Sermon by Rev. Dr. Jovilisi Meo At Methodist Church in Fiji Golden Jubilee Celebration .Friday 22nd August, 2014 Readings: Leviticus:25:1-17; Isaiah :61:1-3; Luke 4:1-30 Topic: There is a place in Southern Africa west coast where you can see the famous display of wild flowers. On a good day at early morning you can drive directly into the morning sun...and as you look around eagerly to see what you are coming there to see and fail to see it, your spirit would drop because the country was clothed in a drab grey-green. May be the flowers are ahead...you would stare with expectation...Nothing! All you have to do, is just pull over and make a 180 degree turn. You will grasp with disbelief! As far as the eyes could see, the country side is clothed with a dazzling tapestry of orange, white and yellow daisies. They were there all the time...the daisies are truly sunflowers. They close at night or overcast weather, but when the sun shines, they will turn their faces towards the light. Driving there, you could see nothing, only the drab underside. It was as if you had been blinded, but now you could see... All you need to do is making a 180 degree turn and behold that unparalleled beauty. I still remember 25 years ago at the Silver Jubilee, I was requested to preach on the similar topic of Jubilee and one of the words that I had to explain in Fijian was the word praxis. I found out from some of my colleagues that a good Fijian word for praxis is Liu, Muri Liu - muri is a word used to define a persons character as a person who say something good about you in your presence and when he or she is with other people, the whole meaning is changed. Your character is tarnished. But the meaning I prefer is Liu-Muri means that if you want to go forward, you need to go backward. So Liu muri means to reflect, evaluate and act...this is what Restoration or Jubilee is all about. ..a time to reflect, to evaluate and move forward And act, the new exodus. We heard similar exhortations yesterday morning from Rev. Dr. Tuwere: to salute the past and give God the praise, to celebrate the present, and hope for the future and let God reign. In our reading this morning and this same passage we heard throughout the week, Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61: in Jesus belief, the time is here and now; the time of reversal, the time to make 180 degree turn...this time of reversal celebrating the fact that things are getting turned around, and offering hope to those people who had no reason to hope. We are now breathing the fresh air of Jubilee, it is time to be happy, to smile, to laugh, to enjoy life. As we enjoy ourselves in feasting, we are reminded that Jubilee is the time to change, a time to correct one another, a time to come together, to reconcile a time to atone, or at -one -ment or atonement with one another and with God. The question posed to us on Monday was, What would happen if Adam and Eve did not sin? Well, it happened that they sinned and we believe that Gods intervention was not circumstantial but intentional. Gods salvation began at the dawn of history And will continue to eternity. The very true and bare fact is that we are sinners, we have human limitations and you and I cannot say as individual, I am OK, I am sinless. The bible is very clear that we are sinners and fall short in the glory of God. You see my dear brothers and sisters, reconciliation is only possible when both parties or both persons admit that they are both sinners. The biblical truth is that Jesus did not sit in heaven and point a finger at humanity and say, You are sinners. No! A great theologian once said that Jesus is the greatest sinner, that is, He carried, and bore our sins and sacrificed his godly personality and assume the human form and carry our sins for us. This is the great love of God for humanity, For God so loved the world that God gifted his only Son to us so that we would not die but have life in its fullness, life in God. My dear friends reconciliation is doomed if we say, I am right and he or she is wrong. Our common ground is that we come with humility and admit our wrong, I am sorry. In Australia, for many years, we did not admit that we are wrong, only recently, our leaders and even in the church we say SORRY! Only when we admit that we commit some mistakes in the past, the Governments both past and present are beginning to see that we need to change part of our Constitution. The Uniting Church in Australia has changed the preamble of its Constitution and now we call the aborigines, the First People. Many changes will take place if each of us come with humility and say, I am sorry! This is the very essence of jubilee or the year of restoration. We are doing it, lets continue. When we exercise our own power, disaster results, that is the reason we have this week of restoration and mapping a new exodus. You see when followers of Jesus used the world power, the result is chaos and the church is stagnant and it is no longer Championing the Kingdom of God or the Rulership of God. The alternative and the only way is to champion the power of God, the power of love. You see that love of power destroys, but the power of love builds up the church and community. You see Jesus Christ did not use the love of power to defeat the mighty world but use the power of love to defeat the mighty world. That is our power to use and need for the new exodus. I am not only asking the Methodist Church that coupes its leaders, to use the power of love to bring about reconciliation and restoration but I am speaking also to the national leaders in the past and present. One of the fallacies of history and life is that our struggle is permanent, we say we lost the battle, we have reached the limit or this is the end. The Good News is that God is restoring you, God is not limited and do not be influence by the lies of permanence. People loose heart when they are face with unending problems. The Good News is that Jesus who is filled with the Holy Spirit has brought about an end to the fallacies of permanence; the poor finds food, broken hearted people are healed, the captives are free, the prisoners are set free, the blind can see, debts are paid, slaves are free, inequality is eradicated. We are asked to continue this mission and we can only do it if we are filled with the power of. The Spirit of God. My dear brothers and sisters, in 1985 Conference in Cuvu, Nadroga, the Fiji Times headline stated, Kava drinking is the no. 1 enemy of the Methodist Church why do we continue to drink excessively, when we know that kava is not helping the growth of the church...what would be the New Exodus look like? Jubilee Year is the year to break those things that are killing the growth of the church. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than staying up the whole night drinking kava...why not use those time in prayer and Bible study and fellowship. Only when one is filled with the Holy Spirit like Jesus then we can do the work that Jesus did. It is right there, lets do it now to the next Jubilee. I am certain that if leaders in Fiji and all of us listening to this exhortation, the words of the prophet will come true or those words that Jesus reiterated. Individual who mourns will be given a garland (that is, a symbol of rejoicing) instead of ashes (symbol of sadness) the oil of gladness instead of mourning, praise instead of a faint spirit (61:3). Debts are cancelled as in the Lords Prayer, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors ...everybody gets a fresh start, a reversal or a 180 degree turn. Jesus is saying that we cannot wait for the Jubilee, now is the time to reverse, the time of restructuring, the time of evaluating; the message is shatteringly direct: the good news is for the poor and oppressed: it is liberation from bondage, whether the bondage is political, economic, social or all of them. Jesus sided with the poor, you see the Good News is for the poor and his words divided the people those who opposed him, and those who are unchurched and the foreigners. Jesus gave two very down to earth and vivid and true to life examples: Elijah was sent to liberate the poor, down trodden widow and Gentile of Zarephath and restored her to life and her family; the other story was Elisha restored to life Naaman of Syria an enemy and a Gentile. The year of Restoration and the new Exodus, we reach our hands to the people of other races and ethnicities. We are all part of this country, we are the people, we are the people of God, we have a part to play in restoring this nation. It is the time for restoration, of restructuring: the land is not to be exploited any more, slaves are to be freed, debts are to be cancelled, capital unjustly gained is to be redistributed. Any political, economic, social and religious structures that perpetuate exploitation must be changed to create a just society committed to the reversal of the plight of the poor, materially poor, the captives, the blind, the oppressed. May I add that women liberation and equality should be pursued. On Monday Rev. Kanailagi raise a question on Adam and Eve, my question is about women only not man: What would happen if we have the majority of women in church leaderships? I am delighted that women led this worship service today, may be in the next Jubilee we will have more women in leadership, as President and many more will be Superintendent ministers and some will have the opportunities to preach in the next Jubilee 2064. The provision of the Jubilee or the year of Restoration are not spiritual consolation prizes for those who fail to make it, here and now, they are specific descriptions of what the here and now is already in the process of becoming. Let me tell you my final story: story of Moses crossing the Red Sea, the platoon, the bobby trap, the remote control, and Moses switching the trigger, and blew the platoon and the Egyptian army. Is that the real story son? Dad, if I tell you the real story, you wont believe it. In our Christian experience, the most important thing is to believe and see not seeing and believing. In the days of old Isaiah talked about liberation, freedom, healing, equality. Most of these were fulfilled in Jesus time and he has commissioned us to continue. As we journey in faith we will believe and then we will see Gods mighty power at work. Believe me that in 2064, the next Jubilee, God shall do might miracles for Fiji and Rotuma. Science and the world I have condition our mind to depend on empirical evidences, to see and believe but I am asking you to believe and you will see because I am telling you the real story! Let me conclude by saying that we are called the oaks of righteousness, the planting of The Lord for the display of his splendour. In another translation, it says, they will be like trees, that The Lord himself has planted. As you look around the edges of this park, you see some big trees, those trees were just seedlings a few years ago. An oak tree begins as a small tree and it grows into a big tree. The tree gets its nutrients from the soil and water deep in the earth and it grows and grows, the tree will transform the environment where it is planted! The same place you know a few years ago has now looked different...transformation has taken place. You see we are the oaks of righteousness that The Lord has planted, God created us from the top soil not from the dust as some translation puts it...the top soil is the most fertile, and very rich...look at your friends beside you and just marvel at the top soil, who created it? the Bible says, that The Lord has planted because he has planted you on the top soil, you are very, very special, special to be the oak of righteousness, that is your life bears the fruits of the Holy Spirit so you can transform the place where you are being planted or where you live. My dear brothers and sisters at this point in time, at this Jubilee, or the Year of Restoration, make the 180 degree turn and be the transformer of people wherever you live. You are the Oaks of righteousness. AMEN.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:34:12 +0000