After for 4 years at KUC => moving to Kyoto soon
2 Key Points for Christian Life
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Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts together this morning be pleasing in your sight O Lord. You are our rock and redeemer. Amen.
Originally, the title of today’s sermon was “I Am With You.” But as I read and meditated on today’s Scripture reading, I started to realize that I was missing one very important word! Not only that, but in leaving it out, I had accidentally quoted God’s word incompletely! Dom and Minami-san, could you put the Scripture verses back up on the screen again? Specifically, I want to look at the very last verse of today’s Scripture, verse 18. Let’s say it together. “I try to count them - they are more than the sand; I come to the end, I am still with you.” “I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:18) Now, let me ask you a question; who do you think it was who said this in the Scripture; “I am still with you.” Was it God? Was it someone else? If it was someone else…who? Anyone? These are the words of King David. For those of you who have your Bibles handy, let's take a good look at the very beginning of this Psalm. Before verse 1 even begins, it says, “The Inescapable God To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. ” (Slide) Now King David is probably one of the most well-known figures in the Bible, and he’s the one who actually wrote this psalm. Of course we don’t know very much about King David today. In fact, the best-known image of King David is probably more famous than he is; this sculpture of King David by the famous Italian artist, Michelangelo. (Slide 2) See? Now you know who we’re talking about! But David was more than just a king, and the inspiration for a giant, naked sculpture; David was also a well known musician. All of these poems in the book of Psalms are actually hymns, songs about God, and he wrote many of them himself, and many of these songs he wrote were addressed directly to God. David wrote songs about who God is, and if you’ve read any of his songs in the book of Psalms, you know that King David was a very, very honest and blunt man. He didn’t hold back when talking to God at all! Here are some examples of the kind of things he says, directly to God, in the book of Psalms: Psalm 13:2 “How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!” Wow! Can you imagine ever talking like that to God? If I were David, I think I might have at least added a “please” on the end of that request! Who does David think he is, turning to God and demanding, “answer me, God!” While I think David’s demand here is a little aggressive, at least he knows the right person to go to in times of trouble. At least David knows that his family, his friends, his servants or kings of other nations cannot save him. They can’t answer his question of how long his suffering will go on, because only God knows the answer to that. And we can see that in today’s Scripture - Psalm 139 verse 16 - where it says, “In your book (that is God’s book) were written all the days that were formed for me.” This doesn’t just mean that every day was made for us; it means that God knows each and every one of these days that were made for us. And not only that, God even keeps records of those things! I mean, autobiographies are good at summarizing someone’s life, but God’s book is far more detailed and precise even than that! What’s more, God records every day of everyone’s life in just as much detail! Can you imagine how big that library must be? That sure would be bigger than any big libraries or museums around the world! But, we also have to read this verse and this chapter very carefully. While we know that God keeps a record of all the days of our lives, it doesn’t ever say that God will tell us about these days that have been formed for us. God knows all that is, and was, and is to come in the days that have been formed for us, but God might not reveal the details to us. And if we read today’s Scripture passage again and again, we start to get a feeling for just what kind of song David wrote here. Psalm 139 is not a song about seeking answers. It’s not a song about sharing or expressing the full depth of suffering that David is going through, or it’s not even a song about asking God for help. In Psalm 139, David is making what we call a Confession of Faith. Of course, when we hear the word “confession,” our mind immediately jumps to a confession of sin, repentance, reconciliation, and forgiveness. But this isn’t that. Here, David is making a confession not of his sin, but of his faith; he is stating, loudly and publicly, what he believes. So let’s look at David's deep, personal, confession of faith together, shall we? Could you please put Psalm 139:1-5 up on the screen? 139:1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. Right away, David says in verse 1 “The Lord searches and knows us.” Not only is God with those who actively come to God, not only is God with those who seek God, but God actually searches us out, whether we’re looking for God or not. And God doesn’t just search for you just to find you; God is eager to know you; not merely as an acquaintance, not just as someone who says “Hi, how are you?” when you pass on the street. God isn’t looking for a surface-level relationship here; God knows you. 139:2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.139:3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. To what extent does God know you? How fully does God understand who you are, personally? God knows your daily schedule, when you sit down and when you rise up. Not only does God know what you do, but God also knows your innermost thoughts. God is also with you in your discernment and decision making, because God searches your path. God even checks out where you can safely lie down. 139:4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 139:5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. And not only does God know all the ways you think, act, and choose, but God knows every word you might speak. And God’s presence with you isn’t just figurative, not simply something in your own imagination. God is showing up in ways you can sense, feel, hear and understand. God is so near, dear, and close to you; surrounding you behind and before you. God guides with you with a mighty hand, compassionately leading you on into life. Can we take a moment to try to soak all these in, let them sink deeply in your heart? Wow! How amazing is that? Is there anyone, anyone at all other than God, who can be with us like this? No! Our families, our close friends, or even our church family; none of them can truly know you, or be with you this deeply and intimately. Only God is able to establish that kind of relationship with us. As much as the people around us - friends, acquaintances, family members, church family even our best and dearest friends - do love us and care for us, no one can truly understand us, answer us, or even save us in the way that God can, no matter how much anyone else might want to! Of course, if you grew up in church, or if you’ve been Christian for a long time, you might be thinking, “Yes, I know all these things about God. I know that God is with us everywhere we go! Tell me something I don’t already know!” It’s so tempting to just quickly skim through this Psalm, thinking that all it has to offer is something you already know about God. But when I think of the spiritual state of our church, when I have been seeing what is going on in people’s lives, talking with them, listening to them, and praying with them, I feel as though God is highlighting something important from today’s reading, something we might have missed in our faith journey through David’s response to God. David confesses that God is with him always, all the time. And in response to that show of intimate, loving faithfulness of God, David goes on to confess that he also chooses to be with God. “I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:18) David says to God. Let’s think about all that David went through, all the ups and downs of his life. He started out as a shepherd boy, the youngest of eight brothers, dedicated to a life of taking care of sheep (1 Samuel 17:12 and 14). That’s it. He wasn’t set aside to fulfill anything big or important; or at least, that’s what his big brother Eliab thought (1 Samuel 17:28). Even though he was a young man, with much growing still to do both physically and spiritually, God sought David out and knew him. God knew that David had the heart to seek after God, just as God sought after him (1 Samuel 13:14). So God chose David, and gave him a great and terrible task, appointing him to be the new king, ruling over God’s people of Israel. Instead of shepherding animals, David would now be shepherding people, tasked with uniting a nation and bringing peace and prosperity to the people of Israel. But God’s plans always seem to go a little off the track when they run into our broken, human desires, don’t they? When people place themselves first, above the good of others, above the desires of God’s hearts, God’s righteous plans tend to get pushed aside. The previous king, Saul, once loved and cared for David. David fought battles for Saul, grew his kingdom, and even served as his caretaker, playing the harp for him and giving great comfort with his music. But as David seemed to rise as a leader, jealousy took hold over King Saul (1 Samuel 18:9). His jealousy drove him crazy. And so Saul began to scheme different ways to see David killed. When each of these schemes failed to work, Saul decided simply to end David’s life himself. So David fled into the wilderness, moving from cave to cave throughout the dry, desolate land of Israel, constantly in fear for his life. Imagine being in this situation yourself. You have no clean clothes, no food to eat unless you can rely on the support of others. And even if you do find some support, those who would help you can only do so much. They can’t be with you 24/7, can’t stop Saul from coming after you. You still have to keep running, still need to keep enduring, facing an unending chain of long, lonely nights spent in cold, dark, caves. If I were David, I don’t know how long I could last, and I’m sure King David probably felt the same. This is why we find David writing and talking to God the way he does in the Psalms. With this background in mind, now think of the significance of that phrase again; think of how much it means for David to say to God in Psalm 139:18, “I am still with you.” David ran away, into the deepest parts of the wilderness, so that no one could find him. He crawled into the darkest cave to the point that he couldn’t even see the light of day (Psalm 139:11). Living in a constant state of fear, constantly feeling your life being in danger, I’m sure he felt like he was in Sheol, in a place where there seemed to be no God. He was in the dark for so long, waking up every day covered in darkness and danger, constantly in fear for his life… But even then he says, “I am still with you, God.” “My life is turned upside down, I literally live in the darkness; I know you don’t see the darkness the way I do, but even still…could you come rescue me?” David might have said something like that…. “Even still, I am still with you, God.” Our faith in God doesn’t mean that we can expect immediate deliverance from our suffering. Our faith in God doesn’t necessarily bring us healing all the time. As a community, we have experienced this firsthand, when pastor Chuck died and went to be with the Lord two years ago. Where then was God’s promise of salvation, you might wonder? If God doesn’t step in and save us from the darkness, what is the point of believing in God? Why would we keep talking to a God who doesn’t pull us out from suffering and sickness when we need it? What is the point of God being with us if we don’t receive miracles? What do we get out of that deal? King David would tell you that it isn’t about that; it isn’t about what God gives us in exchange for our faith. David’s response was a choice, he chose to be with God no matter what, no matter how hard things got. Things got hard for us too, back then; when we saw pastor Chuck’s health continue to decline, saw his suffering grow, and saw death draw near. But even then, we saw clearly that pastor Chuck, just like David, chose to be with God even then. “I come to the end–I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:18) How are you approaching that choice, in your own life today? Do you still choose to be with God, even when you feel that God is so very far away? Do you still choose to be with God, even when you feel like your prayers aren’t answered in the way that you had hoped, in the way you wanted, or in the way that you feel you deserve? Do you still choose to be with God even though the sickness and suffering hanging over you or your loved ones is not taken away? Do you still choose to be with God even when the church, and the people in it, hurt you, disappoint you, or make you angry? When your health fails, do you still choose to be with God? When Christ tells you to sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, do you still choose to be with God? When you are called out from places of comfort, sent out alone, into wildernesses both spiritual and physical, do you still choose to be with God? When everything is falling apart, when your life is a mess, when you are persecuted, hated, or cast out, do you still choose to be with God? When you turn your eyes up into the darkness, seeing the suffering of the entire world, war, starvation, women and children abused, natural disasters, hate and discrimination toward certain races and groups and all you hear is silence…do you still choose to be with God? David knew all too well the pain. He was with God who at times felt silent. David knew well the suffering and struggle of attack and danger. Even within all that, even when his own heart told him that God was not there, David chose to be with God every moment, everywhere he went. How about you? How about us, KUC family? No matter what comes upon our way, could we say, “God, we are still with you.”? Let us pray. God, please help us to be more like you, to be a people who choose to be with you no matter what else might come in our lives. Our flesh and spirits may grow weak. We find that we can’t choose to be with you without your help. Help us to remind ourselves that you chose to be with us. Instead of condemnation and judgment, you came to be with us in love forever. So we ask that you help us to grow in our faith so that we can continue to say together, “We are still with you, God.” Amen. John 3
Jesus met many people. In every case, their lives were transformed. He met people like Peter, James, and John, disciples; sick people like lepers; self-righteous people like Pharisees; injured people like the blind, lame, and paralyzed; and the despised and outcasts like tax collectors, prostitutes, and Romans. But no conversation is as powerful and theological as his conversation with Nicodemus. Nicodemus had it going on... had it going on in a good way. There were three aspects of this man. He was a PHARISEE. Which is to say, he followed all the rules. Not only the rules in the OT but the rules that they made on top of the rules from the OT. He devoted his life to a life of purity both physically and spiritually, and yet, there is a sad part. For all of his rule-following, something was missing. For all of his work, he did not feel connected to God. He was a TEACHER OF the LAW. He knew the scriptures inside and out. There is a level of learning when you study, but there is a whole other level of knowledge when you are expected to teach others. He not only knew the law but interpreted. He knew all about God, but something was missing. Again the connection. He was a MEMBER OF THE JEWISH RULING COUNCIL – the SANHEDRIN. He was connected. Not just spiritually, but in the Sanhedrin, he worked with the authorities to make real-life decisions that impacted people. Because Israel was an occupied territory by the Romans, he even had to work with them. We know from the end of the Gospel story when Jesus was crucified, he had the authority to ask for Jesus' body (John 19:38) and they gave it to him. And yet, his political power did not lead him to a connection with God. I once knew a rich, powerful, moral man in the States who told me that he felt empty. All the trappings of success did not fill him with joy. He needed more than the trappings of the world; he needed a connection to God and the only way to get that is through the Holy Spirit. After listening to Jesus teach and watching him heal, Nicodemus goes to Jesus one evening in the cover of darkness. Many preachers make a lot of noise about him coming to Jesus at night. Is he ashamed? Does he want privacy? We do not know. We do not know his motives, but we do know something. If you come to Jesus in a tree (like Zacchaeus), Jesus will stop and talk to you. If you come across Jesus on the street (like10 Lepers), Jesus will stop and talk to you. If you touch him without his consent (Woman with the issue of blood), he will talk to you. Jesus makes time for Nicodemus, and Nicodemus tells him that he respects this young preacher as a person sent from God. "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." Nicodemus recognizes that God is with Jesus because of the miracles he is performing. Not everybody who witnessed those miracles understood and believed, but Nicodemus did. Jesus cuts to the heart of the conversation. He tells him that he needs to be born again or born anew to experience even see the Kingdom of God. Be careful when you go to Jesus. For if you go to Jesus, he will not speak about the weather or the sports clubs or the latest fashion. He will go to the heart, and that is scary as hell. Some of you know me, but most of those who know me do not know my internal struggle. I’ve struggled with low self-esteem or low confidence. I learned it as a child, and it sometimes seeps into my life. Years ago, I remember going to God asking for healing years from headaches. As I prayed, I heard Jesus saying to me over and over again, "You are my child, and I love you. You are made in my image." Nothing about my headache. The headache was a peripheral issue; the heart was my self-esteem. Interestingly, I wrestled with that for a year until I embraced that I am not perfect, but I am loved. AND SO ARE YOU. Interestingly, after embracing the love of God, my headaches went away. I had all these old tapes, CDs with a self-image of mine that I needed to put into the trash because God was making me into a new creation in His image, not in Mark's or the world's image. 2 Cor 5:17 says, "When someone is in Christ, he becomes a brand-new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!" Jesus hits Nicodemus with a truth bomb. He confronts Nicodemus' most sacred held belief that because of his lineage and connection to Abraham (As a Jew), he is in with God. Because of the covenant God made with Abraham and his future descendants, Nicodemus was safe. When Jesus says to him and to us, "You have to be born again," being born again has gotten a bad rap, so I often say, "born anew." It is called a transformation. The world likes these reality TV shows like "Home Makeover," "Body Makeover," or "The Biggest Loser." The show has a group of people that transform a person's outside by ripping down walls, cutting weight, cutting hair, or buying them a new outfit. And it is amazing how these people can be transformed on the outside. But it does not last unless there is an inner transition. I read that on the show "The Biggest Loser," more than 90% of the participants gained all the weight back after the show ends. Jesus is saying your work with the teaching of the Law, being a Pharisee, and working on the Sanhedrin is good, but that is all on the outside. You need to be born anew on the inside. Renewal is not new. God tells Ezekiel (36:26) a thousand years earlier, "I will replace your heart of stone with a heart of flesh." If Jesus had said that Gentiles or Non-Jews needed to be born anew, Nicodemus would have said "Amen." But for Jews, this is radical. Baptism was a common thing if a Gentile wanted to become Jewish, but John the Baptizer said all needed to be baptized, which was radical even Jews who are part of the promise through Abraham. Jesus here is taking up the same idea. Jesus gives two examples to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus, being a biblical scholar, gets both references. The first example Jesus gives is wind. V.8, wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. The Hebrew word for wind is "Ruach" הרוח, which is the same word for the Spirit of God/Holy Spirit. Jesus goes on to say three things about Ruach:
The second major example that Jesus gives is about the need for repentance from Numbers 21. Jesus tells a story of the Israelites' disobedience during their wandering between coming out of Egypt and before entering the promised land. The people grumbled against the Lord. God allowed His protection to drop from the people, and snakes came and bit people, and people died. The people then went to Moses and said, "We have sinned." Moses prayed that God would take away the snakes. God did not. Instead, He told Moses to make a pole with the very thing that had bitten the people, and after being bitten, if they came and looked at their sin (repentance), then they would be saved. Jesus wants us to understand something about being born anew from this story:
The second thing that John 3:16 teaches us is who the recipient of God's love is. To quote The Blues Brothers the men who are on mission from God, "IT'S YOU, YOU, YOU! IN THE MORNING, YOU, YOU, YOU." You may not have been the first one asked to dance or the first one picked for dodgeball at the park, but in God's eyes, YOU are loved. Do you know it? I mean, do you truly know it in your heart, not just in your head? If you want to be born anew, you must embrace this truth, or else the Spirit of God will not descend upon you. The third lesson from John 3:16 is that love is an action, and God was willing to back His words with sacrifice. In marriage vows (promises), I know I promised to love, honor, and cherish Stephanie till death do us part. Raise your hand if you made that vow. It wasn't a promise as long as I am having a good time. No, it was a commitment for better and sometimes worse, in health and sickness. Love is a feeling (true), but if it is not supported by actions, it becomes the resounding gong that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13. Jesus not only spoke about His love for us but also went to the cross to show us. The final lesson we learn is the benefits of this relationship. We are promised a reward, not because we are inherently good, but because of God's grace. Just like Jesus offered this reward to the thief on the cross, He offers it to all who believe. To be with Jesus in paradise. As Romans 10:9 states, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Being born anew involves participating in a relationship with God. The choice is yours. Let's pray. Intro
My name is Brent Warwick and from 2001-2005, I served on staff at KUC focused on youth and outreach. Suzy (my wife) and I were only in our 20s and we moved to Kobe on an initial 3 year contract with no understanding of how much that season of life would change us. It was remarkably difficult at times, but God taught us so very much. Context When Pastor Claudia asked if I would be willing to preach during our visit to KUC, I eagerly agreed because of how much Suzy and I benefited from the love of KUC members for the entire time we lived here. So many members welcomed us into their homes, gave freely of their wisdom, time, and help with translation, and essentially shared the love of Christ with us. There really aren't words to express our gratitude. And that notion of gratitude is what led me to our sermon today. For the past few years, the Holy Spirit has been training my heart to have a posture of gratitude. I've had a lot to learn. God created me with a uniquely independent spirit which was then combined with being an American (a culture that is uniquely and willfully independent). Gratitude is difficult to express when you are so independent. For me, I saw life as being within my control and I sought to control my future and the outcomes of my actions. But God lovingly frustrated my fierce independence in a number of ways: first by moving to Japan where I was deeply dependent on others; then by breaking my hip leaving me unable to do many things even now; then by being displaced by Hurricane Katrina when we moved back to the States; then making it through the Great Recession; and more recently helping my brother and his family as he perseveres through cancer. God has convinced me that to seek control leads to frustration and anger. Instead, choosing to be grateful leads to appreciation. God has convinced me that to complain and yearn for circumstances to be easy leads to misery for me and those around me. Instead, choosing to be joyful leads to peace. And God has convinced me that to worry about the future does nothing but make the present feel miserable. Instead, choosing to be hopeful leads to peace and contentment. Main Points Be grateful. Be joyful. Be hopeful. For a few years now, I conclude nearly all prayers with this simple request. God, please help us to: Be grateful. Be joyful. Be hopeful. We cannot fully experience these things without the Holy Spirit's work in our hearts. So this prayer is an acknowledgement of our dependence on God and a reminder for my own heart and the hearts of those who hear my prayer. The power to be grateful is rooted in our history as God's creations. We are not our own. We owe life, all life, to God the Father who graciously breathed life into all beings. Be Grateful Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. — Psalm 100:1-5 Being grateful is looking back at the past and reflecting on what is good, what is worthwhile, on God the Father's grace to us, that God is ultimately in control of all things. God is in control of the outcome. We are not. When we realize this, we experience the refreshing clarity of freedom. We are free from the outcome. And our control in the small things is only a gift to us, to be used to freely return God's love for us and to love our neighbor as a result. And this reflection replaces our desire for control. We cannot just eliminate our desire for control. We must replace it with something more satisfying. True freedom is always more satisfying. And when we cherish the freedom we receive from releasing our need for control, the more grateful our hearts will become. I am continuing to learn how to be grateful. And if you find yourself with even a small desire to live more gratefully, then I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to teach this to your heart. And one thing that I have found helpful is to find a way to remind yourself to be grateful. Here's an example. About 7 years ago, Suzy and I started a small practice at dinner with our children. Before we would thank God for the food we were about to eat, we would go around the table with each person expressing one thing they were thankful for that day. Because it was simple, we were able to sustain it. And while we are not always consistent with it, we have done it over the years enough to where it feels like a tradition. And that tradition reminds us each time that we have good reason to be grateful. And as we reflect on what we are grateful for, we become more grateful. Be Joyful If being grateful is reflection (looking back), being joyful is a reminder for the present moment. The writer of the Psalms says this: Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. — Psalm 4:6-8 The writer is pointing out that our hearts are restless for better times. Life is difficult. It's often painful. There is tragedy and grief. And at a minimum, there is struggle. The struggle of growing up. The struggle of getting older. The struggle for health. The struggle of relationships. The struggle to have faith. The struggle to feel hope. The struggle to show love. But joy can be found in all of these circumstances. And since we ultimately don't have control over these circumstances, our experience in this life is quite simply better when we choose to be joy-filled Christians despite these circumstances whether we want to experience them or not. This power to be joyful (to choose joy) is found in our dependence on the presence of God's Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who awakens our minds. The Holy Spirit comforts our hearts in times of struggle, pain, and grief. And the Holy Spirit empowers us to see God's goodness, God's Kingdom, and God's plan for the renewal of all things (we will get to more of that in a minute). I am also continuing to learn how to be joyful. And if you find yourself with even a small desire to live more joyfully, then I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to teach this to your heart. I have learned some very difficult lessons about joy in the last few years particularly as my younger brother, Brock, (my only sibling) has endured treatment for colon cancer. He has been incredibly sick at times. He has undergone experimental treatments and just recently underwent another surgery that was intensely painful. He's now very thin and he's doing the best he can to recover. Suzy's older sister, Mary, has also been enduring treatment for a different kind of cancer. In both situations, we do not have control and we deeply wish that they never had to suffer from cancer. Another translation of Psalm 4:6 says, "may we see better times." That is what we have felt in our hearts! May we see better times than these times where those we love suffer. My desire to be free from pain or for those I love to be free from pain, will not take away the pain. But in the midst of that pain or that struggle, if I take a moment to consider that God is in control of all things. That God understands all things. And that God has planned for the renewal of all things, then my heart can experience joy and feel peace despite the circumstances. Struggle, pain, grief doesn't just magically disappear for us as Christians. In fact, we may experience more of it because we care deeply about others, about God's creation, about things that truly matter. Being joyful is about opening one's heart to comfort from God's Holy Spirit. Opening one's heart to sharing the burdens that others are facing. And to opening one's heart to the hope that all of the sad things will one day no longer be sad. Be Hopeful And that brings me to my last point. If being grateful is reflection on what has been, and being joyful is an encouragement for what is, then being hopeful is perspective for what is to come. John the Apostle, wrote this in the vision he experienced about the future. "He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”” - Revelation 21:5 John is quoting Christ (God the Son) who will redeem all of creation from the effects of sin, the decay of creation, and the brokenness of our world. Christ will renew all things. Christ will make all of those sad things no longer be sad. Christ will bring about a new creation where we will no longer struggle to be grateful or joyful or hopeful. The details on this aren't very clear. We don't know exactly what this renewed creation will look like or feel like or smell like or taste like. But the best of what we have experienced in this current world is only a small taste of what is to come. I suspect that all that is beautiful will become far more beautiful. All that is wonderful will become even more worthy of our wonder and admiration. All that is peaceful will become present everywhere. This renewal of all things is worthy of looking forward to. For me, considering this perspective is how I cope with the difficulties of every day. God has worked in my heart for a long time. When I was younger, I naturally saw the negative in life much more than I saw the positive. I complained when things didn't go as I planned or I hoped. I criticized before I encouraged. But when you have tried to control life which cannot be controlled. When you experience being displaced and financial struggle and chronic pain and watching others suffer and the tragedy of life being cut short, you reach the end of your own efforts. And you begin to consider the deep truth that this world is not our own and it's not ours to fix. It belongs to the Creator who will bring about its full renewal when the time has come. I can find comfort in that. I can rest in that. I can find hope in that. Conclusion If you've noticed, there's a pattern here that resembles the Trinity. From the beginning words of the book of Genesis and throughout the Bible, we learn that God the Father served as the Creator of all things. God always "was." God also "is," in that God the Holy Spirit is with us now, guiding us, comforting us, and empowering us. And God "will be" in that God the Son, Jesus Christ, will assume the throne of Creation and bring about a renewal of all things. We need this reminder of past, present, and future. God the Father - The Creator, God the Holy Spirit - the Comforter, and God the Son - the Redeemer. Gratitude, Joy, and Hope are a trinity of sorts; three aspects of human life that are entwined and build together toward; a life that is dependent on God, that trusts in God's provision and plan, and experiences a freedom that cannot be found in anything else this side of heaven. I am thankful for our time at Kobe Union Church. I am joyful for this very moment to be with you. And I am hopeful that we will all see one another again whether it is on this side side of heaven or the other side of heaven that is to come, the creation that will be renewed. Blessing Here is my prayer for you: May God bless you and keep you. May God's face shine upon you and grow your hearts to be full of gratitude, joy, and hope. May God bless Kobe Union Church as a refuge high above the city. And may the Gospel of Jesus Christ renew the hearts of all who come here. Grace and peace to all of you. |
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May 2024
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