Title: Life as Worship
life as worship
far right and far left
Imagine this. If you just believe in Jesus, you will be set free from all the conditions of life that you have to go through in the world. You don't have to make money, you don't have to eat, you don't have to listen to anyone. And add the thought that our hearts will always be filled with joy and peace. If this were to happen, the church would explode with people. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however, Christians live with all the problems and contradictions of this world just like the people of the world. No one is an exception here. The reality of life is equally very serious for the believer.
There are two extreme attitudes in the face of this harsh reality. One is to completely deny all the concrete realities and to live only in the church. They spend almost all of their time in places like churches and prayer centers. All attention is paid to mystical phenomena, such as dialects and shinyu. Even if the gap between the rich and the poor widens, the division between North and South is consolidated, even if social minorities such as foreign workers and homosexuals damage human dignity, they live as if they do not care.
The other is to be completely overwhelmed by the difficulties of reality. So they fight and participate in the same way as the rest of the world. We interpret and only deal with the world in a completely social science way, regardless of Christian spirituality.
These two extremes are undesirable for Christians. I don't need to explain at length here why it's undesirable. Just say one word. The problem of those who belong to the former is that they neglect the world and work that God has created, and the problem of those who belong to the latter is that the Christian faith becomes meaningless. The problem for both sides is that, in fact, the most essential problem is that their spirituality is not deepened or enriched. The spirituality of those who belong to the former is ideological because there is no reality of life, and the spirituality of those who belong to the latter is futile because it is cut off from the grace given by God. Neither side is Christian spirituality.
So how should I live? How can we enter the depths of the Christian life without losing sight of the realities of life? After hearing the previous story, you may have already set a certain direction. You'd think we need a way halfway between these two extremes. However, such a path is not clearly visible. And not all concrete life problems are divided into extreme right, extreme left, and center. The Bible does not give direction to our lives, but in an entirely different way.
wisdom
Today's text is a teaching on how Christians, who are “children of light,” should live. Christians are to be wise, not foolish. Look at verse 15. “Therefore, think carefully about how you should conduct yourself, and live wisely, not as fools.”
When the biblical writer refers to deep thought and wisdom, he means that he has a concrete world in mind. If a Christian can live loftily, alone, in a closet, in the desert, in the air, regardless of reality, he does not need to think deeply or be wise. Christians have to put their feet on the ground and breathe with others, eat together, and fight nerves. We need deep thinking and wisdom because we have to live by fighting all the problems of this world.
But according to verse 16, this world is “evil.” Because people 2,000 years ago are simple, it seems like they are much nicer than we are today, but in reality, it seems that was not the case. That is human nature. Whether then, now, or two thousand years from now, evil will not disappear from the human world. That is why the Bible teaches that there is a fundamental force that makes humans evil. The story of the Fall in Genesis explains it as a serpent, and the book of Job explains it as Satan. These statements of the Bible do not try to blame for our wrongdoing, but rather emphasize the ontological power of evil. Because evil times, when evil reigns, can destroy all of us.
Ladies and gentlemen, do not think only of the biblical writer's statement that “this time is evil” as an abstraction. We tend to think vaguely about these teachings. Yes, humans are sinners, or the world must end. He thinks so, but doesn't really think too much about how evil actually relates to him. Moreover, it is easy to miss the specificity of sin because it thinks that evil and sin are some kind of horned monster.
Ladies and gentlemen, evil often takes the form of a beautiful creature rather than a monster. The era that the biblical writer speaks of refers to the Roman Empire at its core. How beautiful are Roman law, military and art? The prosperity of that era still shows traces of Rome, Italy and important cities on the Mediterranean coast that it colonized. The whole world today is imitating this very Roman Empire. Economic and military omnipotence dominates us. In particular, Korea seems to be the most typical country in this regard, living in a system of unlimited competition since childhood. We may not even know that we are living as people who sell our souls in these evil times. Without thinking deeply and without wisdom, we cannot discern it at all. It is like those who are deceived by the plausible tricks of a quack pharmacist, they are blinded to the demands of this age.
the will of the Lord
So what does being wise mean? The word wisdom itself is a philosophical term. The word ‘philosophy’ is a compound word of ‘philos’ (love) and ‘sophia’ (wisdom). To love wisdom is philosophy. The biblical writer is not talking about this wisdom now. Of course, Christians do not deny wisdom in that philosophical sense, but they do not cling to it. The wisdom of the world is for our reference, not a teaching to be followed. The Bible speaks of far more ultimate wisdom than that.
The wisdom spoken of in this text is to know what “telema to curio” (the will of the Lord) is. The Lord here, of course, refers to Jesus. Some may think this answer is too cliche. People who believe in Jesus say that when they open their mouths, they say “the will of the Lord”, which is too general and clich d. That's the right story. For us today, the Lord's Telema has become a fixed model answer. But not at all for the early Christians. The Telema of the Lord was a spiritual reality that actually drives their lives.
You have a rough idea of what the Telema of the Lord is. It would be good to come to church, evangelize, and live in peace with people. This is not wrong, but not enough. If that's not enough, I could be wrong. These are some sort of laws. Of course, it's a good law. Herein lies the fine line between the Christian faith and the legal faith. The law is the standard and attitude of a right life. But at the same time, it does not contain all of the Christian faith. If the law stays within these limits, it will work for us. Rather, if it is made absolute, it will eventually undermine the essence of the Christian faith. You are not wise if you are right, but still grab hold of something that is not essential.
The Lord's will is far more fundamental than just a few standards of action. Just as the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord are events that lead us to cosmological salvation, not merely to improve or enlighten our lives. This means that we do not explicitly know the Telema of the Lord. This sounds like contradictory claims. Because we need to know the will of the Lord, which we do not explicitly know.
I guess I should explain a little bit about the word ‘I don’t know’ here. We do not know enough to explicitly explain the kingdom of God, its reign. Can we know such a world where life is perfected, thrown into a completely finite world? It is the same story that we cannot yet fully explain the resurrection. In the Middle Ages, the Pope considered the Crusades to be the Theema of the Lord. It's a huge delusion. Even now, seeing those who courageously cry out for the Lord's will is terrifying.
So what do you mean, your story has made me more confused and I don't know what to think. It's not like that. It means: We cannot judge the will of the Lord. The Holy Spirit does it. The Spirit of Truth autonomously announces his work to people. So today's text says: “Don't get drunk. A life of debauchery comes from there. You must be filled with the Holy Spirit” (verse 18). Being possessed by the Spirit is the way to know the will of the Lord. The reason the text mentions wine is probably to criticize the religious rituals of pagan groups who get drunk during worship. It is also a contrast to highlight the filling of the Holy Spirit.
praise and thanks
We have come to the conclusion that the wise life of knowing the will of the Lord is connected with the Holy Spirit. It means that I depend on the Spirit, not on my subjective judgment. Just as poets are captivated by the ontological power of language, so Christians are captivated by the power of the Spirit. What we can do is listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and obey the Holy Spirit. Just as the study of music prepares the sound to resonate in my soul, the Christian faith is ultimately about letting the Holy Spirit resonate in my soul. That is why the Bible teaches that we must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
However, we are not very good at preparing the Holy Spirit to take the lead. Because we are used to being at the forefront. They say following the Lord's will or listening to the Holy Spirit, but in reality, one's own will and one's intention are important. The more we move, the more we give, the more we give strength to this world. It is a well-known fact that today's civilization is endangering the planet. The more people are obsessed with a sense of mission to do God's work, the more the church gets drunk on their achievements.
Verses 19 and 20 of today's text accurately explain what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. “Sing the holy psalms, hymns, and spirituals all together. And sing praises to the Lord with a sincere heart. And for everything always give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” How did you hear this? This is a description of the worship we offer together today. Praise, prayer, and thanksgiving are the lives of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and conversely, they are the way to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Three things are mentioned here. First, believers should sing hymns together. True unity between people will be experienced here. Second, we must praise the Lord. It celebrates the fact that the salvation of man and all living things took place through the event of Jesus Christ. Third, we must thank God in the name of Jesus. This refers to trust that God is in charge of our lives. Through worship that contains this fact, we can abide in the Holy Spirit and understand the will of the Lord. In this sense, worship is an event of the Holy Spirit and an event of life.
In conclusion, this kind of worship should run through our entire Christian life, not just the time of worship. Whether at home, at school, at work, or at the battlefield, our daily lives should be worship. In a person who lives like this, the Holy Spirit takes hold of our souls in ways we never expected. And he teaches us what the will of the Lord is. I hope this mystery of worship will come alive in your daily life.