by admin | Jun 13, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“A Gift Rising from the Chaos”
On Sunday, I shared several stories about the chaos that we sometimes encounter in our lives. We’ve all been there, and probably not for the last time. We look within us and all around us, and things that once made sense no longer do; these times are often accompanied by darkness, confusion, uncertainty about how to move forward; and we might even wonder, “What good can come out of this?” And yet, there are often amazing gifts that rise from chaos. This is a theme throughout the entire Bible, beginning with the very first chapter where God created the gift of the universe out of chaos.
One of the stories I shared was about a very special gift given to a girl named Anne on her 13th birthday, exactly 75 years ago (June 12, 1942). It was a diary, in which she began writing almost immediately. For the next two years, her family hid from the Nazis in a secret annex above her father’s place of business in Amsterdam. Those two years were extremely difficult, but nothing compared to what happened to Anne, her family and the others who were hiding in the annex: they were all taken to concentration camps. Anne, her sister and mother all died in the camps. Miraculously, her father survived and later came across her diary. That book, The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, has become one of the most beloved pieces of literature of all time. What a gift it was to the world, not only to see inside a young girl’s heart, but to see the effects of human cruelty and to learn from them.
Another story I shared was about one of Elie Wiesel’s final nights in a Nazi concentration camp. The war was coming to an end as Russian troops were gaining ground and Nazi guards began piling Jewish bodies, dead and alive, on top of each other. Elie was on top of his young friend Juliek. Somehow, Juliek slipped out from underneath Elie and began playing a moving piece by Beethoven on his violin. When Elie awoke in the morning, he saw that Juliek had been killed and his violin crushed to pieces. However, many years later, he wrote of the special gift of that song on a very dark and scary night.
Although the chaos we experience might seem mild or even insignificant compared to the chaos of Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel, the very important lesson I learn from these stories is that there is always the possibility that an amazing gift can rise out of even the deepest and darkest chaos of our human experiences. I encourage you to look for the gift when you are in the midst of chaos…and to be the gift-bearer and even the gift for others in their times of chaos.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Videos of Kahu’s sermons are uploaded onto YouTube most weeks. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to our church. You can also subscribe 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 | Jun 8, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“A Generous Invitation”
We had a wonderful celebration on Sunday as we gave thanks for all that we have accomplished during the last two years of our capital campaign, “Maika`i Hana Hou!” (“Creating Goodness & Beauty Once Again!”). It was an honor to have the Rev. Dr. Charles Buck assisting in our worship service, as well as the Rev. Caroline and Tad Miura and Caroline’s mother in attendance for this special day! It was also a pleasure to have Lori Dill dance hula to “Aloha Aina” for us. Lori is a descendant of the Rev. Dr. James and Melicent Smith, who arrived in Koloa in 1842 to serve as the missionary doctor for Kaua`i and Ni`ihau.
Our text for the morning was the second chapter of Acts, in which the disciples of Jesus spoke in the tongues of all the people who gathered in Jerusalem to present their offering to God. Rather than speaking in Hebrew or Greek, which most of the visitors knew, the disciples spoke in all of the common languages of the vicinities from which the people came. This was an act of radical hospitality and inclusion, which has always been the nature of God and of the Christian Church.
As the people of Kōloa Union Church have spent two years offering gifts, prayers and service to the capital campaign, I know that we understand radical hospitality and inclusion. After all, the reason we decided to have a capital campaign in the first place was to be more welcoming and inviting to all people.
The Holy Spirit invites us into a community of radical welcome and inclusion; and then we invite others. It is a very generous invitation!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Click HERE to watch a video of a recent sermon. Videos of Kahu’s sermons are available most weeks. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to our 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 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 | May 30, 2017 | Message from Kahu
“God’s Love Has Been Poured Into Our Hearts”
Romans 5:5
On Sunday, I talked about Jonathan Franzen’s novel, The Corrections, which is about a very dysfunctional fictional family by the last name of Lambert. There’s the elderly Dad Alfred, who is retired, very ill and suffering from dementia. His wife is Enid, who becomes more obsessive, manipulative and nagging as time goes on. Alfred and Enid’s three grown children are all coming home for Christmas to the tiny house where they grew up…in a little midwestern town called St. Jude. And they are pretty sure that this will be the last chance to spend Christmas with their father. Denise is the girl of the family, who is quite a bit younger than her two brothers, and she once was very happy.
In the final pages of the book, something transformational happens to Denise. Although she had been the adored baby of the family, throughout her entire adulthood she never believed that her father–or anyone else, for that matter–would truly love her if he knew some of the things she had done. But on Christmas Eve Alfred let Denise know that he had known her deepest and darkest secret, and he had loved her anyway. It hit Denise like a bolt of lightening: her father had known about the most shameful thing of her past—and he had loved her and adored her even with all of her faults and shortcomings. She always thought that her father loved his idea of her…but not the real her that she truly was…the Denise who had an affair with a married man when she was just a teenager…the Denise who made some bad choices in her life…the Denise who carried shame around with her like a ball and chain. It was on Christmas Eve…the last Christmas Eve her dad would be alive…that she realized that he truly loved her for who she was. And at that moment, her life began to change for the better.
In the book of Romans, we read that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts.” God, who knows everything about us still loves us like crazy. I wonder how many of us go through life like Denise wondering if God or anyone else would love us if they really knew all about us. The good news is that God does know all about us—and still loves us. And God invites us to accept that love and to share it with others. I am pretty confident that there is someone each one of us will encounter this week who really needs to know and feel that kind of love. I invite you to be the one to show them that love.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Click HERE to watch 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 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 | May 25, 2017 | Message from Kahu
The Spirit of Truth
“This is the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:17)
On Sunday, I shared the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The shepherd boy of the village cried, “Wolf! Wolf!” from the top of a hill when there was no wolf. He then laughed at the villagers for rushing up the hill to protect the sheep of the village. It was so funny to the boy that he did it again the next day. After rushing up the hill twice, the people of the village had lost their trust in him. The next day a wolf actually came to the hill and attacked the sheep. When the boy cried out, “Wolf! Wolf!” the people ignored his pleas, as they figured he was just wanting to have another practical joke at their expense. After they realized that there really was a wolf, the shepherd boy asked them why they didn’t come and help him protect the sheep from the wolf, the village elder said to the boy, “It is hard to believe someone who doesn’t always tell the truth.”
Telling the truth is a basic virtue in all religions and cultures. In the Gospel of John, the words “truth” and “true” are found over forty times. It was very important to John to portray Jesus not only as someone who told the truth, but someone who actually embodied truth, who internalized it, who knew that the Spirit of truth was within him and his followers.
The Spirit of truth is within us as well. Imagine how our lives, our relationships, communities and world would be different if we paid attention to the Spirit of truth within us and within others.
May this week be a time where you embody truth as Jesus did. After all, you have the same Spirit within you!
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Click HERE to watch 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 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 | May 16, 2017 | Message from Kahu
You Know the Way (John 14:1-14)
On Sunday, I shared with the congregation about several people who found the way against all odds and while facing seemingly unsurmountable challenges. My maternal grandmother Alice was one of those people. Wanting to be an expert in agricultural sciences was her dream as a young girl when she was growing up in rural Montana. Family and friends laughed at her because this was considered “man’s work,” and besides, she would have to go to college and get a degree in agriculture to achieve her goal, and a woman had never done that before, at least not in Montana. To make it even more challenging, there wasn’t even a high school within many miles of the small community of Rockvale where Alice grew up.
Alice, however, was determined to achieve her dreams. She left home at 14 to attend high school and then attended Montana State College (now University) in Bozeman in order to achieve her dream. The only problem was that no organization was willing to hire her after she graduated. It was so entrenched in the culture that agriculture was a “man’s work” that she couldn’t find employment even though she was better qualified than some of the men who did get the jobs.
Alice then met a handsome young man with a decent job, who made her all kinds of promises if she would marry him. About 5 years later, she found herself as a mother of three young children (my mother and two uncles) and married to a completely irresponsible alcoholic who spent most of his money on alcohol and gambling. Alice made clothespin bags in order to make a little money for food for her and the children, and made regular visits to the food bank.
One day, her husband took her for a ride and was in a bad car accident with a train. (Alice wondered for the rest of her life if driving under the influence of alcohol was the reason he didn’t look before crossing the train tracks.) Alice ended up in the hospital with a broken neck and burns all over her body. When she regained consciousness she remembered hearing the doctor tell her family that she would not survive.
I am astounded that my grandmother found her way…out of the hospital…back to college…raising her three children during the Depression…moving to Kauai as the University of Hawaii Extension Services Home Agent and 4H leader.
When Jesus’ disciple Thomas asked, “How can we know the way,” they were entering a fearful, anxious and uncertain time in their lives (and I’m pretty sure we have all been there at least once!). Jesus said in that same passage: “You know the way,” and “I am the way.” These two statements give me tremendous courage because I am reminded that I too know the way, and it is the person of Jesus. I many not know the destination or the path I might travel, but the way of Jesus is my way. It is the way of compassion, grace, light and wisdom. When I am being these things and trusting these things, I know that I am walking in the way of Jesus.
When you are walking through dark times, I invite you to look to Jesus—all that he was and is to this day—and walk in his way; and remember, his words to the disciples still ring true for us: “You know the way.”
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Videos of Kahu’s sermons are available most weeks. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. You can also subscribe to Kahu’s sermon page on YouTube; that way you can easily watch any past sermon and even 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 | May 12, 2017 | Message from Kahu
Pacific School of Religion
On Sunday morning, I was sitting on an airplane to Oakland in order to attend the spring meeting of the Board of Trustees at Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley. I have been serving on the board for a year and a half and now feel more strongly than ever about the importance of theological education and training for ministry for our future pastors and other servants of the church.
On Tuesday afternoon, I had the privilege of attending a reception for two of PSR’s longtime faculty who are leaving: one due to a new job as dean at another theological school and the other due to retirement after 26 years at the school. As students, faculty and staff expressed their appreciation for these two beloved professors, I was touched by their commitment not only to quality education but to the students they taught over many years. PSR is not only a place to learn theology, but a place to experience community as well. It is a place where theology happens as people experience community. In other words, it is a training ground for future church and community leaders.
As you probably know, I have also been serving for the past two years in various capacities on the Hawaii Conference Council and Board of Trustees. One of the things I hear on all of our islands is the need for more well trained local church leaders. We need places like PSR to provide the education and training. I want to thank the people of Koloa Union Church for allowing me to serve the wider church in the ways that I do. I am convinced that my time spent serving in these ways benefits all of our churches, including our own. Perhaps some day, a current or future student of PSR will be a pastor of Koloa Union Church because of the work we are doing today.
In the meantime, I am grateful for the opportunities to make a difference in the church and in the world.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Click HERE to see a video of LAST week’s Sunday 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 to Kahu’s sermon page on YouTube; that way you can easily watch any past sermon and even 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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