Saying Sorry
CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 27 May 2022
Friends in Christ,
It's been pointed out that this year Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week (May 26 - June 3) coincides with three significant anniversaries:
The 25th anniversary of the historic “Bringing Them Home” report into the Stolen Generation, commemorated on National Sorry Day (May 26).
The 55th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum, when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were finally counted under census as Australian citizens (May 27).
The 30th anniversary of the famous ‘Mabo’ case in the High Court, which overturned the myth of 'terra nullius' and declared Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to be the Traditional Owners of the land (June 3).
Please click through to a brief but very powerful 3 min. Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week video from my friend and colleague, Rev Michael Duckett, Pastor of Macarthur Indigenous Church, and Chair of the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Peoples Ministry Committee. He says with crystal clarity that reconciliation must begin with God and what he has done in Christ on the cross. Then it must be lived out among ourselves. The indigenous painting he features illustrates the point beautifully.
And here is a Collect for Reconciliation Week that you may like to pray these next few days.
God of forgiveness and hope, who sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to break down the walls that divide us from each other: grant that all Australians – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with later migrants from many countries, and their descendants – may work together to heal the wounds of injustice in our past, and to build a community of care and compassion for our future; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Lightly modified, © Anglican Church of Australia Trust Corporation. Used by permission.]
I have been asked why I think it appropriate for modern, non-indigenous Australian Christians to express regret and even to ask forgiveness for sins perpetrated against indigenous Australians in previous generations, even though those sins were not personally committed by them.
A key part of the answer is that the Bible indicates that our notions of sin – and our responsibility for it – cannot be totally individualistic. There is a corporate aspect, and sometimes even an inter-generational dimension.
One might say that just as we may inherit property, a name and status, and even non-tangible benefits from our forebears, so too we may inherit their guilt to some extent, or at least a responsibility to rectify their sins.
For example, let’s take Daniel’s prayer of confession and petition in Daniel 9. I thought of this at Evensong on Thursday night, since it includes one of the sentences that introduces confession of sins in Evening Prayer. If ever there was a man, who could argue that he had been faithful when other Israelites had been unfaithful, it was Daniel. But instead he sees himself personally linked to the sins of his people. He admits his corporate solidarity in their sin. Here is an extract of his confession, in Daniel 9.
7 “Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame – the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, LORD, because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you." (NIV)
These are not all sins Daniel committed personally. They are the sins of his people, especially of his leaders (the princes and kings); and not just of the present generation, but those of his ancestors. Yet he feels and solemnly expresses a personal connection to and responsibility for those sins, such that he says he shares in the shame.
Likewise, Jesus makes a fascinating comment in Matthew 23:29-32
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! (NIV)
The Religious Lawyers and Pharisees are quick to honour the ancient prophets – at least externally. And they are quick to say they would not have committed the sins their forefathers committed – killing the prophets. However, this just seems to be words.
Notice that Jesus is not so quick to excuse the Lawyers and Pharisees. In v31, he says they have actually admitted that they are the direct descendants of those who sinned in previous generations. And v32 seems to be indicating that he expected them to in some sense continue the sin of their forefathers.
This is confirmed when we look at the following verses, 33-36.
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. (NIV)
Jesus is predicting that this current generation of religious leaders will oppose him and those he sends, in a manner similar to previous generations. And in v35, he says this means the current generation will be held responsible not just for their own sins, but also for the blood of righteous men shed in previous generations all the way back to Abel.
There is some kind of inter-generational responsibility for sin being taught in these words.
How do we avoid this connectedness to past sin? In the case above, it would have required a decisive repudiation of the sins of their ancestors – a repudiation which was demonstrated in more than mere words.
How might this apply to the sins of past generations of non-indigenous Australians against Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders?
For a start, for Christians, especially those in Anglican Churches (but also many others), it means facing the facts that many of our church buildings are built on land that was granted to the churches by the colonial government, without any agreement from or recompense to the original inhabitants. In other cases, land donated or bequeathed to the churches had originally been granted to landholders in the same way. Much of our denominational wealth comes from those original extensive grants of land. We who continue to be the direct beneficiaries of the sins of our ancestors need to decisively repudiate their sins – in word and deed.
Some Christians missionaries have been magnificent in preserving indigenous languages and in efforts at providing protection, care and other welfare for indigenous people. Others have failed terribly in this way, at the least confusing English values with Christian values, and insisting that English culture is superior to indigenous cultures. Some Christians were also involved directly as individuals, or through their involvement with church institutions, in mistreatment, and sometimes even in violence or abuse, against indigenous Australians.
I am glad that for some years now, we have been funding indigenous ministries from our Anglican investments.
Image: Ramon Williams of Worldwide Photos
Likewise, although very late, I am pleased that the first church to make a formal, public apology to Aboriginal people was the Anglican Church of Australia. On the first Sunday in February 1988, the bicentenary of the first Christian service on Australian soil, the Anglican bishops of Australia gathered at our Cathedral, here in Sydney. There in St Andrew's, on behalf of all Australian Anglicans, then Primate, Archbishop John Grindrod, expressed the church’s sorrow and regret for the past mistreatment of Aboriginal people. It was an act of grace and courage. He spoke his apology directly to Aboriginal Bishop Arthur Malcolm, which lent the solemn occasion a personal rather than institutional touch, and Bishop Malcolm responded, not speaking for all the indigenous peoples but simply on behalf of the Aboriginal people in the Anglican Church:
"…For a long time, we have been hurting, our spirits have felt crushed by the wrong actions which took place between my ancestors and yours. Much suffering has been the result, but it is through the message of Jesus Christ that we have learned to forgive…On behalf of my people I accept your seeking of our forgiveness and thank you for your apology…"
I trust we can continue this journey, together.
Warmly in Christ,
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney