Imago Gospels - 22 - Communion and Betrayal (2 separate thoughts)
Obviously one cannot capture the whole of Matthew 26 in just one picture so I will try to do it with two. The first captures the beauty of the Lord’s Supper we shared yesterday morning at the congregation our friend serves. It is a congregation that is multi-racial and when the time came for communion, all the elders came forward to be at the table while Pastor David led the congregation through the liturgy for the meal. There were men, women, younger, older, black, and white - all together at the table there as there were men, women, younger, older, black, and white in the congregation. As I think of what Jesus may have envisioned for us as a community of faith I think its far more of a picture like what we experienced yesterday than the ways that we are often divided at the table today. It was a true blessing to share.
Then today, we visited the District Six museum in Cape Town which recounts the story of those who were forcibly displaced from their homes to a different location in Cape Town. This relocation took place in the 70s as the apartheid-centered government sought to move the mostly-black residents out of their homes to what was known as the Cape Flats. Here is Wikipedia’s entry about it. As I wandered the museum, I couldn’t help but think of it as a betrayal of humanity - one group of people utterly betraying another group of people, much as Judas betrayed Jesus. The poems and writings that were posted around the museum were just heartbreaking as was this mural of some of the names of those displaced by the bulldozers. Visiting Robben Island yesterday and then this museum today gives me new insight into the experience that so many faced and continue to face today in places throughout the world.
As I left the museum, I saw an inscription on the wall just outside the entrance that read...
All Who Pass By Remember with shame the many thousands of people who lived for generations in District 6 and other parts of this city, and were forced by law to leave their homes because of the colour of their skins. Father Forgive Us...