Archbishop's Message to Confirmation Candidates at Anglican Schools

A sermon preached at a Combined Confirmation for Anglican Schools at Bishops Memorial Chapel, Cape Town, 7 September 2014:

Readings: 1 Kings 2:1-4

When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’

Ephesians 6:10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.
Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Mark 7:1-23

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)— then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

May I speak in the name of God, who calls us all to a life of worship, witness and service.  Amen.

I acknowledge the presence of all the heads of schools and chaplains here this morning. A special thanks to Mr Guy Pearson, head of Bishops, and the chaplain, the Revd Terry Wilkie, for hosting us. It is as always a joy for me to come to Bishops for confirmations.

May I welcome you all here today – most especially all who are being confirmed today; but also to parents and guardians; families and friends; as well as educators, learners and the wider communities of these three great Anglican schools, Bishops, Herschel, St Cyprian’s and St George’s Grammar.  It is a joy to have you all here.

This week on the 1st September, Anglicans in Southern Africa celebrated the life and ministry of Robert Gray – the first Bishop of Cape Town. As I follow in his footsteps I continually thank God for the great foundations he laid, in so many areas of life, and from which we continue to benefit. When he arrived in Cape Town in 1848, he set himself three tasks: to preach the gospel, build churches, and plant clergy. Well, he did all these, and far more besides.

Education was one of his great priorities – with both Bishops and St Cyprian’s owing their establishment to him, and Herschel and St George's Grammar following in the same strong tradition of Anglican commitment to excellence in education. So we thank God for Bishop Robert Gray and for the lessons we learn from his life of witness.

To all of you who are to be confirmed today, I encourage you to let your confirmation be the foundation of your future as you journey in life and follow in the traditions laid by Bishop Robert Gray. One can imply such a foundation to be a lifestyle of worship, witness and service as God invites us to embark on the journey of life.

Confirmation is a rite of passage on our Christian journey and it is like receiving a passport, so you are ready for travel, ready for adventure! You are responding, saying, ‘Yes, I am ready for the path ahead – and my allegiance is to God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.’

Confirmation is not the end of a process – it doesn’t mean that you have "arrived"; that you have somehow become "fully a Christian" and can now put your feet up and relax and wait for heaven! Not at all!

From today onwards, you are making your choice to follow God’s way which is the best way for yourselves. Take responsibility for your own life, for your choices about how you will live, what you will do and where your life will take you. We are on a journey of discovery, trying to explore:  What do I want to do with life?  Who am I really?  How shall I become that person?

Tap into the yearning that God has placed deep inside of you:  a yearning to live an authentic life, a meaningful life; a desire to "be real", to be "connected".

Our first reading is about the advice King David – very old, about to die – gave to his son Solomon, on how to live well. "Follow God’s commands, obey him, and you will prosper in all you do," he said. Following God, and the prosperity God offers, are a far less superficial, a far more profound way of living. This is what our Gospel reading is all about. Jesus taught that it is what is inside us which makes us who we really are. Our attitudes, our thoughts, our dreams, our imagination – these are what shape our words, our actions, and the sort of person we become.

One may ask the question. Now how do we get it right? What if we make the wrong choices?
We are to be in regular Christian training which will help us live a life of worship, witness and service, to which you pledge yourselves today.

Worship means coming regularly to chapel or Church:

• to learn about God’s amazing love, and experience it for yourself;  
• to hear Scripture read and explained, so you can grow in knowledge of God and of how to live the Christian life 
• to encounter the holy mystery of God’s presence; and be fed, and strengthened, in the deepest core of your being, by receiving the body and blood of Christ.

This also means regularly reading your Bible for yourself – preferably daily. Regular prayer is keeping in touch with God, by speaking to him about all that we are doing in our lives; and being open to learn from him.

It is also good to spend a little time each day, just being quiet before God. If we just calm down, and wait, and tell him we are listening, often an idea will come into our heads – often a solution to a problem or sense of encouragement – and because it connects so deeply with us, we learn to recognise this is God’s way of speaking to us.

We need God’s guidance so that we can live the lives of witness and service. A witness is someone who gives evidence about what they have seen, about what they know. Our lives – through our words, actions, and attitudes – should give evidence that we follow the most wonderful and amazing God of love, who created the whole universe, and who cares for us more than we can ever imagine, and who wants to lead us to be the best we can be!

The closer we come to God, the more clearly our lives will reflect him, as true witnesses. Service is about demonstrating God’s love and care in very practical ways. Some of us are called to do this through ordination and special ministries. But actually, all of us are called to serve others, in every part of life – by being loving and honest and generous-hearted, in all our dealings with other people.

This is true of our relationships in the home; in relationships in the church, the neighbourhood and the community. It should also be true of our work relationships – being honest, fair, and trustworthy, with our colleagues and with those with whom we do business, as well as with our employees. There is no room for corruption, and no room for cutting corners, or cheating in any way.

And all of us can strive to bring greater social justice: we can throw our weight behind initiatives that promote fairness and the good of all.  Perhaps we are called to do something particular – and I know your schools have various programmes through which you can develop community involvement.

In Dr. Sylvia Rimm's book See Jane Win, which reports on research on the success of over 1,000 women, she says:

"Expect the best from all children, including post-high school education.
- Encourage the exhilaration of taking risk...    
- Learn from the success of others.
- Don’t let birth order get in the way of giving our daughters leadership opportunities and responsibilities.                                              
- Spread the wealth resources you have.
- Set a good example.”

Mark Shuttleworth is the first African to travel to space and he is from Diocesan College. Jonathan Shapiro, the South African cartoonist is from St George’s Grammar. These are but some of the successful people of our schools who have made a difference.

Around the world, let's be conscious of the situations in which others live. There are the continuing senseless killing and violence in Gaza. There are tensions in the Ukraine. We continue to say ‘Bring back our girls’ kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria. And with the Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa, let us pray for God’s blessing and healing of those afflicted by Ebola, which has killed almost 2,000 people in Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Also, in the year when we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, we need to find innovations and new applications to stop war in the future.

As you contemplate God's call to you, the key question is: What one action inspired by one value, constitutional and biblical, will you pursue to make your world safe and equal after your confirmation? I pledge to be a disruptive leader as I advocate for a renaissance of trust in order to build a just and equal world. What about you?

Pray that God will help us discover what his particular call is to each one of us, as we take time to walk closely with him and listen to what he has in store for us. Like sport and study and music and everything else worthwhile, it takes effort to get to do that effortlessly.

Our second reading tells us something of what that effort looks like. It tells us to develop good habits that shape our imaginations, attitudes, thoughts, dreams – it tells us to set our hearts and minds on the good things of God. Then they become foundational for us – like a soldier’s armour and equipment, says St Paul. Or we might say like the tools in a toolbox; like the ingredients for the recipes from which our lives feed and we feed others; or like the software on which we run, like God’s ‘apps’ for living.

Base your lives on truth, on love, on faith, on trust – and do it with prayer and reading the Bible.
Get into the habit of having a conversation with God about all you do – it is better than talking to yourself inside your head!

Focus on the good stuff.  That’s God’s message.If we let problems shape our lives, we will always be dragged down. If we focus on all that is best, it will shape our lives. So find time in your life to converse with God.

Dear confirmation candidates, may God give you the gifts of the Holy Spirit as I lay my hands upon you. May you walk before God in faithfulness with all your heart and with all their soul, as you keep on journeying.

May you grow in faith and in the love of God, as you obey his commandments to be faithful servants within his church and in his world, the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Sermon Preached at the Church of St John, Bellville South

The text of a sermon preached at the Church of St John, Bellville South, on the occasion of its Sesquicentennial Anniversary and Festival Service. During the sermon, the Archbishop repeated his call on South Africans to vote on May 7, and expressed concern at the abduction of schoolgirls in Nigeria:

Isaiah 6:1-8; Ps 97; 1 Jn 1; Jn 21:20-24

I greet you all in the name of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen. It is also still appropriate, this being Eastertide, to say “Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! Alleluia!!”

It is an honour and a privilege to have been asked to share with you the Word of God for this historic milestone in the life and witness and ministry of the parish of St John. Thank you to Father Fred, Dorothea and the parish leadership for inviting me. Thanks to Bishop Hess and Myfawny also for welcoming us, Lungi and my staff present this morning in your diocese.

If I want to dodge taking responsibility for my failings, I can say blame them – warts and all – on Fred and Dorothea, who helped to guide my formation and foundation, theologically and spiritually. Father Fred, for those who don’t know, taught me New Testament and Spirituality at St Paul’s College as a raw first year student, still full of Science theories from University.

Once again, thank you Father Fred for who you are and what you bring into this parish, diocese and our church. Your close, deep connection with God and with others, as well as with nature, maintained by rhythmic and regular retreats, silences, reading and teaching of the mystics and theology, ignited in me, those 27 years ago, an insatiable quest; a holy longing for seeking always to expose my inner life to God’s Holy Spirit. Strengthened in this way, I am able to confront the external world; to be a witness of God in his world and then to return to the inner world, not to run away but to expose it further to God’s love and lavishing – or as I said on one occasion, to be “disinfected by God”.

Today, I join with you in thanking not only Father Fred but in thanking God for all those faithful clergy and people who have served within your church and your community through these 150 years. Indeed, I congratulate the parish for 150 years of unceasing prayer, witness and service. It has not always been easy but it has been a time of continual and often radical change. For example the statement made by the vestry of the Church of the Transfiguration, where you were birthed, at their meeting in Easter 1957, bears testimony to this where it reads, and I quote: “That the vestry meeting fearlessly bears witness that we do not accept racial discrimination in the churches of our parish…”

However, as the theme for your sesquicentennial patronal festival attests, God has been faithful and has seen you through the ups and downs of life and will continue to strengthen and encourage you in all the changes and challenges that lie ahead. Today’s celebration is thus also a recommitment of ourselves to God’s mission and to extend God’s love to all of creation.

At the beginning of this homily I read “The Lord gave the Word,” and you responded “and great was the company of preachers.”

Sandra further read: “Grant Lord, that those who preach in this place may proclaim the crucified and risen Christ and interpret your word with sensitivity and insight.”

And we responded: “Enable us to hear that word inwardly and to respond to it generously in all our lives, this we ask in name of Jesus Christ, your living word. AMEN.”

How do we do that? And how do we, like the vestry of the Parish of the Transfiguration in 1957, not only say these words with our lips but also enact them through the service of our lives as “we fearlessly bear witness that we do not accept discrimination” in all its forms?

Staying with your theme for the celebrations: How do we – like those who have come before us – bear witness in our time? How do we bear witness to God’s steadfast love and goodness and our life together as God’s people in the here and now? Is this possible or is it desirable? If so, why so?

In the Old Testament lesson set for this morning, (Is 6:1-8), the prophet Isaiah in his dream or vision unveils and sets a useful pattern to follow. Isaiah remembers the burden of personal frailty and sinfulness, and yet being called to declare otherness, the apartness and holiness of God to rulers who had strayed from God’s ways. As aptly also captured in 1 John 1 v 8 -9, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

Isaiah says: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!” One of the seraphs touches his mouth with a hot coal, cleans his mouth or absolves him, and later we are told he is sent on behalf of the heavenly hosts. Isaiah bears testimony because amongst other things he had this vision of God cleansing him and sending him. He was also in a context where he could observe and as an eyewitness see the atrocities God’s people were suffering.

Anointed, transformed by the experience and encounter, he then goes out into a hostile world. He testifies or bears witness, boldly and fearlessly, to God’s message of restoration and deliverance of his people from oppression. He risks being ridiculed as someone of whom people could say: “Is it not the man with unclean lips?” He does not let this inner feeling of unworthiness or past sinfulness deter him. This vision leads to inner transformation and outward courage in confronting his own ills and those of his society.

Again in today’s gospel passage, especially in John 21:24, we hear the gospel say this about your patron saint: “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them and we know that his testimony (that is, his witness) is true”. This dearest disciple, who was loved by Jesus, was not educated in writing on complex Torah matters. He may have not written these things, but what is key for me is that he saw and heard and tasted the presence of Jesus in his life. He now shares this eyewitness account with the Hellenistic Jews in Asia.

Don’t let anyone discount your testimony of what the Word of Life – that is God in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit – is up to in your dreams and visions, in your life and your community. Equally do not be embarrassed or be afraid to declare his good news, his love, wherever you are sent to be. Archbishop Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, said at the last Lambeth Conference, make every opportunity an opportunity wherein the good news is revealed. Dare I add, including to yourself.

The second lesson, 1 John 1, again highlights the theme of testimony or witness. In verse 3, “…we declare to you what we have seen and heard...” and verse 2, “...and [we] testify to it”.

What have you seen and heard and are testifying to as we celebrate your sesquicentennial service? John Suggit, in a beautiful book he named “The Wonder of Words”, phrases this question differently. He asks: “What is this text saying to you today; and what is our response to the Word of God today?”

On Friday, I invited two young families to join me in welcoming the King of Lesotho on a courtesy visit to Bishopscourt. One of the families had three young children and after the king left, their eldest - a nine-year-old - started engaging Lungi and an ordinand in a series of questions - not about the king but about the archbishop. “What does an archbishop do?" was his key question. They tried to answer and after a while he said, “I get it, he is a fire fighter." Then they explained further, and after a pause he said, "Oh!! I get it now, he is a super fighter.” The conversation continued, to be followed by another pause, then he said: "He is actually like superman."

At that stage a gap appeared, and Lungi and the ordinand said, "There's the archbishop. Ask him what he does." He came to me and said, "Archbishop, what does an archbishop do? What is your work? I said, "I pray." "Pray?" he asked, as he looked at me in exasperation and squinted his eyes. I said, "Yes, I pray when there are fires, and for people, for schools, for kids, for an end to drought, for rain, for more food when there is a lack of food, for those in prison and those who are hurt by those in prison. I pray for university lecturers and for students, for mine bosses and for striking workers, for presidents, kings and rulers, and for them to be honest and transparent, and for the powerful and the powerless.” He looked at me and then he was whisked to my chapel to be shown where I pray. As he and his parents left, he rolled down the car window and said, “I will be praying for the archbishop so that he may continue praying for all of us." This youngster responded by acknowledging the need and importance of prayer for the archbishop. What is your response to God’s love for you, to his Word and his cry through others or creation?

Simon Peter in today’s gospel responds by asking, possibly with self-doubt as to his role and importance and closeness to Jesus, or with envy or understated jealousy: “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus seizes this opportunity to point Simon beyond himself to eternal ideals, to life beyond the here-and-now and Simon’s “sent-ness”. Are you still following or do you now have your personal agenda? Follow me.

In the past while I have been reflecting deeply on what it means to follow Jesus and to be a witness to God’s love in the world. One way is to acknowledge and confess in the hope of being restored like Isaiah or Simon Peter. Assured of the steadfast love and transformation we are promised, I have in recent weeks joined others in what we have called a “walk of witness” – in which like John we testify to what we have seen with our own eyes and what we have been told. We encounter the pain, the stench, the hopelessness and fear, of God’s people. We come face to face with forces of darkness and encounter the helplessness of those who are made to suffer for being different. We live with that tension and acknowledge our part in people’s pain and our silence in not declaring the God who is light and in whom there is no darkness.

Let me return to where I started. How do we witness to the love of God in our context, especially at St John’s today? To witness is to attest, to vouch, to guarantee, to show, to profess, to reveal and to testify; it is to respond to the Word of God in your life and context.

The parish leadership wants you to recommit to God’s mission and extend God’s love to all of Creation. The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, as we say in our mission statement, wants you to be Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God’s mission and to be Transformed by the Holy Spirit. I want to share a few examples of where these may find tangible expression.

1. In three days’ time, we will be exercising our hard-earned privilege of voting. As archbishop and as the chair of the Electoral Code of Conduct Observer Commission, I have been telling people: Go and vote on May the 7th. Too many people have suffered and died for us to stay away out of apathy. There will be 29 parties from which to choose on the national ballot. Examine the policies of the parties and the behaviour of their leaders and vote your conscience; make a choice of the one that best represents your values.

2. I want to re echo the 1957 vestry statement: Do not fear. Act in ways that acknowledge your own shortcomings and ask God to forgive, but don’t end there. Like Isaiah, speak out against all that demeans, corrupts, is not transparent and lacks accountability.

3. Call for and join walks of witness as we demand action for the sake of peace.

4. Give voice to your outrage at the killings in northern Nigeria, and at the recent abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls there. It is deeply shocking that 276 girls between 12 and 17 are reported still to be missing, three weeks after being abducted. We are one continent and these girls are our children. Why has the world not erupted in outrage at this crime? Where are our Ubuntu values when girls are kidnapped at such a tender age? All of Africa, and especially South Africa which has benefitted from the hospitality and generosity of other nations, must rise up and demand their release.

May you be touched by God this day as we receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus. May his Word be a light for our earthly pilgrimage until that day when we shall see him face to face. May this parish and diocese and each one of you be strengthened for service as you recommit to be his witnesses in the Lord. May God engrave a legacy of love and service through you in this parish, his world, and forever more.

A blessed 150th anniversary celebration to you all.