Contents

SERMON PREACHED AT SAINT PETERS ANGLICAN CHURCH, LILONGWE (AREA 3)
SUNDAY 22ND AUGUST, 2010
BY THE REVD. FR. MACDONALD SYLVESTER SEMBEREKA
PENTECOST 13

Theme: The Suffering Church
Readings: Jeremiah 20: 8-13
Acts of the Apostles 20: 17-35
Matthew 10:16-22

The truth sometimes, if not at all times stings, but our reaction to it shows what we are made of. We can deny the charges and destroy evidence of our misdeeds, or we can take the truth humbly to the best and let it change us. The theme for this morning is an invitation to the church to reflect what it is, whether we are to be on the side of the comfortable or those to be comforted due to various life challenges including intimidation, oppression and injustice.

In the first reading from Jeremiah, we hear the prophet speaking about an event that took place during the reign of Jehoiakim of Judah, Jeremiah preached at the valley of Ben Hinnom, the centre of idolatry in the city. He also preached in the temple which should have been the centre of true worship. Both places attracted many people but were places of false worship.

Jeremiah cried out in despair mixed with unburdening his heart to God. He complained that although he had proclaimed God faithfully, he received nothing in return but persecution and sorrow. Yet when he withheld Gods word for a while, it became fire in his bones until he would hold it back no longer. When Gods living message of love and forgiveness, it becomes fire in your bones, compelling you to share it with others regardless of the results and consequences.

In Acts 20.22-24 Paul talks of being drawn irresistibly by the Holy Spirit to speak the truth including to the powers that be, without fear or favor. Even when we know that we may be called names and experience suffering. Paul despite knowing of the impending challenges of imprisonment, he never shrunk from fulfilling his mission- His strong character was a good example to the Ephesians elders, some of whom would also suffer for Christ. We often feel that life is a failure unless we are getting a lot out of it; recognition, fun, money, appointments and prestige. But Paul considered life worth nothing unless he uses it for Gods work. What he put into life was far more important than what he got out of it. What is more important to you, what you get out of life or what you put into it????

Single mindedness is a quality needed by anyone who wishes to do God’s will. Paul was a single minded person and the most important goal of his life was to tell others of Christ and what He wants of His people (Philippians 3:7-13) it is no wonder that Paul was the greatest missionary who ever lived. God is looking for more men and women in His church who will focus on this task of bringing good news to the oppressed, the poor, and the captives and pronounce the year of the Lord and that God is king and supreme among all humanity.

At the middle of the cabinet crisis in 1964, Late Fr. John Leake, whose family I had the honour of visiting in Wimbledon in the UK, as a young dynamic and vibrant if not visionary priest of the Anglican church, reminded his authorities in the church then in a letter which I quote; ‘ is this not the time the church must stand with the oppressed people of Malawi who are tossed around for dissenting views? Are we not as a church supposed to speak to the authorities (the Prime Minister that Malawians need not suffer the way things are happening? ?’ In his reply to Fr. John Leake, the then Bishop responded by obviously demonstrating fear of reprimand and fear of provoking the wrath of Dr. Banda. Late Fr. Leake went to the extent of even expressing his wish to resign and return back to England if the church failed to live to its call.

Looking at recent political developments in Malawi and in the context of today’s, the same question Late Fr. John Leake asked could be asked of us as a church. Although this question was raised nearly fifty years ago, the same is prompted of us or in this case me as a priest of the church of God as to why I keep mum when things are not in order. The question we need to answer is until when are we as a church going to keep quiet:

When the leadership for the past five to six years created cases for those of dissenting views in the opposition including the former vice president Dr. Kassim Chilumpha who was accused of plotting to kill the president and the whole world was meant to believe such nonsense.

That the whole leadership of the country can make pronouncements that insults the whole nation by  declaring all those opposing its motives and mechanizations of flag change, including the entire ADCOM (association of diocesan clergy of Malawi in the Roman Catholic Church) as drunks who were busy drinking beer at Bwandilo when the consultations were taking place,

When window dressing can be used as consultations for issues of national importance.
When the leadership is bent towards promoting the evil of reducing national Presidency to favour a particular section of society especially of its tribe to be considered for senior government promotions, appointments to various positions including those of parastatals.

When the leadership is bent towards reducing national leadership as a dynasty  by promotion of the succession to the office of president to its relation  and asking people to declare allegiance to the promotion of power transfer to its family lineage, this has even gone to the extent of political zealots ridiculing the sitting vice president and deterring her to execute duties of state, a  job she is being paid for effectively.

When the whole national broadcaster, run under tax payers money, including you and me here in church present today is abused by only covering events that favor one family including a wedding of some distant “niece” and ignoring funerals of national icons, who sacrificed for the nation like the late Professor  Chirambo (may his soul rest in peace).

\When merit is no longer merit but reduced to allegiance to the leadership and the delusion of truth even among those we thought were intelligent enough not to betray the nation.

When the leadership can hire and fire people wily nilly and without accounting to the nation why such is done in the guise of presidential prerogatives.

Christians, we have a duty in this country and the world, that of non-conformity but of proclaiming the truth of God to the people of God. Mind you we are in the world but not of the world, we are light and salt of the world and earth and the Lord calls us to steadfastness to this call in humility and diligence.

I know that speaking truth like this puts a lot of things at stake on the side of the speaker, like Paul faced. it becomes worse for those of us who love glamour, recognition and money at the expense of truth but for me and in the name of God, I wish to declare that God is not pleased with all these and He will strike a blow on it- you may find happiness today, but you will be humiliated if you don’t turn back to God and face Him with humility. Why must national appointments be done on the basis of professing  allegiance to an individual and not the Laws of the land and the word of God and truth, why must we all support one man’s desires, I stand to say let’s say No to that as people of God. God is supreme and He is the only who takes sides with the voiceless and the less privileged and He calls us to do likewise. God will humiliate you if you are selfish for he strikes out the selfish and brings forth the humble into leadership. I am no prophet of doom but on the above I feel duty bound to declare God’s desire by doing my job by even warning those of you who are comfortable and clever and condone such selfishness.

Why must people be forced to declare whether they are for Mr. X or Madame G- why can’t you ask people whether they are for God or the devil? God takes sides with the lowly at heart, the down trodden and oppressed while you are wasting time and money building castles in the air cannavasing for support- God chooses while human beings obliges, you can’t force God to choose you unfortunately, no matter what. Remember whatever, we do must be at the behest of God Himself who created us- we never created ourselves, neither did we put ourselves in the offices we hold, let us not pretend that we believe in God when we are hiding our flawed motives.

The good news though is, I am here to proclaim God’s grace to the humble and God is ready to bring you back on track if only you realize that your actions and decisions need to be subjected to His mercy and grace. In the midst of all these, human mechanizations, the church is called to remain truthful to its call to the proclamation of the good news to the poor, pronounce liberty to the captives and proclaim the year of the Lord, that God who was, is will prevail and remain immortal and that no mortal being will equal to Him- no matter how fiery he may be. The church has throughout history and times, gone through human humiliation, ridicule and insulted like the poor and the voiceless, the less powerful but God has made it triumph. Mind you, some of the questions, we face today, of whether we should speak u to on politics or not, are not new to the church of God and evidence is so clear in the whole Bible of how men and women of God stood up to the litimus test- you can-not silence the church of God no matter how shrewd you are- the church, as church will continue to proclaim the truth of God to everyone, knowing that the church has  a mission to fulfill- one mission that Paul had, to speak to yourself to God who even though He was God, He came down here on earth in humility and tented together with human kind so as to appreciate the challenges the laos of God encounter. In all fairness, how can you say you believe in God if you can’t abide by His will- that you love fellow human beings.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen