[James 5:13-20]
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
{Rev. Dan Whang}
This is the wrap up for our James series.
Call for the Individual to Pray
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray."
This is not a command. It assumes that one will pray. Are you going through tough times because you are a Christian? because you are trying to live a life of faith? It is an exhortation for prayer. This is not necessarily a prayer for the tough situation to go away.
"Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise."
Cheerful doesn't mean a celebrating spirit. But rather having peace of mind, peace with God... as one who is content in the midst of severe trials. Are you able to find joy in times of trouble? This is the cheerfulness meant by the verse.
Call for the Community to Pray
"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him"
The sick should be prayed over. We should ask for the LORD to raise him up.
"if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven"
But there is also a spiritual connection. Sometimes, God uses sickness to reveal our sin. Not always, but we need to be mindful that God may be showing us our heart. This also needs to be prayed over.
Promise of Results ins Prayer
We are told to pray for each other when there is sickness, there is peace, or there is sin.
"the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."
"confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
The prayer of faith is not a prayer without doubt. It is a prayer rests on the person of Jesus and His power. I want us to picture the father of the demon-possessed child. "I believe; help my unbelief!" It is not our righteousness that brings power to our prayers. It is dependent upon Jesus' righteousness. He is the one who constantly intercedes on our behalf.
We must remember the root reason why we pray... to save. "whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."
May 29, 2011
May 15, 2011
Wealth: Beware of It, Be Wise With It
[James 5:1-6]
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
To those who don't want to hear another message about money or to those who think they don't need to hear it, you need this message. Be willing to be confronted with blind spots, hidden sins, pride, and our unwillingness to learn.
James is a book on faith. It talks about what real faith looks like. This text is saying that our faith is reflected in how we spend out money. James is very harsh to both Christians and non-Christians. There are non-Christians who were oppressing the poor and powerless. There were also Christians being oppressed. This passage speaks to both of them.
Three reasons the wealthy are condemned
A foolish trust in fleeting wealth
Earthly wealth is fleeting. There's no guarantee that we will keep it. It is foolish to hoard earthly treasure knowing that God is coming. American culture tells us otherwise. It tells us MONEY is what you need. You need money to weather all the ups and downs. It will give you security. So store it up. That is the message our culture tells us. At face value, this doesn't sound that bad. But behind it is an attitude, a posture of idolatry. We devote our lives to the master called money. Both the wealthy and the poor can fall into this trap. But money cannot save us from cancer, from car accidents, from anxiety, or our marriages. We were made to trust in God, not in money.
Self-indulgence Excess
James says that they only use their money for their own comfort and pleasure. They spend excessively on their selfish desires. This is the opposite of hoarding wealth. These people fulfill their desires regardless of how much it costs. They deny themselves nothing. Shopping is normal. But the problem is really what lies in the heart... we find more pleasure and fulfillment in purchasing than in God. Idolatry again. At some point, luxury no longer matters.
Oppressing the poor
These wealthy landowners were becoming rich off the backs of the poor workers. The landowners were taking advantage of them out of greed. The poor had no power, no way to fight back. Do not in the name of greed, oppress the poor, powerless, & needy.
Generous Justice by Tim Keller
In order to provide justice, we should provide rights to the powerless. Anything that takes away rights from these, is injustice. It also means not exploiting the poor. If we do not actively share our resources with the poor, it implies that we are robbing them. This is not supposed to be a guilt-trip. For the Christian, our motivation is the gospel. Jesus came to us, the helpless. He became poor so that we could become rich. He gives us what we cannot get for ourselves... a way to heaven and eternal life. We are earning to give and share. That is the heart of Christ.
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
To those who don't want to hear another message about money or to those who think they don't need to hear it, you need this message. Be willing to be confronted with blind spots, hidden sins, pride, and our unwillingness to learn.
James is a book on faith. It talks about what real faith looks like. This text is saying that our faith is reflected in how we spend out money. James is very harsh to both Christians and non-Christians. There are non-Christians who were oppressing the poor and powerless. There were also Christians being oppressed. This passage speaks to both of them.
Three reasons the wealthy are condemned
A foolish trust in fleeting wealth
Earthly wealth is fleeting. There's no guarantee that we will keep it. It is foolish to hoard earthly treasure knowing that God is coming. American culture tells us otherwise. It tells us MONEY is what you need. You need money to weather all the ups and downs. It will give you security. So store it up. That is the message our culture tells us. At face value, this doesn't sound that bad. But behind it is an attitude, a posture of idolatry. We devote our lives to the master called money. Both the wealthy and the poor can fall into this trap. But money cannot save us from cancer, from car accidents, from anxiety, or our marriages. We were made to trust in God, not in money.
Self-indulgence Excess
James says that they only use their money for their own comfort and pleasure. They spend excessively on their selfish desires. This is the opposite of hoarding wealth. These people fulfill their desires regardless of how much it costs. They deny themselves nothing. Shopping is normal. But the problem is really what lies in the heart... we find more pleasure and fulfillment in purchasing than in God. Idolatry again. At some point, luxury no longer matters.
Oppressing the poor
These wealthy landowners were becoming rich off the backs of the poor workers. The landowners were taking advantage of them out of greed. The poor had no power, no way to fight back. Do not in the name of greed, oppress the poor, powerless, & needy.
Generous Justice by Tim Keller
In order to provide justice, we should provide rights to the powerless. Anything that takes away rights from these, is injustice. It also means not exploiting the poor. If we do not actively share our resources with the poor, it implies that we are robbing them. This is not supposed to be a guilt-trip. For the Christian, our motivation is the gospel. Jesus came to us, the helpless. He became poor so that we could become rich. He gives us what we cannot get for ourselves... a way to heaven and eternal life. We are earning to give and share. That is the heart of Christ.
May 8, 2011
"A precious Wife, A Precious Life"
Proverbs 31:10-31
This us not just for those who are dating, nor is it solely for women to imitate. We should look at this in context of the book of Proverbs. There are two women in the book: Wisdom & Folly. This book gives all these wise sayings. And the ending of the book is a picture of what wisdom looks like. This noble wife is an example to everyone on how to live a wise life. A wise life is full of joy and blessing.
She fears the Lord.
This is what makes her life precious. This is where joy, a blessed life, and a blessing life comes from. Fearing God means recognizing who He is and that life is for God. God is the life-giver. The one who is most important is God, not us. We are not to include God in our plans; rather we should include ourselves in God's plans.
She's diligent in the details.
This women is put as an example of God's wisdom. Wisdom is about knowing how to handle the details of our mundane life. The passage covers everyday things. The original hebrew is an acrostic poem. And it spells out the entire hebrew alphabet. What does this mean? It means that this woman has it all covered. Everything. That not only would her children and husband would praise her...but God would praise her. Consider how it contrasts with the celebrity stars we think are so great. The christian may idolize the great preacher, theologian, our the martyr... But God sets this rather mundane example as praise-worthy. God is pleased with this as well. Don't despise the mundane details of your life.
She spends herself for others
She does good to her husband. She helps the needy. This is counter-intuitive. We are not called to chase our own dreams, we are called to lose it for Christ's sake. A life lived serving others is a life of worth.
This us not just for those who are dating, nor is it solely for women to imitate. We should look at this in context of the book of Proverbs. There are two women in the book: Wisdom & Folly. This book gives all these wise sayings. And the ending of the book is a picture of what wisdom looks like. This noble wife is an example to everyone on how to live a wise life. A wise life is full of joy and blessing.
She fears the Lord.
This is what makes her life precious. This is where joy, a blessed life, and a blessing life comes from. Fearing God means recognizing who He is and that life is for God. God is the life-giver. The one who is most important is God, not us. We are not to include God in our plans; rather we should include ourselves in God's plans.
She's diligent in the details.
This women is put as an example of God's wisdom. Wisdom is about knowing how to handle the details of our mundane life. The passage covers everyday things. The original hebrew is an acrostic poem. And it spells out the entire hebrew alphabet. What does this mean? It means that this woman has it all covered. Everything. That not only would her children and husband would praise her...but God would praise her. Consider how it contrasts with the celebrity stars we think are so great. The christian may idolize the great preacher, theologian, our the martyr... But God sets this rather mundane example as praise-worthy. God is pleased with this as well. Don't despise the mundane details of your life.
She spends herself for others
She does good to her husband. She helps the needy. This is counter-intuitive. We are not called to chase our own dreams, we are called to lose it for Christ's sake. A life lived serving others is a life of worth.
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May 1, 2011
If the Lord Wills
[James 4:13-16]
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204:13-16&version=ESV
{Rev Charles Han}
How we view the future tells us about ourselves. For those of us who have made all these plans, those with a five year plan and are do sure of themselves. Also to those who think of the future and are anxious. This passage is for you.
This passage is not telling us that making a living is wrong; it is not saying that making plans is wrong. James is saying that we are presumptuous in thinking that we are in control of our lives. He calls it evil. What is so wrong with it? We are prideful about our own ability to chart our own lives. This is practical atheism. Planning lives with no input from God. Our lives are unpredictable, how foolish it us to presume we can plan it out all for ourselves. James calls our lives mist.
How is it that mist can control life? Presumptuous. Proverbs 16:9 "Lord Willing" is not to be a superficial phrase; it is to be a posture of the heart.
On the other side is anxiety and worry. For those who are insecure, we feel like we have too figure it all out. This too is living as if God is not in our lives. Still prideful living.
So digging further than pride, presumption, and anxiety, we can find the deeper sin. It is self-centered, self-absorbed ambition.
We want to add significance, meaning, satisfaction, and achievement. Self-centered. This is the heart of the midlife crises.
For those of us who hear this message and go out to continue making plans in an atheistic manner, God will teach you personally. God does not exist for us. We exist for His glory. God is significant and we are mist.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 The gospel saves us from the need to succeed. From the need to be significant.
To live for Christ. Humble yourself and find real life in Christ.
Additional resources
"Just do something" - Kevin DeYoung
"Unmessianic sense of non-destiny" (article)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204:13-16&version=ESV
{Rev Charles Han}
How we view the future tells us about ourselves. For those of us who have made all these plans, those with a five year plan and are do sure of themselves. Also to those who think of the future and are anxious. This passage is for you.
This passage is not telling us that making a living is wrong; it is not saying that making plans is wrong. James is saying that we are presumptuous in thinking that we are in control of our lives. He calls it evil. What is so wrong with it? We are prideful about our own ability to chart our own lives. This is practical atheism. Planning lives with no input from God. Our lives are unpredictable, how foolish it us to presume we can plan it out all for ourselves. James calls our lives mist.
How is it that mist can control life? Presumptuous. Proverbs 16:9 "Lord Willing" is not to be a superficial phrase; it is to be a posture of the heart.
On the other side is anxiety and worry. For those who are insecure, we feel like we have too figure it all out. This too is living as if God is not in our lives. Still prideful living.
So digging further than pride, presumption, and anxiety, we can find the deeper sin. It is self-centered, self-absorbed ambition.
We want to add significance, meaning, satisfaction, and achievement. Self-centered. This is the heart of the midlife crises.
For those of us who hear this message and go out to continue making plans in an atheistic manner, God will teach you personally. God does not exist for us. We exist for His glory. God is significant and we are mist.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 The gospel saves us from the need to succeed. From the need to be significant.
To live for Christ. Humble yourself and find real life in Christ.
Additional resources
"Just do something" - Kevin DeYoung
"Unmessianic sense of non-destiny" (article)
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Apr 22, 2011
Hope for the failures
John 21:14-19
There are people who've become paralyzed by failure. For those of us who struggle with this, there is hope.
In this passage, this hope is shown. Peter is one of the closest disciples of Jesus. He is the inner circle. And Peter fails. But look at how Jesus treats Peter...
Jesus calls us to face our failure
Jesus reminds Peter of his failure. Not just once, but three times. In front of a fire, just like where Peter failed Jesus. He makes Peter face it and own it. Peter answers humbly and tentatively. Jesus wanted to teach Peter something. Jesus asked the question in order to teach Peter something. Failure comes because we don't love Jesus. It comes because we depend on our own strength. We need to love and trust Him.
We come to Jesus because He died for our failures.
Jesus knew that Peter was going to fail. Jesus predicted as much. He knew what was going to happen. But Jesus paid for those failures. That is why we are drawn to Christ. His death paid for it all.
Jesus redeems and restores our failures
Grace is not the way the world works. Ex-cons don't really get a second chance. But look at how Jesus treats Peter after his failure. Peter is called again to shepherd and pastor the church. After the monumental failure. God restores him back to a fisher of men. The failure does not break Peter, but rather it makes him more useful for God. God takes us through failures and can make us more useful for God's purposes.
Our response
The proper response to a God who loves, forgives, restores, redeems, and loves...is to lay down our lives and submit to Him. Those who are forgiven much... Love much.
There are people who've become paralyzed by failure. For those of us who struggle with this, there is hope.
In this passage, this hope is shown. Peter is one of the closest disciples of Jesus. He is the inner circle. And Peter fails. But look at how Jesus treats Peter...
Jesus calls us to face our failure
Jesus reminds Peter of his failure. Not just once, but three times. In front of a fire, just like where Peter failed Jesus. He makes Peter face it and own it. Peter answers humbly and tentatively. Jesus wanted to teach Peter something. Jesus asked the question in order to teach Peter something. Failure comes because we don't love Jesus. It comes because we depend on our own strength. We need to love and trust Him.
We come to Jesus because He died for our failures.
Jesus knew that Peter was going to fail. Jesus predicted as much. He knew what was going to happen. But Jesus paid for those failures. That is why we are drawn to Christ. His death paid for it all.
Jesus redeems and restores our failures
Grace is not the way the world works. Ex-cons don't really get a second chance. But look at how Jesus treats Peter after his failure. Peter is called again to shepherd and pastor the church. After the monumental failure. God restores him back to a fisher of men. The failure does not break Peter, but rather it makes him more useful for God. God takes us through failures and can make us more useful for God's purposes.
Our response
The proper response to a God who loves, forgives, restores, redeems, and loves...is to lay down our lives and submit to Him. Those who are forgiven much... Love much.
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Apr 17, 2011
The Gospel: Hope for the Crushed
[John 11:1-44]
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
A passage from "Too Good to be True" by Michael Horton...
"At the age of seventy-eight, James Horton had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that required immediate surgery. At first, a shunt released some of the fluid on his brain, but a further surgery was necessary to excise the rapidly growing lump before it interrupted vital brain functions. This surgery failed, and before long we realized that my father would not recover.
He lived for nearly a year, however, almost paralyzed from head to toe. Since even his face had lost muscular control, his eyelids drooped, exposing their red interior. It was as if his whole face had melted like wax, and we could hardly recognize him-except for the eyes, which were always filled with emotion, usually unspeakable pain. But occasionally, and more frequently toward the end, they evidenced hope and a confidence that came from another place.
We prayed for weeks that the Lord would take him home. We would place our son, just a few months old, in his namesake's listless arms and watch my dad's heaving chest signal his delight. Even then, it was always a bittersweet visit for my father, and for us.
The Gibraltar of the family, my mother, fussed over his bedside, nervously fluffing his pillows at fifteen-minute intervals, ensuring that the intravenous fluids were properly calculated, and organizing edifying visits from friends and children from church. In between, she read quietly in her chair while holding Dad's hand. For years, I had witnessed the remarkable care that these two people provided in our home, first to their own parents and then to fifteen elderly folks in our residential care home as I was growing up. But now she was caring for her best friend, and there was almost nothing she could do for him but fluff his pillows-and try to hide her own daily grief. Although my mom always looked ten years younger than her actual age, these months acted like time-lapse photography, working my father's pain into her own face and wearing her body down.
Then, just two months before my father's death, Mom suffered a massive stroke while I was driving her from her sister's funeral, where she had delivered a moving eulogy. This strong and compassionate woman who had given her life to disadvantaged city kids and abandoned seniors was now herself dependent on others.
I recalled a couple of times in the past when my parents had mentioned their worst fears about old age. For my dad, a debilitating disease would be the most horrible way of death, he said; for my mom, it was being a burden-and from their caregiving experience they knew both well. In my darker moments, I wondered why God would allow them to experience their worst scenarios in the last act of their play, especially when they had done so much for so many others. They had moved close to Lisa and me in our first year of marriage to be of help when they learned of our first pregnancy. Always running to the side of those who needed a strong arm, my mom was now partially paralyzed and disabled, while my dad was succumbing to an agonizing death.
I told God that it all seemed too calculated, that he seemed all too real, too involved, too present in our lives, especially my parents', as if he had cruelly dished out the very end that each most feared. Shouldn't people whose lives were all about giving to others, especially to the elderly, have a break when it comes to how they leave this life? It seemed to challenge the whole "reap what you sow" principle: does this apply only when people deserve bad and not when they deserve good?
My wife, recovering from several especially difficult miscarriages, found that her visits to my dad's bedside only aggravated her questions about God's goodness. It was strange to see her go through this. After all, Lisa was a Bible study teacher who devoured pretty deep theology books. Now it was all being put to the test of real life.
I had experienced death up close in our home growing up, not only with my grandparents but also with the adopted "grandparents" in our home for the elderly. Still, Lisa and I both struggled with the usual doubts. People suffer and even die from natural causes every day, we tried to tell ourselves. Furthermore, old people eventually die. We all die. This doesn't mitigate the tragedy, but its inevitability and universality at least prepare us for the fact.
But why do some people suffer so much in their death? Why is it often so slow and painful? Is death itself not horrible enough that we also have to fear dying-a wasting and withering that threatens our cherished expectations of a good and orderly providence? Just to look at my father over the course of those ghastly months, those long and torturous weeks, was to face the most serious, existential, concrete challenges to our deeply held Christian convictions."
Hope is found in Revelation, NOT Human Reason
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus loved Jesus and Jesus loved them. It is plainly spoken in the passage. When Jesus hears that Lazarus is deathly ill, Jesus stays two days where He is. He does not go to them. By the time Jesus shows up, Lazarus has been dead four days. What can those who know Him think? The one who can heal blindness and can work miracles... where is He? And how can He be good when He is silent in the darkest hour of need. Put yourself into Mary & Martha's shoes. Our prayers appear to fall on deaf ears.
What can human reason lead to?
1) We look at death and we think... there is no God. How can God let this be? That means He does not exist. There is only us and the natural way of things. Everything dies.
2) We think there's a God and we think God is powerless against death and destruction.
3) Or we think there's a God who is powerful, but He doesn't care. He isn't loving. God chose to let things happen to us. He cannot be good!
In the passage, Mary & Martha are not quite that far. But look at what they said. Martha said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But it is a weak faith... because when Jesus asked them to open the tomb later, Martha said, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."
There's a very puzzling verse in the passage: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." Jesus loved them, therefore He stayed where He was. He stayed where He was BECAUSE He loved them. This is not human logic. Anyone who hears that a dear family member is deathly ill would run to them, right away. But someone who reads the story would also realize that Jesus was four days away. Lazarus would still have been dead by the time Jesus arrived. But there was a tradition that said people who died might be resuscitated within four days. Jesus added some days to his trip back to this family so that Lazarus would be dead for four days by the time He came back. Beyond resuscitation. And THEN Jesus would raise him. And those who saw it would be dumbstruck. Someone who is totally dead, beyond the hope of any strange circumstances in those days. Jesus raised a person who was by any expectation dead and rotting.
For Mary & Martha, it is clear why Jesus waited instead of hurrying to their side. They had the privilege of knowing. But sometimes, we will not understand what happened. There will not be an explanation of horrible things. Mike Horton says in his book, "God has revealed everything we need to know but not everything we might like to know" Jesus died on the cross for us. It is God's love displayed for us to see.
Hope is knowing Jesus will remove the 'crushing-ness' of life
One of the things about life is that it doesn't turn out how we hope and expect. It's painfully obvious that things don't happen the way we think it should turn out. The man who cuts corners and is dishonest... makes money. But the Christian man can barely make ends meet. Sometimes we suffer because we follow Christ. People will hate us because we follow Him. Other times, we will suffer because of our own stupid decisions. But there's a third kind... the world is broken and we share in that. This world is not as it should be. Christians are not shielded from the brokenness of this world. But we live in the hope that life will not always be that way. We do not mean hope as in wishful thinking. For the christian, hope means we know for sure that it will happen. Jesus was troubled... He was angry. Jesus wept... He was saddened. Jesus already knows Lazarus will be raised. Why? Most commentators think that Jesus is angry and saddened by the brokenness of creation. The original goodness of creation is scarred and twisted. When Jesus raised Lazarus, it was a miracle. And when miracles show up in the bible, it is not for us to focus on the miracle, but rather the miracle is to teach us something. Lazarus' resurrection is telling us that Jesus wants to bring restoration to everything.
Hope is experienced by keeping Jesus central
When Jesus describes the sickness, death, and resurrection of Lazarus: "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." When glory is used here, it isn't glory given to God. Rather it is that God's glory will be revealed. When Lazarus came back, it was not just for the family and those close to the family... It was to show that Jesus IS the resurrection. People back then believed in resurrection. Everyone was talking about raising people from the dead. But Jesus did this miracle to show that HE is life. No matter what happens, Jesus is our life. In the darkest and most painful times of our lives, we still have hope in Him.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." After saying these things, he said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
A passage from "Too Good to be True" by Michael Horton...
"At the age of seventy-eight, James Horton had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that required immediate surgery. At first, a shunt released some of the fluid on his brain, but a further surgery was necessary to excise the rapidly growing lump before it interrupted vital brain functions. This surgery failed, and before long we realized that my father would not recover.
He lived for nearly a year, however, almost paralyzed from head to toe. Since even his face had lost muscular control, his eyelids drooped, exposing their red interior. It was as if his whole face had melted like wax, and we could hardly recognize him-except for the eyes, which were always filled with emotion, usually unspeakable pain. But occasionally, and more frequently toward the end, they evidenced hope and a confidence that came from another place.
We prayed for weeks that the Lord would take him home. We would place our son, just a few months old, in his namesake's listless arms and watch my dad's heaving chest signal his delight. Even then, it was always a bittersweet visit for my father, and for us.
The Gibraltar of the family, my mother, fussed over his bedside, nervously fluffing his pillows at fifteen-minute intervals, ensuring that the intravenous fluids were properly calculated, and organizing edifying visits from friends and children from church. In between, she read quietly in her chair while holding Dad's hand. For years, I had witnessed the remarkable care that these two people provided in our home, first to their own parents and then to fifteen elderly folks in our residential care home as I was growing up. But now she was caring for her best friend, and there was almost nothing she could do for him but fluff his pillows-and try to hide her own daily grief. Although my mom always looked ten years younger than her actual age, these months acted like time-lapse photography, working my father's pain into her own face and wearing her body down.
Then, just two months before my father's death, Mom suffered a massive stroke while I was driving her from her sister's funeral, where she had delivered a moving eulogy. This strong and compassionate woman who had given her life to disadvantaged city kids and abandoned seniors was now herself dependent on others.
I recalled a couple of times in the past when my parents had mentioned their worst fears about old age. For my dad, a debilitating disease would be the most horrible way of death, he said; for my mom, it was being a burden-and from their caregiving experience they knew both well. In my darker moments, I wondered why God would allow them to experience their worst scenarios in the last act of their play, especially when they had done so much for so many others. They had moved close to Lisa and me in our first year of marriage to be of help when they learned of our first pregnancy. Always running to the side of those who needed a strong arm, my mom was now partially paralyzed and disabled, while my dad was succumbing to an agonizing death.
I told God that it all seemed too calculated, that he seemed all too real, too involved, too present in our lives, especially my parents', as if he had cruelly dished out the very end that each most feared. Shouldn't people whose lives were all about giving to others, especially to the elderly, have a break when it comes to how they leave this life? It seemed to challenge the whole "reap what you sow" principle: does this apply only when people deserve bad and not when they deserve good?
My wife, recovering from several especially difficult miscarriages, found that her visits to my dad's bedside only aggravated her questions about God's goodness. It was strange to see her go through this. After all, Lisa was a Bible study teacher who devoured pretty deep theology books. Now it was all being put to the test of real life.
I had experienced death up close in our home growing up, not only with my grandparents but also with the adopted "grandparents" in our home for the elderly. Still, Lisa and I both struggled with the usual doubts. People suffer and even die from natural causes every day, we tried to tell ourselves. Furthermore, old people eventually die. We all die. This doesn't mitigate the tragedy, but its inevitability and universality at least prepare us for the fact.
But why do some people suffer so much in their death? Why is it often so slow and painful? Is death itself not horrible enough that we also have to fear dying-a wasting and withering that threatens our cherished expectations of a good and orderly providence? Just to look at my father over the course of those ghastly months, those long and torturous weeks, was to face the most serious, existential, concrete challenges to our deeply held Christian convictions."
Hope is found in Revelation, NOT Human Reason
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus loved Jesus and Jesus loved them. It is plainly spoken in the passage. When Jesus hears that Lazarus is deathly ill, Jesus stays two days where He is. He does not go to them. By the time Jesus shows up, Lazarus has been dead four days. What can those who know Him think? The one who can heal blindness and can work miracles... where is He? And how can He be good when He is silent in the darkest hour of need. Put yourself into Mary & Martha's shoes. Our prayers appear to fall on deaf ears.
What can human reason lead to?
1) We look at death and we think... there is no God. How can God let this be? That means He does not exist. There is only us and the natural way of things. Everything dies.
2) We think there's a God and we think God is powerless against death and destruction.
3) Or we think there's a God who is powerful, but He doesn't care. He isn't loving. God chose to let things happen to us. He cannot be good!
In the passage, Mary & Martha are not quite that far. But look at what they said. Martha said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But it is a weak faith... because when Jesus asked them to open the tomb later, Martha said, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."
There's a very puzzling verse in the passage: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." Jesus loved them, therefore He stayed where He was. He stayed where He was BECAUSE He loved them. This is not human logic. Anyone who hears that a dear family member is deathly ill would run to them, right away. But someone who reads the story would also realize that Jesus was four days away. Lazarus would still have been dead by the time Jesus arrived. But there was a tradition that said people who died might be resuscitated within four days. Jesus added some days to his trip back to this family so that Lazarus would be dead for four days by the time He came back. Beyond resuscitation. And THEN Jesus would raise him. And those who saw it would be dumbstruck. Someone who is totally dead, beyond the hope of any strange circumstances in those days. Jesus raised a person who was by any expectation dead and rotting.
For Mary & Martha, it is clear why Jesus waited instead of hurrying to their side. They had the privilege of knowing. But sometimes, we will not understand what happened. There will not be an explanation of horrible things. Mike Horton says in his book, "God has revealed everything we need to know but not everything we might like to know" Jesus died on the cross for us. It is God's love displayed for us to see.
Hope is knowing Jesus will remove the 'crushing-ness' of life
One of the things about life is that it doesn't turn out how we hope and expect. It's painfully obvious that things don't happen the way we think it should turn out. The man who cuts corners and is dishonest... makes money. But the Christian man can barely make ends meet. Sometimes we suffer because we follow Christ. People will hate us because we follow Him. Other times, we will suffer because of our own stupid decisions. But there's a third kind... the world is broken and we share in that. This world is not as it should be. Christians are not shielded from the brokenness of this world. But we live in the hope that life will not always be that way. We do not mean hope as in wishful thinking. For the christian, hope means we know for sure that it will happen. Jesus was troubled... He was angry. Jesus wept... He was saddened. Jesus already knows Lazarus will be raised. Why? Most commentators think that Jesus is angry and saddened by the brokenness of creation. The original goodness of creation is scarred and twisted. When Jesus raised Lazarus, it was a miracle. And when miracles show up in the bible, it is not for us to focus on the miracle, but rather the miracle is to teach us something. Lazarus' resurrection is telling us that Jesus wants to bring restoration to everything.
Hope is experienced by keeping Jesus central
When Jesus describes the sickness, death, and resurrection of Lazarus: "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." When glory is used here, it isn't glory given to God. Rather it is that God's glory will be revealed. When Lazarus came back, it was not just for the family and those close to the family... It was to show that Jesus IS the resurrection. People back then believed in resurrection. Everyone was talking about raising people from the dead. But Jesus did this miracle to show that HE is life. No matter what happens, Jesus is our life. In the darkest and most painful times of our lives, we still have hope in Him.
Apr 10, 2011
The Gospel: Hope for the Jaded
[1 Corinthians 1:4-9]
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
Idealism
Many people live by idealism. They assume that things will work out and everything will be ok in the end. There is even a Christian version of this. Many western Christians have this. It is characterized by trite theology. They dismiss struggle, suffering, and pain.
Cynicism
Others live in "reality." They have been through tough times and seen how things don't work out. They have hearts full of bitterness. They don't believe in happy endings. They are critical of culture, politics, and of anything good.
The Gospel offers us a different way: Hopeful realism
On one hand, the gospel is real about suffering, sin, darkness, and evil. But on the other hand, we can still hope things can and will change. Because we have a promise... based on the stone rolled away from the tomb.
To the Jaded: Perhaps at some time, we loved the church. Then something changed. A church... maybe our church disappointed us. This church hurt us. So we've disengaged. We are here, but it's because our friends are here. We find the church hurtful... and maybe even worthless.
The Gospel does not underestimate the sinfulness of Christians... and neither should we.
Note the greeting Paul gives to the church in Corinth. We usually breeze over it, but we need to re-examine what is going on. This church was planted by Paul. But since then the church had broken into factions, there was sexual immorality of a sort that even pagans did not engage in, the church was being led astray from the gospel, they were desecrating the communion and they even were opposing Paul, the one who originally started that church.
The church is not made of the most moral and upstanding people. Paul calls us foolish and weak. But he also says we are used to make fools of the wise & strong. This is who the church is made of. Consider King David, who walked so closely with God... then turned around to murder and steal someone's wife. If we understand the Gospel, we should not be surprised by the sin still in our hearts. That someone in our small group is sleeping around. But even after seeing all this, Paul greets them: "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus" Even in this ugly mess, Paul was thankful. Why? Because even through all these things were going wrong and messy, Paul was glad because God was working in them through His grace. Paul trusted that God was at work.
This is the view we should have of those who are in the church. We know of God's promise to make us glorious and holy. Because of this, we can hope that we can and will change.
The church is like a marriage. Paul loved the church at Corinth with their faults and failings. He loved them in their sin and their faults. He loved them for who they were. Like in marriage, we are called to love our spouses. We do not say: "you will have to change before I love you." This is the heart of marriage and the heart of Christ. Jesus loved us while we were still sinners and his enemies. That is love. This is what we are called to do for the church. We cannot love Jesus and hate the church. That would be like loving me (Dwight) and hating Paula (my wife). There's something wrong with that. We are supposed to see the faults, the failing of the church... and we are still to love them in that. We are not supposed to wait for change and hold the church at arm's length waiting for change.
"“The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth.
Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial." (Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Keep this in mind, when you meet the church. There are three stages of marriage.
1) Honeymoon: I love it. (We think they're the bomb.)
2) Disenchantment: I've been duped! (Reality hits: people become jaded & cynical.)
3) Maturity: I see you clearly and I will love you. (It's real and I still love you.)
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
{Rev. Dwight Yoo}
Idealism
Many people live by idealism. They assume that things will work out and everything will be ok in the end. There is even a Christian version of this. Many western Christians have this. It is characterized by trite theology. They dismiss struggle, suffering, and pain.
Cynicism
Others live in "reality." They have been through tough times and seen how things don't work out. They have hearts full of bitterness. They don't believe in happy endings. They are critical of culture, politics, and of anything good.
The Gospel offers us a different way: Hopeful realism
On one hand, the gospel is real about suffering, sin, darkness, and evil. But on the other hand, we can still hope things can and will change. Because we have a promise... based on the stone rolled away from the tomb.
To the Jaded: Perhaps at some time, we loved the church. Then something changed. A church... maybe our church disappointed us. This church hurt us. So we've disengaged. We are here, but it's because our friends are here. We find the church hurtful... and maybe even worthless.
The Gospel does not underestimate the sinfulness of Christians... and neither should we.
Note the greeting Paul gives to the church in Corinth. We usually breeze over it, but we need to re-examine what is going on. This church was planted by Paul. But since then the church had broken into factions, there was sexual immorality of a sort that even pagans did not engage in, the church was being led astray from the gospel, they were desecrating the communion and they even were opposing Paul, the one who originally started that church.
The church is not made of the most moral and upstanding people. Paul calls us foolish and weak. But he also says we are used to make fools of the wise & strong. This is who the church is made of. Consider King David, who walked so closely with God... then turned around to murder and steal someone's wife. If we understand the Gospel, we should not be surprised by the sin still in our hearts. That someone in our small group is sleeping around. But even after seeing all this, Paul greets them: "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus" Even in this ugly mess, Paul was thankful. Why? Because even through all these things were going wrong and messy, Paul was glad because God was working in them through His grace. Paul trusted that God was at work.
This is the view we should have of those who are in the church. We know of God's promise to make us glorious and holy. Because of this, we can hope that we can and will change.
The church is like a marriage. Paul loved the church at Corinth with their faults and failings. He loved them in their sin and their faults. He loved them for who they were. Like in marriage, we are called to love our spouses. We do not say: "you will have to change before I love you." This is the heart of marriage and the heart of Christ. Jesus loved us while we were still sinners and his enemies. That is love. This is what we are called to do for the church. We cannot love Jesus and hate the church. That would be like loving me (Dwight) and hating Paula (my wife). There's something wrong with that. We are supposed to see the faults, the failing of the church... and we are still to love them in that. We are not supposed to wait for change and hold the church at arm's length waiting for change.
"“The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth.
Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial." (Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Keep this in mind, when you meet the church. There are three stages of marriage.
1) Honeymoon: I love it. (We think they're the bomb.)
2) Disenchantment: I've been duped! (Reality hits: people become jaded & cynical.)
3) Maturity: I see you clearly and I will love you. (It's real and I still love you.)
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