Sunday, April 25, 2010

The vision for happy life – forgiven life (Psalm 32)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Corrie Ten Boom is a Christian woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. She said this about forgiveness.

“Forgiveness is to set a prisoner set free, and to realize the prisoner was you.”

Corrie Ten Boom recounted when she faced the former Nazi guard who had become a Christian. Who said to her, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well… will you forgive me?” She described coming to face to face with one of her captors as when her blood seemed to freeze. She remembered her sister Betsie who had died in that concentration camp. It could not be more than split seconds, but to her felt like hours had passed as this former Nazi guard held his hand out and waited for Corrie Ten Boom’s response.

She stood there with coldness and clutching her heart. But she reasoned with the truth; “forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.” So, she prayed, “Jesus, help me… I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.” And, she described what happened next; “the current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.” And, she cried, “I forgive you, my brother with all my heart.”[1]

So, she the prisoner was set free that moment, truly happy! She was set free from bitterness and hatred that was eating her inside. She was set free from the desire for revenge. She experienced God’s power to forgive and this made her truly happy.

  • The vision for happy life

Do you have the vision of truly happy life? Is there such thing as a prerequisite for happy life? Rather we acknowledge it or not, without honestly dealing with our sins and experiencing God’s forgiveness, we cannot experience true happiness. Without experiencing God’s forgiveness, we cannot extend forgiveness to others. Without forgiveness, we cannot be happy.

David spells out the prerequisite for happy life in Psalm 32. Verse 1 and 2, he says that blessed that is one who is truly blessed, truly happy is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered; blessed, truly happy is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Forgiven life is happy life.

Contrary to what people believe about God, God really wants us to be happy. He doesn’t want us to settle with substandard happiness but go for the vision of truly happy life. The way you are going to realize the vision of truly happy life is experiencing God’s forgiveness.

Psalm 32 lays out for us how we can experience God’s forgiveness. Let me unpack them for you.

  • Don’t cover your sins deceitfully. Be honest.

A stumbling block to happiness is temptation to hide and not be honest with ourselves. David calls it deceit in verse 2.

Self-improvement is a form of deceit. It is our act to cover up. It is our attempt to prove ourselves that we are worthy to be forgiven. Do you ever notice after sinning, you have this self-talk going on in your head? “I really messed up. I am sorry God. I am going to try really hard not to mess up again.” So, you feel this surge of self-determination and you begin trying really hard not to mess up. But, soon or later, you run out of steam, you get distracted, and you feel overpowered by temptation, and you are back to where you were.
This doesn’t work because you are not dealing with the core of sin. The truth is that you cannot manage sin; sin must be forgiven. God never forgives your sin because you are good enough. Your good enough will never be good enough to satisfy God’s holiness and his justice. No amount of your self-improvement and self-determination will make you more forgivable. You cannot cover your sins with self-improvement. God has to cover you. God has to forgive your sin.
Matthew Henry in his commentary wrote “the wounds of sin, not opened, will fester, and grow intolerably painful.”[2] Trying to make yourself good enough to draw near to God is like covering up infections with dirty Band-Aid. It only makes things worse.

Ignoring the guilty conscience is another form of cover up, deceit. David said in verse 3 when he tried to keep things silent, his bones wasted away. Deceit is to believe that if you sweep sins under the rug, if you ignore it and don’t think about it, then somehow it will magically disappear. It doesn’t. you cover up the guilty conscience prompted by the Holy Spirit, it only leads to deeper bondage to sin.
David says in verse 6 that we need to offer prayer to God at a time when he may be found. He is talking about when the Holy Spirit nudges our hearts through our guilty conscience. When you feel that nudge to your heart about your actions of rebellion, missing the mark of God’s standard, crooked evil attitude, you got to know that it is God who is nudging you. Don’t ignore when God nudges you. Pray when he is found.

Another form of covering up deceitfully is to when we don’t mean what we say. When we confess our sins with a purpose to sin again, we are cover up our sins in deceit. It sounds bad, but we do that don’t we? Then, there are times we sin with a purpose to repent again.[3] Either way, these are sure ways to insult God’s generosity to forgive us.

  • Don’t be vague. Be specific with sin.

When you read verse 1 and 2, do you wonder why David uses different words to describe sin? In fact here in these two verses, David used three Hebrew words to talk about sin. It is easier to see when we read from more literal translation of ESV.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Transgression is an act of rebellion and disloyalty against God; sin is an act of missing the mark, God’s expressed will; and iniquity is an crooked act with perverse and evil intention.

Why did David use three different Hebrew words with different nuances to talk about sin? He is trying to guard against the temptation to be vague about sin.

When Roger Barrier left for college, his mom who had always done his laundry gave him a canvas duffel bag and told him, “Put your dirty clothes in this every night… At the end of the week, wash them at the Laundromat.”

A week later, he took the duffel bag full of dirty clothes to the Laundromat. To save time, he stuffed the whole duffel bag in the washer, put some laundry power and with right amount of coins, he turned on the machine. Thump, thump, thump went the machine. A pretty gal approached him with a grin and told him, “I watched you load your washer. I think the clothes would get cleaner if you took them out of the bag.”

Another word, confession should never be trite, “Dear God, forgive me for all my sins for today. Amen.” You need to pay attention to individual sin. Are you acting out of rebellious attitude? Are you missing the mark of the moral standard set by God? Are you acting out of the crooked spite?

  • Don’t be stubborn. Be willing.

David warns in verse 9 against being like the horse or a mule without understanding (v. 9). For these creatures, unless they are forced with bit and bridle, they won’t stay near you.

Neighbor’s dog – Ryle, the neighbor’s dog was on the loose. I saw Bobby and his wife Tenniel struggling to control him. Ryle wouldn’t listen to their voice, their commands, even bacon bits weren’t working. Lyn told me that I should go out with Rocky to help them out. I went out with my dog Rocky hoping that Ryle might come for Rocky. Ryle did, but every time I or Bobby tried to grab his dog collar, he would skip away just out of our reach. That went on for five minutes. Before I came out, Bobby had been chasing after Ryle for a while already. The only way Bobby got Ryle was by ambushing the dog between us. Rocky and I stood at one side of the house and Bobby went around the house and approached his dog from the other side. And, he jumped on him. Finally, Ryle was caught. You should have seen Bobby’s face. Oh, he was angry.

Do you ever play God like this ungrateful dog did to its owner?

  • Rejoice in God’s forgiveness.

See how David rejoices in God’s forgiveness. Verse 10, “steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.” So, he calls you and me in v. 11 to rejoice, be glad, sing for God’s forgiveness.

Consider how God forgives your sins. And, rejoice in the truth about God.

He covers your sins (32:1b)… Sins make us loathsome before God in guilt. Sins also make us feel shame, feeling loathsome about ourselves. Sins expose us to nakedness just like Adam and Eve felt. But, God covers our guilt and shame as he covered Adam and Eve’s sin and nakedness with the coats of animal skins. It required skins of animal to cover the shame, the nakedness of Adam and Eve, but for true covering, it requires the death of Jesus.

Revelation 3;18, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

Covering sins does not mean God forgets our sins as though he experiences amnesia over our sins. Sins are not covered from God’s omniscience because he sees all and knows all. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” This doesn’t mean that God would forget our sins. What God does is he covers our sins from his justice with his mercy.

God doesn’t count sin against you. This means he doesn’t hold his relationship with us in hostage (32:2b). He is not going to abandon his relationship with us at whim. No, instead he promises to be our hiding place, to protect us from trouble, to surround us with songs of deliverance. .

God’s ready to forgive you; God is far more willing and quick to forgive than we imagine him to be… We think of God as God who has us jump through the hoop before he lets us off the hook, we think of God as stingy with his forgiveness as an old stingy Ebenezer Scrooge from ‘A Christmas Carol’…

We must see the face of the Father of the prodigal son. See how long it took and what it took for David to come to terms with his sins and yield to God’s forgiveness. And compare it to how quickly God forgave David. Compare how long it took the prodigal son to come to terms with his sins and to that of his Father’s eagerness and quickness to welcome his son back by forgiving his son’s guilt and cover his shame.

God’s vision is to give you blessed life. His promise is to instruct you, teach you in the way you should go, to counsel you and watch over you (32:8).

Would you pursue true happiness by being honest, being specific with your sins, being willing, and by rejoicing in God’s forgiveness?


[1] http://www.crossway.org/product/663575723080

[2] Henry, M. (1996). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Ps 32:1–6). Peabody: Hendrickson.

[3] Henry, M. (1996). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Ps 32:1–6). Peabody: Hendrickson.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

There is a time for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

From talking with some of you, I feel your anxiety, frustration, pains, grief, doubts, tiredness, conflicting emotions that have been wearing you down.  When you hear about the vision for CMC, what we are to become, to become the lighthouse that shines the light of the gospel far and broad, you get excited.  But at the same time you feel this heavy weight descending upon you and suffocating you.  You hear the vision about how God wants to use us beyond what we are accustomed to, you get excited, but again you feel heavy and uncertain. It's not because you don't believe in God's vision to expand his kingdom through our church.  You believe that we must become a church that spread the gospel far and broad.  And, you know and believe that we as a church must undergo radical changes. Yet, there are these feelings that are really hard to shake off. 

In the midst of excitement over envisioning what we can become, you feel discouraged by the protracted confusion about where God is leading our church.  You feel discouraged by many voices as to what we must do as church that make it difficult for you to discern.  Some of you are frustrated because you are not sure what's going on. Some of you have been disappointed by me and by church and you are struggling to trust again. For some of you, you see the strain and fracture in our church and this discourages you.  Many of you feel burnt-out and worn-out and have doubts about how we as a church will be able to thrive not alone survive out there; you feel so spent and tired that you cannot imagine ministering to others. Many of you are feeling relational strains with your parents as they have real hard time believing that there will be anything good out of our us becoming the fully independent church, if it will be worth the cost! Some of you are discouraged because you feel alone in our church.  

As your pastor, as God revives me and renews his calling for me to lead you, I've been casting what I believe is God's vision for us.  Yet, in my enthusiasm, I feel like I am running way ahead of you.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

I feel like I am out there calling you to let’s go, but so many of you are burdened with heavy feelings and unable to decisively move.  So, I think it is time for me to slow down and help you deal with your burdens. Now, this doesn't mean I am not going to stop casting God's vision for us.  It doesn't mean I am not going to stop sharing with you how you must change, how I must change, how we must change in order to realize God's purpose for us. 

But, I realize that if you have a hurting leg because of fatigue or perhaps some infections, motivation, cheering, casting vision will not help you run out there to win the game.  So, I would like to come along side of you and minister to you as your pastor, as your friend, as your brother in Christ. 

  • Take time to invest in relationship.

In about a week, we are going to find out what God sees for our church.  I believe that majority of you already have the clarity about what God wants for our church.  And, you will have choice and will need to decide which way you personally want to go.  You will have to choose for yourself whether you want to be a part of CMC as an independent church or be a part of EM of KCUMC.  Or, perhaps, some of you are thinking about finding a third church option.  
Regardless of what you choose, it will be costly decision for you, for all of us.  It will be my honor if you would allow me to come along side of you and let me be your sounding board; I would like you to try out your thoughts and your feelings with me that I may help you sort things out.  I realize that my strongest gifting is in the area of counseling.  And, I am confident that God can use me in your life.  I also realize that I am far better at communicating my thoughts and feelings privately than in my preaching.  Some of you need to hear more from me about where and how I want to lead our church.  I also need the opportunity to hear from you.    
So, I am going to make some phone calls this week to talk either on the phone or to meet up in person.  So, think about what your concerns and questions and share them with me. I want you to share with me what ways I can help you.  
Also, if there is anything about me that bothers you, if there is anyway I've sinned against you, I would like you to talk to me.  Just like it damages you when people talk behind your back, please extend the same courtesy to me.  Besides, it is the Lord who commanded in Matthew 5:23-24 to go and be reconciled to your brother.

I cannot promise you that I will never disappoint you as your pastor; I can promise you that I will do my best to fulfill my calling to shepherd you.  But, for whatever reasons, you become disappointed with me, your temptation will be to go and find someone else to talk about your disappointment over me.  But, if you don't come and talk to me, you will be depriving me of the chance to ask for forgiveness for my sins against you; you will also be depriving me of the chance to become a better pastor, you will also be depriving me of the chance to clarify my name.  Not only that you will be in danger of sinning by gossiping.  For Proverbs says, "A gossip betrays a confidence" (Proverbs 11:13).
Satan would love nothing more than to destroy our church.  And one of the surest ways to destroy our church is to put a wedge between you and me and between us.  And, the gossip is the Satan's rumor weeds that can destroy God's garden, God's church.  So, keep things current with me.  
I believe that when our church decides what we must become, we will need to spend time to regroup; we will need time to heal, we will need time to nurture each other.  Our relationship needs to be strengthened and affirmed.  You will need to allow me to minister to you where you are hurting.  We will need to commit to build our connection stronger.  We will need to battle distrust by speaking truthfully to each other.  We will need to exercise forgiveness and risk boldly by giving trust and earning trust.  We must not be satisfied with merely maintaining vague sense of familiarity and confuse it with the genuine relationship in Christ.  We need to relearn how to love one another from the zero ground.  We will need time to be restored and be united again.  
It is a time to heal (Ecc. 3:3)

  • Take time to identify the sinful attitudes.

We will also need to honestly reevaluate and access ourselves and identify the sinful attitudes that will hold us back from realizing God's vision.  
Before we can call other English speaking Korean Americans to join us, before we can bring the gospel to our friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers beyond ethnic and racial differences, before we can invite them to church, before they can become followers of Jesus Christ, we will need to confront the sinful attitudes and beliefs that hold us back from responding God's vision.  
We must battle against apathy and indifference, we must stop blaming others, but be responsible, we must not be ashamed of the gospel, but become bold, we must let the gospel penetrate our own hearts and let it transform our inner person, our families, our brotherhood and sisterhood, we must confront our selfishness that goes against the very fabric of the gospel.  We must know what sinful attitudes and what practices must go and be replaced by godly attitudes and practices in order to become all things to all people to save some.
In order to build, we must first tear down (Ecc. 3:3). 

  • Take time to be responsible.

As your pastor, your friend, and your brother, I want to also encourage you to be responsible.  You've heard me speak enough about what I believe is for our church, to become fully independent church with the renewed vision for the future.  I know that many of you share my conviction.  Yet, I also know that the some of you feel so strongly that you shouldn't leave your families at KCUMC.
Here is the reality.  I cannot make the decision for you.  No one can make the decision for you.  It is time that we all become responsible adults and make our choices. 

You've been praying for long time about this, you've been thinking about this long time, you've been talking to others about this for awhile.  You have common senses.  You know the word of God.  Now, it is time to choose.  As I have said in the past, it is wrong to frame the decision to join EM of KCUMC or to become fully independent CMC as all or nothing.  Some of you have strong conviction that you don't want to leave KCUMC.  Then, you should stay and do what you can to serve the vision of KCUMC.  But, some of you like me have different conviction to pursue different vision for CMC.  Then, stand on that conviction and move to build up CMC.  In either way, in the totality, God gets the glory; his kingdom will be expanded among the 1st generation Korean Americans through the ministry of KCUMC and his kingdom will be also expanded through CMC as the English speaking Korean Americans reaches out with the gospel as Paul did beyond ethnic boundaries.  Paul never forgot his people for he didn't stop reaching out to the Jews; it just that he didn't limit himself only to the Jews with the gospel.  The mandate of the gospel upon him was bigger than just the Jews.  We as CMC will not be able to forget English speaking Korean American generations, so we will continue to reach out to them.  But, the mandate of the gospel demands that we embrace the Pauline attitude, to become all things to all people to save some. 

Remember even after Paul and Barnabas had their sharp disagreement and they went their separate ways, the end result was that instead of having one missionary team of Paul and Barnabas, now there were two missionary teams, Paul with Silas and Barnabas with Mark (Acts 15:39-40)

Remember Peter stayed behind to build the Jewish church; he gave his life to build up the 1st generation Jewish church.  But, also remember Paul went to build the Gentile churches, primarily non-Hebrew speaking, but Greek and Latin speaking Gentiles. 

So, it is time to be responsible.  You must be responsible with your choice.  There is no need to demonize either choice.  There is no need to blame anyone else; there is no need to make decision because of someone else. Don't fool yourself for one second believing the lie that you don't have the choice.  Don't let others make the decision for you, even me or your parents.  You always have the choice.  So, be responsible and make your stand. 

  • Take time to grieve.

The wisdom says that there is a time to plant and a time to uproot (3:2).  And, there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance (3:4), a time to embrace and a time to refrain (3:5) a time to search and a time to give up (3:6), a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak (3:7), a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (3:8). 

I believe that we are at a time to uproot, a time to weep, a time to mourn, even for a time of war.  I saw many of your tears; I've heard how deep the pain goes for you to be part of the independent church away from your family church.  It is a time when many of you will face the anger, bewilderment and misunderstandings from your families, even from people who know you very little.  And, I know that for some of you, it is a time when your family relationship feels like it is being torn apart.  And, it all hurts like crazy!  If your choice is to build up CMC and be carried away in the zeal of the apostle Paul, it is now time to grieve.  As a pastor, I release you to grieve.  So, give yourself permission to grieve.  I too grieve with you.  I don't know how long it will take to grieve, but we must grieve until there is no more tears.  I don't know when the pain will stop for you and me. 

  • Time to hope

But, as the wisdom says, as there is a time to grieve, there will be a time to celebrate.  Having uprooted, it will be time to plant, having cried the tears of pain, there will be time to laugh and dance, having restrained, there will be a time to embrace, having given up, there will be a time to search again, having faced a war, hate, and tear, there will be a time to mend, a time to love and time for peace.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Break from the past and become what you really are. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Lately, I've devoted my sermons on casting the vision for our church under the premise of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” In my vision casting, I’ve challenged us out to subject our church under the supremacy of the gospel. I’ve challenged us to embrace and to live out the explosively powerful gospel. And to do this we have to make changes. We cannot do church the way same we’ve been doing for over a decade. Because the gospel must go out beyond the boundaries of cultures, ethnicity and races, we must build our church towards multiethnic/multiracial vision. Because the gospel must go beyond maintaining and perpetuating the familiarity of biological family ties and because it must create spiritual families, we must answer to God’s call to evangelize. The reality is that we cannot subject ourselves to the supremacy of the gospel unless we as church are willing to change. And, willingness to change requires willingness to count the cost and willingness to boldly risk.

Having spent so much of time seeking God’s vision for our church, the big picture for our church, I believe it is now time for us to decide. I know that we are up against skeptical minds who cannot envision how small church like us can really survive and thrive on our own. But, I believe that 15 to 20 is more than enough to build the kind of church that is for our generation if that 15 to 20 are committed to the biblical vision for the church.

Two paths are before us, one is to become a Korean church and the other is to freshly envision the new course for CMC. Each of you must decide. I believe that some of you are better suited to serve in English ministry of Korean church. No doubt there is need for that. But, I believe that for many of you including myself and my family, we are created to be like apostle Paul to become all things to all so that by all possible means we might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22). And, to realize this, we cannot do the church the same way anymore. We need to radically step out and change in order to embrace the explosive power of the gospel. So, it is time that you decide.

Now, let me switch the gear little bit. So, far I’ve concentrated on the vision casting to help you see what God can through our church. Here is the reality check. We can envision all we want about what God can do through our church, what we can offer the world. But, unless you and I experience the gospel personally, we have nothing to offer. The vision casting for our church tells us that we can be the lighthouse that can shine the light of the gospel broadly and far. But, without first the gospel brightly shinning here at home, here inside of each of us, the light won’t shine far.

In order to shine far, our lives must brightly shine. To burn brightly, we need to break away from the past and become what you really are. There are things from the past, unless we put them to death, they become hindrances, major stumbling blocks to embrace God’s vision for our lives.

Perhaps, I can use another analogy… Before we can invite people to enjoy our home, we got to do spring cleaning to do. We got to break away from the past and become what we really are.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Do you know not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 

  • The past…

Let’s read the list again: the sexually immoral (sex before marriage), adulterers (sex outside of marriage), male prostitutes (sex for money), homosexual offenders, idolaters (worshiping anything other than God), thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers (badmouthing others falsely), swindlers (cheaters)… Paul said these are what some of the Corinthians were. Before the gospel came to them, before they became Christians, they were defined by how they perpetually behaved. Their sexual promiscuity defined them sexually immoral, adulterers. Their love of money defined them thieves and greedy. Their lack of self-control defined them drunkards. Their words of hatred defined them slanderers while their selfish behaviors defined them cheaters.

Here is a little background about the Roman and Greek culture of their time; these out of control behaviors of sexual promiscuity, selfishness, hatred, and drunkenness and idolatry were tolerated and practiced readily. Another word, the bar of standard was set pretty low. Living in the morally comprised environment, many of the Corinthians were defined by these behaviors. They were enslaved by these behaviors.

  • Break from the past.

But, once the gospel infiltrated their lives, they were no longer under the power of these behaviors. Once the gospel shined their hearts, they were now given power to break away from what once consumed them, behaviors marked by self-serving, self-indulgent and self-destructive attitude. Once the gospel infiltrated their cords, they had to reject their society’s low standards of morality. The bar was no longer set by what their peers tolerated and practiced. The bar was set by the holiness of God. So, Paul called for the break from the past. What mastered you yesterday, what you were enslaved by yesterday no longer holds power over you today when you stand in Christ. That’s the message of the gospel. In Christ, you can break from the past.

Not only can you break from the past, but more than that, you can

  • Become what you really are.

As a Christian do you know who you really are? Are you becoming what you really are, one who is washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God?

You are justified. This speaks to what you really are your true identity. To be justified means you are declared righteous. When Satan, the accuser tries to define you by the past behaviors, you have to remember that he no longer has power to call you anything. Satan has no power to define you anymore. It is now Jesus Christ who defines your identity. Every day when you rise, every night when you go to bed, every moment between them, Satan’s going to hunt you down in order to pull you back to your past, yesterday’s sins, yesterday’s wickedness. So, today, you must actively recall in your mind what you really are. You are not a wicked person. No you are a righteous person in Christ. That’s who you are, righteous person.

You are sanctified. This speaks to becoming what you really are. Since in Christ, you are not a wicked person, you don’t do wicked things. Since in Christ you are now a righteous person, it means you become righteous person by doing what’s right.

You are washed. This speaks to the spiritual reality of baptism. To be baptized in Christ Jesus is to identify with his death and his resurrection. This is what it means to identify with Christ’s death. You are dead to sin. Meaning, you no longer respond to sins. When sins walk into your life, what they are should find is that they walk into a morgue only to find a dead body on a stretcher. That’s what it means to be dead to sin, to identify with Christ in his death.
To identify with Christ’s resurrection means, you are alive to righteous. You are rewired now in such way that you respond to righteousness.

Breaking from the crippling past, breaking from the sin infested identity, breaking from the power of sins and becoming what you really are in Christ is what the gospel is all about.

While I challenge you to envision new way of doing church, you must also envision new way of doing life. We must not live by the past. God paved the way for you to break from the past, from sins, from addictions. God pave the way for you to become what you really are. Do you believe it? Do you believe that in Christ you can be dead to sinful impulses and behaviors? Do you believe that in Christ you can be alive and responsive to godly impulses and behaviors? Do you believe?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Hope against all hope (Romans 4:17-21)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Romans 4:17-21, “As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead- since he was about a hundred years old- and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

To ‘hope against hope’ is to have hope even when the situation appears to be hopeless…

Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all...As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength. (G.K. Chesterton, Signs of the Times, April 1993, p. 6)

What causes hopeless?

· Powerless to dream… Hopeless sets in when you are just getting by and trying to be content with status-quo. But, you are aching because you know deep down inside of you that you are created for something more; you are created to dream beyond what seems possible because you know God. Yet, you have lost the ability to dream. You no longer think in what’s possible. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God “has set eternity in the hearts of men.” You are made for eternity, but you have lost your way and you don’t dream any more. Busyness, trying to survive and get through, even the entertainments bore you now... You no longer dream and you are hopeless.

· Powerless to know where you are going… when you feel lost, when you don’t know where you are going, when you cannot see the big picture, when you are not driven by God given purpose in life you lose meaning.

· Powerless to change… It’s been too long since you saw real changes. Nothing is changing and you’ve been slowly sinking into the deep hole of hopelessness because you feel powerless to see any meaningful change.

· Powerless against setbacks… When you are defeated, when you mess up, when life turns for worse, it also cause hopeless.

What causes you to feel hopeless about your life? What makes you feel hopeless about the state of your family? What makes you feel hopeless about our church, about our nation?

When God stepped into Abraham’s life, God spoke in the language of promise of what he was going to do. He was going to raise Abraham to be the father of nations, to bless all people, all nations through him. When God spoke in this language of promise, sure certainty, it was as though God set his eternity into Abraham’s heart. How could he an old man 100 years old, how could Sarah his wife beyond human possibility to get pregnant at 90, how could he, how could she dream the possibility to have a child, to dream the birth of many nations? … The present reality, the human impossibility, was so far off from what God said he was going to do through Abraham. One without faith would brush God off as making a cruelest and insane joke.

But, it was far worse in those and agonizing dark days when Jesus’ dead body was put away in the tomb. There is nothing in the world that can compete against the lethal power of death to destroy hope. Death is like great flood that wipes away anything and everything in its path. Death is like great fire that burn down homes with memories into rubbles and smokes. Death is like catastrophic engine failures and structural failures that impair an flying airplane to nose-dive to destruction. Death leaves casualties of hopelessness.

Yet, on this Easter Day, God has set eternity into the hearts of men and women like he has never done before. When death seemed to have the final say, when death seemed to have pronounce all is lost and gone, when death seemed to have destroyed any hope, God broke into the darkness moment of history. But, it was like the sun rising from the east and the darkness couldn’t hold it back.

Just like that God broke into the powerlessness to dream, powerlessness to make sense out of meaninglessness, powerlessness to change, powerless against setbacks. Just like that God broke into the dark present reality with his eternity. And, the history has never been the same since then.

I believe that just like the way God evoked Abraham and Sarah to dream that which was humanly impossible, just like the way God brushed Abraham and Sarah with eternity, he is doing that with you and me. God wants you to know today that he has power to do what had promised to do with your life, in your family, in our church, in our nation, in our world. You will not thwart God’s sovereign purpose. Your choice is either to yield to his purpose and welcome it in faith or you reject his purpose and descend into hopeless death. Romans 8:28–30 says,

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God’s goal is that you share in his glory as Jesus shares in the Father’s glory. It is the purpose beyond time boundary. Before you were born, while you were little like the babies today, while you were children like my older girls, while you were teenagers, now as grownup adults, God’s purpose is that you be conformed into the likeness of Christ and lived for God’s glory, get on with the Father’s business!

Church, brothers and sisters in Christ, today God has set his eternity in your heart. So, set your heart on something far greater and far glorious beyond your present situations.  Don't be defined by powerlessness to dream, inability to see where you are going, powerlessness to change and powerlessness to fight against setbacks. It is time to rise and to march with Christ. Don’t let the present reality defines you. Let the Great I AM of eternity defines your today. Set your eyes on God’s purpose to conform you to the image of Jesus, to embark on his mission to bring glory to God.

So, as apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:14,

Church, I charge you today, “Wake up, O Sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”