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On Sunday we celebrated Aboriginal Sunday and since we were unable to record the service, here is an edited version of my address as we approach Australia Day. (It wasn’t really intended as a sermon because we had two testimonies and a bunch else happening.)

God's Kingdom and Politics

Why Aboriginal Sunday? Obviously it stands in apposition to Australia Day. Does that make it a political statement? Given the date was carefully chosen 80 years ago, long before the 26th of January was declared as Australia Day, yes. We aim to be apolitical as a church in that we don’t engage in party politics but as citizens of God’s Kingdom we can’t avoid political issues. Jesus’ Kingdom mandate has inherently political implications and his death was, ostensibly, political expedient.

Quoting Isaiah, Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4.18-19 CSB)

The Centrality of the Gospel

Although primarily a spiritual statement, to proclaim Gods Kingdom means we must encroach into the realm of politics but we must do so in a gospel way. Many well-meaning Christians, seeing the heart of God for justice for the poor and marginalised, engage in politics as if politics and social activism alone can solve a problem. Politics and activism are important but as Christian, we have something far more powerful—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1.16 CSB)

Salvation is not just about going to heaven when we die. It begins to make things right now as we live in God’s Kingdom in the midst of the kingdoms of this world. Salvation is a supernatural work of God in this natural realm and if we divorce Kingdom work from supernatural Kingdom power in the Holy Spirit, we deny the world the greatest gift we have to give.

Justice and revival

From a gospel stand point, justice for First Nations people isn’t just a matter of political engagement, it’s a matter of spiritual healing for the nation. Argentine Evangelist Ed Silvoso visited Perth some 20 years ago and talked of his experience of seeing revival follow forgiveness and reconciliation with First Nations people in Latin America. It is noteworthy that the only revivals in Australia that I am aware of have happened in Indigenous communities.

Do we Christians really believe in the power of God to change lives and, as history teaches us, whole communities!? Or is our Christianity merely a socio-cultural appendage? One more voice among the cacophony in our society?

Practical Steps to Reconcilliation

So what can we do to help the cause of reconciliation in a way that is both Christian and practical? These certainly aren’t the only ways, but they are a start.

Pray

As I look at the issues often highlighted in regards to reconciliation, many of them are beyond us as individuals. Closing the gaps in education, health, life expectancy and incarceration are complex issue that require government intervention. But one thing we can do as Christians is pray. If we believe in the power of God and the power of prayer, then this is no small thing. It puts the powers of darkness on notice and in some way releases God’s power into the world. Especially we can pray as a church in our services, both reminding ourselves of the needs and calling on God to intervene in our society. 

Confession and Lament

I don’t believe that we should continually wallow in white post-colonialist guilt. The gospel is about forgiveness and redemption. But we do need to acknowledge the past. For many, the date we’ve chosen for Australia Day is not a day of celebration. (As a Western Australian, I don’t even think it’s a very good date.) It is fine to celebrate our nation, but it’s also important to spend time acknowledging the sins committed against Australia’s First Nations. It’s a Christian response to weep with those who weep (Romans 12.15). The Bible is full of Psalms of lament at pain and injustice and there’s a whole book called Lamentations. It is appropriate to spend time expressing our sorrow for the pain and the scars that are part of our national history and that are still the lived experience of many people, even as we seek to make it right. 

Listen and Learn

We can also listen to and learn from our Aboriginal brothers and sisters. As a very simple example, I love that we’re acknowledging the Noongar seasons of the year more and more. That makes more sense of our experience in the South West of WA than the imported Northern European seasons. We can listen to Aboriginal culture. Not just traditional culture but the ongoing evolving culture. Engage with Aboriginal music, storytelling and visual art. As adopted sons and daughters of this land, those of us who are non-indigenous get to appreciated that in a special way. 

Indigenous Christianity

We also need to listen to Aboriginal Christians. The genius of Christianity is that it can adapt to every culture but that also means we bring cultural assumptions to it, particularly those of us shaped by 2000 years of Western Christianity. Indigenous Christians can challenge some of those assumptions and show us aspects of the gospel that we may have missed. (There’s a tendency in our society to privilege traditional Aboriginal spirituality which has some hugely problematic elements for Christians. Aboriginal Christians can help us navigate some of these issues, as well.)

Unity in Christ

Ultimately, as Christians, we need to express our solidarity as God’s people across and above ethnic lines. Col. 3.11 says, “In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.” 

The priority of Christ in our lives means that Indigenous and non-indigenous Christians relate first and foremost as one blood—the blood of Christ—and one family—the family of God. It is a family that is privileged even above human families. But that also means that the concerns of the marginalised in our family are our collective concerns. 

It also means we get to celebrate our cultures together—indigenous and non-indigenous. And in Jesus there’s a lot to celebrate.