January 26, 2022

January 26 is a day of mourning, and a day of survival. At Surrender, we’ve been taking some time to reflect on God’s call for us to follow Jesus in the journey towards healing and reconciliation in His kingdom. Read Rev. Scott Hawkins’ reflections below, as we approach January 26 this year.

AS I APPROACH

January 26, 2022

I am a cis-white-middle-class-male, so I do not pretend to have any insight into what it might be like to be a First Australian on this coming Wednesday, January 26th.

I like reading the Bible though, and like every good story I internally cheer when the good guys (in this case, the Israelites) conquered the “Promised Land” from the bad guys (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites and Jebusites), and I boo when the bad guys (the Babylonians, Assyrians, Romans) invaded the lands of the good guys (the people of Judah).

Why? Because, I like to think of myself as being on the side of good guys! I want to put myself in the story as an Israelite, a Judahite, or a Jew and never as a Philistine, Babylonian, Egyptian, or Roman.

However, what do I do when I realise that I probably have more in common with the Gentile Romans and Egyptians in these stories, than I do with the oppressed People of Yahweh?

More particularly, how might I engage with Australia Day/Invasion Day as someone with ancestry and culture that is more similar to that of the British colonizing soldiers than with the Indigenous caretakers of the land? I want to think that I am on God’s side, and that my people were the good guys, but what if I am not and they weren’t? How might I respond?

When Jesus was challenged by some legal experts about what we should do, he replied with a story. We get so used to titling this passage (found in Luke 10:25-37) as “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” that title, which is not scriptural, becomes the lens through which we read the story. However, older translations called it “The Parable of the Man Who Fell Among the Robbers” which completely changes the focus and the character that we view it from.

I like to identify with the “Good Samaritan” as someone who does good deeds to assist others. But when I sit with my Aboriginal sisters and brothers I realise that for them, and in fact the majority of the world, they hear these words of Jesus and identify with the man who has been robbed, and they don’t see me as the Good Samaritan, but rather the priest who was expected to help, but instead ignored or was complicit with their plight.

Rather than this parable being the story of my need to be the White-Samaritan-Saviour to rescue my poor less fortunate brothers and sisters, it is more about overcoming my prejudice and racism and seeing the image of Jesus in those who find it hard to celebrate this day.

January 26 presents every Australian Christian with an opportunity to reconsider our place in the ancient story of God at work in these lands, and creatively explore new ways of “loving my neighbour” that might mean celebrating in a different way and at a more appropriate time.

Rev. Scott Hawkins
urban curator | community faith facilitator
pronouns: he, him, his
I live, work, play and worship on Wurundjeri country.