Sermon: Grow in Christlikeness (2): Humility

Today Pastor Choi talks about another attribute of Christ: humility.

He points out to three signs of humility: consider others more important than self, look out for the interests of others before one’s own, submit to one another.  He also explains why we need humility: 1) because it is God’s will 2) without humility, no one can see God 3) it is necessary for God’s Kingdom to be realized in our lives, in our families, and in our churches.

    Humility

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Grow in Christlikeness (2): Humility    Philippians 2:3-4        1 Peter 5:5-6

  • Philippians 2:3-4   New American Standard Bible (NASB)
  • 3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
  • 1 Peter 5:5-6   New American Standard Bible (NASB)
  • You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
  • Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time

 

Introduction

Christ is the true image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4): whoever has seen Him, Jesus says, has seen God.  Whoever has experienced Him has experienced God.   Whoever has known Him personally has known God personally.  We are called to imitate the same Christ in every aspect: thinking patterns, perspectives, even words and actions.  We are called to grow into His image day in day out.  No Christian should ever stop growing.  It is God’s will for us to partake in Christ’s character to its fullness.  He expects us to grow in Christ.  In fact, God already sees us fully grown into Christ’s image (like any great coach visioning the championship of his players).

Last Sunday, we talked about one of Christ’s attributes: love.  Christ commands us to love one another as He has loved us; both unconditionally and sacrificially.  By this love, people will know that we are Christ’s disciples.

Today, we are going to think about the second attribute of Christ: humility.  E. g.  A pastor was voted by his congregation most humble pastor in America.  They recognized him during service one Sunday and presented him a medal.  On the following Sunday, in appreciation of what the congregation had done, the pastor wore the medal around his neck.  As soon as the congregation saw that, they were shocked and took the medal away from him (Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes) saying that such an act of boasting automatically disqualified him for the title!

It is my sincere prayer and hope that we all learn about Christ’s humility this morning and start living it out in our lives.

Contents

What is humility? 

Humility is one of the Christian virtues along with others such as compassion, kindness, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:12); mercy, love, joy, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).   Humility is the work of the Holy Spirit: no matter how hard we may try, our own efforts will not make us humble.  God must help us on that.  We become humble when we seek God.  We become humble when we obey God’s truth and His will.   The end result is peace and joy in Christ.

What is humility?  Let me begin with a dictionary definition: the quality of not thinking that you are better than other people; the quality of being humble (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries).  It is pretty close to what I am thinking.  Actually, I believe it borrowed the idea from the Bible, particularly from today’s text Philippians 2:3; with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

The opposite of humility, of course, is arrogance.  The definition of arrogance is: the behaviour (sic) of a person when they feel that they are more important than other people, so that they are rude to them or do not consider them (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries).

Arrogance is one of the vices listed in the Bible such as fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing (Galatians 5:20), selfishness, slander, gossip, and disorder (2 Corinthians 12:20).  Arrogance, unlike humility, is the work of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-20).  It is self-seeking.  It puts self above others.  It promotes own interests before those of others.  It says ‘No’ to mutual submission.   It doesn’t obey God’s truth.  It cannot, because it doesn’t pursue God’s will.  The end result is wrath and fury from God (Romans 2:8).

Signs of humility

  1. Consider others more important than yourself  (Philippians 2:3)
  2. Look out for others’ interests before your own (Philippians 2:4)
  3. Submit to one another (1 Peter 5:5-6)

What humility is not:  I would call it ‘wrongly directed humility.’  Self-imposed abasement is not humility.   True humility never makes you believe or act like you are nobody or ‘zero.’  It never makes you a door mat for everybody, either.  Think of Jesus who was humble.  His humility was not self-abasement, because He at times sounded outrageously arrogant.  E. g. People wanted to stone Him to death when He made Himself equal to God and claimed that whoever has seen Him has seen God the Father (John 14:9).  Furthermore, He wasn’t a wimp, when it comes down to confronting evils (e.g. driving out money changers from the Temple) and hypocrisy (e.g. Woe to Pharisees and Sadducees).  He was rather like a roaring lion and a champion of justice.  Humility is not self-imposed abasement.  Rather, it is strength under control guided by God’s will and truth.

Times we live in: humility is hard to come by nowadays.  The American society doesn’t seem to consider humility a virtue.  It rather promotes arrogance and pride.  The Bible prophesied that in the end times arrogance becomes prevalent (2 Timothy 3:2).   We shouldn’t be surprised.  Actually, we see more and more people who are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness.  We also see more gossips, slanderers, God-haters, people who are insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless (Romans 1:29-31).  In such time as this, God calls you and me to conduct our lives with godliness and humility.

Who’s our role model?  Jesus is.  He calls us to learn from Him about humility (Matthew 11:29), from Him directly: Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart.  Let’s learn from Christ who, being equal to God, yet did not regard equally with God (Philippians 2:6).   Let’s learn from Christ who emptied Himself taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness (Philippians 2:7).  Let’s learn from Christ who humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:8).   Let us learn from Him by having the same mind in us that was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).  He is our role model.

Why humility?  Three reasons God’s Word provides why we need humility.

  1. Because it is God’s will for us.  Arrogance is not.  God commands us to humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord, then He will exalt us (James 4:10).    Humility is particularly significant in prayer.  Every prayer requires humility.  What is prayer?  It is the act of having an audience with God.  We cannot imagine going into God’s presence with arrogance or with the attitude of entitlement.  Rather, we would show our utmost humility to the Almighty God before we even think of presenting our petitions.
  2. Without humility, we cannot see God.  To enter the Kingdom of God, we must be humble like a child (Luke 14:11).  The rich, the mighty, and the kings have a great disadvantage on this one, because they often trust not in God but in their own strength, power, and money.  Furthermore, when people put them on a pedestal, it doesn’t help them at all.  It is very hard for them to be humble.  Perhaps, that’s why Jesus says, it is very difficult for the rich to enter God’s Kingdom; lack of humility.   Remember: God is opposed to the arrogant.  Arrogance belongs to the flesh and the flesh itself refuses to obey God’s truth.
  3.  Humility brings forth the realization of God’s kingdom in our personal lives, in our families, and in our church.  To realize God’s kingdom among us, we need mutual submission, and we cannot submit to one another without humility.  How can you submit yourself to an individual, when you think yourself better than the other person?   Here’s what I have discovered through the Bible study what humility is all about.  Humility is the quality of willing submission to God and to one another (Philippians 2:8, James 4:10).  The meaning of mutual submission is this like this: think of the human body where all members and organs work together in ultimate submission to the head (E.g. you want to go to church on Sunday morning; your hands get your body ready—washed, combed, dressed up / your feet take you to the car or walk/ the rest of body goes with them!  All under the decision made by your brain).  Can you imagine the body with mutiny against each other?  It is called cancer.  Likewise, under the headship of Christ, we the members of Christ’s body submit to each other.  The key word is submission: willing submission to God and to others.  When we submit to one another, it brings forth unity, order, and harmony in our family and the church.  Arrogance, on the other hand, brings forth division, disorder, and contention in our family and church.

Conclusion

Live a life worthy of God’s calling that would make God proud of you.  Live a life with all humility and gentleness (Ephesians 4:2).  Let us clothe ourselves with Christ’s humility and start living it out today.

Amen.

 

Sermon: Grow in Christlikeness (1): Love

Today Pastor Choi talks about growing in Christlikeness: love.  After we commit ourselves to Christ as our Savior and Lord, we begin to grow in faith.  As we grow in faith, one thing we will demonstrate in our lives and one thing that people will notice from us is love.  It is Christ’s command to love one another as He has loved us.  Pastor Choi exhorts the congregation to start small in their homes and workplaces putting into practice Christ-like love for one another.

  Love

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Grow in Christ’s Likeness (1): Love              John 13:34-35, 1 John 3:18

John 13:34-35   New International Version (NIV)

 

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

  1. John 3:18     New International Version (NIV)

 

18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

 

Introduction

I am starting a new sermon series today: Grow in Christlikeness.  There will be six sermons altogether.  Today is series number one: love.  When we have committed ourselves to Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the Bible calls it spiritual rebirth or “born again.”  From then on, as a new born baby in Christ, we begin to grow in faith.  As we grow in Christ-likeness, the first thing we will demonstrate in our life and the first thing people will notice from us is love.  Not the love for self but the love for others, because Christ in us gradually transforms us from a self-centered person to a Christ-centered person.

My sermon is not about love itself or quick tips on “how to love,” or that sort of self-help tips on love.  Rather, it is about Christ.  It is about growing into Christ-like character; it is about “how to be like Jesus” and partaking in His character.  This is how I see it.

When we become like Christ, Christ’s attributes such as love, grace, gentleness, kindness, truth, justice, and mercy will form in our character and naturally flow out from us in our daily lives.  E.g.  In John 15, Jesus says He is the vine and we are the branches.  Being in Christ and attached to Him, we will learn, draw strength from Him, and naturally demonstrate or bear fruits of His character and attributes.

Once again, my goal this morning is to help all of us to imitate Christ in every aspect so that we may become “little Christs” (C. S. Lewis).  Let’s dive into today’s topic: love.

Contents

Let’s look at the first text again: John 13:34-35.   34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

First of all, to love one another is not an option or suggestion.  It is a commandment, isn’t it?  Therefore, we can’t be choosy to love or not love depending on our moods and circumstances like we can’t be choosy with the Ten Commandments.  Christ commands us to love one another.  Period.

Next, let’s ponder the meaning of “love one another as I have loved you.”  Just as Christ has loved us, we are to love each other.  That means; unless we know His love and unless we have experienced His love for us first-hand, we cannot fully love one another as Christ has loved us.   We can read or hear about Christ’s love and try to understand intellectually how Christ has loved us, but it’s not the same as, in fact, far inferior to the first-hand experience of Christ’s love.  E.g. You can read all the books in the world about love between man and woman, but all those information cannot trump (or even come close to) your own experience of falling in love with your sweetheart.

I told you that the first-hand experience of Christ’s love is the key to love one another with Christ’s love.   So, as I prepared my sermon, I asked a question for myself: O.K.  I am going to talk about Christ’s love for us, and do I know what I am talking about?  That question led me to three more questions: how Jesus loved His disciples back then; how Jesus loved me now; and what the Bible says about His love for us all.

First question, “How did Jesus love His disciples 2000 years ago?”  Here’s how He did.   He loved them as God loved Him.  Jesus experienced God’s love first hand and then passed the same love onto His disciples.   He loved them with truth and grace.  He loved them through His examples.  He also loved them with grace and forgiveness (E.g. forgiving Peter’s denial three times, John 8—not condemning the adulterous woman).  He loved them with humility washing their feet—John 13.   Jesus loved them by laying down His own life on the cross.  He died on their behalf.  That’s how Jesus loved them.

Next question, “How did Jesus love me?”  Have I experienced Christ’s love in my life personally?  Can I testify and explain to anyone how Jesus loved me?  So, one day, I asked the Lord, “How did you love me, Lord?”  Then, I took time recalling every single incident that I remember when Christ appeared and demonstrated His love for me.

Here are some examples: Jesus patiently tolerated my foolishness when I gave Him a silly ultimatum of 2 hours demanding His answer right away for my question.  Numerous times, He put up with my stubbornness of heart.  He forgave my sins over and over again.  He would answer my questions in ways that I understand (E.g. Daniel 1:5, dialogue style answers in prayer).  He was there for me in moments of anxiety, fears, and confusion.  He kept His promise of providing my daily needs.  He gave me life and health every day.  He granted me wisdom and courage in crises.  He gave me a free gift of eternal life and the hope of resurrection.  He protected me from the Evil one.  In a nut shell, Jesus loved me in the same way a loving parent loves his/her child.   He was there for me, kept His promises, provided my needs, protected me from any harms, and guided me with truth and grace through my life.

Thirdly, I checked out the Word of God to discover how Christ has loved us all.  In a nutshell, He loved us sacrificially and unconditionally.  Remember John 3:16?  God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).   God loved you and me that He gave His only Son to us.  Christ, the sinless, died on the cross and paid the penalty of our sins on our behalf.  He died in our place as the Lamb of God, that’s why His love is sacrificial.   In fact, His love is great because He loved us even when we didn’t deserve His grace.  He loved the undeserving and unlovable.  What amazing about His love is that He didn’t wait until all of us became lovable (that moment perhaps would never come).   His love doesn’t depend on how we have been good or bad.  His love, like the Sun, shines on the evil and the good.  His love, like rain, comes down on the righteous and on the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45).  He is gracious to all—both good and bad.  He even loved Judas Iscariot till the end (John 13:1).  Aren’t we glad that His love is not based on our goodness or on His own mood?  Rather, it is absolutely based on His will to obey God no matter what.   That’s how He went to the cross.  That’s why the Bible says Jesus loves us unconditionally and sacrificially.

Into the practice of such great love of Christ, God calls us.  His call is for us to imitate Christ and to practice His love for one another.  He wants us to live out our faith with the same love as He has demonstrated for us.  I am sure all of us are overwhelmed with such a tall call or high expectation from God.  Remember, though, God would not command us to do something impossible.  Of course, with our own might, we cannot love each other with Christ’s love. However, we can do it with the help of the Holy Spirit.   That’s why obedience to the Lord is essential.  We also can love others with Christ’s love when God pours His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).  E.g. Mr. Ho, a Christian parent, whose son was murdered by gang members on the streets of Philadelphia asked the judge to pardon the perpetrators.  When you love one another as I have loved you, Christ says, all the people will know that you are My followers.  By your love, He says, they will know that you are My disciples.

Of course, the real question is where do we start?  How do we put Christ’s love into daily practice?

As much as we admire Mr. Ho and his Christian love, let’s not begin with big things like that.  Let’s not even think of loving everyone in the world at this point.  Rather, let’s begin small in our daily lives and in the places where God has planted us.  E.g.  During WWII there was a young man (Mr. Yong-ki Kim) who wanted to liberate Korea from the Japanese occupation.  He wanted to join the Liberation Army to fight the tyranny of colonialism.  He went to his mentor one last time for advice.  The wise mentor asked him if he truly loved his country.  Kim said yes.  Then, he gave him a huge piece of bread and asked him to finish the whole thing in one bite.  Of course, Kim couldn’t do it.  He had to eat the bread one bite at a time.   The mentor said to Kim, “Go home instead and start with small things that matter to the community.  One day at a time.”  The lesson was clear: begin small from where you are and with what you can.

So, how about being like Jesus in your home first?  Begin with your thoughts and words you say.  Start with small actions and interactions with your family members.  I don’t have to reiterate how many homes and families today are dysfunctional or broken.  I can say that had Christ-like love been practiced in our homes, the problems would have been far less than what we have today.  So, let’s start loving our family members as Christ has loved us, sacrificially and unconditionally.  Let’s restore our homes and heal our wounds with Christ’s love.  Let’s ask the question of “What would Jesus do?”  Let’s serve others as Christ has served us.  Let’s lay down our lives for our loved ones as Christ did.

Conclusion

Three action points:

Write your own statement of “How Jesus loved me.”

Pray that the Holy Spirit would pour out God’s love in your heart.

Start loving others with Christ’s love.

Amen.

Sermon: Witnesses for Jesus

Today Pastor Choi talks about the importance of evangelism.  He challenges the congregation to hear Jesus’ call: Testify for Me.  Testify to what I have done for you to all the world.  Tell the truth and nothing but the truth about Me. 

He points out three characteristics of Jesus’ witnesses: they know who Jesus is, they know who they are, and they know what to tell.   The sermon concludes with the need of Holy Spirit’s power in evangelism.

  Witnesses for Jesus

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Witnesses for Jesus: Be Christ’s Disciple (6)

  • Acts 1:8
  • New American Standard Bible (NASB)
  • but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
  •  Matthew 28:18-20
  • New American Standard Bible (NASB)
  • 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

     Introduction

  • The sermon title “Witness for Jesus” has nothing to do with Jehovah’s Witnesses.  I was compelled to choose that title after studying of today’s texts.
  • Testify for Me (Acts 23:11).  Testify to what I have done for you: That’s what Jesus calls us to do.  Testify for Me.
  • We the believers are called to testify to Jesus: His life, death, resurrection, and His teachings.  We are called to testify to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all the things that we have seen in Jesus.  We are called to testify to the things in which Jesus appeared to us.  We are to bear witness to Him, because we have been with Him for some time.  As much as we are called to keep the commandments of God, we are also called to hold the testimony of Jesus.  We are called not to shrink from declaring to the world the whole purpose of God in Jesus.  That’s our call.

    Contents

  • This morning, I invite you to explore with me the meaning of being a witness for Jesus and what we need for dynamic evangelism.
  • Three Characteristics of Jesus’ Witnesses:
  • A. They know who Jesus is: Many people in the world don’t know Jesus; some know Him as a good moral teacher.  Others understand Him as a miracle maker; even more others perceive Him as someone totally different from what the Scriptures say about Him.  E.g. a missionary in India at one village once talked to a man asking if he knew Jesus.  The man said, “No, there’s no one in my village with that name.”  Many don’t know who Jesus is.
  • We, Jesus’ witnesses, however, know who Jesus is.  We know Jesus is the Son of God the Messiah as God has testified in the Bible.  We don’t just know about Him but know Him personally: we have experienced Him (1 John 1:2, 4:14).  We have walked with Him.  We have seen and heard Him.  We have the testimony in our hearts (1 John 5:10).  E.g. Samaritan woman: Come and see the Messiah who told me everything I have ever done (John 4:39).  She discovered who Jesus was and told everybody her story.
  • B. They know who they are:  We not only know who Jesus is, but we also know who we are and what we are called for.  We are Christ’s followers.  We clearly understand whose witnesses we are.  We are Christ’s witnesses.  In Acts 1:8, Jesus says to His disciples, “You shall be My witnesses.
  • Think of the image of witnesses and their oaths in court: tell the truth nothing but the truth to the world.  Jesus solemnly charges us the witnesses: You as My witness shall bear witness to Me and tell the truth and nothing but the truth about Me to all the world.  That is our call.  That is our charge.  We know who we are.  We are Christ’s witnesses.
  • C.  They know what to tell:  We also know what to tell: the truth.  To testify to the truth is the bottom-line for any witness.  Truth determines the validity of the testimony.  There’s always a danger of perjury.  A true witness must tell the truth.

    We have a cloud of witnesses who make the claims on Jesus valid.  All of them testified to the truth and their testimonies point to one person: Jesus.

    Who are these witnesses to Jesus?  They are God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, the works of Jesus, and the prophets.  They all testified to the coming of the Messiah, the suffering and death, resurrection, the Second coming of the Messiah, and the Lordship of Jesus over all creation.

  • What’s our testimony?  John the Apostle sums up quite nicely the truth about Jesus this way: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).  That’s the testimony.  That’s our story to tell to the world.
  • Go into the World:  With this testimony, we are called to go to the world.  It is God’s plan to send us out with the Good News of the kingdom.  The Gospel will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).  God never wants us to keep the Good News to ourselves.  He doesn’t want us to stay within the church walls, either.  He sends us out to all the nations.  We are being sent out as witnesses for Jesus to proclaim the message of repentance and forgiveness.  We bring the message of reconciliation and peace with God.  We tell the truth that everyone who believes in the name of Jesus will receive the forgiveness of sins.
  • We go out there to make Jesus’ disciples.  Making disciples is the call.  Going, baptizing, and teaching are our missions.  E.g. Methodist Slogan is “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Don’t get confused here.  Transformation of the world itself is not the purpose.  Transformation of the people in the world is.  Change the world is not.  Reconciliation of people in the world with God is.  E.g.  pig in a clean room vs.  clean person in a pig-sty.
  • Power that we need: Reality check.  We do very poorly in witnessing to Jesus, don’t we?  The grade on our report card is an F.  Evangelism nowadays is a taboo word.  The United Methodist Church in America is declining.  It seems we are desperately doing everything else but witnessing nowadays.  The numbers don’t lie: we don’t have many genuine converts (or profession of faith/baptism).  We may bring some people to church, but how many of them are serious about following Jesus to death?  E.g. Willow Creek’s own study “Reveal.”   Let’s face it: our witness stinks.  Our evangelism efforts are ineffective and even secular (e.g. marketing strategy).  So, what’s the fix?
  • Power from the Holy Spirit: We must begin with the Holy Spirit.  We need the Holy Spirit’s power and initiative in our evangelism.  We shouldn’t even think of going out to the world without the Holy Spirit’s power and guidance.
  • Now, this is what happens when we have power from the Holy Spirit: witnessing becomes dynamic and evangelism explodes.  Historically, whenever there was an anointing of the Holy Spirit, and wherever the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was, there was always an explosion of evangelism.  E.g. Methodism exploded in the 19th century in America.  I have seen and experienced it once in my life.  E.g. in the 1970s, in my home church in Korea, it all began with fervent prayers and fasting of a few young adults in the prayer room at the basement of the church.  Then, for the next 5 years, there was an explosion of witnessing: outdoor evangelism, street evangelism, and even workplace evangelism took place.  The results?  Hundreds of young souls came to the Lord (300 young people in a 1000-member church!).
  • We need power here!: So, folks, if you agree with me that the Church needs new converts and that we need to do a better job in our witnessing, then we must begin with prayers.  That’s what the disciples did in the Early Church.   Before you are amazed with 3000 conversions with Peter’s sermon, you have to think what had preceded first: after Jesus commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, for the next ten days, they stayed at one place.   With their hearts and minds united, they devoted themselves to prayer.  On the tenth day, the Holy Spirit came down upon them and the rest was history.
  • I really want to see the same thing happen in our church.   I pray that our 40-40-40 challenge would grant us a break-through in our church prayers.  I pray that it would ignite our hearts in enthusiasm and passion for God.  I pray that the Holy Spirit would come down upon us and grant us the power that would turn us into a dynamic witness for Jesus.

    Conclusion

  • We need the power of the Holy Spirit; the power from above that brings people to the Lord.   E.g. my mom, Jehovah’s Witness, refused to come back to the Church.  She came back to the Lord only after she saw the demonstration of the Holy Spirit through prayers (that is, my brother came out of comatose after fervent prayers).
  • People need the Lord.  The Church needs the Holy Spirit.  We need the demonstration of the Holy Spirit in evangelism.
  • Lord, grant us the power of the Holy Spirit.   Amen.

Sermon: Concerning Repentance

Tonight Pastor Choi talked about three characteristics of repentance.  First, everyone needs to repent of evil in the sight of God.  Kings, rulers, old and young, male and female, parents and children, even priests and churches.   Next, in our repentance, God wants us to rend our heart, not outside clothing.  Genuine repentance always brings forth inner change.  It never means only carrying outward signs such as sitting in ashes and tearing the clothing we wear.   Finally, repentance never brings us down.  It, rather, brings us up to where we should be: the children of God.  It restores the joy of salvation to us.  It also restores our relationship with each other.

  Concerning Repentance

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Title: Concerning Repentance

Joel 2:12-17

New International Version (NIV)

Rend Your Heart

12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

13 Rend your heart
    and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
    and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
    declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
    consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 
Let the priests, who minister before the Lord,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Psalm 51: 10-12, 16-17

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

I.  Introduction

Begin with the story of Professor Hong Won Tak in my graduate school days: “Summarize the entire article in one sentence.”

II. Content

One word that summarizes all the texts we read tonight: REPENTANCE.

Before I proceed, though, I need to talk about sin first.  Without sin, there is no repentance.  Without sin, there’s no need to talk about repentance.

What is sin?  It is “an offence against God or against a religious or moral law; the act of breaking a religious or moral law” (the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).

The Scripture defines sin in the following five ways: a. violation of God’s commandments (Leviticus 26:43):  any violation of the Ten Commandments is sin.  Here are some examples from Jesus’ own mouth: Sin is what defiles a person before God and it comes from our own heart such as evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, and slander (Matthew 15:19-20).  More specifically, people commit the sin of worshiping money and idols, the sin of self-loving and God-hating (there are flagrant and blatant attacks against Christianity in America). People live a life unholy, ungrateful, and unforgiving.  They are haughty and boastful.   Many are rebellious and disobedient to parents.  Greed, covetousness, cheating, sexual immorality, gossip, and false testimonies are rampant in our society.  b. violation of the covenant between God and His people (Joshua 7:11)  c. all types of wrong doing (1 John 5:17)  d. not believing in the name of Jesus (John 16:9)   e. whatever is not from faith (Romans 14:23).

The Hebrew word (hataat) or Greek word (hamartia) both carry the meaning of “missing the mark” when you shoot an arrow.  Therefore, I can say that sin is missing God’s way, missing the mark of God’s glory and honor; sin is wrong-doing (trespassing) against God and against others.

Now, we are ready to talk about repentance.

Tonight, I would like to share with you what God has spoken to me through Psalm 51 and Joel 2.

Three characteristics of repentance stand out in tonight’s readings.

First, repentance is for everyone.  Repentance is a good thing, because it restores us back to God after we have committed a sin.  It not only is a good thing, also is a necessity.  We need it available to us, 24/7 and unlimited.  Who can afford a life without repentance—the second chance?   Everyone needs repentance; only God is exempt from it.  The rest of us must have it, because we constantly trespass against God and against each other.  You may claim, “Not I!   I have nothing to repent of, because I haven’t done anything wrong in my entire life.”  Really?  How then would you think of Jesus who said, “No one is good except God”?   The Bible also differs from you.  It clearly states that no one but Jesus in human history can make a claim of sinless-ness.  Rather, listen to the Word of God that declares we all are sinners; if we have sinned, then we are in need of repentance (Romans 3:23).   When we break the human laws, we need to repent.  When we do and say hurtful things to each other, we need to repent and ask for forgiveness.  Sometimes we may think we are perfectly right in human laws, but our lifestyle may be in a clear violation of divine laws.  E.g.  The rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.  Is it right to live in a 12 million dollar worth of three bed-room apartment with floor and a bath tub made of Italian marble (in NYC)?  It may be perfectly legal (after all, it is your money, but is it right before God?)

Consider King David for a while.  One night, he was strolling at the roof of his palace looking down around.  Obviously, the palace was built on a hill higher than all the houses around in those days.  Lo and behold, he saw in a distance a woman bathing on the roof of her house.  Immediately, he felt his male hormone surging to its maximum level, and soon he summoned the woman and that night he lay down with her.  The trouble was that she was the wife of one of David’s soldiers who was away in a war at that time.  Later, David got a message from the woman: I am pregnant.  What would I do? He thought.  Cover up!   How?   Bring the husband back and send him home so that he may sleep with his wife.  Clever, isn’t it?  Well, it didn’t work as David wished.  Back in town, Uriah the husband never went to his house.  Why?  He felt guilty being home while others were dying in the battlefields.  So, instead of sleeping in his own bed, he chose to sleep outside home along with other soldiers in town.  So, it’s time for Plan B!  Kill him!  So did he.  David ended up murdering the innocent husband.

Well, David covered up everything very nicely before human eyes, but not before God.  The Bible says that his act was evil in the sight of God.  One day, God sent His messenger Nathan and confronted him.  Then, David humbly admitted of his sins (adultery and murder) before the Lord and before people (2 Samuel 12).   Psalm 51 was his confession as he was repenting of his sin before God.

Kings and rulers need to repent.  So do the old and young, great and small, male and female, parents and children.   So does God’s Church.  In the book of Revelation Christ wrote letters to seven churches in Asia.  He asked them to repent of their sins (all five churches received Christ’s warning except the two that were going through severe persecution).

Even the ministers of the Gospel ought to repent at times their sins of hypocrisy, professional mannerism, laziness, and lack of empathy or compassion.  As a minister of the Gospel, I must confess that I haven’t spoken often enough about ‘sin’ or ‘repentance’ in my teaching and preaching in the past 24 years of ministry.  I also repent of the preachers’ sin in America that we failed to preach the wholesome Gospel, the whole truth of the Gospel.  We chose to please the crowd, not God.   We chose not to offend them at the expense of God’s truth.  It is no secret that believers in America don’t like to hear such words as sin and repentance from the pulpit.  They want to stay away from anything that sounds negative or anything that would make them feel guilty.  So we the preachers stay mum about those words.   Although we need a healthy balance between God’s holiness and goodness, we the preachers have been preaching the goodness of God too often and too much at the expense of God’s holiness and righteousness.  We’ve been silent too long on sin, repentance, and God’s holiness in pursuit of God’s goodness.   For that, I repent and ask for God’s forgiveness.

Please bear with me.  If you read the New Testament very carefully, you will find that there is an inseparable relationship between repentance and the Good News we preach.  Almost anywhere we turn to in the New Testament, we see John the Baptist, Jesus, and Christ’s apostles proclaim both repentance and the Good News together, never separately.  Repent, for the kingdom of God is near; Repent and believe in the Good News; Repent and be baptized; Repent and turn to the Lord….  Repentance and the Gospel always go together hand in hand.  If the Church of God had been preaching only the Good News, only baptism, and only turning to the Lord, all without repentance, then, are we not guilty of preaching only the half-truth?  Are we not guilty of being not faithful messengers of God?   That’s the sin I believe the churches in America should repent of.

Second, repentance means inner change, not carrying outside signs.  In the Old Testament times, to demonstrate their repentance to God, the people of Israel would wear sackcloth, sit on ashes, throw ashes on their heads, and even rend their clothes in front of others.  Although all those outward signs were begun with good intentions, as the time went on, people began to focus more and more on the outward signs and less and less on the inner change of the heart.  “As long as I do these outside acts,” they believed, “I will be OK with God.”  The skeleton of tradition continued on strong, while the inside, the heart of repentance, was gone.

Don’t be fooled: To God, those outward signs of repentance mean nothing, because He always looks on the heart inside.  King David knew exactly what God wanted from him during his penitence.  In Psalm 51:17, he said, God wants a broken and contrite heart, not sacrifices or burnt offerings.  Joel echoes with David; rend your hearts, not clothing (Joel 2:12ff).

When John the Baptist baptized the crowd, they asked him, “What shall we do?” He answered them to bear fruit worthy of their repentance.  For instance, to soldiers, he said, “Stop being cruel to civilians and use your strength to protect the weak.”  To the tax collectors, he said, “No more exploitation.  Be fair to all.”   To those rich folks who had not been sharing their wealth with others, he exhorted, “Share your blessings with others.”  It is simple and clear that true repentance brings forth a fundamental change in heart and life-style, rather than just lip service.

Thirdly, repentance never brings us down.  Rather, it builds us up and always restores us back to where we should be: the children of God.  It restores our relationship with God that was broken due to our sins. Repentance always restores unto us the joy of salvation.  It removes the barrier that blocks our prayers to God.  It also restores our relationship with others.  When we repent, there is joy among us and in heaven.  Consider Luke 16—the story of Prodigal Son—the story of Rod Colby (who repented of his racial prejudice after years of practice against African-Americans).

III. Concluding Remarks

Lent is a period of “repentance, preparation for baptism, and renewal of baptism into the Easter (Paschal) mystery” (United Methodist Book of Worship).  It is a great time to pause and ponder over our Christian life.   Since nowadays we virtually have no time to ponder how we are doing before God, these forty days of Lent will serve us well to reflect on our Christian walk with God. 

 May the Lord help us to use this time wisely to count God’s blessings upon ourselves, our family, our church, and our society. 

 May the Lord also open our eyes wide to clearly see the areas that we have lapsed and help us to turn away from our sins. 

 Finally, it is my prayer that the Lord would restore the joy of salvation through our genuine repentance and enter into Easter with great joy and thanksgiving.    Amen.  

Sermon: Give Generously

Today Pastor Choi talks about another mark of Christ’s disciples: Give generously.  He exhorts the congregation to honor the LORD with their giving realizing how critical giving is in the life of believers.  He also points out that liberal giving allows us to meet the living God and that every type of giving to the LORD ought to be acceptable to Him.

Give Generously 

 

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Give Generously: Be Christ’s Disciple (5)

Proverbs 3:9-10

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Honor the Lord from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will overflow with new wine.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Introduction

Recap: In the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about what distinguishes Christ’s followers from mere church goers.  The marks of Christ’s disciples are: put Christ first (before anybody or anything else), separate from the world (be transformed daily by the renewal of mind), be steadfast (our life is built on Christ the Rock), serve others (we fulfill God’s will by serving others to build up their lives).  Today we are going to think about another characteristic of Christ’s follower: Give generously.

Reason for the sermon: Today, in America, the average believer has a poor attitude towards giving, if not negative, due to their poor understanding on giving.  I want to change their perspective on giving with my sermon this morning.

I also want to make clear one thing before I proceed: I am not doing this sermon because our congregation needs more money.   In fact, I am glad that I talk about this topic when our church is in a good financial shape; actually we are doing better than the last year.  I give thanks to God for His provision.  I also thank you for your generosity in giving. 

Let me repeat: I am not doing this message to ask for more money from you.  That’s not my intention this morning.  Rather, the purpose of the sermon is to help you to understand how critical giving is in your life as Christ’s follower: show me a person who is a genuine disciple of Christ, then I will show you a person who is very generous in giving (not necessary in the absolute amount but rather in proportion to the income).  No matter which way we may put, the level of commitment in giving gives away the depth of our faith and commitment to the Lord.  Remember what Jesus said: where your money is, there’s your heart (Matthew 6:21).  Young Christians must learn early to give to the Lord as they grow in faith.  The life of a faithful giver must begin with a sound understanding on giving.   

Reasons for Giving: The Scripture commands us to give generously to the Lord.  When it comes to giving, I have been practicing it for 40 years.  From the day when I gave my first tithe to the Lord until today, my joy and level of giving has not diminished at all.  In fact, it has increased as I have grown mature in understanding of what my giving means to the Lord and to His Church.   

Let’s be honest with ourselves this morning and ask the question: why do I give?  Why do you give?  Why do people give?  Here are some possible answers to the question: some folks give tithes to the Lord simply because God commands them to (Malachi 3).  They don’t think twice.  They don’t ask why.  They just do it, because God says so.  Others give because they love the Lord.   More others give to the Lord, because they want to support God’s church to advance God’s kingdom here on earth.  Many more others give, convinced that giving is a good thing; it’s a good thing to share God’s blessings with others.  And, all of us believe that giving is good because whenever we give, we feel good about ourselves.  Giving is more blessed than receiving (Acts 20:35).  I thought I have listed all the possible reasons for giving to the Lord, well, until I read today’s text.

Honoring the LORD: Proverbs 3:9 offers us one more excellent aspect of giving that few of us are aware of: giving is an act of honoring the LORD.  In other words, each time we give to the Lord, we obey His command in Proverbs 3:9.  And, each time we obey His command, we honor God.  Please stay with me as I continue unpacking the verse Proverbs 3:9. 

Command:  First, look at the verb ‘honor’ in verse 9.  It is an imperative.  It is a command.  It is not a suggestion or an option.  The LORD commands us to honor Him with our offerings. This command is not just for a few godly people.  It is a command for all; rich and poor, male and female, old and young, baby Christians and mature Christians.  It is even given to those who live paycheck-to-paycheck.  It is for everyone who confesses his/her faith in Christ.  We are called to honor God by giving.

Think with me about the meaning of Hebrew verb (kabad— ‘honor’) here.  Yes, that’s the same verb used in the context of ‘honor’ your mother and father (Exodus 20:12).  The root of the verb ‘honor’ carries the meaning of glorifying someone (in this case, God).  To honor God means to glorify Him; to glorify Him means to make Him pleased with and proud of what you do, in this context, with our giving.  Simply put, do you want to honor and glorify God? Then, take giving seriously. 

Here’s an analogy.  We are called to honor God in our lives like the athletes honor their mother countries by winning medals in the Olympics.  E.g.  Have you lately watched the Sochi Olympics, especially the medal ceremony?  As the winners stand on the stand, medals and flowers are presented to them.  Then, the national anthem of the gold medalist is played as her national flag is being hoisted.  Often, the camera zooms in on the face of the winner and we see the winner’s eyes welled up with joy and pride.  In that very moment, the gold medalist’s emotions are flooded with pride because she has honored her country.  That’s the meaning of honoring and glorifying.  As the winners honor their mother countries with medals, we too honor our Heavenly Father with our giving.  We seldom think or practice that way, though.  On any given Sunday, many of us just drop the offering envelopes or a few dollars in the offering plates without any thoughts.  Next time, as you do it, remember that you are honoring the Lord with your giving.  Do it so with pride and joy!

Encounter the Living God:  There’s a great advantage of liberal giving, too.  When we give generously to the Lord, it opens wide the door of opportunity to experience the living God in often unforgettable ways: the more sacrificially you give to the Lord, the higher chance you have to encounter God who not only knows your needs but also provides them according to His riches (Philippians 4:19). 

Imagine two individuals this morning: Mr. Stingy and Mrs. Generous.  Mr. Stingy claims that he is a believer in Jesus.  Each time he goes to church, he drops a couple of dollars in the offering.  It’s not that he doesn’t have money.  On the contrary, he has plenty of money to live comfortably for the rest of his life; over a million dollars in his bank accounts.  Yet, he doesn’t believe he has enough.  Most of the time, he doesn’t feel any need of God thinking “Why would I need God when I am well taken care of by money?”  (I think that is the biggest curse on the wealthy) Such a life-style deprives him of the chance to meet the living God in person. 

Now, let’s think about Mrs. Generous.  She lives paycheck-to-paycheck: many a time she feels that she has no money to spare let alone give to God.  Yet, somehow, she decides to give anyway.  You know what’s going to happen to her?   She will definitely meet the living God in an unforgettable way.  Here’s one person who just did that.  E.g. Brother Andrew (author of God’s Smuggler), after giving his last money to a homeless friend, received in the mail the same amount of money for his tuition in the nick of time!  Had he not given away the money to his friend that afternoon, I am sure he would have continued on his walk with God, yet he would have definitely missed the great opportunity to know such an awesome God.  Never would he have learned to totally rely on God for his finances!

Acceptable to the LORD:  One more very important aspect of giving is this: any type of giving to the Lord ought to be acceptable to Him.  We must give Him the best of all, because God always looks into the heart of the giver.  The giver’s heart must be right with God in every giving.   Now, it is true that God blesses those who honor Him with their giving; however, blessings must not be the main reason why we give to the Lord.  The wealth, and becoming rich, is never the purpose of our giving.  It can’t be the ulterior motive for our giving.   E.g. I want to live in a mansion, so, I give tithes.  Wrong.  I want to drive a Rolls-Royce, so I give 10% of my income.  Wrong.  I want to win 20 million dollars from the lottery, so I promise God that if I win, I will give the half of my winning.  Wrong.  You never use your giving as bait for more returns from God.  Giving is not a way of fattening your portfolio.  E.g. At one church finance workshop, someone complained to the speaker that her church refused to accept her offer of the half of her winning if she won the lottery.  The speaker said he would have no problem of accepting the offer.  I had to differ with the speaker on this, because such a donation lacks righteousness in the sight of God.  It is as wrong as accepting donations from a pimp who keeps his business going while he gives a regular donation to the church out of his guilt.  Every type of giving to God must be in sync with God’s righteousness.  I say so, because the Scripture says so.

Honor God with righteousness:  In the Septuagint Bible (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scripture), the same verse Proverbs 3:9 reads as follows: Honor the LORD from your righteous labor/hard works and from the first fruits of righteousness.  Lottery earnings and gambling are never honorable before the Lord, because they fail the litmus test of righteous labor and hard works.  So do donations through prostitution; those monies extorted from the victims are not right with God. 

Giving is a Heart Matter: One more thing.  In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul the Apostle briefly points out the eternal spiritual truth: whatever we sow, and however we sow, we will reap accordingly.   Sow sparingly, reap sparingly.  Sow bountifully, reap bountifully.  Don’t expect otherwise.  Everything we do and say, and everything we give to the Lord, we will harvest in the Day of the Lord.  Paul also points out to a right attitude in our giving.  Give it cheerfully.  Give it from your heart. 

Closing:

Action point: Starting today, each Sunday, as you drop your offerings in the plates, remind yourself by saying, “Lord, I am honoring you today by giving this offering to you.  This is my best!  It is from my heart!  May it be acceptable in your sight.  Amen.”