Communality

Even though I have been to Israel 5 times, it seems as if we do something everyday that I have never done before. This day turned out to be no exception. Never before had I walked on the Temple Mount. To know that we were walking on the very mountain where the Temple, the Holy of Holies was, the place where Abraham came to sacrifice Isaac, the place where the Lord called his dwelling place. We walked into the fairly large courtyard. (A lot bigger than I expected!)

We stood next to the capital of a column that was from Herod's temple and Meir shared. He said that so many people had expectations for this one plot of ground. The Muslims guard it and say it will never be altered. Some Jews believe they will build the new temple and have already begun preparations for it. Meir shared that he
believed in the Scripture it says that the new Temple will not be built by earthly hands, but will descend from heaven when the Messiah comes.

Then Daddy spoke and said that is what we believe also. Then he looked to each of us and said that we were standing in a city that has been divided by our differences. Christians, Jews and Muslims had all done horrible things to one another in this place for thousands of years. He called on us as we walked this place not to focus on our difference, but to honor what we have in common. We all have the heart of Abraham in common. This heart that would leave all and obey God. I mean, we can admit to ourselves, we don't always get it right, but we can give each other room.

We walked on to the place where the Temple must have stood. Even though the Muslims do not like prayer on the mountain we still spent a little time honoring Jesus in a place where He received far too little.

I had a neat little experience as we were leaving. There were a group of teenage Muslim girls as we were leaving. They must have been there on a field trip or something. They were dressed in their modest garb all wearing crisp white head coverings. Two of the girls smiled at me and got my attention. They said, "Hey what's up!" Didn't expect that one, but it was still so beautiful to interact with a people I haven't really. I smiled and said "what's up" back and they just laughed and we waved to one another as we left.

We continued on our journey of understanding this Holy Place. We spent the rest of the morning gaining perspective on what the Temple was, what it meant to the Jews, what it means to God, to Jesus, the disciples, and to us. We watched a wonderful presentation of what it might have been like to come to the temple to sacrifice. We examined the pinnacle of the Temple. Then we walked to the Pilgrim Steps. This is the place where we believe Pentecost happened. This is the only place where thousands of people of different languages would have been. We know from the Scriptures that Jesus and disciples shared from these very steps.

Erin stood and shared with us that we had learned that day that as Gentiles we could only visit the Temple to a certain point, and from then on only the Jews were allowed to go further. But what Jesus did when He came was to come outside of the Temple and teach in a place where all could hear. She said that now we are the
Temple. It was a beautiful sharing. Then Brett led us in "The House Where You Live" We have been amazed over and over again about how all of Brett's songs seem to have been written as if he had been to the Holy Land before. It is amazing. We began to just praise the Lord on the steps and several people passed by and joined with us. Brothers from Brazil. It was incredible.

We then went to the Western Wall. Will passed out the prayers from church to each of us and we all spent some time placing our prayers in the wall of the place where the Lord said He would always be listening.

We had lunch in the Jewish Quarter. It's always an experience. Full of life and joy. It is one of my favorite places. We stopped by Rabbi Moshe's shop to set up an appointment to come and visit. Of course he and Pastor began a great conversation. Pastor said if they didn't stop they'd be there all night. Rabbi Moshe said he was game for it. (smile) They are twins!

From this point our group split in two. Half of us went to the Burnt House and the other half to Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Museum) Pastor Thomas always says that it is important for first timers to experience and learn about what happened. It is not a pleasant picture of history, but is necessary to understand what happened to the people we are walking down the streets with. It was very difficult for several of our people. Some were angry, some were devastated and just wept, some were overwhelmed.

Mari had been to Yad Vashem before the new building had been built many years ago, so she went again to see it again. She only made it through half of the museum before she had to just walk through to the end without stopping. She came around a corner and there were two very young soldiers. They couldn't have been more than 18 years old. They saw her weeping and they both saluted her and asked if she was ok. She humbly said yes. They thanked her for her honor of what she had just seen. And she was overwhelmed all the more and wept even harder. She went to the cafeteria and sat by herself just contemplating and crying. Our guide Meir came to her and just held her for awhile. Then he looked her in the eyes and said, "Go wash your face, you'll feel better." After that, Mari spoke with another guide. He said that he comes to Yad vashem four times a month and yet he had only been through the museum once. He said it is important to learn, but if you dwell on it, rehearse it constantly it changes you and makes you bitter.

When we got to service that night, there were a couple of people that were still in mourning Pastor called on them to lift their eyes. Just as there was resurrection after crucifixion, there was resurrection for the Jews after the death and destruction of the Holocaust. He reminded us that the Jewish nation was a people that celebrated life not dwelled on death. L'Chaim.

Another story from the evening was Mari's conversation with the food and beverage manager. He asked her about our group. He asked what is different about you all. He said that he watched groups all of the time that will go out of their way not to be together, but our group always sat together. Enjoyed each other's company. He asked if we were family. She said kind of. We love each other and really enjoy being together. It was interesting that that is what he noticed. "By this one sign, shall all men know that you are my disciples that you have love one for another."