Te Pipiwharauroa 4

Te Pipiwharauroa 4

No 4

1808/06/01

(Maori Version at PapersPast)

[1] HE KUPU WHAKAMARAMA

[2] He Kupu Whakamarama, No. 4 Nelson, June 1898 Editor: Rev. F. A. Bennett

A DREAM

Martin Luther had a dream in the year 1517.

In his dream he saw Satan coming towards him with a book in his hand. That book was long and wide. When he came to before Martin Luther he thrust the book at him saying to Martin Luther, ‘Read this book’. He read it. Martin Luther saw that the contents of that book were all the sins of Martin Luther written down by Satan.

Martin Luther looked for a false accusation in vain in that book; none was to be found. Rather all the sins which he had forgotten from the beginning had been recorded by Satan in his book. He finished his reading and then said to Satan, ‘There are no other sins of mine?’

Whereupon Satan answered, ‘No, these are just some of them.’ Then Martin Luther said to Satan, ‘Then, show me all my sins.’

Satan hurried away. Soon afterwards he returned with another book as long and as wide as the first book. Martin Luther read it right to the end. Every accusation in the book was correct. When he had finished, Martin Luther said to Satan, ‘Are all my sins here?’ His answer was, ‘Yes’. Then he said to Satan, ‘Take your pen and write on your books in red letters, “ALL my sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1 John 1.7)’

AN ANSWER TO QUESTIONS

To Rev. Hoeta Te Hata, Tauranga, Taupo.

The questions are about Matthew 18.28. Who is the Lord? Who is the servant? What are the 10,000 talents?

The Answer.

This Lord is God. The slave who has the 10,000 talents is the person who sins against God. The 10,000 talents represent the sins of mankind against God; they represent the people’s indebtedness to God.

The servant who has the 100 pence is that man who has also sinned but against humanity, that is, most of his sins are directed against human beings.

That debt paid is the total of people’s sins.

However let us explain more clearly the meaning of this story of our Lord.

What gave rise to this story of Christ’s?

It was Peter’s question, ‘Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I forgive his sins?’ (Matthew 18.21).

Christ told this explanatory story in response to that question from Peter. Peter thought that he should forgive his brother seven times. According to the Jews it was two or perhaps three times (Amos 1.3, 2.6). Perhaps it was because Peter knew the graciousness of his Lord that he extended the number of times to forgive to seven. But Peter’s understanding fell far short on this occasion. He had not yet understood the full implications of his faith in Christ. To teach him and to deepen his faith Christ told this explanatory story.

Verse 23. In the first comparison God is likened to a King. We humans are his servants. It is not the Final Judgement as referred to in Matthew 25.19 or 2 Corinthians 5.10 but a court like that in Luke 16.2. Some of the pathways in which reckoning is made by the King of his servants are: the proclamation of the law to us; the rising up of our sins before our faces; [3] our awakening from spiritual sleep; our experiencing of some great troubles; the gnawing of illness as we approach our deaths (2 Kings 20); the heartfelt distress of our innumerable sins. Such was the calling to account by Nathan of David before God (2 Samuel 12). That judgement was like Jonah’s proclamation to the people of Nineveh. It was like the proclamation of John the Baptist to the Jews in the wilderness.

Verse 24. ‘He was brought to him.’ This man did not come willingly but was carried, was brought. A person who has sinned greatly is not eager to come into the presence of his Lord because of his great sin. He has not been forgiven. If you have a debt at a store and you are not prepared to pay that bill, you don’t want to see the owner of that store. So it is with man towards God. That person will scuttle off in a hurry through fear of what he owes to him. (Romans 2.5)

‘Ten thousand talents.’ This was a huge amount. The building of the tabernacle required 29 talents of gold. (Exodus 28.34)

Three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver were designated by David for the Temple. (1 Chronicles 29.4-7).

One hundred and twenty talents were given by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon as a sign of friendship. (1 Kings 10.10)

When the King of Assyria conquered Israel, he demanded three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold as a ransom for Hezekiah and his people. (2 Kings 18.14) A talent of gold is worth £5,475.0.0. A talent of silver is worth £342.3.9. Ten thousand silver talents is worth more than £3,000,000,000. A penny was worth 8 ½ d. One hundred pennies is £3 10s 10d.

The man who owed this huge sum was perhaps one of the King’s leading men, like the Governor or the Prime Minister, or the Minister of Finance. If it was his alone, three million pounds is a huge amount of money.

‘That he should be sold with his wife and children.’ Such action was prescribed formerly. (Leviticus 25. 39, 41.)

This saying applies to the person who continues to sin against God and has not intention to repent. Such a person indeed has been sold by God, given over by God to do what he wishes, and is no longer under the protecting authority of God, but belongs to Satan. (Psalm 44.12).

Verse 26. ‘The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him.’ Why did this servant fall down and worship while the other (v.29) fell down but did not worship? It was because the first servant was in the presence of his King, that is, of God, while the second servant was in the presence of a fellow man. In these days we worship God, not man.

‘Lord, have patience with me and I will pay thee all.’ The idea has suddenly come to him that he can pay all his debt. But who can pay £3,000,000? My friends, perhaps some of us are like that. In the midst of our afflictions we swear to God that we have done with doing the devil’s works, those works which are found on the broad way in this world. (Matthew 7.13-14).

We called out, ‘Lord, have patience with me.’ When God hears and when we are better again we forget our debt to God.

‘I will pay thee all.’ This is the voice of the man who thinks he has no sins, who thinks he is better than other people, the voice of the Pharisee in the Temple (Luke 18.11).

Verse 27. ‘Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion.’

He has recognised his sinfulness and so God has shown compassion to him in his sorrow (1 John 1.9). This is like what happened with Joseph. Joseph was angry when his brothers appeared before him, but his anger was an external thing, inside him was a spring of love for his brothers.

‘He loosed him and forgave him all the debt.’ Although that servant was adjudged guilty, through that condemnation he discovered this, the forgiveness of his debts.

Verse 28. ‘The same servant went out.’ The servant left the court of his lord and went outside, and there he ‘found one of his fellow servants which owed him an hundred pence.’

‘He went out.’ This is an important word, my friends. [4] In what way are our failings sometimes like the failings of this servant? It is because we leave the presence of our Lord. We do not continue dwelling in his presence. We come outside and we forget the magnitude of the sins God has forgiven; ‘he hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.’ (2 Peter 1.9)

‘One hundred pence.’ That debt was trivial to his colleague. He had owed his lord 10,000 talents. This shows how small are people’s sins against other people compared with a person’s sins against God. Our sins against others amount to 100 pence, that is, £3, while our sins against God amount to 10,000 talents, that is, £3,000,000.

‘He laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying Pay me that thou owest.’ This man has no compassion. If we think that we can in the same way behave harshly in our dealings with people, we cannot be angry if God is harsh in his dealings with us. Be compassionate, be compassionate. This is the law of Christ and the law of our ancestors.

Verse 29. ‘Whereupon his servant fell at his feet and pleaded with him.’ His prayer is in verse 26. He was forgiven by his Lord, but this same servant who has been forgiven does not show mercy to his fellow servant.

(To be concluded.)

AFRICA

This continent covers 12,000,000 square miles.

The population is 170,000,000.

Every day some 9,000 die. Four hundred and thirty-eight different languages are spoken by the peoples of Africa. The Scriptures have been translated into 70 African languages.

One of the customs of that continent is the killing of newborn twins.

Some of those people say that it is a good thing that there is fighting amongst them, giving as the reason that there will be more food. That is, those who are killed serve as food for them.

Another of their customs is this: old men and women who can no longer work are sent away into the jungle to die there.

Two million gallons of beer were sent to Lagos (in West Africa) in the past year.

The chiefs of the Black people perceive the evil of this drink and have sponsored a petition begging that hereafter no alcohol be sent to their areas. 12,000 names are on the petition.

In 1886 two hundred black people of the territory in the centre of Africa, that is, Uganda were killed. They were killed because they abandoned the worship of idols and embraced our faith. These two hundred people would not give up their faith in our Saviour and were willing to die.

A committee for the propagation of the faith has been set up in Lagos. All the members are Africans belonging to the Church of England. Their work is to send their educated men to preach throughout their land. Some of them have been killed. There are two Black bishops in Africa preaching. That committee seeks to raise funding for their ministers. They also set in motion all that is needed to extend the Good News to their murderous people, to their cannibal people.

A new church for the Africans has been built in one of their towns called Bonny, in West Africa. The cost of that building was £2,000.

All this amount was raised by the Africans themselves.

The site of that building is the place where their ancient gods were worshipped, their idols. Formerly one of the walls of that temple was where they placed the heads of those who were killed by them.

Afterwards they heard the Gospel. Before it came to them the faith came to us, the Maori people. And this is the embarrassing thing: how it comes about that the first is last and the last first. It is said that they are ahead of the Maori people. They have built large colleges, schools and churches. Some have been ordained as bishops, priests and deacons. [5] Besides these there are very many leaders of worship.

They have also set up their committees to advance all the things that bring well-being to their areas. They themselves are going out and proclaiming the Gospel to their people who are still in darkness. They also arrange collections to support their ministers.

When are we going to match these practices of our brothers and sisters in Africa?

For a long time we have lived on the milk of the Pakeha, and right up to the present day we are not yet mature, our teeth have not yet grown.

The word of Paul applies to us: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’

A HUI AT PAPAWAI

During the last days of May the Governor, the Prime Minister and other leaders from Parliament attended the gathering at Papawai. The discussion was to do with the Church. They spoke about the parcels of land given by our forbears to the Church for the benefit of their descendants. According to the Bishop of Wellington the best thing would be to return the benefit of those lands to the Maori for the purposes of providing ways to knowledge. The Prime Minister gave assurances that this matter would be brought to the attention of Parliament.

My friends, we have seen the fruits of this thing, learning. It is a great treasure. Solomon said, ‘The treasure you should lay hold of is wisdom; what you should lay hold of for yourself is learning.’ (Proverbs 4.5)

But, leaders of the peoples, remember, Learning will be no use to Maori children if faith is not there as the foundation.

If a child fears God, he will also respect people. Indeed if there is no fear of God in him then that scoundrel will turn against his family and ill-treat them.

Parliament’s job is to implement the words of the deed. When the words of the deed concerning school lands are enacted, then it is for the Church to assist and to set in train the means to achieve the well-being of the spirits and bodies of our children.

ANSWER TO A QUESTION

The question from Rev Hoeta Te Hata, Taupo.

‘ Please explain the verses in John 21.15-17. Why did Christ ask Peter the question three times?’

The Answer.

(I) Perhaps Christ asked Peter the question as to whether he loved him three times to remind Peter that he had denied Christ three times.

Christ said in John 13.38: ‘The cock will not crow before you have denied me three times.’

(II) This was a test for Peter.

There are two words in the Greek language for love.

(1) άγάπάν (agapan) This is the supreme love, God’s love (13.34, 14.15,21,28).

(2) φίλω (philo) This is worldly love, the love of a person for a person.

In his question Christ is asking if Peter had real love for him.

Peter was afraid to say, yes, he had real love, so he answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ But this was the lesser love, the love of a person for a person.

Christ’s question was not clearly answered. He had asked, ‘Do you love me more than these?’ Perhaps Peter had recalled his sin against his Lord (John 18.17). So he was cautious, He did not say that his love was greater than that of all the disciples.

Verse 17. ‘Peter was grieved.’ There were two reasons. The first was that he was asked three times. The second was that Christ gave up using the word for real love, ‘agapan’, and used the word for the love of person for person, the lesser love, ‘philo’.

In the last question the Lord asked if Peter had perhaps a little love for him. Peter was grieved.

THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

There are 1,500,000,000 people in the world.

Christians 150 million

Greek Orthodox 100 million

Roman Catholic 231 million

Jews 7 million

Servants of Mahomet 206 million

People in darkness 796 million.

Observe this, people. Half the world is living in deep darkness. The name of Christ has not yet been proclaimed to them; they [6] have not yet heard this word, ‘So God loved the world, that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him may not die but have eternal life.’ (John 3.16) When will we have fulfilled this word of Christ, ‘Go to the whole world and preach the Gospel to everyone’? (Mark 16.15)

LAST WORDS

To the ministers. Friends, if the bird is fed properly it will live long. Is it not possible for you all to agree, on one day of the year or perhaps every six months, to have a collection to provide a little sustenance for our bird? Reflect on this.

In England each year £140,000,000 is spent on beer while £1,800,000 is given for promulgating the Gospel in distant places; that is, for every pound given for the promulgation of the Gospel, one hundred pounds is spent on alcohol. Each year, so our learned people tell us, 85,000,000 people die without having the Gospel proclaimed to them.

On 24th of this month the students of Te Aute College come to Nelson to play football against the students of Nelson College. All the money remaining after the payment of various expenses will be given to the Maori Committee of Motueka to provide amenities for us, the Maori in the Nelson Province. The Pakeha leaders in Nelson will look after the Te Aute students. If their expenses are not covered, we will reimburse them. One of the aims of these boys is to speak to the Pakeha and remind them of these, our Lord’s other sheep.

On 10th of this month a Christmas Tree was set up at Whangarae, Nelson. All the fruits on the tree are gifts of love from the Pakeha. There was much happiness, joy and festivity. The set-up of the school at Whangarae is very good. Both children and adults are keen to learn.

During the past month Ramari Herewini died at the home of her daughter, Mere Rore, at Blenheim. She was one of the old leaders. She lived at Motueka then went to Waikato. On her return her illness increased in severity until she finally died last May.

From 21st to 30th May there was a mission to Motueka. There were two service each day and four meetings during the week. The purpose of this event was to explain the teachings of the Church, of the Faith. Many difficult concepts were explained. The results of the event are not known but I think it was a good thing to deepen the faith and to confirm us as disciples of the Lord.

There are 8,500 Chinese in Melbourne and the surrounding districts. One of them is a man learned in the Scriptures and he has been ordained to minister to them on behalf of the Church of England. There are five Readers. For their services they use our Prayer Book.

If you wish to write to me, this is the address for the publisher.

Rev Perere Peneti,

Nelson.

Contributions this month

Mrs Warren, Wellington, 5/-; Mr Holloway, Nelson, 10/-; General Schaw, Wellington, £1.1.0; Mr F Bamford, Nelson, 5/-; Mr Bates, Wanganui, 2/6.