{"id":5191,"date":"2025-01-22T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/christian-formation\/?p=5191"},"modified":"2025-01-21T14:36:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T19:36:50","slug":"week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-day-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/christian-formation\/2025\/01\/week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-day-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – Day 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Offering from the Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships Team<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place this year from January 18-25. The theme is \u201cDo You Believe?\u201d and is based on Jesus\u2019 conversation with Martha in John 11: \u201cI am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?\u201d

The theme was chosen in recognition of the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea (325), at which the words \u201cI believe\u201d were chosen to anchor the Creed as an instrument of universal Christian unity. For each day during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the members of the Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships (CUIR) committee will share a series of devotions based on the statements in the Nicene Creed.<\/em>

You can sign up to receive these devotions each morning in your email or view them on our website<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 5: <\/strong>For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever recited a creed and felt that the words seemed routine rather than meaningful? That happened to me one Sunday morning. As the phrase \u201cunder Pontius Pilate\u201d rolled off my tongue, I had to pause. Why do I often name this Roman governor in passing\u2014this hand of imperial power that played a role in the death of Jesus? How can I miss its weight?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, I had to ask myself: Where am I? Suffering against the power of empire? Or unknowingly serving it?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naming Pontius Pilate in the Nicene Creed ties Christ\u2019s crucifixion to a particular moment in history. It reminds us that Jesus was executed by the evil of an empire built on domination and control\u2014an empire that sought to silence the message of God\u2019s kingdom: a kingdom where love is poured out, mercy is boundless, and justice is upheld, as revealed on Jesus’ cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For our sake, Jesus willingly entered into this suffering \u201cunder Pontius Pilate.\u201d In doing so, he stood in solidarity with the oppressed, the outcast, and the marginalized. Through this act in Jesus, God calls us, the Church, to embody Christ’s faithfulness by resisting evil and proclaiming God\u2019s justice in unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we confess the death of Christ \u201cunder Pontius Pilate,\u201d let us remember that the power of empire continues to persist today. It takes many forms\u2014economic inequity driven by greed, systemic racism, environmental destruction, and indifference to human suffering. Where do we notice the brokenness of empire in our lives or communities? What\u2019s one way we can respond with Christ\u2019s courage and compassion in solidarity?

Christ calls us to resist these forces, to choose love and justice even when it costs us something. Yet here\u2019s the good news: the story doesn\u2019t end with empire or suffering.\u201cOn the third day, he rose again.\u201d The scars that Jesus carried with him in Ascension remind us that God\u2019s heavenly reign does not ignore the brokenness of this world. Instead, it bears its weight and transforms it. This shared hope binds us together as one body of Christ: God\u2019s love is greater than any human failure, frailty, or fear.

May the words of the creed\u2014\u201cunder Pontius Pilate\u201d\u2014inspire us, paradoxically, to live boldly: stepping out in love, standing together for justice, and walking as one body. May our shared lives declare: Life conquers death! Hope endures suffering! And love casts out fear. Amen.

Seyun Hwang is the Associate Pastor of Genesis UMC (Cary) and a member of CUIR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Photo by Albin Hillert, 4 October 2019, Geneva, Switzerland: Ecumenical Centre, Geneva.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seyun Hwang, Day 5:\u00a0Have you ever recited a creed and felt that the words seemed routine rather than meaningful? That happened to me one Sunday morning. As the phrase \u201cunder Pontius Pilate\u201d rolled off my tongue, I had to pause.\u00a0Why do I often name this Roman governor in passing\u2014this hand of imperial power that played a role in the death of Jesus? How can I miss its weight?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":5180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25,58,185,143],"class_list":["post-5191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-christian-formation","tag-christian-unity-interreligious-relationships","tag-cuir-devo","tag-unity"],"yoast_head":"\nWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 5 | Christian Formation | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/christian-formation\/?p=5191\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 5 | Christian Formation | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seyun Hwang, Day 5:\u00a0Have you ever recited a creed and felt that the words seemed routine rather than meaningful? 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