Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace | Page 14

Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace
into their respective relationships with God unmediated by any other powers. Social,
political, economic, and religious structures that help order societies and structure
relationships are properly bound by these truths. Thus, self-determination is both a
right that ultimately trumps whatever immediate and useful social good may come
from denying that right and also a goal that should shape every social project in
which the church participates. It is, in part, for this reason that God covenants with
human beings (Gen 9:8-17; Gen 17:4-8) toward the ordering of their lives and
welfare. As covenant people, we act most faithfully and stand on our surest footing
when we promote every people’s right to self-determination, because it is through this
right that they take up their own responsibilities within God's covenanting work.

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The Building Up of Community and Pursuit of Reconciliation. The right to selfdetermination within the context of a covenant with God is properly ordered when it
is directed towards the creation and growth of a community that can include all
people. Because "in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting
their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us . . .
we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:19-20). Obedient to a God whose
reconciling power encompasses the world and empowered by a God whose obedience
was most perfectly manifested in Jesus Christ, we can take up the roles of
ambassadors and the work of reconciliation and community-building with the
boldness of those who know that nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39). This boldness allows us to confront all
pursuits of individual vainglory, selfish desires, and exclusionary power in love and
with the goal of transforming, rather than taking sides in, adjudicating over, or fleeing
from conflict.

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The Rule of Law and Recognition of Equality Before Law. Human communities are
both constrained and enabled by laws. As many reformers remind us, one function of
law is to restrain immoral and corrupting behavior: we need laws to maintain order.
Proper rule of law also allows persons and communities to better pursue ways of
holiness, as John Calvin reminded us; we benefit from laws because they improve
possibilities for social engagement and, therein, reconciliation. God can work through
law at local, regional, national, and international levels. "Great peace have those who
love your law; nothing can make them stumble" (Ps 119:165)—and good human laws
resound with the echoes of divine law. Good human laws treat those who come
before them with equality. Indeed, our fundamental conception of justice recognizes
that standards should apply impartially towards all, at local, national and international
levels.

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The Recognition of Complicity and the Need for Confession. We need the law—and
even more, we need grace through and before the law—because our own actions have
never been immune from sin: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
Paul reminds us (Rom 3:23). Rather than treating all people with dignity, we have
sometimes used them for our own purposes. Rather than promoting their right to selfdetermination, our church and government have sometimes assumed the right to act
on their behalf and without their consent. As a result, rather than building up

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