Rua tekau- Rāmere 20 Hakihea - Haerenga Tapu

Day 20 - Friday 20th December - Haerenga Tapu

He kaupapa mō te rā

Haerenga Tapu

Haerenga means a journey and tapu means sacred. Together Haerenga Tapu means pilgrimage or sacred journey. To undertake haerenga tapu we embark upon a journey that is spiritual and purposeful. It is accompanied by an openness not just to the destination but to being on the journey itself.

Rangihoua Pā in Oihi is where Luke’s gospel was first preached to Māori in 1814. Rev’d Marsden and Ruatara travelled many thousands of miles across the seas to deliver that sacred Word “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.” Their haerenga tapu from other lands is the whakapapa of the Good News we know today.

Te Hari o Ngapuhi:

“Ka nukunuku, ka nekeneke. Ka nukunuku, ka nekeneke. Titiro ki ngā wai o Tokerau e hora nei, me he Pipiwharauroa ki tua, takoto te pai! Whiti, whiti, tata tata! Whiti, whiti, tata tata! He ra taua ki tua, Takoto te pai! Takoto te pai!”

He Karaipiture (Bible Reading)

Ruka/Luke 2:15-20

Ā, ka mawehe atu ngā anahera i a rātou ki te rangi, ka mea ngā hēpara tētahi ki tētahi, “Tātou ka haere ki Pēterehema, kia kite i tēnei mea kua puta nei, kua whakapuakina mai nei e te Ariki ki a tātou.”

Nā, kaikā tonu tā rātou haere, ā, ka kite i a Meri, i a Hōhepa i te tamaiti hoki e takoto ana i te takotoranga kai mā ngā kararehe. Ā, nō ka kite, ka whakapuakina te mea i kōrerotia ki a rātou mō tēnei tamaiti. Ā, mīharo ana ngā kaiwhakarongo katoa ki ēnei mea, i kōrerotia nei ki a rātou e ngā hēpara. Ko Meri ia i āta rongoā i ēnei mea katoa, me te whakaaroaro i roto i tōna ngākau. Nā, ka hoki ngā hēpara, me te whakakorōria, me te whakamoemiti ki te Atua mō ngā mea katoa i rongo nei, i kite nei rātou, i rite nei ki ngā mea i kōrerotia ki a rātou.

When the angels went away from them back into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger. When the shepherds saw him, they told them what the angel had said about the child. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said. Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them. The shepherds went back, singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen; it had been just as the angel had told them.

Whakarongo/Titiro Mai (Listen/Watch)

2014 Bicentenary ecumenical celebrations at Rangihoua.

Ngā mea waihanga (Create)

A pounamu (greenstone) offcut lovingly wrapped in harakeke (flax) string and proudly displayed with sackcloth and feathers. “Ahakoa he iti he pounamu - although it is small, it is precious”. Pounamu takes millions of years to form and is shaken, shifted with tectonic movement, whilst submerged deep in water and the whenua - haerenga tapu!

He Whakaaroaro (Reflect)

God’s story is a pilgrim story. It’s a story of a journey and it’s a story that is still being told. The end has not yet been reached. Throughout the scriptures, we read of many physical journeys taking place as well as spiritual journeys. God’s people do not stand still - they walk with God. Journeying is also a significant part of the Māori way. Knowledge of the migration of the original waka hourua (double-hulled canoes) has passed down through generations. We are likely familiar with and may have participated in hīkoi (a march or walk to protest). As followers of Jesus, we all participate in haeranga tapu (a sacred journey). We read about the shepherds, hurrying off to see Jesus at that first Christ-mas on their own haeranga tapu. With the turn of the years when we hear the shepherds story we are reminded every Christ-mas, year after year, that we can’t stand still. We are a journeying people. We participate in haeranga tapu.

Whakahokia mai (Respond)

Go for a walk. As you walk, think about your own haeranga tapu. Where have you come from? Where are you headed now?

Karakia (Pray)

Compilation of prayers from the 2014 Bicentenary celebration service at Oihi.

God our creator, we are reminded of the immense beauty of your creation. We thank you for the immaculate, fragile connection which holds us, and all living things, together; and for your intention that we should live together in harmony.

We give thanks for Aotearoa New Zealand and for the countless blessings we receive, but so easily take for granted. Keep us vigilant in our care of the whenua upon which we live, and the moana (waters) and air which surround it. Guide our leaders in the decisions they make so that no-one is overlooked or pushed aside. May the Treaty which defines us be honoured and the God to whom our National Anthem is sung, be glorified.

E te Atua, through all the ages you have called wāhine and tāne to serve your purpose and to embody your aroha for the world. Keep our ears and eyes open to your karanga (call) to us. Like the shepherds at Bethlehem, like the disciples around the table, and like the wāhine at the empty tomb, may we always be drawn to where Christ is. Use us to open new doors for the proclamation of Good News. Mō tōu aroha me āu hanga pai, kia whakapaingia koe, e te Atua (For your love and goodness, we give you thanks, O God).

Subscriber Contribution

Pōhutukawa flowering on what was once the location of the Waiwera Thermal Pools, north of Auckland. Photo contributed by Jo Burgess