A Sense of Us
By Rev. William Dohle
Twenty years ago, or so, I journeyed on a college program to India for four months. Before I left, I had taken some classes to prepare myself for what I would experience. A "History of South-East Asia" class to bone up on my history. A "Religions of the World" to help me experience the religions there better.
But nothing could prepare me for what it was like being an American in a Third-World country.
Everywhere we went and everywhere our bus stopped, we were watched. Crowds of people would flock around us, everyone with their hands outstretched for a handout. People would crowd into you, look up at you, and speak to their friends in their native tongue, most likely about you. Stores charged us more. Cab drivers tried to take advantage of us.
All because we were white. And all because we were American!
Once word got out that a group of American college students were at the YWCA where we stayed in Madras, we had cab drivers lined up on the streets it seemed.
A few of our group didn't look quite as stereotypically American as others of us did. They were treated differently. But, wherever we went, we were all treated with respect, and dignity, and even awe. There's something about being an American that attracted or repelled people, at least in India.
And why not? America does some great things! We protect the innocent, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and fight for the freedom of people we've never even met.
America does some great things.
But in other places, our reception wouldn't have been as good. Other countries hate Americans, not because of what we do as individuals to them, but what WE do as a nation to them. America is not known in all parts of the world as a loving, Christian nation. America sins too.
America doesn't always do right in the eyes of the world. We are not perfect. We have not always treated others as they ought to be treated. We have used our power for ill as well as for good.
What do we do with these, and many other, sins we commit as a nation?
Traditionally we have dismissed them or swept them under the carpet. We have defended our nation with our last breath, avoiding, ignoring, and passing over the sins of our past and present, casting everything we do as good and righteous in the world.
But when we do, we lose something. We lose forgiveness.
The ancient Israelites knew this to be true. That is why God commanded each year that Israel celebrate a "Day of Atonement." A ritual that would cleanse, not only individuals of their sins, but the community as well. Each Day of Atonement the priest would take a goat and lay his hands upon its head. Then the priest would name the sins of the community, describing how they had disobeyed and dishonored God. Then they would force the goat out of the community. Carrying the sins of the people, it would wander the wilderness, exiled as the people should be exiled for what they did.
This Day of Atonement, continued to this day by our Jewish brothers and sisters, not only releases individuals of their sins but the community as well.
Oh that we had such a ritual in America. Can you imagine it? Gathering with fellow Americans, we could gather to name our sins and the wrongs we have done as a nation. We could tell of how we have polluted Creation, ruining our land and the lands of others. We could speak of our consumerism and the need to always have more. We could tell of the pain of domestic violence and our inability to stop what is right at our doors.
We could go on and on with all the sins we have a nation have committed. We could hear from Native Americans, how we still isolate them on reservations. We could hear from others outside our country who have lost loved ones when bombs have fallen on their homes. We could hear from soldiers at home who feel abandoned by the country they fought for.
And our sins would be many.
But then, at the end of this, as we pushed our goat out to live in Yellowstone or something, we could hear the reassurance of forgiveness and grace and life. We could hear that our sins have been forgiven and that we have been given the ability to change. Through our repentance, we can be given life.
Would we sin again? Of course. Would that fix our problems? Absolutely not. But it would bring life and a sense of Us, as the ancient Israelites had so long ago.
May we remember that we represent, not just ourselves and our families, but our nation too. May we repent our our collective deeds that, through repentance, we may find forgiveness of sins and life.
As a member of this nation in this community, I have failed and sinned with everyone else. Lead us, Lord, that we might find new paths to walk. Forgive us when we stumble and embrace us. Amen.
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