Death of Archbishop Emeritus Philip Russell

Statement by the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town on the death of Archbishop Emeritus Philip Russell

25 July 2013

The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, issued the following statement on 25 July 2013, on learning of the death of his predecessor, in Australia earlier in the day.

Today the whole Anglican Church of Southern Africa gives joyful thanks to God for the life and ministry of one of the unsung heroes of our Church – my one-time predecessor as Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Emeritus Philip Russell, who died earlier today.

We remember Philip Russell as parish priest, Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of Cape Town, the first Bishop of the new Diocese of Port Elizabeth, and later Bishop of Natal. Then, in 1980, it was clear that the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (as we were known) was moving towards electing its first black Archbishop, but not yet quite ready to take that step. After the electoral assembly failed to reach agreement, he allowed himself to be nominated by the Synod of Bishops to become what was clearly an ‘interim Archbishop’, and was enthroned the following year.

Yet he filled this ministry with great graciousness, and was clearly God’s man for those difficult times between 1980 and 1986. Having long preached and campaigned against apartheid, he brought to Bishopscourt a passion for both human rights, and ecumenical relations, with strong ties to the South African Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

I remember him having a sharp pen, on paper – but a warm heart in personal encounters. Even in old age, retired in Australia following the death of his wife, he has kept in contact with his former fellow-bishops and priests, personally writing letters and Christmas cards. I feel privileged that after I was elected Archbishop, he has also been in frequent touch with me, including phoning from time to time, with wise words of encouragement.

I offer my own condolences, and those of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, to his children, grandchildren, and wider family, in South Africa and Australia, in the loss that his death brings – even as we commit him with confidence into the loving arms of God, who has in Christ broken the chains of sin and death and opened the gate to eternal life.

Now, at the great age of 93, he has completed his long race, which he ran with such faithfulness and godly perseverance. He has fought the good fight, and now the victor’s crown can be his, as he is welcomed home by his Lord, his Saviour, his Friend.

Hamba kahle, dear elder brother in Christ. May you rest in peace, and rise in glory.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman 021 763 1320 (office hours)

Statement on the Death of Pius Langa

This statement was issued on 24 July 2013

Statement from the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town on the death of Former Chief Justice Pius Langa

I learnt with great sadness of the death earlier today of former Chief Justice Pius Langa, and offer my own condolences and those of my wife Lungi, and those of the Anglican Church of South Africa, to his children, grandchildren and wider family. We offer them our love at this time, and our prayers that they may know the compassion and strength of God who is Father of us all, at this sad time.

We have lost one of the most outstanding legal people this country has ever produced. He was an amazing intellectual, yet always ensured his mind was informed by his heart and his soul. He understood, perhaps better than anyone I have ever met, the true meaning of the rule of law, and how the letter of the law must deliver the spirit of the law, in the service of Constitution, country, and all its citizens.

On a personal level, I shall deeply miss this dear, humble, man. I count myself privileged to have got to know him while serving on his Press Freedom Commission, and in the contact we maintained since then.

I give thanks to God for the gift of this remarkable man, at a time when we most needed his insight and judgement, his generous spirit, and his deep wisdom. May this faithful servant rest in peace, and rise in glory.

On the Death of Fr John Oliver

Archbishop Thabo has sent this message, following the unexpected death, in his sleep, of Fr John Oliver, recently retired after 18 years at St Mark’s Church District Six, and Acting Chair of the Western Cape Religious Leaders’ Forum, with which he was also long associated.


My dear Emma,

From our holiday in Turkey, Lungi and I and our children send you, Sarah and Joseph our heartfelt condolences at John’s sudden death. It is hard to take in, and I wish so much that I were able to come in person and share the love and the prayers that we have for you. May our God surround you with his tender love, his comfort, his strength, at this time. Do not be afraid to weep and bring your grief before the throne of God, who bears our sorrows, and walks with us in all our pains and sadness.

As we visit the sites of the early Church, retracing the steps of St Paul who so powerfully taught that nothing in life nor death can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, we shall be carrying you in our hearts and thoughts and prayers. I shall be weeping for John, as Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus, even in my certainty that he now knows the fullness of joy of resurrection life. His is surely the welcome of a good and faithful servant. He has devoted so many years, and given so much energy and dedication, to his unstinting love for God, for God’s people, especially the poor and needy, and for God’s creation. I thank God for all he has been for us in Cape Town and beyond – for his long service at St Mark’s in District Six, for his unflagging socio-political commitment, for his music ministry, for his ever-ready camera!

I also thank God for John’s vision and drive in his work for inter-faith cooperation, and for so much he has achieved there. He has done more than we can measure in encouraging us all to stand together, in our commitment to upholding all that is good and true and just and holy, and opposing all that diminishes the flourishing of all God’s children. John will leave a lasting legacy across the City, the Western Cape, and beyond, having positively impacted so many lives.

On a personal level, I am so aware that I have lost a brother in Christ, a respected colleague and fellow-labourer in the vineyard of the Lord (as well as in the muddy Vleis of Cape Town!), and a dear friend. I shall miss him greatly, even as I thank God for all he was, and all he has done for so many. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Yours in the Service of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer

+Thabo Cape Town

[Message sent by the Archbishop and signed in his absence]

Prayers for Madiba

This open letter was issued on 13 June 2013

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, dear friends of South Africa everywhere, I invite you to join with me in praying for God's tender merciful hand to be upon our former President, Nelson Mandela at this time, and for his love to enfold dear Madiba, and all who are close to him. The Bible reassures us that 'God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble' (Psalm 46) and it is often when we feel most weak and vulnerable that God's reassurance comes to us most powerfully. It reminds us that in life, and in death, nothing can ever separate us from his love, and that his everlasting arms will never let us slip from his safe June grasp.

As I pray for Madiba, I also join many others, around the Anglican Communion and around the Commonwealth, in praying too for Prince Philip, as he recovers from surgery in a London hospital.

We thank God for these men who, in very different ways, have each given so much of their lives in the service of their nations, and of the wider good.

May God hear our prayers, and may his perfect will be done, in their lives and in ours. Amen.


Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
Inquiries: Ms Wendy Kelderman 021 763 1320 (office hours)

Marikana Mine Memorial Service

This is an edited version of the sermon, originally preached largely in Sesotho, at the Memorial Service held at the Marikana Mine on 23 August 2012.

Matthew 5:1-10
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

Today, we are here to mourn - or, to use another word from the Bible, we are here to lament.

We are here to cry out to God, and pour out our tears, pour out our hearts. We are here to ask God – knowing that he hears and knows our pain – to ask God, ‘Where were you when we were shot at, killed, exploited by less than adequate salaries? God, where are you when we are denied education access to basic services and we live in sub-standard places? We dare to ask God, because we know he can handle our asking. And if we can ask God these questions, we can ask anybody these questions without fear.

Yet as we ask these questions, we do so knowing that today is not a day of stirring up. God knows our emotions have been more than stirred up in the last weeks. Rather, today is a day of wresting with God about our pains; today is a day of laying down: laying down the burdens of our brokenness, our pain, our sorrow – laying them down before the cross of Jesus Christ – the eternal Son of God who became fully human and knows what it is to suffer pain and grief and to face death.

We bring our sufferings to Jesus, who suffers with us; who shares our battling. We bring to him our anger, our frustrations, our feelings of desperation, our heartfelt wish that things could have been different – so very different. We come before the God who listens, and we say to him all that we wish could have been different.

And so we mourn, and we lament. We lament the lives that have been lost – lives on all sides. We remember those whom we have loved. We thank God for them, for all the love we shared with them, for all the good we saw in them. We resolve that no revenge can return them to us; and in their memory, we recommit to solving our current challenges through negotiating, through dialogue, through talking with those in charge – management, government and amongst ourselves.

We dare to tell this listening God how sore our hearts are at the deaths of those we loved. We speak to our Father in heaven who watched his own Son die – and know that he understands.

We grieve for all who have lost fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, friends, colleagues. We cry out for families who have lost their breadwinners. We pour out our tears in the face of death – and we ask God for the comfort he alone can bring. We open our hearts to God, and ask him to write in them his consoling truths. We also lament for all who have been injured. We weep for all who have been traumatised.

We mourn because we were not wise enough, not brave enough, to insist that violence solves nothing, and is never the best way to a better future. We weep for the mistakes that were made, for the poor judgments reached, for the wrong decisions taken. We grieve for all who bear some responsibility, even in a small way, for how events unfolded, and now carry the burden of wishing they could have said or done differently. We mourn for broken relationships, broken trust, among those who work or live together – whether in the mine, or in the communities around. And as we lament all that happened, we also weep for the circumstances that led to these terrible events.

This week, we not only mourn and lament as individuals, but the whole nation of South Africa is also called to mourning. What does it mean that we should lament, not only as individuals but as a nation?

The whole country needs to be courageous in finding words to cry out honestly to God. We need to name our pain. We need to speak it out – without pretence – for the sake of South Africa.

The levels of inequality in our country are unjust and unsustainable. Of course, some will always be richer than others – but it is not right that a few should pursue such high levels of luxury when so many have so little. This is true far beyond the mining sector.

We come to the God of compassion, and ask, where is the compassion in our society? We mourn that we are so complacent, so lacking in godly love and compassion, that we can look on those with inadequate housing, and not do something about it. We mourn that, as a nation, we have let slip the Vision that guided us to freedom and democracy; that we have taken our eyes off our commitment to mutual respect and generosity of spirit, to creating a caring society in which all may have enough to live on with dignity and hope.

Today we mourn – we mourn for all who have died; and we mourn for all else that grieves us. We bring it all before God with a purpose – we come to ask him to take it all, and redeem it, to change it, and to change us, and give us a fresh start, so we may make a good and godly difference. This is the blessing of comfort that we seek. We ask him to bring:
• consolation for sorrow;
• hope for despair;
• healing for pain;
• wholeness for brokenness;
• forgiveness for wrong-doing;
• trust for suspicion;
• reconciliation for enmity and division;
• and a new beginning wherever it is needed.

We know that this will ask a lot of us, so we also ask for:
• strength in our weakness;
• wisdom in our ignorance;
• courage in our fearfulness
so that we might dare to see what it is that we need to do, and have the commitment to carry it out.

We are thus grateful that President Zuma has put together an Inquiry into this massacre and we hope it will get to the bottom of this disaster and reveal the truth. It is not enough to pray for wounds to be bandaged and pain healed, and to demand that conflict ends, unless we are prepared to address the wider context and the underlying issues on which conflict feeds. We have brought to God our lament over the anger, the inequality, the poverty, the death, the suffering, the injury, the hopelessness: and now we must listen to what is God asking us to do.

In the Bible, the Prophet Isaiah records this promise of God:
‘I will appoint Peace as your overseer, and Righteousness as your taskmaster: violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders …’ (Isaiah 60:17-18).

God’s word to us is that devastation and destruction end only when there is true peace and righteousness. This is a clear message of common sense to everyone, whether religious or not. The plain truth is that our greatest need lies in ensuring true justice and real fairness prevail in all sectors of our country’s life, and so bring genuine peace.

This is not merely about justice in terms of answering legal questions of who did what in the events of last week; nor of peace that is only the absence of conflict. It is the question of wider justice, across all of society, across the whole nation. It is about the justice and fairness and equity that are marked:
• by true economic emancipation of all,
• by good governance, honesty and truth,
• by mutual respect regardless of status,
• by flourishing democratic systems,
• by free but constructive speech.
It is about creating a country where every human person lives in dignity, with adequate housing, food, water, sanitation, health-care, education, and all the basic necessities of life.

God wants what is best for all his children, and will help us, if we strive for all that is good and right. This is the promise of the words of Jesus that we heard read to us. We should not be afraid to hold fast to his promises of hope – to strive for righteousness, for true justice; and to seek for genuine peace and true reconciliation.
to be, rather than any of the difficulties, challenges, setbacks that we experience.

Even as we mourn, let us ask God to bring his light into our darkness, and guide our feet into his life-giving pathways. That is why I want to make an appeal to our politicians, to respect the sanctity and dignity of those who died and all God’s people; and not to try to gain cheap political points out of this massacre. These are God’s people and we must respect the sanctity of their lives lost, their blood shed, especially as we mourn.

So, may God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit bring comfort and blessing to all who mourn, and fresh courage and hope for tomorrow. Amen

Marikana Mine Tragedy - Address at St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

This address was delivered at the inter-faith service held at St George's Cathedral Cape Town, on 22 August 2012.

Let me begin with my own welcome to everyone here today. Thank you, Madam Mayor, for your presence. I also acknowledge Tony Ehrenreich, along with many clergy and religious leaders, and all who have come to join in this service.

We are here today in what has been declared a week of national mourning. What does national mourning mean for us in Cape Town, who are so far away – and not only geographically – from Marikana? How do we avoid voicing platitudes, or falling into blaming and condemning at a distance? Yes, there must be investigation, yes there must be justice – and justice in its widest possible sense – but this is not part of mourning. And this week, today, mourning is most definitely our task, the task of the whole nation.

To use another word from Holy Scripture, our task is to lament. We are to cry out to God, for all that has gone wrong – not just last week in Marikana, but for all that is wrong in our country, our nation, which contributed to this terrible, heart-breaking tragedy. We cry out because it is a tragedy for all those individuals caught up in it, in whatever capacity. It is a tragedy for our nation, which thought – which hoped and believed – that we should never again witness such scenes.

We lament because things have gone wrong, terribly wrong. Whatever the merits of the various disputes, things have gone horribly, awfully, wrong:
• between mining companies and their employees,
• between unions,
• between union leaders and workers,
• and between miners and police.

Yet all these things did not go wrong by themselves. They point to a wider ‘going wrong’ – a going wrong:
• around law-enforcement policy and its implementation
• around policy-making, in the public and private sectors
• around economic inequalities between employers and employees, between rich and poor
• around attitudes that allow all these gulfs to emerge and widen
• even, around the relationship between government and citizens, politicians and people.

We cry out to God in lament for all of this. We cry out because we know – and this is the most important point of all – we know that God hears our lament, because God also laments with us. The God who is love, the God of mercy and compassion, grieves for all that harms even the hair of one human head; and grieves most of all when we are our own worst enemies, the cause of one another’s hurts and pains.

Heard by God, held by God, it is safe to lament: safe to speak out in honesty about all that pains us.

And so today, as a nation, we mourn. We mourn for every life lost, knowing it is one life too many. We mourn for the bereaved: for everyone who has lost a father, a husband, a brother, a son, a friend, a colleague. We mourn for every family left without a breadwinner. We mourn for all those who have been wounded. We mourn for all those who have been traumatised. We mourn for all those who have been arrested, and for all who seek justice. We mourn for all those who wielded weapons, for all those who pulled triggers, for all who contributed to the escalating violence – and who are all inevitably themselves harmed in spirit if not in body. We mourn for the mistakes that were made, for the poor judgments reached, for the wrong decisions taken. We mourn for all who bear some responsibility, even in a small way, for how events unfolded, and now carry the burden of wishing they could have said or done differently.

And we mourn for the failings of our country, our government, our societies – which made it possible for so much to go so badly wrong. We mourn for how we have become selfish and greedy, or merely complacent, and failed to hold fast to the vision that brought us freedom; and failed to strive to make it a concrete reality for every son and daughter of our soil. Today we mourn – because we are not a country where every human person lives in dignity, with adequate housing, food, water, sanitation, health-care, education, and all the basic necessities of life – and because we do not tackle these shortcomings with the greatest possible urgency.

We mourn for ourselves, because, when things go wrong, we do not always speak truth to power as we ought – though this morning in Khayelitsha, as religious leaders we pledged ourselves to move from witness to action, signing a pledge to ensure our faith communities and all our people truly do stand up against all forms of corruption, which exacerbates injustice and inequality.

Of course, some will always be richer than others – but it is not right that a few should pursue such high levels of luxury when so many have so little. And this is true far beyond the mining sector. But we mourn for our lack of compassion, asking: where is the love that each should have for their neighbour, no matter whether their neighbour is in a mansion or a tin shack?

And how can we look on those with inadequate housing, and not do something about it? Can we not see as God sees – that every human being on our TV screen is a beloved child of God, a precious individual, treasured and cared for. Each one, each worker, each police officer, each family member, each journalist, , each representative of management, of unions, of law-enforcement, of government, each individual caught up in events: every single one is known by name – their hopes, their fears, the circumstances and struggles felt in the heart of God.

Not one is insignificant. And nobody should be an anonymous marble in the invisible hand of the powerful – whether employers, unions, politicians, whoever, as they play their larger strategic games. Surely we know all this – but we have failed to live it out.

And so today is a day of mourning: it is not a day of stirring up. God knows our emotions have been more than stirred up in the last weeks. Today is a day of laying down. It is a day of laying down the burdens of our brokenness, our pain, our sorrow – of laying them down before the throne of God. It is a day of bringing to him our anger, our frustrations, our feelings of desperation, as well as our lamentation.

And we bring all this to God with a purpose – we come to ask him to take it all, and redeem it, to change it, and to change us so we may make a good and godly difference. We ask him to bring:
• comfort for sorrow;
• hope for despair;
• healing for pain;
• wholeness for brokenness;
• forgiveness for wrong-doing;
• reconciliation for division;
• and a new beginning wherever it is needed.

We know that this will ask a lot of us, so we also ask for:
• strength in our weakness;
• wisdom in our ignorance;
• courage in our fearfulness;
so that we might dare to see what it is that we need to do, and have the commitment to carry it out.

For we know that it is not enough only to mourn – though we must mourn. It is not enough to pray for wounds to be bandaged and pain healed, and to demand that conflict ends, unless we are prepared to address the wider context and the underlying issues on which conflict feeds.

We need to ask ourselves: why are so many hurting? Why are so many weeping? We need to be honest about what is fuelling this level of anger and desperation. We must also ask how we will handle it, if it spills over and spreads to other situations, other places.

We have brought to God our lament over the anger, the inequality, the poverty, the death, the suffering, the injury, the hopelessness: and now we must listen to what is he asking us to do. In the Bible, the Prophet Isaiah records this promise of God:
‘I will appoint Peace as your overseer, and Righteousness as your taskmaster: violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders …’ (Isaiah 60:17-18).

God’s word to us is that devastation and destruction end only when there is true peace and righteousness. This is a clear message to all – a message of common sense to everyone, whether religious or not. The plain truth is that our greatest need lies in ensuring true justice and genuine fairness prevail in all sectors of our country’s life.

This is not merely about justice in terms of answering legal questions of who did what in the events of last week. It is the question of wider justice, across all of society, across the whole nation. It is about the justice and fairness and equity that are marked:
• by true economic emancipation of all,
• by good governance, honesty and truth,
• by mutual respect regardless of status,
• by flourishing democratic systems,
• by free but constructive speech.

This is the vision encapsulated in 1994 and in our Constitution. Its achievement lies in our hands, if we recommit ourselves positively, and work hard, rejecting complacency and hopelessness in the face of the country’s challenges. God wants what is best for all his children, and will help us, if we strive for all that is good and right.

We should not be afraid to hold fast to his promises of hope. For when his vision for good is at the centre of our lives, it will shape us and our society. This – this ideal of human dignity and flourishing, at the heart of our Constitution – defines who we are, who we truly aspire to be, rather than any of the difficulties, challenges, setbacks that we experience.

So, even as we mourn, let us ask God to bring his light into our darkness, and guide our feet into his life-giving pathways. May he bring comfort and blessing to all who mourn, and fresh courage and hope for tomorrow. Amen

Sermon for Dean Lubabalo Livingstone Ngewu

The following sermon was preached at the Memorial Service for Dean Lubabalo Livingstone Ngewu, in Pretoria Cathedral on 16 February 2012.

1 Thess 4:13-18; Jn 6:37-40; Ps 121

May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, here we are, gathered before God, to mourn the death of our dear friend and brother, Lubabalo Livingstone Ngewu, and to seek God’s comfort, God’s strength, God’s compassion; and, most of all, to seek the certainty of his promises of salvation and redemption, healing and wholeness, for this life and for the life to come.

I want to begin by thanking you, Bishop Jo, Chapter, and the whole Cathedral family, for your invitation to me to preach at this Memorial Service. In my sermon, I hope to do three things. First, I want to share the word of God, offering God’s own consolation to you, to the Ngewu family, and to all who loved Lubabalo, or Livingstone, as so many knew him. Second, I want to add my own tributes to those that have been given to him, for he was my friend also. And finally, I want to offer a challenge to you all.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are gathered together here in the house of God, who is three and who is one. He is
• The Father, who watched his Son die in agony on the Cross;
• The Son, who wept at the grave of his friend, Lazarus; and
• The Spirit, who bears the deepest groanings of our hearts to the throne of grace.
Therefore, in the presence of this God of infinite love and mercy, the God who knows our inmost hearts, let us have courage to bring before him those deep groanings of our hearts; our weeping for our friend; our agonising over the brokenness of recent weeks and months. Let us open ourselves in all our pain, to the God who is for us; the God who is with us; the God who is within us; the God who is among us – so that we may know his tender touch upon our lives; and hear his still small voice promising hope, and newness of life.

Let us dare to grieve today:
• to grieve for Lubabalo, for Livingstone, and for the hole his death will leave in our lives; and
• to grieve for all that feels lost, and for all we wish might have been different.
But, as our first reading urged us, let us not grieve as those who have no hope.

As Lubabalo himself would have been the first to remind us – let us turn to the one who is the Living Stone, and find in Jesus Christ a firm place to stand, in all the uncertainties and confusions that Lubabalo’s death has brought us. We lift up our eyes, and look: not to the hills, or anywhere else on earth, since there are no earth-bound answers for us; but we look to the Lord, who has made heaven and earth. He is our keeper, our defence – and he is Lubabalo’s keeper and defence also.

Jesus’ own words, in our Gospel Reading, put this very clearly. All that God the Father has entrusted to him, will come to him. No-one who comes to Christ will ever be driven away. It is God the Father’s will; it is God the Son’s will; that all who believe and trust in God will be raised up, to new and everlasting life.

This is the new life of which St John caught a glimpse in his Revelation: the life of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, when all the old things have passed away. It is the life where God makes his home among his people, for ever; where he wipes away the tears from every eye; where there is no more death, no more crying, no more pain. In God’s nearer presence there is no more grief; no more failure; no more misunderstandings and broken relationships; no more falling short of what God desires of us and what we desire to be and become by his grace. Here, Jesus makes all things new: all broken hearts are mended; all shattered lives are restored; all wounds are healed; and all the imperfections of this life are made whole and new and fresh and bright and lovely and perfect within God’s perfect love.

This is the fullness of life which we believe and trust – with all the certainty of the promises of God – that Lubabalo, that Livingstone, now enjoys: going from us to be with the Lord for ever.

These same promises are for us also – and not only when the time comes for our mortal lives to end.

For, as St Paul makes clear in his letter to the Romans, Jesus Christ ‘died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living’ (Rom 14:9). Jesus truly is Lord of both the dead and the living. His promises of redemption hold good for us here too – for us as individuals, and for us as the community of God’s church, with all the brokenness and failings, the pains and conflicts, that characterise all human institutions. For we must remember that we are all redeemed sinners, and we remain sinners, and fallible, to the ends of our lives on earth. And our church too, is fallible, and we make mistakes, and we get it wrong, even as, at the same time, God works within us and makes us his instruments, to spread his gospel and build his kingdom.

Therefore, as individuals, and as the church:
• whenever and wherever we need it – as we inevitably do, time and again, always and everywhere – God’s forgiveness is there for us, if we are only ready to open ourselves in humility to receive it.
• whenever and wherever we need it – as we inevitably do, time and again, always and everywhere – God’s redemption is also there for us, if we can accept it.

As St Paul puts it, We know – yes, we know - that in all things, God works for good, for those who love him, whom he has called according to his purposes (Rom 8:28). This is not to say that all things, all situations, all events, are good. Far from it. But no circumstance is so bad, or so sad, that God cannot or will not work in it for good. There is no stumbling block that he cannot turn into a stepping stone – the Living Stone who is Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour.

So we come today, daring to believe this – and daring to ask that, by the power of Christ’s cross, his death and resurrection, God’s immeasurable goodness might be at work redemptively in our lives; in our relationships; in our differences and disagreements; in our church; here and now.

We dare to ask that he may comfort us in all our griefs – and here we pray especially for Lubabalo’s wife Nosipho; for their children Funeka, Xolani and Unathi; for their broader family; and for all those closest to Lubabalo and who most deeply mourn his passing.

Christ’s word to us is that we should not be afraid to weep, nor afraid to acknowledge the depths of our sadness, our depression, even our anger, that this death should come at this time. We can be honest about all this to Jesus, who knows our breaking hearts, and desires to touch them with unimaginable tenderness. He encourages us with those famous words from the Sermon on the Mount ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’

And because Jesus Christ is the Lord of both the living and the dead, we can offer to him all our unfinished business – all that we would like to say about Lubabalo, about Livingstone; all that we would like to say to him. We can come to Christ with all our uncertainties, even our failures, about whether we could, or should, have spoken or acted differently. Before Christ, we can remember Lubabalo / Livingstone with honesty – with all the love and affection, as well as the frustrations, that this remarkable child of God, provoked within us.

We remember someone larger than life – a big man, with great gifts and talents, especially of writing and speaking. A man with a strong personality, and, dare I say it, a strong will. Yet most of all, I remember a man of great joy, a man of enormous laughter; and a man of deep faith – a man who influenced so many for good, and pointed so many towards a closer walk with Jesus, not least through his time as Rector of COTT. We thank God for this man: for Lubabalo Livingstone Ngewu. We thank God for his blessings upon him; and for making him such a blessing to so many others and to the whole Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Finally, I said I would end with a challenge. My first challenge is to you, Bishop Jo, to your Chapter, and to Diocesan officials. It is this: remember that the Canons have no authority over the dead. I urge you, before Lubabalo is buried next Tuesday, to drop all the outstanding charges against him. And hang his portrait, like those of all other deans, in the Cathedral vestry.

And there is a further challenge, to everyone who has been caught up in any way in these tragic disagreements: to all of you I say this: find it within your hearts to create time and space to begin a process of reconciliation and forgiveness. All of us are called to live out the Christian virtues which Livingstone so fully taught, and himself espoused and strived to follow. It is not just my challenge, but it is God’s challenge – and also his encouragement and his promise – that we should dare to walk within his ways of mercy and peace.

So I end by once again thanking God for the life and ministry of our friend and brother, Dean Lubabalo Livingstone Ngewu.

Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord – and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace – and rise in Glory.

Amen.

Funeral Sermon for Judge Fikile Bam

The following sermon was preached at the funeral of Judge Fikile Bam, on 27 December 2011.

Texts: Isaiah 6:1-8; John 1:6-14

May I speak in the name of God, the Everlasting Father, whose Eternal Son – our Saviour and our Prince of Peace – is born among us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let me once again greet you, in the name of the Lord, and acknowledge our distinguished guests today – your Majesties, your Excellencies, chiefs, kings, rulers, political leaders; your Graces, Bishops, and other clergy; dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear friends. Most of all I greet you, dear Xoliswa, your children, the wider Bam family, and all who loved Fikile and are today here to mourn his death.

It is particularly sad to be dealing with death at a time of year when we especially focus on birth – the birth of Jesus. Yet the good news that comes to us with the birth of Jesus, is the same good news that we most need to hear today, as we come together to mourn the passing of our dear friend ‘Bro Fiks’, even as we celebrate his life. ‘Do not be afraid’ said the angel of the Lord to the shepherds, in the fields with their sheep, on that dark night long ago. ‘Do not be afraid’ is still God’s message to us, in the darkness of sadness and sorrow. ‘Do not be afraid – because a Saviour is born.’ The child in the manger grew to be the man on the cross, and the man who rose from the grave, breaking for all eternity the power of death.

God gave himself, in Jesus Christ, who truly is our Saviour – so that he might offer us the greatest gifts, of: life beyond death; redemption beyond failings; healing beyond illness; wholeness beyond suffering; peace beyond pain; joy beyond sorrow. He promises, to all of us who put our hand in his, that he will bring us to a heavenly home, where one day we shall all be together in his loving embrace, and he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. ‘Do not be afraid’ is Christ’s message to us today. ‘Do not be afraid of death, for I have overcome death, and it cannot harm you, it cannot harm Fikile.’

So we meet today, and dare to hope, even as we weep for ourselves, at the loss of this dear man whom we loved so much. And we must weep; and weep whenever the sadness of loss comes to us. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus, though he knew he would be returned to life by his Father in heaven. And Jesus tells us all, ‘blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ He says to us all ‘Do not be afraid to grieve’ – for in grieving, we come before God acknowledging the depths of our love, the depths of our loss, and perhaps also other pains of unfinished business, words unsaid, issues not dealt with. Yet when we open ourselves to God in our grieving, we open ourselves also to receive his comfort, his strength, his encouragement to go forwards.

So do not be afraid of death, and do not be afraid to grieve. These are Jesus’ words to you, today, Xoliswa, and to all your six children; and to all who loved Fiks, and whose hearts are sore at his dying. We also know that Jesus, who lived and died and was raised, stretches out his arms to hold both the living and the dead – and we can say to him what we might still want to say to Fikile, and know our words will not be lost. So today we are here to mourn, and bring God our sadness, our regrets, our sorrow, our tears.

Yet we are also here today to celebrate the life of a remarkable man, a wonderful man – not without his faults, his quirks, but nonetheless, a very special human being. I will not say too much about him. So many words were shared last week, and more will be said later today. But I will say a little! For he has been a dear friend to me and to my family over many years – including as a parishioner; and an astute critic of the church, which we have also needed. He has also been a wise advisor to us, the Makgobas, in our own ongoing land claim. He, with you, Xoliswa, were also overwhelmingly generous to me and my family when my mother died and when my sister died – your support, from the heart, touched us deeply, in our times of need. Thank you, thank you.

Let me recall that today in the Anglican calendar we remember St John the Evangelist, the writer of the Gospel from which we heard verses read just now. John and his brother James responded to Jesus’ call to them, ‘Follow me’, in very much the same way that the prophet Isaiah answered ‘Here am I, send me!’ – in the Old Testament reading set for today’s celebration of St John. Dear Fikile was also one who dared to follow Jesus, and to go wherever God would send him – a faithful Anglican, a faithful Christian – whose 74 years took him from Tsolo to Robben Island, and finally on to the Land Claims Court – with impressive detours in business and academia.

Yet, wherever he went, Bro Fiks was not afraid to live like that other John mentioned in the gospel reading – John the Baptist, who pointed others to Jesus, who ‘testified to the light, the true light, which enlightens everyone’. So much of Bro Fiks’ life was spent in promoting this light – the light that heralds the kingdom of God, the kingdom that Jesus came to bring. He laboured and strove for justice, for freedom for the oppressed, for good news for the poor. That is what took him to the darkness of the Island. That is what, when the new light of democracy dawned, motivated his time as an advocate and as a judge.

I thank God for him, and for Christian lawyers like him – for those who are not there to make money by turning every situation into an opportunity for expensive litigation at the service of the rich; but who really work to ensure justice for all, and especially for the poorest, the neediest, the least educated, the powerless. Within the New South Africa, the rural poor, most of all, have needed such a champion, and they found it in Judge Bam. There are many who have enjoyed Christmas in their own home this year, because he took the trouble to ensure that the law was implemented without fear and favour, to ensure justice was done – that the past exclusions of the homelands, and the marginalisation that has come with today’s tendency to focus on urban living, should not stand in the way of ensuring that right was done.

Let me say to those of you here, here who wield power and influence, especially in these areas of law and justice – let your lights shine as Bro Fiks did! Let his legacy live on, through you, your departments, your professions, your businesses – put them at the service of the poor and weak, the frail and powerless. Be vigilant, for the sake of our country, of all of us; and do not let all that we have achieved, and for which those like Bro Fiks were imprisoned, and then laboured, be lost or distorted by greed or corruption. We must not squander God’s gift of constitutional democracy. We must use it as he intends, for the good of all.

God in Christ, the second person of the Trinity, was not afraid to leave the power and the glory of heaven, to be born amongst sheep and cattle. There is no doubt that the King of heaven stands in solidarity with the rural poor – and, as the gospels remind us, our attitude towards what appears to be even the most insignificant individual, is what God records as our attitude towards him. This is why we must not fail to prioritise rural development.

Let me end by returning to St John’s Gospel, in which we find the mysterious figure, called ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. Some think that this is a reference to St John himself. Some wonder whether, at the same time, St John is inviting all who hear or read his words to put themselves – to put ourselves – in that position, and so to live, discovering what it means to be Jesus’ disciple, and what it means to be loved by Jesus. For Jesus loves each one of us – with the love of the Christ-child in the manger; and with the love that took him to the cross to save us. We meet here in sorrow, but also in hope, because we know that Fikile was truly a disciple whom Jesus loved. And I am sure also that Fikile will hear those words that come to every disciple, as we put our trust in Jesus who helps us through to our journey’s end, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant – enter now into the joy of your master.’

May it indeed be so. May he rest in peace – and rise in glory. Amen

Comoros Boat Crash

The following statement was issued on 12 August 2011

The Most Revd Dr Thabo C Makgoba has sent a message expressing his deep shock and sadness upon learning of tragic deaths of more than 50 people and of the many more who were injured when the ship ‘Madjriha’ sank off the coast of the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros on 8th August.

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, he sent a message of condolence and a prayer for strength to Anglican Archbishop Ian Ernest, in whose Province this tragic accident occurred. He also sent his message of condolences and comfort to families, friends and relatives of those who died and of those who were injured, assuring them of the prayerful support of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa during this time of mourning.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Inquiries: Wendy Tokata on 021- 763-1320 (office hours)

Statement on Killings in Norway

This Open Letter was sent to the Christian Council of Norway and the People of Norway on 25 July 2011.

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ and to all the people of Norway, I cannot be silent in the face of the horror and brutality of the bombing in Oslo and mass murder of young people in Norway.

I feel saddened and shocked by this outrageous lack of regard for human life and more angered by stories emerging about the justification for such violence. I trust that firm and tough legal action will be taken against Anders Behring Breivik.

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I send our prayers and condolences to the family members of those who died and those who were injured and to the faithful in Norway at this tragic time. We realise that this eruption of violence has shaken you as a nation to your very core. We hope that you will know that the thoughts and prayers of the world are with you and that you will find consolation and strengthen from this.

For all of us who are people of faith – whatever our tradition – these horrific events must serve as a tragic reminder of our need to continue to witness against intolerance and violence and of our parallel commitment to assist in the building of peace-filled and inclusive communities and nations.

Statement on the death of Kader Asmal

This statement was issued on 23 June 2011.

With the death of Kader Asmal, I have lost a dear friend, a mentor, and a fellow educator – and our country has lost a principled politician, a wise statesman, and a true gentleman. Another of that great generation of struggle leaders has passed on, to receive his just reward.

From his long commitment to law in the service of justice and human rights, through to his resignation over the disbanding of the Scorpions and his outspoken opposition to the draft Protection of Information Bill, he has always pursued, taught and modelled the very highest ethical standards. I shall miss him for his moral stature, his astute mind, his ready wit. I shall miss him for his love of cricket and quality cotton shirts. And I shall miss him for his erudite English and often incomprehensible riddles, with which he so often had us in uproarious laughter – as he did only last December, when we were together at Madiba’s Cape Town home at a dinner to welcome the new Warden of Rhodes House. It is hard to believe we shall not hear that unique voice again.

Lungi joins me in sending our personal condolences to Louise, and to all his family, as well as those of the Diocese of Cape Town and the whole Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Our prayers are with you as you mourn this remarkably accomplished individual, who also always remained such a modest, warm and loving human being. The Bible tells us of Jesus’ words, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted’ for it is in our honest grieving that we open ourselves to receive the tender touch and strengthening of God of compassion. May his love surround you all. And may Kader rest in peace, and rise in glory.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Inquiries: Wendy Tokata on 021- 763-1320 (office hours)

Sermon at the Funeral of Albertina Sisulu

This is the text of the sermon preached at the Funeral of Albertina Sisulu, in Orlando Stadium on 11 June 1011.

1 Pet 1:3-9

'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.'

Matthew 5:3-10

'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

May I speak in the name of God, who comforts those who mourn. Amen.

In his name, and in the precious name of Jesus – who died and rose again, to be the resurrection and the life – I greet you all once again, as we ask God’s comfort and strength upon all who grieve at the death of Mama Albertina Sisulu; even as we gather to celebrate the life of this remarkable woman.

Allow me to acknowledge all the important guests here today – the President of the country, the Deputy President, and all the other important visitors to our country at this time of mourning and yet a time of celebration. I also want to say to the Sisulu family – God is with you at this difficult time.

Within the Catholic and Anglican traditions today we remember St Barnabas – whose name means ‘The Son of Encouragement’, the one who encourages. And most of you will know that tomorrow is Pentecost, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, whose name in the Greek of the New Testament is often translated ‘The Comforter’.

So my message today, my message of consolation, is about Encouragement and Comfort, as we celebrate Mama Albertina Sisulu’s life, and as we mourn her passing – commending her into the eternal arms of the God of love, the God whom she loved. Encouragement and Comfort are God’s words to us, as we heard in today’s two readings; they are the words we have for each other; and, it is fair to say, they are the words that Mama Sisulu speaks to us through her remarkable life.

Let me begin with speaking of encouragement. Many profound tributes have been paid to this outstanding woman, who dedicated her life to the cause of justice, to the vision of a non-racial South Africa, and lived to vote in democratic general elections.

I personally knew her when I was a student at Wits University and stayed in a residence called Glyn Thomas; and we consulted her on various issues before travelling by bus from Johannesburg to Cape Town for the launch of the UDF. We also consulted her around the Release Mandela Campaign and whether it would be at all sensible for us to drive Aubrey Mokoena’s Toyota Skyline – when we didn’t have driver’s licenses! – and when we were going to Brandfort to the take track suits for Tata Madiba. She gave us forthright criticism: but it was criticism we needed, in order to build us up and point us in a better direction.

Sadly today, too often, criticism is labelled anti-revolutionary, and we are discouraged from speaking out. But we should follow Mama Sisulu’s lead, and say what needs to be said – for the good of our leaders and for the good of our country. Mama Sisulu knew the power of Jesus’ words, that ‘the truth will set you free’ (Jn 8:32).

My experience of Ma Sisulu, confirmed also in the tributes, told me that here was a woman of enormous principles, of enormous moral strength. I must say, I am still in awe of her. Albertina Sisulu was a struggle icon from a struggle icon family. She was a fighter for family and women's rights and indeed the rights of all South Africans. In the Bible in Psalm 94:16, the Psalmist wrote ‘Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against the evildoers?’ I am sure that all of us can testify that Mama Sisulu did answer that call.

But we’ve heard that answering that call was not without costs to her and her family. For example, I was very moved to hear the story of how Zwelakhe and Sheila took to shouting Lindiwe’s name outside the prisons in Pretoria and Johannesburg, trying to find where she had been taken following her arrest, with their mother unable to look for her, because she was banned; and I was also moved by how Zwelakhe was arrested for calling his sister’s name outside the Pretoria Women’s Prison.

These stories, dear friends, illustrate the cost to family life and to Albertina, but also show the great love they all shared. Another example was Mama Sisulu’s deep concern for Lindiwe a year after her release – when, still traumatised by her experiences she would sometimes wake in the night, fearing that the police were surrounding the house and back to arrest her. Albertina used to speak of how Lindiwe had been tortured, pulled by her hair and bashed against the wall. I am told she would add, like a typical mother, ‘Lindiwe had long hair.’

Mama Sisulu’s example, dear friends, of dedication to her family and nation, is one we should take as encouragement. We should also be encouraged to follow her wider example of service, not only as a nurse, but in politics too. This we know she shared with her husband Walter – both are to us wonderful examples of selfless service in pursuit of all that is good and all that is right and all that is true and just: and they pursued these values for their own sake, and not because they knew they would get something out of it. Not for them, the pursuit of power for personal gain!

We heard in today’s gospel: ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled’ Jesus said. God’s reward, dear friends, is greater than anything money can buy. This is his encouragement also, to us, if we are tempted to do less than our best. But God’s greater encouragement is this, that, though he fills our hearts, our souls, with a deep abiding sense of satisfaction, when we follow the path to which Jesus Christ calls us in our life on earth – the rewards of heaven are far, far, greater.

Jesus himself, through his resurrection – as our first reading says – has given us ‘a living hope’, a sure and certain hope, of this ‘inheritance that is not perishable’ which we know is there for our dear mother Albertina. She, we can be certain, is one of those for whom St Peter was writing when he said ‘you have had to suffer various trials’. But the genuineness of her faith, the genuineness of her commitment to do what was right in the eyes of God, was found indeed to be more precious than gold – and so we know that she will receive all the blessings that God has in store for her.

Remembering Mama Sisulu and her husband, reminds me, as speaker after speaker in tributes have said, that we are also caught up in the wonder of how they somehow became the great love story of the struggle years. Their love was a testimony that nothing could defeat – not separation, not even incarceration. Such love, such true love, draws strength from the love of God, which, the Bible tells us, nothing can overcome – not hardship, not distress, not even persecution.

As those famous verses from St Paul’s letter to the Romans go on to say, nothing can separate us from God’s love for us shown in Jesus Christ – nothing in this life, and not even death itself. This is the source of God’s encouragement, and of God’s comfort, to all of us. Albertina’s death cannot separate her from God’s love – and her death cannot separate us from God’s love either.

This is the love of the God who desires to take each one of us in his arms, and comfort us, like a mother who comforts her child. For God knows that death is still almost too much for us to bear. Jesus himself wept, as we know, for Lazarus, even though he knew that Lazarus would be returned to life. And we mourn Mama Sisulu’s passing, even though we know she had a long, long life, and achieved so much, of such deep and lasting value. Even though we know that, in Christ, she now knows the new life of heaven – we should not be afraid to grieve and to cry for her.

Jesus tells us this, when he says ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’ And so these are my words to the family -to Max, to Mlungisi, to Zwelakhe, to Lindiwe, to Nonkululeko – and to all the children: Do not be afraid to mourn and to grieve. Grieve what you have lost, in the death of your mother, your mother-in-law, your grandmother, your sister, your aunt, this child of God whom you loved. And grieve the losses of your life with her – the times you lost a mother to imprisonment; the times you lost her, even to the high calling of the struggle and political office.

All the rest of us who are here today, know that we owe you a great debt of gratitude – far greater than we probably can begin to imagine – that you shared your parents with us, and that you in turn have also given us so much. And I want to say - Thank you, thank you, more than we can say.

No doubt there were times when you might have preferred a normal family life, a mother and father at home for their children; a life free of persecution because of all they stood for and fought for. So God’s words of comfort are with you – for those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The promises of heaven are with you, and for all of us. God invites us to come to him, with all our grief, our sorrows, our anger, our disappointments – to mourn what is gone, to mourn what might have been.

In the book of the Revelation to St John, the Bible tells us God will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death and mourning and crying and pain will be no more. But before then, we should not be afraid to weep at all the sadnesses of human life and the losses of death – to bring them to God and to let God surround us with his love, and his comfort. We must also weep, that the ideals of the Freedom Charter have not yet been realised; we must weep too that so many have used political power to enrich themselves and their relatives and friends, sometimes through blatant corruption – and so betray the legacy for which this family has striven.

But the God who comforts is also the God who encourages. He is the one who strengthens us, to say ‘no’ to such temptations. He is the one who helps us to make a fresh start where we need it and to hold fast to all that is good, and right and true. For what better way to celebrate Mama Sisulu than to follow the example that she gave us: to go forward, in the paths of justice, of honesty, of righteousness; the life of dedication, the commitment of a life serving through others.

And now, in our sadness, we nonetheless rejoice to know that she will hear those words of God who promised to all who follow the example and call of Jesus Christ. So we want to say to Mama Sisulu ‘Well done, true and faithful servant – enter now into your Lord’s joy’ (Matt 25:21). May she rest in peace – and rise in glory. Amen.

Statement on the Death of Albertina Sisulu

This statement was issued on 3 June 2011.

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family of Albertina Sisulu, as I thank God for the gift of her remarkable life.

The Psalmist wrote, “Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against the evildoers?” (Ps 94:16) Albertina Sisulu was a struggle icon from a struggle icon family.

She was a fighter for family and women's right and indeed the rights of all disenfranchised.

As we take this time to mourn her death – with her family, our nation and the whole world, we also give thanks for her 92 years of life. Hers was a faithful life of service and dedication and sacrifice – lived for her family and for others, especially for the restoration of dignity of her fellow South Africans. She and Walter, her husband of many years, were a staunch and committed team in all aspects of their lives.

May the comfort and strength of the eternal God, who is love, surround you, her family, as you celebrate her life and mourn her passing.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Inquiries: Wendy Tokata on 021- 763-1320 (office hours)

Letter to the Anglican Primate of Japan

The following letter has been sent to Archbishop Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, Archbishop of the Nippon Sei Ko Kei and Bishop of Hokkaido

My dear Archbishop Nathaniel

I am shocked and deeply saddened by the immense damage caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami and subsequent aftershocks in Japan. I have been stunned by the pictures which are reaching us with the images of human tragedy, displacement and the physical damage to so many structures in many communities.

Very recently I sent our prayers and condolences to Bishop Victoria Matthews of Christchurch, New Zealand, and almost a year ago, I visited Haiti following the massive earthquake there.

Since the earthquake in Haiti we have seen severe climatic changes with resultant flooding, demolition of property and also sadly the tragic loss of human life. We don’t know at this time the extent of loss and damage you are facing, but we are shocked and want to assure you, your parishioners and the Japanese people of our prayers at this time.

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I send our condolences to the families of those who died or are missing and the assurance of our prayerful support in the days ahead. Though we are far away in the southern tip of Africa, we are one in Christ, you remain our neighbour and we are touched by your pain and loss.

While we don’t have certainty about what is causing the severe climatic changes we are witnessing around the world, their impact is devastating to all. As COP 17 prepares to come to Durban, South Africa, later this year, my prayer is that honest and in-depth discussions that lead to binding protocols will be put in place which will contribute to the reversal of climate change and signal a new global effort and commitment to respect the integrity of creation and our environment.

Again, please be assured of our prayers for you and all the people of Japan.

Yours in the service of Christ,

+Thabo Cape Town

Message of Support and Condolences to Anglican Bishop of Christchurch

In a letter today (22 February 2011) to the Rt Revd Victoria Matthews, Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Christchurch in New Zealand, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba wrote the following:

Dear Victoria,

I am shocked and deeply saddened by the immense damage cause by the earthquake in Christchurch. I have been stunned by the photos which are reaching us with the images of human tragedy, displacement and the physical damage to so many structures, including the lovely and historic Christchurch Cathedral.

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I send our condolences to the families of those who died or are missing and the assurance of our prayerful support in the days ahead.

While we don’t have certainty about what is causing the severe climatic changes we are witnessing around the world, their impact is devastating to all. As COP 17 prepares to come to Durban later this year, my prayer is that honest and in depth discussions that lead to binding protocols will be put in place which will contribute to the reversal of climate change and signal a new global effort and commitment to respect the integrity of creation and our environment.

Again, please be assured of our prayers for you and all the people of Christchurch.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; Inquiries: Wendy Tokata on 021- 763-1320 (office hours)

Condolences to N1 crash victims

The following statement was issued on 16 February 2011

I wish to assure the family members of those who died in this tragic accident of my prayers during this most difficult time. I pray that in the midst of their sorrow they may know the love and peace of God offering them some consolation and hope in their lives. I also hope and pray that the communities in which the families reside will surround them with love and support.

I have seen today of the miraculous birth of twins to one of the survivors of the accident. We pray for health of those two infants and for the recovery of their mother from her serious burns.

And for those who survived the accident, I pray for their full recovery. I also give thanks to God for the emergency personnel who were on the scene and those who have ministered to the injured in the several hospitals where they were admitted for care. May God continue to bless and guide them.

+Thabo Cape Town

Statement on Plane Crash over Plettenberg Bay

This statement was issued on 10 February 2011

On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and our Synod of Bishops meeting now, we send our prayers and condolences to the families of those who have died in Tuesday’s plane crash over Plettenberg Bay. The sudden nature of such a tragedy leaves us stunned beyond words.

I am grateful that individuals and organisations have stepped forward to lend whatever assistance they can.

We also ask that God our Creator will continue to uphold all those who are bereaved and shocked by this accident and to give them the spirit of hope and peace as they come to terms with this tragedy.

Note for Editors: The Province of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa comprises Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Inquiries to the Revd Suzanne Peterson on 021- 683874 (office hours) or 072 112 9738

Confirmation at Bishops (Diocesan College)

This sermon was preached at the Confirmation held at Bishops (Diocesan College) on 5 September 2010

Good Morning! Every preacher’s worst fear is to prepare a sermon on an incorrect gospel passage. The gospel passage read this morning from the last chapter and verses of St Matthew is an important gospel, wherein Jesus affirms the priesthood of all believers: that each one of us by virtue of our baptism are called and sent to spread the good and liberating news of God’s Kingdom.

However, I have prepared my sermon this morning using the reading set for today, Lk 14:25-33, which reads: Once, when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them, “Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well. Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.. If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and work out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job. If you don’t, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will laugh at you. ‘This man began to build but can’t finish the job!’ they will say. If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. If he isn’t, he will send messengers to meet the other king, to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off. In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.”

So dear friends, may I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. It is good to be back with you all, again, and especially to be here for my second Confirmation, which are always such glorious celebrations. A new generation stands up to say ‘Yes, I choose to live God’s way’ with all his promises of blessing and hope lying before you. Thank you, principal, headmaster and chaplain; thank you, everyone; for this invitation.

Visitors to Cape Town return home with many remarkable sites etched on their memories. Of course, there is Table Mountain, and the Waterfront, and now our beautiful stadium, as well as so much else. But one of the strangest, and therefore, best remembered, sights, is the unfinished flyovers in the CBD – wide freeways that finish in mid-air. The urban myths are many, as to how and why they came to be like this – I will not attempt to share these. But as I think of them, I find myself questioning whether those who were responsible had read this morning’s gospel! (Luke 14) For whatever the reasons – they started a job and they did not finish it!

Jesus says, we are not to be like that in our Christian commitment. He says – weigh up what is being asked of you; and then decide: either commit yourself wholeheartedly (or – to use the words of the great commandments, ‘with heart and soul and mind and strength’); or, he says, frankly don’t bother! Following Jesus, he says, is not easy. It’s not the soft option. It is for people who are prepared to give their all in striving for the best – and who won’t settle for anything less!

And it is for people who believe that the way to know what is worth striving for, is to live God’s way. I suppose you could say that God our Father is the one parent who really does know best what is good for us! So letting him call the shots is, in my view, the sensible way to go. This is what Jesus means in the first part of our reading – saying that we should love him more than even our nearest and dearest. Indeed, the Greek original puts it very strongly in the idiom of the day, ‘Whoever does not hate his father and mother … ' and so on.

Of course, there are days in every teenager’s life when parents are entirely maddening! But Jesus has something else in mind. For he expects us to care for others around us with responsibility and commitment – to love our neighbours as ourselves, no less. This is an essential part of the life of service, to which, together with worship and witness, those who are being confirmed pledge themselves today.

By putting Jesus first, we are saying that we want God’s best not only for ourselves, but for those around us. By following Jesus’ example, by upholding Jesus’ standards, we are in effect insisting on the finest example, the highest standards – undiluted excellence, and nothing less – for ourselves, for our families, our friends, and those around us in school, at work, in our communities, and our country.

Bishops boys have tremendous opportunities. Some of you will go on to become leaders in your chosen fields. Yet ALL of you will have significant influence on others – the way you choose to live your lives will impact on everyone you meet. So the question is, what impact do you choose to have? Are you committed to being part of the answer, part of the solution? Because, if not, then you run a high risk of being part of the problem!

Being part of the solution does not mean you have to be powerful and successful in the eyes of contemporary society – which puts too much store on status, wealth and fame. Being part of the solution means that wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, you do the right thing: living with honesty and truthfulness; upholding the law (and that even means observing the speed limits!); promoting high standards and best practice, in whatever is your walk of life.

It means signing up for the sort of commitment that the Lead-SA challenge, being promoted in the media, is all about. It is being generous to others, especially those with greater need, or lesser opportunities. It is actively striving for the best for our nation as a whole, and not pursuing blatant self-interest no matter at whose expense.

And at this point, I want to pay tribute to Mark Hanley. Powerful, rich or famous? These are generally not the fate of teachers! But significant? Oh yes – significant far, far beyond our ability to measure – in the impact his life has had upon generations of boys. His leadership of ‘The Epic’ is one area where we shall especially remember him, and give thanks for his life. It has indeed been one of godly service: wanting the best for others; striving to bring out the best in others; working to lay foundations in others, so that, beyond the classroom, beyond matric, and into the world, you would know how to look beneath the surface; beyond the superficial; and grasp what matters; and go on reaching for the best throughout your lives.

You could say that he loved you best, through wanting the best for you. I am sure that God’s words to him are ‘well done, good and faithful servant’. Today our love and our prayers are with Sally, his family, and all who loved him and mourn his death. We should not be afraid to weep, grieve and to mourn. For Jesus said ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ So, in our sorrow and grieving, we thank God for Mark Hanley, and we pledge to honour him especially in this year’s Epic. In what the Epic stands for – in the way it challenges us to learn to see with fresh eyes, what is the right thing to do, and what it means to do it well – we find an echo of Jesus’ challenge.

‘Are you up for the Epic?’ Grade 10s are asked. ‘Are you up for following me?’ the confirmands are asked by Jesus. ‘Have you got what it takes, to say yes, and to see it through, for the rest of your lives?’

Well, we might at this point say to Jesus, it is all very well calculating the cost of building a tower, or indeed a flyover. But we do not know what the cost of following Jesus is going to be! So how can we calculate whether we can afford it! How do you know now, what Jesus is going to ask of you, and whether you will be able to meet the cost? Indeed, at the end of the reading, Jesus said that if you follow him, it will cost you everything you have, and you must be prepared to give it all up! That makes it sound a very bad deal!

But God is no businessman – he does not deal with us according to the strict provisions of contract law. He deals with us on the basis of infinite love and generosity! For although today in confirmation, Jesus asks us to say Yes to him – yes to living life his way; yes to letting him provide the answers to the decisions we have to take; yes to a life of witness, worship and service – today in confirmation, Jesus, and his Father in Heaven, with the Holy Spirit, say their Yes in return.

Yes, says Jesus – by the power of the Spirit, I will be with you in everything. I will be your companion on life’s journey. I will be the listening ear. I will be there for you to lean on – even a shoulder to cry on when you need it. I do not promise that everything will go just the way you’d like it to – but I guarantee it will be a journey worth taking, a life worth living, of deep satisfaction and meaning; of significance not only for this life, but for all eternity. And when I ask something hard of you, says Jesus, I will give you the strength, I will give you the resources you need. I’ll never ask you to do something that is beyond you.

And when there are times when we mess up – as there inevitably are, in all of our lives, no matter how old we get, no matter whether we are Archbishops or not – Jesus is there for us. No matter how often we fall, his patience is infinite – and when we are down, he stretches out his hand to us and waits, so that when we are ready to take it again, he will help us to our feet, help us brush off the dust, help us refocus on the path, help us take the next steps. And no matter what, he will never leave us to cope alone. He is ready to give us a second chance – an amazing God indeed!

So when it comes to counting the cost, I think the clearest picture is this – whatever life demands of you, God will put his hands out to you, ready to embrace you back home. We offer him all that we are – and he gives back everything we need – and more besides, because he prefers limitless generosity to balancing the bottom line. Therefore, when we do our calculations, the answer is clear – we can dare to follow Jesus, we can dare to take up his challenge, we can dare to make the promises that are asked of us in confirmation, because he is the one who will make it possible to keep these promises.

So with joy and confidence, let us celebrate with the candidates today, who are now about to make their promises, and embark on a new journey, filled with all the blessings of God. Amen

Sermon at the Site of the Minibus/Train Crash in Blackheath

This is the sermon preached at the site of the crash, on Sunday 29 August 2010

May I speak in the name of God our Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

Dear friends, there are times and places where it seems that no words, no actions, are ever going to be adequate. Today, in this place, is one of these occasions. We do not know what to do, we do not know what to say – but we come here, because we must.

We come here to honour those who died. We come here to weep with those who weep, to mourn with those who mourn, to offer what love and comfort and strength we can – even as we recognise how inadequate this is. We come here, faced with the overwhelming mysteries of life and death, that are beyond our ability fully to comprehend. We come here feeling that we are standing on holy ground, because here young, beautiful lives – lives full of hope and promise – were needlessly cut short. We come here, and stand before God, with our questions, our grief, our anger, our numbness, our disbelief that something so tragic could actually happen.

We come because we know the truth of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah’ says the Lord, ‘lamentation and bitter weeping: Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children because they are no more’ (Jer 31:15). Rachel was the mother of the nation – her inconsolable weeping was the weeping of every mother, every father, every grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, cousin, friend, who had lost a child they loved. Her weeping is the weeping of every person in this country whose heart has been touched by this week’s tragedy.

We stand before God and we weep. And, just as the Lord heard the voice of Rachel, we know he hears our voices too. Our voice is heard by our Father in heaven, who watched as his own son died on the cross. Our voice is heard by Jesus, who wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus; and who faced death so we need not face it alone; and so that the terrible doorway of death could become the gateway to life beyond. Our voice is heard by the Holy Spirit, who prays within us in sighs and groans, when our own words fail us. We have a God who listens, who hears, who knows what it is to wrestle with the impossible pains of death and bereavement.

The Bible promises that one day, in heaven, he will wipe away our tears – but not yet. For now, for us here on earth, it is Jesus’ words of the Sermon on the Mount, that we must hear: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’ God does not belittle the enormity of this tragedy. He does not ask us to pretend that it is all for the best, when inside our sore hearts are crying out. ‘Weep’ says God. ‘Mourn’ says God. ‘Be honest about your pain, your loss, your sorrow, your sadness. Come to me with your grief, and even the bitterness and anger in your hearts.’ For it is as we open ourselves up to these emotions within us, that we open ourselves up to God – to receive his strength, his comfort – and, in due time, his healing and his encouragement to go on, and go forward. He says to us that we need to take our mourning seriously – to acknowledge how much we loved, to acknowledge how much we have lost.

For the gift of life is precious – it is God’s miracle. And he shares our distress that these lives were lost in such a tragic way. So our hearts go out to all of you who have lost a child. With sadness we remember each one: Liezel, Nadine, Michaelin, Jody, Cody, Jason, Reece, Nolan, Jean Pierre and Jade. We commend each one into God’s eternal care. We ask him to enfold them in his arms of love, and to give them his everlasting peace and joy. We pray also for their families, their friends, and all who mourn their deaths. For you, we ask for God’s comfort and strength to surround you and uphold you.

We pray for the other children who were in the crash: Jamie-Lee, Emilio, Kyle, and Luciano. We pray for their physical recovery – and for their emotional recovery from the trauma they have experienced. We pray too for everyone else who was caught up in the crash – especially the train driver, who was powerless to stop the collision.

And we pray for our own nation – we weep as Rachel wept, that we are a country where such a thing can happen: because too many of us take needless risks; because too many of us think we know better than the rules of the road; because too many of us put ourselves first, and fail to consider others. So today, we pray for justice to be done – for those who bear responsibility to face the consequences of their actions: and if this means prosecution and sentencing of the driver, then so be it. We pray with him, we pray with his family – but we must let the law take its course.

And we also ask for God to have mercy on South Africa – and to give all of us the grace, the courage, the commitment, to learn from this tragedy; to change our ways; to become a nation of people who care for one another; who treat every human person with respect; who act with compassion; who are part of the solutions, not part of the problems of our lives; and who understand the ethos of serving others, whether in our attitudes and manners, or in our professional lives as public servants.

In this light, we thank God for those doctors and nurses, the hospital staff and emergency services, who, despite struggling for a fair wage, were nonetheless at their posts and who treated the injured. And we thank God for the educators and school staff, who equally strive for a just salary, yet were nonetheless in the schools, supporting the class-mates of those who were killed and injured.

Therefore I can only urge all others in the public sector across the country to follow their example – to return to work, even as you continue to argue for equitable pay, and to ensure that necessary health services, necessary educational services, are sustained. No individual’s life or health, no young person’s future, should be put in jeopardy – no matter how just the pay dispute.

Let me also say thank you today to everyone who has come to show support, or who has sent messages of condolence. We thank Pastor Barend, and the other clergy and faith leaders for their supportive presence; as well as Minister Trevor Manuel, Mayor Dan Plato, and Premier Helen Zille. My prayer is that the presence of everyone here today, and the messages you bring, will be a source of comfort and strength to the bereaved and the wider community as you mourn. I pray that this will help ease the pain and assist the family members and friends to feel the transforming love and comfort of Jesus Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear people of God, let me return to last Wednesday’s tragic events, and how we go forward from here. Earlier I quoted words from the prophet Jeremiah, of Rachel and her inconsolable weeping. Yet one day, weeping must come to an end. God’s promise is for strength to go forward. The very next verse in the Bible says this: ‘Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears … for there is hope for your future, says the Lord.’

And so, even in the depths of our grief, we entrust ourselves to the Lord, and ask him to let the light of hope shine in our lives. Today it may be little more than a small candle, shining in great darkness. But the promise of God is that the darkness can never put it out. May he shine in your hearts and mine, today, tomorrow and always, and may we dare to be his lights in our world. Amen.

Message on the Monsoon Flooding in Pakistan

On 5 August, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba, sent the following message to the leaders of the Church in Pakistan, following the severe flooding and loss of life.

To: The Rt Revd Samuel Azariah, Moderator of the Church of Pakistan and the Rt Revd Humphrey Peters, Bishop of Peshawar

Dear Bishop Samuel, dear Bishop Humphrey

I am writing to assure you of my prayers, and those of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa for you and for the people of Pakistan who are affected by the terrible floods. None of us who see pictures of the devastation on our television screens and in our newspapers can fail to be deeply touched by the scale of the human tragedy that is unfolding, particularly in the region of Peshawar. Our hearts go out to you, and to all who are affected, and we especially remember those who have died and hold the bereaved and injured in our thoughts and prayers.

We ask that you will receive God's comfort and strength at this testing time, along with whatever tangible support you need. Through his inexhaustible grace, may you also find yourselves effective channels of the good news of his redemptive hope for the communities around you. My Province will do what we can to support your emergency relief and rescue programme, and I am urging people to make donations through our own disaster fund.

May Jesus Christ, who shared in the trials of our humanity so we might share in the glories of his resurrection, surround you all with the knowledge of his life-giving presence,

Yours in the service of Christ

+Thabo Cape Town

Detail for donations:

Account name: CPSA Disaster Relief Fund

Bank: Standard Bank of SA Ltd

Branch: Cape Town

Branch IBT Code: 02 0009

Account number: 07 007 8394