"Don't be afraid!"

Matt. 10:24-39, third week after the Pentecost, June 21, 2020.

The content of Bible is not always comfortable and gracious. There are many uncomfortable contents to read. Such characteristics stand out in Jesus' sayings. Matt. 10:24-39, the content of today's sermon, is one of them. It consists of two paragraphs. The first paragraph is verses 24-33. In verses 32 and 33, Jesus said that only when his disciples acknowledge Jesus in this world, Jesus acknowledges them before the Father of God, and if they deny him, he denies them. That sounds like a threat. The second paragraph is verses 34-39. Jesus said that he came to give the sword, not peace, and that the enemy was a family member. It sounds intimidating for somehow. Even if it's a word with a deep spiritual meaning, it's not realistic. Today I'm going to hold on to this uncomfortable remark, as Jacob wrestled with the angel. Through this, I would like to meet the essence of Christian faith.

1) The overall emphasis in the first paragraph is 'fear'. There are many expressions that tell you not to be afraid or to be afraid. The reason Jesus told his disciples this is that in the future, there could be a situation in which his disciples would be afraid. Not only the disciples but also the early Christians who read the gospel of Matthew lived in the same situation. Jesus, his disciples, and those who belong to later Christianity, have fallen into the same fate. It's a common destiny. Verses 24 and 25 describe it as a proverb. It says that the student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. The disciples cannot avoid the fate of Jesus, the teacher. When people accused him of being Beelzebul, the people accused them of being Beelzebul's pawns.  When people around you get this kind of criticism, you're afraid. It was similar to the fear that the Sincheonji(a cult originated from Korea) people felt when the number of Corona 19 confirmed by Sincheonji soared in Daegu in February and March.

The existence of early Christians was fear itself. It's start was Jesus' crucifixion in accordance with Roman criminal law. After Jesus' arrest, his disciples hid or denied that they were his disciples. Early Christians were persecuted both large and small for a long time by Jewish authorities and the Roman Empire. Because of this, many people gave up their faith. Do you think there is nothing to fear about the issue of faith because today is not the time of the Roman Empire, but a time when religious freedom is fully guaranteed? That's not true. The Roman Empire's worldview and the spirit of times of now are no different. I'm sure everyone knows why. Jesus spoke so firmly to his disciples in verse 28. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." 

Those who can handle their bodies as they please but cannot kill their souls are the powerful in the world. They killed Jesus, persecuted his disciples cleverly or mercilessly, and then arrested, locked up, tortured, and killed countless Christians. The history of suffering of Christians has been long and harsh. Jesus said that even such a powerful world power cannot touch the souls of his disciples. What the disciples will fear is not the evil power of the world, but God who can put the body and soul into hell.

The reason why people are insensitive in front of Jesus' words is that they are used to life subordinate to the body, not to the soul. In the 21st century, the Age of Materialism, this trend of life is much stronger than it used to be. Most of our lives revolve around the body and matter. In a word, money rules all our lives. You live like you don't have a soul. Some people with a sense of history think of justice and peace. They think about the progress of history with poor people and ecological environment in mind. Not only are these people a minority, but they're also inconsistent with their lives. Everyone thinks that money determines our lives, so on the one hand they fear falling into poverty, and on the other they hate the poor.

How can we live in times like this without fear? Will avoiding scary conditions solve this problem? Not only does that not happen, but it's also clear that even if it does, fear doesn't go away. There is no other way. Only when the soul is richer can it not be dominated by those who threaten the body. Just about marriage, for example. Young people these days decide on marriage based on very realistic calculations. They are sensitive to appearance, moneymaking, character, etc. They don't care if they have the power of love. They neglect the power of the soul.  So the fear of marriage never goes away. Other lives are similar. Because the soul is not rich, we have no choice but to fear the world dominated by money.

There are probably people who will ask, "What does it mean to be rich in spirit?" Even though we are used to the word "rich soul," the actual meaning is unfamiliar. Today's content accurately and kindly explains the problem. Look at verse 29. Here comes the story of sparrows. Even the humble sparrow said he wouldn't fall to the ground unless your father allowed him to. The disciples were nothing but sparrows in front of the Roman emperor at the time. They have neither power nor recognition. But what happens to them at the ultimate dimension is God's permission. It's about God. Consider whether it is important to be recognized by the emperor or by God. The Emperor's work and God's work do not divide like cutting tofu with a knife. Just as rain and wind are inconvenient for some, but life is full for others, the same thing can be the emperor for some, and God's work for others. A man with bright eyes of the soul can feel God's hand in what the world sees as insignificant as a sparrow.

For example, let's say you work at a school or company restaurant. It's not recognized in the world. From the depth of the soul, it is God's work. It means that God is with us in the work. For those who do not know that God is with them, such restaurant work will not be as much as a sparrow. Imagine you are prisoners of war. Most of them suffer from forced labor, and you work at a restaurant in a concentration camp. You'll think you're happy. That's how I clean and wash the dishes at home.

Let me give you a more realistic example. I had a stroke or a car accident. Fortunately, I regained consciousness a few months later and woke up a year later and started practicing walking. Under such circumstances, cleaning and washing dishes can only be fascinating. If you're ecstatic, it's God's permission. Those who live in this manner are not afraid of those who kill their bodies but cannot kill their souls. Is this kind of life really possible for us, Christians? Why can't we go deep into that kind of life? Answering these questions is a sermon. As a preacher, I always return to my original intention and stand before this question in the sense that the preacher must first know this life and live it. I'm giving you the answers I get there.

Being a Christian means discovering joy and reason for existence in life, unlike the standards of the world. Christians are those who have found the joy and reason for its existence in Jesus. Look at the disciples who follow Jesus. They threw away everything about themselves They abandoned their job as a fisherman and their family. They didn't show off their previous jobs to people, nor were they ashamed of it. Because they found a whole new standard of living in Jesus. Verses 32 , 33 point to that fact. “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven."

2) The second paragraph begins with a very unconventional sentence. Verse 34 says Jesus came to give the sword, not peace. This is not what we generally know of Jesus. He is the king of peace. Verses 35 and 36 sound even more irrational. "For I have come to turn “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—  a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household."

Verse 37 is a content that can be misunderstood. He said that a man who loves his father, his mother, and his son and daughter more than Jesus is not fit for him. This expression is only likely to come from the cult leaders. In the 1990s, there was a heresy that encouraged believers to leave their homes. Why did Jesus say such misleading things in the text?

Those listed in the word of Jesus are the most powerful subjects in our lives. The fence of family will not disappear as long as mankind survives. Paradoxically, there are traps here. A family that protects and enriches our lives can actually destroy important lives. There are things that stop children who sacrifice themselves for social justice by saying, "A cornered stone meets a mason's chisel." Some people wanted to live a normal life, but they chose a job they didn't want because of their parents' excessive desire. Of course, there are parents who give them strength when they need it and give them the right direction. Perhaps the latter case is common. Families that care about each other personally are the happiest conditions of life. The following facts do not change, even if you assume one or another. It is the fact that if you have someone or object to rely on, your relationship with God does not deepen. 

Figuratively, children who are fascinated by playing with their friends are like not thinking about going back home. Here's why monks to leave their home. Not because they didn't know the happiness between family and friends, but because they wanted to find a more absolute life.

In Jesus' remarks that he came to give a sword, not peace, a sword points to the fierce perception, enlightenment and practice of not staying in an appropriately friendly relationship. If the word that the kingdom of God is near filled his soul, he cannot remain the standard and way of life in the world. I can't explain all the specific standards and methods of life here. It doesn't just appear to be broken, because each life is different. One obvious fact is not to be hung up on being recognized by the world. No matter how good a thing is like a Nobel Prize, getting recognized by the world alone will never get life. It doesn't mean that the world is meaningless, so it doesn't mean that you can make money and fight the world, become a loner and cause inconvenience. 

It is right to say that those who don't want to work should not eat (1 Thessal. 3:10). What's important about our lives as a whole is to break away from the preconception that the greater the discretion we have to deal with, the more competitive we are, the happier our lives will be. So Jesus said in verse 39, the last clause of the text today. "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." 

The 28th verse, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. ," and the 39th verse, "whoever loses their life for my sake will find it," sound equally uncomfortable. Because it's a word that goes against the life we live in now. As we often say, the capitalist system works as hard as the Big Brother, so we have to struggle not to stay behind other people. We're worried that our life will go wrong. It makes our nerve sharp. The soul becomes more and more destitute. We own more stuff, dress ourselves up, and spend more to avoid it. It is no exaggeration to say that you spend your life making money for the fun of spending it. I believe that Jesus' diagnosis of 2,000 years ago that this is not about getting life, but losing it, is right in today's reality.

3) How do you accept the saying that "the one who loses his or her own life for me" gets his or her life? This sentence is the compression of all the New Testament. The New Testament focuses on this fact. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. God's glory was revealed to Jesus. By believing in Jesus, we are recognized as righteous. Jesus is the Son of God, and he will come again as a judge at the end of life. These teachings are located throughout the New Testament. Jesus is the only way we can get life. Do you actually live with this Christian belief? Have you ever considered this problem seriously?

The standard that we can test whether we live on the basis of these words is whether or not fear. If you're afraid, you can't live by Jesus. If you're not afraid, you live as Jesus says. You shouldn't misunderstand that you're not afraid of the world. It's not about being proud of yourself. I think the representative people who are afraid of the world are gangsters and soldiers. They seem fearless on the surface because of the force that most people don't have, but they are actually terrified. It's because it's a group that can't endure without gangsterism and weapons that kill humans. Individuals or groups who can only show their existence by force are cowards. Because they are people who cling to the artificial organization and force of the world.

Jesus was not afraid of other powers because he actually believed that the kingdom of God was near. He replied to the lawmaker, who asked what the greatest commandments were, that he loved God with all his heart, with his life and his will, and that he loved his neighbor (Matthew 22:34). John, who had heard this from Jesus, later said, "He who fears that there is no fear in love, but that there is punishment in fear, and that he who fears is not fully fulfilled in love." (John 4:18) That's right, my beloved saints, because those who are obsessed with Jesus Christ, the love of God, have taken life, they are not afraid of those who kill their bodies but cannot kill their souls.

The Way of the Holy Spirit Community

The Way of the Holy Spirit Community

1 Corinthians 12:4-13,  The Advent, May 31, 2020

 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 

There's a repeated word in the content of today's sermon, verses 12:4-13. That's 'the Holy Spirit'. It comes nine times. Not only the 1 Corinthians chapter 12, , but also the  chapter 13 and 14th are about the Holy Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit issue has become a controversial issue in the Corinthian Church. At the center of the controversy lies the question of the gifts. Many Corinthians argued that the evidence of the Holy Spirit was in dialect gifts. There are traces of it in the apostles. Dialect was accepted as a very important gift in early Christianity because it was close to the secret of God's experience through a special language phenomenon. Paul even said he prayed in dialect more than anyone else (1 Cor. 14:18). The problem is that they insisted exclusively and privilegedly on dialect gifts. They ignore other gifts because their dialect gifts are superior. Paul found the danger of the Corinthians breaking apart because of this problem and thought that he should teach them correctly. It appears in Chapter 12-14. A direct explanation of the dialect is given in Chapter 14, and today's text provides a theological explanation of the relationship between the gifts and the Holy Spirit. Paul thought that since dialects are inherently the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he should first know the relationship with the Holy Spirit.

 1) The word 'gifts' is a translation of the Greek word 'Charisma'. Charisma is the special gift God gave to the people through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a translation of the Greek word 'Pneuma.' Pneuma is a word that means wind, breath, energy, and spirit. Since the Holy Spirit was the Spirit of Life, Christianity has called it the Spirit of Creation, the Spirit of Salvation, the Spirit of Resurrection, and the Spirit of End. One of the power of the Holy Spirit is the conferment of gift. The gift is given as a gift to people who come to church.

In the 1 Cor. 12:4, Paul said, "There are different kinds of gifts." The gift varies, but the Holy Spirit, the ability to give it, is the same spirit. In verse 5, Paul explains it in a slightly different way. He said Christians have many different positions, but the main is the same. The God who gives here is the Holy Spirit. Verse 6 explains it a little bit more. I'll read verse 6 and 7. I'll translate and read the Lutheran Bible.

 Each person has many gifts, but God is one. The God has a history in every man's affairs. By showing these things, you have made the gift of the Holy Spirit a common good.

There are two main points of the content from verse 4 to verse 7. One is that many gifts come from one source of the Holy Spirit, and the other is that the emergence of the Holy Spirit through it benefits the entire church community, not the individual. Diversity and  being public.

Paul explains this fact a little bit more in verse 8. Verses 8–10 give you a list of different gift list. Some are connected to the present church and some are distant. It is as follows: Words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing the diseases healing, practice of ability, prophecy, spiritual sense, dialects, interpreters of dialect. Dialect and dialect translations are the last ones on this list. This means that the most important gift that some members of the Corinthians showed off with enthusiasm was not the one. This list did not list all the members of the church at that time. For example, relief and church administration belong to the gift. In today's church, choirs, Sunday school teachers, church library services, and meals are all gifts. After referring to the list of gifts, Paul summarized the relationship between the gifts and the Holy Spirit in verse 11. "All this is done by the same Holy Spirit, giving it to each person according to his will." In this verse, we can also confirm that the Holy Spirit has the initiative of the gifts.

2) The following paragraphs, verses 12 and 13, describe the relationship between the body and many parts. Our bodies are one, but we have several  parts of body, and they are different. The functions of arms and legs, head and chest and waist, eyes, nose, ears, and mouth are clearly different. There are more diverse organs in the body. The function of intestines and liver is completely different, but both are connected to the body. Here the body is Jesus Christ, and the other parts are the congregation. All the Christians who live as various gifts are united in Christ. The power that enables organisms as one body is the Holy Spirit. This is how Paul reveals the fact in verse 13.

 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink

 Paul pointed out in front of the church that although there are various gifts, they are one in the Holy Spirit. We've talked about a problem that goes far beyond the diversity of the gifts here. Inside the church, there were Jews, Greeks , some were still servants, and others were free citizens. If you change it to the current way, there are company presidents and employees, university presidents, and cleaners. In 1960, when the black-and-white racial conflict still existed, the American church said that there were white and black people in a church. If we go back to the Joseon Dynasty, the aristocrats and the people are in same church. Paul's claim that although there are differences that are hard to overcome, they all became one body after being baptized by the Holy Spirit is a revolutionary idea. It's a whole new worldview. The foundation of this new world view lies in the fact that the church is a Holy Spirit community.

The expression of the Holy Spirit community doesn't sound real to all Christians. The Holy Spirit is invisible. We only experience the Holy Spirit with its ability. As you can experience invisible wind by force. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of life, so it appears to individuals and society as the power of life. Let's say we have a teacher here. His teaching activities can kill or save students. He lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's say there's a congressman here. His activities save and kill lives. The same goes for pastors. At the time of Jesus, the activities of religious leaders, such as Pharisees and scribes, were close to killing. They are not people of the Holy Spirit.

 

3) Let's take a closer look at the problems of the Corinthians Church, which Paul is concerned about. I told you earlier that there was a controversy over the gift. Paul told them in verse 7 that the gift of the Holy Spirit was to benefit the community. They translated the revision as simply "beneficial," but translated it as a common benefit for both the Lutheran  and the NIV Bible. It's kind of a public thing, or a common good. If you do not benefit the community, you misunderstand the gift, and if so, you are not the one who received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Pay more attention to the fact that this is for common benefit. If you put your arms and legs forward, the whole body will be wrong. This is how it is explained in a fable style. You can insist on leaving your head and making all the rest of your legs, or on getting rid of your nose and ears and making ten eyes because your eyes are the most important. Then your body will be damaged. In the Corinthian Church, where Paul writes letters with a desperate heart, many people used to use privately, not public. It means that he used the gift as an opportunity to show off. This was destroying the community of the church.

Let me tell you more about your church life. There are two things. First, you all received a gift. There's no one without a gift. If you think that a person baptized by the Holy Spirit has not received a gift, it is like not recognizing that you are a human being even though you were born as a human being. You may think that you don't get a gift because you don't do a lot of volunteer work for the church. That's a misunderstanding. Not all of them were preached, not all of them were given by the steering committee, not all of them were given cleaning services. You just don't know what you've received, but no one has not. A claws that seem like little things are a kind of part of body. Eyebrows are like that too. If you think about it, you'll see what kind of retard you're connected to the Church, the body of Christ. He was not baptized by the Holy Spirit if he had no idea. Even if you were baptized formally, you didn't receive it in content.4) Second, the more important thing in this passage is to examine whether or not one's gifts actually come from the Holy Spirit. One of the criteria is the public benefit right in front of it. Or a joint line. It's important whether you place your role in the church in the public interest or in the common good, or in your own private benefit. It's not always as clear as cutting a radish with a knife. Because the human mind is very subtle and complex. On the surface, it seems to seek public interest, but on the inside, it can lean toward its own benefit. Sometimes he's not aware of it. Don't get me wrong. No matter how wrong things happen in the church, I'm not saying that we should think about the whole church rather than the individual. You have to fight for church reform. The Protestant Church's name is "Protestant" for no reason. Fighting should be a fundamental achievement, not a private one. When that private mind builds up, it will one day destroy the community.

It is not easy to use one's own gifts for the public good. It's hard to tell what the public benefits are. Personality and culture can save the public's interests within a category, but they cannot go beyond what you know. Living as a roughly cultured Christian is not much of a blemish, so if you want to live like that, live like that. As a preacher, I have no intention of preaching you the Christian character and culture. Because it only changes the shape of life, it doesn't reach the belief that the nature of life changes. The key here is to go back to the roots of Christian faith. That's why Paul continues to talk about his relationship with the Holy Spirit today while talking about the gift. How can you live by using it as a gift without getting near the Holy Spirit, the source of the gift?

 

5) Paul said strange things in verse 13b. "...we were all given the one Spirit to drink. " Drinking the Holy Spirit is a literary metaphor. This expression relates to the baptism mentioned in the same verse 13. Baptism is a religious ceremony that means to die and live with Jesus. The start of this ritual is the union of the crucifixion that happened to Jesus. The crucifixion is blood, so baptism is union with this blood. The baptism is what Paul described as "Drinking the Holy Spirit" in that it is a Holy Spirit event. The word baptism is the Holy Spirit event means that you get life through baptism.

You can ask yourself, what does it really mean to get that life? People outside the church feel empty about our claim that Jesus lives. You think you don't get life in the name of Jesus, you get life with money. Who's right? We Christians believe that through Jesus we were freed from sin and death. Such a religious ceremony of faith is baptism. The baptism goes into and out of the water. Going into the water means you're dead before, and coming out of the water means you're reborn as a new person. Therefore, the man baptized in the name of Jesus is a newly born man. If you don't realize you're born again, you don't realize you're going to get life, or you don't realize you're drinking the Holy Spirit.

Even if you believe in Jesus and are baptized, there are probably people who think that there is no change in real life. I don't feel like I'm born again. It's an idea that happens when you misunderstand baptism. Baptism is that you are born as a new person, not that you are already mature as a new person. The newborn is human, but if you leave it alone, it dies. You have to take care of him for a long time. We need to train him. The baptized person must be spiritually cared for to actually become a new person. If you don't take care of him and complain that you don't know if you've become a new person, he's like a child who refuses to eat. Have you ever taken care of your own soul like a newborn? If not, take care of it as if you are raising a baby. Over time, you'll realize you're a new person.

 

6) Yes, if you fully know that you are baptized by the Holy Spirit, you are dead and reborn with Jesus, and you are growing up, you will see how you will use your own gifts and your life for the common good. As life becomes richer in that direction, you will be reduced to infinity, where you will enjoy God's ultimate freedom and rest. That's the truth of salvation.

It's a cliche, but I think it's appropriate in this part. Let's say you knew you were going to die in a week. Before and after you know it, you are completely different person, a new person, or someone else. The world looks different, and relationships with others are completely renewed. I will no longer have a war of nerves with others, and I will not spend time on a vain attempt. This is the way a person who is baptized by the Holy Spirit renewed. So Paul was able to boldly declare that Jews, Greeks, servants, and free men had all become one body. Is life really possible for us? Are you praying for your soul to deepen the inner workings of this faith? Have you given it up because it's too far away?

Dear saints, today is the Advent. The church in which we are baptized by the Holy Spirit and drank the cup of the Holy Spirit together is a community of the Holy Spirit. Let us not just say in words that we belong to the Holy Spirit community, but in the path of the Holy Spirit community. The path is not to use one's own gift (life) for private purposes, but for common good and public good. I believe that if we open our hearts to him without stubbornness, the Holy Spirit will lead us in that way.

STRUGGLING FAITH

1 Th. 6:6-16, The Fifth week of Creation, September 29, 2019

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Final Charge to Timothy

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

It would be nice if people don't fight and live together, but it doesn't work. The world seems to regard fighting as the essence of life. Not only the world, but also the church. Largely, there are mudslinging  phenomena in the whole church, such as Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. In the narrow sense, there are fights within individual churches. So did early Christianity. Paul made a clear reference to that when he wrote to Timothy. According to 1 Timothy 6:4-5 in the passage of the text of today's sermon, some of the church's believers were arrogant and liked arguments and dispute. They were captured by objection, conflict, slander, and evil thoughts. And there's a fight between them because they see godliness as a way of profit because their minds are corrupt and they lose the truth. Paul explains the true path of faith to break away from this struggle in verse 6:6.

Contentment

First of all, contentment is important in verse 6. "But godliness with contentment is great gain." Supplemental explanation is made using the general epigrams in verse 7 and 8. We come to the world empty-handed and we go back empty-handed. You need to be satisfied with all the food and clothing you need to wear during your lifetime. On the other hand, some people struggle to be rich. He said they fell into many temptations. In this sense, the author affirmed in verse 10, it was love for money. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. A man who loves money is tempted to leave faith and cannot but walking in the ways of ruin.

You might think that's a good explanation for some, but it's unrealistic. How can you be satisfied with just a daily bread? Whenever I come up with a topic like this, as a preacher, I'm also confused. The same was said in last week's sermon. "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Lk 16:13) Last week I told you this was not an unconditional glorification of poverty. The whole direction of life is important. There are people who are rich and don't love money, and there are people who are poor and love money. It is difficult for a third party to judge what he is. Self know own-self. Or maybe you don't know what it is to live in a world that works the way you love money. The Holy Spirit knows it. One criterion that we can determine is whether we are satisfied with our daily bread.

A life that is satisfied with only everyday food cannot be solved by eating like that. It's because people don't know how satisfied they are. I think a person who lives on a monthly rent can be satisfied even if he or she has a small flat surface. In fact, if you have a small house, you want to have a bigger flat. If you have a large house, you want to have one for your children. There is no end. The same goes for the church. The church, which has 20 members, aims to have 50 members and then 100 members. The believers of the financially troubled church are determined to be able to stand on their own feet. When it's solved, we aim for more. The biggest issue in the Korean church over the past week is the news that the General Assembly of Yejang, which includes Myungsung Church, has made a decision to tolerate the hereditary succession of Myungsung Church. The reason why I made that decision in violation of the church constitution that I cannot succeed to my own family, such as my child or son-in-law, is because I don't want to lose my rich church. Today's church gave up its daily spirituality a long time ago. It's not because they're particularly shameless, immoral, or unscrupulous, but because they're anxious that they can't be satisfied with their daily breads, they're trying to love the church and sincerely pastoralize. People are weak like this.

A good fight of faith

Paul says, "Fight the good fight of faith, not the arguments and arguments created by arrogance." It is to push away evil thoughts and order and to fight for good thoughts and good order to settle down. Look at the words of verse 12.

Fight the good fight of faith, take eternal life, for you have been called to this, and have given good testimony before many witnesses.

The reason why faith is called a good fight is that faith does not grow on its own or become healthy on its own. Even if you first experienced a hot and sincere faith, if you stay there, you will fall into distortion and error without even realizing it. As Dimjeon 6:4 says, the preceding points lean toward defense, arguments, speculation, disputes, slander, and evil minds. Don't trust yourself too much. I don't believe in myself either. You may think you're always right, but if you don't do it like you're fighting, you'll fall into a spiritual abyss.

Falling into a spiritual abyss does not mean that personality is destroyed. If you try just a little bit, your personality can be elevated. You can be a cultured person with some level. People around the world regard culture as the highest value, so they try to see it as a cultured person to others. That effort is also needed. But culture doesn't complete our lives. Even the ostensible refinement can quickly fall to self-pride. It was the Nazi group in Germany during World War II. He ran the Auschwitz camp, listening to classical music, citing philosophers, and listening to the gentlemen's voices from his neighbors. Japanese officials who colonized us also acted like civilized people, but barbarism was inside. That's what the fourth verse refers to as 'proud and ignorant'.

Modern intelligent Christians tend to turn a blind eye to combative faith life. They ignore that militant belief is an enthusiastic belief. I think it is wise to live a religious life at a reasonable distance. To live a struggle of faith does not mean to stay away from everything in the world and to cling only to the church. It means to fight fiercely for the completion of life. Because if you don't live like you're fighting, you'll become more and more distant from life completion.

Now look back at the stage where your life has reached. Let's take an example of what Paul suggested in Section 11 as an item to follow. See if righteousness, piety, faith, love, patience, and milk become richer in your life. To give you a more clear standard of knowing this, it's an interest in "honey. Decreasing self-interest and self-pity as you get older is the way to life completion. Jesus also told his disciples to deny "honey" and follow you. Some people live their lives upside down. The older you get, the stronger you become. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's wrong to make your voice heard for truth and justice. It means the desire to express oneself. It's not easy to tell whether it's an idea for truth or a desire to express oneself. Here's one thing that I can tell you about: If you fail the test when your ideas are not accepted, you are bound by your desires, and if you don't get tested, it's really for justice and truth. We can mistake ourselves, so we need training to put ourselves down until we die for life.

I'll be 70 in a few years. I've lived for a long time. Although he lived as a pastor who declared the word of God fiercely as if he were fighting, he is far from life-complete in real life. Perhaps a complete solution will not be possible until the moment of death. So I think I need to work harder now. It's not just words, but it's a step to deny 'self' in real life. My argument should be greatly reduced at home. I'll tell you what I think, but I don't want to put "honey." You shouldn't even think about getting accepted by your wife. But it's necessary to accept the opponent sincerely. The same goes for relationships with friends. This doesn't work out just by making up your mind. It's only possible in spirituality where you fall into nothing. Ultimately, I want to be smaller to the point where I can leave the world at any time. That's life completion.

Eternal life

Self-denial, self-reduction, and self-depreciation run counter to the instinct of survival to protect themselves and people don't want to accept it. They think that if they are denied, their life will collapse. So modern psychology emphasizes self. It comfort people that you are the center of the universe. It is a positive psychology. Such positive psychology is necessary to some extent for people with unstable psychology and emotions. But that argument is a temporary measure. No matter how positive you are, you can't get beyond the limits of the creatures. Everything surrounding you is getting old and fade and gone. It's self-destruct. When that moment comes, positive psychology is meaningless. Christian faith does not view humans at the psychological level, but at a more fundamental level. Man is the creature of God. Because God has built it, only in agreement with God can it lead to the salvation of the soul, that is, the fullness of life. That's the eternity of in verse 12.

Paul expresses in a very unique language about God who should be near in the text. This expression was sung by early Christians at the time as a hymn. I'll read it slowly and listen to what God is like in your mind. It's verse 15 and 16.

 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. 

The God described here will not be drawn well on your mind. When I think about these things, I'm rather troubled. The Bible doesn't say this to make us tired and complicated. I'm saying this because you can experience and enjoy life fully only when you turn your eyes to the deepest dimension of life, the world, and history. For example, look at germs. Until the microscope was invented, people didn't know there were germs. After the microscope was created, we learned that infectious diseases are transmitted by bacteria. That's why you know how to deal with it. The world we experience isn't exactly what it looks like. There are forces in it that we can't identify. That's what physics says about fields. Or the activity of elementary particles, such as elements. Paul tells God, who is invisible to us but is the master of all things, to put the center of life. God is the source of light and the source of blessing that no one can see.

Those who know this fact are not succumbed to the power of the world. I don't love money. Because I know that money is not the basis of life-complete. So I am not caught up in public arguments and dispute.  Because we know that we don't get life through those things. I know how to be satisfied with the daily bread in the world. Because I know that God is the source of blessings. He has a completely different direction of life from the rest of the world. As the 16th (b) says, it is life that gives honor and power to God.

Honor and power

It is usually described as honor and glory, but the text is called honor and power. It means the same thing. It means giving the most valuable life to God. It is a life in which God believes and acknowledges the fact that God is the most honorable and that only God has true power. Those who live like this do not give honor and power to objects other than God. Because everything in the world, however valuable and brilliant it may seem, is not relative and absolute. Those who turn honor and power to relative objects fall into vain with them. There's no one who's going to misunderstand saying, do you mean it's futile to love my family, or do you mean it's pointless to devote my passion to art and literature, or do you think it's not important to live as a sacrifice for the poor and the disabled in my life? All the lives listed now are beautiful. We should put all our energy into living that way as much as possible. But it does not attribute honor and power to the object.

What exactly is the fact that we attribute honor and power to God? Worship? Worship is a religious ceremony about life that gives honor and power to God. Through worship, we can see that God is the object of our honor and power. More important than worship is our real life. Our lives must reveal God's honor and power. What is it? It is to rejoice and praise God's glory full of the world. I'll just point out two Bible verses. First is the Psalm. "Let the glorious name be praised forever, and all the earth will be filled with his glory, Amen Amen." (Psalm 72:19). Next is Isaiah. "We call each other, holy, holy, holy.  The Lord of all armies says that his glory is full of all the earth." If you change this expression of the Old Testament to the word of Jesus, "Repent, the kingdom of God is near." Is there anyone who thinks that life is tiring, that they are sick, or that they cannot see God's glory because they are betrayed by people? That's not true. Under any circumstances, God's glory is here, the kingdom of God. If you can walk even if you're poor, you'll feel how mysterious this world is. If he could live alone and hear the sound, he would surely see the glory of God. Ultimately, we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

Remember Paul's words, dear saints, to fight the good fight of faith. Our faith is a fierce battle for life, to the point of devoting honor and power to God, to the point where we can enjoy infinite joy from the mystery of life. This is a good fight, and you will find that the more you fight, the more your soul becomes holy. I say it again with Paul's heart. Fight the good fight of faith.

Love and Commandment

The sixth week of Easter, May 17, 2020 

  1) Not many Christians have read the entire chapter of John's Gospel calmly, consisting of 21 chapters from beginning to end. Compared to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Gospel of John is very speculative and requires patience to read. If the Synoptic Gospels is a epic novel, it can be said that the Gospel of John is an ideologically recorded philosophy book. The genres of writing are different, but both sides are the same in their core content. If you can follow the Gospel of John as well, you can read it as spiritually and dynamically as the Synoptic Gospels. So is today's text. The first verse, verse 15, is like this.

 

If you love me, keep my commandments.

 

  The last phrase was written with more of this first passage. Let's read verse 21.He who keeps my commandments loves me; he who loves me will be loved by my father. I will love him and present myself to him.

 

  The keywords in the two phrases are love and commandments. In verse 15, love comes out first as conditional, followed by commandments, and in verse 21, commandments come first. Similar content and structure sentences are also found in the Ma 7:15-21 parable of "trees and berries." They said that only good trees can produce good fruit, and they can recognize trees by looking at the fruits. A good tree is a dimension of existence and a fruit is a dimension of action. In connection with the content of today's sermon, a good tree is love, and a fruit is a commandment.

  Which do you think comes first in love and commandment? This question is whether the power of love is the only way to practice commandments, or thinking the practice of commandments is evidence of the power of love? These questions are not just theoretical, but directly related to our real lives. Among Christians, some love God with fervor but actual life is not so great. On the contrary, there are Christians who live very personal and respectful lives but do not seem to have much faith. If Korean Christians are good at believing and exemplary in real life, they will receive a lot of praise from the world.

  More fundamentally, you can ask these questions. Who lives a more meaningful life, between a person who has nothing to offer but lives a Christian identity and a person who lives respectfully in the world without coming to church? Those who recorded the Gospel of John would not have known this problem. Let's go into this, hoping that the Gospel of John will give us an answer.

 

2) The story of love and commandment cannot be easily dealt with in a word or two. This is because everyone's relationship is tied to this. There is a relationship between parents and children, there is a relationship between couples and lovers, and there is a relationship between friends. Friends can also be seen from the perspective of love and commandments.

It's easy to understand the relationship between parents and children in blood. All parents love their children. With that love, I do my best to help my child become independent. Because of love, I accept the hard work for my child as a joy. The painstaking practice is what the text says today.

It's the same in your child's situation. I practice something because I love my parents. It would be a lie if you say you love me and you don't take any responsibility for it. Sometimes they say they love their children, but they actually project their desires on their children. On the contrary, children who are immature try to confirm their parents' love only by toys and snacks.

The simplest example is, when a child is picky, is it love for a parent to wait until their child becomes hungry and wants to eat anything, or is it love to give the child what he wants right away? These judgments vary from time to time. There are times when you have to refuse, and sometimes it's better to feed. The words in today's text, "If you love me, keep my commandments," or "If you keep my commandments, you are the one who loves me." mean that it is a legitimate proposition, but it is not always clear in real life.We can see this in our whole life. Experts are talking about the cause of the Corona 19 crisis that has panicked the world over the past few months. We don't know the full answer yet. One of the things to listen to is climate change. Climate change has led to the outbreak of the mutated virus. It has not been decided whether this opinion is correct or not, but it is probable. The diagnosis that climate change can put the entire global ecosystem at risk, not just virus problems, is agreed by all anthropologists and earth scientists.

How should Christians, who believe in God as their Creator, keep certain commandments at what level to restore or slow down the climate change on Earth? Praying unconditionally does not solve this problem. Basically, it's going to be necessary to cut back on private cars or to cut down on meat and energy consumption. No one would disagree with this way. The problem is that it is difficult to set specific standards for how far we should put into practice. Between love and the practice of commandments, there is a troublesome difficulty for us to analyze and judge comprehensively. If Christians insist that faith can overcome such difficulties at once, then Christian faith will sound empty or burdensome.

 

3) The Gospel of John was fully aware that Christian life was not solved graphically. So in the first and last passages of today's text, we just re-ordered the relationship between love and commandment, and we mentioned the intermediate steps to reach that answer. That is, the bridge between love and commandment. The bridge is the real content of Christian faith. Only with that content can the relationship between love and commandment sound convincing.

The Gospel of John explained in the verse 16 that Jesus seeks from his father to send another adoration. The adoration, or 'paraculetos', translated as consolation, is the spirit of truth (17). It means that with the help of Parachletus, the spirit of truth, you can actually live within the relationship between love and commandment. Then there are a few other explanations. Among them, verse 20 is the key.

 

On that day you will let me know that I am in my father, that you are in me, that I am in you.

 

  This expression does not touch modern people. It is not because it is difficult to speak, but because it misunderstands the Bible language. Even modern people exchange these words with their loved ones. "You know you are me, I'm in you, you know, right?" People who date don't understand the words in the Bible because they have some preconceived ideas.

In verse 20, there are three relationships between father, Jesus, and his disciples. First, Jesus is in his father. Second, the disciples are in Jesus. Third, Jesus exists in his disciples. In means united. It can be seen as a very sincere relationship or a priestly relationship. Listen again to the three alliance relationships that the text says. Jesus and Father God were united. The disciples were united with Jesus. Jesus was united with his disciples. Jesus exists between the father and his disciples Jesus is the middle medium through which the disciples can unite with their fathers. Jesus is united with God and Father, and at the same time with his disciples. Therefore, the disciples were united with God's Father through Jesus.

 

4) The fact that the disciples allied with Jesus means that the disciples bet their future on the teachings and fate of Jesus. Such relationships occur between true lovers and between a friend who does the same thing together. The disciples were called upon by Jesus, who proclaimed the kingdom of God, and became disciples of Jesus like a married monk. The choice of disciples is a holy adventure. We don't know how desperate or great the choice of our disciples is, because we've never responded to such a call. Those who play with water in shallow waters cannot experience holy life because there is no holy adventure like those who go deep into the water and swim freely.

John's statement that the disciples allied with Jesus means that he recognized and believed that Jesus existed in God. The basis of such awareness and belief is the resurrection of Jesus. The sentence "I am in the Father" indicates that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Resurrection is God's ultimate life event that will be realized at the end of the world. Because the life event occurred in Jesus, the disciples believed that Jesus was accepted by God. It is said that Jesus exists in God because it is accepted by God, that Jesus has allied with God.

This explanation doesn't really feel real in our daily lives. No objective evidence can be given to the demand to show evidence. Because the resurrection of Jesus is not an event that can be shown through the TV screen. When you have a special experience of Jesus like his disciples then you can experience the resurrection of Jesus. Not only resurrection but also God's experience. People who do not believe in God think Christians strange. They think Christian go to church because they don't have confidence in life or fear of death. No matter how much I explain it in words, I can't convey the fact that it's not. Even best friends and couples can't overcome this perception. Please be aware. The resurrection of Jesus is a life event that only the disciples who loved Jesus can experience.

 

5) So today, verse 21 of the text says love over and over again "Those who love me will be loved by my father. I will love him and present myself to him." He who loves Jesus will feel the love of God and the love of Jesus. And Jesus, who died, 'presents himself alive'. Here, love is not simply about liking him or the vague expectation that good things will happen if you get close to him, but about a whole union with him. It exists in the "in" expressed in verse 20. Jesus love is a very complex event. It includes understanding, trust, passion, and compassion. You can shorten it and express it with faith and love. Since I believe in Jesus and love him, I cannot help but think that I should live by the commandments of Jesus.

We Christians are people who believe in and love Jesus. I confess whenever I worship that I live in solidarity with him. But sometimes Jesus, the object of such faith, remains a doctrine. Jesus is the Son of God, so he is a worshiper, not a love. To love Jesus also means to understand the whole human existence of Jesus. We must seriously consider what Jesus said and what he thought before hanging on the cross, and what hope he lived with, Jesus as a historical real-life figure.

It is said that Jesus left home at the age of 30. It seems that he wasn't married until that age. How did the world look in his eyes? There is no detailed story about this in the Gospel, but if you look carefully, you can see it to some extent. Jesus couldn't help but think that the world worked very unfairly. Although he was completely obsessed with the kingdom of God, the reality of the world seemed to be dominated by religious and political power, not God. I can imagine how Jesus felt when he was crucified and shouted, "My God, my God, why are you forsaken me. It's hard to love someone like that. "I" refers to the person on the cross, which is referred to by the word "who loves me." It is very scary to say that only those who love the crucifixion will be loved by those whom Jesus called Father. Have we ever actually loved Jesus? Wouldn't it be absurd to say that you want to be loved by God when you don't have one?

 

6) What is it specifically that you love Jesus? Does it mean that you pray and read the Bible diligently without missing worship? Such a pious life is one way. Just as exemplary students review and prepare well without skipping school classes. That process is necessary, but the content is more important than the process. The content is Jesus' teaching, behavior, and destiny. It is not easy to enter the contents of life in the name of Jesus because everyday life dominates us excessively. It may not be possible for people living in Korea at all. In particular, young people are not interested in anything other than worldly life, so it is hard to accept the Jesus case as a reality of life. Parents with young people as their children will all feel this. I come to church well until high school, but when I enter university, I move away, or when I go to society, I usually fall apart.

This is not just a problem for young people. It is not much different in that even the established Christians in the church are not actually interested in the specifics of Jesus' love. For example, have you seriously considered the kingdom of God (Basileia to Dew), which burned the soul of Jesus, and what justice and peace are? Have you ever truly faced your own ultimate future and death? There are Christians like that, and there are people who don't. Some people will deepen their love for Jesus in their lives, while others will become thirsty. Which way are we?

Listen again to this 14:15. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." If you love Jesus, you will know how to live in the world, and you will treat life from a mysterious depth. Yes, for us Christians, Jesus is the real content and center of life. As much as you love Jesus, your life will stand out. So John testifies in John 21:15, Jesus to Peter three times, "Do you love me more than these people?" ...then feed my sheep."