I love a good sporting film. What about you? While there are many duds where the action looks ridiculously fake and the acting wooden as a carpentry shop, there are also gems that shine bright enough to captivate even the non-sports fan. Invictus, the story of how newly elected president Nelson Mandela used rugby union to unite his divided South Africa, at least in a sporting sense, and then saw the Springboks win the World Cup on home soil, is one of the best around. If you’ve not seen the film, I’d definitely recommend it for some good quality lockdown viewing.
The film is so titled because Invictus was a poem that left a lasting impact on Mandela. He had read it to his fellow prisoners while incarcerated on Robben Island and its words play a powerful role in the narrative. The 19th century poem, which was read out by Barack Obama at Mandela’s funeral and paraphrased by Winston Churchill during World War Two, has this as its final verse:
“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.”
It is not hard to see how these words have inspired many to overcome adversity and achieve great things. After all, they celebrate man’s resilience and ability. But they also include an assumption – that we’re broadly in control of our lives and can therefore direct our own fate. In modern western society, that’s not something we would normally question. However, an event such as this Coronavirus pandemic surely tells us to think differently.
This virus that has been sweeping across the world and caused us to avoid any unnecessary social contact is totally out of our control. We can only react to it. How many of us had plans for what we would do over Easter and throughout the summer, whether big or small, which have now been scuppered? How many of us assumed 2020 would proceed in very much the same way 2019 had? For us runners, the London Marathon was due to take place this Sunday [26th April] in what would have been the culmination of months and months of hard training. Now, we can at least remain hopeful that the race will go ahead on the rescheduled date of 4th October, but there is simply no guarantee of that either.
When it comes to Covid-19, none of us can say “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” and this can be hard to accept. Whether it’s the youngster struggling to understand why he can’t see his or her friends or the business owner battling to keep afloat, these are tough times before we even consider the number who have lost loved ones due to the virus. Right now, we are definitely not in charge and cannot really plan anything.
The Bible is clear that planning is not wrong and encourages us to make the most of the skills and abilities God has given us. But it is also clear who is in charge and it’s not us! Here’s how the New Testament author James puts it in chapter four of his letter:
Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
James is writing to Christians, so this is not a rebuke to those who don’t believe in Jesus; it is a message that everyone needs to hear. James is saying that God is in charge of the future, not us. What do you make of that? When our lives are so affected by a virus that we had not heard of six months ago, it should at least get us thinking about the bigger questions of life.
In the Old Testament book of Proverbs, this writer puts it another way:
In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
Amidst all the terrible consequences of Covid-19, many have witnessed a resurgence in community spirit, which is a great thing. We now have a lively WhatsApp group on our street as neighbours share needs, offers, encouragement and banter. But will this time of lockdown cause us to look to the One who is really in charge? He is the God who has reached out to us and offers us a guaranteed, hope-filled future.
As John 3:16, one of the Bible’s most famous verses, states:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Do get in touch if you’d like to chat further.
Running the Race 