Sunday, August 13, 2017

A litany against white supremacy

In response to the violence against the mosque in Bloomington, nuclear threats against North Korea, the gathering of the KKK in Charlottesville, Virginia, and local structures of division right here in Saint Paul
Written by Revs. Elizabeth Rawlings and Jennifer Chrien*
Amended for Sunday, August 13, 2017  by Rev. Dr. Joy McDonald Coltvet

Periodically, I will put out my hand to you and you are invited to say this response
We are all siblings, we are all related
Creative and transforming God,

In the beginning, you created humanity and declared us very good
We were made in Africa, came out of Egypt. Our beginnings, all of our beginnings, are rooted in dark skin. We are all siblings. We are all related. We are all your children.

We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are all your children.

Violence entered creation through Cain and Abel. Born of jealousy, rooted in fear of scarcity,
Brother turned against brother. The soil soaked with blood, Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?

We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are our siblings’ keeper.

When your people cried out in slavery, You heard them. You did not ignore their suffering.
You raised up leaders who would speak truth to power and lead your people into freedom.
Let us hear your voice; grant us the courage to answer your call.
Guide us towards justice and freedom for all people.

We are all siblings, we are all related,
we all deserve to be free.

Through the prophets you told us the worship you want is for us to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke;
Yet we continue to serve our own interest, 
To oppress workers, to crush our siblings by the neck because we are afraid.
Because they don’t look like us, act like us, talk like us. Yet, they are us. And we are them.

We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are not free unless all are free

In great love you sent to us Jesus, your Son,
Born in poverty, living under the rule of a foreign empire,
Non-white, dark-haired, middle-Eastern.
They called him Yeshua, your Son, Who welcomed the unwelcome, accepted the unacceptable—
The foreigners, the radicals, the illiterate, the poor, the agents of empire and the ones who sought to overthrow it, The men and women who were considered unclean because of their illnesses.

We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are all invited to be disciples.

The faith of Christ spread from region to region, culture to culture.
You delight in the many voices, many languages, raised to you.
You teach us that in Christ, “There is no Jew or Greek, there is no slave or free, there is no male and female.” In Christ, we are all one. Not in spite of our differences, but in our differences.
Black, brown, and white; people of all genders; citizen and undocumented;
In Christ we are all one.

We are all siblings, we are all related,
we are all one in Christ, sent out to love and learn from our neighbors.

As we practice faith, we confess our sin to you and to one another. 
We know that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
We are captive to the sins of white supremacy, lack of consciousness, internalized oppression,
Which value some lives more than others,
Which believe some skin tones are more perfect than others,
Which create fear, intimidation, and commit violence against those who are already marginalized.
We confess our complicity—the things we’ve done, the things we’ve left undone—in this sin.
We humbly repent. We ask for the strength to face our sin, to dismantle it, and to be made anew.
We trust in your compassion and rely on your mercy
Praying that you will give us your wisdom and guide us in your way of peace,
That you will renew us as you renew all of creation in accordance with your will.

We ask this, we pray this, as this small part of your body…
We are all siblings, we are all related,
all beloved children of God.


Amen

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