wfn.org | Hope Leads the Church into the World, Theme Presenters Say

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18-December-1998 
98414 
 
    Hope Leads the Church into the World, Theme Presenters Say 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
HARARE--Like the joyous father rushing to meet his prodigal son, "the 
Church is the Body of Christ who runs to welcome the broken world," 
renowned Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama told delegates to the eighth 
assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Dec. 4. 
 
    One of three speakers who addressed the assembly theme -- "Turn to God 
- Rejoice in Hope!" -- Koyama said hope is only possible in a world "so 
shattered and broken by violence" because of "a compassionate God who 
embraces the world."  Further, he added, "The more desperate the world 
becomes, the more intimate and determined becomes the life-sustaining 
embrace of God." 
 
    By pre-arrangement, the speakers -- Koyama, a member of the United 
Church of Christ in Japan; Anastasios, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Tirana 
and All Albania; and Wanda Deifelt, a Lutheran from Brazil -- addressed 
different aspects of the theme.  All three pointed to a hope borne of a God 
who is active in the world and who thus calls Christians to active faith. 
 
    In his address on "anamnesis" (specific memory), for instance, 
Anastasios said, "The Church remains the community that remembers how God, 
from the creation of the universe, during the flow of time, has guided, 
protected and blessed humanity, choosing individuals or entities who were 
based entirely on him." 
 
    That remembrance is experienced liturgically in the Eucharist, but 
because God created the whole world and sent Jesus to redeem all of 
creation, "anamnesis binds us with the world in an essential way.  It 
places us in the centre of the world's proceeding, of its pains, of its 
deepest quests. 
 
    Such engagement with the world and turning to God "obliges us to accept 
the ambiguity of human existence -- we are saints and sinners at the same 
time," said Deifelt in her address on "metanoia" (conversion).  To overcome 
this dichotomy -- which too often leads to "the temptation of 
self-preservation, of maintaining the status quo, of forgetting to dare to 
take risks" -- repentance is required, she said, "...for the way we 
perceive God...for the way we perceive our fellow human beings...for the 
way we perceive nature and treat God's creation." 
 
    And the fruits of this repentance, Deifelt concluded, "are justice, 
freedom, peace, equality, respect and dignity for all God's 
children...independent of class, race, caste, gender, age or sexual 
preference."  Speaking to ENI after her address, Deifelt acknowledged that 
"we are not of one mind on many of these issues, but we have not dared 
enough, we are so afraid of our public image." 
 
    Koyama described "an upside down world" in which the "Centre God runs 
out to the periphery" to welcome strangers and outcasts.  Such embracing of 
the world by the grace of God "causes commotion, not tranquility," he said. 
Hope lives today, Koyama concluded, "in the commotion caused by grace.  The 
Biblical mystery is not tranquil.  It is impassioned.  It is about the 
homeless Jesus who embraces everyone by going to the periphery." 
 
    At a press conference following the presentations, Anastasios 
reinforced this point.  "We are not here to condemn anyone but to overcome 
our own sinfulness," he said.  "Only those who are not sinners have no 
place in the church." 

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