Cnr High Street & President Boshoff Street, Bethlehem, Free State, South Africa
Sunday Service and Sunday School at 9:00am
Rev Cecil Rhodes 062 1230 640

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Marks of a Disciple

In the next few weeks I am going to write about what it takes to be a devout, passionate and committed follower of Jesus, what it means to be a disciple. A disciple starts with following! Believers follow. It is not enough just to believe, as enticing as the sufficiency of believing sounds. Many times Jesus alluded to this. For example when he said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father.” Note the verb “does”. There is an action required alongside belief. As James said, ‘faith without action is dead” In the parable of the hungry, and imprisoned and naked, Jesus made it clear there was something we needed to “do”. Romans 2:6-7 and Revelation 20:12-13 both suggest how important it is what we do. Out actions (works) don’t save us, as we know we are saved by grace through faith, but what we do is still nonetheless a vital part of the faith equation. I often think that the narrow gate to eternal life has very little to do with our morality or our devotion (am I good enough?) but everything to do with how we follow and what we do. Could it be that few walk the path of sacrificial humble following? Believers follow. This is the start of becoming a disciple of Jesus. Read the gospels and you will find Jesus saying over and over again, “Follow me”. Believe in Jesus, yes of course, but the imperative is to follow. There is an action, a lifestyle, a giving, a serving, a compassion, a sacrifice that makes us disciples. I once heard someone say how difficult it was to follow Jesus, that Jesus asks too many difficult things of us, things beyond our understanding and capability. True, but this person went on to say when you start out following Jesus don’t worry too much about the difficult demands he makes, and the things you don’t really understand, start following the simpler and easier things to understand. They abound! And then tackle following the more difficult and challenging of Jesus commands. This is where discipleship starts.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Xenophobia

The recent incidents of Xenophobia in South Africa have again been a dark blemish on our land. Thankfully, as I write, political leaders are rallying around the country calling for an end to the violence, and promoting a welcoming embrace of foreigners residing in the country. Last week I wrote about living in the contradictions of life, looking for ways to make a difference where I am, rather than go down a spiral of cynicism and negativity about the things I cannot change, in both personal and socio/political ways! I had such an opportunity on the weekend. I was in the mountains on an initiation experience with a group of young adults, one of whom was an orphan refugee from Ghana who is seeking asylum in South Africa. I have been helping him find his way this last couple of months. Naturally he is anxious about the xenophobia, and has been asking me about it. On the weekend the local young adults took him in among them, welcoming him and accepting him as one of them. It was heartwarming and hope giving to see this play out. The power to transform life in us and around us is never far from us. Opportunities to make a difference abound in our everyday ordinary lives. If such opportunities are not there right before us, where are they? I have a choice. I can feel and speak good or bad about the ills of the world around me, and in me. Or I can act in a way that transforms me, and the world around me. I may not be able to solve the problem of Xenophobia, but I can welcome and embrace young Henry from Ghana. I hope that helps transform him and give him hope. For sure I know that touching his life transforms me! It draws me out of my comfortable world and awakens compassion and spirit in me. It feels like my spirit is alive and awakened, and God’s sprit is filling with me love, hope and power.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Dealing with negativity

For me personally through all the writing, preaching and conversations over the Passion weekend, the message I came away with was “the ability to sit in the sufferings and contradictions of our lives (Good Friday) whilst patiently waiting for transformation and something wonderfully new to happen (Resurrection)”. In ordinary everyday life the wait is a lot longer than 3 three days! I can narrow the message down just “to sit in the contradictions, hopeful and positive”. I find when I do this I better eradicate negativity from my mind and heart. I become comfortable with the contradictions I see all around me, and in me. Things may not be what they ought to be, but I trust that one day they will be - I don’t how or when, but I know in my passive waiting, and trust, they will. For example, I hear a great deal of negative political rhetoric about how bad things are, and how much worse they are going to get. It gets very gloomy listening to this said over and over again. And there may well be a great measure of truth in what is being said. The truth is also there is very little, if anything, I can do about it. So rather than descend into a pit of negativity I choose to live with the contradictions and remain positive. In the personal issues of my life I do the same. It turns out that in this ‘passive waiting’ I become energized to find constructive ways forward. Instead of succumbing to the negative political rhetoric, I spend time and energy making a positive difference in the small issues around me. I examine the wages I pay, the respect I give to those whose life circumstances are worse than mine, I offer lifts to people who have no formal mode of transport. The list is endless. I am not as helpless as I thought. In the personal issues of my life, the longer I ‘peacefully and positively’ live with the contradictions, the more I see a change in myself, and wonderful opportunities of a way forward begin to open up. It’s Good Friday but Sunday’s coming!

Monday, April 6, 2015

Resurrection Faith

Last week I wrote about Resurrection joy. Today let's explore Resurrection faith! In the mid 1950’s and 1960’s a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament at the University of Marburg, Rudolph Bultmann, caused a stir when he argued that only faith in the message of the New Testament was necessary for Christian faith, not any particular facts regarding the historical Jesus. Now I have just spent an entire Easter weekend focused on the very detailed events of Jesus’ passion, and how they radically heal, transform and save our lives. If Jesus was not a historical figure, then I don’t know who he was! However, I think I get what Bultmann is trying to say! He is elevating how important our FAITH is! It is no good believing in the historical Jesus if we do not accompany this with an alive and practicing FAITH. It is like James says, “What good is our faith if it is not accompanied by actions?” I have met many people who are not believers but who have accomplished much good in their lives through having a robust and vigorous faith. The point for me though is not to get into a debate about believers faith and non-believers faith, or the historical Jesus’ whereabouts, but to focus on our faith. Let’s not worry about other people or a sensitive theological debate, but look at the authenticity of our faith. Let’s allow Bultmann, however controversial (or wrong) he was, to ask a valid question – how active is your faith? James went on to say, “Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe - and tremble with fear.” A dead faith is worthless, an active, action filled faith is really the only faith!