Bible Reading: Luke 3:1-6
Dear Friends,
Last week, as Advent began, the lectionary Gospel turned our focus from the present to the future. If we were expecting something about a baby in a manger we were disappointed. We were firmly planted in this present troubled world, looking for Christ’s coming at the end of the age. On the Second Sunday of Advent we turn to the past but still we are nowhere near Bethlehem. We take just one step backward, from the present day to when Jesus was an adult and John the Baptist was preaching about major highway construction. What defines Advent waiting in the second week?
We wait, with John the Baptist, for Jesus to begin his public ministry. Perhaps this is the most familiar place to be. By focusing on the coming of the grown-up Jesus we remember our own situation in life. We are like the crowds in the Gospels, longing for Jesus to do for us what he did for so many: teaching, healing, feeding, welcoming us in our places of deepest need. In Advent we need to consider what in our lives needs levelling, and what needs filling, and what needs straightening. We need to be able to see him coming.
On the different subject matter the 5th of December this year marked the 5th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s passing, it is also Robert Sobukwe’s birthday. On the same day we learnt about the sadness of the passing of Dr Alex Boraine, former President of our Conference and Minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. He served the country post his resignation as a Parliamentarian and later Deputy Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Below is a lovely tribute to Alex’s life and contribution to SA that Jacqui shared with me from someone in from BizNews:
“It is logical that South Africa’s religious leaders played such a key role in fighting apartheid. The warped social experiment’s very foundation was anathema to anyone who believes, as pastors do, that we are all created in God’s image. Their resistance from the pulpit carried the nation through its darkest times. Bullet holes in the walls and ceiling of Soweto’s Regina Mundi church are a reminder. So, too, is the life of Reverend Alex Boraine who passed away yesterday aged 87. The youngest ever leader of the Methodist church in South Africa (elected in 1970, age 39), Oxford graduate Boraine dedicated his life to his fellows. After the ministry and a short spell kickstarting labour transformation at Anglo American, he was elected as a Progressive Federal Party MP in 1974. A dozen years later he was the only one to follow leader Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert out of the House – he found IDASA and open white dialogue with the banned ANC through the famous trip to Dakar. The duo accurately assessed they could serve the South Africa better from outside Parliament than in it.
Boraine is an inspiration. Not just because of his role alongside Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Or the many times he shared the South African miracle with others elsewhere facing similar challenges. Not through the achievements of his remarkable children. Or his brutally honest writing, including the prescient 2014 book What’s Gone Wrong: On the Brink of a Failed State. A statement from the family said they will remember Boraine for his wisdom, passion for life and big heart. For the rest of us, he bestows a legacy that highlights the benefit of resilience, a refusal to throw in the towel despite overwhelming odds. And a steadfast belief that the forces of darkness can and will be defeated. Rest In Peace Alex Boraine. Let your life of service be an inspiration to a nation which sorely needs it right now.”
Source: Alec Hogg, BizNews
Our prayers and thoughts are with his family.
Solomzi