Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
July 6, 2008 - W0827

Puuhonua O Honaunau on the Big Island was a place of refuge where ancient Hawaiians could flee to for safety after violating the laws of the Kapu system. The Kapu system was a complicated system of laws designed to appease the many Hawaiian gods and violators could be put to death. Before Captain Cook’s arrival, Hawaii was a land without peace. A different warring chief ruled each district and so the stage was set for a miracle and the new era of God in Hawaii.

Two women were instrumental in this new era of Hawaiian Christianity. Chieftess Kapiolani stood by her faith and gained freedom from the spell of the goddess Pele. Queen Lililuokalani reminds us of what the courage of Christian forgiveness can bring.

In 1778, Captain James Cook arrived in Hawaii and was at first thought to be the Hawaiian god Lono but he was killed a year later by the Hawaiians. However, many more ships came and brought rum, rifles and disease. In 50 years the Hawaiian population was cut in half mostly due to disease brought by the Europeans.

King Kamehameha the Great traded goods for guns and thus was able to unify the islands under one rule. The Kapu system was already weakening by this time because the people could see that the Europeans could break all the Kapu laws and the gods did not punish them. After Kamehameha died in 1819, new King Liholiho abolished the Kapu system but little did he know that God had a plan for Hawaii.  Still, superstition continued among the Hawaiian people.

Years before, a young Hawaiian had left Hawaii, studied in New England and converted to Christianity and always wanted to return to spread the gospel. Unfortunately, he died before he could personally achieve his dream.  But his example inspired other missionaries to make the 5-month long trip to Hawaii.

In 1820, the missionaries arrived on the Big Island and soon won over Chieftess Kapiolani. She quickly embraced Christianity but knew she needed to break the goddess Pele’s hold on the people. So in December 1824, she made the 100-mile trip to Halemaumau crater on foot to prove that Pele was a false god. Her family feared for her life and begged her not to go but she replied that if Pele did kill her then they were free to worship her but if she lived then they should embrace the one true God. A priestess of Pele confronted her at the crater and threatened her with death if she came any closer. Kapiolani ignored her and went down into the crater. She even ate Ohelo berries, which grew at the crater and were forbidden to eat. She also threw rocks into the crater, which was also forbidden, and she declared that she did not fear Pele.

Kapiolani was very encouraged that a missionary named Goodrich also had made the journey to the crater with her. He had been with a team of missionaries that had shown the Hawaiian people that the Kapu system could be ignored and no punishment from the Hawaiian gods would result.

There was a long silence after Kapiolani had descended into the crater but then they heard her singing hymns to God as she finally emerged once again. She had won her battle against Pele! Reverend Titus Cohen wrote twelve years later that many Hawaiians turned away from worshipping the idols of Pele since that time.

After 80 years of western influence, Hawaii would never be the same. But it was not the missionaries that abolished the Kapu system; it was the Alii or Hawaiian royal class that did that. Kamehameha II removed the Kapu system and Hawaii seemed waiting for the truth of the one living God to be revealed.

Westerners had already been in Hawaii 40 years before the first missionaries had arrived. Unfortunately, the westerners brought with them prostitution, alcoholism and the decimation of the Hawaiian population. By 1820, the Hawaiian population decreased from 300,000 to 140,000 mainly through epidemics and venereal disease.

Reverend Hiram Bingham advised banning prostitution and drunkenness and so it was done. Queen Kaahumanu authorized the building of Kawaiahao church under Reverend Bingham’s direction and it was used by the Alii as their church. Around that time four constitutions were drafted and each limited the power of the monarchy more and more. King Kamehameha V died and had no successor and so King Lunalilo was elected but died in about a year. King Kalakaua was then elected and he wanted to restore the monarchy but was unsuccessful. During his reign, whaling, sugar and sandalwood made Hawaii world-renowned but stiff tariffs impeded much of the profits. Kalakaua was able to negotiate a trade deal with the United States to remove the tariffs in exchange for giving Pearl Harbor to the United States. Eventually though, the high tariffs returned and annexation to the U.S. was pushed so that there would be free trade. In 1887, Kalakaua was forced to sign the “bayonet constitution” which limited his royal powers. He died in 1891 and Queen Liliuokalani succeeded him.

Iolani Palace was completed in 1882 and played a significant role in the demise of the monarchy. In 1891 Hawaii was locked in a struggle between the only 35,000 remaining Hawaiians and the growing non-Hawaiian population. Liliuokalani wanted to restore the monarchy. In 1893, a rebellion failed, she abdicated her throne and a cache of arms was discovered in her garden. In 1895 she was officially confined to an apartment of the Iolani Palace and she signed a document renouncing the throne and recognizing the authority of the Hawaii Republic. Despite all that, on March 22, 1895 she wrote the Queen’s Prayer, which called for forgiveness of those that had imprisoned her.

Queen Liliuokalani’s example showed us that sometimes our greatest strength and invincible courage is not in taking up our rights but in laying down our rights and giving in to God. Sometimes our future is best won by setting aside our ways for something greater. We have to lay down what we want for what God wants.

We may not know what the future holds but we know who holds the future. 2000 years ago two purposes came head to head: man and God’s. But God so loved the world that he gave up His only begotten son so that not only could we have life but so that we could have eternal life. Forgiveness, not retaliation is His greatest gift. If we can learn that then we can lay aside our rights to receive something greater and laying aside our rights can also be the greatest act of love.

Love may soften a sentence and if we live love out loud with intent and purpose, we can trade the temporary for the eternal. Jesus did that so that we could have the strength to do the same. Jesus inspired the two Hawaiian women we just talked about and regardless of what man and government do, only Jesus can bring you freedom, faith and forgiveness.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      Under what circumstances have you shown courage for your faith?

2.      Under what circumstance have you layed down your rights for God?

3.      Describe your laying down your rights as an act of love.

4.      Why was the Kapu system already weakening before missionaries arrived?

5.      What would have happened if Kapiolani had died at the crater?

6.      What happened when you insisted on asserting your rights?

7.      What do you receive when you sometimes lay down your rights?

8.      When should you fight for your rights?

9.      What would have happened had Liliuokalani continued fighting?