8-11-24 “The Love of God for Everyone!”
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“The Love of God for Everyone!”
I want to start something funny that I found on an internet site: A ninety-five year old lady at the nursing home received a visit from one of her fellow church members. “How are you feeling, Mary?” the visitor asked. “Oh,” said the lady, “I’m just worried sick!” “What are you worried about, dear?” her friend asked. “You look like you’re in good health. They are taking care of you, aren’t they?” “Yes, they are taking very good care of me.” “Are you in any pain?” she asked. “No, I have never had a pain in my life.” “Well, what are you worried about?” her friend asked again. The lady leaned back in her rocking chair and slowly explained her major worry. “Every close friend I ever had has already died and gone on to heaven. I’m afraid they’re all wondering where I went.”
What is your main concern about? I noticed there is one main concern of most elderly people I have met through my visits to different nursing homes. Can you guess what it is? Maybe being alone, loneliness, being sick, pain, or dying? Nope, that’s not their main concern. They can endure pain, sickness, or even being alone. But what holds their concern is their adult children. Even though their children are in their fifties, sixties, or even their seventies, they still worry about them. It’s because they still think of them as babies who need to be cared for by them, especially if they are unmarried or single. Is that true?
I still remember my mother’s last words. She was so worried about me, saying, “I am sorry I offered you to God. I worry that you will live alone on your ministry journey. Please go to America, study more, and become a pastor there.” For my mother, I was her greatest concern. She seemed to know it was time to go back to God. However, she didn’t worry about death, but about my siblings and me, and whether we would keep our faith in God. Most Christians don’t fear death because they believe in eternal life, but they worry about their current worldly life. This is because they know that it is not easy for Christians to keep their faith in God in this world.
On the other hand, non-Christians have more fear about death. Some people say, “Human life is a picnic. After finishing a picnic, everyone should go back home.” Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) said that “Humans, from the moment of birth, carry the embryo of death within their bodies, slowly nurturing it as they walk towards death.” In other words, from their birth, all human beings grow in death. The scripture says, “for dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). This is very familiar to us, right? We often hear these words on Ash Wednesday. It seems so sad if you believe our lives in this world is all there is. At least for Christians, who believe in eternal life, it sounds sad.
However, the scripture says, even if our physical bodies perish, our spirits shall not perish but have eternal life. The Gospel of John 3:16 states this clearly: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” As I meditated on this verse, I felt full of God’s grace and love. It says, “Whoever believe in Jesus Christ, shall not perish but have eternal life.” This means regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, or any social and class status-all will have eternal life.
Some of you may remember that I shared my story. I grew up in a patriarchal family, which means it was a male-centered family. When I was born, my grandfather ordered the heater in the delivery room to be turned off because my mother had delivered a girl. So, I grew up in the strength of cold weather. When I was a teenager, my grandfather didn’t allow me to go to high school, so I could only attend a boarding school through a full scholarship. When I attended a Korean Methodist Church, they rejected my father and me from Communion because we were not baptized yet. I planted two new Korean Congregation churches, but they didn’t allow me to be a lead pastor because I am a woman. But God sent me to the United Methodist Church, which is open-minded, open-hearted, and open-doored to everyone. Yes, I have experienced many discriminations. However, whenever I struggled with discrimination, God didn’t remove that situation for me, but delivered me to another safe place. Is this something that only happened to me? You know yourself how God has protected you. God is the author of our lives. God writes our life’s story in a better way than we could possibly plan or dream.
Today’s scripture shows an example that you should never follow. It’s funny to comment not to follow scripture, right? In today’s scripture, Jesus preaches a serious sermon. He begins with this: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” After hearing this, how does that make you feel? For me, I would say, “Please give me the bread so that I am never hungry or thirsty.” Or “How can we have the bread that ensures we are never hungry?” However, some people in the scripture missed the point, saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’” The matter is not the tangible environment, but the invisible truth. There is the invisible seed of eternal life in the visible Jesus. Don’t follow visible and changeable things. Don’t look for the environment; look for the truth and the life.
Do you know why many Israelites died in the wilderness even though they left from Egypt for the Promised Land? It was because they complained about their visible circumstances. They complained about hunger, thirst, tiredness, sickness, and so on, but they couldn’t perceive how God walked with them, feeding them manna, turning bitter water sweet, shading them with a cloud under the sun, and protecting them with fire at night. The scripture says, “During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 29:5-6) However, they couldn’t grasp the true issue. For God so loved all people who pursue visible things that He sent the visible God, Jesus Christ, but people still didn’t realize He is the bread of life. Our confession of faith is to receive the bread and wine (grape juice) at Communion. The elements of Communion, the bread and grape juice, are not the actual body and blood of Christ. However, as we believe them to be symbols of the body and blood of Christ given to us, they become signs that we receive eternal life through Jesus Christ.
When the Israelites were afflicted by poisonous snakes, God, in His love, provided a remedy. He instructed them that if anyone looked up at the bronze snake on a pole, they would be cured. Some believed in God, looked up, and were healed, but others complained, asking, “What is the purpose of that bronze snake?” and died in the wilderness without reaching the Promised Land.
Please keep your faith in God. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ by the grace of God. God’s love is extended to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. God loves you! God sent Jesus Christ for you. God is writing your life story in this world, but He hasn’t finished it yet. Be patient and trust in God. And, let’s see how God works for us! God bless you! Thanks be to God. Amen!