Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Rich Man
The Story
Imagine a rich man coming. He would come to you and say, “My child, I want to adopt you. I am giving you authority over my estate. Run the business with me. Travel all over the world. Live in the mansion with me.”
How would you feel? Happy, loved, thankful. Wow.
You would immediately abandon everything behind. Leave your job for you no longer have to work, you now have a lot of money. You can buy anything. You have a Ferrari. You have an airplane. You have so many servants who’d do as you command them. You are now a CEO.
“But in one condition,” the rich man says, “Follow my rules. Respect me as your father. No smoking. No drinking. No gambling. No parties. No women/men lovers. No wasting of money for expensive things you would not need. No selfishness. No greed. No arrogance. No swear words. No hating people. No turning your back on me when I tell you to do something for me. You have to listen to everything I say.”
However….You are already enjoying the rich life. No more worries and fear of poverty and suffering. But you still want to do things the rich man says No. You want to do your own way. You don’t want anyone to be a master of you.
You kill the rich man, your adopted father, who has given you the wealth you do not deserve, so you can do whatever you like with your unearned, freely given wealth.
However, there are witnesses. They report you to authorities. You are taken to prison with a term of 10 years and after 10 years, death penalty by electric chair.
One year later, you find that the rich man is alive. Should you be scared? Maybe he will lengthen your prison term to 30 years and your death penalty to beheading. Or whip you now or butcher you until you die. You should be scared because he is rich and he can do anything what he wants done.
A week after you’ve known he’s alive, he comes to visit you. Oh no. What’s he going to do?
The rich man says to you, “I am an honest and faithful man. I can pay what I want done to you….I can release you from prison now, but I follow the law. I have let my own biological son be put in prison for your sake. My son, whom I love so much, is willing to be in prison so you, my adopted child, can come back home with me. It hurts me to see you rot in prison for you are my own, you are my child. I am your father. I love you. Come back home with me.”
God the Father is like that. We disobey Him. We break His heart. We murder Him with our sinfulness. But He let His own Son, Jesus Christ, to take our punishment, to take our curse, so we can go back with God in Paradise.
Back to the story: You’re now back at the mansion. What are you going to do? You don’t to deserve to be back there. You don’t deserve to be released from prison. Moreover, you don’t deserve for someone, the rich man’s biological son, to take your place in prison. You’re going to obey the rules, follow the law. Do what the rich man tells you to do. You’re going to love him back, because he loves you. You’re going to want to get to know him more. And of all people, he chooses you.
Prayer
Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, Lord and Savior
Thank you for being our chief Prophet and great Teacher, for showing us the Father, for giving us your Word, for giving us the Bible to know you more and more.
Thank you for being our only great High Priest, for laying you own life, dying on the cross, a curse for criminals. You were neither a criminal nor a sinner like us, but you took our death, our punishment so you can bring your people back to you. Because you are perfect and sinless, you are God; you broke the curse of death by coming back to life and going back to heaven to intercede for those who call on you as their Lord and Savior.
Thank you for being our Lord and great King. You are not just an ordinary ruler of a country or the earth. You are a ruler of all things. You govern and you are in charge of our lives. You exercise all authority over all things in heaven and on earth. You are faithful. You will establish and guard your people to the evil one. You control everything in the world around us and through the power of Holy Spirit dwelling within your people.
God, forgive us. We are not our own. We are yours. Mold us to be like you.
Bless us, dear God, our jobs, this company, our leaders, our families, our friends, our churches, our country. Bless us and may we glorify you, praise you, and proclaim you.
Yours is your kingdom, your power, your glory.
In your name, Amen.
Luke 12:32
Imagine a rich man coming. He would come to you and say, “My child, I want to adopt you. I am giving you authority over my estate. Run the business with me. Travel all over the world. Live in the mansion with me.”
How would you feel? Happy, loved, thankful. Wow.
You would immediately abandon everything behind. Leave your job for you no longer have to work, you now have a lot of money. You can buy anything. You have a Ferrari. You have an airplane. You have so many servants who’d do as you command them. You are now a CEO.
“But in one condition,” the rich man says, “Follow my rules. Respect me as your father. No smoking. No drinking. No gambling. No parties. No women/men lovers. No wasting of money for expensive things you would not need. No selfishness. No greed. No arrogance. No swear words. No hating people. No turning your back on me when I tell you to do something for me. You have to listen to everything I say.”
However….You are already enjoying the rich life. No more worries and fear of poverty and suffering. But you still want to do things the rich man says No. You want to do your own way. You don’t want anyone to be a master of you.
However, there are witnesses. They report you to authorities. You are taken to prison with a term of 10 years and after 10 years, death penalty by electric chair.
One year later, you find that the rich man is alive. Should you be scared? Maybe he will lengthen your prison term to 30 years and your death penalty to beheading. Or whip you now or butcher you until you die. You should be scared because he is rich and he can do anything what he wants done.
A week after you’ve known he’s alive, he comes to visit you. Oh no. What’s he going to do?
The rich man says to you, “I am an honest and faithful man. I can pay what I want done to you….I can release you from prison now, but I follow the law. I have let my own biological son be put in prison for your sake. My son, whom I love so much, is willing to be in prison so you, my adopted child, can come back home with me. It hurts me to see you rot in prison for you are my own, you are my child. I am your father. I love you. Come back home with me.”
God the Father is like that. We disobey Him. We break His heart. We murder Him with our sinfulness. But He let His own Son, Jesus Christ, to take our punishment, to take our curse, so we can go back with God in Paradise.
Prayer
Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, Lord and Savior
Thank you for being our chief Prophet and great Teacher, for showing us the Father, for giving us your Word, for giving us the Bible to know you more and more.
Thank you for being our only great High Priest, for laying you own life, dying on the cross, a curse for criminals. You were neither a criminal nor a sinner like us, but you took our death, our punishment so you can bring your people back to you. Because you are perfect and sinless, you are God; you broke the curse of death by coming back to life and going back to heaven to intercede for those who call on you as their Lord and Savior.
Thank you for being our Lord and great King. You are not just an ordinary ruler of a country or the earth. You are a ruler of all things. You govern and you are in charge of our lives. You exercise all authority over all things in heaven and on earth. You are faithful. You will establish and guard your people to the evil one. You control everything in the world around us and through the power of Holy Spirit dwelling within your people.
God, forgive us. We are not our own. We are yours. Mold us to be like you.
Bless us, dear God, our jobs, this company, our leaders, our families, our friends, our churches, our country. Bless us and may we glorify you, praise you, and proclaim you.
Yours is your kingdom, your power, your glory.
In your name, Amen.
Luke 12:32
- Fear not, little flock [children], for it is your Father [in heaven, for it is his] good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
D. Yam (The Great Commission)
Quotes from the sermon:
"We are here not to accomplish great things for Him, but we are here to make disciples."
"We are here not to accomplish great things for Him, but we are here to make disciples."
"I cannot save souls, but I can proclaim the good news to souls."
More about Martin Luther
Martin Luther: The Man and His Mind (Robert Kolb)
"One of his monastic fathers counseled him to look to the blood of Christ. The head of his order for Germany, his good friend in the Augustinian brotherhood, Johann von Staupitz, assured him that God had chosen him unconditionally and washed his sins away in Christ's blood. But it took a long time for this message to sink in."
"...he struggled with his own depression over his alienation from God. With great energy he threw himself into the study of the texts..."
Martin Luther says to the Devil
"I am a Christian, of the same flesh and blood as is my Lord Christ, the Son of God. Settle your account with him."
"When the devil comes during the night to plague me, I give him this answer: 'Devil, I must sleep now; for this is God's command: Work during the day, sleep at night.' If he does not stop to vex me but faces me with my sins, I reply: 'Dear devil, I have heard the record. But I have committed far more sins which do not even stand in your record. Put them down too. . . . . ' If he still does not stop accusing me as a sinner, I say to him in contempt: "Holy Satan, pray for me! You never have done anything evil and alone are holy. Go to God and acquire grace for yourself. If you want to make me righteous, I tell you: Physician heal yourself."
"The devil has often raised a racket in the house and has tried to scare me, but I appealed to my calling and said, 'I know that God has placed me into this house to be lord here. Now if you have a call that is stronger than mine and are lord here, then stay where you are. But I well know that you are not lord here and that you belong in a different place - down in hell.' And so I fell asleep again and let him be angry, for I well knew that he could do nothing to me."Ref: How Martin Dealt With the Devil
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