Title Expression / Luke 17:11-19 (Thanksgiving)
Contents
Bible: Luke 17:11-19
Title: expression
With your prayers and love, I'm back from my last week in Japan. Japan is a country very close to us, but I don't know why it feels so far away. From every aspect, Japan is a developed country and an economic power. It's a country that's done really well. There is nothing to criticize either. The further you go into the countryside, the better it gets. It felt like I was in America.
Although wealthy and active, Japan is the most difficult country in the world to take root of the Gospel. Even in Muslim countries that persecute Christians, the Christian population is 1%. However, in Japan, there is no persecution, no, even though the missionaries are pouring out all their strength and devotion, only 0.4% of the population believes in Christianity. It was not easy to find a church. Some larger cities have churches, but smaller cities don't have churches at all.
Compared to Japan, our country is a blessed country. Although we are a little behind Japan economically, this is a country where God's grace resides. There are many churches. The Word reigns, and prayer is alive. Moisture that is not depleted by the anointing of the Holy Spirit dominates the whole land. And even now, the passion of the members who pray with the nation and the world in their hearts in the closet is not cooling down. Every time we worship, so many people gather to praise God and go forth with joy. We should be thankful for many things, but compared to Japan, it is a condition to be thankful that our people have come to believe in God like this. A country where more than 20% of the people believe in Jesus, a country that has sent the most missionaries to the world, a country that leads world Christianity, and a country where the fervent work of the Holy Spirit and grace stays.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving Month, over the past two weeks I have talked about two important elements of gratitude. One is 'thinking' and the other is 'motive'. Now, today I would like to introduce one last important factor. It is 'expression'. An essential element of gratitude is expression. Perhaps thoughts and motives culminate in expression. For the past two weeks, I've focused on faith and life here to highlight thoughts and motives. The same goes for expressions. All of our lives and beliefs are that expression matters.
Faith is, in a word, an expression. Faith is what we believe in, which begins from within and is expressed outwardly. It is not perfect faith to have only in the heart. No it doesn't. When the Holy Spirit works, it must be revealed. This is the teaching of the Bible, the hand and will of God.
Salvation is especially so. If it is not expressed that we are saved and that we believe in Jesus, there is no way for neither ourselves nor others to confirm. In the book of Romans it is said: “With the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses and is saved.” Faith that we believe in the Lord must be confessed with our mouths. Just having faith in your heart is not complete salvation. You must confess with your mouth. Confession seems easy, but it is not. In the days of Jesus, many people saw Jesus and knew Him. But not many followed him. It means that you have to go to the level of 'I believe, I will follow' with your mouth to achieve complete salvation. It's not enough to just say to yourself, "I'll believe it." No, when the Holy Spirit works in us, it will surely be expressed outward.
Going to church is a very precious expression of faith toward God. There are people today who say they don't need a church. You are saying that you believe in God, but what is your reason to go to church in particular? But it is not. You must go to church. The life I live by coming to church and worshiping with my feet is an act of expressing my faith to God. The concrete evidence that I can know that I am forgiven, gain strength, and walk with God is the church life. For believers, church life is of course important in relation to any work or ministry, but it is a way to know that I am a Christian who faithfully believes and follows God. Without a clear expression from the church, my faith cannot be acknowledged by myself, other people, or God.
Love is also an expression. Love is the most beautiful thing to be expressed. In any form, love must be expressed. Such is God's love for us. God loves us. But that love is a love expressed in one word. God loved the world 'this way'. But no one knew how much love that 'like this' was. He sent his 'Only Begotten Son' to let him know that love. The coming of Jesus shows what God's love for mankind is. Through Jesus, we can know a little of God's great and wonderful love.
The breadth, height, and depth of God's love culminates at the cross. Jesus died. He did not die because of sin. He became the scapegoat for the sins of mankind, that is, yours and mine. He was pierced for our transgressions, and He was bruised for our iniquities. He bore our sins and took up the cross. God has put our iniquities on him. Every time you see the cross, you must confirm God's love for you. So, in Romans, Paul said: “God demonstrates his love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Just as God's love is an expression, human love must also be expressed. Love is, in a word, an expression. Love between a man and a woman, parental love, teacher's love, married couple's love, and neighbor's love should all be expressed So our love must be expressed.
Westerners express love very well. It's too expressive. Every day, I wear 'I love you' to my wife and husband. At some point, they express their love for each other to the point of being truly satisfied. When you look at what you do to children, there is so much to learn. Compared to those in the West, one of the people who cannot express love is the Korean people. We are a nation that is ashamed of it. If we say 'I love you' to our wives and husbands every day, we'll look at them strangely. Young people these days are very proud. They hold hands wherever they go, stick around, and say they love you even in front of a lot of people. But overall, there is still something awkward and not working well, and it is the expression of love. You must express your love.
Just as everything in life is an expression, so is gratitude. Gratitude is an expression in a word. Gratitude is an important thought and must have a motive, but it must be expressed. Unexpressed gratitude is not true gratitude. That is why the Bible constantly emphasizes the expression of gratitude.
The text is a typical example. The text tells the story of ten lepers in the time of Jesus. One day, while going down to Jerusalem to Jesus, he met ten lepers in a village. When they heard the rumor that it was Jesus, they desperately searched for him. Jesus had compassion on them and healed them all. But only one of them returned to Jesus and gave thanks. Jesus said, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the nine?" What truth do we learn from these words? It's that people don't appreciate it well even though they've been given the grace. More specifically, it's not about expressing gratitude. They would not have been ignorant of grace. that was not expressed. This is what Jesus regretted.
In the Old Testament times, God commanded the people not to come empty-handed when they came before God. Come to think of it, all the gifts that humans bring are used for humans. Nevertheless, God told us not to come empty-handed. Why would you? Gratitude is something that must be expressed.
Be people who express gratitude. If we truly know God's grace, our response to His grace is gratitude, and gratitude should be expressed. There are many ways we can express our gratitude. Like the lyrics of a hymn, we must offer our hands and feet to the Lord. I must express my gratitude by giving my voice, my time, my sacrifice, and even my life. But the most important mark is to give my precious treasure. Why is this important? Because as Jesus said, where our treasure is, our heart is also.
Today is Thanksgiving Day 2003. Look back at all your lives in the past year, not the past. It is the grace of the Lord that I have ever lived. From now on, we will live only by the grace of God. It's a little difficult and difficult, but God will guide you and me step by step on a good path. Thank you for counting the grace, and I hope that you will be able to express your gratitude to your heart's content. (Amen)