"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you, And remember, I am
with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Our January GiFT introduced us to the Belhar Confession. As
stated in our January 6th weekly Lamp: “Our journey through the beliefs of our
Church takes us from the oldest creeds to our newest statement of faith – and
also into a very different part of the world! The Confession of Belhar is the
most recent addition to our Book of Confession. It was written in 1986 in South
Africa in the context of Apartheid, a system of laws that separated people by
race.”
An explanation of the Belhar Confession background was given
on the back of our January 13, 2019 worship bulletin. “The 2016 General Assembly made history by
voting June 22 to add the Belhar Confession – a moving call for reconciliation
and a condemnation of racial injustice written in the crucible of the struggle
over apartheid – to the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.’s Book of Confessions.”
The Belhar Confession: Why it is significant to us today.
The Belhar Confession affirms what scripture teaches – that
all humankind is created in the image of God. Each has the dignity and worth as
a child of God.
Belhar affirms that all humankind can live together in unity
– in right relationship with God.
Belhar affirms that God’s activity is through the church,
which is founded on the person and cornerstone of Jesus Christ.
The Belhar acknowledges that though the hope of the “age to
come” is our future promise, we still live in a world of sin and
alienation. However, we live as well in
a hope that reconciliation, compassion and justice will prevail. Personally,
this is to allow the incarnate Christ to dwell within each person in mission.
The Belhar is clear that Jesus Christ is Head and Lord of
the Church.
It is easy for us to point fingers at examples of racism and
injustice in our world. It is harder for us to look at ourselves and see the
ways we are prejudiced against persons who look or act differently from us.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to examine ourselves and learn new
ways of working against racism and injustice. Amen.
Lois Poppe
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