Ubuntu: Growing Communities of Justice
Proper 6B
Mark 4:26-34
6/14/09
Lorraine Ljunggren

        One of my heroes is Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of South Africa. When our family first met him at a gathering of his family members, Jim and I told our son, Jake, to always, always remember that day. When asked why, we said, “Because you have been in the presence of someone who literally changed this world of ours, someone whose faith helped open the doors of justice for the people of South Africa and, therefore, for the people of the world.”

        A short time later, while studying other countries and continents, Jake told his elementary school teacher he had met Bishop Tutu. She did not believe Jake. I supposed it seemed strange to her that a young boy in her class had met someone so famous. I've often wondered if she would have believed him if, instead of Bishop Tutu, Jake said he met a NASCAR driver or a movie star.

        I claim Desmond Tutu as one of my heroes because of his amazing faith and because of his deep abiding trust in God. To me he is a hero because he believes the mission of the church is, in part, to be a refuge and place of safety for all – a place in which healing and reconciliation are experienced and then shared. Bishop Tutu is committed to the ages-old belief that justice – God's justice – is a right belonging to peoples of all colors and cultures and faith traditions, to people male and female, to people straight and gay, to people young and old, to people poor as well as rich.

        As part of my preparation to serve as a Deputy to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, I'm using a book by the Rev. Dr. Michael Battle. The book is about the theology of Desmond Tutu and is entitled Ubuntu: I in You and You in Me. Ubuntu is the theme for this upcoming General Convention.

        The cover of the book gives this synopsis of the concept of Ubuntu:

        “Ubuntu is an Africa way of seeing the world – and the people in it – as an intricate web of relationships. Those who have embraced the spirit of Ubuntu understand that they only come to know themselves as they weave their own lives into the lives of others. Rather than the Western ideal of 'rugged individualism,' Ubuntu encourages harmony and interdependence among individuals, communities – and even nations and the world at large.” (New York: Seabury Books, General Convention edition, 2009).

        The explanation goes on: “For Christians, especially, practicing Ubuntu means entering deeply into the compassionate, forgiving love of the Gospel. It means understanding in our core that we're all in this world – and we all find God – together. It means that 'I am because we are.'” (ibid.)

        So, I can say that I know myself because of you. I know I am human because I relate to your humanity. I know myself to be a child of God, created in the image and likeness of God, because you are children of God created in God's own image. I know myself to be beloved of God because you love me. I know the love of Christ Jesus because I witness your faith and your loving acts to those around you – both in this parish church and in the world outside her doors.

        In case we wonder what difference it makes to learn and live Ubuntu through a faith community, Bishop Tutu writes, “It is religion that enables us in a day-to-day living experience of learning, sharing and caring. Together we come to an understanding of our dependence upon God, and of our interdependence on each other as God's children. It is the recognition of. . .God in each of us that gives us the key to our future happiness. For if we are interdependent as the whole network of nature declares us to be, we destroy ourselves when we destroy each other.” (ibid., p. 55).

        South Africa was a textbook case of what can go wrong among human beings when one group perceives or believes itself to be superior to another. It was probably inevitable that violence would come to mark the reality of daily life under the oppressive regime of apartheid. When whites could not or would not acknowledge the common bond they had with black people of South Africa, the intricate web of interdependence which is part of the created order was ruptured. Into such a breach came people like Desmond Tutu and like Nelson Mandela who, after having spent 27 years in prison, ended up becoming president of South Africa. In writing about what it took to begin to dismantle apartheid, Jim Wallis of Sojourners, writes: “First, there was the power of persistence. The phrase one always heard in South Africa was "stay in the struggle." I have never seen a situation where there were more reasons to give up. But people never did. The sheer determination of South Africa's black majority and their few white allies was finally rewarded with victory. Second, there was the strength of leadership. …With no expectation of ever even being released, [Mandela] exercised a remarkable visionary leadership. Finally, there was the unswerving commitment to social transformation. They actually believed that fundamental change was possible, and they determined to accept nothing less. For South Africans, it was always a matter of when, not whether, the victory would come.” (Jim Wallis, Sojourners Online)

        So, lest we be tempted to think we cannot as a community of faith have a major transforming impact on the world around us, think of South Africa, think of what it means to live a life of Ubuntu. Think of the parable Jesus tells in today's Gospel of the tiniest of seeds which grows into the greatest of all shrubs, putting forth large branches to give shelter to God's little creatures. Think of us at St. Mark's, certainly not the largest of churches, but think of the potential we have when we come together – when we recognize, claim, and draw on the power of our interdependence. Think of the potential we have to, yes, speak a word of justice inside and outside the church, but also to transform the church itself and the society around us.

        Together we are the only ones who can make St. Mark's be the church God is calling her to be – a beacon, a witness, a movement of people who – together – can change so much – who can, in being transformed ourselves more and more into just and loving people – who can then build bridges, can then help to repair the rupture of the created order.

        We need to be sure we incorporate into our mission and ministry the three things Wallis noted about South Africa: “the power of persistence, the strength of leadership, and an unswerving commitment to social transformation.” (ibid.) We need to remember that our existence makes a difference – the witness of this particular parish church makes a difference – the core values at the heart of our mission and ministry – much of which is expressed in our Purpose Statement and in our Welcome Statement – both of which grace our website's home page – our core values can transform the places and the people we encounter every day. It is also why passing on our faith to our children matters – it is why being role models of faithfulness matters to the youth and young adults whose job it is and will be to work for transformation as they grow and mature. Someone – some community has to provide the values which can shape current and future generations of human beings! God help us if we leave it to the world at large!

        Listen again to Archbishop Tutu: “We say a person is a person through other persons. We don't come fully formed into the world. We learn how to think, how to walk, how to speak, how to behave, indeed how to be human from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. We are made for togetherness, we are made for family, for fellowship, to exist in a tender network of interdependence. That is why apartheid and all racism [and I would add sexism and heterosexism, ageism and all other 'isms'] are so fundamentally evil for they declare that we are made for separation, for enmity, for alienation, and for apartness. Ubuntu enables reconciliation and forgiveness especially when hearts have been inflicted with such pain….. This is how you have Ubuntu – you care, you are hospitable, you're gentle, you're compassionate and concerned. Go forth as [one] conscious that everybody is to be revered, reverenced as created in God's image [wherever they are] – go forth to demonstrate your Ubuntu, to care for them, to heal them especially those who are despised, marginalized. Go forth to make the world a better place for you can make a difference. The task is daunting – of course, but it is our necessary struggle.” (Ubuntu, Battle, p. 54)

©2009 Lorraine Ljunggren