On Suffering and Sacrifice

When we suffer, we struggle with exclusion. When we sacrifice, we struggle to include.

Too many undergo too much of the former, while too often I've undertaken too little of the latter.

Kaleene and I commit to learning more about racial injustice and the ways in which we deny the image of god in others. I want to overcome my detachment, and I ask God for a heart that resembles his.

We commit to partnering with our neighbors (including the eleven of you who subscribe to my blog, if you'll have us) to build a world in which all humans flourish.

This week our church is reading and meditating on the Belhar Confession, which "has its roots in the struggle against apartheid in southern Africa."

We believe

that God has revealed himself as the one who wishes to bring about justice and true peace among people;

that God, in a world full of injustice and enmity, is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged;

that God calls the church to follow him in this, for God brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to the hungry;

that God frees the prisoner and restores sight to the blind;

that God supports the downtrodden, protects the stranger, helps orphans and widows and blocks the path of the ungodly;

that for God pure and undefiled religion is to visit the orphans and the widows in their suffering;

that God wishes to teach the church to do what is good and to seek the right

that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream;

that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged; that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others.

Finally, some individuals and interests profit from our division. They would force us to choose between justice for those who are suffering and gratitude for those who have sacrificed. They would have us retreat to our oh-so-very-predictable corners.

But it's a false choice. The sufferer's cry and the sacrificer's call are the same.

"Shalom!"