“Bitter to Pleasant” (Ruth 1:1-18)

Naomi to Mara

It’s often said that of all the men in the Bible who suffered, Job was the greatest; but of all the women of the Bible who suffered, Naomi was the greatest. Naomi’s story begins this way: “In the days when the judges ruled, there were a famine in the land” (v. 1). If you know a little about the Book of Judges, you’ll know something about the hard times in which Naomi lived. The Book of Judges concludes as follows: “In those days there was no king in Israel, all the people did what was right in their own eyes” (21: 25). Naomi lived in the era of spiritual darkness. To make things worse, there was a severe famine in her hometown, Bethlehem, so her entire family was forced to leave their homeland. Then, shortly after, Naomi’s husband died. And within 10 years her two married sons died without any children. That also means her two daughters-in-law seem to be barren. Now Naomi is left without either her two sons or her husband. After this, she comes back home. When she arrives in Bethlehem, the whole town is excited by her arrival. They say, “Is this really Naomi?” But Naomi replies, “Don’t call me Naomi (“pleasant”). Call me Mara (“bitter”), because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.” After all these trials and hardships Naomi becomes a bitter woman. And God seems silent and distant. She even believes that the hand of God was against her.

Hesed

But the truth is no story in the Bible demonstrates the meaning of hesed (“God’s steadfast love”) more powerfully and beautifully than the Book of Ruth. Though it’s hard to find the word “God” in this book, the Book of Ruth is full of the power and presence of God who is at work behind the scenes so diligently and strategically. When Naomi came back home without any hope, God was already at work and preparing something good for her: “They [Naomi and Ruth] came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest” (1:22). It is a good time to show up. Not only that, guess who it was that was already in Bethlehem, already prepared by God! The Bible says, “There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz” (2:1). This man Boaz was a truly great and godly man. He was Naomi’s kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who has the responsibility to help a relative in need or danger. Naomi desperately needed a near-relative to take her and her daughter-in-law into his care, and buy them out of their situation of need. Boaz made a great sacrifice. Not only did he help their financially, but also he became one of them. He restored and preserved their family by getting married to Ruth.

There is a story about the SEALs’ covert operation, freeing hostages from a building in some dark part of the world. They flew in by helicopter, made their way to the compound and stormed into the room where the hostages had been imprisoned for months. The room was filthy and dark. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified. SEALs entered the room, they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans. The SEALs asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn’t. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn’t believe their rescuers were really Americans. The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. One of the SEALs got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were Americans and were there to rescue them. “Will you follow us?” he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go.[1] That’s what our Lord Jesus is to us. He is our “Kinsman-Redeemer,” who became one of us. He redeemed us and bought us from out of our hopeless situation by his own blood on the cross, taking us under his care, and bringing us under his protective love forever. God didn’t deliver Naomi from her distress right away. Instead, God first participated in her suffering, accompanied her, sustained her, then brought about her good in His perfect time.

Ubuntu

God is at work. God is working on his restoration and reconciliation project in our lives. God will do it. Then, what would be our part in this project? There are two things we can learn from Naomi and Ruth. First, horizontally, we can practice Ubuntu. The word Ubuntu is a Zulu proverb, saying, “I am because we are. I am because you are. My humanity is tied to yours.” When we are hard pressed, or when we are in conflict, we can easily become selfish, blame others, or fall into self-pity. But in times of sorrow and suffering Naomi and Ruth practiced Ubuntu. They saw each other with compassionate eyes. They put themselves in each other’s shoes. Naomi said to Ruth in the best interest of Ruth, “Go back to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you. May the Lord grant you a new home and a new husband.” (1:8-9). Ruth answered with selfless love, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die--there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" (vv. 15-17). Naomi and Ruth came from such different worlds. They had more differences than similarities. Naomi was Jewish; Ruth was Moabite (gentile). Naomi was elderly; Ruth was a young woman. Naomi was a mother-in-law; Ruth was a daughter-in-law. But they were keenly aware that they were given to each other by God, and that they needed each other. They practice Ubuntu: I am because you are.

In his book Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller shares his story with us when he was in Reed College. Each year at Reed they have a festival. They shut down the campus so students can party. Don and some of the Christian students decided this was a good place to come out of the closet. They decided to build a confession booth in the middle of campus during the festival. But it was not to accept confessions from students in the campus, but to confess to them. So Don humbled himself and confessed his sins to those who visited out of curiosity. He confessed that, as a follower of Christ, he had not been very loving; he had been bitter and judgmental, and for that he was sorry. He apologized for the Crusades, he apologized for televangelists, he apologized for neglecting the poor and the lonely. He told them that in his selfishness, he had misrepresented Jesus on this campus. He asked them to forgive him, and told them that Jesus loves them. One of the visitors said, “This is cool what you are doing. I am going to tell my friends about this.” That night Don talked to about thirty people. After this, Don said, “I was being changed through the process. I went in with doubts and came out believing so strongly in Jesus I was ready to die and be with Him. I think that night was the beginning of change for a lot of us.”[2] I don’t know about you, but for me, some of my personal and communal relationships are broken and estranged mainly because I have been trying to defend my position or justify myself rather than to acknowledge their humanity. I failed to acknowledge my humanity is tied to theirs. Now I begin to see that.

Trust

On the foundation of Hesed, horizontally we can practice Ubuntu. And vertically, trust is the key. We are to trust God. Naomi didn’t see it coming, but she trusted in God. Naomi struggled greatly, but she trusted and remained in God. When Naomi hit the bottom in her life, she turned back to God, crying out to God. God seems silent and indifferent to her pain, but in fact, he has done everything that is needed to bless her eternally. God sends Ruth and Boaz into her life, and through them God gives to her a little baby, Obed, grandfather of King David. 

The Bible says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Co 10:13) The story of Naomi was written to help us to trust God even when the clouds are so thick that we cannot see the sun. Her story reminds us that the sun is always shining above the thick clouds.

Let me close with the story of Henri Nouwen. He always loved a flying trapeze. One day he had a chance to talk with the circus team leader, Rodleigh. He said, “People might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.” “How does it work?” Nouwen asked. Rodleigh said, “The secret is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything… A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”

On this Mother’s Day, we are grateful. But some of us are mourning the loss of the loved ones, the loss of the relationship. But let us remember this: God’s “hesed” (steadfast love) for us endures forever! God is at work today. God is always at work behind the scenes for our good. In his perfect time God will turn our “bitter” trials into a “pleasant” outcome as we trust him. Sisters and brothers in Christ, let us trust, trust, trust. Trust God the Catcher!

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[1] Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (pp. 33-34). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid., 125. 

*Ruth and Naomi, Yael Harris Resnick

“Flourish” (Acts 7:54-60)

A Live Tree or a Dead Tree?

One afternoon during the spiritual retreat I was walking on the lakeshore. I saw a big tree. As I was coming closer, I noticed the tree was dead because it had been stripped of bark. Perhaps squirrels did it. We don’t know for sure. Perhaps once this tree produced much fruit with its dense foliage. But now it is abandoned and dead – no leaves, no fruit, no life. I prayed, “God, may my life not be like this tree.”

About thirty feet away I saw a very similar size and same kind of tree, but well maintained and tended. I saw the green leaves begin to bud forth on that tree. There was life in it. And I prayed, “God, may my life be like this tree.” In many ways, life is like a tree. Psalm 92:12-15 describes the life of the righteous this way:

The righteous flourish like the palm tree

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in the courts of our God.

In old age they still produce fruit;

they are always green and full of sap,

showing that the Lord is upright;

he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Here we find at least three characteristics of a flourishing life: proximity, longevity, and productivity. The first mark is proximity. “[The righteous] are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.” (v. 13) This is the first and most important quality of the flourishing person in God’s eyes. They are deeply rooted and grounded in God’s love. And they stay close to God’s presence always. The second is longevity. “In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap.” (v. 14) For them, their twilight years are their highlight years. The older, the better – more wisdom, more godliness. The third mark is productivity or fruitfulness. By their fruit, they show that God is good and just and life-giving.

Life of Stephen

This morning we will explore the life of Stephen through this lens of the flourishing life: proximity, longevity, and productivity.

Proximity

Who is Stephen? Let us take a closer look at how the Bible describes Stephen. The first time we hear the name of Stephen is in Acts 6 when the early church chooses seven leaders, saying, “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). The Bible also says, “Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people” (v. 8). We can easily sense how close Stephen was to God. He was a man full of the Spirit, faith, grace, power, and wisdom, a friend of God.

Michael Ramsey rightly said, “Do not worry about status...There is only one status that our Lord bids us to be concerned with, and that is the status of proximity to himself...”[1] Then, how do we know how intimate we are with Christ? One of the ways to measure proximity to Christ is to examine ourselves to see if our hearts are at peace, because our Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Jews falsely accused of Stephen, seized him, and brought him before the council. And they saw that his face was like the face of an angel (6:15). Stephen’s heart was at peace rather than at war. He saw the humanity (the image of God) in those attacking him. He saw them as his brothers and fathers (cf. 7:2) rather than as his enemies. And in today’s passage when the Jews were about to stone him to death, “Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit” gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Heart at peace in all circumstances is the essential mark of proximity to Christ and flourishing life in him.

Longevity

Here longevity has more to do with the quality of one’s life rather than the quantity or the length. Whether he or she is given 8 years or 80 years, a flourishing person is like wine. In general, wine tastes better with age. The older, the better. Their later years are their best years. Stephen was about 30 years old when he was killed. But the highlight of his life was the moment he died a martyr for his faith. He finished well and strong.

In his book The Life God Blesses Gordon MacDonald asks the following question: “What kind of old person do you want to be?” He started looking around for other older people who were at their very best in their twilight years. Then he said, “One thing quickly became clear. I have known a lot of old people, but my list of ‘emulatable’ old people was alarmingly short.” Some had drifted into self-centeredness, while others had become impatient and cynical toward the next generation. Some had become grumpy and critical, others simply lived in the past and were no longer leaning toward into the future. Then he said, “When the list was finished, it included just a few names. In fact, I could count the names on the fingers of one hand.”[2] Let us pause for a moment and think about these questions: “Who is an older person you would like to emulate? What qualities would you want to learn from them? What does “finishing well” mean to you? What adjustments will you need to make to finish well?”

Productivity

Now I would like to invite you to think about Stephen’s legacy. From a human point of view it’s hard to understand his early death. Stephen became the first martyr in the early church. What legacy did he leave behind?  When the Jews dragged him and stoned him to death, the young ringleader named Saul was there and approved of his execution. While they were stoning Stephen, Saul heard him saying “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Stephen’s last words didn’t change Saul immediately. But I believe those words did ring in his ears and made him wonder, struggle, and eventually turn to Christ in God’s time. The blood of Stephen became the seed of Paul’s conversion. Life begets life.

Have you heard of the name Edward Kimball? Probably not. But his legacy proves what a “nobody” can do when he cares about people and God’s kingdom. Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher in Chicago in 1855. He visited one of his teenage students at the shoe store where the teen worked, and shared the gospel with him. Kimball nurtured the young man’s faith in the Sunday school class he taught. That young man was D.L. Moody.

1. Moody shared Christ with a man named F. B. Meyer.

2. F. B. Meyer’s preaching led to the conversion of J. Wilbur Chapman.

3. Chapman’s preaching led to the conversion of Billy Sunday.

4. Mordecai Ham was converted at a Billy Sunday meeting.

5. Billy Graham was converted at a Ham meeting.

6. Graham preached the gospel face-to-face to more people than anyone else in history.[3]

As a Christian, we have one same question to ask ourselves: “How can I make a lasting investment in others’ lives?” When I visit the homebound and nursing homes, sometimes I hear them say, “Why am I still here?” But as long as we have life and breath, we have a purpose. Every person can do three things for others: love them, serve them, and pray for them. By this, we bear much fruit.

The Best Is Yet to Come

In her book The Five Silent Years of Corrie ten Boom her caregiver Pamela Rosewell tells us a beautiful story of ten Boom’s final days on earth. In her eighties ten Boom had a major stroke and became bedridden and mute, but she still found ways of serving and loving God and others. Rosewell wrote[4]:

There had been a tremendous change in her way of life, one that could crush her spirit—but that had not happened. . . . I could see no difference in the attitude of this weak and silent Aunt Corrie to that of the strong speaker whom I had joined nearly three years earlier. She served Him then; she was serving Him now… She had served Him in her youth; now she was serving Him in her old age… Her lips could no longer say, “Jesus is Victor,” but her life could, and it did… She still had a great love for people, and God enabled her to communicate that love without words. 

In her final months on earth Corrie ten Boom was virtually helpless. She needed assistance just to turn over in her bed. She could barely speak. She had become skin and bone. One day, all of sudden, Corrie surprised her caregiver by saying a word in Dutch [ten Boom’s native language]: “Blij” (“Happy,” more literally, “joyful”). Rosewell asked, “Are you happy, Aunt Corrie?” “Ja [yes]” she replied. On the morning of Corie’s ninety-first birthday, April 15, 1983, she breathed her last. Today, her grave is marked with her name, her birth and death dates, and three simple words: “Jesus Is Victor.” Truly Corie Ten Boom lived a flourishing life.

Where have you been? Where are you now? Where are you headed? What do you want your epitaph to say? My prayer is that Psalm 92 may be your and my epitaph.

 S/he flourished like the palm tree in God’s presence.

In old age s/he still produced fruit

s/he was always green and full of sap,

showing that the Lord is upright.

 

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[1] John Stott, The Radical Disciple (p. 74). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] Gordon MacDonald, The Life God Blesses (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 98.

[3] Kenneth Boa and Jenny Abel, Recalibrate Your Life (pp. 200-201). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[4] Ibid., 69.

 

“Flipping Pancakes with God” (Luke 24:28-35)

Good morning, God!

Saturday morning at eight O’clock. That’s when the Hans are all gathered around the table and enjoy homemade pancakes. Oftentimes my children ask Friday evening, “Are we going to eat pancakes tomorrow?” We just love Saturday morning pancake breakfast, not just because we particularly like pancakes, but because we love the atmosphere of our time together. As we make pancakes and prepare the table, Abe and I enjoy fellowship together. When Abe gets up late, I enjoy the time alone with God, flipping pancakes with God. When we are all gathered around the table, we talk about this past week. After the meal, my children enjoy a ‘face-time’ with their grandparents. For me personally, Saturday morning is my highlight of the week because I feel connected most to God and to my family.

There is something about eating together, breaking bread together. In today’s scripture we meet two disciples who were going to a village called Emmaus. It’s interesting to see that they have already heard the news of Christ’s resurrection (vv. 22-24), but they are still “looking sad” (v. 17). The resurrection by itself is not enough to wipe away their sadness. Jesus joins them in their journey, but all along the way in the conversation they don’t recognize Jesus. When they finally arrive in Emmaus, they invite Jesus to come and dine with them, saying, “Abide with us!” (v. 29) So Jesus sits down at the table with them. He takes bread, blesses, and breaks it, and gives it to them. Then, their eyes are open, and they see the risen Christ among them. Then, they understand why their hearts were burning on the way. Then, they understand how Jesus was with them all along the way.

Where do you see God? Where do you see the risen Christ in your daily life?

 

First Room

This past week I personally encountered the risen Christ at an expected time and place. It was Thursday afternoon at our local nursing home. The first person I visited was John (not his real name). He is a skeptic. He has a lot of questions to God. His memory is failing. His health is declining. The last time when I visited him, I told him about the story of Nicodemus and also my conversion story. At the end of the conversation, he said, “I want to read the Bible.” So I brought him an audio Bible, because it was hard for him to read books. Since then, he was listening to the Bible. But the device was not working well, and he asked me to bring another one. So this time brought him a new one. He was glad to have it and promised that he would continue to listen to the Bible. He is forgetting more things each day, but I see him now more intentionally holding on to the Word than before.

In her book From Dry Bones to Living Hope, Missy Buchanan shares her prayer journal this way[1]:

Memory is a peculiar thing. Most days, I can’t recall what I had for lunch. Or I stare blankly into the face of someone familiar because their name has escaped me. O Lord, forgetting things is both embarrassing and terrifying. When my memory falters, I am inclined to panic. I begin to think that dementia has crept in like a deadly vulture waiting to devour me in this wilderness of aging. I start to wonder who I would be without my memories.

On most afternoons I try to stimulate my mind with word puzzles stacked beside my easy chair… O God, I confess that I have tried harder to remember names and faces and facts from my past than I have to remember you. You have never forgotten me, Lord. You still call me by name… I convince myself that I have no purpose and forget how mightily you used Moses and Abraham in their late years… Here in the Valley of Dry Bones, awaken my memories of you, O God. Stir up my recollections of your strength and power. Help me remember . . . help me to remember you.

After the visit, as I was walking out of the room, I heard him saying to me from behind, “Victor, come again. Visit me anytime.” To me, it sounded like a prayer: “Look at me and answer me, O God. Give ear and come to me. Remember me, O God.” I felt the presence and power of the risen Christ in that room.

 

Second Room

The next person I visited was Pat (not her real name). She is suffering from dementia. When I entered the room, she was non-responsive. Every time I visit her, I feel so powerless. There is nothing I can do for her. I pray with her, but she doesn’t even know what I’m doing when I pray. When I was there with Pat in the room, I really didn’t feel that it was a productive use of my time. I didn’t feel that I can contribute anything to her.

Perhaps our powerlessness is a channel of God’s grace. “My power is made perfect in weakness” (cf. 2 Cor 12:9). Perhaps we are called to simply be with people with dementia in their world rather than to try to do something for them. With, not for. Although he is writing about presence with homeless persons, Sam Well’s words are equally relevant for those with dementia[2]:

You don’t sit and have a coffee with a homeless person because you’re trying to solve their problem—you do so because you want to receive the wealth of wisdom, humanity, and grace that God has to give you through them. You aren’t the source of their salvation: they are the source of yours. . . . Your every effort is to enjoy their being, and share your own, rather than change their reality assuming a script you’ve imposed from elsewhere.

During my visit, I prayed for God’s help and guidance. Then I felt how much Pat is loved by God. I realized Pat’s identity, dignity, and worth do not lie in her mental cognition and capacity. Whether she has memories or not, Pat is made in the image of God. She is a beloved child of God no matter what. After a brief prayer, I played a song, “Because He Lives” on YouTube. Then, I read Psalm 23 to her.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…

 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of forgetfulness,

When memory fades and recognition falters,

When eyes grow dim, and minds are confused,

I will not be afraid,

for you are with me;

your presence and your power they comfort me.

 

Third Room

The third person I visited was Amy (not her real name), a 91-year-old lady. Her mind is still sharp. But she struggles to find the meaning of life. When there were COVID cases in her section, she had to stay in the room for a week. At other times, her routine is to walk from one end to the other twice or three times a day. Her roommate normally looks outside through the window for hours a day.

Where is God in this lonely, mundane life? “God, where are you?” When I sat down, she began to talk about her life story… her husband, her children, her siblings, and so forth. Then, she shared her painful experiences in her journey… how her husband suddenly died of rare disease some thirty years ago, how she felt as if her heart was being broken when she heard the news about her son’s divorce, etc. Then she realized God was there when she was going through the valley. It was God who sustained her and kept her going.  

After listening to her story, I invited her to the communion table. I also invited her roommate. Then I briefly shared why we receive communion – to celebrate the risen Christ among us, to experience his presence and power, as well as to remember his death. Three of us were gathered around the table and ate the body of Christ and drank the blood of Christ by faith. Then, we held our hands together and prayed together. I saw their faces brighten up with new joy. Surely the presence of the risen Christ was there.

 

Lift Up Your Heart to God

Amy is you, John is me, and Pat is us. Wherever we are in our journey, the risen Christ is always very near to us.

In his book The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence shares his wisdom this way:

God does not ask much of us, a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little love, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company. The slightest little remembrance of God will always be the most pleasing to Him. We don’t need to shout out to do this. God is closer to us than we may think.

The risen Christ is near. Some of us may have stronger faith, others weaker faith. But we need to remember that it is not the strength of our faith that saves us, it is the object of faith, as Pastor Tim Keller said. We may have doubting, questioning, weak faith – a little faith just like a mustard seed, but if we have our faith in Christ, that is sufficient. All we need is to open up and lift up our heart to the risen Christ. It is to invite him to come and abide with us in our daily life.

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me

  

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[1] Missy Buchanan, From Dry Bones to Living Hope: Embracing God’s Faithfulness in Late Life (Upper Room: TN, 2021), 36-7.

[2] Sam Wells, “The Power of Being With: Jesus’ Model for Ministry,” The Christian Century, June 19, 2015. quoted in Kenneth L Carder, Ministry with the Forgotten (p. 142). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

“Move Toward Him” (1 Cor 15:12-20) - Easter Sunday Message -

 

Faust

Do you like to play chess? My children love to play chess. Even my 3-year-old Hannah plays chess in her own way. It’s hard to beat her.

Pictured on the screen is a painting by Moritz Retzsch in 1831, it was based on a famous German play known as “Faust.” In this story Faust meets a demon named Mephistopheles and agrees to sell his soul in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly success. This painting describes Faust near the end of his life, and is depicted as a chess game. Faust in red has only a few pieces left on the board and seems to be checkmated. The devil is the man in green who has a kind of glee painted on his face, and is seemingly saying, “checkmate in two moves.” Faust is anxiously looking over the chess board, desperately seeking a way out, but it seems that all is lost. Soon the game of life will be over and all will be lost.

Through the years, people come and look up at the painting, and see the hopelessness of the situation. They go away feeling, to some degree, that the artist has captured their own situation – anxious, desperate, hopeless. About 30 years later Rev. R. R. Harrison owns this painting and invites guests over tea and spends the evening together. One of the guests, Paul Morphy, was a well-known chess player of the day. He carefully studied the picture and exclaimed, “It’s a lie! The king still has another move. I could take Faust’s position and win the game.” They set up a chess board with the layout of the painting, and one by one Mr. Morphy took Faust’s position and defeated all the guests there. For 30 years people believed the devil was winning the soul of a man who had sinned much, and all it took was a grand master better than the devil, to defeat and snatch from his grip a soul he was sure he had.[1]

The King Has Another Move

The Bible is full of many such stories, where God’s people were checkmated, hard pressed on every side, but in each one of them God the greatest Grand Master of all stepped into the situation and won the game that seemed hopelessly lost. Daniel was thrown in the lions’ den, but the King had another move. The Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea, but the King had another move and split the Red Sea in two. Most of all, Jesus was hanging on the cross, but the King had another move and could turn it all around for Jesus, raising him from the dead!

In his book The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis tells us the story of Jesus’ resurrection so powerfully. During the Winter Revolution, the White Witch (Satan's figure) tricked Edmund to betray his siblings by revealing their location to her. According to Narnia’s law Edmond now belonged to her as her lawful prey. When the Witch made a claim on Edmund, Aslan (Jesus' figure) spoke to her, offering himself in Edmund's place. The Witch accepted, and that night near the Stone Table, Aslan went up there alone to sacrifice himself in Edmund's stead. The Witch had all her followers gathered at the Table, to witness the mighty lion, the great King of Narnia's fall and death. It was not enough, though, that he simply die, as she wanted him humiliated, tortured, and shamed. So she had him bound, gagged, beaten, and shaved before being dragged over to the Stone Table, where he was executed by the Witch, using her Stone Knife. But what the Witch didn’t know was the Writing upon The Table, saying, "If a willing Victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table will crack; and even death itself would turn backwards." – The Deep Magic. At dawn, there was an almighty crack, and the Table split in two right down the middle. And Aslan was once again alive and well. Edmund is now forgiven and beloved, and has new life without fear and guilt. The King has another move.

Message of Hope

This is what Easter is for us. Easter is a message of hope. The resurrection of Jesus tells us that life is not a dead-end street or a no-exit situation. Because Christ is risen, there is always a way out, there is always a second chance, there is always a new life in him.

This morning I am not standing here to prove Jesus’ resurrection; instead, I am here simply to proclaim the good news of his resurrection – to proclaim the fact how his resurrection changes lives of those to whom he appeared just as the Apostle Paul did. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul declares:

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.

And we all know what happened next to those who had seen the risen Christ. The disciples were afraid, confused, depressed, hiding in the dark. But in a period of less than 50 days they became a group of people so bold, so joyous, so confident. Think about Paul’s life. He confessed that he was the worst sinner (cf. 1 Tim 1:15). He was going everywhere to destroy the church. But after encountering the risen Christ, he was transformed into a person with an unstoppable power and unshakable understanding of his mission.

The Risen Christ Changes Lives Today

The risen Christ changed Paul’s life and the other apostles’ lives. The risen Christ still can change your life and my life – if we will let him.

It is possible to recite the Apostles’ Creed and not be affected by it. It is possible to intellectually agree that he or she believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that same person can live a defeated life. Mary was so preoccupied with grief, and she thought she was talking to a gardener, even though the risen Christ was standing right in front of her. Two disciples on the way to Emmaus were so preoccupied with their own agenda and disappointment, and they did not recognize Jesus, even though the risen Christ was walking right beside them for hours.

There was a young man who grew in the church. He thought he believed in God, but actually he didn’t know God. God had little influence on his everyday life. Like everyone else, he became a skeptic. He was no longer able to believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God. Then, he went to the army, and there he became fatally ill. Out of desperation, he cried out to God. And God heard his cry and restored his health. After this, he began to read the Bible from cover to cover for the first time. During this time, he encountered the risen Christ. The young man asked, “Jesus, where were you when I needed you most?” Jesus answered, “My son, I was standing right before you, opening my arms to you, and waiting for 21 years.” And he was never the same after that. The young man was me.

Perhaps some of us may experience “death” – death to hope, death to relationships, death to believing. But today we hear the good news of Easter: The Risen Christ comes to everywhere death is in our lives, and brings life.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through the risen Christ today! Sisters and brothers in Christ, wherever you are in your life journey, remember this: The King has another move. You have another move. Move toward him.

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[1] Maurice McCarthy, “The King Has Another Move” (May 29, 2018), http://fireonyouraltar.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-king-has-another-move.html. Also, Kenneth Chafin, “Easter Means Hope,” Preaching Today, https://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2010/july/eastermeanshope.html

“The Jesus We Never Knew” (John 12:12-19)

The Person I Thought I Knew

Recently I have read a novel by Michele Shocklee, “Count the Nights by Stars.” It’s a story about an elderly lady Priscilla Nichols who is a quiet, reclusive woman residing in the Maxell hotel. One day she suffered from a debilitating stroke. After she was transferred to hospital, Audrey Whitefield was tasked with cleaning out the room. While she was cleaning the room, she found a scrapbook that told a story about Mrs. Nichols’ life – how she fell in love with young Italian immigrant, how she stood up to social injustice, how she fought to end human trafficking, how she ended up adopting a young girl who was an ex-prostitute. Audrey then said to herself, “I wish I’d known Miss Nichols better. I wish I had taken more time to get to know her when she lived at the Maxwell… She is a remarkable woman.” Audrey thought she knew this old woman, but she realized she didn’t.

Not long ago, I had a chance to visit one church member who celebrated her 91^st birthday at a nursing home. I always thought I knew this person. But as I was listening to her story, I realized I didn’t know her.

The Jesus They Thought They Knew

As Jesus made his way to Jerusalem, there were at least three different groups who were coming out to see him: the disciples, the crowd, and the Pharisees.

First, the disciples. Of course, they thought they knew Jesus. One day when Jesus asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, one of the disciples answered with confidence, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). But obviously he and the other disciples had a different picture of the Messiah. They thought Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a sign of an “onward and upward” journey. But the Bible says, “[The disciples] did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him” (v. 16). They didn’t know Jesus.

Second, the crowd. They saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. They followed Jesus and welcomed him. They continued to testify. They believed Jesus as someone powerful and useful in their lives, but they didn’t know Jesus.

Then, the Pharisees. They considered Jesus as a “threat”, or “unorthodox”, or “troublemaker” who disturbed their comfortable life. As they watched Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, they said to each other, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him” (v. 19). They didn’t know Jesus.   

The Jesus We Never Knew

It’s just the beginning. Now during this final week they begin to see who Jesus really is. The authors of the Gospels place so much focus on the Holy Week. (ex. John 47%, Matthew 30%, Mark 40%, Luke 20%) Then who is this man? What kind of Messiah he is?”

Monday: Cleansing the temple

Jesus cleansed the temple at least twice – at the beginning and end of his ministry. When Jesus drove out cattle and overturned the money changers’ tables, the Jews asked him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” He was speaking of the temple of his body. He was prophesying how he would cleanse us of our sins once for all. As Jesus was cleansing the temple for the second time, children were coming and crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” The religious leaders were angry and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus quoted from a prophet and said, “Out of the mouths of infants, you have prepared praises for yourself.” The disciples didn’t understand these things at that time. Who is this man?

Tuesday: Arguing with the Pharisees

Jesus taught people and argued with the Pharisees in the temple. Jesus told them a parable of the wicked tenants. There was a landowner who leased the vineyard to tenants and went away. When the harvest time came, the owner sent a servant to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Finally, the owner sent his son, saying, “They will respect my son.” But the tenants saw the son and said to themselves, “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they killed him. Then Jesus asked, “What will the owner will do?” Here Jesus was prophesying what would happen to him (God’s Son), and urging them to repent and turn to God before it’s too late. Who is this man?

Wednesday: 3^rd anointing of Jesus

Jesus was first anointed by a sinful woman. Then he declared to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were at the table with him said among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus was then anointed by Mary, Lazarus’ sister, for the second time six days before the Passover. And now for the third time he was anointed by a woman in the house of Simon the leper two days before the Passover. The disciples didn’t understand and said to themselves, “Why this waste?” They didn’t know who Jesus really was. But Jesus said to them, “Leave her alone. She did a beautiful thing…. She has prepared me for my burial.” He came to die. And the hour has come. Who is this man?

Thursday: The Last Supper 

Jesus knew that his hour had come. He had loved his disciples, and now he loved them to the very end. While he was having the last supper with the disciples, the last thing he did was to wash their feet, even if he knew that they would desert him and disown him within a few hours. The last words he said to them was to love one another and to wash one another’s feet. Who is this man?

Friday: The trials and crucifixion

Perhaps Jesus faced as many as six interrogations. In his memoir Pierre Van Paassen tells us a story about an elderly Jewish rabbi taken to the Nazi headquarters. The captors stripped him naked and commanded him to preach the sermon that he was going to preach that week. In the far end of the same room, two other captors were beating another Jew to death. The rabbi asked if he could wear his kippa, they agreed, thinking it added to the joke. The trembling rabbi began to deliver his sermon in a raspy voice on what it means to walk humbly with God, all the while being poked and prodded by the hotting Nazis.1

The Jews blindfolded Jesus, struck him, “Prophesy, you Messiah! Who struck you?” Later, the Romans stripped Jesus and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him and struck him on the head again and again. Jesus then died the most painful, shameful, criminal’s death on the cross. He was hung on the cross for 6 hours.  The six hours that changed the world! Jesus did take away the sin of the world. He took away your sin and my sin. He absorbed evil, he disarmed evil, he conquered its power by his sacrificial death on the cross. Who is this man?

Walking with Jesus through the Holy Week

Sisters and brothers in Christ, I exhort you to carve out the time this week and mediate on each day’s passage. Use your imagination, try to imagine what Jesus was doing at each hour of each day, and try to put yourself in his place to feel what he was feeling. My prayer is that as we walk with Jesus through this Holy Week, we may come to know and believe Jesus we never knew before. Amen.

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1. Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (p. 199). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Modern Calendar Days	Event of the Holy Week
	Arrival in Bethany (John 12:1)
Sunday	Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, John 12:12-18) Jesus surveys the temple area (Mark 11:11) Return to Bethany (Matt. 21:17, Mark 11:11)
Monday	Cursing the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-14) Clearing the temple (Matt. 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17) Miracles and challenges in the temple (Matt. 21:14-16, Mark 1:18) Return to Bethany (Mark 11:19)
Tuesday	Reaction to cursing the fig tree on the way back to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:20-22, Mark 11:20-21) Debates with religious leaders in Jerusalem and teaching in the temple (Matt. 21:23-23:39, Mark 11:27-12:44) End Times Discourse on the Mount of Olives on the return to Bethany (Matt. 24:1-25:46, Mark 13:1 37)
Wednesday	Jesus and disciples remain in Bethany for last time of fellowship A woman anoints Jesus (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9) Judas returns alone to Jerusalem to make arrangements for the betrayal (Matt. 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11)

 

Thursday	Preparations for Passover (Matt. 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16) After sundown: Passover meal and Last Supper (Matt. 26:20-35, Mark 14:17-26) Upper Room discourses (John 13-17) Prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36- 46, Mark 14:32-42)
Friday	Sometime perhaps after midnight: Betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:47-56, Mark 14:43- 52) Jewish trial–Jesus appears in three phases in front of:   -Annas (John 18:13-24)   -Caiaphas and partial Sanhedrin (Matt. 26:57-75, Mark 14:53-65)   -Sanhedrin fully assembled (perhaps after sunrise) (Matt. 27:1-2, Mark 15:1) Roman trial – Jesus appears in three phases before:   -Pilate (Matt. 27:2-14, Mark 15:2-5)   -Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6-12)   -Pilate (Matt. 27:15-26, Mark 15:6-15) Crucifixion (approx. 9:00 am to 3:00 pm) (Matt 27:27-66, Mark 15:16-39)
Sunday	Resurrection witnesses (Matt. 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12) Resurrection appearances (Matt. 28:9-20, Luke 24:13-53, John 20-21)

 *This chart is slightly adjusted from Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, NIVAC (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 709-10.