Completing the Days

Eze 4:8  See, I am putting cords on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

Today is my birthday.

Which is a useful moment to reflect on my life.

The one enduring theme of my life is a sense of God’s calling. I experienced this as an inner compulsion that binds me to a course of living - like Ezekiel I have lived a life where I sense God saying “ you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days” .

 

·         I felt a call to be trained at The Federal Theological Seminary – something I could not shake even when it was unpopular with my closest friends and family; even when it became a very hard place to be; and even when I wanted to resign and do something else.

·         I continue to experience a call to be an ordained minister of word and sacrament. I have had moments of great joy and satisfaction; and I have had times when I have understood Ezekiel’s reference to “the days of your siege “.  But since my ordination in 1984 I have never been able to shake off the cords that God has laid on my life.

·         I have felt an inescapable tug to issues of social justice. There have been moments when this has frightened me, and I would rather have run away from it. It has resulted in moments of great loneliness, accompanied by anger from some members of the congregation, financial boycott from some congregations, and the occasional encounter with the security police. But this internal spiritual compulsion has not allowed me to back off, and continues to ask me to challenge injustice as I encounter it.  

·         I have been bound to training student ministers. This has ranged from training student ministers in seminary, to those who have completed their seminary and are placed in local congregations.  Right now I am at the Methodist Seminary in Pietermaritzburg. As this year has passed I have become more and more entangled with this place. It has become a call that ties me in every possible way – in my time, my emotions, my passion and my prayers,    

·         I am inescapably tied to my marriage with Jenny. We were married in 1982, and we have been through “trials and tribulations” and through “joys and celebrations”.  (Truth be told I know that there have been moments when Jenny has wanted to kill me – and there have been moments when I have allowed myself to forget her kindness and generosity).  I continue to be grateful for my marriage and still hear this inescapable tug that says to me “you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed” .

As I look back I see the presence of God in all of this. I would not have wished for a different life and am grateful for everything that has happened. I celebrate the passing of the years – and look forward to a new year of being led into the unknown by this inner spiritual compulsion.

Bandanna Day

The Sunflower Fund promotes a donor registry to assist people with bone marrow cancer. To fund this they sell colourful sunflower themed bandannas.

12 October is national Bandanna Day and the seminarians were challenged to each buy and wear a bandanna in support of the Sunflower fund.

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Farewell

Today's news: "South Africa's defeat saw outspoken coach Peter de Villiers announce his resignation and Springbok captain John Smit confirm his Test retirement."

"It was a brilliant journey," said De Villiers. "There's a time to come and a time to go and I think the journey for me is over".

Farewell Peter. You added colour to the game - literally, figuratively, and emotionally.

Thanks John Smit. You are an example of good sportsmanship.

The game will miss both of you ... But the game goes on!
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Today: 7 October.

Today sees a number of significant dates in History:

 Some are sad:

1937 in Bengal (India) a 40 Ft wave sunk 20 000 boats and killed 300 000 people.

1963 Hurrican Flora struck the island of Haiti and Dominican republic and killed        7 190 people

1985 Four Palestinian terrorists hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, killing passenger Leon Klinghoffer.

2001 The Unites States and Great Britain launched an air strike against the Taliban in Afghanistan in revenge for the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks.

 “Lord in your Mercy – Hear our Prayer for all those who have lost their lives.”  

Some are happy:

1886 Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba

1953 Chuck Norris emerges from steel and carbon.

1959 Julie Brett gives birth to her son Simon Cowell.

1993 Toni Morrison is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

 "Lord in your mercy - hear our prayer of thanksgiving"

But nothing can match the joy of the birth of Desmond Mpilo Tutu on 7 October 1931.

I give thanks for his life and freely acknowledge the influence he has had in my Christian faith.

"Lord in your mercy - hear our prayer of gratitude"

Happy Birthday – my father in the faith.

A Man of God

"a man who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet before God and all the people" (Luke 24:19).

There are many powerful preachers who claim to represent God. Some are powerfully eloquent; some derive power from their political acumen; some exert their power through intellect and great learning; and some exert power through religious rules and sanction. The Gospel of Luke tells of a different kind of power - the power of "deeds and words". This is the power that becomes visible in a life lived in service to other people.

This is neither the strutting of a demagogue, nor the largesse of wealthy donors. This is not the wheeling and dealing of political horse-trading, or the academic superiority of the educated.

Instead, this is a life that finds its power only when it is given away. This is seen when someone chooses to 'spend and be spent' for the benefit of the community. This is best epitomised by Jesus - who gave his life that the world might be redeemed.

There are many who have followed in the footsteps of Jesus - ranging from St Francis of Assisi in antiquity through to Mother Theresa of Calcutta. I choose to place my life at the disposal of my creator. And to use up my remaining days in serving God. Pray for me.
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Holding each other accountable.

A key value in the life of the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary is Accountability. The Seminarians are held accountable for their lives inside and outside of the classroom. It is this that makes us different from a university. A university exists to impart academic excellence, whereas a Christian seminary is expected to form ministers of the Gospel of Jesus. Therefore every seminarian is evaluated by the seminary staff, both for their academic life, as well as for their spiritual, ethical, and communal life. We sit once a year with each seminarian and give them feedback on this evaluation and work out ways to assist them in their personal growth.

This morning the seminarians participated in an accountability exercise that expanded this system. They filled in a questionnaire that examined the way the president of our seminary leads us. This is the culmination of a process that has seen a performance evaluation of each member of staff by both seminarians, peers and the president. An outside company has now been tasked to do the same for the president.

We believe that healthy accountability leads to a healthy seminary. Pray for us, that we might model accountability in a way that brings renewal to our church and society.

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"According to the Will of God"

1 Peter 4:2,8 …..live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God….Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.




The letter of 1 Peter was possibly written somewhere between 60-80 years after Jesus. It seems to be the work of a student of the Apostle Peter – which was normal practice, especially when one realizes that Peter was an uneducated Galilean fisherman.
It was written at a time when the world seemed to be going mad:

This was a time of great terror:
• The Roman general Titus attacked Jerusalem, and burned the temple to the ground.
• The Emperor Nero set fire to a slum area to build his new palace - and blamed the Christians for the fire.
• The volcano Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii.

At the same time the morals of the Empire were disintegrating:
• The Emperor tried to protect his power by killing his brother and his mother.
• And when his wife could not produce an heir, he threw her out and took his best friend’s wife and made her pregnant instead.
• The crowds of Rome had become bored: and demanded ever more violent entertainment. It is at this time that the Colosseum was built where gladiators fought anything that could be killed.

It is in this context that Peter dictates a letter to those who followed Jesus: a letter that has one recurring thread: we are to live in such a way that we set an example to the world we live in:

1Peter 1:14 Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct;

1Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing.
1Peter 4:2: live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. .

Do you hear it?
We are to be separated from the standards of this world:
We are to live to a different standard.
Then Peter sums it all up - he sets out the difference:
1Pe 4:8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.

The essential dividing line between the ways of God and human ways lies in this one key concept: “love”.
It is here that our faith becomes difficult – because we are asked to practice a value that is not part of our culture….
You see I am OK with the idea that God loves me : but it is far harder to hear that I am to love other people in the same way!
1Pe 4:8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.

Be prepared to cover the sins of others with love.
Not a chance!!!!
Those who show me great love will get much love in return
And those who show me little love will get little love in return.
This is the stuff Peter is speaking about:
1Pe 4:2: live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God.
We are not to reflect the standards of our world – we are to challenge them!
We are not to mirror our culture - we are to transform it.
It is this that sets the followers of Jesus apart – we dare to be different.
When our culture tells us to hate – we will choose to love.
 When our business environment says to step on people to get ahead – we will choose to serve people.
 When our side of the family wants to ignore the other side of the family – we will choose to go to build bridges.
 When some people of our religion curse the religion of another person – we will bless them.
 And when I see the sin in the life of another person – I will cover that person with love.

An Impossible dream? of course…. If I try to do this in my own strength! But I do not do this alone – I do it in the strength of God:
1Pe 4:10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
1Pe 4:11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever.
 Amen.
 

Guess where?

This photograph is taken at my favourite spot in all the world. Let the detectives supply the location.
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Knowing God

Theological formation is the gradual and often painful discovery of God's incomprehensibility. You can be competent in many things, but you cannot be competent in God.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
(http://tumblr.com/x7x4nvw681)
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Birthday lunch at Col'Cacchio pizzeria for Jenny and Granny.
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Growing up - Jumping down.

Amy jumped off Table Mountain this morning. Well ....more of an abseil than a jump!

My youngest daughter turned 21 on 27 August, and today she celebrated by jumping vertically down rocks on the end of a rope. This epitomises her growth into adulthood. As a little girl Amy clung to her mother for security and reassurance. But she has grown into a person who is courageous, determined, and capable of unexpected surprises. She is completing a BA in English and Film and Media studies, and has also spent the last three years studying Japanese. Amy plans to teach English in Japan next year. And I admire her determination.

Happy Birthday Amy. And may you have an interesting life full of fun, faith and fantasy.
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Jess' birthday cake

Today is spring day in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also my daughter Jessica's birthday.

Since she was little I dreaded this day - because schools make a great fuss of spring day. And so Jess was led to believe that her birthday was the beginning of summer. The class was asked to dress for spring, and every one anticipated a warm, sunny day. Jess would go to school dressed for a summer birthday - and year after year it rained on her birthday!

Today she is a grown up woman: and I want to wish her a fabulous summer as she completes her degree as a music teacher. I wish her lots of joy as she teaches the jazz saxophone. And to remind her that I am very proud of the way she is emerging into adulthood.
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A Rock in the Grass

"the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, a stumbling- stone and a rock to trip over." (1 Peter 2:7-8)

This is an image from the Bible that asks questions about the way we construct our lives. It refers to a stone collected for a building project, but unused. Peter tells of this rejected stone lying on one side, where it caused problems. The builders would trip over it - a rock lying in the grass.

This image appeals to me. The stone is still useful, but now in a subversive way. It reminds the builders of what might have been. It is the stone they curse when they stub their toe - yet at the same time this gives them a moment to pause and reflect. The stone trips up the busy builder as he scurries around the building site doing his important stuff. This then allows a halt to the relentless progress of the day. The stone refuses to go away, and so becomes the constant reminder of other building possibilities.

This is an uncomfortable analogy. It speaks of the interruptions that trip us up as we try to get on with our day: a child demanding attention; a spouse asking for help; a neighbour calling loudly; or a poor person intruding into our space. This is the irritating question asked by a preacher; the uncomfortable feeling when a piece of writing gets under our skin; the disquiet caused by an uneasy conscience. This is the Spirit of God acting like a rock in the grass.

We can ignore it and continue with our important, busy lives. Or we can consider the stone, and allow this interruption to our activity become a turning point, that moment to watch how the Master Builder takes it for the cornerstone - the load-bearing stone that gives shape to the rest of the construction. The rejected stone becomes the stone that gives direction to all the other pretty stones we use to build our lives.

Over the years of my living I have been challenged by this thought from the letter of Peter: to pay attention to the obstacles in my day’s progress. Perhaps they are that concealed rock that ought to become part of my life’s construction. I also aspire to challenge those who live comfortable, uncaring lives – to become a “rock in the grass” to those who live without a moral compass to guide their thoughts and actions.

Pray for the wisdom to discover that important building blocks to our living can lie hidden in the long grass, waiting to trip us up. Pray too for the courage to become that stone that trips people up when they try to construct their lives without giving thought to their ethical and moral responsibilities 

balloons for a birthday

21 years old today! Jenny is blowing balloons for our youngest daughter Amy.
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Nzondelelo

This weekend our seminarians become missionaries when they travel to the Durban Central Methodist Church. This is an inner-city church, located in the midst of a diverse population drawn from the people that live in southern Africa.

They are joining the Nzondelelo movement for the weekend. This began in 1870 in Edendale, near Pietermaritzburg, born out of a desire for the Christian Gospel to be heard in the words and idiom of Zulu people. Daniel Msimang challenged the white missionaries to trust the Gospel of Jesus in the hands of the indigenous Zulu people. And this missionary movement has become a vehicle for the liberating, joyful invitation to live like Jesus.

Pray for the 90 seminarians, that they might be faithful ambassadors for Jesus.
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Covenant Discipleship Groups

The seminarians are divided into small accountability groups. These meet once a week and are a "safe place" where they can support one another as they work out the shape of God's call on their lives.

This group asks only one question: we use the ancient Wesleyan question "How goes it with your soul?" This is not group therapy, where individuals are coerced by the group's will. This is, instead, group accountability. Each member shares her/his life's journey of the past week, sharing joy and asking support in the pain. It meets for one hour, and closes with prayer for one another. And what is said in the group remains in the group.

And lives are being changed as a consequence. Not only are seminarians given a place to express their hopes and fears, but they are discovering companions for this fragile journey of life.

I ask your prayers each Monday evening between 5:30 and 6:30.
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Grace

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven." (Shakespeare)

Tim Attwell used this quote when he preached to us this morning and reminded us of the unconditional grace of God. Our Creator does not crush us for our foolish, sinful living. Instead, like the dew that surprises us in the morning, God continues to bless us with the gifts of life, love, joy and passion. As dew drops to the earth and nourishes the soil - so God goes beyond anger and retribution to a place of nurturing mercy. And in this we are challenged to become merciful towards other people.

"Teach us, Loving God, to participate in your surprising acts of grace as we love even the undeserving".
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Obedience

He humbled himself, by becoming obedient! (Philippians 2:8)

We live in a culture that avoids being obedient. Instead we are tempted to live without accountability - following the whim of the moment. Each day I am challenged to submit my will to a Lord who demands my obedience....a demand that humbles my spirit.

I do not find this easy. I am bent out of shape by my surroundings: I sit with my friends/colleagues/associates and am tempted to share their prejudices and world view. But there is a Creator who holds me accountable to values that are bigger than the whim of the moment. I want to be more than I am in this moment - and ask you to pray for me: that I might humble my spirit in order to be obedient to Jesus.

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rugby

I am off to Durban to watch rugby. South Africa is playing Australia and I am a fervent participant in this part of our nation's worship. We gather in large stadiums to sing together, to cheer our team - and even pray (when our team is doing badly). All of us pursue an oval ball - 30 men on the field and 80000 around the perimeter of the field. We don our national colours, and drink beer and shout encouragement.

Isn't it great.
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First dancing shoes!

Kayleigh Duncan is getting ready for the matric dance. Today was about getting shoes. And I am privileged to share in her anticipation and excitement.
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Farewell

Today we say farewell to Tom and Jeffrey, who have spent the past month with us as exchange students from Cambridge University. They are Methodist probationers who have been stationed at Cambridge University by the Methodist Church in Britain. We wish them God's blessing as they return home. Pray for them as they are sent by us to bring light a country with a troubled soul.
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Morning Worship

This morning we welcomed the Rev Jim Harnish of the United Methodist Church, Tampa, Florida. He challenged us to become preachers who can bring the Good News of Jesus into a world that is characterised by bad news.

We were reminded that this can only begin when we are willing to listen to the stories of the people we meet. We cannot speak if we do not first listen! We do not "bring Jesus", but instead we point out what Jesus is already doing. Our task is to point away from ourselves to that which Jesus is doing. And to invite people to join Jesus in his work.

We thank God for the privilege of sharing in God's work. Pray that we might all be faithful.
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Women's Day

Today South Africa celebrates the contribution women to our life. This evening's chapel service was led by Rev Diane Worringham - assisted by the wives of our seminarians. Please hold these women in your prayers as they face being expected to assume leadership roles in the congregations served by their husbands.
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Esther

Delm Linscott, the senior pastor of Wesley Methodist Church in Hayfields, Pietermaritzburg, invited us to reflect on the value and importance of women in our society. He used Esther from the Bible as the example to inspire us.

Delm took us to the text: Esther 4:14 "It may very well be that you have achieved royal status for such a time as this!" He reminded us that our lives are intentionally and purposefully lived in the presence of God. And the place we find ourselves could well be exactly the place where we are most useful. So instead of complaining about our circumstances - let us seize the moment that we have as a God-given opportunity of life. Each moment is a moment where we can be exactly what God needs in this place "for such a time as this!"
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Roanne

This is Roanne. She is a person of enormous courage, who takes on life with grace and laughter.

Her daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of two. (Greek leukos - white, and haima - blood - a cancer of the blood or bone). She and her husband Mark had to cope with chemotherapy and the rehabilitation of a lovely little girl - now growing into a lovely young woman.

And just as the family was back on track Rowanne discovered cancer in her own body. And who says lightening does not strike the same place twice? She is completing her second season of chemotherapy, along with daily antibiotics, vitamins and nausea.

I admire her tenacity and dogged refusal to give in to pessimism and despair. She inspires me.
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An addict's life: hits and myths

Article by Tanya Gold
July 26, 2011




British singer Amy Winehouse, dead at 27.

Let's stop romanticising addiction and  call it for what it is: a mental illness. AMY Winehouse is dead and any useful understanding of the mental illness that killed her seems far away. Already the portrait is painted and flat-packed, smelted and ready to become myth.

There is tiny Amy with the swaying beehive hair and the frightened eyes, tormented by her talent and the chaos it brought, famous at 21, dead at 27, now a member of the repulsively named ''27 Club'' of musicians who were also addicts and died at 27: Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison, Cobain. All dead, all revered - as if it was their illness that made them interesting. The initial, rushed obituaries made much of Winehouse ''making it'' into the 27 Club. Would she make it to 28 and be shut out? No, she got in, with 54 days to spare.

Why do we give so much energy to the thrilling pantomime of an alcoholic dying in the public eye, and so little to understanding the illness that took her there? It was obvious years ago that Winehouse sick was more grotesquely interesting than Winehouse sober. As she temporarily dried out, so did the press coverage. But she relapsed and came home to fame.

When an addict self-annihilates, stalked by paparazzi, it is easy to imagine the story belongs to us all. We all had a stake in Amy Winehouse, you might believe. Her fall, and the redemption that will never come now, had a universal meaning. But it didn't. Winehouse didn't belong to us; she belonged to no one, not even herself. But you can forget that. Creative addicts - particularly female creative addicts - are always clutched to the cold global breast, even as the corpse is carried out.

Take Judy Garland, little Dorothy on Benzedrine, who kicked off her ruby slippers. She was a legend even before she was pulled off the toilet she died on in Chelsea in 1969; even this year there was a play in the West End about her collapse. I saw it and could only smell yet more exploitation of a woman who always exploited herself. Sing us a song, Judy - even though you're dead!

There is no wider parable about the relationship between addiction and talent, and I think that is junk too - a straw man that burns easily. Winehouse was simply an alcoholic and drug addict who had no idea of her own worth or how to cure herself. She died at 27 - not because she was the magical mystical twin of Janis Joplin - but because 27 is a normal age for the body of a compulsive user of hard drugs and hard alcohol to give out.

Thousands like Winehouse die every year and they are not venerated or even pitied. We will not educate ourselves about the disease, or reform drug laws that plunge addicts into a shadow-world of criminality and dependence on criminals. Winehouse got away with too much, said one copper, after a tape of her using was released. Did she? Did she really? Winehouse walked barefoot through the streets because that is where the drugs were and, even as her bewildered face splatters across the front pages, drug support charities are closing, expendable in this era of thrift.

Recovery rests on the edge of the self-harming knife, because no one yet knows what causes addiction, or how to cure it. The disease is impenetrable to outsiders because it is anathema to our all-conquering species that a person can be genetically predisposed to poison themselves. Addiction is still uniformly called ''a self-inflicted disease'' and only the most enlightened doctors will recommend Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous - self-help groups that sometimes get results, although no one knows why. A psychiatrist once told me that I should try to ''limit'' my drug use; he obviously knew nothing, even as he charged £275 ($A413) for 15 minutes.

Winehouse was in the Priory two months ago. I was in the Priory

11 years ago, where I was ''treated'' for addiction, and, in my experience, the Priory is not the sort of place where many people get better. (I await the letter of complaint from their ever-vigilant marketing department.) When I was there, they offered en suite bedrooms and in-room TVs, not the absolute knowledge that a tiny flicker of the reality of the predicament is essential to stay alive. She stayed a week, came home and died. She died for nothing, because she thought she was nothing.

Not that we will learn. The beehive was too high, the eyes too photogenically tormented, the voice too beautiful. Her new album will be released and it will sell 10 million copies, maybe more. And there, reader, is your meaning. The addict is dead. Long live the myth.

GUARDIAN

Tanya Gold is a London-based freelance journalist


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/contributors/an-addicts-life-hits-and-myths-20110725-1hx1o.html#ixzz1TDWngeJs

Injisuthi Drakensberg

I have just returned from two days in the Drakensberg. Yesterday my colleague Mike Stone drove Jenny and me, his son Brian, and friends Mike Hoffman and Brian Tarr, to Injisuthi in the Southern Drakensberg.

Leaving the bakkie at the ranger's office we headed up into the mountains. A six hour walk brought us to a cave, where we spent the night. Coffee, pasta, biscuits, and a cold breeze accompanied us to bed.

The sun woke us this morning. After a bacon and egg breakfast we then walked back down. Lovely mountain views, great company, and tired legs added to a great day.
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Mentoring

"Uzziah followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him how to honour God." (2 Chronicles 26:55 )

Here is a powerful testimony to an older man who gave time to mentor a younger man. We all need people who can take us by the hand and "show us how". I thank God for people who took the time to mentor me: including Ray Light, Charles Villa-Vicencio, Sr Agnes Fynn and Ken Beard.

As I get older I discover the responsibility of example. I have no desire to tell people what to do. But I would want to live in a way that can inspire someone else to contribute to a love-filled community. So I am challenged to be more aware of my opportunity to mentor. Pray for me.
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Faithful Servants.

Every church has people who offer time, passion, and energy to serve God's people. Tony Doige, pictured here leading during worship this morning, is one of these gems. He is a retired farmer, who now lives away from his farm in Bergville, and without his beloved wife who died some years ago. He now offers his life to the Wesley Methodist Church in Pietermaritzburg.

Tony is a seventy-five year young adventurer who is open to learning new things. For example, he works on the sound desk during the Sunday services, and is exploring ways of improving the audio-visuals of the services. He is also managing a project to install a toilet at the church for physically challenged people. He is the "father-figure" at the Tuesday morning men's accountability group, and the "go-to" person for church maintenance. And he has just learned to Twitter (@tonydoige).

Tony is the kind of man that inspires me to squeeze every last drop from life and never give up. A true man of God.


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A Generous Sower

Matthew 13:3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Mat 13:9 Let anyone with ears listen!"

Have you ever had a moment when – no matter how hard you try – people criticize you? Well – you will then understand how Jesus feels in Chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel. Let us recap what has happened up to this point:
Chapter 3: Jesus is baptized and a call from God is affirmed.
Ch 4: Jesus goes into the wilderness to refine his direction – and finds some students who are willing to follow him.
Ch 5,6,7 are spent in teaching about the way God expects us to live
Ch 8,9 : sees Jesus putting the teaching into practice
And then in Ch 10 Jesus sends his students to try it on their own.

All along he has had mixed success – some people love his teaching and follow him from place to place. And some people are very critical.
And there is a clear dividing line between those who love him and those who hate him. This mirrors the fault line of the society Jesus lived in;
On the one side those who lived in Jerusalem; these were people who worshipped regularly in the temple, who celebrated the festivals, and who called themselves the “God’s Chosen People”. And then there were those who the people of Jerusalem called ”am ha-aretz” – the “unwashed”.

These were mostly poor rural peasants: They could not read and write and so could not keep track of the Jewish laws. They could not afford to travel often to Jerusalem – so missed the regular prayers: seldom made the required sacrifices. And so they were considered sinners by those who visited the temple every Sabbath. And over time they became convinced that God hated them.

Then this teacher called JESUS travelled the rural areas telling these people that God loved them. And he hugged them, and he healed them, and he taught them the laws of God….and they flocked to hear Jesus.
But the religious people in the temple were not impressed:


Mat 9:3 Then some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."
Mat 12:14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out the demons."

And it is in response to this that Jesus tells a story:
A story of a farmer who goes into his field in and sows seed. This is small scale farming, where seed is scattered by hand, and then ploughed in.

Jesus points out the obvious – that this is a difficult way to farm because in addition to the seed that lands on the fertile soil - some seed will land on the footpaths, and some will land on rocks, and some will land in the bushes. And in this Jesus suggests that his teaching is not equally received:
Some hear what he has to say – and their lives are changed
Some hear him and there is a small change
And some hear him and his words just bounce off.

But I think that there is more to this: Instead of focusing on the soil and the seed, I am inviting us to focus on the sower;
I have an image of a farmer sowing with Generous Abandon. Here is someone who throws handfuls of seed in every direction. I can almost hear the gasps from the rural farmers who listen, because seed is precious! There is no farmers’ co-operative to buy it from at the beginning of the season: this is seed carefully stored from last year:
Yet here is a farmer who just throws it in every direction.

Here is Jesus; saying to his critics – don’t you understand that it is the pleasure of my Heavenly Father to bless everyone in every direction. I hear Jesus rebuking the religious leaders who are so quick to write people off as sinners – rocky ground, thorny personalities, hard to teach. Here Jesus is saying that God shows love to everybody –
The just and the unjust / rocky ground and fertile soil / thorny personalities as well and the kind and the patient.

And here is the place of Good News for me, because I have moments when I am not fertile soil: I am hard to teach like a well worn footpath.
Yet God still sends his love my way. Sometimes I am thorny and prickly – yet God does not give up on me.
This is Good news for everyone – to know that even when you are struggling with life, and when you feel shallow and weak, God still sends his grace and goodness your way.

But just as I celebrate a God who so scatters grace with generous abandon, so I am challenged to learn to see this Grace extended to other people too. Let me ask of us:
Do you know someone who you think is prickly and thorny
Or someone who is hard and uncompromising
Or someone who is shallow and easily distracted
It is easy to write them off. But the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus is that God’s grace extends even to those we so readily write off as being beyond repair

Let us pray to be willing to pass the Grace of God to other people with the same generosity as we have received it from God.

Grades

Today the Seminary releases the academic transcripts for the first 6 months of 2011. It is a big moment because we all get to see how we are doing: both seminarians and teachers.

Pray that we all might remember that academic grades are only one component of our life together. We are growing ministers of the Gospel - not academic whizz-kids. We dream of forming Christ-followers who can transform Church and nation.
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Touch

Mark 8:22 Then they came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus and asked him to touch him:

.... they did not ask for a sermon; neither did they seek a healing; they wanted physical contact - a touch.

This is so rare in our world. We substitute human touch with everything else, thinking that possessions, clothing, entertainment, and words will show our love for another. Jesus showed this to be a hollow substitute by offering the one thing that is prized above every other gift: Jesus offered human contact. In touching the blind man he affirmed the fact that he was not an "unclean" reject of society. In this human touch, Jesus affirmed this man as a beloved brother.

I am challenged by this story to examine the ways I show love: and to be committed to offering human contact to those who are shut out into the margins of my world. Pray for me.
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Welcome

"Welcome to my office" was the cheerful greeting that encountered me at the Olive Tambo airport in Johannesburg. This was unexpected because I was not aware that I was entering an office. I looked at the sign again - yes it read "Men's toilet". And I had been welcomed by the man who cleaned it.

I was entering his work space. And he welcomed me, and sprayed disinfectant on the toilet seat before allowing me into the cubicle, and wiped the taps and basin clean before I washed my hands.

He was affirming the dignity of his work, ands his desire to give meaning to what he did. He made me feel relaxed and welcome, and wished me well when I left.

And so I thanked him for going beyond what I would have expected. And am determined to learn from him in being courteous to the people of my day.

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Praying alongside each other

1 Timothy 2:8 "So I want the men a to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute".

It is a sad reality that we are divided by our prayers. Instead of "lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute" - we insult and denigrate those who do it differently from us.

And so my invitation for us to be respectful of those who pray at midday on Friday, and those who enter their Sabbath on Friday evening; those who worship on a Saturday and those who worship on a Sunday.

Let us protect the sacred space of those whose prayers are expressed in flags, and in raised hands, in silence, and in groans and cries. Let us encourage those who pray under trees, and those who turn wheels, and those who wash in a river.

God receives all our prayers - without exception!
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Enough - but not more!

Exodus 16:21 "So they gathered it each morning, a each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt."

The book of Exodus tells us that the Israelites were fed with "Manna" during their 40 year sojourn in the wilderness. This was food that appeared each morning as "a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth" (Exodus 16:14). I have no way of knowing whether this is a well constructed parable or a daily miraculous magic moment. But the one key teaching carried in this story is the challenge to the people to take only as much as they needed.

Each person had sufficient for that day. But if an individual tried to accumulate more than could be eaten that day - the hoarded food became rotten. And here is the challenge of human life here on earth: that there is sufficient resources for everyone - if we use only what we need. But when we take more than we can use, then life becomes rotten!

Rotten living is visible where some live in opulent homes while many live in shacks. Rotten living is where a few mine owners get fat while the workers in the mine are starving. Rotten living is where some earn more money in an annual bonus than the majority earn in a lifetime.

Join me as I commit my life to resisting and opposing rotten living. And work with me in creating a world where we share our resources.
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Seminarians and the 21st Century

This morning's preacher originates from a context of oppression and poverty. He preaches in a style particular to rural black congregations - lots of emotion and imagery, delivered at increasing volume and passion.

But he is using a laptop for his sermon notes; and a microphone for his delivery; and has a power point presentation to illustrate the points of his sermon.

A fascinating blend of rural third world and technologically savvy first world.

My dream is for our seminarians to be able to grasp all the help that technology offers - and infuse this with cultural heart and soul. In this way the Gospel of Jesus can be shared with excellence, and take root in the human heart.
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Xavier Laubscher Comrades Number 22111.

Xavier (on the left) has cycled 1000 km from Johannesburg . He will run the 90km Comrades Marathon tomorrow. AND THEN ... He will RUN back to Johannesburg over the next 10 days.

Eish.
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Hard Men

This group of cyclists rode 1300 km from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg and tomorrow will run the 90km Comrades Marathon from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

Eish!
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Lievland Music Festival

I am at a music festival entitled "What we will be doing on a Sunday afternoon". It requires us to sit on the grass next to a dam on a Stellenbosch wine farm and listen to local bands play music.

Jenny and I are here to listen to Nomadic Orchestra - our daughter Jessica's boyfriend Greg plays guitar for this Balkan style band. So we will lie here making the most of a lazy Sunday afternoon's relaxation.

Chalk it up to another hard day in Africa.
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The Call of God

I am at the Synod of the Queenstown District, which is meeting at the E. N. Baartman Methodist Church in East London.

Bishop Mongamele Noqayi reminded us that we can be refreshed by our Christian faith if we are willing to hear the Divine Call. This is call is to "whosoever" - and especially to the weary, the outcast, the poor. This comforts those who struggle, and challenges those who live as if God has no moral call on our lives.

The Bishop noted that while we must criticise the lack of service delivery in our country - we as a church must look to our own delivery. We must move from our old ways into renewal. Bishop Noqayi bluntly warned those circuits that refused to welcome women ministers "to hear God's call to come and be saved."

He concluded with the reminder that all are invited to the Lord's feast: "All in Africa; all in South Africa; all classes, all races, all sexual orientations, all are welcome."
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Those Roots!

Trees are really difficult to remove!

This tree is becoming a problem: it intrudes into the driveway to my home. It also is growing into the sewerage pipes of the neighbor and causing problems with his home’s foundations. So it is coming down.

Phase one was relatively simple : cut off all the branches and take them away. More difficult is getting the tree stump out – you see it has roots! And they help the tree to stubbornly cling to the ground.
Step one : Dig around the base to try to cut the roots.
Step two: Cut around the base to try to weaken its base.
Step three: Attach a rope to the bakkie and pull ...
OK back to step one!!!

And this led me to thinking about my life: as I look back there have been moments when I felt like the ground was being dug away from under me; it felt as if I was being cut into pieces by the many different demands made on my time and energy; it felt as if I was being pulled over by the pressures and responsibilities of my various commitments. But I have been able to keep going because of my roots.

I am rooted in my relationship with Jesus Christ. This is found in reading widely and rigorously- drawing on the reflections of people I agree with, and people who fundamentally disturb me. This is found in the worship of my God – sometimes with other people, and sometimes on my own. This is found in spending time with people who follow the ways of Jesus – some of whom are like me, and some of whom differ completely from anything I believe and do.

It is my roots in my Christian walk, nourished by the Spirit of God, which has kept me married, and kept me fathering my daughters, and kept me in the service of the Methodist Church, and kept me faithful to people who have asked for my help. Without these roots I will fall over.

And so I pray that my Creator will renew my roots for another day of this adventure called life.

Finding Each Other

Seminarians from different traditions - Anglicans, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Evangelical Non-conformists ... and a bunch of University academics: all worshipped together this evening as part of the Pietermaritzburg Ecumenical Cluster.

Dr Simanga Kumalo, head of the UKZN School of Religion, welcomed us and reminded us that tonight's worship was an act of protest against our division.

And we sang together; and danced togethe; and prayed together; because despite our differences we do belong together as Christ-followers.
Pray that those who follow Jesus will find unity more attractive than division.

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An Attractive Faith

There are some religious people who really annoy me!
These are the people who act as if they alone are right - and anyone who does not see life their way is wrong! These are the people who claim that the way they read their religious text is the only correct interpretation. These are the people who take great pride in stating what is right and wrong - as if they know the mind of God. Their smug self-righteousness is repellent.

St. Paul suggests that our presence should inspire people to thank God. "So they glorified God because of me." (Galatians 1:24)

I pray that my faith practice might make me attractive and not repellent.
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In The Shark Tank

I am in Durban at the Absa Stadium to watch a Super Rugby match between the Sharks and the Brumbies.

This is a lot of firsts for me: first time here; first live rugby this season; and first time supporting the Sharks (but I will support any team that plays against Australians!).

Bring on the players!
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A Symbol has Died.

The headline news this evening - Osama bin Laden was killed by United States soldiers in Pakistan.

Clearly this is good news to the American people. There has been a bitter taste of vulnerability since the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York. At least the USA can lay claim to the adage that the US marshall "always gets his man". But does this make the world a safer place?

I think not.

Bin Laden was just a symbol for a much larger emotion: while his methods are reprehensible, and his suggestion that God blessed his violence is blasphemy, he tapped into a sentiment that has deep resonance: there are many who cheer for the one who resists the American domination of our world.

American interests have fuelled wars in South America, Africa, and the Middle East. For many people America has been experienced as the unpopular policeman of the world. And for many, America has come to represent the Christian voice against Islam.

So when American people dance for joy in the streets at the news of bin Laden's death - this only fuels further anti-American sentiment. The words of Mary Auker Edwards are worth noting:
"Killing one man doesn't end terrorism. Fair and equitable dealings around the world ends terrorism. What a horrific and barbaric country we are to glory in a dead body...."

Let us pray for God's just peace for our world.
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The Royal Wedding

I do not believe in royalty.

Perhaps this has to do with my loyalty to my Scottish forebears. Perhaps because I never was offered the silver spoon to sup with. Perhaps because I am hyper allergic to the culture of celebrity watching. But I think royalty is an anachronism in the 21st Century.

Nobody should be born into privilege. Respect, status, wealth - these should be earned and not inherited.

Do not get me wrong: I wish the newest royal wedding well. I pray that Will and Kate have a happy and fulfilling marriage.

But nobody gets the right by a simple accident of birth to be a royal - or to label someone else a "commoner". We are all equal before God: equally mistaken, equally loved by God, and equally able to live life fully and richly.
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Faith and Understanding

John 20:9 "For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead."

But there was no scripture that the disciples could have used .... Nothing that said "Jesus must rise from the dead"! There is nothing in their religious teaching that they could have fallen back on. All they had was an experience that defied reason.

This is the essence of our Christian belief: that Easter is not reasonable. It is a mystery - something bigger than human reason. This is the time when we affirm that light conquers darkness ... that good overcomes evil ... that life defeats death.

This Easter I choose therefore to celebrate resurrection experiences that lead me to faith. For I too have found new life:

I have found God's call for me to be a Methodist Minister renewed through my involvement this year in the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary.

I have found my commitment to being a Christ-follower in South African renewed as I view life through the vigorous faith of the seminarians.

This Easter has been a moment of a renewed love for my wife Jenny.

As I worshipped with my family and friends in my former congregation in Plumstead, I discovered love and affection that renewed my faith.

And I am grateful.
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Two Oceans Marathon

It all began in 1980.

I ran my first 56km Two Oceans Marathon at the tender age of 23. And have turned up on 28 Easter Saturdays since then to run this race.....

Well not quite.
I have run 21 of the 56km races, and today completed no 7 of the half-marathon race.

Why do I keep coming back? Simply because it is the most beautiful run in South Africa with the best spectator support anywhere!

And I am so privileged to be still running. I know that I am slower, and my knees are sore when they never used to be. And it is harder to get up in the morning to go running.

But I can still put one foot in front of another. And I am grateful.
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A Voice of Beauty

Tonight I heard Sunnyboy Dladla sing. He is the principle tenor for the Messiah in the Cape Town City Hall this weekend. And I wept for the sheer beauty of his voice.

He very nearly didn't become an opera singer, having begun his adult life as a student nurse. When his finances ran out and he couldn't afford to complete his studies, he was brought to Cape Town by his former Mpumalanga classmate Pretty Yende. She persuaded Prof. Angelo Gobbato, then head of UCT Opera School, to listen to him. Seeing his potential the Professor arranged financial assistance for him to study at UCT.

Since then his career has taken off: Sunnyboy has sung in Verona, Italy, a world famous opera centre, and is in demand as one of South Africa's best lyric tenors.

And I count myself privileged to have heard him sing tonight.
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Where God has placed me ....

I am a member of the faculty of The Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary (SMMS). This seminary was initiated by the Methodist Church of Southern Africa in order to provide full time, residential seminary training for aspirant ministers as part of their journey to ordination. The seminary also admits into its programmes private students who wish to be formed for transformational leadership within a value-based, spiritual environment. Our purpose is to "form transforming leaders for church and nation by providing the spiritual formation, academic, vocational and practical training required to develop skilled leaders of integrity, faithfulness and excellence".[1]

Our faculty of lecturers hail from near and far: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Jamaica and U.S.A. It is a privilege to be blessed by wisdom and insight from such a wide spectrum of colleagues.

L-R: Christel Robinson, Ross Olivier, Doug Roland, Peter Grassow, Eraste Nyirimana, Jenny Stanier, Sifiso Khuzwayo, Jon-Mark Olivier, Nhlanhla Gumede, Roger Scholtz, Lilian Siwila, Mike Stone, Anne Nixon, Kennedy Ondongwe, Adrian Roux, Cheri Roland, Delme Linscott, Sox Leleki, Kennedy Owino, Wilhelmina Hewitt, Rowanne Marie

Once again, Holy Week will see our seminarians spreading out across the expanse of Southern Africa. They have all been assigned to local church communities to share in proclamation and service under the auspices of local ministers. Please join me in prayer for their safe travel and return. After Easter they will enjoy a few days much-needed rest before tacking the second term of this semester.

[1] This Seminary is registered with the Department of Education (South Africa) as a Private Higher Education Institution under the Higher Education Act (Act No. 101 of 1997) - Registration Certificate Number: 2010/HE08/002

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Christian Palestinians

This morning I was reminded that there are Christians who live in the land of Jesus – which is now known as Palestine!

Today the Seminary was visited by Theodosius (Atallah) Hanna, Archbishop of Sebaste. He is part of a movement called Kairos Palestine, which works to find the way of justice and equality in Palestine, believing that this is the only way that leads to genuine peace.

He originates from the Galilean village of Al Rameh, where he attended local primary and secondary schools before entering the Clerical Patriarchate School in Jerusalem. After graduating with honours at Thessalonica University in Greece in the Faculty of Theology, he went on to complete a master’s degree and doctorate.
In 1991 he was ordained as a deacon and priest in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.



Archbishop Theodosius reminded us that there are Christian Palestinians who suffer as a consequence of Israel’s occupation of Palestine: “Everyone thinks that there is a conflict between Arabs and Israelis. It is not a conflict between Arabs and Israelis, but an occupation by Israel." There are two major Palestinian political groupings: that of Hamas, which is a Palestinian Islamist political party, and Fatah, which is a left-wing nationalist party. Christian Palistinians believe that the Christian faith offers hope for a future without violence and walls. Their Kairos Document is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine.

They write:

“It is written at this time when we wanted to see the Glory of the grace of God in this land and in the sufferings of its people. In this spirit the document requests the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement, suffering and clear apartheid for more than six decades. The suffering continues while the international community silently looks on at the occupying State, Israel. Our word is a cry of hope, with love, prayer and faith in God.”

You can read more at  /http://www.kairospalestine.ps/

Gratitude

Jenny and I celebrate 29 years of marriage today.
We were married in the morning at the Prestbury Methodist Church by the Rev Ray Light, followed by a lunch in the Lutheran Church Hall at Hayfields.

We have been blessed with a good marriage. Jenny deserves a medal for putting up with my cranky ways and single-minded idiosyncrasies. I have made many mistakes, and still have so much to learn about life. I am grateful for her friendship and support.

Coffee in Wartburg

Go to Wartburg and drink coffee.

I fetched Jenny from King Shaka airport and took the road to Tongaat, and then north to Wartburg.

When you see this shop - stop!
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