“Jesus, Immanuel” (Matthew 1:18-25)

The Gospel in a Nutshell

On one day in September last year, about a week after Lydia recovered from COVID-19, she was not feeling well. She had a migraine, double-vision, vomiting and delirious. She went to ER at the local hospital, then was sent to Bangor that night. As soon as she got there, they took her for all different kinds of tests. But they couldn’t figure out exactly what the cause was. It was a scary night. Joyce and I could feel her pain. We could feel her agony. We wish we could take her place. But all we could do was to be with her.

In Exodus 3:7-8, when the Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out, the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… I have heard their cry… I know their suffering, and I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians…” And God did send Moses to deliver his people. But Moses was a just shadow of the true and better Messiah to come. When the right time came, God sent his Son… to set us free from our sins and to give us new life. On this Christmas Eve, we affirm that Christ is “Immanuel” – God with us. Christ is the God whom we can know, feel, and touch. He is God with skin.

I like the way Dick Foth explains the gospel in three sentences: “God came to our place. God took our place. And then God invites us back to his place.”

God Coming to Us

He came to our place, in order to be with us. For parents and grandparents, Christmas season can be stressful. Many of us are thinking about what would be the best gift for our children and grandchildren. But the greatest gift we can give our children is the present of presence. For me personally, my greatest hero is my grandfather. When I was in Korea, I used to live close by him. Probably it would take about half an hour by car. Even after I was grown up and went to college, I often dropped by my grandfather’s place, particularly when I felt down and depressed. At that time, he was a retired pastor, but he was still quite busy. But always, he made himself available to me. He shared his life stories with me. He attentively listened to my stories. We had a meal together. We watched TV together. We took a nap together. I didn’t always open up and share my struggles and problems. But after spending time with him, I always felt much better and uplifted. He gave me the present of presence. That’s what Jesus did to us. The greatest gift God gives us is the present of presence. Immanuel, God-with-us!

God for Us

God came to our place. But not only that, he also took our place. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be sin for us, so that we could be made right with God” In other words, Jesus became our sin, so we could be his righteousness. He became our darkness, so we could have the light of life. He became our curse, so we could be his blessing.  The prophet Isaiah describes Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes our place this way (53:3-6, MSG):

He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.

He took our place.

God with Us

But there is more! He invites us back to his place. Years ago I did a cross country trip from Vancouver to Quebec with four other friends. So many good places. But for me personally, my favorite place was Rock Mountains, Banff and Jasper, particularly Lake Louise. It was truly breath-taking, to say the least – the sight of the emerald green water and rugged peaks and glaciers. I will always remember that feeling. It was a perfect day. But now as I look back, one thing was missing. “I wish Joyce was here.” One of my bucket lists is to take her back there, so we can experience it together.

That is why God became “Immanuel,” not only to be with us here in our place on earth, but also to invite us back to his place and to live with us forever! As we read Revelation 21-22, we see his place, the new heaven and the new earth. It is just beyond description in our human language. God wants to spend eternity there with you. The Apostle John by the Spirit says this way: “Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with us, and we will be his people. God himself will be with us. He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.” (NLT). He came to our place. He took our place. Then he invites us back to his place.

Experiencing Immanuel

Do you experience this Immanuel? A.W. Tozer said that “Most Christians are theological Christians… They’re trying to be happy without a sense of the presence.” In other words, many people intellectually agree that Jesus is Immanuel. And they want to live a life with God – life filled with love, power, joy. But they don’t experience it. They don’t experience God’s presence. Why?

Here’s what many Christians tend to do: when we receive Christ, we invite him to be our guest, special guest at best, but not our Master. We are still in control of our lives, making decisions according to our experience, our preferences, our knowledge, our plans. We drive the car, and Jesus is in the passenger’s seat. Even though he is the best driver and is with us all the time, our life is still constantly in conflict, confusion, and stress. And there is a constant danger of accidents. The best way to handle this situation is to get out of the driver’s seat and let him drive. Where is Jesus in your life? Is Jesus in the driver’s seat in your life? May Christ Jesus dwell in your hearts as Lord of all! May Christ be made much of in and through your life! “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live. But Christ lives in me! The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me!” (Gal 2:20). Amen. 

“Jesus, Light of the World” (Matthew 2:1-12)

Lost and Found

Have you ever been lost? Have I ever been lost? Yes. Countless times. There is one particular incident that I still remember. At that time I was in the 3^rd grade (in Korea). That year there was a pastoral appointment change for my dad and the family. Since a newly appointed church was not far from the previous church, I didn’t have to transfer to a new school. But still, I had to take the public bus to school. One day on the way home I took the wrong bus. As soon as I realized something was wrong, I got off the bus. I stood there for a while, because I didn’t know what to do. I was lost. Then I just started walking. On the way I met a kind sanitation worker. I asked him to tell me how to get to the town where I lived. He pointed his finger at a certain direction, naming some big buildings on the way. With his guidance, I walked, walked, walked, probably for about an hour, then I began to see familiar buildings. I was lost and found.

Journey to Jerusalem

Today’s story is about a journey – the journey of the Magi. Their journey is an intimate, peculiar story, but at the same time it’s the universal story of all Christians. So, who are the Magi? The term “Magi” (magos, “magician”) originally referred to a priestly caste in ancient Persia, a Persian teacher and prophet. If the Magi came from Persian or Babylonian area, they would have traveled approximately nine hundred miles. It would have taken several months until they arrived in Jerusalem. It is doubtful that they come to worship Jesus, knowing that he is the Son of God. They most likely follow their custom to pay homage to the king of their neighboring country. One day they observed a star in the east that signaled the birth of a new king. The Magi must have assumed that they would find the newborn king in Herod's palace in Jerusalem. So now they’re on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship him.

In this story, the star signifies God’s presence, God’s grace – God’s prevenient, justifying, sanctifying grace. In particular, Magi’s journey to Jerusalem is led by prevenient grace – the grace that prepares their hearts to receive a new king, the grace that gives them new desire and thirst for the truth and meaning of life, the grace that helps them to realize, “I cannot save myself. I need a savior.” Agha Behzad was one of Iran’s well-known painters but he lost his way. He violated the laws of his Moslem religion by drinking alcohol and smoking opium. Even his best friends deserted him so he lost both his friends and his religion. Without hope, he was lost, wandering and searching, until his neighbor invited him and took him to a Christian gathering. There he saw the light. He started a new life and began painting again. Now he used his talent to paint Christian themes used in the church in Iran. His art portrays Christianity through the eyes of a new convert, filled with awe, wonder, and joy.

Now I invite you to pause and think about God’s guiding star that led you in the right path. For me personally, the star was my grandparents’ presence. It was my mother’s tearful persistent prayers. It was my sickness that drew me close to God. God is at work, nudging us and guiding us even before we seek him.

Journey to Bethlehem

With the guidance of the star, the Magi finally arrive at the palace in Jerusalem. We don’t know for sure, but it seems like the star is no longer visible or stops guiding them. So now they have to ask King Herod, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?” (v. 2) They get the answer from unlikely candidates, unexpected guiding star – the chief priests and teachers of the law, saying, “Bethlehem!” Magi’s journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem reflects God’s justifying grace. It’s not enough to know, “I cannot save myself, I need help. I need savior.” It’s not enough to intellectually agree that there is a creator or supreme being out there. God’s guiding start, God’s justifying grace, specifically takes us by the hand to Christ. After the encounter with King Herod and his people, to their surprise the Magi see the star again, and it guides them to Bethlehem. Then in Bethlehem the Magi personally encounter Christ. And now they are filled with joy, worshiping him, adoring him.  

As I was pondering how the Magi encountered Christ, one particular individual came to my mind. His name is Blaise Pascal. He was perhaps the most brilliant mind of his generation. At the age of 19 he invented the world’s first mechanical calculator. He achieved both wealth and honor at a very young age, but for some reason at the pinnacle he felt miserable. He felt something was missing. Though he considered himself a Christian, there was no joy, no peace. On November 23, 1654 he got a major horse carriage accident, but miraculously he was saved. He saw this as a warning directly from God. That night he humbly surrendered his life to Christ and encountered him in his room. In his journal Pascal said:

FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars. Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ. "My God and your God." . . . Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy. . . Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. May I never be separated from him!

Since that night, he always carried this note in his inside coat pocket until he died. For the Magi’s journey to Bethlehem, unexpected people and unpleasant incidents were their guiding star. How about you? For some of us the star that leads us to Christ is our sickbed. For some it is a crisis or traumatic experience in life. Whatever it is, by God’s grace – God’s presence and power in our lives, we are guided to Bethlehem where we encounter and worship Christ the King.

Journey to Home

After the Magi worshiped Christ, they returned to their home country. We may think their journey from Bethlehem to their home was smooth and easy, and they lived happily ever after. But the truth is that since Herod’s military had a heavy presence all over the county, the Magi had to take great risk to their own lives by avoiding Herod and making a long detour back to their homeland. Their journey to home was tough and treacherous, but God’s grace was greater. God’s guiding light in their hearts was brighter. That’s God’s sanctifying grace – the grace that sustains us, grows us, leads us home.

The journey to our heavenly homeland is hard for the saints and ordinary Christians alike. In August 2007 TIME magazine had an amazing cover story titled “Mother Teresa’s Crisis of Faith.” Mother Teresa’s secret letters were made public by her mentor and colleagues. The letters show that she spent almost 50 years without sensing the presence of God in her life. In one of the letters that she exchanged with her mentor, Rev. Michael Van Der Peet, she says, “Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear…” In more than 40 communications, she compares the experience to hell, and at one point she says it has driven her to doubt the existence of heaven and even of God. As she was walking through the darkest night of the soul, her constant prayer was, “Lord Jesus, come be my light.” And Christ did come, and she made it home safely. 

Life is a journey. Some of us may be on the way to Jerusalem – wandering and searching, some on the way to Bethlehem – encountering and worshiping Christ, and some are on the final journey to home – struggling and tired and afraid. But wherever we are in our journey, God’s grace – God’s presence and power in our lives – is always greater than our problems. God’s light is always brighter than our darkness.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come;

’Twas grace that brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. And may the light of Christ lead you home. Amen.

 

 

 

“Jesus, Prince of Peace” (Acts 6:1-7)

The Crisis

It’s the second Sunday of Advent. Today we proclaim Jesus as the Prince of Peace. I don’t know about you, but for me, when I say, “Jesus is the Prince of Peace,” I feel tensions between God’s promise of peace and the reality of conflicts and divisions in our world today. I cannot but ask, “Yes, Jesus came to us. But where is peace? Where do we see the signs of peace?” As I was wrestling with these questions, reading and meditating on different passages in the Bible, I discovered that God’s promise of peace is now partially realized through the church – the community of believers who confess Jesus as the Lord. The church is God’s means of showing the world how good, how peaceful it is to live in God’s kingdom, under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The early church did taste and see that the Lord is good, and that Jesus is the prince of peace. They met together both at home and at the temple day by day. They shared everything they had. They shared their meals. They shared their possessions with joy and generosity. They were in great harmony. The disciples were increasing in numbers, and everything seemed to be going well. But then, the enemy launched a counter attack – first from without (persecution particularly from the Jewish religious leaders), and then from within (division and distraction).

Today’s passage tells us how the enemy tried to destroy the church through division and distraction. In the early church there were mainly two groups of people in terms of language and culture. The majority of the church believers were Hebrew-speaking Jews, and there were some Greek-speaking believers as a minority group. Satan tried to distort this "diversity" into "division." For some reason, the Greek-speaking widows were neglected in the daily distribution of food. So the Greek-speaking disciples started to complain against the majority group, that is, the Hebrew-speaking disciples. Satan put a barrier between the believers. That division made the apostles “distracted” from their ministry. Now the peace and unity of the church were at stake. So how did the early church overcome this crisis and keep the unity of the Spirit?

Holy Conferencing

The first principle is: holy conferencing. When the apostles heard this problem, they called a meeting of the disciples (v. 2a). Now I would like to invite you to use your artistic imagination and see what’s really happening in these seven verses. Though it’s rather a brief passage, there are a lot of things going on – between words, between verses. I don’t think the apostles called the meeting and told the group what to do. Rather, I think they did a holy conferencing – listening to each other, discerning together, praying together – for hours, or perhaps for days.  

Recently, I read the book Holy Listening written by Margaret Guenther. The first thing I have learned is holy listeners ask questions in order to put themselves in other people’s shoes and to feel their feelings and emotions. They ask questions with curiosity such as: “Could you say a little more about that? Can you give me an example of what you mean by…?” “Help me understand what you are saying. Do you mean ...?” Then they listen with compassion.  I am positive that the apostles would ask good questions to listen and feel the people’s feelings. It is not just about food. Underneath the complaints, as a minority the Greek-speaking disciples have the pain of not being accepted, of not being listened to, of not being heard. The apostles would sense that they have been hurt a lot. After this holy conferencing (listening), they develop two action plans.

Focus on the Essentials

First of all, the apostles focus on the essentials. They do their part, saying, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables” (v. 2b), “… while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word” (v. 4). They did not ask “Who or what is right and wrong?" (“knowledge approach”) Instead, they asked themselves, "How can I practice love in this situation?” "How can we build up the church together?" (“love approach”) And they found the answer! The answer was to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word of God. The apostles realized that the church would be spiritually united only through prayer and the word of God. So they chose to focus on the essentials. They chose to focus on their own calling. The great temptation for pastors today is to try to control all church ministries. They become leaders in every area of the church ministry, but the thing is they come to neglect their own calling because of other ministries. This is the strategy of Satan: "Distraction."  But the apostles discerned that this distraction was from the enemy and that the cure for this was to go back to the basics. They knew the limitation of their time, energy, and gifts. They knew that they were called to be one part of the body, and they chose to focus on their calling, the essentials. 

Our spiritual ancestors practiced the following spiritual disciplines: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things love.” Then, what are the essentials? As Christians, we need unity on our Christian core beliefs, such as the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Great Commandments (Love God, Love Others), and the Great Commission (Make Disciples). For any other non-essentials, we can have room to think and to let others think.

Choose Love  

The second action plan is this: empowering love. The apostles designated and empowered others. In verse 3 they said, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task.” Now it is the believers’ turn to choose. The great temptation for believers today is to be outsiders and complain against those different from them. This is the strategy of Satan: “Division.” But the early church believers followed the example of the apostles. They also used a “love” approach. They asked themselves, “How can we practice love in this situation?” “How can we build up the church together?” Then they chose the seven people. We can find a very interesting fact here. All seven were Greek names. In other words, all of them came from a minority group. The majority of the early church believers did not choose their own people. They did not insist on their own way, but instead, they chose the right persons for this issue. They chose seven people from the minority group to take care of their widows. This is love approach.

Jesus is our great model. One day the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They came to Jesus to catch him in theological or legal error and asked him a question, “What is right and wrong?” But Jesus refused to get hooked. Instead of answering them, he bent down and wrote something with his finger on the ground in silence. By his silence Jesus forced them to stop playing games, to look within themselves, and to ask themselves, “Is this love?” After this, they went away, one by one. Then, Jesus said to the woman, “I don’t condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). Love and compassion without compromise.

The Church: A Foretaste of God’s Peaceful Kingdom

Jesus wants his church to foretaste his peace, his love, his joy, his hope today and to show them to the world. In today’s passage the apostles and the believers all together in one mind asked the same question, “How can I practice love in this situation?” When they devoted themselves to practicing love, the church of Christ prospered. The Bible says, “So the word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem continued to grow rapidly. Even a large number of priests became obedient to the faith” (v. 7, ISV). The point of this verse is not just about the church growth. But, it testifies when we really practice Christ’s love, the Lord will even soften the hearts of our enemies, and draw them to Christ.

When we think about the present and future of the UMC, it almost seems impossible to become one between traditionalists and progressives. But just as Dr. King had the vision of building beloved community, I have a dream today. I have Isaiah’s vision of God’s peaceful kingdom: “The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). My prayer is that we as a church will never give up having holy conferencing together, always focus on the essentials, always choose love, so that Christ’s Church may be strengthened and God get glory. Amen.