Walking in freedom personally and communally

Freedom - the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. (Oxford Dictionary.)

We had a series at our church recently on finding freedom and staying free. In the final sermon on the 27^th Aug 2023  I saw some parallels to walking in freedom in our country. (This is the basic outline, points and summary of the sermon with the comments about South Africa being my own reflections as I sat listening, taking notes and seeing the parallels.) For the original sermon please visit the Lighthouse Family Church You Tube Channel.

There are 2 battles – to get free and to stay free.

Getting free – from sin, from something holding you back. It’s an ongoing journey.

Staying free – this is warfare and skills are needed to stay free. We need to know what weapons to use. We need to keep watch for the enemy. We need to occupy territory. Don’t quit. Keep on pressing in. We need the desperation to stay free. Don’t give up. Be determined and committed. Push through.

These steps are all very practical and biblical. They are things of the kingdom of God.

Sometimes freedom can be elusive – some people express that they are scared of what they will expose if they pursue their freedom. This is a lie from the enemy to keep you in bondage. God is always gentle and gracious and often peels off in layers.
The past does continue to affect you. Trauma might not be healed. Trauma revisits forward.

The long hands of Apartheid are still reaching from way back in the past and into the future. We need to be able to accept that trauma is different for each person and just because we don’t see or experience trauma in a particular area or way, it doesn’t mean that others don’t! People of Colour living through Apartheid lived through incredible trauma. Many People of Colour still live through ongoing trauma in our country today. Physical or legal freedom may have happened through the laws changing, but emotional, social and psychological freedom are still an ongoing process for some people.

A comment made by someone says ‘we are not free until we are all free’, so there’s work to do for each and every South African. Different journeys, but same outcome of a free and fair country.
Often freedom is a process. The fix needs time for your body to catch up, and there will be lasting change if you walk in the right stuff for a lengthy period of time. Some need recovery and freedom from trauma inflicted on them, others need recovery and freedom from inflicting trauma on others. One good decision after another. Healing will come.

Sometimes the enemy gets a hook into us. Sometimes it can be easy to miss because we forget about small incidents that take hold of us and get stuck in our memories. So, if you are not seeing victory, ask God to reveal what the root is. Take the sting out of the triggering memory. Ask yourself, where was Jesus in the traumatic memory? Ask him to remove the hook or the root. Everyone’s story, trauma, root, triggers, fears and concerns will all be different, but they all need dealing with.

What’s the root behind Apartheid? What are the lies? So then, what is the truth? What’s the process going forward? The way out? What are the areas of vulnerability going forward? What causes the fires? The violence? Some things can be dealt with personally, but where things are systemic, it will require greater involvement from more people. There may be a need to require those in authority to write new policies into being. Once things are properly dealt with, remind yourself going forward that you have dealt with this. The ongoing work will be the mindset changes towards the new and united vision for all of us. The internal work will be visible in the external behaviour changes by all.

1. Understand what has happened
Be alert always. Our enemy never plays fair. He will always look for areas of vulnerability to exploit. He will keep trying his luck repeatedly. He will wait and he will come back again. He’s never finished trying to take us down. 

In South Africa he will go after those who have been exploited to try and keep them from even thinking they can gain freedom and he will go after those who have exploited others and have not repented and those who think everything is fine when it’s not. Our enemy wants to keep divisions in place because this serves his purpose well. He will always be about ‘steal, kill and destroy!’

What are the areas of vulnerability in our country? We need to know his schemes. How can we stay alert collectively? What are the steps to take when this happens?  Remember your victory is yours to maintain.

2. A set back is just a setback
Don’t go back to the beginning. Get back up again. Celebrate the gains. The enemy will try reminding you that you are not really free. Don’t listen to his lies. Remember you are forgiven in Christ Jesus.

Look how far we have come in South Africa. Yes, that’s true AND we are not at the beginning again, AND we do still have some new beginnings to make AND maybe there were some false starts or incomplete starts. There’s still work to be done. But we can keep getting up after the failures and starting again.

3. Don’t go back
Listen to good advice. You may need to step away from some people and places. But do not go back to where you have walked away from. The enemy will be waiting. Don’t enter into the enemy camp.

Where’s the enemy camp in SA? Where is the enemy camping in SA? What is his modus operandi in our country? Don’t go back to what? How are we going back into spaces that are not helpful for people in our country? When the demons from the past are ignored and not addressed, they will return repeatedly. When he has hooks in, that area won’t heal. He knows he can use it, which is why we need to be alert to his schemes. He will keep South Africa in bondage because it works to his advantage of steal, kill and destroy. So where are we blind to these schemes? What are we not seeing? Where are we being used as part of his plan? Remember our battle is not against flesh and blood (it’s not against people), but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12) He will try and distract us with our focus being on the enemy of political power. We do know that our enemy can absolutely use people to carry out his schemes, so let’s make sure we are not being used by him. He’s so subtle with his plans for destruction. He will always be looking for opportunities to manipulate situations to his advantage. We need to be very alert to his lies and schemes.

4. Fill your heart with the truth
When a lie is exposed, we need to replace it with the truth.

In South Africa some interesting things to note about the Truth and reconciliation commission that took place many years back. It was first about revealing the truth of what happened, and then only can we start to have the hope of reconciliation taking place. Not all truth was revealed because only a segment of people were involved in the commission. There’s still work to be done. There’s acknowledging of lies and truth that needs to happen.

Where there is true reconciliation, there will be unity too and that will bring true and lasting peace, not just peace like a plaster that covers a wound. Deep work and deep healing are needed. Darkness will tremble when the saints join in one song. Then all the streams flow as one river. Then brokenness will be washed away.

The enemy is getting us to fall for lies all the time in SA. Seek to know the whole truth about our past. Freedom is our inheritance in SA. For freedom he died to set us free.

The truth of South African history will help expose lies in our country. It will sustain freedom in our country. We spot the fakes by delving into the truth. Do the hard yards. Do the work of finding out and learning. Embrace God’s word. Embrace each other. How has the enemy played out his mandate of steal/kill/destroy in South Africa? Leave no stone unturned in the fight for freedom.

5. Planting seeds, growing trees (this point is not in the original sermon)
What are the seeds planted long ago in South Africa that give us the tree/s we have today? What is the fruit? We have cause and effect playing out – a seed grows into a tree. The tree produces leaves and fruit. (Andre Henry). But we can plant new seeds and grow new trees with new leaves and new fruit. Seeds can be buried and out of sight, but they grow. “Those who promote peace, have joy.” Proverbs 12:20

Where there are strongholds it’s often a lie that has been believed for years and it’s a journey to battle through to fight for the truth. We do this by being transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:1, 2. It might take a while to work towards freedom individually and collectively. We need to stay in the fight until victory comes. We need to always displace the lies with the truth.

I had a picture recently of a bathtub of water with the water being the lies, and this big heavy block of truth was dropped into the bathtub and all the water gushed out, all the lies were displaced.

 In our country there is much we don’t know about our past and even the present. Stay curious. Find out the truth from a variety of sources and people. Displace the lies. Keep telling yourself the new truth so your mind can take it in and transform the brain pathways. We don’t want to be a host to the enemy that could be any part of keeping our country in bondage. Let’s not partner with any lies. But in order to get this right we also need each other to see all there is to see. It will take courage, humility, vulnerability and interdependence. But it will lead us towards an excellent future, one we have yet to see, one with real freedom for all. Keep talking. Keep learning. Keep leaning in to listen and really hear people.

No safe spaces

 I find myself writing to help me process things. This week has been really hard. It's been a week of being exposed to other people's suffering. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for them to live through these experiences. Earlier in the week I had heard the story of 2 young children beaten with a belt by an older teen. They had the bruises to show. This happened in a home setting. Trying to use the correct reporting channels proved frustrating, time consuming and was met with little compassion as there were literally death cases to deal with at the same time in the hospital casualty. 

Then today was hard too. We have a bi monthly meeting with a few children who live on the streets. We are busy taking them through the Protective Behaviours programme in the hope of arming them with some skills to be safer on the streets. 

Only one of the children arrived today, but they left before the discussion time. There were 2 adults there today who are also living on the streets. We decided to go ahead with the conversation  talking about our theme "We all have the right to feel safe at all times."

We started talking about safe people and safe places. There were a few people mentioned who would be seen as safe people and then when we moved onto safe places, the answer was - there are no safe places! Without any hesitation that was their answer. Can you just for a moment imagine that in your own life, to not have anywhere where you feel safe. The constant anxiety and trauma must be overwhelming. We spent the rest of the time just hearing about their lived experiences on the street. It broke my heart and made me angry.

The one man has been beaten up on multiple occasions  and has had his ribs broken, so that when he tries to lie down at night he battles to find a position that feels comfortable. Remember the ground is hard, there's no soft bed. The people who have beaten him are security personnel who patrol the area at night!! He has woken up to 3 men standing over him and then been beaten. He, along with other people have their possessions taken from them on a regular basis, often by law enforcement in their mandate to 'tidy up the area.' I have seen this take place before. It is heart breaking to see the few things a person owns being taken away to be burned or thrown away. I can almost guarantee that they would battle to get attention if they had to report beatings or any mistreatment to the police. 

People in the area suggest shelters as an option, but shelters are very often full or carry a daily charge which many people who are homeless or houseless do not have. We desperately need more shelters to alleviate some of this crisis, but where will the funding come from? There is a group of people in Gqeberha who have been working towards this end, but their progress has been halted due to lack of funds.

I have attended Crime Forum meetings, and yes we all agree that crime is not ok and we need creative ways and many people involved so that everyone can stay safe. Hopefully we also agree that poverty, unemployment, hunger, abuse and homelessness are also not ok and that solutions are needed for this too. There are no easy fixes. But I am so tired of the existing solutions on the table of chasing people out of the area so that they are not visible to those who have a problem with them, of humanity being stripped of people by calling them vagrants and bag scratchers, of accusing those on the street of all the crime and drug dealing, of illegally beating people up (I am on my local neighborhood watch where recently someone publicly, and boastingly declared how they had a sore wrist from beating up some people who would not leave the area, because 'violence is the only language they understand.'), of threatening businesses and churches who step in to help with food and clothing, of stealing their few possessions from them and of having so little or no compassion for human beings who are clearly suffering. We, as fellow citizens, need to do better. Let's start with humane conversations and restoring dignity to people in the way we talk to them and about them. There are many small things that could be done to relieve some of the pressure they are living with. I am also sure there are many big things we can do to lobby for policy changes that would better the lives of those with less in our country.

(Thank you Cornel West for your words above and Gracious Quotes for the post.)

Jesus calls us to more, always more.

 

(This poem was written specifically thinking about people who land up living away from their homes or are without homes, people always on the move who find places to live and sleep in many different spaces. Many people would prefer they were not there and so they are often treated very badly by citizens, security personnel and the police. I am aware that not every poor person is jobless, homeless or without hope. But Jesus calls us to care for the poor, the lonely, the sick, those in prison, the fatherless and the widows. Let's change things around. Let's lift people up. Let's create next steps and build a new future together that we have yet to see. There's lots to solve, resolve, sacrifice, rebuild and make new. Let's keep going and keep hope alive.)

 Them and us.
Does that sound like Jesus?

Always begging. Always wanting something.
Watch out! Be careful!
They only understand violence.
My wrist hurts from the slap I just gave.
They picked the wrong person today.
I‘ll show them!
Don’t come and try that here!

Does that sound like Jesus?

The poor you will always have with you
Weary, hungry and maybe smelly.
A reminder to always care
To always be aware.

Don’t turn the other way.

Them and us
Does that sound like Jesus?

Good news! Good news!
Read all about it.
Hear all about it.
See all about it.
It’s good news. Good news.
It's for the here and now.

The poor you will always have with you
Tired, abused, cast aside.
A reminder to always care
To always be aware
Commissioned to share.

Them and us.
Does that sound like Jesus?

From the shore
He calls us to more.
Deeper and deeper
And deeper still.

Good news – read it, hear it, see it, feel it
Celebrate it
Let it be seen, heard, tasted, felt and smelt.

The poor you will always have with you
Jobless, maybe homeless, sometimes hopeless
A reminder to always care
To always be aware
Commissioned to share.

Choose compassion over convenience.
Choose cheer over fear.
Let’s not leave Jesus hungry or thirsty.
Be filled – let’s find you some food.
Thirsty and cold? Let’s get some coffee.
Do you take sugar and milk?
Do you need some warm clothes or a blanket?
Can I kneel and wash your feet,
Out here on the street?

Represent the King and represent him well.
Generous and some more
He always calls us to more.
Bring light
Bring life
Be his hands and feet on the street.

Did they pick the wrong person today?
Don’t turn the other way.
Stop to talk
Come close, embrace body and soul.

The poor you will always have with you.
Addicted, confused and maybe sleeping on the streets
A reminder to always care
To always be aware
Commissioned to share.

There are things to do.
Always something we can do.

The poor you will always have with you
Men, women, children and babies
Sickness, violence, hurt and shame
A reminder to always care
To always be aware
Commissioned to share.

Re-humanize.
Open your eyes.

The image of God on display
Restoring dignity everyday
Restoring choice
Releasing power
To empower
The next step
A brighter future
Filled with hope
God comes near
Go in peace
Eased of pain.
Clothed in love.
Warmed to the heart.

(Graffiti picture taken at St.Alban's Primary in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape from an Isuzu sponsored event. Artist signature is visible.)

Empowerment through choice

I was recently invited by a friend to speak at an event. It was a Mom’s night out with the title ‘Diva Feva’ and my brief had been to share on safety as I work in the field of safeguarding children. But with the spin of using the title of the evening that being ‘Diva’s’ we feel powerful and in charge, but not everyone has that luxury, and to be aware of those around us, like children and other vulnerable groups of people. Niqui Cloete Barras was hosting the evening and using her vast talent to entertain through song, comedy and fun activities. I had sat and thought about how I was going to turn my normal talk on safety and child protection into something that works for this particular evening and what normally could take about an hour and a half now needed to be put into a 15 minute talk. Hah! Not so easy.

But, about a week before the event everything fell into place due to a number of different conversations listened to in person and online. A thread emerged that could make sense with the evening theme, talking on protection and empowerment of the vulnerable and something encouraging for the Mom’s to take away and implement in their everyday lives. I thought to share the talk on my blog too.

We use the word empower quite easily and frequently. I have it in my vison for Pilot My Future – Empowered Youth. Transformed Nation. The name Pilot my Future comes from the heartbeat behind the organization of allowing young people to see that they have agency over their lives. They have the power to choose and that choices they make now will impact their futures, and will ultimately help them to 'fly their planes or crash somewhere'. We want to inspire them to make good and wise choices and to 'fly' well in their lives.

I think we would all agree that the word Diva carries a certain power in it. (And yes it has positive and negative definitions if you look on the web.) We certainly are all special and important in this world and we were aware of the fun aspect of the title for the night. The invite was pretty powerful by inviting all dazzling, incredible, vivacious and amazing Mothers for a glamourous evening of song, comedy and fun with Niqui. But, I pointed out that we should be aware of people who might not think that about themselves or to be able to be that without maybe a little or a lot of help from others.

Recently a few conversations and comments from different people had caused me to think deeply and had really lit a light bulb for me around the word empower.

The dictionary says this about empower, “it’s to give someone the authority or power to do something or to make someone stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.”

But ultimately we can put all of that to someone, but in order for it to happen, they need to take the action themselves. “If it is to be, it is up to me!” a well known quote by William Johnsen.

One of our offerings at Pilot My Future is the Protective Behaviours programme which is teaching and giving children and teens knowledge and skills in personal safety. We give them the tools to look out for themselves in our sometimes very unsafe world. But we work with the parents in the same area because children do not have the same levels of power in this world as adults do, hence why abuse so often involves children or those who are vulnerable for other reasons. So we work together, hand in hand, using the whole village to raise and protect our children. As children grow, so does their power in the world. They have a voice, but they just need to learn to use it. Protective Behaviours is a 10 week course and on the one week we teach the safety continuum which is all about different stages of safety that we experience through our feelings - safe, fun to feel scared (roller coaster ride), risk on purpose (having a necessary injection or going to the dentist) and unsafe. We would have already taught the lesson on our early warning signs which are basically the autonomic bodily reactions we experience when we are scared or excited. With each stage we look at how choice, control, time limit and early warning signs interact.

When feeling safe we feel good and probably will have no early warning signs playing out. In all the other spaces there will be early warning signs, but we need to ask ourselves why they are present. “What is going on? Why do I have early warning signs?” Sometimes I have chosen to feel scared or I am feeling scared because of something like the dentist, but I have choice and control and I know there’s a time limit involved, so I can talk with someone or do some self regulating exercises to feel calm and safe again.

However I would be in the unsafe space when I have no choice and control, there is no known time limit and I have many early warning signs. I either need to get away from what is causing this or find someone on my safety network to talk with so I can work towards feeling safe again.

We cannot guarantee actual safety to anyone in our world, but we can always work with the feelings of safety.

Now think back to lockdown and how choice, control and time limit played out there. Personally I felt it was necessary for them to do what they did, but think where we landed on the scale - we were sitting in the unsafe space with no end in sight, so no wonder there were high levels of anger, frustration and anxiety - all our early warning signs were on high alert. There was lots of trauma and people talking about their rights - all because people wanted choice.

I was recently in a discussion on homelessness and one of the people at my table was a man by the name of Phinius Sebatsane. He reminded us of the statement, ‘beggars should not be choosers!’ which has been used on repeat by way too many people in our world. And then he said if you take choice away you are no longer human! That sat with me. So often in our world we have dehumanized people in an effort to make them seem less important or not important at all because it releases us from any obligation or need to reach out and help. People have been called names like cockroaches, insects, monkeys and beasts in an effort to remove humanity from them. It makes it easier to exert control over them, but when we dehumanize others we lose some of our humanity in the process. Taking choice away is part of the dehumanizing and oppressing process of people and it creates a huge power imbalance. An example of a simple way to bring choice back into the equation of helping those who live on the street would be to offer 2 types of food or to give clothing vouchers so that they can choose from clothing to be given to them, instead of just receiving someone elses’s choice.

Then I was listening to Danielle Strickland sharing live on Instagram just before she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last week with World Vision. It was in connection with Change Agents in Africa and the Chosen Campaign where people from the West (like her) say they are willing to partner with Africa with the gifts they have and to help the change agents (children) to bring about change in their community. The children are then given pictures of the willing partners and they have ‘Chosen parties’ where the change agent child gets to choose who they want to partner with.

She goes onto explain that the origin of poverty is disempowerment, when people can’t choose. So, one way to start to combat poverty is to choose and create meaningful and good choices.

That choice then has ripple effects for other people who realise they can’t live without partnerships in this world because we need each other to see all there is to see or to be in this world.

So choice and empowerment go hand in hand. Think of little kids and their favourite word being no. Often they are wanting to bring some choice and control into their little worlds. So let’s bring choice back even in small ways and maybe we won’t hear the word no so often. We can give choice of food or clothing - this or that? Making good choices takes practice. We can’t expect good choices if someone is never given the opportunity for practice. And one good choice leads to another.

If we look at Erikson’s developmental stages we see autonomy vs shame and doubt in the 1-3 year old phase. This builds power in independence followed in the next stages by initiative, self confidence, identity, intimacy, relationships and family. Those steps are all important and get messed up without basic choice being factored in. Giving choice restores dignity and humanity and it builds confidence and power.

This also reminds me of teenagers who no longer want our choice of clothing for a gift but they would rather have a voucher or money so that they can choose for themselves. It’s a gaining power and confidence part of growing up. There were a group of younger ladies in the room all nodding their heads to this comment. Even for ourselves we would probably appreciate the gesture if someone bought us clothing and says they have left the slip in the packet and that we are welcome to exchange it if we would like to. 

“I choose to. It’s my idea” is a very empowering statement to make and lift us out of feeling sorry for ourselves and any victim mentality too. Just think that washing dishes does not have to be that we have to do it or are forced to do it. We can flip it around and make it our choice. We even had choice at the event we were at as the invite had said that dress-up was optional. I chose to do it because I love the opportunity for dress-up fun.

One more note about choice. We do not want to mess with it and abuse it because we will land up losing it and find life having more restrictions. There are always consequences for our choices. Let’s make them positive ones and keep freedom of choice alive. We will continue to empower ourselves and those around us.

A new commandment of love

 

It’s been niggling at me for a while when I see a follower of Jesus speak out on certain matters with no love in their voices or actions. Sin seems to be the only focus and the greatest commandments seem to have been forgotten about. These commandments supercede all other commandments. I decided to look at them across the 4 gospels for some better understanding. There are a few small differences in each gospel, but same focus and clarity.

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. (first seen in Deut 6:4-9) And the second is like it: “love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34
To love others as he loves us. That’s a big standard to live by. So how does he love us? It’s a big love, deep and wide and high. It's a sacrificial love, with the cross offering redemption and a permanent solution for a way back to God.

The most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-34
”You are not far from the kingdom of God.” was his response to the man asking him questions when he repeated back the wisdom Jesus had just explained. It certainly gives us a window into what the kingdom is all about.

The same verses are repeated as from Mark 12, with the ending statement of ‘do this and you will live and then it is followed by the story of the good Samaritan, with the question being asked “who is my neighbour?” The story follows with the next question being who was a neighbour to the man in need? The answer being, “the one who had mercy on him”, with the command to go and do likewise.
Luke 10:27

When our focus is on only/either half of these 2 commandments, it leaves us unbalanced and we are not being representative of the kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is not about one liners, or parts. It’s holistic and there’s always more.

Only focusing on God’s commands in regards to sin, without loving people is not ok.
Only focusing on God’s commands in regards to loving our neighbor, without taking sin seriously is not ok.

We seem to be missing the balance. We seem to either have harsh truth or love without truth.

You will hear many repeating that we should speak the truth with love and grace, but the words and actions that follow do not add up.

My thoughts go around the first and greatest commandment – if we are loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength then the rest will flow from there. It’s always God first, then an often missing piece is loving yourself as a child of God and getting your identity sorted, then it moves from there to loving others (as you love yourself! Loving as a child of the King, with the same love he has loved you with, so it’s loving like him – the whole of Him – the truth, the justice, the peace, mercy, grace, redemption and holiness etc etc) - with all the backing of the first 2 parts. If we are loving God with everything in us, then we are going to be dealing with our sin and stuff and we are going to be hearing him as to what steps to take and what to do and how to love people and live in this world.

Psalm 34 says if I seek him, he will answer and he will deliver me from all my fears. If I look to him I will be radiant and my face will never be ashamed. He will save me out of my troubles. Taste and see that he is good. Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him. I will not need to fear and he will bless me with good things.

Do we see radiance and goodness and no shaming, blessing and goodness coming out of the mouths of those who speak on behalf of God and his Kingdom? Will we be drawing all people to him if we are not offering a space of no shame and condemnation, of goodness, grace and mercy and provision and peace and freedom from fear and anxiety. That’s the kingdom I stand for and want to be a part of. A place of hope. A place of forgiveness from my wrong choices. A place of redemption. A place of turning from lack and dread and death to life and peace and hope. And yes, I know it’s still a choice, but let’s at least show the kingdom in all its fullness and brilliant, shining radiance and not offer something that’s the opposite or less than that. God draws people towards him with his loving kindness. 

FOUND

 In our weekly online church prayer meeting this week, the very first pointer to pray for was our Country, our metro and our City of Gqeberha. My time landed up focusing on this alone.

The words lost and found suddenly dropped into my spirit. More the word ‘found’, and this sent me on a bit of a discovery of thoughts and Scriptures.

We have seen and experienced much loss in South Africa right from its very foundations. But God is always the God of redemption. He turns things around. He makes what wasn’t into what is. We might be lost through wrong actions through the years, but he will make us found. May SA be found in a way it has yet to be found. We know God sees. May we be found. Found in His loving hands, with his tender eyes of mercy on us. Right now our country is literally groaning in huge distress and people are suffering in all spheres. But the most vulnerable will always be the worst affected.  May we play a part in the process of finding others, so that they too may be found.

LOST - When we think of something/someone who is lost – what have we forgotten? What/who have we left behind? What are we not seeing? What/who have we stopped caring about? Did we go back to look for them/it? Did our focus shift rather towards getting something new and forgetting about the person/thing that is lost? Will we engage in this thought process and look back and find out if there’s something we can do to remedy this oversight? Is there a redemptive thread here that can facilitate us all being found?

Luke 15:10 We have all been lost and then found.

The lost sheep, lost coin and lost son were 3 parables Jesus used to show his redemptive power, but they came on the back of Jesus being accused by his disciples of meeting with sinners, of being welcoming to those who were lost and outcast.

May that be the accusation levelled at us too! May we be found in the places where Jesus chose to go. To the people he chose to spend time with.  May we remember that we carry that redemptive, death overcoming, life giving power as we go into our world and love people and help them to be found by the love we are carrying in our hearts. The love and welcome of Jesus that extends to every person who is made in his image. We have got excited and been so encouraged in our faith by seeing the welcome of love extended by Lebanese Christians to Syrian refugees. May we be found there too, extending that loving welcome right here in our own City.

FOUND

Jeremiah 15:16 ESV – Your words were found, and I ate them. And your words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

What are those words we have found of Jesus that would bring joy and delight to us and our world and to him? What does he say? He certainly speaks of action – Go into all the world (close and far). Keep looking, keep seeing, keep searching, keep seeking, keep loving and caring. Keep being salt and light.

How will we be found? Gen 18:26 Will we be found as one of the righteous that God searches for that could cause the redemption of a City or a country because of their way of living for God? Where will he find us? What will we be found doing for the kingdom? Will we be found living like Jesus did? And maybe taking some flack and sacrifice for it?

You know where I am God. I am found by you. Help me to go help others be found too.
You know where our City is. You see South Africa. Remember us. See us. Bring redemption. Help us to partner with you. May we be your hands and feet, eyes, ears and mouth. Let us remember that sometimes we pray for solutions, and sometimes we land up with the answers right in front of us. It could just be us that you choose to use as part of your redemption plan. May your Holy Spirit flow through us, pour through us to others, to our hurting country. With you we get to be an encouragement to those seeking life, hope, health and help.

 

 

Leadership, crowns, royalty and wisdom

I love all things royal for some very different reasons. I do have some British blood through my Dad’s side of the family and was completely enamoured with Princess Diana as a young girl, even copying her hairstyle.  I have watched the pomp and ceremony of big occasions when they have occurred. There was much beauty in the coronation proceedings, but today I tend to hold these things in a bit more balance being very aware of the conversations about monarchy and money and injustice and colonisation. (My own country of South Africa and continent of Africa being negatively affected by it.) There’s a lot of ugly stuff that needs understanding of all the intersections and nuances, and a lot that needs to be fixed and given back to the people and other countries. But that’s for another conversation.

About 10 years ago I came across a course called Modern Day Princess by Doreen Hanna in the USA (or Daughter of the King for better clarification). It was a rite of passage course for young ladies on that brink between young girls and young ladies. Just as teenage years are arriving and life changes quite dramatically in many ways. It’s a journey in identity. Their identity as a daughter of the King of Kings, their relationship with Him, themselves, their family, friends, future spouse, their community and the world. It’s a fantastic journey of discovery and healing. I have had the privilege of taking 6 groups of girls through this course since 2013. In needing some décor for weekly displays there have been many additions of all things royal added to the collection, including a purple robe from a friend, many crowns and tiaras, old style jewels, beautiful cups, gold bags and pretty material.

So, I was interested in all the symbolism of the coronation today. I will always default to pledging all my allegiance to the King of all Kings, and not to an earthly king or queen. I firmly believe in the priesthood of all believers too and so many of those things said over King Charles today, I believe God would speak over those who believe in him and choose to follow him. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you will more than likely lead others to him, that makes you a leader and an excellent leader is one who reflects the image of God in unwavering love and loyalty. The love and loyalty is towards the people and their goodness, it’s not about self. It was said a few times today that King Charles is a servant to the people. ‘Service is love in action’ was one comment.

The kingdom of God is very different to any other kingdom of this world, but there was a strong focus today on the Bible and the wisdom that comes from it. It was said this is royal law, here is wisdom, the lively oracles of God. I cannot think off the top of my head of any earthly kingdom, empire, democracy or autocratic Government where the word of God is taken seriously enough for us to experience the difference this wisdom brings. I do not support Christian nationalism either because that also does not reflect the Kingdom of God. It seems to be fear based and that then leads to power and control issues where servanthood and God’s wisdom seems to be entirely forgotten about. Corruption and deceit seem to follow next.

Backing up a bit, I have been following a devotional by Lectio 365, and in the last few days Izwe Nkosi has been unpacking a few things on wisdom. Mainly coming from the book of Proverbs, which is uncanny after looking at today’s proceedings. Proverbs is a king’s practical life instruction to his son. It’s also for anyone in leadership. Do not forget my teaching, let your heart keep my commandments. This will be added to you – length of days, years of life and peace. It goes on to say ‘bind them around your neck.’ That’s pretty close to you and visible to all. ‘Write them on the tablet of your heart.’ Again, so close and intimate and having huge impact on the way you live. This will help you to find favour and good success. And this is not just personal wealth and success, otherwise we have lost the plot again about servant leadership and honouring others above oneself as we find in Romans 12:10 and in Philippians 2:3. This is to be done in the sight of God and man. It then says trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. Now there’s a thing. The day before while looking at Proverbs 2 it said that we should ask God for wisdom and that he stores it up for you. That blew my mind just a bit. It’s like the more you ask, the more he will give. I wonder how many of our world leaders practice this? It’s available for any person who is earnestly following God.

Some of the symbolism that stood out to me. The Bible – the comment made was that it is the most valuable thing that this world affords. Blessed is he who reads it, hears the words and does the things contained in it. It's not just good leadership advice, it holds the words of eternal life. The glove – having authority with gentleness and grace. Charles sword – not just for judgement, but to be just. Not just for might, but to show mercy. It was also said to him that he would be clothed with a robe of righteousness. The rod of equity and mercy, so that justice and mercy will be seen in all the earth. IN ALL THE EARTH – these statements, these words, these actions, if applied, could affect the whole earth. The sceptre – kingly power and justice. A reminder of covenant and peace. The crown - a symbol of royal majesty, that he may be crowned with God’s gracious favour and filled with abundant grace and all princely virtues, through one Supreme God. (Justin Welby)

These are weighty things to carry. These are amazing things to carry. These are world changing things to carry. Transformation available if the wisdom is applied and carried out after asking God for it over and over again. It would change everything about the monarchy as we know it. He agreed and said yes to all these things spoken over him. Maybe that Holy Spirit blessing spoken today would be welcomed to breathe the life and change we would all desperately like to see. Humility would need to come into the picture in large amounts. Doing justice (there’s so much to put right in a restorative way), loving mercy (there’s so much opportunity to really show love and honour to your neighbor) and walking humbly with your God (looking to him for the help and wisdom needed) - that scripture from Micah 6:8 kept playing on my mind as these different symbols were presented and talked about. That’s what God requires of us.

In 2 Timothy it speaks about leaders (this includes kings, all in high positions, presidents, prime ministers or something else) are to lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way because this is pleasing to God. Godly and dignified to me is so many of the words spoken over Charles and Camilla today. These same words and sentences have possibly been used many times in coronations and other solemn ceremonies. For some reason they were important to utter today on such an auspicious occasion. Godly qualities from the book of wisdom are needed in large amounts for our world to function like it should. We need a new season of leadership where it’s not about self, power, control, status, position and building personal wealth. It should be about the betterment of the people and the world as a whole. Keep asking God for wisdom and he will give it.

On my home front of South Africa, I have been reading a book called ‘Made in South Africa’, by Lwando Xaso. A brilliant lawyer who understands our Constitution so well and seeks to make it easily understood to others. She says our bar raising constitution needs bar-raising leaders and she is very clear on what makes good leaders. People who exhibit integrity, are ethical, reliable, honest and conscientious. Sounds like the wisdom and weighty words spoken at the coronation today.

She goes on to say that leaders owe us words that validate, soothe, inspire, build, unify and form communities. Leaders owe us the duty of searching for the right words. The ability to resist the temptation of diverting one’s gaze but to face a difficult moment straight on and to bravely put words to that moment is critical for an effective leader. Those kinds of words and actions were mentioned in abundance today. Bravery and courage are being called upon in these current times. For leaders to shake things up and turn things around for a new future. One we have yet to see.

Lwando says, “Mandela was the right leader at the right time. He understood the power of words, that sometimes the power of words, when all seems lost, is all that we can offer. Even as he faced a lifetime of imprisonment, he left behind words that sustained his followers until the dream was realised.

My childhood was framed by Mandela’s rainbow nation rhetoric. I did not understand politics, but I understood the need for community and unity at the age of 10. It makes me wonder what vision today’s children are being called to by our leaders. Who do they aspire to emulate? What vision do they have for the world and for our country? And whose words do they cling to during uncertain times?”

So powerful when we think beyond to those who are listening and watching for now and will one day get a chance to lead. What is the example being shown? My one suggestion would be that we keep drawing on that store of wisdom that God has waiting for those who seek him, ask him and then use it in the execution of their leadership responsibilities. The robe of righteousness and justice would be on display for all to see and benefit from.