Easter Lost
This last week has been a very busy time at St. George’s Anglican
Church in Gate Pa. Our church sits on the site of battle of Gate Pa. And the 150th
anniversary of that battle is in less than 2 weeks. We are hosting an
Exhibitions of Images of the Battle in the church, our hall is being used to display
the entries to Art Competition, we have hosted a number school visits, and will
be hosting a series lectures next week. Outside builders and carvers are at
work preparing site for the commemoration. And some of us are busy preparing our
various roles in those commemoration events. At times it is hard to keep track
that Easter is close. It is hard to find time to even think about those events
2000 years go. As I retell the story of that battle and think of those who were
killed or wounded, all that carnage and
death, it feels like we meet our own Good Friday here on this hill; filled with
all the hate, angst, fear, pain and despair of that initial Good Friday. And
like that first Good Friday it is very hard to find any good news. When I read
on to the Battle of Te Ranga and the resulting destruction of Maori leadership
and the massive land confiscation, like on Good Friday, I am lost to know where
to find hope.
Over the last week or so I have been reading the book “Love Wins”
by Rob Bell. In it he talks about how for the Prophets and Jesus heaven was not
another place we go to after we die, but the hope of what this world will be
like in next age, when God’s will is completely done on earth as in heaven. Easter
Sunday is the day we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, his defeat of death and
bringing life for us all. To live in the hope of the resurrection involves
asking what does resurrected life look like. Is it like now? Is it different? Bell
suggests that living resurrection involves imagining what the world will look
like in the coming age (with the help of what the prophets and Jesus taught) and
living to bring that to reality now.
As I look again at the story of the Battle of Gate Pa I find
people of great faith living to bring heaven even into the midst of this hard
story, working hard to bring God’s peace and goodness to this terrible event.
People like Rawiri Puhirake and Henare Wiremu Taratoa who wrote the rules of
engagement that laid out (before there was a Geneva Convention) how the wounded,
the unarmed and the non-combatants were to be treated. I see it in the actions
of Heni Te Kiri Karamu or Taratoa, or maybe others, who, risking their own
lives, took water to the wounded and dying British soldiers after the battle. Gestures
filled with God’s mercy and compassion. In these I am reminded what
resurrection life looks like. I am offered hope in the midst of this story.
May we who now live in this place follow in the footsteps of
Puhirake, Taratoa, and Heni, and live to bring God’s peace, mercy, compassion
and goodness to all those who live in Tauranga. In this way may we honour the
memory of those who fought and died here, and find ways to live resurrected
lives now. May Easter hope be found in all we do.
Comments