Meditation on the national day part I [Heb 12]

Today is Waitangi Day. Feb 6th. On this day, in 1840, the northern tribes of the confederation of chiefs of Aoteoroa ceded sovereignty of their nations for the right to be British Subjects and the protection of their proerty. The treaty, among the progressive left, has some quasi mystical status. But it was the start of a colony: one rapidly settled by Europeans, and the natives (who rebelled against the crown and lost land as a consequence) are now in the minority.

New Zealand has always been an experiment. Could a native warlike people and Victorian Englishmen make one nation? And the answer is, imperfectly. We now have a Maori nationalist movement: despite Maori being now on par with Asians, Pacific Islanders, and sixty to seventy percent of the population being NZ Europeans or Pakeha.

We talk much, in the press, at this time, of biculturalism despite functionally being multicultural: the recent immigration is a second invasion that is changing New Zealand, once again.

But we forget that the Maori Cheifs were Christian, as were the Victorians. The nation was founded and based on a faith: the secularist wedge we have occured because the Catholics and Presbyterians did not want an Anglican established religion as in England.

And our forefathers knew there were greater covenants.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

(Hebrews 12:12-29 ESV)

There are two parts to this which we need to pay attention to. The first is our personal walk. We do need to examine ourselves and confess our sins to each other and live a life no one can stumble over. Yesterday’s walk had many rocks. and at times I tripped, and almost fell. The road had potholes. You have to travel with care. Within the church at present the paths are small and need repair: for it is all to easy to fall into error at this time.

The second is as a nation, and here this verse serves as a warning. For if our forefathers had faith, albeit imperfect, flawed, and prone to errors: we, who criticize everything and claim to be progressive, have abandoned faith. But it is not a human object or faith we have abandoned, but Christ.

And when times are difficult, the very nation could fail.

What then, should we do? Well, although the progressives are making much of this day, the PM, who is as pragmatic as it comes, is going to a Rugby League nines tournament. It is just a Saturday. It is more important that we do good within our families and our neighbourhoods. Let the elite anger and teh fools protest. We have a greater covenant, and a more glorious kingdom. Our nations may fade, and the founding documents are indeed fairly shredded by our corrupt elite, but the good we can do we must.

For we were not set here to just save ourselves, but to bear witness to Christ, so the broken can be healed and the lame not stumble.