Israel in our Liturgical Context

ISRAEL IN OUR LITURGICAL CONTEXT

Since the beginning of the Hamas-Israel War on October 7, 2023, the Church has been in a very difficult and delicate place in terms of language. Not for the first time in our long history, we are aware of how important ‘words’ are and how equally important are both our ‘hearing’ of those words and our ‘reactions’ when those words are said and heard. Right now, for many of us, the word ‘Israel’ is a troubling one, made even more complicated because it is such an important word, not only in scripture but in our liturgical language as well.

The Israel about which we speak and pray is a distinctly different place and a completely different understanding of the word from the geo-political, contemporary reality of Israel, a relatively young country (1948), with an impressive and complex history.

In the context of Christian liturgy and worship, “Israel” does not refer to this political state. In the Biblical text, Israel refers to the historic Israelites, also known as “the Hebrews,” an ancient Semitic-speaking people of the Ancient Near East. The term “Israelites” is distinct from that of “Israelis,” which refers to citizens or residents of the modern state of Israel. In scripture “Israel” also refers to the land, although the meaning fluctuated. At first “Israel” referred to the land that the ancient Israelites viewed as their Promised Land. Later it denoted the land that united under the twelve tribes with Jerusalem as its capital. After the death of Solomon, the northern ten tribes became known as the Kingdom of Israel, and the southern two tribes became known as the Kingdom of Judah. At this time “Israel” referred only to the people of the northern kingdom, while “Judah” came to refer to those in the south. This distinction continued until both were conquered by larger empires. In ancient times, the land of modern-day Israel was variously inhabited by Phoenicians, Canaanites, Syrians, Israelites, and other Indigenous tribes. One of those tribes was the Philistines, from which the word Palestine comes. Greek (and later Roman) writers referred to the area as Palestine as early as the 5th century BCE.

In Christian theology, Israel can also refer to all people who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Regrettably, some have appropriated this doctrine to defend violence against Jews living in Christian Europe, and to encourage other anti-Semitic ideas and behaviours in our own day. The New Testament speaks of all nations being “grafted into” Israel, not because they are superior to any other people group, but as a witness to all peoples of God’s grace.

We hold in our prayers each day in our Cathedral all the lands of the place we call The Land of the Holy One, and all of its people – of whatever faith. We pray most earnestly for Christians of the Middle East, an ancient, but small and often marginalized people, caught between the political and economic (and religious) strife of two much larger peoples in the same lands – Jews and Muslims. For generations, we have stood weeping with all God’s children in that special place as war and violence have so often held sway, now in deeply disturbing and horrific ways.

We, who fashion and lead daily worship in our Cathedral, will be mindful of and sensitive to the pain that liturgical language may cause. It is a deeper challenge to modify the language of the Biblical text. We urge all who hear and participate here to recognize that the Palestinian and the Jewish peoples, and so many others in the region, are also all victims of ultra-nationalism, raw aggression, and senseless killing.

May it be our prayer that God’s reign of peace be known and experienced by all who live in that Holy Land.

A PRAYER

God of Peace, who calls us to peace, shine the light of your presence on The Land of the Holy One, where Muslims, Jews, and Christians, the spiritual seed of Abraham, are its joint stewards. May the beams of that light show the way of justice and mercy and a vision of peace, turning hatred into love, fear into trust, and despair into hope. Amen.