Sermon
for the Service of Installation
for Reverend Dr Martin Brokenleg
held at Vancouver School of Theology 14 July 2004
Readings:
Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16
Matthew 11:25-30
Loving God - may my words always be spoken gently and with humility,
my thoughts always be worthily ordered and my actions always be guided
by your compassionate wisdom, Amen.
I
cannot begin to describe how deeply honoured I was when I first received
an invitation to accept this very privileged responsibility. I felt so
proud of the enduring friendship relationship I have so enjoyed with Martin
over many years and then as I shared ‘the news’ with others
at home, there was among Martin’s many friends and admirers (and
especially from my mother!), wonderful warm affirmation of the appointment.
I have also received many affirming messages about the gesture of solidarity
that my participation in this event (as your only sister indigenous Anglican
Dean in the entire Anglican Communion) represents. And so it is that I
bring very affectionate greetings from Te Rau Kahikatea, the Theological
College I represent and also from your many colleagues within Te Pihopatanga
o Aotearoa or the indigenous stream of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa,
New Zealand and Polynesia. It is within that particular fold that Martin
is held in the highest esteem as gentle and compassionate pastor, as feisty
and engaging theological scholar and as extraordinarily witty and generous
hearted friend and indigenous brother.
The pathway to this moment has not been one of easy transition, either
for Martin or for those committed to doing God’s justice in the
Church and more especially within theological education. However –
it is now done and thanks be to God, Martin is among us, bringing with
him all that he is and all that he too still hopes and deserves to become.
Having said that I want to remind us all that Martin does not come to
this new position alone and neither does he come without strings attached.
I have a little story to share which illustrates something of the sort
of ‘strings’ to which I am referring.
A couple of weeks ago I was in Wales with two of my dearest girlfriends.
We three (one Kenyan, one Samoan and one Maori) had spent the previous
couple of weeks working extremely hard for the worldwide Anglican Communion.
So at the end of the meetings we decided that rather than do as we usually
do, which is to head home to our respective countries exhausted and somewhat
depressed (because we all work for the Anglican Church!) we decided to
treat ourselves, to take time out and just hang out as friends ought to
do from time to time. We went to Cardiff, hired a car and off we went,
laughing, chatting, exploring, eating, sleeping, singing and discovering
new depths to our love for each other as friends. At one point we were
talking about weddings – no not ours! but those of our children
and we were talking about some of the unique cultural rituals associated
with weddings among our people. Esther, who is the Kenyan sister, explained
that in her context there is a renewed role for the elder women, the aunties
of the tribe who at the time of the wedding speeches all come forward
and call the bride to stand alongside them. They then challenge the groom
to very carefully observe his bride, they call on him to acknowledge her
hidden talents – her intelligence and her expertise, her grace and
her goodness. And then they ask the groom to notice especially how beautiful,
how radiant, how happy and how ‘unmarked’ their precious gift
to him is – the groom is by that point understandably so puffed
up with pride at his good fortune and doubtless with his own happiness
at having ‘secured’ such a treasure. The elders, the aunties
and grandmothers then of course directly confront the groom and charge
him with the responsibility of ensuring that the ‘gift’ or
the bride he is being entrusted with, remains as beautiful, as happy and
as ‘unmarked’ as she is on that sacred day. They promise very
close monitoring of the relationship! And they also promise to stay close
to the couple, supporting, encouraging, guiding, mentoring and nurturing
where needed. Isn’t the symbolism quite poignant and yet oh so profound.
The story totally resonates with my own peoples traditions and I know
it is the same with indigenous peoples the world over. Now I want you
to forget about the metaphorical bride and to think only about the symbolism
of ‘gift’. Because it is in a parallel way that Martin is
on this day, our ‘gift’, the ‘gift’ of the global
Anglican indigenous community to VST, our treasure given freely and with
consummate pride to enrich and to enliven the life of the institution
and of the total faith community. He is on this day, being given over,
wholly and doubtless as holy also! to serve and to be served within this
community of teachers and learners. I invite you all to notice his radiance
and his happiness on this day. You know already of his outstanding intelligence,
and his expertise as a teacher is legendary. While it is difficult to
claim that Martin is ‘unmarked’ by the experience of journeying
toward this day – it is by his own assessment fair to say that the
marks of the struggle are virtually healed. So my plea to us all is to
ensure that this precious gift of God remains in the months and years
ahead, as radiant and happy, as healed and hopefilled as he is on this
day. The challenge before us all as witnesses to this very significant
moment, is to maintain our commitment to supporting, encouraging, guiding,
mentoring and nurturing our brother in Christ.
This challenge is especially critical given the very nature of Martin’s
position. His is in many ways a pioneering role. Pioneering is by definition,
fraught with uncertainty, unknowns, unpredictability. Having been an unintentional
and often unwilling pioneer myself in so many respects I have some very
real sense of the trepidation and the anxiety such awesome leadership
responsibility inevitably generates. And then mercifully, what usually
happens to me is that either I remember, or through the blessings of my
faith community, I am reminded to simply be still and to know that God
is present . . .
When Paula sent me the readings for today I thought surely they will be
uplifting, celebratory passages – ones from which I could easily
extrapolate a message of inspiration and of encouragement! “
. . . the club in their hands is my fury! Against a godless nation I send
him and against the people of my wrath I command him to take spoil and
seize plunder and to tread them down like the mire of the streets . .
. Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it or the saw magnify
itself against the one who handles it”!! Well nothing very
ambiguous about that language. Thankfully, when I checked, I discovered
that these verses are actually to do with the prophet reminding Judah
that it is God and not Assyria, the then arrogant imperialist force, who
controls history. It is therefore intended as a salutary reminder to political
bullies. Actually having realised the meaning of the Isaiah text I then
thought very briefly about emailing my discovery to the current arrogant
imperialists, the bully boys of the world – your next door neighbours
– to see if it would make any difference!
Anyway then I considered the Gospel and I started to feel better. The
Gospel of Matthew is taken from the overall narrative which describes
Jesus teaching and healing ministry in and around Galilee. It was at a
time when he had just finished recruiting and instructing the disciples
(not an easy task!) and then was setting about proclaiming his message
in the cities from where the disciples had been drawn. The religious leaders
are portrayed as being intransigent and utterly opposed to Jesus, the
crowds continue to react favourably and the disciples although still fearful
and somewhat hesitant, do remain constant and eventually, they do demonstrate
their understanding of the mystery of Jesus person and the meaning of
his mission.
This is actually a very beautiful passage set as it is within the context
of prayer and thanksgiving. Jesus designates the ‘wise and the intelligent’
as the teachers of law, the high priests and the scribes, in other words
the privileged minority who held all the religious and social power -
these are the ‘important’, self-assured people who also happen
to despise the poor and the marginalised. They consider themselves as
the recipients of revelation and the experts in its interpretation. By
his statements however Jesus is challenging the authority of this power
elite. On the other side are the ‘infants’ or those akin to
the poor, the hungry, afflicted, sinners, sick, children, the non-invited,
the poor of the nation, for it is to these people that all things have
been made known, “ . . . you have hidden these things from the
wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes Father
for such was your gracious will . . .”.
It is yet another classic human situation – and the lesson to be
learned from the narrative example provided, is one rendered abundantly
clear throughout the Scriptures (if one takes a thematic as opposed to
a literalist view). The despised of this world are those preferred by
God as Jesus Christ reveals to us. “All things have been handed
over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and
no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses
to reveal him”. Here we have a very good lesson for anyone
trying to use the Lord’s word unduly for it is a word which ought
to lead us into the service of others and not toward the intoxication
of power. It is this Christology which underwrites Jesus authority as
messianic teacher and healer. The segment ends with a very tender invitation
and a reassurance that unlike the religious leaders who impose heavy burdens,
Jesus teachings refresh the soul, his yoke is easy and his burden light.
And so it is to you my dear brother Martin that I commend these few words
of encouragement and inspiration – for I have only ever known you
to be in solidarity with the non-invited, the marginalised, the despised.
Yours has always been a ministry of deep compassion for those who are
the least among us and your teaching ministry has always been focussed
upon redemptive justice. These are often very costly positions personally
and professionally and now you add to your portfolio a very significant
pioneering task where you will doubtless be not only the indigenous theologian
trailblazer for students but you will also be the indigenous theologian
trailblazing colleague for other Faculty who will sometimes either unwittingly
or consciously expect you to translate your reality for their benefit
without necessarily ever acknowledging the double burden that expectation
places upon you. You must therefore be very sure to regularly accept Jesus
invitation to find rest for your soul because there will be other greater
difficulties for you. There will be those who will try to thwart your
theological educational dreams for our people, there will be those religious
leaders who will attempt to impose their heavy burdens upon you, yes there
will be ‘wise and intelligent ones’ who will resent you and
undermine you – such is the nature of our calling as theological
educators working within institutional settings and within ecclesial frameworks
where often the most astonishing forms of power politics prevail. In spite
of this reality Martin, there are as you well know many, many more including
all of us here present, who love you, who value you and who pledge ourselves
to support and nurture you in the months and years ahead. We are for you
and for one another on this day and always, sisters and brothers in Christ.
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And
so to us all on this day of celebration and of thanksgiving I offer once
more to you the gathered community, my most humble and sincere appreciation
for allowing me this time to pay my personal tribute to my very dear friend
and to be able to do so within the context of worship and within the discourse
of our beloved discipline of theology.
In conclusion I offer a short prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book,
God of Justice and Compassion
You give us a work to do
And a baptism of suffering and resurrection.
From you comes the power to give to others
The care we have ourselves received
So that we, and all who love your world,
May live in harmony and trust.
Amen.
Dr Jenny Plane Te Paa
8 July 2004