“Resurrection Eyes” (Matt 17.1-9) - Transfiguration Sunday -

Why Games

When we raise our children and teach our students, we often find ourselves getting into “why games” with them. They ask:

“Why should I go to school every day?”

“Why should I go to church Sunday?”

“Why should I read the Bible?”

We too ask questions today:

“Why did earthquake happen in Turkey and Syria? Why does God allow natural disasters?”

“Why did Tyre Nichols have to die?”

“Why does gun violence keep happening? Why does God allow evil?”

“Why is my loved one suffering from mental illness? Why does God allow that?

Why, why, why… we question God.

 

Messiah, the Anointed One??

Jesus’ disciples too had questions. Six days earlier, before Jesus took three of the disciples up to a high mountain, he had an important conversation with them. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asked. Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said, “You are blessed, Simon!” But then, he began to teach them that he must suffer and be killed and on the third day be raised.

 

Jesus’ disciples must have been so confused and asked many questions to themselves. The name “Messiah” means the promised “anointed” One. God’s chosen, blessed, beloved One. So for them, if Jesus is the Messiah, he must be successful, prosperous, triumphantly marching into Jerusalem, successfully overthrowing the corrupt government, and making things right. But now, Jesus was talking about God’s Messiah being betrayed, suffering at the hand of the religious leaders, and being killed. So Peter had to say (probably the others too), “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” Basically, Peter and the disciples were questioning Jesus, why, why, why…

 

With Resurrection Eyes

After this happened, six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James up to a high mountain. There his appearance was changed, his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with Jesus. Then there was a voice, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” After all this, as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus said to them, “Don’t tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” What is the purpose of this vision? I believe that Jesus showed them this vision to help them to see things with resurrection eyes, to see things with a bird’s eye view. As God’s Messiah, Jesus told them what he must go through, and what would happen to him in Jerusalem. But they didn’t get it. They couldn’t get it with their limited understanding. So what he did was to show them a glimpse of his final future glory, so that they might be able to get through upcoming hardships, though they would not fully understand why.   

 

The same thing happened to Paul. As a devoted Pharisee, Paul (Saul) was expectantly waiting for the Messiah. But he didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Because he knew that the Messiah was the anointed one, the blessed one. But Jesus was the cursed one, because God’s law says “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Deut 21:23). Jesus was condemned and died on the tree. Therefore, Jesus was the cursed one, not the blessed one. So for Paul, the claim that Jesus is the Messiah was nonsense. But on the way to Damascus he met the resurrected Jesus. Then, Paul’s values, his convictions, his worldview had to change. He was reasoning, “If God raised Jesus from the dead, that means God vindicated him and proved his innocence. Then, Jesus was condemned and died on the tree, not because of his own sins, but because of others.” Then, he came to the realization: “Christ has rescued us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Gal 3:13). Since then, Paul began to see all things with resurrection eyes. Later, he said, “Even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way” (2 Cor 5:16).

 

Live from Victory

Why is it so important to see the world with resurrection eyes? Let me tell you a story. The Shack is a story about one person’s healing journey. Mack is a survivor of child abuse by his alcoholic father, and now he has a father of three children. His life is shattered when his youngest daughter Missy disappears during a family camping trip while he is saving his two older children during a canoeing accident. Later it is found that Missy was abducted by a serial killer, then killed in a desolate cabin, “the shack” in the forest. One winter day, he receives a mysterious message signed by “Papa” that invites him to the shack. Mack thinks that it might be an opportunity for him to meet and punish the killer. But instead, in the shack he encounters three strangers – the African-American woman (God), the Middle-Eastern man (Jesus), and the Asian woman (the Holy Spirit). There Mack asks them so many questions, “Why did you allow my Missy to be killed?” God cooks a meal with him. Jesus builds a wooden box with him. The Holy Spirit weeds the garden with him. These are all part of his healing process. But eventually, the trio briefly takes him to heaven and let him see Missy from a distance, who is happy, beautiful, fully blossoming. Then, the trio also helps Mack encounter the spirit of Mack’s father, who apologizes for his mistreatment of Mack. After this, finally he is able to move beyond his grief and his faith restored, because he now sees all things with resurrection eyes. 

 

The other day I watched the film Pilgrim’s Progress with my children. We have watched it several times, but we are still loving it. The main character Christian has to go through so many trials and tribulations. On the journey his companion Faithful dies a martyr. In the Castle of Doubt Christian and his friend Hopeful fall into despair and almost give up on their lives. As they cross the River of Death, they almost drown and lose consciousness. Those scenes made us a bit nervous, but we were ok, because we knew how the story ends. We knew it is a happy ending, glorious ending. We knew Christian and Hopeful would make it to the Celestial City. As Christians, we live from victory, not for victory. Life is difficult, but resurrection eyes make our life bearable.   

 

Farther Along

Many of our spiritual ancestors, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, our parents, and our grandparents, died in faith. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They accepted the fact that they were transients in this world (cf. Heb 11:13). In his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Dr. King shared his last words as follows before he was assassinated on the following day:

“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land.” 

 

As James was taken for execution, perhaps he was strengthened, remembering his mountaintop experience with Jesus. As Peter was crucified upside down, perhaps he placed his hope in the resurrection, remembering Jesus’ transfigured body (resurrection body) on the mountain. As John was banished to Patmos, perhaps he was comforted, remembering his sweet communion with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.   

 

Before the pandemic began, our church used to lead a weekly Bible study at Gardiner nursing home. The residents’ favorite time was hymn sing. And their favorite hymn was “Farther Along.” We sang that hymn every week. During the Bible study, we were questioning, “Why suffering?” “Why evil?” “Why cancer?” “Why mental illness?” Why, why, why… But at the end, we sang this song together by heart. Then once again we were able to see the world with resurrection eyes. May the Lord take us up to the mountain. May we see life with resurrection eyes and live from victory, not for victory.

 

Tempted and tried we're oft made to wonder

why it should be thus all the day long
While there are others living about us,

never molested, though in the wrong

Faithful till death said our loving master;

a few more days to labor and wait
Toils of the road will then seem as nothing

as we sweep through the beautiful gates

Farther along we'll know all about it;

farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up, my brother; live in the sunshine,

we'll understand it all by and by

“Broken and Beloved” (Exodus 3:1-12) - Commissioning Sunday -

The Great Stone Face

There is a famous short story titled, The Great Stone Face, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the story there is a rock formation imagined to resemble the shape and features of a human face. There is a prophecy, alleged to descend from the Native Americans, that some day a hero would be born in that town whose features would resemble the Great Stone Face. So the people are expectantly waiting for the hero. There is a boy whose name is Ernest. He is very inspired by this prophecy. He himself is expectantly waiting. As time passes, one by one the heroes who claim themselves “I am the one” visit the town and seek public recognition. First, a very successful business man, Mr. Gathergold visits, then charismatic veteran, General Old Blood-and-Thunder, and then presidential candidate, Mr. Old Stony Phiz. Each of them enjoys being recognized for the time being, but later it is found that all of them have character flaws that prevent them from fulfilling the prophecy. As time passes by, Ernest has become an aged man. He used to be a hill farmer, but now he is a local lay preacher. One evening, he delivers the message outside where the worshipers can see the Great Stone Face high above. His words have power, because they harmonize with the life which he has always lived. They are the words of life. After the message, the people realize and shout, “Behold! Behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!” But, Ernest walked slowly homeward, knowing that he did fall short of greatness, and still hoping that some wiser and better person than himself would by and by appear.

 

Life of Moses

In this story Ernest is an ordinary person, who struggles with the temptations of money, power, fame, but at the same time pursues greatness and truth. In today’s passage we meet another ordinary person whose name is Moses. D. L. Moody sums up 120 years of Moses’ life in this way: “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; then he spent forty years on the backside of the desert realizing he was nobody; finally, he spent the last forty years of his life learning what God can do with a nobody!” From somebody to nobody, then to God’s body. Although each life journey is unique, I think somehow we can resonate with Moses’ journey. Moses is you, Moses is me, Moses is us – We are somebody, we are nobody, we are God’s body. Where are you on your journey?

 

Today’s passage tells us a story about how Moses has become God’s body. It tells us how God calls Moses and prepares him to live out his calling. Henry Blackaby in his book Experiencing God shares with us seven realities of experiencing God from the life of Moses.

1.     God is always at work around you. (It was not Moses, but God who found him and called him from the burning bush.)

2.     God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. (“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”)

3.     God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. (“Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.”)

4.     God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. (This reality is taken from the Bible as a whole, not just from Moses’ story.)

5.     God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. (Moses had to say either “Yes, I will go,” or “No, I don’t want to go.” There is no in between.)

6.     You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. (Moses had to leave his place, his career, his family and face the giant, Pharaoh.)

7.     You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you. (God spoke with Moses face-to-face, as one speaks to a friend.)

 

Reality 5

In particular, I want to draw your attention to the reality 5:

“God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.”

When God called Moses, what was his response?

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (3:11)

“What if they ask me your name?” (3:13)

“O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (4:10)

 

Perhaps Moses thought that God would fix his weakness. Perhaps he expected that God would give him a new ability to speak eloquently. But still Moses didn’t talk well. He was not good at words even after he was called. He still stuttered and stammered. That didn’t change. God didn’t give him a magic wand. Instead, he promised his presence, asking him, “What is that in your hand?” (4:2) Moses relied, “A staff.” God said, “Now go, I will be with you… Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs” (vv. 12, 17). For Moses, that was a crisis of belief that required faith and action.

I don’t know about you, but for me I see myself in Moses. Public speaking is not my strong suit. Making new friends is not my strong suit. When I was called to ministry, I expected that God would give me a new ability to speak well. I expected that God would make me a more social person. But nothing changed. Preparing and delivering message has never been easy for me. Every week basically I go through birth pangs. Every time I visit parishioners or meet new people, I need to prepare myself. But because I know that I am not good at words and people, that makes me pray more, depend on God more, and seek God’s presence all the more. In this regard, when I am weak, I am strong.

 

Broken and Beloved

There once lived a water carrier in India. He used two large pots for his task. One of the pots had a big crack in it while the other pot was perfect. The perfect pot always delivered a full portion of water from the stream to the master’s house, while the cracked pot arrived only half full each day. For two years this water carrier made the same journey. The perfect pot became proud, while the cracked pot felt ashamed. Finally, one day by the stream, the cracked pot spoke to his owner, “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize that I have only been able to deliver half my water to your house.” Then the water carrier replied, smiling, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” On that trip from the stream, the cracked pot looked around. “Did you notice there are flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?” the water carrier commented. “That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we passed these spots, you watered them. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty to grace my master’s house.”[1]

 

In Japanese, this cracked pot in the picture is called Kintsugi, meaning “to join with gold.” It’s the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold. This restoration process usually takes up to three months. The fragments are carefully glued together, left to dry for a few weeks and then adorned with gold running along its cracks. This art of repair is built on the idea that in embracing “scars” as a part of the design, we can create an even more beautiful piece of art. If we use Kintsugi as a metaphor for our journey, God’s grace is like “gold” in this restoration process. God’s grace – his presence and his power in our lives – turns our scars into stars. God’s grace turns our weakness and brokenness into something more unique, beautiful and resilient. So not in spite of our weakness, but because of it, God’s power is made perfect. “We ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves” (2 Cor 4:7, NLT).

 

Sisters and brothers in Christ, God is always at work in our lives. God is real and personal. He is reaching out to us, calling us, inviting us to join him in his work. You may feel that you are not ready. You may feel that you are not equipped. But you are called as just you are. Do you hear God calling you today? May the Lord open our eyes to see and open our ears to hear. May we say “Yes” to his great invitation today. And we will come to know God face to face and become a beautifully broken pot, kintsugi, proclaiming God’s great power in our weakness. Amen.

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[1] Peter Scazzero & Warren Bird, The Emotionally Healthy Church, 123.

“Tasty & Shining” (Matthew 5.13-20)

Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy

Are there any sermons that have made a lasting impact in your life? For me personally, there are several, but one of the sermons that had a lasting impact on me was Pastor John Piper’s message on joy, titled, “Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy.” In his sermon he asks, “What’s at the bottom of your joy?” “What is the feeder of your happiness?” These questions really made me ponder and examine myself. You see, all of our joys have a foundation. What does it mean by that? Let me give you an example. One day my 7-year-old Grace and I had some conversation. She said to me, “Dad, when I grow up, I want to be either pastor or teacher.” I said, “I see. But why do you want to be a pastor or teacher?” She replied, “Because you teach and talk in front of many people, and they listen to you. I like it.” So I asked, “Why does that make you happy?” She replied, “Because you can tell them what to do and boss them around.” If we continue this “why – because” conversation, we eventually get to the bottom of what makes us happy. At the bottom there are only two possibilities of our joy: making much of me, or making much of God. Self or God.

Tasteless & Invisible

In today’s passage Jesus says to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world” (vv. 13-14). Then he continues, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (v. 20). Here we learn that there are two different kinds of righteousness – external righteousness vs. inner righteousness. And Jesus invites us to take a closer look inside our hearts.

 First, an external righteousness is that of the scribes and Pharisees. They have a form of godliness but deny its power. They fast and tithe but have no compassion in their hearts. They look perfect and beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of impurity. They are like whitewashed tombs. They give to the poor, preach the message, do good works and religious activities. But all they do is use God to make much of themselves. God is not at the bottom. They (self) are at the bottom of their joy.

John Wesley called these people “almost” Christians. In his sermon The Almost Christian, he shares his own experience with us. Basically, he did everything he could do – Bible study, daily prayer, giving alms to the poor, visiting prisoners, and all other good works. He even volunteered to go to Georgia as a missionary to the settlers and Native Americans. But the harder he tried, the more he felt empty and dry. Wesley said,

I did go thus far for many years, as many of this place can testify: using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have conscience void of offence; redeeming the time, buying up every opportunity of doing all good to all men, endeavoring after a steady seriousness of behavior at all times and in all places… doing all this in sincerity… Yet my own conscience beareth me witness in the Holy Ghost that all this time I was but ‘almost a Christian.’

Tasty & Shining

What is then an inner righteousness? The inner righteousness is a righteousness of the heart. The default mode of the human heart is self-centered, self-exalting, making much of self. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (NIV). That’s why being “born again” is necessary. The new birth changes the default mode of our fallen heart. It changes the bottom of what makes us happy – from self to God.

“You must be born again” Jesus said to Nicodemus, who was a good man, moral man. He was knowledgeable, experienced, respected Pharisee. But for some reason, he felt miserable. He felt something was missing. At night he came to see Jesus. Here Jesus was saying, “Nicodemus, you need something new at the bottom. Now God is not at the bottom. You are at the bottom. You must exchange yourself at the bottom with God.” We don’t know exactly when Nicodemus was born again. He struggled. He wrestled through questions. He changed over the time as he pondered, as the “yeast” of Jesus’ teaching appealed to his conscience, his convictions, his expectations. He changed gradually but surely. Later, when the Pharisees openly criticized Jesus, he advocated for Jesus (cf. John 7:51). Eventually the Pharisee Nicodemus became a faithful disciple of Jesus. After Jesus was crucified, along with Joseph of Ari-mathea, he risked alienation from their colleagues and punishment from the Romans by claiming Jesus’ body (John 27:57-60).

Altogether Christian

Nicodemus is our shining example of being salt and light in this world. When Jesus says to his followers, “You are salt and light”, he refers here to more than good deeds; he refers to a good character, which comes from the new heart. It’s from the inside out.

Pastor Tim Keller compares encountering with Christ to what he calls "a life-quake"[i]:

When a great big truck goes over a tiny little bridge, sometimes there's a bridge-quake, and when a big man goes onto thin ice there's an ice-quake. Whenever Jesus Christ comes down into a person's life, there's a life-quake. Everything is reordered. If he was a guru, if he was a great man, if he was a great teacher, even if he was the genie of the lamp, there would be some limits on his rights over you. If he's God, you cannot relate to him at all and retain anything in your life that's a non-negotiable. Anything … any view, any conviction, any idea, any behavior, any relationship. He may change it, he may not change it, but at the beginning of the relationship you have to say, "In everything he must have the supremacy."

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you,” God promised (Ezekiel 36:26). How would he do it? He told Ezekiel: “I will put my Spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes” (v. 27). Those who have a new heart by the Spirit, those who have Christ at the bottom of their joy, John Wesley would call “altogether” Christians. Are you altogether Christian? Let us examine and ask ourselves: “Is God’s love poured into my heart? Do I take delight in God and desire nothing but him? Am I happy in God? Is God my glory, my delight, my joy? Also, do I love my neighbor as myself? Do I love all people, even my enemies, as Christ loved me?”

May we say “yes” to all these questions by grace through faith. May we all experience what it is to be not almost only, but altogether Christians! May Christ – his love, his truth, his teaching – be the “yeast” within us that transforms our views, our convictions, our character, our behaviors, our relationships, so that people around us may see our congruent lives and praise our Father in heaven. Amen.

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[i] Tim Keller, ‘The Lordship of Christ Is 'A Life-Quake', https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2016/march/3031416.html