Archbishop appeals for prayers for refugees after church attack

(Photo: CMM)

Archbishop Thabo today appealed for prayers for asylum seekers and refugees after being attacked by some of those who have taken refuge in Cape Town's Central Methodist Mission (CMM).

“The key is to focus on their plight and how South Africa can be more welcoming,” he said in a comment released after visiting the mission's church on Greenmarket Square.

The Revd Chris Nissen of the South African Human Rights Commission told the Mail & Guardian that some refugees had attacked him, a Congolese pastor and Archbishop Thabo. They had hit the archbishop and “threw bottles at him.”

The archbishop confirmed that he had been hit on the forehead. He told the Mail & Guardian, “We were clobbered... I have a bump on my head, but I’ll be alright...

“If I were to put on my psychologist's hat, I would describe this as termination anxiety. We were delivering the hard truth. Things they didn’t want to hear. So they expressed some level of anger,” he added.

The newspaper's report said the attack followed a reportback on options available to those who had occupied the church, which fell short of what they had been demanding.

The Revd Alan Storey of the CMM said in a report on the mission's website that the group which met the refugees included the Human Rights Commission, the Africa Diaspora Forum, More than Peace, Archbishop Thabo and pastors to the refugee community.

“The hope was to inform everyone of the discussions that had taken place over the last week that had been facilitated by the South African Human Rights Commission as well for me to request that people begin to vacate the Sanctuary.

“The chair of the Human Rights Commission and myself were able to speak to everyone. But when one of the Pastors (known to the refugees) tried to speak – some people refused to allow him to do so and thereafter the Pastor and other members of the above-mentioned group were assaulted.

“A semblance of calm was restored with the help of some refugee leaders and many of the refugees intervening to protect people. Thereafter we were able to get members of the group out of the sanctuary into safety. It is very concerning that three people of this group were injured while everyone else is obviously in shock.

“The whole situation is very sad and troubling, not only because of where it took place or who was hurt, but because any violence anywhere against anymore is self-defeating. Violence does not solve anything. It just causes more hurt and more problems.”

Archbishop Thabo prays for foreign nationals

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba lit a candle and prayed for foreign nationals under attack in South Africa, at the beginning of a service in Turffontein, Johannesburg, on Saturday February 25.

What does 'gleaning' mean today? - Blogging from ACC-16

At our Tuesday Bible study, on Ruth chapter 2, we spent time looking at “gleaning” and the modern-day equivalents of collecting and using the leftover grain after the harvest. We discussed church feeding schemes, government social grants, cooperative social responsibility and city planning that is sensitive to parks and open spaces. Without discounting any of these, we considered how such schemes can be corrupted.

ACSA at ACC-16: Louisa Mojela, Abp Thabo, Abp Welby, Jerome Francis

In following the return of Ruth and Naomi to Naomi's homeland, we also discussed and shared the experiences of “returnees” from exile, or from failed ventures, and how it is often difficult emotionally, spiritually and psychologically to return and start life all over again.

In other sessions we received messages from the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and also met in small groups around our tables.

What I took away from the Pontifical Council's message is that living in communion is about care and concern for the well being of each other: that there is no such thing as the Anglican Communion for Anglicans; we all belong to Christ by virtue of our baptism and our decisions or lack thereof have broader consequences for all.

The ACC's financial report reminded me that mission and belonging is costly, that the staff reports I applauded must be funded and that the Communion and provinces, as well as dioceses and parishes, need to prioritise. The Compass Rose Society, the international group of Anglicans who help the Communion, needs to be complimented for its financial support of the Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury's ministry and, as some of you know, our E-Reader project and the Diocese of the Highveld. Those from our Province who can join the Compass Rose Society, please do so and help our beloved Communion. We have our own financial challenges but I invite you also to contribute to something bigger than ourselves.

The small groups gathered for further discussion of the theme of ACC-16, “intentional discipleship”. Based on the staff reports, the groups are generating resolutions for possible adoption next week.

After the last Lambeth Conference's group photo, which involves hundreds of participants, the photos we took here – of the whole ACC-16 group, and of each Province's reps with Archbishop Justin – were no longer daunting, and went smoothly.

After a glitch – as a result of me getting times wrong after a siesta! – the ACSA team had time with South Africa's High Commissioner in Zambia, Ms Sikose Mji, and she will take me on Friday to the graves of South African exiles, for which I am grateful.

Last night we were hosted by parishes in the Diocese of Lusaka, joined by churchwardens of the parishes around the diocese. We were treated to local food, such as mopani worm, cassava, morogo, pap, fish heads and many other delicacies. It was a relaxed evening, with a choir entertaining us and a few mozzies feasting on my legs.

As I end this reflection, the fate of the miners trapped at Lily Mine in Mpumalanga is piercing my heart. I pray that by God's grace they, just like the miners trapped in Chile some years ago, might still be alive. I am not only lamenting them, but writing to those on my staff who handle public policy, the media and my socio-economic vocation, to assist me in taking this up at the highest possible level. Finally, I focus on the murder on the Wild Coast of Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Rhadebe, the activist who was trying to stop the mining of titanium on the coastal dunes at Xolobeni. May God's abundant mercy and care continue to protect us even as we care for his earth and each other.

Prayer for Refugees and Migrants - by Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

On the feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2015

O God, give us tender hearts and restless minds,

to pray and act with open hearts and discerning minds.

O Christ, move us to ask profound questions,

about the plight of your people.

You know each one of them by name,

they are all yours.

Our hearts are torn Lord, because

some are running from fighting and violence,

some are running from hunger,

some are running from political persecution.

Why do you seem far off from them?

Holy Spirit of God,

help us to pray and act for refugees and migrants everywhere.

You know each of their situations,

whether forced to flee their homelands,

or displaced within the countries of their birth,

You care equally for every one of them,

whether from Syria or South Sudan,

Afghanistan or Zimbabwe,

Eritrea or Nigeria,

Burundi or the Central African Republic

You call upon us to extend Your embrace to all people,

Guide us, Lord, in opening ourselves to their plight in practical ways,

without fear or prejudice.

For your tender mercy's sake.

Amen

[UPDATED] Sermon at Midnight Mass, George's Cathedral, Cape Town, December 25, 2013

Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14 and Luke 2:1-20

May I speak in the name of God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of endless Peace, whose authority grows continually in His world! Amen.

What a joy and privilege it is to be here and share this Christmas Eve service with you all! Thanks to the Dean and his staff, all who make our fellowship and worship in this Cathedral Church such a great occasion for peace and joy! Congratulations too, Mr Dean and Bonita, on your 29th wedding anniversary.

We join you in thanking God for the gift and sacrament of marriage and of family life, all the more so today, for tonight we ponder on the news of the holy family starting their family life with a child born in a manger.

Wow, what an end to the year – especially with regard to the passing on of Madiba our icon. Let us be silent for a while as we further acknowledge the 9th day since his burial in Qunu and especially as we lift Ma Graca Machel and Madiba’s broader family in our prayers. [Silence]

Let me continue, for in the midst of death we have life in Jesus Christ our Lord and believe that both the living and the dead are in his hands, and are comforted with these words.

So, a happy and blessed Christmas to all of you who are present in this service, for you too are part of the broader family of God through the birth of Jesus Christ, which we are celebrating tonight. To our regular cathedral family members – even if for some, “regular” means attending midnight Mass regularly every year – welcome, we appreciate your presence tonight.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, now Lord Rowan Williams, used to tell a story which I am paraphrasing – and which my wife says I have told you too many times. Rowan would say, if someone rushed hurriedly into this cathedral, and yelled “Shut the door, run for cover, or dash out," very few would remain seated.

Today’s Gospel passage speaks into this situation, to our fear of the unknown, or a fear of the known which we have kept closely guarded. The Lucan gospel announces boldly tonight: "Do not be afraid."

In modern IT language - which of course is not apt theological language, but as an archbishop in a family raising two teenagers at the moment, I can use colloquial language - God is declaring, through his billboard, or his App, for the the whole world to see and hear, "I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people” – not just some people.

God declares, in the company of his heavenly host that he has seen in our world religion being politicised and the persecution of Christians globally escalated;

He has smelt the rot and pain of inequality in our midst and the resultant humiliation and exclusion of many from the economic order in his world of plenty;

God declares that he has sensed our anxiety and fear, our shame and disgrace when we cannot afford a maternity ward and have to give birth in a shack or a taxi after being sent off home from a local clinic;

God puts his feelings on his sleeve and opens up his heart, and his heart is as heavy and broken as are ours by our personal struggles and the global systemic problems of this mortal life. God sends us his heavenly host to call us back from our straying away from what creation was intended to be; to unveil a road back home.

Throughout our lessons, the consistent theme for today is: I am intervening, I am not an aloof God who is untouchable, distant and unresponsive to your longing.

As the Psalmist says elsewhere in the Bible, God says to us, "I will unloose your bonds." Today's passage from Isaiah puts this declaration succinctly, God declares: I will break the bar across your shoulder, lift your burdens and cast off darkness and fear and illumine you with Christ our light!

Christmas can thus be understood as the birth of good news. It is appropriately celebrated when we proclaim, in words and action, this good news, that God who is love, has pitched his shack in our midst for all people and his creation.

God loved us so much that his son, Jesus Christ, is born of human flesh and blood and encounters the joys and also the angst of human life.

In entering this world of time and space, he holds before us a mirror so that we catch a glimpse of both the divine and a true and full humanity. His birth as one of us transforms and offers us an opportunity to be moulded into the image of his holiness.

That is why we have reason to celebrate this day, this good news, even if life has dealt us a blow in one way or the other in human terms.

God, in this birth that we are celebrating tonight, declares that we can never be alone in our anguish or want, nor will we be left to our own devices, to discriminate against or to lord over the other, until we are wiped off the face of this earth. He is Emmanuel. He is with us. He is the one to whom we sing throughout Advent, “O come, o come Emmanuel!” and frees us from all that keeps us in captivity. In Christmas it is as if he says, "I am he! I am cometh!"

How should we respond to this Revelation, to this good news? Luke's passage from today gives us a way: the heavenly host responded to the news by breaking into worship and praise, saying (Luke 2:12 ff), “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!" The shepherds too in (Luke 2:20) “returned, glorifying and praising God..."

Our faith response to this good news of great joy should thus be to worship God, as we are doing right now, with awe, joy and reverence. In fact our ACSA vision statement has as one of its priorities “transformative worship”.

Yes, our faith response should be to worship God and use liturgies, hymns and prayers that transcend our everyday-ness into a realm in which God in Jesus Christ, through the quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit, reigns and utters the words, “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of your liberation.”

The shepherds in our Gospel passage (Luke 2:17), we are told, "Made known (proclaimed) what they had been told and seen, about this child.”

We too are urged to proclaim anew and afresh, in our time and context for all to hear, this good news, this loving and saving act of God in Jesus Christ. This good news cannot be for private consumption only. We need to go out and tell, as we sing occasionally in this cathedral at the top of our voices, the good news that God's kingdom has come!!!

So first, let us in unison create melody as we sing to God, joining the beautiful voices of our choir and the organ accompaniment - as well as those who have worshipped here and are now at rest, and indeed the heavenly host, angels and shepherds - in thanksgiving and praise.

We cannot end here in this safe worship space, we can always start here, old or young, healthy or sickly, poor or rich, and by word as in the letter to Titus, we should also clothe ourselves with all that is more loving and peace-giving towards humanity and the whole of creation. We should, as I have said in the secular media, "peel off those scales in our lives that are old, cynical, tired and negative," and even fearful, and be ready to be light-bearers in God's broken but hopeful world.

In our Gospel reading tonight, the shepherds never sought permission from Emperor Augustus or Governor Quirinius to tell the good news, nor should we in times such as these. The shepherds became new persons, transformed and touched by the news and sight of Jesus Christ.

We too are constantly touched by the mystery of his birth each time we eat his bread and drink his cup until he manifests himself again. So like the shepherds, let this transformative encounter with Jesus Christ in Word, Worship and Sacrament, "compel you to go out and tell the good news."

Go and proclaim the demands for peace with justice and uphold these demands in your lives and community; go and proclaim in loving service the demands for equality, fairness and dignity for all, where the “emperors and governors” in church or state, in business or labour, are corrupt and abusing their power instead of serving God in his people.

As those whose plight God has seen and heard, and also as those fed by the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour, as those who are hearers of the good news tonight, and as those who are empowered for witness and service, we are sent to go and ask God's transformative questions and demand answers for God's sake in his created world.

What shall we ask?

Ask, who is benefitting from the new conflict in South Sudan, from the discord in the Central African Republic, from the killings of Syria, the bombings in Egypt, the xenophobic violence inflicted on economic refugees in our country and continent?

Ask deeper and piercing questions, without fear: about the extent and level of poverty, militarisation and corruption – for when you encounter Jesus Christ, the Comforter, Prince of Peace, the liberator who transforms us, you can never be superficial, nor be the same again.

My message to you is our gift on this special birthday, that we are all being sent to go out then and plead for the cause of the poor, of those without proper sanitation, of those learning in mud schools, the cause of the abused and those affected and infected by HIV and AIDS; for those suffering the pain and humiliation of economic inequality, or those exploited by economic practices. We have to ask, who are the investors and shareholders in exploitative companies, especially in the extractive industries, following the Marikana massacre?

Do not be afraid, for the zeal of the Lord will do this. Good news indeed! You are not alone and so go out, proclaim this celebration of God's utter and unreserved self-giving, the divine Word, mysteriously both human and divine, as the Word transforms your fears and makes you ready to be his salt and light in the here and now.

This birthday gift is a God who transforms us by his presence in our midst and calls us to imitate his holiness.

So let me end by going back to where I started:

Do not be afraid, for the zeal of the Lord will do this; it will enable you to speak for those like the holy family upon whom we are pondering tonight; for those who have no homes, those whose tin and plastic shacks have burnt down today in Valhalla Park, Cape Town, or those who have failed to pay their mortgage instalments and whose only homes the banks have repossessed.

May renewed courage be your gift and special grace this Christmas.

May you yearn earnestly for justice and peace, holiness of life and joy, as you bring his light to this created world.

Finally, may His conception, birth, life, teaching, passion, death, resurrection and ascension transform you and us this day and for evermore.

Amen

+Thabo Cape Town

This text has been updated since first published to reflect the sermon as preached, with minor changes for readability in written form.