Community of JOY
February 13, 2011: Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
WE COME BEFORE GOD
PRAISE “My Life Is in You, Lord,” “With You,” “You Are My All in All”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
*CALL TO WORSHIP* (Please stand.)
P: Sisters and brothers, children in Christ: Gather that we may be fed by the One who gives life.
C: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the law of God.
P: Love God, and obey the commandments God has given; Choose life, that you and your descendants may live.
C: Blessed are those who keep God’s testimonies, who seek God with their whole heart.
P: Let righteousness and faithfulness be your goals. Let reconciliation be the mark of all your relationships.
C: We will praise God with upright hearts, fixing our eyes on all God’s commandments.
*HYMN (Please remain standing.) #109, “Thy Word Is a Lamp”
KIDSWORD (After Kidsword, children leave for Sunday School.)
PRAYER, Julie Ahn
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD
SCRIPTURE LESSON:Matthew 5:21-26, Eun Jae Lee
Response to the reading: “Thanks be to God.”
SERMON, “The Extreme Message”, Pastor Yani
How was your week? How were you during the last week? I mean, who were you during the last week, an angel or a devil? I led my life as both an angel and a devil, and in between.
On the last two Mondays I went to a pizza restaurant. On the first Monday I went with my mother. Originally I wanted to take my parents there. But my father wanted to stay home and so just two of us went there. My mother enjoyed pizza. She is in her 80s and does not eat much. She had some salad and a small piece of pizza. But she enjoyed the environment. There were many young people talking and laughing. She loved that night. As I was watching her be happy I thought how many more times shall I enjoy this kind of time with her. I was proud that I had this idea of taking her to a pizza restaurant. Then I planned to take my parents-in-law to a pizza restaurant, too. The family gathering was already scheduled on the following Monday.
So it was this Monday. I insisted that we would all go to a pizza restaurant. My parents-in-law, my husband and I went there. Our presence there sharply reduced the average age of the customers. Half way through the meal, my parents-in-law said, “I have seen pizza on TV but never had it. It is delicious.” I was surprised. The first time eating pizza? No child or grandchild of theirs took them there. Usually young people like it there. So they are the ones who suggest their parents and grandparents to go there with them.
The pizza is not the healthiest food in the world, especially for the elderly, but I felt guilty. So I said, “We are sorry, Mon and Dad, that we had never brought you here. Next time on, whenever we are with you, we will go to a pizza restaurant or a Western one.” My husband agreed with me, seeing that his parents enjoyed the food and the environment so much.
On these occasions, I was playing a kind of angel. I brought them some dishes I made, gave clothes as gifts, gave cash, did grocery shopping for them, and ate out with them. Although for a daughter and daughter-in-law what I did was not special, I felt not bad about it.
Then in the mid-week, I played a kind of a devil. To make a long story short, my husband received bad treatment from me. Many of you see me as a good person, funny, creative, beautiful and all that. Thank you. It is very nice of you. But I know how to yell and how to say bad words to the degree that I hate myself, although that does not happen as often as in my younger and immature years. I am not proud of that. My husband is the one who falls victim to my humanness the most. (I have not yet apologized him since I am waiting for his apology first! )
Not just these two angelic and devilish incidents but also many things happened in my life this week, including bad news about my family member’s health. Being a human, living as a human being is like riding a rollercoaster. Good and evil, fear and joy, excitement and boredom. What would Jesus about this humanity?
In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus claims that he came to fulfill the law and the Prophets, that is, the Old Testament. It seems that there was criticism against him that his teachings were abolishing the Jewish Scriptures. That is why he says, according to Contemporary English Version (CEV), “I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. He gives us several examples of the old laws and his ways of giving full meaning to them.
First, the law says, ‘You shall not murder’. 22But Jesus says, “Do not even be angry with anyone. Do not even say, ‘You fool.’ Then, you will be liable to the hell of fire.” How many times have I been angry with anyone and said bad words? Countless! I would have well been in the fire of the hell and found some of you there by now.
Jesus adds, “If you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.” If we have been Jesus’ faithful disciples, the sanctuary this morning would have been almost empty.
Second, the law says, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But Jesus says, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your eye or hand sins, remove it and throw it away. Jesus is talking to men audience but the same principle can be applied to women. How many times have I thought that Brad Pitt and Hyun Bin are handsome? There was an experiment on TV. They had a nice looking woman walk in the street. Then they checked how many men would look at her. Almost every man looked at the woman whether the man was with his girl friend, his wife or his male friends. If most Christian men have been really faithful disciples, they would have been without eyes by now. For the things I have done last week alone, I should be blind and limbless.
Third, the law says, “A man who divorces his wife must write out divorce papers for her.” But Jesus says, “Do not divorce your wife unless she has committed some terrible sexual sin.” We need to know the background of Jesus’ speech on divorce. Before that law, Jewish men could divorce their wives, but the women could not divorce their husbands. The purpose of writing these papers was to make it harder for a man to divorce his wife. Before this law was made, all a man had to do was to send his wife away and say that she was no longer his wife. With the law women were protected a little more than before.
But then Jesus further protects women by saying not to divorce at all except for the case of the woman’s sexual sin. Here Jesus does not target on men. He is not saying just not to get a divorce. We always need to understand the Bible from its own context, not from our modern context.
Jesus’ new word on divorce was radical to men audience at that time. Men were the ones who enjoyed the male-oriented system, starting from just sending away their wives to sending them with divorce papers, and now no divorce. No man in the audience would have appreciated Jesus’ message which limited their rights. In my view, what Jesus is trying to say is that keeping the given law is not all that matters.
Fourth, the law says, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” But Jesus says, “Do not swear at all, either by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, by your head, or by anything!” But do not we often make promises and commitments but forget and lose the first intentions soon?
There is something in common in the four examples above. Jesus turns each traditional regulation into something that is impossible to be kept. His message is too much. It is extreme. There would be no one in the world who can follow Jesus’ extreme message. Although Jesus’ audience here is men, women are also not capable of following it.
By giving us the extreme message does Jesus intend to make us feel guilty? No. Originally the law was made for the well-being of the community and individuals. The law itself is good. But the way we are related to the law can be problematic. When we do not keep it, we are guilty. When we keep it, we think that we are righteous and we pass judgment on others. So if we keep the law and become righteous, we should be as thorough as the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus says, “If you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, your righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” The scribes and Pharisees were the experts and teachers of the law at that time. People in the audience will never be enough to be like them when it comes to the law.
Our biblical text this morning is part of the whole which finishes at the end of the chapter. The next section right after our text deals with forgiveness and loving the enemy. The conclusion of the whole is in the last verse, “You are to be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.” This is also conclusion of the last section, which is love of the enemy.
In the beginning of the section, Jesus claimed he came to give full meaning to the law. In conclusion, he asks us to be perfect by love, even by the love of the enemy. Loving enemy is another extreme message. Jesus gives the law full meaning with love. All the law can be kept by love.
I had the law, the law of being a good child to my parents and parents-in-law. So I have sometimes done good things out of obligation. I also have the law of heath food. I teach and almost nag my family to eat less and move more. I take them to restaurants focusing on tofu, vegetables, and fermented bean soup. But I admit that while I have not kept my law faithfully, I have imposed it upon others and judged them.
Half way through working on the sermon I was still not going to talk to my husband over the weekend. (I stay in Daejeon during the weekend and live in Seoul during the weekdays.) But as I kept reflecting on the message, I felt the need to reconcile with him. So I called him first but hung up after two rings. In no second he called me back. I asked him, “Say sorry.” He said, “I am sorry.” And he added, “I had some thinking. I think you reacted from your middle age women’s climacteric changes. I will try to understand you more.” That was his way of saying “I am sorry.” I responded, “Do not eat instant noodle. I made some dishes yesterday. Find them in the refrigerator.” That was my way of saying “I am sorry.” I do not know who was right or wrong anymore and who was more generous in reconciliation anymore.
We all have the law of some sort. The law meant to give us life of well-being and happiness. Jesus sharply sees we hang onto the law too much and try to be right. We admit that keeping the law and being right does not bring us life abundant. Now he invites us to the extreme message, love and God’s perfection. Wouldn’t you want to take on this honor? Amen.
*HYMN (Please stand.) #310, “When We Are Living” vss. 1& 2
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST (Please greet one another with a sign of the peace of God.)
TITHES & OFFERING, “Two Hands, One Heart”
PRAYER OF DEDICATION**
Holy God, your holiness makes us more than uncomfortable. In times of surface living, when we think we are doing pretty well in our relationships and actions, we gloss over your demanding call to fulfill your teaching. Forgive us, we pray. Prompt us to realize how totally every one of us relies upon your grace. We bring you these gifts of our finances and our prayers, not to earn our way to you, but in overflowing gratitude for your grace. This we pray by your power through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (“Lord in your mercy…,” “Hear our prayer.”)
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE LORD’S PRAYER (Ecumenical Version)
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
*CLOSING SONG “Touching Heaven, Changing Earth”
*DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING
*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE #83, “On Eagle’s Wings”
And God will raise you up on eagle's wings, Bear you on the breath of dawn, Make you to shine like the sun, And hold you in the palm of God’s Hand.
(*Lavon Bayler, Fresh Winds of the Spirit; **from www.gbod.org)
Announcements
1. Welcome to the Community of JOY! If you’re here for the first time, please join us for a time to get to know each other after the service. Please fill in the welcome card and put it in the offering basket.
2. Today: Council Mtg. after cell group study.
3. Next Sunday: Installation and Blessing of COJ leaders.
4. Feb. 27: City Tour after lunch at church dining room.
5. Name Tag. Please wear your name tag when you come to worship. To request a new name tag, send a text to Ken Gunther (010-9101-4233).
6. Please write your prayer concerns on the prayer request card and put it in the offering basket.
7. Hymnals are on sale at 14,000 Won.
Today’s Greeter and Usher: Joshua Han & Matthew Chung
Today’s Fellowship: Yong Sik Park
