Category: Sermon

Exodus 32:7-14, Psalm 51:1-10, and Luke 15:1-10

 

When we read the Bible, we often ask ourselves: Are the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament the same? Why is that? The reason is that when reading the Old Testament, it is easy to get the impression of a fiercely angry God. Conversely, when reading the New Testament, it is easy to picture the God we imagine through the Gospels as a very merciful face. At the same time, we can imagine God’s face through charming metaphors, like Solomon’s Song of Songs in the Old Testament.

God reveals His own face to us through various ministries. He is with us sometimes as a friendly father, sometimes as a loving mother, sometimes as a friend, and sometimes as a fearful judge. We can see this again in Exodus today. God, who loved the people of Israel so much, saved them from slavery in Egypt. He led Israel out of Egypt through numerous miracles. But the journey into Canaan is not simple. It’s only about 500 kilometers, roughly the distance from Red Deer to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is a distance that can be easily reached in two weeks by walking 10 hours a day. But God made Israel walk and walk and walk this distance for 40 years.

Babies and children make mistakes several times a day. Israel often forgot the existence of God. They envied the lives of the people wherever they went. They also admired the local gods. At this time, God became terribly angry. Verse 10 expresses this well. “Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” That’s a terrifying expression. Moses pleaded with God: “Please relent. The nations will say that you saved Israel with evil intentions and plans.” He desperately tried to persuade God. However, God, hearing this, says that he will not become angry right away. He quickly calmed down. Isn’t it amazing?

As I raise my children, I often realize that I have a lot of anger inside me. Psychologists say that children are children and need psychological independence and distance from their parents. However, when this distance is very close, parents often interfere with their children without any boundaries. So, people who are so kind to others can be very strict with their children. What is needed at this time, as we all know, is to support children to develop self-esteem and independence. It is to help them so that they can harness the power of faith, manage their emotions effectively, and acquire the wisdom to overcome difficulties.

Dear friends, as we all know, when the Book of Exodus was written, Israelite society was different from modern society. At that time, many people thought of God as simply the god of the Hebrew people. They thought he was just one of many gods. But Almighty God shatters their thoughts. We can see the image of God, who transcends the God of one nation and encompasses all of humanity, in the Gospel of Luke today.

Several of the parables found in Luke 15 through 17:10 are unique to the Gospel of Luke. There is no record in Matthew or Mark, which share a common account. Through these parables, we can identify the problems of the religious leaders, the Pharisees, while also gaining insight into God’s character. Through the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son, the shrewd steward, we can see that God cares for and loves every one of His lost people.

It is a society of laws where if you meet a sinner, you become a sinner, and if you touch something unclean, you are separated from the community. Yet, right in the midst of that society, sinners come to Jesus, as in Luke. No, to be exact, Jesus visits an area that is considered a neighborhood of sinners. He preaches the gospel to them and transforms their lives. However, the Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus’ ministry. Maybe they are just thirsty for recognition. Please look at us first, for we have kept the law so well. Please praise us. The Pharisees of that time believed that God hated sinners, so a righteous person should not associate with sinners. Based on this perception, they thoroughly avoided sinners. Just as the word “Pharisee” itself means “separated one,” they criticized and rejected Jesus for associating with tax collectors and sinners. But through these three parables, Jesus explains the joy of God when lost sinners are restored. It describes the heart of a shepherd who goes out to find even one lost sheep out of a hundred. It is testified that Jesus came to desperately seek every sinner, just as a master desperately searches for his one and only sheep. Jesus said that he experiences greater joy when one sinner repents than when 99 righteous people repent.

Here we encounter another face of God. In this story, we do not find a God of terrible wrath. We can only think of God with a merciful and loving expression. We can understand God’s longing heart as He seeks out the people of the world, beyond Israel. Until now, God has sent the law and prophets to this earth. So, through them, God’s will and plan were conveyed. It was God’s guidance through agents. But from now on, He will send Jesus Christ directly. Through Jesus, who is God himself, God helps humans better understand God’s heart. God shows us through Jesus what the gospel is and what God’s great and deep love is like. He willingly met the poor and sinners. He went to seek out the marginalized of this land, those who had lost their names and their language. For those who feel abandoned by society, Jesus remains a source of hope today. What face of God can we see here? We can picture them being saved, restored, and coming back to God. We can imagine the joyful faces of parents who find their lost children again.

Beloved, God’s bright face looks upon all the peoples of the world. I hope you live this week in joy. May you be blessed to be with Jesus, who comes to you every day with incredible grace and hope prepared for you. Amen.

Deuteronomy 30:14-20, Psalm 1, and Luke 14:25-33

 

Are there any challenges in living as a Christian in Red Deer? I asked myself. What does it mean to be Christian in Iran or North Korea? Twenty years ago, I went to northeastern China on a college graduation trip. I attended church service on Sunday, and there were a lot of people there. But for some reason, the people gathered there seemed very stiff. At that time, the tour guide explained that the central government was monitoring everything from excessive emotional expressions to attendance at worship services. I also heard that civil servants or workers at state-owned enterprises who attend religious services are at a disadvantage when it comes to promotions. I felt that they seemed very formal, but I could tell that the people who participated in the service had given up their own interests, such as promotion and wealth, to come to the service.

Another example was a church that held worship services in a home near the Chinese-North Korean border the following week. House churches were not allowed to praise or pray out loud when surveillance was very tight, but at the time, relations between South Korea, North Korea, and China were not bad. That’s why I remember gathering in a building without a cross, singing and praying fervently while doing motions. These worship services were called underground churches, and the Chinese government banned them, so if discovered, church members were imprisoned.

In North Korea, there are state-run churches and underground churches that meet secretly. However, if a Christian secretly reads the Bible or holds a meeting in North Korea, not only the Christian but also their family and acquaintances will be imprisoned. Believers are subjected to unimaginably brutal punishments, including execution, if they are perceived as a threat to the North Korean regime.

The reason I bring up such a severe case at the beginning of my sermon is that today’s Gospel reading is very solemn. We may think of our religious life and church as very natural, like air. Freedom of religion is a given for us. The life of faith can sometimes be burdensome because of service. But thinking about God, praying to Him, and relying on Him provides us ample freedom and comfort. Becoming a disciple of Jesus, following him, and dreaming of his kingdom excites us. It is deeply moving to be with Jesus and witness his miracles and to become a part of them. However, the path to becoming a disciple is not as simple as it sounds. It requires a great deal of determination from us because the cost is very high. Jesus says: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus greatly increases the requirements for discipleship. It’s not easy for us to understand. However, to understand this passage, we need to read the parallel passage in Matthew 10:37: “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” In other words, if you love and value your father or mother more than Jesus, or if you value your children more than Jesus, then you are not fit to be a disciple. But at that time, when expressing love less, the word was used in an emphasized way as hate. In other words, the words of Jesus recorded by Luke can be interpreted as follows. “If anyone comes to me and does not love your family less, such a person cannot be my disciple. You must love me the most.”

My parents love me very much. I also love my parents in Korea very much. Although they didn’t attend college, they supported me throughout my studies, and they still pray for my family every morning. But I love God more than my parents. I love Jesus more. There are times when I miss my parents very much and feel sorry. But I believe the ministry at Knox is what God wants. I think that God sent us and brought us together. And I look forward to God’s good plans for the future. Of course, I am tens of thousands of kilometers away from my hometown, but I am not giving up anything significant or being persecuted. On the contrary, I am enjoying many benefits here. But there are still many people around the world who are suffering from religious persecution. According to Opendoor Canada’s world watch list, more than 380 million Christ-followers face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Jesus. Every year, in more than 50 countries, Christians lose their jobs and face various threats. Even more than 4,000 people lose their lives. However, some believers live a more pure and passionate life of faith in places where persecution and hardship prevail. Some people shine like gold being refined to make pure gold.

Ironically, as religious freedom advances and economic prosperity increases, we often face a greater crisis of faith. There is a country where most denominations of the world’s Christian churches send missionaries, and the number of believers increases significantly in a short period of time. Among them, Korea is a very representative example. Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Lutheran, and other denominations sent missionaries from all over the world and distributed relief supplies through their churches. When the economy was tough and people were poor, many people worked 16 hours a day. It happened 50 years ago. By today’s standards, this is severe labor exploitation and illegal labor. But they went to church at dawn to pray, even if it meant cutting down on their sleep time. And most of the people who blessed and encouraged them were conservative pastors, including Rev. David Cho. Progressive pastors worked to change their working conditions and treatment. In this way, numerous churches were created, and the wealth of the country and families increased considerably. But now in Korea, the church is no longer growing. The emphasis on good colleges, success, and wealth has led to children no longer attending church.

Dear friends, that’s why I want to share this message with you today. “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” Let us love Jehovah more. Let us all become disciples of Jesus Christ and enjoy God’s blessings and grace.

“² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. ³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither–whatever they do prospers.”

Let us follow God’s word and think of God first above everything else in the world. Let us meditate on the law of the Lord and rejoice. May God bless you with an abundance of love and grace in your time of need.

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.

Genesis 15:1-6, Psalm 33:12-22, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

 

A year ago, I had no idea I would be coming to Red Deer. Five years ago, I wasn’t sure I could minister in an English-speaking church. Ten years ago, I was doing pastoral work in Seoul. At that time, a senior recommended that I go to Canada for ministry. But I didn’t study English at all at that time. Twenty years ago, I graduated from seminary and had to join the military. I hadn’t made any concrete plans for my ministry. The reason I say this is that sometimes we can’t see what will happen one year, five years, or even decades from now. It’s difficult to even make plans two or three months ahead. However, even though we cannot see this future, God does. And even without these abilities, the Creator gives us amazing grace. So, Paul tells us that today.

He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (5) God tells Abraham that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, even though he is nearly 100 years old and has no sons. At this point, the average person would think this is a joke. But God makes all these things possible. We cannot see the future; we cannot know it. Even so, we can become the parents of faith like Abraham and Sarah. By believing in Jehovah God. What is faith? The Apostle Paul explained faith well in Hebrews verses 1 and 2. “¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.” Faith is confidence and assurance. Faith is the confidence you have when you cannot see the future. It is a strong dependence and confidence that goes beyond simple psychological trust. We saw this through Abraham. Because he believed, he was able to become the ancestor of countless descendants. By his faith, God saw him as righteous.

He stepped forward in faith, and God made him the father of faith. He went forward in faith and experienced the miracle of having a son at an old age. He stepped forward in faith, and he gained a land he never imagined possible. Hebrews 8-10 shows us this today. A specific explanation of this statement is found in Genesis 12:5-7. “⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. ⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time, the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So, he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” Abraham believed God’s word. So, he went where God told him to go. He acquired land and wealth. On the one hand, it is a very reckless action and decision. Moving to a place you don’t know is risky, both then and now. He had to take not only his family, but also his relatives, and livestock. It is common for health to be damaged and life to be lost along the way. But Abraham had a firm belief in God, and his faith became the foundation. So even his son Isaac and grandson Jacob were able to enjoy God’s blessings. This family was granted an abundance of blessings that go beyond reckless challenges and reckless faith.

The miracle that happened to Sarah was even more dramatic. She was already past childbearing age. But in Paul’s estimation, she believed in God’s faithfulness. She thought that, although she could not do it, God could. By God’s power, she could have a child. God’s power is entirely accomplished through God’s choice in grace. But through Sarah, we can see that power and miracles sometimes work according to our faith. Therefore, those who live by faith can experience miracles, just as Abraham and Sarah did.

As we all know, she didn’t believe this from the beginning. When God promised to give her Isaac, she laughed. But later she had faith. She experienced the tremendous power of God. She grew to the point where she trusted in the power of Almighty God.

But like Abraham and Sarah, we can see that while it is essential to live by faith, it is also vital to die by faith. In verses 13-16, the author describes the exemplary faith of the patriarchs who lived as strangers on this land, longing for their heavenly homeland. So, it briefly but uniquely expresses how the heroes of faith lived and died. They all lived ‘by faith’ and died ‘according to faith.’ Not only their lives, but even their deaths are all connected to faith.

Their status was simply that of strangers, foreigners. The Greek word for this, ‘ksenoi’, means ‘stranger’ or ‘enemy’. In ancient societies, strangers were enemies to the established group because they were not close to the group. So, they did not receive the due protection of the law. In Sparta, Greece, they were treated like barbarians and were shown to different seats in restaurants. In this way, they were not fully guaranteed the freedoms and rights enjoyed by citizens. But as the Rocky Mountains and the Red Deer River around us know, we are only passing through this land for a moment. We will have a fruitful pilgrimage here and go to our eternal home. Let us move forward together toward the final destination of faith. And its beginning is faith, and its destination is God’s eternal embrace. I hope that this week, too, we will advance one step at a time toward the city of God in heaven. Amen.

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 and Psalm 49:1-12, and Colossians 3:1-11

 

Last Thursday, I officiated at the funeral of Will Kruithof, a longtime member of our church. I remember officiating about 30 funerals a year in Korea. But this was my first time in Canada, so I visited Red Deer Cemetery the day before. Looking at the many tombstones on Michener Hill, I thought about life. A person’s life is like a library and a long journey. Today, the author of Ecclesiastes speaks of the meaninglessness of life. At the same time, he invites us to find a core message that transcends that emptiness.

It is generally agreed that King Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes. He expresses that everything that can be done is meaningless. He had great wealth and power, but something was missing. The author lived his life striving to gain something more. He feels a kind of unquenchable thirst, and he invites us to look beyond the meaningless beneath the sun and revere the eternal God above the sun.

The Bible introduces us to the various types of this vain and meaningless life through three characters. The first is through Job, who suffered countless adversities for unknown reasons. He complains of the injustice he faces and expresses that his life is in vain. Secondly, when David was king, he committed a great sin. He lost his child as a punishment for his sins. He also lost his honor and fame. At that time, he confesses. “When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth; surely everyone is but a breath(Psalm 39:11). We can confirm the repeated confession of Solomon, David’s son. He said, “When I became a king, I enjoyed many things, but I was not satisfied. So, I studied various knowledge and wisdom, but still failed to find the right answer that cuts through the futility.”

In modern society, this is sometimes called Success Plateau syndrome. The Plateau Syndrome, which means ‘flat land on a plateau’, implies that while individuals or groups climb to that plateau, they have a goal and overcome any difficulties to achieve what they want. Still, after achieving what they wish to, they face a crisis. That is, when some people have a clear goal, they work hard toward it, whether it is something they truly want or not, but once they achieve that goal, they don’t know what to do next. Since they only knew how to climb, they were confused when they reached the high plains. This often happens when they don’t anticipate the goal and its consequences, or when it differs from their expectations.

How can we overcome this meaninglessness? Every dead person in that cemetery has their own story and history. There are probably some people who have had a lot of wealth during their lifetime. Some people are very wise. Some of them are courageous war veterans. But Solomon felt that the wisdom and knowledge he had studied faced a limit called death. Sometimes we have goals and strive to live a successful life. Even so, after that, we must meet the end of this time, which is death. At the same time, we can open the door to a new world called death. For those without faith, death will be the end. But for Christians, life is just a set amount of time on this earth. And we pass into a new and deeper world of fellowship with God. We call that place heaven.

But today, Solomon addresses how we should live before we die. Even if we try our best throughout our lives, it will be full of futility. But there is one thing that is not in vain: fellowship with God. It is walking with God and faithfully believing in the Creator. I can’t do it on my own. It is not possible with my wisdom and knowledge. Discovering this principle is the key to overcoming meaninglessness.

On this matter, the Apostle Paul presents the same opinion as Solomon. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Col 3:2). Who are we? We are Christians. Jesus bought us with his life and blood. He paid the price. We are given new life through Jesus. Because of Jesus, we are saved, and because of Him, we can hope for life after death. This allows us to meditate on actual values. He gave us this treasure of wisdom as a gift. Through this truth, we have become new people. We were baptized and became new beings. We have come to have a vision of a heavenly kingdom that transcends worldly values. He taught church members to look to Jesus Christ in the Colossae region two thousand years ago, an area rife with heresy. However, Paul’s teachings were not only valid for that time. Even in modern society, there are numerous heresies. How many things are there that take our lives away from God? What is it that blinds my eyes, covers my ears, and separates my thoughts from God?

So, Paul presents the basic principle of Christian life: to pursue the things above. He also provides specific directions and guidelines on how this principle should be reflected in real life. In 3:5-11, Paul mentions the old habits that Christians must put aside. The bottom line is this: Be renewed in the Lord and with the Lord. Become a new person. “Have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (10) When humans sin and fall, they lose the image of God.

Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, ‘The Last Supper’, tells the story of the models for Jesus and Judas Iscariot. According to legend, da Vinci spent a long time searching for a good and beautiful young man to be the model for Jesus. After that, he went out to find a model for Judas among prisoners, and it is said that he eventually found the image of Judas in a cruel prisoner awaiting execution. However, there is a rumor that these two models are the same person.

Paul gives us a goal to achieve through maturity, which is to restore the image of God, the Creator. It is to become like the image and mind of Jesus Christ. It is about trying to live like Christ. It is about living by restoring God’s holiness. I hope that we can live with the insight to realize all of this. Amen.