Enlightenment in the title process / Luke 7:1-10
Contents Sunday, July 8, 2007 Sermon
Sermon Title: Enlightenment in the Process
Words from God: Luke 7:1-10
When Jesus had finished speaking all the words to the people, he went into Capernaum/ A certain centurion's beloved servant fell ill and died/ Hearing about Jesus, he sent some of the elders of the Jews to come and rescue the servant. Then they came to Jesus and begged earnestly, saying, “It is fitting for this man to do this work, because he loves our people and has built a synagogue for us.” Jesus went with him, and his house was not far away. The centurion sent his friends and said, "Lord, do not work hard, for I am not worthy to come into my house. So I knew that I was not worthy to come to you. Just say the word and heal my servant. There are men and soldiers under me, and I say to one to go, and he goes; to another, to come, he comes, and to my servant, do this, he says. When Jesus heard this, he marveled at him and turned and said to the crowds that followed him, "I tell you, there is no such great faith in Israel I haven't met you." When those who had sent returned home, they saw that the servant had already been strengthened.
0. Introduction
Today, our church celebrates the Harvest Festival. It is a season in which the Israelites give the first fruits of barley mathematics and give thanks to God. I hope that we, too, will be able to give thanks sincerely, just like the people of Israel. Even though the present age is more prosperous than the past, we are rather losing our gratitude in our hearts. We sincerely hope that our gratitude will always be a faith that pleases the Lord.
1. Enlightened by sending his own friend from sending a Jewish elder.
As the Roman centurion met Jesus, the first realization was a change in the way he treated the Lord. A Roman centurion at that time was a Roman commander with 100 soldiers. Centurions were well paid and were considered good professions in Roman society. And since I was sent to rule Israel, a Roman colony, I think that authority is greater than in Rome. At first, the Roman centurion used this authority to try to meet Jesus. As proof of this, verse 3 says to Jesus, “Send some elders of the Jews”. You have great power to move the elders of the Jews. And some of the elders thought that Jesus could move with a mask.
However, the Roman centurion sent some Jewish elders and realized that it was wrong for him to use his power to ask Jesus, and immediately sent others away. When the centurion realizes his mistake and sends the second ones, in verse 6 it says, “The centurion sends his friends.” Sending friends here means that you have come to visit them yourself. The centurion's first realization was that he realized that our Jesus could not be moved by the power of the world. And he let go of the power of the world he relied on. Even if we saw General Naaman who came to Elisha in the Old Testament, he could be healed when he came down from the chariot that showed his strength. Like a Roman centurion or General Naaman, I sincerely hope that we too will give up everything we depend on in the world and meet the Lord.
2. Enlightenment in the pose of a servant in a Roman centurion.
The second realization in the process of the Roman centurion meeting Jesus is a change of status. In fact, in the beginning, in verse 3, the Roman centurion made a request to the Lord like a commander of an army. But the Roman centurion realizes right away. In the eyes of Jesus, he is not a commander, but a servant. As proof of that, looking at verse 6, an amazing change takes place, saying, “Lord, do not work hard.” The centurion is calling Jesus as Lord like a servant. How humble, how humble! And in verse 8, he tells Jesus about his realization. He said, “I am also a man under the control of others, and there are soldiers under me. If I say to one, ‘Go,’ they go, and if they say to another, ‘Come, they come. Realizing that he is not a Roman commander but a servant in the sight of Jesus, he will obey what the Lord tells him to do. The centurion's realization of being humbled like this moved the heart of the Lord.
There is high and low in the eyes of men, but there is no high and low in the eyes of God. In the eyes of people, there are ten-story buildings and one hundred-story buildings, but when God looks down from the high sky, they are all just the same thing. In God's eyes, all people on earth are the same sinners. We humans are making a comeback with an acorn key. When we meet Jesus, we do not show our identity, but we humbly become sinners. When we meet the Lord, we sincerely hope that you will believe in the grace of making us children.
3. Enlightenment through the Word of Jesus only.
The third realization in the process of the Roman centurion meeting Jesus is a change to trust in the Word. The Roman centurion initially had the idea that he had to meet Jesus in person. And he wanted to ask Jesus in his own way. However, the centurion came to realize that the power of the Lord was revealed only by the word of the Lord. Verse 7 says, “Speak the word, and my servant may be healed.” What a wonderful realization the change to trust in the whole Word is!
The evil Satan tempts us to make decisions based on personal experience rather than God's Word. Satan is trying to cut off God's children from the Word. This is because when we are cut off from the Word, we become spiritually blind. What did prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah do? It was a reminder of God's word to the Israelites who had been taken into captivity.
What is the church to do? It's not about delivering something new. It is to spread the word of God. The start of the peace and revival movement in 1097 occurred while missionaries meditated on the words of John 14. The repentance movement took place because of the Word. We are now living in the last era, the ever-changing era. The world is changing every day. But even in this changing world, there is a foundation that we must hold on to. It is a word that never changes. We can be victorious when we hold on to the unchanging Word. The centurion held on to the word of God. The great revival movement in Pyongyang in 1907 also occurred when we repented by holding on to the Word of God. It is still the same. I sincerely hope that you believe that amazing works will happen when we hold onto the Word of God in our lives.
4. Realized from ‘It is appropriate’ to ‘I can’t afford it’.
Now, finally, I would like to summarize the Word of God by examining the most important facts that the Roman centurion realized. How did the centurion initially feel about having Jesus into his home? In verse 4, the heart of the Roman centurion is contained in the words of the Jewish elders, “It is fitting for this man to do this work.” But this Roman centurion realized something along the way. In verse 5, the Jewish elders are introduced to the Roman centurion as a man who is fully qualified and has many achievements and merits. As the centurion intended, the Jewish elders did.
In verse 6, the centurion, who thought he was worthy, said, “I am not worthy to have you come into my house.” The centurion, who thought it was worthy for Jesus to come to his house, was changed because he could not afford it. The centurion, who had presented himself as worthy before the Lord, now realized that he was not worthy. What an amazing realization and transformation! Even when the missionaries preached the gospel to Korea, the work of revival happened when the missionaries who thought they were qualified broke up and repented that they were not qualified and wept. .
Canadian young man Robert Hardy came to Joseon as a medical missionary in 1890 while he was studying medicine at the University of Toronto. His heart burned with missionary passion. It has been three years since I took on the mission in the northern part of Gangwon-do, but the number of church members has gradually decreased, and I have not been able to raise a strong disciple. “Isn’t this I have chosen the wrong mission field. Joseon is not compatible with the church.” Hatred and contempt for the Joseon people burned. At that time, missionary White from China came to Korea on vacation. Hardy told White, “Chosun people don’t even wash well. There is no toilet. Those ignorant people make fun of me and my family. This land will eventually perish.” he complained.
The spark of revival that began in Wonsan through the repentance movement of missionary Hardy in 1903 was ignited by a great fire through the peace movement. If we look at the Pyongyang Great Revival Movement in depth, it was a repentance movement from two perspectives. One is repentance of the heart, and the other is repentance of actions. In other words, we repented in our hearts and worthy of our actions were brought forth. The most representative fruit of repenting in heart and repenting in action was the act of reparation. It is an attitude that compensates for the wounds or damage suffered by one's sins. Such an innocent heart led to the explosive revival of the church. Tonight, a rally to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Great Pyongyang Restoration will be held at the Sangam World Cup Stadium. 15 city mission teams who have visited our church are also scheduled to attend this meeting. I hope that this evening's 100th anniversary commemorative assembly in Pyongyang will not end as just another large-scale event, but that the true history of repentance of giving up face and honor will occur.
What kind of image do we have when we see the centurion realized and changed in the process of meeting Jesus today? The heart of our Lord is moved when we let go of our dependence on the world, humble ourselves as servants, trust only the word of God, and realize that we are not worthy of what we are capable of. Today, like the Roman centurion, I sincerely hope that you will become the children of the Lord who are constantly realizing and changing in the process of meeting Jesus.