3-10-24 “The People of the Bible”

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“The People of the Bible”

(Membership Caring Month #2)

 I want to start with something funny that I found on an internet site: Sam shows up at a revival meeting, seeking help. “I need you to pray for my hearing,” he tells the preacher. The preacher puts his fingers on Sam’s ears and prays and prays. When he’s done, he asks, “How’s your hearing now?” “I don’t know,” says Sam. “I don’t go to court till next Tuesday.”

Sometimes we miscommunicate because of cultural differences, paradoxical idioms, different accents, or different meanings of a word we use, like in that funny story. I know some of you still have difficulties understanding my accent. I appreciate all your comments that responded to the question, “What do you expect from me as your pastor?” in my Resolution List in 2024. Some comments made me confident in continuing my pastoral and leadership ways; some comments challenged me to grow. All your comments are helpful to me, whether they challenge me or give me confidence. My purpose in asking the question is to listen to your honest voices in order to develop our relationship in Jesus Christ.

It was not the first time I asked, “what do you expect from me as your pastor.” When I first arrived here at Upper St. Croix Parish, I asked the church leaders about their expectations for me as the new pastor. Their expectations can be summarized as follows:

1. Provide a sermon manuscript for those with hearing aids.
2. Visit homebound members, as well as those in nursing homes or hospitals.
3. Managing a Facebook presence to connect the three churches in the Parish.
4. Avoid preaching on political issues and expressing personal political opinions.
5. Expand ministry efforts to include youth and children due to the aging population in the parish, currently consisting mostly of senior members.

I held their concerns and expectations in my prayers, intending to incorporate them into my ministry thus far. Now I want to listen to all of you— not only committee members, but all of our congregants—because I want to move forward with you together. Again, I appreciate all your comments.

As we observe March as “Membership Caring Month,” today, for the second session of my sermon series, I want to talk about “the People of the Bible.” When did you first read the Bible, and why do you continue to read it? As Christians, reading the Bible is very significant because it guides us on the way of salvation. Galatians 3:25 says, “The law (the Scripture) was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”

When I was in a hospital due to a broken spine, I began to seriously consider the Book of the Bible for the first time. In the midst of my hopelessness, a pastor and his wife, who my mother attends the church with, visited me in the hospital. After praying for me, the pastor’s wife said, “Sister, please read the Book of the Bible. Then, God will heal you, and you may walk again.” At that time, my doctor had told me, “I wouldn’t be able to walk again.” However, the pastor’s wife assured me, handing me her Bible, “If you read the Book of Bible, you can walk again.” If you were in my shoes, what would you have done? I threw the Bible away after they left my hospital room because I felt they cursed me, saying I wouldn’t walk again.

Recalling that time, if I were there again, I might have read it, hoping I could walk again even though I didn’t know about God. However, I realized this much later: The Bible is a blessing to the believers, but a curse to unbelievers because the believers see salvation through both Christ’s death and resurrection, while unbelievers see only punishment through Christ’s death. My foolishness took me longer to recognize how important the Bible is to start my faith journey.

One day, another pastor visited me and prayed for me. I felt a strange warmth in my heart, which reminded me of what the previous pastor’s wife had said, “Sister, please read the Book of the Bible, then God may heal you so you can walk again.” So, I began reading the Bible. Eventually, I was able to walk again. You know, I don’t believe that the Bible itself is a miraculous book, but I do believe that it guided me to Christ, who is the way of the salvation. In other words, the Bible guided me to grow my faith in God.

Today’s scripture says, “how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Yes, the scripture is able to instruct us for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus because “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

Since I began my faith journey, I have faced many challenges. The first one was when I planted a new church after graduating from a seminary. On the day we had a celebratory service for the new church planting, my father passed away that night. My father had been ill and couldn’t attend the service. But he used to say, “I will be a custodian when you plant a new church.” Then, my mother returned home after attending the service and said to my father, “Honey, your daughter started a new church today. So, you should get up and be a custodian at her church as you said.” It was then that my father passed away during the night.

I was disappointed because I believed that God might heal my father when I started the new church since he used to say, “I will be a custodian at your church.” I was confused in my faith, wondering if it was the right way to continue my ministry. However, my mother advised me, “Your father has gone to his eternal home that Jesus prepared for him. He will be a custodian at your ministry wherever you go.”  My mother encouraged me to keep going with my ministry and supported me in many ways with her prayers.

On the fifth year of my ministry, my mother had a stroke and was hospitalized. Before she passed away, she left me with her last wish, “Go to America, study more and become a pastor there.” Why? Why did this happen to me? As soon as I was released from hospital, I went to a seminary; after graduating, I planted a new church. What did I do wrong in the eyes of God? I was so disappointed with God, and it challenged my faith. I went to a prayer place on a mountaintop, fasting and wrestling with God and my faith.

Then, I began to read the Bible seriously, seeking to find God’s will within its pages. After fasting for forty days, I came to realize that I died in Jesus Christ when I was in the hospital, but I had not yet been reborn in my faith journey. So, I began to question God, asking “why?” I prayed that I would die and join my mother in the realm of grief. While reading the scripture, I discovered a secret in Galatians 2:20; the Apostle says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Yes, I am born again in Him through the Word of God. I no longer belong to myself, but to Him.

Remember that when you lose your way in your faith journey, the Bible guides you to find the way. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” We are the people of the Bible, who follow the scripture’s guidance. The scripture is the best GPS, which never lets us lose our way to the will of God in Jesus Christ. Keep reading the Bible always! It guides you all the time! Thanks be to God. Amen!