The Wisdom of Solomon

Pastor Solomon Bebe e-mailed the PTCEE office this week, from the Churches of Christ in Vanuatu (remember Cyclone Pam headlines earlier this year?) He serves Louvinvili Church, Langana Area, East Ambae, South Pentecost. Little by little, step by step, Pastor Solomon notched up his courses by Extension with steely determination and has gained an excellent Certificate in Theological Studies. 

As with many other students dispersed across this liquid continent, attending a graduation at PTC here in Fiji hasn't been physically possible. So how great it was to receive these pictures from the ceremony in Vanuatu where his achievement was rightly recognised. Many congratulations Pastor Solomon and God Bless you in your ministry.

The Fiji Methodist Conference edition of Nai Tabe  (think Methodist Recorder if you happen to be a British Methodist!) came out this week and I was delighted to see an article I'd submitted about lay theological education in it. Many Fiji Methodists study with us already, love the courses and are stretched and enriched by the ecumenical and regional reach of the programme. The interest in our little PTCEE stand at the pre-Conference Choir Festival was very encouraging indeed, with many requests for application forms and Conference attendees taking the opportunity to call in personally and see us while they were in Suva. It's such a blessing that being a non-denominational programme, yet fully supported by the mainstream Churches, we can welcome everyone with open arms. Here's the article. 

We believe in…..Theology for All

I always look forward to reading Nai Tabe and was greatly uplifted by a headline in June’s edition on page 5: Towards Quality Theological Education for Lay Members of the Methodist Church in Fiji. Absolutely! Three cheers! And not just in the Methodist Church, but in every Church across the globe, please God.

Our General Secretary, Rev Dr Epineri Vakadewavosa, was sharing about future changes in the pipeline for Methodist residential theological education at Davuilevu, the Deaconess Training Centre, MLT and the Divisional Schools. All very interesting to contemplate. But, as we know, the majority of lay people in the Methodist Church don’t go to Theological College full-time and are not training for Ordination or to be employed as Church workers. The majority of lay people are simply doing their best to live out their Christian faith in ordinary, daily life, as market stallholders, rugby players, farmers, sailors, teachers, taxi-drivers, nurses, teachers, police officers, parents, grandparents – you name it. For sure, their Christian faith and spirituality as Pacific people is going to be deep and strong and sincere: their commitment and loyalty to the Methodist Church commendable. But how’s their theological education doing? Does it, as Dr Vakadewavosa states, enable them ‘to understand and respond constructively to the contemporary world?’

In the many changes and challenges of today’s societies, it’s simply not enough to leave theological education to the Talatala or the College lecturer. They may not be conveniently to hand when we find ourselves in a gripping theological discussion with our friendly, Muslim taxi-driver about why Christians recognise Jesus’s divinity and don’t regard him only as a prophet. Or when our children, who’ve been learning about Pacific climate change at school say, ‘But Mum, we learnt in Sunday School that God promised there’d be no more floods after Noah’s time’. Or when you come out of Church on Sunday having listened to a preacher saying things in a sermon that you felt were really very dodgy or suspect, but you don’t feel confident enough to challenge him or her theologically and respectfully. Have we found ourselves in any of those situations, or similar ones? What theological responses did we have? And let’s remember, ‘theology’ isn’t about being ‘academic’ and having super-human brains. The word (from theos and logos in the Greek) just means understanding or knowledge about the things of God. And we can never get enough of that, surely?

One of the most inspiring and liberating movements in the Church around the world since the 1970s has been that of TEE – Theological Education by Extension. That means ordinary Christians opening their minds and hearts to theological exploration and education in their normal, day to day lives. No College required. I’ve had the huge joy of meeting and working with TEE groups from Churches in Zambia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, to name just three places. And TEE is right here in the Pacific too: ready to serve believers, ready to equip believers. By the grace of God, helping believers to do just what 1 Peter 3.15 urges: Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence. (RSV)

TEE students generally study by themselves, in their own place and at their own pace, benefitting from courses which are accessible, affordable and applicable to real life. However, learning communally is much more interesting and productive (certainly in the Pacific!) so it’s great when TEE students meet regularly in small groups to encourage and learn from one another. TEE is an ecumenical movement, not a denominational one so the best TEE groups might have Methodists, Catholics, Anglicans, Pentecostals - you name it – sharing and learning together. And in many parts of the worldwide Church, Conference officials, Ministers, Priests, Pastors and Preachers are TEE students’ biggest encouragers and supporters. Gone are the days of an artificial and unhelpful polarisation between ‘residential’ and ‘non-residential’ theological learning. How can we be nervous that lay people might learn too much about God and God’s purposes? We can only be grateful that the Holy Spirit is at work through the energy and commitment of everyone who feels prompted to go further and dig deeper. (Praise God for every lay person who says, ‘Much better for me to learn more about how the Books of the Bible really came to be written than to be obsessed by the latest happenings on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful!’) 

TEE studies can lead to recognised, accredited Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees, if people wish to journey down that road. But equally, they contribute to the ‘university of life.’ Is there a TEE group in your local congregation or among the Churches of your neighbourhood? If not, wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing? Would you like to pray about it with others and take the first step?

In his foreword to a book called Diversified Theological Education: Equipping All God’s People, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa writes, ‘The fundamental concern and foundation of TEE remain the same: the biblical foundation that all God’s people are called to ministry and mission, and the concern to enable all to gain relevant skills for their mission’.

Theology for ALL God’s people, not just some. What a vital vision for the 21^st Century.

The Revd Dr Val Ogden, a Mission Partner of the British Methodist Church, is Director of Theological Education by Extension at the Pacific Theological College, PO Box 388, 78 Vuya Rd, Suva, Fiji. Information about TEE courses (Certificate, Diploma and BD) and application forms can be found at www.ptc.ac.fj/ptcee or by e-mailing ptcee@ptc.ac.fj or by calling +679 330 7989. You can search for PTCEE on Facebook and on Twitter @PTCEdbyEx. We also love to have visitors. Come and see us – you’re welcome!

And finally, love was in the air on Saturday. The community was invited to Tetabo Nakara and Alisi Tira's wedding in the PTC Chapel and then in the community space we call the 'fale' for the Reception. They're a couple of more mature years - Alisi is here from Kiribati doing her PhD and Tetabo is one of Kiribati's political leaders. At their reception, the new husband spoke very movingly of how as young people they had met, fallen in love and 'courted' for seven years but were forbidden to marry by their parents. Much remained unsaid in this public speech of course, but a sense of the trauma of it all was palpable. Alisi remained single while Tetabo entered a marriage which was to last 16 years, until his wife passed away earlier this year. He was encouraged by friends and colleagues to remarry, took a deep breath and sought out Alisi, not expecting to be accepted second time around. He was. Thanks be to God!

Methodist momentum!

This week and next the annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma happens in Suva. And it sure is a happening. Hundreds of choirs, for a start, are registered to take part in a Festival of Praise - solevu - at Furnival Park: inspirational singing interspersed with numerous announcements, acts of worship, preaching and cultural dance. 

If you go to the Church's You Tube channel, you won't be short of a song or two, that's for sure, and you can pick up some of the atmosphere thanks to the wonderful communications teams of MCiF&R headed up by Rev James Bhagwan. 

Circuits from all over Fiji have set up little camps all around the main field to feed and water their members and provide hospitality, so the whole place is a buzz of meeting, greeting, reunions, conversations and exchanges. Here I am, along with the sainted Deaconesses at their stall, having cling-filmed a few hundred plates (you think we exaggerate...?) And it's not 'cling film' here by the way. It's 'handy wrap', or even better, 'glad wrap'. Don't say I never convey any useful, cultural information.

Activities have been muddy, generally, because of consistent and persistent showers of blessing. But it seriously doesn't dampen spirits. Our PTC Education by Extension Department has a small stand at Furnival Park, staffed by enthusiastic local students Amos, Josese and Radini Joana Waiqiratu. Here they are touting leaflets as the unsuspecting Nina passes by. Well done, team PTCEE! 

Below is what Rev Bhagwan wrote about the solevu and Conference in a recent Fiji Times which you can go to online or read here. The Hibiscus Festival,  by the way, is an annual carnival, funfair and cultural jamboree sponsored by Vodafone as opposed to Methodism. Simultaneous Suva delights! Is it OK for Methodists at Conference to be secretly spotted down at the foreshore eating candyfloss and bopping at the mainstage? Discuss...

Back to Padre Bhagwan's article....

As the second term holidays approach, Suva City comes alive with multitudes arriving for not only the Hibiscus Festival, but also the Methodist Church's Annual Conference, solevu and choir competition. With up to 788 choirs taking part in the week-long program, the choir competition has been a prominent feature in the Fiji music scene for the past 50 years.

The history of a Methodist choir competition in Fiji goes back to the inauguration of the Methodist Church in Fiji Conference in 1964, with the Conference Cup being awarded to the Raiwaqa Methodist church choir, conducted by Ratu Aca Dina Vunakece. Raiwaqa kept the Conference Cup for another two years before relinquishing it to Nasova/Nasese church in 1967.

In 1978, the cup changed to the Raiwalui Cup and was won by the Centenary Church choir, conducted by Sir Josua Ralulu Rabukawaqa. Centenary also won the Methodist choir competition in 1981 when once again the cup was changed, this time to the Ratu Cakobau Trophy.

The cup was to change names twice more to the Koniferedi Cup in 1986, won that year by the Kadavu Choir and to the Ratu Aca Vunakece Cup in 2003, won again by Centenary Church. A separate cup, the Sir Josua Rabukawaqa Cup, for category one choirs (those with over 80 members singing) was launched in 1991.

This Friday the 2015 Methodist Church in Fiji's annual gathering will begin in Suva with children singing praises to God in Toorak's Furnival Park. Out of the mouths of babes, the tone for the Methodist Church 2015 solevu will be set. Yet for the first time, the solevu will not be a choir competition but instead a festival of praising God through song, through music and even in dance.

One may think that because there is no longer a trophy to sing for, the numbers of choirs participating this year would be low. However the desire to sing to the Lord, even a new song, and the fellowship at this annual gathering of the Methodist Community has proven very strong, with over 300 choirs registering for the festival of praise. It is also not only choirs that will take the stage.

This year, for the first time a special category of "bhajan" or hymns in the Hindi language has been included in the program. This will include both traditionally sung hymns, with traditional instruments being used, as well as hymns accompanied by modern instruments.

This celebration of the diversity within the Methodist family also has traditional dances from a number of different cultures during the lunch hours.

The solevu will be traditionally opened by the Methodist Fijian fellowships from the southern hemisphere, represented by New Zealand and Australia on August 15 and closed by the northern hemisphere fellowships represented by the US and Great Britain.

This celebration of faith in song, music and dance forms a prelude to the annual conference which will also have a number of significant moments.

The first of these will be the induction service of the president, vice president, general secretary, deputy general secretary and department heads who were elected at last year's conference. While the program for the service is still being finalised, it looks to build on the last induction service in 2013 to be a further celebration of the inclusive community that the Methodist Church hopes to become through its Lakoyani Vou or New Exodus.

In a first for conference, the ordination service for those ministers who have completed six years of ministerial formation and practical experience, will not be held on the Sunday following the conclusion of the conference but will take place during the conference itself, on the evening of Wednesday August 26. This change frames the ordination service as part of the conference, rather than an event at the end and provides the newly-ordained ministers with the recognition of the full conference who will be present.

While the business of conference, its agenda, is set by the church's constitution, this year will see a revised constitution presented to the conference for adoption, marking the end of a three-year process which included consultations with and recommendations from the congregations via the divisional annual meeting. The new constitution will bring in some positive changes for the church and also ensure that regulations and issues that need to be constantly updated to keep up with the church's journey can be done so without impacting the foundational document of the church.

Along with the new constitution, the long-awaited code of conduct for ministry and lay leaders, which also has been developed over the past two years, will be presented to conference for adoption. This will provide clear guidelines to the behaviour expected of their ministers, deaconesses and leaders for effective ministry for the people of God and for the protection and wellbeing of those they serve.

These changes, and other issues to be discussed, ring in a new song for a New Exodus.

"Simplicity, serenity, spontaneity."

* Reverend James Bhagwan is an ordained minister of the Me­thodist Church in Fiji and a citizen journalist. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Fiji Times or the Methodist Church in Fiji.

Thanks James. Wishing everyone a great Conference.

And a couple of random items to end this week's post.

Loved this picture of the sashed Hibiscus Kings and Queens swishing glamorously past the cabbages on their official visit to Suva market!

And in the 'gobbledygook of the week' category, the College's e-mail programme said to me this morning:

Thunderbird now contains calendaring functionality 

by integrating the lightning extension

Well that's alright then.

Manava!

What a stunning sermon we had in Chapel last Friday at our weekly Holy Communion service!

Preaching and presiding was Pastor Henri Manaena a TUPAIA, (seen on the right) from the Etaretia Porotetani Maohi (Maohi Protestant Church in French Polynesia). Henri and his wife Katia are both pursuing PhD research here at PTC and bring depth, vibrancy and challenge to this community in so many ways. 

With characteristic generosity, Henri has permitted me to include his sermon on the blog. I'm very grateful to him for this treasure and predict you will be too. 

As Christians, we are what we eat, Henri suggests. John 6.35-51 will never read in quite the same way for me again...

John 6.

35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 

36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away;
38 for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
40 This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day."
41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven'?"
43 Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves.
44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.
48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Feasting in Maohi Nui

Theme: “The manava or womb, stomach: A place to become or not to become”

Just a short glimpse of what I mean by manava. Manava has to do with eating but is also a greeting. In fact, we have three ways of greeting someone. The first one is Maeva. Maeva is especially to greet someone of high status like the king or God. The second one is Ia ora na which is the common greeting, literally translated as life be in you. The third one is Manava. Manava, because of its first meaning stomach or womb, means two things, a greeting followed by eating. When someone or a group of people is greeted or welcomed by the word manava, it just means that they will end up feasting. My womb or manava greet you and will feed you. This is the practicality of manava, it is not only to greet with words but to fellowship in the sharing of food.

However in a symbolic meaning, manava has to do with life, with one’s own being, with one’s identity. Have you ever heard of this saying, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are? What you are? And where you are from?” 

In other words, what you eat reflects your being whether spiritually, physically, socially, politically and so on. It is a way of life that emphasizes not only gastronomy but also learning, knowledge, belief, philosophy. In the old days, the manava is the centre of everything. It is a place where everything is kept especially what we do, what we learn, what we know and what we believe. To eat is to learn. To eat is to know. To eat is to believe. It is not only for food but for the betterment of the whole being. To speak from my manava or womb is to speak from my whole being.

Manava is about eating, and eating has a special and critical place in our text this morning. Special because Jesus is speaking from his manava, from his womb. “Eat this bread; eat this flesh.” Not only that he is food but more importantly he is food that comes from heaven, from God. What then is Jesus’ food if it is not to do the will of the Father? But for those present at that time, they could not understand the difference between speaking from the manava and speaking from the mind and reason. They were critical because they were arguing from the perspective of human reason. Let me now go back to our text.

While many meanings can be drawn out from our biblical passage this morning, however, I wish to highlight one of the most problematic theological understanding which is the identity of Jesus. The “Jews” as they are addressed by Jesus, were struck by Jesus’ words, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” In response to Jesus, they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” Their knowledge about Jesus was limited to his earthly life. Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary, the son of a carpenter. In fact, in their ignorance, Jesus’ opponents used rhetoric of logic to contradict his declaration. It was inconceivable for the Jews to accept that Jesus came from heaven or was from above, meaning that he was the one who had lived and communed with God; someone who knew everything about God; someone who got his essence from God Himself. Let’s consider this logic of reasoning from two statements and a conclusion. The first statement is the Father is God. The second statement is the Father is not the Son. And the conclusion, therefore, the Son is not God. Jesus is a mere mortal, a human. He cannot be God.

In Jesus’ time and during the time of the early church fathers, the debate on Jesus’ identity was so intense until it reached to an agreement stipulated in the Nicaea-Constantinople council. If ask today who Jesus is, the answer will no doubt be, he is the Son of God, fully human and fully divine, God from God, light from light. I hope we understood what we are confessing and in what circumstances the Nicene Creed was formulated.There are however reasons to believe that Monarchianism and subordinationism are still alive in some of our church tradition, my church for example. Some have adopted a creation-centred theological orientation against a Christ-centred theological orientation. There are those who hold the view that to know nature is to know God, hence, enough to have a grasp of who God is. Some have said that the missionaries should not have brought the gospel because it was already there, hidden in one’s own culture. But Jesus has this to say, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[a] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.”

Knowledge of God should come from both nature and Jesus but never from a dominant one. The Jews tended to overreact against Jesus’ declaration because they could not believe that he has great knowledge of God or that he has lived in heaven, beside his Father. Of course, the Jews had the Torah but were very much influenced by philosophical arguments. In Luke 12, 54-56, “Jesus said to the crowd: When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” Jesus was referring to what will happen to him. As in our text this morning, the Jews fail to see in Jesus the hope of Israel, the messiah who the prophets of the Old Testament had prophesized. Jesus invites them to seize the opportunity, this pointing time to see in Himself the one and only saviour they were waiting for.

What actually Jesus wanted them to grasp is that the bread that came down from heaven has become flesh, seize it, take it and eat it. But more disturbing, Jesus said to them that when they eat this bread, they are eating his flesh. This is too much for the Jews. Is Jesus saying that the bread is really his body? Well that is what the Jews thought about which made them more and more angry. However, if we take sometimes to reflect on Jesus’ words about the bread and his body, it makes sense. The Roman Catholics believes that the bread and wine are really body and blood of Jesus. This is perhaps taken literally from Jesus’ words “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Is it real body or just presence? You might have your own understanding and answer for that.But the big question for me is how I am going to interpret these words of Jesus “This bread is my flesh…” and later in this same chapter, we hear Jesus says “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” I want to use the concept of Manava to reread Jesus’ declaration to eat his flesh which had upset Jesus’ audiences.

Manava means stomach or womb. It is where life begins and is nurtured. More than being a place where everything we eat goes, it is also a place where we store knowledge, wisdom, sayings, stories, legends. They are all kept in the manava, the opu. We eat not only food but also everything that is taught, told, preached. Story in our language is aamu or aai which is in English to eat. We eat stories. We eat words. For us, the manava or womb speaks stronger than the heart. The French introduced this concept of heart and started to teach such as “learn by heart”, “listen to your heart”, “speak from your heart” but these are all foreign and abstract to our people. We learn from our manava. We listen from our manava. We speak from our manava. When we express something, we express it from our manava because manava is not only abstract but also practical.

Manava is about what we eat. It is not only restricted to material food but also to spiritual and epistemological food. I am not surprised why we have revived our old word for theological school, actually translated by fare haapiiraa (house for learning) by fare airaa upu (house to eat prayer) or fare airaa vanaa (house to eat knowledge). It is said that what we eat will tell us who we are and where we are from. This is true. Our identity is revealed in what we eat. Our behaviour is judged in what we eat. If we ask Jesus what he eats, he will surely answer that his food is to do the will of God. And by doing the will of God, this will tell us of his identity and where he is from. Jesus is speaking from his manava, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” (NIV, John 4, 32)

I have heard old people saying “eat the gods and you will be like the gods”. This is not to be taken literally but the meaning behind this will shed light on Jesus’ words “He is the bread of life, and this bread is my flesh.” In other words, if I rephrase the old people saying, it will go like this, “eat Jesus and you will be like Jesus.” This sound strange and weird but for these old people it is quite normal. Unlike the Jews, Jesus’ saying was an insult to them because they were thinking with their mind but not with their manava. Jesus is asking to eat him because he is the bread. And because Jesus’ food is to do the will of God, this should also be our food. What actually the old people meant by their saying is to try and learn more about God’s ways and to grow in knowledge of Him.

As we grow into Jesus and Jesus in us, our life becomes transformed and we become more like him, calling us not only to eat his bread but also to share in the joyous and challenging life of being him in the world; bread for a hungry world and drink for those who thirst for justice, peace and reconciliation.

As we approach Holy Communion, Jesus is welcoming us - Manava - meaning we are about to eat his body and to drink his blood.

Manava!