Ashes and Sackcloth
Scripture Reading
National Confession
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.
Reflection
Change begins in the heart. The Twelve-Step program used by many organizations begins with the confession of the problem. Alcoholics Anonymous states it this way: “Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” We cannot change until we admit we have a problem that we have been unable or unwilling to correct.
Nehemiah 9 describes a worship ritual in which “the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.” These are acts of mourning and deep penitence for sin.
The next verse caught my attention. “Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors.” Those descendants of the original Israelites offered confession not only for their own sins but for the sins of their ancestors. They recognized the wrongs of the long-distant past and humbly confessed those sins along with their own. Why would they do that?
In recent weeks our nation has been struggling with systemic racial injustice, most horribly visible in the unjust deaths of too many people of color at the hands of police and civilian vigilantes. The sins of our ancestors have passed from generation to generation for over 400 years.
On June 8, Decatur’s White Clergy issued a statement confessing the sins of our ancestors, in which it was said, “Too many of our Decatur churches were planted in soil tainted with racism. Too many of our Decatur churches harvested the fruit of that racism.” I agreed with and signed that statement along with the other ministers of First Baptist Church and Scott Boulevard Baptist Church.
It is hard to confess my own complicity in the sins of past generations. I have never owned a slave or participated in a lynching. I have never refused anyone from joining in worship. Actually, in 2008, I invited the first black person to preach in Scott Boulevard Baptist Church. Surely I am not guilty of the sins of my ancestors. Surely not I, Lord?
A few years ago, we were going through old SBBC archives. I found minutes of a deacons’ meeting in the mid-1960s which stated if any black people wanted to worship with us, our church would allow them to come inside and sit in the balcony, as long as they did not disrupt worship with a protest. I was horrified to read those words of my predecessors. Surely not I, Lord?
Though my ancestors were too poor to own slaves, they did fight in the Civil War for the right to do so. In 1971, one of my first jobs included cleaning restrooms at a gas station. That old Gulf station had three restrooms labeled Men, Women, and Colored. Generation to generation. Maybe it’s time I find some ashes and sackcloth.
The penitent worship practice described by Nehemiah would be very strange for us today. But, it served a very necessary purpose of confessing a deeply ingrained, systemic problem that went back many generations. The sins of their ancestors were a part of their DNA. It was how they understood the world. It reflected the way things were, and there wasn’t much they could do about it. Or, was there?
Yes, it’s time for fasting, ashes, and sackcloth. It’s time to humble ourselves and pray for God’s forgiveness of a privileged worldview we cannot see, or don’t want to see. It’s time to confess our participation in the sins of our ancestors. Confession is Step 1. It’s time to get on our knees.
Exercise
Find a quiet place where you can listen to the Spirit of God speaking to your heart.
Spend 8 minutes, 46 seconds listening for what God has to say to you, the length of time the officer’s knee was on George Floyd’s neck.
Have you committed sins of racial injustice you want to confess?
What sins of your ancestors will you confess?
Greg Smith, Director of Legacy Ministry, First Baptist Church Decatur