Prophets or Porangi?

May 28, 2012 2 Comments

Tame Iti

From Jeremiah, to Peter, to Paul, the bible is full of stories of prophets who were imprisoned because they dared to speak the truth. This week in Auckland, we have somewhat of a similar case in the imprisonment of Tame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara.

Now, this post is not intended to argue the details of the law, or indeed its application. But rather it is an attempt to try and make sense of exactly what happened on the 15th of October 2007, and the affects the events of that day had, and continue to have on Tuhoe, Māori and New Zealand.

Perhaps one of the most moving speeches ever presented to Te Runanganui (the Māori Synod of the Anglican Church) was given by the Reverend Awanui Timutimu. Matua Awa, who has since passed away, lived in Ruatoki and was on his way to the Whakatane on the morning of October 15th, but he never got there, not that day at least. Matua Awa was greeted by armed, Police in full combat gear as he drove through Ruatoki. The Police ordered him to get out of his car, and to lie down on the side of the road while they searched it. They then took a picture of him next to his number plate in a final act of humiliation. Matua Awa, was a Navy Veteran, having served in South-East Asia, the Far East and the Pacific. He was also a Priest in the Anglican Church and a respected Tuhoe Kaumatua. A pillar of his community and the Church brought to his knees and humiliated by cowards who covered their faces and refused to listen.

It is these experiences, these unacknowledged mamae (pains) that we must keep upmost in our minds as we continue to move forward and make sense of what happened 5 years ago. Unfortunately, for Tame and Te Rangikaiwhiria, their court case and imprisonment has ensured that their story and that of Matua Awa’s will be forever intertwined, and forever make up the sad, sad song that Tuhoe and Māoridom have been singing since October 15th 2007.

If you were to ask me if Tame and Te Rangikaiwhiria are prophets, I don’t think I could answer that question with any certainty. If, however you were to ask me are they prophetic, I think I would have to answer in the affirmative. Prophets, biblical or otherwise are in many ways like weather vanes; they gauge the atmosphere and point out the changes. Here, like the prophets of old, Tame and Te Rangikaiwhiria are pointing out to us the continued injustice that surrounds us every day. Tame and Te Rangikaiwhiria are pointing out to us the deeply, deeply concerning and painful change of wind that has been slowly gaining strength since 2007. It is now up to us to act, to respond and indeed to be prophetic ourselves. This is a calling we are all a part of, it is more than just a calling of race, or space or time. It is a calling of the gospel, to affect change where there is injustice, to speak out where there is wrong and to act prophetically when called upon to do so. The imprisonment of Tame and Te Rangikaiwhiria is calling upon us to do just that, if not for their sake, then for the sake of the gospel of justice.

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ANZAC Day 2012 – Homily.

April 25, 2012 2 Comments

The Rev. C. Douglas-Huriwai preaching at the ANZAC Day Service, Orakei RSA 2012.

Each ANZAC Day for the last three years I have officiated at the morning service at my local RSA. This year was no different, and while the temptation is always there to play it safe and deliver a message that will be easily digested, it has been somewhat of a tradition for me to preach a homily that hopefully does more than that. What follows is the text of the homily I preached this morning at Orakei RSA, it is my hope that it offers something a bit different to the usual ANZAC Day sermons preached up and down the country during this time of year.

I am working on the video of the homily, but it may not be worth it as the traffic in the background is at times louder than me!

ANZAC Day – Homily 2012

Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen, Service Men and Women, as we gather here this morning, ANZAC Day 2012, we are called to remember the sacrifice of service men and women of every time, of every place, of every country. Not just here in Aotearoa- New Zealand or in Australia, but throughout the world. Ad as we do that, we are also called to remember the duality that surrounds us every day. In death, we are born to new life. Where there is hate, love can conquer. Where there is despair there is hope. In the midst of our darkness there is light. ANZAC Day, of all the days of the year, is a good time to be reminded of that duality. It is around this time of year that we get presented with the rhetoric of ANZAC Day. Every year in April, we all get caught up in the romance and nostalgia of ANZAC Day. Friends I’m talking about the images that are given to us year after year. I’m talking about expressions like “the glorious dead.” I’m talking about expressions like “lest we forget.” I am talking about expressions like “they died for our freedom.” And while all of those things are true, let us also remember the other side, the duality of those expressions.

“The Glorious Dead,” the name we give to those brave men and women who fought and died for our country in theatres of war, in all places, in all times. As we remember our glorious dead, let us not forget the glorious dead on the other side of that front line. They young men and woman, much like ours, who went to war. Not in hopes of killing other people, not in hopes of ravaging and destroying cities, but in the spirit of adventure, informed by their love of their country. Just like some of my Koros and grand Uncles who boarded those ships in pursuit of what we would call nowadays, their OE. Let us remember that they are us and we are them. No matter the flag on their shoulder, no matter the colour of their uniform.

Perhaps the most well known saying is “Lest we forget.” And while that saying conjures up images of our family members who went to war and those men and women who fought and died in theatres of war, it also calls us to remember the futility, the horrors, and the pointlessness of war. Lest we forget those who died and those who served, but lest also we forget the ultimate pointlessness that is war. For as the old saying goes, those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it. Lest we forget.

Another saying we hear talks about how those that died in war, died to secure our freedom, and while that’s true, we can often get caught up in the romance of war, in the idea that war is necessary to obtain freedom. While we say these things, while we say and give thanks to God for the men and women who died to secure our freedom, we are also called to remember that war brings with it oppression and destruction, and so through the seeking of freedom, we risk taking freedom away from so many others.

And so friends as we come together this ANZAC Day and we say together and we give thanks to God for our glorious dead, let us also remember that our glorious dead are their glorious dead, and their glorious dead are ours. Let us remember that when we say “Lest we forget” we are also saying “Lest we repeat ourselves”. Let us remember that as we give thanks to God for those who fought to secure our freedom, that through our own freedom we are called to ensure the freedom of all people everywhere. This is the hope that we can take out of something as ghastly as war. By doing this we transform our tears of sadness, into tears of joy. We transform something so horrible, into a thing so beautiful. So that the ultimate sacrifice paid by our service men and women who served and continue to serve in our armed forces, didn’t happen in vain.

So as we gather here this morning let us give thanks to God, let us also give thanks to you, our veterans, to those of you who served and continue to serve in our armed forces. For everything you do, for everything you’ve done, we, together say thank you.

(Note: ANZAC Day is New Zealand and Australia’s national day of remembrance for those who have served in our Armed Forces, and especially those who died in theatres of war.) 

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Sermon – 3rd Sunday in Lent – John 2:13-22

March 11, 2012 Leave a comment

L-R: The Rev. Ngira Simmonds, Peter Bargh N/TSSF, and the Rev. Christopher Huriwai at the Ports of Auckland Rally.

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of all our hearts remain acceptable in thy sight, O LORD our rock and our redeemer.

“Making a whip of chords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.”

Well whanau, here we are, right in the thick of it. It’s the third Sunday of Lent and while our thoughts maybe turning to the hope and promise of Easter, and not to mention the Easter holidays, we need to continue to think about exactly what it is we are being called to reflect on this Lenten season. Here and now, as we pass through the half way point of Lent for this year, it is perhaps all the more important that we keep our calling at the forefront of our minds as we crossover into the second half of this season of Lent. As Christians, we each have a fundamental, baseline calling, that is a calling to love and to serve, and here and now, during Lent is the perfect time for us all to reflect on what it means to be called to love and to serve, not just those we know and love, but those we don’t know, and perhaps even more importantly, those we find it hard to love.

In our reading today, Jesus is actively clearing out the clutter; in our bibles this section of the Gospel of John is named “Jesus Cleanses the Temple.” Although in our reading, this clearing out is a literal one, I think that what we can take from this reading is not a literal calling to clear out everything from our Whare Karakia (Churches), but rather a calling, and an invitation to clear out, and cleanse ourselves from those things that clutter and gather up within us, that hinder, and in some instances even stop us from living out our calling to love and to serve. On the first Sunday of Lent I preached about the importance of allowing our faith to inform our actions, and in doing so, allowing our faith to become more than just an abstract idea. Here and now as we reflect on the importance of clearing out all those things that clutter our lives, we are given an opportunity once again to let our faith become a real and informing part of our lives so that when we are called upon to respond to issues that strike at the very core of our lives, we are ready and equipped to do just that.

Since last year, but in the last few months in particular, we have been witnessing the unravelling of one of those issues that strike at the very core of our faith and demands us to respond in a prophetic and loving way. I am of course talking about the issues surrounding the Ports of Auckland. The issues surrounding what is happening down at the Ports aren’t just a matter of money, although that’s what the big wigs down there would have you believe. The real issue is one of security and certainty, and the Port of Auckland’s attempt to deny those basic rights to their workers. Much like the earthquake in Christchurch, which brought words like “liquefaction” into the everyday vocabulary of all New Zealanders, the Ports of Auckland issue has also taught us a new word, “casualisation.” The new contracts that the workers were being asked to sign turned them all into casual workers, effectively casualising the entire workforce of the Ports of Auckland. Now, it may seem as if this isn’t too bad a deal. They will still be employed, they will still be working, and they will still be getting paid. But whanau, the issue is the uncertainty and complete lack of security that comes with being a “professional” casual worker. Not knowing when you are working, not knowing how many hours you will have each week, not even knowing what your weekly income will be. All of these things increase the levels of pressure and tension on the workers of the ports, not just on the job with their work mates, but at home with their families as well. Whanau, it is issues such as these that demand us to live out our calling to love and to serve and to meet these issues head on with the conviction of our faith and the knowledge of our calling. Like I said in the first week of Lent, we are called to respond with action, informed by our faith, no matter how small that action may be.

Yesterday, a couple of my friends and I decided that we would try and do something like that. We decided that our faith was calling us to establish a physical presence with the demonstrating workers and other unions as they marched and rallied from Auckland City to the Port. Although our actions were small, after all, all we did was walk, it was real, it was intimate and it was deliberate. It was action inspired by our calling, informed by our faith and lived out in the real world.

What we have here in our reading is a bit of a blue print, an example of sorts for us as followers of Christ to ourselves follow. One problem with our reading this morning is that it has become so familiar to us that the real intensity and craziness of it has all but worn off, but let’s think about it for a while. Here we have Jesus, the Prince of Peace, effectively storming the temple. Not only that, he actually made himself a weapon of sorts and physically drove out those in the temple who he saw as degrading the house of God. He turned up tables, he drove out the animals he rebuked those present. Here we have the same Jesus who calls us to be as gentle as doves, being the complete opposite! He is angry, he is passionate, and he is doing something about it. Now this doesn’t mean that we should be leading the workers at the Ports of Auckland on a rampage through the head offices of the Ports, or that we should all go to the City Council chambers and tip their tables over, rather it means that we should be open to allowing our emotions, our feelings and our passion become a part of our calling. We need to remember that just like Jesus, we act not just on behalf of ourselves, but by virtue of our baptism and our callings we act on the behalf of God. That might sound a bit odd, or even a bit whakahihi (proud), but what it really means for us as Christians, is that we need to be constantly looking for the money changers in our society and not be scared to act on our calling and effect change. It means that we need to be on the lookout for those issues that threaten to oppress and marginalise people and speak out, and indeed act out prophetically and with passion.

Whanau, if we take the opportunity we are given during this time of Lent, to clear out and cleanse ourselves of all of the clutter that builds up within our own lives that can hinder us from living out our calling, we will be all the more ready to respond with emotion and passion when we are faced with a decision to either keep silent or speak out.

And so I leave you with those thoughts in the name of the Father, and the Son and Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

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For Ports Sake!

March 6, 2012 3 Comments

Casualisation.

On the first Sunday of Lent I preached at my church in Mangere. While the sermon itself was structured around Lent and what this time of the year means for us as Christians, the overall theme of the Sermon was one of reflection. Not just idle, feel good reflection, but a real world reflection with real world applications, however small those applications may be. Along with that theme running through that particular sermon, lately I have also taken a shine to speaking about how important it is for our faith to be real, and therefore inform our actions. I suppose, when you put those two themes together, you end up with what I think is a fairly decent attempt to live a life based on the gospel, a life centered on Christ.

Right now, here in Auckland, we are being presented with an opprtunity to engage in some of that real world reflection. Right now there is a group of people on Tamaki Drive holding up signs, they aren’t human billboards for some pizza company, nor are they trying to sell you anything, no these people are workers at the Ports of Auckland, and they have had enough. The reason the men and women of the ports have set up camp on Tamaki Drive is because they have been issued an ultimatum of sorts, basically they have been told to sign new contracts, (contracts that will effectively make them casual workers) or else face losing their very livelihoods. While the Ports of Auckland’s Spin Doctor has been hard at work trying to paint a picture of a spoilt and more than well paid workforce, the fact  remains that the workers of the Ports of Auckland are being taken advantage of, and we who claim to be followers of Christ must, at the very least acknowledge this injustice that is happening in our very own backyard.

The issue of the Ports of Auckland is bigger than just a stand off between frontline workers and the powers that be. The real issue here is the knock on effect of what this attempted casualisation threatens to do to the workers and their families. The mere talk of casualisation sends a bolt of uncertainty to the very core of workers. Casualisation means an entire workforce living and working within an environment of concern and uncertainty. The workers are facing questions of how many hours will I be working this week? Will I have enough, come pay day, to pay my bills? Will I be seeing my family this week? All of these things, rooted in instability and uncertainty, can and will take their toll on the workers and their families. The tension that these questions will introduce to the families of the affected workers should be our main concern. As Christians we are, by virtue of our very calling to follow Christ, called to ensure that the community around us is cared for with Christlike compassion. One way we can do this is to ensure that our communities are well, and how do we get well communities? We build them on the backs of well families, something that we are in danger of losing to the tune of over 300 families if the workers are forced to sign this contract. This is not an issue of greed or bad will on the workers part, no. This is an issue of justice, and issues of justice are, by their very nature Gospel issues.

Here and now, we as Christians are called to step out and allow our faith to inform our actions. We are being (and are always being) called to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, here and now we need to stand with the workers from the ports and in this, the season of Lent, we are called to remind society of the reason why Jesus himself quoted from the prophet Isaiah saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,to let the oppressed go free,to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu remarked in reflection on his involvement with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, “We were involved in the struggle because we were being religious, not political. It was because we were obeying the imperatives of our faith.” Although on a much smaller scale, this is what we too are being called to do. We aren’t being called to go on a crusade motivated by political allegiances or leanings. It is something much bigger than that that is calling us to action, it is our very faith that commands us to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the lords favor, and, in this instance, to stand in solidarity with all the workers of the Ports of Auckland.

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It Gets Better!

January 21, 2012 3 Comments

Hi all,

I put together the below video in support of GLBT people everywhere. For those of you who read this blog (all 10 of you) you will know that any issue of social justice is close to my heart and I have written on this particular issue before. Please check out the video and I will also post the transcript below…although I did ad lib a bit!

Kia koa, kia hari- Rejoice and be glad!

It Does Get Better!

Hi. I am the Reverend Christopher Douglas-Huriwai and I am an Anglican Minster here in Auckland, New Zealand and I am here to tell you that is does get better.

I know that for many of you out there it may seem as if “Christian” is just another word for “Homophobia,” believe me it isn’t. To be a Christian is to follow Christ and to follow Christ is perfect freedom and love. And while, I, myself am not a GLBT man, and I don’t for a second pretend to know firsthand the hurt that is all too often present in the lives of Gay, lesbian, Bi and Transgendered people as a result of Homophobia I do know some things. I know that love doesn’t call you Fag, love doesn’t call you a Dyke, love doesn’t condemn you because you have been fearfully and wonderfully made, just the way God intended.

I may only be one person, within a community that is too often seen to be homophobic or anti-GLBT, but please know, you have friends here and we are praying for you. Not for some sort of miracle cure to your “ILLNESS” we aren’t praying that the “GAY DEMON” be cast out of you. But rather we are praying that when you feel like hope is lost and the options are running out. When you feel like things are too hard and your light has grown too dim, remember that there are people here for you, praying for you, and there is a God that loves you, and so do we. IT DOES GET BETTER!

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We Are The 99%

October 31, 2011 1 Comment

My inspiration for this post.

Perhaps one of the most prevalent themes of the Gospel story is that of justice. Not just a superficial, forced type of justice, but a justice that permeates everything we do, a justice that is lived out and a justice that causes change. It is for that reason that Christ quoted from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and said,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

“We are the 99%.” This slogan has become somewhat of a house hold term over the last month. It is, of course is the catch phrase of the Occupy movement that is currently spreading all over the world. Beginning in America, Occupy has spread  from South Africa to Japan, to the Czech Republic to Brazil, the Occupy movement is truly a worldwide event, and since the 15th of October Occupy has made itself at home in New Zealand.

According to their Facebook page, Occupy Aotearoa New Zealand exists as “…an expression of solidarity with the people occupying Wall Street as well as many of the other occupations around the world. We support the assertion that endless corporate greed compromises the political system and holds too much influence over our everyday lives. We stand for a truly democratic society of freedom, equality, justice and equity.” At first glance I was, at least in principal supportive of the Occupy Movement, but as the days and weeks have progressed I find myself less and less in support of Occupy. For me as an indigenous person, I find it very hard to reconcile the Occupy cause with that of my own people and indeed, that of native people the world over. Occupy’s slogan is largely based on the disparity between those who have the majority of the worlds wealth and their influence. It is largely regarded as fact that 1% of the world’s population control 40% of the world’s wealth, and in the eyes of Occupy that also means power. So far, so good, I have no issues with that as a basic issue that should be brought to light. My reservations come in on a more fundamental level, that being the baseline foundation of the movement and their mode of protest.

My people, our people have been occupied, formally at least, since 1840 and so when a movement springs up in New Zealand proclaiming the occupation of the country until we see a return to democracy and equality, I am sure you can understand why I would be a touch hesitant to stand in solidarity with the said movement. Our people have been fighting for the last 170 odd years for our very existence as Māori. Not for financial gain or in protest at a financial deficient, no, our needs are far more fundamental than financial. We have been fighting for our language, our histories, our culture, our land. We have been fighting for our very lives. All of those things that make us who we are, we have been fighting for. As an indigenous person in Aotearoa New Zealand I feel marginalised, sidelined and ignored as a result of the Occupy Movement.

At a very fundamental level, the Occupy movement is effectively an import. We imported the slogan, we imported the mode of protest, and we even imported the chants. In doing so, the organisers of Occupy Aotearoa New Zealand have introduced yet another tool of colonisation to this country.

While the protesters march down Queen Street, Māori are making up more than 50% of the Prison population. While the protestors are pitching their tents in Aotea Square, over 50% of Māori are living in the 3 highest deprivation deciles. While the protestors occupy Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, Māori are still fighting for rights to our Ancestral Lands.

I have said it before in my blog posts and I will say it again, as Christians our calling to love and to serve means that we should be concerned with injustice in whatever form it takes and wherever it occurs. A part of that responsibility is to ensure that our response to injustice doesn’t cause more hurt and pain and therefore simply perpetuate the cycle that injustice creates. This is where I feel Occupy Aotearoa has come up short. I must confess, like I said earlier, at first I thought Occupy was great. Finally, a response to corporate greed and power, but when I looked beyond the surface and reflected on the implications of the protest, especially on indigenous people I began to realise that this protest doesn’t in fact, empower the already weak. It doesn’t liberate the marginalised or release the captives. It doesn’t restore sight to the blind or let the oppressed go free. What it does do is highlight just how off the radar and unimportant issues of justice, especially justice for Māori, is in Aotearoa New Zealand, even among those who fight for better equality and justice. Perhaps if nothing else, that realisation for me is a worthwhile outcome of the Occupy Movement.

My Name is Christopher Huriwai, I am indigenous and I am the occupied.

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