“Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as through you yourselves were suffering bodily.” Hebrews 13:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4
“Others experienced bombings and mortars, as well as siege and imprisonment. They were attacked, they were blown in two, they died by the bullet, they wandered about in blue jeans, and in slides, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in streets and on rubble, hiding in hospitals, churches, and anywhere else they were told to go.” Hebrews 11:36–38, applied
On Christmas Eve December 24, 2023 let us remember our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ suffering as if suffering with them.
Among this mass of 2.1 million people, enclosed on three sides by walls and one by water, is a tiny population of Jesus’ followers who have been suffering alongside their Muslim neighbors and friends for nearly two straight months of bombings and military ground incursions.
These Palestinian followers of Jesus are part of the body of Christ. They are suffering and we should remember them, identify with them, pray for them, and by doing so we will encourage them.
This is a call for churches to pray for Palestinian Christians on Christmas Eve as we gather to remember the one who came to save. There are Palestinians in the West Bank, in Israel proper, and elsewhere around the world who have Christian relatives in Gaza. For them, these are days of suffering, trauma, loss, dying, and death.
We who enjoy freedom from war, freedom from persecution, and unfettered freedom of worship, must look upon the suffering of our siblings in the family of God with the same compassion he shows us, praying for the same comfort he gives us, and the same protection he offers us.
If you are a pastor, please consider setting a time in your Christmas service, not for a generic “peace in the Middle East” prayer or even a “peace of Jerusalem” prayer, but for a very specific peace for Palestinians Christians in Gaza and the West Bank who are suffering and crying out to God for help. If you are a member of a church, please send this to your pastor and ask for a time of prayer to be worked into the service Sunday. If you are not currently attending church, consider using this as a template for prayer you can observe at home.
Have a time of congregational prayer, or a pastoral prayer, or group prayer; it matters not as long as we pray.
Perhaps your prayers are repentance for ignoring, forgetting, or misjudging our Palestinian brothers and sisters because of our lack of understanding of their situation or lack of awareness of their existence.
Perhaps your prayers are laments for their unjust suffering and our too-long obliviousness to it.
Perhaps your prayers are rejoicing for those who are suffering patiently in faith and the comfort that God provides.
Perhaps you ask God to deliver them soon from their suffering.
To whatever prayer emphasis God leads, let us remember this Christmas that the savior of the world was born in that land, walked the same roads as our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and while some are suffering the terrors of war in Gaza, others of our siblings are suffering in Bethlehem, where they are ongoing witnesses to the truth of the gospel, bearing witness to incarnation of Jesus in the very place where angels announced his birth and shepherds ran to see him, their presence a testimony of the day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Let heaven and nature sing.
Featured image is an edited version of Christ in the Rubble, this year’s nativity at Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bethlehem, West Bank.
