Indigenous Peoples' Day

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cart out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town. Matthew 10:5-15

When Europeans first set foot on this continent, they were Christian and had chaplains with them. They were greeted by our Indigenous people with curiosity and hospitality. Each tribe has stories of how our ancestors helped visitors. Yet these visitors were not living the Gospel but were instead directed to seize and gather the riches of this land, taking as much land as possible for their progeny. We made our homes welcome and peaceful and they took what they wanted. They gave us deadly diseases and Jesus in the same breath. Today we celebrate the incredible survival and thriving of our tribes and people, despite all they suffered and were stripped of. We survive, strive and thrive for our children, their children to the seventh generation yet unborn.

                        A Four Directions Litany for Indigenous Peoples' Day 

EAST: We come to you, O God, as a few of your many children on this earth. We thank you for the gift of life that comes to us like the dawn of each new day. We pray for light on our path. Open our hearts to your Spirit. WE also remember your people who live to the east of us on this earth. Bring peace where there is constant fighting, and freedom where there is coercion, so that people may welcome the daylight with joy rather than fear.

We welcome our cousins and celebrate the gifts they bring.

SOUTH: We humbly thank you, God, giver of life, for the abundance and variety of your creation. We thank you for the warm winds of the south that allow plants and food to grow, year after year. Give that we may learn the lessons hidden under every leaf and rock. We pray today for the many peoples of the south who do not have enough to eat. Help us always to be generous with what we have and share with those who have less. WE pray, too, that you will bring healing where there is strife and brokenness. Give to the powerful a change of heart, and to those who suffer, courage and the ability to forgive. Where there is death and hatred, sow the seeds to new life.

We welcome our cousins, and celebrate the gifts they bring.

WEST: Lord, we thank you for the beauty of the red and purple sunset. By it teach us respect for all the things you have made. Renew our understanding day by day as we travel along our own road through life. And give us insight today that will serve us long after we leave this gathering. WE thank you for the heritage you have bestowed on this country through the generations who lived here long before the Europeans came to settle. Open our ears to the wisdom of Indigenous peoples. Help us to share with gratitude the unique gifts you have bestowed on every nation. Bring healing also, we pray, to the many Indigenous communities who suffer because of what a greedy and insensitive culture has done, often in your name. By your Spirit, bring reconciliation between our cultures so we may walk together before you.

We welcome our cousins and celebrate the gifts they bring.

 NORTH: We thank you, O God, for our Saviour Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice makes us pure as the snow. We all depend on your forgiveness and grace. We ask it for ourselves and for our nation. Give us courage to ask forgiveness when we have been wronged. Send wisdom along with the white hairs of our elders. Teach us to listen when you speak through them. AND help us as sisters and brothers to mature in our faith and our understanding of the Gospel. Make us ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight hearts.  

We welcome our cousins and celebrate the gifts they bring.

The circle of love is repeatedly broken because of the sin of exclusion. We create separate circles: the inner circle and the outer circle, the circle of power and the circle of despair, the circle of privilege and the circle of deprivation. 

 Forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have sinned against us. 

The circle of love is broken whenever there is alienation, whenever there is misunderstanding, whenever there is insensitivity and a hardening of the heart. 

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have sinned against us. 

The circle of love is broken whenever we cannot see eye to eye, whenever we cannot link hand to hand, whenever we cannot live heart to heart and affirm our differences. 

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have sinned against us. 

Through God’s grace we are forgiven, by the mercy of our Creator, through the love of the Christ, and in the power of the Spirit. Let us rejoice and be glad. Amen.

(originally written for the Indigenous Peoples' Day Service at Old North Church, Boston 2022 - first responses were sung)