Homeward bound

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;  it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord , the majesty of our God.  Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;  then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;  the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.  And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.  No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:1-10 ESV

Pastor Paul Park

Illusiveness of a worldly home

Where are you from? We can answer from many different angles. Cultural background, where we were raised, where we were born, where we live now... Does this change when we get married? Does it change when we've lived in a certain place for awhile?

A home is where we find rest. Verse 7 describes a mirage. A place of water in a desert. But the closer we get to a mirage, the more we find that it is an illusion. Our lives are a long journey are searching for a place of rest and belonging. We go from place to place seeking a home. The prophets were tasked with bringing people from illusions to our real home. The people were content with mirages and the illusion of home. We all do this. When we are anxious or troubled, we turn to the distraction of entertainment, the comfort of financial security, the comfort of relational security, etc. All the things of this world are insufficient to give us a real sense of belonging or security. They are all fleeting and will ultimately disappoint.

Concreteness of our Spiritual home

Where then is our biblical and real home? It is not a place, but rather a person. It is our God. He is our sanctuary. The springs of living water are alluding to the Holy Spirit. God wishes to make His home in us. What then does it mean to be home in this sense? God becomes to us the most important person in our lives. He is the most loved in our mind and in our hearts. As it says in the first commandment... This is how you find home. You will yearn to see His face. You were desire to spend time with Him.

We are unclean. So we must get new hearts. We must be redeemed and cleaned. This was purchased through the cross by Jesus. We are promised a new home because of the blood of Christ. A place to belong and of ultimate security.

The ramifications?

Our future is with God. We are to love God and that means that we will have a growing desire of holiness. Why? Because God is holy. We will grow in repentance for sin, in turning towards God away from things of this world. We can be generous because God has given us everything for eternity.

We are to grow in our yearning to see God's face. To wish to be with God, is the proper reaction to God's sacrifice upon the cross. It is not a simple ritual of prayer and Bible study. But a genuine desire within our hearts for God and the place He has prepared for us.

Gospel Hospitality

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 ESV

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:11-13 ESV

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:1-2 ESV

Rev Dwight Yoo

As a church, we are not just a church in a city, but rather a church for the city. To be for it's prosperity, growth, and good.

This value will grow the church both in depth and breadth. It is hospitality. This is not just Martha Stewart. It is broader than that. Hospitality means showing love to strangers. But it is not a single action, it is a mindset. A hospitable person doesn't just care for friends and family; they also show kindness to strangers so they become friends and family. How important is this? It is one of the qualifications of a church elder.

It is easy to ignore strangers in a city church. How can we get to know everyone in this church with so many people? And all these people who come and go. It is hard to invest time and energy in people and have them leave in a couple of years.

So why? Why should we be hospitable? Because while we were strangers, God reached out to us. He gave us a home, His enemies. We were foreigners and God gave us a place in His city. We serve a hospitable God. So we must portray His values to the world.

Jesus became a stranger and sojourner in this world. He was marginalized and rejected so that we would not be rejected by God. The faith that saves will give us a heart of hospitality. We cannot be callous because it is at the heart of the gospel.

Christine Pohl, who wrote Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (Eerdmans, 1999), tells us “Strangers are people without a place, disconnected from life-giving relationships and networks.”

We can help strangers both in the church and outside the church. There is a fundamental desire for connection. Our day and age is filled with broken families and relationships. People have to move for work and they end up disconnected.

Towards the City God Built

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.  These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.- Hebrews 11:8-16 ESV

Dr. Kyuboem Lee

Missions is so often something we support and other people do "out there." But I want to bring to light that we have been molded and shaped to work as missionaries here in the city.

Abraham is an immigrant. He is a foreigner in a new homeland. The people of faith have always been pilgrims, aliens, and strangers. They do not belong wherever they are. But God promises that the people of faith have a home. God has prepared a place for us. As immigrants and children of immigrants, we can innately sense this alienation.

Even if we find success, we will still live in this sense of dislocation. We are still not home. This world will still give us this sense of alienation. Success will not fulfill this longing. We are called to follow in Abraham's footsteps. He was an immigrant who owned no land and was promised that he would bless the nations. He lived in tents and owned no place in the promised land.

We do not have to be successful first to serve as missionaries. We can reach out to people who feel alienated and be the presence of Christ. We may think that we can outsource missions, but that is not how it works. It is not the professional missionaries who spread the gospel. It is poor everyday Christians who spread the faith. The Christians fleeing persecution spread the faith.

Our heavenly home will find us neighbors with people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. They will be of a wide variety of experiences, socio-economic classes, and identities. We will not be separated but we will be one people of God. That is the reality we pray from and work towards when we say "on earth as it is in heaven."

Esther: The Great Reversal

Esther 5-10

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Premature celebration can sometimes bring about our downfall. Haman thinks he is about to have his revenge on Mordecai and the Jews.

Reversal of glory and humiliation

Haman expects that the king wished to honor him. He was the king's right hand man. Instead, he is humiliated. And his enemy, Mordecai, is glorified.

Reversal of life and death

The day where the Jews were to be killed becomes a day of joy. The Jews are delivered from the sword. A new edict is written that allows them to defend themselves against their enemies. This has become commemorated as Purim.

The greatest reversal is Jesus dying on the cross, to bring sinners life. Resurrection and life comes from the death of an innocent man upon the cross.

Application

We can persevere knowing that Christ will reverse all these things. Even though good deeds are punished and evil men prosper, at the end, it will all be reversed.

We are to live in tune with the reversal that is to come. We will be out of tune with the world, but in tune with the kingdom of God. We are to grow in humility and serving others, not self promotion nor making demands.