Healing
Have you spent the last few months tossing and turning, lying awake? For all kinds of different reasons, I imagine we’re all worried about the future of this country, the state of global health, and the healing of broken relationships in our lives and communities. I’ve made it a spiritual practice to grab a cup of coffee, find a comfy position on the deck and watch the sunrise. I’m usually grounded by the sentiment of staying true to myself. Behind all the noise, I believe God will point us in the direction that is the most loving. We simply have to keep praying and keep listening.
The longing for reconciliation sets in only after the late-night worrying and early morning centering on all that I am thankful for. Reconciliation is not birthed out of temporary bursts of anger, but intensional prayerfulness and thoughtful steps toward compassion and empathy. I long for healing, both in my personal life and throughout the harmful history of people in powerful positions that historically look like me. Denial won’t bring healing. Being ashamed of who we are won’t bring healing. Judgement won’t bring healing. Only demonstrating the love of Christ will bring healing. For we “owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8).
Somewhere along the way, being unapologetic has been misconstrued as strength. It’s destroying us as a country, society, and community of Christ. Seldom do we hurt people knowingly, which makes it inevitable. So, how we respond to those who have been hurt by us is what makes us distinctly Christian. We take seriously the claim that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). Meaning, we err on the side of sinfulness when accused. As Christians, we ought to be familiar with seeking forgiveness and less inclined to lean into defensiveness.
A few years ago I toured Germany, which I feel serves as a healthy model of what reconciliation looks like. Traveling the streets of Berlin, the acreage of concentration camps, and passing the thousands of Jewish holocaust memorials in nearly every city center, I’ve seen what reconciliation can look like. Although Jewish people, along with other ethnicities, still face prejudice, they have largely been equally integrated in society. In the United States, black and brown people are still very much “other-ized” and receive the negative effects of a system that was engineered to oppress. The sooner we acknowledge that, the sooner we take the first step toward reconciliation.
One might say “why be so intentionally divisive?” Because whether or not we are able to grow as people is evident by our ability to name and address our flaws. When we cease to grow, we are giving-up on our calling to more fully live into the Gospel. Also, racism transcends anything that ought to shape our political or cultural differences. While I encourage healthy discussions about where we fall on the spectrum of racism, the assertion that racism is outside the parameters of the Gospel is a devastating misunderstanding of what the love of Christ is all about. Scripture is laced with all kinds of geo-political complexity and the prophets address it constantly. The Apostle Paul addresses the discrimination of Gentiles head on, “There is no difference between Jew and Greek; for the Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (Romans 10:12).
The worst part of my early mornings, after my wife heads to work, is that I’m alone. The tough conversations that stimulate growth are impossible while in isolation or while typing words from behind a screen. I long for the day that we can gather again to wrestle, grow, and gain other perspectives. This is the Church. I long for community and connection with loved ones. Until then, focus on the sunrise, the things that make you smile. God will continue to whisper words of encouragement and offer a Gospel message that provides strength. For God will “strengthen you and help you, upholding you with God’s righteous hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
With a longing heart,
Pastor Lucas McSurley
