Magnificent Freedom

Read Luke 1:39-55

I have in my hand a very scary document: the Freedom Charter. It was read for the first time on 26 June 1955 in Kliptown at the Congress of the People. Members of the SA Communist Party wrote it: Z.K. Matthews and Rusty Bernstein the most well known amongst others. It was adopted by all four organisations at the Congress: the ANC, the SA Congress of Democrats, the SA Indian Congress and the Coloured People’s Congress. Nelson Mandela was there and had to escape disguised as a milkman when police broke up the meeting. This dangerous document formed the basis of our Constitution, the most radical Constitution in the world at the moment. 50 years later, the Freedom Charter’s ideals of democracy and a commitment to a South Africa owned by all its peoples, of all races and creeds, still speaks to a world beset by powerful elites who rule with impunity but whose power is slipping.

I hold in my other hand an even more dangerous document. While the Freedom Charter has been speaking for 50 years and inspired our Constitution, this document has been speaking for nearly 2000 years and, arguably, inspired some of the values voiced in the Freedom Charter. This is the Bible. Powerful people have tried to corrupt its message, to water it down so that its call to freedom will not be heard. They have banned it, they have mistranslated it, they have put it in museums, they have funded whole universities to divert people from its meaning with clever interpretations, and they have killed those who took it seriously. But, despite all this, people all over the world have read it and claimed for themselves and their neighbours the right to be free.

Back before India won its independence, it was under British rule. Bishop William Temple of the Anglican Church warned his missionaries to India not to read the Magnificat – or Mary’s song - in public. He feared that it would be so inflammatory that it might start a revolution!

There once was a time when established theology in South Africa seriously advocated the separation of black and white as well as the subjugation of darker races on the basis of the separation of Noah’s descendents. The separation of Noah’s sons after the flood had receded seemed to indicate a natural separation of people. It was obvious that the tasks assigned to the sons should be applied for time immemorial, namely that the sons of Ham shall suffer the “curse of Canaan” to be servants of servants. Today we find this interpretation laughable if not criminal.

But the Bible’s call to freedom today is in danger not from any government, but from it’s own avid reader: the vast majority of Christians who read this collection of documents read it as a personal love letter from God to themselves. As such it is about as much use to human freedom as a Reader’s Digest collection of recipes or gardening DIY.

From this radical document, Christians are inspired to proclaim the “Good News”. But few actually know what that good news is. For most it is simply that “God loves you”. This is true, but the full ramifications of what God’s love actually means is seldom taken into consideration.

The word “evangelism” comes from the Greek word “euangelion” which means literally “good news”. In common usage at the time that the New Testament books were written, euangelion was most often used to announce a new Emperor.

The early church’s command to preach the “good news” to all nations was tantamount to treason. It was a declaration of independence; of freedom. It was that world’s Freedom Charter. If we preach anything less today, we sully the blood of those who gave their lives for the cause of human freedom. As Christians we are not afraid of blood – it is our staple spiritual diet and for good reason. The blood of Christ flowed for freedom’s sake; the blood of his martyrs covers the world; and if we are not prepared to give at least our own lives for freedom, then we have no place in the “good news” of Jesus Christ.

That good news is... Listen! Listen world! Listen to a 14 year old girl braving a dangerous journey alone and pregnant so that she can rejoice with her older relative in the babies of their wombs; babies who will proclaim dangerous freedom:

‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Good News indeed!

Dassie Hiking List

President Katie has requested that the Minister of Sport and Recreation make special effort to increase the opportunities for her subjects to enjoy the beautiful mountain in her back yard. With this directive in mind, I've set up an email list which will inform people of when and where the next hiking opportunity will be available. You can subscribe to the Dassie Hiking List by sending an email to gregandrewsATshadeDOTorgDOTza

Life is a lemon

Read Luke 3:7-18

When I was a child I was a fan of a TV programme called “Senor Onion” developed by the South African playwright, Janice Honeyman. I looked forward to the adventures of Senor Onion and the other fruit and vegetables as they went about their veggie business in fear of the kitchen chef who occasionally came to harvest them with his big knife. One character particularly was my favourite: Mr Lemon. He had a signature song: “I’m a lemon, I’m a lemon, and I smell just like a flower. But when you taste me, oh, when you taste me, I taste so very sour!” (sung to the tune of My Darling Clementine).

Like a lemon, the apparently sweet smell of religiosity can sometimes be confused for genuine change when in fact it is but a sour attitude. I want to explore personal change, or repentance in the light of John’s message and am indebted to Sarah Dylan Breuer once again for her insights on John.

In John Steinbeck’s novel “The Wayward Bus” we meet a sombre group of drifters travelling on a bus. The bus driver whose life has become a rut, deliberately engineers a minor accident to create some excitement for himself. While the passengers await help they take refuge in a cave. As they enter the cave they pass a piece of graffiti scrawled on cliff adjacent to the cave. It reads “repent” but no one notices. Through their interactions with each other and the conflicts and connections that occur, many of the characters come to resolve that they will change their lives once they return to civilisation. But as the novel proceeds, it seems more and more likely that they will remain caught up in their old lives, unable or unwilling to break free from old habits. One is left wondering at the end, if indeed, any of them will really did change.

Psychologists have long puzzled over what makes for a personal change. One thing that they are certain about is that fear does not work in the long-term. So, for instance, advertisements that scare one about the dangers of speeding or of smoking might work but only in the short term; they do not provide the wherewithal for sustainable change.

Psychologists are also finding that the best kind of personal change is one based on a change of one’s personal ideas about oneself. Role models are therefore important in helping us change for we create for ourselves a personal image of self based on what we see in our role models. When we choose role models that model unhealthy behaviour, we are more likely to adopt that unhealthy behaviour and similarly, if their behaviour is healthy we will adopt healthy behaviour. Most of this happens at an unconscious level.

Because it is mostly unconscious, acquired behaviours are often those, which are visible to the observer but invisible to the actor. In other words, kids will do as their parents do, not as their parents say!

An example of the importance of role models is in the struggle against HIV where role models are the number one reason why young people engage in risk behaviour despite knowing intellectually that such behaviour is dangerous. Too much effort and resources are being expended in creating awareness without enough attention to the role models that young people emulate.

There is a great deal of hand wringing going on about the materialism of western culture. Young people are bombarded by consumerism and seem largely to have capitulated (as have all generations for that matter). In the church we are anxious because young people are inclined to follow Schumacher in a Ferrari rather than Jesus on a donkey. But it should come as no surprise that this has happened.

While this generation may ostentatiously demonstrate wealth as a value, a previous generation were no less covetous of wealth, even if it was “only” the new kitchen or family sedan the next-door neighbours have bought.

The question remains, how can Christians inspire radical change in society and individuals with anything near the effectiveness of John and Jesus?

Let’s take a closer look.

Firstly, John’s message was surprising and radical for a number of reasons, one of which was who it was directed at. Unlike his contemporaries who used Baptism as a means of entry into the Jewish faith, John believed that even Jews needed to be baptised - needed to repent. This is why he was not popular with the religious establishment. For John, Baptism was a mark of ongoing personal commitment to the values espoused by the prophets that preceded him.

Who you are and to which social category you belong makes no difference in the Gospel scheme. John declares that even stones can become Abraham’s descendents. We do well to remember that John’s call to repentance was not aimed at “non-believers” but at the heart of belief itself.

Today, as with John’s day, belief is seen as the destination. Once one has converted to the faith, been Baptised or Confirmed, one has arrived. In fact, this is the beginning of the journey, not the destination; it is a commitment to live constantly in dialogue with the values of the prophets so that slowly one may grow to maturity in faith.

If we want to change the world, we can begin with ourselves. When did we stop studying Jesus’ strange ways? At what point did we think we knew the answers? When did we become comfortable? Journeying with Jesus should become increasingly uncomfortable as we discover more and more in our lives that does not measure up to his model.

Secondly, it is worth remembering that Jesus and John did not agree on everything. Remember when John sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one they were expecting or if they are to wait for another? Obviously there was enough that Jesus was doing for them to think he was the one, but some aspects of Jesus’ behaviour that had them wondering if he really was the one. One of those things was undoubtedly that Jesus had not brought the fire of judgement John predicts. John expected Jesus to gather up all those who had given themselves to God, but he also expected Jesus to destroy those who chose to ignore the call to repentance. But Jesus did nothing of the sort. Instead he says to John, “Blessed is the one who takes no offence at me.” He challenges John to adopt a more gracious attitude.

It is interesting that history tells of many movements that continued John’s strong line of judgement against the wicked long after Jesus and John. It may be that not all of John’s disciples, perhaps not even John, could accept this call to grace.

As psychologists will tell you, you cannot scare people into heaven with pictures of hell. John’s message of repentance is critical for a generation of church people who see themselves as having arrived. But John’s message of the fearful consequences is not going to convince anyone – at least not in the long term.

However, Jesus’ practice of grace in his teaching and friendships does change the world. If those who see themselves as having arrived would repent of a judgemental attitude and begin again the hard process of growing in the stature of the Divine, the world might actually have some hope that there will be people to lead them into heaven instead of yawning when they are prodded by fearful fire and brimstone.

Christians are called to lead people into heaven, not scare people away from hell. If we want the world to change, the best way is to offer the model example of that change. I hope this Christmas we will engage again with Jesus, even if that engagement challenges us deeply. The world needs people who are learning how to follow Jesus.

For a great hymn about lemons check out Brenton’s song “Lemons” to the tune NOEL:

Jesus and Scientific Reasoning

Mike Anderson is someone I met a long time ago and have always enjoyed his occasional articles. If you enjoy games, his most recent article will be particularly enjoyable. You may even want to write to Mike and get on his list. I only have a PDF version so have sent it to the dassie subscription list. If you like the excerpt below, send me an email and I'll forward the PDF (64k).

"Our children awoke one Sunday to discover their shoes on the ceiling instead of under their beds, rice instead of their favourite cereal pouring out of the box and all the dining-room chairs were upside-down! They were a little surprised at first, but quickly laughed over their parent's shenanigans. We were trying to help them appreciate something so very ordinary and ubiquitous that it is easy to miss how extremely wonderful it is. This something is the remarkable consistency of the world. There is a Chinese proverb that goes, "If you want to know about water, do not ask a fish." The world's consistency to us is like water to a fish."

Reading Levels

Mom forwarded this to me. It's a bookshelf with notches carved into it. Each notch accommodates a specific religious text. You can read more about this functional piece of art here.

Hope is a blanket

Our dear friends Harry and Lerato lost their unborn child last week. At the funeral service on Saturday, Themba spoke about the Zulu expression, "akulahlwa mbeleko ngakufelwa" which refers to the blanket wrapped around a newborn baby, the Mbeleko. Roughly translated the expression means, "Do not throw away the receiving blanket." It expresses the hope that soon another child will come to fill the blanket.

I can think of no better metaphor for the meaning of Advent. As I read the disastrous tale of Jesus' early years: fleeing a genocidal despot, hiding in Egypt, not to mention his eventual execution; it strikes me that this is a season to recall all the past year's hurts and consider the hope that the Christ child brought to the world despite his own struggles and still brings today despite our own. No matter what has happened to you over the last year, I hope you will not throw away the Mbeleko but allow it to remain open for the Child born for you this Christmas.

The Backhand

When Jesus said turn the other cheek, he had in mind something very different from being a "doormat". You can read Walter Wink's exegesis about that.

I recently came across a friend in a very strange place. Bradley Bordis helped to set up the "Not In My Name" movement which mobilises Jewish people around the world against Zionism. For this he has been publicly branded on this site. (Go down the list to "Bordis, Bradley") Of course Bradley was outraged when this happened, but I can't help thinking that, coming from where it does, it is sort of a backhanded compliment to be openly vilified for doing the right thing.

I'm trying to keep this in mind especially with recent criticism about some of the ideas I've published here and stands that I'm taking. It is tough to respond respectfully - non-violently - sometimes.

Name-dropping

Read Luke 3:1-6

Luke begins his story about John with a whole bunch of name-dropping. In fact, throughout his Gospel, there is a great deal of name-dropping going on. John the Baptist’s ministry happened at the time of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, his brother Philip Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene and during the high priesthood of Annas and his successor Caiaphas; all very important people indeed. What’s up with all the name-dropping?

We all know people who are name-droppers. They use the important names of people they know to bolster their own confidence. We associate name-dropping with poor self-esteem.

In Luke’s case, though, there is a very different reason for all this name-dropping. Once he has paraded the dignitaries he goes on to tell us from whence the Word of God comes… not from any of these luminaries. No, the Word of God comes from scruffy, smelly old John.

“Halford Luccock once noted that Nero was sure that the most important happenings in Rome were the words he said, the laws he enacted, and the things he did. As a matter of fact, the biggest events in Rome at the time were some prayer meetings which were being held secretly in the catacombs. The Medici, he observes, must have seemed the key figures in Renaissance Europe, with their palaces, art galleries, and political power. Yet they are overshadowed by "a little boy playing about on the docks of Genoa," who would eventually open the seaway to the Americans – Christopher Columbus.
So it was in John the Baptiser’s time. One can easily imagine the pomp and circumstance with which Herod trampled about as tetrarch of Galilee. Wherever he went, people scraped and bowed. They waited for a disdaining nod and dreamed of some act of preferment from his hand. Herod was, indeed, a big man in Galilee in the first century. Today, all his pomp is simply pompous, and all his circumstance only circumstantial. But John the Baptiser! - a great human being.”

(J. Ellsworth Kalas, ‘The Hinge of History,’ Sermons on the Gospel Readings, Cycle C, CSS Publishing Company, 2003)

Luke is also portraying the luminaries in the background of this story because of the importance this story has to the current events of the day: contrast, for instance, this list of dignitaries and the power that they represent with the freedom songs of Mary and Zechariah. Luke is clear that the arrival of Jesus in our world speaks a clear message of warning to power.

In today’s world of televangelism it’s hard to see how John’s message of repentance had any political significance. We know about his criticism of Herod for which he lost his head, but that seems to be all there is and even that seems to have been about Herod’s moral character rather than matters of politics or justice. But John got into trouble not because he preached forgiveness, per se, but because he threatened the power of the Temple establishment that made a living from granting forgiveness through expensive sacrifices. A lucrative industry had grown up around the Temple which exploited people’s need for relationship with God. John’s message of repentance and personal re-commitment to God undermined this system.

To understand John and his relationship with the powers of the day we need to briefly trace the history that precedes John. In the time between Malachi in the Old Testament and Jesus, a very significant period of Israel’s history took place. A Jewish family led a revolt which came to be called the Maccabean Revolt against Roman occupation. The revolt installed the Hasmonean dynasty of priest-kings. But no sooner had the new rulers taken power than they began to betray the hope placed in them by so many people in Palestine. They executed their enemies and operated in contravention of Jewish practice and law. They were not legitimate priests of kings being neither of the line of David or of Zadok. A disillusioned group of people created a series of desert communes. This religious sect came to be called the Essenes. This is the sect that created the Dead Sea Scrolls. They believed in a retreat from the world into a strict piety practiced in virtual isolation in the hopes that God would respond to their holiness and rescue them from the impending destruction of the world.

John was probably an Essene at some stage though he departed from their pessimistic world-view and rejection of the world.

Power and especially the abuse of power were a staple diet for the people of Palestine then as today. John was born into this situation and his message of repentance is one linked to social transformation. Like his Essene background John sees the world’s powers as essentially corrupt but unlike the Essenes he engages with people in the hope that he can call people away from allegiance to such corrupt power.

Jesus, in his turn was a disciple of John but went even further, taking his engagement with the world beyond the wilderness into the streets and homes of the people he met on his epic journey through Palestine.

Sarah asks an interesting question: Do we believe God/Jesus is powerful? We’ve all been raised to affirm that God is “omnipotent” but we behave rather differently. For instance, she points out the question often asked by those who are worrying about getting cremated after they die: “How will God put me back together again come Resurrection?” Or look at the way we pray: with great fervour and anguish we strive to find the correct words in the hope that just the right prayer may move God to action. Some people go so far as to blame a person’s poor faith for God’s failing to act on their behalf.

The Essenes were like that, thinking that if they could get the holiness formula right, then God would come and liberate them from the world. Ironically, the Essenes understood power in much the same way as the world they were trying to escape.

Please the local tax-collector, and he’ll throw a rebate your way. Please the village elder, and he’ll grease your next job application. Please the Roman consul, and you’ll have a get-out-of-jail-free card. Please God and your place in eternity is secure.

This is power based on how the world understands power. If you know the right people, if you can please the right people, then the world is your oyster. We bolster our own power by association with those who already have power. We court power.

Jesus believed in love and the power of love to transform. It’s a simple idea, which flies in the face of our usual power mongering. It is power that we can rejoice in, that is comforting at the same time as it is challenging.

Jesus takes John’s theology a step further and engages people where they are at. He met with people in their homes, conversed and joked with them in their own language. Jesus befriended people who society had relegated to the outskirts. His love sought them out and his love transformed them. It is Jesus (God) who makes the move, who acts decisively. There is no human standard that must be attained first, no human action that is a pre-requisite to Divine action. God’s power is not limited by human ideas of good and bad.

“I don't believe in perfection; I believe in redemption. I believe that God's power to redeem is such that no human misstep or even deliberate human wickedness can have the final word.”

Sarah Dylan Breuer

Lord, I believe a rest remains
To all Thy people known,
A rest where pure enjoyment reigns,
And Thou art loved alone.

A rest where all our soul’s desire
Is fixed on things above;
Where fear, and sin, and grief expire,
Cast out by perfect love.

O that I now the rest might know,
Believe, and enter in!
Now, Savior, now the the power bestow,
And let me cease from sin.

Remove this hardness from my heart,
This unbelief remove:
To me the rest of faith impart,
The Sabbath of Thy love.

Charles Wesley 1740

F art

I am a complete philistine when it comes to appreciating art but sometimes I come across something that intrigues me. There was once a series of sculptures at the National Gallery in town that were compelling and shocking: bodies of children but the heads of fantastic beasts... and I remember the occasional painting in a gallery that made my heart skip a beat. Mostly I enjoy art that pokes fun at the world. I especially enjoy art that explores deep and meaningful things while still being funny.

Here's a mural which explores a whole range of taboos e.g. God = female; God's creative wind from the wrong end; women farting. Lovely. Read more about it here. Divine Gas indeed!


And there is nothing quite so good as Calvin and Hobbes. Mom sent me a link to all of Calvin's snowman works. This one speaks to the point of this blog:

And then there is the interesting relationship between art and function. Here is a company that creates cameras that look like guns. I don't think they're trying to make a point, just cornering a niche in the market, but I can't help feeling that this is an inadvertent comment on their part and isn't that what art is?

Iron John

For those interested in what I get up to on the first Saturday of the month, you can visit the Iron John site to see a diary of our rides and photos too.

The Iron John Circle is based on the book by Robert Bly who used the legend of Iron John as a metaphor for conceptualising masculinity. You can read more about that here.

The Iron John Circle is a bunch of bikers from different walks of life who meet because they enjoy riding bikes but also want to connect with other men in a meaningful way beyond beer and sport (not necessarily to the exclusion of these two worthwhile pastimes). We meet once a month on a Saturday morning. We begin with Circle work – talking about life. This goes on for about an hour (men of few words). Then someone is elected (strong word – its more like mutual silent consent or at most a few grunts but it is democratic) to ride point and leads us on an excursion through the highways and byways of this beautiful part of the world. Once in while we also arrange extended rides over a weekend or even a week. We also organise the occasional John and Jill’s ride to include our wild women. Not all of us are riders, some ride pillion. This seems to be a good way to get involved to test the waters and learn about biking before one actually commits. Others simply prefer to ride pillion and not own a bike.

I often wonder what is more important: the ride or the circle? I still haven’t worked it out. I have never wanted to be part of a biker club, but I really look forward to my Saturday’s ride with the men. I guess I most look forward to connecting and hearing the wisdom of other men who have struggled in life. But I also don’t like the idea of a support group and if we didn’t have the biking, I guess that’s all we’d be. There is something about the mix of deep sharing and shared exhilaration that is compelling. Perhaps it is something that is missing in our society – a place where boys and men can test themselves in the company of wiser fellows.

I know I am a better man because of these men.

Our last ride of the year was a duzy. Nearly 300km through the back roads from CT north of Durbanville to Wellington and around Bains Kloof, Slanghoek and Du Toits Kloof. We had one crash, a skinny dip and two pit stops. Thanks to President William for riding point – magnificent ride in splendid conditions.

Cool stuff

There's some really creative stuff on the net that just happened to be floating in my inbox so I thought I'd share it here.

Apple Mac is running a competition in South Africa. You could win an iPod. But more importantly, you get to watch some of the really funny ads that they've created. If you hate PC's as much as I am beginning to, then you'll love it even more... Click here.












And then there is this mug with the American Bill of Rights on it. When you add hot water the various rights that have been compromised or completely eradicated by American Presidents will dissapear. Go here to get one.

Awesome!

Brandan did a really great cartoon this week on Climate Change...

There is a craze at the moment to create bogus trailers for old movies. This one is brilliant. Mary Poppins is scary...

And Ze Frank has done two particularly good vlogs recently. Actually - its all good but here are two I think you'll enjoy.

Thanksgetting
Thanksgiving

Declaration of Independence

President Katie has decided to start her own blog. For anyone interested in following her exploits, please follow the link in the side bar or click here.