1st October, 2023
Beloved in Christ,
63RD INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION – PASTORAL LETTER
We give thanks to God for the gift of life and health to witness another independence anniversary of our dear nation, Nigeria.
This year’s anniversary falls on the Lord’s Day and the import of that is not lost on us. John the Beloved wrote:
Rev 1:10-11 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
If there is any time that God’s people in Nigeria must be in the Spirit, it is now. The arm of flesh has failed us. When the Bible proclaims woe unto him who puts his trust in man, it is as if God had Nigeria in mind. Again and again, Nigerians had hoped that certain human beings would make life better for them and one after the others those individuals have taken power and life has become worse. The arm of flesh will always fail. We must just return to the Spirit of God.
One of the things that will happen to us if we are in the Spirit is that we will hear from God. We will bring authentic messages from heaven to earth.
Let us be honest – we children of God (especially we men of God) have been part of the problem in this country. Many times we will not hear from God and we will be speaking. We will speak so confidently that we ill mislead political leaders. We will mislead the masses. We will mislead the nation. As unserious as many of them appear, almost all our political leaders have religious leaders whom they listen to before they take important and far reaching decisions. They come to such religious leaders in the night or very early in the morning. Many times they come under cover and they bare their minds to us. If we had been giving them the answer from God, maybe things would have been different in this nation. Yes, some of them are stubborn leaders as rubber stamp but then if the words of the Spirit in our mouths were as compelling as they were in the mouths of Elijah in the mouth of Nathan, in the mouth of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel and many prophets of old, maybe we would have compelled these politicians to do what is right.
So we need now, more than ever to be in the Spirit.
When we are in the Spirit, we will hear the voice of the Lord. He will speak to us clearly. And the power of God will be behind our words.
Now, those who would receive the great blessings of spiritual sensitivity are those who tremble at the word of God. They are those who are quick to respond positively to the word of God.
John heard a voice speaking to him in John 1 verse 11. What followed next is that he responded to the voice. Verses 12 and 13 says
Rev. 1:12-13 Then I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
It was because John responded (and promptly too) that he saw the things which he saw. And till today, the whole world is still benefiting from the visions of a man who responded to the voice of the Lord.
May we respond to the voice of the Lord in our generation. The word of God says, Hebrews 3: 5 “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.
People of God, God is not interested in the death of any sinner; His desire is that the sinner should repent, turn around and live subsequently to honour Him. It is stubbornness of heart that invites the ultimate wrath of God.
To convince us that God is merciful, let us see what He said to King Solomon. God said:
2chronicles 7:13 14 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
This passage of the Bible takes our lesson on spiritual brokenness and spiritual sensitivity to a whole new level. It suggests to us that a whole nation can adopt spiritual brokenness as a strategy for reversing negativity in the land. We see here that famine (and its consequence – hunger), devastation or catastrophe upon the land, and pestilence among the people are expressions of divine judgment on a people who live in ways that offend God. But whenever the people genuinely seek divine mercy, they will experience a positive turnaround in their condition. God said He would heal the land. No wonder our Lord Jesus Christ said,
Matthew 5: 4 “Blessed (forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace) are those who mourn (over their sins and repent), for they will be comforted (when the burden of sin is lifted). (Amplified Bible)
On this special day, the 63rd Independence Day of our dear nation Nigeria, can we spare a few moments to think about our nation? Is Nigeria experiencing famine or hunger now? Have we suffered (or are we still suffering) devastation of any kind? Has our land been devoured by literal or symbolic or metaphorical pests? The metaphor of Pests is easily explained by reminding us of something that used to happen in our traditional Yoruba homes in those days, when some things get lost, won a ni eeku olowo mewa lo jii. Human pests. Has our nation been ravaged by human Pests (eeku olowo mewa) that did deadlier damage than locusts and grasshoppers could ever do? Can we recognize the pervasiveness of sin across our landscape? Can we admit that our nation is sick? lf the answer to each of these questions is Yes, then it is imperative that we mourn collectively as a nation that we humble ourselves and pray, and turn from our wicked ways. That is the way out. That is the way to reverse the slide. That is the way to catalyze or stimulate a new season of national bliss and health. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to inform them that their destruction was at hand. At first, Jonah ran away. When Jonah eventually did what God sent him to do (the same way we are praying that God’s messengers in Nigeria will go back to delivering God’s message only), the people repented in ashes and sackcloth (Jonah 3: 5-10). The king of Nineveh proclaimed a fast and commanded repentance. He said: Jonah 3: I – 9 …Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? What was the result of this national repentance?
God changed His mind; He forgave the people of Nineveh, and canceled the devastation that was to come upon them, God can heal this nation. But let us be honest we have not repented of our sins. We are still wallowing in sin! Move around – and you will see that sin is pervasive and endemic in our land. And the apostle Paul wrote,
Romans 6: 1- 2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! So, today, as we mark 63 years of independence, let us humble ourselves, mourn for our sins, repent of them, turn from our wicked ways, and Pray to God for His mercy upon our land. That is what we should do today not tomorrow. Will You? Will l? Will our leaders step out in front and call us to join them in owning up to our sins, and asking God for forgiveness?
We like to say to all our leaders, and all those whose duty it is to lead the nation and speak on behalf of the nation before God on a day like this:
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not Prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
*(let me give us an assignment, check the verse just before, and the verse just after Proverbs 28: 13. There is a lot that God is saying to Nigeria and to Nigerian leaders, in those 3 verses).
Yorubas will say,
“Ogun awitele kii Pa aro to ba gbon” God in His mercies has provided for us a way of escape. He has given us the syllabus, so that we can know how to prepare for our exam and escape failure. Today, let us escape from trouble by repenting from our sins and turning to God.
Signed.
The Most Revd J. O. Akinfenwa D.D, Ph.D
Lord Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese
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