Last Sunday was Juneteenth. It was also the anniversary of the Mother Emanuel AME shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
In some church traditions, Juneteenth is (rightly) a day of celebration and rejoicing – celebrating freedom for ancestors.
My church tradition remains one of the whitest denominations in this country. Moreover, we are aware that the murderer in Charleston had been raised in one of our churches. And so as we planned worship for this Sunday, it was important to reflect on the cost of overt racism, institutional racism, and the harm caused by indifference to the status quo.
I wrote this confession for our worship, to make explicit our commitment to working toward justice in our communities.
A Confession for Racism & Prejudice
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
Today is June 19th – the holiday known across this country as Juneteenth. We remember this day the end of the horrific practice of enslaving other children of God in the name of profit and white supremacy.
We celebrate the gift and joy of freedom, even as we lament the continued impact of racism in our country.
Today we also remember the Martyrs known as the Emanuel 9.
Engaged deeply in God’s Word, the Emanuel AME Wednesday night Bible Study welcomed a stranger into their midst. After he prayed with them, he opened fire and killed the Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Kibwe Diop Sanders, the Rev. Daniel Lee Simmons, the Rev. Myra Singleton Quarles Thompson, and the honorable state senator and pastor of the church, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney.
He said he wanted to start a race war. He didn’t believe that those holy men and women were made in the image of God. He believed his whiteness entitled him to deny their humanity and take their lives. But their blood cries out to God.
As people of God, we confess the sin of racism and condemn racist rhetoric and the ideology of white supremacy.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
As disciples of Jesus we confess, repent, and repudiate the times when we and our church have been silent in the face of racial injustice.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
Every week, we proclaim in our creeds that God made all people in the Divine image. Too often, we have supported policies, practices, and language which deny that our neighbors were made in God’s image – too often, we have been involved in denying the humanity of the children of God.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
God’s Word reveals to us that the impacts and consequences of sin are passed down for many generations. In this country, we continue to see the consequences of the sin of slavery and the removal of indigenous people. Jim Crow policies, racial segregation, public killings, red lining, and economic inequality reverberate through communities, families, and generations.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
Your Word calls us to remember the stranger among us – to recall that “our father was a wandering Aramean” and that hospitality to immigrants and refugees is core to the story of redemption. Yet we have closed our borders, we have turned away those in need, we have enacted and supported policies that discriminate against immigrants who look and believe differently than us.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy on us. We are in bondage to sin, and the truth will set us free. When we want to look away, open our eyes to the pain of our Black, Brown, and Indigenous neighbors. Give us the courage to acknowledge the hurt we have caused and the systems we participate in.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
Faith without works is dead. Confession and apologies without changed lives and meaningful action are empty. Stir us up to work for justice in our lives, in our community, and in our nation. Strengthen us to speak the truth. Grounded in prayer and Scripture, help us to show the world the healing power of love and reconciliation.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
May the promise of Independence Day and the promise of Juneteenth be fulfilled in our words and our works – freedom for all God’s children, equality under the law, and the dignity and holiness of all our neighbors affirmed and celebrated.
Lord, have mercy.
God, have mercy.
In response to our confession and our promise to change our lives, we hear God’s promise of forgiveness –
God, who is rich in mercy, loves us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of + Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.
Amen.
