Greetings,
My name is
Rosa. I am 33 years old. I am married to Americo and we have 4
beautiful daughters. I work as a pastor in IPM, the Presbyterian Church of
Mozambique. I am here to develop the
friendship between your church and ours.
I bring you greetings from IPM, especially from Bethlehema and Bethel in
Xai Xai.
Last year
your minister, Meg, was in my parish in Mozambique. She saw the difference in life style that
exists between your country and ours. I
am here in response to your invitation to develop the partnership between our
churches.
Mozambique
is one of the countries in southern Africa and is still developing. The country is characterised be enlarged
families. More people in Mozambique than
in England go to church each Sunday to worship God. Mozambicans are hospitable, cheerful and
supportive of each other. We like to
sing and dance a lot and enjoy our conviviality.
We ask you
to pray for us because we know our country has gas and oil reserves and we know
that these resources are the root causes of some of the wars in our world. And Mozambicans know how dangerous war can be
as we lived for 16 years killing each other.
Whilst we
have so many good things in life my parents have experienced some of the
bad. Our country suffers from absolute
poverty, the consequences of HIV, human trafficking, malaria and
alcoholism. These bad things can
devastate the lives of believers and this can make pastoral work
difficult. We pastors don`t have the
resources we need for we often have to walk long distances to work and our
wages are very poor. So the church has
many great challenges to face. The IPM
is concentrated in the south of our country and one of our challenges is to
evangelise the whole land.
If God were
to ask our pastors as Jesus asked the blind man in Mark, chapter 10, verses
46-51: `What do you want me to do for you?` We would answer:We want our own personal cars to facilitate our daily journeys to work.
We would answer also:
We want miracles to prevent the spread of HIV and to help people to understand that it is dangerous to take risks.
Finally I
invite you to visit our country and to see the very best and beautiful beaches
alongside the Indian Ocean.
_____________________________________________________
TEXT: Psalm
133
`How good it
is when siblings live together`
The psalms
formed the devotional hymns of the Hebrew people. The psalms are prayers and praise inspired by
the Holy Spirit, expressing the deepest emotions of our souls as we relate to
God and to each other. They speak of
love, trust, adoration and the freedom to choose as well as of fear, affliction
and humiliation. They show how we long
for healing and for liberation. The
author of Psalm 133 is among those who cared for the unity of the people of God
and who wanted to see the communion of the people of Israel in his time.
The psalmist
speaks of the need for unity among the Israelites although this was not the
history of the people of Israel. In the
past there had been many tribal conflicts and for many years the land had been
divided with 10 tribes forming Israel and 2 forming Judah.
When the
psalmist cried out: `Oh,
how good and pleasant it is for siblings to live together in unity` the psalmist doesn`t ground this unity in
the natural kindness of the people. No!
It has to do with worship and with unity with God. This psalm is one of the psalms of ascent
sung as pilgrims ascended up to the Temple in Jerusalem. This they did at the three Jewish festivals
of Passover, Pentecost and Harvest or the Feast of the Tabernacles.
To explain
the importance of unity between siblings the palmist uses 3 illustrations.
In the first
place he compares unity and communion with Aaron who was the first High
Priest. Aaron. As a priest, was the
people`s representative before God in worship in the Temple. And the Temple was where people from Israel
and from Judah came to worship God. And
so together, those from Israel and those from Judah, were united in their
worship and as they offered sacrifices to god through a priest. They may have been divided politically but in
their worship they were as one.
In the
second place he compares the unity of siblings with the oil poured on to Aaron
as a priest. Oil was used by the priests
in the Temple and it symbolises the Holy Spirit. Oil sanctifies the priests and the people of
God; it makes them holy. Love, between
brothers and sisters, is holy, sacred and precious. And when siblings come together to worship
God then God accepts their worship.
Without love between siblings then worship is not acceptable to God.
For the
psalmist the unity of God`s people is seen as something beautiful and
pleasant. The psalmist values unity
because it is an effective weapon against the enemy, against evil. Unity was a guarantee that the enemies of God
and his people would not be victorious.
We are all challenged to be united through the love and work of Jesus
Christ. We are all challenged to focus
on worshipping and serving him and to do so together. But when we have disunity amongst us we
hinder the work of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit. When we come to worship with resentment in
our hearts or we hurt each other we renounce the work of Jesus Christ.
In the third
place the psalmist compares the unity of siblings with Mount Hermon which was
an important mountain in the north of Israel.
It was always topped with snow and it still is the source of the Jordan
River. In a land which is often hot and
dry Hermon was a great blessing as from there flowed water. Hermon watered the land which became fertile
and fruitful and brought life to God`s people.
The moral
and meaning of this psalm is also for us today.
When we come together in unity and in true adoration of God, then God
orders his blessing. God will dwell in
the midst of our worship by the Holy Spirit.
But when we stay at home because we are too lazy to come to worship we
do not receive God`s blessing. As in the
times of the psalmist love and unity can knock down the barriers we often
create today. God created us all in his
image. We are all made in his image,
whoever we are and wherever we live. As
brothers and sisters, as God`s one family, we may inhabit different parts of
the world but we can all be united in worshipping the one true God.God gives us the grace as we develop our wills and emotions to live together in harmony. We know as Christians that Jesus conquered all fear and disunity on the cross. Instead he gives us the grace to develop friendship and love. We may have difficulty in communicating because we speak different languages but love can overcome even this.
Because of love, your minister, Meg, came to live for three weeks coping with our transport system and our life style but she overcame any difficulties because God was with her. And she gained the love of my four daughters who see her as their grand-mother. I hope this friendship between our churches will continue forever. I would like you all to come and visit me in Xai Xai and may God bless us forever for it is good when siblings live together in unity. So let us continue to live together in unity. Amen
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