Captivity

I saw another side of South Africa yesterday by taking a tour of Robben Island. This is the site of the maximum security facility where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years as a political prisoner. (Pictured is Mandela’s cell in Block B.) Robben Island is located less than 8 miles offshore from Cape Town. The iconic Table Mountain is in view from much of the island. From beyond the prison’s courtyard, from beyond the limestone quarry where Mandela and his fellow prisoners labored, the mountain’s flat top looms, symbolizing freedom and lofty heights for the men who were unjustly detained here for so many years.

Yet even today, nearly two decades after the end of apartheid, many people are still imprisoned in Cape Town – by poverty, by substance addiction, by disease, by a litany of other ills. Many still don’t have proper homes. Children live on the streets. (For a look at the plight of Cape Town’s “street kids,” check out Ryan Dalton’s blog at http://365daysofactivism.blogspot.com/.) Local and national government has come a long way, but it’s far from perfect. Corruption and selfishness are still in vogue.

But really, isn’t that the case everywhere? Selfishness manifests itself in many ways and at many levels of intensity, but at our core, every one of us is looking out for Number 1. And so we too are imprisoned! We are slaves to the many gods we serve – money, “stuff,” good times, careers, adrenaline, the list goes on and on – all in the interest of making ourselves “happy.”

Jesus Christ is the only god who can bring fulfillment, because He’s more than just a god, He is the God. As Christmas approaches, we love to get stuff, and to spend time with family and friends, and to roast chestnuts over an open fire, and yes, to give stuff, too. And all those things are great! But the real reason for the season is the birth of Jesus, the Son of God who came to live a sinless life and die as a sacrifice for selfish man – to free us from the prison of our sin and separation from God the Father. Jesus is your free pass from prison. Are you still in chains?