Reconciliation and Citywide Revival Reconciliation as Foundation of Citywide Revival and Transformation

The Heart of the Great Commission Luke 4:18, 19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (central passage in Luke, Acts, refers back to the Servant Songs of Isaiah and the Jubilee of Leviticus)

The Power of the Spirit The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me The Centrality of Proclamation to preach good news The Focus of Ministry to the poor.

The Holistic Style and Context of Proclamation He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, The Goal of Justice to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (The eternal jubilee, the year of redistribution). Conversion and church growth are intermediate goals not end goals. The Context of Reconciliation

The Greatest Migration in History ½ the world is urban beginning the urban century 19-95% of these cities are urban poor slum dwellers, squatters, favelados 2 billion people have migrated to the cities in the last decades All rural population increase has been moving to the cities

+ Proclamation (of the Kingdom, Luke 4:18) Incarnation (individual then communal, John 1:14) brings Transformation (The Kingdom Of God Transforming Society) Last Night: Evangelical Theology for Reaching the Urban Poor Today: Cities Consumed with Christ Reconciliation as Foundation of Citywide Revival and Transformation

John 1:14 The Beginning of Reconciliation is Incarnation The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. glory We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, grace truth. Full of grace and truth.

Half the world has become dispossessed of land for their own home

Colossians 1:17,20 He is before all things And in him all things hold together… …and through him to reconcile to himself all things, Whether things on earth or on heaven, By making peace through his blood, Shed on the cross. He is the integrator of the cities Take Christ out of the city and it collapses Public repentance of violations of his reign is integral to revival

Repentance: Reconnecting to the Environment From dust we came, to dust we return The soul cannot respond to God independent of its environment  e.g. death of Maori elders  AFC Wallace – four responses to cultural dislocation Anomie, gangs, redefinition of the mazeways, assimilation All covenants in Scriptures (except one) are given in terms of the land. When people are reconnected to the land, there is an immediate spiritual responsiveness  e.g. land rights in Manila

Cultural Repentance The foundation of the nation in the treaty of Waitangi - about land and sovereignty Violation of the treaty meant loss of economic base and cultural integration for Maori – and hence Christianity Reconciliation releases the work of the Spirit There is no reconciliation without repentance. Repentance includes identification of the sins of the oppressor culture against the damaged culture. There is no repentance without restitution

Repentance and Reconciliation as the Basis of Revival e.g. The battle of Tuapekapeka Rectifying the sins against the first peoples creates a basis for multiracial unity e.g. ethnic leaders hui Today, when you hear his voice do not harden our hearts. Go to that one, that family member and ask forgiveness In the centre of the Holy City a river runs. The trees that grow beside it bring healing to the nations. The river in the scriptures speaks of the Holy Spirit Let the river run through your life, unblock the dams. Then you may be part of the great revival across the face of the earth.

Institutional Repentance: Changing the Locus of Theology and Education As those of the majority culture, we commit to: Moving the locus of training to be among the poor. Majority of courses to be relocated into contexts of the oppressed. The context of our doing theology will be a context of oppression and injustice, not secure affluence The style of doing theology will primarily be holistic, story-based, action-reflection multi- dimensioned truth, but interfaced with global, propositional and book-based linear truth. This is the basis of preparing missionaries

New 21 st C Paradigm: Mission as Reconciliation Your land was birthed in both peace and violence against the indigenous people and against the slaves. The wounds have not been healed. The pain results in violence that cuts across the face of your cities Your children are being steeped in violent video games. Based on this, one would logically predict that American violence against others will expand to the point of destruction of the nation. Sadly, across the earth, despite your great generosity and goodwill, the nations know of your nation as the oppressor, that beams cultural fifth, that unjustly drains their wealth in global capitalism, that invades at will. As missionaries, you need to walk in a spirit of sorrow and asking for forgiveness wherever you go. I’m Sorry