September 6, 2004

GENEVA - Speaking against the backdrop of the massacre of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia, and recent slayings in Brazil, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Rev. Lusmarina Campos Garcia urged Lutheran leaders not to lose sight of peace.

"As long as peace is not a reality in the world, we cannot stop seeking it. How we respond to the outcry of peace shows how committed we are to it," she said during the Sunday eucharistic service for participants in the September 1-7 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council meeting. The worship was held at the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, where the LWF offices are located.

Garcia said the pursuit of peace involves love, forgiveness and a counter-cultural approach. Preaching on the New Testament book of Philemon, Garcia told worshippers that like Philemon and his runaway slave Onesimus, "we are confronted with issues and situations that challenge our values and cultural structures, we are called to review our concepts and renew our positions [and] are invited to bring our hearts to our decision-making processes and to judge others on the basis of love."

Just as Philemon forgave his slave Onesimus, Christians are called to forgive the unforgivable, said Garcia, pastor of the English-speaking congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva (ELCG). Forgiveness is not necessarily easy, she said, because often it involves flexibility and change. "Our resistance to those who threaten our social, moral and spiritual stability varies from place to place, from time to time. Sometimes we can't cope when our views and understanding are stretched."

Christians need to learn with Philemon and Onesimus, Garcia said, and from Jesus who was constantly challenging the presuppositions and inherited values of his culture. "Jesus was critical of his culture when it became blind and plundered people's dignity." She reminded the congregation that Jesus was confrontational, pushing his followers past their comfort zones to reinterpret the law through the eyes of love and to take the side of the powerless.

Anticipating a spirited discussion among Lutherans of issues concerning family, marriage and sexuality, Garcia said this was a theme that had pushed many churches hard. She urged the LWF communion to follow the example of Philemon, "who could have chosen to preserve his social and religious approach, his society and culture's establishment, but instead, he opened himself to a new, totally different, value: love." Love and forgiveness changes everything, Garcia said, but that was no comfort for many people. "We sometimes are afraid of changing because we fear we won't recognize ourselves anymore." Although this is a genuine fear, she acknowledged, it was not part of "our identity as Christians, nor as Lutherans."

The business of the LWF governing body continues with presentations of recommendations from its seven Program Committees to the Council for action as well discussion and information. The Program Committee on International Affairs and Human Rights presented a statement calling for the Council's action on the situation in Beslan, Darfur and Israel-Palestine.

Lutheran World Information