A Christian Church in Bethlehem's Christ in the Rubble Nativity was Combined with a Powerful Sermon by an Evangelical Lutheran Pastor on Christmas Eve



Following the Hamas attack of October 7, which left more than 1,100 people dead, the collective punishment the Israeli military has unleashed on Gaza is catastrophic with over 20,000 Palestinians killed, including nearly 9,000 children, by the bombing campaign and ground invasion—largely funded, supplied and supported by the U.S. government who provided $14 billion to Israel's government for their military. Church leaders throughout the Holy Land and the Middle East did not hold traditional Christmas festivities and limited themselves to prayer and Church services. They are in mourning for the thousands of lives lost due to the war and Israel's continuous bombarding of Gaza for 3 months. A powerful sermon, made on Christmas Eve, in Bethlehem, Palestine, by Rev. Munther Isaac of Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, asks us to take the pain their congregations are experiencing – and to bring it into our hearts, our prayers and our actions.Rev. Isaac and his congregation created a nativity with the Christ child in a pile of rubble, Mary and Joseph reaching out to the baby.  (See more: https://www.catholicnewsworld.com/search/label/Gaza)
“If Jesus is to be born today, he would be born in Gaza under the rubble in a sign of solidarity with us,” Isaac says. “This is what Immanuel means – precisely that he is with us in the midst of our pain and suffering. This is how we understand it, and this is the message of Christmas to us.”
"We are angry. This would have been a time of joy. Instead, we are mourning, fearful. More than 20,000 have been killed. Thousands more are under the rubble," he said. He added that close to 9,000 children have been killed by Israel since the start of the war on 7 October and that 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced. He called Israel's bombardment on Gaza an "annihilation" and a "genocide". "We are tormented by the silence of the world. Leaders of the so-called 'free' world have lined up to give the green light for this genocide against a captive population. They gave the cover. Not only did they agree to pay the bill in advance, they veiled the truth," he said. Israel is "weaponising the Bible against us", Isaac said, and "dehumanising and demonising" the Palestinians. "This war has confirmed to us that the world does not see us as equal. Maybe it's the colour of our skin... even our kinship to Christ does not shield us, we are not human in their eyes," he said.  'We will not accept your apology' Isaac also used the sermon as an opportunity to send a message to churches around the world that have remained silent and continue to celebrate Christmas without acknowledging what is happening in Gaza. 


"We are outraged by the complicity of the church. Let it be clear, silence is complicity. And empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and an end to occupation and the shallow words for empathy without direct action are all complicity," he said. "If you are not opposed to what is happening in Gaza, if you are not shaken to your core, there is something wrong with your morality." 
 He also said that the correct terms should be used when referring to what is happening in Gaza, to not downplay the killings of Palestinians. "If you fail to call this a genocide, this is on you, this is a sin and darkness you are willingly embracing," he said. "Despite the immense blow we have endured, we as Palestinians will recover, we will rise and stand up again from the midst of destruction. Although this is by far the biggest blow we have received in a long time."
 "For those who are complicit, will you ever recover from this? Your charity and your words of shock will not make a difference after all of this... we will not accept your apology after the genocide. "I want you to look in the mirror and ask, where was I when Gaza was going through a genocide." 
 Much Gaza’s population is starving, in a situation of extreme or severe hunger, and 90% of the population regularly go without food for a whole day.  Within a population of 2.2 million, an estimated 1.9 million people have been displaced from their homes. Over half of the homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. More than 50,000 people have been injured, while the medical system in Gaza has collapsed from a lack of supplies, electricity and safety.
With quotes from sermon quotes Middleeasteye.net and statistics from PBS

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