Christians responding to te Tiriti o Waitangi

Sunday 16 June 2024

Texts:
Micah 6:6-8
John 13:31-34

The Treaty of Waitangi remains highly relevant and topical for us today. It is 184 years since the signing of the Treaty, yet it is so topical today with Act’s Treaty Principles Bill up for debate, surging protests in response, and strong rhetoric from all sides of the argument.

My key question today is, should we be talking about this in our churches? And I have come to the resounding answer – yes, we should! My hesitations were along the lines of: this is too controversial and divisive; what do I know about this?; isn’t this politics, not religion? But my hesitations were overcome in listening to a talk by Alistair Reese at the Transitional Cathedral a few weeks back. Alistair is an historian and theologian. He gave an inspirational speech at the Waitangi church service on Waitangi Day this year (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXYxhiacKu4). As a result of that he was asked to speak here in Christchurch and, on a cold Tuesday night, the Cathedral was packed with people eager to hear more! He convinced me that we need to be talking about this in the church. But there is a huge disclaimer – this is a big and controversial topic and I do not pretend to be an expert!

Watch Hamish’s sermon here: https://youtu.be/JRTP3xqQ48A