INTERPRETING THE PRESENT TIME
Luke
12:54-56
"Why
do you not know how to interpret the present time?"
My father taught me when I was
young that if even a small cloud settled on the top of Lion's Head, which we
could clearly see from the veranda of our house in Cape Town, then it would
soon rain. However, if there was a
"table cloth" covering Table Mountain, and a howling Southeaster
blowing down into the city, then it would not rain, but it would do so in
Johannesburg. So I soon became an expert
at predicting the weather by reading the "signs of the times" just as
Jesus remarked to his disciples:
When
you see a cloud rising in the west you immediately say that it is going to rain
-- and so it happens. And when you see
the south wind howling you say, there will be scorching heat; and it happens.
However, Jesus then went on to say
to his hearers that they were hopeless at interpreting the signs of the times
in which they were living. They were
clueless about the significance of what was happening before their very eyes at
that moment in history.
You
hypocrites! You know how to interpret
the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the
present time?
This, too, is true of many
people today. We can all know what the weather is like from Alaska to Samoa by
looking on TV or checking the web, but we are not so good at interpreting the
times in which we live and therefore how we should respond.
There are many Christian
preachers in the world today who claim to be interpreting the signs of Jesus'
Second Coming to solve all our problems, so all we have to do is wait and
pray. But Jesus was not speaking about a
Second Coming, he was speaking about "interpreting the present
times," about what God was doing in
and through him right there and then, not at some future date, and therefore
about what they had to do in response. In his sayings and actions, Jesus kept
on trying open his hearers eyes to see what God was doing in the unfolding
events of his day. Sadly, even his
disciples failed to understand. and I
fear that is sometimes true of us. We
know what is happening in the world, but we don't interpret them in terms of what
is God doing and what God requires of us.
So we respond in fear not faith, in terms of self-interest rather than
the common good. But Jesus pushes us to
ask what is God doing in what is happening, and what does God require of us.
This brings me to the two
dramatic events of the past week or so -- the #Feesmustfall student protest
movement and the huge protest march by the EFF in Johannesburg and Sandton on
Tuesday this week. These do not herald
the Second Coming of Jesus, though that would be a relief for university
administrators, stock brokers and the government. Like them we might also wish that it would all
go away so that things may return to normal, but they won't. But what if we interpret these events
differently, that is as a God-given opportunity to make our country a more just
society? After all, the students are
rightly protesting against something that is wrong, something that needs to be
changed not just for their good, but also for ours and for the future of our
country. I do not know any academic,
from Vice-Chancellors to Lecturers who would not agree. After all, the demands are for a living and
fair wage for all in South Africa. This
is surely not outrageous, it is what the government has been promising for
twenty years but not been very good at delivering. It is about spending our taxes rightly so
that wealth in our country can be shared not squandered; it is about everyone
having what they need to live meaningful lives, not a few having so much that
they don't know what to do with it. Uncomfortable
as it may be, as Jesus followers, we have interpret the present times as God's call
to us to help find ways to respond to this
cry for economic justice. We cannot
continue living as if the enormous gap between the rich and the poor, Sandton
and Alexandria Township, plush Hermanus and overcrowded Zwelihle is acceptable. It is not, and something has to be done else
the consequences are going to be far worse than an occasional protest march.
Many years ago when Isobel,
Steve I were driving through the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York we came
across the legendary place where Rip van Winkle slept through the American
Revolutionary War. The story, written by
Washington Irving and published in 1819 is a classic. You probably know how Rip van Winkle went to
sleep before the Revolution and when he woke up afterwards he discovered that
the world had changed beyond recognition.
The story is universal. We humans
often sleep through a revolution that is taking place all around us. We prefer
to turn out the light, go to sleep, and hope it will all go away. But that is not an option for the followers of
Jesus. The present times are not the
time to bury our heads ostrich-like in the sand, or sit back, blame the
government and pass the boerewors around.
If we truly interpret these
times in which we are living as a God-given opportunity to work for a more just
world and society we will have at least made a start as Jesus' disciples in
discerning what we might be able do, and acknowledge that as followers of Jesus
we have to find ways to share the wealth of our country with those who are in
need. So let us pray that there is much
wisdom for government to manage the process and find solutions that achieve the
outcomes needed. Let us pray that big
business will get the message the EFF delivered on their doorstep and respond
in ways that help change things for the better.
Let us pray for the Overstrand Council to use its resources wisely and
rightly especially where they are most needed.
And let us keep asking ourselves what can we do within our own spheres
of influence and with the resources we have, limited as they may be.
As Christians we know that we cannot
throw up our hands in despair, or wash our hands as though all this had nothing
to do with us. We know it has everything
to do with us, and many of our community are already are involved in trying to
make a difference in our society. So let us spend less time forecasting the
weather and more time seeking to discern what God is calling us to be and to do
in these present times.
John
W. de Gruchy
Volmoed 29 October 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment