by admin | Dec 5, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“Hope that Will not Disappoint”
On Sunday, I began my message by sharing about the life of Allan Boesak, the South African pastor and theologian who demonstrated against apartheid in his country. During many difficult years, he continued to fight for the rights of all people, even when others felt like things were hopeless. Allan marched in 1977 with eighteen other demonstrators. In the 1980’s the number of marchers grew into the hundreds of thousands. Even though Allan Boesak was arrested, imprisoned, and threatened, he held onto hope, which he attributed, in part, to reading the Bible and his faith in God. Because he and many others acted upon their hope, apartheid was officially abolished in 1991. I love stories of hope which eventually make a huge difference in the world!
The Apostle Paul wrote that God’s hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts. It is God’s love for us and for all people that keeps hope alive. It is our openness to God’s love that keeps us connected to hope.
I invite you join us on Sunday morning and for the following two Sundays as we continue to prepare our hearts and lives for the many ways Christ comes to us—in hope, peace, joy and love.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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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 this week’s message. You may also 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 | Nov 21, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“Thanksgiving: The Will of God”
“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
On Sunday we looked at the story of the Jesus and the ten people whom he cured of leprosy (Luke 17). I began my sermon with stories of Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka`i where people with leprosy were once banished. I read last week that over 8,000 men, women and children were sent there in order to keep leprosy from spreading to others throughout the Hawaiian Islands; and some 95% were Native Hawaiians. As was the case for over a thousand years throughout the world, Hawaiians with leprosy lost just about everything that was important to them: health, comfort, family, community, employment. They were even told that their condition was because of sin in their life. As if it wasn’t bad enough to lose everything else, they were made to feel that God had abandoned them too!
When Jesus healed the ten people of leprosy in the Gospel story, one of them returned and threw himself at Jesus’ feet. Luke pointed out that the man was a Samaritan. I find two important lessons in this. First of all, Jesus healed this man who was different in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion. Jesus didn’t try to convert him first. He simply healed him because he had compassion for him. Secondly, Jesus accepted the man’s gratitude. These two lessons compel us to show compassion to people who are different, especially to people on the margins of society. They also remind us that God accepts our gratitude—no matter who we are.
The final words of Jesus in the story are: “Your faith has made you well.” Even though all ten people were cured, Jesus pointed out the faith and wellness of the man who expressed gratitude. I believe that there is something truly healing when we express our gratitude, and I also believe that our faith is strengthened. Gratitude must be God’s will for us because God wants us to have lives that are whole and experienced with deep faith. May we find healing and faith as we express gratitude on Thanksgiving Day…and on every day!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
P.S. Please see “Weekly News of the Church” to learn more about making a gift to Pacific School of Religion where I serve on the Board of Trustees.
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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 this week’s message. You may also 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 | Nov 15, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“Are You Ready?”
“Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13)
On Sunday we talked about getting ready and being prepared for the many ways God shows up in our lives. I am a preparer by nature. I know not everyone is, but whether preparation comes naturally to you or you have to work harder than others at it, I think it is especially important that we are always ready for the many ways God shows up in our lives—especially the unexpected and surprising ways.
We focused our attention on Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Virgins. They were ready for the bridegroom to show up at his normally scheduled time; but not all of them were not ready at all at midnight when he actually did show up. By the time he arrived, they were out of oil for their lamps, so they left. So Jesus said, “Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” This is another way of saying, “Pay attention and be ready,” which begs the question, “Pay attention and be ready for what?”
The answer is found all over Matthew’s Gospel. As the biblical scholar Warren Carter tells us, Matthew is a comparison of the Roman Empire to an altogether new way of being in the world, which Jesus refers to as the “Empire of Heaven.” In the Roman Empire, few people enjoy wealth, enough food, adequate healthcare; and the people on the margins of society are ignored and forgotten. In the Empire of Heaven, there is enough to go around for everyone, and all people are valuable and included. So the answer really is, “Pay attention to the many surprising ways that Jesus shows up in the needs of others, and to the many opportunities to include people who are often excluded.”
In my sermon, I mentioned that there are two important ways that this message is particularly relevant today. First of all, many governments in the world act like the Roman Empire by operating as if their job is to assure that the wealthy have more than enough and the people on the margins have very little of what may be left over; they also ignore people on the margins altogether. As followers of Jesus, we can not only do our best to change such structures, but we can also connect with the marginalized people in our world and offer them our compassionate presence.
Secondly, as the holidays approach, we can remind ourselves (in the midst of preparing for all of the traditions which we hold dear) to prepare ourselves to notice the people around us who may otherwise be forgotten. Our Thanksgiving dinner boxes are one way we can do that as we help feed hungry families in our community. Yet, I am sure we will find many other opportunities to share God’s love in tangible ways if we are committed to being ready for the unexpected and surprising ways God will show up!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
P.S. Please see “Weekly News of the Church” to learn more about making a gift to Pacific School of Religion where I serve on the Board of Trustees.
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Videos of Kahu’s Sunday’s sermon are uploaded onto YouTube whenever available. Please share these videos with friends. 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. You may also subscribe to the page on YouTube; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“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 | Nov 8, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“Doing Justice”
“Do justice…love kindness…walk humbly….
(Micah 6:8)
On Sunday we celebrated the justice work of the United Church of Christ by contributing to the annual “Neighbors in Need” special mission offering and considering the ways we can work toward a more just world where everyone is valued and cared for and our earth is treated justly as well!
In my sermon, I talked about a lecture that some of us attended last week. The guest speaker was Bishop Yvette Flunder of Affirming Ministries and Pastor of City of Refuge in Oakland, CA. In her talk, Bishop Flunder spoke about her move from believing in the “Either/Or God” of her childhood to the “Both/And God” which she has experienced in her life. The former tells us, “You either believe the things I believe and do things the way I do them or you are wrong—and opposed to the ways of God.” She talked about her understanding of Christian baptism and how the only “correct way” was total immersion; every other form of baptism didn’t count in God’s eyes because it was wrong. The “Both/And God,” however, recognizes and celebrates variety and diversity. There are many ways to baptize, just as there are many ways to understand God, the Scriptures, and how our experiences, faith and lives interact.
As I thought about what it might be like if all people believed in this “Both/And God,” I imagined a world in which God was truly pleased with us all. As the prophet Micah considered the question of what is good and what God really wants from people, he made it really clear in his answer: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. When we worship a God who blesses all people and not just the ones we agree with or happen to like, we are ready to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
P.S. Please see “Weekly News of the Church” to learn more about Neighbors in Need and also to make a gift to Pacific School of Religion where I serve on the Board of Trustees.
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Videos of Kahu’s Sunday’s sermon are uploaded onto YouTube whenever available. Please share these videos with friends. 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. You may also subscribe to the page on YouTube; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“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 | Nov 1, 2017 | Message from Kahu
500th Anniversary of the Reformation
“Always Reforming”
On Sunday we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. I shared a couple of family stories about some rather hostile words and actions between some of my relatives. Catholics and Protestants sometimes spoke very unkind words to each other, and sometimes they didn’t speak to each other at all. My mother’s paternal grandmother would have nothing to do with her grandchildren, for example, because they were not raised by two Catholic parents. On my father’s side of the family, there were Catholics who converted to Pentecostals and then told the Catholics they were going to hell.
The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is today, as it began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, the German priest and professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, wrote a letter to the Archbishop in an attempt to stand up to the unjust teachings and practices of the Church. Because of the hostility between Catholics and Protestants over the ages, including in my own family, I “celebrated” the Reformation with some sadness.
I also shared an encounter I had with a Catholic priest by the name of Father Richard Hopkins, a distant cousin on my mother’s paternal side of the family—the side where my great-grandmother would have nothing to do with my mother and her two brothers. Father Richard reached out to me in the 1990’s and brought healing to my family. He died this past August at the age of 98. I was reminded this past week as I read his obituary of the Church’s need to always be reforming, for the Church always has more to learn in terms of loving others with God’s unconditional and eternal love. Father Richard was a wonderful example of that for me.
I am wondering how I might be better at loving others. I hope you are wondering the same!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Videos of Kahu’s Sunday’s sermon are uploaded onto YouTube whenever available. Please share these videos with friends. 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. You may also subscribe to the page on YouTube; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“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 | Oct 4, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“Gratitude and Generosity”
On Sunday, we read Jesus’ parable in Matthew about the laborers in the vineyard. There were some who worked all day, others who started working around 9 a.m., others around noon, others around 3 p.m. and even some around 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., the owner of the vineyard first paid the workers who started last—and he gave them a full day’s wage. Obviously, those who worked all day expected a lot more than those who worked only an hour, but they got the exact same amount; and that amount was just enough to feed their families for one day. So those workers complained. Of course, we can resonate with them because, if we were in their shoes, we would want more than those who worked only an hour. To pay everyone the same just isn’t fair!
We can probably all think of times in our lives when life has not been fair and we have complained about it. (And, frankly, there are times when we should complain, or at least, make very clear requests, when a person or government is being unjust or greedy and thereby hurting innocent people.) But, for all the things we cannot or need not change, how do we move from complaint to generosity? It is only through gratitude that we can live generous lives. When we consider all of our blessings, they far outweigh the “unfairness” we feel.
I shared with the congregation about a car accident I was in nineteen years ago. I was on my way one morning to the church office where I worked when a man driving an uninsured truck without a driver’s license slammed into the back of my small sedan at 60 miles per hour while I was stopped at a red light (as were the other five cars in front of me). I was unconscious and suffered injuries all over my body, and spent the next 5 months in physical therapy 2-3 times a week, with the doctors and physical therapists telling me that I would have to learn to live with pain for the rest of my life. Let me just tell you that it was an easy place to feel sorry for myself and complain that life is unfair. Yet, I’ll never forget my attorney at the time telling me, “Alan, you don’t know how lucky you are to be alive. I’ve never represented someone with that kind of damage done to a car when there wasn’t a wrongful death suit. I guess someone up there still has something for you to do.”
I decided then that I would focus on my blessings rather than the “unfairness” in my life. To live each day with minimal pain and be able to spend it with people I love, to be able to see and experience beauty and grace all around me, to sense the Divine presence: these things fill me with gratitude and make me want to share with others. This is what it means to follow Jesus for me. I know I don’t do it perfectly (far from it!), but I hope we will all consider our blessings and consider how we might share them with gratitude in our hearts.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
_______________
Videos of Kahu’s Sunday’s sermon are uploaded onto
YouTube most weeks. Please share these videos with friends. 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. You may also subscribe to the page on
YouTube; that way you can receive a notification when a new sermon is posted.
“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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