This Advent, the genocide in Gaza continues for its third year, despite the second supposed “ceasefire.” Writing that sentence fills me with disbelief and despair. The greatest crime against humanity has been the daily reality for 2 million people for three years. Now it’s winter, and there is no shelter left in Gaza.
As Christians around the world turn their gaze to the story of Jesus’s coming, we also have to consider this: if Jesus came today, he would be found among the rubble of Gaza, among the displacement of the West Bank, among the ongoing violence against Palestinians in their homeland.
Jesus was a baby born in the midst of a state-sanctioned genocide against Palestinian children.
This is where our Advent longing, our expectation for the arrival of Jesus and the ushering in of God’s Kingdom, begins.
As the Chasing Justice community enters Advent, we remember that our experiences—and our longings—mirror those of our Savior. What we are witnessing and experiencing is horrific, but it is not new. Longing in the midst of oppression has been the story of God’s people from the beginning. And the story of God is one where Jesus enters our oppression and sets us free, feeding the poor and healing the sick.
This reality grounds our longings for liberation, peace, healing, and flourishing in the person of Jesus. Jesus, who was born under occupation, died at the hands of the empire, and resurrected to liberate us all. It is this expectant waiting in the presence of God that transforms our longings into hope and fuel to participate in God’s work of making all things new.
Emmanuel Came Crying
In Scripture, God’s people endured 400 years of silence between the book of Malachi and the coming Messiah. This was no neutral silence; it was silence in the midst of oppressive suffering under the reign of a violent empire. Jesus, a Palestinian refugee baby, was born into a world that forced families to flee for their lives. He was born in the mess of a manger because others turned the vulnerable away. He cried his first tears in a sea of grief: a baby that was born and lived while the moans and screams of mothers whose babies never cried shook Jerusalem.
I imagine that God’s people, like me, as I witness the current horrors our world allows, dreaded what was to come, despaired in the wake of unending grief, and isolated as they struggled to trust others and their God.
But this crying baby was the presence of God with them. This baby’s cry was a proclamation of life in the midst of death and despair.
And as we turn our eyes to this ancient story in Palestine, we must not forget the suffering in the holy land today, amidst the weight of lost loved ones and a silent, watching world.
Where is Jesus in the midst of a genocide in Gaza and demolition in the West Bank? The answer, as Munther Isaac puts it in his book with the same title, is the same as it was then: Christ is in the rubble.
Longing in a Liminal Space
This is the in-between space that we inhabit. Jesus has come, but our world remains a place that copies the violence of empire instead of the love of Jesus.
God’s Kingdom of equality, liberation, and flourishing has yet to take its fullest form on earth.
It is here that we are invited to make space for our longings in community. In longing, we connect to the presence of King Jesus as our faith fuels our participation in the restoration of all things. God meets us in our longing and shapes us into people who bring goodness into the world.
“For he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good things.”—Psalm 107,9.
In this space, we lean into our grief to make room for hope.
We embrace the darkness of the womb so we can experience the life that is growing there.
We join a global chorus that groans for restoration while proclaiming that Creator is not done yet.
It is here that we can exchange our dread for longing, our despair for hope, and our isolation for communal care.
This Advent, join us as we allow longing to be our heartbeat and our resistance. Together we will lean into our longings for liberation, healing, flourishing, and beauty.
For in our longing, we direct our attention to the current presence of these things. In reality, they have always been here, and they continue to grow, culminating in a reality where suffering will be no more.
An Advent Guide For Activists
Chasing Justice’s advent guide, Longing: An Advent Guide for Weary Activists, begins with this verse:
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look!” God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and God will dwell with them. They will be God’s people, and God will be with them and be their God. ‘God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’— Rev 21: 3-5.
This year, in addition to purchasing a copy of Longing: An Advent Guide for Weary Activists, journey with us and Red Candle Palestine as we long for the day when this verse will ring true from the river to the sea in Palestine and throughout the world. Each week, we will light a red candle in solidarity with the people of Palestine as we pray for liberation, peace, healing, and flourishing.
Go to Red Candle Palestine to learn more and sign the pledge.
Chealsia Smedley is a writer, editor, and content manager with Chasing Justice. Chealsia is passionate about storytelling that fosters curiosity and leads to compassionate action. In her free time, you can find her traveling to dance Lindy Hop and other Black vernacular jazz dances.
The views and opinions expressed on the Chasing Justice Blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Chasing Justice. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors is their opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.
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