First scripture 1 Corinthians 12 : 1-14, 26
NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance).
Our Uniting Church National President Deidre Palmer and the National Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress Rev Mark Kickett have provided us with a video message that introduces NAIDOC week.
For those reading the service in this video we hear Deidre say –
“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.”
To “honour” in the Greek text is to ‘share in the joy’.
The President continues that in the passage from 1 Corinthians we hear that –
“Paul goes on to remind us that we all need each other – working together as the Body of Christ.”
“I am also inspired by First Nations Peoples stories of spiritual connection to this ancient land, of community, of joy, of faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives personally and as a country toward justice and healing.”
Reflection 1.
In front of the Healesville church we have a banner that reads Voice, Treaty, Truth. These words come out of the Uluru statement. They refer to the First Nation people’s call to be heard in their land. To have a voice that is enshrined in our Australian constitution so that changes of government can’t simply take it away. A voice that gives the people the right and the mechanism to have a say in the decisions that directly affect them and also in the broader national dialogue.
We too need to be open to the truth as we relearn our nation’s history . As we begin to understand the decimation and dispossession of the First People. They would rightly say by the colonisers. I even have trouble saying the word.
Al Macrae in an Assembly newsletter talks about truth. He said that as a boy he gave himself to Jesus. Then as he got a bit older his critical faculty switched on and he started questioning all sorts of things. He felt really bad about this as he felt it was undermining his conversion and commitment. He said it was John Smith of the God Squad who said to him “What has the God of truth got to fear from the truth”. Al said that made all the difference to him as he understood that his searching for the truth was not something wrong but a key part of his journey.
I think we can say the same thing as we uncover more of the truth about our nation’s history. I know that I find it really uncomfortable to be confronted with the stories of massacres, the stolen children, dispossession from the land. Our failure to give our first peoples a voice not only our nations affairs but worse still in those things that directly affect them. Even this years NAIDOC slogan of “Always was, always will be” especially when referring to the land, is disturbing. But as people of God we are first and foremost seekers of the truth.
I have been encouraged by the webinars on Voice, Treaty, Truth coming from the University of NSW law school as part of this NAIDOC week. The indigenous presenters have consistently said that they are seeking to work together with the non-indigenous people of the land. Aunty Patricia Anderson described this desire to work together as a gift of love to the Australian people. Our healing is interwoven. Megan Davis an indigenous lawyer said that in the last 10 years our governments have conducted 5 different processes and put out 8 different reports none of which have resulted in a genuine voice. But the desire to work together remains. That’s grace.
Where is the church in this? Rev Mark Kickett told his story of being a small boy taken from his family. He said in the first weeks he knew his mother would come for him but as the weeks and months went by it didn’t happen. He was placed with a devout Church of Christ family and he resisted their wish for him to make a decision for Christ. He said that in spite of their well-meaning actions he was always felt inferior Even things like black being evil and good being “washed white as snow” was confronting. He said that when it came to their faith he didn’t know, didn’t understand, and didn’t want to know. It was years later after he had been reunited with his mother and family that in spite of himself the words of Jesus rang true. The God of justice got in under his skin. Now he is the head of our national Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress in the Uniting Church.
A Prayer for NAIDOC 2020 – Always Was, Always Will Be
Loving Creator God,
We rejoice in the beauty of this ancient land and her waters.
We marvel at the awesome way they have been formed.
We give thanks for her First Nations Peoples,
their stories of creation sung by countless Ancestors.
It is right, Loving Mystery that we name the dispossession, violence and bloodshed,
which First Peoples endured at the hands of Second Peoples.
We ask your forgiveness, and their forgiveness, on behalf of our forebears.
we pray for your healing of this land and her Peoples.
We pray that love will make a new way, a harmony way, the way of Jesus.
Holy God,
Today we are grateful, and we celebrate this nation’s true history,
beginning long before time.
The First People of this ancient land who gave them birth,
who gives them life – Mother Earth.
We honour them and share their joy.
You, Wisdom, call us body, call us one,
To walk together, people from many lands,
under this same golden sun, together
First Nations Peoples and all of us who have since come.
Together there is a new song to be sung,
as old as time.
Wisdom, help us to listen, to follow, to learn, to grow.
In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
Matthew 25 : 1-13
A REFLECTION on the gospel –
I think it would be true to say that we know all about waiting. If we listen to stories of people in this strange Covid time one thing that often emerges is that it has been a time of reflection. A time to reassess what is important in our lives. Many of our assumptions have been overturned. Others have been reinforced. Yes that really is important to me. Many people are hoping that we will emerge from this time changed.
Amid the great hardship for many people we find people reporting getting to know neighbours, being able to spend time with their young children, needing to seek help when that would have seemed inconceivable, getting to discover things about their local area. Discovering compassion and care in unexpected places.
Yes waiting is our thing so today’s gospel is really a word for our time.
We are in the 25th chapter of Matthew’s gospel. The parable of the talents and the account of the final judgement (the sheep and the goats) are to come before the gospel ends with the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. So todays passage is in this final critical summing up of the gospel. Here in this strategic place we hear about the bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom.
The early church widely expected the imminent return of the Christ. Rod Horsfield in “With Love to the World” said that this led to people struggling with how to live, work and witness in the face of this unfulfilled expectation. The parable tells us the answer is preparedness, readiness, constant vigilance in how we live our lives. Rod said it is not the coming of the bridegroom that makes some of the girls wise and some foolish. It simply reveals what they are. All the girls were “insiders”. All were invited. Being ”in” is not enough.
This follows on from the account of the Pharisees, the ultimate insiders, who by their dress and lives were condemned by Jesus as hypocrites. Yes being an insider is not enough. In deed it is Matthew’s gospel that tells us “the first shall be last and the last shall be first”. It is what we do with the time that we have that counts.
Yes in recent times our lives have been turned on their heads. As we emerge are we ready to open our hearts and minds to new truths and new ways . To live the Jesus way.
Amen.