Kauwhau / Sermon

Diocesan and Amorangi Ordinations

Saturday 16 July 2016

Christchurch Transitional Cathedral - 1000 hrs

The Rt Rev’d Te Kitohi Pikaahu

Lections

Lesson   Ezekiel 33.1-9 Ezekiel, Israel’s Sentinel

Epistle    2 Timothy 4.1-5 Proclaim the Message

Gospel   Matthew 9:35-38 The Harvest is Great, the Labourers Few

I solemnly urge you: ²proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 2 Timothy 4:1b-2

I want first to say that it is always an extreme joy and great pleasure to join you in here the Transitional Cathedral this morning, to come together in worship.

I count it a privilege and a blessing to be invited to preach at this Liturgy of Ordination. It is my first time, and depending on how I do, I hope not my last.

I must acknowledge Dean Lawrence Kimberly and thank him for his welcome.

Mention was made of your former Dean, Lynda Patterson. The last time I was here, was for her funeral.

Bishop Victoria, it is good to be with you in your Cathedral today.

In saying that I am confident to affirm, as perhaps each one of you may well be of the same view, that is to say, that I belong here.

In fact, I feel that wherever we meet together as Christian brothers and sisters, more importantly as Anglicans, gathering in God’s name to worship.

Two ax men of equal ability decided to clear some bush on their property.

Each had the same number of tools, and were of similar quality.

They agreed to begin at the same time early one morning.

They divided up the area equally and set out to clear their respective section of dense bush.

One came from the Diocese of Christchurch. Since we are in each other’s presence, the other obviously came from the Anglican Maori Diocese of Te Waipounamu.

Let’s say one was called Robert and the other Tony. (We just happen to have a Tony and Robert).

One of the workers, you know which one you might best identify with, was rough and tough, hard as steel, a no-nonsense person, not stopping at all for a rest or a break. You may also know which you identify with.

This very tough person noticed that his friend stopped every hour on the hour, taking a break intermittingly. At the end of the day when the work was over, they stopped and downed tools. They looked back at what they had accomplished.

The man who worked all day, non-stop, realised that his friend had cleared most of the bush on his side, while he still had a good portion unfinished.

He remarked to his friend, ‘e hoa, (you know it could be either of you – they learn Maori up there at St John’s College, Auckland) you know, I noticed that you stopped quite a number of times during the day and I don’t understand how you could have cleared more bush than me.’

His friend replied, ‘e hoa, well yes. Every time I stopped I had a drink, something to eat, and I spent all of that time, sharpening my ax.’

Well I am sure that each of you before today, Alastair, Alistair, Tony, Ben, Carolyn, Irene, Rahab and Robert, having been in a manner of speaking, sharpening your axes.

Well in this modern age, it is not so much as having to sharpen your axe. It may be more a case of having to sharpen your pencil, or probably more to the point, your ability on the keyboard or keypad of either your lap top, your desk top or your smart phone, which I am sure you are suitably qualified, (with perhaps an exception on the part of Irene or Rahab. I haven’t seen either of you with a smart phone).

It is all to do with making progress in your life. It has to do with improving yourself in all your endeavours. It is about reaching your full potential as a Christian.

Well after yesterday’s rehearsal, I see Irene you have had to sharpen your skill gaining familiarity on your wheel chair. I know you sharpened your skill as a seamstress helping the new Kaikarakia with their albs for tomorrow.

Ben, whom I know from St John’s College has had to sharpen his act. What do I mean? I mean his voice, his stance, his wiri (show what a wiri is – a wiri will show others that since your hand is moving like a feather blowing in the wind, you must be alive. As long as you have a wiri, you are showing that you have life) when he stands to sing and perform action songs (even haka – did you haka Ben?) with the Auckland Anglican Maori Club, who just happen to be, since I am a past and honorary member, the finest Kapa Haka in all of Aotearoa.

In coming to know Carolyn you have had to sharpen your thinking around your doctoral work in research, and writing about the Christian response to consumerism.

Rahab may have felt a need to sharpen her step in becoming a deacon, sharpen her dance in the liturgy, in your choice of wanting lively worship in high doses, where you are in Dunedin.

I have been led to understand that Alastair sharpened his liturgical knowledge and practice. Today he has stepped up.

Tony I know, a former soldier and commissioned Officer, chose to sharpen his understanding, or actually Tony it is your insight that you sharpened, of our Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, of the relationship between Pasifica, Pakeha and Maori from his knowledge of Te Pouhere / the Revised Constitution.

Alistair I am certain as a member of the General Synod carries his Manual of the Constitution and Canons and must have sharpened his patience in General Synod protocols and processes in discussion and debate so as to understand what the Maori partner is talking about.

Robert, well suffice to say, with all your children, you have a lot to sharpen up on my friend. I can’t tell you all how many children he has, but I can say that his whanau is in the back four rows of this part of the Cathedral. As a student at Otago University, you may have had from time to time, to sharpen or revise your theology.

All of you, undoubtedly, would have had to sharpen your focus on the Cross of Christ, sharpen your faith in the risen Christ.

Sometime Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Donald Coggan, virtually said that when he addressed a group of ordinands at their retreat.

Before the ordination, he looked at each one lovingly, or should I say intently because they are the same, just like Bishop Victoria does. He said: 

“Very soon, I am going to pose a series of questions to you.”

I say to you, these are what you here before me will be asked today.

Do you believe in the Bible…and it goes on.

Do you hold to the doctrine of the faith….and it goes on.

Will you be constant in prayer….and it goes on.

Will you accept the order and discipline…. it continues on.

Will you so live the gospel…. it continues on.

Will you seek the lost…it continues on.

Will give glory to God…it ends there.

But it didn’t end there with Archbishop Coggan’s instruction.

It doesn’t end there with you either.

It is just the beginning.

He continued saying;

“There is coming a day, when God will ask you, or say to you;”

Alastair, Tony, Alistair, Ben, Carolyn, Irene, Rahab, Robert;

Those questions you were asked when you made your commitment at your ordination to the diaconate;

Did you, did you, did you? Did you do all that you said you would?

Did you fulfil your promises you made?

Did you honour your commitment to Christ?

Well God will know the answer to that. It is a very sobering thought though. That is, to realise that one day, we will have to give an account of our lives when we stand before the Great Judge.

Well I thought you should be made aware of that today.

God may well say to me, (I am certain of this) when it comes to my turn, Kito, (hopefully e hoa e Kito) did you, did you, did you. Well I’m not being ordained today. I’ll wait my turn. For now, that’s your worry.

If there is something to be worried about, it is that.

As we consider the lections today, we are confronted with the reality of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a Christian Minister, what it means to be a Christian Leader, and the huge responsibility of being an apostle, a prophet and an evangelist.

What the Manukura, the Principal of St John's College describes in this way, "that the Church needs more A.P.Es."

Not the animal kind at all, though so of you may have thought this to mean.

It actually is an acronym for apostles, prophets and evangelists.

That's what the Church needs most.

Are any of you apes – A.P.Es?

St Paul stresses the urgency of being a Christian and what a Christian must be and do whether people like you or not, whether they listen to you or not, or whether they accept that the time is right;

²proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. ⁵As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

The inference here is that the time, the place and the message is always right. The time is always now; so proclaim, be persistent, don’t give up or give in.

Convince, rebuke (rebuke, rebuke! That is not always easy and can never be said to be a pleasure, however it is sometimes necessary); and encourage (which is usually necessary and always a pleasant thing to do, at least for a bishop)

Jesus reminds us that the situation, the scale of the mission is so great and demanding that you might find yourself, at best among a handful of other labourers in the vineyard, and at worst, on your own.

The prophet Ezekiel when he receives his vision of the scroll is confronted by God. “Mortal Man, stand up and I will speak to you.”

What an introduction! And it is only the starting point. Ezekiel is still at the starting blocks; ready to go, very much like each of you today.

Ezekiel was given the toughest of assignment.

He had to sharpen his teeth to eat the scroll. The word – the scroll, we are led to believe, literally kept him alive.

It was more, wasn’t it? Ezekiel was in communion with God. He was in constant communication with God who gave him direction, instruction, encouragement, affirmation every step of the way.

God was always in his face, all the way – fierce, uncompromising, and demanding at times; unyielding and harsh with the truth.

His was a hard call, a difficult mission. What he had to say, was the truth.

Blow the trumpet! Speak to the people! Tell them! Warn them!

If you do, that is good. If the people don’t heed the warning, that’s their problem.

If you fail to warn the people, that is not good. That is your problem.

Well, that’s what prophets do. A prophet is never received with open arms because the message is truth. It is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Truth can never be compromised.

Ezekiel ate the scroll, he ate the words which he had to speak, he consumed the words that became his mana.

As Maori we believe that Mana is your strength. It is your prestige. It is your integrity. It is your honour, it is truly your life.

Not just any life, but life in Christ, the life you choose to live.

This was not simply his mana on its own; it was the mana of God in him.

The mana of God was a part of him, his very nature. That is what mana is. The Word of God was internalised. As food does for us, it sustained him, his calling and his life.

For Ezekiel it was the same.

Doesn’t that give us a deeper understanding of the phrase in Maori:

‘Te kai a te Rangatira, he korero – the food of a chief is talk - or word – more correctly it is narrative.

It is not the food – it is what is being said by the person in authority, the person with mana; what that person has to say when the people are eating. The word in this case is food, but more than food, it is life!

As Christians that life is a life lived in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is life, lived in the reality of the resurrection of Christ.

Just look at the tukutuku panel here to my left. The panel in the centre is known as Poutama. It has the appearance of a stairway. The meaning is deeper though.

It depicts God, divinity, mana descending to humanity; and humanity ascending to God, the source of mana.

Theologically speaking it is the incarnation. God becoming human, God taking on human form.

It about Christology. It represents Jesus’ divinity and his humanity at the same time.

St Paul reminds us of what it means to be a Christian. He actually points us toward the cost of discipleship, the cost of being a Christian:

^19b I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2.19-20

It is more than just a cost. The cost of discipleship, the cost of following Jesus.

Yes it is that.

But it is more.

Being a Christian Minister, is by no means an armchair ride or a walk in the park.

That should not be our expectation. I don’t expect that you think that either.

There is great challenge, sometimes beyond our ability to withstand it. That challenge is real and can be personal.

It comes with a whole lot of risk.

Alastair, Alistair, Tony, Ben and Carolyn, just ask Bishop Victoria one day. She can speak of challenge and how she has survived it. Talk about having to endure suffering, as St Paul does.

Bishop Victoria, you wrote the book on it. I’m not exaggerating here. Bishops do not exaggerate, well not us. I can talk it up at times, but exaggerate, I think not.

Irene, Robert and Rahab, you can ask me. Just not today.

Bu that is not all either.

In saying that though, there is joy, real joy, the joy of the Lord; again, just ask Bishop Victoria.

Just look at our faces, our smile. (We can smile. For me not all the time especially when I am grumpy).

Irene, Robert and Rahab, you can ask me. But you will have to be patient and wait until after my assignment in Te Waipounamu is concluded.

Wait until after I finish my sermon, which is here and now.

Of course we all have to sharpen our act, deacons, priests and bishops.

We can look and act like A.P.Es, remember; apostle, prophet and evangelist.

We can look confident, forthright and lively. We can appear encouraging, empowering, and enlivening.

And while we are at why don't we sharpen our smile. It will do us well, in the joy of the Lord.

POST-COMMUNION SENTENCE

Isaiah 61:1-2a

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
  because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
  to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
  and release to the prisoners;
²to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

tkwp@xtra.co.nz