Truth & Reconciliation Reflection

A Special Service to honour National Day for Truth & Reconciliation: Where have we come from? Where are we new? Where are we going?

Opening Prayer & Land Acknowledgement

Creator God, You made all people of every land. It is our responsibility to give thanks and respect to those who first occupied this land we are upon. We give thanks to the Secwepemc Nation, the first people of this land. We give thanks to You, Creator, for the gift of this land and the gifts of the people of this land. Help us to walk in a good way with all people, especially those who have suffered mistreatment and displacement. Keep our hearts and minds open to what Your Spirit has to show us today. In the name of Jesus Christ, who reconciles all people to You. Amen.

Opening Songs

Greeting - kids Bible?

Jeremiah 31:15 NIV

15 This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Statement on the Impact of Residential Schools: Just as Jeremiah describes Rachel weeping for her children, we know that many Indigenous parents wept as their children were taken from them and placed in Residential Schools or in the homes of non-Indigenous families. Some of these children never returned home. Others returned home but were forever changed by their experiences. As we take time to hear about the impact of Residential Schools from Indigenous people, we are called to listen and to weep with those who weep.

Remembering the Children Prayer: God of our Ancestors, who holds the spirits of our grandmothers and grandfathers and the spirits of our grandchildren: Remembering the Children, we now pledge ourselves to speak the Truth, and with our hearts and our souls to act upon the Truth we have heard of the injustices lived, of the sufferings inflicted, of the tears cried, of the misguided intentions imposed, of the power of prejudice and racism which were allowed to smother the sounds and laughter of the forgotten children. Hear our cries of lament for what was allowed to happen, and for what will never be. In speaking and hearing and acting upon the Truth may we as individuals and as a nation meet the hope of a new beginning. Great Creator God, who desires that all creation live in harmony and peace: Remembering the Children we dare to dream of a Path of Reconciliation where apology from the heart leads to healing of the heart and the chance of restoring the circle, where justice walks with all, where respect leads to true partnership, where the power to change comes from each heart. Hear our prayer of hope, and guide this country of Canada on a new and different path. Amen.

Silence

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 58:1-14

Isaiah 58:1–14 NIV

1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. 13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

CHIASM…

v1 Rebuke

vs 2-5 fast without blessing

vs 6-12 the Lord’s chosen fast

vs 13-14a feast with blessing

v14 Promise

So what is a “true fast” then? What does God require of us?

-loose chains of injustice (not deny that injustice exists, or only pay attention when injustice affects us)

-untie the cords of the yoke (requires paying attention to those under the yoke)

-set the oppressed free and break every yoke (this is systems work… pulling babies out of the river, but also going upriver to see why the babies keep getting tossed into the river!)

Then it gets practical and specific:

-share your food with the hungry

-provide the poor wander with shelter

-clothe the naked

-and not turn away from our own flesh and blood

-spending ourselves… for others - not just to build our own empires, take care of the people in our circle, etc…

your light will rise in the darkness

your night will become like the noonday

Bonus promise: The Lord will guide you always;

He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land etc

And how can we live out such a calling to true fasting?

Because we see it in Jesus. He fulfills this text and then invites us to join Him in living this out.

We see, in the gospels, Jesus reveals the justice of God, liberating from oppression - both immediate and systemic, demonstrating mercy.

And so, in our work lives, in our politics, in our treatment of friend and stranger - or what Jesus might call our neighbours - and how we treat the poor… we are called to fast in order to liberate. To choose to limit our consumption in order that someone else might eat. To choose to invest in the liberation of the oppressed rather than the satisfaction of every want or whim.

To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.

This is the work to which we’re called.

Prayer of Confession & Reconciliation:

God of all peoples, in all times and places; Your creation sings Your praise.

Your Son teaches us the ways of love, justice and peace.

Your Spirit emboldens our hearts and hands to build the world according to Your will.

We confess our brokenness:

We do not hear the cries of those who are suffering because it is inconvenient and costly to respond.

We do not acknowledge truths that make us uncomfortable. We reject and belittle those who are different than we are.

We are blind to the ways we benefit today from a legacy of hurt against Indigenous people.

Too often, we love imperfectly, speak harshly, and judge quickly.

Reconciling God,

We are called to gentleness, to compassion and to radical acceptance of difference.

In Christ Jesus, we are learning to walk in new ways with new companions.

We are learning to surrender the need to justify, to explain and to fix.

We are learning to listen: when creation groans, we groan as well.

When Your people speak out against injustice, we honour their courage and stand with them.

Spirit of God, create in us feeling hearts, clear eyes, and open minds. Amen.

Silence

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:16-19

2 Corinthians 5:16–19 NIV

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Ray Aldred’s words

Silence

Song of Response

Benediction

As a people who work, play, and live on this land,

we recognize the privilege we have when we enter and leave community spaces.

Places of work, churches, homes, grocery stores, restaurants, theaters, countrysides, beaches, parks and farms are not only opportunities to remember Indigenous communities, it is also a reminder that the reconciliation God brings is to be given to all we encounter.

As we go from place to place, may the words of Micah the prophet remind us of our calling:

Go into the land, love God and love others

We seek to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.