The turmoil that started was of a cross-cultural nature. Visitors from far and wide had come to the city to celebrate one of their most important religious rituals. All of a sudden one morning they woke up to a familiar sound — it was the sound of their languages is being spoken in the streets! And while this may not have been unusual at first — there were a lot of visitors after all — when they looked out to see what was going on they realise that these men who were speaking their language were not native speakers but locals. And as they listened on they realise that the message that these men were telling was very significant. 

These listeners had come from 15 different nations to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover — a time to remember God’s salvation for their people when he led the out of Egypt. These locals speaking their own languages were talking about somebody named “Jesus” and connecting Jesus into both their people’s history and theology. Not their individual histories but the history of their people as a group and how they had been connected with God and how they are related to God. Eventually, according to the speakers, this Jesus guy had bad things happen to him. He was crucified. And the speakers accused these visitors of being complicit in that!

I’m sure at this point some people said, “I wasn’t around here then don’t blame that for me.” But others of them asked the question, “What then shall we do?”

Here is how the First Nations translation puts it:

“When they heard this, the words pierced their hearts like a long knife. With troubled hearts they lifted their voices to Stands on the Rock and all the message bearers. ‘Fellow Tribal Members,’ they said, ‘tell us what we must do.’” The Good Story Continues (Acts) 2:37

I think it’s interesting that the word used here is “we.” They didn’t ask, “What can I, individually, do?” but rather, “What can we, collectively, do?” They immediately recognised that they were complicit in the actions of both their ancestors and their coreligionists in the crucifixion of Jesus. Their response wasn’t, “Hey don’t blame me — I wasn’t there!” It was instead, “Oh no. You are right. So what can we do now? How can we make this right?”

Today on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation we recognise the Truth that we are complicit in things that we shouldn’t have been as a church. And we ask the question, “What must we do for Reconciliation to happen?”

How can we make this right?

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard feedback on how reconciliation is only between us and God and that reconciliation between people can only happen in the context of Jesus. Connected with this is the idea that since an apology has already been given people need to just move on and stop being victims. As a follower of Jesus, I wholeheartedly agree that Jesus is at the core of all reconciliation. But for me I like to emphasise that fact that I cannot have true reconciliation with God if I do not have reconciliation with my neighbour. That’s one of the reasons why Jesus pairs “Love the Lord your God” with “Love your neighbour.” I also firmly believe that apology without repentance is of little value.

I’ve also seen references by some people that “If only we could return to the Canada of old everything would be better.” The problem with that is that it’s not a statement that we really want to be true because it doesn’t recognise the truth nor does it foster reconciliation. Many people did not experience goodness in the Canada of old. So when they reflect and look back it’s not with nostalgia but with pain. It’s only a series of bad memories and experiences.

I have heard a couple of apologies and land acknowledgements this week related to how institutions deal with Truth and Reconciliation — one from the Canadian Medical Association and the other from First Baptist Church of Vancouver.

What I appreciate about these two apologies/acknowledgements is the fact that they — like the visitors to Jerusalem at Pentecost — recognise our complicity in the evils of the past. I really appreciated what the First Baptist Church of Vancouver said. Here’s part of their statement:

“The truth is that we as the church can be quick to take collective credit for the good that those who came before us have done in Christ’s name: Schools, hospitals, orphanages, fighting for the abolition of slavery. But we can be equally quick to attribute bad behaviour to bad apples, dragging our feet when it comes to owning the things that others have done. 

“In Christ’s name, we downplay our history, the history where police helped Indian agents forcibly remove 150,000 indigenous children from their homes and communities where many were physically and sexually abused or deliberately malnourished under the guise of nutritional experiments where needles were stuck in their tongues to keep them from speaking their own language as those who came before us sought to ‘Kill the Indian in the child.’

“And in ‘killing the Indian in the child,’ they removed the values that have been shared with us by Chief Joe Norris when we went through this process with Darryl. Family values, trust, respect, integrity, love, forgiveness and responsibility. When we ask our indigenous neighbours to forgive before we’ve owned our part, or turn a blind eye in a deaf ear to the downstream effects that persist into the present day, we sin collectively by dishonouring God’s image bearers.”

The Canadian Medical Association also acknowledges complicity in the past when it says, “We acknowledge there are ripple effects on future generations. We take ownership of the CMA’s history, and we are committed to righting our wrongs and rebuilding our relationship on a foundation of trust, accountability and reciprocity.” Canadian Medical Association Apology

You notice that both groups point out that we’re very willing to embrace what we see as the good things that our ancestors have done and say, “Look at all the good stuff the Church/society has done.” But when it comes down to the bad things that the church has done, we are less than willing to accept that as being our responsibility or to take credit for that as well. And I think that’s where it’s important for us to actively engage in Truth and Reconciliation.

Moving forward in light of our complicity

So what can we do? I think we need to be guided by those who heard the message in Acts 2. Like them we must …

1. Accept complicity.
2. Ask “What must we do?”
3. Listen to the answer.
4. Change the way we think and act. As it says in Acts 2:41 “The ones who believed the words of Stands on the Rock became a part of Creator’s new sacred family and participated in the purification ceremony. About three thousand people were added to the family on that day!”

Now I realise that all of this seems pretty clear to me but you may be reading thinking that there are huge holes in what I have just said. If so, please let me know in the comments below!

Help is available. Call the 24-hour national Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419. 

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Scripture quotations are reproduced from First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, copyright © 2021 by Rain Ministries, Inc. Used by permission of Inter Varsity Press All rights reserved worldwide. www.ivpress.com