Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
TRUE
WORSHIP THAT LIBERATES
Prof. Abraham Joseph Padinjattidom,
Director, Lingua Franca International, Trivandrum
And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound
for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath
day?” 16
What is genuine
worship? Is it an act of fear; or worshipping the powers of nature; is it an
intellectual exercise; a transcendental meditation; a mystic experience; an
emotional workout for a mental relief; an intuition; rehearsing rites and
rituals; reciting the written litany; or an unwritten disordered hysteria; is
it thanksgiving or supplication?! We know Prayer constitutes four
factors - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication (ACTS).
Adoration is Worshipping the Lord praising his attributes. (Ps.96:7,8;
29:1,2; 1 Chro.16:7-36, 29:10-13)
Supplication is just the finale. The Sabbath is consecrated by the Lord for worship. Having created the Light; the Skies; the Earth & the Seas; the Stars; the Birds & the Sea animals; Living creatures of the earth and finally man, through 6 days, God blessed and sanctified the 7th day. That is the day we find Jesus preaching and practising in the Synagogue, hence touched the ailing woman for a glorious healing, calling her by name, without her asking. There ought to be miracles in the midst of preaching that liberates man from the bondage of physical, intellectual, and spiritual infirmities even in the present times, so we sing:‘bandhanamazhiyum kettukalazhiyum aaraadhanayinkal; baadhakalozhiyum, kottakal thakarum aaradhananyinkal’ (ബന്ധനമഴിയും കെട്ടുകളഴിയും ആരാധനയിങ്കല്; ബാധകളൊഴിയും കോട്ടകള്തകരും ആരാധനയിങ്കല്) Eng. Shackles shall fall, chains asunder, when we worship God; Persecutions vanish and the fortress down they fall. Perhaps this woman never asked for healing through 2 decades, but accepted her lot and worshipped the Lord, in the lineage of the Faith of Abraham. Thank God, the lady could continue to worship in an erect posture ever thereafter. The head of synagogue hadn’t the guts to question Jesus, instead reprimanded the people. But Jesus encountered him. You hypocrites! (This He does 7 times at a stretch in Mathew 23 vv.13-33). Once again, in Isaiah 5 we find the young prophet declaring Woe, unto the sinners 6 times in a row, vv 8,11,19,20,21,23, and finally upon himself, with a Woe of Confession in 6:8, when he has had the heavenly vision of angelic worship, and thence had a ‘Lo’ of Cleansing in v.7 and a ‘Go’ of Commission in v.8. When this Woe of judgment comes upon the person and the parishioners alike, it is indeed a complete act, to liberate ourselves for a truthful worship (Is.6:3) and further ignited in our mission. All the same, the nucleus of liberation is very personal and spiritual, not secular and corporate as some think.
When we have come of age, we need to be liberated from the bondage of sinful hunchback if we should ever stand erect for that rich entry into the eternal Kingdom of God (II Peter. 1:11). Also, redeeming the non-liberated is our commission of the kingdom of God that we should ever strive for.
Supplication is just the finale. The Sabbath is consecrated by the Lord for worship. Having created the Light; the Skies; the Earth & the Seas; the Stars; the Birds & the Sea animals; Living creatures of the earth and finally man, through 6 days, God blessed and sanctified the 7th day. That is the day we find Jesus preaching and practising in the Synagogue, hence touched the ailing woman for a glorious healing, calling her by name, without her asking. There ought to be miracles in the midst of preaching that liberates man from the bondage of physical, intellectual, and spiritual infirmities even in the present times, so we sing:‘bandhanamazhiyum kettukalazhiyum aaraadhanayinkal; baadhakalozhiyum, kottakal thakarum aaradhananyinkal’ (ബന്ധനമഴിയും കെട്ടുകളഴിയും ആരാധനയിങ്കല്; ബാധകളൊഴിയും കോട്ടകള്തകരും ആരാധനയിങ്കല്) Eng. Shackles shall fall, chains asunder, when we worship God; Persecutions vanish and the fortress down they fall. Perhaps this woman never asked for healing through 2 decades, but accepted her lot and worshipped the Lord, in the lineage of the Faith of Abraham. Thank God, the lady could continue to worship in an erect posture ever thereafter. The head of synagogue hadn’t the guts to question Jesus, instead reprimanded the people. But Jesus encountered him. You hypocrites! (This He does 7 times at a stretch in Mathew 23 vv.13-33). Once again, in Isaiah 5 we find the young prophet declaring Woe, unto the sinners 6 times in a row, vv 8,11,19,20,21,23, and finally upon himself, with a Woe of Confession in 6:8, when he has had the heavenly vision of angelic worship, and thence had a ‘Lo’ of Cleansing in v.7 and a ‘Go’ of Commission in v.8. When this Woe of judgment comes upon the person and the parishioners alike, it is indeed a complete act, to liberate ourselves for a truthful worship (Is.6:3) and further ignited in our mission. All the same, the nucleus of liberation is very personal and spiritual, not secular and corporate as some think.
When we have come of age, we need to be liberated from the bondage of sinful hunchback if we should ever stand erect for that rich entry into the eternal Kingdom of God (II Peter. 1:11). Also, redeeming the non-liberated is our commission of the kingdom of God that we should ever strive for.
PRAYER
Help us, Lord, to
rejoice with the faithful multitude and not be disgraced like the Hypocrites
with their own hunchback, on the Day of Judgment. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
‘An ounce of action
is worth a pound of precept. So, let’s look Within, look Above, and look
Without.’