Hebrews 12 pictures Christians as athletes, running the race of our lives before an audience of saints: a “great cloud of witnesses”. These witnesses are the heroes of the past who have testified to Christ; those who have lived their lives faithfully; and those who have laid a foundation and established a legacy.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,fixing our eyes on Jesus,the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2a (NIV)
The writer of Hebrews spoke of the great Biblical heroes, such as Abraham, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, and David. We could just as easily talk about those of the early church, such as Mary, Peter, John, Paul, and writer of Hebrews himself.
Recently we've told some of the stories of our own BCC heroes (and there'll be more to come in the future). This week, leading up to Anzac Day, we'll be looking at the wider Christian legacy in New Zealand – the great cloud of witnesses that have shaped our nation and inspire us today.
We’ll begin our story in 1769, the year of Captain Cook’s first visit to New Zealand. A Frenchman, Captain Jean-François-Marie de Surville, was only a few weeks behind Cook, in the ship St Jean Baptiste. After meeting some of the local Maori in the region, De Surville anchored in Doubtless Bay on Christmas Eve, 1769. There, on board ship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the ship's chaplain Father Paul-Antoine de Villefeix conducted the first Christian services in New Zealand.
Over the next forty years there was considerable engagement between Maori and Europeans. The seas were busy in this part of the world: people travelled to and through New Zealand, and Maori travelled overseas, to Australia and Europe. In the course of one such journey, a friendship was struck up between a Maori chief Ruatara and the Rev. Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). This resulted in an invitation for Marsden – then based in New South Wales – to come to New Zealand.
On Christmas Day 1814, in the Bay of Islands, the gospel was preached for the first time on New Zealand soil. Samuel Marsden used the text from Luke, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Afterwards, he wrote in his journal: “In this manner, the gospel has been introduced to New Zealand and I fervently pray that the glory of it may never depart from its inhabitants, til time shall be no more.”
Samuel Marsden was the first of many missionaries from many countries and backgrounds to come to New Zealand. From then on, Christian work and missions were established throughout the country, with tremendous results. In fact, some of those who travelled into inland New Zealand were Christian Maori who took the gospel to tribes which had traditionally been their enemies.
Such was the response to the gospel among Maori that when William Colenso printed the first Maori New Testament, in 1837, people travelled for days to obtain a copy, some paying with gold – a valuable and scarce coin in this part of the world. For them, quite literally, the word of God was more precious than gold.
As historian Michael King wrote in his Penguin History of New Zealand, “Te Atua, the God of the Bible, was on the move”.
The influence of the missionaries, and that of the growing numbers of Maori Christians, was instrumental in the development of the Treaty of Waitangi. With the growing influx of settlers, whalers and traders bringing significant undesirable elements, and various ongoing conflicts between Maori, there was an increasing desire throughout New Zealand to establish law and governance, and to protect the rights and property of the local Maori.
Alongside the developments here, back in England Lord Glenelg, Secretary for the Colonies, and Sir James Stephen, undersecretary – both members of the CMS, and from families which had supported William Wilberforce and the anti-slavery campaigns – pushed for the protection of the Maori people and the establishment of a just governance.
Another influential missionary was Henry Williams, who translated the treaty into Maori and travelled tirelessly throughout the country collecting signatures from the Maori leaders. These efforts were helped by many Christian Maori who saw in the treaty a Covenant document that outlined a partnership, one which established a new nation based on peace, equality and justice for all.
Image credits:
Evening light Doubtless Bay NZ, Bernard Spragg, 2015. Wikimedia Commons
Clark, Russell Stuart 1905-1966 :Samuel Marsden's first service in New Zealand. The Gospel of Jesus Christ first proclaimed on these shores by the Rev. Samuel Marsden at Oihi, Bay of Islands, Christmas Day, 1814 [Christchurch] N.Z. Church Missionary Society [1964]. Ref: B-077-006. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand./records/23220567
King, Marcus, 1891-1983 :[The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, February 6th, 1840]. 1938.. Ref: G-821-2. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand./records/22308135
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