Stated Clerk brings message of inclusivity to Presbyterian delegates in New York on eve of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
NEW YORK CITY, NY
The Rev. Jihyun Oh decries efforts to ‘mete out love and justice in ways that are contrary to the Word of God’
The Rev. Jihyun Oh commemorated the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women with a sermon reminding Presbyterian delegates that “all are beloved of God” and “welcome in God’s presence” despite humankind’s tendency to separate into silos and hold onto the past.
“There is no distinction in God’s eyes, for who can participate in the expansive and inclusive reign of God, in God’s love and justice in and for the world,” said Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency.
That’s a lesson, she noted, that was promulgated by the Apostle Paul, who was transformed from a persecutor of the church to a devoted follower of Jesus after encountering Christ Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Paul “learned that God’s restoration was for him, even when he hadn’t proven that he deserved it — that he truly repented,” Oh said. “That encounter of Paul’s changed his life forever, and it forever changed the way he understood who God is.”
More specifically, he understood the freeing news that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, Oh said.
But people of today, even in the church, continue to find ways to “judge who’s in and who’s out,” making “distinctions to decide who gets to participate in the good news, who gets to be receivers of the good news and who doesn’t, to mete out love and justice in ways that are contrary to the word of God’s expansive and inclusive love and justice,” Oh said.
Righting injustices and making a better world for women will be on delegates’ minds as they attend CSW69, which according to UN News aims to address and assess issues affecting women internationally and to take stock of progress and gaps in implementing the Beijing Platform and Declaration for Action, a blueprint for advancing human rights.
Worship at Church of the Covenant, which is near U.N. headquarters, was part of a weekend of activities designed to help prepare delegates recruited and accompanied by the Presbyterian Ministry at the U.N. (PMUN) and Presbyterian Women (PW).
“We are so grateful to the Church of the Covenant family for inviting us each and every year to worship with you and to begin our CSW journey with faith as the undergirding foundation of our justice work,” said Sue Rheem, who manages PMUN. “We come together as a connectional church. We are grateful to you all and to God for bringing us all together.
Beginning Monday, the 70-member joint delegation, led by Oh, will be attending CSW69 to advocate for women’s rights and to attend adjacent events on issues such as economic empowerment of women, gender-based violence, climate change, migration and peace-building.
“It is so good to be with the sisters in this room together to think about how we can continue to advocate for gender equity in the world,” Oh said as she stood to address the delegates and other individuals watching from the pews and online.
The Rev. Cornell Edmonds, pastor of Covenant, and his wife, Elder Barbara Edmonds, welcomed the delegation and other guests, and provided insight into the life of the church.
“Our simple mission is love,” Edmonds said. “What we strive to do is L, live out the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The O is that we order ourselves under Jesus Christ’s lordship, so that we’re clear as to who is in charge. … The V is that we vow to nurture all God’s Creation,” welcoming people of different religions, “and finally, the E is that we evangelize the gospel. We strive to speak the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
After being introduced by former PW moderator the Rev. Jyungin “Jenny” Lee, Oh turned the church’s attention to Romans 10:8-13, Paul’s words to the followers of Jesus in Rome, which were a culmination of his years of preaching and teaching to communities of faith.
“For Paul, a central thesis is one that thrills the heart of all spiritual descendants of the Reformation,” she said. “Salvation doesn’t come from conforming to the law of Moses but rather through Christ Jesus. It does not require perfection in the law. It is not our own making right. It is not our doing right. It is the faith of Jesus Christ and our faith that is both proclamation and heart-deep belief that saves us.”
Paul made it clear that there was no distinction between Jew and Greek.
“He essentially says that those distinctions that people have held dear for so long no longer matter,” Oh said. “There is no distinction between those who have been ‘good’ all along and those who are new to the faith. No distinction between those who have sought to follow all of the rules and regulations and participate in all the rituals and those who are still learning to live out that life of faith.”
Prompting inner reflection, she said, “What are the spaces and times when we as the church make those distinctions to separate and to judge who’s in and who’s out? What are the spaces and times when the church and the world are too busy ‘Animal Farm-ing’?”
She noted that sometimes people are trying to preserve what they have and unwilling to share, just like the people in Paul’s time.
“There were disagreements about how to deal with the ‘we’ve always done things this way,’” she said. “There were disagreements about how to be united in diversity. There were disagreements about how to be at table together and to be community. And in that age of empire and divisions and troubles, the vision of God’s reign and future that Paul proclaimed was extraordinary. In an age of distinction, proclaiming that there is no distinction was extraordinary.”
She went on to speak of the resurrection and that God’s reign is for all those who practice a very human faith, and it can result in transformed actions and lives.
“Will we remind each other as witnesses?” she asked in closing. “Will we invite the world into this vision of wholeness through our deeds and our words? May it be so.”
Presbyterian News Service will be following Presbyterian happenings at CSW, so check pcusa.org regularly. Also, follow these social media channels for blog, photo and multimedia posts: PC(USA), PMUN, and Compassion, Peace & Justice. Instagram: PC(USA and PMUN.