Why on earth would we te reo Maori in our Sunday service?
Gate Pa – 5th August 2012
(the week after Maori language week – te wiki o te reo Maori
Readings:
Hebrew Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Psalm: 51
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-16
Gospel: John 6:24-35,
What I want to say:
ask people why they think it is important to use te reo Māori
in the service, or what questions they have about using it?
Outline some of the reasons I think it is important:
·
welcoming for
Maori speakers to hear their language
·
Te reo Maori is a
gift from God, cultivated by our ancestors and bequeathed as a gift to all
generations it behoves us to fill our hearts with what is good and just.
·
official language
of Aotearoa New Zealand and as such deserves a place in our services
o
partly because it
is an official language
o
partly Maori is
used all around us and is part of our context
·
who we are as
Anglicans in this country
o
language first Anglican
church (te Haahi Mihinare)
o
language of our
tikanga partners in this land
·
enable us to
worship with Tikanga Maori partners with confidence
·
Lutheran work on
relationship of liturgy with culture:
o
trans or beyond
culture
o
contextual
o
counter cultural
o
cross cultural
What I want to happen:
people to engage with te reo Māori in an informed and
enthusiastic way
The Sermon
Introduction:
ask
people why they think it is important to use te reo Māori in the service, or
what questions they have about using it?
Outline
some of the reasons I think it is important:
·
welcoming for Maori speakers to hear their language
·
Te reo Maori is a gift from God, cultivated by our ancestors and
bequeathed as a gift to all generations it behoves us to fill our hearts with
what is good and just.
·
official language of Aotearoa New Zealand and as such deserves a place
in our services
o
partly because it is an official language
o
partly Maori is used all around us and is part of our context
·
who we are as Anglicans in this country
o
language first Anglican church (te Haahi Mihinare)
o
language of our tikanga partners in this land
·
enable us to worship with Tikanga Maori partners with confidence
·
Lutheran work on relationship of liturgy with culture:
o
trans or beyond culture
o
contextual
o
counter cultural
o
cross cultural
In summary:
don’t use te reo Maori because
·
it is trendy or because it is PC
·
I use it because it is who we are
using te reo Maori honours:
·
who is here
·
who we are as an Anglican church
·
our context in these communities
·
liturgy as a vehicle that moves us
o
out of our culture
o
helps us embrace other cultures
o
hold our culture up to the gospel
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