Hope: The first Advent candle
HOPE: The First Advent Candle
By Amy Yoder McGloghlin, Pastor of Frazer Mennonite Church
Thousands of years ago, God came to us in the form of a human--the baby Jesus. Jesus was born to Palestinian Parents.
(Bring a globe and show where you are on the map, and where Palestine is.)
When Jesus was born, Rome occupied the land of Palestine.
--What does occupied mean?
And today, Israel occupies the land. This means that the people of Palestine can’t travel freely, and they are often surrounded by soldiers with guns, just as Jesus was often faced with Roman soldiers who carried weapons.
Today, we light the first candle, the candle of HOPE And we remember that the people waited in hope for God to send Jesus. In fact there’s a word that the Palestinians use to describe hope. It’s “samud”. It means a hope that never gives up, or a hope that is always hoping.
The Nassar family, outside of Bethlehem, have been staying on their land for decades. They keep waiting and hoping and acting in faith that God will find a way for them to stay on their land.
Folks from Christian Peacemaker Teams walk families in the city of Hebron/Al Khalil back and forth to school. Many children in the Old City have to go through checkpoints, and have their bags checked every day. That can be really scary for children. But, these children and their adults have hope that one day this occupation will be over, so they continue to stay in the city where their families have lived for generations.
Let’s pray together for our friends in Palestine, who are hoping and praying for liberation.
God,
Today we remember our friends on the other side of the world, the Palestinian people. We pray for the children in Hebron that have to walk through soldiers to get to school. We pray for the children in Gaza who live without good schools, proper medical care, or reliable electricity. And we pray for all those Palestinians that cannot live on their land. We pray that your love shines on them today and always. AMEN.