MONROVIA — One of Liberia’s most prominent clergymen used his Sunday pulpit to challenge the West African nation’s leaders and citizens to stop letting past failures dictate the country’s future, warning that “Liberia’s children cannot eat yesterday’s speeches by politicians.”
By Rodney D. Sieh
Rev. Dr. Samuel Reeves, senior pastor of Providence Baptist Church in the capital, Monrovia, delivered the sermon, titled “Yesterday Ended Last Night,” on Sunday, Oct. 18. Founded in 1821 by freed Black Americans who settled the colony, the church is Liberia’s oldest and the site where the country’s Declaration of Independence was signed in 1847. Often called “the cornerstone of the nation,” it has long counted Liberia’s political leaders among its members.
The message comes as Liberia, still recovering from back-to-back civil wars that ended in 2003, debates how to reckon with that history. Lawmakers are weighing competing bills to create a war and economic crimes court, a step long urged by the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and international rights groups.
Reeves drew on Philippians 3:12–14, in which the Apostle Paul writes of “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” The sermon was part of a church series titled “More Than Enough: A Journey into Stress-Free Living.”
A farmer’s lesson
Reeves opened with the image of a Liberian farmer standing in his field after a failed harvest, too haunted by his losses to plant again when the new season arrives.
“The farmer’s greatest danger is no longer last season’s failed harvest,” he told the congregation. “It is allowing last season to destroy this season’s opportunity.”
He built his message around three steps: release the past, reclaim the present and reach toward the future.
Leaders put on notice
The sharpest words were aimed at those in power. Reeves said young Liberians cannot build their futures “on institutions that refuse to learn or leaders who avoid accountability.”
They need education that equips them, institutions they can trust and jobs, he said, as well as “leaders who understand that public office is a responsibility rather than a personal entitlement.”
The country’s institutions, he added, “deserve leaders who put integrity before personal gain and hatred.” The past can inform policy, he said, but it “cannot replace reform.”
Truth before reconciliation
In a passage that echoed Liberia’s national debate over wartime justice, Reeves said the country must remember painful history while working toward a different future.
“Truth must be told. Injustice must be confronted. The suffering of people must be honored. Reconciliation must take accountability seriously,” he said.
“A nation cannot heal by pretending its wounds never existed. But neither can it flourish if its wounds are allowed to determine every possibility ahead.”
Citizens not off the hook
Reeves did not spare ordinary Liberians.
“We cannot demand honesty from our leaders while excusing dishonesty in ourselves,” he said. “We cannot pray for justice while mistreating our neighbors. We cannot ask God to bless our communities while refusing to serve them.”
He called on the church to preach “a hope that inspires responsibility.”
Grace, not escape
Citing the Apostle Peter, who denied Jesus three times and was later restored, Reeves said failure need not be final. But he stressed that forgiveness does not erase responsibility.
“Grace does not excuse wrongdoing. It gives us courage to repent, make amends, and live differently,” he said. “If you have hurt someone, apologize. If you have acted dishonestly, tell the truth.”
For victims, he said, letting go of the past “does not mean calling evil good or abandoning justice.”
‘Reach forward’
Reeves closed with a call to hope rooted in the resurrection of Christ, urging worshippers to act today even when the future is uncertain.
“You may not see the harvest from the seed you plant today. Reach forward,” he said. “Not because you control the future, but because you can trust the God who holds the future.”
“Your past may explain your pain,” he said, “but it does not have to determine your direction.”