2001.10.7. Washingtonians(21) - Rev. Young Jin Cho

Great Worry

Romans 9:1-13

Disciple Paul wrote Romans for the Christians in Rome and also for us living in this global capital Washington. This is the 21st of my Washingtonian sermon series. Romans go into the different theme from today's scripture, chapter 9.

Disciple Paul started with greetings and the theme of Romans in chapter 1, verses 1 through 17. He writes about unrighteousness and sinfulness of human race in chapter 1, verse 18 through chapter 3, verse 20. In chapter 3, verse 21 through chapter 5, verse 21, he writes about the Grace of God who justified sinful humans as righteous and the grace of salvation through Jesus Christ. From chapter 6 through chapter 8, Paul writes about the lives of Christians who are justified. From chapter 9 through chapter 11, he talks about the problems of Israelites who are facing their back to God's grace of salvation.

At the end of chapter 8, Disciple Paul proclaims Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? He said, no one or nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. But, what happened to the Israelites who refused this wonderful Grace? Are they separated from God's love? Paul wrestles with this issue in chapters 9 through 11.

I.

First of all, Paul writes about the wonderful grace God has given to the Israelites. This grace was the privilege that was given to his brothers, people of Israel, the God chosen people.

(1) Let's look at the verses after 9:4. Disciple Paul writes, Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ. That's right; Israelites had all sorts of privileges as people of God. They worshiped as children of God, as people of God, and they had the divine glory, and they had the law to abide by, living differently from gentiles. And they also had God's promises. They had ancestors who had great faith, and most of all; Christ was physically born as the offspring of Israelites.

(2) But this grace was not given because they had qualifications or appropriate stipulations. Let's look at the verses after 9:6. If you look carefully, it tells that among Abraham's descendants, Isaac was reckoned and, between two sons of Isaac, the younger son, Jacob received the promises of God. This is the sovereign choice of God. I will talk about this next week. For us, it's the grace of God.

Israelites were not any better than the gentiles. They were not morally good enough to deserve God's grace. They were not especially well off than others. On the contrary, in the Middle Eastern history, Israelites were just an insignificant clan. They were just wanderers. But they were blessed with the wonderful grace of God. Moses who realized this tells his people in Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 6 and there after, For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the people on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

It was not because they were better. It was not because they were smarter. It is only because of the grace of God. Only due to the mercy of God, they were chosen to be the people of God. It is solely because of God's Grace. It is because of God's love.

(3) But the Israelites did not realize this great grace and refused Jesus Christ. They crucified Jesus on the cross. But Jesus rose again and the good news of salvation started to spread by his disciples. Through powerful witnesses and miracles, the good news of life started to spread out. But the Jews are still not listening to this good news. They jailed and killed Jesus' disciples. They tormented disciples. They didn't know what they were doing. They repaid God's grace with contention. They were utterly ungrateful. Can you imagine Paul's frustration.

II.

Paul expresses his feelings in today's scripture, chapter 9, verse 1 and thereafter. I speak the truth in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit-I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

Paul had this pain and hurt in his heart. He really anguished about his own people for they are distant from Christ. His pain was big enough for him to say that he wished he were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of his brothers and his people.

This witness of Paul has touched me as a big challenge and teaching. That's because I don't have that kind of pain and love in my heart. What about you? Do you have this kind of pain in your heart for your family, relatives and the Korean-Americans in this country? Do you have the kind of anguish that Paul had? He was even willing to be cursed and cut off from Christ for his people. There is a message through this teaching.

(1) First of all, we need to have an anguish heart for the salvation of our family, our precious children, and our relatives.

We usually think that faith is a personal thing. We think that parents could not push children for their faith. Sometimes, it seems to be a wise thing to respect children's decisions and wait for them.

On the other hand, there is something we have to think about. It is how we consider our faith as. Do you, by any chance, think that it doesn't really matter either you believe or not believe Jesus? Do you think that if they believe, that's good, but if they don't, it's their choice? Do you truly believe that Jesus Christ is the way, truth, and the life in our lives today?

Dear everyone, is it okay not to believe? If they don't believe, is it just their choice? Have you ever thought about not believing is refusing God's love through Jesus Christ? Have you ever considered it as refusing God's grace? Have you ever thought about our children having to answer before God for refusing his grace? Have you ever thought about their eternal failure?

William Booth who founded the Salvation Army has prayed watching the Christians who did not spread the Gospel and were ignorant to their neighbors. He prayed, "God, please open the eyes of Christians in England. Let them see the hell." And he also said, "To spread the good news, people should witness the wonderful grace Jesus Christ showed us and that they should always remember the hell the unsaved people will experience."

I also have differences in opinion with my son sometimes. I don't like to tell him to be in a certain way because he is a pastor's kid. Because, I am the pastor, he is not. But I never compromise about the fundamentals of faith and that he has to believe God. I clearly tell him that is the principle of our lives, my wife and I. And also that I, as a father can never live differently and that is most precious asset of my life. Of course he has to grow more. But I want to carve a seal to him that we need to believe.

Is it okay for our children not to believe? Do we think it's their choice not to believe and there is nothing we can do about it? Do we ever worry about their spirits? Do we have that great anguish and pain worrying about their spirits, like Paul?

(2) Second, Disciple Paul's worry challenges us if we are anguish for our own people's salvation. We need to worry about the salvation of people in Korea and North Korea. We especially need to think about people, our brothers and sisters who live in the US. We need to pray for the salvation of all Korean-Americans. We have to worry about them. This morning, I want to tell you that I, as a minister, am worried about lives of people who believe with their mouths but not with their lives. I worry about people with death faith.

No other people pray more than Korean Christians. If we tell Americans to have early morning services(sae byuk gi do), they will say "Are you crazy?" But Koreans pray diligently. We serve our churches harder than anyone else. But when we spread to the world, a lot of us show totally different sides. I think there are a lot of people with death faith, especially, among Korean-Americans. Sometimes, it would be better if they didn't say they were Christians. But it's a big problem because they claim they are Christians and show corrupted lives. It's okay for them to make fool of themselves but they blaspheme Jesus.

I am worried about lip serving Korean-American Christians. We may not worry as much as Paul. We may not be as anguish as Paul. But we need to worry. We need to pray for name-only Korean-American Christians to become full pledged Christians. Not only with heads, thoughts, but also with hands and feet, we need to worry that their whole lives become the lives of saved people. Not only Sundays, not only in churches, but also during the week and in their everyday lives, we need to worry about them to live as Christians. We need to have Paul's heart, that anguished heart.

(3) Third, I would like to broaden the horizon. I want to propose to you to worry about this land we live in. We need to worry about the salvation of America, with Paul's heart. If we think that it was our choice that we are living in this country, it's a different story. But if we think the reason we live here is because of God's grace and guidance, we need to worry about America. We need to worry about the salvation of people in this country. We need to feel the pain for the desolation of this country, which we chose with the guidance of God.

People of this country are shaken. They are contaminated by the waves of materialism and commercialism. Rev. Tony Campolo diagnoses about the problems in American society in his book 'Wake up America!' with a sharp edge. Today's consumer related society and unceasing commercials lead public to pursue satisfaction of their lives in more possession and more spending. That's why many people try to solve their spiritual desires with material possession and simple entertainments. This is the biggest illusion people have living in this era. They are mistaken.

Many couples think they would be happier if they had better cars and if they lived in bigger houses. That's why they busy themselves by working harder and more. They work more to pay bigger mortgage for bigger houses and the payment for better cars. They are fettered by the materialism. They are brain washed by spending culture and commercialism. Of course spending helps industries. You might argue that if industries are booming, there will be less unemployment and people will earn more money. If you earn more money, will you be that much happier? I cannot forget a question one of our members asked me once. Reverend, we definitely have more and live more comfortably than people who lived 100 years ago. But are we that much happier than they were?

There are some things materialistic impulse can satisfy. But there is a limit for material to satisfy. Materialistic things will not satisfy spiritual need. But, still, a lot of people live with this illusion today. We need to worry about their spirits. We need to worry about the salvation of this land, America, and the people of this country. We need to have Paul's anguish.

III.

Next week is the 50th anniversary of our church. I contemplated about the message today's scripture is teaching us as we are facing this meaningful day. Dear everyone, we need to worry about our children's spirits. We need to worry about their salvation. We need to pray so that our heritage of faith will not end. And we have to worry about the Korean community, and our people. We need to worry about their salvation. Let us worry about those Korean-American Christians who believe only with their words and heads, but not with their hands and feet. They are only half Christians. They are people with dead faith.

Furthermore, this land, we need to worry to awaken America. I wish that our church will root here as a church that worries about America. It's also good for Koreans get together to worship. But, how long will we keep that wall to isolate ourselves from the American society? As we reached our 50th year, we need to grow to be a church that awakens this country with the good news, and worry about people in America who came from all over the world.

As such church, we can start with small things. First, I wish that Korean-American Christians would obey laws. Laws are rules to keep the society in order. Before we talk about the great laws of God, we, Korean-American Christians need to obey laws, including tax laws. We need to live honestly. Also, we need to pray for this country for it won't be arrogant for their power and not be shameful before God.

After the 9-11 terrorism, ABC's Night Line dealt with the issue "Why do people hate Americans?" They introduced the opinions of Middle Eastern Countries and also they interviewed people from Islamic Temple in New Jersey. The result is that people hate America with many reasons. But the important factor is because America fully supports Israel and there are American military in Saudi Arabia, the Islamic sacred ground. Also, small countries feel that they are economic colonies of America because of the global marketing of large companies. They also mentioned that they only think about the profit of America when they penetrate these small countries. These days, it's becoming harder to sell cigarettes in America but they are selling them to the 3rd world countries knowing that cigarettes are bad for your health. Are they being conscientious?

The terrorists should be punished. They should be properly punished for the loss of innocent people and the property loss. Through this disaster, we have come to think about why people hate America and why this country is a target of terrorism. We need to think about the way for this kind of terrorism never happen again. We need to think about how this country will be respected and receive gratitude from the people around the world. We need to worry so that the people of this country will not turn their faces away from God's grace.

A new era has always been open by people, who participate, not by spectators. Now, we, Korean-American Christians, have to take part in this worry. We need to worry in great deal. We have to pray with anguished hearts for the Salvation of our children, Korean-Americans, and America, as Paul had. We need to have Paul's heart. It is time for us to worry the Paul's worry.