Repentance and Forgiveness

Sometimes things just align through the Spirit’s leading. I chose Luke 24:36-49 for this Sunday weeks ago and then realized yesterday that it dovetails wonderfully with Healing and Reconciliation Sunday.

There are many layers here in Jesus’ appearance to the disciples after meeting the two on the Emmaus road. There’s their inability to believe what is right in front of them and His patient request for fish to eat to prove He wasn’t a ghost. Unlike in John’s version of this story, showing His hands and feet wasn’t enough. Then Jesus needs to explain the scriptures to them, just as He did on the road. And in this account, they are not merely to decide who they will forgive, but they are to proclaim repentance and forgiveness to all nations in His name. Likewise, as followers and hearers of this message, we should be sharing it as well.

Repentance and forgiveness are not easy when mass graves of children from our Indigenous residential schools keep being uncovered - 1,100 bodies and counting. These are not easy words when it is estimated that there are 4,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Like the disciples we can struggle with what is in front of us, unsure that it could be real, unsure of what to do about it, unsure of what our responsibility is. Forgiveness is certainly not easy for Indigenous people, and yet their recent visit to the Pope showed them living them it out as they entered the opulence of the Vatican with gifts.

So what do we do? We start with what the disciples needed to do, which was to accept the losses they had experienced and to gather and converse and grieve. Not only are we navigating pandemic losses but loss of innocence about our country’s character and decency. But rather than hiding together in the safety of our homes or churches, trying to avoid the outside, as Jesus sent them out we are challenged to not freeze in our horror or overwhelm about the injustices of our past and present. We are asked to do more.

Denominations and governments have made formal apologies and other acts of repentance, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has done extensive work. However, the calls to action from their report are not only for national and community leaders but for us to take into our hearts. This is an ongoing process for us as individuals and congregations to engage with our past and our Indigenous brothers and sisters and to encourage the process of healing and reconciling.

It is hard to face heartbreak and deep pain of others tied to our white privilege. It is hard to acknowledge our actions which have contributed to suffering which continues today. It is hard to recognize our own biases, prejudices and fears which cause us to pull away from engaging and taking responsibility. And the task can seem too big and difficult. But we need to start where we are, educate ourselves and continue taking steps towards our First Nations brothers and sisters. May repentance and forgiveness mark our lives, and may healing and reconciliation result.