“Living Into Our Dust”

Luke 10:1-12

But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.


This week at our church we will honor the Native American and remember our painful legacy as Christians and Methodists in our attempts to either colonize or 'christianize' the native people or to outright kill them, as in the Sand Creek Massacre.  Our role this Sunday in worship is not to 'objectify' native peoples, but to stop for a moment and appreciate the deep spirituality they bring to their  lives and their culture. And to remind ourselves of the very painful place Methodists find themselves when we remember the Sand Creek Massacre.

I invite you to spend some time this week finding out more about these people, if you aren't familiar:
Col. John Chivington, Methodist minister and Army colonel who led the troops into battle against the Cheyenne and Arapahoe people who were living on government protected area in a 'peace camp,' leading to what we now call the Sand Creek Massacre.
Chief Niwot: One of the 'peace' chiefs killed in the massacre that day.

The NUMC Book Club and I are encouraging everyone in our congregation to read the book Chief Left Hand by Margaret Coel.

As you learn more about the Methodist minister whose hate for the Indian people led to the slaughter of peace Chief Niwot at the Sand Creek Massacre, dwell for a while on the legacy that our name Niwot United Methodist Church carries on both sides of this tragic history.

This week's message is called "Living Into Our Dust." The writer of Luke points out that if someone enters a town and is rejected they can dust their feet off and move on.  Think for a few minutes about what it means if WE are the DUST that is being shaken off.  What if we are the ones that rejected a people and as a result, they are shaking themselves free of us and moving on?  What do we do to live into our 'dust' in regards to Chivington and Sand Creek? How do we best work for peace and brother/sisterhood with our Native American neighbors?

Dig around in the muck and dust this week.  I'll see you on Sunday after Annual Conference.

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