Readings: 1 Samuel 1:9-20; Resp: 1 Samuel 2; Mark 1:21-28
In life, there are certain things that will end up consuming us and shaking the foundation of our identity and existence if we do not know how to deal with them or what to do with them.
Today, I will identify and reflect on just three.
Our sins and mistakes:
Every one of us still struggles with sins and because we are all imperfect we continue to make mistakes. How do we deal with our sins and mistakes? King David committed the sin of adultery and tried to cover it up by every means available until it blew up in his face and stained him indelibly.
What do we do with our sins?
Do we live in perpetual regret, spending our entire lives in guilt?
Do we try to conceal them, even from God?
Do we try to justify them, deny them, blame them on others or do we just imagine that “almighty time” will forgive or at least erase them?
Dear friends, sins don’t just go away. They are either given to the Lord and taken away or they remain with us, in our records, waiting for the day we shall render an account of our lives.
Where are your own sins, past and present?
What have you done with them?
Unless we give our sins to Jesus, they remain our sins, labeled with our names. Here is the good news – our Jesus is a sin collector. He collects sins and gives us freedom that is why He is called a Saviour. He saves us from the eternal consequences of our sins. We can choose to confess, repent and let Him free us from the burden we don’t have to bear, or we can preserve and conceal them until they stand against us.
Our pains:
In today’s First Reading, Hannah did the right thing with her pains. Our reading says “After they had eaten in the hall, Hannah rose and took her stand before the Lord…In the bitterness of her soul, she prayed to the Lord…”
In the bitterness of their hearts, many people are making others miserable alongside them. Many people are hurting others because they have been hurt. Many people are trying to mellow their pains through self-destructive means. The truth is this: “The pains we are not willing to transform, we will transmit.”
Let us learn from Hannah and take our stand before the Lord, offering our pains at the foot of His cross, pouring out our pains and allowing the streams of His blood to wash them away. This is the secret of holy comfort and inner healing.
Our fears:
Many of us are living in fear – fear of many things, some trivial and some grave. Fear has crippled so many people that they are unable to move on, to step out, and to make the right decisions. Many have and are still making wrong decisions because of fear. Many are losing great opportunities because of fear.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus met a man in the temple, possessed by an unclean spirit who trembled out of fear at the sight of Jesus. Fear is like that unclean spirit. It possesses us and controls our vision, sets boundaries for us and restrains our capacity to sprout, to realise ourselves, to step out, to fully become who we are meant to become. Fear is our enemy.
Let us take our fears to Jesus. Let us confess them and rebuke them by the truth of God’s Word. Let us open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and invite Him to possess our hearts. He is a spirit of peace, boldness, confidence and true freedom.
Just as the demon shouted today, our sins, pains and fears are shouting – what do you want to do with us?”
Lord Jesus, help me to surrender my sins to you today, right now – the sins of my whole life, my failures and my wrongdoings. Help me to unite my pains with yours and to know how to receive your comfort. Through the power of your Spirit, force fear out of my life and give me a sweet experience of peace, serenity and confidence, Amen.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on January 11, 2022