Tag Archives: International humanitarian law
Sermon: Living out the Sermon on the Mount
The UN Charter says that its aim is to ‘reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small’. But as historian Tom Holland points out: ‘That human beings have rights; that they are born equal; that they are owed sustenance, and shelter and refuge from persecution: these were never self-evident truths.’ They are Christian truths. They are the truths we see in the Sermon on the Mount. Continue reading
Sermon: When warnings from history are being ignored
Despite all the world’s danger and chaos, we who follow the Lamb of God know that we live in communion with the Creator, whose intention for the creation is justice and peace. As we take comfort in that relationship, so we also join with God in working for the day when the heavens will sing for joy, the earth exult, and the mountains break forth into singing, because God’s will is finally done on earth as in heaven. This is our calling as it is our prayer, now as throughout history. Continue reading
Sermon: Epiphany 2024
The magi, as Gentile foreigners, would be able to get through the checkpoint into Bethlehem in the same way that I did when I visited. It would now be illegal under Israeli law for Herod and his court to enter, though. Jewish Israelis are forbidden from visiting and seeing Palestinians as ordinary people, living in their own homes, which makes it easier to convince them that all Palestinians are terrorists who want to kill them. Herod’s soldiers would still be able to raid Bethlehem, as the IDF did this Christmas. Mary and Joseph would need to go through multiple checkpoints on their flight to Egypt, and arguing that they needed to do so to save the life of their baby might not work. Continue reading
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