AGAINST THE FLOW
We
are relaxing by the edge of the mighty Zambezi above Mosi Oa Tunya. the
Victoria Falls, looking across to Zimbabwe 400 meters away. Helicopters and
“microlites” constantly pass overhead polluting the peace though giving their
occupants a bird’s eye view of the scenery. My mind’s eye goes back 137 years
to the first Jesuits who passed up this stretch of river to meet the Litunga
and seek permission to found a mission among the Lozi.
The
eleven Jesuits who ventured up from the south at the speed of 15 kms a day and
started the Zambezi Mission met a string of disasters. They were ill prepared
for the climate, the diseases and the politics. They succumbed to frustration,
exhaustion and early deaths. It all became too daunting and they withdrew to
reflect and try again another day. Despite their failure they prepared the way
for others of their companions who would follow them.
They
had “sunk into the mud” like Jeremiah (18:4-10). But they had made a daunting
commitment to leave home and family and face into an unknown world. Jeremiah
was tempted to run away and we know from their diaries that those early Jesuits
had many misgivings about their mission. As the number of disasters mounted
they blamed their leader and there was an inquiry. But there was no turning
back from the basic decision to reach out the people of the Zambezi basin.
As
the climax of Jesus’ life approached he insisted that decision time had come for
the people of Israel. Were they going to accept the kingdom, the reign, of God
in their lives or not? It was a choice of life or death. It would divide families:
fathers against sons, children against parents and married couples against
their in-laws. Ever since the day the man born blind, who received his sight
and then witnessed for Jesus before the Jewish leaders, was thrown out of the
synagogue, there has been a price to pay for being a disciple.
We
wonder at the commitment of the athletes of Rio. And we will wonder even more
at the courage of the para-athletes, especially the blind and limbless. We look
in that mirror – that “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb12:1) – and we wonder at
our own choices – giving thanks for what God has been able to do through us (be
it ever so little) and seeking grace to paddle up stream when tempted to go
with the flow.
14 August 2016 Sunday
20 C
Jeremiah 38:4-10 Hebrews
12:1-4 Luke
12:49-53
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