by admin | Jul 2, 2019 | Message from Kahu
On Sunday, we read three conversations between Jesus and his disciples (or “would be” disciples) from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9. In the first conversation, the Apostle John was very concerned about a man casting out demons in the name of Jesus. He tried to stop the man because he didn’t hang out with Jesus and the disciples. Jesus responded to John, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” There are some people who say that these were literal demons: servants of Satan who were sent by him to torment people. Other people say that these were figurative demons: causes to which we assign negative spiritual energy. Whichever way you choose to interpret this passage (literally or metaphorically), the point is that the disciples encountered some people whose lives were tortured by forces that seemed beyond their control and a man who was freeing those people from their bondage of fear and pain—and he was doing so in the name of Jesus. Apparently, Jesus celebrates any time a person shows compassion to another person—even if that person isn’t the kind of person who hangs out with him and his disciples. The way of Jesus allows people—even if they are different from us, come from different places and backgrounds, and hang out with strangers—to show compassion to others. In our Scripture reading, Jesus also pointed out the importance of making the reign (kingdom) of God our top priority in life. Those who follow in the way of Jesus put the reign of God ahead of obligations placed upon us by family and friends. Seeking first the reign of God is the way of Jesus.
I wonder what our world would be like if we all truly put the reign of Christ ahead of all else. I wonder what our politics would look like if our political and religious leaders did that. I am pretty sure our world would look very different than it does today. Jesus made it clear that loving God and others were his top priorities. He also taught that we love God by loving others. Jesus celebrated and encouraged goodness and compassion wherever they showed up, and he wants us to do the same.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Click HERE to see a video of the message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
by admin | Jun 19, 2019 | Message from Kahu
“Embracing Mystery”
We celebrated “Trinity Sunday” this week in church as I shared more about my sabbatical in Europe. I talked about one of my favorite pieces of art which I saw in Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Paris called “Christ in Majesty” (the photo above). It is one of the largest mosaics in the world and probably the largest mosaic of Jesus. It is in the dome above the altar and the first thing you see when you walk in the front door of the church—and it is MASSIVE! It literally took my breath away! I felt that Jesus with his outstretched arms was saying to me, “You are welcome here. Come on in. I love you exactly as you are. There is nothing that can come between us.” The art affected me so deeply that I found it difficult to leave!
What I didn’t realize at all from the front door of the church was that the image of Jesus was part of a larger mosaic of the Holy Trinity. You can see the dove, representing the Holy Spirit, directly above Jesus’ head, but you have to walk down one of the aisles toward the altar to see the image of God the Creator (or Father). It is truly an awesome work of art: in my opinion, one of the great masterpieces of all time. However, it occurred to me that the average visitor to the basilica never gets to see the entire mosaic. You can see all of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but there was no place I could stand and see all of the Trinity at once. (I wondered if the priests who stand at the altar get that full vision, but I will never know!) It reminded me that we never get to see all of God. As much as God might choose to reveal God’s self to us and as much as we might pray and read the Bible, we never see all of God, for God will always be a mystery to us in many ways—and that should humble us when we encounter people who see God differently than we do.
I also shared with the congregation that in our passage from John’s Gospel that morning (chapter 16, verses 12-15), Jesus speaks of “the Father,” “the Spirit,” and us! Jesus told his disciples that the Father shares everything with him and the Spirit takes it from Jesus and shares it with us. It is clear to me from the context (chapters 12-17) that Jesus is focussed on love, peace and joy. Just imagine: all of the love, peace and joy of God is available to us. Imagine if we asked for it…and received it…and shared it with others. Just as God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit share everything with one another, they also share everything with us, and we are able to share all that God gives us with others.
These thoughts bring me great hope, not only for my own life but for the entire world. I hope they bring great hope to you as well!
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Click HERE to see a video of the message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“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.
by admin | Jun 13, 2019 | Message from Kahu
It was so good to be back in church after spending three months in Europe! I shared with the congregation about worship services I attended in France, Portugal, Italy, and Switzerland. Although I enjoyed each place, I understood almost nothing of the sermons because they were spoken in languages I did not understand. Sunday was Pentecost, the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit in our world and the Spirit’s desire for everyone to clearly hear in their own language the good things that Jesus did and taught.
Throughout the history of the Christian Church, there have been people on the margins of society who have been kept from hearing and knowing God’s all-embracing love for everyone. On Sunday, we celebrated our unanimous decision to become an official “Open & Affirming” (ONA) congregation of the United Church of Christ. I cannot think of a better day to celebrate our new status, for Pentecost is about making sure that all people are able to hear about and experience God’s love. Our ONA celebration was featured in The Garden Island Newspaper last week. I was overjoyed to see people in church for the first time who learned about us through the article and by personal invitations! Click HERE if you want to see the article. I wanted to offer a special thanks to Penny O. and Penny J. for the fantastic decorations; Rose and Shellee for the amazing dances; Kathleen, Doug, Nancy Murphy and Eric Yoder, for beautiful and meaningful music; Chris for the nice photograph of our congregation (above); the entire Open & Affirming Team for such a great celebration and for leading us through the process of becoming ONA (Michael, Lee, Penny O, Tiffany, and Becky); and for everyone who showed up on Sunday and who participated in any way for us to become Open & Affirming and hold such a wonderful celebration!
I invite you to join me this coming Sunday morning for “Trinity Sunday” as I share more about my sabbatical and some of the more important things I learned, experienced and focused on during my three months in Europe. I will be talking about my favorite piece of art which I saw in a church in Paris that affected me so deeply that I found it difficult to leave! A little hint: It had to do with the Trinity! After church, we will have a special Aloha Hour honoring Father’s Day!
Also this Sunday, June 16, after church I will be hosting a reception at the parsonage from 2 to 5 p.m. to share more about my sabbatical. I will have my brand new photo book Beauty, Art & Spirituality (the theme of my sabbatical) available for sale on Sunday. There will be a talk and slideshow at 3 p.m. Please see the announcement below for the details.
As a follow-up to becoming Open & Affirming, Koloa Union Church has the opportunity to participate in Kauai’s Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday, June 22, in Lihue. I hope you will consider walking in the parade or sitting at our table to hand out information about our church and answer questions about our church. Please see the announcement below for more information.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Click HERE to see a video of a recent message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“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.
by admin | Jun 5, 2019 | Message from Kahu
Lisbon, Portugal
Kahu’s Last Day in Europe
It is good to be home after spending three months in Europe! I had a fantastic time focusing on beauty, art and spirituality in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland—and I look forward to sharing with everyone in the coming weeks and months about my adventures and what I learned over the past three months! I’ll be talking about my sabbatical on Sunday mornings throughout the summer and also showing a slideshow at the parsonage on June 16. I saw some amazing art and inspirational places of worship and reflection. Throughout the entire spring, beauty was unfolding everywhere as flowers burst on the scene as landscapes and gardens transformed from earth tones to stunning places of color and vibrancy.
This Sunday will be a special time as we celebrate Pentecost and our new “Open & Affirming” (ONA) status in the United Church of Christ. I’ll be talking about some of my experiences worshiping in churches throughout southern Europe during my sabbatical. We will give thanks for our newly adopted ONA covenant and commitment to welcoming and including people of all backgrounds and lifestyles. We will also collect our annual “Strengthen the Church” special mission offering in order to promote new areas of growth in ministry throughout the UCC. We will continue to celebrate after the worship service during a special Aloha Hour as well! Be sure to wear one of the colors of the rainbow, if you are able, as we plan to take a group photograph on this special occasion!
I look forward to spending Friday and Saturday this week with Bridget Hammerquist and Shellee Riggio in Honolulu at the `Aha Pae`aina, which is the annual gathering and business meeting of the Hawai`i Conference of the United Church of Christ. One of the decisions we will make at the `Aha is whether or not Rev. Dr. David Popham will become our next Conference Minister. Thanks to everyone who attended the special dinner in Lihu`e yesterday to meet David! Please keep us all in your prayers as we seek God’s guidance for our churches in Hawai`i nei!
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of a recent message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“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.
by admin | Feb 27, 2019 | Message from Kahu
“Beauty All Around Us”
On Sunday, I shared a story from the book Moloka`i, by Alan Brennert, which I read over the previous couple of weeks. In the novel, a Catholic nun by the name of Sister Catherine had arrived at Kalaupapa, one of the most beautiful places in Hawai`i, to care for the patients who suffered from leprosy, also known today as Hansen’s Disease. Her first couple of weeks were especially difficult, as she dressed the wounds of young girls. She did her best all day long, every day, not to wretch as she tended one wound after another. After she had been there for a couple of weeks, she was unwrapping the bandages on the arm of a young girl by the name of Noelani, who was about 15. The wound was so horrible to look at, that Sister Catherine let out a horrifying cry and felt that she would throw up right then and there. She rushed outside and dropped to her knees. The beauty of Kalaupapa was far from her thoughts.
Fortunately, her colleague Sister Leopoldina covered for her, and when their shift was over, Leopoldina took her across the yard to the girl’s dining room. There was a cabinet there, in which Leopoldina rummaged through one of the drawers until she found a piece of paper. She told Sister Catherine the famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson had written something on the paper—something he wrote when he visited Kalaupapa in 1889—and then she read the poem:
To see the infinite pity of this place,
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferers smiling at the rod,
A fool were tempted to deny his God.
He sees, and shrinks; but if he look again,
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!—
He marks the sisters on the painful shores,
And even a fool is silent and adores.
When Sister Leopoldina first saw that slip of paper, she said to Mother Marianne, “Why, it’s beautiful! It’s lovely, isn’t it?”
But Marianne said to Leopoldina, “We are not the ones to be flattered.” And she told Leopoldina to look outside on the lawn at girls with clean clothes and freshly dressed bandages, who were lame and crippled from leprosy, but joyfully playing croquet on a lawn created just for them.
Then Mother Marianne said, “There is beauty in the least beautiful of things.”
Here were young girls who were suffering from a debilitating diseases, causing scars on their skin and disappearing body parts, separated from families most of them would never see again. And yet, they laughed and played and loved. Indeed, there is beauty in the least beautiful of things.
May we remember when we serve others that we are not the ones to be flattered. Rather, we join with God as co-creators of beauty in the lives of those around us and our own as well—for when we create beauty for others, beauty is being created for us as we do it.
Aloha nui!
Kahu
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of a recent message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“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.
by admin | Feb 20, 2019 | Message from Kahu
A Tree Planted by a Stream
On Sunday, I shared with the congregation about Pando, which is the largest known single living organism on Earth. It has been growing in central Utah for some 80,000 years—around the time of the last ice age. It weighs 13 million pounds and covers over 100 acres. Pando is a cluster of aspen trees. When I moved to the mountains of Utah in 1997, I lived in a place that was surrounded by aspen groves. Someone told me that a grove is actually one living unit, connected by an amazing root system of sometimes thousands of trees, all sharing the same genetic material.
I pondered how the world would be so much better if human beings all saw that we are connected to one another like an aspen grove. Just like the individual trees, we all look different and are unique in our own special ways. Yet, we are connected in invisible ways that we will never truly comprehend in their entirety. Perhaps if we reflected on this more closely we would say, “Your happiness impacts my happiness; your health, my health; your fulfillment, my fulfillment.”
Jesus understood this when he said, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” I invite you to consider this week just how very connected we are to one another, to Jesus and to God; for an appreciation of our connectedness is what will save us and lead us to an abundant life together.
I look forward to seeing everyone this week at the beach!
Aloha nui!
Kahu
P.S. If you watch this week’s video of my message…I began by talking about my great-great-great-great-grandmother Wale. I said that she was born in 1888; I MEANT to say 1788! Those who know Hawaiian history and who were paying close attention to the rest of the message probably caught that mistake, but I just wanted to point it out because 100 years makes a big difference! 😉
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. Click HERE to see a video of a recent message from Sunday morning. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“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.
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