SERMON ON MT. SYNAGOGUE

Praise the Lord!

Alleluyah!

Once more,

I'm going to ask you to praise the living Jesus and I expect ALL those who want God's blessings to shout 'Alleluyah'.

Now, P-r-a-i-s-e the L-o-r-d!!

A-lle-lu-yah!!

I can see that all of you want the divine touch. One more time and DAUDA (LOUDER), pleaaase!!

Praise the Lorrrdu o!!

Alleluyah-yah-yah!!!

Before we start today's sermon, I want to ask all of you this simple question and as good Christians, I expect you to be honest with the Lord. Who, among you, wants to go to heaven?

!! Me! She! He! Him! Her! “Gbpgbo everybody”. Everybody! !! All of us!

Wonderful!

You mean all of you want to go to heaven?

Yes, Pastor. Heaven straight! Na straight!

Okay, who wants to die?

(Silence. Graveyard silence.)

Didn't you hear me?

I say, who wants to die! Who wants to kpai? Who wants to KU to go to heaven?

Nobody. None. Kosi. Baabu. O ti. Mba, mba. No baga!

There you are!

Everybody wants to go to heaven but none of you wants to die. Can you prepare omelette without braking an egg?!

Can any woman deliver a child without spilling blood? If I ask you who wants to be like Jesus, I'm sure all of you would want to be like Him but are you ready to suffer like he did, just because he wants you and me to survive and inherit everlasting life? Our Lord Jesus Christ says, "I'm the way, I'm the life and I'm the truth". Are you ready to follow him and his ways? Are you ready to love like him?

I mean real, true, unconditional love? Do you sincerely love your neighbour as you love yourself? While you are ruminating over these questions, let me seize this opportunity to formally welcome into our midst a very important visitor who knows the true meaning of love and who has come all the way from the kingdom of the Zulu, in South Africa, to fellowship with us today…

Brothers and sisters, it is my singular privilege and plural honour to introduce to you His Royal Majesty, Zwelithini Goodwill Zulu, King of the Zulu, and Her Royal Highness, Queen Buhle, who have come with their daughter, Princess Subusie Sibusile whom you already know in this our tabernacle as a victim of voodoo gymnastics…

I admire the king's courage and conviction to come to the tabernacle and bear testimony to God's miracle which many 'doubting Thomases' and non-believers attribute to occultism and shamanism, whatever that means. It is only those who don't know how God manifests His greatness that will not give glory to whom it is due. I'm happy that the king understands and appreciates what the Lord has done in the life of his daughter. Praise the Lord!

Alleluyah!

Our Lord, the King of kings, has shown His Love and presence in the life of this Zulu princess and we must give praise to Him, the Almighty Father, Creator of heaven and earth and General Overseer of the universe, for His mercies and benevolence…

Perhaps, I should share this with you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord. His Royal Majesty, in a conversation with me last night, expressed his happiness and gratitude for the changes in his daughter's life but he felt utterly disappointed with the make-up of we Africans. He wondered why Africa is so blessed with abundant human and natural resources yet we are always in need. He lamented the sorry state of affairs in the continent, saying he could not understand why Africans are so wicked to one another when we should be forging a united front against the common enemy which is poverty.

This morning, as I stand before you, I can see an African king imbued with the spirit of the new African renaissance. King Zulu has admonished us to learn to LOVE one another and forgive those that have trespassed against us. Can we take a cue from this?

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Which brings us to the subject of today's sermon. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, our dear country is at the crossroads. Have you ever wondered why a country like ours is still groping in the dark after so many years of independence? Here we are, a country blessed with both human and natural resources, always wandering and wondering in the wilderness.

Our engineers, doctors, lawyers, architects and scientists are of world standard. In the arts we have solid Iroko writers, Okigbo poets, Kongi playwrights, Atilogwu dancers, Adamu Orisa actors, Anikulapo musicians, Lagbaja saxophonists and Dan Maraya singers who can hold their own anywhere in the world, but the entire world is angry with us. By the way, who is not angry with us?

Our country is the sixth largest producer of oil and the eighth largest exporter. Billions of petrol dollars are deposited in the national vaults yearly only for our leaders to withdraw billions of pains and sorrow for the people. Nobody knows where the dollars have disappeared as the country remains one of the poorest…

Despite the abundance of rivers, streams, lakes, lagoons and an ocean that caresses and kisses our entire shoreline, every second, Nigerians continue to suffer the fate of the Ancient Mariner — water, water everywhere but none to drink. Virtually, every household needs a well to survive. After the air we breathe, our next need, in terms of priority, is water. Thank God our leaders are not in charge of the provision of air. If they are, we shall all be dead by now…

Our oil wealth has become a curse rather than a blessing.

Not so in other lands. I learnt that in Saudi Arabia, the government there extracts drinkable water from the salty waters of the Red Sea through a process they call desalination. Some of you may say that it is necessity that has compelled the oil-rich desert kingdom to do that. If I may ask, is there no necessity to supply water for Nigerians to drink? Do they want us to die of thirst? Is it not a shame that a bottle of water is more expensive than a bottle of Coke?

Our leaders spend billions to construct dams, pools and ponds to supply water to cattle, oxen, donkeys, horses, pigs, goats, fishes and sheep but they don't care about human beings. Some people argue that it's because they are selfish, visionless and directionless. Others blame it on the followers for allowing their leaders to get away with so much rubbish. We, the clergy, also share in the blame. We have left unsaid those things that ought to have been said on the pulpit. By the power conferred on us by the Holy Spirit, we are supposed to strike the nail on the head at all times. Instead, we are more concerned with tithes, Sunday collections and special levies than the plight of the congregation…

This is why I feel touched by the candid testimony of our brother from the Cape. He has brought good tidings and raised our hope when he wondered aloud why we Africans should hate one another so much. He has said it all. We don't love each other at all in this country. If there is love, there will be no tribalism. If there is love, there will be no corruption. If you love your neighbor, you will not 419 him; you will not steal his property, you will not rape his daughter. Neither will you conspire with others to rob or kill him. Praise the Lord!

Alleluyah!

My brothers and sisters in the Lord, love is the springboard for the manifestation of all that is good. Love your neighbour as you love yourself and see how God will touch your life. May the Lord touch the hearts of all our leaders.

A a a men!

ENDS

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SERMON ON MT. SYNAGOGUE was first published in the December 12, 2003, edition of TELL. It’s reproduced today because of its apparent Relevance, Timeliness and Timelessness.

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