Lord, forgive us

I shook my head in sorrow and disbelief as I read the following report earlier today on the BBC news website:

“Scuffles have broken out between rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian Christian clerics over a turf war in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. Around a hundred priests fought with brooms as they cleaned the church in preparation for Orthodox Christmas. Palestinian police armed with batons and shields broke up the clashes.

Similar disputes have occurred in the past between different denominations in the church, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born. "It was a trivial problem that ... occurs every year," Bethlehem police Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled al-Tamimi told Reuters. "No one was arrested because all those involved were men of God," he said.

Previous clashes between the denominations which share the administration of the church have been sparked by perceived encroachments on one group's territory by another.

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, has also seen similar incidents.”

A few days ago we celebrated the birth of Jesus. God’s Son came into the world to bring the good news of God’s love for all humanity, and to reconcile us to God and to one another through his sacrificial death on the cross. Not long before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus said this to his disciples, ‘If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples’. In other words, the most important element of a Christian’s life is God’s love flowing through them to others.

Yet in the very church which commemorates the birth of Jesus (and also in the church where his death and resurrection are commemorated), the so-called holy men, the Christian priests, are falling out and squabbling over territorial issues. O Lord forgive us! How many people, over the years, have been turned away from Jesus because of the behaviour of those who claim to follow him?

The apostle John pointedly asks, in his first letter, ‘if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see?’ A very good question for us all.