Jesus came for this?

He came for such as these. I am sitting in the front row of the Church of the Nativity, not the one from 1500 years ago which is packed with hundreds of people waiting to get down in to the grotto where tradition places the birth of Jesus – but the newer one (built some time in the last 1000 years) which is connected by a small courtyard.

While yesterday I spoke favorably of all the people from all the places – today it has robbed this place of what it was created to be. For some it is a place of worship, but for many it feels like it might be a check on their holy “bucket list.” Snapping pictures, waiting in two hour long lines to see the “right” place, challenging priests for entrance, stepping past chains and ropes, invading, infesting, I cannot capture how wrong this feels – as the dull roar raises as the tourists circle, a priest reminds them to quiet – a priest interacts with me pleasantly as I contemplatively type – Lord, grant the priests pastors' hearts because the sheep are very restless.

However, Jesus came for such as these, for such as me. They are gathering insights, information, but they are not pausing to connect with the one who came to this town. Bethlehem. They may be forgetting the heart of the message which Jesus delivered, but still he came. They may be judging me for using a computer in church, and I am judging them, but still he came for us. Jesus came not to judge the world, but to save it.

As I'm stepped over, interrupted, misunderstood, hmmm.... It is striking to me that if I sat here with my head bowed (doing the right church thing) no one would interrupt me, but a laptop, using it to focus my thoughts and share with God – I'm fair game. How often do we judge the means others use to connect with God? Lord forgive me. But also if you want me to turn over the tour guides tables and clear the sanctuary let know... it feels like this place could use a good cleansing. Jesus said, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations.”

Bethlehem is nuts! There is an entire parking garage for tour buses – and it was busy. There are people hawking postcards and flutes – the crowds are in full force, and all I can say is, “take me back to Galilee. Let me walk along the shore and hear some teachings on a hill” But the mess, pain and joy of birth are necessary – as are the times in places we might not want to be. Tomorrow will be different as we spend the morning picking olives on the Mount of Olives – garden time where Jesus also found retreat.

Today we also visited Herodion – WOW – this was Herod's fort and palace between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was HUGE – He built a mountain, then built a massive stone structure. It was 150 ft across, had two levels below ground, and 5 above, with a tower even higher. It was power and luxury (massive swimming pool, gardens, etc) – Herod the King lived like a king – and in it's shadow (almost literally) the King of king was born in Bethlehem. I'm learning a great deal about Herod the Great.

13 yr old girl in Palestinian Refugee Camp

From there we went to a refugee camp near Bethlehem – but people have been refugees here since 1948 when they were driven from their homes to make a place for the arriving Jews. We heard from a well spoken Arab man who lives here, and shared of his struggle and hopes. This was not a refugee camp as in tents (though it did start that way), but it is a ghetto with limited potential. From there we went to the other extreme of a Jewish settlement. Not the Jewish “settlers” of the news who are breaking ground – but rather suburbia with nice houses, playgrounds, sidewalks and a nice synagogue where we talked with a housewife who moved into the settlement 10 years ago, and a rabbi. An amazingly different interpretation of the history over the past 65 years, and view of the current events. It is not simple....

To end the night I wandered the emptying narrow stone streets of the Old City – an labyrinth, actually more of a maze, I was glad when I found my way out of one of the huge old gates and back to our hotel.

Good Night!