Bible
Study: Jeremiah 7, 1 to 11 and Matthew 13, 24 to 30.
The words
of Jeremiah in today’s first reading apply directly even to the church in our
day and time. Christianity today has become more of a “come-and-receive-your-blessing”
phenomenon. As Jeremiah puts it: “Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you
steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go
after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in
this house, which is called by my name, and say, “We are safe!”-- only to go on
doing all these abominations? Jeremiah 7, 8 to 10.
Recently I started reading Chimamanda Adiche’s novel “Americanah.” I had
only gone a few pages into the book before I realized that, truly speaking,
much of what we do under the cloak of Christianity today is ninety percent
fake. I was inside a bus while reading this book and just as I raised my head
to ponder on what I was reading, Helen Paul, a popular Nigerian comedian was on
the screen. Guess the joke she cracked before the audience?
She said; “Ladies, listen to me, when you are looking for a husband, its
very easy to get one. This is how you do it. Just go to a church and join the
choir. Make sure you are the one to lead the songs on Sunday. Then dress very
well, that is, ensure your dress is very very tight and let it show your nice
curves. Please don’t go to those ones that require you to wear a choir gown,
which will cover your assets. So when you are leading the song, raise your left
hand so that men will notice that there is no ring. Then shake and turn your
body around in the spirit so that they will see you are a complete package.” As
Helen Paul was saying this, you could see the audience on screen as well as my
fellow passengers in the bus laugh with so much excitement.
Somehow, I didn’t consider the joke funny at all. Helen had just passed
a message; that (as George Ehusani would put it), what we have today is no
longer Christianity but a completely new religion. Church going painfully no
longer impacts on the practical day to day morality of people. We steal,
murder, commit adultery and so on, then appear in church to collect our
blessing, destroy the demons responsible for our poverty and feel good about
ourselves. We listen to motivational talk, entertain ourselves with good music,
dance to our delight, and shout countless “Amen”s to impossible prayers.
In the novel, Chimamanda wrote about Aunty Uju who was obviously going
out with a General while Ifemelu’s mother described the “blessings” she was
getting from the General as miracles. Is it a miracle that a single lady drives
a big car or owns a big house after prostituting herself with a married man?
No doubt Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel passage is so true. There are
weeds among the wheat. In any church you attend today, be sure to find the
good, the bad, the very bad and the satanic. And just as you cannot easily distinguish
wheat from weeds, Christians are not easily distinguishable today. We all dress
alike, talk alike and pretend very well but it is when we get to the privacy of
our homes that our true religion plays out.
Let us
pray: Lord Jesus, I thank you that wheat still exists today among the weeds in
your church, help me to serve you in such a way that at the end of my life I may
be counted among the few wheat. Amen.
Good
morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God
bless you. Happy Weekend.
Fr. Abu
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