That instant noodles formula..

When the Israelites were athirst in the wilderness, God sweetened the bitterness of the waters of Marah. Are you worried that your life had become bitter as of Marah? Do not fret, my dear children! The same God who transformed the bitter waters of Marah into sweet…

The Lord paved the way for Israelites by breaking the walls of Jericho which hindered the Israelites from entering Canaan. Today, do you face obstacles in your life that prevent you from progressing? The same Lord who ruined the walls of Jericho…

The Lord raised Lazarus from the dead who had been in tomb for four days. Are you facing such faithless situations in your life, too? The same Lord who raised Lazarus from the dead…

“During the Biblical times, God had performed many miracles during difficult circumstances. Likewise, even now He is powerful to perform miracles.” The above mentioned preachings were cooked with this simple formula by adding various flavors. If you are a Christian, you might have heard thousands of such sermons, read many such articles, from audio messages, YouTube sermons to Instagram Reels, you might have heard these sort of preachings.

There is nothing wrong with this formula or the sermons. It is true that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb 13.8). It is undoubtedly easy for people to understand Christ and it will be solaceful to people who know Christ anew. Including me, everyone must have used this formula atleast once in our lives with the guidance of God to deliver a sermon. It is not incorrect to do so.

However, like someone who doesn’t know how to cook uses instant noodles, it is agonizing to see some immature preachers taking this formula in hand and deceiving people. If these pretentious preachers deliver 100 sermons, all those 100 sermons must have been cooked up with that same formula. Because, either they do not know how to wait for God to get a new discourse from Him or they do not have time to do it. It does not count as profit as you have done God’s work. On the contrary, laxity in doing God’s work will result in damnation (Jere 48:10).

Just think. The first century Jews had the Old Testament. But nobody used this instant noodles formula, including John the Baptist, Lord Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, no one used it. In the New Testament, have you ever read in any place saying, “the same Lord who fed the Israelites with quail in the wilderness..” by anyone like Paul or Peter? If they had done that, there will be no New Testament today. Everything that they spoke or wrote was afresh and anew. Each of their deed was unprecedented.

Not only for the Bible, this formula relates to all the religions across the world. Long ago at Hastinapur palace, when Draupadi’s attire was pulled by a vile man, Lord Krishna protected her honor by lengthening her attire. Today, are there people around you who want to dishonor you? The same Lord krishna who saved Draupadi…

When Hazrat Hajar travelled in the Desert of Pharan with her child Ishmael, the Allah who was merciful on her, gave them a stream called Zamzam in the wilderness while they were dying of thirst. Today, are you forsaken by everyone around you? The same Allah who helped Hajar…

People from all the sects can use this formula to cook up hundreds of sermons and articles from their respective Holy Scriptures.

Nonetheless, did God anoint us for this? Did He bestow us with spiritual gifts just to help us deliver this same monotonous sermons? Did our ancestors shed blood and martyred to translate the Bible in our vernacular languages for this? Is this the way we accomplish the greatest ministry He gave us? A child of God will continue to exist despite any hard situation, but do you not know that the infant will droop and fatigue if it is not given the sincere milk of the Word of God?

Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them (Lamentations 4:4).

A man of God should not be a preacher, but a man who labours. Each and every sermon he delivers, each article he writes should be a childbirth. That sermon should be impregnated inside him through the Holy Ghost, it should grow inside his bones as blaze that was confined, he should wait until his Boss commands and then deliver his child (sermon). Only this preaching will give life to dry bones, it will open the blind eyes, sometimes it will cause revivals and in other cases, it will also cause riots..

Priests were in Israel always. The teachers of Mosaic Law kept preaching always. But great prophets were raised by God once in a blue moon. They will break mounts with the hammer of their sermons in a single stroke. Their discourses will disturb the sleep of emperors, cause the sectarian to cry out in envy, it will make the whole nation to sit on the ashes with ragged robes, it will brighten the waning flame, it will change the flow of the nation completely. Our preachings and writings should also be so, shouldn’t they?

Speak while God speaks through you. Be quiet when He does not. We read that the people waited in order to listen to the sermon of Lord Jesus Christ. If the word that comes out of your mouth is the word of God, it will come out only when it has to. Let people wait until then, they will! It is neither the way of they honoring you, nor you dishonoring them. It is you and them, honoring the word of God together!

“Alright, brother. But we, pastors have to deliver two to three sermons in a week. What can we do?” ask many. Moreover, not just preaching, as pastors, they have to carry the burdens of many families as well, and they have to deliver two or three discourses in a week. It is not a simple work. Doubtlessly, we would not even dare to touch the burdens they carry.

But, there is an example of early Apostles, cited in Acts 6:2-4, read those verses.
‘So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”’

If a mother has to do all the chores by herself, doing the dishes, laundering the clothes, cleaning the house, and all the household chores, suppose she feeds her children only plain oatmeal porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Is this fair? What will happen to the health of her children? Do they not need nutritious food? Is it not the duty of the mother to split the work among her husband and children and to prepare a nutritious food for her family? Is it not crucial? The early apostles also did the same.

If you put yourself in a compulsion to publish three articles, three videos and two reels a week, and prepare sermons hastily, you will use the instant noodles formula unbeknownst of yourself. It is our duty to share the bread of life among the children of God to nurture them, not preparing instant noodles. The church shall not progress one step forward by eating that noodle.