Thursday 4 August 2016

Meditation: VOLMOED YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING by John de Gruchy

VOLMOED YOUTH LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMMEGRADUATION MEDITATION

Matthew 4:18-22
Read in Xhosa, Sesotho, Afrikaans, Arabic, Tamil, English
(Home languages of the VYLTP participants)

"Come follow me and I will make you..."
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me."
"Go and make disciples..."

The ten weeks have sped by.  At times you thought it might be too long.  Now some of you think it should be longer!  You came as individuals, you leave as a community of friends. You also leave on your own admission as changed people committed to make the world for a better  place, a more just and peaceful place, a more caring and loving space. And you go in the name of Christ.

Jesus was under 30 when he called his first disciples ro follow him, and most of them were also young.  In fact, Jesus led a youth leadership training course as he journeyed with his companions from Galilee to Jerusalem.  He called them each by name to follow him and form a community.  He called them to learn from him, to discover a new way of being in the world, to find new meaning and purpose for their lives.    He told them stories, he gave them words of counsel and advice, he challenged and even rebuked them on occasion. But above all he showed them what life was all about.  They began to take his yoke or discipling upon themselves and so learnt from him.  In the process they began to change.  It took them not just two weeks but at least a year to get the message and discover what leadership in the kingdom of God is all about in daily life.  But even as their training course came to an end, when Jesus was arrested and killed, they had still not all got it quite right! 

So he made them a promise.  His Spirit would fill their lives, lead them deeper into his teaching,  empower them to do as he had done, and so make more disciples and expand their community of love, justice and compassion.  He told them to go and help others discover what it means to be a follower of Christ, to witness to God's reconciliation, and so become agents of healing and transformation. 

The process of learning to be a disciple does not end today.  It never ends whether for you or for me.  The VYLTP is only a catalyst, an intensive course in leadership, but not the whole journey.  Like the rest of us you will never stop learning to be a true human being and follower of Christ.  You now have some new skills, new inspiration, new insights -- a new knowledge of yourself and others.  But while this may be the end of the VYLTP for you  it is only the beginning of the rest of your life.  You will continue to learn, to grow, to discover.  Becoming a Christian leader is a never ending process.  You learn as you journey.  Our hope and prayer is that you will now do so with greater understanding of yourself and the world, with fresh courage and hope, and with a growing love for Christ and those you will serve in his name. You are not going alone.  You go not just in the name of Christ but in the power of his Spirit.  You go as part of a community of faith, love and hope.  You go as members of the Volmoed community full of courage.  You go as "voeltjies" with new wings.

Come follow me, says Jesus in whatever language you speak.  That is the call we all need to heed every day and wherever we are.  Take Jesus' yoke upon yourselves and learn from him  That is the discipline we accept and, to our surprise, we find that it is a light and joyous burden.  Go into the world and proclaim the good news ... that is the task that awaits us each day.

John de Gruchy

Volmoed 28 July 2016

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