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Desmond Tutu
"A Twenty-First Century 'Man For All Seasons'"

Trinity Cathedral
The Rev. Canon Grant S. Carey
"Thursday Night at the Cathedral"
July 20, 2006
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Sacramento, California

Last year at this Thursday Night gathering I spoke about one of the truly great heroes of our faith - - a personality often obscured by the legends that have grown up around him - - but who in reality was one of the great shapers of Christianity, and whose legacy extends to this day. He was a man by the name of Patrick - - and Englishman who lived in the fifth century who rose above the indignities heaped upon him to become a champion of the Christian Faith as it proclaimed justice, truth, and freedom. He was a man beyond his time. In the Biblical sense, he was a sower of good seed, which long after his time grew to become a great harvest.

My topic tonight is one, who in my estimation bares a marked resemblance to Patrick of old. Certainly not in stature - - Patrick was said to have been a robust man capable of traveling rough terrain and so impressed the Great High King that instead of having him killed, converted to the Christian faith along with his kingdom!

The person I will present this evening is a man of small stature, and yet equally capable of standing up against tyrants. While Patrick was believed to have driven the snakes out of Ireland - - this man accomplished the same feat . not in Ireland . but in South Africa - - the poisonous snakes of prejudice and discrimination and the domination of one race over another.

So . if you haven't already become aware of the subject of my presentation, you would have probably guessed his name: Desmond Tutu.

I want to begin with a little background since most of us have never visited South Africa-though we have heard much of their struggle to gain freedom over an oppressive government - and of both Bishop Tutu and Vincent Mandela, modern-day heroes in the cause of freedom and justice.

In the 1600s, what is now South Africa was entirely African - - the home of indigenous people. But within fifty years, European colonialism took root when the Dutch established their colony At the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa. The British came more than 100 years later, seized the colony in the name of the Crown, and then conflict grew between the English and the Dutch eventually resulting in the Boer War at the close of the 19th century. The British won and gave independence to South Africa.

The resulting Union of South Africa offered only limited rights to the African indigenous people, which led to widespread discrimination. In 1948, the National Party won an all-white election and established "apartheid." The black people were suppressed in just about every way. The national Party remained in power until 1994.

It is against this background that we must see Desmond Tutu. What he was to become stems from the horrors of racial discrimination and political oppression of the very people who were South Africa.

Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 - - his father taught school and his mother did housework for the whites. His parents, like many South Africans, were kind, generous and tolerant, accepting their role in society and, as Tutu said, he "never learned to hate." The role of his parents and those who influenced his formative years played no small part in what he was to become and the role he was to play in both national and international affairs.

I need hardly elaborate on the social conditions in South Africa duding Tutu's formative years - - they were not that different from what was happening here in those parts of the United States where there was little equality between the races. Except that in South Africa, there was a definite overt suppression of Black people as well as Asians who were looked upon as inferior races. I gather that Indians were also considered classified as "coloured," and thus restricted politically. Mixed marriages were prohibited, black trade unions banned, and education restricted to separate schools for "colored."

Because of his parents' concern for their obviously bright young son, they managed to see that he want to University (higher education at that time was possible for blacks) and after his graduation, Desmond taught school, married, and had four children. Dissatisfied with his teaching restrictions as the government became more and more restrictive, Desmond decided to leave teaching to study theology at the Anglican Theological College, which from the beginning had been at odds with Apartheid and the National government. After ordination, he became a parish priest while teaching at the Theological College. Finally he was sent to England to further his studies, experienced a real taste of freedom and equality, and decided to return home to teach and lecture.

In 1973, soon after the United Nations declared Apartheid "a crime against humanity." Tutu was appointed Dean of the Cathedral in Johannesburg and there became an eloquent voice for freedom, so much so, in fact, that he soon attracted world attention. He was deeply affected by the uprisings of the 70's which led to horrible atrocities with hundreds of blacks killed, thousands arrested, and even more seeking refuge out of the country.

By this time, Desmond, had become one of the leading figures in the South African cause for freedom, declaring apartheid "Unchristian and evil, and calling for a democratic and just society without racial divisions . with equal rights for all. ' Like Martin Luther King a decade before, Tutu called for a non-violent resistance of Black South Africans and encouraged the world community to take action.

As a result of his part in the cause of freedom, he was presented the Nobel Prize in recognition of "the courage and heroism shown by Black South Africans in their use of peaceful means in their struggle against apartheid."

In spite of all this, the regime refused to acknowledge him or his accomplishments even though he had become became the first black Anglican Archbishop of South Africa . . . much to the unhappiness and consternation of the government.

The years that followed were difficult ones - - filled with injustice, fighting, assassinations, and the murder of many black people who dared show resistance to the government; but change was now inevitable and soon the long-imprisoned Vincent Mandela was released along with 2500 political prisoners. Racial segregation was at last abolished and a new age for South Africa began.

I think one of the greatest contributions of Desmond Tutu is through what was known as The Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he chaired. What could have been the beginning of a bloody civil war became as the Archbishop had prayed for, in his words, a way of opening wounds to cleanse them that wound thereby stop them from festering,

He wrote, " We cannot be facile and say bygones are bygones, because they will not be bygones, and will return to haunt us. True reconciliation is never cheap, for it based on forgiveness, which is costly. Forgiveness depends on repentance, which has to be based on an acknowledgement of what was done wrong, and therefore disclosure of the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know."

In his book, "A Vision of Hope for Our Time," the Bishop recalled:

"During the darkest days of apartheid I used to say to P.W. Botha, the President of South Africa, that we had already won, and I invited him and other white South Africans to join the winning side. All the "objective" facts were against us - - the pass laws, the imprisonments, the tear-gassing, the massacres, and the murder of political activists - - but my confidence was not in the present circumstances, but in the laws of God's universe. This is a moral universe, which means that, despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there was no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word. God is a God who cares about right and wrong. God cares about justice and injustice, God is in charge. That is what had upheld the morale of our people, to know that in the end good will prevail. It was these higher laws that convinced me that our peaceful struggle would topple the immoral laws of apartheid."

Largely thru his efforts - - and proving to be the right person at the right time - - a new spirit came to South Africa. Discrimination ended and a new constitution was written with a "Bill of Rights."

There is so much to say about Bishop Tutu - - a true saint for our time - - and I commend the three books that have named on the handout your have received. But let it suffice that I close my remarks with these words of his which I believe apply to us in this time and place - - in the situations we are facing today:

"All of us experience fear, but when we confront and acknowledge it, we are able to turn it into courage. Being courageous doesn't mean never being scared, it means acting as you know you must even though you are undeniably afraid. Actually, courage has no meaning unless there are things that threaten, that make you feel scared. Whether we are afraid of physical harm or social shame and embarrassment, when we face our fear instead of denying it, we are able to avoid it paralyzing us."

And he went on to observe, "It was Saint Paul in Romans 8 who said: "What can separate us from the love of Christ?" and he lists all sorts of awful things - - persecution, famine, peril sword, even death. But none of these, he says, can separate us from the love of God. It's an act faith. You are not able to prove it in the way that removes absolutely all doubt, but you believe in our heart that God is in charge. Even when things look like they are confirming the opposite. These are precisely the moments when you have to hold on to the belief that we are not in he hands of mindless forces; we are in the hands of a loving, compassionate, caring god. And, ultimately, nothing will happen to us that God cannot handle. Even death."

In a sermon preached at All Saint's, Pasadena, he concluded by saying: " .God says, "I have a dream - I have a dream of a society where we are not spending obscene amounts of money on budgets of death when a fraction of this would have enabled God's children to obtain water, enough to eat, adequate education, affordable health care, where you beat your swords into plowshares," God says, "I have a dream; I have a dream of a more caring, a more compassionate, a more gentle, a more sharing society. I have a dream - - I have a dream - - I have a dream of a world where there will be no outsiders, for Jesus on the cross says, I, if I am lifted up, will draw all - ALL - rich and poor, educated, uneducated, white, black, gay, lesbian, straight, on, on to all, ALL- - there will be no outsiders, even sinners, all, all are precious to this God, for it is this God whose will it is to bring ALL to unity in Jesus Christ. ALL! And God sends you, you, you - - I need you, for you are my representatives. As the Father has sent me, even send I you to say to the world, "All, all, all are precious ." (All Saints Church, Pasadena - - Sermon, May 23, 1999)

When Bishop Tutu was at our seminary in Berkeley a short while ago, I had the opportunity of meeting and talking with him. He continues to lecture, write, teach and preach, here in the US, in South Africa and other parts of the world. He continues a strong voice for justice and freedom, and he isn't afraid to speak out - - pricking away, sometimes with humor, but always causing people to think and sometimes to change. He has even taken on both President Bush and Tony Blair over their decision to go into Iraq with military force.

I would like to close with his remark when he learned of the election of the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church - - Katherine Jefferts Schori. His response was expressed in one word:

"Whoopee!"

Let us now enjoy a presentation of his thoughts on a variety of things - - with joy, enthusiasm and humor. There are times when becomes so overcome with joy that he dances in African fashion - - in cope and miter.

Desmond Tutu - - A loving, kind gentle giant of a man who in reality is a little over five feet tall - - and who, not unlike Saint Patrick of old, is worthy, in my estimation, to be called one of the true Saints of God.

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Concluding Prayer and Blessing:

Goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness
Life is stronger than death;
Victory is ours through Him who loves us."