Bible
Study: Isaiah 11, 1 to 10. Romans 15, 4 to 9 and Matthew 3, 1 to 12.
Last Sunday,
being our New Year Day, we began a new season in the Church; the season of
Advent. Our focus was on SPIRITUAL VIGILANCE as the key to effectively prepare for
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we noted last Sunday, to be vigilant is
to be alert in the spirit; alert to temptations, alert to spiritual laziness
such as forgetting to pray, alert to knowing when and how one begins to move
towards sin, alert to knowing when the thief (Satan) is about to come into your
heart and suggest something evil. One of the highpoints of our readings last
Sunday is Jesus telling us to “be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an
hour you do not expect.”
Today,
being the Second Sunday of Advent or the Part 2 if you like, we are taking a
step further in our drive to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus. Note
that our readings did not really change (as we still get to hear from Isaiah,
Romans and Matthew). In other words, the message remains the same but this time
around the focus shifts from vigilance to repentance. It is not enough that we
are alert in the Spirit to receive Jesus, we must look inwards and carry out a
proper sanitization exercise; we must now clean up and throw out those things
that are foul and smelling; we must take away those obstacles that often make
our hearts unbearable for Jesus to dwell.
What is
the point guarding a bank with the latest security gadgets and heavily armed
men when there is no single money or anything of value in its treasury? What is
the point using a casket of pure diamond worth billions of dollars to bury a
dead man? Isn’t it such a waste to claim to be spiritually vigilant when we are
full of evil, rot and decay inside? No wonder, John the Baptist was not afraid
to address the Pharisees and Sadducees as a “brood of vipers.” This is an expression
that not only captures their emptiness deep within, it also clearly summarizes
the life of modern day Christians.
The one
problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees and Sadducees was not their lack of religiosity;
after all, these men fasted twice a week, they dressed decently, they prayed in
street corners and market places, they read the old testament scriptures in the
synagogues and some never left the temple area praying night and day. Hence,
these men were revered by the people and so were greeted obsequiously. They were
called Rabbi but John the Baptist called them brood of vipers! Modern day
Christians do all these and even more. We are champions of prayer, our churches
are packed full day and night, the only posters and bill boards you see these
days on our streets are Christian adverts, it is one crusade after another, our
pastors have become celebrities. But if John the Baptist were to come today,
what will he call us?
What will
John the Baptist say to me today? Am I truly what I say I am? Do I live a
double life? Is my practice of Christianity a mere show I put out to the world
just to hide my dirt and camouflage my baggage of worms and evil? It must have
been shocking to the people that these Pharisees and Sadducees who enjoyed so
much respect in the community were addressed in this way. Hypocrisy is like a
mask. Once you put it on, your true identity remains hidden and it takes only
God or one truly in the Spirit to detect who you are.
The greatest
problem we Christians face today is hypocrisy. We are worse than the brood of
vipers. Even inside the church, we have secret cults, unless you belong, you
never get to know the truth, we claim to worship God but it is money that we serve,
we open churches today not to spread God’s message but to make money, to own
lots of cars and houses so we wouldn’t know which is which, the poor are put
down while endless praises are showered on the rich regardless of their source
of income, we take vows of chastity in public but in private we are worse than
the people of Sodom of Gomorrah. It is painful and quite sad that our so called
theologians these days are beginning to debate the validity of our long held
moral traditions such as the Ten Commandments and the teaching of our Fathers in
the Faith all in the name of adapting to the changing times.
There is
too much deception today in Christianity, so much deception that one cannot
really blame those who have vowed never to go to Church anymore. The smell of
sin that oozes from those of us who claim to be children of God is so much that
if Christ literally comes, he may die of suffocation. As a nation, our economic
problems today are only but a tiny reflection of our spiritual decay and
corruption. The recession we face is not just a problem of leadership, it is a
problem of Christians who can never tell the truth, Christians who go to China
to manufacture fake products, Christians who are so greedy and so money minded
that they steal billions in public office and still come to church to do
thanksgiving, Christians who as politicians have more than enough to spend lavishly
on overseas trips in luxury hotels while those who elected them languish in
poverty, Christians who as judges only rule based on bribe, Christians who talk
most about charity and helping the needy yet are the most stingy creatures on
earth. We say we are doing charity yet we only give when the media is there to
cover it live.
Dear
friends, if we don’t get it right spiritually, we can never get it right economically.
If we cannot be truthful, honest and virtuous, we are doomed indeed. In a
country where hard work is never rewarded, where students sleep with lecturers
to acquire degrees only to come out unemployable, useless and unfit for society.
Hmmmmmmmmm I may go on and on but the point is clear. REPENTANCE IS THE KEY.
You may not see yourself as the worst sinner but if only you agree to examine
your own conscience and change today, you would not only be better prepared for
Christ, you stand in a position to save this country from its current mess.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, change me for good. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. Happy Sunday.
Fr. Abu.
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