Tag: Rev. Jaebok Gu

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.

Mark 9:30-37, Psalm 1:1-6, and James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

If we could know what would happen in a month, a year, or 10 years as we live, our lives would be very different. But we know that this is impossible. On the other hand, you may have already known two months ago that you and I would be here now. But we couldn’t have predicted this three months ago, a year ago, ten years ago.

None of us can predict the future, but we live in a world without these abilities. Even though we may not have the gift of prophecy, we do know God’s way of living. I hope to share two of those secrets with you today.

Today’s psalm is about blessed people. They do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. They also meditate upon His Law, day and night. The Lord watches over the way of the righteous. Blessed are those who know and meditate on the law of Jehovah, who walk in Jehovah’s ways and do Jehovah’s will. You and I are blessed because we know God and the gospel. What is Jehovah’s will and teachings? It is a simple and straightforward command to love God and love one’s neighbors.

We love God. And God loves us very much. We love our neighbors. We worry about the homeless. We feel sorry for them. When I come to church during the week, our members often come to church. And they tell me this story of Red Deer and other stories. Then, I think, “Our members love Red Deer and are doing a good job of fulfilling the trust God has given us as stewards of this area.” That’s right. God has a will and plan for us to live in Red Deer. It means cultivating and preserving this area according to God’s will. However, it is not easy to solve any of the problems I mentioned, such as homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction.

However, last week, I continued to meditate on God’s perspective. In today’s Word, God gave me this heart in Jesus: to serve our neighbors and the world with wisdom and humility.

Today’s verse from James 3:13 expresses this well. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

The humility that comes from wisdom. And the service of love through this enriches our lives. It further makes the world beautiful. Giving them money directly and putting my heart at ease is not simply a good deed. Instead, it is to create a wiser plan. The problems of poverty, drugs, and homelessness are not just Red Deer’s problems. In particular, the problems of Indigenous families and refugees are also issues in Canada and around the world. Fortunately, in this unfortunate time, the government and all related organizations are seeking cooperation. And we pray and support materially for them. We do our work, politicians do policy work, and police, firefighters, and medical staff do their jobs responsibly. Of course, it is difficult for us to achieve positive results quickly.

What struck me when I studied Canadian society was First Nations life expectancy. Between 2015 and 2021, the life expectancy dropped a shocking seven years for First Nations men and women living in Alberta due in part to drug poisoning deaths.

In 2015, the average life expectancy for a First Nation man was 67 – today, that has dropped to 60. For First Nations women, it’s gone from 73 in 2015 to 66 years in 2021. The life expectancy of a non-First Nations man is 79. For non-First Nations women, it is 84. According to data from First Nation’s health statistics from the Alberta First Nations Information Governance Centre, the rate of opioid poisoning deaths is seven times higher for First Nations people compared to non-First Nations people.

Dear brothers and sisters in faith, we are all peacemakers. We must plant and create peace in the face of the pain and issues of society. James 18 says, “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” As this verse says, we must plant peace and harvest righteousness in every corner of this land. This righteousness is the righteousness of God. We need to look at them as God looks at Indigenous people. When we look at the homeless through God’s eyes, we can plant peace in this land. And I believe that we will reap the fruits of righteousness.

Finally, we can see that this service is revealed more clearly through Jesus’ teachings. As told in Mark 9:37, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

We are optimistic about the world and welcome our needy neighbors. But we will welcome and embrace them wisely. In the church I served in the past, church members served meals to the homeless twice a week. Because it was a church in metro Seoul, the homeless often came to the office during the week. It was heartbreaking just to let them go. So ministers gave them a dollar or two. However, the problem was that they went to other churches to collect money and drank a lot, and the situation worsened. Some drunk people even committed violence in the church. Therefore, wise service is needed. We also need to delegate this role to those who are more professional than us. And there is a role that our church can play in unity with the entire denomination. And just by welcoming and smiling at a young child around my house and yours, the kingdom of God begins in our lives today. Also, as we all serve the Disadvantaged People with wisdom and humility, as Jesus Christ said, we will all accept Jesus and the God who sent him.

I hope we will all receive God and experience the joy of heaven through loving service during the week ahead.