Bishop Azar welcomes 2018-2019 YAGM to Jerusalem
On Sunday 2 September, Bishop Ibrahim Azar joined the English-speaking and Arabic-speaking congregations in the Redeemer chapel for a joint service and the commissioning of the 2018-2019 ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission. His Sunday sermon is below. Enjoy!
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Message for Sunday 2
September 2018
Bishop Ibrahim Azar
Lutheran Church of the Redeemer,
Jerusalem
2018-2019 YAGM Commissioning
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Today it is
a joy to have both the Arabic and English-speaking congregations of Redeemer
joining together to worship. This is a visible sign that although we have
different languages and different cultures, we are one Church, sharing one
faith, one baptism, and one salvation through the death and resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God for this time together! Amen.
It is also a
pleasure this morning to welcome visitors from around the world, as well as our
new ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission. You are most welcome here in
Jerusalem, Palestine. We welcome you here in our churches, in our homes, and in
our schools, and we look forward to getting to know you better. I understand
each of you will give a brief introduction after I speak, and we are grateful
for the chance to hear a bit about who you are.
Our church,
the ELCJHL, has been welcoming young adult volunteers from the United States
(and other countries) for many years now, and we are always grateful to have
you. It’s always good to be reminded, however, of what this relationship is.
You do not come among us to save us or to fix our problems. Nor do you come
among us as tourists or guests! Instead, we receive you as siblings in Christ.
We welcome you to walk hand in hand with us. We hope you will rejoice when we
rejoice and weep when we weep. (Romans 12:15) We invite you to experience
our lives as Palestinian Christians living under occupation, to hear our
stories, and likewise to share your stories with us.
But above
all, we receive you as partners in the one mission we share as the global
church. In the reading today from 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul gives
thanks for the early Christians, and encourages them to continue the work of
the church. And what is that work?
In Paul’s words, the church is called to maintain faith, and love, and steadfastness of hope in Jesus Christ, in spite of persecution. Even when the world stands us against us, nevertheless we are to become imitators of our Lord. In fact, our lives should so closely resemble the life of Jesus that we don’t even have to tell people we are Christians! In fact, this is what he praises the Thessalonians for doing, saying:
“For the
word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no
need to speak about it.” (1 Thessalonians 1:8)
It seems the
church in Thessalonica was so faithful they didn’t need to advertise it—the
story of their faith was known even far away!
So what does
this look like today? How will they know we are Christians? Of course, they
will know we are Christians by our love! We love because Christ first loved us!
But Jesus
also spoke truth to power. He confronted the empire and suffered humiliation
and death because of it. For this reason, becoming imitators of Christ means
boldly working for peace based on justice for all people. It also often means suffering
ridicule or opposition as a result. And yet, when we commit to imitating this
life of Christ together, then we don’t even need to speak of the Gospel. We
don’t have to be excellent preachers or even bishops, for the Good News of
Jesus, crucified and risen, will be known by the work of our hands, the paths
we walk, and the relationships we create.
Therefore,
to our volunteers who have just arrived among us—and to the visitors with us
today—welcome. As Paul said,
“We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers.” And our prayer is that our whole lives will be bold witnesses to the love of God in Christ Jesus—here in Palestine and Israel, and in your home countries, and wherever the Lord leads us next.
May the
peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
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