Theologian Albrecht Ritschl declared “justification and
reconciliation is the central doctrine of Christianity.” Edinburgh Professor,
H. R. Mackintosh, said of Jesus, “In His person the Kingdom of God is here”
(The Christian Experience of Forgiveness, Fontana Books, 1961, 12-13). Now
Catherine Larsen describes colonialism, racism, political manipulation, and
genocide as she observed it in Rwanda following the slaughter in that country (Larson/As We Forgive/
Zondervan/2009).
Larsen traces the obvious threads of reconciliation she
found woven into public life in post-genocidal Rwanda. She met victims and
perpetrators, including widows and orphans, intersecting at that place where
Rwanda’s past and future clashed. Tutsi Antoine Rutayesire endured 100-days of
Hutu neighbors slashing, bludgeoning, and burning his Tutsi neighbors and
leaving one of eight of his countrymen dead.
Conflict became seemingly inevitable in Rwanda when the
government released 40,000 prisoners back into society in 2003 and more in
2007. Although suffering, memory, and identity created huge emotional
roadblocks to forgiveness, Larson reveals to readers how mediation,
truth-telling, restitution, and interdependence played successful roles in
initiating healing and in restoring relationships to a renewed level of
wholeness.
Writing on a subject that haunts humanity, Larsen offers
Biblical solutions that prove practical in a world standing waist deep in
violence and separated by generations of hatred. The Old Testament prophet could
almost have been writing to our generation when he cried out, “Is it nothing to
you, all ye that pass by?” (Lamentations 1:12 KJV).
With the new genocidal wave of religious extermination, I
see forgiveness as an issue of increasing importance to the church, Christians
in general, and to the world at large. It could affect international
relationships for generations to come.
Will we persist in using our words like battering rams, denigrating and
dehumanizing, dividing and devouring one another? Surely, our explosion of
computerized knowledge empowers us to Google resources we can apply to our
broken relationships! Is a shared future an impossible vision for our globe?
In view of the forgiveness that Larsen found following
the slaughter of a million African souls of Rwandan families and friends
suggests to me that our generation owes it to ourselves and our neighbors to at
least explore the social-psychological and spiritual dimensions for achieving a
more lasting peace in these war-weary days.
Oscar Romero believed that peace comes not with terror,
fear, or silent cemeteries. As more than merely repressed violence, peace
suggested Romero promises the “generous, tranquil contribution of all to the
good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is
duty.”
Shalom, in the Hebrew language, defines peace as looking
for the well-being of both victims and offenders, with all flourishing together
as God was in Christ. God never erased the scars of crucifixion; He left them
to testify to the pain of love, and John 3:16 was the extent to which He could
extend himself to conquer evil.
Forgiveness offers active suffering when extended on
behalf of victims. Forgiveness creates a pathway of redemption--peace--shalom.
Only such love can conquer hostility and mend broken relationships. Thus,
George joined the pastoral staff of a Columbus, Ohio Church of God when looking
for a place from which to offer people safe Haven.
When I met George at an Anderson, IN Christian Convention
he was using the following acrostic as he worked at building bridges with
people searching aimlessly, looking for a safe haven from the stormy living
that left them stranded:
Help those in need
Adore God
Value God’s grace
Encourage one another
Nurture spiritual gifts
Forgiveness opens
the door to the only real safe haven available for restored relationships. Only in God’s Shalom is there hope for a miracle on our broken planet. Only in Christian
circles can you find people like George who can guide you to such a haven.
From Warner's World, this is
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com
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