To stay is to love: mission as God's wounded love
Following the World Communion of Reformed Churches General Council two weeks ago, and inspired by the reflections of Rev Dr Allan Boesak, Uniting Church President-elect Rev Dr Paul Goh reflects on love, perseverance and solidarity
November 4, 2025
written by Rev. Dr Paul Goh, President-elect, Uniting Church in Australia Assembly; and Mission Activator, Synod of South Australia
Image: Rev Dr Allan Boesak addresses the WCRC General Council
At the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) General Council in Chiang Mai, which concluded last Thursday, Rev. Dr Allan Boesak lifted the cry of Palestinians who, amid devastation, choose to stay.
“To stay,” they say, “is to love.”
In this reflection, I explore how such steadfast love embodies mission as God’s wounded love, calling the church to persevere in its witness for justice and peace. Drawing on the WCRC’s recent resolutions on Palestine and echoes of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s costly discipleship, I invite us to reflect deeply on what it means to “stay” with the suffering—to resist despair and to embody resurrection faith in our own context—trusting that even in woundedness, love endures and life will rise again.
In a world where bombs still fall and innocent lives are lost—many of them women and children—the cry of those who refuse to abandon their land or their hope echoes with profound theological power.
This act of staying is not passive endurance; it is a declaration of resurrection faith—a witness that perseveres amid wounds. To stay is to plant trees, raise children, heal wounds, and welcome strangers even in devastation. It is to follow Christ the Peacemaker, whose peace is not quietism but the fierce labour of liberation, justice, and mercy.
In the places where Christ still suffers with the wounded of the world, the church is called to be salt that heals and light that refuses to be extinguished.
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A Persevering Witness of Wounded Love
Boesak drew a powerful parallel with the South African struggle against apartheid, reminding us that the global Reformed family once heard and responded to those cries. Now, he urged, the same courage and obedience are demanded in the face of Palestinian suffering—“greater than what we endured in South Africa.”
In that spirit, the WCRC General Council adopted a series of resolutions that express a persevering witness of wounded love. “Mission,” Rev. Boesak said, “is joining God’s rebellion against death and empire—a participation in God’s own wounded love.”
From Palestine to Congo to Australia, the Church is summoned to sumud (Arabic: صمود)—a form of resistance that is nonviolent, deeply spiritual, and existential. Widely used by Palestinian theologians and communities, sumud expresses steadfast hope and resistance for the healing of creation and the life of the world.
Quoting Bonhoeffer, Boesak reminded us that to stand with God and God’s people is to draw near to God’s light, where “our joy is hidden in suffering and our life is in death.” This is the paradox of God’s wounded love—that divine solidarity is not distant compassion but cruciform perseverance.
The Uniting Church’s Response
Since the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023, and the devastating military retaliation by Israel in Gaza, the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly has sought to respond to the worsening conflict with a steadfast commitment to justice and peace.
We have spoken out on the unfolding humanitarian crisis, the need for adherence to international law, the release of hostages, our rejection of antisemitism and racism, and the urgent call for a just and lasting peace for all in Palestine and Israel.
Standing with the global church, the Assembly Standing Committee, at its July 2025 meeting, adopted the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee’s statement “A Call to End Apartheid, Occupation and Impunity” as the official position of the Uniting Church in Australia.
In response to the ongoing situation in Palestine and Israel, we continue to call for a durable ceasefire and the full and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the West Bank; an immediate end to the occupation of Palestinian territories and the blockade that continues to suffocate Gaza; the timely release of all remaining hostages and Palestinians held without charge or trial; accountability wherever international law has been violated; the protection and affirmation of Palestinian rights and freedoms; justice through international courts and mechanisms; the cessation of all weapons exports to Israel until human rights and international humanitarian law are upheld; and a renewed global commitment to a just and lasting peace that honours the dignity and security of all people.
Persevering in Our Shared Witness
As followers of Jesus, we are called to listen deeply to these cries, and to act in solidarity with those who suffer. In the spirit of our covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) and our shared commitment to justice, we must ask:
What does it mean for us to “stay” with those who suffer in Palestine, sharing in God’s wounded love? And how might we embody resurrection faith here, in solidarity with the First Peoples of this invaded land we now call Australia?
The WCRC reminds us that “mission continues to be disruptive and transformative—a hope and a future that calls the church to address the growing needs of the world around us. Mission is the church joining with God’s action in the world (Missio Dei).”
This is the shape of mission as God’s wounded love—costly, courageous, and compassionate. It is not merely a statement on paper but a courageous act of discipleship; “bringing food to the hungry and water to the thirsty, freedom to the captive, liberation to the oppressed, bringing the wounds of the brokenhearted.” It is the church’s call to be present where the world is hurting, to proclaim that even in the shadow of death, life is rising.
To stay is to love. To love is to resist.
And to resist is to persevere in our witness that, even in suffering, the love of God holds the power to change the world.
Along with our global Reformed family, we share the vision proclaimed in Hope Beyond the Tears: A Message to the Churches (WCRC, October 2025) — “a vision for a future where all are fed and free, a future where the church is relevant and working to dismantle normalized suffering created by the power of Empire.”
“Looking to Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), let us therefore persevere in our witness to the coming reconciliation and renewal of the whole creation.
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