“We Are Called”
“Thank You”
I have been looking
forward to seeing you all, and there are lots of things I want to say. But most
of all, I want to say “Thank you” for your love. Thank you for helping me move
in. Thank you for cleaning the parsonage ahead of time. Because of your help, Joyce
and I could save a lot of time and energy, and we were able to get settled
smoothly. Thank you for your cards and gifts. Thank you for stopping by to
introduce yourselves. I felt welcomed and loved. Thank you for inviting my
family to take part in the parade. It was really honorable experience. Thank
you!
Encountering God
I have
lived in Houlton about 10 days, but I have met many people so far. One of the questions
that I was asked the most was, “Why did
you come to the US?” “Why did you come to here
Houlton/Hudgdon?” And my answer was “I don’t know. I didn’t make a plan. I was called.”
By nature I am a very organized person. I am relieved when I make a plan far ahead.
But nowadays, my motto is “Pray More, Plan Less.” Let me tell you my story how I
have this motto. I was born in pastors’ family. My grandfather is a pastor. My father
is a pastor. So when I was young, I thought that I was a good Christian and had
a strong faith. But in reality, I didn’t have any personal relationship with
God. I believed in God, but I did not experience “living
God” in my daily life. I didn’t have reverence for God. I was a kind of “Just-do-it” person. I did always make a plan and proceed
it first, and see later whether it was God’s will or not.
It
was in February of the year 2000. I was in the army, and God sent me to East Timor to take
responsibility of UN Peace Keeping Forces. East
Timor was a lonely island. There was neither the
church in barrack, nor mentors. Instead, sexual temptation and debauchery were
lurking all around. God gave me an important mission to set up a Christian Club
for regular Sunday service in barrack. However, I ran away from the mission
like Jonah when God told him to go to Nineveh.
Then, I fell seriously ill with an endemic disease, ‘Dengue Fever.’ There was
no way to be properly treated because I was isolated in a remote place for
special operations. I was suffering from a high fever and red spots all over my
body. My condition got seriously worse. On that night I could not eat anything,
nor sleep. I became delirious from a high fever. Intuitively, I knew that I was
walking through the valley of death. I knelt down on a camp bed and repented my
sins before I died, and I prayed in this way: “Lord, if you save my life, I
will humbly serve you with all my heart for life.” Then, I was able to fall
asleep in peace. I woke up early in the next morning. The fever had left me,
and the red spots on my body completely disappeared. God
said to me, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with
healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from
the stall.” (Mal 4:2) Literally, I went out and leaped like a calf.
It was a turning point. I encountered God who really speaks. That changed me to live from a “Just-do-it”
life to a “Listen & obey” life.
Terah
vs. Abram
In today’s Scripture God
calls Abram to leave his country and go to the land
of Canaan.
But, we can find a very interesting fact here. There was another person who
really wanted to go to the land
of Canaan.
It was Abram’s father, Terah. Genesis 11:31
says, “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot
son of Haran,
and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set
out from Ur
of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.
But when they came to Haran,
they settled there.” Now we know both Terah and Abram tried to go to Canaan.
On the surface, there is no difference. Both of them seem to have the same
destination. Both of them seem to pursue the same purpose of life. But, the result
was different. In the end, Terah settled in Haran
and lived there until he died, but Abraham arrived in Canaan
and lived there. We don’t know exactly why Terah wanted to go to Canaan.
But we know that it was not from God. For some reason perhaps he liked the land
of Canaan.
So, he set out for the land, but in the middle of his journey he saw the land
of Haran,
and he liked it and settled there.
As for Abram, he didn’t make
any plan to go to Canaan.
But, one day God called him and said, “Leave your country… go to the land I
will show you!” He didn’t say, “Go to Canaan.”
So, when Abraham set out for the land, he didn’t know where he was going
(Heb.11:8). But, when he arrived in the land, it was Canaan,
the Promised Land. What is the crucial difference between the life of Terah and
the life of Abram? Terah chose to go to Canaan
because it seemed best in his own eyes. However, Abram went to Canaan
because God said so.
Two Questions
Today the Bible tells us
two different kinds of life style. The first group of people is always busy to make
their own plans and achieve them, but they feel something missing. But, the
second group of people seems to be rather slow, but they bear much fruit as
time goes by. Of course, all of us want to belong to the latter. Today’s
Scripture tells us how to live a rich and satisfying life that God promised. Terah
lived 205 years, and the Bible summarizes his life in one verse: “He took his family, and tried to go to Canaan, but he settled Haran and died there.” That
is all. There is nothing else. However, Abram lived 175 years. He lived a shorter
life than his father, Terah. But, the Bible tells about Abram not only here in
Genesis, but also through the entire Bible. He is still remembered as the father
of faith.
I like Pastor Eugene
Peterson’s books. Few years ago I wrote his autobiography, titled “Pastor: A
Memoir.” In the book he uses metaphor from Herman Melville’s noble, “Moby
Dick” to compare two different kinds of life style. In the story all the
sailors are laboring fiercely to hunt white whale, Moby Dick. However, there is
one man who does nothing. He doesn’t hold an oar; he doesn’t perspire; he
doesn’t shout. This man is the harpooner, quiet and poised, waiting. And then
this sentence: “To insure the greatest efficiency in the dart, the
harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness, and not out
of toil.” Before we leave this room today, let us ask ourselves the
following two questions: (1) “Am I
listening to God?” (2) “Am I obeying what He says?” Lastly, I want to close
the message by paraphrasing Eugene Peterson’s quotation into my own words: “To
insure the greatest abundance of life, we Christians must live a “listen &
obey” life, not a “just-do-it” life.” Amen.
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