A Message from Kahu Akana

by admin | Mar 22, 2017 | Message from Kahu

On Sunday, I shared in my sermon the story of Maria. She was a young woman running a soup kitchen for children in her village in El Salvador. According to her government, she was helping people who should be helping themselves, so they labeled her a communist and placed her on its notorious “hit list.” When friends warned her that she would be shot in the very near future, she left her village in the dark of night. For weeks on end, she traveled at night and hid during the day as she traveled north. After nearly 3,000 miles, she arrived at the U.S. border and applied for legal entrance via the 1980 Refugee Act, which guarantees admission to refugees who have a “well-founded fear of persecution” because of their religious or political convictions. Like 97% of the people in her shoes, Maria was denied admission into the United States. She knew if she returned to El Salvador, she would be killed the minute she arrived, so she entered the U.S. as an illegal immigrant. Fortunately, there were churches here who helped her.

I also shared the story of Ahmed. He fled his country of Syria with his family because he knew they would likely all be shot if they remained. He led his eight family members out of Syria to Libya where they were told they could catch a boat to Malta. When they arrived in Libya, they were locked in a stable on a farm for weeks, while their guides waited for more refugees to arrive. Eventually, the guides told Ahmed that there were enough refugees to make it “worth their while,” but it would cost an extra $3,000 per person for rent and food for their “unexpected” stay. Even though that money was about all his family had left, they forked over their life savings and climbed aboard a boat that was hardly seaworthy. While drifting toward Malta, the refugees realized that their guides were following them. They soon opened fire on the refugees, killing most of them and causing their boat to sink. Miraculously, Ahmed lived through the ordeal and made it to Malta. All of his family members died at sea. Fortunately, there were people in Malta who helped him.

Today’s refugees are certainly among those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for justice, for making things right. Jesus said that they are blessed and that their hunger and thirst would be filled. He also said that when we feed the hungry, give water to those who are thirsty, and welcome the stranger, we are doing those things for Jesus himself. I can only wonder if Jesus was thinking of his early years as a refugee with Mary and Joseph when they fled the Middle East and traveled to North Africa as strangers.

There are millions of refugees in the world who hunger and thirst for righteousness—some 5 million from Syria alone. The numbers are so big, I often have a feeling like there is very little I can do to make a difference. I suggested that there are four things that we can do:

1. We can learn about refugees and listen to their stories. The U.N. Refugee Agency website always has stories about the experiences of refugees and what they have been through before, during and after fleeing their countries. Seeing the world through their perspectives has helped me to want to do something to help.
2. We can pray for refugees. Once we have a name and a face, it is easier to pray for someone’s wellbeing. It is also easier to pray about our own involvement in being part of the solution.
3. We can talk about possibilities and options regarding engagement and action. On Wednesday nights during Lent our congregation meets to talk about the Scripture, theme and sermon of the previous Sunday. Please join us this week if you want to be part of the conversation about refugees.
4. We can give generously to the United Church of Christ’s annual offering called One Great Hour of Sharing. Every year, UCC congregations give millions of dollars to help refugees, people displaced by natural disasters, the homeless and hungry. Please consider a generous gift this year on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and/or Easter Sunday.

Whatever it is you decide to do, remember the words of Jesus from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” May we show compassion to all, just as Jesus did.

Aloha nui!

Kahu Alan Akana

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Click HERE to see a video of Sunday’s sermon. Videos of Kahu’s sermons are available most weeks. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. You can also subscribe on YouTube anytime you watch a sermon; that way you can easily watch any past sermon and even receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.

A Message from Kahu Akana

by admin | Mar 13, 2017 | Message from Kahu

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK

As we continue our Lenten journey this year, we pause each week and consider one of Jesus’ beatitudes (Jesus’ blessings in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5). This week’s beatitude is:

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the Earth.

On Sunday, we met at the beach as we considered how meekness is an attitude and way of being in the world. I mentioned in my sermon that it would be difficult to be proud and think that I am the center of the universe as I looked at the ocean in front of me on that clear day. It is immense and I am humbled to stand at the ocean and consider how vast and deep it is.

We also read from the third chapter of John’s Gospel, where Jesus told Nicodemus: “No one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above (which can also be translated “born anew” or “born again”).” There is a certain humility we must have in order to start over, or admit that we don’t have our act together all the time, or begin seeing the world around us in a whole new way. Yet, this is what Jesus called people to do if they want to truly see the realm of God among us.

Our attitude makes a huge difference in how we see the world and how we create community and a world where God’s love is felt by everyone. I encourage us all to be open to new ways of being in the world, especially being humble so that we can see and learn new things.

I invite you to join us on Wednesday evening at 6 o’clock as we enjoy a soup supper and consider these things in reflection, conversation and prayer.

Aloha nui!

Kahu Alan Akana

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Since we were at the beach on Sunday, there is no video of this week’s sermon.

“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.

A Message from Kahu Akana

by admin | Mar 9, 2017 | Message from Kahu

We began Lent last week with our Ash Wednesday service when we were reminded that God remains with us throughout our lives and in the life to come. Our theme came from the first Beatitude (Jesus’ blessings in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5):

Blessed are the poor in spirit,for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

God is with those who are poor and those who seem to have little spirit left in their lives. God is with us when we are feeling that way. Even when we face the death of a loved one or our own mortality, God’s love never leaves us, and we have faith that we will someday rise in God’s loving presence. As I marked the foreheads of those who worshipped on Ash Wednesday with ashes, I reminded them of these beliefs as I said:

From dust you were made,

to dust you shall return,

and from the dust you shall rise.

On Sunday (the first Sunday of Lent), we focused on the second Beatitude:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

In my sermon, I talked about the ways we experience grief in our lives and pointed to Psalm 6, Luke 22 and Matthew 5, to learn what we can from the Scriptures about grief. Here are some of the highlight of the sermon:

• Grief is a very real part of life, and there is no point in denying it or trying to pretend that we never grieve. King David is a great example of someone who openly mourns in God’s presence; and we see this openness before God over and over again in the Psalms.
• Grief comes to us in many different ways. Sometimes we can’t get to sleep—like King David—no matter how tired we feel; and at other times sleep seems to be all we want to do—like Jesus’ disciples when they knew he was about to be arrested.
• God is with those who grieve. We find great comfort in our grief knowing that it is never God’s way of punishing us, and in knowing that God loves us and blesses us in the midst of our greatest sadness.

I hope you will join us on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. as we share a simple meal together and then reflect and discuss the theme of the previous Sunday.

I also hope to see you at CHURCH ON THE BEACH this Sunday. See below for the details.

Aloha nui!

Kahu Alan Akana

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Click HERE to see a video of Sunday’s sermon. Videos of Kahu’s sermons are available most weeks. You can find them on our  church website <www.koloaunionchurch.org> and on our weekly e-news. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. You can also subscribe on YouTube anytime you watch a sermon; that way you can easily watch any past sermon and even receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.

To see a video of last week’s sermon, click HERE. (It was uploaded a bit late and was not included on the Weekly News.)

“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.