St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Genesis 12:1-4

Immigrant Life

Life is a combination of settlement and journey. We cannot always live out of a suitcase. We need to be settled.

That's why immigrant life is difficult. You are uprooted all of a sudden and have to survive in a totally strange land. Too much change all at once. Too many unknown variables.

Abraham was also an immigrant. He immigrated twice. His original home town was Ur. He went to Haran. And from there, he immigrated again. He left the place where he was well settled. It wasn't just his decision. He felt that it was God's calling. He was called to take the journey.

So you can see his life was a mix of settlement and journey. That is what life is. A good harmony of settlement and journey. The question is when to take a journey and when to settle. How do you know that?

The settlement gives us a sense of rootedness. It gives us a feeling of being grounded and we feel stable. You are quite comfortable when you are settled. For example, when your relationship is settled, you feel quite satisfied and content. When your job is settled, you feel secure. When you are settled with yourself, you feel confident and comfortable with yourself. That's a good feeling. I like that.

But our reality does not let you stay there too long. Changes happen in your circumstances and also in yourself. Things are not the same anymore.

Instead of feeling settled, you feel like you are stuck. Your life is going nowhere. You want to move but you can't. You should. You have to. But you can't.

Feeling Stuck

Feeling stuck and being settled are quite different. Feeling stuck is like a car stuck in a ditch and you cannot get out. You don't want to be there but you cannot get out. You are stuck in a rut.

Why do you feel stuck? Because you don't find meaning in what you do. You have outgrown your current situation. Your current situation is so far from your values and from what you really desire. You don't get excited about your life anymore. It doesn't give you positive energy.

It is not that there is any problem. You just don't feel like you are doing anything valuable, meaningful, and important. You are completely out of sync with what you want in life.

This is when you need to take a journey. You cannot just sit there and do nothing about it. But the problem is – Recognizing that you are stuck, sometimes you make drastic changes just to feel free. Out of fear and out of desperation, you just make changes.

Just making changes is not necessarily taking a journey. You need to think about who you really are at the core. If you don't know who you are and what you want and yet make all these changes, what good is that? In the end, you will be stuck more deeply.

Take That Journey

Taking a journey is not just about making changes such as quitting your job, leaving your relationships, or moving to another place. Taking a journey is taking a journey of really getting to know yourself, your values, your desires, and your life goals. It is finding out who you are at the core, what you want in your life, and what you like to do. It is more of an inner journey rather than an outer journey.

God wants you to take that journey. Because God wants you to live a blessed life. God does not want you to live a life being stuck in a rut.

There was a professor. He was a lecturer at Harvard but he couldn't get a full professorship there. So he went to a small college in a small town. When he marked students' papers, he always gave two sets of mark. One – their real mark. The other – the mark they would have got if they were in Harvard. He was stuck back in Harvard. He will not be happy with his life.

If you are stuck, you cannot live a blessed life.

This is what God said to Abraham.

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2)

God wanted to make of Abraham a great life. God wants to make of you a great life. God wants you to be a blessing.

Don't be stuck where you are. Whether you like it or not, change always happens. You will always outgrow your situations. Your needs, your wants, and your hopes all evolve. If you don't deal with these changes, you will be stuck.

You will be unhappy, unproductive, and uncreative. Blaming your situations or other people, do not help. It just makes you feel worse. That is not a blessed life.

Trust that you can make your life happy again. Trust that God can help you. You can live your life again with new enthusiasm, new excitement, new hope, and new energy.

A little change in your attitude can bring about a huge difference. Once you are unstuck, you can fully drive your car with full speed.

It doesn't matter how old you are. It is never too late to start over in life. For goodness' sake, Abraham was 75 years old. Until 75, I don't know what he did. The Scripture doesn't say it. The Scripture is not interested in how he lived those 75 years. Probably, he didn't do much. What he did wasn't significant enough for the Scripture to mention it. It was like his life began at 75. Moses' life began when he was 80. So don't tell me it is too late to start over.

A Dynamic Settlement

Abraham started this journey, fully trusting God. So we call him the father of faith. The journey I am talking about is the journey of faith. We are called to take the journey of faith. We don't know exactly where we will go. Abraham didn't know either.

Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. (Genesis 12:1)

The land he will show Abraham, it said. It didn't say where. That is the journey of faith. We don't know exactly what our destination will be. It is unknown to us.

Every step of the way, we trust God. Then amazingly, you can hear the voice of God calling you and letting you know what to do. You hear the inner voice. The inner voice that breaks through the noises around you. You can hear that.

When you take the journey of faith, strangely you feel settled. You are making important changes but you don't make them out of desperation. You don't make changes just to get out of your rut. You trust God, you listen to the inner voice, and you follow your heart. It is not emotional decisions. You don't follow mindlessly what others do. You switch off the autopilot mode and start driving. You feel empowered. You will constantly be on the journey of change. And yet, you feel settled. This kind of settlement is very different from being stuck. It is a dynamic settlement.

When you look at a tree that is alive, it is just there. It doesn't move around. It is well settled. But within it, there is a lot of movements. Waters go up and down. It is settled but not stuck. But not the dead tree. It is there in the same way as a healthy tree but there is no movement inside. No journey. It is stuck there.

The Faith Journey

Good life always takes the journey. The journey of change. They are constantly discovering new things of life. And they pursue them. They search what is meaningful and valuable for them. And they pursue it.

You hear. You hear life's calling and God's calling. You don't just randomly choose a path. You wait for God and God leads you and guides you by calling you. God uses your desires and your hopes to guide you. Especially your desire to do good for you and for others is very important because God uses it to call you and guide you. Ultimately God wants to bless you and bless others through you. When you take the journey with faith, you are taking the path of blessings.

The ultimate goal of life is not about achieving your goals. It is about becoming the kind of person you want to be and God wants you to be. That is the goal of faith journey. Abraham became Abraham, the person of faith through his journey.

Last week, I mentioned that we will all hit the ceiling, our own limitations. In every field, they all hit this ceiling. They confront their own limitations and they hit the plateau. The only thing that can help you break that ceiling is to have faith, faith in God and faith in yourself.

Don't doubt about your ability. You will become a person you want to be and God wants you to be. We are all bound for the promised land as our choir sang beautifully today.

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Matthew 4:1-11

Temptation

We are in the middle of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days, commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before his ministry. Even though we may reflect on Jesus' suffering, it doesn't have to be always dark and gloomy. In Eastern Orthodox, it is known as the season of Bright Sadness. Bright Sadness. I like that. It is sad but it is not hopeless sadness.

At the end of DARKNESS, there is a light waiting for us. At the end of TEMPTATION, there is a victory. At the end of DEATH, there is resurrection.

Life is not always good but life is not always bad either. Life is not always bright. There are times when life can be gloomy. But there are times when things are good too. The secret is how we deal with each situation with graciousness, graciousness to yourself and to others. There are valleys and hills in life.

Count Basie, American Jazz pianist said.

Learn to deal with the valleys and the hills will take care of themselves.

So you have to deal with your time of temptation well and that will help you find happiness in life.

Even Jesus was tempted. He was tired, hungry, and weak after 40 days of fasting. Satan knows when we are vulnerable. That is when Satan attacks us. That's why he came to Jesus when he was at his weakest.

Temptation was a reality even for Jesus. Jesus had to overcome the hard time. Jesus did not have an easy life. He had to overcome life's challenges.

So, when you go through your own trials, don't get discouraged. Jesus had the same trials as you do. Living a good life doesn't mean to have a problem free life. Temptations are always around us. They always find our most vulnerable time and attack us.

Three Faces

I am gonna talk about three faces of temptation today. These three things affect our lives deeply. You see these three in the story of Jesus' temptation.

These three things are:

Worry, Doubt, and Greed.

Temptation has these three faces. Nobody is immune from these temptations. They take away joy from us. They cause problems in our lives and can even ruin us.

Worry

First Worry.

We worry about many things. Worrying has become our habit or lifestyle. It almost became a part of our lives. We worry about our health. We worry about our future. We worry about our children. We worry about problems. We worry about everything. Worries are endless.

More than anything else, we worry about our SURVIVAL. When Jesus was very hungry and vulnerable after 40 days' fasting. He was not just hungry. 40 days' fasting? His survival was at risk. Satan knows when to attack. Satan told him to change stone into bread. In other words, stop your fasting and eat. You need to survive to do God's work, don't you? A very tempting suggestion. Satan was tempting Jesus to worry about his survival.

Jesus said,

One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

What Jesus is saying is:

Satan, don't worry about my survival. God will take care of my needs.

That is the best way to defeat our worries. Have a confidence that God will take care of your basic needs. There is nothing for you to worry about.

This is what Jesus said.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:25-26)

And Jesus told us to do this.

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

That was exactly what Jesus did in the wilderness.

Many times, our worries are not real. Researchers at Penn State University had an experiment on worry. The participants were asked to write whenever the worries came up to them. They studied this for 30 days.

The result? A whopping 91 percent of worries were false alarms. And of the remaining 9 percent of worries that did come true, the outcome was better than expected.

Worrying is a habit. A very bad habit. We develop this habit and it will make us live constantly with fear all the time.

Worrying doesn't do any good. It only makes you feel fearful. It makes you shrink. It makes you feel small. And it makes you feel gloomy.

Since it is a habit, you can deal with it with a new habit. Whenever you worry, leave those worries in God's hands. Make them as your prayer topics. As God takes care of birds in the air, God will take care of you. Focus on God, not on your worries. Learn to focus on God. Hear God's word who tells you not to worry about your survival. We do not live by bread alone. We need God's word.

Doubt

The second temptation is DOUBT. Doubt is another huge problem for many people. We doubt about God. We doubt about ourselves. Doubt makes us become cynical.

Doubting is like closing doors for yourself. Trusting is opening doors that take you into deeper mystery. But doubt is closing that door. Even Jesus could not do wonderful things in his home town because people didn't believe him.

Jesus said to Satan,

Do not put the Lord your God to the test. (Matthew 4:7)

Don't tempt me to doubt about God. Faith is a wonderful gift God gave to us. Through faith, we can see wonderful things in life. With the eyes of faith, what you see is very different. With faith, we can even do what is impossible.

Once a father came to Jesus because of his ill son. He asked Jesus in this way.

If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us (Mark 9:22)

This is how Jesus responded.

If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes. (Mark 9:23)

During this Lent, try to build your faith. See what you can see. With faith, we see LIGHT behind the darkness. We see HOPE behind the despair. We see PEACE behind the war. We see REDEMPTION behind the judgment. We see RESURRECTION behind death.

Greed

The third one is the greed. It is the worst temptation. It causes the greatest damage on you. The other two mostly affect you only. But this one affects others too. Greed is desire for power and fame. This world is very much a victim of greed. There are so many fights, corruption, and violence because of greed.

Whatever greed touches, it turns into an ugly thing. As long as greed takes hold of you, you can never be a happy person. Greed is insatiable. It always makes you desire more. Once you become a slave to your greed, you will never be satisfied and you will never be happy.

Jesus told Satan,

Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him. (Matthew 4:10)

The reason Jesus is talking about worship in the last temptation is because greed is very much connected with the worship of yourself. Greed is to make you worship yourself. Greed makes you want to be god. Behind greed, there is insecurity. Wanting to prove yourself to the world. As Quincy Jones said ego is an overdressed insecurity.

Worshipping God is not just what we do on Sunday It is not activities we do. Worshipping God means to let down our greed, deny ourselves and give ourselves to God. It is to stop being God. And be thankful. Ask yourself. Who do you worship? Yourself or God? Money or God?

Disciples followed Jesus at first because of the power they saw in Jesus. They saw Jesus' miracles. They saw Jesus' authority. So they followed Jesus. In other words, they followed their greed.

We studied in Mark. While following Jesus, they were debating with each other about who is greater. They all wanted to sit on Jesus' right hand his left hand. They followed Jesus, following their own greed.

But at the end, they changed. They gave up their greed. They knew that it was like chasing emptiness, chasing a rainbow.

They found the beauty of serving. True happiness is not in having more power and fame but in serving others and serving God.

Let Us Overcome

This was what Jesus said,

For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

Pursuing power or showing power or proving himself was not Jesus' way of living. Serving and giving himself away were Jesus' way of living.

During this Lent, let us overcome these three temptations: Worry, Doubt, and Greed. Hopefully, we can all come out of this Lent stronger, being able to deal with three areas better.

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Matthew 17:1-13

Six Days later

Matthew began with

Six days later

What happened six days before?

This was what Jesus said six days before.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21)

Jesus told the disciples what would happen to him.

Then, six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain to pray. There they experienced this wonderful divine manifestation.

Theophany:

Experience of God's manifestation.

Jesus completely changed. Out of this world kind of experience they had. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah, two great prophets appeared.

Silence

When these amazing things happen, the usual response will be to be quiet. Silence that comes from being deeply immersed in the moment. That's what people do.

SILENCE

That was what happened when I went to Algonquin a long time ago. I think I told you before. We had a night hike. And it was a pitch dark. We went through the deep woods. Then we came to a point. All of a sudden, there was an opening and we saw so many stars. They were so close to us. I felt like I could touch them. The dark sky was filled with stars. We were all so amazed and nobody talked. Nobody dared to speak. For a quite while, everybody was silent and just savoured the awesome experience. There were more than 30 people.

But not Peter. Even in that moment, he had to speak. He broke the silence and said. This is great. Lord, if you want, I will build three tents here for you, for Moses, and for Elijah.

Even God could not be patient with him anymore. He cut Peter off.

Matthew recorded it very nicely.

WHILE he was STILL speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them (Matthew 17:5)

Then God spoke.

This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! (Matthew 17:5)

My Son and I am well pleased with him – very important recognition: Two things to remember.

Then everybody was silent. Even Peter was silent this time. Luke recorded it in this way.

When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9:36)

It was a phenomenal experience. They would have never forgotten this experience. It would have been always so vivid to them. This experience was always present, now experience for them. It was not something that happened in the past.

I asked this question. Who was this experience for? Why did God change Jesus like this and let the disciples experience this wonderful experience?

I realized that it was both for Jesus and the disciples. They all needed that. What was waiting for Jesus and for the disciples was a very gloomy reality. The suffering they would face soon would be very difficult. This experience they had was God's message that he cares. God is with you. It was to assure them that they were not alone in that suffering.

YES, SUFFERING HAS TO BE EXPERIENCED IN THE CONTEXT OF GRACE. Even Jesus needed that glorious moment. Suffering is that hard. It is hard for anybody. Whether you are a saint or a sinner, it is hard. Whether you are the Son of God, or an ordinary human being like you and me, suffering is hard.

Suffering With Grace

That's why we are collecting donations for Turkey and Syria. How difficult it must be for them. Can you imagine? 40,000 people died from this tragedy. How many tears, heartaches, and sad stories will be there? They lost everything. We feel for them. We want to be with them in their sorrow. That's why we do donations. PCC already sent blankets and very basic things they would need.

Suffering was hard even for Jesus. So in Gethsemane, he had the temptation to run away from it.

Knowing how hard it would be, God showed them this wonderful experience. God manifested himself to them in a powerful way. God showed his glory.

I think it is very important to remember that suffering has to be experienced in the context of grace. When you experience suffering without grace, you become damaged. You become hardened. You become too cynical and critical. So when I see people who overcome their own tragedies and come out even stronger, I admire them. Without faith, they would not have been able to get up again.

Suffering is the inevitable part of human experience. We all suffer. Suffering of illness, suffering of loss, suffering of broken relationships, suffering of guilt, suffering of worries about our future, suffering of injustice, suffering of poverty, suffering of rejection, suffering of loneliness, and suffering of fear of death and so on. Endless suffering we experience in our lives.

Simple Recognition

What we need is to have glorious moments. Otherwise these sufferings will swallow us up. And we will be ruined.

You all need glorious moments. To live meaningfully, you need these glorious moments. Glorious moments are not necessarily successful moments. Glorious moment are moments when you recognize two important things. One: You are God's precious child. Two: God is pleased with you. God is very happy with you. You go through your suffering not because God doesn't like you or disapproves you. God is very pleased with you. Recognizing that is the glorious moment. Those were the words that came from heaven. You are my son. I am pleased with you.

Living with this recognition is very important. That is what I do every day in my meditation. Simple recognition. Otherwise, I will feel small and worthless. And often, God lets me know that he cares. I can see that. That helps. That helps a lot. A little gestures of kindness, words of encouragement, support. All these things are gifts that God granted to me to hold me strong. And I am thankful for that.

You are a precious child. God is very pleased with you. This recognition should be cultivated within you.

If you feel that every day, then now you are ready to take on your suffering.

On the way down, Jesus said this again.

Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands. (Matthew 17:12)

Jesus was ready to take the suffering.

Don’t Suffer on Your Own

You don't need to run away from your suffering any more. Now, you can take up the cross and follow Jesus. You can live your life meaningfully in the midst of all the sufferings you experience in your life.

God does not leave you alone in your suffering. Yes, suffering makes you feel that you are all alone. That's what suffering does. Makes you feel lonely. Even Jesus felt that on the cross. He felt that he was all alone. He felt the silence of God. He even felt the abandonment of God. That is what suffering does to us.

But you are not alone. God will allow you to experience glorious moments. In your loneliness, you will see that God is right there with you. In your sadness, you will hear the words of comfort. In your frustration and anger, you will feel God's gentleness. In your darkness, you will see the light. Don't suffer on your own. You have no strength to deal with it. Trust in God and hold the hands of God. Suffering has to be experienced in the context of grace.

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In this session, we reflected on the second half of Mark. This is where the question: “Who is this person?” gets answered.

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Matthew 5:21-26

More than Cordial

You shall not murder is the basic minimum level for us to live with one another. Yes, I should feel safe and assured that just because you and I have a beef, you're not going to take my life! We need basic limits on our behaviour to live peaceably with one another. We need minimum standards and expectations. But that alone does not make life good. We need more than just cordial and civil relations with one another. That is what Jesus is saying in today's passage.

In the 1930's, a group of scholars at Harvard began a study on human happiness. They selected two groups: one, a group of students from Harvard from varying backgrounds; and two, a group of teenagers from a poor area in Boston. They kept track of them, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were from all walks of life, and have had such varied experiences. But after 84 years, they've boiled down all of their findings to one conclusion about what constitutes a happy life, and that is: good relationships. They say that if there's one choice you can make, one thing to really invest yourself in, that is in cultivating good, rich, meaningful relationships.

I agree with that finding. It is something we absolutely need. When we celebrate life at a wedding or a funeral, what is most central is the relationships we have. But it is the most difficult thing to achieve. We can become very good at our jobs. We can become very skilled at tasks and hobbies. But when it comes to our relationships with others, it is so difficult. What we need most in life is most difficult to achieve.

Anger

Everywhere Jesus went, he saw relationships that were damaged. He saw the hurt that arose from broken relations in families and among neighbours. Jesus abided by the law, but he saw that the law by itself does not bind people closely together. The law simply prevents us from harming one another. He saw that what separates people is not disobedience to the law, but what lies in the heart.

But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment. (Matthew 5:22)

It is the emotion in the heart that is the seed of division.

Anger is a natural emotion. We get angry when we get hurt. When we experience injustice. When we feel scared and vulnerable. But if that anger controls us, it affects our relationships.  Anger that remains in the heart does not just remain there. It grows and morphs into negative thoughts.  These thoughts spill out and affect those around you. The anger and hostility in your heart creates a hostile environment for those around you. To use young people's language: the vibe that flows out isn't good. What takes place in the heart affects the whole environment around you.

This is what Jesus said:

It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. (Mark 7:20-23)

Anger darkens our hearts. The darkness of our hearts diminishes warmth, closeness and connection. We may not always be bursting out in anger. It may be quietly festering in our hearts like a fungus. Fungus does not need light, it survives and continues to grow in the dark. Anger can lurk quietly in the shadows of our heart. But whether it is loud on the surface or quiet underneath, it affects who we are. It affects our relationships with those around us.

Our hearts are very sensitive and fragile. Our hearts should have warning labels: Fragile, handle with care! In our life in this world, we get hurt, we get offended. These things leave their marks on our hearts. They remain with us and are not easily healed. From our damaged hearts, we have damaged relationships.

Reconciled

Our relationships with one another were so important to Jesus. So important, that he even said to delay worshipping God in order to be reconciled.

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

It's not that worshiping God wasn't important. That was the most important thing to Jesus. But he said this to illustrate the urgency and importance of restoring our relationships with one another. He knew that as long as we have anger and animus in our hearts, our worship can never be pure. Instead of God, our emotions are at the centre.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:25)

People go to court because they are very emotional. At this stage in the game, it's not as much about the legal issue. It's about the feeling of being wronged and wanting to achieve vindication. I'm gonna win and you'll see. That's the feeling behind it. Jesus is warning us that if we let emotion drive us, it will lead to greater destruction.

True reconciliation first requires healing in your own heart. The anger in our heart must be tamed and removed. Only then is the heart ready to reconcile. We cannot reconcile while anger poisons the heart.

Secondly, reconciliation is only possible when we are willing to absorb the anger and pain of the other party. We need to enter into the world of the other party. Listen to their voice, listen to their heart. Understand what it is they're feeling. Seeing things through their eyes.

Love Forgives

On the cross, Jesus absorbed the anger and ill will of people. It was people's anger, hatred and malice that put Jesus on the cross. But amazingly, he was not angry. He did not defend himself. He did not lash out. He absorbed their anger. Instead of vengeance, he offered forgiveness. From the cross, he said:

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 22:34)

On the cross, Jesus absorbed their anger with love. Love was more powerful than anger. Love absorbs anger. Love forgives. Love is what reconciles and binds together again.

Love is the greatest thing, but the most difficult thing as well. It is not something we can just will in ourselves. St. Paul recognized love as a gift. Something given by God. He believed above anything else, that is what we should strive for.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Love is a gift. We should seek it and ask God to give it to us.

Cultivate Your Relationships

But I realized, we must desire it. That desire only comes when we realize how much we need relationships. Maybe because there are so many people around us, we live in big cities, we have come to really devalue people and relationships. We think we can just pick and choose who we relate to.  Unfriending someone takes a mere click of a button. If someone bothers me or offends me, I can just stop interacting with them.

If we live this way, we will never cultivate relationships that give us joy and life. Jesus died on the cross for us because his relationship with us was the most important thing. He gave his life and died so that we can be reconciled to God. He wanted to show us how important we should be to one another. His final command to his disciples was that they love one another.

Don't take people for granted. God has placed the people in your life for a reason. They are given to you as a gift. Not only the people that you like, but even the people you don't like. Don't close yourself off just with people you know and are comfortable with. Every person has been given to help you grow, to enrich and bless your life

Don't run away from your relationships. Be committed to them. Cultivating enriching relationships is hard work. We work so hard at our jobs and our studies. We should work even harder at our relationships. Because they are the most precious gift that we have. We realize that when we say goodbye to loved ones. We should realize that each day while we are alive.

When you are committed to people, it will cause pain. There is nothing more painful than discord in a relationship. But instead of running away, get on your knees in prayer. Pour out the pain of discord and disharmony to God. Express the raw emotions in your heart. Ask God for wisdom in what to do. But don't give up.

The Greatest Gift

God may or may not change your situation. God may or may not change the other person. But God will change your heart. God will increase your understanding. God will expand your heart. God's love will absorb your anger.

People are the greatest gift God has given to us. I am because you are. You are because I am.

Forgiveness, reconciliation and love. That is the very core of the gospel. They are the most beautiful things. Seek them with all of your heart, and your life will be filled with joy.

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This is the first study in an 8-week series on “Jesus in the Gospels”.

In this first session, we reflected on the first half of Mark. The key question that emerges from the first half of Mark is: “who is Jesus?”

There is nothing like the in-person experience of being there, but we hope this recording will bless you still!

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Matthew 5:13-20

Slat of the Earth

Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world. That is a wonderful statement about us. He didn't say this lightly. This tells us exactly who we are. He didn't say try to be the salt of the earth or be the light of the world. He said you ARE already the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Since you are the salt and be the light, live like the salt and live like the light. Don't be something else. Don't lose that saltiness and don't live in your darkness.

Salt and Light were the two most precious things during Jesus' time. During Roman period, the salt was so precious that they called it, white gold. Since it was so precious, and people knew that, sometimes soldiers in Roman Army were paid with salt instead of money. It was called Salarium. Sal is the Latin word for the salt. From that word, the word salary came out.

Jesus used the most precious things around him to tell us that we are that. You are not just ordinary things. You are the most precious things without which the world cannot survive. You are indispensable. You are not just a screw in a big machine which is always replaceable. You are more than that.

You Are Precious

When Jesus came to this world, he felt bad because he saw that they lived their lives, not knowing how precious they were. They lived their lives as though they were nobody. Nobody told them that they were precious. Nobody treated them as though they were precious people. They abused each other, cut down each other, and treated each other with no respect. Jesus wanted to restore their honour. Jesus wanted to let them know how precious and valuable they were.

My friends, you are the salt and the light. Don't forget that. You are precious enough for Jesus to die for you. Do you think Jesus would die for something worthless?

Have respect for yourself. You don't need to do great things. You are already great. The ultimate life goal is to find that you are precious. To others, you may be only one lost soul. To them, you may be not 99, the majority that are important. But to God, you are the most precious thing and he goes out and searches all over the place to find you. Once he finds you, he comes home with joy and throws a party for the whole village. You are that precious.

Realization

Everywhere in the Bible, you see this message and yet it is so hard for us to believe how precious we are.

You are precious to me, and I have given you a special place of honor. I love you. That's why I am willing to trade others, to give up whole nations, to save your life. (Isaiah 43:4)

All the good things come from this understanding, the understanding that you are very important. When you realize that you are precious to God, that's when change begins. Your life changes.

That's how David changed. It is not that he decided to live a good life. He realized how much God thought of him. Who am I that God thought of me this much. That changed him.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up, you are still with me! (Psalm 139:17-18)

He understood how deeply God thought about him. This was a shocking realization for him. Hear what he said in his poem.

What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honour. (Psalm 8:4, 5)

St. Paul – the same thing happened. He realized how much he was meant to God and this realization changed him.

He said,

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38, 39)

This realization was what changed him.

Life becomes precious when we realize how precious we are. No one can take that away from us.

The Precious Self

We can take the path of true righteousness when we understand how important we are in God's eyes. This kind of righteousness doesn't make you conceited. It doesn't make you arrogant. You don't need to use your pride to maintain your importance. It makes you rather humble. Knowing that you are very important to God humbles you.

You don't need to follow moral standards others set up to feel important. You are not trying to live up to people's expectations to be appreciated. You don't need to prove to yourself how good you are. That kind of righteousness was the righteousness the Pharisees pursued. That was what the scribes pursued. They might have looked good in the eyes of others.

But the true righteousness is not achieved in that way. It's not about following the moral standards. It is about being faithful to yourself who is so precious. You are not just following what is good in the eyes of other people. You follow the beautiful self God created in you. God created you and said it was good. When we realize how precious we are, we set a very high standard. We don't compromise with a mediocre lifestyle.

To be the salt and the light means – BE the best you can be. Be who you are means – Live up to that precious self. We have to live up to what we believe about ourselves. How I look at myself governs how I live my life. If I see myself as a failure, then I will live my life like a loser. If I see potential in myself, then I will pursue the potential.

If you lose yourself, then your beautiful self will be hidden, then how can you live out your full potential?

This is what Jesus said.

if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. (Matthew 5:13)

A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. (Matthew 5:14, 15)

Don't lose your saltiness. Don't hide your light. Live out as the salt and as the light.

Righteousness

Jesus came to restore our damaged self. He came to remould us so that we can be whole again. Damaged goods do not do much good. They are useless and they rather do harm.

Scribes and Pharisees were damaged goods. Don't get me wrong. They were not criminals. They were not drug addicts. They were not psychopaths. They were perceived as model citizens. They kept the laws well. They were respected. They kept the social standards very well.

Their problem was – Their righteousness did not come from understanding how precious they were and how precious people were. Because they didn't see themselves as precious, they couldn't see others as precious. People who don't respect themselves cannot respect others. People who are angry with themselves also get angry with others easily. People who don't believe in themselves cannot believe in others. People who are cynical about themselves will be also cynical with others.

The righteousness that comes from that kind of people is not real. It is all show. It is to show to other people. It is to impress others or God. It is merely a manipulation.

That's why Jesus said this.

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)

Their righteousness killed the Son of God. Their righteousness destroyed God. Their righteousness put people in bondage.

When our damaged self is not restored, we can harm each other. From the damaged self, the only thing that will come out will be damage.

The Salt and The Light

With God, everything becomes precious. You become precious. Others become precious. Finding that is salvation.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

Be the salt and be the light.

The post Righteousness from Preciousness appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Real Wisdom

The real wisdom doesn't come to your brain. The real wisdom comes to your soul. The real wisdom is not knowing what to do. The real wisdom is knowing who you are.

The biggest problem we have is not that we don't have enough knowledge. We have so much knowledge. Especially with the development of the internet, so much knowledge is available and accessible to us instantly.

Since we talked about searching God through a google search last week, I google searched God. It was endless. The first question was Who created God? I guess that's what people are interested in knowing the most. Interesting.

Anyways, we have so much knowledge but they are all information, data, and factual knowledge. It doesn't give us wisdom. Because wisdom is more than having factual knowledge. Information, data, and factual knowledge are what people seek after, ultimately for their own benefits. To control and conquer. To have upper hands. Wisdom is not that kind of knowledge.

We have so much knowledge and yet we have become more blinded. We have so much knowledge and yet it doesn't help us to become a better person.

We are more confused about ourselves. We think we see it but we don't see it. We think we know what can save us but we don't know it. We think we understand what makes us happy but we don't really understand it.

The Real Strength

This is what Jesus said after healing a blind man. The Pharisees did not want to accept the fact that Jesus really healed this man because he did it on Sabbath. Their logic was how a person who broke the sacred law of Sabbath can do the healing. Because Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. So they even brought the parents of the blind man and they do all kinds of things to negate that Jesus really healed this man.

The story ended with these words.

Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, Surely we are not blind, are we?' Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, We see , your sin remains. (John 9:40-41)

The Pharisees, the rulers, the educated people thought that they knew about themselves very clearly. They were very sure of that. But Jesus pointed out that they were blind. Because they thought they knew, they became blind – that's what Jesus meant.

True wisdom does not tell you that you are wise. True wisdom tells you that you are not wise. Since truly wise people see much bigger things in life, they see their own foolishness. So there is always a room for them to grow. They always live with the possibility to change. They have no fear to recognize their own weaknesses, their foolishness, and their failures. They live with this confidence that they can cope with their own inadequacy.

The real strength does not manifest itself through a raw power. The real strength often manifests itself through gentleness and even weakness.

True Wisdom

Truly wise people always know that there are wiser people. Truly powerful people know that there are more powerful people. They know their limits. They don't need to brag about their wisdom and their power.

This is what St. Paul is saying today.

For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

God's foolishness reached its peak at the cross. The cross symbolized weakness, defeat, and total failure. At the cross, death prevailed. At the cross, evil power prevailed. At the cross, injustice prevailed. And yet, Jesus took the cross. Jesus took the way of the weakness. Jesus took the way of foolishness.

The most powerful person laid down its power. Why? The wisest person took the foolish way. Why? Because he knew how God worked. He knew God's wisdom and God's strength.

What Jesus did – St. Paul discovered.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Jesus and St. Paul were the ones who had true wisdom and true power. Their wisdom was the wisdom that opened the eyes of others. Their power was the power that empowered others. Their wisdom and power are the wisdom and the power that bring salvation to all of us.

They didn't use the wisdom and the power for their own glory. They didn't use them for their own benefits. They used them for uplifting others and saving them from their darkness.

Why a righteous person died as a sinner? Why a powerful person died as the most vulnerable person? Why a wise person died without defending himself with reasons?

BECAUSE HE CARED.

The Caring Heart

That was the most foolish way to live your life and end your life. Jesus chose the most foolish way because he cared and that was what God wanted.

Ultimately through resurrection, God showed that Jesus was righteous. God showed Jesus had all the power, even the power over death. God showed Jesus was the wisest person who knew the way of God.

That's why St. Paul said,

He (God) is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'(1 Corinthians 1:30, 31)

Wisdom becomes the true wisdom when it is used for others. Power becomes the true power when it is used for others.

God did not give you the wisdom to use it for your own benefits. God did not give you the power to oppress others, control, conquer, and dominate others. God gave you the wisdom and the power to help those who cannot help themselves. For the true wisdom and the true power to come alive, you have to have the heart to care.

The wisdom and the power are qualities people desire the most. They all want to have them. But without the heart to care, they are the most dangerous weapons.

So God did not use the wisdom and the power to carry out his work for us. He chose what is foolish, what is weak, what is low and what is despised. But he chose the heart that cares. From the caring heart, we are willing to be foolish and weak. And that is the true wisdom and the true power.

The post Wisdom That Saves appeared first on St Timothy Presbyterian Church.

Matthew 4:12-22

Calling

Last week, we reflected that passionate life comes from having a sense of calling in life. When you realize that you are connected to something bigger than your life, you find new passion for life. When your life is deeply connected with the higher purpose, then your life becomes meaningful and you can find passion in life.

How can you find this sense of calling? That is a very difficult question. It is not something that you can arbitrarily choose.

Just to make your life meaningful and purposeful.

But let's think about calling. You don't call yourself, do you? So, calling comes from outside of you. It is not something you decide. That's why we call it calling.

That's what Jesus said.

You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. (John 15:16)

Life is more than your decisions. We can see that in today's passage. The disciples didn't make a decision or choice as they liked.

Jesus called them and they simply responded. They didn't initiate it. They didn't ponder upon Jesus' calling and made a decision. They responded immediately. They simply knew that it was the right thing to do.

Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:20)

Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. (Matthew 4:22)

Into the Unknown

In that sense, the gospel song, I have decided to follow Jesus is not exactly right. I am not saying that it is not a good song. I know its sentiment very well. The song tried to express my desire to respond to the calling. But strictly speaking, it is not I who have decided to follow Jesus. I just responded to the calling.

I am not saying that careful examination is not important. I am not saying that impulsive and emotional response is a better option. We should always think about the cost of discipleship. But following Jesus is more than calculated decisions. We don't know everything about what is involved in following Jesus. The disciples didn't know either. They threw themselves into the unknown.

That is what we experience when we approach God. You don't make a decision about God after searching everything about God in a google search. That's not how you come to God. When you approach God, God takes the initiative and calls you. Sometime that feels like being thrown into the unknown.

God told Abraham to go to a place unknown to Abraham. He told him to leave his hometown but he didn't even tell him where to go. He didn't tell him why he had to leave his home either. He just told him to leave. So Abraham and his family left and they thought the place they were supposed to go was Haran. But it wasn't Haran. So they had to leave again until they came to the promised land.

He didn't know anything when he left Ur, his hometown but as he looked back, he realized how blessed he was. How God has guided him and provided everything he needed. Actually more than what he needed. Abraham's life is a good example of a life of calling.

The disciples didn't know what they were getting into. They simply threw themselves into the unknown without knowing what was waiting for them.

But as a matter of fact, that is what we do every day, don't we? We don't know what is waiting for us tomorrow. We are facing the unknown every day. I like the old gospel song, I don't know about tomorrow.

I don't know about tomorrow,

I just live from day to day.

I don't borrow from its sunshine,

For its skies may turn to gray.

I don't worry o'er the future,

For I know what Jesus said,

And today I'll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow,

I don't seem to understand;

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

That was what the disciples felt at that moment. They didn't know what held tomorrow. But they knew who held tomorrow. They knew that they were in good hands. That was why they could follow Jesus immediately.

Running

They didn't always do well in following Jesus. At the end, they all deserted Jesus. One denied him. The other betrayed him. And all others ran away from him.

Running away is a part of our spiritual journey too. As disciples ran away from Jesus, sometimes we also run away from Jesus.

There are times when we face so many troubles in life and we don't feel any sense of help from God. We run away. There are times when we feel like doing everything as we want. We run away. There are time when we don't feel like doing what God is asking us to do. We run away.

That was what Jonah did in the Bible. And yet, Jonah came back to God and finished the mission. The disciples came back and carried on what Jesus started.

That is what calling is. Our calling will be fulfilled not by our strength but by the strength of the calling. You are called and that calling will carry you even when you are not able to carry your life on your own. There is a good force of calling that carries your life. That was what Matthew believed. He believed that what Jesus did was all in a grand scheme of God.

He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. (Matthew 4:13, 14)

When you live with a sense of calling, you realize that everything will be all right. Life does not 100% depend on you and your performance.

The Force of Calling

St. Paul lived as a person who lived with a sense of calling.

This is what he said.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

With this faith, you can enter into the unknown. You can take tomorrow with confidence. Nobody knows what holds tomorrow. But today, we can face tomorrow with confidence because God will work out everything for good.

Calling is not about what to do. Calling is the quality of your life. Calling is the way you live your life. Calling is how you respond to life.

After Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus approached him. He asked Peter, Do you love me? , three times. Not because he denied him three times. But because Jesus was about to tell him a very difficult thing about Peter's life in the future. Peter answered, Yes I love you. After confirming that, then Jesus said this.

Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.' (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, Follow me.'(John 21:18-19)

Peter was weak but the force of calling was strong. That was how he was able to live out his calling. He followed not his own wishes but the calling.

When you have the sense of calling, you become bold. The unknown does not intimidate you. You can live your life with dare. Because you know that your life is in God's good hands.

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