“Christmas Gospel” (Romans 1:3-4, John 1:1-18; Luke 2:8-20)

Damien’s Story

Incarnation. It is the core doctrine of the Christian faith. The incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” The incarnation is the mystery of the Word made flesh. For our better understanding, we have just heard the story of the man and the birds. And here is another story. In 1863 Father Damien sailed as a missionary to Hawaii. He was horrified by the difficulty of the leprosy victims, who had been permanently banished to the island of Molokai. At that time the Hawaiian government didn’t provide proper housing or food for them. Nobody cared. Abandoned lepers perished from illness, hunger and cold. Father Damien volunteered to go there. He buried their dead. He brought them hygiene. He built churches and chapels, cleaned their water supply, improved their homes and their hospital, constructed an orphanage, and trained a choir. Not only did he help and teach them, but also Damien lived among them as their friend and companion. He touched his lepers, he embraced them, he dined with them, he cleaned and bandaged their wounds and sores. This selfless incarnational ministry continued for sixteen years, until one Sunday morning in 1885 during church worship the congregation was stunned when he began his sermon with the words ‘We lepers....” He had contracted the disease himself. He died on Molokai in 1889. In later stages of his own illness, Damien remarked, "The Lord decorated me with his own particular cross—leprosy."

God’s Story

The history of humankind is the history of redemption. God created humanity in God’s own image. It was good. It was very good. But Adam and Eve chose to rebel against the Creator because they themselves wanted to be a god. As soon as Adam sinned, the relationship with God was broken, and death came. But by His grace God continued to provide a way of salvation for His people. God made a covenant with them. God sent the Law to show the way they should live and make them holy. But they took it lightly and had turned to their own way. God sent the judges and kings. But they didn’t follow the guidelines; instead, they did what was right in their own eyes. God sent his prophets, but again they didn’t listen to them. They mocked them, persecuted them, and killed them. And finally, when the time had fully come, God sent His one and only Son to save His people, to save us from our sin and death. This is the day that God became human.

We call this the gospel. The gospel is good news, not good advice. Advice is counsel about what we must do. News is a report about what has already been done. Advice urges us to make something happen. News urges us to recognize something that has already happened and to respond to it. Suppose there is an invading army coming toward a town. What that town needs is military advisers; it needs advice – when, where and how to fight. But, if a great king has intercepted and defeated the invading army already, what does the town need then? It doesn’t need military advisers; it needs messengers, and the Greek word for messengers is angelos, angels.[1] That is why in today’s scripture the angel said to shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy! Something has been done for you to be saved!” (cf. Luke 2:10).

Jesus, True Man

The gospel, the good news is about the person Jesus Christ. In Romans 1:3-4 Paul proclaims the gospel in this way: “The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David's family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord” (NLT). First of all, he is “Jesus,” who is fully human. The name Jesus literally means “God saves.” This name was very common at that time. In Hebrew it is “Joshua.” There were many people who had the name, ‘Joshua’ or ‘Jesus.’ The name, “Jesus” refers to the fact that he is fully human. He was born as a helpless human baby. He was real, not a metaphor. He needed to be fed and changed. He felt hungry and tired. He has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). Why is it so important that Jesus is fully human? It is because it is necessary for the Savior to shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Only human who has a body of flesh and blood can be crucified and shed blood. Jesus has come to us in the flesh to die on the cross and shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. So the first gospel message that we need to believe is that Jesus has come to me as a true human and died to cleanse me from all my sins.

Christ, True God

Secondly, he is “Christ,” who is fully God. In Hebrew, “Christ” is “Messiah,” which means, “the anointed one.” In the time of Jesus all the Israelites knew that “Messiah” is the son of God. Christ is the true God. Romans 1:4 says, “He was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Then why is it so important that he is truly divine? It is because only God can be raised from the dead. In human history there is no one resurrected. Only Christ, the Son of God, the very nature of God, was raised from the dead. The resurrection is the essence of the Christian faith. 1 Cor 15:14 says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” And he continues, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (17). Our last stop is still “death.” Our destiny is the same. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep! (20). Amen! By the resurrection of Christ God demonstrated that Christ is righteous, and considers anyone who believes in his name also righteous. Romans 4:25 says, “Christ was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Justification means “to declare righteous.” No matter what we have done, no matter who we are, because of what Christ has done on our behalf, we are declared righteous. Now we have peace with God. So the second gospel message is that Christ is the Son of God and by his resurrection he has restored our relationship with God.

Our Lord!

Jesus Christ is true God and true man. But it is not enough to just intellectually agree that he is fully divine and fully human. We must receive Him as our Lord. The Bible says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). I want to end with a story of a sculptor. You might have heard before, but I think it is worth repeating: There was a sculptor once who sculpted a statue of our Lord. And people came from great distances to see it – Christ in all his strength and tenderness. They would walk all round the statue, trying to grasp its splendour, looking at it now from this angle, now from that. Yet still its grandeur eluded them. So they finally consulted the sculptor himself. He replied, “There’s only one angle from which this statue can be truly seen. You must kneel.”[2]

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[1] Timothy Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ (Viking: New York, 2016),  21-22.

[2] John Stott, The Incomparable Christ (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, 2001), Kindle Locations 4037-4041 of 4607. 

“DREAM” (Matthew 1:18-25)

“I Have a Dream Today!”

Have you ever had a dream that caused you to do something different, make a change, or go in a different direction? Today’s theme word is “DREAM.” I don’t know about you, but for me what first comes to mind when I think of the word “dream” is Dr. King and his “I Have a Dream” speech. Many of us think that probably Dr. King was very actively involved in the civil rights movement from the beginning. But actually he was not. At first, his dream was to become a good pastor like his dad and to make a happy family just like others. But then, the Montgomery Bus Boycott had begun in his community. The organizers of the boycott sought the support of the black ministers in town. At that time, King was just 26 years old and reluctant to get involved. But the organizers already decided to hold the gathering at King’s church, and at the meeting King was elected the president of the boycott committee. From that day he became the target of attacks. Almost everyday he got hate mail, obscene and threatening call. He was sacred to death. He was paralyzed by fear. One night he confessed his fear to God. Then he heard the voice of Jesus, “Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you until the end of the world.”[1] And God showed King His dream for His people. He allowed him to go up to the mountain and see the Promised Land. Since then, Dr. King began to speak God’s dream into the world through a speech without fear. He said, “I have a dream today… we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together…” He continued to speak and live God’s dream until his last day on earth.

Man’s Dream vs. God’s Dream

In today’s passage Joseph had a dream that changed his life forever. Even before he had a dream, the Bible says Joseph was a righteous man. He was a good man. Perhaps his dream might open his own carpentry shop in his hometown, Nazareth, and get married to a beautiful, godly woman, Mary, and make a happy family. But one day he found out that his fiancée was pregnant. Of course, he was shocked. He could have asked that Mary be stoned to death or punished in some publicly humiliating way. But Joseph didn’t do that. Because he was a good man, he tried his best to be compassionate as much as possible for the woman as well as to maintain his personal integrity. So Joseph resolved to divorce her quietly. That was his best in that particular situation. That is man’s best. It is to maintain our personal righteousness and at the same time minimize other’s disgrace. But God’s best is much, much better than that. God’s dream for us is beyond all understanding.

The dream that God showed to Joseph was not a mere dream. It was a divine revelation. This revelation especially tells us three things about who Jesus is. The first message was that Jesus is the Son of God. An angel of the Lord said to Joseph, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matt 1:20). The point of the virgin birth is not about Mary is a virgin, but about Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus had to be conceived from the Holy Spirit and born by his virgin mother, so that he might be the Son of God. Who is Jesus? He is the Son of God. The second message was that Jesus is a Savior. The angel said, “She (Mary) will give birth a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (21). Jesus had many roles while he was here on earth. But the most important mission and ministry of Jesus was to save his people from their sins. So when John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world for the first time, he did in this way: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Yes, we need a friend and teacher. But most of all, we need a savior who will deliver us from our sin and death. Who is Jesus? He is a Savior. The third message was that Jesus is Immanuel. The Bible says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’” (Matt 1:23). In Jesus, God is now with his people personally as their Savior. In Jesus, now we can have a personal relationship with God. Who is Jesus? He is God-with-us.

Knowing God

That is God’s dream that was revealed to Joseph. The divine revelation was given to him: Jesus is the Son of Man. He is a Savior. And he is Immanuel. What was Joseph’s response? Immediate obedience. Matthew 1:24 says, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” We can learn from Joseph a very important spiritual principle: “Revelation + Obedience = Knowing God.” We never know God unless first he reveals himself to us. Our speculation about God is meaningless. That is way the Gspel is a divine revelation from God to his people, not speculation. But revelation itself is not enough to know God. When we obey as our response to God’s revelation, only then we are able to know God experientially. In the Old Testament God has many names. The Israelites learned different God’s names one by one every time they obeyed. God revealed himself and asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham obeyed. And he knew God as Yahweh-yireh, which means “The Lord will provide” (Gen 22:14). God revealed himself, delivered his people with his mighty hands from Egypt, and let them cross the Red Sea. But on the third they began to grumble because the water was bitter. God gave Moses instructions. He obeyed. And he knew God as Yahweh-rapha, which means, “The Lord who heals” (Exo 15:26). And again the Israelites had a war against the Amalekites. Moses and his people obeyed God’s will. And they defeated the Amalekite army and knew God as Yahweh-nissi which means “The Lord is my Banner” (17:15). There is a big difference between knowing about God and knowing God. When we obey, we know God.

Cloud of Witnesses

We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses who had God’s dream and obeyed his leading. Missionary Horace Underwood was one of them. From an early age God showed Underwood His dream for all nations. Underwood sensed that he was called to be a missionary. He believed he had been called to India. So I had made certain special preparations for that field. But then he heard a voice – an inner voice, saying, “No one for Korea.”[2] He knew that was the voice of Jesus. At that time, no church seemed ready to enter Korea. Even among missionaries no one wanted to go there. They thought it was too early and too dangerous. But Underwood obeyed. So he became a pioneer missionary to Korea. He arrived on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1885. In the early years of his ministry in Korea, he wrote this prayer:

Lord, nothing is visible at this moment.

Lord, you have planted us on this barren and poor land,

where not even a single tree can grow tall enough.

It is such a miracle that we could come to this land across the wide wide Pacific Ocean.

Nothing is visible, though, in this land

on which we seem to have been dropped off by your hand.

Only stubbornly stained darkness can be seen.

Only Korean people chained with poverty and superstition can be seen.

They don't even know why they are chained, what suffering is.

They just distrust us and express anger to us as we tell them how to take away their suffering, which is not suffering to them.

The thoughts of Korean men are not visible.

The mind of this government is not visible.

We are afraid that we may not have any more opportunity to see the women

commuting on Kamas (-a cart carried by men).

And we do not see what to do.

Yet, Lord! We will obey.

We believe that you begin your work as we humbly obey,

And that the day will come when our spiritual eyes will see your work,

According to your Words,

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see..."

We believe that we will see the future of the faith of Korea.

Although we are as if standing on a desert with bare hands,

Although we are condemned to be Western devils,

We believe that the day will come when they will rejoice with tears

realizing that they are one with our spirit in Christ,

and that we all have one Kingdom and one Father in Heaven.

Although there is no church to worship you, no school to study,

Although this land is filled with doubt of suspicion, contempt, and disdain,

We believe that in the near future this land will become a land of blessing.

I am one the great numbers of beneficiaries. In fact, both Joyce and I gradated from the college that Underwood found. Now South Korea has become one of the world’s top missionary-sending countries. We may not have God’s dream or revelation in dramatic ways as Underwood or Joseph had. But all of us in this room have the same revelation of God, the same gospel: Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is a Savior. Jesus is Immanuel. Christmas is around the corner. Once again we celebrate the birth of Jesus. If Jesus is the Son of God, if Jesus is a Savior, and if Jesus is God-with-us, what would be our proper response? In what areas of life do we need to give up, take a risk, or make a change today in order to follow God’s dream for us?

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[1] Skye Jethani, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 129.

[2] Lillias H. Underwood, Underwood of Korea (Fleming H. Revell Company, 1918), Kindle Location 334 of 4578.

“Turn” (Matt 3:1-12; Numbers 14:39-45)

The First Word of the Gospel

Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent. Now we follow the lectionary schedule. Last week the theme word was “watch,” and this week’s theme word is “turn.” Have you ever thought what the first word of the gospel is? The first word of the gospel is not "love." It is not even "grace." The first word of the gospel is "repent." The first word of John the Baptist in his ministry was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt 3:2). And the first word of Jesus’ ministry was exactly the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (4:17). Repentance literally means to turn. It is to turn from our sin and turn to God. In today’s gospel lesson John the Baptist made it clear that repentance makes the path straight between the Lord and the repenting person. Repentance is like clearing a highway of holiness to and from God. It is safe to say that repentance is the first step to be right with God.

Marks of Repentance

Then, what are the essential marks of true repentance? Today’s Old Testament lesson tells us what false repentance is. Let me briefly explain the background of today’s passage. At that time the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. The twelve spies just came back and reported what they had seen. And ten of them spread a bad report. After hearing the report, all night the Israelites cried and wept aloud. And they grumbled against God and Moses, and said, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! We will fall by the sword. And our wives and children will be taken as plunder!” They committed a great sin of unbelief. Then, God said to them, “I will do to you the very things I heard you say.” And he continued, “Tomorrow, turn back and set out to the desert in the direction of the Red Sea again.” 

Mourning over Sin

After this, in today’s scripture the people of Israel repent their sin. But it is false repentance. We find at least three marks of true repentance in today’s stories. The first mark of true repentance is to mourn over sin. In Numbers 14:39 the Israelites mourned bitterly, not because of their sins, but because of the bad news that they must turn back to the desert again! So, they came to Moses and said, “We have sinned.” They said this to avoid a crisis and to flee from God’s coming wrath. In this case true repentance is to turn back and set out to the wildness as God commanded. In the Gospel lesson John the Baptist was called to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 3:11; Mark 1:4). At that time there were two groups of people who came out to him. The first group of people came out to confess their sins and to change their minds and actions. The second group of people, the Pharisees and Sadducees, came out to flee from the wrath to come, without any contrite heart. So John the Baptist said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” True repentance is to mourn over our sins and to come out to God to obey his will and even accept His punishment.

  

Death to Self 

The second mark of true repentance is self-denial. In Numbers 14 the Israelites say, “We have sinned.” They get up early the next morning, heavily armed, and say, “We will go up to the place the Lord promised.” But Moses says to them, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? Do not go up!” But verse 44 says, “Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country…” This is a typical example of false repentance, repentance without dying to self. There are many ways to experience of “dying to self.” In today’s story giving in and turning back to the desert is an experience of dying to self. In some cases we need to go to a particular person and ask for forgiveness. In some cases we need to make monetary compensation to make it right. And in many cases, God helps us to experience of dying to self by confessing our sins, especially in front of people. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another.” 

Let me ask this question, “Which is easier for you to confess your sin to God or to people?” For me, personally, confessing to God was much easier because God is always loving and forgiving and keeps the secret. But the thing is that I just kept sinning although I repented over and over. I got frustrated. Later I realized actually I didn’t confess my sins to God, but to myself and forgave myself. That is why God commands us to confess our sins to another person, image of God. True repentance must go through the experience of dying to self. During my seminary years what I learned most was how to repent. When I came to the US in 2006, I had my own plan. It was to earn a doctoral degree as soon as I can and become a pastor of a large church. Therefore, it was very important for me to get good grades. I did my best for excellent grades and was able to earn them. One day the Holy Spirit convicted me. He reminded me that I submitted the reading reports of some of the classes not in good conscience. I had just skimmed through part of the required readings but checked them off as 100% completion. I had good grades. But the Holy Spirit exposed my ambition deep in my heart. Eventually, I officially confessed my wrongdoing to my professors, some of my friends and students, and church family members. As a result, the grades of the four classes were reduced. And it became very difficult for me to pursue further study. It was painful experience, but I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that true repentance must go through the experience of dying to self. My ambition has been crucified to me.  

Bearing Fruit Worthy of Repentance 

The third mark of true repentance is to bear fruit worthy of repentance. The people of Israel said to Moses, “We have sinned.” But they didn’t obey God’s will but they insisted on their own way. They went up to the hill to fight. And the result, the fruit was verse 45. It says, “Then the Amelekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.” Hormah means destruction. The fruit of their repentance was destruction, death. Why? It is because they repented on their terms, not on God’s terms. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” When we repent led by the Spirit, inwardly we have the fruit of life and peace. And outwardly, we experience a change of action. True repentance is from the inside out. And it bears fruits worthy of repentance. According to John the Baptist, it is to share our possessions with the poor. It is to always keep our conscience and live before God. It is not to misuse power and privilege for our own good. Most importantly, true repentance bears the fruit of the Holy Spirit. So we are called to look at our lives and ask, “Am I more loving than I was one year ago?” “Am I more joyful than I was five years ago?” “Am I more peaceful than I was ten years ago?” And so on.  And further, “Am I seeing a transformation from selfishness and inward focus to loving God and loving neighbor?”

“I Am Repentant!”

On this second Sunday of Advent, God invites us to repent. Why do we need to repent? Because true repentance makes the path straight between God and us and draws us closer to our holy God. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” So I invite all of us in this room to ask the following three questions and answer to them as we prepare the way for the Lord during Advent:

What am I fearing and mourning over? My sins? Or the consequences?

How do I repent? On my terms? Or on God’s terms?

How am I bearing fruit worthy of repentance in my life?

True repentance is not a single act but an ongoing and continual attitude. Those who truly repent don’t describe repentance as a past accomplishment, saying things like, “I repented twelve years ago.” Instead, they say, “I am repentant. I live as a repentant person. I live in the spirit and attitude of repentance.” My prayer is that as we meditate on today’s scriptures and message, the Holy Spirit will convict us and lead us to true repentance, so that we may turn to God and bear fruit worthy of repentance and have life and peace that God promised us through Jesus Christ here and now. Amen. 

     Quintday

 Quintr. :00 a.m.  Wednesday, Dec 14, at                        Pastor Victor