Confessing The Sins Of Our Fathers
And Of Our Nation?

thoughts by Charles P. Schmitt, founding pastor

Nehemiah, as he stood on the threshold of the mighty restoration of the City of God in his day, prayed a most unusual prayer:

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commands … I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you…” (Nehemiah 1:5-6).

One of the gravest sins we as a nation have committed against God, along with the deaths of so many of our preborn, has been the pain inflicted on minority peoples in America—all the way from the decimation of the First Nations Peoples to the enslavement of those kidnapped from the shores of Africa to work our plantations, right down to the present-day exploitation of Hispanic and Asian workers. The devastation of 9/11, the hurricane furor against our coasts, the devastation of tornados in our central states may well be responses from the God of heaven to our national sins.

The Church has not been free of these grievous sins either, starting with Chrysostom’s, “I hate the Jews … It is the duty of all Christians to hate the Jews,” to Luther’s “what then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews?”, right down to the early history of our nation when people of color were denied communion in Christian churches and so on.
And even in our homes – mine for example, for I was raised in a very prejudice-filled environment, especially against Hispanics, Jews and Blacks; somehow the sins of our fathers must be addressed and repented!

We—you and I—must rise up in the Presence of our God confessing the sins that “we as a people, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against” our God.

And confession, as was evident in Nehemiah’s day must be accompanied by the fruit of repentance before God (see Nehemiah Chapter 10).

This past Sunday we received into Immanuel’s Church membership over 50 new saints—most of whom were born in other nations! We presently have in our congregation saints from nearly 1/3 of all the nations in the world. And, it was upon just such a people, “from every nation under heaven” that the Holy Spirit first fell in Pentecostal power in Acts, Chapter 2! As a church, we must be a repenting, confessing people, and by our intentional interculturalness bring forth fruits in keeping with our repentance! And I believe, upon the altar of this kind of sacrifice, the fire of God will again fall from heaven! Amen!

—This is the third in a series of articles on this subject by Pastor Charles. If you have not read the previous articles, “Is the Body of Christ a Melting Pot or a Tossed Salad?” and “Why are our Nations’ Flags in the Rotunda (and not in the Sanctuary)?” Please check for them on this website.

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