The Treaty and the Gospel: a reflection for Waitangi Day, 2022
New Zealand’s treaty – Te Tiriti o Waitangi – is about two people, Māori and non-Māori, negotiating a way to live as one. Reflecting on what God might be saying to us this morning, begins with an awareness of how God was at work in the creation of our country’s founding document, something that unfortunately most historians fail to note. We need to understand the Gospel influence so we can be aware of our ongoing Christian responsibility. I begin by acknowledging a paper prepared in 2014 by the New Zealand Church Missionary Society, The Gospel and the Treaty of Waitangii and an article by Salvation Army Captain Hana Seddon, From the Flax Roots Up, available in January 2018’s edition of their War Cry, magazine.
While Aotearoa, New Zealand, was one in a lengthy list of countries colonised by Britain, it was the first where a Treaty was developed between the native and the settler. In the 1830’s most of the staff members of the British Colonial Office were part of the Clapham Sect, the Christian group behind William Wilberforce’s campaign for the abolition of slavery. This included Lord Glenelg, the Colonial Secretary himself. The inspiration of the Gospel imperative of justice for all, meant for these parliamentarians and civil servants that the protection and preservation of Māori society in New Zealand be included in their work. At the time they were only one voice amongst many competing ones on the issue of colonisation, but the debate helped the government realise the benefit of a treaty. Yes, the ensuing document would guarantee British protection and sovereignty, but of equal importance, it would also protect indigenous Māori rights over land, bush, river and seas. At the same time God was working in the hearts of the Christian influencers in the UK, God was working in the hearts of the Christian missionaries here in New Zealand too. God is very good at “preparing the soil,” so to speak.
The dedicated men and women from the Church of England and Wesleyan Missionary societies shared a concern about the imminent threat of unrestrained immigration on Māori communities. Having spent years immersing themselves in the Māori language and culture, they saw the value of preserving and honouring this distinct way of life. They viewed the development of a treaty as a protection for Māori. When it came to the content of the Treaty, James Stephen, the brother-in-law of William Wilberforce and the permanent undersecretary in the Colonial Office, developed a set of instructions for James Busby and William Hobson, the ones tasked with drafting the proposed Treaty. Respect, justice, and faith were to be the principles underpinning each clause. Missionaries Henry Williams and his son Edward were called upon to prepare Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Māori translation of the Treaty.
And God’s soil preparations did not stop there. God was also working within Maoridom itself. Over the preceding half century, the Christian Gospel had spread widely throughout New Zealand. This was partly because the early missionaries immersed themselves in the Māori culture and language rather than expecting Māori to convert to British ways. But it was more than that. The Christian Gospel resonated with Māori understanding of concepts like Manaakitanga; the concept of hospitality, respect and care so prevalent in the ways of Christ. By the time of the gathering at Waitangi, many chiefs, who were by then either Christian or associated with Christianity, viewed the treaty in terms of a spiritual bond – a covenant, similar to the covenant between Abraham and God. The Māori named the Treaty “Te Kawenata o Waitangi” – “The Covenant of Waitangi.” The Māori chiefs putting their marks on the Treaty believed it would enable Pākeha and Māori to be one people in both a spiritual and societal sense. Note how similar this is to the words that Paul wrote to the Ephesians: Christ, says Paul, is “…creat[ing] in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace… [reconciling] both groups to God in one body…” (Eph 2:15-16).
So how might God be calling us to live into God’s Word and the Treaty that it inspired? In searching for a possible answer, let’s begin with the early church. Christ’s small band of disciples, the students, became the first apostles, the visionaries and workers. It was not long until Christ’s command to “Go and make disciples of all nations,” began to bear fruit, even to the surprise of the church themselves. In Acts 10:45 we read, “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles…” The apostles discovered very quickly that God had been preparing the gentile soil to hear and receive the good news of Christ. It was the same here in New Zealand too.
It became common for the early missionaries to enter a new place only to discover the gospel message was already known, having spread from tribe to tribe by the Māori themselves. In the early church, as the faith moved out to reach people not of Hebrew heritage, the debate ensued as to whether converting to Judaism should be a criterion for entering the church. Acts chapter 11 records some of this debate. Following the description of a vision God had given him and an account of what had been happening, Peter concluded, “If God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” (Acts 11:17) God showed the first apostles very clearly that faith in Christ is beyond culture, that God’s ways can permeate all ways of life – after all, when you think about it, it was God who created us beautifully diverse.
The early missionaries to New Zealand understood this too. Having immersed themselves in the Māori way of life, they saw how beautiful and rich and God-inspired it was. Unfortunately, most of the early settlers, including the leaders of the new settler churches, did not understand. Henry Williams, the man responsible for translating the Treaty and for leading the campaign for Māori to sign, was himself excommunicated from the Church of England for standing with the Māori during the land wars.
The Treaty of Waitangi – Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Te Kawenata o Waitangi – was God-inspired and founded on Christian values. It sought to gather us, two people becoming one in unity with Christ. Unfortunately, history paints a different picture. Māori were forced to assimilate into our western way of life. That Māori became and remain, over-represented in the statistics of the poor, the uneducated, the imprisoned, shows the ill-effects of such an expectation. So how can we be God’s hands and feet in a country and a church where work has begun to address the inequalities of our society but where there is still much left to do?
One small place to start might be if our parish were to adopt the Māori cultural concept of manaakitanga. “Displaying manaakitanga,” says Salvation Army Captain Hana Seddon, “elevates the status of all, building unity through humility and the act of giving.” Manaaki recognises and uplifts the mana (the uniqueness) of another person in a way that is beneficial for both the host and the visitor. To quote Hana again: “Manaakitanga does not allow for empire building. Nor does manaakitanga colonise others or expect assimilation so that visitors aspire to become like the hosts. The heart of manaaki it to bless, protect, nurture and improve the position of the other. It is manaaki/hospitality that underpins relationship building.”
“For he himself is our peace,” says Paul to the Ephesians, “Christ who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
Signing the Treaty of Waitangi was an act of true manaaki on behalf of Māori. They chose to welcome in the outsider to share their land. We were once strangers to each other, but through the Treaty we became whānau, we became family. We could honour the Treaty by becoming manaaki, here.
May we receive the stranger in our midst in the same way as the Maori received us, whether that stranger be Māori, a new settler to our land, a child, a non-believer. May we show manaaki so visitor and host, we and those who begin as strangers, become whānau– become united and reconciled in the love of Christ.
May we honour the gift that the tangata whenua of Aotearoa gave we settlers on this day all those years ago.
Rev. Sandra Williams
Minister