“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also…” (John 15:18-20)
John 15:18-20 coupled with Matthew 5: 9-11, part of the beatitudes, has really pushed me to look at what it means to be persecuted. I remember being really young in my faith and having this simple evangelical faith where I was supposed to share my faith and expect persecution for it—a sharing of faith that more or less forced my faith down the throat of someone else instead of involving myself in the mess of that person’s life. After looking at Jesus’ life it is apparent that he involved himself in the mess of the lives of those around him and frequently experienced persecution as a result. Whether it be the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, Roman officials or even his own disciples at times, Jesus was not popular with any of them.
After visiting Israel with my church and doing this trip within the paradigm of what it means to be a peacemaker I am still struck by a quote from one of our group, “Peacemaking is hard!” This pretty much sums it up. The reason this is so hard is that peacemaking results in persecution because it puts you in the middle of the conflict. Instead of choosing a side you must make the decision to see both sides. This is hard in and of itself—how often does one sit down and watch a sporting event and not choose a side? Moreover, this stance does not provide you with support and accolades from either side. Quite the contrary—usually when someone or some group realizes you are not completely for them they will persecute you. This means that conflict opens you up to persecution from both sides. This, I believe, is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”
During my trip I was particularly struck by the injustices that I saw at a Palestinian village known as Nabi Saleh. I continue to be outraged by the injustices that occur in this village at the hands of the IDF every Friday as they try to disband the peaceful protest marches regarding the Israeli settlements that have infringed upon their basic human rights, such as access to the spring that provides water to the village. Every part of me wants to side with the Palestinians in this village—to witness what is going on there makes this reaction natural for me. My inclination is for me to de-humanize the IDF just as they dehumanize the people of Nabi Saleh by shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at the people of the village as well as arresting their children in an attempt to get them to end their peaceful protest marches. However, dehumanizing the IDF merely brings me down to their level and is in stark opposition to Christ’s approach.
While it is fine, noble even, dare I say Christ-like, for me to be outraged at the injustices that the Palestinians in Nabi Saleh face each Friday, the real challenge for me and infinitely more so for the villagers of Nabi Saleh is turning the other cheek and recognizing the humanity in their oppressors. Isn’t this what Christ did with those that wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery found in John 8? By stating, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” Jesus revealed and recognized the humanity of the woman's accusers. Furthermore, he helped them see the humanity in the woman rather than seeing her as an object to scorn because of a rule that she broke. I think we could read this passage and believe that Jesus took the side of the woman caught in adultery, but he didn’t. While Jesus states that he does not condemn the woman he challenges her to leave her life of sin; he creates an atmosphere of peace by challenging both sides to look at themselves.
I feel so powerless to change the situation in Nabi Saleh. Currently, my only course of action is to pray. Initially my prayers were exclusively for the Palestinian villagers. However, recently I have included the IDF soldiers in my prayers. Basically, my prayer is that they will not lose their humanity and that they will recognize the humanity of those they are oppressing each Friday.
I also hope that you would join me in my prayers for both the villagers of Nabi Saleh and their IDF oppressors and also for reconciliation in Israel/Palestine.
