Greetings, Brothers and Sisters, as I pondered the last parish meeting a few weeks ago, I heard the voice of The Lord instructing me to convey a message to the congregation.
Being a software consultant for last 3 decades, I deal in a world of techno-babble. One of those seemingly-ubiquitous phrases that has made its way into everyday usage is "Intel Inside." As common as this phrase has become, it is significant because it instills confidence that your computer will run quite well by just seeing that label. This tells us the framework of the computer hardware is well taken care of by Intel design.
That is even more important because the framework of technology is ever-changing. The most recent development is something called "Cloud Computing." It is a new step in humanity’s attempt to mimic nature in our technology. One of its attributes is that it purports to be ever-present and everywhere just like a cloud. As people venture into this new world of technology, it is comforting to have that "Intel Inside" label to help us feel that whatever is changing in there, we know it will be done with thought and care intelligently.
I was thinking that as we deal with one another in the church, we need to be mindful of our label. It isn’t "Intel Inside," it is "Holy Ghost Inside." Even though we don’t come out of our mother’s womb stamped with a "Holy Ghost Inside" label, God has put His seal on us. So, when we deal with each other, we can have confidence that He is the framework we are building our lives on. I believe He has done this because we need to know we are safe with each other—that we are operating on the same set of principles spiritually.
Unlike the technology framework, the spiritual framework has not changed since God created the earth. Unlike your favorite garment, which will eventually wear out, the spiritual framework will last forever. That is an awesome truth. The Word on which our framework is built will last forever. But that truth demands diligent responsibility and exceptional stewardship at the same time. Without it our awesome God will turn into awful God in an instant.
The Lord laid two scriptures on my heart for the leadership of the church: The first is from John 15:1-4, 8.
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. . . . 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The other is from Matthew 25:14-30.
The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money; to another, two talents; and to another, one talent; each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
21"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
22"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
23"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
26"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
He also laid some scriptures on my heart for us as a congregation: The first is from Ephesians 4:17-32.
Living as Children of Light
17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
The second scripture comes from Matthew 18:15-35.
A Brother Who Sins Against You
15"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
I believe our church leadership must be mindful that the Lord expects them (and us as a congregation) to produce fruit and to multiply their talents. These things are measurable—the result can be observed on the outside as Jesus pointed out in his parables.
I believe the congregation needs to recognize that God expects them to treat each other and the leadership differently than the world treats people. God expects us to handle conflict and difference in the way Jesus instructed, by being direct but loving in the process of the spiritual framework. We have been acting like the world acts, depending on the wisdom of the wise and the intelligence of the intelligent—trying to force people to see things in one particular way or another and getting mad when someone else doesn’t do what we think they should do.
Instead of following a biblical example to resolve those differences, we have let unwholesome talk spread among us. Instead of building people up, we have allowed bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and malice have a place among us. In doing that, we have unwittingly bound one another up, and bound the leadership up, here on earth and they have been bound in heaven as well. I believe this is part of the reason we have not seen the growth we want to see here at Messiah.
Scott Wilcher’s report produced an unintended side effect in terms of causing some things that we thought we had dealt with long ago to bubble to the surface. But, as He did with Joseph and his brothers, God has taken what the enemy meant for evil and used it for good. We need to use this occasion to find a way to edify others and glorify His name. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what Christ Jesus is saying to Church of the Messiah. Amen.
Brian Shin
October 9, 2009
While you and the elders’ of church are discerning of The Word that I have received last week, I would like to share my experience as to what happened starting on October 4th the Sunday just before the parish meeting on 8th the Thursday. Linda’s Jeep Grand Cherokee was completely disabled in the parking lot of the church.
ReplyDeleteWe had some history of not being able to take the key out of the ignition, but it always started. Linda and I had even prayed that the Lord to help us to start the vehicle. Unfortunately, the Jeep had to stay overnight in the church parking lot. The next day, the vehicle had to be towed to the Jeep dealer to replace the ignition key lock.
Linda had to give me a ride to my work in Norfolk with Ford truck and she mentioned me about a squeaking sound from the wheel underneath of the driver seat. We had that issue before, but, it was addressed and it was seemed very odd that it happened again, right after Linda’s Jeep broke down. I pondered that the fact that the Jeep was disabled in the church parking lot.
During parish meeting, The Lord gave me a word to speak to the congregation about how we need to not follow the pattern of the Episcopal Church in how we behave toward each other as one body. And the day after, while hearing the insistent squeaking/speaking sound of the truck on the way to fix the problem in Little Creek, the Lord started speaking to me about the word that became the “Letter to Church of the Messiah.”
In retrospect, Numbers 22:30-31 got into my mind about Balaam’s Donkey. When the donkey wouldn’t go forward, Balaam tried everything to get her to move and finally started beating her. You know the rest of the story:
30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"
"No," he said.
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
Linda and I were trying everything to start the Jeep including literally injecting WD-40 and hammering the ignition key into with no avail. As modern cars became like the donkeys in Old Testament days, it’s like Jeep and the truck were talking back to us as if the donkey was talking back to Balaam. Eventually, the Lord clarified (allowed me to see—or rather hear—what He was doing) while I was on the road to fix my “speaking” truck.
Our Lord’s providence is endless and His Word is just and timeless. I am very humbled to receive a Word from the Lord for Church of the Messiah.
Linda mentioned that you had a question about the sentence in the preamble of the epistle the Lord gave to me:
ReplyDelete“ But that truth demands diligent responsibility and exceptional stewardship at the same time. Without it our awesome God will turn into awful God in an instant.”
I was pondering and praying about that this morning. As you know, although I have spent more than an half of my life here in the State, my native tongue is Korean. Although I knew the general meaning of “Awesome” and “Awful”, I didn’t know exactly why the Lord put the dichotomic words on me.
After checking the two words in Merriam-Webster dictionary, I have realized the two words are intimately related to each other. “Awesome” means expressive of awe whereas “Awful” signifies filled with awe in two senses: a) afraid or terrified; b) deeply respectful or reverential. Our God is like a coin where one side is written with awesome and the other with awful. That’s why we need to mindful and obedient to his words and ready to hear His voice continuously.
It’s like the parable of talents. If we are productive and obedient with the talents He entrusted us, He will be saying “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” That is “Awesome”. On the other hand, if we are not productive and faithful with his talent, he will throw us into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! This is “Awful.”
Then again, it’s like the parable of the king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When one of his servants was not able to pay the debt he owed, he ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. But he canceled the servant’s debt since he took pity on him. This is “Awesome.” But, when THAT servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, he grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded. When the king found out what he did to his fellow servant, he threw the wicked servant into the jail until he repaid his debt. That is “Awful.”
As being a body of his church, I hear often our worship team singing a song wishing to see His face and hear His voice. Are we productive, obedient, merciful, and compassionate enough like Jesus taught us? Are we ready to see His face and hear His voice now? We need to be well prepared for his AWESOME side. Otherwise, we will regret what we are wishing for! We need to edify others and glorify His name in whatever we do in His name.