The season of Lent

Lent is a time to focus on repentance and morning over our sins. There is no scriptural support for Lent, but it does seem to be spiritually wise to observe Lent. Just like it is good to have a yearly physical checkup, it is much like a yearly spiritual checkup.

Bad reasons to observe Lent

Fasting and abstaining for merit.

We are not justified by these things. We don't win some sort of spiritual points for fasting or giving things up. We are loved and accepted based on what Jesus has done for us. We cannot make God love us more or less. Nothing we do or don't do affects God's affection for us. We should have no sense of pride for what we did during Lent. We should not feel more worthy from what we do.

Observing Lent externally

God is focused primarily upon the heart. Doing the right things with the wrong intentions may be more offensive than not doing them at all. Outward acts without the proper heart attitude is more pretense that cannot please God.

Introspectively

To be totally focused on ourselves, is another pitfall. Our motivation is to improve ourselves rather than in a god-ward direction. Or for those of us who find ourselves praying for the same things year after year, we can become depressed over how little we've changed. But that too is pride, we cannot save ourselves. We need a savior. Lent is to prepare us for the resurrection. We are sinners, but the resurrection power is at work in us.

So why observe Lent?

"I am willing to give up what is good to get the best."

Fasting in the old testament was an expression of longing for a Savior. So while Jesus was with the disciples, they did not fast. After he left, we now have a Savior but it is now a long distance relationship. So now in the new testament, we have tasted of Jesus and now long for the second coming. Fasting causes us to ache physically, but it should reflect our spiritual aching. So when we give up these things, it is so we can have more of Christ. Better than ____, Christ gives me through salvation. Whether it is joy, peace, rest, etc.

We also examine our lives for idols. Looking things that are good, but we make greater priority than Jesus. Comfort, approval of people, worldly success, and all these things are good. But when they become ultimate, they become sin.

Unparalleled joy and peace

John 16:5-33 ESV

But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.  Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:  concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;  concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;  concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.    “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.    “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and   again a little while, and you will see me.”  So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’ ?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’ ? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?  Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.  When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.    “I have said these things to you in figures of speech.   The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;  for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.  I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”  His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?  Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.  I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus tells his disciples that trials and tribulation will only increase when he leaves them. But he also says that their joy and peace will increase. He offers a joy and peace that surpasses anything the world can offer.

The nature of his joy and peace

His joy and peace comes in the midst of trial and troubles. This joy will persist forever. The "little while" he refers to is his resurrection. He's not talking about heaven. He's saying that they would gets this joy after his resurrection. We can find this joy in this life. We don't have to wait until heaven. The joy we can have from his resurrection is unending and immovable. Regardless of circumstance. For those who don't believe, their joy comes from chasing something of this world. Reaching a goal, having the right situation, ... Traveling. But this is incompatible with suffering, trials, and pain. The joys and peace of the world will ebb and flow like the tide. The joy and peace that Jesus gives us can increase through our pain and trials.

How to experience it

You are not to manufacture it. It is a byproduct of a relationship with Jesus. We cannot make it. Jesus brings us joy simply by being with us. We have unbreakable joy because our relationship with him endures all things. Nothing can separate us from the joy and peace we have in Jesus. He is Lord over all things.. Even the grave. And he is now lord over our lives. In all circumstances, he is working it out for our good. This includes our failures, our setbacks, and our sinfulness. He will work things out for our good in all things. But not only do we need to be in relationship with him, we need to appropriate these things into our lives. We need to stew over these things in our hearts and minds. We play a part in taking in his joy and peace.

The impact of having it

Jesus wants to give us his joy and peace in a world of trouble. The holy spirit is here to grow and strengthen us. But this is not solely for our sake... It is also so that others may see life in Jesus. We are jars of clay... Unimpressive and simple. But they contain perfumes and precious things. In order for these things to be shared, the jar must be broken. The treasure in us is shown when we are going through tough times. When we suffer joyfully to show Jesus to others. Not pretending to be joyful... Not hiding our troubles, but sorrow buttressed with enduring peace.

Hated by the world

John 15:18-16:4 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.  But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.  But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’    “But   when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father,   he will bear witness about me.  And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.  They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.  And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.  But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.  “I did not say these things to you from the beginning,   because I was with you.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Because of our union with Jesus we can change eternity. We have life and a great inheritance. But this passage is not about that... This is about the flip side of the coin. Following him is difficult. Jesus is forthright in showing both the good and bad.

The reality of the world's hatred

Those that persecuted Jesus will also persecute you as a Christian. In our union with Christ, what is true for him is also true for us. Both blessings and suffering. Much like marriage in sharing everything. A world in unbelief hates Jesus. We will be rejected in subtle ways as well as outright killed for their faith. Many people will believe that they are doing a service to the world by killing Christians. In the us, Christians are seen as ignorant simpletons. We will be mocked for trying to live a life dedicated to Christ. This is reality. We need to recognize this in order to live a faithful life without falling. The world is against you. Knowing this sets expectations... It helps us to persevere.

The reason for the world's hatred

We are not of the world. We feel out of place because we are. We are resident aliens in this world. This city is not our true home. We live not by the values of this place but by the values of our heavenly home.

The message of the gospel offends those of the world. Both the religious and the irreligious hate him. Why? Because the gospel says that your religious works cannot save. You cannot earn your salvation. Salvation by grace through Jesus is the only way.

For the others, it says that there is a god and there is a right way to live. There is an absolute right and wrong. It is not just true for you and what you think. There is objective right and wrong.

But this is what we are called to. By his humiliation, we were lifted up. So he also calls us to be humiliated so that others may be lifted up.

The help from God

We are given the Holy Spirit. He enables us to witness with boldness. To not fear for our lives. He often applies the word of God to our hearts. That is how we find boldness. We may live on tents in this life, but God has prepared a place in heaven for us. We have an eternal and unshakable home with God.

Hebrews 11:9 ESV

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.

The hardest of hearts can be changed by the spirit. Saul was killing Christians. By the work of the spirit, hearts can be changed. Even the hardest of hearts...

Love for, like, and with Jesus

John 13:18-35 ESV

I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’  I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”  After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”  Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.  When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus has invested much of his life and tone and energy into his disciples. Still, one of them would prove that they didn't know him or love him. Judas would betray him. This is a dark time. But Jesus speaks instead of glory. During this time of evil, is when God's glory shines the brightest. For some of us, it is the dark night of the soul. We are not at the mountaintop, we are in the valley. We spend too much time listening to ourselves instead of preaching to ourselves. We are caught up in the circumstances. But what we need to do is speak to ourselves... Specifically the truths of the gospel. We serve a God who does his good during the darkest of times. We are like the disciples confused at the crucifixion and death of Jesus. But through this act, God is saving people.

Jesus commands us to love one another. It is not about how we feel. It is a command. How we feel does not play into it. We love each other because we have been saved by Jesus and owe him our allegiance.

The world will know that we belong to Jesus by the way we love one another. It is also the way that we can witness to the world. We are to love people who are different, who are not like us. The people of Philadelphia are not like our church. If we are serious about reaching the city, we must reach out to people who are not Asian, not upper middle class. Otherwise we will become an enclave of well-behaved religious people. To love not like the world. like the Samaritan, to love his enemies. The neighbor we are called to love may not only be unlike us, but they may be our enemy.

The love of Christ

Gives up, so others can get

We are to give up our rights to give to ours. Jesus gave up his power, so that we could have life. We care more about the other person than ourselves. We would give up our comfort and glory so that the other person would be saved. We are to empty ourselves so that others can be saved.

Durable, not disposable

Our love is to endure. Other people are not here to fulfill our needs. We don't love because of what others do or don't do. We love even those who hurt us.

We are to love with Jesus

We are part of the covenant. We have been promised power through the spirit. We are generally well behaved. We don't murder. We pay our taxes. We can love sacrificially once in awhile. That's normal. But to do it consistently takes more. More than we have in ourselves to love constantly, day by day, second by second. Only in the spirit, can we do this. Jesus is there when we step out in faith. He is not some abstract concept. Jesus becomes real to us when we step out in faith to love others more than we can do in our own power and flesh.

The servant king

John 13:1-17 ESV

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”  Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”  Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”  For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”  When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

These passages are supposed to give us an inside look into the inner sanctuary, what is going on inside the heart of Jesus.

This foot washing is astounding.

When things become familiar, we forget how beautiful and amazing things are. We need to slow down and look again. Jesus knew that he was going to die, a painful and humiliating death. God was going to place all of the world's sin on his shoulders. Most people draw inward when there is stress and trouble. But during this stressful time, Jesus washed their feet. Washing feet was generally reserved for the lowest of the slaves. Peers did not wash each other's feet. It was a humiliating task. Jesus takes off his outer clothes, puts on the uniform of a servant. This is atypical and socially unacceptable behavior. Utterly astounding. It would be the equivalent of the President cleaning out the toilet of one of his secret service men. Even more so, Jesus has been given all power and authority over creation. One who has given life to dust, now kneels and wipes the dust off of a creation.

It's an illustration

Jesus wasn't just washing their feet because their feet were dirty. It is symbolic of his entire ministry. He rose, laid aside, taking, and poured out. He rose from his throne in heaven. Laid aside his godliness and took the form of a man, a servant. Then poured out his life for his own.

Our response

This act can either repel or propel us. Simon Peter rejects the service of Jesus. Peter wanted to serve Jesus rather than be served. But Jesus was saying that Peter needed to be saved and served by Jesus. Our personal righteousness is offensive to God. To have part in Jesus, we must let Him serve us. We must reject our personal righteousness; accepting the righteousness given to us through Jesus. If we accept this, then we must be pushed to serve others. This is the mark of a Christian. One who follows Jesus must be marked by a life of service. Note the order. Jesus first serves us; then calls us to serve. Not the other way around. We can only serve after we've been served.

The Cross: where true glory is found

John 12:20-43 ESV

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.    “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father,   save me from   this hour’? But   for this purpose I have come to   this hour.  Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.  Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”  Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,   “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”  Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Rev. Charles Han

This is the last week of Jesus' life. John spends half of his book on this last week. It should tell us that he saw it was of great importance.

Glory is mentioned seven times in this passage. John wants to impress upon his audience the importance of glory. During this time, Jesus was at his height of popularity with the crowds. But still many Jews did not believe in Him. Even though there were many signs, they were like blind people. Among those who believe, there were even Jewish leaders. But they did not publicly identify with Jesus, for fear of losing their status, position, and income. John addresses this as a glory issue. We are glory seekers. But two glories are in conflict here. In the beginning of the book of John, he states that Jesus is God's glory. Glory is a person. But there is another type of glory, the glory given to people by God. These are the glories in conflict. We all seek glory, delight, pleasure, and approval from someone... But who? John says we should find it in Jesus... In the cross.

We find true glory when we embrace the crowds of Christ as the sole source of our significance.

When Jesus is asked by gentiles about seeing God, Jesus replied that his hour to be glorified was here. We would usually consider the hour of death by crucifixion the most unlikely act of glorification. Crucification was considered the most humiliating death. But this is where Jesus says that glory is found. This is the exact opposite of what the world expects. Gentiles are confused by it. Jews were stumbled by it. Muslims are offended by this. For the believer, the cross was where the most unfair exchange happened. Our shame was traded for the righteousness of Christ.

What do you boast in? This is our personal glory. Smarts, riches, success, good works. What makes you feel weak? Self hate, failures, and weaknesses. That is also our personal glory. All these things are crucified and buried. We should not listen to the world. We are rich in God and his wisdom.

We find true glory when we follow Christ on the self sacrificial path of the cross. He used an agricultural idea. A seed must die to bear fruit. A seed that is just preserved is useless. It must go into the ground and die. This is how Christians should live. The greatest sign of a believer, one who follows to the cross. Going to the cross and giving your life up to God. Jesus would've made a horrible megachurch pastor. He calls you to live by carrying a cross. Seeking after God's glory. This is finding glory in the eyes of God rather than man.

Simeon's Song of Peace

Luke 2:22-35 ESV

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,  “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;  for my eyes have seen your salvation   that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,   a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”  And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Rev. Charles Han

Jesus has been born and there are sacrifices that need to be made for this birth. They go to Jerusalem to offer these sacrifices. There is a man who has been waiting for the coming Messiah. He has been told by prophecy that he will see the Savior in his lifetime. He then blesses both Jesus and his parents.

The peace that Christ brings

Simeon says that now he has seen Jesus he can die in peace. We usually say this in a playful way. But this reveals something of our hearts. But Simeon is not being playful. This is more of a heavenly peace. What does this mean? He is ensured peace with God. He has been delivered from the fear of death. He is assured that when he dies and meets God, he will be live in heaven and find favor from God. Since we do not control when and how we die, there will be  plenty loose ends. But in Jesus all the necessary work has been done. There are no loose ends that needs to be done. This peace comes from eyes of faith. Simeon held baby Jesus and saw salvation.

How this peace is brought

When Simeon blesses the couple, he speaks of conflict. Rising and falling of people in Israel. A sword piercing Mary. He brings peace in the midst of conflict. What a paradox. He brings this peace by expanding the kingdom of God. We find peace when Jesus reigns in more and more of our lives. When Christ comes, there is opposition. Whether Jerusalem or our hearts, when Jesus comes in there will be conflict. When we become a Christian, there will be opposition and rebellion within our own hearts.

Are you like the Jews trying to find peace in your life by having God improve your circumstances? Or are you trying to submit more of your life to the Lord Jesus? Jesus doesn't come to change our circumstances. He comes to save us from our sins. It is a spiritual struggle. That is what constitutes a Christian life. A spiritual war within as well as an inward peace. That is what is necessary for heavenly peace.