Lament (3.21.2021)
Recognizing the events of this last week and prior, we held a time of lament and prayer during our Sunday gathering on March 21, 2021.
Following is the statement we read during that time.
To our Asian American and Pacific Islander brothers and sisters who are grieving during this time, we see you, hear you, and grieve with you. We know that many of you are scared and hurting, and we empathize with your emotions. We sit with you in discomfort and confusion.
To the women among us, both young and old, who have been reminded this last week of past trauma, we are sorry. The burden wrongly placed upon you that seeks to hold you responsible for the sins of men is wrong.
As a church, we want to clearly denounce, in the strongest terms possible, the violent murders that took place this week by one who claimed to bear the name of Christian. We emphatically state that these acts are incompatible with the way of Jesus. Not only do we denounce the evil actions of this individual, but we also condemn the broader systemic evil ideologies at work in the world that are complicit in these acts. Ideologies that see people of color as “less than” or disposable and that see women as simply objects of lust to either be abused or avoided have no place in the church of Jesus.
As a local church family, we commit to the hard work of tearing down the racism and racial insensitivity that’s existed in our country since its founding. We commit to standing against any false teaching that shifts the responsibility and blame on women when men objectify or take advantage of them. And together, we commit to engaging in the long work of creating a place where Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and all women of any ethnicity can fully belong. We hope that you feel loved, known, and heard when you are among us.
Our commitment flows not from cultural pressures but from the good news of Jesus and His Kingdom. This Jesus is the one who flipped tables when necessary, so those who had been labeled “outsiders” could now have access to the Father. He is the same one who challenged cultural norms and expectations by meeting the Samaritan woman at the well, so in turn, she could meet the Messiah. And He is the same one who came to meet us when we were outside His Kingdom. He has promised to receive any and all who would believe in His life, death, burial, and resurrection.
May the good news of Jesus our King be what fuels our engagement in the world. And as we labor, may we also lament, knowing that things are not as they should be. But may we lament with hope, knowing that things are not as they always will be. We believe that King Jesus will return and set up a Kingdom made up of all peoples, equal in dignity, value, and worth, united in worship around His throne. Our prayer is that this Kingdom would come, and the will of God would be done, on earth, right now, here, as it is in heaven. May it be so.