Passing through the Fire (Luke 4:1-13)

[Note: This is my last sermon in Korea, for a long while.]

Luke 4:1-13

 1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”

8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,‘You must worship the Lord your God    and serve only him.’”

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say,‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.  11 And they will hold you up with their hands    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

Today is the first Sunday in Lent.  Lent is a season of repentance and fasting.  It is kind of like spiritual spring cleaning.  This is the time for us to take a fresh look at how we are living and ask God where we need to change.  During Lent, we fast to help us refocus our lives on God instead of on all of the other stuff in this world that begs for our attention.

In the past few decades, Christians have developed this tradition of giving up all kinds of different stuff.  Some people give up a food: meat, coffee, sweets, chocolate, spices, soda, etc.  Other people give up a normally innocent activity: watching TV, Facebook, internet, shopping, movies, elevators.  Some try to stop a negative behavior: complaining, gossip, using the snooze button on the alarm, not listening when someone is talking.  Some people try to add something instead of giving something up: waking up early, 15 minutes of prayer every day, writing a letter every day, giving compliments, or picking up trash you see on the street.  A few people try to get funny.  One year, Scott Norris said he was giving up fasting for Lent.  I read a story this week about an old lady who apologized for being a little shaky, “I’m giving up beer for Lent, but the whiskey is really killing me.”  

But for pretty much all of these fasts, even the funny ones, the people choose for themselves what to give up.  As I’ve been thinking about this sermon today and its timing, it struck me that there is another kind of fast going on here - one you didn’t choose.  It’s kind of like KNU International English Church is giving up having a full-time permanent pastor for Lent.  Yes, you’ll have Bill Patch, and he’s great, and he’ll do a good job.  And yes, you have a great team of assistant pastors, but they none are full-time, and none are the lead pastor.  Yes, you’ll hire a new lead pastor - maybe not by Easter, but eventually.  

In the meantime, it seems to me that the Holy Spirit has led KNU International English Church into a time of testing.  The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and people have debated why ever since.  It seems that Jesus needed to learn some lessons.  Jesus needed to settle some fundamental issues before he got started in his ministry.  The wilderness was his time of trial and testing between two important stages in his life.  In a similar way, this interim period between pastors is a time of testing for our church between two important stages in our church life.  

Lent Trash Walk

What: Every day during Lent, take a walk around your neighborhood and pick up trash as you go.

How: The basics are pretty obvious, but here are a few tips.

• Bring a plastic grocery bag.  (Paper can rip too easily.)
• If your neighborhood has a lot of trash like mine, it can be overwhelming.  Don’t try to pick up every single piece of trash.  Just pick one up every so often and enjoy the walk.
• Don’t worry if you can’t see a difference from day to day.  People will toss out new trash.  But probably by the end of Lent, there will be less trash around than when you started.
• Try not to stress out about the details.  Just enjoy being outside and moving.
• As much as possible, try not to let people see you picking up trash.  Go at a less busy time.  If someone is walking toward you, just pass up that piece and go on to the next one.  This is a way to make sure we’re not doing this to look good.
• Walk the same path every day - unless your neighborhood is mostly trash-free. 
• Make it spiritual.  Try gentle bits of prayer as you go: “God clean up the trash in my heart ...  God clean us spiritually ... Give us a greater sense of responsibility for our world ...  God, where is there emotional trash in me?  ...  God, thank you for these beautiful trees ...”
• Wash your hands when you’re done.

Why: Walking and picking up trash may not seem very spiritual or Christian, but there are actually lots of good benefits.

• Our neighborhoods get a little cleaner and more beautiful.
• Trash goes into the trash or recycle bins instead of polluting our ground and water.
• Exposure to sun and nature is a natural mood booster.
• Quiet time is always good for the soul.
• Exercise is good for the body, mind, and soul.  John Wesley said, “Most people’s prayer lives would be improved by a 20 minute walk every day.”

The Lint of our Lives

     This Season of Lent has me thinking about lint.  As in that cottony stuff you find when you stick your finger in your belly button.  As in the contents of those little dust-bunnies that blow around wooden and tiled floors.  As in the stuff between your toes after you take off your socks.
    What is all of that stuff?  Have you ever noticed that your belly button lint is the same color as whatever T-shirt you were wearing?  Maybe not, but I notice stuff like that.
    Lint is essentially tiny bits of our clothes that wears off and leaves behind a trace of its existence.  Our belly buttons and clothes simply collect those tiny nano-bits into a mass we can see. 
    Life is like that.  We leave tiny bits of ourselves everywhere we go.  We leave bits of our presence in our wake everywhere we walk.  A smile.  A little love.  A little hope. 
    But sometimes our life-lint is not so good.  A put down.  Gossip.  Greed.  Bitterness.  A shove.  A feeling of superiority and its corresponding impression of inferiority. 
    We can’t usually see our life-lint, but it’s there.  And every now and then, it gets collected in someone’s belly button, and we can see it clearly.
    Lent is about lint.  Lent is about taking time to be aware of the lint we are leaving behind - both good and bad.   “Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).  May God reform us this Lenten season so that our life-lint and life-fragrance may be more like Christ.

I Am Who I Am (Exodus 3)

This sermon is by our Worship Pastor SuJin Shin.

As we’ve heard from Josh last week, Moses could be saved from death thanks to Shiphrah and Puah who were so weak but resisted the system, the powerful king.

Moses was a special baby, so his mom kept him hidden for three months. But his mom eventually couldn’t hide him anymore, so she got a basket and put her baby in the basket. Then, she  laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. He was found there by Pharaoh’s daughter. At that time, the baby’s sister was following him and approached the princess when the princess found him.
And she suggests that the princess finds a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby and the princess said ‘Yes’ because she found that he’s Hebrew. So the baby’s sister took her mom to the princess and the princess asked the mom to feed the baby for pay. The baby’s mom took him back home, and fed him. Wow!!! What a great story it is!! Isn’t it? This is an amazing drama. And later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. And she named him ‘Moses’ which means “I lifted him out of the water.”

Ash Wednesday Liturgy 2012

Here is our 2012 Ash Wednesday liturgy - with the homily by Logan Kruck.

Intro: Music only of the first verse of the first song.

Welcome
Opening Prayer:   Let us pray.
    Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and repentant hearts, that we, fully sorry for our sins and acknowledging our brokenness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full cleansing and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Song: “Give Thanks"

Explanation of Lent and Ash Wednesday:
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. It is a somber day of reflection on what needs to change in our lives if we are to be fully Christians. It was not always the way we know it today. Ashes marked on the forehead of worshippers were not given to everyone, but only to the public penitents who were brought before the church. Much like Hester Prynne bearing her scarlet letter, these open and notorious sinners were marked publicly with the sign of their disgrace.
As time went on, others began to show their humility and their affection for the penitents by asking that they, too, be marked as sinners. Finally, the number of penitents grew so large that the imposition of ashes was extended to the whole congregation in services similar to those that are observed in many Christian churches on Ash Wednesday.
We who will bear the ashes upon our foreheads stand with those whose sins may be more public, but not, according to the Scriptures, more grievous to the heart of God. And so we make our confessions …

Community Art Project: Exodus 2

This was our Ash Wednesday text and art.  We missed having these in the worship service, but I want to share them here.

 Exodus 2
²³ Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ²⁵ He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.


DELIVERANCE
I did not know that petulance would smolder into searing loss, nor that flames of
     earthly sorrow rampage beyond the flesh and torch the soul.
I did not know that soul-fire can condense all human anguish into one consuming
     cry for You, Lord. Only You.
I did not know, but God knew.

And in His presence, peace and hope and comfort wrap me, hold me in divine
     embrace. On wings of music, healing light - More than delivered from,
     delivered to.
I did not know! But God knew.

This one was too large to scan as one file.  Hopefully, you can still get the idea.

 

24/7 Lent Podcasts

Lent starts today with Ash Wednesday.  Our church will finish with 10 days of 24/7 prayer leading up to Easter. 
This will be our fifth trip through 24/7 Prayer.  Every time it has been a time of spiritual renewal, community bonding, and creative outflow.  If you're part of our church, this is a must-participate event.  Don't miss out.  If you're part of another church, gather some people to start your own week of 24/7 prayer.
Last go-round, our prayer spaces filled up so quickly that some people didn't find a time to pray that would work for their schedule.  This season, we are expanding 24/7 to 24/10.  To prepare us for that, I encourage you to follow the 24/7 prayer videos guiding us to walk more closely with Jesus.

"Good to Me" by Craig Musseau

We just discovered this song, and I think we're going to use it during Lent.  I love how it honestly admits our need for repentance and healing but also celebrates God's grace and hope.

Ashes to Fire - Review

On Patrick's suggestion, we started up a new small group working through the Ashes to Fire devotional guide produced by Nazarene Publishing House.  The basic concept is that the whole church moves on a collective spiritual journey from Ash Wednesday (through Lent and Easter) all the way to Pentecost.  To compliment the devo guide, there are lots of other resources: a 14 week worship service guide, a DVD with lots of digital support tools, 16 original songs, and resources for children.
Our church got into Ashes to Fire a little late, so we just had one small group working through the curriculum.  But we're probably going to try to do the whole thing as a church next year.
Here are some of the things I liked most.

• Far and away, my favorite part was the daily devotional.  Each day there were morning and evening prayer and Bible guides.  When I was busy, I would just read the prayers and summary verses.  But when I had time, I would read through all the Bible selections.  I appreciated using a guide for the Bible reading, and I liked having it relate to the church season.
• Still related to the devotional, I enjoyed the prayers from John Wesley or the Book of Common Prayer.  I often felt like they put words to my actual desires for that day.
• Each devotional also included a quote - often from a church father (or mother).  It was great to live in historic community with those who have gone before us.
• I liked the small group discussions.  In fact, our group has already chosen another book and plans to continue meeting.  I'm hoping that next time around, we'll be able to use the momentum from Ashes to Fire to start several new small groups.
• I really liked some of the songs on the CD - especially the ones for the Lenten season.

However, the book/system could stand some improvements for next time.

• Once a week there is a 2-3 page devotional on the gospel text.  Some of these were good.  Others were pretty weak.  For our somewhat skeptical book, the cheese-factor here lessened their resolve to participate in the daily prayer guides as well.
• The daily quotes from church history could stand some improvement, (a) More women, (b) include the approximate date of the quote  (Most people have no clue when Gregory the Great lived.), (c) Make the quotes more connected with the readings (Sometimes, they seemed kind of random.), (d) Stay with the ancient writers for these quotes.  (It adds to the flavor.)
• Provide the lyrics for the CD.  I couldn't even find out who wrote or performed the various songs.  (Also, sheet music would be very important for incorporating some of these into our worship services.)
• Improve the promo videos.  We'll need something better to help us promote this within our church.

With that being said, overall, this was a good experience for us, and I think we'll be coming back to it next year with our whole church.  So the Josh rating here is: JJJJ.  (Missing one J because of some of the essays.)