A Prayer of Confession to Indigenous Canadians
This post was updated July 1, 2021 (at the end).
The following content originated as a facebook post which I shared.
As a Canadian follower of Jesus, before we can have true reconciliation between Canada and the Indigenous people of our country, we must have true confession and repentance. I believe this prayer of confession can be a starting point for Jesus followers to follow in bringing genuine healing and restoration, individually and nationally, with Indigenous people. Christ has committed the message of reconciliation to the world and calls us to be ambassadors.
Keith Whitaker, a pastor with Mission Creek Alliance Church (Mission, BC), wrote this prayer as a response to the 215 indigenous children found in Tk’emlúps (Kamloops).
Lord, have mercy on us.
We came declaring the goodness of your name;
but made it like sawdust in their mouths.
We came in the name of the Creator,
the one who gave the fish, the birds, the animals, the ground beneath our feet;
but in your name, we claimed it for ourselves.
We took what wasn’t ours.
We came in the name of the waiting Father, who with open arms welcomes his children home;
but we tore them from theirs — children from the arms of their father’s and the warmth of their homes.
We came in the name of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world;
but it was our sin that carried their little lambs away.
Lord, have mercy on us.
We came in the name of the Pentecost Spirit,
who imparted the Good News in every mother tongue;
but we outlawed their language, silencing both dialect and gospel.
We came in the name of the Holy One;
but we committed the unholy, sewing shame and cursing in place of honour and praise.
We came in the name of your Son, the Word made flesh, the Bread of life, the Prince of Peace;
but we only saw trouble in their flesh;
we gave them moldy bread and left them to die; we started the war.
Kyrie Eleison. Lord, have mercy on us.
(Photo: A 1937 photograph of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Archdiocese of Vancouver Archives)
I do not know if the following comments were maid by Pastor Keith Whitaker in addition to his prayer or by the person(s) who shared the prayer. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly agree with the comments and also want to include them.
In this prayer Lord, help me to pray the most difficult word: We.
“We came in your name.” We, the church of God called to carry your name in the world.
I would rather pray “they.” “They came in your name.”
I wasn’t there. It was all out of my hands. They came in your name—evil men and women of the past, a few bad apples in the cart, a denomination I don’t belong to. I’d rather pray, “they came in your name.”
But the difference between “we” and “they” is the difference between making confession and making excuse. There is no power for healing without praying the hardest word. The Kingdom of God does not come without praying the hardest word. If we, the Universal Church, do not take responsibility, if we cannot tell the truth, if we do not stand in the place of judgement for the healing of the Nations, then who will? And if Christ suffered for the sins of our past history in order to bring healing, shouldn’t we be willing to do the same? So Lord, help us pray the most difficult word. We. We came in your name. Make right what we have made wrong. Only you can.
Addition (July 1, 2021)
The Canadian government under the leadership of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper did make a full and formal apology to Indigenous people for the residential school system and its impact on June 11, 2008.
Read the full statement here.
Also, I came across the following prayer today from the National Prayer Breakfast of June 19, 2021.
As always, your feedback and comments are welcome!
Leadership & Life 