阅读经文 

Anton与我们的媒体团队接触，他问了我们一些具有挑战性的问题：“当不同种族和文化的人在争战时，神在哪里？祂为什么不采取行动来终止他们之间的仇恨与杀戮呢？”

Anton的疑问触及一个热点话题。人类彼此之间的隔阂似乎与日俱增了，人与人之间的关系出现了无处不在的隔阂。文化、种族、语言、宗教、政治、经济——有很多事物把我们分隔开，令我们彼此为敌。

政治学家都在谈论我们世界上快速席卷的“巴尔干化”。这个名词指在二十世纪末期，东欧巴尔干半岛各国分裂为若干小国的历史事实，它指一个较大的领域或国家分裂为诸多较小且通常互相为敌的实体。

今天的经文提醒我们，耶稣以奇迹般的方式拆毁了犹太人和外邦人中间仇恨的墙，“使我们和睦”的耶稣使完全不同的族群联合起来。我们得以合而为一，是藉着耶稣在十架上的牺牲，首先使我们与神和好了。

如果我们希望在群体之间促进彼此和好，我们首先要记得，和好是耶稣所开启的。耶稣已经恢复了我们与父神的关系，而祂吩咐我们也要彼此和好。

Anton reached out to our media team with some challenging questions: “Where is God when different races and ethnic groups are fighting? Why is he doing nothing to stop the hatred?”

Anton’s inquiry touches on a hot topic. Humanity seems to be getting more fractured day by day. Barriers are popping up here and there and everywhere. Culture, race, language, religion, politics, the economy—so many things separate us and often pit us against each other.

Political scientists are talking about the rapid balkanization of our world. This term refers to the Balkan States in eastern Europe that divided into several small nations in the late 20th century. It points to the breakup of a large region or state into smaller entities that are hostile to one another.

In our Bible reading today, we are reminded that Jesus miraculously broke down the wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles. Jesus, “our peace,” creates one humanity out of distinct groups. This unification happens because of our reconciliation with God through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

If we want to promote peace in our communities, we need to remember that reconciliation starts with Jesus. He has restored our relationship with God the Father, and he calls us to be reconciled with one another.