October 1stEmbodying Reconciliation
- by Melissa Miller
“As a regional church, we come together to… embody God’s reconciling ministry for all creation.” This part of MCEC’s vision statement caught my eye, as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 drew near.
MCEC encourages individuals and congregations to embody God’s reconciliation. The reconciliation that we read about in scripture; the reconciliation we receive through Jesus’ extravagant, sacrificial death; the reconciliation we yearn for in our broken, troubled world; the reconciliation we give witness to in countless places.
A favorite passage of scripture speaks of this reconciliation: “God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. God has trusted us with this message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
What might God’s reconciling ministry look like on Canada’s Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2025?
You might have noticed people with orange shirts or buttons that say Every Child Matters. Perhaps you saw schoolchildren wearing orange. If you asked a child, they may have told you about Phyllis Webstad, an Indigenous woman whose orange shirt was taken from her and never returned, when she was six years old, on the first day she went to a residential school. People wear orange shirts today to remember Phyllis and the other children who were mistreated. Schoolchildren learn about harmful prejudice. They learn kindness and respect for others. This embodies God’s reconciling ministry.
Your church may have included prayers fitting on a day of lament and hope. Worship resources are readily available through MC Canada’s CommonWord resource centre at https://www.commonword.ca. Even when we pray the Lord’s prayer we embody God’s reconciling ministry asking “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. God has trusted us with this message of reconciliation”
Personal devotions, reading and listening material may lead you to acts of God’s reconciling ministry. For example, Valley of the Birdtail, by Andrew Stobo Sniderman & Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii), is recommended reading for every Canadian, no matter how long your family has called this land home. With a subtitle of An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation, it is described as a profound reflection on systemic realities in Canada.
Your embodiment of God’s reconciliation may go in other directions than that of Indigenous/ non-Indigenous relations. Perhaps you are seeking to reconcile with creation, with the “more than human” parts of creation. Perhaps you are trying to make peace in your family or with your neighbour or in your church. Perhaps your focus is inner reconciliation, mending heart and soul, head and body. The Peace Table Storybook Bible (from MennoMedia) has multiple child-friendly ways to make peace with God, self, others and creation (pages 348-355).
Take heart. You are not alone. Others, past and present, walk the road with us. The God who has called and gifted us is steadfast, compassionate and true, and will guide us in embodying reconciliation.
-Melissa Miller is a retired MCEC Pastor and Chair of the MCEC Truth and Reconciliation Working Group