You decide; which is easier between going up a hill
backwards and going down the same with soap on your feet; between stationing an
ambulance below a cliff and fencing around it; between pulling the tail of a
donkey or that of a serpent.
I couldn’t agree more to Soren Aabye Kierkegaard’s
words that “people demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of
thought which they avoid.” What would you do if you had eight hours to chop
down a tree? Abraham Lincoln says he will spend the first six sharpening his
axe. I do this analysis not to bring perfection to my speech today but to
greatly reduce its imperfection.
Our text today is drawn from the first letter to
Timothy 1: 8-11. Various things we can draw from this text. The first is that
the law is made for those who break it. That those who do not are thus under
the mercy of something else; grace. Grace that is an unmerited favor our Lord
grants us, not for who we are or have done but for who He is. His grace is said
to be sufficient for us that though we were once sinners He chose to forgive us
and shine bright a new day that we may enjoy in the blossom of His presence.
God has had and will always have the desire to see us in an outburst of
happiness because it is joy that he seeks for us to have.
It seems contradictory to my previous point but as a
matter of fact also inferred from the same portion of scripture is that the law
is for everyone. This is simply because we are all sinners. No one can claim
boldly that they have not sinned because that very strong claim itself is a
sin. Is it not Jesus who asked the 'stoners' to be the first to cast a stone if
they had not sinned? Is it true that many at times we ‘pharisise’ ourselves to
the extent that we view ourselves as invincible by sin? The law therefore is
built for all of us to look up to it and sufficiently and effectively relate to
it.
Truth be told, the law is at times very stringent.
Taking a look at our case study Africa Nazarene University, do we think the law
is good for us? Do you think that the law makers have gone a bit over board and
are overwhelming?? What are some of those laws that we feel are of that nature?
Most importantly, how do you think the situation should be handled? How should
the students go about it and how should the administration address these
concerns?
One thing that is for sure is that we should not
remain silent when the law is stringent lest we discredit martin Luther King
Jnr’s words that “history will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this
period of this social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people
but the appalling silence of the good people.” In fact, Mahatma Gandhi
reiterates that an unjust law is itself a species of violence. To prevent any
possible rebellion, a law that is repugnant to natural justice should not be
entertained. Such a law should be taken to the streets and shot. If a law does
not achieve its desired purpose of harmonizing every individual then it is as
good as useless. In my opinion, it is the reason why God saw a need for the New
Testament because as much as there was law in the previous testament, His main
purpose was not being achieved. This led to the Old testament being a pre requisite
of the elaborated covenant that people could adhere to. This is the kind of
approach the administration should take; laws that applied to the institution
when it still existed as a mere Bible College should be revised if not struck
off. This administration should be its own source of revolution. Right from the
top leadership trickling down to the support and subordinate there should be a
revamp of mentalities. It should be made known that the more bureaucratic the
system does not necessarily mean that the institution will be in more order and
shape, instead students should have more free will and the work of the
administration be to train to amicably exercise this free will. I stand to be
corrected but the truth of the matter is that whichever student you ask about
why they came to school, the will be to learn. This learning is not limited to
book work but stretches its hands to basic life concerns. This is what the
administration should be thinking about.
However, Mahatma Gandhi also puts it categorically
that ‘the law of non- violence says that violence should be resisted not by
counter-violence but by non-violence.’ No matter how tough the law may seem to
be, violence does not sort it out. Violence is self-destructive. I will repeat
that we should open wide our mouths and speak about the issues that really pin
us down, but in the same way we open our mouths, we should also be careful as
to how we twist our tongues. Let us not start fires we cannot put out. We are
destined to be winners if we choose the right battles to fight and who to fight
and what time to fight. At times we are so interested in forging ahead to find
a solution when the solution lies idle amongst us. It is mother Teresa who
thought it out that if everyone cleaned their doorstep then the world would be
a clean place to live in. don’t you think that at times we are quick to blame
when we are the cause of the problems ourselves. That at times we want water
and wine at the same time; that we ask for the rain and shine at the same time.
We need to be considerate on the law makers as well and take a purposive
approach to the laws; that is try and see the purpose of the law.
New laws germinate; others in our favor and others
not. Let us try to put ourselves in the law makers’ shoes; what would we have
done assuming if we were the owners of the institution. Once we have such a
mentality we will be able to strike a balance. In my final words to both
parties, let us not be so reluctant to change. It is only God who doesn’t
change, even the devil begins a serpent in Genesis but ends up as a dragon in
Revelation. Martin Luther awoke from his long dream to realize that ‘the ultimate
measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.’
