Stated Clerk's Column
About this blog
About This Column
Written by Gradye Parsons
Each month the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Moderator or Vice Moderator of the 220th General Assembly write a column of general interest for the church-at-large.
Recent posts
- June 2016 - A journey of faith—Gradye Parsons
- May 2016 - A distinct family portrait of the PC(USA)
- April 2016 - Pack your mission T
- March 2016 - The hard work of reconciliation
- February 2016 - Sustainable ministry results from sustainable souls
Categories
Archives
November 2014 - ‘No more of this’ should be church’s healing response
Sometime in November after this little column is posted the grand jury in St. Louis County will present its judgment of the Michael Brown shooting by Officer Darren Wilson. Unless King Solomon is the foreman of the jury it is hard to imagine that its’ decision will satisfy everyone. However, I think we might want to reflect on this moment of chaos and what it calls the church to be about.
Illustration by Randy Hobson
We are studying the Belhar Confession as a possible addition to The Book of Confessions. This could not be a more Kairos moment. The confession calls us to a journey.
“It (the confession) places us on a road whose end we can neither foresee nor manipulate to our own desire. On this road we shall unavoidably suffer intense growing pains while we struggle to conquer alienation, bitterness, irreconciliation, and fear. We shall have to come to know and encounter ourselves and others in new ways.”
The Gospels contain multiple stories of Jesus encounter with people on the margins. You have to believe that the writers were not just picking random stories. Those stories were picked to show the listeners in the newly emerging church that this Good News does two radical things. First it accepts people as God created them and it breaks down the barriers caused by our own unacceptance of each other. We tend to want to do one or the other. We want to solve racism by pretending we don’t see race. But the real healing work is to see and love each other as beautiful children of God.
That is a journey with growing pains. The last healing miracle of Jesus is in Luke 22. It is the story of Jesus’ capture in the Garden of Gethsemane. One of the disciples reacts and in defense of Jesus slices off the ear of a servant of the high priest. Jesus says, “No more of this!” and heals the servant. May “no more of this” and healing be the church’s response. Amen
- Posted at 7:14 p.m.
-
- Tweet