영어 설교 나눔, "When God is with Us" (Isaiah 40:9-17)

April 8th, 2018 Sunday Youth Worship Service, Nashville Korean UMC

“When God is with Us” (Isaiah 40:9-17)

We are reading the Book of Isaiah again. Scholars mostly agree that this book consists of three different parts. They are called 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Isaiah respectively. And the part we are picking it up is where the 2nd Isaiah begins. Why do the scholars say this? Because the three parts are radically different in terms of their message, style, and historical background.

1st Isaiah was covering the time when the southern Kingdom of Judah was still there. Isaiah declares the upcoming judgment of God. The Kingdom’s still there, but because of their idolatry and arrogance, God is going bring judgement on them. But as we read from the passage today, 2nd Isaiah’s message is very different. 2nd Isaiah presupposes Jerusalem has already been destroyed, and the people are in exile. So there’s a time gap between first and second Isaiahs. 2nd Isaiah’s message is also very different. This was the first verse of the passage, “You who bring good news to Zion.” In the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, the word good news was never mentioned. But all of a sudden, with the beginning of its second part, Isaiah throws words like this, “good news,” “hope,” and “restoration.” And let me read the very first verse of the second part to you, Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort, comfort my people.” “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,” “your hard service has been completed.”

I am trying to give you a brief introduction to the part we are reading. Reading this part is, of course, much easier than reading the first part. It doesn’t talk about God’s wrath and war anymore. God’s glory was leaving Jerusalem because of their sins and wrongdoings, but here from the 2nd Isaiah, it says, God is coming back to you. God is with you. He is your God and deliverer. With that said, let me share two things based on the passage this morning.

First, God is the good news. Let’s go back to verse 9 once again. (READ TOGETHER) “You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’” What is the content of the good news? “Here is your God.” “God is here with you.” This is the good news.

But we try to make something else out of this. Of course, God being with me is a great thing, but it will be even better if I receive the letter of acceptance from my dream college. Oh I am not saying having God here with me is a bad thing, just a couple more things you know? A yes from the girl or the guy. Popularity, wealth, a driver’s license, a car. Healing or miracles, people’s affirmation on me. STOP, No no no, God being here with us is more than enough. Don’t add anything else to it. “Here is your God,” this is more than sufficient. Our God is greater than anything else.

You guys all know, I love facebook. I love it so much that I deleted the app on my phone during Lent. That was something I gave up for Lent. This says it all how much I like it right? But it’s really interesting that what I like isn’t always what people like. Well, more often than not, what I want them to like is not the same as what they really like. Do you see the difference?

A couple of weeks ago, I posted something on my timeline. I thought it was so important and everyone needed to read it. It was an op-ed in New York Times by a former supreme court judge. He was a lifelong republican, but he argued in that writing, the people of this country need to demand a repeal of the second amendment. He said that a lot of people have abused it without caring about its legislative intent. And it was right after the march for our lives. It was important; so I took the time to translate it into Korean. It took me about a half an hour. And I thought people would like it, love it, and share it on their timelines. I was even debating myself if I should say something about sharing the post. But what was the turnout? Only 18 people liked it, no love, no wow, and one person indeed shared it. I posted a picture of my family last Sunday night, and in stark contrast, 275 people liked or loved it. I am like what’s the difference people? What’s the pattern here?

Sometimes what God wants us to like or pray about doesn’t match what we actually like or pray about. The Bible teaches us that we need to seek his FACE. But a lot of times we seek the power in his hands. What we need our God to do in our lives often comes before what we need to do for God. We sometimes put our wishlist before our relationship with God. Verse 9 speaks loudly, “Here is your God.” “Your God is here with you.” Brothers and sisters, Let us seek his face. Let us be satisfied with the Lord and nothing else.

Second point, “the nations are nothing.” Let’s go to verse 17, the last verse: “Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.”

This was probably a groundbreaking message for the people of Judah.

Like I said, Jerusalem had already been captured and its people were in exile. After Jerusalem’s fall, the people moved to roughly three different places. First group, we know the leaders were forced to move into different cities of Babylon. So they were taken towards the East. Second group went down to Egypt. This group of people fled Jerusalem to Egypt and lived there as immigrants. The last group. This is the people who the passage mostly speaks to today: they remained in Jerusalem. The problem was that this group, the third group of people didn’t have a governing entity there. After Jerusalem’s fall, we guess there was no form of government. It was technically under Babylon’s rule, but they didn’t really care about the people who were left there. And because all of their leaders were taken to Babylon, they couldn’t really form a self-governing body.

So think about that, the people of Judah were living in fear for the surrounding nations. Their towns were defenseless and vulnerable; anybody could come in anytime for whatever they wanted. You see the nations were probably a scary thing for the Judeans. But Isaiah proclaims God’s Word, “Before him all the nations are nothing.” I like the way this verse says it, “They are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” The people were so afraid of the nations, but God is like, “That seems like a you problem.” They might look powerful and tough in your eyes, but not to me.

If only we could see our problems as God sees them. Think about that. How cool would it be. Verse 15 says this, “Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales.” Isn’t it so freeing? It’s a problem to us; it’s a huge problem; an overwhelming and devastating problem, but not to God. No matter what you are thinking of right now. Maybe you are dealing with some fear right now? Maybe you are nervous about your future? Does your problem seem overwhelming? I am really sorry, but to God, it is not like that. Our problems are like a drop in a bucket to God. What concerns us is like dust on the scales to God.

During my military service, my company was called for a construction project. In our base, we had a couple of shooting ranges. And the commanding officer wanted to move one of them by like a half a mile. It was on the left side of the road, and he wanted it on the right side instead. And in the Korean Army, the cheapest way to solve any problem is to use the soldiers. The cheapest labor in cost. So forty of us went out on a couple of trucks. It was so DUMB, we had to shovel the dirt into the bags. And some of us put those bags on the trucks. It was a small place probably as big as our youth room. Maybe a little bigger than this room. We were complaining to each other. This is so dumb and I don’t know what I am doing.

And suddenly, one soldier shouted, “a general is coming.” When a general is passing by, you have to stop whatever you are doing and stand in lines to salute to him or her. It was a one star general, who was actually my church member. So we saluted to him, and I was like. He called our company commander and talked to him for a couple of minutes. And we went back to work, and like twenty minutes later, BEHOLD, we saw an excavator machine coming on the way. You guys know what this is right? It was the general who called it. It began its work; it shoveled once and brought it on the truck. And we were like clapping our hands and shouting for joy.

Never downplay God’s power. The nations are worthless and less than nothing. Replace the nations in the sentence with your problem. My fears are worthless and less than nothing. The health problems, the financial problems are worthless and less than nothing. Family problems or your concerns about your future are nothing to God.

Let me remind you again, God has a plan for your life. He is greater than anything or anyone; he is more powerful than anything. This God knows you and loves you. This God is here with you and for you.

Let us pray.

마태복음 16-17 묵상, "일어나라 두려워하지 말라"

마 16장 서두는 사람들이 와서 예수님께 표적을 구하는 것으로 시작된다. 계속해서 그렇게 하셨듯, 병자 한 명 고쳐주시면 될 일이었다. 장래 일을 살짝 말씀해 주시면 끝날 일이었다. 그러나 예수님은 끝끝내 아무것도 보여주지 않으신다. 다만 "요나의 표적외에는 보여줄 것이 없다"라는 말을 덧붙이신다.

이후 17장의 시작이 의미심장한데, 6일 후에 ("엿새 후에") 라는 말로 시작한다. 유대 전통에서 7은 완전함을 뜻하는 숫자이지만, 6은 그 정 반대이다. 불완전함, 유한한 것을 의미한다. 혹시 엿새 후라는 말이 지금 나타날 변화산 사건을 가리키고 있는 것은 아닐까. 지금 제자들이 보게 될 영광스러운 예수님의 모습은 사실 완전한 계시가 아니다. 그래서 16장에서도 사람들에게 아무런 표적도 주지 않으셨을지도 모른다. 사람들이 원하는 표적을 보여줘 봤자, 불완전한 것에 불과하기 때문이다. 제자들은 불완전한 계시를 사는 중이다. 마가의 복음이 말씀하는 것처럼, 완전한 계시는 십자가에서 성취된다. 16장에서 자신의 수난에 관해 주님은 말씀하셨다. 완전한 계시는 이미 예고되었다, 그러나 아직 성취되지 않았다.

어쨌든 변화산 구름속에서 난 하나님의 음성이 의미심장하다. "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; LISTEN TO HIM!" (v. 5) "그의 말을 들으라" 하신 이후 제자들에게 주신 주님의 첫 음성은, "일어나라 두려워하지 말라 (Get up and do not be afraid)" 였다. 지금 본 것은 아직 완전한 것은 아니다. 그러므로 두려워하지 말라. 그리고 예고된 완전한 것이 이루어질 때는 더 무섭겠지만, 괜찮다. 두려워하지 말고 일어서라. 나는 이 말씀이 불완전한 계시의 시대를 살아가는 우리들에게 주시는 주님의 음성이라고 믿는다. "일어나 서라. 두려워하지 말라." 인자가 모든 권능으로 다시 임할 것이다. 두려워하지 말라. 하나님의 때가 반드시 찾아오고, 의가 최후 승리를 차지할 것이다. 일어서라.

마가복음 6:45-56 묵상, 예수님이 위험하게 느껴질 때

"Seeing Jesus walking on the lake, the disciples were terrified. It wasn’t the lack of power that frightened them, but the idea of a power beyond their imagining. In C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Mr. Beaver said of Aslan the Lion (the book’s Christ figure), 'Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.' Do you ever find the idea of God actually 'showing up' a bit scary? In what ways is Jesus 'not safe?' What gives you confidence that 'he’s good?'"

물 위로 걸어오시는 예수님을 보면서, 제자들은 공포에 떨었다. 무력감에 공포가 엄습했다기 보다는, 그들의 상상을 초월하는 어떤 힘 자체에 두려워 떨었던 것 같다. C. S. 루이스의 <사자, 마녀, 옷장> 에서 비버 아저씨는 아슬란 (그리스도를 상징하는 사자) 에 대해서 다음과 같이 말한다. "아슬란은 당연히 조금 위험하지 (안전하지 않지), 하지만 좋은 분이야." (묵상을 위한 질문) 하나님이 "실제로 나타나시는 것"이 조금은 무섭다고 생각해 본 적이 있는가? 어떤 점에서 예수님은 "조금 위험한가?" 그 분의 어떤 면이 "그래도 좋은 분이다"라는 확신을 주는가?

출처: The UM Church of the Resurrection, 2018년 3월 6일 GPS