3/15/59

Scripture: Romans 10: 1-18

If this were the month of December -- (and, so far as appearance goes, it could be with all of this snow!) it might be assumed that anyone who was speaking on the sermon subject announced for today was preaching a Christmas sermon. For it was “good tidings of great joy” which were announced by the angels at the birth of Jesus.

But today’s sermon will have quite a different reference. Last Thursday brought the good news that, not only the US Senate, but the House of Representatives, had voted favorably on the question of statehood for Hawaii. The way is now open for those orderly steps to be taken by which Hawaii seems certain to become the 50th State of the Union.

As a former resident of that fair land, I rejoice with the great majority of those American citizens of Hawaii who welcome the good news with such great joy. As the word flashed over the earth that the congressional vote was being taken, with favorable result assured, a spontaneous parade began in Honolulu, led by the Royal Hawaiian Band presumably under the baton of a man name “Christoph” who is the brother of a member of this church. People shouted their happiness. Children poured out of the schools, and students from the University of Hawaii, to join in the celebration. A holiday from business, school classes, and other pursuits was quickly proclaimed. A huge bonfire was prepared out of wood gathered from most of the states of the union and many of the countries of the earth. Fireworks had their place in the joyous celebration.

This was the culmination of a century of effort! And the celebration represents release of hopes long pent up in the lives of many Hawaii folk. It was in 1854 that one of the Hawaiian monarchs petitioned the Congress of the United States to make his kingdom a state in the Union. But no action was taken on this request of King Kamehameha III. 39 years later, a similar request was put to the Congress in 1893. This time the request was denied.

Then, in 1898, Hawaii became a possession of the US, and in 1899 a US territory. There were those who earnestly desired that these Islands become a state at that time. But territorial status was the best that could be then achieved.

Again, in 1903, there was a petition for statehood, which was denied. Through the years there have been 23 petitions for statehood. Since 1952 the platforms of both major political parties of this nation have unequivocally called for “immediate statehood.” At last, the majority of Senators and Congressmen have implemented this purpose. No wonder that the citizens of Hawaii, and their friends in the states of the mainland, are so happy that the Congress has acted favorably on their 24th try for full standing in the Union as a state!

But my purpose today is not to prolong a discussion of the celebration, with bonfires, fireworks, hula dances, parades and holiday atmosphere. Rather, I wish to point out that the church has an important stake in Hawaii, which we do well to understand. One of the items of news from Hawaii this week is that church bells pealed an announcement of the good news, and that services of commemoration and thanksgiving were held in the churches. One such service was held in historic Kowaiahao church in Honolulu.

The happiness of people gathering there for worship is reminiscent of the joy with which earlier inhabitants heard the good news of the Christian gospel early in the past century. It was in 1819 that a company of Congregational missionaries made ready in New England to sail for the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) on the brig “Thaddeus.” They were going under commission by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which Board still functions with support of our churches.

The missionaries who set sail on October 23, 1819 were to travel for 5 months, down around the horn, in a ship only 40% bigger than the Mayflower, with 13,000 miles to be traversed. They were a people of diversified talents, well educated in the arts of preaching, teaching, medicine, printing and numerous other fields. They went under a broad commission. Though they were to abstain from politics, the Secretary of the Board commissioned them in these words:

“Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale; but you are to open your hearts wide and set your mark high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of raising up a whole people to an elevated state of Christian civilization. You are to obtain an adequate knowledge of the language of the people; to make them acquainted with letters; to introduce and get into extended operation and influence among them the arts and institutions and usages of civilized life.”

Upon arrival in the Islands, the missionaries lost no time in proclaiming the gospel. As soon as their knowledge of the language would permit, they preached to a receptive people, began their teaching, went to work on reducing the native tongue to a written language, translated the Scriptures into that language, printed and distributed the same.

In the period from 1820 to 1845 missionaries arrived, in several companies, numbering 65 men and 75 women. During that time, the cost of supporting this missionary enterprise was $650,000 (How many millions would that mean in terms of our present currency?) The American Bible Society sent $40,500 in money and tens of thousands of Bibles and Testaments. In 23 years the Mission Presses printed 20,000 Bibles and 30,000 New Testaments, and other works totaling nearly 150 million pages of printing in hard-set type.

Not only those missionaries, but their supporting churches in New England, meant business!

Very soon, churches were built -- first the temporary type of structure made of comparatively flimsy materials and grass-thatched roofs; then very substantial structures of permanent character.

By 1835, there were 900 schools with 50,000 pupils. In 1831 only 11 years after the brig Thaddeus had arrived, Lahainaluna Seminary was founded on the Island of Maui, and became the model for other schools of secondary grade.

The Hawaiians set themselves to learning.

And they set themselves to the erection of churches! Within 2 or 3 years they had churches like the one at Lahaina, Maui, an “ordinary structure built of frail material” and dedicated in the words: “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

By 1835 the young king wanted 3 things of special importance to him: a ship of war, a palace, and a church. His premier, Kinau, thought the church should come first. A public meeting was held; a subscription was begun on the spot. The king took his pen and, in the presence of his people, subscribed the princely sum of $3,000. Others promptly followed with subscriptions that ranged from $400 by Kinau down to many who offered $1 each (which few of them had in cash at the time!) so that nearly $6,000 was subscribed to begin the building that is now Kawaiahao church. (Some of the folk of this congregation have seen it.)

A site was chosen, elevated from the ocean beach. The Hawaiians dug down six feet to solid rock, laid basement walls 44 inches thick and 12 feet high to support a heavy structure. The stone was quarried near by. The corner stone, weighing half a ton, was brought from Waionae. The mortar was made from coral secured by divers, and burned by wood carried down from the mountains. The timbers were cut, hewn and brought down from the mountains. All of this was hand labor by the Hawaiians! The active men out of about 1,000 communicants, put in long weeks of work, divided into 5 companies.

It took 6 years to complete the structure. And when it was finished, they had a dignified structure, solidly built, 144 feet by 78 feet with basement, audience room and gallery, vestibule and tower. The tower has a large clock installed in it. They had built it to last for centuries.

In 1842 the dedication service was held. “To whom do you dedicate this house?” came the question. And the people replied, “to Jehovah our God, for ever and ever.”

Pulpit and communion table were a gift from New Haven, Connecticut. The architecture was strongly New England in flavor. Even then, the ties between those Islands and the US were strong.

During much of this time, the struggle went on between the Hawaiians and foreign powers, over continued Hawaiian independence. It was a time of colonization and subjugation by strong powers over the weaker. By 1843, however, Hawaii was given guarantees of independence by England. The King declared a 10-day holiday, granted amnesty to prisoners, and repaired to the great stone meeting house to offer public thanks. John Ii delivered an animated address on this joyful occasion. But it was King Kamehameha III himself who quoted the lines that have since become the motto of Hawaii, “Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono.” - “The life of the land is preserved in righteousness.”

In 1840, King Kamehameha III had granted to his people the right to have a constitution. It took 5 years to draw it up and to provide for its effectiveness with a legislative assembly. In 1845 the first legislative assembly was held in Kawaiahao church. On that occasion, the King spoke in this wise:

“We are well aware that the word of God is the cornerstone of our kingdom. Through its influence we have been introduced into the family of the independent nations of the earth.”

There came the time when the monarchy, already voluntarily limited by constitution, waned and gave way to a Republic for a brief time. Then the Islands became an integral part of the USA as a territory.

Meanwhile peoples from many parts of the globe had come to those Island shores -- many of them to enter into the business and agricultural life of the land. Caucasians came from the US, England, and continental Europe. Orientals came from China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. A sprinkling of folk arrived from other islands of the Pacific and the Atlantic; from India and Africa.

The church was there --- and still is there, in vigor and in leavening influence. When the civil struggle of the War between the states broke out, the American Board was forced to cut loose the Hawaiian mission. And so, in due time, a local Board, the Hawaiian Board, sprung up to fill the gap and carry on the needed assistance to young churches.

Churches were established to take care of the needs of Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino and other non-English-speaking groups in their own tongues. Many of these churches have continued and grown through the years. Practically all of them have abandoned the tongue of their fathers for the English language now. Many of them are inter-racial in membership.

Such is the makeup of the largest of our churches in the Islands, though dominantly Caucasian. It is Central Union Church of Honolulu, with over 2600 members. Next in size is Makihi Christian Church of Honolulu with about 850; then First Chinese Church of Honolulu with 650, whose minister is Rev. Charles Kwock, a graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary. Another CTS graduate, Dr. Abraham Akaka, ministers to the great Kawaiaho church congregation of 555. He is a man of great ability among his people, artistically and religiously sensitive, genuine in his profession and his leadership. The CTS recognized his abilities and his achievements by awarding him the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree last June.

The church that I served while I was a missionary of the Home Board from 1928 to 1936, Kahului Union Church, on the Island of Maui, has grown from its seventy members of that time to a congregation of well over 300 with a vigorous program and a modern new chapel which was pictured in the February 26th issue of our “United Church Herald.”

It is the gospel of Christ carried there first by Congregational missionaries, and amplified by numerous church denominations in the years since, that has produced a large measure of the spirit that makes Hawaii what it is -- deep below such surface things as tourist sight-seeing, hula dancers, colorful racial customs, and so on. The Congregational churches continue their leavening witness to the people of all races there. Their 113 churches with over 150,000 members are a larger proportion of the 600,000 population than is our strength of 184 churches with 54,000 members in Wisconsin’s 3 million.

The steadying, hope-giving Christianizing influence -- helping to bring and keep harmony among the variant strains of the population is the long-term result of Christian missionary zeal that meant business. Other areas of the world would be blossoming with more of the same kind of result had we continued the same zeal in volunteer service and home-base support for intelligent missionary help.

One of the truly satisfying joys of my own life is the Christian achievement of folk who were young when I was a young minister in Hawaii. A young woman of Japanese family, Buddhist when I knew her, became Christian; finished University, went to Yale Divinity School and graduated from that Seminary, and went to Japan for Christian Settlement work. A brother of hers, Buddhist when I knew him, became a Christian minister, also trained at Yale, and ministers in Student service at the University of Hawaii. Their brother, Christian when I knew him, is a successful attorney and a leading member of the worthy Church of the Crossroads.

Abraham Akaka has developed extraordinary talents as a leader of his Hawaiian folk.

Bobby Hughes, Caucasian kid in our Sunday School at Kahului, is a tower of strength in the Kahului Union Church while he serves the business world on a large sugar plantation.

Several of “our boys” served the nation with distinction in the two most decorated units of the US army in World War II.

One of my best friends, a professional man of about my age, continues as a ranking ophthalmologist in Honolulu. He is a Christian, a doctor of about the 30th generation of men who served the Japanese samurai as doctors. His wife is Canadian. His sons are preparing for medicine, one of them already specializing in an advanced residency.

Thank God, with me, that Hawaii is about to become the 50th state of our union, is not only a new piece of territory and population in the Union of states, but that it is so deeply and strongly influenced by the Good News of Christ. May its people and our people grow in this grace! Amen!

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, March 15, 1959.