A national day of prayer and reflection

This can be read on the Governments official website on the death of former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela:

Government reiterates President Jacob Zuma’s call to faith-based organisations and society at large to hold prayer services across the country to reflect and celebrate the life of former President Nelson Mandela. Today, 8 December 2013, has been declared as a national day of prayer and reflection.

Last week I was asked to lead the service in Eastwood, where we usually attend church. By then I was not aware of Mandelas death, let alone of the national day of prayer and reflection. So, yesterday, I phoned and asked our Dean Myaka for advice. His thought was that the prayer should focus on three things:

I. Prayer for Mandela's family II. Celebration of his life III. A prayer that the leaders of today and all of should live Mandelas legacy in our lives

Before the service started I therefore asked three of the elders to lead us in prayer around these three themes. It became a touching moment, which started the service.

For me it was natural to focus on Madibas life in the sermon so therefore I publish the sermon her:

Sermon on the Second Sunday of Advent 2013

It is not difficult to find a verse in one of our bible readings that would make us think of Madiba. I read from Isaiah 11 verse 10:

A day is coming when the new king from the royal line of David will be a symbol to the nations. They will gather in his royal city and give him honor.

And also from the same chapter of Isaiah verse 3 and 5:

He will not judge by appearance or hearsay; he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless.

and

He will rule his people with justice and integrity.

I believe that Mandela fought for the poor and those who seemingly are helpless. But one can of course discuss if any person is helpless? On the contrary I believe that every person has power – sometimes s/he only needs help to find courage to use it.

The gospel today, from Matthew 3, is about John the Baptist. He was the last but not the least of all the prophets of the old covenant.

Can we compare Mandela and John the Baptist? I think so. Especially Madiba before he was imprisoned. I do believe that he was a prophet. As powerful and fearless as the Baptist. But after his release something changed. Remember, what he said after his release when he spoke to the nation:

I stand before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people.

The Nelson Mandela that came out of prison was the nation builder and the reconciler.

Based on this, I would like to start my sermon in the Gospel and end in the Isaiah reading.

1. The axe is ready to cut down the tree …

John the Baptist is also a judge. His judgments are fair but not always pleasant. He continues:

… every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.

This can be said into every human situation. I would like to say that the rich of this world and of our South African society is like that tree. It is not bearing fruit. The fruit was meant to be enough for everyone. But it is not. The fruit is not being shared.

If John the Baptist could come back to this country – but also to my own country, Sweden – he would have a lot to do. He might say to the leaders:

You snakes—who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send?

We must of course, each and every one ask ourselves: could I have done more? But it is my belief that the Baptist was talking to people in privileged positions and not to the poor. This is important to remember. At the specific moment he spoke to the leaders of the nation at the time.

It could have been Mandela before he was imprisoned:

True, the struggle will be a bitter one. Leaders will be deported, imprisoned, and even shot. The government will terrorise the people and their people and their leaders in an effort to halt the forward march; ordinary forms of organisation will be rendered impossible. But the spirit of the people cannot be crushed…until full victory is won.

This he said in 1951. In many ways we still have a long way to go. But there is hope. Isaiah writes:

2. The Royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout out from a stump, so a new king will arise from among David’s descendants.

Traditionally we have read this as a prophecy pointing towards Christ. Jesus Christ is that branch that will sprout out. But the prophet speaks about branches in the plural. And we know that one image of the Church is a tree. Where Christ is the stem and we all are branches.

Let this be our prayer that God will give us courage and wisdom to be those branches, which will give new life and hope to the whole world. Branches that will bear fruit and share those fruits with others.

3. The Peaceful Kingdom

This is the vision of Isaiah. The peaceful Kingdom where

… wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats.

We all know, that there will be no peace without justice. Likewise reconciliation needs justice in order to work.

In 1985 a number of theologians in South Africa published the Kairos Document. Those theologians made a difference between Church theology and Prophetic theology.

About Church theology and reconciliation they said – and remember that this is said five years before Mandela was released:

In our situation in South Africa today it would be totally unChristian to plead for reconciliation and peace before the present injustices have been removed. Any such plea plays into the hands of the oppressor by trying to persuade those of us who are oppressed to accept our oppression and to become reconciled to the intolerable crimes that are committed against us. That is not Christian reconciliation, it is sin.

Prophetic theology on the other hand brings hope:

Jesus has taught us to speak of this hope as the coming of God's kingdom. We believe that God is at work in our world turning hopeless and evil situations to good so that his "Kingdom may come" and his "Will may be done on earth as it is in heaven." We believe that goodness and justice and love will triumph in the end and that tyranny and that tyranny and oppression cannot last forever. One day "all tears will be wiped away" (Rev 7:17; 21:4) and "the lamb will [li]e down with the lion" (Is 11:6). True peace and true reconciliation are not only desirable, they are assured and guaranteed. This is our faith and our hope.

Through Madiba much has been achieved but there is so much more to be done. We pray that God will continue to lead Gods people.

En bön för Madiba

Skriven av den Anglikanska kyrkans i Södra Afrika Ärkebiskop Thabo Makgoba:

Vandra vidare, du revolutionäre och älskande människa, på din resa från denna värld. Vandra i Guds namn, den Gud som skapade dig, led med dig och befriade dig. Vandra hem, Madiba, du har osjälviskt gjort allt som är gott, ädelt och hedervärt för Guds folk.
Vi kommer att ta vid där du slutade, med Herrens hjälp.

Nu vänder vi oss till Dig, Herre, i denna mörka timme, fylld av sorg, lidande och död, i tårar och saknad.

Vi sörjer men samtidigt tror vi att Du tröstar oss, att Du ger oss styrka att i våra hjärtan och medvetanden hålla kvar de värden som Madiba stred och stod för, samt mod att leva dem.

Vi vänder oss till Dig, Herre, och överlämnar Madibas’s själ till Din eviga vila och i Dina älskande armar, när han nu återförenas med sin släkt, sina kamrater och alla trogna.

Vi ber särskilt för de närmaste och käraste, för Ma Graca Machel, för hans barn, barnbarn och alla hans släktingar; må Du omge dem med Dina älskande armar, Din faderliga omsorg och tröst.

I denna sorgens mörka timme, i denna lägliga stund, när Du kallat honom till vila och till ett perfekt slut, ta emot hans själ och räkna in honom i de förlossades skara i himlen.

Trösta och var med hans familj, Sydafrika och världen.

Må hans långa väg till frihet levas och förverkligas i vår tid, av oss alla.

MÅ HAN VILA I FRID OCH UPPSTÅ I HÄRLIGHET!

Amen

+ Thabo Cape Town (Fritt översatt av Anders Göranzon)

Prayer for Africa
God Bless Africa;
Guard her children;
Guide her leaders
And give her peace, for Jesus Christ's sake.
Amen.

+ Trevor Huddleston

A prayer for Madiba

In another blog post (in Swedish) I asked the question: Who owns Mandela? One answer is: the people. At least that is what Madiba himself said when he addressed the people on the 11 February 1990, just released from prison:

I stand before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining yeas of my life in your hands.

When I read what Archbishop emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu has said, being one of the elders, it goes very well together with this:

God was so good to us in South Africa by giving us Nelson Mandela to be our President at a crucial moment in our history.

So, Mandelas life belonged to God, was given to Mandela himself, who generously gave it to the people. Now it is time for us to give him back to God. This is also the content in the prayer for Madiba, which Archbishop Thabo Makgoba in Cape Town has written and published on his blog:

Go forth, revolutionary and loving soul, on your journey out of this world, in the name of God, who created you, suffered with you and liberated you.

Go home Madiba, you have selflessly done all that is good, noble and honourable for God’s people.

We will continue where you have left off, the Lord being our helper.

We now turn to you, Lord, in this hour of darkness, sadness, pain and death, in tears and mourning,

We wail, yet we believe that you will console us, that you will give us the strength to hold in our hearts and minds, and the courage to enact in our lives, the values Madiba fought and stood for.

We turn to you, Lord, and entrust Madiba’s soul to your eternal rest and loving arms as he rejoins the Madiba clan, his comrades and all the faithful departed.

We pray particularly for his closest and dearest, for Ma Graca Machel, for his children, grandchildren and all his relatives; may you surround them with your loving arms, your fatherly embrace and comfort.

At this dark time of mourning, at this perfect time when you have called him to rest and a perfect end, accept his soul and number him among the company of the redeemed in Heaven.

Console and comfort his family, South Africa and the world.

May his long walk to freedom be enjoyed and realised in our time by all of us.

MAY HE REST IN PEACE AND RISE IN GLORY!

Amen

South Africa is preparing itself ….

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Madiba. He is back in hospital. South Africa is praying. So does the rest of the world. But today the reporter asked, in e-news:

Praying for what?

She said that some pray for his recovery while others believe that the time might have come for South Africa to let go of the icon. The reporter referred to social media and I can see for myself that people are confused. Mail and Guardian reports that

Madiba became the latest victim of a death hoax on Twitter after a fake Piers Morgan account tweeted that the former president had died in his sleep.

So unnecessary! In my own face book flow I catch this status update, which I liked:

While president Zuma has urged the nation and the world to pray (which I also like) one person interviewed in e-news said that it would be terrible if Mandela died now. But then he added that we cannot interfere with God’s will.

South Africa is preparing itself …

Prayer request for Tata Madiba and Me Graça

This request can be found on the blog of the Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba:

At Advent we sing and pray, O come, O come Emmanuel. We ask now, for Emmanuel, God with us, to be with Madiba and Me Graça Come Emmanuel and release our Madiba from the scourge of ill health; Come Emmanuel and offer Madiba everlasting healing; You are a God who knows vulnerability, weakness and frailty, You are Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Lord of life and death, Your power sustains us in life and death.

May your arms of love, stretched wide on the cross for us, Now enfold Madiba, and Graça, with compassion, comfort and the conviction that you will never forsake them but that you will grant Madiba eternal healing and relief from pain and suffering.

And may your blessing rest upon Madiba now and always. Amen.

Yours in the service of our Lord and Saviour

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba.