6th March 2022 (Lent1) Title: Relying on Scripture & Experiencing Jesus (Scripture Readings: Romans 10:8-13 & Luke 4:1-13) By Heeyoung Lim Romans 10:8 tells us, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.” Verses 9-11 deal with the word of faith. The word of faith is a message which is a compressed summary of the gospel. It is the message that a person must receive to become a Christian. What the heart believes, the mouth confesses. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. We often think of the heart as the seat of emotions, but it refers to the “seat physical, spiritual, and mental life” (Danker); in short, the whole, integrated self. Verse 12 claims there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, but there are many people who put exclusive clauses into their faith and life. Verse 13 tells us that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Anyone who believes and confesses Christ can be saved. The gospel must be sent and proclaimed for people to be saved. “All” are included; “no one” is excluded. No one is hopeless. If one confesses, believes, and trusts, one can be transformed by a spiritual renewal. Paul announces that the transforming word of salvation is near us, even in us (8). Verses 12 -13 declare that if we call upon the Lord, we will be saved from our sin. If, with our entire beings, we confess and believe, we will no longer be shamed by the residue of our sin, but rather will be enlivened, forgiven, renewed, and enriched. Furthermore, the whole world is invited to join in being raised from the ashes of sin into the radiant presence of God. God’s grace is more persistent than obstinacy and disobedience. To experience God’s saving presence, we must believe in our hearts and confess with our lips. A bounty of spiritual giftsaccompanies God’s presence. All this is of God as an act of grace. In Luke 4:1–13, when we meet Jesus in the wilderness, we find ourselves in the desert and learn from Jesus’ experience whom to trust. In such wilderness places we can choose whom to serve and equip with God’s word. May we choose wisely in Christ and equip with His word. After Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness. There Satan tempted Him to reject the Father’s plan for his ministry. Jesus passed earthly testing by the devil triumphing over Satan’s 1 temptations. His first stop was the desert, a place of isolation and desolation. Jesus followed the Spirit in faith. The stay proved long and arduous, forty days without family, friends, fellowship, or food. Only a devil ventured into the desert with Jesus. Jesus faced the tempting adversary for 40 days with no physical resources. He had to depend on spiritual strength. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit, but he was hungry for food. The first test was about serving ourselves, the second test was about serving the devil, and the third test was about making God serve us. The devil’s challenges to Jesus are not to do bad things. The first, to turn a stone into a loaf of bread, would relieve his hunger after the long fast. Bread is good, but not sufficient to do Jesus’ mission. Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.” All Jesus’ answers start “It is written or said.” He said to the devil’s second test, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” However, the devil used God’s word at the third test, and it starts “It is written.” Satan just twisted God’s word, omitted some part of Psalm 91, and used it differently. Jesus answered to the devil’s twisted word, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Jesus showed that worship belongs to God and overcame that crisis with the Word of God and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Before the temptations, Jesus fasted to devote to God’s work and His presence rather than devote time to satisfying His personal needs. Ministry and devotion took top priority over physical hunger and self- satisfaction. Jesus’ time in the wilderness is a time of testing. Facing the devil is certainly the time to face God as intensely as possible at the same time. Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness and disobeyed God, but Jesus stayed forty days in the wilderness in complete obedience to God. Verse 13 tells us, “When the devil had finished all this temptation, he left him until an opportune time.” When it comes to demon timing, Satan is not constantly on the job with us. He comes and goes. He strikes when we are most vulnerable. Then he goes on to other pursuits. However, the devil’s continued temptation is fruitless against a person who has been strengthened by previous rejections of temptation. The devil tempts all of God’s people, but Scripture is the best weapon against temptation. God wants to give them experience in relying on Scripture and experiencing Him rather than on human qualifications, methods, and abilities. 2 Jesus’ responses show His faithfulness to God and set the stage for His ministry and sacrifice. His obedience accompanies persecution, misunderstanding, and the cross. Many followers of Jesus wanted Him to free Israel, to restore an earthly kingdom marked by honour and glory. It would have required Him to say no to the salvation and love for people that are the marks of his death and resurrection. To say yes to God, the cross and suffering were required to Jesus. However, Jesus is not separated from God’s love, and the Holy Spirit fills Him, even in the moment of encounter with the devil. The Holy Spirit was with Jesus all the way from the trial period in the wilderness to

27th February 2022 (Transfiguration of Jesus) Title: Listen to Him (Scripture Readings: Exodus 34:29–35 & Luke 9:28–36)                                                                                   By Heeyoung Lim Moses obeyed God’s command to climb the mountain, where he would receive further directions from God. Once there, the Lord came down in the cloud, passed by Moses, and proclaimed His name, the LORD. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. While God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets, Moses kept his place. Moses did not eat bread or drink water for a long time to receive God’s word, but God filled his body and mind with His word. As he descended from the mountain, his face glowed. No doubt Moses gained encouragement just speaking with God face-to-face. But Moses was much more encouraged when he confirmed that God is personal rather than impersonal like false deities of surrounding nations. Moses’ new discovery about God he served has been updated through God’s words and encounter with Him. Equipped with this new discovery of the knowledge of God, Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. Moses wanted to go forth with the presence of the covenant God, who demonstrated His love by forgiving their sins and chose them as his inheritance. Moses felt God’s presence. Moses’ face shines with the reflected glory of God after receiving the Ten Commandments. He wears a veil when he delivers the commandments to the people of Israel because this radiance frightens them. Moses’ direct encounter with Yahweh caused his face to become radiant, and the people withdrew from him in fear. But Moses calmed them and did put on a veil when he spoke with them after being in God’s presence.  But when he entered God’s presence, he did not have a veil. He experienced God’s glory without a veil, and the beholding of God’s glory became a glorious privilege that new believers would enjoy. May we be blessed people who spend time with God, seek God’s presence, and see and enjoy God’s glory. As a theologian Karl Barth reminds us, “the one who makes us radiant. We ourselves cannot put on bright faces. But neither can we prevent them from shining. Looking up to him, our faces shine.” The glow comes from time alone with God. Moses and the people were able to change from fear and misunderstanding to acceptance and cooperation through God’s word.  In Christ, may we reform our spiritual life through communication and willingness to change. I believe that it will encourage trust and enable ways of being accountable to the Holy One and to one another. Just as God was at work in leading Israel through the wilderness after the exodus, God is present in and working through Jesus. Jesus took his three closest followers with him up a mountain. Peter, John, and James witness Jesus’ transfiguration on a mountaintop. Jesus turned aside to pray and taught prayer by example. As Jesus is praying, Moses and the prophet Elijah appear with him. While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. (29) As Jesus was transformed, he was joined by Moses and Elijah, also in great splendour. This is a vibrant revelation of God’s power in Christ. God’s glory and light shine in Jesus’ transfiguration. The disciples almost missed the greatest moment of revelation in Jesus’ earthly ministry prior to the cross. While Moses and Elijah appear at the mountaintop, Peter, John, and James find themselves overwhelmed with sleep. Eventually, they awoke and saw clearly that Jesus belonged in the company of the two. Peter suggests that they build three booths, one each for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Luke notes that Peter suggested but really did not understand its full point. Commitment to Jesus is not to build a sacred place. It is related to a mission that never lets a follower remain in one place. It is not about building tabernacles; it is about following Jesus to the cross. As Peter is speaking, a fog covers them. The transfiguration ends as the disciples hear the divine voice from the cloud. A cloud led the disciples away from the Mount of Transfiguration and to Mount Calvary. The cloud enclosed the disciples so they could no longer see the glory but could be assured that God was present among them. They are terrified when a voice from the cloud announces that Jesus is the chosen one and commands the disciples to listen to Him. (35) When the fog lifts, Jesus is alone again with the disciples.  How are we hearing God’s powerful and comforting message into foggy and confusing times? How can we “listen to Him” and invite others to do the same? What do we hear in these foggy times? They saw His glory, and Jesus had said he would return in glory. Later he would enter his glory after his suffering on the cross. This is glory that belongs to the heavenly realm.  Thus, the three disciples got a preview of the reigning King before He fully entered his glory. Jesus completes God’s plan of redemption and salvation by being the suffering servant. To do this, Jesus had to face the cross rather than seek the throne his followers expected. God’s presence offers us a glimpse of the resurrection promise. What was spoken to Jesus at the river of baptism is now proclaimed on the mountaintop of transfiguration, “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to Him. What voices do we need to block out if we are to listen to the Son? To what voices should we listen instead? What about the voices of those in trouble or distress, voices that

20th February 2022 (Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany) Title: Living and Loving as Disciples (Scripture Readings: Genesis 45:3–11, 15 & Luke 6:27–38)                                                                                   By Heeyoung Lim The urgent pleas by Judah on behalf of Benjamin and his father caused Joseph to move on emotionally. Joseph said to them, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living? I am the one you sold into Egypt.” In an act filled with great emotion, Joseph finally reveals his identity to his brothers. Joseph wanted his brothers to know who he was. His brothers were terrified at his presence because of their brutal treatment of him. However, Joseph said nothing about his treatment by his brothers twenty-two years before.  Joseph reframes their experience by seeing the God of liberation at work. He realized that it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of them. He stated four times that God was behind the events of his life. Joseph also revealed to his brothers the knowledge he had that the present famine would last for another five years.  Joseph believed that God had overruled their evil plan to guarantee that the family of Israel would survive. He urged them to bring their father Jacob back with them and to make plans to live in Egypt. Joseph embraced first his brother Benjamin and then all the brothers, kissed and wept over his brothers as he offered mercy to reset their relationship. Afterward his brothers talked with him, and Joseph explained his unbelievable journey of the last twenty-two years. Joseph sets himself and his brothers free with forgiveness and mercy refusing to be imprisoned by hatred and bitterness. He chooses to live by different standards, values, an alternative way of being. Joseph knew people well enough to realize that there is a difference between repentance and remorse. He exercised great patience and discernment with his brothers. But once he knew their heart, he revealed himself and experienced a joyful reconciliation. Believing God’s Word will come true can help us be patient with the circumstances of life. I believe that reconciliation is possible when people are willing to confess, forgive, and be forgiven in Christ. May we experience a joyful reconciliation in our relationships and communities. God has a plan for all of us as He had special plans for Joseph and His people.  Jesus also has plans and recipes for the disciple’s life. In Luke 6, Jesus’ words call for much more than silent endurance waiting for eternal reward. Jesus invites His disciples to repay hate with love, cursing with blessing, and exclusion with intercessory prayer. Most people have their own family and close friends, and they naturally love them. However, Jesus leads us not to pick whom to love and invites to love everyone. In addition, He tells us to do good to everyone, even the worst enemy who has put us in the persecuted, impoverished condition we are in. Jesus teaches disciples that it’s not enough to love what is easy to love. Love for others, especially those who oppose us is life’s guiding principle in accordance with today’s text.  Verse 35 says, “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” These words are given to the disciples, not for the general crowd, and it seems to be difficult to put into practice. However, Jesus continually leads His followers to greater depths of compassion and higher visions of love and inclusion. God expects from us good fruit that is shown in obedience to Him and love for others. May we love every person and receive great reward from God.  We must move forward deeper, higher, wider and love as God loves as a gift freely given, regardless of the worthiness or response. As in verse 36, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” is a call to see and reflect our own vulnerability and mutual need for forgiveness, healing, and restoration. He pushes us to move to the next stage of spiritual maturity. Even in our vulnerability, we find holiness together. Holiness can be described as wholeness God has created and allowed, and it needs to accompany divine love. Jesus relates to the wisdom of the day and interprets God’s command-ments for His time. Jesus understood scripture developmentally. Jesus’ words on the Plain set high standards, but Jesus is not asking us to be perfect on our own. Sometimes the path to holiness, the way to offer mercy, is not by what we do but by what we do not do.  As we strive to grow into the people God imagines us to be, as we follow the commandments and the way of Jesus, let us remember that what we will become is more beautiful than what we can imagine because it is God who has created us. We should not be arrogant, but we must not limit ourselves when God is keeping and leading us in His way at the same time. May we be more merciful and holy in God’s image. How many enemies do we have in our lives? How many people insulted or mistreated people’s lives without reasons? Of course, we must fight against evil in our society with the power and wisdom that God gives us and try to let God’s justice flow into this land we are in. However, our desires for mission and social justice should be based on our faith and love. We do not need to focus on other’s misbehaves or our painful situations we face.  In today’s text, the question is not how they are behaving but how much we are loving. I hope

13th February 2022 (Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany) Title: Jesus’ Blessings and A Great Reward (Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 17:5–10 & Luke 6:17–26) By Heeyoung Lim In Jeremiah 17 verses 5–8, the prophet declares that trust in God distinguishes those who are truly pious and happy from those who are not. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. The pious frequently do not enjoy discernible reward on the earth, for the priority they place on God. The challenge of this text is to make it resonate with hearers who may be living faithful but still difficult lives. The last two verses of this passage deal with the human heart and piety. The prophet emphasizes that the roots of sin are deeper than bad actions. Sin is a matter of the heart, and the human heart is often worse than we are willing to fathom. Sin is a heartfelt turn from God, just as piety is an equally heartfelt turn to God. The importance of the heart is a prominent theme in the book of Jeremiah. According to Edwards, godliness in the heart has as direct a relation to practice, as a fountain has to a stream, or as the luminous nature of the sun has to beams sent forth, or as a life has to breathing, or the beating of the pulse, or any other vital act. Christian practice or a holy life is a great and distinguishing sign of true and saving grace. Some people too easily excuse bad actions. However, this passage tells that our actions reflect our loyalties and loves perhaps more than we would like to admit. Today’s text tells us, “I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.” Are we ready for God to test our minds and search our hearts? How do we hear this on the personal level and in terms of our faith? There are the unfinished parts of ourselves. At times we are all tempted or tested. It was God’s word that called Jeremiah back to the reality of his world when Jeremiah was tempted regarding a life without worries and challenges. We all get called back to face the reality of our world and our need to be honest about ourselves. Jeremiah’s vision meant accepting the challenges of change, with faith ortrust in the God who sees deep within our hearts. May we remember not only God’s love in Christ Jesus, but the message that God searches our hearts. If God searches the heart, it means God is with us. The God who would test the heart was not to be feared, but only to be trusted. In times 1 of great change and transition, though, it is not always easy to remain faithful. In Luke 6:12-16, Jesus goes up a mountain to pray and stays all night. The next morning, he calls the disciples together and chooses twelve to be apostles. The healing begins immediately, evil spirits come out of people, and Jesus’ word brings healing. The power of Jesus must not be overlooked, but even Jesus prayed before the selection of disciples and His ministries on the earth. Prayer should precede all of life’s decisions. May we pray every day and especially before every decision we face. In verses 17-26, as Jesus and His disciples come down the mountain, a great number of healing-seeking crowds are waiting for Jesus because they want to hear Jesus’ word and be healed of their diseases. In this group, there are other disciples, Jews and Gentiles come from all over the regions. Jesus turns to the disciples and says, “Blessed are you.” Jesus used the word ‘you’ in each statement because the crowds at that time were individuals living in difficult circumstances. The phrase “blessed are” (NRSV) is translated in other Bible versions as “God will bless,” “Happy are,” and “You’re blessed when.” “Blessed” does not simply describe a state of happiness. Rather, it refers in a theological sense to ones standing before God. Likewise, the woes, though not as sharp as the pronouncements against the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, are prophetic. Luke’s use of such warnings indicates that he was familiar with adding a prophetic challenge, as compared to Matthew 5 spiritualized words of comfort. Today’s text identifies the characteristics of God’s kingdom members who receive God’s blessing. His blessings rest on the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, those who are persecuted. While Matthew 5 has eight or nine Beatitudes, Luke 6 has four blessings and followed by four woes. The poor are contrasted with the rich, the hungry are contrasted with the full, the weeping are contrasted with the laughing, and the hated and marginalized are contrasted with venerated false prophets. The unhappy poor possess the kingdom of God. The hungry will find satisfaction. Jesus will create new conditions and give laughter for those who weep. Even when loyalty to Jesus may bring persecution and suffering in the world, may we be happy in Christ and jump for joy in heaven. Jesus turned human need into human contentment. 2 Jesus’ message to those who would follow as disciples is one of amazing promise. For many in that crowd, these words may have seemed full of justice and mercy. For others, they may have seemed a harsh judgment, because Jesus speaks of the great reversal of human understanding that we encounter in the reign of God. In verse 23, Jesus said to His disciples and people, “Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.” It means a present reward in “heaven” as understood in the reversal of the social, economic, and political conditions of the poor, hungry, downcast, and marginalized. Yet for Luke, these beatitudes and woes are not to be interpreted as a type of endorsement of suffering and persecution for the sake of a heavenly

6th February 2022 (Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany) Title: Jesus’ call for Faith and Obedience (Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1–8 & Luke 5:1–11)                                                                                    By Heeyoung Lim In difficult circumstances, a young man Isaiah went to worship, saw the Lord, and had his life changed forever. God’s ministers called Seraphs are serving him and they are literally the “burning ones”. They appear only here in the Old Testament as members of God’s court. They covered their faces so they would not see the holiness of God. The prophet Isaiah stood in the divine council but identified himself with his people on earth who were unclean. Isaiah confessed that I am a man of unclean lips and dwell in the midst of a people’s sinfulness, and God accepted the prophet’s confession. (5). In today’s text, God took away his guilt and atoned for his sin, and the heat and holiness joined to prepare him to use those lips as God’s messenger. Isaiah was accepted to stand in God’s presence. When he heard God’s question, “Who will go for us?”, he volunteered, “Here am I. Send me!” Many people do not listen and cannot understand what God is saying, but God remains faithful and declares His word through His people. God called his prophet to confront a faithless king and declare judgment for the present but hope for the future. God’s people are called, cleansed, and commissioned. God calls people to be a part of His mission. God wants people to volunteer to go where he wants to send them. May we be able to respond to the voice of God calling like “Here am I. Send me!” God comes to us through Scripture and Christ. Isaiah’s experience shows both the unapproachable glory of God and how we might access God’s glory. God’s grace is achieved through not by the striving of God’s witnesses but by divine power, in the promise of renewal and the restoration at God’s appointed time. God’s promise can be expressed as holy seed, it will be blossomed and fruitful in faith. Even in our very incompetent to do what God asked, may we completely respond to God and mirror to the world in Christ. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus had witnessed their lives before calling disciples to a ministry of witness. Jesus’ eyes cuts through the din of pressing crowds and the lives and labours of common people. Jesus’ power also transforms the lives of those who hear and obey. Prior to Jesus’ call to Simon, James, and John, Jesus’ word brought the people to the lakeshore. His recent healing of the possessed man in Capernaum amazed the people and His reputation had spread rapidly and widely. When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” These are clearly hard words for Simon to hear after an unproductive night of fishing. Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Simon submits to the request as an act of obedience, and this tangible sign of obedience leads to miraculous results. God’s living word calls, pulls, and pushes people out. Simon and James and John could hardly believe their unexpected abundant catch through Jesus’ word from deep and empty waters. They were amazed and yet afraid. The word came to them and captured them. They left boats and nets and followed Jesus. Jesus’ living word cuts through our daily life with the gift of grace and freedom that enables one to leave old way to follow Jesus.  A sense of expectation accompanies Jesus’ command to set out the nets again. In accordance with some biblical commentaries, several types of fishing nets were used in those times, depending on conditions. The net Jesus tells them to let down is a trammel net, commonly used in night-time fishing. It was the wrong type to use in daytime, as its web could be easily avoided by the fish and would be visible to the fish in the daytime. Simon knows this; however, the fishers follow Jesus’ command. He simply says, “But at your word I will let down the nets.” Even when Jesus wanted them to do extra work in different means they never experienced before, they obeyed Jesus’ words and followed Him rather than arguing or showing off. The miraculous catch of fish that fishermen could not do with their skills was unexpected, and the means of catching was also different with tradition. Jesus responds with both assurance and commission. He said to His disciples, “do not be afraid” and “you will be catching people”. Jesus invites Simon and the others to join with Him in proclaiming the reign of God. Jesus has revealed his power through his teaching, his miracles, and his calling of disciples to follow him in his mission.  We are called to cast a net of God’s way of love, justice, and peace and gather all people into abundant life and God’s work. How do we respond to Jesus? May we expect to find Jesus at work revealing Himself in the midst of human need. Jesus is the source of all power. Let Him be the power source in every area of life. Jesus’ divine power and authority give us reason to follow Him in the new ways which human tradition cannot do.  Jesus’ power is much bigger than what we know and how we have always done it. Jesus invites Simon to cast those nets that he had just finished cleaning once more. Jesus’ call and word take us to much bigger place than our capabilities and our comfort zones through our faith and obedience. Do we still stay where we’re comfortable? God will