A bit of a party and a blogload of prayers

It was a bit of a challenge, as those who travel will know, to stuff enough pressies in the UK suitcase before leaving for transit to loved ones here. There was a flurry of weight redistribution in Hong Kong, I seem to recall...

But anyway; glad to say that My Very First Prayers travelled well and was presented to yours truly's namesake, Crystal Valerie Tuilomani Kalouniviti, on Saturday when she brought her Mum and Dad around to House 12 for a get together. She's toddling around now and escaping from the confines of the house at every opportunity. A young woman of firm opinions and steely determination.

It was lovely to catch up with Lome and Koli, and a few friends from the campus kindly joined us too: Anna and daughter Emalyn from next door, Kini with her son Mosese and Kasa with her two grandchildren Raphael and Maria.

As will be familiar by now if you read the blog, we 'spread the mat' in the Pacific. Who needs chairs? The chatting and the praying and the singing and the eating all go on seated a bit nearer to God's earth. Except our youngest guest doesn't do sitting on a mat - or a chair for that matter - for very long. See one of many attempts at absconding...

And on the menu? A big roasted chicken, slices of creamy dalo, a staple root vegetable, some walu fish in coconut milk with onions, garlic and red peppers, roti (kindly supplied by Shelley) and dhal, roasted pumpkin and eggplant, juicy slices of pineapple and watermelon (kindly supplied by Anna), with Neapolitan ice cream cones to follow.

Oh yes, and that indigenous Pacific delicacy: a tube of Pringles. 

I like cooking and was up at about 5am before it got too hot, happily peeling, chopping, roasting and generally getting organised. But it is a complete disgrace - and I confess the weighty sin via this blog - that I didn't, physically, climb, retrieve, smash, scrape and squeeze coconuts fresh from from the tree to get the milk. So bad.

The alternative used wasn't actually the brand pictured on the right, but the name gives hope...

If you had a look at the last blog post, I included a sermon referring to 'Break the Silence' - the 16 days of activism to highlight the sin of violence and abuses of women, children and the most vulnerable across the world, and which the Fiji Council of Churches has been vocalising  and championing. Dudley Church focussed on this last Sunday evening in a special act of worship and it was humbling to be part of the event, with Deaconess Sala in blue, on the left, who heads up the Women's Department for the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma. The Revd Dr Cliff Bird's sermon, reminding us again about 'fullness of life' being God's desire for all, was terrific. We even split the silence, symbolically, by cake slicing.

In the Education by Extension Department, we're trying to do student follow ups, but when it's a pretty scattered student community across the wide oceans, that's harder than you think. Distance learning requires steady, solid, self discipline; otherwise the work doesn't get done. We understand, though, that people commit to doing a course and pay up at the start with enthusiasm, then life gets in the way. So towards the end of the year, we try doing some track and trace to give the lapsed an encouraging word or a gentle kick up the... you know. Every student has, as you might expect, a database entry recording their vital details and achievements with a matching (in theory) hard copy file. So, you'd think that somewhere in that lot there would be some way of making contact with most? Easier said than done if...

Mr A has changed his mobile number three times in the last year, switched networks and cancelled his landline but hasn't told PTCEE any of this...

Ms B used to use her work e-mail for contact purposes but then changed jobs and didn't tell us so we find ourselves following up assignments with her replacement at the same company who doesn't ever remember signing up for a course in Christian Ethics...

Brother C keeps reinventing himself on Facebook: new name, unrecognisable photo etc, so we're scratching heads about whether he's the original that we used to message and we're trying to pin down... Or not.

Sister D didn't renew the rent on her Post Office mailbox, so we're told, and doesn't do communications by telephone or through cyberspace, so our kind messages are going somewhere - but who knows where....?

Rev E lost his mobile phones, his internet hub, his course books - well, in fact his whole house, and nearly his whole household, because of a category 5 tropical cyclone last February

And you can't really argue with the last one.

Which brings me to Advent Sunday, Haiti and the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. I don't often feature the ministry of other mission partners specifically on the blog because all the news is up on the Methodist World Church pages and you can follow it there.  Please do. But John and Sharon Harbottle, who've been inspirational friends and partners in mission for years and years, (we've stopped counting!) are currently in Haiti. A medical doctor and an educator - among many other God-given talents - they've produced some 'Advent Praise' reflections which I'm so glad to share for your interest and prayers. Haiti continues to need loads of support. You could give here if you wish. Thanks. 

Now let's praise and pray....

In the spirit of silence-breaking, a small Sunday offering...

From time to time, I share a sermon on the blog and this one was preached yesterday, 20th Nov 2016, at Wesley City Mission in Suva. 

'May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen'

Colossians 1. 11-20

 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

 

Luke 23.33-43

 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[ 34 Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ 38 There was also an inscription over him,‘This is the King of the Jews.’

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42 Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ 43 He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ 

 

 

Christians in the Pacific often speak with great reverence about the Bible. ‘It’s very important to know God’s Word through our Bibles,’ we say. So, what do we know about the Letter to the Colossians, the first gift from our lectionary passages today? It’s not a long book. Only four chapters. What do we know about it? What was it trying to teach the first Christians? And what of us today? 

It’s a wonderful letter. Most probably we can say – because these things have been painstakingly researched by faithful scholars over many, many years now – it was written 80-90 years after Christ. A young Church was growing up. Maturing. When we take a look at letters written earlier, like 1 Thessalonians - maybe 50 or so years after Christ – the big issues remain immediate and practical. Most urgently, believers are waiting for Jesus to come back – waiting for the Son’s return, as he promised. In 1 Thess. 5.2, for example, the urging is to ‘be ready’. The end times might come upon us like ‘a thief in the night’. To look at earlier letters like those to the Corinthian Church is also to discover a world where practical, immediate concerns dominate for those who have decided to follow Jesus. So what do we do about unbelieving partners? (1 Cor 7). Can we really eat food sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8).

 

But in Colossians, written later, there is less about those early dilemmas. The Church has moved on a bit. And one reason given for the kind of preaching and teaching here is explicitly stated in Col. 1.28. So that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (NRSV) We read here the theology of a maturing Church. By the time this letter was written, the Church has done some mature thinking and mature reflection on who Christ is. They’ve done some Christology. We like an ‘ology’ don’t we?! Biology, psychology, theology of course… Here, Colossians is doing some Christology. What is our knowledge about Jesus Christ at this stage of the Church’s life and how can we communicate it so that it makes a difference?

Let’s look at this Christology. First of all – what’s happened already? Let’s summarise.

13 God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

 Colossians 1.13 is a pretty good one verse summary of Christian belief, if you’re ever looking for one! These things HAVE happened. We are not to live in a way that pretends they haven’t: that doubts or diminishes them.

And now, what about this 'beloved Son'; this Jesus Christ, into whose Kingdom we have been transferred. Who is he actually? 80 or 90 years on from his death, what have we learnt about him? Here’s the Christology again, and it’s immense:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers — all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 

 Can we see how mature a statement about Jesus Christ that is?

- The church has matured enough to grasp the intimate relationship of God and Jesus Christ – he is the image of the invisible God: in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

- The church has matured enough to realise that Christ in God was therefore present at the creation of all things and takes first place in all things. Alpha and Omega – beginning and end. That’s quite something to get our heads around, the idea of a pre-existent Christ.

- The church has matured enough to understand Christ through the cross as reconciler, bridge-builder, peacemaker. v17…. in him all things hold together. They’re not supposed to fall apart – could the Church wake up to that, please? And v20 – just one of the most awesome verses of the Bible for me …and through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 

This is a mature Christology, isn’t it? We listen to this text and hear that so much has been learned. What happened through Christ’s cross was for the purposes of reconciliation not division. One of the hallmarks of a mature Church, we can confidently say, is its passionate desire to hold all things together as a way of honouring and respecting all that was done for us on the cross. When our hallmarks as Church appear to be so often opposition, division, separate camps – surely we are disrespecting, we are dishonouring Christ’s cross?

I invite us to stay with this theme of the reconciling, peace-building work of God-in-Christ for a moment, not least because we need to bring in our Gospel passage for today from Luke 23. Here is Luke’s account of the crucifixion. There are two criminals – one on the right and one on the left of Jesus. At first it seems that Jesus separates them: his presence divides them. He’s even in the midst of an argument going on between them about who is condemned and who is saved at this point. Then an amazing reconciliation happens. It’s the Gospel of Luke’s foretaste of a reconciled world because Luke is very interested in the universal implications of the Good News and the reach of the Kingdom. One criminal says: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus replies, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

 

 

Can we now hold that crucifixion scene in our minds and hear afresh these words?

Colossians 1.20 – and through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
 

Making peace between criminals; sharing their tortured, human flesh; in the agony of a human body; Christ’s blood was shed only to makes peace, because that’s the way God wants it.
 

A mature Christology is one of reconciliation. A mature Church is a reconciling Church.

There’s particular theme that Churches in Fiji have been asked to think about and recognize today: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World – Make Education Safe for All. Some call today ‘Break the Silence’ Sunday: a sharp reminder to us all about colluding with the sin of keeping silent when women and children – sometimes men too – are violently abused and attacked. The Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma’s Facebook and Website pages have much that is worth taking a look at and we’re grateful to the Communications team.

When Christian people – those who claim to follow Jesus - are perpetrators of such violence, or remain silent about such violence, we crucify Christ again. We continue the torture of the cross in 2016. I’ve heard some opinions expressed in the Church that these campaigns are just some sort of secular, United Nations propaganda – they’re not really the stuff of the sermon and the pulpit. My humble question in response: does a mature Christian or a mature Church dare to say that in the light of the Christology in Colossians and the crucifixion account in Luke?

Through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Making peace in homes: making peace in the world. This follows, surely, from the mature Christology of Colossians and the practical demonstration of peacemaking from our Lord and Saviour between two criminals on the cross. If we ever wanted justification that ‘Break the Silence’ Sunday has Biblical foundations – here they are.
 

We pray that God will keep us maturing in the Word and maturing in our Christian lives, convinced that a sure sign of that maturity will be our ability to reconcile and make peace

Amen

The Revd Dr Val Ogden, MA MPhil
Director: Education by Extension
Pacific Theological College

 

More of the same but different

This year marked my third graduation experience at the Pacific Theological College. Can't believe it really.... Of the hundreds - possibly thousands - of photos that could be shared, here's one of Mrs Selina Koi, sitting in-between Nisha and myself, who got her Certificate in Theological Studies through PTCEE and actually worked so hard, she picked up more credits than she needed to! Well done indeed, Radini Selina.

With her husband, Anglican Priest Fr Sam Koi, Selina is off to minister in the Anglican Church in American Samoa and she's keen to continue Extension studies from there and encourage students from the local congregations to sign up. That will be great. And we can always go and visit to encourage in person, eh? Never been to American Samoa.

In the Extension Department, we don't feel the effect of academic years so much, we just keep rolling. So course editing is being done - a BD module on James, John and Revelation currently - and Nisha is doing a great job at getting a database with a mind of its own to conform and do what we need it to. We were really glad to see Rajesh who called in last week for a bit of academic support and general encouragement. Little by little he's notching up his first course in Biblical studies, even though he's in a lot of pain after an accident and facing many a challenge in life. It was so good to catch up with him and hear the latest. We prayed together and then he kindly posed with Nisha for the blog pic! It reminded us again, that there's something really affirming about seeing concrete evidence of achievement on your file when there's slow progress and considerable obstacles in other areas of life. Study can be a tonic.

Also a tonic was the dancing by the PTC community at our Graduation feast - as ever. Here's a snippet of the Tuvaluan number!

Then back at Church, at Nanuku compound in Vatuwaqa, there were touching reunions and proof, if proof were needed, that God's work is in safe and enthusiastic hands. The first scene I encountered was teacher Priya busy rehearsing the young people for Sunday School Anniversary which is almost upon us. Brilliant. I'd missed them while in the UK....

And always good to celebrate the arrival of little ones. Shelley's family dog had pups. The children were very excited indeed for me to meet them! She's a very smiley dog. Any blog readers need a puppy? You'll need to arrange export/import/quarantine etc, but could be a fund raiser for Church I was thinking....


The bus or taxi to Church in Nanuku settlement rumbles over the creaking Vatuwaqa bridge, now being replaced by a shiny new one. Also, in the centre of Suva, near the port, loads of development going on. Why is this of interest? Because it's yet another illustration of China's massive influence in global construction and development projects. 

It's a big topic of conversation on the taxi rank and in the Fiji Times. Many are of the opinion that local firms and expertise were up for it, able to deliver and could have been prioritised. Not for the same price, says Fiji's government. How many developing countries are replicating that kind of debate?

Then, you know when your past comes back to haunt you, but in a great way? Well, by the miracle of social media - 'What's App' in this case - I'm now part of a Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies retrospective group. The class of 2008/9 - the last year I was Director of SOCMS at The Queen's Foundation in Birmingham - have got together online, and this means I'm back in touch with an absolutely brilliant global group of theological colleagues doing all sorts of exciting things in all sorts of diverse places. The chief instigator and rounder-up of us all is The Very Revd Raphael Akhijemen Idialu PhD from Methodist Church, Nigeria. And, via the group, we've all been celebrating his fairly recent 'Dr' bit. So proud of you Dr Raphael! May all that hard work bear wonderful fruit. 

I'm touched that the group wanted to include their tutors! I mean, you could choose otherwise couldn't you? Good to be back in touch with valued former colleague Dr John Joshva Raja again through all this app activity. There are 'in' jokes among the group that I don't get though, frequently involving 'Tesco'. 

Let's leave it that way. 

Probably ignorance is bliss....

Break the Silence

What's your definition of 'sin'? Have a look at this - only 60 secs of it. 

It was made by the Communications team at the Methodist Church in Fiji for the Fiji Council of Churches, and there'll be a documentary coming soon to televisions and cinema screens here. Sunday 20th November is officially Break the Silence Sunday, but at PTC we were encouraged to think about these issues a bit in advance, before folk started moving on after graduation. Our colleagues in the God's Pacific People Programme (GPP) and the Institute of Research hosted a morning tea and through some deeply moving drama, poetry, speeches and song, challenged us to confront the realities of gender-based violence and violence again children, so horribly ever-present in many parts of our world. Here we are in feisty mood.

Kneeling on the front row in the pink-red shirt, arms outstretched, is my next-door neighbour Ana-Latu who's from Papua New Guinea. She was a driving force behind this event, dramatising for us through a powerful, solo performance, a not un-typical woman's struggle in her homeland. She also identified video material for us to take on board and you might like to look at this: not that it's pretty...

You can look at other posts from GPP here.

If you watched that video, the 'sin' that the woman supposedly committed was that of sorcery. In the Gospel of John Chapter 8, the supposed 'sin' is not sorcery but adultery. 

3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

Some of us try to follow Jesus, failing often, and yet are moved to do so with even greater commitment and fervour when we read accounts of his life and example like this one. 

Ears assailed with a barrage of questions, Jesus identifies the key one that gets to the heart of the matter: 'Who among any of us is without sin?' 

That said, sometimes human sins are indeed identified and need to be dealt with: but is violent condemnation ever God's way? Jesus didn't condone it for one moment here. Those who follow him today and yet still want to use violence against others - especially the most vulnerable - have a pretty impossible case to argue, it seems to me. 

And - surprise, surprise - the suffering one is female. But when she stands deserted, trembling and vulnerable before the Lord, she receives no beating, burning or wounding: only liberating words of mercy, justice and love.

Break the Silence Sunday - 20th November.  

Spread the word.

And we're back!

Well I was a bit taken aback to see the last post here was 18 June. Dearie me, what laziness and neglect! 

Quickly trying to absolve herself.... I have been posting on Ptcee Suva, including news from USPG's International Consultation on Climate Justice which was held in July and at which I was the reflector. It was great to renew acquaintance with the Anglican mission agency USPG - United Society Partners in the Gospel - as they were such valued ecumenical partners in the United College of the Ascension and Queen's Birmingham when I served there. Every four years they gather Bishops and senior leaders from the Anglican Communion together in some part of the world, and this time the vital issues of climate justice were debated and compared from a number of regional and country perspectives in Fiji. My role was to listen carefully and offer some reflection at the end of each day. It was humbling to be invited to do this and useful to be conveniently local as the Consultation was happening at a resort down the road. Here we are at 'The Pearl'.

Also on Ptcee Suva (still seeking blogger's absolution) there are posts from the International Association of Mission Studies Assembly which was in Seoul 11-17 August. I attended this with Rev Iosefa Lefaoseu, currently pursuing PhD research at PTC, who's a minister of the Methodist Church in Samoa. 

Then to the UK for two months, having completed two years of the mission partner contract in Fiji, to fulfill what's still quaintly known as mission partner 'furlough' or 'deputation'. One month of that, roughly, was for rest and reflection; catching up with friends and family etc. And the other month was for speaking and preaching engagements as follows. 

Maybe we saw each other at one of the above? If so, thank you so much for coming and for your heart for the wider World Church. Lovely to meet you or renew acquaintance! 

And I must say, from the bottom of my heart; there just aren't the words, in any language, to thank the brilliant squads of local organisers who got everything together in the various venues. There were Pacific display boards, delicious Pacific-inspired things to eat, music groups having a go at Fijian and Hindi songs, organists being troubled by strange hymn requests, great questions raised and discussion topics wrestled with and kind, kind hospitality in numerous homes. I also know there were cheques sent to the World Mission Fund of the Methodist Church in Britain on the back of these engagements, and for those - God Bless you. 

Lots of memories and photos of furlough, naturally, so I share just one or two...

Stewards on duty: always be ready, please, to inflate a Fiji rugby ball before services. Thanks Laurie at Badminton Rd, Bristol!

Ohhh  - how brilliant it was to see you again at Upper Norwood in the Blackheath and Crystal Palace Circuit. Happy memories of 2013-2014.

And here's the Chester and Runcorn and Delamere Circuits' event at Helsby. SO much planning and energy had been put into getting this together - thanks everyone

And here Fiji meets Barry Island! With the wonderful Team Taylor - Rev Pete, Deacon Sam, Rose and Matthew.

Lastly, the event at Dorking Christian Centre (the last time I was a 'proper minister' it was at St Martin's Shared Church in Dorking) was very touchingly mentioned in St Martin's magazine. I covet no coverage in the broadsheets after such an honour! 

Next blog - back in Fiji. See you soon.