God told Moses: "I have seen the suffering of my people; I have heard their cries; I will come down." (Exodus 3:7) It is especially in Christ where we see the fulfilment of those words. God has seen the suffering of people; he has heard their cries; and God came down!
Our table discussions at the Lausanne Congress on day two began with us looking at Ephesians 2. We were reminded about the reconciliation we have first of all with God and then with each other. Real peace! Not a pseudo and temporary peace like the pax Romana -- a peace brought about by military intervention promised at the time of the Roman Empire. No, a pax Christi - a real and lasting peace made possible through Christ. Even when we were dead in our sin, we were made alive together with Christ -- it is by grace that we have been saved (vv. 4-5). But that is not all. Christ has brought us peace not just with God but with each other. He has "made us both one and broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility." (v. 14) It is in Christ that we are joined together as one and are being built into a dwelling place for God's Spirit. Once alienated from God and each other; but because of the cross we have communion with God and each other. What an exciting chapter of God's grace in action.
The rest of the day continued with the theme of reconciliation -- how dividing walls have been broken down! Just meeting in Cape Town is a testimony of God's grace in action --vivid reminders of the end of apartheid are evident everywhere. We heard further testimonies of reconciliation -- of Jews and Palestinians united by their common bond in Christ -- of men and women inflicted with AIDS bringing hope and healing to millions of AIDS sufferers -- of people coming to the faith in the Muslim world. More people have come to Christ in Iran in the last 30 years than the previous 1300 years.
But there are still walls that separate us which need to broken down. We heard horrific stories of human trafficking, of girls being forced into the sex trade in places like Thailand. Our brothers and sisters in India reminded us of the reality of slavery in their country. The caste system results in people facing abuse, torture, lack of food and medicine, abject poverty and little hope for a better future. The cries of the people in India is a cry for the alternate society that Jesus promised the church -- a society where there is no distinction between male and female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile -- but each person has dignity, worth, and freedom. Today in Thailand and India God is using the church to bring freedom for all those oppressed, where we see Isaiah 1:17 become a reality: "Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
But the church all over the world needs to become involved in this ministry of reconciliation. Our generation is looking at the church and demanding more credibility. They are looking at what the church is doing and how we are engaged in breaking down the walls of hostility in the world -- how we respond the cries of those who suffer. Do we hear them? Do we see them? Do we come down and do something about them? As Christians in the West what are we doing to be agents of reconciliation? What are we doing to bring about God's shalom in our churches, in our communities, and in our world? These are real questions we need to face. Let us pray that the peace of Christ will bring reconciliation in our divided and broken world.