Bishop John Coleridge Patteson.

Bishop John Coleridge Patteson

I had the privilege of being Chaplain to Norfolk Island and every Sunday  sitting and leading worship in St. Barnabas Chapel.  Norfolk Island has a real architectural treasure in that building.  The William Morris “Rose Window”, the five Burn Jones windows at the front of the church, a Henry Willis organ and much more.

Thge William Morris, "Rose Window".

As beautiful as the building is, there are at least two even greater treasures connected to the chapel.

The first is man to whom the Chapel was built as a memorial.  The first Bishop of Melanesia, John Coleridge Patteson who left the safety and security of his comfortable upper middle-class English background to take up a post as a Missionary Priest serving the Melanesian people.

His talents were recognized and he was soon consecrated the first Bishop of Melanesia.  He undertook this task with enthusiasm, moving the mission from its base in New Zealand to Norfolk Island.  He spent much of his own time travelling about the Islands he was called to serve.  It was while doing this work that he saw first-hand what the practice of “Black Birding “was doing to the islanders.  “Black Birding” was in reality a legalized form of slavery, both inhuman and cruel.  Bishop Patteson took up the cause, writing many letters to the English Parliament advocating the outlawing of the practice but he met little success in his life time.

But what his letters were unable to do his death achieved.  When news of the Bishop’s death reached Norfolk Island the headmaster of the Mission School, Robert Codrington wrote …

“There is little doubt but that the slave trade which is desolating these Islands was the cause of the attack … Bishop Patteson was known throughout the islands as a friend, and now he is killed to revenge the outrages of his countrymen.  The guilt surely does not lie upon the savages who executed, but on the traders who provoked the deed”.

When news finally got back to England few people doubted that the killing of the Bishop was in some way the result of the “Black Birding”.  Public reaction demanded a response from the legislators.  As a result what the Bishop was unable to do in life his death achieved, the abolition of the practice of indentured servitude, Black birding.

The second and even greater treasure is the story of the one Bishop Patteson gave his life to serve, Jesus.  Jesus’ story has some remarkable similarities with that of the life of the Bishop.

Patteson left the comfort of England to serve in the distant South Pacific where ultimately his life was taken by the very people he came to serve and in that death they found freedom from slavery.

Jesus too left his comfortable place where he had ruled with God the Father in heaven.  Jesus entered our world to open the way to heaven but the people Jesus came to serve turned against him and executed him on a cross.  It was in his death that Jesus gave the world ultimate freedom, freedom from guilt and death.

St. Barnabas Chapel, Norfolk Island.

Show Day



Flowers ready to be taken to the show

Last Tuesday was show day.  I love the excitement of the show.  My wife has been thinking about, and working on exhibits for the past couple of months.  I love when the Show Hall is opened and everyone can enter.   I love looking at all the exhibits.  Marvelling at the size some people manage to grow their vegetables.  I love the bright displays of flowers and the way they perfume the hall.  I love looking at the wonderful cakes, pies, preserves and cooking that people have been doing.  I always wish I had brought a spoon and no one else was about watching so I could sample a few of them.

Then there are the crafts ... the delicate needle work … stitching … making … sewing … knitting ... painting ... sculpting … the intricate weaving.  There are many talented people who have been at work all year to make up the displays. 

Then there is my favourite; the Children’s work.  I just wish I was as neat and had the ability of some of our young artists and crafters.  It must represent years of work when totalled.  All on display for us all to see; handed in, in the hope of being the best, of winning a prize. 

I would hate to have to be a Judge.   I would have to give everyone first prize.  Those who win can be proud of their awards, certificates, cups and trophies.  They have been the result of skill and work.  At the show, those who do the work … win the prize.

Many people think life itself is like the show.   They know that one day eventually we will all have to stand before God and He will judge our lives, as if God can weigh our worth on a balance.  They believe that if they have been good enough God will reward them.  Give then the prize of living with him in heaven.

But life is not like that.  Yes we will have to stand before God but it is not so much to be judged, but to see if Jesus is going to share his prize with us.  Jesus in going to the cross took out all the prizes life has.  He was given the keys to heaven.  He is first, second and third place getter, but because he loves us he is willing and wanting to share his prize, forgiveness and eternal life with everyone. 

So how do you know that on that final judgement day that Jesus will share his prize with you?

It is simple; have you let him into your life, have you taken an interest in Jesus and developed a relationship with him in this life?

Jesus said very clearly, “I am the way (to heaven), I am the truth (you can trust me absolutely) and I am the life (a full, blessed and eternal life)”.

Do not be deceived.  There are no other keys to heaven, there are no other prizes except the ones Jesus has for us.

How do you begin your prayers?

The last picture taken of my Grandfather before he died.

Our families have a lasting impact on us.  It is not uncommon for people’s fondest memories to be of their childhood and their family.

For various reasons not everyone has a happy family life.  Fighting, arguments and even abuse can leave lasting wounds for children to overcome. 

For some children, when their parents fail them, their grandparents step in and show them the love and care their parents either could not or would not give them. 

Our relationship with our father’s can and does influence the way we view God and relate and pray to him.  I know a lady who was physically and sexually, abused by her father, over several years.  She just can not, under any circumstances bring herself to think of God as father, she can not address her prayers to God as Heavenly Father.  When she prays, she starts her prayers with, ”God in heaven”.  I understand why she does this, but I think it is unfortunate, because it leaves God as remote, and impersonal.  God is so much more than a remote impersonal force.  Jesus shocked the religious leaders of his day by inviting his friends to pray to God as Abba.

Abba is an Aramaic word, the language that Jesus grew up with, it means father, or more correctly…Daddy… it implies all the trust, love and security and expectation that a child would have when talking to their own father.

I used to work at a Church in King’s Cross in Sydney, a district that many of Sydney’s Street people and children run away too.   I met a young homeless boy who started attending the coffee shop we ran, I prayed with him one night, after which he said a prayer of his own, and he started his prayer,

“Ahh, Lad”…the first sound was a deep sigh…”ahhhh Lad”.

Then he prayed quite a conventional prayer.   Later I had to ask him about the way he started his prayer.  He told me that was how he always addressed God.  He then told me why.  He had also had an abusive father, who eventually abandoning him.  His aged Grandparents took him in, loved him, and cared for him till their own death. 

His fondest memories where of his Grandfather and his patience with him.  As young children do, he asked endless question of his grandfather, and his loving Grandfather always answered in the same way…”ahhhh lad”…and then answer his question.  “Ahhh lad”… was the most affectionate and caring name he had ever been called.  He saw God like his Grandfather, who loved him and always had time for him, who always answered him.  So naturally for him, he called God by that same loving name that meant so much to him.

I think God would be delighted each time he prayed to him as “Ahhh lad”.  I could not think of a more appropriate title for him to use when praying to God than his simple “Ahhh lad”.  

There is no right and wrong way to start our prayers to God, we can address God in what ever way we are comfortable with and that has meaning to us.

World Day of Prayer - Let Justice Prevail

The theme for this year’s World Day of Prayer gatherings is “Let justice prevail”.  We have been learning a little of what life is like for people and especially women in Malaysia.  As of 2011 Malaysia has been classified as a newly industrialized country.  It has made great economic progress over recent years, but that does not mean that the wealth that has been created has been shared equitably with all of Malaysia’s citizen.

There are still great injustices and this morning we have heard how some people have struggled and responded to those injustices, for themselves and for others.

Malaysia is a very diverse country, ethnically culturally,  spiritually.  The government has done much to try and bring about unity but the division and therefore the injustices continue as one group is favoured over another.

We have prayed for Malaysia in this struggle and if you are anything like me you may have felt glad we live here in Australia on King Island. 

We have just heard the story of Irene Fernandez and her research and work with migrant workers in detention centres and how the government responded to that research by arresting her imprisoning her for 7 years on charges of, “maliciously publishing false news”.

One of the very hot political topics is Asylum seekers ... or as the newspapers incorrectly labels them, “illegal entrants”.  Label like that are good.  They help justify actions that might not otherwise stand up to scrutiny.  Especially if you can demonise those you wish to treat with injustice, add label like “Muslim terrorist” and it becomes acceptable to believe anything of “them”. 

That they might callously throw their children over board that their reason for coming 1000’s of kms on a leaky boat is so they can become suicide bombers.

I worked for 2 years as a Chaplain to Villawood Immigrant Detentions Centre before being banned from entering a detentions centre after speaking out about what I had seen there.

There I met Muslims, Tamil Tigers, Iraqis, Iranians, Fijians, Chinese, Africans and even English detainees and refugees.

I sat with them, ate with them, prayed with some, cried with others and I marvelled how just like me they all were.  They wanted safety, and a  home, they wanted the best for their children.  Poverty though made their choice limited they sometimes arrived at solutions that shocked but I found that their motives were usually rational and when explained, I may well have been forced to make the same responses.

·        For one mother this meant giving her daughter to a wealthy Canadian as his property, as an owned slave because in Canada she would eat, have health care and only be expected to please one man.  In her own country these things could not be taken for granted.

·        Much of the political debate in Australia over recent years has been in what we should do with these people.  Should we send them to Nehru or the Malaysian solution?  Malaysia!

·        We have just heard what conditions are like in the camps there for migrants. 

·        I think it is only possible for Australians to contemplate this sort of injustice when people remain a “label” , remain “other”.  When we consider it a case of “us or them”.

Treating people with love and justice though is risky ...

·        It can make us vulnerable; when we love instead of fear we risk being rejected.

·        When we treat people with generosity; some people will take advantage of that generosity.

·        It is emotionally draining caring for the poor those who are marginalized.  Rather than sending them away to become someone else’s problem.

But when strangers become known to us, we learn that we share hopes, fears and dreams.  They cease to be the enemy, the other, the refugee, the alien and instead we together become more human.  We might even become friends, we may treat them with love ... not fear.  With justice ... instead of inhumanity.

Suffering and Natural Disasters

The world has witnessed nature’s fury in the past month.  First the Cyclone in Burma and before we know the extent of that tragedy there is the dreadful earthquake in china.  The news programmes on television have had graphic coverage of both events. 

One incident that will haunt me the rest of my life showed a young man trapped under tons of rubble, pinned there while rescue workers fought to save him.  As time ran out they got a telephone to him and he was able to speak to his wife.  He knew his chances were slim of survival.  He spoke to his wife of the love they shared.

The  newsreader finished the piece by telling us that he did not make it.  The young man had died.

I see these tragedies and I ask myself why? 

As a person who believes deeply in a loving God I am forced to ask myself, how can a God of love allow these things to happen?

And in the midst of the pain, anger, sorrow and distress we feel, there are no adequate logical answers that make any sense at these moments.   We respond from our feelings, our emotions are raw.  Perhaps though, it is from that level that we can being to make some sense of it. 

The world is divided.  Look at a map.  Red bits mark the Commonwealth Countries.  Europe a whole mess of different coloured patches marking national borders.  Africa divided, segregated, one country at war with another.  People mistrusting their neighbours.

We use labels, us and them, terrorists, allies, communist, democratic, totalitarian; we grow fearful of anyone who is different to us.  Hatred grows and the world becomes even more hostile and divided.

A month ago China was them.  A totalitarian regime.  A country of Communists, who only wanted to host the Olympics as a propaganda tool.

Then I saw a young Chinese man trapped.  It no longer mattered what political party he may have supported.  The differences became unimportant.  He became a human being and my heart went out to him and his wife.  I wanted him to be rescued and wanted them to have a future together.

The earthquake with the sorrow and pain that other human beings were going through some how pulled down the boundaries and barriers that divide and separate people.  We were no longer different.  We all became human beings.  China’s President was shown walking with his people.  Sitting with them, holding children, offering comfort.  In his responses to the tragedy I saw him as another person doing the very best he could to comfort his grieving nation and I wished him well and prayed for him.

There are no satisfactory answers to catastrophes of the proportion of the Cyclone and earthquake but maybe if they force us to look at others as fellow human beings and brings people of different nations a little closer together some good may come out of them.  Maybe that is why God permits them to happen.  They force us to recognize our shared humanity and our limitations.

The Burgers of Calais

In Victoria Tower Garden London, a small park beside the Thames River and in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament is a copy of a world famous sculpture by Auguste Rodin.  It is called, “the Burghers of Calais”. 

“The Burghers of Calais”, depicts the dramatic events that occurred in 1347 during the Hundred Years’ War.  Calais an important French sea port was put under siege by England’s Edward III, but the French King Philip VI ordered the city to hold out at all costs.

They tried to obey their Kings orders, but eventually starved and beaten the towns leaders surrendered to Edward.  Edward agreed to spare the people of the city on condition that six people be surrendered to him to be hung.  

That would have to be one of the hardest decisions anyone could be asked to make.  Which of their friends or neighbours would they offer up on behalf of the town?

The wealthiest of the towns leaders Eustache de Saint Pierre was the first to suggest someone. He nominated himself.  Five others of the town council then followed suit.  They stripped down to their breeches, put nooses around their necks and collected the keys as Edward has ordered.  It is this moment that Rodin captures so powerfully.  Emaciated after the long siege, facing imminent death.  They appear  worn and defeated.

England’s Queen intervened and persuaded her husband to spare their lives by telling him it would be a bad omen to execute the men while she was carrying his baby.  Edward relented and there lives were spared.

What the leaders of Calais did was a brave act on behalf of the city’s population, but I suspect that if they had known that they might be called upon to sacrifice their lives for the city’s citizen they may not have been so keen to stand for election.  It takes a truly extraordinary leader to be willing to lay down his own life for his people. 

There is a leader who did exactly that.  Jesus entered our world to die, to die on the cross.

God said the consequence of sin is death.  We all sin.  We all deserve to die, but Jesus volunteered to take our place, to take our punishment, to die for us.  Jesus gave up his life so that we might live.

We are less than a month away from Christmas, there will be pictures of Jesus in the manger.  Images of a little helpless baby and his parents.  They will be in shop windows, feature in television commercials, used on Christmas Cards.  When you see these pictures of the first Christmas you might remember that baby did grow up and when he was in his early 30’s he was taken outside the city walls of Jerusalem He was beaten, stripped naked and forced to carrying a cross that he would soon be nailed to. He did this so that all who believe in him we might have life eternal.

Wickham Lighthouse

Saturday 6th November, 2011.King Island celebrated the 150th birthday of Cape Wickham lighthouse.  I was asked to deliver a blessing on the Lighthouse, this was the blessing:

Delivering the blessing with the Govenor General in red behind

Jesus said ... ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house ...”

Cape Wickham Lighthouse

Wickham lighthouse is a light that has been put on a stand... a great tower to give light to ships and boats at sea.  To warn of dangers ... to aid in navigation ... and to guide sailors and fisherman safely home.
With King Island’s record of ship wrecks before this light was built ... We can only imagine what a comfort and blessing it has been a to many ships and boats over the past 150 years of service.
This evening I have been asked to give thanks for Cape Wickham lighthouse and to bless its continued service.

You may like to pray with me ...

We give thanks for this lighthouse; for the people who planned and built it.
We give thanks for the men and women who have served here to make sure the light kept shinning.
We thank you for the ships and boats that have passed by; and for all those who have been guided home to safety by this light.

We ask you God to continue to bless Cape Wickham light house.

May its light shine and give direction in the dark; safety in the storms; and a welcome beacon home.

This we ask in Jesus name,

AMEN

Part of the celebration was a walk from
 Stokes point to Cape Wickham