CHRISTMAS, A CELEBRATION OF GOD’S ULTIMATE POWER. (Homily for Wednesday of the 4th Week in Advent, Year C.)


Bible Study: Malachi 3, 1 to 6. And Luke 1, 57 to 66.


Do you sometimes doubt God’s power to do certain things? Do you believe that there is a limit to which God can act? Are you scared of people or native doctors, ancestral gods, or witchcraft such that you feel worried, unsettled or troubled by their threats despite your standing as a Christian? Do you believe satan has powers that equals or rivals that of God? Do you believe that unfortunate things happen to you as a result of demonic powers despite your closeness to God, daily prayer and exercise of Christian virtues?

These are very hard questions especially for us Africans, who are still trying to grapple with a break from our ancestral religion, which creates a worldview that, the world is controlled by the gods, and that for everything that happens, there must be a metaphysical explanation, and if anyone dies under any circumstances at all, he or she must have been killed by these unknown forces.

Our faith in God as African Christians is seriously challenged by our strong belief in the power and existence of witchcraft, demons and spirits. Even when we go to church and pray, our faith in God as the ultimate ruler of the universe is brought down seriously by our fear and the moment any unfortunate thing happens, we begin to panic and soon we accept explanations from people that give excessive credit to the existence of demonic powers, charms and evil spirits.

Today, many have made it their business to exploit people including Christians as a result of their ability to create fear in their minds through such cheap explanations and they make a lot of money in the process. They tell you the source of your problems and they claim to have the solutions as well. They make you feel as if your personal prayers are completely worthless, that, otherwise so and so would not have happened to you. Unknown to you, they create a serious doubt in your personal ability to seek God’s intervention in your life. They do not tell you to pray anymore, they say just go and bring this amount of money and they themselves will go into battle on your behalf and your problems will be over. It is sad that many Christians fall easily for such tricks undermining the power of God. They live in constant fear and their problems never seem to come to an end.

Christmas is a reminder that WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. The birth of John the Baptist of which we read about in today’s Gospel passage is one of such instances where God reveals his greatness and power. Zechariah was dumb because he doubted God as many Christians do today who have stopped believing in the potency of their personal prayers. God would not allow his doubt prevent his plan from coming to pass hence, he sealed Zachariah’s lips until when the boy was eventually named. The prophet Malachi had already foretold that Elijah would return and he would be the one to prepare the way for the Messiah. Nothing was going to stop this from happening.

When we doubt God, we are not doing ourselves any good. At times, we are not even conscious of our doubts because we allow so much fear of unknown forces becloud our reasoning and we love to believe that some evil person or demon is responsible. We will know when we start believing in God by the time we start believing in our power of our personal prayers. By the time we pray and rise from prayer with full confidence and peace of mind, then and then only can we say we believe in God. By the time we are no longer afraid of what demons, evil spirits or witchcrafts claim to do, by the time we refuse to accept explanations of physical phenomena that do not give credit to God as the ultimate controller of daily events, then and then only can we say we believe in God.

Doubt is dangerous. Let us take a moment today to examine our conscience very well. It is a sign of humility to accept the fact that we doubt God. Once we acknowledge our doubts, then it is time for us to deal with it by casting out our fear of powers other than God. It is time for us to start believing God is the ultimate, that no power on earth, or in heaven is greater than his. We need to believe God so much that like Shedrach, Meschach and Abegnego, we are prepared to walk into the blazing furnace fearlessly saying: “We know God is there to help us but even if he decides not to help us, the fact that we would suffer will not make us run to other gods.” See Daniel 3, 16 to 18. Yes, the fact that unfortunate things could sometimes happen to us despite our prayerfulness and holiness will not make us run to people, native doctors, so-called business men and women who would increase our doubt in the name of trying to help us.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, as I prepare for your coming as man, increase my faith in you as the one for whom nothing in impossible. Let not my circumstances affect my faith in you as God. Amen.


Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.

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