친교게시판

인권보호를 위한 한인연합감리교회의 입장문(총회장:류재덕목사)

페이지 정보

작성자 카마리오한인연합감리교회 작성일20-06-04 11:22 조회1,281회 댓글0건

본문


“How long, O Lord? 

Will you forget me forever? 

How long will you hide your face from me? 

How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?  

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” (Psalm 13:1-2 NRSV) 


May 31st, Pentecost Sunday, is the birthday of the Church when the breath of God came upon Christians to breathe new life. But we were not be able to get together physically to celebrate Pentecost because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know it is a serious matter to breathe to survive. Yet, we were confronted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a 46-year-old unarmed African-American man, a child of God who struggled to breathe. His last words were, “I can’t breathe.” We simply believe that Floyd should be breathing today. We believe that Black Lives Matter. We believe that everyone should breathe the breath of God. O come the Holy Spirit, we need your breath.

 

Just this year, Mr. George Floyd was not the only African American man who was killed on May 25. Breonna Taylor (age 26) was also unarmed and shot by a police officer at home on March 13. Ahmaud Arbery (age 25) was unarmed and shot by neighbors while jogging on February 23, 2020. African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans. How many are enough, O Lord? How long shall we endure injustice in your country? O come the Holy Spirit, we need your breath.

 

Racism is sin. We all know that. But we may not know how racism sounds. We may hear this, “It’s horrible that an innocent black man was killed, but destroying property and looting must be stopped.” But we should say this, “It’s horrible that property is being destroyed, but killing innocent black men must be stopped now.” (a note from unnamed person) We, as Korean United Methodists, are repenting our sins of racism. But we shall not stop here. We stand with our African American brothers and sisters. We shall walk together for God’s justice. We shall pray together for God’s peace. O come the Holy Spirit, we need your breath.

 

We witness that all citizens and Christians mourn with the family of George Floyd, and many others. We also witness the escalating violence during the protests which harm many businesses. Though we commit our solidarity with African American brothers and sisters, we shall overcome together the wall of separation and prejudice! No more killing of innocent people. Because we need to live. No more prejudice against ethnic people. Because we shall not be judged by the color of our skins or accents of our languages. We are all created in God’s image. We shall breathe in God’s breath. O come the Holy Spirit, we need your breath.

 

We are being called to live a new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic keeps us in our individual homes. But we shall not be isolated by where we are physically. We shall not be buried in virtual reality when institutional racism continues. We shall not fail to address injustice in our world. We shall live in peace together. We shall live without racism. This must be the new normal in which we live. We shall commit to doing no harm to one another, so we can breathe. We all know that we need God’s help. We shall live together in the kingdom of God which begins within our own hearts. O come the Holy Spirit, we need your breath.

 

“There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 CEB

 

No color, no gender, no nationality should come between us.

All of us are children of God.

O come Holy Spirit, we need your breath.  



Rev. Jae D. Lew  

President  

The Korean Association of The United Methodist Church  




모바일 버전으로 보기