Divine mandate to heal and reconcile

The following is adapted from a sermon given at Stirling Avenue Mennonite in Kitchener, Ontario.


Rula Khoury Mansour

I am a Palestinian Christian—a Christian whose roots run deep in the Holy Land. My story is one of resilience and seeking peace in a land torn by ongoing conflict.

However, this journey wasn’t easy.

It began as a law student at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict confronted me daily. In the midst of that, I searched for God, and there he was, showing me the mystery of the in-between (being Palestinian with Israeli citizenship), revealing my role as a bridge-builder between two opposing worlds that seemed forever divided.

After law school, I was determined to influence the legal system from the inside, by becoming a public prosecutor in Israel, a role rarely available to Palestinians at the time and not fully accepted by my community. By God’s grace, I served all communities of Israel—Jews, Palestinians, Christians and Muslims. But I soon realized that the conflict goes beyond legal issues. This led me to pursue a PhD in reconciliation theology, in an effort to understand how Christ’s teachings about truth, forgiveness and justice could bring healing to our broken land.

Several years ago I started a peacebuilding ministry called Nazareth Center for Peace Studies. We work on the grassroots level to empower individuals and communities as peacebuilders through training and research rooted in Christ’s teachings.

We are all aware of the deep sorrow spreading worldwide. October 7’s devastating war has caused immense suffering and destruction for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and for people in Israel as well. Wars also rage in Ukraine, Myanmar and other places. Nations and families are divided, often struggling to recognize each other’s humanity.

But followers of Christ are called to carry on his mission to love, heal, free, serve and to bridge these divides. In 2 Corinthians 5:18, Paul wrote “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

This calling is a divine mandate and sacred task entrusted to the church by God.

When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9), he was speaking to people oppressed under Rome’s brutal rule. These words echo today, calling us to step into brokenness.

We are called to heal brokenness by speaking truth and acknowledging pain, extending forgiveness, seeking justice, promoting healing and envisioning a shared future. These are the signs of the kingdom of God and are deeply connected strategies to overcome evil with good, leading us toward reconciliation.

Seek truth
Truthfulness is highlighted in the ninth commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” (Exodus 20:16).

Healing and reconciliation start with the courage to tell the truth. Yet, we often don’t genuinely seek truth; instead, we tend to hold tightly to the belief that we know the whole story and feel no need to listen to others’ perspectives. We lock ourselves into a cycle of blame and bitterness.

Shared truth calls us to step away from “truth-owning” to “truth-seeking.” It’s a shift that requires humility to recognize that we may not have the full picture or might be misinformed. It also demands a willingness to listen to others’ perspectives, even when they challenge our convictions or sense of identity.

It means confronting histories we’d rather ignore. A powerful example is South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Churches across the country played an important role, providing spaces for victims and perpetrators to share their stories. In doing so, they fostered a shared truth that acknowledged harm, encouraged understanding and prepared the way for healing.

Remember and forgive
Forgiveness is the hardest part of reconciliation. To ask people to forgive after tragedies might feel offensive. The saying “Never forget, never forgive” feels like the only way to honour their pain. Yet when we hold tight to this mindset, we only deepen our wounds.

Forgiveness doesn’t ignore justice; it seeks to transform it. It refuses to let justice become a weapon of retaliation but instead pursues it as a healing, restoring act. In our context, where hatred and trauma run deep, forgiveness is not a sign of weakness but a radical, courageous choice that disrupts the cycle of violence. It doesn’t deny the past; it acknowledges it and then releases it.

In Rwanda, programs led by churches encouraged genocide survivors to forgive the perpetrators. Though incredibly painful, this approach offered communities a way out of bitterness and revenge. These churches, working alongside survivors, created spaces where the message of forgiveness could take root, turning a cycle of hatred into one of healing and resilience. Forgiveness became a strategy to overcome evil with good.

Revenge to restoration
Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Justice and forgiveness are deeply connected. Christianity inherently condemns injustice. Justice, in the context of reconciliation, promotes healing by restoring dignity and rights, holding wrongdoers accountable, and repairing what’s broken. True biblical justice confronts the systemic injustice, but it also hopes for transformation—a justice that not only heals the victim but seeks to restore the perpetrator.

The African-American church in the U.S. guided the Civil Rights Movement with Christian values of liberation, equality and nonviolence. Through worship, teachings and prayers, they reinforced these values, helping change discriminatory laws. With peaceful sit-ins, marches and public sermons, they showed a path to justice that uplifts, holds people accountable and seeks healing and transformation.

Exclusion to embrace
Romans 15:7 teaches: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God”

The most challenging aspect of reconciliation is imagining a shared future. God’s welcome of hostile humanity into divine communion is an example for how we should relate to others.

Right now, in the Holy Land and in many places, separation and exclusion dominate. Reconciliation calls us to see beyond the walls to a future in which we embrace each other fully as God’s children.

In Northern Ireland, the church played a crucial role in bridging divides between Catholics and Protestants. Through shared projects, worship services and youth programs, they slowly helped communities break down barriers. They worked to envision a world where they could be neighbours and friends rather than enemies.

Of course, sincere apologies and reparations that recognize pain, restore dignity and raise public awareness are essential for healing and change.
This vision of reconciliation may seem aspirational. When war rages, reconciliation can feel like a luxury we can’t afford. Yet conflicts—whether in my homeland or anywhere else—are not just about land or ancient claims. They are about people who suffer tragedies and long for dignity, security and a place to call home.

It’s easy to lose hope when surrounded by suffering and scenes of destruction, but we are called to be bearers of hope for those who suffer, even when it feels impossible.

My commitment to reconciliation is grounded in four main convictions:

  1. This mission is woven into our very identity—it’s not just what we do, but who we are.
  2. There is deep joy in walking through valleys with God, seeing his redemptive power at work.
  3. Suffering isn’t merely a hardship to endure—it’s part of the mission shaping us and those we serve.
  4. Even in darkness, we celebrate small victories—moments of grace that remind us reconciliation is not a distant dream but an unfolding reality.

Rula Khoury Mansour is the founding director of the Nazareth Center for Peace Studies and associate professor at Nazareth Evangelical College. She holds a Ph.D. in peace studies and theology from Oxford. She lives in Nazareth with her husband and three sons.



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