Reflection and Appeal on the Conflict in Gaza
By Rev. Carlos L. Malave
Over the past two weeks, we have all witnessed the horrendous attack by the Hamas terrorist movement in Israel and, subsequently, the response of the Israeli army in the Gaza region. What we are witnessing is the death of thousands of sons and daughters of God. Death caused by the Hamas militia and the Israeli army. The murders of more than 1,300 Israeli citizens cannot be justified. In the same way, the murders of more than nine thousand Palestinian citizens (so far), most of them children, cannot be justified either.
In moments like these, as disciples of Jesus, we need to look inside our hearts and analyze our ethical and moral convictions. What are the values that Jesus and the gospels clearly teach us? What is the difference between good and evil? What do we believe? To do so, we must put aside our political preferences and the theological articulations to which we subscribe. We need to go to the heart of the gospel, to the heart of Jesus, to the heart of God. We must resist the temptation to look at God's sons and daughters through political or religious lenses. Let's put aside those lenses that obscure the light coming from God's heart. Those glasses filter out the goodness and love of God.
As believers, God does not demand or call us to defend governments or armies; God calls us to claim and shout for the protection of those who have been created in the image of God. If we have known the Jesus of the gospels, we cannot believe that military power and bombs are going to bring peace; violence only begets more violence. Jesus clearly taught us how to proceed in situations like the ones we live in. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, but he goes further. And even further, he calls to “do good” to our enemies (Luke 9.16.)
Pastors and Christian leaders are called to reveal the pure love in God's heart to those under our care. In times like the ones we live in, God does not call us to defend or articulate theologies or prophecies. No, God calls us to reveal by word and deed the unique love He has for each person He has created, both Palestinians and Israelis, because “God so loved the world.” The Luke passage tells us that when we think and act like God, “they will have a great reward and will be children of the Most High.” Being a son and daughter of God means thinking and acting like God. Jesus is our example.
Based on my evangelical values, I cannot promote hatred or rejection of a group of sons and daughters of God simply because they do not belong to my culture or do not profess the religion that I profess. For God, every human being has the same value. God loves every human being the same way. In the heart of God, there is no difference between Jews and Palestinians; God loves them both with the same intensity.
I appeal to you to use your voice to express God's love for all his sons and daughters. May you reject death and war and embrace the hard work of sowing peace and promoting dialogue, reconciliation, and forgiveness. If we are not willing to do this, there is no hope. The good news is that one day, “God himself will judge between the nations and administer justice to many people. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into sickles. He will no longer lift his sword nation against nation and they will never again train for war.” Isaiah 2.4
God calls us today to put ourselves on his side and work to build the world that He longs for. Meanwhile, we mourn the death of those who die.