THOUGHTS
ON MANDELA
Full text of the sermon by the Rt Revd Oswald Swartz
Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman
A MEMORIAL SERVICE – ST CYPRIAN’S CATHEDRAL KIMBERLEY
9 DECEMBER 2013
When the biggest tree is felled, the whole forest reverberates.
Many things have been said about Mandela over
these past days, but this Xhosa quotation about the big tree, Mthimkhulu, captures
it all for me.
Those of us who were privileged
to be in his company and to shake his hand, or as we say here in Africa to
‘touch his blood’, those of us who were privileged to hear him speak in his
unique style – firm, convincing, genuine – always felt they were in the
presence of greatness.
I recall the last time I touched
his blood and he said,’ Hello dominee’. He obviously knew and felt that
I would or should be comfortable in Afrikaans. I immediately realised and felt
that he sought to put me at ease – to speak my language – to find a common
spirit or common ground. This was the sign of greatness.
Here was one who wanted not
to remind me of his high standing but simply wanted to be on a level with me, to
have a conversation with me, to engage with me. What a wonderful lesson to all
of us who, through our work or office, are quite often placed on a pedestal and
find it maybe difficult or we are
uneasy to come down a level or two to be where the people are.
As I wrote down these reflections, I recalled
another story about a gathering of bishops. As you know, when there is a huge
gathering of people queues are inevitable. So there was this long queue for
food. Suddenly someone came pushing through to the front and everybody said, “What’s
going on here, this is a queue here man!” The person who was pushing his way
forward said, “Hey, what’s wrong with you, don’t you realise I am a bish...” he
did not complete the sentence because he realised they were all bishops! Under
normal circumstances it could have been okay it seems, for this person to just
push forward, leaning on his status, and wanting and needing to be
helped before others because he was a man of high standing – he was a bishop in
the church.
Nelson Mandela was a great,
yet humble man who set out to serve his country when he was elected as the
first president of a new and democratic South Africa. A mark of a great person is how he gets on or
whether he loves children. Of course, we know that he does love and gets
on with children and that his foundation has done wonderful things in
improving the lot of children - He
introduced legislation to bring primary
health care to pregnant mothers and children and he also established the hospital for children.
One of the characteristics
of this great man which has not always been reported on, or publicised, is that
he was a man of faith.
Here I am reminded of yet
another story which happened in the late 80’s when I attended a Provincial
Synod under the presidency of another great hero, Desmond Tutu. During one of
the tea breaks I sought out the company of one of the female members of the
press corps and we struck up a conversation. She was beaming and shared with me
what a tremendous privilege it was for her to be part of this Synod albeit as a
member of the press. I enquired as to what made it such a wonderful experience
for her, to which she replied, “The chairman or president of your Synod,
Archbishop Tutu, is a great and wonderful man. I came here with lots of
negative ideas about him; he is great, he is charming and he has the ability to
steer you through very difficult issues. I have been humbled by the way he has
allowed you to grapple with the issue of the ministry of women and also the
spirit in which the debate took place as he continually reminds you that you
should not raise the level of your voice, but raise the level of debate”. I
then asked her: “How will you report on this, how will you be able to convey
this spirit, this atmosphere which is being created by our Archbishop?” She
said, “Well, I am not going to write any of that. I was sent here to pick up
the controversial bits and report on them.
The newspapers are not interested in what you see as good news stories
but I need to pick up something sensational that will sell the paper, and that
is my job”
Nelson Mandela was a man of
faith. One of the things he said was the following:
“There were many dark
moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested but I would not and could
not give myself up to despair. That way lies defeat and death”. For the record
– for those who do not know – he was a practising Methodist. He was always challenged by good Christian
people to say exactly where he stands. He was always careful, being the great
diplomat, not to cause things that are important to people to alienate them,
but always sought to let them
concentrate on the common ground, the common things that unite them.
They tried to push him into
a corner, are you a Christian or not? and he would not deny of confess but
would say: now, what is important here is that we are people of integrity. It
was not that he was shy or coy about his faith but he recognised that it could
be used, as fundamentalist faith has shown, to divide people and cause havoc. Is it not a sign of faith and a deep
commitment to God that a man can walk out of prison after 27 years and reach
out a hand of reconciliation? Is it not a man of faith who can, after being
called a terrorist for fighting for what he believed, that all should be free
and enjoy what mother Africa has for them? Is it not a sign of faith that such
a person can say, Let us put the past behind us and let us be reconciled to
each other? Is it not a sign of faith
the man could say it is time for us to throw our weapons into the sea and never
again allow the people of this beautiful country to oppress one another?
Scripture reminds us of this
when we read, “can one gather grapes from thorns or figs from a thistle tree,
by one’s fruit, one is known”. For me, Mr Mandela’s fruit, what he displayed in
his life, showed me that he was a man of real faith.
Here is another lesson for us, we who are
preachers should also be doers. I believe it is Francis who says to his
followers or helpers, as he sends them out to work – he says: preach the good
news; use words, if necessary. It is not so much the words that will convince
people that our hearts are in the right place, it’s when we get stuck in, when
we do the right thing, when our actions support our deeds – then people will
know who we really are. And this is one of the lessons I have learnt from this great man.
The challenge has always
been for the people of God to witness and minister outside the four walls of
the church. It’s easy in the church with like-minded people, people who feel
the same, people who will not disagree with you when you say Jesus is Lord. It
is when you leave that building, that comfort zone, when you go out into the
real world where you must practise your faith. That is where you must deliver
the goods. Now, Nelson Mandela, for me,
delivered the goods out there in a very difficult arena , not only people of
different faiths, people of different
persuasions, backgrounds, people who were enemies before, who have
radically opposed views, to unite them, to bring them together, to say let us
talk together, to make this country work. He made his mark on the stage and
also in the wings, and for that we salute him today. A man of integrity, a humble
man, a great man, a true leader.
As we come together to
salute, to celebrate the life of MADIBA, and to give thanks to God for this
wonderful gift to our country, we pray that we may all learn from his example.
We pray for his family and all those who are deeply affected by his death. If
we as a country and indeed the whole world feel this way about his passing on,
let us spare a thought for his family, for Graca, for Winnie and the rest of
the family, for them to continue to cherish his memory and to honour his
legacy. It is a very difficult time for them and we need to pray for them as
decisions will have to be made now in the wake of his death. We pray that they
will have good advisers, that they will be wisely and firmly led and that in
the end they will also know that as we have cared for Tata their father so too
we uphold them and the whole family before God.
Thank God for him and for
what he has meant to this country.
God bless Africa.
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