Isaiah 58:9-14, Psalm 103:1-8, and Hebrews 12:18-29
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been reflecting on my ministry and life. Rev. McNeil’s Sunday sermon gave me valuable time and opportunity to ponder my ministry. The purpose of a Christian’s life is to please God. This is the core of the doctrine that the Reformed Church has been developing for a long time. The first thing is to believe in God and serve Him. At this point, I felt that my ministry in Red Deer was an excellent opportunity to focus more on God and to please the Creator. This thought was the same a year ago as it is now. Here, I can focus on God more than on any of the resources and talents I have relied on so far. I have to give up everything I’ve relied on: my education, my relationships, my language, and my culture. And then you have to start over. In the new land and church, the first thing we can rely on is God. Also, the one who will help me most powerfully is God. So I am very grateful for the ministry at Knox. Because it is a good place for me as a believer and as a pastor. At the same time, I am happy that you are collaborating with us on many ministries.
Here is the verse from Isaiah 9: “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” When we call upon the Lord, He promises to answer.
First, those who please God throw away the yoke, pointing fingers, and malicious talk. Here, the original word for ‘do away’ means to chase away or leave. So we see the prophet Isaiah’s admonition to thoroughly remove the yoke of oppression, with its pointing finger and malicious talk, from our lives. How many yokes do we carry in our lives? Worries about parents, worries about children, and financial anxiety. There are so many stresses weighing on our shoulders. But sometimes these kinds of anxieties and burdens can either make me heavier or, on the contrary, make me lighter. Your worries about your parents may be alleviated by contacting them one more time and revisiting them. You can release your fears about your children and entrust them to God. We need to pray for them, bless them, and discover the gifts and grace that God has granted to them as children. And we support them. Economic anxiety and stress are complex topics for me, too. I just try to pray and leave it to God, and not get caught up in the stress. And when we stumble over financial difficulties, God places Christians right beside us. The Creator tells us to do God’s work through us, to help people, and to protect the world. Because we are all God’s people, we must participate in this ministry and can accomplish it.
We need to stay away from finger-pointing and malicious talk. This was an act of mockery and contempt culturally at the time. Malicious talk includes insulting and slandering the other person. So other scriptures interpret this passage as speaking wickedness or speaking vanity. Ultimately, this passage emphasizes the importance of refraining from speaking negatively about one’s neighbors.
Second, the person who pleases God is the one who empathizes with and helps the hungry and the suffering. This is verse 10. “if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Verse 10 emphasizes the importance of practicing love toward our neighbors. It encourages you to dedicate yourself to those in need. It is an invitation to use my time, my wealth, and my talents for them. The mysterious point is verse 7, which emphasizes, “to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.” However, verse 10 further emphasizes this point by saying, “spend ourselves.” I understand this verse to mean, “Give yourself to the hungry. Give your all.” The prophet urges us to understand them from the depths of our hearts, to understand their situation and circumstances, and to empathize with their pain. It is not only about consciously helping our neighbors in need, but also about serving them wholeheartedly. It is an invitation to care for them with even more passionate love. I am very proud of our mission committee and the youth who plan this mission.
Finally, the prophet urges us to keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day to commemorate God’s rest after He created the world. It is a day to set aside one’s own work and worldly needs temporarily. This gives us a chance to rest and refresh. So we can keep this day holy and give thanks for God’s grace. The purpose is to worship the Lord, read the Word, meditate on it, and enjoy it. Four thousand years ago, when agriculture and nomadism were the primary industries, taking one day off in a week meant losing one-seventh of production and income. Some people thought that keeping the Sabbath was a loss. Some people made their servants work continuously, even on weekends.
But the Sabbath is a time to recharge through rest and meditate on God’s work. Furthermore, the Sabbath is not only a day for solemn worship of God, but also a day for all of us to enjoy and reflect. Therefore, this day is God’s day and should be set apart as a precious one. It is necessary to rejoice in the Lord and find joy in Him. Therefore, beloved, let us all worship God acceptably with Reverence and Awe. The Lord God will shower you with exceptional grace and mercy. Amen.