2016.02.21_The Weightier Matters of the Law

Obey and persevere in order to receive God’s blessings
God is love. Though He is invisible, He displayed Himself through His exceeding love for His Son. We can somewhat fathom God’s love for His Son through the love parents have for their children. Parents love their children more than their own lives. And God’s love for His Son is exactly the same. Our faith is about understanding that love of God.

It is common where people consider materialistic fortune such as winning the lottery when it comes to blessings. We may often see people asking God for materialistic wealth, only to later abandon their faith in disappointment when they receive no answers from God. We have to understand that the word of God is like a seed that contains God’s blessings. Whoever desired to be blessed must receive that word, for rejecting the word is equivalent to rejecting God’s blessing.

To accept God’s blessing is like planting a seed in the field. God promised Abraham, “I will bless you”, and indeed Abraham received the seed God planted in him. Farmers first plant seeds, in order to later harvest fruits. It requires time and patience for that seed to grow into a tree. In the same way, it is imperative for one to wait and persevere to reap the fruit of God’s blessings.

God does not break His words. He never changes His words but surely fulfills everything He says (Num 23:19). Hence God’s words never disappoint us. We should not doubt God’s words, for to doubt mean to reject God’s blessings. We ought to patiently wait and persevere so that the seed which God planted within us can root itself and grow healthily.

Be a source of blessing, so that our children will be blessed for generations to come
When God promised His blessings, He always said, “You and your children will be blessed” or “Your children will be blessed for a thousand generations”. Though we might not immediately see the fruits of God’s blessings before us, if God’s word roots itself within us as we fellowship with God, one day its fruits will grow, and our children will eat those fruits for generations to come. On the contrary, idolatry is equivalent to planting a seed of curse, and as a result, the children of idolaters will eat the fruits of curse to the third and fourth generations.

Every parent desires their children to be born healthy and be happy. However, there are unfortunate cases where children are born disabled or experience unforeseen accidents, and parents have to bear the agony for the rest of their lives. None of us knows what could happen to us in the future, or who will be born to us. The best choice we can make is to receive God’s blessings. If we become a source of blessing, our children can eat the fruits of blessing for generations to come. The population of Israel is only 8 million, and yet they are able to stand against the neighboring Arab nations with more than 400 million people. Moreover, roughly thirty percent of recipients of the Nobel Prizes to date are Jews. The reason they enjoy these fruits of blessings today is because their forefathers had chosen God’s blessings.

Prove your love for God
If we were to describe the central theme of the Bible in one word, we could say it is relationships. The Bible firstly talks about the father-and-son relationship, which is bound by love and filial piety; secondly, the relationship between husband and wife, which in turn, explains the relationship between Jesus, the groom and the church, His bride; and thirdly, brotherhood, that is, how the saints form one body in Christ. And in all of these relationships, love is emphasized as the most important and fundamental element. The Bible strongly emphasizes that even if we abide by the Law perfectly, it means nothing if we do not know the love of God which is more important than the Law; though we accept the Gospel completely, it means nothing if we have not love for our brothers; and though we have the faith move mountains, it means nothing if we have not love for God.

It may seem foolish in the eyes of the unbelievers in the world, however we give tithes to God because we love God. Tithing is different to the offerings we give to God voluntarily out of our own. If anyone is burdened to tithe, it is because he considered tithes as his own from the very beginning. Tithes belong to God (Mal 3:7). A person who struggles to give tithes properly, will also try to give as little offering as possible to God. The word offering originally has the meaning of “blessing”. When we give offerings with joyful hearts, we are proving and boasting of the fact that we are the blessed ones.

It is very difficult for someone who used to belong to the world to become a Christian. Yet it is neither easy for a Christian to remain faithful until Christ’s return, and enter the wedding banquet with Christ. We need to repent before the door is shut. We have to love God while we still have the chance. People like Judas Iscariot and King Saul who lost their opportunity to love God, took their own lives. We must not neglect the chance God gave us to repent any more. How many times have we challenged God, beginning with robbing Him of what is rightly His? When God gives us His words, we ought to quickly repent and turn back.

Do not neglect righteousness, mercy and faith
When it comes to our faith life, it is vital that we know God’s righteousness. Otherwise, we cannot but live a religious life out of a sense of obligation. The Pharisees’ lives were absolutely spotless, that one could find no fault in them in terms of the Law. However, they did not know the righteousness of God. Righteousness refers to how God demonstrated His love for His Son. Whoever understands this relationship of God and His Son understands God’s righteousness, and such a person can see the glory of God.

God loves us with the love He has for His Son. We must accept that love which God revealed to us. Not only should we, but our children should also be taught about that love. How great is the love people have for their own children? If God gave such love to man as his nature, how much greater will the love of God be? At times, people think they are not being loved by God. However, that fact that God gave us His words to hear and desires to plant those words into our hearts itself proves His love towards us.

In the same way that God revealed His love for us through Christ, we ought to demonstrate our love towards God through the church, the body of Christ. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is like that of husband and wife. This marriage relationship is not a contract agreement that is forced upon, but based on genuine love. That love is not ephemeral; both husband and wife sacrifice themselves for each other. Even though they discover a fault in the other person, they endlessly forgive and maintain their relationship.

What Christ desires from us, His wives, is righteousness, mercy and faith. At the heart of all these is love. Though we might observe the Law perfectly, if we have not love, it is the same as straining out a gnat but swallowing a camel (Mt 23:24). Though a person is outwardly perfect like the Pharisees, it means nothing if he does not receive God’s love; though a person received God’s grace, it means nothing if he does not love the church; and though a person has great faith, it means nothing if he does not love God. We have to understand what God desires from us, and demonstrate our love towards God. To love God is what our faith is about. We must turn away from our unbelief and disobedience before God, and instead love God.

I’ve had many friends in my life who I’ll never forget, though I won’t name every one of them. However there is a friend I do want to share about. Being a pastor is a very unique and demanding job. People desire pastors to be perfect like god, while a pastor is perceived in the world as but a gentle and refined sage. Thus there is one too many things a pastor has to struggle and overcome on his own, as a mere human being in the flesh.

There is an old fable about a barber who went to give the king a haircut. He was shocked to see the king’s ears for they were like donkey’s ears. He was strictly warned not to tell anyone about having seen the king’s ears; if not, he would be executed. From that day, the barber had to keep this a secret but it became too much for him to bear alone that he fell ill.

One day, a doctor examined his conditions and noticed that it couldn’t be cured with any medicine. So he told the barber, “Go and cry out the secret you have in your heart, into the hole of an old tree stump on a windy day”. The barber did as the doctor prescribed and immediately, he recovered his health.

People can’t keep what they have seen a secret. Instead people can fall ill from trying to hide a secret. Yet a pastor has to live like that barber his whole life. Otherwise he would have to bear severe consequences. What if there is another person like this barber close to the pastor?

A pastor is not a god; he is a man with flesh, an average human being. The only difference is that he lives a holy and devout life on account of his heavenly office. It is difficult since he has to bear the agony by himself, but actually it’s not easy for his close friends either. Still, I couldn’t be happier if there was someone who genuinely knows me to stand in my defense. In the Bible, there is the story of Ham (Canaan) who was eternally cursed along with his descendant, because he couldn’t keep it to himself but told his brothers how he saw Noah’s nakedness. This demonstrates how significant a subordinate person’s conduct can be.

Elder Kwi-Il Cho was first employed as the church bus driver 36 years, and finally became ordained as deacon and then an elder. During those 36 years, he was with me every single day except when I was overseas, but now he has left my side due to his old age. I want to commend him, for he was not just an employee of the church but had a sense of ownership. He was a true steward indeed.

As one who attended to every matter that concerned my residence and family, as well as my every move as a pastor, he was most faithful and knew how to keep silent. There’s probably no pastor, lay minister or deacon who haven’t received a scolding from elder Cho at least once, not because of his character, but because he had a real sense of ownership of the church.

He indeed brought me great joy. I hope we would all have this sense of ownership.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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Outline and Summary translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by Sarah Lee
Interpretations by Sarah Lee

Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee