Seven Thoughts on Reconcilation

We have a committed and thoughtful taskforce on racial reconciliation which has been meeting for some months. Here’s my take on theological assumptions that undergird such work. Peace +GRS

  1. Jesus has done what we could not, breaking down the ‘wall of separation.’ (Ephesians 2)

  2. The Church, called from every ‘family, language, people, and nation,’ (Revelation via Daniel), struggles to witness to this reconciliation in the still-divided world. Though sociology is real, there cannot be a black or white Church.

  3. Though also individuals, we as humans have a collective dimension.

  4. So one way the New Testament talks about sin is in terms of the ‘powers and principalities.’

  5. So memory has a role in reconciliation. William Faulkner: ‘the past is never dead, it’s not even past.’

  6. Historical awareness is often a challenge for us Americans, who imagine we inhabit the ‘new world.’

  7. Reconciliation comprises the gamut of Christian life together, in addition to reflection: fellowship, Eucharist, penitence, and service.

Posted by The Rt. Rev. George Sumner with

Complete the Race (II Timothy 4:17)

At the end of our vacation we find ourselves in Chicago for its Marathon weekend (the fastest, I have read this morning, perhaps because it is cool and relatively level). Marathons offer many good things. You can see world-class athletes from places like Ethiopia and Kenya. There is a feel of fiesta with signs by family members, getups by some for-fun runners, and food for sale.

But as I looked out my hotel window at 7:30 a.m., I watched the race of competitors who have lost legs or their use. Wheeling vehicles by arm for 26 miles means serious fitness and determination.

Those competitors were to me, this morning, a symbol of the Church too. For each is wounded. The larger family cheers them on. Each by grace has risen up to run the race. Ahead is the goal, the prize, the welcome home. We find the companionship of Jesus the Lord, there, and along the route too.

Amen.

GRS

 

   

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