From the Administrator
Pentecost and Reconciliation:
Outside-In
The Rt Revd Kate Wilmot, Assistant Bishop
As the Sundays of Easter move towards Pentecost, we leave behind empty tomb narratives and resurrection appearances to reflect on what it means to be disciples of the risen Christ.
As the New Testament readings unfold, we are reminded of the journey of the earliest converts, especially those who abandoned pagan religions to become members of the emerging Christian church.
While there are people in our church communities with family roots in Judaism and others whose ancestors belonged in another major religious tradition - many of us cannot describe the religion of our ancestors before they were Christian.
Church insiders trace their origins to outsiders.
The Pentecost event of Acts 2 is a symbolic reversal of the linguistic confusion following the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Through God’s Holy Spirit communication lines open and people from many places are put on the path to a better understanding.
Importantly, people’s lives changed when they listened to what was being spoken with the help of the Holy Spirit.
This takes place among a Jewish population, not a Gentile one but the sense of the Gospel going out to the nations is very much implied.
Those of us who suspect that our pre-Christian ancestors were pagan rather than Jewish know how lucky it was that the first believers made it possible for non-Jewish people to join the emerging movement.
Grace, human and divine made all the difference.
In the Diocese, we are celebrating the launch of the Reflect section of our Reconciliation Action Plan.
As we reflect on reconciliation as a diocesan community – we are reminded of the importance of listening to the knowledge and experience of Aboriginal people, the first people “at home” in the place we all call home.
When we have the humility to acknowledge that we were once outsiders, not insiders and respond to the grace of First Nations people in sharing their knowledge and story the lines of communication open up and we are all on the road to a different future.
The interruptions to the Welcome of Country in Perth and elsewhere on ANZAC Day, were not only acts of the most staggering bigotry and discourtesy but also demonstrated a yawning ignorance of the history of the Australia they claim to support and defend.
The first people of Australia have served in our national defence for generations and stood with the rest of the Australian population against far-right aggressors in the 20th century.
ANZAC Day reminds us how lucky we are that those aggressors were successfully resisted.
As we work on reconciliation in the Diocese, we pursue the trajectory of the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed and that Paul shaped – a movement where people are not rigidly excluded but invited in, where harms are healed, loyalties are expanded and people pursue a new future together.
May God walk with us on the journey of reconciliation.