped in swaddling clothes.
While this trek from the East would have been extremely difficult for them to make then, it would be close to impossible were they to attempt the short six-mile journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem today. Were the wise men to approach Bethlehem today, they would be greeted by a daunting concrete wall rising three-stories high and crowned with razor wire. Standing beneath the looming wall and towers, they would be greeted by Israeli soldiers armed with assault rifles that would examine their papers and search their camels. Learning that the three kings where “from orient are” and not Israelis, chances are they would be sent away. Had the three kings opted to mail their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh instead of bring them in person, it could take up to a month before the gifts would arrive—Easter being so early this year, in a month’s time those gifts would be getting there just around Ash Wednesday!
And though getting into the walled little town of Bethlehem today is a feat in and of itself, getting out proves to be even more difficult. With a fifty-percent unemployment rate in Bethlehem, if Joseph were looking for work today he would have to start lining up at the wall around two in the morning to wait and exit through that same large, sliding steel door were the magi would have been stopped and sent away. He would have to enter into a long, steel cage, like a cattle chute, where he would be searched, prodded, fingerprinted and metal-detected; sometimes even asked to strip and most times having to wait for up to two hours at a time before passing through the wall and out towards Jerusalem. After work, he would need to return home quickly, by the curfew time of seven in the evening. He would return to his little town of Bethlehem, now a city of thousands pinched into a seven-square-mile box.
Had Jesus been born today, our crèche wouldn’t include these three wise men from the East, or even perhaps the Holy Family, as Mary, Joseph and Jesus would have been stopped by the Israeli soldiers in their attempt to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt. Instead, our crèche would include a fence, and more than a fence, a wall; a tall, unsurpassable wall which would prevent the nativity story from ever being told.
A few weeks ago, I found such a crèche; a walled nativity which depicts the Holy Family in the stable with star overhead on one side, and the three wise men bearing gifts seemingly stuck on the other side. The walled nativity is marketed and sold by the Amos Trust, an organization that “promotes justice and hope for forgotten communities”, much like the forgotten Palestinian community that is trapped inside the walls which surround Bethlehem. It’s a poignant and ironic little nativity, especially given the fact that the craftsmanship comes from Bethlehem while the wood comes from Jerusalem. And while it’s a sad symbol of the present state of Jesus’ birthplace, the proceeds from this crèche go to help rebuild a Bethlehem which has been torn apart by fighting and war.
I also discovered that many in the Jewish community have found this walled nativity to be in poor taste, even to be anti-Semitic. Several have commented that if the nativity is to depict the Israeli wall which serves as an impediment to the wise men, then so too should it depict the Palestinian suicide bombers who, in the mind of the state of Israel, have necessitated the building of such an opposable wall. What they seem to miss, indeed what many Israelis and Palestinians seem to miss, is that neither groups’ hands are clean from the blood which led to the building of this wall; both the extreme, suicidal acts of Muslim militants and the oppressive, sanctioned acts of the Israeli government have cut-up and quarantined the Holy Land. This walled nativity isn’t in poor taste; it’s the 450-mile wall which makes a mockery of God’s unity that’s in poor taste, that’s a failure of humankind. Yes, it’s not okay for Jews and Christians to be subjected to acts of terror by radical Islamic extremists, but at the same time, this wall, this ghettoization of the Palestinian people is not the answer either.
Several years ago, the then prime minister of Israel, when speaking of the building of this wall in the Holy Land, referenced one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost when he stated that “good fences make good neighbors.” Unfortunately, he didn’t understand the great irony of Frost’s poem; that sometimes fences are erected and rebuilt not because they are needed, but because of a lack of human ingenuity and a resistance to change. In his poem Mending Wall, Frost questions why good fences make good neighbors and states, “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know / what I was walling in or walling out / and to whom I was like to give offence.” When Frost writes, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”, he’s referring to the forces of nature, the force of God, which seems to tear down walls, requiring us to rebuild them. It should also be noted that it is Frost and his neighbor that rebuild the wall together, a wall which allows them to live in peace and privacy, unlike with Israel who continues to build their wall not only without the help of the Palestinians, but also in opposition to ruling by the United Nations, the European Union, and the International Court of Justice.
Yet even with all of this division, even with a walled nativity, even with a ghettoized Holy Land, there is still hope, there is still good news. This good news, this Gospel is something that you may have read about in last September’s Mountain Echo. It’s a summer camping program which is spreading across the country and was most recently held in August here in Vermont. It’s called Kids4Peace and is aimed toward reconciliation, transformation, and communion among “People of the Book”. During camp, twelve children, aged 10-12, from Jerusalem joined twelve counterparts from Vermont. Each group included four from each of the Abrahamic faith traditions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. The purpose of the camp is for the children to share their faith traditions with others and of course, to learn ways to effectively work for peace. While a small step, it’s an important one; one which is desperately needed if the faithful people of the Holy Land are ever going to be able to tear down their wall and start rebuilding relationships of reconciliation, transformation and trust.
This Epiphany, I encourage you to learn more about the ongoing struggles between the Christians, Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land. If you’re an avid supporter of Israel, I encourage you to look more into the plight of Palestine. If you commiserate with the Palestinians in Bethlehem, I encourage you to investigate the reasons behind Israel’s seeming need for a wall. It is an extremist idea to think that only one side is responsible; only one faith to blame. I encourage you to fight against this simply urge to point fingers and to place blame. And more than anything else, I encourage you to learn more about Kids4Peace and similar programs which seek to curtail the cycle of hatred and violence which our children fall prey to at an increasingly younger age. This Epiphany, let us pray for peace in the Holy Land, let us pray for a wall-less nativity, let us pray for the souls of this next generation who will fail to practice war anymore and who will help to bring God’s reconciling, healing love to the world. Amen.
I also discovered that many in the Jewish community have found this walled nativity to be in poor taste, even to be anti-Semitic. Several have commented that if the nativity is to depict the Israeli wall which serves as an impediment to the wise men, then so too should it depict the Palestinian suicide bombers who, in the mind of the state of Israel, have necessitated the building of such an opposable wall. What they seem to miss, indeed what many Israelis and Palestinians seem to miss, is that neither groups’ hands are clean from the blood which led to the building of this wall; both the extreme, suicidal acts of Muslim militants and the oppressive, sanctioned acts of the Israeli government have cut-up and quarantined the Holy Land. This walled nativity isn’t in poor taste; it’s the 450-mile wall which makes a mockery of God’s unity that’s in poor taste, that’s a failure of humankind. Yes, it’s not okay for Jews and Christians to be subjected to acts of terror by radical Islamic extremists, but at the same time, this wall, this ghettoization of the Palestinian people is not the answer either.
Several years ago, the then prime minister of Israel, when speaking of the building of this wall in the Holy Land, referenced one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost when he stated that “good fences make good neighbors.” Unfortunately, he didn’t understand the great irony of Frost’s poem; that sometimes fences are erected and rebuilt not because they are needed, but because of a lack of human ingenuity and a resistance to change. In his poem Mending Wall, Frost questions why good fences make good neighbors and states, “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know / what I was walling in or walling out / and to whom I was like to give offence.” When Frost writes, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”, he’s referring to the forces of nature, the force of God, which seems to tear down walls, requiring us to rebuild them. It should also be noted that it is Frost and his neighbor that rebuild the wall together, a wall which allows them to live in peace and privacy, unlike with Israel who continues to build their wall not only without the help of the Palestinians, but also in opposition to ruling by the United Nations, the European Union, and the International Court of Justice.
Yet even with all of this division, even with a walled nativity, even with a ghettoized Holy Land, there is still hope, there is still good news. This good news, this Gospel is something that you may have read about in last September’s Mountain Echo. It’s a summer camping program which is spreading across the country and was most recently held in August here in Vermont. It’s called Kids4Peace and is aimed toward reconciliation, transformation, and communion among “People of the Book”. During camp, twelve children, aged 10-12, from Jerusalem joined twelve counterparts from Vermont. Each group included four from each of the Abrahamic faith traditions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. The purpose of the camp is for the children to share their faith traditions with others and of course, to learn ways to effectively work for peace. While a small step, it’s an important one; one which is desperately needed if the faithful people of the Holy Land are ever going to be able to tear down their wall and start rebuilding relationships of reconciliation, transformation and trust.
This Epiphany, I encourage you to learn more about the ongoing struggles between the Christians, Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land. If you’re an avid supporter of Israel, I encourage you to look more into the plight of Palestine. If you commiserate with the Palestinians in Bethlehem, I encourage you to investigate the reasons behind Israel’s seeming need for a wall. It is an extremist idea to think that only one side is responsible; only one faith to blame. I encourage you to fight against this simply urge to point fingers and to place blame. And more than anything else, I encourage you to learn more about Kids4Peace and similar programs which seek to curtail the cycle of hatred and violence which our children fall prey to at an increasingly younger age. This Epiphany, let us pray for peace in the Holy Land, let us pray for a wall-less nativity, let us pray for the souls of this next generation who will fail to practice war anymore and who will help to bring God’s reconciling, healing love to the world. Amen.
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