Today's Scripture Reading (May 3, 2026): Micah 6
I recently reread Leon Uris's classic Novel "Exodus."
The novel reminded me of two things. First, it reminded me of what a
complicated situation the relocation of Jews after World War II was and really
still is. And the second thing I was reminded of was that we really didn't do
justice.
Let's start with the idea that it is a
complicated situation, because few justice cases are easy. Part of the problem
with Palestine/Israel/Canaan is that it has a long history. When Abraham came
to the area, and God promised the land to his descendants, people were already
living there. Abraham was living near Sodom at the time. During Abraham's life,
we know that most of the people in the valley were wiped out, but many others remained
in the land. When Israel came into the land after the Exodus, they had to dislodge
some of those people before they could live in the area of Palestine.
Just as had happened during the times of the
Assyrians and Babylonians, the Romans came and dislodged the people living in
the land. This time, the banishment of Jews from Canaan seemed more permanent. As
a result, the Jews lived in places all over the known world, suffering
prejudice almost everywhere that they went. And a people group we call
Palestinians came to inhabit the Canaan. However, the Second World War and an
attempt to get rid of the Jews with a " final solution" showed us
that something needed to be done. Eventually, we decided to give the Jewish
people back the land that God had promised to Abraham. However, there are currently
too many Jews to live just in the Promised Land, so other nations had to be
willing to welcome the Jewish people, places like Canada and the United States.
Still, the change in Palestine created another
problem; in giving the land back to the Jews, the Palestinians, who had lived
in the land for almost two thousand years, ever since the Romans defeated
Israel three decades after the ministry of Jesus, were displaced. The Palestinian
people became the new Jews. Recently, it has become readily apparent that no
one wants the Palestinian people either. The only home they have is also the
only home that Israel has, and so the situation is neither easy nor simple. And
it is also the reason why most experts have leaned toward what we call "the
two-state solution." Because there are two nations that can say that Palestine
is the only home that they know.
Maybe it was because the situation was
complicated that there wasn't an immediate decision to help the Jewish people
in the wake of World War II. Instead, Jews were told that they had to stay
where they were living. Polish Jews were told not to leave Poland; Britain,
which was in control of Palestine, prohibited Jews from coming there. And if
the Jews came, they were placed into concentration camps that were sometimes as
inhumane as the Nazi camps, except that the prisoners weren't gassed in these
new camps. The camps did not have enough food, enough water, but there was
enough barbed wire and guards with automatic weapons, all to incarcerate a
people whose only crime was that they wanted to go home. Justice seemed to be
absent.
The more that I think about the
Palestine-Israel situation, which still isn't solved today, the more I see
parallels in my own life. When my ancestors came to this New Land, it was not
empty either. There were already people living here. And this land that I call
home was taken away from those inhabitants. At the same time, my claim to this
land may not be "from time immemorial," but my family has lived here
for about 400 years, which means there is still nowhere else I belong. What
does it mean to "do justice" in these situations? We can't just say
that it is too hard. We need to do something.
Part of our "do something" is to do "Land
Acknowledgments." Our form has been;
We are grateful to those whose territory on which we reside.
Treaty 6 was entered into in 1876. For 150 years, we have been living, working,
and growing on this land that is the ancestral and traditional territory of the
Cree, the Nakoda Sioux, the Dene, the Saulteaux, as well as the Métis and Inuit
who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. We acknowledge
this land is also within the historical Northwest Métis Homeland, which
includes the North Saskatchewan River Territory, the Lesser Slave Lake
Territory, and the Lower Athabasca Territory. We acknowledge the Traditional
Knowledge Keepers and Elders, both past and present, and are grateful for their
contributions that helped keep this land beautiful. We make this acknowledgment
as an act of reconciliation. Thank you for our shared unity as we live together
on Turtle Island.
And I get it. Not everyone likes the land
Acknowledgments. Some argue, and I agree, that it doesn't really do anything.
Okay. But the Biblical standard is to do something. Don't just argue for the
status quo or say that the situation is too big for us to do anything. When
Micah talks about justice, it is an action. Act justly. Act in ways that remind
us we all share this planet and that our dreams are vital. Do something. It is
part of what God requires of us.
Micah asks a rhetorical question of how we
should come. And his answer is: just come.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Micah 7
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