Text: 2 Timothy 2: 1 – 26
Memory Verse: "…..The Lord knows those who are His; Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity”. 2 Timothy 2:19
Welcome to July, the month of perfection. In this month, may the awesome power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead make you perfect in everything, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect. After all, it is the will of God that His children be perfect and complete in Him.
In case you have not realized it, this month marks the start of the second half of year 2010. And the truth is that the days we have so far spent in this year have gone for ever. They can never be recalled or reused. Any new experience that resembles the one we have had in this year can only be that of déjà vu. This is why we all must walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. The Lord’s coming is at hand.
I am sure that you must have at some point, known, read or heard about serious dishonourable conducts by men and women who are supposed to be honourable and respectable in the society. In every country of the world where there are politicians, there is no dearth of such people. In spite of the exalted title of “Honourable” used in describing Parliamentarians and leaders across the world, we have all at some point, seen, read or heard of the absurd and despicable behaviours that some of them have displayed. Recently in the UK, the issue of MP expenses is one thing that brought an untold damage to the integrity of the UK Parliament and political leaders; its effects continue to reverberate around even till today. And only few days ago, I read in many Nigerian newspapers about what I consider the most shameful event ever recorded in any decent democratic society in history. One title given to this event in one of the newspapers is “House of Horror”. It was about an open brawl the Nigerian legislators from the House of Representatives (also known as the Lower Chamber or Lower House) engaged themselves in over issue relating to corruption and practices around it (Did I hear someone saying: ‘as usual and so what’s new’). Really, there is nothing new about such incidents coming from the members of this particular House, except that this time, every caution was thrown in the wind as they carried out this shameful act shamelessly in the full glare of some secondary school pupils who had come to the House that day (as part of leadership development project, I believe) to witness the proceedings of law making in the ‘exalted’ House of Representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What a show of shame and horror for these young minds to see the people referred to popularly in the streets as “Honourable”, displayed such unruly behaviours that are not expected from even pupils of kindergarten age? The report vexed my spirit so much that I wish that I had the power to disband the entire membership of the shameless House.
In my disquieted state and as I ruminated on the story and its effects on the already damaged image of Nigeria, the Holy Spirit gave me the inspiration to write this month’s Homily under the title above. Clearly, the Lord knew that I was disgusted, disturbed and angry about the incident; and that I was prepared to pass a heavy judgment on the people concerned. He then reminded me of how worse the situation is in His Church; asking me how I think He, the Lord feels seeing the deplorable state His Church is in today because of the dishonourable conducts of His people.
The word honour is derived directly from the Latin word, honos or honoris; which means the evaluation of a person's trustworthiness and social status based on that individual's embracement and actions. Honour is exactly what determines a person's character: whether or not the person reflects honesty, respect, integrity, or fairness. It is a reflection of sense of nobility of soul, magnanimity and a scorn of meanness. An honourable person is one who is worthy of honour; who adhere to ethical and moral principles in conduct of his or her life and service. Honourable people are honest and decent; deserving of praise and respect. They do not just assume or acquire the title as our politicians do.
From our text, we see that God desires (in fact, insists) that anyone who wants to be His vessel, i.e. someone to be used for God’s purpose, must be honourable. Such person must belong to Christ, embracing His grace; he must be reliable, disciplined and focused, prepared at all time to endure hardship and making pleasing God his goal. He must constantly develop himself by studying, especially God’s words; he must not be cantankerous, busybody, lazy, lousy or quarrelsome. Instead, he must pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, demonstrating kindness and purity of heart. And on top of all these, God’s vessel of honour must be able to influence his society positively through correct teaching and demonstrating of good examples of what God’s standards and expectations are. As a born again child of God, the only reason why God left you here on earth after your conversion is that you may bring a positive change to His world. This you must do honourably as you serve Him diligently and with integrity of heart; bringing glory to Him at all time. This is the word of the Lord for you this month.