Deuteronomy 30:11-20 – The Hebrew people prepare to enter the promised land.
Over the last few weeks we have seen some of the most effective protests in the South Africa as students campaigned initially for a 0% fee increase for 2016, and later continued their protest with other demands.
While any initiative to increase the education of our people is necessary and to be commended, the frequency of protests in South Africa points to the reality that South Africa has not become a better place for most people.
More than 3 000 years ago God knew that if his people were to thrive in the land he was giving them, they would have to live differently: He commanded them, through Moses, just before they crossed the Jordan to enter Israel, that they were to choose life so that they may live.
It’s a lesson that we in South Africa have yet to learn.
What does death look like?
Death is simply, as author Richard Rohr says, what happens when people choose power, prestige and possession over more generous ways of living.
What can I get, rather than what can I give.
Power is when we need to be in control, to have authority over others; prestige is when we need status to prove that we are somebody, and possession is about having whatever we want, regardless of the cost.
We can look to many of our leaders to see what happens when we go down this path and we see money and resources squandered on expensive cars and overseas trips, leaders using state resources to protect their reputation, and leaders who think they are above the law.
The reality is that we all do this everyday in our lives as far as we are able.
We like to tell others what to do, we get into debt to buy the latest cell phone, to own the best car, the smartest fashions.
Everyday in many ways we have the opportunity to choose life or death.
Too many of us choose the temptations of power, prestige and possession over the life-giving path of humility and poverty.
Jesus faced these same temptations in the wilderness, but unlike us he chose life, and by following Him, He says again, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
May we live each day by choosing, in those difficult situations, to offer the gift of life, and blessings to those around us, rather than embracing the death of power, prestige and possession.
Rev Neil Vels, Methodist Church.
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