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Blessings
Samuel
You are Christ’s Letter to Be Read!
A sermon preached on Sunday 10th January 2016 at the ACK Church of the Good Samaritan (CGS) Nkai Murunya in St. Matthew’s Parish.
Texts:
Psalm 89:19-27
Hosea 10:9-14
2 Corinthians 3:1-3
Introduction
Since this is my first service with you since the year began, it is proper to start by wishing you all a Happy New Year 2016! Indeed God is gracious to us for having given us yet another year to live for Him and to serve Him. New Year comes with new resolutions and new resolves yet for us at St. Matthew’s Parish, God is calling us to Break up (y)our unplowed ground(s) for it is time seek Him. It is easy for most of us Christians to sing “seek the Lord”, “I am seeking the Lord for this and that in my life”, or even make a call, “let us seek the Lord for this and that…” But more than often, we forget that there is a condition to be met first before we can be in a position to seek the Lord!! And that is: Break up your unplowed ground. Seeking the Lord should not just be a spiritual ‘jargon’ to be unleashed to sound spiritually determined but first we must settle first things first; breaking the unplowed ground.
Therefore, the question that we need to grapple with this morning is: what kind of a letter are we? Or what kind of a letter am I?
Israel was called out of the nations to be a letter to the nations; to be an example to the nations; to be a role model to the nations; to be a missionary to the nations; and to be God’s standard of holiness among the nations:
Exodus 19:5-6 “5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”
Isaiah 61:6 “And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.”
Deuteronomy 7:6-10 “6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. 7 The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.”
Deuteronomy 26:19 “He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.
Israel failed on the mission for which called her and punishment was meted on her:
Amos 3:1-2 “1 Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt: 2 “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
However, our God is gracious. He is merciful; He gives salvation; He brings restoration and He shows mercy. With God there is hope! That is why in Hosea, Israel is being given a chance for salvation and restoration:
Hosea 10:12 “12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”
Who are we? Three types of Letters:
(Illustration with three different types of letters)
- A Dirty and Stinking Letter but with a Great Message?
How would you respond if a friend or a relative sends you a letter with sweet and encouraging words but the words are written in a very dirty piece of paper? Probably he used the letter to wipe his nose or wiped his dirty stinking feet? You try to read the letter but you can’t get the words; you can’t concentrate because the smell is unbearable. Definitely, a lot will be going on in your mind as to how the person views you.
Sometimes, as Christians, we are like such kind of a letter. We have the Word of Life; the message for salvation but people finds it difficult to see or find that message through our messed-up lifestyles. Our lifestyles do not match with what we confess or profess. We leave people confused as to what kind of message we are conveying. It appears that we are trying to pass on a message we ourselves don’t believe in.
To those of us who are like this letter, Jesus is calling on us just as He called to the church Ephesus:
Revelation 2:1a-5 “1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write… 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”
- A Very Clean Piece of Paper but without a Message?
The second letter is a clean piece of paper but without anything written on it; no message at all. What will you think when you receive an envelope from a post office addressed to you but when you open the envelope; lo and behold there is a white paper without any writings?
(A brief interaction and responses from the congregation)
If a message conveyed through a dirty and stinking piece of paper caused anxiety, then a blank piece of paper from a post office box would create a lot of anxiety and fear.
But friends, sometimes, as Christians, our lives have no message at all. We have faithfully attended church services and even are actively involved in church activities but our lives have no message at all.
We have put on the ‘garments’ of self-righteousness without the saving grace of Christ or we have a salvation which we have defined in our own terms; which we have worked so hard to acquire through works but not through grace by faith alone.
The warning to the churches of Sardis and Laodicea describes this letter well:
Revelation 3:1-3 “1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits 7 of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
Revelation 3:14-18 “14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
- A Clean Letter with Encouraging Message
The third letter is the one which is typed on a clean piece of paper and have a clear and encouraging message.
For example the letter may contain the words:
“1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’S hand double for all her sins” Isaiah 40:1-2
“10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11“All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. 12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing
13 For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. 14 Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. 16 You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:10-15
“15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16
“20 I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him. 21 My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him. 22 No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him. 23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries. 24 My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted. 25 I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. 26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’ 27 I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. Psalm 89:20-27
I encourage you to insert your name where the Psalmist is referring to David so that this letter should really be speaking to you.
In a world buffeted by hardships and storms of life, people are craving for encouraging messages; messages of hope; messages of affirmation and messages worth putting our trust on.
Paul reminds the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 3:3 “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
Conclusion
Break up your Unplowed Ground; for it is time to seek the Lord! – Part 1 is a call to be letters as Christians. The Israelites lost their calling to be God’s letter to the nations. Due to their hardness of hurts and the backsliding tendencies, they were rejected by God. However, God, full of mercy gave them another chance if they could Break up their unplowed ground for it was time to seek the Lord and until rains righteousness on them.
As we at St. Matthew’s Parish also break up our unplowed grounds, the call is that we be good letters to be read by everyone.
In the Name of the Father
And of the Son
And of the Holy Spirit
Amen!
Baptism of Christ (1st Sunday of Epiphany)
Rev. Simon J. Oriedo
Vicar ACK St. Mathew’s Hardy
P.O. Box 14814 – 00100, Nairobi Kenya
Mobile: +254 – 722 838 023 / 772 838 023 / 735 62 11 72 / 752660620
Email: sjoriedo@gmail.com / revsimon.oriedo@gmail.com /sjoriedo@yahoo.com
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Evangelist.Thomas Roger says
Amen! Iam So Blessed Indeed. And May God reachly bless you.