Kahu's Manao
Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)
Second Sunday in Lent
‘Opūkaha‘ia Sunday
The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika
“A Declaration of Love”
John 3:1-17
Many of you already know that I was born in Kealakekua, Kona on the island of Hawai‘i in 1949. I grew up in the coffee fields of Keauhou mauka. The days we spent swimming and fishing were at Keauhou Bay.
We seldom if ever traveled south to Kealakekua Bay. But we knew about the bay and of how a fifteen-year-old Hawaiian boy named ‘Opūkaha‘ia dove into its waters into 1809 to board the ship Triumph that was on its way to China and back. The young ‘Opūkaha‘ia made that trip and upon its return he found himself in New York City and later in New Haven, Connecticut and after that in Cornwall, Connecticut.
The story of ‘Opūkaha‘ia’s life is what gave birth to the first Christian mission to Hawai‘i that left Boston Harbor in 1819. It was out of that early mission work that a school was established here in Mäkena in 1825 and later the church we now know as Keawala‘i.
Even though ‘Opūkaha‘ia was the source that inspired many to make the long and treacherous journey to Hawai‘i, what compelled the young boy to leave the place of his birth? The following is a recollection drawn from the writings of the Rev. Joseph Harvey that provides an insight into the mind of a young boy:
“Two parties were contending for the dominion of the island (of Hawai‘i). The warriors met and a dreadful slaughter ensued. The party to which the father of ‘Opūkaha‘ia belonged was overpowered. The conquerors, having driven their antagonists from the field, next turned their rage upon the villages and families of the vanquished. The alarm was given of their approach.
‘Opūkaha‘ia’s father, taking his wife and (sons), fled to the mountains. There he concealed himself for several days with his family in a cave. But, at length, being driven by thirst to leave their retreat, they went in quest for water to a neighboring spring.
Here they were surprised by a party of the enemy while in the act of quenching their thirst. The father, obeying the first impulse of nature, fled, but the cries of his wife and (sons) soon brought him back again for their protection. The enemy seeing the affection of the father for his family, having seized his wife and (sons), put them to torture, in order to decoy him from his retreat. The artifice succeeded.
Unable to bear the piercing cries of his family, again he appeared, and fell into their hands, and with his wife, was cut in pieces. While this was going on, ‘Opūkaha‘ia being then a lad of about twelve years old, took his infant brother upon his back and attempted to make his escape. But he was pursued, and his little brother pierced through with a spear, while on his back. He himself was saved alive, because he was not young enough to give them trouble, nor old enough to excite their fears.” (Memoirs of Henry Obookiah, Published by the Women’s Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands, Hawai‘i Conference, United Church of Christ, Honolulu, 1968, pages 1-2)
It is said that now a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, ‘Opūkaha‘ia was taken home to the house of the very man who murdered his parents. He remained there until he was found by his uncle who was a kahuna or priest.
Before peace was restored to the island ‘Opūkaha‘ia found himself face to face with the devastating consequences of war. Not long after the death of his parents, he saw the violent and untimely death of the only surviving sister of his father.
After seeing his aunt taken to a precipice and thrown to her death, he resolved to throw himself over the cliff to his own death. But a chief ordered two men to pursue ‘Opūkaha‘ia and bring him back.
A few years later a ship called the Triumph dropped anchor in Kealakekua and in the days that followed I am convinced that ‘Opūkaha‘ia felt compelled to leave Hawai‘i because of the violence he had experienced. He left over the objections of his uncle and his grandmother.
It may be difficult for most of us to imagine what it was like for ‘Opūkaha‘ia to experience such violence. It may be difficult for most of us to imagine what it must have been like for ‘Opūkaha‘ia to feel the weight of his younger brother grow heavy on his back when he was struck by the warrior’s spear and to witness his aunt plunging to her death.
When he arrived in Connecticut he was befriended by many who took a great interest in him. In the years that followed he would come to find great comfort in his new found faith and the care and nurture of those around him.
Friends said of him, “In his disposition he was amiable and affectionate. His temper was mild. Passion was not easily excited, nor long retained. Revenge and resentment, it is presumed, was never to be cherished in his heart.” (Op. cit., page 79)
To the families in which he lived, or to individuals who had been kind to him he felt a deep attachment. The memory of his own family was never far from his mind or heart.
A friend recalled how ‘Opūkaha‘ia, upon seeing him after a long separation remarked with great delight, “I want to see you great while: you don’t know how you seem to me. You seem like father, mother, brother, all.” (Op. cit.)
The story of ‘Opūkaha‘ia’s life is a powerful story of a young boy who finds himself traumatized by the violence of war. The healing that he experiences in his own life did not come from the violent image of the crucifixion and death of Jesus on the cross to which we have become accustomed, but in the image of a God who seeks to nurture and comfort us in the same way that Mary sought to nurture and comfort Jesus as an infant.
The story of ‘Opūkaha‘ia’s life reminds us that over the years the violence of war continues to trouble the human family. Young boys and girls know the ravages of war – in Iraq and Palestine; in Chad and Darfur; in East Timor and Myanmar; in Nepal and Pakistan. Our children know about the devastation that comes from violence in the streets and on the school campuses of our towns and cities.
We have turned violence into entertainment – in the cages of ultimate fighters determined to inflict the quickest and sharpest blows and kicks to their opponent’s face and head. We see a constant stream of violence in film and on television.
Even in our churches, the primary symbol of God’s love and care for humanity is the cross – a reminder of the violent execution of Jesus. We have turned his death as a sacrificial victim into the most compelling proof of God’s love. (God’s love, mother’s milk: An image of salvation, Margaret R. Miles, Christian Century, January 29, 2008, page 22).
Whatever may be said about the good news of Jesus Christ, John 3:16 is clear in its declaration: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” God loved the world - not simply you and me as human beings - but all of creation. There is no mention of a need for us to believe in the violence of the cross to have eternal life but to believe in him. Jesus was given in love.
In societies such as our own in which violence is rampant on the street and in the media, the image of Mary caring for and nurturing the baby Jesus can communicate God’s love to us in a way that a violent image cannot. (Op. cit., page 25). Such a declaration of love is what is at the core of our reading today from The Gospel According to John.
At the start of the year of 1818, ‘Opūkaha‘ia fell ill with typhus. It is said that one day as he lay bedridden, he raised his hands and said, “Oh, how I want to see Hawai‘i! But I think I never shall – God will do right – he knows what is best.” Then he turned to a friend and with eyes filled with tears he said, “ If you live to go home, remember me to my uncle.”
‘Opūkaha‘ia died on February 17, 1818 in Cornwall, Connecticut at the age of 26, far from the place where he was born. In 1993 his remains were exhumed. His iwi or bones were brought home and they now rest at Kahikolu Church, a church that overlooks Kealakekua Bay and the spot where the ship Triumph was anchored almost two centuries ago.
My sense is that the strength of ‘Opūkaha‘ia’s faith was not rooted in the violence of the cross but in God’s love for the world. I know that it was his faith and God’s love for the world that gave birth to the church here in Mäkena and throughout Hawai‘i nei, and for that we give thanks. Amen.