Notes from a Sojourn
June 21, 2020
Grace Upon Grace
A Sermon for National Indigenous Day of Prayer (John 1:1-18)
St. Lawrence Parish gathers on the traditional land of the Mohawk People. May we dwell on this land with respect and peace. Amen.
"He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him."
John writes a highly spiritualized account of Jesus life, ministry, death, and resurrection. The first several verses of John's gospel are often referred to as the "Prologue of John." In this text, the author situates the divine phenomenon of the incarnation within the context of creation itself. John's prologue also introduces an all too familiar social theme of other-nes, a very human reality we likely recognize immediately.
A conventional interpretation of John 1:11 understands that Christ and his successors offered their ministry within their own cultural and religious context, but were not accepted by the institutional leadership and the general population. A generation after Jesus, early Christians would begin to express the pain of this intra-religious conflict in very strong terms. John gives voice to this pain in extremely beautiful, yet disturbing ways.
John the Apostle and Evangelist is often associated with the image of an eagle. This comes from the ancient literary grouping of four elements of creation in what we sometimes refer to as the tetramorph (human, lion, ox, eagle). This is an ancient identity symbol, borrowed by Judaism long before the time of Jesus. John is the eagle for us because, of the Christian evangelists, he flies highest. John's high theology expresses poetic beauty and invites symbolic interpretation at every turn.
Let us return to John 1:11 for a moment. We may normally associate this verse with the rejection of Jesus by the people of Judea during the time of Christ's earthly ministry. But is it possible to imagine that it is actually you and me who have rejected Christ?
There are times when the gospel finds us on the outside of God's ministry. If we listen in humility, we find ourselves looking in on God's ministry but may discover we are not actually living the love of the Creator.
The People of God have a very long and trouble history of exclusion and aggression. Christianity is no exception. After participating in an intra-religious rivalry with the dominant culture of Judea, and suffering organized persecution under Rome, the followers of Jesus would begin a new period of missionary expansionism that would define our religion for the next fifteen hundred years. During this time, we developed extremely effective means by which we would exclude, persecute, and dominate indigenous cultures.
Contact between organized Christianity and indigenous populations are rarely expressed as encounters between children of a common Creator.
We did not recognize the mark of the Creator in the lives of others.
Today is National Indigenous Day of Prayer. On this day, the church joins with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis in celebrating indigenous cultures of this land, praying for the peoples of Canada, and advocating for justice as we pursue reconciliation together.
I will not go into detail about church and state sponsored violence against indigenous people in Canada. The list is very long and our institutions have long upheld systems of injustice. Today, I wish to share three small glimmers of hope that I perceive as we mark today's observances.
Like most Canadians of European descent, I learned about Canada's Indian (sic.) Residential Schools program in adulthood. I regret that I had to go out of my way to be educated about the partnership between my church and my government to commit cultural genocide over many generations right here in Canada. My own children have been learning about the legacy of residential schools as an ongoing priority of Truth and Reconciliation at our local public school for several years now. That gives me hope for new generations.
Very recently, anti-indigenous racism within the Anglican Church of Canada would have been normal. Many jurisdictions of our church forbade indigenous traditional ceremonies. This winter, the entire college of active clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa gathered for a day of learning. We were taught by indigenous presenters, and participated in ceremony together. That reality is becoming more and more normal everyday.
Anglicans are increasingly learning the humble work of encountering God's presence in the lives of others. Idle No More, Black Lives Matter, Pride, and so many other advocacy movements are teaching us how to listen, grieve, become angry, and support change in our society. As our church participates in these movements, we are slowly learning what it means to embrace humanity as a blessing of creation.
If it is possible for us to believe that we have rejected the Creator, presented to us in the presence of those who may differ from ourselves, John also offers an alternative to rejection: grace. John 1:16 invites anyone who accepts the Creator's human identity to receive "grace upon grace!"
Grace is a divine gift. It is the free giving of one's own self for the sake of others and it is powerful medicine. Grace disarms violence, displaces power, humanizes enemies, and facilitates recognition of the Creator among the people of creation. Amen.
Patrick+
