Blessing

Chapter 14

147 14 ur reading this morning is taken from Exodus 32:7-8. In this passage, we read about how God spoke to Moses, telling him to go down for the people, the Israelites, whom He had rescued from slavery in Egypt had apostatised. The people had cast a metal calf and worshipped it, offering sacrifices to it, taking it for their god. Bow your heads let us go to the Lord in prayer.’ ‘Our dear Father,’ the Pastor called out, ‘we invite you in our midst today to come and take control of this service. Seal out all distractions and cast aside all demoniac intrusions during this solemn moment of worship. Anoint my lips, oh Lord. Inspire Your humble servant as I proclaim Your message to Your beloved children. We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord.’ ‘Amen.’ The congregation opened their mouths and their eyes. ‘At this moment I call on you to turn to the person or persons next to you and shake their hands. Welcome them in the name of the Lord.’ ‘You are welcome in the name of the Lord.’ The phrase was repeated over and over as hands gripped and briefly imprisoned others. The shepherd watched on from the pulpit, mouth white in a teeth-filled smile. ‘God loves you.’ ‘God loves you,’ the flock echoed. ‘He will protect you.’ ‘He will protect you.’ ‘Smile for Jesus.’ ‘Smile for Jesus.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘Thank you. May the name of the Lord be forever praised. Alleluia—’ ‘—Amen.’ ‘O 148 Pastor Arrey’s smile lost some presence. ‘People of God, you have all come here today to worship and glorify the Father, to commune with Him, to abandon your troubles at His feet. Most of you have given up sleep, while some of you have redefined your schedules just to come here and spend some time with the Lord.’ Pastor Arrey’s smile lost more presence. ‘But how many of you have left behind your wives or husbands or children? How many of you would walk back into houses full of relatives who were too busy to come to church? How many times have we stayed away from church because other pressing duties called? Our Lord asks for so little, but even that seems too much to many of you, to most of us. We scream out the name of the Lord whenever problems start punching us, but we forget Him the moment peace or its shadow appears. Where do we think our God is when we forget Him? How do we think He feels when we come to Him only after the witch doctors have failed us? The Israelites cast a metal calf for their god. Our situation today is worse because we have not one but many metal calves; indeed, we have many other gods. When we are not offering sacrifices to the witchdoctor, aren’t we worshiping money or work or something else? Well, let me tell you what God does when we desert Him: He sits here in this church waiting for us. God sits here just waiting for us to knock on His door. We have introduced evening service on Wednesdays and Fridays at convenient hours, but only the elders and a handful of you show up during such mid-week services. People of God, now is the time to call upon the name of the Lord. Do not wait until it is too late to seek Him. The things of this world are here to serve us. Avoid turning the table around by becoming slaves to worldly things. The witchdoctors ... ’ Pastor Mathew Arrey continued haranguing the congregation on creating more time for God and incarcerating the sorcerer and other gods forever. In response, some worshippers occasionally nodded in agreement; others kept jolting out of sleep; still others yawned, surely tired of the traditional lengthy sermons. ‘It is two weeks to Christmas. How many of us have asked ourselves if we are ready to welcome our saviour, Jesus Christ, who will leave His home on high to come dwell in our midst? On the 149 other hand, how many of us have spent all our time making physical preparations like buying new clothes and toys for our children, buying gifts, and making a long menu for that day? Just how many of us have made the effortless effort of asking God to prepare our hearts for His Son’s...