Feb 4 2019 Ruth 1: 16-18

Where you go, I will go.

Commemoration of Manche Masemola

If I were to follow the morning prayer and evening prayer readings for two years, I believe I would make it through the entire Bible, the psalms dozens of times, and the Gospel numerous times. If we Anglicans partake in the rich tradition of daily prayer, we are, in fact, people of the Bible, and devout readers of Scripture.  

In addition to this richness, the Church has developed a book commemorating the rich and varied holy women and holy men in God’s kingdom. There is nearly one for every day, and for morning or evening prayer followers, there is always the option of using the prayer time to learn more and commemorate these holy people.  Many I’ve heard of, such as MLK, but some I haven’t. Today’s holy woman is a previously unknown martyr. 

Manche Masemola was a South African girl who was exposed to Christianity in her remote village after a mission was created by an Anglican priest in the early 1900’s. She was drawn to Christianity, and sought to be baptized. Her parents thought she’d been bewitched, and took her to a traditional healer. It didn’t stop her. Eventually they did stop her by taking her to a remote place and killing her.
Forty years later, her mother converted to Christianity, and was baptized. Manche was declared a martyr by the Anglican Church in South Africa. She is one of ten 20th century martyrs from across the world whose statutes are above the great doors of Westminster Abbey in London. 
The reading for this day is from Ruth. Ruth’s husband and her father in law have both died, leaving her and her mother-in-law alone in a very patriarchal society. She insists she will follow her mother-in-law, even if it results in death. 

Masme must have been fighting with her parents, well before her death. She must have had some idea that her conviction and desire to be baptized was contrary to her parent’s wishes, and increasingly dangerous. And yet she persisted. To the point of death. And maybe through that death, eventually her mother came to believe.  May I have the faith to believe when it’s hard. To follow when it’s dangerous. To persist.

Feb 3 2019 Hebrews 11: 8-16

If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.

This is a snippet referring to Abraham’s descendants.  Abraham, by faith alone, left the country he knew, and eventually he and his barren wife Sarah had more descendants than stars in the sky. The descendants were also in a strange land. If they’d been thinking about where they’d come from, they could have returned. But Paul goes on to write, that they desired a better country, a heavenly country.
This is a little frightening to me. If they’d just thought about where they came from, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead, they kept their eyes forward, and didn’t wish for the world they’d known. 

How often do we look back at places, times or situations we’ve come from, instead of pushing on? Sometimes we look back and wish to return to a time or place that was easier, kinder, simpler. We wish to return to a better time behind us. Other times, we think about the land we’ve come from for no other reason that it was known – even if it was not great, at least there was some constancy.
Thinking about where we’re going or where we currently are, sometimes all we want is the certainty of what was, even if it wasn’t all that great. In this reading, simply by thinking about the land we’ve left, we’re given the opportunity to return to it.  While that may seem like a great option, it negates the wonderful journey we’re on, or the place God has prepared for us in the future.  

But if we think about the land we’ve come from, God will oblige, and we can return, turning away from what’s ahead. May I always have the faith to face forward towards the heavenly country, regardless of the perceived comfort and constancy of where I’ve come from.