Coming of Christ (Isaiah 52.7-12; John 1:1-14)

Cornerstone Mission Church - Christmas Message on 12/25/2008

My sister’s family treated us to few days up in Wisconsin Dells to one of the indoor water theme parks. We made it there on Monday evening. And, I took my kids and my sister kids to water raft rides. I don’t know if you’ve been to one of those indoor water rides, but it is quite amazing. You go up what must be endless stairs for few minutes and finally get to the top where you get to descend on a round shaped raft down through a tube; well it is all over in 10’s of seconds. The tube begins inside the building, winds down outside the building, and finally enters back into the building. And, the raft simply winds down inside and through the tube and dumps you on the lower pool.

I’ve never been on these things at night, not alone on one of the coldest winter days thus far. As soon as raft takes off in splash, it quickly descends down inside a tube and in a matter of a second or so you are in this complete pitch darkness that blinds you and disorients you. And because you are in this pitch darkness, you cannot anticipate turns. And, you end up feeling dizzy… Well, I tried to be tough and I am sure none of the kids knew how I felt. But, I tell you, all I wanted after few twists and turns in pitch darkness inside the tube was a glimmer of light. That’s all I needed to get myself together, just a flicker of light at the end of the tube.

The absolute worse was when I sat down with my back facing downward. Something about going downward with quick twists and turns in complete darkness made me feel dizzy and nauseated. In complete darkness, I just couldn’t get my sense of direction. Man, did I want that light or what? Just to think about it gives me headache and makes me all dizzy. Kids were just fine. Perhaps, this is a sign of my aging. Now, don’t go around thinking that I was afraid of the ride, because I wasn’t, all right? Uh hum! I just didn’t like how riding down in pitch darkness made me feel all disoriented, dizzy and even nauseated. What made it all better was when there was light; it helped me regain my sense of direction.

Today’s world feels like descending down inside a pitch dark tube in a raft with your back facing downward. No one ever imagined just a year ago, or even six months ago, we will be where we are today with economic downturn. Some think that we haven’t hit the bottom yet. Other words, expect more bad news ahead of us well into the year 2009, perhaps stock market hitting 6000 level, rising unemployment rate at all time high, credit woes, businesses suffering. Then, there are two wars that our nation has been fighting. Although scaling down the military deployment is a possibility in Iraq, situations in Afghanistan are getting worse; it demands more troops and fear of repeating Russia’s unsuccessful occupation in Afghanistan is real. And, if you didn’t know already the long time dictator president Lansana Conte of Guinea died last Monday prompting unrest and another military coup. It is potentially explosive situation. Our Sarah and others who planned to take off for a Vision Trip with Teachus Mission to Guinea cannot leave any more. The world we live in today feels like dizzy, disoriented and discouraging downward descent inside a pitch dark tube with unexpected twists and turns. And, it is now more than any other time in recent history when people are looking for the real source of hope, the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

For the Israelites, they felt like they were in this pitch dark and dizzying and discouraging descent when they were deported from the Promised Land as captives into the exile. There in the foreign land, Isaiah 52:7 lets us know that they yearned for good news who would proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Down the pitch dark tube of descent under the rules of foreign kings of Babylon, what else could be constituted as good news, then to hear, “Your God reigns!” So, they yearned for the Lord to return (8), to comfort his people (9b), to redeem Jerusalem (9c); they yearned to see the salvation of… God (10). And, they heard good news, “you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be you rear guard.” Thus, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel. No longer were they confounded and disheartened in the pitch dark tube of descent for the Lord returned. So, there was this great celebration of God’s coming, God breaking into their wasted places of Jerusalem.

This coming of the Lord, breaking into the world of the exiles foreshadowed the coming of God in Christ Jesus. John puts it this way in 1:9, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world,” the world wrapped up in the pitch dark tube of descent. It came about when the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14), the Word, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth, his name is Immanuel, “God with us,” Jesus Christ! As it was when the LORD went before the Israelites and was their rear guard, it is Jesus who lights the way for us. Jesus is the light that stops the pitch dark tube of descent.

When apostle Paul asks this question in Romans 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” he doesn’t assume that we Christians would be shielded from the pitch dark tube of descent. But, what he says is although we may be considered as sheep to be slaughtered… we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, namely Jesus Christ (36-37). His conviction is this, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

So, this morning, be encouraged, be strengthened in Christ’s advent. He came because he loves you. God’s plan is not to take away every problem and pain you are facing today as so many of us falsely hope for. No, he has better plan than zapping away our problems and pains. His plan is to make us warriors, conquerors, overcomers in the love of Jesus Christ. That is what Advent of Christ means today!

The life of chosen (Acts 21:27-22)

The life of chosen (Acts 21:27-22)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon November 30, 2008

My older two girls are in Girl Scouts.  And, they were invited to attend the lighting of the trees for Prospect Heights yesterday evening at 5 pm.  While Lyn was making dinner for us, I took all the girls to the event.  There was a fire pit on the pavement with sticks ready to grill some marshmallows for the girls, there were cookies of all shapes and tastes and there was hot chocolate ready to warm us up.

After the count of ten, the trees were lit and the Girl Scouts began their part, singing Christmas Carols.  I was too busy taking pictures and trying to hold on to Katherine in my arms, I could hardly pay attention to what they were singing, but I knew one thing.  They didn’t sing any Christmas carols about Jesus.  It was a super fun evening.  It marked the beginning of a new season.  But, really what were we celebrating there?  We were there to celebrate the lighting of the trees, singing Rudolph’s the Reindeers, and Santa Claus is coming to town.  But, no mention of Jesus who came and who will come again!  Well, I was disappointed.

Then, there was as story of Wal-Mart temp worker getting killed by the mad dashed of shoppers on Black Friday morning that swelled to thousands.  If we don’t watch out, we too are going to be swept away by the current of commercialism, secularism, and forget that Christmas is all about Jesus who came and who is to come.

So, this morning, I will like to take you back to the book of Acts and consider a story of Paul and see what coming of Jesus Christ meant for him.

1.      Overview of Acts

This past year, we’ve been exploring the life of the early Christians through study of the book of Acts.  Life of the early church began with just a handful of disciples who feared for their lives after the death of Jesus.  But, Jesus rose from the dead defying the logic of men.  And, before he was taken up to heaven, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit to come upon them and to baptize them and to equip them with power to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

We saw how the Holy Spirit indeed came upon those who obediently waited as Jesus instructed them.  The Spirit’s coming upon them was evidenced by the a sound like the blowing of a violent wind and a sight of what appeared to be tongues of fire separating and coming to rest on each of those who waited and by their speaking in tongues of unlearned languages.  Followed by Peter’s preaching to repent and be baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins… to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  And, thousands accepted Peter’s message, thus the Jerusalem church began.  As number of people accepting Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah rapidly increased, the Jewish religious establishment, the leaders of the Judaism became increasingly alarmed and they stepped up their earnest effort to curtail the growth of the church.  So, the persecution increased as the church grew.

And, as you know it was Paul, also known as Saul, who was at the forefront of the persecution against the followers of the Way, Christians.  It was under his careful watch, Stephen was stoned to death.  Paul wasn’t satisfied with the progress against Christians in Jerusalem and in Judea.  When Christians scattered due to increasing persecutions, Paul chased after them, down to Damascus with one goal in his mind, to round up as many Christians as possible whether men and women and to bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem in order to prosecute them.  It was there on the road to Damascus, his life changed forever.

And for the last couple months, our focus has been on the life of this man, Paul, once a zealous persecutor of Christians now a bonafide Christian who considered his life worth nothing to him if only he might finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus gave him- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24).

2.      Paul arrested

He already made three missionary journeys over thousands of miles across the lands and over the seas.  He came back to Jerusalem even though he knew through the revelation from the Holy Spirit that he would be imprisoned.  In the spirit of becoming like a Jew to win the Jews (1 Corinthians 9:20), he went to the temple to fulfill his vow by undergoing purification ritual and offering.  But, this didn’t help him to win any favor from the Jews.  When the Jews spotted Paul in the temple, they accused him of brining Greeks into the temple area and defiling the holy place.  Because they saw Paul with a gentile Trophimus the Ephesian in the city earlier, they assumed falsely that Paul brought the gentiles into the temple.

Here is a layout of the Herod’s temple.  Around the outer walls of the temple was what was called the Court of Gentiles, which is leveled as #12 in this picture.  And, in this model of the temple, the wide open area surrounding the temple is the Court of Gentiles.  This is where the Gentiles were allowed.

But beyond this court, the Gentiles were not allowed into the temple.  So, on the walls of the outer walls of the temple had this sign posted warning, “No foreigner is to enter within the balustrade and embankment around the sanctuary.  Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death which follows.”  If Paul indeed brought gentiles into the temple as they accused, he would have broken a law punishable by death.  The Jews long ago convinced themselves that this Paul who preached Jesus as the long waited Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise from God for the Savior, the Christ, for the nation of Israel and for the whole world this Paul had to be rid of, to be killed.  They had no proof that Paul violated the temple order against the Gentiles from entering the temple, only that they saw Paul earlier with a gentile in the city.  But, they didn’t need any kind of solid proof to charge him.  All they needed was an assumption.

Imagine the scene.  Acts 21:30 says the whole city was aroused and the people came running from all directions. There was this mad dash to seize Paul and he was dragged from the temple.  They had one thing in mind, to kill him.  Their prefer method to end Paul’s life was beating him up.

Just north of the temple, beyond the Court of the Gentiles was the Fortress of Antonia.  This was where the Romans soldiers were stationed.  The commander over a regiment of 1000 solders, Claudius Lysias was notified the situation involving Paul; he took some of his men and ran down to the crowd who was beating the daylights out of Paul.  Their presence halted the beating and allows the commander and the soldiers to take Paul into their custody.

3.      Paul’s apologia… my story (Acts 21:37-22:21)

Now, I know that none of us have any idea what it is to have mad dashed crowd bent on one thing in their minds, to land their fists and their kicks on you to end your life; if this happened, I could assure you that that last thing on my mind would be to talk to them about the very thing that got me into trouble with them in the first place.  I mean who cares if the people who saved your life didn’t do it for you, but only to maintain the order.  These Romans weren’t looking out for Paul.  Not at all, all they cared about was maintaining order at the temple and in Jerusalem.  But, who cares, right?  They came and they took Paul out of the mad crowd whose fists and shoes were stained with Paul’s blood.  I will be like, “Get me out of this place.  I want nothing to do with these illogical fanatics.”   Come on, won’t you feel this way too?

But, look what Paul did.  He probably sustained bloody nose, swollen eyes, and bruises all over his body, perhaps some broken ribs too.   Verse 37, Paul badly injured from beatings was being escorted into the barracks where he would be safe from the mad crowd thirst for his blood.  But, he stopped to talk to the commander in Greek.

The same way the crowds assumed wrongly about Paul, the commander too assumed falsely that Paul was a terrorist, the Egyptian Jew who unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Jerusalem just few years ago.  Paul replied, “I am not the guy from Egypt.  I am a Jew all right, but I am from Tarsus in Cilicia and a citizen of no ordinary city.  Please let me speak to the people.”

The commander probably thought that by allowing Paul to speak to the crowd, he could figure what caused this ruckus.  Well, his plan to listen in on Paul foiled when Paul started speaking in Aramaic, which was everyday language of the Jews.  But, the commander liked what he saw when people became very quite once Paul started talking to them in Aramaic.

And, from 22:3 to 22:21 Paul gave his apologetic appeal to the Jews.  Paul asked them in 22:1, “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”  Here the word, “defense” is apologia in Greek.  Paul’s apologia is nothing more than an account of his own life.  Paul’s apologia is built on what his life was like before meeting Jesus Christ, how Jesus Christ changed his life, and what he now lives for.

I want you to pause and grasp the scope of Paul’s response to the crowd who tried to kill him; they still had Paul’s fresh blood stains on their fists and their feet.  Why did Paul even bother trying to reason with them when they remained insolent, unreasonable, violent, full of hatred, and antagonistic to him and his message about Jesus Christ?  How do you explain his tenacious care for the people who didn’t care except trying to kill him?

Paul’s apologia of personal spiritual journey explains why he didn’t give up speaking to the Jews who just tried to kill him merciless and without proper cause.  Formerly when life was about Saul, he was no different than the Jews who tried to kill him.  Being thoroughly trained in the law and zealous for God as they were, he persecuted the followers of this Way to the death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison.”  In his zeal steep in religious pharisaic tradition, he followed the Christians all the way to Damascus for one goal, to take them back as prisoners to Jerusalem to punish them.  This was Paul before he met Jesus when life was just about him, what he wanted, what he went after, what he was passionate about.

He summed up his previous way of life in Galatians 1:13- 14, “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.  I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”  So much passion, so much religious conviction, so much energy expended on advancing Judaism and opposing Jesus and his people.  This was Paul’s way of life in Judaism.  He said in Philippians 3:4, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”  How do you argue with a man who is so sure of himself, so much pride in who he is, what he stands for, how he lives his life?   You can’t.  No human reasoning could have changed Paul.

Only God could change Paul.  When Jesus got hold of Paul’s heart, that’s when he changed.  He described what happened to him in Galatians 1:15-16, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the gentiles.”

Notice how it was no longer about what Paul did, how he well he did, how passionately he followed his religious convictions; it was no longer about Paul.

Now that he got to know Jesus, his life was no longer about Paul, but it was all about what God was doing in Paul’s life.   Can you say the same thing about yourself?  No, it isn’t about me any more.  It is about what God is doing in my life.  Do you have the sense that God is working in you and that God has been working in you in the past and will work in you continually in the future?   Paul’s apologia, his defense was really about the story of a life of chosen by God, how God ordained, set him apart from birth and how God called him to testify about his Son Jesus Christ.

Do you have the sense as Paul did that God has set you apart from birth for his purpose?  To speak of being set apart from birth is to speak of life of a chosen one.  Life of chosen, set apart from birth, is life of noble birth.  And, the life of noble birth points to the One who gives you identity.  Do you know who gives you identity?  Paul knew it was God who gave him the identity of chosen, set apart from birth.

Paul didn’t know that God set him apart from birth.  This knowledge came when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus.  That’s when God called Paul by his grace.  Paul didn’t know that he lived in darkness that made it impossible for him to see spiritually.  Paul was spiritually blind because he couldn’t grasp the life of chosen by God, set apart from birth.  He was spiritually blind because he was too busy living his life the way he wanted to live.  It only came to Paul when Jesus entered into Paul’s darkness with his light.   His light blinded him, rendering his eyes useless, rendering his self-sufficiency useless.  When God sealed tight the eyes of self-sufficiency, self-dependence, self-deception, self-promotion, only then Paul was able to know God’s will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.

Isaiah 49:1, “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.”  Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  And, Paul says this about himself, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” in Romans 1:1.

God has chosen Paul to know his will, to see Jesus Christ, and to hear Jesus so that he will be Jesus’ witness to all men of what he had  seen and heard  (Acts 22:15).

Today marks the beginning of Advent four weeks before we celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ and anticipate his second coming.  Lest, we forget and be swept away by the current of false spirit of Christmas, let’s revisit this week what it means to have the life of chosen, set apart from birth and called by God’s grace to be Jesus’ witness.

Christmas stands for new status of being chosen, set apart, called for God’s purpose.  Christmas stands for asking Jesus, “Who are you?” and hearing Jesus, “I am Jesus of Nazareth…” and asking him, “What, shall I do, Lord?”  Christmas is a season to reaffirm our identity, our calling in Jesus Christ.