Kahu's Manao

Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika

“In God’s Presence”
1 Kings 19:1-4; 8-15a & Luke 8:26-39

It was reported this week that “after 12 years, more than 900 witnesses and $288 million, the findings of Lord Saville, a High Court judge charged by the British government with establishing the truth about what happened on January 30th 1972 in the Bogside area of Londonderry, have finally been made public. His main conclusion – that British paratroopers had no justification for killing any of the 13 men who died, some shot from behind, on what has come to be known as Bloody Sunday – will have a profound effect on relations between the British government and Irish nationalists.” (The Economist, Vol. 395, No. 8687, June19-25, 2010, page 60)

The Irish prime minister, Brian Cowen, said that rather then reopening old grievances, the report “is about the healing of the gaping wounds of injustice left behind by the terrible events.” (Ibid) Many have concluded that the report marks a turning point following decades of violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland that left over 3,700 men, women and children dead.

The news of the report should be a source of encouragement to all of us in light of last Sunday’s story of Naboth’s vineyard and the call for justice. It was the prophet Elijah who was sent to confront King Ahab over the murder of Naboth and the seizing of his vineyard. (1 Kings 21:1-21a).

Our reading from The First Book of Kings this week precedes the story of Naboth’s vineyard. The 29th verse of chapter 21 was at the theological heart of last Sunday’s text. This morning the 11th, 12th, and 13th verses of chapter 19 is at the theological heart of today’s text.

Last Sunday I had an opportunity to share with you the appeal for justice made by Queen Lili‘uokalani to President Cleveland and the members of the U.S. Congress for the restoration of the Hawaiian kingdom. In her appeal Lili‘uokalani drew upon the story of Naboth’s vineyard to make her point: “With all your goodly possessions, covering a territory so immense that there yet remain parts unexplored, possessing islands that, although near at hand, had to be neutral ground in time of war, do not covet the little vineyard of Naboth’s, so far from your shores, lest the punishment of Ahab fall upon you, if not in your day, in that of your children, for ‘be not deceived, God is not mocked.’” (Hawai‘i’s Story, Lili‘uokalani, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan, 1964, page 373)

Whatever thoughts and opinions we may have about the history of Hawai‘i, the value of Lili‘uokalani’s statement in reference to 1 Kings 21:29 is in its application to her own life. That she found both solace and strength in the story of Elijah and Naboth’s vineyard is what was surprising for me.

What is equally surprising is the way in which a young Hawaiian man named ‘Opūkaha‘ia was also able to find solace and strength in yet another story of Elijah; this time in Elijah’s encounter with God at Mt. Horeb that is described in 1 Kings 19:11-13. The story of ‘Opūkaha‘ia traces his journey from Kealakekua, Hawai‘i to Cornwall, Connecticut in 1807.

‘Opūkaha‘ia was fifteen years old when he left Hawai‘i. He became an orphan following the death of his parents and younger brother. They were all killed in a battle between warring chiefs in Kona.

‘Opūkaha‘ia died on February 17, 1818 at the age of 26 of typhus fever. Those who came to know him were impressed with his life. Within a year of his death a ship was launched from Boston that brought the first Christian missionaries to our islands.

‘Opūkaha‘ia wrote of his decision to become a Christian the following: “I seeked (sic) the Lord Jesus for a long time, but found him not. It was because I did not seek him in a right manner. But still I do think that I have found him upon my knees.” (Memoirs of Henry Obookiah, Women’s Board of Mission for the Pacific Islands, Hawaii Conference, United Church of Christ, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1968, page 37) And he added, “The Lord was not in the wind, neither in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

Like Elijah, ‘Opūkaha‘ia encountered God’s presence not in rock-splitting wind or earthquake or fire. God was not in any of these.

Instead God’s power was shown in what our reading from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible translates as the “sound of sheer silence.” The words translated “sound of sheer silence” (1 Kings 19:12) can have more than one meaning.

‘Opūkaha‘ia relied upon the King James Version of the Bible and there the phrase is rendered “still small voice.” In the New International Version, it is translated as a “gentle whisper.”

Whatever translation we may turn to, what we find in the story of Elijah’s encounter with God at Mt. Horeb is that God who is always present whatever the circumstance or situation may be in our lives. Elijah was fearful for his life aware that King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, was determined that he should be killed for having confronted and challenged the power and authority of the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18)

In contrast to the storm god Baal, Elijah makes clear that the god of Israel is now present in “a sound of silence,” as in the sound of the calm after a storm. (Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 3, Bartlett & Taylor, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 2010, page 151) ‘Opūkaha‘ia does not tell us how it was that he came to encounter God in the “still small voice” or the “sound of sheer silence.”

In many ways we can only speculate about that sound or voice (Qol); about that whisper, silence, or stillness (demamah); about what was sheer or small (daqqah). Some may in fact understand the “a sound of silence” as the sound of the calm after a storm. But for us here in Hawai‘i, it is the calm that comes not after a storm but during a storm - when the eye of a hurricane passes over us.

We live in a world filled with the noise of sound. We are bombarded by noise every day – in our families, in our work, in our communities. At times it can sound like a hurricane as the front end approaches and as the back end catches up. The noise can be overwhelming.

We fill our times of worship with the noise of sound as well. We rarely allow ourselves to experience moments of quietness; of stillness; of silence.

Yet ‘Opūkaha‘ia discovered as did Elijah that it is in such moments that we become more keenly aware of God’s presence in our lives and in our world. That is what we find in our reading from The Gospel According to Luke.

Jesus’ actions demonstrate that God has power over nature and human life. Jesus visits a Gentile region and meets a person who is possessed of demons. On the way there he manages to calm a storm (Luke 8:22-25); now he calms a troubled man. The man is quieted – his body, his mind, his spirit - and the good news of God’s loving presence is proclaimed in the silence that follows. (Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life/Pentecost 1, 2010, page 40)

May we always welcome and embrace silence as a friend and in doing so may we be nourished and strengthened by God’s presence. Mahalo ke Akua.

Amen.

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