Arise Jerusalem

  

“Like Jesus, our redemption begins with an occupation of another sort. God becoming human inhabited the world in an occupied territory to be with those on the margins so that we may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus’ presence brought the margins to the center, making visible what once was on the periphery by de-colonizing the social strata and religious decorum that excludes women, children, the outcast and the poor from the table. The kind of occupation Christians are called to is that of the incarnation—the indwelling of God’s love in our own bodies and communities.” Jake Olzen

He is Risen! Alleluia. He is no longer entombed nor are we. Death is not the last act and imperial rule does not win. But what really does this mean beyond the celebration of new life--- celebrating the sun at Easter rise services, finding Easter eggs or eating chocolate bunnies?  What does new life mean for those living in occupied Jerusalem? What does it mean for those of us working to set it free?

I think it has something to do with this “decolonizing the social strata and religious decorum" that excludes others. I think it has something to due with this redefinition of occupation as incarnation, with the concept of letting God’s love find a welcome home in our bodies and communities.

For Christians, Jerusalem will always be the place of Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion but it is also the place where we can continue to witness the presence of a living God for Jerusalem is also the place of resurrection and hope, the place where our church began on Pentecost.

In the 1^st century, earthly Jerusalem was destroyed because it did not know the ways of peace. Present Jerusalem is being constructed and constricted in the same way. But there is another way. There always has been. Jesus and the prophets knew it and tried to turn us towards it by focusing our attention on the ways of peacemaking, making the holy city, a city of peace.

…For out of Zion shall go forth instruction;

and the world of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore;

but they shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken

            Micah 4: 2-3 4

With our participation as co-creators in God’s Beloved Community, God can help us create another miracle, a shared Jerusalem where peace based on justice can be a reality not just a vision, a place where truth and reconciliation are lived experiences.

Let us then join with our Palestinian sisters and brothers and insist that a political sovereignty over Jerusalem should begin with acknowledgement of the overall sovereignity of God. This means a shared political sovereignty where people accept each other and grant each other equal justice and freedom----freedom of movement and religion and equal access to resources and security. The vision and mandate has been given. It's up to us to fulfill it.

We will plant olive trees
where before there were thorns

All of us the same,

each of us different,

we will walk hand in hand

with a new song

of peace and love on our lips

We will plant olive trees

where before there were thorns

Sharing

Is the one urgent need

in this dawning

of a new century

 Paz, peace, paix

 mir, shalom, salaam.

 We will plant olive trees

 where before there were thorns.

      Frederico Mayer


 To learn about the Flytilla and what happened to those other Easter Pilgrim's check out 
Israel’s Real Easter Pilgrims