Today we are celebrating National Indigenous Day of Prayer. Terrible damage has been done to Indigenous people in this country in the name of religion, and the consequences of misguided attitudes and practices continue to reverberate.  There is much reconciliation and healing still needed. Of the 94 Calls to Action put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015, only a few have been implemented. 

I came to Canada in 1974, specifically to teach First Nations children, which I did for the next five years. During that time, I was often included in Indigenous celebrations on the local reserves, and warmly welcomed by the community, particularly the elders, whom I experienced as patient, generous, and above all, wise. I was shocked to find that there was no First Nations content in the school curriculum at that time, and the residential school experience was rarely mentioned. I later spent a year as a house parent for adolescent Indigenous girls in Fort Smith, NWT, immediately after the closure of the residential school there, and there I was witness to some of the generational harm that the system had caused.  

The Anglican Church of Canada has made two formal apologies to the Indigenous people of Canada. In 1993, Primate Michael Peers expressed remorse that the Anglican Church of Canada had tried to remake the Indigenous Peoples of this country in our own image. He acknowledged the failure to recognize the image of God in the First Peoples of this country. A second apology was made in 2019 and Primate Fred Hiltz, on behalf of the Anglican Church, confessed to spiritual arrogance, and a failure to recognize the relationship that the First Peoples already had with the Creator, prior to the arrival of the settlers. 

In the final report from the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Woman and Girls, Commissioner Michale Audette said this: “Today is the first day of the Canada of tomorrow. We cannot change the past, but we can work together to shape a better future.” 

The inquiry also called for us to “learn about and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ history, cultures, pride, and diversity, acknowledging the land you live on and its importance to local indigenous communities, both historically and today”. 

Indigenous culture and spirituality have much to offer us. It is rooted in the interconnectedness of all creation, it is steeped in empathy, and it resonates with the seven sacred teachings: Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility, and Truth. 

Today’s Gospel moves us away from spiritual arrogance. It moves us away from seeing God primarily in church buildings and out into the world God created. It challenges our assumptions about how God sees the world. All of Creation is God’s temple, and as church communities we are called to humble service, and to witness to what God is doing in the world. There has been much in the news lately about different Christian denominations; about which one is the ‘true’ church, but none of us has the whole truth. All of us are on a journey and we would do well to listen and learn and open ourselves to the Spirit of God as we travel this path of faith. 

The Word of God became a flesh and blood human being and lived among us without arrogance, without grandeur or position, with simplicity, and yet also with sureness, with confidence in his identity and his call. A First Nations translation of the New Testament describes Jesus as “The Creator set Free”. We have recently celebrated Pentecost; the coming of the Holy Spirit, which the Indigenous people call “The Great Spirit”. No one has ever seen the Great Spirit except for the Son, who is himself the Great Spirit, and closest to the heart of the Creator.  

Jesus came to show us what God is like. God is not angry or distant, not cruel or judgmental. God is full of kindness and truth, and we are invited to participate in the world she created with compassion and connection; we are invited to freely receive and freely share God’s gifts.  

Freely giving and receiving and recognizing that everything is given to us by a loving God, moves us away from an “us and them” mentality, and calls us to step into a Creation-wide “us” that sees connections everywhere and honors these connections. Freely giving and receiving remind us that God is interested in more than religion, and that God makes her home in all of Creation. This is the Wisdom that the First Peoples of this country share with us. 

We cannot change the past, but we can work together towards a better future, we can listen and learn and educate ourselves towards deeper understanding so that as a parish, we are able to grow beyond a simple acknowledgement of the land on which we gather. We can be part of a more just future by sharing our God-given gifts generously, and by being open to receiving the wisdom that our Indigenous people offer to us. 

May we feel, receive, breathe, taste and touch God’s grace and gifts in our celebration this morning. May the grace and blessing made known in Jesus, and at work through the Great Spirit, permeate our hearts and souls, and then may we leave here with fresh resolve to work towards healing and justice in our country and in all of Creation. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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