On Sunday 20th October, I had the opportunity to preach at a combined
Church service to launch this year’s Bainimarama Tournament organised by comprising institutions that report
to the Ministry of Finance (RBF, FNPF, FRCA, FDB, Office of the Auditor General
and the Ministry of Finance) to foster a better networking, stronger
relationships and fellowship among the management and staff of these six
institutions. The service included a choir competition in which all the
institutions took part.
Given that
relationship-building was one of the themes of the tournament, I preached on
love and forgiveness as intrinsic to the expression of the Christian faith –
the basic Christian duty is love and forgiveness. My texts, for those who may
wish to reflect on them were from Galatians( Chap 3:v26-28 and Chap
5:v13-26) and the Gospel of Luke (Chap 10: v25-28 and Chap 17:v1-10).
In a nutshell (peanut or coconut – your choice) I shared
that too often, we who are Christians expect reward, affirmation and
acclamation when we practice the command of loving our neighbour and forgiving
those who wrong us – even though these are part of our basic Christian duty.
Even more so, love and forgiveness of others is part of our response of loving
and serving God who loved and forgave us.
For lasting peace and strong relationships of mutual
respect, reconciliation is important.
For those whose faith or spirituality or worldview call us
to live in mutual respect and fellowship with each other and all creation, it
is very important that we constantly strive to renew our trust in ourselves and
in others; to forgive and respect others.
Just over a month away from the start of the 16 days of
activism for the elimination of violence against women; the commemoration of World
AIDS Day and World Human Rights Day, one of the saddest realisations remains
that the majority of people in Fiji, who consider themselves Christians find
themselves struggling to accept their responsibility as agents of
reconciliation and peace. Even though biblically, all Christians are called to
commit to the message of reconciliation: “All
this is from God, who reconciled himself to us through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation,” (2 Corinthians 5:18).
There is an outstanding need for reconciliation between and
among, the divisions based on religion, social status, economic situation,
culture and perspective. How can we expect reconciliation between neighbours
when there is conflict within the home? How do we successfully inculcate a
culture of gender, racial and social equality when we continue to hold on to
prejudice that has been ingrained over generations and that we are indirectly
passing on to the next generation.
I have come across a number of interpretations of
“Reconciliation.” From the traditional, culturally-based rituals, to special
events where groups perform items from a different culture, too often we rush
through the motions. Observing protocols and rituals that only hold
significance on the surface, with no lasting change made. This underlines the failure of superficial
acts of public forgiveness in Fiji in the recent past which had no effect in
terms of national reconciliation because the on most occasions groups
petitioning for and granting forgiveness did not include wrongdoers, who were
unrepentant or victims who were not willing to forgive. The symbolism in cases
such as these proved to be empty.
The dilemma of forgiveness and justice is also an
important issue. In his book, Forgiveness and Christian Ethics, Anthony Bash makes the point that
forgiveness is a moral response to wrongdoing and that it is an interpersonal
phenomenon, not possible on a corporate level.
From a Christian perspective, understanding forgiveness as a moral ideal
rather than a moral duty helps Christians in their struggle to forgive even the
unrepentant and to find consolation when after striving to forgive, they find
that they are unable to do so.
Forgiveness is an ideal; a moral response to wrongdoing.
As a Christian, forgiveness for me is a response to God's grace and in
participation of the ministry of reconciliation. Yet I recognise that
forgiveness is also a struggle by victims who yearn for justice. After all it
is very difficult for the oppressed, dressed in rags and with an empty stomach
to forgive the well-dressed, well-fed oppressor. Ultimately, though,
forgiveness is a core element of the greater good.
In our context the issue of forgiveness and
reconciliation has been compounded by the fact that due to our pluralistic
society, often the wrongdoer and the victim have different religious and
cultural understandings of forgiveness, repentance, atonement and justice. This
raises the question of how interpersonal or even any attempt at corporate
forgiveness can take place between people who hold to different theologies and
cultural practices.
Reconciliation is about restoration of relationship, not
return to the status quo. Reconciliation requires repentance and forgiveness,
which in turn requires an acknowledgement of responsibility and generosity of
heart.
When I was studying in Korea, there was a mountain behind
the Methodist Theological University in Seodaemun, Seoul. The first time I
tried to climb the mountain, I almost collapsed from my lack of fitness, barely
a quarter of the way up. The next time I struggled to get half way. Finally I
made it all the way to the top. Eventually the mountain summit, which was once
unreachable, became my regular destination for meditation and reflection.
The goal of a reconciled and compassionate society of
free and equal citizens may seem to many of us like the peak of Mount Everest,
far away and seemingly out of reach. But with each step we get a little closer.
Our personal commitment to taking a step forward at a time, no matter how
difficult the terrain or how steep the climb, is necessary to achieving this
goal. It is a goal that must be achieved collectively or not at all. There is
no such thing as half of a reconciled and compassionate society of free and
equal citizens.
May you continue to be blessed with light, love, peace
and joy.
“Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity”
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