Obey and pray… (Hebrews 13:17-21) 121009

I love this passage. It really speaks to my heart. It really encapsulates my desire for the church; that is for the church to obey its leaders and submit to their authority (v17). As a pastor, also as a leader of the church, I constantly struggle with members challenging my authority. I am not an authoritarian person by nature, on contrary, I am one who do not like to confront or in conflict. But I am a firm believer that I have authority over my members, not because I am smarter or better or even more spiritual; but because of the authority of the Scripture.

As a pastor and a preacher, I have to constantly learn to lead with the authority of the Word of God. There are times I will be tempted to rely on my exegesis, commentaries, or my cleverness to prepare a sermon, but I realize that my preaching will be only like hot air balloon; look high and mighty, but without any weight. Unless I firstly submit to the authority of the Holy Scripture, no one else will submit to the sermon I preach in the name of God.

The author of Hebrews reminds his readers in verse 17 to obey their leaders, so that their leaders will continue to serve them with joy, without burden. I think this is an excellent win-win situation in a church. Can you imagine your pastor always have to come before God to pray for his members who are not submitting and creating problems, instead of praying for their welfare and spiritual growth?

And then the author of Hebrews also asks his readers to pray for him and his team of leaders (v18), especially for his restoration (v19). There isn’t much information about why does he need to be restored, but likelihood that the author belongs to the church whereby his readers belong to, and he might be imprisoned for his faith. Anyway, the author, also as a leader, longs to be with his congregation; just like me as a pastor, I always like to be with my members.

Then this passage ends with referring Jesus as the great Shepherd of the sheep. As I read to this point, I am reminded of my calling as a shepherd. I know that I have a great Shepherd over me. I know that I need to shepherd my sheep as the great Shepherd shepherds me. This is what pleasing to Him (v21).

This is it. The reason I obey, I pray, and I shepherd is to be pleasing to God, the great Shepherd. But start by obey and pray.


HHS…

Abel…

Do good… (Hebrews 13:15-16) 091009

I am trying to love. I am trying to love my wife by doing the ‘Love Dare’. I am surprised that it is not easy to love! I am surprised that it is not easy to love my wife though I think I love her. Love is not about thinking. Love is about sacrificing. Love is about giving of self to others. Love is about doing good and sharing with others (v16).

As a Christian, I am supposed to be a loving person; but it is hard. When the author of Hebrews wants us to continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise through Jesus (v15), he is inferring that ‘Since a loving God is working out his purposes all the time, there are no circumstances in which praise should not be offered (cf. 1 Thess 5:18). The sacrifice is further explained in an expression from Hosea 14:2 (LXX 14:3; cf. Prov 18:20), "the fruit of lips that confess his name." In the light of the Cross, there is no room for sacrifices such as those the Jews offered. Now believers offer the sacrifice of praise and acknowledge Christ.’ (Leon Morris, Expositor)

And such love must results in action: do good and to share with others (v16). I remember a sermon I preached in the Chinese Ministry some times ago, it is commonly called the ‘Good Samaritan’ (Luke 10:30-37). The main point of the parable is not about the Good Samaritan; it is about answering the question of an expert of the law: What must I do to inherit eternal life? (Luke 10:25) The final answer that Jesus gives is found after the parable: Go and do likewise. Do like what?

Do like the Good Samaritan does: loving people even he has to be inconvenient, even he has to pay a price, and even he has to do good to hi enemy (Jews and Samaritans are enemies to each other).

The standard for doing good in the bible is very high. I can do it myself. Will I stop by on the expressway if I see someone’s car is stalled and needed help? Maybe not. Will I pay to renovate the house of an elderly who is staying alone? Maybe not. Will I love and still do good to those whom have been opposing me and criticizing my ministry? Maybe not. Will you?

But such sacrifice and such action of love is what pleases God. So, do good.

HHS…
Abel….

City that is to come… (Hebrews 13:11-14) 081009

Living in an urban city like Singapore can be very stressful. The pace of development is driving Singaporean to have a faster pace of lifestyle. We used to take an hour or more of bus ride from one place to another, and now we will consider spending more than an hour on the road to get from one place to another is unforgivable.

Recently, my family gave me a family car; and I find that I begin to be able to fetch people around and visit more people. In other words, I am doing more than before; I am getting myself more things to do. I begin to make more appointments, and giving myself lesser or even no room for resting. And this morning, when I woke up later than my wife, I knew that I have overworked in the past few days. I need to slow down, but how can I do so in this city?

As I read and meditate on today’s passage, I am being drawn to what Jesus had done for me. He came and died, so that I might have life. And the question I ask myself is: what kind of life Jesus would want me to have? I pause and ponder. I stop and soak in His presence. I know the answer: To live a life that is Spirit led and at peace with God; even in the midst of this busy and fast-paced city.

The author of Hebrews keeps using the idea of inside and outside to remind his readers about the work of Christ is to be among His people. There is no more inside, the grace of God moves to the outside. I think the challenge is for me to be in the city but not be of the city. Does it sound like Romans 12? How can we live a life which still in sync with God in the midst of this hectic society called Singapore?

I think the answer by the author of Hebrews is to look forward to the city that is to come, to be reminded that I don’t really belong to here; I belong to the eternal city that is to come. This is my hope. As I drive through a massive traffic jam, I praise God for freezing that moment for me to sing praises to God in my car or have a heart to heart talk to the one sitting next to me in the car; this has value to the city that is to come. As I am waiting for my turn during a medical appointment in a government hospital, I read and meditate on His Word which will never fail or exchanging stories with other patients; so that they may also experience my city that is to come.

Do you have a city that is to come? Start building that city, because we will be there in time to come.

HHS…

Abel…

Yesterday… Today… Forever… (Hebrews 13:7-10) 071009

I have not updated this blog for about 3 weeks! I have been lazy (though I may spiritualize it as being busy preparing sermons). It is now no longer secret that I will be moving on in ministry; from the English service over to the Chinese Service. I am going to be Chinese pastor! As I look at my journey in serving the Lord; I have served the youths as a youth director, I have being leading small group of young adults (now they are young working adults or young parents), I have also been serving children in Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade (BBGB) ministry, and my latest portfolio was Christian Education for the church. In other words, I have practically served all age-groups except the senior folks; and now as I move on to the Chinese ministry, which is mainly senior folks, I am completing my cycle of ministries.

On the other hand, as I moved around, or being moved around, I have to keep adjusting my style and method of doing ministry. I simply cannot relate or speak to the children in the BBGB ministry the same way I relate or speak to a youth in church. Sometime, I get so tired of changing. But there is one thing which will never change: Jesus Christ. He is the same yester, today and forever (v8). His Word also doesn’t change. And this is probably why it is important to have the Word of God in our life, and more importantly, to live it out, just like the leaders mentioned by the author of Hebrews (v7).

As I step into the uncertainty of my future in the Chinese ministry, I know one thing for sure; I have to be faithful to the Word of God. As I learn and adjust my mentally to plan and organize and lead the Chinese ministry, I have to keep this one thing in mind; to keep the Word of God central. As I may be discouraged and disappointed by people and even results in the future years of the Chinese Ministry, I have to keep focus and my hope in one thing; Jesus Christ who is in the Word of God.

The author of Hebrews warns his readers that there will be all kinds of strange teachings (v9) and also all kinds of strange practices (v10) which will distract us from going after Christ. But remember one thing: the teaching of the leaders which is from the Word of God. This will direct us to Christ, this will draw us to the Lord, and this will deepen our relationship with Jesus; because the Word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Trends will change, culture will change, ministry will change, people will change, government will also change, and even some time our views on theology will also change; but Christ never change, His Word never change. It is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Yes, forever.


HHS…
Abel…

Marriage and Money… (Hebrews 13-4-6) 160909

One night, I was trying to figure out how long have my wife and I been married. By next year, it will be ten years! Ten years, I have been living with my wife for ten good and bad years by the end of next year. We look at each other with amazement, and perhaps with amusement. For past nine years, we have gone through much in our marriage. We had lost almost all of our friends in the beginning of this relationship; we had a miscarriage of our first child; we had an income reduction when I decided to step into full-time ministry with the church; we had a further income reduction when I decided to stop working for three full years to study in a Bible College (it was when our daughter arrival); we had gone through a family crisis when my father had to go through a major surgery and I was experiencing a serious burnout and depression perhaps as my daughter arrival; and recently we decided to make a radical change in our service to the Lord to move on to something really new to us.

I am thankful for my wife, I think she is crazy and out of her mind, when she decided to marry me, and went through all these with me for the past nine years. I am really thankful to her. I believe this is marriage, it is when two share each other joy and struggles; it is when two share each other intolerable habits and behavior; but still honors each other. No wonder the author of Hebrews insists that marriage is to be honored by all (v4).

Then the author moves on talk about the love of money. He exhorts his readers to keep their lives free from the love of money. In other words, live a simple life. And the main trust here is to trust God, for He is trustworthy.

As I ponder and meditate on these verses, I think they speak about how we maintain a life which is simple and in contentment. I think when a man or woman commits adultery or sex outside the marriage; it is an expression that he or she is not contented with what his or her spouse can offer sexually. They are looking out for more, they are not contented. And it is the same with money, we can never have enough. The more we have, the more we want to have. This is utterly discontentment. This is greed. This is the root of our sinful nature. We want more than what God has given us. Adam and Eve wanted to have wisdom more than what God has already given them to be dominion over the earth. We want more sex than what our spouse can give it to us. We want more money than what we need. But our real need is to have God to be with us. If God has forsaken me and leave me, there is nothing else I can have to replace Him.

Are you unhappy with your marriage? Go home and give him or her a good big hug! And maybe have a night of good date and even sex (I hope this is not too R-Rated)! Are you loving your job, your money and your possession more than you need? Maybe it is time to learn to give away more (you can give them to me if you don’t know who to give them to) and learn to live simpler.

There was a saying: Live simple, so that other can simply live. But I would add that Live simple, so that God can simply live in you!


HHS…

Abel…

Keep on loving… (Hebrews 13:1-3) 140909

I think the most distinctive feature of a Christian is love. I am not referring to mushy romantic kind of love here, neither am I referring to loving-in-exchange-for-something kind of love. I am referring to the kind of love which is an outward expression of God’s amazing grace and wonderful works in our lives. Christians call it unconditional love of God, and most Christians believe that only God can have such kind of love. But I think the kind of love which the author of Hebrews is referring here in verse 1 is the same kind of love which we call the ‘unconditional love’, and we as Christians should be expressing it in our lives.

There are three groups of people the author exhorts us to love, or rather keep on loving. In other words, our love for others is not a one-off event; it is an ongoing activity and habit of our lives. We are told by the author to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (v1), strangers (v2) and prisoners (v3).

Well, it is not so difficult to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ; after all they are supposed to be nice people. But the truth is that it is actually not so easy to love Christians. I confess that I have difficulty loving some of my Christian so-called friends. (I am not going to elaborate here, because I work in an all-Christians environment!)

Therefore, sometimes, it is easier to love a stranger; because there is no string attached. When the author mentions that we might be entertaining angels without knowing it, he is probably alluding to Abraham, when he showed hospitality to his heavenly visitors in Gen. 18:2 – 15. For me to buy a meal for a stranger who has been starving for days, it is easy, though might be inconvenient at times. But the author challenge for us is to keep on loving. Keep on loving a stranger? This sounds strange. How can a stranger be a stranger if we keep on loving, keeping remembering and keeping on entertaining him? He will be a friend or even a brother in Christ by then. I think this is the point of the author. He wants us to ‘entertain’ stranger in into God’s family. He wants us to treat strangers as if they might be angels. He wants us to keep on loving.

And then lastly, he wants us to remember those who are in prison, those who are suffering, those who are being mistreated, those who are on the fringe and those who are being neglected. He wants us to suffer with them. He wants us to identify with them. He wants us to at least, remember them.

Do you have people around you who are in these categories? There are people who are being marginalized by the society. These people are around you and me. In my church, there are the girls from Andrew and Grace Home. These girls might have been behaving badly in the past, they might have committed some mistakes or crimes in the past, but they might also be unfairly treated by their family, friends, and even society in the past. They are in my church, every Sunday, but do you even notice them? Do you even remember them or even their names? Maybe this is one thing we can do, get to know the name of at least one of these girls, remember them in your prayer everyday, keep on greeting them in church whenever you see them, and keep on loving them.

HHS…

Abel…

Do not be shaken… (Hebrews 12:25-28) 110909

Today is 9/11. Something happened eight years ago took the entire world by surprise and changed the way we lived and believed. Many were shocked by the event; many had lost their faith in the superpower government; many began to live in fear and in suspicious of one another. The world had changed.

As I read and meditate on today’s passage, I was shaken by the Word. I was shaken by the truth and reality that the world will one day be consumed, one day all that I have achieved will be considered rubbish, and all that I have accumulated will be gone and become worthless ashes. But the good news is that, there is something that will not be shaken: God’s Kingdom!

When I was still a theological student, I have to struggle with the topic on Eschatology; which is the study of the end times. One of the issues in this study is our understanding of Millennium Kingdom of God. Is it going to be a literal rule of Christ for a literal one thousand years (millennium means a thousand years)? Or is it going to be a literal rule of Christ or Christians for a symbolic millennium (an arbitrary period of time)? Or is it going to be a spiritual rule of Christ in heart of Christians for a symbolic millennium (from the point when a person believes in Christ)? There are many possibilities and views, because the Bible is not specific about it and we as interpreters of the Scripture have our worldviews and creatively interpreted accordingly to our preference worldview.

But as a good Presbyterian, I think the Kingdom of God has begun the moment when we believed in Him; and we are looking forward to a literal ruling of Christ or Christians in the future before the end. But no matter what views we take or believe in, the Kingdom of God will not be shaken and cannot be shaken (v28). This means that we who are Christians who have been grafted into the Kingdom of God, now and forever, will also not be shaken!

Therefore, let us be thankful and so worship God (v28). This is our only and right response. Are you facing a crisis in your job whereby your faith has been shaken? Stand on the Kingdom of God within you and give thanks for the many good years He has given you. Are you facing a crisis at home whereby you do not know how to discipline your child or how to take care of your sickly parents? Stand on the solid rock which is the church of Jesus Christ, worshiping Him. I have no guarantee that your crisis will be gone, but I can be sure that your perspective about those crises will be changed as you learn to be thankful and worship. Do not be shaken.


HHS…
Abel…