“CENTRAL” SERMON
The Saviour in His earthly sojourn had a unique way of wrapping his messages around contemporary events (Luke 13:1-5), so toeing my Master’s line, here I go…
“Jab tak rahega , Samosae mein Allu, tab thak rahega Bihar mein Lallu” (till potato remains in the Samosa, till then Lallu will remain in Bihar…an apt rustic translation eh…) shouted the angry supporters of Lallu Prasad Yadav, the Chief of Rashtriya Janata Dal party and Ex-Chief Minister of Bihar State (the second largest in India in terms of Lok Sabha seats), even as he was being whisked away by the police from Ranchi High court recently after being convicted in the infamous fodder scam. A jail sentence of five years aside, can anyone bet against this earthy, street-smart Political maverick from making a strong comeback both in State and National politics? Now for the catchy afore-mentioned slogan… for the uninitiated Samosa with spiced, mashed potato filling in the CENTRE is an Indian snack relished by every Indian from “Kashmir to Kanyakumari”…(in the Biblical parlance the equivalent of Dan to Beersheba- 1 Sam 3:20). Really what is in the centre makes the difference in a sandwich too, isn’t it?
Now coming to the spiritual realm in this message, I am inspired to focus on only the “Central” subjects. Firstly…
CANON…
Action: Display of picture of Psalm 118:8
Psalm 118:8…the Central verse in the Bible (also described as the Canon) virtually sums up the Biblical message which is all about God-dependence in every area of one’s life. During moments of difficulty, by nature, we tend to look for visible, easily accessible means for problem solving. Though praying to the Almighty may seem to be a “long Route” in relation to juicy short-cuts in front of us, it is the surest way to get the best help possible in times of trouble. Let’s always be reminded of what the Scripture says in Zechariah 4:6
“…‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’…”
Now consider this Biblical example…Let’s pick-up action from 2 Chronicles Chapter 14…there was that good Judean King Asa facing the bleak prospects of winning a war against a million Ethiopian soldiers who were marching against his relatively tiny Kingdom. What did he do? Let the Scripture take over…
Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. LORD, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.2 The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the LORD and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder.-2 Chro 14:9-13
Action: Display of the map of the actual battle scene
Was King Asa faithful all along in the matter of God-dependence, after being a first-hand witness to God’s redemptive power? Well, that’s a different story but what I want to highlight is this; in this particular incident the great Grandson of wise King Solomon got his spiritual bearings right when confronted with the problem.
I have no qualms in saying that during a crisis the “real problem” for a believer is not the “problem” itself which is facing Him, but willful choice he makes at that time. Is he/she looking prayerfully unto the Lord for guidance and deliverance or is the believer’s gaze shifting to finite men and their puny resources for help?
CARAVAN…
Action: Display of map of camping arrangement of 12 tribes of Israel during their journey from Egypt to Canaan
Hey, did you ever notice, the truthful Scripture that does not gloss over the incidents of rebellion against the Redeemer God by the redeemed Jews (it’s painful, reading about them) after their shackles of slavery were broken in Egypt does NOT record a single incident of stampede when the caravan of nearly 2.5 MILLION PEOPLE under Moses’ leadership wandered in the Wilderness for 40 long years. Simply amazing, considering that even in this so-called “enlightened age” in various pilgrim centres’ around the World there are several instances of avoidable stampedes and subsequently tragic loss of many lives. The reason why there was not a single incident of stampede was that our orderly God (I Cor 14:33) led them in a highly systematic way as borne out by their perfectly methodical camping arrangement CENTERING AROUND THE HOLY TABERNACLE (NUMBERS 2:2) WHICH SYMBOLIZED THE ALMIGHTY’S PRESENCE. Also in their march, there was perfect order with the tribe of Judah leading at the front and the Tribe of Napthali at the rear (Numbers 10:14-28).
Dear fellow sojourner, if you have the Almighty right in the centre of your scheme of things in your Christian journey towards your Promised Land (read Heaven), take my word, you won’t end up “stepping on someone else’s toes” or for that matter in your onward journey, you would never get derailed.
CITY…
Action:a) Display of World map showing Jerusalem as the Central city
b) Display of animation of the Ripple effect
“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the CENTER OF THE NATIONS, with countries all around her.”-Ezekiel 5:5
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in JERUSALEM, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”-Acts 1:8
Even at the cost of sounding repetitive, I want to reiterate what I have always been saying in most of my columns for that marks the CENTRAL purpose behind Man’s existence on Earth. More than working for God, we need to be His Worshippers first and when it comes to worshipping God, more than worshipping God for the good things (I Tim 6:17), He pours into our lives, we need to worship Him just for WHAT HE IS…for his unique traits and attributes. When Moses wanted to see the glory of God, did not the Lord respond by saying that He would make ALL HIS GOODNESS pass before him. In other words, God’s glory is the sum total of ALL HIS UNIQUE QUALITIES (Exodus 33:18-19/34:6-7).
Oh the genius of our Lord in selecting Jerusalem (the centre of the World) to be the CENTRAL PLACE AMONG ALL PLACES to complete the Redemption Work and proclaiming the Good News thereof!!! Imagine for a moment, if the Gospel proclamation had begun from say North pole or South pole, would it (Gospel) have reached the uttermost parts of the Earth in quick time but consider the ripple effect to which human history bears witness, when the Good News began to be preached from the CENTRAL CITY OF THE WORLD. There are very few places in the Planet Earth, where Good News has not been preached.
“But when the set TIME had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”-Gal 4:4
Even the timing of Christ’s I advent and his atoning work were perfect, what with the Roman Empire (the World super power at that time) connecting the then known World under its Empire with good roads. Add to this, the fact that there were no irksome passport restrictions to travel from one country to another during the Roman Rule and the truth about the Gospel reaching “the ends of the World from the central city of Jerusalem” (Matt 28:18-19) in double quick time emerges clearly with no shades of doubt.
CROSS
Action: Display of picture of Christ being crucified between two criminals
When Jesus was crucified along with two other criminals, it was not for the first time nor was it for the last time that three men were being crucified simultaneously in the annals of Roman history. The intent behind putting the sinless one on the middle cross was the wicked reasoning of His enemies that he was the biggest criminal of em’ all, for middle cross would usually be assigned to the most dangerous of the three criminals. It was meant to rub salt virtually and figuratively to the copiously bleeding wounds of Christ. However the Almighty has a way of weaving even the crooked ideas’ of hard-hearted men into the overall beautiful tapestry which His Salvation plan represents. Remember how the depraved scheme of selling innocent Joseph to the Ishmaelite traders by his mean brothers worked out for the betterment of entire Jewish nation (Genesis 45:5-7)…
To the REDEMPTIVE work of Christ on the CENTRAL CROSS, historically there has always been and can be also only two types of responses as personified by the words of the two criminals who hung on either side…the one of REJECTION and other of RE-CREATION (Luke 23:38-43).
Dear Reader, when you look at the PERSON dying FOR the sins of mankind, like the hard-core criminal to the left of Jesus, you can choose to remain IN sin and look at Christ as merely a solver of worldly problems (he wanted only physical deliverance from the excruciating death) or you can respond like the repentant thief and die TO sin by accepting Jesus as the solver of the much graver, spiritual problem of sin in your life. Remember the decision we take here on this side of eternity, determines our destiny on the other side of it.
In conclusion, may we all in unison praise the Saviour for making available salvation to us FREE OF COST by dying on the Central Cross!!! How about this desi chant in His praise “Jab Suraj aur Chand bhi mit jayega, Yesu tu hamesha hamare paas hamare prakash banke rahega”. The gist of Rev 21:23 which reads thus: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. HALLELUJAH!!!
Suresh Manoharan
An unprofitable servant
PS: This message replete with pics/maps/animation is available on the following URL...
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_oct1_13.asp
