“Rejoice in the Lord always!” (Phil 4:4a)
The axing of finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, presumably for speaking out against Government’s nuclear plan and opposing SAA’s (likely corrupt) attempt to restructure a deal with Airbus, makes us feel distant from Joy (this Sunday’s Advent theme). If I mention that, overnight, banks lost nearly $9billion in shareholder value and that our economy is characterised by “low growth, low commodity prices, electricity shortages, rising inflation, climbing interest rates and swelling household debt” you’ll just about be in tears.
Joy, for our mothers and fathers in the faith, always came from the conviction that God was at work in the political dimension. Nene may have been axed, but John the Baptist would warn the President and his administration: “Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Lk 3:9).
Joy, for the Christian, wells up from the conviction that the Kingdom will come. In the words of the carol we sang last week: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, There are casualties in the fight for Justice. Nene was axed. John the Baptist had his head chopped off. Jesus was crucified. But on the third day Jesus rose again. So, in protest against the evil in our nation, we will rejoice because “the Lord is near” (Phil 4:5b)!
God Bless, Sean