Title: Do You Really Love Me?
Lord, do you really love me?
February 2, 2008 (Sat) Tel Aviv Joppa Church
Text - Malachi 1:1-5
You all already know this, but was there a story like this in the humor that was popular in the past? One day, the kitten asked the mother cat: “Mom, am I a cat?”, “Well, a cat. What a pretty and lovely cat.”
But after a while, the kitten asks the mother cat again. “Mom, Mom, am I really a cat?” Perhaps this cat was going through puberty. I see you keep asking the question, ‘Who am I?’ Anyway, to this question, the mother cat smiled warmly and said, "Well, that's a cat. A very pretty cat.”
But after a while the kitten asks again. “Mom, am I really a cat?” The mother cat asks again after a while, “Yes, that’s a cat.” “Mom, am I a cat?”, “Yeah, that’s right.” This was repeated several times. Although the mother cat keeps confirming that it is a cat, the kitten keeps asking if it is a cat.
Then what did the impatient mother cat say? “Yeah, right. This is XXX,” he said, using inappropriate terms for broadcasting.
It's a funny story that was popular in the past, but I think this story must be ours. Aren't we like that sometimes too? “Am I a child of God?”, “God, do you really love me?”
When do you say this? I have these thoughts and words when I am faced with hardship, when I fail, when my path is blocked, when I am frustrated because things are not going well, when I am sick, or when I am sad.
The same is true of the Israelites in today's text. In verse 2, God says: “I have loved you”
But what did the Israelites protest against this? “How Have You Loved Us?”
If we translate this using its meaning, it is as follows. “I have loved you, and I still love you.” Then Israel asks, “Where is the evidence that the Lord loves us?”
Why are you saying this? This can be seen by looking at the current situation. Malachi was written around 460 B.C.E. At this time, the country that held the hegemony in the Middle East was Persia. And Judah at that time was only a poor and marginalized area within the Persian Empire.
It was still a colony of great powers, and there was always a threat from foreign nations, and frequent locusts and droughts often ruined their hard work, and the Israelites had to fight desperately for their survival.
Moreover, none of the promises of the coming Messiah Kingdom were fulfilled. It was a situation where everything was dark, frustrating, and nothing could be resolved.
They thought that God did not love them. In reality, there is no evidence that God loves them. In such a situation, they may ask, “Does the Lord really love us? If so, where is the evidence?”
How is it? Have any of you ever thought or said something like this? The reality is so hard and difficult, “God, am I in love?” Have you never done it? The situation was so frustrating and discouraged that I said, “God, do you really love me? If so, what is the evidence?” Have you ever complained?
When reality is too difficult and painful, when the road ahead is blocked, when you experience successive failures, when the situation is stiflingly frustrating Or, you might be able to think like this when you have lived a hard life in your own way, prayed diligently, and believed in God, but when you were given completely different results.
How is it? Have you ever thought or said something like this? So, is this correct? Is my painful and frustrating reality proof that God does not love me? If God loves me, why is this happening to me, why is God silent about my pain, and why doesn't he help me when I want so much? Isn't this proof that God doesn't love me? What do you think? Is that correct?
If our thoughts are right and the people of Israel are right, if we experience failure, hardship, pain and sorrow, it means that God does not love me. However, if you think about it carefully, it is not so easy to make such a conclusion. If you look at it that way, everyone who believes in Jesus fails in business, becomes ill with an incurable disease and dies after battling, and all those who suffer from it all become people whom God does not love.
In that way, the apostle Paul really did not receive God's love. If our thinking and the people of Israel are right, the apostle Paul is not only not loved by God, but he is close to being abandoned by God. The apostle Paul gave up everything he had. No, God made it go away. made you give up. And he was imprisoned, beaten, and suffered all kinds of hardships. In addition, there were diseases in the body.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7, the Apostle Paul says, “There is a thorn in my flesh.” The thorn in the body refers to the disease he had. According to handed down traditions and studies by scholars, the apostle Paul is believed to have suffered from various diseases. He had poor eyesight and had epilepsy.
Moreover, the apostle Paul was later taken to Rome and martyred. The horse was martyred and died horribly and painfully. Look. Judging only by our thoughts and the words of the people of Israel, it is true that the Apostle Paul really did not receive God's love, and it is true that he was an outcast.
So is David. He was promised that he would ascend to the throne of Israel, but instead of ascending to the throne, he was driven by enemies and wandered through the wilderness of Judea, slept in caves without a place to live, and instead of being respected by people, he was ridiculed and laughed at. He later became a king, but if you look at the circumstances of that time, God does not love David.
But, didn't God really love David? Did you not love the apostle Paul? Were they really not loved by God and abandoned?
No! Never. Few people have received God's love as much as David or the apostle Paul. What do you say? The point is that I should not relate God's love or not to my circumstances. We tend to think dichotomously.
When my situation is smooth, prosperous, and well-behaved, it is a blessing. On the other hand, when my situation is painful, difficult, and frustrating, I have a religious meeting asking if God really loves me. We have this dichotomous thinking and we are used to judging by it. However, this dichotomous thinking is often wrong. There are many dangerous factors.
What would you think if I fell ill or died in an accident at this age? You too can fit into this example. I feel a bit sorry for taking you guys as an example, so I'm using myself as an example.