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Topic: ENOUGH (01/07/21)
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TITLE: Patriarch of the Southern Seas | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ruthie Alekseeva
01/14/21 -
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3 February, 1788
Today, a week after arriving in Port Jackson, I preached the first Christian sermon ever orated on New South Wales’ soil!
The divine service was held on flat ground, under a great tree. Governor Arthur Phillip commanded that all officers and male convicts were to attend with the female convicts remaining on board the transport ships while the male convicts establish the settlement. Governor Phillip said the male convicts were to appear as clean as circumstances permitted, with no man to be absent on any account whatever.
Unlike in Portsmouth, England, (where they laughed and jeered at my preaching) the convicts listened attentively and respectfully while I preached from Psalm 116:12 - What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?
Richard sets his quill down and leans backwards, then picks up his sermon notes * from that morning and reads:
What shall you render to the Lord for all His benefits toward you?
What benefits are those you might ask? Well, if you had remained in England, you would have hung by your necks for your crimes, but, instead, you were transported to the new colony because prison reformers thought it more humane than hanging. This is a benefit bestowed on you by God.
Another benefit God has granted you is that many prisoners died at sea while on their way to the new colony. They died from scurvy, malnourishment and mistreatment, but you survived. This is a benefit from God. True, God has brought you low. He has taken you from your families, friends and homeland, but this is what it has taken to remind you of all God’s benefits given to you while you, even yet, are still sinners.
Now, what will you render unto the Lord, and can anything you give Him ever be enough or in proportion to the valuable mercies He has bestowed on you? Although, God already owns everything you can acquire on earth, you should still desire to shower God with tokens of your gratitude. So, in this new land, given this new chance, render to the Lord what is due Him even though nothing you give Him will ever be enough!”
Footnote:
In 1788, Reverend Richard Johnson arrived in Australia (then known as New South Wales) on board The First Fleet with his wife, Mary. He had been selected by William Wilberforce (slave abolitionist) and John Newton (former slave trader) to be the penal colony’s first chaplain. It is John Newton who gave him the name 'Patriarch of the Southern Seas.'
Richard felt his ministry had little effect on the convicts and Aboriginal people of Australia. Publically, he blamed his low rate of conversions to Christianity on the hard-heartedness of the convicts and the resentment felt by the indigenous people at having their land stolen, but privately, he felt his ineffectiveness was due to himself being inadequate for the task.
Modern day historians dispute his lack of effectiveness, though, with some agreeing his efforts were in vain, but others noting the convicts’ children had superior morals to their parents. Regarding the indigenous population, some modern historians have noted the 2011 consensus shows that 70% of modern-day Aboriginal Australians classify themselves as Christian, which I’m sure Reverend Johnson would be happy to know!
*It is known Richard preached from Psalm 116:12, but his sermon was not kept. So, the sermon in the story above was written based on Matthew Henry’s interpretation of Psalm 116:12 who lived around the same time as Reverend Johnson.
Psalm 116:12 NKJV
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