Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C: Neh 8:2-6,8-10; Ps 18: 8-10,15; 1Cor 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21
Have you ever wondered why many go to church but benefit little? The minister preaches and prays, and many say ‘amen’, ‘I receive’, etc but only a few actually receive and are transformed? Do you find yourself in this condition, waiting for that miracle to happen in your life? Then Listen!
That miracle you seek depends on two things: it depends on YOU and the QUALITY of what you’re taught! If you want to know how, continue reading slowly…
Cf. Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21
He [Jesus] came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the GOOD NEWS to the poor, to proclaim LIBERTY to captives
and to the blind NEW SIGHT, to set the downtrodden FREE, to proclaim the LORD’s YEAR OF FAVOUR.
He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even AS YOU LISTEN.’
POINTS FOR REFLECTION
1. Child of God, the content of a good homily, sermon or ministration is demonstrated and summarised in the mission of Jesus. If the homily or sermon being preached to you lack any of these:
- Good News (the message of the coming of the Lord Jesus which should cause repentance and holiness)
- Liberation (a message of freedom from bondages and evil strongholds)
- New Sight (knowledge and principles of life that exposes and condemns ignorance and activates growth)
- Freedom (from the power of sin and death)
- The Lord’s Year of Favour (a message of material and spiritual prosperity).
Then that message is incomplete and therefore, won’t help you! You heard me well.
2. The miracle you seek is dependent on YOU and the QUALITY of information available to you.
a. YOU could be the reason for your delayed miracle because Scripture says ‘The Text is being fulfilled today as you LISTEN.’ Pay attention here! It says as you LISTEN some translation says as ‘in your hearing’! Even though related, there’s a difference between hearing and listening. The former is a passive act, while the latter is active. You can be hearing me but not listening to me. You may be in class hearing all that is said but not paying attention or listening to the teacher. A lexical differentiation defines Hearing as a passive, involuntary, and sensory process in which sounds are perceived, but does not require focused attention. While Listening is an active, voluntary, and intentional process that involves making sense of the words and sounds heard; it requires paying attention which enables one to develop a response to what is heard.
What do you do in Church: do you just HEAR or LISTEN to the Word of God? Or you go there to listen to what you want to hear? The two does not produce the same effect. Hearing alone produces nothing, and listening to what you want to hear is gullibility and that is what scripture addresses in Matt 13:14-15 and 2 Tim 4:3 (Please click to read it). But Listening to the Word of God causes the required change and transforms situations to miraculous encounters. YOU MUST DECIDE!
b. The QUALITY of what is being preached is also important because there’s a relationship between what is preached to the effects it produces in the life of listeners. In the Old Testament we find a classical example of a good sermon. The bible says in Nehemiah 8:8-10:
And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read…Then Nehemiah and Ezra, the priest and scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.
If the Word of God is preached well and you Listened it must produce a great and miraculous effect because the WORD of God is alive and active (Heb 4:12). This is a proven fact. No wonder St Paul addressing the Romans says:
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? (Rom 10:13-15).
And so if you’re a preacher or minister reading this, let it be known to you that the quality of what you teach has a strong impact and can influence the quality of life of your followers because as St Paul says “faith cometh by hearing the Word of God” (Rom 10:17).
TASK: Today resolve to LISTEN to the Word of God because only those who listen can make sense of the WORD and use it to their advantage. Remember, our battles are not carnal but spiritual hence it is a battle in the mind where only those with the proper WORDS can win. To cause or experience a miracle your mind must be built up by Faith in the unfailing WORD of God. If you wish to grow spiritually examine Yourself and the Quality of sermons you hear. Connect to the preacher that preaches the truth outlined above. You will thank me later for this.
I Pray for you reading this:
May this Word you just read begin to cause a miraculous change in your life now…
May this Word liberate you, your marriage and your family from strongholds, setbacks and adversities, in Jesus name.
May this Word enlighten you and your eyes to the darkness and errors hindering your spiritual and material progress, in Jesus name
May this Word cause your miracles to materialise and favours to spring up in your life, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Amen. Thanks father
Amen! Kudos Padre