St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

For the full details and chatbox for this worship service, please go to the Sunday Worship link.

John 9:1-3, 32-34, 40-41

The disciples saw a man blind from birth when they were walking with Jesus. The first thought that came to their minds was whose sin was it that caused this man born blind? Was it his sin or his parents' sin? If that was the first thought the disciples had, then most people would have had the same thought when they saw this man. Then this man must also have had this question about himself all his life. Why was I born with this stigma? What is wrong with me? Instead of thinking that I am precious and beloved, he must have felt very bad and sinful about himself.

Confront difficulties 

Whenever we face difficulties in life, we ask ourselves, why me? Why do these things happen to me? What did I do wrong? We all live with some kind of guilt. We have darkness within us. We live feeling our own shortcomings and weaknesses. And when we face difficult situations, all these negative things about ourselves rise to the surface and we have no choice but to confront them. Confronting negative things about ourselves is not a bad thing. This Covid-19 revealed our fear, our limits, our selfishness, and our emptiness. To social distance, we stay home all day and we have more opportunities to think about our life and ourselves. We have had no choice but to stop our busy schedules. We thought that life would always turn out as we planned but we have realized that that is not true. Our naive thinking that we can control our lives as we want and as we wish, was shattered. The reality is that our life can be stopped and disrupted any time without any warning. Many people have experienced the fragility of their lives in the fact that their business and jobs can go down the drain just like that.

Exposing the things we take for granted 

 We can just waste our time doing nothing at home and giving no thought to our life but I hope that we can take this opportunity to really think about our life again. It is a great opportunity to be able to think about what is really important in life, what is most precious to us, and where God is in our lives. We realize how many things we have taken for granted. Spending time with friends and family is a simple thing to do but we cannot do it now. We realize how precious those things are. We took for granted things that are so important and precious. Even though those things are so very simple, we can no longer do them and we realize how much we have taken for granted in life.  

Let me share what our congregation members said. One person said: We have an opportunity to look deep, to unearth fears, hopes, regrets and grief. We can look deep to see what we feel, what we hope and how we can make our lives more faithful to God and to ourselves.  Maybe we will learn something in the midst of this “downtime”. Another said: Crazy times indeed.  In a weird way, outside of all the turmoil and uncertainty, there is a “blessing inside this curse.” I think this time allows us to really reevaluate what is important and meaningful in this world and drives home the points that we discussed during the YF retreat.   Another said: While it's easy to get lost in worry and feel isolated from the world, we are fortunate that we have a community that brings people together to reflect and pray.  

God’s work in our lives 

The disciples asked whose sin it was for him to be born blind and others also asked the same question, and the man also might have lived with that question in mind all his life. But Jesus' answer was so refreshing; Jesus said, Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. (John 9:3) Jesus didn't see his sin but saw what God was doing in this man's life.

This crisis reveals not only our shortcomings and our fears but also what God is doing in our lives. I pray that this crisis brings us closer to God. That our eyes will be open and see what God is doing in our lives. We will see how precious life is. We will see how valuable life is. We will see how important it is for us to be more kind to each other, to be more thankful, and to appreciate the more simple things in life.

This man was healed not only physically but spiritually. Not only did his physical eyes become open but the eyes of his heart became open. If you have time read all of John chapter 9. You will see the progress of his change. You will see his courage. After he was healed he was able to live with courage. He overcame his fear and now he was filled with courage. Open your eyes and live with courage.

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Due to national efforts to contain the COVID-19 virus, we took the unprecedented of cancelling the in-person worship service and recording it for online worship instead. Please pray for the world as we deal with this crisis, may God’s peace be with us.

Hold on a beautiful prayer. That was, We hear a lot about self-isolation. These days, many people are doing quarantine. They advise people who are traveling outside of Canada, including us to take two weeks of quarantine time. You read you have mild symptoms of a cold. They tell us to stay home. When a person is healthy or it has the potential to have the virus that person can have a quarantine. When the person finds out that he or she has a virus and he or she has to do self-isolation, people say that that is the right term to use. Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Trudeau at first quarantine herself, after a trip to London, then she was tested positive and she’s taking self-isolation and our prime minister Trudeau is taking a two-week quarantine. You do self-isolation or quarantine for other people, not necessarily for yourself, young and healthy people. Even if they’re infected with the coronavirus, they may have only mild symptoms and can recover very easily. But when they give that to vulnerable people, they can cause fetal damage. And that’s why we do self-isolation or quarantine.

We thought that he, wasn’t very rare that an asymptomatic person can infect others, but now they discover that it is possible that asymptomatic person can also infect others. One thing we are cautious about is viruses because we don’t really know very well about this virus. The sad thing is in many places go, hospitals cannot take any more old. And we people who have the virus and anymore, because they don’t have beds and ventilators, they need to use these beds and ventilators for those who have a higher chance to survive. So they just leave them to die. That’s what happens when there are so many patients and therefore our health system cannot handle it. So the best way is to step to stop the spread earlier. It is important to flatten the curve, but the alienation is different. In the 17th century, Venice health workers searched the city and identified clay victims and shipped him off to abroad, to so-called hospital, where two-thirds of them die. That is alienation. The woman we slide into this scripture did not have science, self-isolation. She was alienated. She was alienated from the people of the village in alienating is painful. When you are alienated, you get scared of people. You don’t want to meet people. This morning, this woman came out at 12 noon. That is not the time to water to get water in some areas. They came up early in the morning. Usually, women did it, but they came up very early in the morning. Then not only they got water, but they also talk and the church had it together and have a great fellowship. But this woman came out at 12 noon on purpose because she knew that there will be no. She was afraid of meeting people.

Do you just come to this woman who felt so alienated? That’s who Jesus is. Jesus reaches out to those raided, abandoned, and ostracized. This woman was not kind and friendly to Jesus. At first, she wasn’t blunt. When Jesus said, I’ll give you the living water and she said you have no bucket and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? But as the conversation got deeper, she realized that she just knew everything about her. That is Jesus for love. Jesus knows us very well. He loves us. Not because he doesn’t know us, even though he knows us so well, he still loves us. He knows our secrets, our weaknesses or shortcomings, and our dark. Yes and then in love sucks and Jesus treated her as those shorts as a car, they were talking to them about all the important subjects, including the worship because she was interested in worship.

When you see that she was not just an ordinary woman, she said our ancestors worship on the mountain on this mountain. But you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem. And Jesus said the hour is coming. When you will worship the father, either on this mountain, or in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth. When you read a passage very carefully, you see the development of this woman’s understanding of Jesus. At first, she said you’re Jewish or Jewish, and then sooner or later you’re Pravin. And in the end, she said, you are the ms side. As we build our relationship with Jesus, our understanding of Jesus gets paper. We come to a deeper understanding of Jesus and this understanding somehow frees us from our alienation. It becomes free from our failure after the conversation, what did she, uh, what did the woman to she throw away the water jar and went back to the village people or are they feel the very reason why she came out to draw water at? They weren’t the very people who alienator there were the people that she was very afraid of the meeting, but once she was freed from that fear shit, when back to the people and talked about it, Jesus, the fear is gone. She became free from alienation. Sometimes we feel lonely. Sometimes we feel that nobody understands us. Nobody loves us. And nobody cares for us. That’s when we experience deep loneliness. And that is when Jesus comes to us and Jesus tells us, I am with you. And he touched us. He heals us from loneliness, What Jesus did to us. They shouldn’t do it to each other.

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John 3:1-17

Indeed God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. What a beautiful message. What a good message God sent the son not to condemn the world, but to save the world. We should always keep these words in our minds. As Jonathan has shared, we have to continuously remind ourselves that God did not send the Son to condemn it, but to save it, These words, show why Jesus came to this world. These show gospel plan for the world God’s plan is not to condemn it, but god’s ultimate plan is how can I save this world? The famous passage that we all know, John 3:16 expresses very clearly for God. So loved the world that he gave his only son. So that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life. God does not want us to perish, but to have eternal life.

These days, the world, the whole world is trembling with fear because of coronavirus. Italy closed all their schools last as of last Wednesday until March 15, but no parent believes that the schools can be open again on March 16, though. Not only that as you see in the picture, but all the famous tourist areas in Italy are also like ghost towers. All the restaurants are empty and people who depended on tourism for a living are suffering quite a bit. Not only them but economically, financially. A lot of people are suffering. Some airplanes are bankrupted. One veteran who drives a horse, drawn carriage, says the coronavirus is spreading too much alarm among the tourists and we are suffering. My wife doesn’t work and I have two children. Now we are eating so much of, lot of pasta because pasta doesn’t cost that much. he was saying that, to the reporter of global mail yesterday, New York City, declared a state of emergency.

So the whole world is filled with fear and trembling. Of course, we have to be careful. I don’t know how many times I sing happy birthday every day. About maybe 40 times when I wash it happy birthday to you, happy birthday. You know what? That long you have to wash your hands, right? So I do that every time. And I try to not touch my face as much as possible that people say that we human beings generally Everage touch our face, told two to 3000 times a day. So we have to make a habit of not touching your face. I mean, we have to be careful, not just far, Sally’s special. You guys you’re young. So when you have a coronavirus, probably little, a bit of symptom of flu and all that, you may be okay, but you may spread to other people or sick or vulnerable or old. That’s why we are being very careful. That’s why we have canceled and delayed a few important events because we want to be responsible. We want to responsibly deal with this situation, but it is not, but it is not good to be consumed with fear. Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save the world. We have to remember that People live with fear. I see so much fear around us, around me or even with me, but around me, I see so much fear. Fear is running their lives. They’re worried about their unknown future.

The fear that they’re well-established life, maybe disrupted. They feel anxious about their unpredictable circumstances. I mean, they try to hide it and try to think that they’re courageous and whatever on the surface, and then religiously, whatever. But deep inside there is tremendous fear. And people live that fear. My friend, overcoming fear, even though it is difficult, overcoming is the road to a victorious life. When we are able to overcome our fear, then we can experience victory in life. Not many people can do that. Many people’s lives are taken hostage to fear among the fear. Probably the biggest fear is a fear of death. Fear spreads faster than the virus.

Can you just shoot us the way to overcome the fear of death through his resurrection? But overcoming fear is not something that I can do by myself, or you cannot make a resolution. Okay. From now on. I’m not gonna, be scared. You can’t do that just because you want to do it just because of your resolve to do it. You made them your mind to do it. Overcoming fear is not something that you can do it on your own. Only the spirit can give us the courage to overcome fear. This is what Saint Paul said for all, who are led by the spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Spirit gives us the courage to overcome our fear. It’s not something that I can do it. We don’t have that kind of strength. That’s what happened to this, person Nicodemus. When Jesus said to Nicodemus, you have to be born again. He meant that you have to go through the fundamental change to overcome your own fear. He said you have to be born of the spirit. Otherwise, you cannot experience that change. That is what it means to be born again, born of the spirit.

This changed, you cannot make it alone. I mean, you could Nicodemus was a very successful man. Cream of the crop, probably not even 1% of that society. Point one percent of society, very high position, very religious person, the elite of the elite. He wasn’t able to make all kinds of changes for himself. He was able to do that successfully in, but Jesus wanted the spirit to take him further, to become courageous, to overcome fear. Nicodemus comes out again in chapter seven, three times in John, he comes out in all our other gospels. He doesn’t appear, but in John three times, he comes out. The second time is chapter seven of John. Let me read a scene for you. And you, you see what kind of change you could Nicodemas when through then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who asked them, why did you not arrest him? Meaning Jesus, the police answered. Never has anyone spoken like this. Then the Pharisees replied. Surely you have not been deceived to have you have any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him. But this crowd, which does not know the law, there are cursed and Nicodemus who had gone to Jesus before.

Who was one of them asked our Lord. That’s not judged people with our first, giving them a hearing to find out what they’re doing does it. They replied surely you’re not also from galilee or your search. And you will see the no profit is to re-arise from Galilee. This was what happened at Sanhedrin. Sanhedrin was the highest court, all the religious people, all of the judges, all the famous and intelligent people. They came to the cream of the crop of all came to San Hedron and then they all hated Jesus. They all said that Jesus is cursed. One should be living indoor. Doors should follow him. Very scary environment. They were ready to condemn Jesus. And this Nicodemus only one voice. He stood up and said, our law does not judge people. We doll first, give them, giving them a hearing to find out what they’re doing. Does it, that’s courageous. He couldn’t lose his face, his job, his career, everything. But he stood up and spoke boldly the truth. Then people are attacked him saying, surely you are not also from Galilee. Are you? They ridiculed him when we read this passage when didn’t it, when did Nicodemus come to see Jesus, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, John three to Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. Why did he come by night? Because he did not want to be seen. Did not want to be seen by who very people have sent Hedron. If they see me meeting Jesus, they will penalize me. So he came by night because he was scared to be seen. And in chapter seven in front of the very people, he stood up and spoke. That’s courage. That’s what it means to be born. Again. He overcame his own fear and spoke the truth. That’s what it means to be born again, overcoming fear. When we overcome, we can overcome our own fear. We can live. Victoriously when we overcome our fear we’ll experience, true peace, joy, and the power to live. Do you know why you don’t have joy? You know why you don’t have peace because there’s fear. Fear is controlling you. That’s why you cannot experience this beautiful emotion that you’re supposed to live with, because of our fear, our life becomes very dark and gloomy. Every moment becomes very dark and gloomy.

John proclaims boldly, everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. We will not perish. We have eternal life as John, not the gospel of John, but Jonathan, as Jonathan shared with us eternal life, we live with the hope of eternal life. And this hope gives us courage. Not because I want to have it not because I decide to have it, but when have this hoop over the tunnel life again, courage comes up from within when we are filled with this hope, our every moment comes alive. When we overcome our fear, somehow the darkness disappears the other day. One of our Congress members, the other week I asked him to meet me and we had, so he had a cough. And then she, she told me, you know, these days, I don’t want to hear the news. He’s so negative. Everything’s so negative. And I concurred with her. We are bombarded with this negative spirit around us, then a loving worm and kind spirit, but very cynical, doubtful, and critical. We are just surrounded by this negativity around. We can’t take it anymore. We need some peace. That’s why she wanted to see me. So we had a talk. We had a good talk. When you keep doing that, your life can be very dark. I told my care, some members, you know what these stairs are. This care, some elderly people, 70, 80 years old, they watch too much YouTube. Oh my goodness. Oh, the false information. They sit down in the, on YouTube, everything. I mean, it’s all in Korean. So they, they can get, and then a lot of it is a negative message about life, about everything. So I, today I told her, don’t watch it, watch it drama. Rather. That’s better or read the Bible. It’s time to think about love. It’s time to think of good things. Not, all the negative things in life For God. So loved the world. That’s what the scripture says to us. For God so loved the world.

We need to hear this kind of message. God loves all of you. Hold onto that. Laugh and live your life. With that love. Fear will not run your life. Fear will go away and hope confidence, joy, peace. These things will fill your heart. Don’t just wait for these things. Discipline yourselves thinking is a discipline. If you just let it be. If freely goes everywhere, you need to discipline your thoughts. Discipline what to think. Every moment, every day, this plan to meditate on. God loves you. The door will open in your life. Your life will become brightened. Your shine and your light will enlighten others. You know, people living with darkness make other people, dark people, living with negative criticism, hurt others. People living with anger, make others angry. People filled with light will make the world. Bright people filled with mercy will make the world warm. People filled with gentleness will make the world peaceful. That’s what we need. Especially in this day and age, especially under the threat of the virus. We need to keep this message within us.

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Matthew 4:1-11

That was a wonderful song. I learned that first, when I was in junior high and the choir, at an old, old church, and I said, we should do this as our communion song too. And I think that’s what they decided they’re going to do. So I think during communion time, the choir will start to sing. So, they’re not going to come up first. So on this side, you guys will start to come up. Sounds good? Thank you, Reverend Kim for, that note. I think he basically said the sermon, right. Don’t be anxious so I can go down, but I guess I’ll try to elaborate a little bit. So I have, I’ve been almost getting six, seven months into full time ministry now. And people ask me once in a while, how are you enjoying it?

I’m very honest when I say that I love it. I’ve loved pretty much every moment of it. My job requires me to reflect a little more deeply on what’s going on with people and in this world. And it’s a joy, but it can also it can be a little bit of a burden in the sense that the more I learn about people in this world, the more deeply I start to feel what people are going through. And one thing as I’ve gotten further into it, one thing that I sense is there’s a lot of anxiety in people everywhere we go. A lot of anxiety. The thing with anxiety is it’s not attributable to one thing that’s really causing it. Right? It’s just there’s a prospect, maybe, that something might happen to me. It’s generally related with an unknown future, right?

It’s not necessarily rational. And that’s, what’s kinda going on with this Corona virus thing, right? I feel like it’s a battle right now between irrational fear and sober assessment. So as Reverend Kim talked about, yes. You know, we should have proper knowledge of the facts and proper precautions should be taken. But the fear and anxiety is about what could happen, right? Especially as we see headlines of another new case that was discovered. There’s so much anxiety about what could happen with our health, our wealth, our children, our parents, and our future. And I think anxiety hits us when we feel vulnerable and not in control. If we delve even deeper, it’s an anxiety about our very survival. I think it comes down really to our survival. That’s why we worry about our health and the health of our ones, or about having enough money to live a decent life. We worry about physical harm that might come to us in dangerous circumstances. Or maybe it’s about social survival because we’re all social beings. It’s almost as serious as physical survival sometimes. When it comes down to our survival, we are very easily shaken.

Here’s the thing when it comes to people, when we feel safe and when we feel secure, we can all be nice. We can all feel generous. There was a great line that I really liked from that movie parasite. The husband goes, even though she’s rich, she’s nice. And this is all in Korean, right. But the wife then responds. She’s nice because she’s rich, right? Yeah. We can all be nice when things are good. When I used to run my own little law firm, I was a very generous boss times are good. We would order sushi for lunch and for our staff. We had Christmas dinners at nice restaurant. Oh, life was good. I was a great boss. But I’m not proud to admit it when times got a little lean or rather when I started to worry a lot more about money, I was like, this is not enough.

My personality changed. I started to become a little more resentful of all this money I’m spending on the employees when, from my hard labor, even though there’s less money coming in. I became more small minded and my heart changed. I have so many regrets. I do wish I can go back and just kind of say, sorry guys, for being the way I was, you know, like when our survival’s at stake, we’re not very nice people sometimes. We do whatever it takes to survive. You know, the author of Genesis writes that we were made in the image of God. The Imago Dei. That picture. But too much of what we see around us, it’s not the image of God. It’s the image of people doing whatever they need to do to survive. I meTan, we see today around the world, strong men leaders have been able to tap into people’s anxieties to garner support. I mean, we see unkind language and actions and grievances that pit one group against another, but you know what? People will accept this way of behavior, if it eases their anxiety and makes them feel a little safer in a very complex world.

But I wonder is this the way life is destined to be, are you and I, are we simply captives to the survival instinct that’s been baked into our human DNA. Is that animal side of our nature, more powerful than the Imago Dei that has been created in us? The image of God reflects the way of love, truth, justice, mercy, and grace.

But are these things just nice options when life is fine and dandy? I think these are the questions at the core of today’s passage, right? Today’s passage takes place right after Jesus’ baptism and before his public ministry begins. And I think it takes place before his ministry begins because some very fundamental questions must be asked and tested about Jesus. His baptism ended with God’s affirmation of Jesus’ identity. This is what the author says, “And when Jesus had been baptized just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God, descending like a dove and a lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased!'” (Matthew 3:16-17). What a grand affirmation of his identity. God’s own son, a lighted by the spirit of God.

But this identity would be put to the test. Would being the son of God, mean anything in times of vulnerability? You see, you got to understand this. I think this was the grand drama where so much is at stake in these temptations. Up to now, the history of humanity has been one that’s always succumbed to the animal instincts of survival. And you see that even in the history of God’s own chosen people. From the very get go, when it came down to their survival, they did not trust God. After God told Abraham and Sarah that in their old age, they would have a child, they resorted it to their own power through their handmaiden to have a child. Even after God miraculously led the Israelites out of Egypt, as soon as they got to the wilderness, they grumbled about the lack of food. They did not trust God.

When all the nations around them start to have powerful Kings, they felt vulnerable and they too wanted their own Kings. They did not trust God. Rich and powerful people in Israel trusted in their own power and riches and clung to them at the expense of the poor and weak. They were not faithful to God’s way. They did not trust God. They trusted their own power. Even God’s own chosen people had failed time and time again. When the vulnerable time came, was there any way that humanity could be redeemed from its animal instincts? And that is what is going on in these temptations. Would Jesus be faithful to the way of his father, even when his own survival was at stake. Would he have trust in his father? See the three temptations, Jesus face touch upon things that are core to our survival. Food, protection from danger, and power that can ensure our own survival.

Jesus could have used his status as the son of God, to create food, to protect himself from danger and to obtain the power that would ensure his survival. His temptation was to turn away from God and use his power to protect himself first. See, if we’re truly honest with ourselves, we give our true allegiance to whatever gives us the power to survive. Money will do many things for us. We give our allegiance, there. Our health. We need our health to survive. So we’ll give our allegiance there. And social standing. We need the acceptance and respect from others. We trust in these things because they give us the power to survive.

Jesus proved that his allegiance lay with God. I mean, through it all, Jesus would remain faithful with fidelity, loyalty, allegiance with the utmost trust and faith in his father, in God. Even when it led to death. And that faith and loyalty proved itself more powerful than survival. The Imago Dei in him prevailed over his animal instinct to survive. And so the temptations revealed who Jesus really was. Because from there on, in his life and ministry, we see Jesus’s loyalty faithfulness and trust throughout the journey, right up to his death. You know, one time when a great crowd had flock to the mountain to hear him speak, his disciples became afraid because there was no food. Their instinct was to send them away and take care of their own needs. But Jesus trusted completely in God’s provision. With only five loaves of bread and two fish, he fed 5,000 people.

God provided. He lived the will of God. He loved everyone, especially those who had been rejected and outcasted. He spoke truth to those in power, especially those who made life difficult for others. And he was not shaken when he received opposition. That opposition got greater and greater until death came knocking on his door. And even then, he refused to summon his status as the son of God, to escape death. He was faithful and trusting God, right to the end. I mean, he did want to survive. Yes. He asked if this cup can pass me by, please let it be so, but survival would not trump his pursuit of faithfulness to God’s way. He accepted the cup, and by the end, everyone, even his closest friends and his disciples abandoned him. And even as he hung on the cross, he felt as though God himself abandoned him too. But Jesus was faithful and loyal right to the end. And you know what? It was on the cross where his true identity was first recognized by others. The Centurion at the cross proclaimed, truly this man was God’s son.

His faithfulness to God and his trust in him were evidence of his identity as the son of God, not his power. It was like in these temptations, Jesus was saying to the devil, “You can give me the whole world, but you cannot give me my identity as the son of God.” Jesus’s trust and faith in God was unshakeable. And therefore the image of God in humanity was redeemed through Jesus. The Imago Dei could be more powerful than our survival instinct and how grateful I am that we have this pioneer of faith. We know that we ourselves do not have that kind of faith. I think we have desired to have it, but we know that if push really comes to shove, our faith grows so weak. And I think often we don’t really like to talk about our own faith because we know how weak it is. We feel kind of embarrassed maybe or ashamed. But here is the insight that St. Paul discovered.

It is not about our own faith. It’s all about the faith of Christ. The life changing discovery he made was that it was about the faith of Christ becoming our own. And that is what the spiritual journey was for him. One of living a life in union with this Christ, a life of discipleship so that we can have with Christ who overcame our animal instincts and where Christ’s faith becomes our own. And with the strength of that faith we carry on. This is what he said. I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. How beautiful that is. I mean, we have so many things to worry about. Anxiety is just a part of our lives and what surrounds us. I mean, how will we let the faith of Christ grow in us? As reflected on this one practical thing I would want us to do is to practice the spiritual discipline of gratitude. Gratitude. I realize that is the antidote to anxiety. What gratitude does is it opens our eyes up to God’s provision. Gratitude builds up trust in God’s protection.

And then gratitude builds up our allegiance and loyalty to God as the one who truly provides for everything we need. Gratitude is the antidote for anxiety.

During this Lenten season, let us commit to a discipline of gratitude. So pick a time each day. In the shower or brushing your teeth or commuting to work, pick something or even better yet, if you can buy a little journal for Lent, for this 40 day period of Lent. Thank God for, say thank you for how have taken care of me as Josh was sharing so wonderfully with us. Thank you for taking care of me now, even if things are difficult and I have all these anxieties. And thank you for how you will continue to take care of me. Gratitude will build up this faith that Christ had in us. Saint Paul said this in Philippians, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 4:6-7). Let us not be shaken by anxiety. Let us not let survival diminished the image of God in us. May the faith of Christ strengthen you during this Lenten season, and may his peace guard your hearts. Let us sing together.

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Matthew 17:1-9

The passage that we read today is a beautiful passage that if you draw a picture, you’ll draw a very nice painting. But we have to understand the context a little bit. Six days ago, Peter was rebuked by Jesus. Actually, Jesus rebuked Peter with really harsh words. He even called Peter ‘Satan’. This is what is said, “But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. ” I don’t know how Peter survived after hearing this. His Lord or his friend told him, “You are Satan! Get behind me. You have your mind on the earthly things, not heavenly things.” Hearing all that, I don’t know how he survived. That was six days ago.

And then six days later, Jesus took Peter to this mountain. This is what he said, “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.” Matthew started with six days. In other words, he connects this incident with what happened six days ago. So he said, six days later, this thing happened. At the mountain, Peter experienced a tremendously wonderful, out of this world kind of experience. Something he never experienced in his life. He saw complete change of Jesus. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white. A complete transformation. People call it transfiguration.

And he saw Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. I’m wondering what they were talking about, why they were there. Jesus was talking with these people. Matthew doesn’t record what they were talking about, but luckily Luke recorded what they were talking about. This is what Luke said, “Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” This departure is death. It’s not about going on a “journey” departure. They were talking about Jesus’ death in Jerusalem, but wasn’t that the very reason why Peter was rebuked by Jesus?

Six days ago, Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter made a greatest confession. He said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Highest and most beautiful confession he made about Jesus. And it was not his own discovery. Jesus knew that it was given by God. Jesus said, “And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”” So Peter got this understanding through God, not on his own. But right after that, when Jesus said, “Okay, I’ll die though in Jerusalem soon.” That’s when Peter reacted very harshly, even to the point of rebuking Jesus. When you read the Greek word, Peter actually rebuked Jesus. That’s when Jesus rebuked Peter saying, “Satan, get behind me.”

Death. Peter thought of death as all bad. We think of death as all bad. We have a very negative attitude towards death. But death, my friend, is not the end. Death brings complete transformation to us. Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain was a foreshadow of what would happen to him after his death. Jesus wanted to show Peter this glorious picture. Jesus wanted to show that, “Peter, death is not necessarily all bad thing.”

Of course, Peter did not understand the full significance of what he experienced. Even after this mountain top experience, Peter denied Jesus three times. When he faced his own death, he was so scared he trembled and he denied Jesus three times. Even though he had this wonderful experience at the mountain top, when he faced his own death, he was unable handle that he was too scared. But whatever he experience on this mountain probably was in Peter’s memory for the rest of his life. It never disappeared. Even after he denied Jesus, probably he remembered his experience on this mountain.

After a few decades, about thirty or forty years later, we can see that Peter was still remembering that. This is written in Second Peter, Peter’s letter. This is what he said, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.” This was written a few decades later. And yes, he still remembered his mountain experience. Sometimes, my friends, we do not understand what we experience while we are experiencing it, we just experience it. But only much later can we understand the full significance of what we experienced at that time. Only retrospectively, “Ah, that’s what I experienced.” That’s what he meant, what that experience meant. Only later, we understand what we experience.

Yes, death can be scary. Death can be scary. At TBS meeting last Tuesday, we were talking about death. They’re all twenties, thirties, mostly thirties. Young people still tell me that they’re thinking of death. Death is not a topic only to all people. Death can be scary to anyone. Yesterday I had a training for the elderly woman and then I gave them the five stages of death that people are going through. As soon as I talked about death, they were thinking about their own selves. “Oh, I will go through that stage too.” They were a little bit down when I was talking about it. Death is not something that we can escape. Death can make people depressed and dark.

But today, Jesus showed us. Yes, death is an inescapable reality, but it is not as bad as Peter thought. The real change happens when we die. Death brings resurrection. That is what baptism is. Isn’t it? Die with Christ and rise with Christ. Only after the resurrection, Peter could understand the full significance of this mountain top experience. That’s why Jesus said, “Do not tell them what you saw on this mountain.” This is what Jesus said as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus order them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” He told them not to talk about it because they will not understand it.

Jesus touched him and said, “Get up, do not be afraid.” That is what Jesus wants to say to us. Get up, do not be afraid. Sometimes we feel that life is gloomy. We get sad, too. Sometimes we are overwhelmed with fear. That is when Jesus comes to us and comforts us. We may not have a dramatic experience like Peter had, but we experience our own small heaven. We experience our own small heaven. Don’t make your life hell. Even when you feel like life is like hell, you have to find the heaven. Love and forgive. You will experience heaven. Seek righteousness. This is what Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Be humble and have a broken and poor spirit. This is what Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Trust and leave everything to God. You will find peace. And then you can see heaven come to you. Heaven is not here or there, heaven is in you.

This is what Jesus said, “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, Look, here it is!' or There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” Depending on translation, the kingdom of God is within you. Heaven is within you. If you’re filled with heaven, you’ll live in heaven. But if you’re filled with hell, not only will you live in hell, but you will make everybody else around you live hell. Live heaven. Don’t let anyone take away the heaven that is within you.

Sometimes we are lonely. Yes, sometimes we are hurting. Sometimes we are angry, as we reflected last week. Sometimes we get angry. Sometimes our feeling of hatred torments us, and sometimes our problems paralyze us. But, you know, all these things? They just pass by. They’re not going to be with you forever. They will just pass by. But heaven within you will be eternal forever. It will not just pass by. The heaven God created within you, that heaven will take you to heaven. If you seek it, you’ll find it and you will experience it. I hope that all of us live a wonderful life of heaven every moment.

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Matthew 5:21-24

Jesus turned a sternly word about anger. So I want to talk about anger today. This is what Jesus said, very seriously, “But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.” If we take this literally, who can escape the hell of fire? In the course of our lives, we all at least once talk to our brothers – not real brothers, but brothers and sisters, “Are you stupid or are you a fool?” Then you will be liable to the hell of fire. Jesus equated anger even with murder. This is what he said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, You shall not murder'; and whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.'” And immediately after that, he said, “If you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.” Same thing, same punishment.

Jesus teaches us that the anger will ultimately bring violence. Murder is violence. So when anger is mature, it all be expressed in violence. Anger is expressed in many ways. Anger has many faces. It’s not just one face, not just in the form of yelling, shouting and cursing. Sometimes anger is expressed in the form of giving a cold shoulder, being rude, completely ignoring, hating, and wanting revenge. Sometimes you don’t show anything on the surface, but deeply you can harbour anger within you. So you don’t even know that there is anger boiling inside of you. It’s not a really obvious emotion, but somehow that anger within you affects you. The way you are, the way you treat others, the way you see your life. Because it’s so deeply embedded within you, sometimes you don’t know. When somebody curses you, immediately you get angry so you know why you’re angry. Because you know the source, you know the reason. But once anger enters deep into your heart, you don’t even know why you’re angry. The source is gone. The reason is gone, but you’re still angry because the anger is still deep within you.

We don’t know how much anger controls us. Anger does not express itself in action. Anger is not action. Anger is what’s inside you. When we have lot of anger within us, even little things can trigger our anger. Nothing, but that little thing can trigger anger within you. Jesus said, “If you say, You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.” It’s not about whether you actually said, “You’re stupid,” or not. Whether “You fool,” or not. That’s not what Jesus meant. Jesus’ main point was whether you have deep anger within you or not.

I don’t want to say that all anger is bad. Not all anger is bad. That’s not what I mean. Anger itself is not a bad thing. Appropriate anger is a sign of healthy emotion. Even Jesus was angry. He was angry in the temple and made a whip and chased out the money changers. It’s not that all anger is bad. When you should be angry, if you cannot be angry, then you’re not healthy. When you’re supposed to be angry or the situation requires you to be angry, if you cannot be angry, then that’s a problem. And also there is a righteous anger, anger for those people who are unjustly treated. You should be angry for them. Let us be careful that we don’t confuse our anger with righteous anger. When you say that this is a righteous anger, deep inside it is just your anger expressed with excuse of righteousness sometimes.

Whether we have anger within us or not is not what is important. I believe that we all have anger. All of us have anger. There’s nobody who lives without anger, but we have to ask ourselves whether that anger within us is so big that it controls you. When anger takes control of your life and governs you, it will paralyze you. We cannot think logically. We lose touch with reality and it will drive us deep into darkness. When anger controls us, we can never be happy. We’ll live in hell. In personal torment.

We all have anger, but we have to ask ourselves, what should we do with that? What should we do with that? Anger does not stay the same. Anger grows. Small anger can become a huge anger depending on how we deal with it. Jesus gave us the image of fire. Yes, anger is like fire. It doesn’t stay the same. It grows. It can start like a small spark, but it can grow into a huge fire. We should not feed our anger so they become so big that we cannot control it. Once anger becomes so big, you cannot control it. It is not wise to feed a small spark to become a huge fire of hell that you cannot control. Then you cannot even sleep. You cannot eat. You’re consumed with anger and hatred. Some people say, “I don’t want to be angry.” But just because you don’t want to be angry, you cannot control that because anger controls you.

We should not let anger become hatred. Saint Paul said, “Be angry but do not sin.” That means do not let anger harbour within you. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Do not leave it so that it can become so settled within you. If we keep our anger within us and let it settle within us, then we let the evil take the opportunity to work within us. You’re opening the door for the evil to come in and work within you. Because evil works with your anger. Don’t let anger build a nest within you. Don’t let anger be a master within you. Once it becomes settled and becomes a master within you, then you become a slave to anger. Even if you don’t want to be angry, anger controls you rather than you control the anger.

Where does this anger come from? Anger comes from fear. Have you ever seen the animal in fear? This is what it looks like. An angry face. Yes. Sometimes some tremble in fear, but when they are threatened, they have this angry face. It’s like self defense. When you are stressed out, sometimes you get angry. Why do you get stressed out? Because you have a lot of work? Because you’re busy? No. No matter how busy you may be, no matter how much work you may have, if you’re efficient you can do well and then you’re productive. You don’t get stressed out. But no matter what you do, when there is no result, then you’re not productive. You’re not doing very well. And then fear comes in. What if I fail? What if I cannot do this? Then you get stressed out. And once you get stressed out, sometimes you express that in anger.

Then if the anger comes from fear, how do we deal with the anger? Let love grow within you because love is only thing drives out fear, casts out fear. This is what first John said, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” So if anger comes from fear, the best remedy is love that casts out that fear. That subdues the anger.

Because of corona virus, we don’t even shake hands these days. I want to shake your hands, but there’s no remedy. There is no vaccine for corona virus right now. But there is no remedy for anger except love. Love is a vaccine. Love is remedy for our anger. And I don’t want you to fear anger within you. Befriend your anger rather than fearing it. The more you try to get rid of it, the more aggressively anger will take hold of you. That’s not how you get rid of anger. Anger will be always within you, but like a little child, tenderly you care for it. Instead of trying to get rid of it, you have to be tender towards your anger so the anger does not take control of you. Soothe it.

When we have to discipline ourselves, we have to discipline ourselves to grow love within us. That’s the only way for you to be able to deal with your anger problem. When love finds its place within us, anger loses its gripping power. And then we can use our anger appropriately. Another bad thing is when anger controls us, we cannot give meaningful worship. Worship is not what you do here on Sunday, worship is your heart. But when you’re filled with anger, God is not pleased with your worship. God does not accept the offering of anger. So we cannot give proper worship when we are victims of our own anger.

This is what Matthew said, “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.” God will not be pleased with our offering and our gift that we give while in anger. I was always wondering, why did God receive Abel’s sacrifice but not Cain’s? I was always wondering, did God like meat more than vegetables or corn? This is what is said when you look at Genesis, “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.” I thought Cain was angry because God did not receive his offering. No, he already had anger deep within him. And God saw that. And when God did not receive it, that anger just came out from within. God does not accept the offering that you give out of anger. And ultimately, Cain killed his brother.

Anger destroys us. Anger not only destroys you, but destroys others. A van incident in North York, gun shootings in Greek town and Dallas and a gun shooting in a synagogue. Just one person’s anger causes so much sadness, sorrow, pain, and hardships in so many people. Anger does so much damage to the people around us. Maybe around us, because of our anger, we might have caused some pain in other people around us. We should not harbour anger within us. It is very destructive. Let us grow love. May the love of God melt the anger within us so that we may be free from that anger that controls us. That is what Jesus wants for us.

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Matthew 5:13-20

That last line, a new start with a life that belongs to you. That’s really the essence of our faith, right? And I want to talk today about true righteousness because that really relates to this new start that we begin with God. Today’s passage started with talk about salt and light, but I’m going to focus on the end of this passage first that talks about righteousness. And at the end, we relate that back to salt and light.

So this passage is taken from the gospel of Matthew. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus began his public ministry. The first thing he said was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. The kingdom of heaven is a big theme of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. But he wasn’t talking about this afterlife in heaven. That’s not what he’s talking about. He was talking about a heavenly kingdom here on earth. Not a physical kingdom, right? Not a geographic physical kingdom, but a new way of life. A new kind of human community. And this new way of life, this new heavenly kingdom, would reflect life as God intended. People would live according to God’s will. And that’s why the Lord’s prayer, which was also taken from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus prays this, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This was the kingdom of heaven that Jesus is talking about.

But there’s a puzzling verse right at the end of today’s passage. It goes like this and Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s like there’s this key to entering this kingdom and that’s a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees. So what is this righteousness? Why is this the key to entering into this new way of life that is the kingdom of heaven?

As you see, the scribes and Pharisees, they were seen as righteous. These guys were experts in the law. They knew them all and they practiced keeping the law. Now we’re talking about the law that was given to Moses back in the old Testament. The law was good. It was all about proper conduct. How to honor God and how to treat others. How to take care of those who needed to be taken care of. The law was good. And the scribes and Pharisees were the most righteous people in following the law. I mean, how could one be more righteous than them?

But you see, Jesus had tremendous insight. And in the gospel of Matthew, we see that for Jesus, the main beef he had, the main problem he had towards the scribes and Pharisees is that they ended up focusing so much on their own adherence to the law. They focused so much on that that it actually started to become all about them. The focus was centered on themselves. And then what happened was they started losing touch with those who could not be as righteous as them. They started to lose empathy and compassion and would instead start seeing them as sinners. On the one hand, they were very respected for their remarkable adherence to the law. “Wow. These guys, they know how to uphold the law.”

But you know what? This elevated sense of righteousness separated them from other people. Other people start to feel inferior and lower. And then these leaders started to drink their own Koolaid. They began to start judging others based on the standards that they had worked so hard to live up to. Sorta like, “I worked hard to achieve this level of righteousness. So if you haven’t, you’re inferior.” That sort of thing. And then they began to associate only with people like them. Became like a club of those who met the standard of righteousness. They did a lot of the good works that the law prescribes, but it was starting to not stem from hearts of generosity, but more from their own need to be and feel good. And this righteousness separated them from others.

I think for us, just like them, we have our own notions of righteousness. To put it in our own words, like right living. Living the right kind of life, don’t you think? Our lives are consumed with trying to be good and doing the right things. We want to be a good son or daughter, a good parent, a good employee and just a nice person. That’s what we want to be. But here’s the thing. Our lives can become so focused on doing the right thing that it actually ends up becoming all about me. Am I doing the right things? Am I looking acceptable? Do I feel good about myself and what I’m doing? And if I’m able to live that right kind of life based on my own efforts, then it starts to separate me from those who have not met that standard. It’s kind of like, “Hey, I worked hard to get where I am and I deserve this. Others just need to step it up and figure it out.” We start to become a little judgmental. And that judgment separates us from those who are different. And then we begin to associate with those who have attained a similar level of the right kind of living as us. So we’re living out our own sense of righteousness or right living, but really all this focus on the right living stays on me. So we can become very self-centered and self-absorbed. See this kind of righteousness that we live out in the world, it begins and ends with me. And it separates us from others.

But the righteousness that Jesus is talking about is different. He’s not talking about a me-centered righteousness. He’s talking about God’s righteousness. So to have God’s righteousness is to have, and live out the character and attributes of God. Let me repeat that. To have God’s righteousness is to have, and live out the character and attributes of God. That essentially is what the law and of the old Testament are. The law reflects the attributes of God in our daily living. What are these attributes of God? This is how God describes himself when he appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving. These are the attributes and character of God. And the law and the prophets was all about living these out in real daily life. That’s what it meant to be righteous. To treat others kindly, graciously and with mercy. It meant taking care of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable. It meant to forgive others.

This is the true righteousness of living out God’s character in our real life. And what’s the defining characteristic of this true righteousness? We learned that the righteousness in the world separates us. But God’s righteousness brings people together instead of driving them apart. With grace, with mercy, forgiveness, love. These are things that bring us together. So unlike the righteousness in the world, it’s not all about me. It begins within me, but flows out to others. It’s not about doing good works so that I can feel righteous and good about myself. But it’s grace and love within me that leads people to God and brings us together.

It sounds nice, right? But let’s be honest: who among us is truly like that? Put up your hand if that’s you. Who is so gracious, merciful, and loving? Be honest about yourself when you’re at home with your closest ones, loved ones. Who of us is really like that? I definitely am not. And so Saint Paul, he recognized the state of human beings and human nature. This is what he said in Romans, There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one. Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of vipers is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. What an indictment of who we are. So true. I think deep down, we know this. We are not very proud of the people we are. And so we hide. We hide behind our appearances of niceness, being a good person, of living rightly, but Saint Paul called us out on the truth that we are not righteous. We’re too insecure and weak. You see, forgiveness sounds good, but not if you’ve truly wronged me. I can love only if you don’t mess with me. There is no one who is as patient forgiving and merciful as God is. So how are we going to enter this kingdom of heaven with God’s righteousness? It seems impossible.

But Amen. What is impossible for us God has made possible. By God’s own initiative, that righteousness of God is offered to us. Saint Paul said this too in Romans, “But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” The law and the profits, like I said, they all attested to the righteousness of God. They reflected the character of God. And this righteousness was ultimately reflected in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ himself. But here’s the real good news. That very righteousness of God is now offered to us as a gift.

For people who have suffered through low self-esteem or who have gone through a lot of issues, the paths of gaining confidence begins with self-acceptance. It means to stop pretending, to stop fronting, to come to grips with who one truly is. That’s the starting point. And that’s also the first step in the path to true righteousness. To stop pretending with our false righteousness. To come clean with who we really are. To admit, this is me saying this too, maybe I’m really not that nice of a guy. Maybe I ain’t that patient. And I ain’t that forgiving. Until we can come honestly clean with who we are, we will continue to live a life of illusion. Pretending that all is good as long as the outer surface looks good. But when we come nakedly honest before God with our true selves, God tells us this: you are loved. You are forgiven for all the bad things you’ve thought and done. And now my own righteousness I give to you. I call you to live out my righteousness, not by your own power, but by the power that I will give to you. All that you have to do is just accept and believe my word, what I’m saying to you.

So the question is, do you believe this? Do you believe this? Deep down, many of us probably feel like we’re unworthy of this kind of gift. There’s a sense of shame and unworthiness that causes us to hide behind the different clothes or layers that we put on. But God’s righteousness is given to us not because we are worthy or deserving, but simply because God loves us. That is grace. Can you believe that God truly loves who you are?

Because who we are will always seem far from God’s righteousness, but God has declared us to be righteous. That’s the amazing thing. And God leads us on this journey of becoming more and more like God. That is the spiritual journey and path. So we enter the kingdom of heaven, this new way of life, not with our own righteousness, but with the righteousness that God gives to us. The kingdom of heaven is one where we come without pretense, without having to play roles. We come just humbly recognizing that we all fall short of God’s righteousness, but that somehow by God’s grace, we want to grow in it.

I mentioned earlier about salt and light, but to have the righteousness of God is what it means to be salt of the earth and light of the world. In other words, being salt and light is a result of living out God’s righteousness. It’s not something we try to be from the beginning. You see what I’m saying? It’s a result of God’s righteousness in us. Right before today’s passage, Jesus preached his famous sermon on the Mount and one of the things he said is this, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.

God’s righteousness is what we should strive for with all of our hearts and to yearn for. This righteousness that reflects love, graciousness, mercy and passion for justice. Then we will be filled. And out of that filled self, the love will pour out of us. And then we will be salt and light. The path to God’s righteousness is a lifelong journey. And as you probably saw on the slide, there’s a song that we used to sing as kids. I think it captures our journey so well. It’s called little by little. I thought we’d try something a little different. Let’s sing this together if you know it because it really captures our journey towards righteousness. It goes, “Little by little every day. Little by little in every way. My Jesus, he’s changing me. He’s changing me. Since I made a turn about face I’ve been growing in His grace. My Jesus, he’s changing me. He’s changing me. My precious Jesus, I’m not the same person that I used to be. Sometimes it’s slow-going but there’s a knowing that some day perfect I will be.”

Amen, right? That’s the journey, you know. Little by little every day and little by little in every way God’s righteousness will grow in us. With the righteousness that God gives us, we enter into this new life in the kingdom of heaven. So let us all be fellow citizens of this kingdom of heaven here on earth with God’s righteousness.

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Micah 6:1-8

During our call to worship today, we read, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” These were the words of King David, and this was his personal confession. And what David realized was that it didn’t matter who he was. If he was a King or had all the power in the world with many people admiring him. Because what he realized was that God saw through all those things and looked at his heart, the source of all his thoughts, actions, and words. So he had no place to hide, but to simply bring his heart before God. And that was all that God wanted. And these words that we read, they came from his heart. A broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. That is what God wants. Not our possessions or status, but our hearts just the way they are. That is the sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

Yet it is difficult to bring our hearts before God. It is hard. Maybe it’s because to do so is to admit our own brokenness to ourselves. Sometimes it is hard to look directly into our own hearts. We find it easier to hide them instead, by putting on a certain facade. We act like everything’s fine and nothing bothers us. Or we find it easier to compensate for our own insecurity and lack of confidence by either doing more or giving more. Because somewhere we feel like we’re not good enough. A good enough parent, a good enough child, a good enough student, maybe even a good enough Christian. We find it easier to let ourselves be driven by our own fear and shame instead. That was also Israel’s problem. Rather than bringing their hearts before God, they relied on their sacrifices.

It wasn’t that giving sacrifices was wrong. Giving sacrifices and burnt offerings was an important part of the Jewish law. It was supposed to be an expression of their love for God. But for Israel, sacrifices became a means of hiding and compensating for their broken and contrite hearts. So in the end, sacrifice became something that was meant for their own gain and self-interest. They believed that the more they gave, the more God would be pleased with them. We see this in today’s passage. “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” But that wasn’t what God wanted. Israel’s questions reveal that they were really driven by a sense of fear, guilt and shame, rather than love. Sometimes even the questions we ask can reveal the state of our own heart. And what their questions reveal was that their hearts were hidden away behind their possessions, behind their sacrifice. And their hearts were far from God.

So the prophet Micah gave this message. He said, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” I wonder why Micah gave this message to Israel. He could have just said something else. He could have said, “Pray, read God’s word, be religious.” But he didn’t say anything about a life of being religious. Instead, what we find here is some kind of a formula for a good life. Life that does justice, loves kindness and walks humbly with God. Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God. I believe Micah’s message to Israel was a call to go back to the basics, to the basics of their faith. It was a call to return to God and focus on what was truly important: a relationship with God, a relationship with others. Life of justice, kindness and humility, these are hallmarks of a life founded on love, not fear.

Sometimes we ask ourselves, “What does God want from me? What is God’s will?” We assume just automatically that God wants us to do a lot. To be good, to be perfect. And sometimes we easily feel burnt up because of it, trying to be that perfect parent; trying to be the perfect son or a daughter; trying to be that perfect student; or even the Christian trying to say and do all the right things. You name it. We believe that the answer to the question lies everywhere else when in fact, it is right in front of us. We think of it as being complicated when it is actually simple. What God wants of us are our hearts. Just as life begins with the first heartbeat, God wants to begin with our hearts to give us a new life. God wants them just the way they are. It sounds simple, but it can be the most difficult to do.

But here’s what we need to remember. We need to remember that God chose us for who we are. God chose us first in His love. And God desires us to freely respond with our hearts. And when we bring our broken and contrite heart before God, God takes it as it is, shapes it, shapes us. It is love. It empowers us to live out the life we’ve been called to live. And that is life of justice, kindness, and humility. But it all begins with offering our hearts to God.

Micah’s message, when we kind of look at it, it can sound like a tall order. It can sound like it’s asking us to do a lot, but I don’t think it’s meant to be daunting or overwhelming. Micah’s words are not a call for us to do big things or be perfect. But I believe that it is a call for us to be simple and sincere in our process of walking with God and others in love. It is a call for us to be open and willing to being shaped by God’s love as we journey through life. God’s love humbles us, but I believe it is only through humility that we learn how to really love and care for one another. That is why I find that the most important part is saved for last in Micah’s message. To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. How we look after each other’s well-being, how we are kind to one another, I believe that all of these, all these are shaped by our walk with God.

In Jesus’ time, his disciples experienced something similar. They thought they knew what it meant to follow Jesus and to love other people. But what they realized was that their reactions to certain life situations revealed their lack of love. When a crowd of hungry people came to them, what was the first thing that they bid? Just to send them away so that they can go buy themselves some food, but Jesus said, “They don’t need to go away; you give them something to eat.” At the time, the disciples probably felt like they had to do something big. They were probably only focused on how they were going to feed the 5,000 people that were standing in front of them. The sheer size of the crowd made them feel overwhelmed and afraid. But what Jesus did really was to point to their heart to show that what really mattered was the sincerity of their love for other people before anything else. And in feeding that crowd, Jesus showed his disciples the abundance we find in God when our hearts are in the right place. Imagine how that must have shaped their thinking.

God is not so concerned with how much we can do for Him. God is more concerned with our hearts. In the same way, we’re not called to do big things, but to be faithful to our small sincere acts of love, empowering those in need and committing to walking together faithfully. Tat can be through a simple smile, a word of encouragement, a listening ear, just being a welcoming and supportive presence. I especially saw this at our New Years Retreat last January, last month. On the second day, after our second session, we canceled Town Hall and then we had everyone just go mingling around and things like that. And I saw people, you know, there were a lot of new people there too, but just people reaching out to one another talking, listening. I tend to be an observer so I just watch from a little bit of a distance, but it was a beautiful thing to see. And even within women’s group, nowadays I see that they’re helping one another, especially reaching out to those that are in need. To me, that is a life of justice, kindness and humility.

We don’t have to let our own fear and inadequacy prevent us from doing good and showing our genuine love to each other. Our fear only makes us want to hide more. At this staff meeting this past Friday, we discussed and reflected on how fear can make us do strange things. For some reason, without us even knowing sometimes, it makes us do really strange things. It has a way of making us be less and less of who we really are. And the more we hide, the more we’ll fall away and feel isolated. And the more we fall away, the more we’ll neglect our calling to be the salt and light of the world.

Instead, we can find our confidence in God’s love. It is only in love that we can overcome our fear. And I believe that when our hearts are rooted in God, our lives will begin to bear fruit. So let us have the courage to be shaped by God’s love so that we can be a blessing to those around us. We may feel small like the tiny muster seeds, but it is God who will grow those seats into a large tree where birds can come in and find shade. That is the principle of the kingdom of God. Even the phrase “the kingdom of God” sounds big and grand. Kind of intimidating, but all that begins from something that seems small and trivial. So it all begins with our hearts. When we ourselves are real and sincere, everything we do will be meaningful. And I believe that we, as human beings, we know when someone else is being real with us, when someone else is being sincere and genuine with us. We have that inborn detector. I think we know that. Our acts of love will be a genuine expression of our hearts. They will touch and transform the lives of others. That not only our heart, but our life, I believe, will be a pleasing sacrifice to God.

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Isaiah 9:1-4

Last Monday, January 20th, was Blue Monday. They said it was the most depressing day of the year. At the staff meeting, Dave said, “Somehow, this year started with a lot of darkness.” And that is so true. This year, somehow from the beginning, a lot of tragic things happened. On January 8th, which was my birthday, a Ukraine airplane was shot down by an Iranian missile and all 176 people on board were killed. There were 63 Canadians, also. We felt shock, sadness, and even anger. Not only did many people die and lose their future completely in an instant, but the lives of their families were deeply affected permanently, for the rest of their lives. Their lives will not be the same anymore. And after that, because of the Corona virus, that started in Wuhan, a city in China, the whole world is concerned and scared.

Even in Canada, now we have one possible case. So from the beginning of the year, we have encountered a deep darkness. We started with experiencing darkness. You know, my friends, there are times when life is dark, simply dark. We cannot see what’s ahead of us, all we see are problems, just lots of problems. Sometimes, we cannot even see God, or feel God. Somehow we feel that God is so quiet and distant. The prophet, Isaiah, lived in a very dark time, probably darker than our time, because they lost their nation, identity, temple, religion, everything. But he wrote his prophecy, reminding people about the time of Midian. This is what he said, “For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.” He remembered the history of the Israelites defeating the Midianites with only 300 people under the leadership of Gideon. Yes, Gideon led the whole nation into victory. He led the world into victory, but he himself went through his own dark time. Before that victory came, this was Gideon’s prayer. You’re not sure whether this a prayer or a protest against God. This is what he said, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.” He experienced darkness.

When do we experience darkness? A lot of the times, when we feel powerless, and when we feel so small compared to the magnitude, the size of the problems that we face. When we see no hope, no matter what we do, nothing changes. And when we see no hope, and no future, we experience darkness. And when we are terribly scared about ourselves, about our children. When we are scared, when we have no confidence, when we are filled with negative thoughts all the time. When we’re just sitting there, but all the negative things flood into us, into our soul. That’s when we experience darkness. What should we do? What should we do when we experience darkness?

Remember, remember. Remember how God has brought you out of darkness in the past. Remember that. What God did in your own past, how he brought you out of that darkness, remember that. That’s what Isaiah did. Isaiah remembered how God delivered them from the hands of the Midianites. Even in that depressing time, Isaiah cried out like this, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” So whenever you experience darkness, just remember how God brought you out of darkness. You didn’t come out of that darkness with your own strength, did you? With your own wisdom?

Somehow, God gave you the power. God gave you the wisdom, God opened a door for you, and God paved the road for you, so that you could walk out of that darkness. Didn’t God do that? God did that in the past. I don’t know how I came out of that darkness, but somehow I came out of it. But behind it all, there was a God who brought us out of that darkness. I still remember, I prayed, but I didn’t believe. I prayed so hard that things will change, but nothing changed. I didn’t really believe that anything will change. But as I look back, God was there. God changed. God brought me, and a lot of people out of that darkness.

You know, I shared with you a long time ago that I used to write prayer in a notebook. And then one day, I forgot about it. The whole book, I forgot about it. But one day, I was moving and then I found that diary. So in the middle of moving, I sat down and I started reading. And I couldn’t continue without tears because, at that time, I didn’t even know that God answered my prayer, but God answered my prayer so beautifully in a way that I could not even imagine. God brought you out of that darkness with his grace, he will do that. If he did that in the past, he will do that now, and in the future. So when you are in darkness, when your life is dark, remember how God has brought you out of darkness. And another thing, I mean, we just read it, but, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” They didn’t see the great light yet. And those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined, the light did not shine yet, but somehow Isaiah believed that the light will come to them.

So two things. One, is to remember. The other, is to believe that God will bring light to you. People who have this faith will be able to overcome their own darkness. But those who do not have this faith will not be able to come out of that darkness. They’ll be locked up in that darkness. Don’t be locked up in that darkness. With faith, come out of it. When we turn our back on God, we’ll not be able to see God’s face. But when we turn around and see God’s face, then the light of God’s face will shine upon us. When God makes his face shine upon us, darkness will disappear and we’ll be full of light. We’ll no longer be victims of negative thoughts. We’ll see hope. That is possible, my friends, that’s not a theory. That is possible. That can be a reality. We need to believe that.

Guilt, fear, insecurity, shame, anger, all these things come from darkness. But now, forgiveness, courage, confidence, honor, and love, and all these things come from light. How do we drive out the darkness that is within us? How can we do that? We have no strength. We have no power to do that. We don’t have that kind of power. How can we stop the worries that come to us like a wave? How can we stop the fear and the darkness that come to us like a wave? We don’t have that power and strength to be able to drive out the darkness. The only thing that can drive out the darkness is the light. Only when the light comes, that darkness will slowly, and automatically move away. Not condemnation, but forgiveness. Not hatred, but love. Not anger, but kindness. Darkness can be shattered by the power of the light. That’s why when Jesus came, he did not condemn us because when you condemn us, it will just drive us into deeper darkness. That’s why he didn’t condemn us. He forgave us. By forgiving us, he let us reach the light rather than go into darkness. That’s why he didn’t condemn us, but he forgave us.

That love, that forgiveness, that is light. When we forgive each other, we’ll experience the light. They’re very much connected. This is what John said, “Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.” How accurately he saw, how accurately he saw. My friends, we remain in darkness because we have hatred within us, because we have hatred within us. That’s why we remain in the darkness. From hatred, comes anger, from anger, violence comes. That’s how this world is operating right now, from hatred, from anger, and from anger, comes the violence. And we see violence all around us. When love is restored within us, the light will start shining in our life. God’s light will shine upon us, and we’ll become the light. When we hate our enemies, we’ll both fall into darkness. But if we love our enemies, then the light will drive out the darkness. That’s why Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” That’s why Jesus said that, so that we can bring the light. When we love one another, encourage one another, and empower one another, we can overcome our darkness, and becoming together becomes a reality.

Darkness will not control us anymore. Darkness is weaker than light. Hatred is weaker than love. We believe that love is much, much stronger. Light is much, much stronger, than hate or darkness. Where there is love, hatred has to go. Where there is light, darkness has to go. My friends, let us be children of light who shine in the darkness. I pray that God brings light into your soul, and shines upon your soul so that your soul may be healed. May this year be the year filled with hope, light and love.

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1 Corinthians 3:1-9

God has called all of us to bless one another. It is God’s gift, community is God’s gift, and in God’s blessing. We had a wonderful retreat. Thank you for all the participants, your insights, opinions, stories, and sharing meant a lot. That was what made this retreat very unique and special. It was you who gave the message and thank you all for working so hard to make this retreat very special. We cried together, we laughed together, and we shared our stories together. We tasted what the Psalmist confessed, how very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity. We have realized how powerful it is to have meaningful interaction with other human beings, meaningful interaction with others.

Yes, we can survive alone. We have no problem surviving alone. For many people, this is how they choose to live. Because it is such a headache to be with others, I’d rather want to live alone. They had a study, and then they made a report, the other week I listened to it on the radio, of how Korean children are the most inactive children in the whole world. They don’t interact with others. They don’t go out and play. They just stay home, watch TV, and play games. And a lot of them are like that. They choose to be alone, and also in Japan, there are a lot of people who never go out. They order food and they just stay home all their lives. Yes, we can survive alone, maybe it is easier to live alone. But life is more than survival. We can survive, but life is more than survival. We experienced how powerful the connectedness is. We are created to be connected with other human beings. That’s how we are created to be, we are not created to live alone. We are social animals. We are social beings. Living together is not easy. Yes. I know.

Let us continue to reflect on this community. Paul was dealing with problems at a church in Corinth. In that church, the problem was the division. The division because of the attitude that we reflected on yesterday. “Birds of a feather flock together.” It is Aristotle who said that. Birds of a feather flock together. You’re familiar with this phrase. There were people who followed Paul, and there were people who followed Apollos. Apollos was a devout Jew born in Alexandria. And some people believe that, people like Martin Luther believed that, he was the author of the letter to the Hebrews. So we don’t know exactly, but some people believe that he wrote the letter to the Hebrews. He was an influential preacher. So, there was a significant number of people who followed Apollos. Paul and Apollos never had a problem with each other. It was not their problem, but it was the people who were divided. They created the division and animosity between the groups. “Oh, I follow Paul and you follow Apollos,” or “Paul is better” or “Apollos is better in the other way.” So they were kind of creating division and animosity. Ultimately, they wanted to prove themselves right. They wanted to affirm themselves. “We are better than you. We are right. And you are wrong.” That’s what they ultimately wanted to say. They didn’t know how to accommodate people who are different from them. They have to prove the other group wrong so that they could affirm that they were right.

Paul was saying that this is a childish attitude. That kind of attitude is a childish attitude, Paul will say. Twice he mentioned how childish that is, using the metaphor of infants. He said, “And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food.” “We and they” kind of attitude is an immature attitude. And we heard that a few weeks ago from one of these famous TV person, the “we and they” kind of attitude. We separate ourselves from them, even though they were brothers and sisters in Christ, they separated themselves from each other, criticizing each other, and judging each other. A lot of fear, prejudice, and a lot of assumption, and wrong pictures that they paint against each other. To Paul, it is a childish and human attitude, not a spiritual attitude. He said, “For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?” Paul was pointing out their lack of humility. As Jonathan Cho mentioned at the retreat, Paul was criticizing their divisive and competitive mentality. Just to prove themselves right, they lifted up their own leader, a mere human being. So Paul said, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? We are just servants.”

Just to prove yourself right, hating your brothers and sisters in Christ is a very immature attitude. We need to grow to be a mature person spiritually. Being a mature person means to become a bigger person. We should not focus so much on our differences. Our differences should not divide us. Our differences should rather enhance the work of God. God will use all our differences to achieve his purpose. That’s why God gathered all the different people here in this congregation.

We didn’t choose to be here. It is God who has called us. God will use all our differences to achieve his purpose. That was what Paul believed. “I planted, Apollos watered.” My work and Apollos’ work is different, and that’s okay. “But God gave the growth.” God used both Paul and Apollos, but ultimately it was God who made growth possible. And what I’m saying does not just apply to the congregation. It applies to every relationship that you have with other people. And Paul said, let us not glorify ourselves. He said, there was nothing for us to boast about. “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” That is a humble attitude. God gave us this beautiful community and God gave us all different people with different gifts, different talents, different personalities, and different experiences. We should allow each other to flourish with the gifts they have. And we reflected that a real community is to provide a safe place where people come and experience change. Instead of trying to change each other, we create, we provide a safe place where people come and experience God’s change.

Instead of judging each other, we should encourage each other to maximize their gifts. It was very unfortunate that Apollos cannot survive in that church. Apollos had to leave that church in Corinth. Paul asked him to come and serve, but he wouldn’t come. This was what Paul said, “Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. He will come when he has the opportunity.” If they didn’t have that kind of division, Apollos would have stayed, and the church would have flourished with his gifts. My friends, accepting people is very hard. It’s not easy. We accept people not because they’re acceptable. Accepting people is very hard, it requires tremendous maturity to accept people, especially accepting difficult people. People who don’t like you, people who are different from you, people who criticize you, and accepting people like that is very hard. But Saint Paul said, “Welcome and accept one another. Therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.” That’s Saint Paul’s commandment. “Accept each other, just as Christ has accepted you.”

Jesus does not accept us because we are so beautiful and acceptable. Jesus accepted us, not because we are like him. Yesterday, we reflected, Jesus suffered us. He didn’t just suffer because of us. He suffered us. We were Jesus’ problem. We were Jesus’ headache. And yet Jesus accepted us. Jesus suffered us. That is required when you accept others. When you are not willing to suffer them, you cannot accept them. You cannot accept them. We should be able to embrace their thorns, even though they hurt us. To accept somebody means to accept even their thorns, and these thorns hurt us. That willingness to accept each other makes this community beautiful. That is spiritual maturity. A self centered attitude gets us nowhere. Children are completely self centered. They only think about themselves because they have not yet learned how to be considerate of others. But parents, doesn’t matter how difficult they may be, you just embrace them, accept them, even though their thorns hurt you. You embrace them because you’re parents, you do that. Childish attitude, we have to go beyond and have a mature adult attitude.

The other day, I watched the movie, Parasite. It’s a very good movie and very famous. It was nominated for best picture, and best director at the Academy Awards. in the movie, this little boy plays as an Indian with a tent made in America, made in the USA. Then the rain pours, and then the boy thinks, “Oh, great. I can go camping. So, I’ll put up the tent in the backyard.” And then, he plays there, and the water doesn’t go in because it’s so well-made. But right after that, there is a scene where that same rain flooded the people who live down there and they lost their home. They lost everything. They lost all that they had. While this child will never understand what they are going through. The people who never took somebody’s burden will never understand the burden of others. That’s a childish attitude. Paul teaches us, don’t be like an infant, be like an adult. In the community, we need to be considerate of other’s needs. That’s how the community becomes mature. Then we can be fed with solid food, not with milk. I pray that you come to this community, and as I said at the retreat, you don’t come here just for your own satisfaction. God called you to serve others. As a matter of fact, even before I decided to go into ministry, I never went to church for myself.

I went to this church where there were no young people. I was all by myself with my brother. And we decided to just stay at that church because we wanted to serve people. That’s why we went to church. We wanted to serve God and we wanted to serve the church. We didn’t expect to receive anything from the church. That’s what church is, we are here together to serve one another. That’s why God called us. That’s why this is not a selfish community. This is different from an institution, which seeks for self interest. This is a church. This is a spiritual community. And all of us, as a result, will experience tremendous healing, tremendous gifts, and tremendous blessings. Not because you wanted, not because you came to seek it, as a result, becoming together will become a reality. This becoming together is not something that I try to make. When each person is so absorbed in God’s love, this community will become together, as a result. So every evening go home, and reflect: Do you have enough of God’s love within you? That’s the ultimate spiritual discipline. Do you have enough of God’s love within you? Can you embrace the people who are so different from you? Can you even do that? When there is God’s love, you can do that.

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