Psalm 126, Hebrews 7:23-28, and Mark 10:46-52
This week, reformed churches around the world celebrate Reformation Sunday. As many of you know, religious reformer Martin Luther published 95 theses on October 31, 1517, attempting to renew the existing errors of the Western Catholic Church. At that time, a Catholic priest in Scotland attempted reform centered on the Bible, grace, and faith. He was John Knox, and he became a leader in leading the religious reformation of the country. He fled to Switzerland when there was persecution by the Catholic Church and the British Crown. At that time, he met another religious reformer, Calvin. Calvin had a significant influence on Presbyterian theology. Knox also created the system of the Presbyterian Church. Therefore, our Presbyterian Church, one of the roots of the Reformed Church, needs to celebrate Reformation Sunday and continue to reform our faith and transform society.
November 1 is also an important day in the church year. Since the church’s founding 2,000 years ago, there has been a culture of honoring as saints those leaders who have protected the church and protected the Word from persecution by external forces, including Jews, Greeks, and Romans. Through this, the highest leaders of the Eastern and Western churches commemorated them by setting All Saints’ Day on November 1st after their deaths. And the day before, all People Hallow Eve. In other words, a culture of celebrating Halloween emerged. I find it interesting that Reformation Day and Halloween are the same day. Of course, the Korean church I grew up in places greater value on Reformation Sunday than All Saints Day and Halloween. That’s why I never really enjoyed Halloween in Korea. After coming to Canada, my Halloween was about giving candy to the kids who came to my house.
However, as I meditate on the Reformation and the Weekly Lectionary Readings, I want to share the following two things with you. The first is praising God. After the fall of Israel, many people were taken captive by the Babylonian Empire. After living in exile, they returned to Israel and sang Psalm 126. They enjoy the joy of liberation. They can go up to the temple and worship to their heart’s content. There is no greater joy than this. The joy of being able to worship. Through this song, they express their determination to make the temple more beautiful and to sow the seeds of the Gospel.
Let me tell you a personal story. Many men in Korea are required to serve in the military. So they serve for a short period of 16 months or a long period of more than 3 years. In my case, I served for 40 months as a second lieutenant. During the cadet period, there were restrictions on going to church to worship. Of course, I was not persecuted, but there were times when many senior officers wanted to avoid work on Sundays, so I, a newbie, took over. Then, I couldn’t go to church. I don’t know how sad it was at that time. That’s because I’ve never missed church on Sunday since birth. However, since there were times when I could not go for unavoidable reasons, I was able to think about how important worship is to my life. Dear friends, we want to exalt and praise God like the Israelites who wrote our psalms. And I hope we can sow the seeds of the gospel and harvest with joy for the living God. The amazing God will work in our lives more amazingly than we think.
The second is to commemorate Christ. As the book of Hebrews says, Jesus is eternal. Jesus is the Savior. He is always alive and intercedes for us. Jesus, the high priest, is holy. We cannot find evil in him. Through Jesus Christ, we can pray directly to God. We do not meet God indirectly through the priestly sacrifices in the temple. This is a great gift and grace of God. Through Jesus Christ, the High Priest, we can think of God at any time. We can pray without anyone’s permission. We can meditate
In Korean churches, there is an early morning prayer meeting. In rural areas, church members gather to pray at 4 or 5 in the morning, and in cities, between 5 and 6 in the morning. After that, they start their day at work or home. Of course, if this is difficult due to time and distance constraints, the pastor recommends that the believers set aside time to meditate on the Word. My grandparents and parents also went to early morning prayers daily, and I usually went to church with my mother only on Sundays. And while I was praying, I had a dream of becoming a pastor. Three weeks ago, a pastor from a local church met with me and shared this story as he was curious about Korean churches. At first, I didn’t know the church’s name, but later, I discovered that the pastor was Pastor Dan Cochrane of CrossRoads Church. Last week, my wife attended the evening service of CrossRoads Church for a school assignment, and the pastor preached this story ideally—a life where you start your day with the Bible and prayer.
Of course, I am not saying that I will start a prayer meeting with you at 4 or 5 am tomorrow. I am just praying about what our church needs and the right time. And the next day, when I went to install an engine block heater in my car, the service person came to me and asked if I was a Korean pastor at Knox Church. He said: If I can, I want to come to worship next time. I’m not sure if I look Korean. However, genuinely remarkable and mysterious things happen when I come to Red Deer. So, I am grateful to God. I am thankful that I met you and that you continue to allow me to meet new people. I can praise Jesus Christ alone, who made all this possible.
So, I hope we all meditate on Christ, meet Him, and receive grace. Just as Bartimaeus, who could not see, confessed with faith and received the miracle of healing as a gift, I hope that you and I all experience the gift of grace in our daily lives—for the beggar Bartimaeus, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the descendant of King David, stopped walking. I hope this amazing miracle of love will come true through meditating on and encountering the Lord.