Of The Displaced Christ

Colombia is a land in mourning. Its' citizens are drowning in a 40 year flood of bloodshed. Homes are ravaged; villages destroyed; leaders assassinated. Those who cry for peace and nonviolence in the midst of conflict are falsely accused of cooperating with guerillas because of they stand to support the victim. It is a homeland where the social manifestations of our sin have become evident in their ugliness.

Two years ago, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the denomination I take pride to call my own, listened intently to the witness born up by those marginalized and homeless as a result of a seemingly endless conflict. We recieved a petition from our brothers and sisters in the Colombian Presbyterian Church (IPC) , asking simply for the ministry of presence amidst their trials. The IPCs leaders and pastors were being threatened and even killed for speaking out on behalf of nonviolence. They knew that our presence, our accompaniment, as North Americans would lend them a voice, visibility, and safety they would not otherwise enjoy. Soon after, the PC (USA) and Presbyterian Peace Fellowship teamed together to respond to the plea of our partners in ministry. Since January of 2005, we have sent teams to act on God's call to support the oppressed and the victim within the context of the Colombian conflict. We have stood with our comrades in support, and in doing so, have enriched the faith life of our own churches.

In less than two weeks, I, too, will take my place alongside the displaced and the threatened. I will arrive in Barranquilla in order to learn, grow, participate with, and assist the IPC. I wait in anticipation in order to participate in the creation of a peaceable kingdom.

In preparation, I read Jane Woods' meditation on Advent, written while waiting for signs of Christ's coming in December 2005. She reminds us that Christ was born in the midst of guerrilla warfare, as Judean factions fought against the Roman Empire. She points out that Christ's family, like the families of those in Colombia's displacement camps, were required to leave their homes because of government mandate. Mary and Joseph, like the multitude of Marias and Joses, were also temporarily housed in a makeshift shelter in the sweltering heat of a near-equatorial region. Christ's family was, quite literally, among the displaced, the desplazados.

In Liberating Eschatology: Essays in Honor of Letty Russell, Rosemary Radford Ruether elaborates on Russell's description of eschatological hope as "memories of the future," as visions of what our community is called to be, writing "Ultimately, our liberating memories of the future are rooted in God’s working in history, seeking to make us God’s partners in redeeming creation... Our memories of the many ways in which we have experienced redemption are finally memories of our response to and partnership with God when we acted for transformation and justice, when we celebrated its sign of presence in our midst." Russell, in her writings as well as through Ruether's discussion, calls us to understand that preparation for Christ's second coming requires preparing our own world to better reflect what we know God would will. It is to understand that Christ, who was and is still among the displaced and the marginalized, is in the process of redeeming our individual and social brokenness and sin. It is to accept our call to participate in that redemption. This is why we each go; to make true our understanding that hope requires action. It is to take our place alongside the Displaced Christ who is making a home out of the shambles left by war.