pastor steve: March 2009

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Life Application on "You are created to give grace with your words" (Ephesians 4:25-29)

Recapture

This past week, we explore what it means to put off and put on in regard to words we speak. The idea of giving grace with words comes from Ephesians 4:29. Paul tells us to put off unwholesome, rotten talk that’s good for nothing. He calls us to put on talk that builds up others who listen to us in order to benefit them. To benefit someone with our words means to give grace or impart grace to that person with what we say.

We don’t normally think of words that we speak possessing this kind of power to grace others as well as power to spoil and damage relationship.

Three reasons to put on giving grace with our words are:

because we are created to belong to each other as members of one body, namely Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:25).
because we are created to yield good fruit by rejecting rotten words (Luke 6:43, Ephesians 4:29).
because we are created to give grace with our words (Ephesians 4:29).

And, three practical ways to give grace with our words are:

speaking truthfully (Ephesians 4:25)
rejecting rotten words (Ephesians 4:29)
building others up (Ephesians 4:29)

Reflect & apply

Discuss the times when you felt touched by God after talking to someone… How did this person model for you what it means to give grace with words?
What do you need to work on in the way you speak to others in order to embrace and welcome your identity in Christ to give grace to others with your words?

Pray

Ask God to transform your words at home, at work, at school, at play, at church into grace giving words.

Created to give grace with your words (Ephesians 4:25-29)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 29, 2009

In this month, we’ve been exploring the biblical paradigm of putting off the old self and putting on the new self in the language of Paul in Ephesians 4:22-23. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

“Put off your old self… Put on the new self, created to be like God…” Lest, we reduce and confine Paul’s call to put off and put on as some kind of path to self discovery, self enhancement that only makes difference for me, for you, individually, he spends the rest of the chapter 4 spelling out how you and I must practice putting on and putting off in the context of doing life together. And, today we are going to focus specifically on what it means to be created to impart grace with our words.

James 3:9-12 speaks to irony of inconsistency when we use our words not for imparting grace, but in mean spirit. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?”

We praise God and we curse others with the same tongue if we don’t practice putting off meanness in speech and putting on speech that gives grace. Putting on speech that gives grace is living consistently in whom God has created us to be.

Give grace by speaking truthfully for you are created to belong to each other.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:25 we are to give grace to each other by speaking truthfully. He reasons it is because we are members of one body. The image of each of us belonging to members of one body means we are created for relationship in Christ. Christian living embraces the truth, “I cannot do life without you because we belong together in the body of Christ.”

Paul understood the gospel is intensely relational because God is relational. Paul understood that to be griped, touched and claimed by the gospel is to live reconciled relationship with God; and out of this reconciled relationship with God, we are given a ministry of reconciliation, to be “Christ’s ambassadors” according to 2 Corinthians 5:20. How intensely does God feel about relationship? Intense enough to send his Son Jesus Christ to die and to be raised from the dead for sinners, enemies like you and me so that we can be in relationship with him! And, out of enemies like you and me, he has created new people with new identity in Christ as God’s children now belonging to each other as members of Christ’s body.

Klyne Snodgrass says concerning Ephesians 5:1, “Be imitators of God,” “Copying God only means taking seriously who God says we are.” [1] Paul says in Christ we are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. In Christ we are already given the new identity in the body of Christ that is designed to image God. Taking seriously who God says we are, coping God, or imaging God means to be people who take relationships seriously by giving grace to each other by speaking truth.

Speaking truthfully is being honest about ourselves to each other and being honest about others. Being honest is built on the fact that we all share the same challenge to put off our old self and to put on the new self. I like what Snodgrass has to say about this:

The text calls for a transparency, an openness guided by wisdom as to what is appropriate. Death is not a subject from which we can run, so why should we not discuss death more straightforwardly? Our sexuality often possesses us, so why should we not in the right context discuss it and deal with it? Why can’t we be more forthright about our own egos? We do make ourselves real by telling the truth.[2]

We don’t normally think about speaking truthfully without exaggerations or lies as a way of imparting grace to each other’s life. But, the scripture informs us that indeed speaking truthfully is way of giving grace to each other for it allows us to be real and relationships we build to be genuine.

Give grace by rejecting rotten words for you are created to yield good fruit.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:29 there are words, talk that is considered unwholesome talk. Unwholesome describes foul spoiled fish/rotten fruit or stones that crumble. Jesus used this word to describe bad fruit in the gospels. Luke 6:43, Jesus said, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.”

I love wholesale places like Costco where you can get bulk of food for cheaper price. But, the downside in getting fruits in bulk is that inevitably you find some rotten oranges, apples or strawberries. If it is rotten badly, I would end up throwing the whole fruit away, losing any saving I may have buying in bulk.

There are kinds of talk that is unfitting to the new identity God has given us as Christians, Paul calls them rotten. The words that come out of malice and anger either loudly or under our breath, “Shut up!”, “Jerk!” calling names, swears, sarcastic comments. How about uttering God’s name like “Oh, My God!” when you are not praying, but when you are surprised or angry? John Piper likens this to stomping in anger on one’s wedding ring which symbolizes marriage covenant. God’s name stands for who God is, but when we use his name mindless in vain, we treat God’s name without dignity and honor. Criticisms without love are rotten as well.

Paul says when we smell or see the rottenness in our thoughts we are to bury it, kill it, put it aside, and to reject it instead of allowing rotten words to come out of our mouth. This requires us to be thoughtful, to be slow to speak, to give enough time to evaluate and smell our own thoughts for rottenness and deal with it accordingly.

Give grace by speaking words that build others up for you are created to impart grace.

Paul says that there is better way far more consistent with being created into a new tree to bear new fruit, unspoiled and good fruit. He tells us to get rid of rotten words and to speak good words. How do you know if your words are good words? You know it when you observe the effect of your words on other people who hear you.

Do your words tear down?

What words tear down instead of building up? Words that tear down are words that often come from assumptions without verification. When someone says something to you that makes you feel uneasy, misgiving, or hurt, unless you take the intentional steps to verify what you heard was what the other person meant, you risk speaking to tear the other person down or if you decide not to talk about it, you risk brewing grudge.

Do your words build others up because you speak to their needs?

Speaking words that build others up requires you to first listen to the other person. You listen by asking questions about the other person. By asking question about how the other person is doing and by taking time to hear the person, you learn the person’s needs. Only then, would you able to speak words that can build the other person up. If you are usually the one talking about yourself but you never care to ask how others are doing, you will never learn to speak words that build up others. You will be known as self-centered, narcissistic person, not an encourager.

Do you words impart grace?

Paul says we ought to speak in order to benefit others. To benefit is literally means to “give grace” or to “impart grace”. When people speak to you do they walk away from you feeling like they were touched by God?

Imagine what it would be like if we all practice giving grace to each other. Imagine how it would change the dynamics of our relationship. Imagine how unbelievers would react when they see believers interacting with each other graciously. Imagine how it would change families, friendships. Imagine how it would change our church. Giving grace to each other with words, it is our calling, our privilege, our inheritance. Let’s embrace it wholeheartedly.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Fight to sow generously for God is the Generous Giver (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 22, 2009

Eunice Pike has worked for forty years with the Mazatec Indians in Southwestern Mexico. She has learned great deals about how they do their social relationship. Very beautiful people, but seldom they wish someone well. Having heard the gospel, they are hesitant to teach or share it with others. If asked, “Who taught you to bake bread?” the baker answers, “I just know,” implying that he has gained the knowledge on his own without anyone passing it on to him.

Behind this odd social behavior was the strong belief in “limited good.” It is a belief that there is only so much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around that to give generously, to pass on knowledge, to love much would bankrupt them of these. Even to love a second child would mean having to love your first child less. To wish wellbeing to someone else, to simply greet, “Have a good day” means you give away your own wellbeing, your happiness.

Can you imagine what kind of relational atmosphere would exist in this environment of selfish withholding? Can you imagine if all of us would work out of this belief that there is really only so much good, so much knowledge, so much love to go around?

To sow our lives on the strict principle of conservation on this belief that that there is only so much to go around makes sense if our resources are limited indeed.

For example, it makes absolute sense for too many people not to have more than one or two child for this very reason. They wonder if they would be able to provide the best education, the best experience, the best house to live, the best car to ride to school for their children if they had more than one or two. They wonder if they would be able to love them all if they had more than one or two. To maintain a certain level of lifestyle, to avoid the inconvenience and having to make sacrifices, it just makes sense to do away with just one or two. When this thinking is pushed to its limit, the logical conclusion is to abort babies by simply taking some pills or even to kill beyond the third trimester at whim for convenience. With this logic, God must have been out of his mind to bless Adam and Even and tell them in Genesis 1:27, “Be fruitful and increase in number.” Our so called modern sophistication questions God’s wisdom on this, even Christians do that, after all isn’t there only so much to go around?

This is the accepted and valued pattern of thinking and behavior of today. Christian call is to actively reject this unbiblical and ungodly and unnatural urge to sow sparingly only to reap sparingly.

Give generously to reap generously.

You may remember the context for this passage from my sermon from last month when I covered 2 Corinthians 8:1-15. The Jerusalem Christians were hit hard by famine and Paul was rounding up Christians in other areas to give generously to meet their needs. In chapter eight, Paul’s encouragement was to excel in giving by patterning after Jesus who even though was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, so that we through his poverty become rich (1 Corinthians 8:9). Paul is continuing his exhortation for the Corinthians to be generous in giving and he builds his exhortation on further theological grounds.

Paul grounds us to embrace and pattern after the natural law of God, to sow generously to reap generously rather than unnaturally to sow sparingly only to reap sparingly. Farmers know this truth in their heart and they live by it. You may have the best weather outlook with just the right amount of rain, sunshine and temperature, but if you started off on the wrong course by sowing little, you will end up with little harvest. But, if you start off right by sowing plentifully, even if you are hit hard by foul weather, you could still have enough harvest. And, if the condition is right, you will have bountiful in your harvest.

So, much of our spiritual impoverishment might be the direct result of believing there is only so much to go around. The path to the spiritual enrichment is to reject this false and demonic belief, but to embrace God’s truth of right spiritual investment method of giving generously to reap generously.

Give generously with cheerful happiness for God is the cheerful Giver.

Paul exhorts in 2 Corinthians 9:7 the kind of mindset that is required in giving generously. He gives two negative qualifiers and one positive qualifier in how not to give and how to give.

The first two negative qualifiers are not to give reluctantly or under compulsion. To give reluctantly is to have regret, to feel unhappy in result of giving. You will feel unhappy about giving if you focus on having less or what you cannot spend your money on. To give under compulsion is to give out of sense of obligation. To give because others are giving, to give because you feel you have to give, any of these “should,” “have to,” “since others are doing” yields sense of obligation. Paul says reluctance and obligation are not the right mindset for giving.

Instead, the right mindset for giving that makes God crazy is the mindset of being cheerfully happy in giving. Unless you find reasons to feel cheerful and happy in giving, your giving is not credited as generous giving. If not cheerful, then it is reluctant and obligatory giving.

Where do you base your cheerfulness? You base it on the fact that you are for-given much. In Christ, you are birth into the new identity not as people who must expect God’s wrath, but people who live by God’s abundant gift, his grace. In Christ, you move from being God’s enemies to his beloved who have received his gift of forgiveness.

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 is about the year of canceling debts, in which God commanded, “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts” in verse 1. Forgiving any outstanding debts at the end of seven years was the act of giving grace.

A commentator says that in giving generously to the poor, the church continually celebrates her own “year of remission” by remembering her deliverance at the cross, while at the same time anticipating her final redemption on that “year of Jubilee” when Christ returns.[1]

To be in Christ is all about receiving God’s extravagant grace who gave his Son freely to die at the cross to for-give us. And, in Christ, we are called to for-give and give freely, generously, not out of obligation or duty. “God loves a cheerful [for-]giver.”

Give generously because God’s graces you to be content and overflow in good work.

To give generously because generous sowing yields generous harvest and to give generously with cheerful heart, these are both related in that they build on the assumption that harvest will be plentiful.

Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 9:8 why giving generously make sense. It is because God of grace is in the picture. When you hear grace, another word that needs to pop in your mind is gift. When you hear grace, you think gift.

This God who bestows us his gift as his beloved is “able” God to ensure “at all times, having all that you need… abound in very good work.” “At all times” means none of those limited guarantee, but unlimited, unrestricted guarantee that cannot be revoked. It is perpetual and constant.

In Greek, “having [what] you need” is autarkeian which means contentment. So, literally, it would read, “having contentment.” God’s abundant gift of grace results in godly contentment. Contentment is the sense of wellbeing that comes from feeling that you have “enough of everything” (NRSV).

Not only does God’s gift, his grace gives us the feeling that we have enough of what we need, he gifts us to “abound in every good work.” Here, we see God’s purpose for our lives. While the world wants you to store for yourself, your own family, God’s purpose is that you overflow in good work, good morally and generous in spirit; good work that become ministry.

Why give generously? It is because you have God who relates to you in Christ as his beloved; he gifts you his grace to abound, so that you would always have enough of what you need and to feel content and so that you overflow in good and generous work of blessing others with generously giving of yourself.

Indeed, you can expect plentiful harvest when you sow generously because God of grace is generous to you.

Give generously for it is the expression of your righteousness grounded in God’s righteousness.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:9 quotes from Psalm 112 which describes a person who is righteous and blessed by the Lord. Psalm 112:9 reads, “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever.” Here, we see a connection between generous gifts to the poor and status of righteousness. Psalm 112:5 further describes this generous spirit and act of a righteous person; “God will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.” And, going back to Psalm 112:1, this righteous person is described as, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.”

Here is the connection between giving generously with being righteous. A person who fears the Lord is a person who takes God seriously and allows God’s word to make claims upon him. Not only does this person take God’s word seriously and is claimed by his word, he delights and enjoys in God’s commands. And, this trusting in God’s word as truly life giving and living it out become the expression of righteousness. And what flows out of this trusting and living out is generous giving. Another word, when God grips you with his word and have you abide in Jesus, you begin to walk in his Spirit. And, when you walk in the Spirit of God, righteousness is manifested in the way you care for the poor, in the way you give generously.

To this righteous response, God’s response in Psalm 112:5 is, “God will come to him.”

Give generously for it generates thanksgiving, praises and glory to God.

Last thing, the reason to give generously is because it generates thanksgiving, praises and glory to God.

2 Corinthians 9:11 says generous act prompts “thanksgiving to God” and verse 12 “overflowing in may expressions of thanks to God.”

Paul also frames giving generously as in “obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ,” which then becomes a reason for others to praise God in verse 13 as well as for the reason of their “generosity in sharing.”

What happens ultimately in your act of generosity is that we point people to God’s “surpassing grace, “his incredible gift” and we bring glory to God.

Conclusion

Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”

There will be couple opportunities that are coming to respond to God’s call for you to be generous.

March 27, Friday: "Bring Your Own Friend" Barbecue... The Family Life Group will provide the dinner, you bring your friends and your donation… all donations will be given to the Mercy Ministry.
March 29, Sunday: We will collect donation for the Mercy Ministry.
April 4, Saturday: We are going to host dinner for House of Prayer church in Chicago who serves the Homeless people.

May the Lord enable you to fight to sow generously this week.

[1] Hafemann, Scott J. “The Theological Ground and Purpose of the Collection (9:6 – 15)” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: 2 Corinthians. By Scott J. Hafemann, 367. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2000.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Fight to put off unrighteous anger and put on righteous anger (Ephesians 4:26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 15, 2009

This past week, the world was confronted by two outrageous shooting rampages that killed 15 people in Germany and 10 in Alabama. Tim Kretschmer 17 year old from Germany was described by friends as “a misogynist with a particular grudge against one of his former female teachers, who had told him he would ‘end up on the rubbish heap’” and a guy who was infatuated with a local girl who had snubbed his advances.[1] Michael McLendon of Alabama is also suspected of killing out of some kind of grudge.[2] Then, there was a recent terrible incident of a man wearing Santa Claus costume who killed nine people at a Christmas Eve party in California again driven by grudge.

These terrible killings are the sensational face of the destructive power of anger. But, the reality is Christians or non-Christians are all alike subject to the feeling of anger. When anger festered into grudge against others explodes, it destroys others. When anger is kept inside and stoked, it directs its fury against self until it eats inside of a person, and worse results in suicide. Anger if it is not dealt, it either hurts others or it hurts you.

The problem is not that we experience anger at all. It is what we do with it that determines the outcome.

The apostle Paul quotes in Ephesians 4:26 from Psalm 4:4, “In your anger do not sin” and he says, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” We get into problems not because we experience anger in the first place, but because we don’t respond to our anger appropriately.

1. Fight for righteous anger.

First, we have to discern the nature of our anger. There are two kinds of anger that we need to be mindful of, righteous anger and unrighteous anger. Throughout the biblical narratives about Jesus, we read about Jesus getting angry like in Mark 3:5; he got angry and was distressed by the stubborn hearts of the Pharisees. Jesus in his righteous anger is outraged by injustice, sin, unbelief, and exploitation of the disadvantaged.[3]

Moses was angry at Pharaoh for stubbornly refusing to submit to God (Exodus 11:8). We also see how Moses’ anger burned when he saw the calf and the dancing of the Israelites committing idolatry (Exodus 32:19). He became angry when he realized Eleazar and Ithamar didn’t follow God’s instruction on how to go about doing offering (Exodus 10:16).

Nehemiah became angry when he learned about the poor being mistreated by the practice of exacting usury, charging excessive interest (Nehemiah 5:6). This was equivalent to what many people of today experience. Predatory lenders gave loans to the people with all kinds of hidden fees and excessive rate hikes that make it virtually impossible for them to pay their mortgage payments now.

Are we familiar with this righteous anger towards ugliness of sins, especially our own Here is a parable to illustrate what this righteous anger looks like.

Imagine yourself as a bagger who lives in the back alleys scavenging through the garbage for food. And, your favorite place to look for food is the garbage dumpster that belongs to a famous restaurant. You eat whatever you can get your hands on. But one day, the owner of the restaurant comes out to the alley. Finding you digging through the dumpster, he invites you into his fine restaurant. And, you see before you this amazing buffet that puts Todai to shame with freshest fruits, oyster and lobsters… you name it. It’s all there, the best of best. And, the owner tells you that you don’t have to eat out of the dumpster any more. Anytime, you can walk right in and eat any of what’s before you freely without having to pay for any. God’s grace gives you unlimited access to his presence and to his abundant blessing and new life to live. And, when you step out to the back alley and you see the dumpster full of garbage that you used to eat to fill your hunger, you now look at it with distain, utter disgust, and anger. It would make no sense for you to go back into the dumpster to find something to eat, that old, rotten, moldy food that just might kill you when you now have the unlimited access and freedom to eat from the finest restaurant in town.

Righteous anger is this sense of disgust and disdain towards the dumpster full of sins that now belongs to the old self that has been crucified and buried because we’ve been given new self in Christ Jesus. Lord, increase righteous anger in us that we may not return to the dumpster.

2. Fight to put off unrighteous anger quickly.

As opposed to righteous anger of disdain and disgust against the dumpster full of sins, unrighteous anger is destructive emotion of ill-will towards other people that you find right in the dumpster of sins. Martin Luther once said, “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from nesting in your hair.” Initial feeling of anger may rise within us and we cannot do much about it, but what are not enslaved to anger any more. We now in Christ have choice to put off destructive anger. God has given us unrestricted, unlimited, completely free access to draw near to him because he justified us in Christ; and in Christ, we are no longer enslaved in the back alley to eat out of the garbage dumpster filled with all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander with every form of malice (Ephesians 3:31).

We now in Christ have choice to put off any destructive anger that we may encounter or to harbor it and let its destructive power to cause great harms to others and to ourselves. When we don’t put off destructive anger and let is be manifested, we are doing what is most illogical, stupidest and most pitiful thing, lingering in the dumpster of sins.

Destructive anger out of the back alley dumpster if it is not put away quickly before the sun goes down, what we allow is a room, an opportunity for the devil to exert its demonic influence on us. Not only allowing ourselves to be subject to the demonic influence, Jesus also said in Matthew 5:22, “I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Unrighteous anger that breeds ill feeling towards others and gets expressed in harmful behaviors is something that Jesus finds it unacceptable for his children. The remedy is to put off, reject unrighteous anger quickly without delaying so that it doesn’t become a toxic force that ruins relationships. We need learn to counter unrighteous anger with righteous anger with God’s help.

3. Fight to put off the unrighteous anger quickly so that your prayer and worship won’t be hindered.

When unrighteous anger is kept unchecked and if we give it time to fester, it not only harms our relationship with people, but it also affects our relationship with God. We see this in Paul’s eager desire to see men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing in 1 Timothy 2:8. Prayer is an intimate act of drawing near to God and sharing our hearts with him as he shares his heart with us and help us to refocus who we are in Christ. And, as with all sins, unrighteous anger allowed to fester in us make it impossible for us to pray freely. In contrary, James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” A righteous man is one who puts off the old self and its practices and welcomes and embraces new identity and new practices in Christ. When we learn to put off unrighteous anger and put on righteous anger, our prayers can become powerful and effective.

It is not just prayer that unrighteous anger adversely affects. James 1:20 says, “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” The righteous life that God desires, the lifestyle that honors and delights him is not possible when unrighteous anger dominates. Another word, anger hinders worship.

Jesus gave us very practical ways to deal with this. Instead of giving into unrighteous anger, what we need to do is to set our eyes on reconciliation. Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:23, “if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you [meaning you realize someone is angry at you], leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” When there are conflicts and unresolved angers in our relationship with people, God’s mandates is for us to actively make things right, to go and reconcile, only then, our worship be acceptable to him.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and how him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.” If you get angry because somebody does something and harms you, the right thing to do is not to give yourself into unrighteous anger of ill-will towards the person. The right thing to do is to talk to the person about his or her offense against you quickly. The old Korean and the Asian way of not dealing with someone’s offense in the name of chamowa (false patience) is not only unbiblical, but it gives a room for the devil in your heart and mind to brew resentment and grudge.

Jesus’ mandate for direct confrontation is important one. Sinful tendency is instead of talking to the person who offended you in privacy, you go to a third person to talk about it. You may drape it nicely saying you are seeking another person’s spiritual counsel or simply need someone to talk about the issue. But, unless that third person directs you to go and resolve the issue with the person you are in conflict, all that sharing mounts up to nothing but gossip. And, there is nothing like gossips that kills and destroys any trust in relationship.

4. Fight to put off the unrighteous anger quickly, patiently, gently so that you have healthy and growing relationship with God and people.

Another reason why we must put off anger prompted by pride and ill-will to get back at someone is it produces strife. Proverbs 30:33 says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man clams a quarrel.” Proverbs 15:18; “An angry man stirs up dissension.” A person who gets easily angered, who is hot-tempered not only stirs up conflicts but also in danger of committing many sins because he or she has no defenses against temptations. You see this in Proverbs 25:28 which likens a man who lacks self-control [with one’s anger] as a city whose walls are broken down, who has no defenses against sin. This is why Psalm 37:8 instructs us to refrain from anger because it leads only to evil. It is so damaging that Proverbs 22:24 calls us not to make friends with a hot-tempered man, not to associate with one easily angered.

Proverbs 16:32, “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.” It is easier to become a warrior than a man of self-control over his desire.

Some of you are like me who is very good at dealing with anger quickly, too quickly that is. My hot-tempered response gives no room for my anger to be subjected to a clear thinking and self-control. Often, the result is further deepening of strife and harms.

The goal is not to vent anger, or unload anger. The goal must be reconciliation. When the goal is reconciliation, avoiding a harsh word and using a gentle answer so that anger won’t be stirred up as stated in Proverbs 15:1 makes a lot of sense. Proverbs 29:11 says only “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”

Ultimately it is about welcoming and embracing God’s character, our new identity in Jesus Christ. Nehemiah 9:17 talks about God’s character; “you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. The quick response, patience, gentleness are the choicest food from God’s dinning table while impatience, hot-temper, rude response is the garbage from the dumpster. May God equip us with righteous anger while putting off unrighteous anger!

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/4982556/German-shooting-Gunman-had-failed-to-turn-up-to-therapy.html

[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52A01D20090312

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Fight to put off the old and put on the new (Ephesians 4:21-24)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 8, 2009

Looking back, my fifth grade was a pivotal year for me as a student. Up to that moment, the learning experience at school was forgettable, while, walking to and home from school were some of my best moments. I was much more interested in exploring the backyard river, the hills and the mountains, chasing and catching bugs and frogs, looking for that special hideout places for spy and war games.

But, something changed during my fifth grade to help me appreciate learning in school. Enjoy learning at school led me to enjoy doing homework at home. My grades began to improve. Do you know what happened?

What happened was that my fifth grade teacher, Ms, Che Jun Sil was the prettiest, nicest, coolest, kindest, best teacher I ever had. Little boy me had innocent crush on his teacher. That’s how he began paying attention and listening to his teacher. That’s how he started doing well in school. He learned the joy of learning because of his teacher.

Something like this is what happens to us in the school of Christ. Paul spoke of being taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus in Ephesians 4:20. To appreciate Jesus’ teaching, to pay attention to him, and actually implement and apply his teaching in our lives there has to be this sense of being drawn to Jesus because who he is, what he has done for us, what he represents for us. It is in Jesus we are to put off old self and put on the new self. My prayer is that God opens your heart and mind to see Jesus and be drawn to him so you would be delighted to pay close attention to him and apply his teaching to put off your old self and to put on the new self.

1. Put off the old self.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:22, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.” Paul introduced to us this former way of life in verse 17-19 and characterized the mindset of the former way of life as thoughtlessly and empty. This empty and thoughtless mindset, the futility of thinking is mind that is darkened in understanding and ignorant apart from the life of God. This mindset simply reflects the condition of heart that has become callous and hardened, insensitive and unresponsive to God. When mind and heart become insensitive and unresponsive to God, moral sensibility is replaced with sensuality. Sensuality does not seek what’s right, but continually lusts for what feels good and therefore it indulges in every kind of impurity at all cost. Paul reinforces this out of controlled, sensuality driven life as being corrupted by its deceitful desires in Ephesians 4:22. Without Christ, this would have been the outcome for all of us, the spiraling down uncontrollably and powerlessly into the abyss of godless, ever corrupting lifestyle inflamed in lust and sensuality.

Against this backdrop of insensitive and unresponsive mind and heart embracing sensuality and lust, Paul boldly proclaims that Christ in his death and resurrection has set us free from this destructive path. When Paul says to put off this destructive sinful self we are to understand it as to divest from it, to lay it aside, and to refuse to accept it, no longer to justify it or give it place in our life. To putt off means to cease, to stop[1] living as though you have no choice or you are powerless to reject self-centered, sin dominating life apart from God.

It is true that God forgives our sins in Christ. This is a picture of what God does in his grace, he forgives us. But, God in his grace does more than forgiving us. It would be a cruel joke if God forgives us but then tells us that we are now on our own to make our life holy and righteous. But, God doesn’t do that. God not only forgives us in his grace, he also empowers us in his grace. God’s grace is grounded in Jesus Christ. At the cross in the death of his Son, at the empty tomb in the resurrection of his Son, God defeated the domination of the former way of life, the old self.

So, to put off old self means stop talking or thinking as though you are powerless to stop the downward spiral of sin. By thinking and talking this way, we undermine God’s definitive work to crush the power of sin in Christ. We also elevate the power of sin as more powerful than God’s power to redeem us. The truth is you can put off your old self because God has put it off in Christ. You and I need to think biblically the power of sin that which dominated the former way of life as no longer binding us in Christ.

To put off your old self, sin domination, requires you to freshly believe in what’s possible with God. Can God help you put off lie, filthy language, bitterness, rage, anger, slander, unforgiveness, or cheating? Can God help you put off lust for false intimacy and sex outside of marriage? Can God help you put off overly critical judgment, shaming and blaming others? Can God help you put off destructive eating pattern? Can God help you put off laziness, sin of procrastination? Can God help you put off the way you feel about yourself in destructive self hatred? Can God help you to put off getting drunk out of control and passing out? Can God help you put off “ I don’t care,” attitude? Can God help you put off the old and live in newness? Is it all possible?

The answer would be “No” if all things weren’t possible with God or if it all depends on us. But, the truth is all things are possible with God who is all powerful. All things are possible for you in Christ. You can fight to put off because your fight will not be in vain for God fought for you and he has demolished the dominion of sin and death through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

2. Put on the new self.

In Christ, we no longer belong to the story of the downward descent to uncontrollable godlessness of sensuality and lust. But in Christ, we now belong to the story of putting off old self and putting on the new self.

While to put off the old self means to divest it, to lay it aside, to refuse to accept it, no longer to justify it or give it place in your life, to stop it, and to cease it, to put the new self means to invest in it, to gladly accept it, and to wear it. John Stott says in his sermon on this passage, “When God recreates us in Christ, we entirely concur with what he has done… embracing it, welcoming it.”

What is that we are to wholeheartedly concur with what God has done, to embrace, to welcome, to invest, to gladly accept, to cover ourselves with?

Paul says it is the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness in Ephesians 4:24. In the contrary to former way of life, which we got ourselves into, the new way of life is activated by Christ. This is why Paul speaks of this new self as that which is created, meaning it is something that is done outside of us in the past. We don’t make the new self happen. God creates it in Christ.

Putting on the new self is not the work of reinventing or making the old better. Putting on the new self is as John Stott explains, it is to concur with what God has already done, embrace and welcome it. It is the new way of life in Christ that we are to embrace and welcome. We are to embrace and welcome the new lifestyle of speaking truthfully, stealing or cheating no more, working with integrity and diligence for the goal of sharing with those in need, speaking only to build others up and to benefit others, being kind and compassionate, forgiving in the way Christ forgave us, defending sexual purity, being controlled by the Spirit… these and more are what God created us to be to reflect his character of righteousness and holiness.

God has fought through Christ to create this new self of living new lifestyle. Paul says in Ephesians 4:23 that to put on the new self there has to be also this being renewed in the attitude of minds. If you recall, the former way of life is characterized by the empty and thoughtless and ignorant mindset. To embrace, to welcome the new self, the battle must begin in the battle fields of our mind. God shines our mind with his light and enables it to be sensitive to him. And, as the former way of life, the old self, is being continually corrupted by deceitful desires, the new self, the way of life must be renewed moment by moment.

Colossians 3:9-11 says, “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.” You see here a flashback to the creation account of Genesis 1:26-27 where God committed to making man, male and female, in the image of the Trinitarian God. This imprinted image of God was marred by sin in Eden, but God now makes a brand new permanent imprinting of his image on us in Christ through his death and resurrection.[2] It is important to know that this creation of new self that reflects God’s image is already accomplished in Christ.

The Christian life is not about becoming better self rather it is about welcoming and embracing this new identity in Christ imprinted with the new permanent image of God. It is about living accordingly to the new identity while rejecting the old identity apart from Christ.

God has paved the new way of living. The question is, “How badly do you and I want this new way of living?” To badly want it, you must be convinced in your mind that this is really a good deal, to trade off sin ridden life with the life of righteousness and holiness. Or, to put it another way, sin is a terrible trade for it is trading life with God for a corrupting, meaningless life with self.[3]

May God help you put off the old self and put on the new self! May God help you reject the old identity marred and dominated by sin but to embrace and welcome the new identity in Jesus Christ as holy and righteous. May Jesus displace you in yourself thoroughly with his mindset and heart and become ever sensitive and responsive to God.[4]

[1] Low & Nida, 68.37, apotiqemai. To put away has a figurative meaning “to cease doing what one is accustomed to doing- to stop, to cease.”

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Fight against unresponsive and insensitive heart (Ephesians 4:17-21)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon March 1, 2009

We are in a season of God addressing our sin of hypocrisy, the disconnection from what we know and what we do, the disconnection between how we do life in public and how we live in privacy. We talked last week about how we need to fight for grace over shame because unhealthy response to shame such as hiding, shaming and blaming can worsen hypocrisy. As long as our aim is to hide behind the façade of saving face and pretense, shaming others or blaming others without taking responsibilities for our own actions, our spiritual growth will be stunted and we will suffer deeper hypocrisy.

Today, I am going to talk to you about two things. First, I am going to deal with the progression of sin of hypocrisy and shine some light on its cause. Second, I am going to point you back to Jesus to deal with this cause of hypocrisy.

1. Fight against mindless thinking and insensitive heart

When Paul said in Ephesians 4:17, “I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking,” he was addressing the way of life embraced by the majority of the Gentiles in the first century. Here is a remarkable thing about Paul’s address to the Ephesians. It is close to 2000 years old writing that spoke powerfully to the Christians of the first century. Yet, it not only spoke to them back then, it still speaks to us relevantly if we would hear him. The way of life embraced by the Gentiles back then is equivalent to the way of life embraced by the world today.

Paul describes the way of life embraced by the Gentiles as living in the futility of their thinking. You and I tend to think that the problem is in the specifics of sins, but for Paul the big problem is that which gives birth to the specifics of sins. What causes hypocrisy? What causes sin? Paul would answer; it is caused by the unresponsive mind characterized by futility, which is synonymous to meaninglessness, uselessness, worthlessness, ineffectiveness. Eugene Peterson paraphrases “the futility in thinking” as “the empty-headed, mindless.”

For Paul, the fight against hypocrisy must deal with this empty mind that doesn’t respond to God. Paul in Ephesians 4:18 lays out how mind becomes futile and unresponsive to God.

Paul explains that the reason the thinking of the world is ineffective and worthless, unresponsive is because of it s understanding is darkened.
And, understanding gets darkened because one is separated from the life of God.
And, the reason for this separation from the life of God is because of the ignorance.
And, the ignorance is due to the hardening of heart.

Uncritical, empty, mindless and unresponsive thinking is caused by the hardening of heart. Klyne Snodgrass describes this hardening of hearts as “hearts made insensitive to God.”[1] This mind and heart that is unresponsive and insensitive to God is what gives birth to sin. Paul spells out what happens to heart and mind that is unresponsive to God in 4:19, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”

One of the infamous persons in the Bible whose heart was insensitive, hardened, ignorant, separated from God, darkened in understanding, and whose thinking became futile, unresponsive to God was Pharaoh who opposed Moses and God in Exodus.

When Moses and Aaron showed up to demand for the release of the Israelites so they might worship God in the desert, Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them according to Exodus 7:13. Each time, Pharaoh refused to relent to God’s demand to release his people, Pharaoh’s heart became hardened even more.

God said to Moses in Exodus 7:3-5, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” God responded to Pharaoh’s hardening his heart by allowing his heart to become even harder. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart by giving him over to the sinful desires of his heart (Romans 1:21-24) because although he witnessed God’s power he refused to submit to God. And, the result was that his thinking became futile thinking that he could outwit God.

According to Ephesians 4:19, Pharaoh lost all sensitivity to God because his heart became hardened and his thinking futile.

Here is another example from recently of one’s mind and heart becoming insensitive to God. Sean Penn won the best actor Oscar in his role of a gay politician and activist Harvey Milk in “Milk.” He said this during the prime time broadcast of the Oscar night,

for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support.[2]

When he said this during his acceptance speech, there was a thundering clap from the audience packed with Hollywood powerhouses of actors, actresses, directors, speech writers… and average Americans.

He was speaking against Proposition 8, a California ballot that sought to overturn the California Supreme Court decision that favored same-sex couples to have a constitutional right to marry. Proposition 8 ballet passed added a new section to the California Constitute that reads, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid of recognized in California.”[3] In Sean Penn’s opinion backed by the leading star powers of Hollywood is that anyone who views marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman is a bigot filled with hatred against the gays and lesbians who and should feel great shame.

I was thinking about Sean Penn’s speech and the scene of the roaring clap from the audiences to his speech at Oscar. Who would you listen to Sean Penn, Brat Pitt who donated $100000 to thwart the Proposition 8, and other Hollywood stars or Paul from the first century?

If it is just the Hollywood, well, maybe we can dismiss it as the opinions from the worldly people. But, when you listen to the discourse from the mainline Christian denominations, you come away confused not knowing if you just heard from Sean Penn or from a professing Christian.

What happens when mind and heart become unresponsive to God’s word? You begin to call sin not as sin but something else benign and even good. Homosexuality is not a sin, but it is now an epic struggle for the civil rights of gays and lesbians just like the fight against slavery and the fight for the voting rights of blacks and women. All that matters now is love. If two people love each other, regardless if it is between men and women or between the same-sex, why should the old idea of marriage restrict the freedom of gays and lesbians, unmarried heterosexual boyfriends and girlfriends to express and experience emotional, physical, sexual intimacy? We may call self-pity as humility, angry and rough manner of speech as righteous anger or zeal, lie as a simply a matter of different perspective, lust as disease…

When you and I begin to call sin as something else, when you and I begin to justify our actions that betrays the truth of God’s word, when the disconnection between what we know and how we live widens, when our mind and heart stops responding to God, we must stop and think soberly for we have gone back to the worldly way of living.

We must fight against mindless thinking that accepts the worldly culture and propositions as how it is even though they contradicts God’s prescribed way of life. We must fight against apathetic unresponsiveness of our mind and heart to God. We must stop calling sin as something other than sin.

2. Fight to hear Jesus and learn from him.

The way we are going to fight against unresponsive mind and heart to God’s truth and his voice is to fight to hear Jesus and learn from him.

Paul says in Ephesians 4:20-21, “You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.” Paul understood very well that the problem of the futility in thinking and hardening of heart can only be solved by pointing our mind and heart to Jesus.

I want to point you to Jesus. We are now in the season of lent, a forty day period leading to Good Friday and Easter. It is a season when you and I need to pause and soberly come before the cross of our Lord Jesus and acknowledge our unresponsive and insensitive mind and heart. When we turn to Jesus and begin to hear him again, he can move our minds and hearts to learn from him again. Let’s fight to hear Jesus and learn from him.

[2] http://entbiz.blogspot.com/2009/02/sean-penn-wins-best-actor-for.html

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)