I was saddened this morning to hear of the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of my heroes really. He oozed positivity and vibrant faith in the midst of often indescribable pain and racial discrimination and injustice.
In one of my favourite books on the study shelf, Jim Wallis in “God’s Politics”’ reminds us of how Tutu’s optimistic living of God’s Kingdom values works if you really get what God is up to…
“The former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu used to famously say, “We are prisoners of hope.” Such a statement might be taken as merely rhetorical or even eccentric if you hadn’t seen Bishop Tutu stare down the notorious South African Security Police when they broke into the Cathedral of St. George’s during his sermon at an ecumenical service. I was there and have preached about the dramatic story of his response more times than I can count. The incident taught me more about the power of hope than any other moment of my life. Desmond Tutu stopped preaching and just looked at the intruders as they lined the walls of his cathedral, wielding writing pads and tape recorders to record whatever he said and thereby threatening him with consequences for any bold prophetic utterances.
They had already arrested Tutu and other church leaders just a few weeks before and kept them in jail for several days to make both a statement and a point: Religious leaders who take on leadership roles in the struggle against apartheid will be treated like any other opponents of the Pretoria regime. After meeting their eyes with his in a steely gaze, the church leader acknowledged their power (“You are powerful, very powerful”) but reminded them that he served a higher power greater than their political authority (“But I serve a God who cannot be mocked!”).
Then, in the most extraordinary challenge to political tyranny I have ever witnessed, Archbishop Desmond Tutu told the representatives of South African apartheid, “Since you have already lost, I invite you today to come and join the winning side!” He said it with a smile on his face and enticing warmth in his invitation, but with a clarity and a boldness that took everyone’s breath away. The congregation’s response was electric. The crowd was literally transformed by the bishop’s challenge to power.
From a cowering fear of the heavily armed security forces that surrounded the cathedral and greatly outnumbered the band of worshipers, we literally leaped to our feet, shouted the praises of God and began…dancing. (What is it about dancing that enacts and embodies the spirit of hope?) We danced out of the cathedral to meet the awaiting police and military forces of apartheid who hardly expected a confrontation with dancing worshipers. Not knowing what else to do, they backed up to provide the space for the people of faith to dance for freedom in the streets of South Africa.“
I also love this Tutu quote:
On the first Sunday of Christmas we remembered in church this morning the shepherds. They were nobodies, outcasts, a bit smelly, best kept on the hillside away from the town. They were overwhelmed by angel song and an amazing embodiment of good news, they made haste to see it for themselves - God as a child in a manger in a barn. And then they returned glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, it was just as the angel had told them. They were the first evangelists of Christianity! I wonder who they talked to on the way back up the hill.
The shepherds remind me every Christmas of two truths both of which inspired Desmond Tutu to be the servant of Christ he was. First, that the good news of Jesus coming is greater than any power in the world that might threaten to overwhelm us, an example of how this might become enacted theology is surely the story Jim Wallis remembers above.
Then that no matter who we are, God’s self giving is for us to go and find and see and then share. We can make a difference. Tutu once said “ Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” He made Christianity so simple and then he laughed about it! Glorifying and praising God for all he had seen and heard.
I was also very sad to read today another person I enjoyed hearing from has passed on. Janice Long was a fabulous broadcaster. She used to be on the radio late at night. She like Tutu made a difference to people cheering them up with her chat and her music choices. She like Archbishop Tutu will be missed.
Perhaps today we need to pause to think about how we live what we celebrated yesterday. The people who get Christmas, or even have no faith but know we are put in this world to make a difference, understand that how we live matters… on Boxing Day, can we join them?
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