1
12/06/13
Dear Friends,
This is not our normal prayer letter, I will send that out next week. Yet, in light of the death of Nelson
Mandela last night while we were sleeping, I was compelled to respond from Christian perspective
because of the extremes that abound surrounding the man. I hope my perspective helps bring a bit of
balance to what you will read, hear, and no doubt see over the course of the next few days. From our
standpoint, there will be some good opportunities to share the gospel with many as result of Mr.
Mandela's earthly departure.
Please pray for us from that vantage point.
This coming Sunday, I will be guest preacher at Lakeside Baptist Church 4 hours east of Cape Town in a
holiday town that will be packed to capacity. Please pray God will lead me to the right sermon with a
gospel emphasis. No doubt the church will be packed with holiday makers (it is officially summer break
here). Some will expect a tribute to Nelson Mandela, but they will receive a tribute to the Lord Jesus
Christ instead. May God use His word to lead many sons to glory!
May the Lord richly bless you in all things!
Yours for the Master's Use
Mark and Debbie Christopher
Cape Town, South Africa
Biblical Reflections On The Life and Death of Nelson Mandela
By Pastor Mark Christopher
Like so many others in South Africa I awoke to the news of Nelson
Mandela’s death. Understandably this is foremost on the hearts and minds
of untold numbers around the world today, especially here in South Africa.
Mr. Mandela’s death was not wholly unexpected. The 95 year old’s health
had been declining over the last couple of years. Most recently he spent a
number of months in the hospital in ICU under the watchful eyes of his
medical caregivers, as he battled a severe case of pneumonia.
Predictably, when I turned on my computer this-morning, I already had a
couple of requests to respond to this world-grabbing headline. As a
2
Christian I seek to try and make sense of Mr. Mandela’s death through the
prism of God’s Word. As a believer, while I sorrow with those who sorrow, I
do not do so as one who has no hope. To this end, Mr. Mandela’s death
provides the Christian with a number of opportunities:
1. There is an opportunity to weep with those who weep and sorrow with
those who sorrow. My heart and prayers do go out to Mr. Mandela’s family
and to our nation of South Africa at large. May you sense the comfort and
grace that only the God-of-all-comfort Himself can provide (2 Corinthians
1:4-11).
2. As one reflects on the recent history of South Africa and the momentous
transition that took place only 19 years ago, there is a wonderful
opportunity to thank the Lord for using Mr. Mandela in the way in which He
did. When South Africa was on the threshold of a veritable blood bath and
the precipice of civil war, Mr. Mandela served as an earthly peacemaker to
bring needed calm and stability to what was a very tense situation. Instead
of seeking revenge and vengefully ruling, he sought to build a bridge rather
than erecting a barrier. Such a praiseworthy response is certainly worthy of
our reflection, thanks, and gratitude!
3. Much will be said in the next few days and weeks by the media and
others regarding the life and death of Mr. Mandela. In this we should guard
against the two primary extremes that will prevail: On the one hand there
will be those who will lionize the man in the place of God. In so doing they
will venerate a life well lived beyond what is proper as they veer into what
only can be described as idolatry and hero worship.
The other extreme will be seen by those few who will use Mr. Mandela’s
death to promote their brand of politics and ideology in contrast with Mr.
Mandela’s Marxist based views. One does not have to agree with another’s
politics and worldview to mourn the loss of a life and extend comfort and
compassion to those who feel that loss the most — nor does one need to
be a charter member of the Nelson Mandela Fan Club. In fact, the true test
of one’s faith is evidenced when one can reach out in compassion in spite
of any deep-seated ideological differences that may exist. It is the mind of
3
Christ that should dominate our thinking as we weigh up the implications of
an incarnational life (Philippines 2:3-11) as it applies to this situation.
4. When a dignitary of Mr. Mandela’s stature dies, it provides us with an
opportunity as well as a reminder that ultimately God is sovereign in the
affairs of this life. In Isaiah 6:1-9 when King Uzziah died after a 52 year
reign, Isaiah was reminded of the glory, majesty, and holiness of the Lord
he loved. Though Isaiah mourned the death of Uzziah, his focus was on the
Living God of all grace and glory. As Isaiah would later record, “It is He who
sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a
tent to dwell in. He it is that reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the
judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they planted, scarcely have
they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, but He
merely blows on them and they wither …” (Isaiah 40:22-24; cf. Daniel 4:3435; 1 Timothy 6:15-16). In the end, regardless of the good any earthly
leader may do, it is the Lord who turns the king’s heart like channels of
water (Proverbs 21:1). May we not lose sight of this exalted perspective.
5. As with everything else in life, the death of Mr. Mandela should be
viewed from a cross-centred understanding. In relation to this, there is a
tremendous opportunity for Christians to share the hope of the ages, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified and risen as He said. As the world is confronted
once again with the fragility and brevity of earthly life an occasion is
presented to share the life-giving message of the cross in the backdrop of
an empty tomb! This is a time to point the hopeless and inconsolable
toward heaven above and to remind them of what C.S. Lewis so well said,
“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in [Matthew 6:33]. Aim at
earth and you will get neither.”
6. Finally, the death of Mr. Mandela is another opportunity to remind
ourselves as Christians of the vapour of this earthly life (James 4:14). This
life will soon be past, even if we, like Mr. Mandela, should live to the ripe
old age of 95. In light of eternity what is that? This life is meant to be a
dress rehearsal for the life to come. Beyond this life there are no second
chances, as the rich man of Luke 16 testifies. Only what we do for Christ
4
will last and reflect eternal worth and value. As such, there is another
providential chance ceded to us to make the changes necessary and
realign our priorities with those of a Christ-centred life, so that we can
someday we can hear those eternally gratifying words, “Well done, thou
good and faithful servant!”
As we reflect upon the life and death of Mr. Mandela from Christian
horizon, the words of John Donne come to mind:
“No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own
were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”