Welcoming God

Things are changing. Are you ready?

This week the Church Calendar makes a dramatic shift. Advent will soon be here. The word Advent means simply “arrival”, and this neglected season holds wonderful and transforming gifts, if we will only prepare ourselves to receive them.

Divine Time-Keeping
The Church Calendar may feel like stuffy, dry tradition to some, but for those who have taken the time to journey mindfully through the year, guided by its rhythms, it offers wonderful treasures: a deepening of faith, a rich connection with the Scriptures and their story of salvation, a transforming encounter with the living Christ.

The rhythm of seasons, festivals, readings and worship patterns that the Calendar provides reminds us that life does not have to be driven only by linear, chronos time (as the Greeks called it) – deadlines, “time-is-money' stress, and racing the clock. In God's reign there is a different kind of time – kairos time – the appointed moment, the significant season, the moment of God's divine purpose. When we allow kairos to invade our obsession with chronos, we discover God at work in surprising places and ways, and we grow more aware of the constant rhythm of God's Spirit at work in our world and our lives. This is what our worship, and the Church Calendar, is meant to do for us. And the first season – Advent – is the best place to start.

The God Who Arrives
Advent is often seen as simply a preparation time for Christmas, but it is much more than that. Advent leads us into an encounter with the God who arrives – the God who refuses to remain distant and uninvolved, but who steps into our world, and gets up close and personal with us. The journey through Advent is intended to open us to God's coming in every moment, in every circumstance and in every relationship.

Through the readings and ancient pattern of worship, we are reminded that God has come to us – throughout human history, and ultimately in Christ. We are opened to the truth that God is coming to us now – and we are called into worship that opens us to this coming, not just on Sunday, but every day. And, finally, we are encouraged to look ahead to the hope we have in Christ, the promise of God's reign – God will come to us.

In the midst of Christmas preparations, end of year parties and mad shopping sprees, Advent calls us to slow down, to wait for God's coming, and to be ready to receive our God. In the midst of poverty, economic crisis and massive social justice concerns, Advent reminds us that God has not abandoned us, but is at work bringing “good news to the poor”, and justice to the earth. There was never a time when we needed this Gospel message more.

So, let us sing from the longing in our hearts, “O come, O come, Immanuel”, and let us be ready to welcome God whenever and wherever this divine arriving occurs.

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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.

Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.

Beauty and the Beast

A stadium full of big, beefy blokes wearing horned helmets with blue-dyed chests that have slipped significantly, might not immediately strike you as a beautiful thing, but last Saturday that is exactly what it proved to be. Soweto Saturday is what they are now calling it, a magical day of rainbow togetherness in a country that is sorely pressed for them. A day where thousands upon thousands of white ‘boere’ poured into South Africa’s largest township to watch a traditionally divisive and exclusive sport, and were warmly embraced by crowds of black township dwellers who rolled out ‘blue’ carpets and trumpeted their welcomes vuvuzela-style.

Those who were fortunate enough to attend this event seemed universally overwhelmed by the enormity of a ‘big’ rugby event in the townships, and by the warmth of their welcome. Many spoke emotionally of the sheer power of the day, and of how they would rush to come back. Others who watched the event on T.V. seemed equally overcome by the sight of black people proudly wearing Blue Bull regalia and white folk blowing on vuvuzelas for all they were worth. Almost everyone agreed that it was a ‘proudly South African’ kind-of-day, a powerful reminder to us all of the sheer beauty of unity across our differences.

Unfortunately, we were rudely reminded on Tuesday morning that South Africa is a land of jarring and vivid contrasts. South Africa contains so many images that juxtapose and yet contradict each other by their very presence. Informal shacks standing next to palatial homes, stunning scenes of natural beauty looming over slums, a world-class private health care system stacked next to an atrocious public one, brand new state-of-the-art stadiums finished in record time compared to the empty promises of RDP homes that still have not been completed. As a nation our moments of beauty are often affected and infected by examples of sheer human ugliness, of beastliness if you like.

So after the thrill of Soweto Saturday, what exact event on Tuesday reminded us of our comparative ugliness? Well, primarily the threat of the ANCYL to vandalise the city of Cape Town as a way of challenging the D.A.’s lack of service delivery in several key areas, most specifically in the Makhaza area of Khayelitsha where public toilets provide no privacy whatsoever. These toilets were built in 2007, and according to the D.A. the agreement was they would provide toilets but that each household would be responsible for enclosing it themselves. However, many households were either not in a position to do so financially, or misunderstood the terms of the agreement, or perhaps even felt they should not have to do so. This effectively meant that many residents were forced to ‘toilet’ in public view. The ANC opposition in the Western Cape generated some heat for the D.A. over this issue, and in response they recently constructed corrugated iron coverings. The ANCYL wanted concrete walls instead and so responded by illegally tearing them down and threatening further vandalism.

South Africa … at its ugliest.

I find it sad that the ANCL would resort to violence instead of following proper political procedures in making their opinion known, and I find it sad that the DA was both naive enough, and frankly irresponsible enough to think that open air toilets were a sufficient response to the poverty in this situation. However, what I find saddest of all is that I live in a country where human beings have had to suffer the extreme indignity of defecating in front of strangers in the street. It is absolutely beastly that shy little school girls, pregnant women and dignified old men have all been exposed to the stares of others during a most vulnerable act.

Soweto Sunday brought tears to the eyes and lumps to the throats of many, and quite rightly. It was a beautiful moment of human togetherness on a public stage that should be remembered for a long time. However, the thought of other South Africans enduring humiliating indignities because of their social status on another kind of ‘public stage’, makes me want to weep for entirely different reasons. Behind all the political posturing by both the DA and the ANC, there are suffering human beings who deserve more.

We learn from Scripture that life itself is full of ‘beauty and the beast’ moments and that South Africa is by no means unique in this. Within our own souls exists equal capabilities for moments of stunning compassion and brutal selfishness. A friend of mind recently quoted the Brazilian liberation theologian Ruben Alves: “Hope is hearing the melody of the future. Faith is to dance it.” Within our world of equal parts beauty and ugliness, perhaps the challenge is to listen to the music of God which transcends everything: A melody which calls all of us to be part of God’s ongoing creation of goodness in this world. Great moments of sporting togetherness are wonderfully inspiring but ultimately will not solve our problems. Rather, it will take a far deeper commitment and a willingness to sacrificially serve others before we might see Soweto Saturdays happen more often in everyday life and in more fundamentally transformative ways.

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This article has been written by Gareth Killeen, the editor of CruxMobi.

Where have all the grown-ups gone?

As a child, I used to live in fear that something would happen to my parents. I think it was watching the old classic movie Oliver Twist that left me with a deep-rooted fear that I would wake up one day to find my parents gone, and have to fend for myself. Well, the other day I woke up and read two newspaper articles that left me feeling as if each and every single grown-up had upped and left our country at once.

First, there was a story about an ANCYL conference in East London which had to be adjourned because of a hoax bomb scare, unruly delegates and fraudulent registration problems (News24.com). This is on top of an even more infamous ANCYL conference (yes, the one that elected Malema) where fist-fights routinely broke out and ‘mooning’ bottoms were regularly bared (who said the age of sharp, political discourse had passed?). Forgive me for asking, but is this not an official arm of the most powerful political party in our country whose task it is to both represent and inform the youth of our country? In other words, being a member of ANCYL does not mean you get to act like a total spoilt child, but rather that you become responsible for assisting in the formation, guidance and care of our youth.

The other article which made me want to spit my own dummy was one which detailed a fight that broke out at a Hilton vs Martizburg College rugby game (also News24.com). No, the fight was not between young rugby players involved in an overly tense game, but between the PARENTS of the opposing schools. Two dads decided to take the law into their own hands ‘Steven Seagal’ style, and ended up wrestling each other on the ground right where their sons were meant to be playing rugby. It takes a special kind of immaturity to let your ego and aggro get in the way of your own child’s formative character experience of competitive school team sports. Boys learn to be men from the example of the adults closest to them, so I shudder to think what kind of men are currently being produced in households like these.

Of course, it could be argued that I am merely setting up ‘straw-men’ for my argument as surely these bizarre incidents represent the actions of only a minority and don’t truly reflect the whole? My response is that surely we have a right to expect far, far more from community leaders such as politicians and parents? Surely, even one incident of such crass and immature behavior is one too many and, in fact, these incidents reflect a huge social dilemma: That South Africa suffers a disturbing lack of leaders and role models that can be properly respected. On a national level, who has stepped up to replace the Mandela’s, Tutu’s and Van Zyl Slabbert’s? At a grassroots community level, absent fathers are a dime a dozen. During my ten years of pastoral ministry I observed how few young adults have older adults in their lives that they respect and who in the position to play mentorship and guidance roles.

So where have all the grown-ups gone? Who is left to teach the importance of values such as loyalty, integrity, perseverance and responsibility? There are a number of areas I would personally love to see role models such as political leaders, religious figures, teachers and parents focus on setting an example in, and also forming in those who follow them. The first is to have the maturity to take responsibility for yourself: to honestly face the consequences of your own mistakes and to recognise that the best rewards in life come from commitment, integrity, hard work and perseverance. The second is to value wisdom. character and quality relationships over success, money and looks: as the old saying goes “you cannot succeed in what you do and fail in who you are.” The third, and this is crucial in the South African context, would be to teach that it takes a far greater strength to choose compassionate, non-violent responses to conflict than it is to respond with violence and revenge.

Sadly, at this stage of South Africa’s journey, it seems as if our country is too full of children leading children, and the blind leading the blind. More than ever, we are needing a new generation of ‘grown-ups’ who we can all respect, and who will help forge our way forward as individuals and as a nation.

(This article has been written by Gareth Killeen, the editor of CruxMobi).

When is it too late to apologise?

It has been a week for apologies. Firstly, our Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile issued an apology to all New Zealand Maori rugby players for apartheid South Africa’s insistence they be excluded from playing rugby against the Springboks. The minister also insisting the South African rugby union follow him by offering their own apology. Then the Pope got as far as he ever has in apologizing to the many victims of the Catholic priest child abuse scandals. It was not a clear cut apology by any means, and certainly offered nothing in the way of restorative justice, but at least it was a step forward. Finally, and to the smug glee of many South Africans, Julius Malema was forced to offer an apology to President Zuma, the ANC and the country for some of his disgraceful behavior. Sadly, this was not a conclusive apology by any means because Malema plea bargained and had several charges against him dropped, perhaps to save him the ignominy of being made to apologise to the BBC reporter with all those disgraceful ‘white tendencies’.

Whenever such apologies are in the news, you inevitably start hearing people questioning the point of it all. Comments are routinely made such as: Why apologise for events that occurred decades ago, or that were committed by those that went before us? When does this ever stop, surely at some point we all just have to move on?

Some of these comments actually are valid, because repeatedly playing out a victim mentality will definitely limit any ability to meaningfully move forward in life. To expect individuals, social groups or even whole nations to continually apologise for doing wrong will ultimately be destructive for all concerned. Yet, it cannot be denied that in many cases an apology IS needed because, quite simply, one has never been offered before. In all honesty, perhaps we resent the call to apologise simply because we just do not want to take responsibility for our actions of wrongdoing. More than this, asking forgiveness should not just be contained in words, but also in actions. The Pope himself, whose institutional framework seems to be struggling with this exact issue, recently said that “Forgiveness cannot substitute justice.”

The Christian faith has a lot of positive and life-giving truths to offer the world around us, but perhaps nowhere is this truer than in Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness. Jesus repeatedly taught that generous, persistent and even undeserved forgiveness is absolutely crucial to faith in his name. Core to Jesus’ teaching is that forgiveness, both in asking for it and in the giving of it, acts as a key to unlock any and all prisons of anger, hurt and betrayal.

It was Lewis Smedes who best summarised this truth when he said: “The first and only person to be healed by forgiveness is the person who does the forgiveness…When we genuinely forgive; we set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner we set free was us.”

Jesus reminded us that forgiveness is essential to the overall health of the human spirit. A lack of forgiveness can not only imprison individuals but also whole nations. Of course there are situations where wisdom and common sense should be applied as some play out a 'perpetual victim' mentality which can be equally destructive. Yet, the simple truth Jesus lived and died for is that an ability to give and receive forgiveness is essential to what it means to be fully human. Jesus’ teaching encourages us to embrace the now and not to shy away from the painful and demanding process of asking for and offering forgiveness, because one day circumstances may very well result in it being too late for us to say sorry.

South Africa's Low Morale

Have you ever noticed how some images seem to capture certain moments in human history? Last week, I mentioned how Freedom Day always brings to mind those aerial photographs of long, winding queues of South Africans voting together for the first time. Or what about those infamous ‘Whites Only’ signs that dotted our beaches during Apartheid? Or what about the picture of a Chinese student courageously standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square? Or even the first images taken of the earth from space? Images like these stand out and define significant events, and whenever we see them we experience the same feelings we originally did when they first occurred.

The author of Matthew’s Gospel puts forward an image that has captured the imagination of Christians for centuries. This is of the disciples trapped in a little boat which was at the mercy of a raging storm (see Matthew 14). Early church leaders and then later medieval art often pictured the church as this wind and wave battered boat. We have even borrowed a nautical term to describe the space in which a congregation gathers to worship – a ‘nave’ which is Latin for ship.

The image probably stuck because Christians often feel like those disciples must have; vulnerable and powerless while being tossed to and fro by the wind and waves of sweeping historical events. Scholars believe that the author of Matthew’s Gospel certainly intended this image to be read in this particular way. For you see the community that he was writing for had been brutally persecuted for their faith. Many of them had lost a parent, child, sibling or friend to religious violence. This persecution must have been incredibly tough to deal with, it would have greatly demoralised whole communities leaving only disillusionment and fear behind.

While Christians do not fear religious persecution in South Africa, there are certainly many other ‘fear factors’ present in daily life. While attending a meeting last week, someone made the point that the general morale of South Africans seemed to be at an extremely low ebb, despite the excitement and promise of an upcoming Soccer World Cup. In so many different ways South Africans feel at the mercy of poor political leadership and horrendously battered by crime, poverty and disease.

Matthew’s story of the disciples being caught in a storm is in its largest context the story of every human being, feeling fearful, demoralised and confused by contemporary issues; feeling their faith deeply threatened by the sheer immensity of the challenges that surround. Do you remember what happened in this story? Well, Peter decided to step out in faith into the very midst of the storm. However, in the midst of his journey he became gripped by fear because he took his eyes off Jesus and started noticing once more the threat of the waves.

This story challenges every God-follower to remember how important it is to step out in faith into the very midst of life’s worst storms. We face the massive challenges of life by trusting in God; our role is not to hide away from them, or to huddle down somewhere safe wishing they would go away.

This story challenges us to carry a vision of God-possibilities with us wherever we go, and to allow this vision to give us enough courage to try and change the world around us for the better. And yes, we do all get moments like Peter, where the sheer size of our obstacles, the sheer Tsunami scale of evil gets the better of us and our spiritual imaginations. And so we begin to sink under the weight of our disillusionment and fear. Yet, notice an integral promise contained within this story. When Peter started to sink, Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed hold of Peter’s hand. This is the promise of divine presence and strength whenever we step out in faith into new ways of being.

Of course it would be foolish to not be aware of the waves surrounding us – waves of crime, fear, poverty, disease or even our own personal hurts and failings, but to walk on water means that we become EVEN MORE AWARE of the God who is near and the amazing possibilities that lie within that.

To walk on water is hope not as resignation to an unjust world, but as a refusal to accept this is what God wants for humanity. In this period of South Africa’s history, we desperately need more people who are prepared to walk on water. More people who are prepared to face our challenges head on and stop wishing our nation’s problems away. We need to live in God-hope – the belief that if we keep our eyes fixed on God we can be a part of “God’s ongoing creation of goodness in this world.”

(Quote from Brian MacLaren; read the full Gospel story in Matthew 14. 22-33).

Are We Free Yet?

On April 27, 1994, South Africa experienced a day that left even its worst cynics a little dewy eyed. As seen from those memorable aerial photographs, a multi-hued South Africa stood patiently together in long queues that snaked across open fields or draped around whole city blocks waiting for the opportunity to democratically vote together for the first time.

There was something wonderful about that day, and if prompted, many South Africans who experienced it will tell you magical stories about witnessing a tearful old Gogo voting for the first time, or perhaps recount a heart-warming and mind-changing conversation with a person from a different culture queueing next to them.

Of course 16 years later, many South Africans (black and white) are feeling more than a little disheartened about days like Freedom Day – not disillusioned so much by its memories, but rather more pessimistic about its true impact on our nation. After all, what does it mean to be free and does that really apply to all South Africans? How free are we really, as individuals and as a nation?

In his 1941 State of the Union Address, the then President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt made the point that the world should be founded upon four essential freedoms: The freedom of speech and expression; the freedom of every person to worship God in his (or her) own way; the freedom from want and the freedom from fear.

Well, under that definition, South Africans have only reached the half way point in their 'long walk' to freedom. For when it comes to situations of want and fear, millions of South Africans are suffering just as much as they have ever done during our checkered history. As President Zuma admitted last week, the civil service since 1994 has largely failed in its efforts to provide decent living conditions for all.

After all, how can you be free when your children are starving, or living in appalling conditions, or dying because of inadequate health care? It is a huge disappointment to almost every single person who lined up on that first Freedom Day to vote that so many South Africans are still lacking basic care, largely because of rampant corruption, greed and inefficiency.

Of course, South Africa’s poverty problems are rooted in the old apartheid system, and would exist to this day even if we had enjoyed 16 years of non-stop unselfish and inspiring leadership and service delivery. Yet, I cannot help but wonder how many millions of lives would presently be in a far better situation than they really are if our democratic government had not displayed such inefficiency, greed, corruption and self-serving politicking.

So for many South Africans there is still no freedom from ‘want’, but for almost every South African there is definitely no freedom from Roosevelt’s fourth point – fear. The papers this week carried stories of a father from Pretoria who was brutally hacked to death in his own home while his two year old son watched from his cot. It is just one more in a long list of violent crime statistics that now dominate our social imaginations far more than those massive queues lining up to joyfully vote in 1994 have ever done. Fear is a huge part of life in South Africa – there are very few whose lives have not been affected by crime in some way or the other.

In a different sense, it appears that even our President with the comprehensive security personnel he enjoys, is not free from fear. Sure, he is probably immune from random criminal acts but he is definitely not free to act and lead the country in the way he deems best. It seems that our popularist President’s ride to power has been sustained by a wave of numerous favours and IOU’s, to the point that he is now effectively hamstrung. He owes the ANCYL, the Unions and many others to the point that he does not seem to have the freedom to even blow his nose without checking it out first.

Therefore, under Roosevelt’s four definitions of freedom, South Africa is sorely lacking in the last two. While this may initially sound like yet another negative asssessment on the failings of contemporary South Africa, it really is anything but. This is because the Gospel definition of freedom is something entirely different. The Bible records thousands and thousands of years of hope which is almost always against tremendous odds. Freedom in Scripture is not the absence of conflict, but the peace of God found in the midst of life’s storms and upheavals.

This is why Scripture challenges us to bring God’s hope into situations that are not perfect and peaceful, but rather teeming with difficulties and real human pain. A biographer of Viktor Frankl, who endured years in a Nazi concentration camp, once noted that because of Frankl’s decision to live with hope even amidst the ruin of his daily life, he was actually freer in that camp than even his prison guards. South Africa is by no means perfectly free, not while situations of dire want and fear still grip and constrict our country, yet nonetheless it is up to each and every God-follower to remember how powerfully transformative it really is to live in God sustained hope whilst simultaneously working towards change.

The fate of our country is still in our hands, for ultimately freedom is dependent on how we choose to respond to issues when ever and where ever freedom is threatened. Scripture promises that there is nothing in all heaven, hell or earth that can take away our free choice to live and work towards hope and real change … unless, we choose to allow it.

Lewd Clergy, Kill the Boer and Other Sensitivities

As languages develop the meaning of words can change over time. After all, it was within the life-time of my parent’s generation that the word ‘gay’ come to be predominantly used to describe homosexual people rather than happy people.

Words are dynamic, and languages stay alive by adapting and growing according to the context around them. Another example would be the word ‘nice’ which in the 13th century was an insult meaning foolish or stupid. It went through changes in the 18th century with various meanings like wanton, extravagant, elegant, modest, shy or coy. Now of course, it means good, pleasing, thoughtful or kind.

‘Silly’ meant blessed or happy in the 11th century and went through pious, innocent, harmless, and pitiable before ending up as foolish or stupid. My all-time favourite is the word ‘lewd,’ which once meant ignorant and was used to describe anyone who was not a member of the clergy. Personally, I think we should bring back its original meaning sooner rather than later.

A far uglier example would be the South African racial insult ‘k-----‘, a word so effectively used to belittle others that to even write it out in full as an example is considered unacceptable. Use of this word has been actionable in South African courts since Apartheid days in 1976 under the offense of crimen injuria, which is "the unlawful, intentional and serious violation of the dignity of another".

You may not know that this word originally was an Arabic term used to describe white people, or simply anyone who was not of the Abrahamic faith. It was picked up by Europeans and widely used between the 16th and 19th centuries and generally never as an offensive term. In fact, its early South African usage was a neutral term for black southern African people. However, over the 20th century it became commonly used to denigrate black people and now is so loaded with bile and hatred that it is virtually untouchable. With good reason it can be hoped this word will eventually fall out of practice all together.

The point I am trying to make is that words have tremendous history. In other times and rooted in different historical and cultural contexts a word can mean something completely different to what it does now. If you make a living at communicating (like a politician does for example), then it is vital to understand the dynamic nature of words. If you want to have clarity in your message then you need to understand how people generally understand words and phrases.

So why did it take so long for our leaders to understand how a struggle song which includes words like “shoot the boer” might cause offense to others? The argument that the song has a long history associated with the struggle should by no means lend it complete immunity to challenge. As I have pointed out the ‘k-----‘ word itself has a history of neutrality but since it began to be used hurtfully it has rightfully been sidelined. In the same way, if the words of a song, no matter how steeped in struggle history, causes fear and confusion amongst certain South Africans, then surely a government of racial unity should be far more open to ending its use?

Why did it take the unfortunate murder of one of our more infamous ‘boers’ and the ensuing racial hoo-ha for the government to actually consider opening the discussion table around the continued viability of this song? Surely, those in government, many of whom might have been on the receiving end of racial misunderstandings themselves would better understand such potential sensitivities? Rather than blaming the media for misunderstanding its cultural context and accusing them of fear mongering, perhaps our leaders should seek to better understand just how dynamic and powerful words and language are. All South Africans would ultimately benefit from that kind of sensitive and unselfish leadership.

Words change. And so should we.