Sermon for 22 June 2025 – 9.30am

Te Pouhere Sunday with Holy Baptism

Primary Texts:
Isaiah 42:10–20
2 Corinthians 5:14–19
John 15:9–17

The readings today are from the set assigned for Te Pouhere Sunday, when we celebrate our life together as a Three Tikanga Church. They speak powerfully to the identity and mission of the Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

Isaiah 42:10–20 is especially pertinent to this celebration of cultural diversity. The passage begins with a powerful call: “Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth!” This summons invites not only individuals but whole communities—from coastlands to deserts, from seafarers to villagers—to raise their voices in praise. It reflects a beautiful image of diversity united in worship. In the context of our Three Tikanga Church, this echoes our vision of unity in difference: Māori, Pākehā, and Pasefika each offering their unique voice in a shared song to God (a three-part choir if you will).

Isaiah names specific peoples and regions—“the coastlands,” “the villages that Kedar inhabits,” and more—highlighting that God’s invitation is wide and inclusive. It’s a biblical affirmation that God’s justice and joy are not bound to one group, but meant for all cultures. Te Pouhere, our Church Constitution, upholds this same inclusive vision. It recognises the enduring place of the Māori Church, affirms the dignity of the Anglican Church in Polynesia, and enables the Pākehā stream to flourish—all within one body.

Later in the passage, God speaks of moving from silence to bold action: “For a long time I have held my peace… now I will cry out like a woman in labour.” This shift reminds us that God does not remain passive in the face of injustice or exclusion. God acts decisively to renew, to include, and to lead. We, as God’s children, are obliged to do the same; the amendment to the constitution in 1992 was a genuine attempt to do so.

Finally, Isaiah challenges us with: “Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, so that you may see!” This is a call to awaken spiritually and socially—to notice the voices we might otherwise ignore and to welcome one another as Christ welcomes us. In a diverse church, this is an ongoing invitation to deeper listening, deeper seeing, and more faithful community.

In 2 Corinthians 5:14–19, Paul continues the theme of transformation. He describes the beginning of the Christian journey with powerful words: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” To be a disciple is to be made new by Christ, to be reconciled to God, and to become part of God’s ongoing work of reconciling the world.

But this transformation is not just individual; it is corporate. Paul makes this clear. “The love of Christ urges us on… because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.” Paul shifts the focus from personal salvation to a collective commission: we are called into a “ministry of reconciliation.” This is not a private, spiritual makeover. It is a reorientation toward community and mission.

That, I believe, is why our church authorities selected this passage for Te Pouhere Sunday. It articulates a vital truth: that personal transformation in Christ has public consequences. We are not only drawn into Christ; we are incorporated into a body – the Church – which exists to be an agent of reconciliation in the world.

For our church – a church of three Tikanga – this message could not be more relevant. It reminds us that sustainable reconciliation among peoples and cultures is not merely institutional or constitutional – it is spiritual and Christ-rooted. We are entrusted with the message of reconciliation, and we carry that responsibility together.

This passage also speaks profoundly to the baptism of a young child like Michael Gray. In baptism, we affirm that even the youngest among us are welcomed into this new creation in Christ. Michael is not simply being welcomed into a faith tradition today; he is being grafted into the reconciling mission of God. The Church promises, on his behalf, to nurture him in this calling—to teach him, support him, and help him grow into someone who knows himself as a beloved part of the body of Christ. Baptism marks the beginning of Michael’s journey as one who shares in the ministry of reconciliation that Paul describes—a journey that is deeply personal but inseparable from our shared life in Christ.

In John 15:9–17, Jesus speaks of love – not as emotion but as commandment. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” This love is the defining mark of Christian identity. It is what binds us as a community and what shapes our common life.

Jesus doesn’t leave us guessing about the nature of this love: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That is not abstract. It is the kind of sacrificial, enduring, mutual care that should characterise every Christian community. Jesus was speaking to a group – his disciples – a microcosm of the Church. He called them to a life of mutual love and service, and in doing so, he formed a pattern for us to follow.

So we can see why John 15 is such a powerful reading for Te Pouhere Sunday. It reminds us that Christ’s command to love one another is not optional. It is essential. It is the glue that holds the church together – more so than any constitution or canonical provision.

This same commandment to love one another also lies at the heart of what baptism means for Michael Gray and for the community gathered around him. Through baptism, Michael is being welcomed into the fellowship of Christ’s love—a love that is not passive, but active and self-giving. The promises made today by his family, godparents, and the whole congregation are rooted in this command: that Michael will be nurtured by love and taught how to love others in return. His life as a Christian will unfold within a community that is itself shaped by Christ’s command to love—so that he, too, may one day freely choose to walk that same path of loving service. Baptism calls us not just to believe in love, but to embody it—for Michael and for each other.

Te Pouhere, our Church Constitution, is an impressive document. It was revised in 1992 to give formal recognition to the enduring presence of a Māori Church that predates even the Treaty of Waitangi; to affirm the growing independence and dignity of the Anglican Church in Polynesia; and to allow the Pākehā stream of the Church to express its life and mission more appropriately. It is an achievement rooted in a desire for justice and reconciliation.

But constitutions alone cannot guarantee good relationships. The sufficient condition for a constitution to work is the genuine goodwill of all who are party to it. That goodwill is not something we can legislate or enforce. It must come from hearts that have been made new by Christ. As Paul reminds us, this large-scale reconciliation follows from a radical inner transformation – initiated by God, received by individuals, and expressed corporately.

Thirty years ago, the drafters of the revised constitution gave us a structure grounded in theological and ecclesiological integrity. But that structure depends on us – today – continuing to live into the reconciling love of Christ. That is the ongoing work of Te Pouhere. It marks a beginning. It signals a commitment.

And it calls us forward into a shared life marked by love, by reconciliation, and by fruit that will last.

As Jesus says: “I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last… I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

May we, as Christ’s body in this land, be ever renewed in the ministry of reconciliation he has entrusted to us.

In Jesus’ name we pray.

Tony Surman