Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink,
or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in Christ.
(Colossians 2:16-17)
The Oppression of Worship:
Judgment and persecution of our Native ways,
our ceremonies and our festivals,
has been going on since the first Europeans landed on this continent.
Religious oppression is not a new thing.
When the Europeans came to this country,
they were fleeing another form of religious oppression
forced upon them in Europe.
And just like an abused Child can grow up to be an abusive parent,
the religiously oppressed Europeans came to this country
and continued the cycle of religious oppression.
This sin is one of generations
- passed down from the ancestors -
and Satan will take full advantage of it
as long as he is allowed to do so.
The church,
- not willing to try and understand our ways -
immediately began to condemn them
in the name of Christianity,
believing that their way was the only way
a person could come to Jesus
and worship him properly.
This was much the attitude that they were fleeing from in Europe.
However, just because it is understandable
how a sin of this type can become passed down
from generation to generation,
it does not, nonetheless, make the attitude righteous.
For there is no escaping the words of the Creator
as recorded in the sacred scriptures in regard to this type sin.
And Jesus addressed it straight to the point in Matthew 23:
“How terrible it will be for you
teachers of religious law and you religious leaders. Hypocrites,
you do not practice what you preach.
For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven
and I tell you, you won’t go in yourselves.
"Yes, how terrible it will be for you
teachers of religious law and you religious leaders.
For you cross over the land and sea to make one convert,
and then you turn him into twice the son of hell as you yourselves are."
(Matthew 23:13 & 15)
The Jewish religious leaders would travel great distances
to convert a single individual to the Jewish faith.
Even though their worship was of the true Creator,
they had lost that focus.
Their religious rules and regulations had become their God.
Instead of bringing the truth of the Creator to the people,
they had begun to preach “religion”.
They imposed upon them their religious way of life
with all of its rules and regulations,
do’s and don’ts
and mostly the don’ts.
I think it should be added here that the “laws” they imposed
were not the precepts laid down by God,
but rather man-made “add-ons,” if you will,
of the religious leaders of the day and time.
There actions served not to further the message of the Creator,
but rather it instilled in the people bitterness toward God.
Their actions, instead of bringing freedom, brought bondage
- and this bondage gave birth to bitterness -
- and the bitterness when birthed grew into rejection:
rejection of the true Creator of all life.
Jesus had some very pointed words in regard to actions such as these.
Quite simply he told them:
"You religious leaders keep people from entering the Sacred Lands of the Creator
because you put them into bondage with your law.
You think you will enter Creator’s Sacred Village in Heaven
but I tell you, you will not!"
(Matthew 23:13, paraphrased)
By the way I think it should be noted here that Jesus said
they put the people into bondage with “your law” – not “God’s law.”
The religious leaders he was addressing
were more interested in the control of the people
than the salvation of the people,
and therefore heaped upon them
laws that were difficult at best to follow.
Much persecution and oppression has gone on throughout history
in the name of religion.
Christianity, as a culture and as a faith,
has not escaped the reach of this ancestral sin.
For it has been in the name of Christianity,
that many persecutions have come upon our people.
And like the religious leaders to whom Christ spoke,
those who have persecuted our people falsely
will one day have to answer to a Holy Creator for their actions.
My heart is heavy for their fate,
for it will be for them just as Christ told the religious leaders of the Jews.
Native Versus European Worship:
When the Europeans arrived in the country,
their lust and greed for the land overshadowed their “Christian” compassion
for the First Nations peoples that were already here.
Those in power in the growing government of what would become the United States
saw an opportunity to take the land,
and they saw the instrument they could use
to destroy the integrity of the First Nations people.
The instrument they used was the church.
While it may not sit very well with many
in the current mainstream of denominational churches
that they were used merely as a puppet by the government,
to subdue and destroy First Nations peoples,
it is, however, a fact of history.
Much of the approach of churches toward our people
historically and even today,
still reflects this spirit of oppression.
Does this excuse the church
from its responsibility to the Creator for its actions?
No.
But it does go a long way to illustrate
that the actions of the church
were not those ordained by God
but rather manipulated by greedy and self-indulgent individuals and governments.
Christ also spoke to this to some degree in Matthew 23: 25
“How terrible it will be for you
teachers of religious law and you religious leaders. Hypocrites!
You clean the outside of the cup and the dish,
but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!"
This became the attitude of the government and the church toward our people.
They came with the attitude that “their” way was holy and clean
while “our” way was not.
- All the while seeking to take lands that did not belong to them -
- while herding us into the most barren spots on the face of this continent-
- hiding their greed and self-indulgence behind the veil of Christian missions -
which was not in the will of the Father Creator.
We can forgive the injustices done in the past to our peoples
and if we are to walk in peace and balance with our Creator,
we must forgive them.
However, we must also work to see that they no longer take place.
And in doing this, we must become grounded in the Word of our Father Creator
and stand strong upon His Word,
for he truly does have a great plan and purpose for our people.
Restoring our Traditional Ways:
In light therefore, of the words of the Sacred Scriptures in Colossians 2,
what does this say of our ways, our traditions and our ceremonies?
Are we to believe that all our ways are holy,
that all our ways are better than the ways of others?
If we take that attitude toward ourselves,
then we will as well be in danger of falling into the sin of self-righteousness.
And, if we are honest with ourselves,
not every “tradition” of our ancestral past was holy.
Every culture has those things that both please the Creator
and those things that at times do not please him.
We should not think that we are beyond this in our cultures.
However, it does remain true that,
like the Hebrew people,
we sought the Creator as the foundation upon which
our entire cultural identity was built.
So what shall we say of our cultural ways?
We should approach them as the sacred scriptures tell us to,
by examining them and ourselves.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith;
test yourselves.
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—
unless, of course, you fail the test?
(2 Corinthians 13:5)
It is my firm belief,
speaking of my Cherokee ancestry,
that our people have always worshipped the one true Creator of the universe.
We need to look at our cultural ways
and bring them into the light of our Creator’s word.
Our Creator gave the traditional ways of our people,
and the ceremonies to us.
He established them
so that we could worship him in our own unique cultures.
And as we are told in the sacred scriptures,
these ceremonies and festivals were shadows,
images of the reality that was to come in Christ.
Speaking of ceremonies and festivals,
the sacred scriptures say that...
These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in Christ.
(Colossians 2:17)
In John 14:6, Jesus makes the statement;
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
And this is a true statement
for as the sacred scriptures tell us,
“In Christ, the fullness of God lives in a human Body”
(Colossians 2:9).
Jesus, when he walked the earth,
was our Creator in human form.
And he said that “he was the Truth”,
the very truth of God.
All truth comes from God our Creator.
Satan and the forces of evil have no truth in them
just as the sacred scriptures say
in John 8:44
…the devil… was a murderer from the beginning,
not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.
Therefore, if all truth is from our Creator
and Jesus was our Creator in human form,
then those things within our culture that were true and pure
were those things that spoke of Christ.
They were shadows, images of Him.
And these are the things we need to cling to…
Until our involvement with other cultures,
much of our ways remained pure.
We remained focused on the one true Creator of all life,
the source of our existence and the foundation of our culture.
While there may have been those things in our ancient cultures
that did not please our Creator,
that will happen with any nation.
But on the whole, our people sought the Creator in all that we did.
So, how do we ourselves judge our traditional ways?
We judge them by the truth of Creator’s word
and the truth of Creator’s word is Jesus.
First we need to remember again the focus of our people.
That focus being on the Creator
as the center and foundation of our culture.
And second, we need to be aware of those things that enter our cultures
that try and sway us away from Him.
How do we do this?
By listening to the words of our Creator from the sacred scriptures
and letting them grow inside us
as we worship only him
according to the way he established among our people.
(Colossians 2: 6-10)
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord,
you must continue to live in obedience to him.
Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him,
so you will grow in faith,
strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.
Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving
for all he has done.
Don’t let anyone lead you astray
with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense
that come from human thinking
and from the evil powers of this world,
and not from Christ.
For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body,
and you are complete through your union with Christ.
He is the Lord
over every ruler and authority in the universe.
Our roots, that connect us to our Creator need to grow “deep” into him
so that we can remain strong
and our ceremonial ways and traditions can remain pure.
I am reminded of a tradition
among the “Kit Fox” warrior society of the Lakota Sioux.
The warrior, when in battle, would at times drive a stake into the ground
and then “tether” himself to that stake.
They were “tied,” as it were, to that place,
attached by a leather thong to the stake plunged deep into the ground.
From this place they fought,
unable to move from the place they were bound.
This is what we need to do within ourselves
when it comes to our traditional ways and our ceremonies.
We need to “tether” or tie ourselves to Christ.
Letting him be the stake
that keeps us firmly on the path of truth.
In this way, our ways will remain as pure
as when our Creator established them.
(Colossians 2:16-23)
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink,
or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however,
is found in Christ.
Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial.
And don’t let anyone say you must worship angels,
even though they say they have had visions about this.
These people claim to be so humble,
but their sinful minds have made them proud.
But they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body.
For we are joined together in his body by his strong sinews,
and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God.
You have died with Christ,
and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world.
So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as,
“Don’t handle, don’t eat, don’t touch.”
Such rules are mere human teaching
about things that are gone as soon as we use them.
These rules may seem wise
because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline.
But they have no effect
when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires.
If we follow Christ, as our Creator, Lord and Savior, then we do well.
And if we bind ourselves to Christ
and seek to remain upon the path of truth the Creator has laid out before us
and written in his sacred word,
then our ways, our traditions and our ceremonies will remain pure.
And no one will be able to condemn or judge us in these matters.
True, these ceremonies were an image
of what our Creator was bringing into reality through Christ
but they are important as well today.
For even though Christ has come among us
and the shadows have given way to His light,
our ceremonies, our festivals
and our traditional manners of worship
with the dance and the drum
are still our ways.
They are the ways the Creator established long ago
among our people
and they need to be maintained
in the purity of his Word.
For this is the way he intended us to worship.
Yes, there are some who have distorted our ways
and have caused many to misunderstand
what our ceremonies are all about.
For example,
there are many “new age” sweat lodges
where a part of our culture has been stolen and distorted.
But do we discard the ceremony because someone has corrupted it?
No!
We reclaim it!
We reclaim it in the name of our Lord Jesus
and restore it
to the purity that our Creator established long ago.
That purity being that the ceremony is for seeking him
and humbling ourselves before him.
If we do this,
then no one can stand in judgment over us
for our celebration of these ceremonies and feasts,
for we will be walking the path of peace and purity
in the eyes of our Creator.
And he is the only “judge” we must answer to.
