“Begin with the End in Mind” (Luke 12:13-21)

The Habit 2

Author and businessman Stephen Covey found that effective people had something in common. He wrote a book titled “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Among those seven habits, the habit 2 is this: “Begin with the end in mind.” In his book Covey invites us to stop and imagine our own funeral. So now imagine the people closest in your life – your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your church family members – speaking at your funeral about your life. What would you want them to say? What character would you like them to have seen in you?[1] At the end none of us really care about what we did, but who we were.

Yesterday at Mike Swallow’s funeral I shared we have lost three beloved church members in a row in two weeks. In fact, we have lost 21 church members over the past two years from Houlton and Hodgdon UMCs. Some of us may not be afraid of death. But most of us in this room are afraid of dying process – becoming a burden for our family, losing control of our movements, forgetting recent events and the names of visitors, and the list goes on. How and when we will die is unpredictable. But still we need to be prepared. How, then, do we prepare ourselves for death? In today’s passage we find one negative role model who is not prepared at all. But through this parable we learn about the important spiritual principles of how to prepare ourselves for death.

Live Each Day As If It’s Your Last Day

The first principle to die well is to live each day as if it’s our last day. The rich man in the parable fails to recognize the brevity of life. He thinks like he would live forever. He acts like he would live forever here on earth. He says to himself, “I will build bigger barns for myself. And I will have plenty of good things laid up for many years” (vv. 18-19). What does God say to him? “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (v. 20) Life is short. The Bible says, “Do not boast about tomorrow. Do not say ‘I will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, start a business, and make money.’ What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes! Instead, make it a habit to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:13-15, my paraphrase). We need to make it habit to say from our hearts, “Lord willing, I will do this or that.” We need this kind of humility, which comes from deep recognition of brevity of our life. How can we have this humility? We can cultivate this sense of humility by having a daily Quiet Time with God. In our prayer closet we hear who God is and who we are. Otherwise we can be so busy about our lives and preoccupied with our own well-being just like the rich fool in our passage.

Last week my family and I attended NEJ UMC Korean pastor’s family retreat held in Washington DC. During the second day of early morning service one pastor who was facing retirement shared his story with us. He grew up as a pastor’s kid. His dad was a small church pastor for life in Korea. When he was a teenager, he was ashamed of his father and his church. When he became a pastor, his only goal was church growth. He made every effort to grow his church. He had been so preoccupied with the church work more than 30 years. Recently, as he was praying and preparing for his retirement, then he realized what really remains. He realized what God really wanted was not for him to make the church bigger, but for him to be a better husband, a better dad, a better son, and then a better pastor. At the end not “do” goals, but “be” goals remain. How about you? If it’s your last day, how are you going to live?

Live Each Day As If It’s Your Birthday

The second principle to die well is to live each day as if it’s our birthday. Yesterday I shared as I was going through my grieving process, one of my friends and colleagues I admire recommended me Henri Nouwen’s book, Here and Now. In his book Nouwen asks the same question, “How do we prepare ourselves for death?” And his answer is this: “By living each day in the full awareness of being children of God, whose love is stronger than death.”[2] I paraphrase his words as “live each day as if it’s your birthday.” Celebrating a birthday reminds us that God’s love and life are stronger than death, God’s light is stronger than all the darkness. That is why we celebrate a birthday. God made us for one purpose: to give us love. God gave us one vocation: to give others love. 1 John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” We were born to be loved and to love. In today’s passage the rich man was already beloved child of God, but unfortunately, he failed to recognize this. He failed to spread love and blessings that he had received to others. Instead, he found his identity in material possessions and hoarded things just for himself to be secure.

Yesterday was my youngest daughter, Grace’s 1st birthday. She just started toddling. That means Joyce and I became busier chasing Grace and picking up the pieces. Anyhow Grace just started toddling. Oftentimes Joyce and I love to have a conversation about many different topics. One day we were talking about something serious. We spoke intensely, trying hard to explain ourselves to each other and to understand each other’s feelings. We were so preoccupied with our own agenda and struggles. Then, Grace was walking toward us with faltering steps and with a big smile. Suddenly everything changed. Grace became the center of attention. There were smiles, hugs, kisses, and many tender words. Grace was not a distraction, but God’s gift to remind us of what really matters in this life. We are so often tempted to hear all other voices that pull us into despair. Nouwen advises us how to overcome this. He says, “More important than ever is to be very faithful to our vocation to do well the few things we are called to do and hold on to the joy and peace they bring us.”[3] To live each day as if it’s our birthday means choosing to receive each day as God’s gift and live out as God’s beloved children. In Christ we are born anew everyday. Everyday is our birthday. Today is your birthday.

Live for Eternity

Last but not least important principle to die well is to live for eternity. What does it mean to live for eternity? The Apostle Paul expounds it in this way in Colossians 3:1-3, another lectionary passage of the week, “Set your hearts on things above… Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” How do we set our hearts on the kingdom of God? I think one of the good ways to cultivate this mindset is to regularly stop and think about the day when we give an account for ourselves before the Lord. In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren gives us a vivid image of the day for settling the account. On that day God is going to ask us at least these two questions: “What have you done with my Son Jesus Christ?” and “What did you do with what I gave you?” What would be your answer? Are you ready to answer?

During my family vacation Joyce and I had a chance to attend worship service at one of my mentors’ church. His wife is a professional painter. She took us on a brief tour of her studio. All of her paintings were so inspirational. There was one particular masterpiece that stayed in me up to this day. The title of this painting is “Urgency of it.” In this hourglass there is Jesus in the upper part, the earth in the lower part. You see the time is running out. The day is coming. There is urgency about preparing for our death because our times are in God’s hands. Today may be the day. Tomorrow may be the day. We don’t know. But what we know is here and now is the time to prepare ourselves for death. For me personally, I often think about the day of settling the account. When I get to heaven, when I meet my God, I have one thing I really want to hear from him: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” That would be enough for me. That would wipe all my tears from my eyes and repay all the toils of life. My prayer is that all of us in this room will be well prepared and hear the same words of affirmation. Let us be faithful. Let us keep going. Let us keep serving one another. Let us keep loving one another. And let us be joyful. The Lord is near. Amen.

“Live and Let Live” (Ruth 4:13-22) - Book of Ruth III -

Why Genealogy?

Have you traced your ancestry and built a family tree? It does help us understand who we are and where we are coming from. Let me briefly share my family history with you. My grandparents on my father’s side were farmers. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to see them because both of them passed away early. My grandparents on my mother’s side were North Korean defectors. Particularly, my grandfather crossed the river by swimming to preserve his life before the Korean civil war broke out. Because of severe difficulties in his life he was considering committing suicide. But at the very moment, one of his friends invited him to early morning service. So he went there; nothing happened. He tried one more time. On the second day he dramatically encountered Christ during communal prayer time and got saved. By the grace of God, then he was called to ministry a few years later. He led all his children and other family members to Christ. My uncle and my father were deeply influenced by my grandfather, and they also became pastors. This is a brief version of my family history. The book of Ruth concludes with a genealogy. We may wonder why it’s there. The family line of Perez looks much like appendix. But in fact, this genealogy is the core of the book. It is no exaggeration to say that the book of Ruth is written in order to tells us this genealogy. We will explore what is in this genealogy and why it is so important to us today.

The Great Invitation from God

First of all, the genealogy of Boaz is the great invitation from God. It clearly shows God’s saving work through the centuries. And it shows that God is active in each generation and throughout generations. Without this genealogy, on the surface it looks like Ruth found Boaz. Without this genealogy, it looks like we found Christ. But this genealogy shows us it is not “we” found God, but “God” was at work in advance, and he found us and invited each of us to be part of his redemptive history. Naomi had two daughters-in-law – Ruth and Orpah. Ruth said “Yes” to this great invitation from God; Orpah said “No.” There were two kinsman-redeemers for the family of Elimelech. Boaz said “Yes”; the other man backed out and said “No, I can’t.” 

The Great Invitation for You

This invitation is not jus for the chosen ones, Ruth and Boaz. It is for everyone. It is for you and me. If you take a closer look at the genealogy, you will find why I am saying this. In Ruth 4:12 the elders in town said “May your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” Who was Tamar? Tamar was not a godly woman. Her husband died early, and she became a widow. But Judah, her father-in-law, didn’t want to give his another son Shelah to her. So she disguised herself as a prostitute and lied with Judah. And she got pregnant. She gave birth to twins – Perez and Zerah (Gen 38). In the genealogy we also see the name of Boaz’s father, Salmon. According to the genealogy in Mathew 1 Salmon got married to Rahab. Matthew 1:5 says, “Salmon, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab…” Joshua 2:1 says that Rahab was a prostitute. Boaz’s mother was a prostitute. And we know David committed adultery with Bathsheba. Between them, they had a son, whose name was Solomon (2 Sam 12:24). This is the genealogy of David. This is the genealogy of Jesus. Before we come to Christ, how pure I am, how moral I am, how righteous I am, how godly I am… it doesn’t matter. Sinner, adulterer, prostitute, tax collector, gentile… it doesn’t matter. All are invited. What matters to God most is whether we accept his great invitation or not. What matters to God is whether we come to Jesus Christ, the true light, by faith. When we come just as we are, God counts our act of faith in Jesus as righteous (cf. Gen 15:6). Our sin is imputed to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to us (2 Cor 5:21). God invites everyone to his banquet. He invites you and me. Come! Drink! Eat! Live!

Be Committed

So do you hear God’s great invitation for you today? It is our choice to accept it or not. But if we choose to say “yes” to his invitation, it requires commitment. Yes means commitment. For Naomi, yes means to turn away from her old life and come back to God and God’s community. It was a painful and even shameful experience for her to come back to her hometown Bethlehem. It was not a good move. She didn’t return with glory. She had hit rock bottom. And now she had to share her pain with others. She had to wait and fully put her trust in God. For Ruth, yes means to leave behind her gods, her people, her customs, in order to follow Naomi’s God and her community. For Boaz, yes means to be willing to endure serious financial losses as a kinsman-redeemer.

Yes, there is a cost to accept God’s invitation, but the reward is beyond compare. In Romans 8:18 Paul says, “Yet what we suffer now (for Christ) is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later” (NLT). The book of Ruth tells us what makes our lives count for God. It is to reproduce, give lives, save lives. Probably the people in the genealogy did many different things during their lifetime, but each of their lives sums up in one sentence: one begot another… Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David. We are born to reproduce. We may have different jobs, different gifts, and different personalities. But we all have the same purpose of life: We are born to reproduce. As an individual and as a church, we are born to reproduce our spiritual children: Are we reproducing? Or are we spiritually barren? Are we giving and saving lives? If so, who are they? Where are they? Are they growing? Are they reproducing? As a Christian and as a pastor, I seriously ask those questions to myself. By God’s grace and with your support, my family and I will have a two-week vacation from tomorrow. During that time, I will set aside time to pray about this and plan for the upcoming year. So please pray me and my family.

One at a Time

We can be easily overwhelmed by challenging issues and situations we face in today’s world. Yes, it is challenging to be committed and reproduce in this age of evil. But for me personally, I am greatly encouraged by Mother Teresa’s example. Once she became well-known, many people contacted her and wanted to join her. But Teresa said to them, “You don’t need to come to Calcutta at all to discover Jesus in the poorest of the poor. The poor are right there where you are, very often in your own families. Look for them, find them, and put your love for Jesus into a living action for them.” And to those who were saying what we do makes no difference, she said, “Yes, it is true. What we do is only a drop in the ocean. But without our work the ocean would be poorer by that drop.”[1] Saving lives are not necessarily big things. Maybe in our own family or our church we have somebody who is feeling lonely, isolated, excluded, worried, or sick. Saving lives can just be there with them, listen to them, pray with them, and support them as we can in Jesus’ name.

As I close, I want to share the starfish story with you. You may have heard this story before, but it is still worth being reminded again. A young man was walking along the ocean and saw thousands and thousands of starfish on the seashore after the storm. Further along he saw an old man, walking slowly and stooping often, picking up one starfish after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean. The young man asked, “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” The old man said, “Because the sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don’t throw them further in they will die.” “But, old man, don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it! You can’t possibly save them all. In fact, even if you work all day, your efforts won’t make any difference at all.” The old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and threw it into the sea and said, “It made a difference to that one.”[2] One starfish at a time.

The story of Ruth points forward to David. David points forward to Jesus. The life of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz are all connected to part of God’s redemptive history, eternity, something so much bigger than themselves. When we faithfully follow God, our lives always mean more than we think they do. Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is all connected to part of God’s wonderful saving work. So let us accept God’s great invitation. Let us say yes and be committed. Let us pick up one person and love that person today in Jesus’ name. One person at a time. Amen.

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[1] They are drawn from the book, Mother Teresa of Calcutta by Leo Maasburg (Ignatius Press, 2011), and also available from http://www.totustuus.com/Words%20of%20Wisdom%20from%20Mother%20Teresa%20of%20Calcutta.pdf

[2] There are various versions of this story. One of the versions is from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley http://www.esc16.net/users/0020/FACES/Starfish%20Story.pdf

“Jesus Our Kinsman-Redeemer” (Ruth 2:17-23) - Book of Ruth II -

How God Sees Us

Yesterday was my mother’s birthday. When I think about my mother’s love, it is the closest thing to God’s agape love. When I was between 9 and 11 years old, I was addicted to video games. I even stole the money from my parents and told lies in order to play games. One day some of my classmates’ mothers visited my mother. And they told her how bad I was at school. They didn’t know at that moment I was actually in my room. I overheard what they were saying about me. They said just one good thing about me, and the rest of them were all bad. But what they said was true. I couldn’t deny it. I was afraid of being scolded. So I pretended to take a nap. After a good while, I went out of my room. My mom said to me just one thing, “Son, this afternoon some of your friends’ moms were here. And they said you get along well with your friends.” And I knew she already forgave me. That changed me. That changed my heart, my attitude, and my behavior.

This is how God loves us: Over and over again God’s people, the Israelites, did turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him. God was grieving, but he constantly showed them how much he loved them by sending his prophets. Zephaniah was one of them. He said to the Israelites, “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zph 3:17). In today’s passage Ruth is not lovable woman by the standard of the world. She is a widow. Possibly, she is barren. Most of all, she is a gentile, second-class citizen, from a Jewish perspective. In the eyes of Boaz, a type of Christ, Ruth is a beloved child of God and a woman of noble character (cf. 2:11, 3:11). In Ruth 3:11 Boaz said, “My daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsman know that you are a woman of noble character.” This is how God sees us. We have hundreds of bad things in us, and perhaps we have one good thing within us. God finds that one good thing from us. And he encourages us, sustains us, and keeps us going and growing.

ds,x,(hesed), God’s Covenant Love

In today’s passage there are 3 important Hebrew words that I want to draw your special attention to: hesed, goel, and dabaq. The first word is hesed. In the Old Testament this word is one of the most precious words that describe God’s character. There is no exact English equivalent for this word. Hesed is translated as “kindness,” “mercy,” “loyalty,” “steadfast love” or “covenant love.” My personal favorite translation would be “covenant love.” God entered a covenant relationship with his people. And he voluntarily bound himself to act toward them in certain ways, and he is always faithful to his self-commitment no matter how bad and unfaithful they are. God made a covenant with Abraham and said, “I will make you into a great nation… and you will be a blessing. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3). But Abraham’s descendants were not faithful (cf. Ezekiel 20), so they were afflicted by the Egyptians. The Israelites groaned and cried out. And because of his hesed toward Israel, God remembered his covenant with Abraham and delivered them out of Egypt (Ex 2:24-25). God made a covenant with David and said, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam 7:16). But after that, David’s descendants turned back from God and followed false gods. And they were afflicted, defeated, and exiled. But because of his hesed toward his people, he spared them and brought them back from distant lands. So in Psalm 136 as the psalmist looks back the history of Israel, he gives praise to God with this beautiful phrase 26 times: “His hesed endures forever!” In today’s passage Naomi said to Ruth, “He (Boaz) has not stopped showing his hesed to the living and the dead” (v. 20) No matter who we are and no matter how unfaithful we are God’s hesed toward us endures forever!

laeGO (goel), Kinsman-Redeemer

The second word that we need to remember today is goel, translated as “kinsman-redeemer.” In Ruth 2:20 Naomi said, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” In ancient Israel if someone sold land in time of need, the redeemer, normally his nearest relative, had an obligation to buy back the land (Lev 25:25). If someone sold himself into slavery, the redeemer was to buy his freedom (25:47-55). If someone was killed, the redeemer had the duty of avenging a murder (Nu 35:19). If someone died without child, the redeemer had the duty to providing an heir (Dt 25:5-10). But we need to remember this: this family law is a moral duty. A kinsman-redeemer was under no legal obligation do to so. In the Book of Ruth there was a kinsman-redeemer nearer than Boaz. At first he was willing to buy the field. But later, he realized that he also had the duty of getting married to Ruth and raising an heir through her. Then, he would lose what he had bought. He had to give the land back to the heir. So this man said to Boaz, “I cannot do it because the cost is too high!” (4:6) Boaz was also under no obligation to do it. He didn’t have to redeem it. But because of his hesed toward Ruth, Boaz was willing to undertake that costly duty.

The character of Boaz foreshadows that of the greater Redeemer, Jesus Christ. All of us, like sheep, have turned back from following the Shepherd and have strayed away (Isa 53:6a). Jesus didn’t have to lay down his life for the sheep. In John 10:18 Jesus said, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also take it up again” (NLT). Jesus voluntarily became our kinsman-redeemer. He showed his hesed toward us most clearly on the cross. We were dead in our many sins, but he made us alive. We were slaves to sin, but he set us free at the cost of his own life. We were unfaithful brides, but he accepted just the way we were and made us clean by his blood. And he became our bridegroom. Jesus is the true and better Boaz. Pastor Tim Keller made a beautiful statement about Jesus in this way:

“Jesus is the true and better Adam

who passed the test in the garden, His garden – a much tougher garden,

and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham

who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar

and go into the void not knowing whither He went.

Jesus is the true and better Moses

who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord

and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Job

– He’s the truly innocent sufferer who then intercedes for

and saves His foolish friends.

Jesus is the true and better David

whose victory becomes His people’s victory

though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

He’s the real Passover Lamb. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.”[1]

The Book of Ruth is not just a beautiful love story. It is not just a textbook of ethics and morals. It points to one person. The whole Bible is not series of disconnected stories. It is one single narrative that points to one person – Jesus (cf. Luke 24:44). 

Qb;D’(dabaq), “Cleave”
What is our proper response to this? The third key word of today’s passage, dabak, answers to this question. The verb dabak is translated as “cling” or “cleave.” Ruth 2:23 says, “So Ruth “stayed close” to the servant girls of Boaz to glean…” The verb used here and verse 8 and 21 is also used for the marriage bond in Genesis 2:24: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (KJV). Ruth found favor wherever she went. So what is the secret? The answer is because Ruth always cleaved to God. She always cleaved to God’s people and God’s community. She cleaved to Naomi (1:14). She cleaved to Boaz and his people (2:8, 21, 23). As a widow and foreigner, there was nothing Ruth could do other than cleave to God. And when she did that, she found favor in God’s eyes. When we hear the story of Ruth if you find yourself more like Ruth, you are blessed. Like Ruth, there is nothing we can do. We cannot earn our salvation. We cannot earn God’s favor and his grace. All we can do is to humbly and faithfully cleave to our kinsman-redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord. Cleave to Jesus – nothing more, nothing less. And he will come and redeem you. Let me close with Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Jesus the One Thing Needful”[2]:

Jesus, let me cleave to Thee

Thou my one thing needful be;

Let me choose the better part,

Let me give Thee all my heart.

Whom have I on earth below?

Thee, and only Thee I know;

Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

Thou art all in all to me.

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[1] Timothy Keller, “True and Better,” https://vimeo.com/23642755

[2] Charles Wesley, “Jesus Let Me Cleave to Thee,” http://www.hymnary.org/text/jesus_let_me_cleave_to_thee