Category: Sermon

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.

Mark 10:35-45, Psalm 91.9-16, and Hebrews 5.1-10

 

Experiencing and learning something new requires energy, which is very enjoyable and worthwhile. I am very curious, so I enjoy the fun of visiting new areas and learning new things. On the one hand, experiencing changes in the environment is developmental, but it can also be challenging, so some people have difficulty with this.

When I think of the disciples of Jesus, I believe their lives are dramatic. Before they met Jesus, some were fishermen. Some were disciples who loved studying the Bible. Some were construction workers, some were tax collectors, and some were zelotes. They met Jesus and had a short but impressive three-year period of learning. They followed Jesus without any convenient means of transportation, walking from place to place and sometimes taking a boat. Life with Jesus is thankful, but it is a time of physical training that is not easy.

Amidst all this, a minor incident occurs in Mark 10:37. James and John ask, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” Every time I read this verse, the thought that comes to mind is, “They are not so sense, so considerate.” However, if we read the Gospel of Mark carefully from the beginning, we may make the following guess. That means, “On the one hand, they were impatient and anxious. On the other hand, they were probably excited to see Jesus performing miracles.” This is truly an interesting part. Mark, the gospel writer, recorded the negative aspects of the disciples.

The disciples saw it. They saw Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law with fever, a man with leprosy, a paralyzed man, a dead girl, a sick woman with bleeding, a deaf and mute man, and a blind man at Bethsaida.

They saw miracles such as casting out demons, calming a storm, feeding five thousand, walking on the water, feeding four thousand, and the Transfiguration of Jesus.

They also watched Jesus argue theologically with authority with the Pharisees. Sometimes, he used parables to make things easier for his disciples to understand. And Jesus again predicted his Death. I haven’t even told you a third of what happened between Jesus and the disciples. But this alone is enough to cause a huge shock. If I could do one of those episodes or see it with my own eyes, my life as a pastor would be different. However, among the disciples who experienced and learned all of this together, James and John, mentioned relatively often in the Bible, requested that the seats immediately to the left and right of Jesus’ glorious seat be assigned to them. These people were originally wealthy fishermen. Was it because of the psychology of compensation? They proudly demand a position as the closest person to Jesus. Of course, Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking.” And the other ten disciples watching this also became angry. They are disciples who are very similar and have many shortcomings.

But let’s consider the time when this was written. Jesus died, and Christians were persecuted by the Jews and the Romans in the first century. They believed in Jesus, but the Lord was no longer with them. Now, the disciples, including Peter, are the church leaders spreading God’s word. Church leaders are encouraging them to overcome this ordeal together.

Yes. The disciples tried to do their best, but they fell into the test. Also, they did not correctly understand the test Jesus would face. They were Jesus’ collaborators, but they were also hinderers. So, why did Mark describe the shameful past of the disciples, the church leaders of the time, so realistically?

It is to convey the fact that the disciples who were with Jesus in the past also failed and fell into temptation. They were weak, had many shortcomings like us, and were greedy like ordinary people. However, the disciples who experienced the resurrection have become church leaders. They obey and submit to God’s will. That is why Mark shows the disciples the most negative but also, paradoxically, the most positive present. Therefore, it gives the strength to overcome the trials, crises, and tests that the church members faced at the time.

We can see Jesus’ request and prayer in Hebrews 5:7. “⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Jesus offers up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears. And because of his reverent submission, his request and prayer are answered by God. Through suffering, he learns obedience and becomes the source of salvation for all who obey him. Although he is the Son of God, he suffers without sin. But because of his piety, he receives answers.

There are some differences between the disciples’ and Jesus’ requests and prayers. They are piety, obedience, and service. Jesus’ request has a life of purity. He is entirely obedient to the will of God. Unlike the disciples, he does not desire to be greater than others. Instead, he has a love to serve all mankind. He even endures all kinds of insults and hardships because of that love. Therefore, God made him the source of salvation. God even calls him a high priest. He is a mediator who belongs to God and worships for people.

I hope that our prayers will soon resemble Jesus’ prayers. I hope you and I will live a life of piety, meditating on and obeying God’s will. So, I hope we will serve our neighbors with love and enjoy the joy of salvation together in our daily lives. We will enjoy God’s protection through this piety, obedience, and service, which the psalmist sings. We will experience God’s protection and salvation. Also, like Jesus, God will answer every time we ask. As Psalm 15 and 16 say, “We will call on God, and God will answer us; Creator will be with us in trouble, Savior will deliver and honor us. The Lord will satisfy us with long life and show us his salvation.”

Dear brothers and sisters, we are sometimes weak like the disciples. Our requests and prayers are often like those of James and John. However, I hope our faith and prayers grow and mature as children grow. I hope we can pray and serve like Jesus and be recognized by God. So the words of Psalm 11, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” May God bless you and allow you to live under God’s protection and grace.

Mark 10:17-31, Psalm 90:12-17, and Hebrews 4:12-16

 

Today is Thanksgiving Sunday. It is a time to think about the efforts and fruits of this year and gratitude. On the other hand, it is a precious time to meet family living apart. It has been a month since I became a Red Deerian. For the first time, I purchased winter tires and a freezer. A church member gave me a lawn mower, so I used it. Now that I have a lawn mower, I purchased and assembled an outdoor shed to store it. I could continue to buy something and enjoy the brief joy and gratitude that came from it. So, looking at this year beyond the past month, I spent this year re-entering school to change my status, starting work at church, and seeking God’s guidance, just as I always did my homework. Sometimes, I was frustrated and sometimes happy, so I now live with great gratitude.

Since last Wednesday, I have been visiting the homes of our church members with the elders. I am very grateful that this pastoral visit allowed me to better understand and pray for you. Since I have divided the pastoral district with the four elders, I plan to visit you by next month. It is a great pleasure to share my grateful story and your family’s prayer requests with you. I am very thankful I could confirm why God called us to Knox church rather than live a life of faith alone.

The story in Mark today is a very famous episode. A wealthy young man asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. He is very confident in himself. Like a student who expects praise and asks questions, he says, “I kept this commandment well, and I did well that teaching.” Looking at him, Jesus begins speaking in verse 21 by saying that he loves him. “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Of course, Mark didn’t record how he became rich. However, in the story in Luke 18, parallel to this content, we can see that “he was a ruler, and he was very wealthy.” What kind of person would a rich official be under colonial rule? Looking at the experience of Korea, which had a similar colonial experience, it is highly likely that they worked faithfully for the interests of the ruling country. And there is a high possibility that he was harsh towards his compatriots. The Bible specifically pointed out and recorded a Tex collector among these people. But the question was what he valued most within him. He probably valued wealth more than eternal life. In the eyes of Jesus, the most critical value in a rich man’s life was to increase his wealth, so he sold all of it, shared it with the poor, and ordered him to overcome that greed. These words were not what Jesus commanded everyone he met. Of course, there were times when He called His disciples who were fishermen and told them to give up their jobs and follow Him to become His disciples. However, there has never been an extreme order to sell everything, as in the case of this rich man. Why did Jesus do so? The answer is in verse 21: “Because Jesus loved him.” Jesus knew that man had to go beyond materialism to possess the treasure in heaven that lies beyond it. Jesus wanted the rich man’s entire life to change. He asked him to look beyond keeping the law and commandments to the values ​​that God wants. Jesus wanted him to worship God before money. Jesus asked him to love his neighbor before money. Money is a tool. Money is a tool. Jesus tells the rich man to use his money to serve his neighbors with love.

We love Christ. We know how to possess eternal life. We see the kingdom of God. We know that happiness and gratitude through material things do not last long. The duration of happiness, joy, unhappiness, and sadness varies depending on psychologists’ analysis, but Harvard University professor Daniel Gilbert estimates it to be around three months. Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell published the Hedonic treadmill theory long ago and determined that the period could last up to 6 months. There are big and small events for which we are grateful daily. What is important is our lives that do not lose sight of that gratitude. And it’s about continually remembering what’s most important.

I hope that we will not be the rich who lost Jesus because of the wealth they had, but we will be those who hold on to Jesus the Great High Priest. So, as in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

A life of walking with the Lord is beautiful as we ask the Lord for the grace to help us in our time of need. So, the way they seek the Lord’s grace and help is very religious. Like the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90, “¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. ¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.”

May all your days be filled with joy and gratitude because of the Lord’s unfailing love. I hope that through God’s wisdom, you will see great graces that the rich man could not see and live in the glory of the Lord.

Grace beyond materialism. Yes, that’s right. We are Christians. Amen.

Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

 

I attended two workshops, two pastoral dialogues, and two or three meetings in Red Deer over the past week. The church members and I met with the General Assembly Moderator to examine the modern church’s anxieties, concerns, and crisis factors and seek new alternatives through the comfort and encouragement Jesus gave to his disciples. In addition, we participated with church members in a contemporary mission research course hosted by the Center for Missional Leadership in Vancouver. We had a time of sharing and transforming thoughts related to our local mission.

I also met with local Lutheran and Anglican pastors and enjoyed understanding and fellowship about the local churches. I also met Korean Canadian pastors who immigrated from Korea but did other jobs due to language barriers and financial circumstances. When I think back on the past, like the disciples of Jesus Christ, I have had times of fear and anxiety. On the one hand, seeing our church members confidently talking about the appointment of a new pastor as a solution made me resolve to do better.

In preparing my sermon according to the Weekly Lectionary Readings, I was interested in the following three words: blameless, glory, and holy. “Blameless” appears five times in today’s Job and Psalm. Why did the author of the Bible want to emphasize this “blameless” so much? It is challenging for us to maintain integrity when we sometimes stumble and experience hardships in the world.

What kind of person is Job? The Bible describes him in chapter 1, verse 1: “In the land of Uz, there lived a man named Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” I hope that in the distant future, you and I will be judged by someone like verse 1: The man was blameless. The woman was a Christian and upright. They feared God and shunned evil. What an amazing expression! If we summarize the Christian faith as fearing God and loving one’s neighbor, Job was blameless before God and upright in human relationships. The author wrote it in Hebrew as “Tam.” Significantly, this word was also used to describe the character of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. Some Bible versions translate it as “perfect,” but “blameless” is more appropriate. And I hope we, too, will be blameless before God and the world. I also know very well that this is very challenging. Because we are not perfect. The more I serve in ministry, the more I feel my shortcomings. Of course, some seminarians say that I look brave. They praise me for taking on challenges without hesitation. However, because I know my shortcomings, I must ask God’s help daily. So, when I sit down at my desk, I look at the pictures I took of you, and I pray and ask God to help me and you.

Secondly, I hope you and I can share in the glory and holiness of Christ. Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus Christ: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” The words of chapter 2, verses 10 and 11 are even more precious. “10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.”

Dear brothers and sisters, God sent you and me here and led us to Knox Presbyterian church. Here, we will live with the words of Christ. Sometimes, we will experience things similar to what Jesus Christ did. We can receive various gifts, such as the miracle of five loaves and two fish, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the miracle of healing. We will also create a beautiful community by sharing the love we have received. And God, who sanctified us, called us all into family.

Sometimes we are weak. Economic hardship, few believers, and aging make us too challenged. But, beloved, God sanctifies us. He makes us partakers of the glory of Jesus Christ. He calls us into one family in faith. What more extraordinary grace, what deeper and broader love is there? What can you fear when you have the love of Jesus Christ, who gave his life for you? That love wins. We have to spread that love to the world. You can share it with family, your neighbors, and friends.

Now, let’s reveal our holiness. Let us declare the light of glory. So, let us share and practice the love story of Jesus Christ to our neighbors so that the name of the Lord may fill the whole earth and the heavens with the glory of the Lord. Let us arise with the love of Jesus Christ. That’s sufficient.

Amen.

Matthew 5:1-11, 17-18, Psalm 124, and Romans 13:8-10

When I think about residential schools, I ask myself: “What can change people?” How can good intentions and plans lead to different outcomes? When the Canadian Church operated the Residential School, my home country was colonized by Japan. At that time, Canadian missionaries who came to Korea supported Korea’s independence. They respected Korean culture and helped prevent the Korean language from being lost through Korean churches. And this became an essential foundation for preserving Korean culture through the Korean language and creating today’s Korean songs and movies. So, I feel that there was a huge difference between the domestic and overseas missionary policies decided through the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the same era.

So, I feel a sense of regret as we approach the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. At the same time, I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow believers who honestly admit and confess their mistakes because admitting errors takes a lot of courage. The truth is uncomfortable sometimes. And what about forgiveness? There are times when forgiveness in personal relationships is not easy. In my case, I feel that it is harder to forgive someone or confess a mistake now than when I was in elementary school. We can also see how difficult forgiveness and reconciliation between one group and another group, country, or people are through various wars and conflicts, including Israel.

Nevertheless, today, we confess our past wrongs and tell the truth. Our Presbyterian Church operated 11 residential schools across Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario until 1925, when some churches split into the United Church. Since then, we have operated only two schools in Manitoba and Ontario. Our mistakes have caused great pain to our First Nations friends. Even though our apologies are insufficient, we pray that God will comfort the hearts of our friends in the Indigenous community.

So today, Jesus’ sermon in Matthew sounds like a prayer to me. We pray for those who have lost family and friends because of the residential school system. We also acknowledge our mistakes in standardizing them by our standards. We hope today’s scripture will comfort our First Nations friends who are still suffering because of this.

I tried to interpret today’s message as Jesus’ prayer. and we pray for them. ”Heavenly Father, we are the poor in spirit. Our Indigenous friends still mourn. They are meek. They seek your righteousness. Almighty God, let us be pure in heart. We hope to be peacemakers. We pray for them. They can get a kingdom of heaven. They are comforted. They can inherit their earth. They can experience and enjoy the justice of God. They could see God.”

We also pray for the Christians and their descendants who participated in this work with good intentions but suffered from unfortunate consequences. Heavenly Father, we are the poor in spirit, too. We are waiting for your mercy and the mercy of our Indigenous friends. We hope to be pure in heart. May we live as peacemaker.

As David sang like this, we have escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Since the Lord has been on our side, we can free ourselves from anger, sin, and past wrongdoing. So we can live today and dream of a new future together with First Nations.

As the Red Deer River crosses the Saskatchewan border, it flows into the South Saskatchewan River, which becomes part of the Hudson Bay Watershed. The river joins other rivers in the middle, passes through Lake Winnipeg, and heads towards the Atlantic Ocean. It is a very long and arduous road. But rivers dream of the sea. Just as the river finally meets the sea, at the end of the road to reconciliation, we will experience the gift of peace from God. The sea we meet at that time will be in a completely new state than before, symbolizing a new era.

To love and embrace is to fulfill the Law, Paul said. “Whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.” I recognize that the decisions of my respected predecessors in the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the choices and actions we all make today can have consequences that we cannot imagine as time passes. That is why I believe the apology confessed and adopted at the General Assembly this year will be a significant milestone. So now, I invite you to read the apology accepted by the PCC and express your sincere feelings together.