I know it may be hard to believe, but this is already my third summer here at Medina UCC, and in these three years, our youth and I have been on some pretty cool adventures together. We went to Biloxi, Mississippi and faced alligators in the deep south. We went to Appalachia, Virginia and did some line dancing in the mountains. And now we get to add Tahlequah, Oklahoma to the list, where we learned a little Cherokee, danced at a powwow, played a game of stickball, and tried our hand at gigging for fish.

This year was a little different, because we did not go to Tahlequah to do acts of service, but we still went to Tahlequah with a mission, and that mission was to become “otherwise.” To meet people whose stories are different from ours, to be in places where we are the other, and to gain wisdom from that. Which is honestly always a goal I always have for us during our summer trips. They’re not just about the work we do, but about the people we meet, and the relationships we build with those who are different than us. As we get to know them in work and in fun, we come away having seen the image of God within humans of all kinds. We also come away having learned about what causes people to need some extra help in the first place. In Biloxi it was the history of racial inequality and the lingering impact of natural disasters. In Appalachia, it was the history of coalmining and how hard it is to break cycles of generational poverty.

We do all this listening and learning because Christ has called us to the work of reconciliation, which means mending divisions, and repairing what has been broken. If we want to heal the world, it is essential that we learn about how it became broken in the first place. Knowing our history and gaining real empathy for what other people have been through, is an essential place for us to start the work that God has called us to do in this world.

In our reading from Galatians, Paul says that “if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.” Paul is writing to the early church, which is still figuring out how to be the church. They are all still in the process of figuring out a new way to live. A way that is not centered around power and abuse, but kindness and generosity. They had a lot to unlearn, and mistakes were going to happen. So, Paul tells them to rely on the Spirit and restore one another in gentleness. We don’t cast people out; we draw them back in. The only way we will fulfill the law of Christ is if we find a way to do it together.

This is what Vance Blackfox, our leader from Other+Wise, started to do for us this past week. Vance had a spirit of gentleness and hospitality as he made us aware of just how much we didn’t know about our past. He was sometimes angry, but not with us as he explained that our ignorance is created on purpose. This country does not like to talk about just how often our people have been the cruel ones. Our history holds some serious transgressions. Broken promises, stolen land, and cultural erasure so thorough and systematic that our methods inspired Hitler when he planned the Holocaust.  It’s not a pleasant history to learn, but it is ours, and all throughout the week, we were astonished by how much isn’t covered in our history classes. Vance not only taught us that history, the history of the Cherokee (the people of Keetoowah, North Carolina, now living in Oklahoma) but he also introduced us to his culture and traditions – the valuable things that his people have worked so hard to preserve despite everything they faced. They welcomed us, shared with us, and encouraged us to come back here and share it with you.

When our European ancestors showed up on these shores, they saw a kindness they could take advantage of. They wrote treaties in a language that the people couldn’t understand. They used force to drive them from their homes, and violence against women and girls was rampant. Like a plague, Europeans purposefully spread illnesses, killed off food sources, and stole children from their families. “If those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves,” Paul says. I wonder, who do we think we are? Who do we think we have been? And how does that allow violence to keep happening here today? Because separating families, erasing cultural differences, and building concentration camps is not new in America. We have done this before.

Paul tells us, “All must test their own work” and “do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.” Do we think our work passes the test? Or might there be a connection between what we’re harvesting and what we’ve sown? The things we learned about aren’t ancient history. People are still living with their impact and resisting the loss of their culture. All that has been done to build power, hoard resources, and assimilate people into one language, religion, and culture is still bearing fruit today.

Our faith has been used as a weapon. That is also not new. Yet it is not the entirety of who we have been. There were missionaries who fought to protect native rights, and ones who walked with them on the trail of tears. Their actions also continue to bear fruit. Good fruit, in people like Vance, who is a proud Lutheran. Where Christians have worked for the good of all, and not given up on doing what is right, there has been good fruit to harvest. When we remember to be humble, to serve each other, and to be transformed by each other, the reconciliation and restoration we are hungry for becomes possible.

To quote what Liz Wolff wrote in her Facebook post about this trip, “Service isn’t always about doing something tangible. We can be in service to God when we learn about others. We can learn their truth, their history, their pain, and then with this new knowledge, we can be of service to keep listening, keep growing, and keep loving all of God’s children; not just the ones who look, worship, or love like us.”

There are many transgressions we must still be restored from, and this is how we start: we open ourselves up to each other, we teach the truth to each other, and we learn how to repair what has been broken. In that spirit, we who went to Oklahoma invite you to spend some time learning our history. Hearing the stories of indigenous people is one way that we can bear a little bit of their burdens. It will open us up to finding a different way. If we can acknowledge the weight of our history, and learn from it, then maybe, we can stop repeating it. Amen.