The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,our member churches in the Lutheran communion,I send greetings to each of you throughout the world from Jerusalem, the city of the Lord’s ministry, death and resurrection.
As we draw near to the Christmas season, many of us are all the more aware that our world is not safe and free from threat. The reality of violence and unrest, long present in the Middle East, in part of Africa and in South Asia, is now also visible in Europe and North America. Just as the holy family once sought a place at the inn in Bethlehem, I too ask: is there a place in our world for a peace grounded in justice? Is there room at the inn?
The beautiful image on this year’s LWF Christmas card reminds me of the Virgin Mary. The Christmas story begins with Caesar Augustus’s decree that all the inhabitants be counted. But this woman in the image has nowhere to register. She was forced to leave her home. She is a refugee who has been driven out – because of her faith, violently, because she is different. In her we see a person for whom there was no longer any place in her native land. But above all we see a loving mother, like Mary, who has found a stable – a warm and safe place for her child.
When I look into the faces of the refugees, I see in each one the face of Jesus. I hear the angels proclaiming the good news to the poor, proclaiming the world’s need for the Prince of Peace even this Christmas.
Such an image is well known to me. It speaks to my heart, because, although I am a bishop, I am also a refugee. My family was forced to leave Beersheba in 1948. If the church had not taken me in, provided food and strengthened me by giving educational opportunities and evangelical spirituality, I would not be who I am today. Because we see in refugees the faces of Jesus and of the holy family, our calling regarding refugees is powerful: provide for their welfare, strengthen them with justice and education, receive them into your countries, help them return to their home lands with a united, democratic political order that respects human rights, gender justice and freedom of religious expression.
If we do not do these things, we will experience Matthew chapter 25. There Jesus says that he was hungry, a refugee, a prisoner, and asks: when did you feed me and take me in? At the same time, being aware that our political leaders and structures have not provided a solution to the refugee crisis, we are aware that the Church’s calling is always to serve the most vulnerable and to find them a place at the inn. The Christmas message challenges us to seek justice, to bring hope to the hopeless. It is our work to help this woman be reunited with her family. If we do not help, will we then only look on as Herod drives her on again to another place?
This Christmas our hope is on the Prince of Peace, on the One in whom God is glorified. Through the Holy Spirit we have been given the power to use our minds and our bodies in order to bring peace among the nations, to bring healing and wholeness to refugees, to proclaim God’s saving love to all. With these words I pray that you all may experience a peaceful Christmas – inspired to work for peace not only for yourselves, but also for others who lack peace.
I ask you to pray for the gift of justice in our world in all the places where it is lacking. Is there room at the inn for a peace grounded in justice and a forgiveness rooted in reconciliation?
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Feliz Navidad! God Jul! Siunattua Joulua. Kol AAm Wa
Antum Bikhair.
May God bless you all.
Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, LWF PresidentPhoto: A displaced woman lays her child down to sleep in a communal shelter in northern Iraq. Little Amera was born after her family fled persecution and found refuge in a warehouse together with nine other families. The LWF supports them with food, blankets, winter clothing and hygiene kits. LWF/Seivan Salim Translated by: LELBĀL pastor Ieva Puriņa Proofreading: Milda Klampe