“God disapproves of hateful divisions that are daily shown in our collective injustices and self-centered actions.”
Randal Maurice Jelks
Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar
Randal leads up to the above statement by telling the story of a rally held by a racist, hate group in Grand Rapids. A counter rally was also held. And then, after both groups had left, students from Calvin College cleaned the stairs as a symbol that God disapproves “of hatred and the promotion of divisions.”
Where are the stairs I need to clean? How can I daily demonstrate God’s disapproval of injustice and division?
This Lenten season I am using a new resource to explore the Belhar Confession: Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar, edited by Kerri N. Allen and Donald K. McKim. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in which I serve as a teaching elder (pastor), added the Confession of Belhar to our Book of Confessions in 2016. This confession came from the Dutch Reformed Mission Church during its historic struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
See you along the Trail.
“Today, as you walk this Lenten journey, pay attention to the daily news and social media. Pay attention to testimony that we human beings still engage in partiality. The hash tags #blacklivesmatter and #blackgirlmagic emerged as a protest against partiality based on race, gender, and other aspects of human incarnation. Yes, it’s still true: everybody does it, even Christians. Our worship services are still segregated, as are our social lives. But, our brother James and our South African siblings call to us: ‘Repent.’ We must hear them, and we must stand in solidarity against discrimination. To do less undermines the credibility of the gospel. To do less violates the royal law. To do less, sisters and brothers, is sin.”
“This is ‘persistent journey’ talk, not ‘final destination/quick solution’ talk.”
“Barbara Rossing has cautioned us not to dismiss this earth, this world, in exchange for a promised new creation because God will dwell here. The new creation will be born here.
ed , and those made ‘other’ by our unjust habits. It also reminds us, especially during Lent, that this good news is entrusted to those of us who would be the church. It is a word we must not only speak to friendly and hostile audiences, but also enact in peace.”
“By faith we connect the action of restoration to God’s work through Jesus. By experience, we note that one cannot restore a right relationship that never existed (that is many experiences of women, people of color, LGBT folks, youth, differently abled, immigrant, poor, differently political, and others). Now that we are beginning to recognize through the Belhar Confession that all is not, and has not been ‘right,’ how will I/you/we commit to thinking differently.
“The Gospel says we are to care enough about the welfare of others to teach and tell them all that Christ has taught and continues to tell us. The Belhar insists that we be the church by ‘living in a new obedience which can open new possibilities of life for society and the world.’ Together the gospel and Belhar pull off the comfortable covers of quietism and push us to engage one another in the interest of attaining peace and justice together.”
“… our belongingness to the Lord and to the Lord’s people is the will of God alone, the love of God for us in Christ. To believe this and to live it out in the church’s life requires being born again. Sometimes this means being reborn again and again until we are awakened to the heart and mind of Christ.”
“…we must declare not uniformity, but the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace as our primary way of being church and society together.”
Along the Graybeard Trail 