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.
No comments:
Post a Comment