Wednesday, January 10, 2018

2018 New Year's Message: Grace. Obedience. Blessing. by Sam Toh

These verses are signature verses that, growing up in UBF, I’m sure you’ve heard countless number of times. Countless number of prayers have ended with “Make America and kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” It is still the title of the yearly UBF calendar that grace the walls of our house every year. While we may be familiar with the phrase, I realized not many of us have taken the time to look at these verses in their original context in Exodus 19. So I’m thankful for God’s providence in allowing us to study Exodus this school year and bring us to this exact chapter for this winter retreat.

Since not everyone has been studying Exodus with us in Chicago, let me take a quick minute to give a very general overview of Exodus.
A Story of Deliverance: The theme of Exodus (mass departure) is that the people of God are delivered from the hand of the Egyptians to worship Him. Exodus can be divided into three parts:

1. Chap 1–18: God redeems Israel from bondage in Egypt.

2. Chap 19–24: God gives Israel the law at Mt. Sinai. (We are at the beginning of this part)

3. Chap 25–40: God prepares Israel for his holy presence by providing instructions for the tabernacle and for the priesthood.

Value of Exodus. Exodus is an important book for us as Christians to study because a Christian must know how we were delivered from bondage to sin. If we are unsure about our deliverance from sin, it may be questionable whether or not we are a Christian who has truly met God, the One who saved us out of his mercy (Tit 3:5) and grace (Tit 2:11). Exodus is a story of deliverance from bondage, and deliverance is something we all desperately need.

Significance of Exodus 19: It is also a signifant book to study because Exodus 19 is regarded by some as (one of) the most important chapters in the Bible, because without a proper understanding Exodus 19, Exodus 20--which contains the 10 Commandments--will be not be understood. When Christians (and non-Christians) misunderstand the Bible and Christianity, it is often because they misunderstand the Law--how the Law functions in their own life. The Israelites are going to spend 11 months in Sinai (Ex 19:1-Num 10:10). And what happens during these 11 months is central to the Pentateuch. It occupies 58 chapters (Ex. 19Num. 10:10).

Grace. Obedience. Blessings. For the sake of this message, we will look at these verses in three parts. And the order in which we are going to look them is crucial to not only our understanding of this passage, but crucial to our understanding of our faith as Christians.

Here is the sequence.
1. Grace (Ex 19:1-4): How God saves us.

2. Obedience (Ex 19:5): Our response to grace should obedience to the Law.

3. Blessing/Calling (Ex 19:6): The blessing and reward of obedience (and punishment for disobedience).
So lets take a moment to look at this passage more closely.

I. Grace (Ex 19:1-4): How God Saves Us
Grace is the starting point of our life with God. Some would say Grace is the keyword of Christianity. Thus, before God gives the 10 Commandments in Ex 20:2-17, he repeats in Ex 20:1 what God said in Ex 19:3-4. Why? God wants his people to know that a covenant relationship with God is based entirely on God's grace. It is a relationship that they did not earn or deserve. Ex 19:4 gives us 3 things we need to know and understand:

1. Ex 19: 4a You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,

This shows us God’s Divine judgment. Judgment is never a pleasant subject. But no one can truly understand grace, or understand God, without truly understanding God's terrible judgment on the ungodly. God's people must always know that what God did to Egypt, God could have done to them. Just as one of our gospel key verses, 2 Cor 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ.” Just as death is in all of our futures, so is judgement. Even though God is the judge, he provides us the way to Salvation.

2. Ex 19:4b how I carried you on eagles’ wings

This shows us God’s, Divine deliverance Israel did not rally together as an army to deliver themselves. They did not work for, nor gain, nor even earn their deliverance. God carried them on eagles' wings.

3. Ex 19:4c and brought you to myself

This shows us God’s Divine initiative God did not wait for you and I to find Him. God took the initiative to bring us--who are steeped in slavery to sin, selfishness and Satan--to Himself. I did not find God. God found me. I did not choose God. God choose me (Jn 15:16).

God starts with a reminder of his judgment and of his grace and deliverance. This is also the start of our lives of faith. The story of God’s grace in our own lives is one we should not forget

So, what is your testimony of Grace in your life? Do you have one? My family got together as we always do for Christmas, and my youngest brother told Anna a story about how one night when he was 7 he was lying in bed and when I came into the room talking on the phone with my friend. I must have been 13. He said I thought he was asleep, because he was so shocked to hear all the swear words coming out of my mouth. I was a pretty typical jock at 13, I went on to play three sports in high school, had terrible language and loved vulgar and sexual jokes. It’s hard to even think of my teenage self now, but all these things that are unsettling from the outside weren’t the real problem of my life. The problem was, I appeared as such a perfect angel at church and to my parents. I was two completely different people at school and at home/church. This really became burdensome and tiring. It also tore me apart on the inside causing an identity crisis. I would feel such a deep disconnect and dissonance in my life that dragged me down. Then one night, God showed me that this double life I was living was not just tiring, but it hurt God deeply. God showed me this through someone I loved and trusted deeply breaking my trust and living a different life behind my back. I was 17 years old, and I remember being so hurt I started crying. And this was weird for me cause I couldn’t remember the last time I cried. My face literally hurt when tears first came out of my eyes. And the weird thing was I couldn’t stop crying all night. In my tears, I remember feeling the presence of God into my room, gently but clearly saying to me: “How you feel now, is how I feel when you life your life the way you do. Pretending to be my child, but living a double life.: And God’s word came to me through Lk 23:34, it’s almost as if I heard the audible words of Jesus that night in my room, “Father, forgive Sam, for he does not know what he was doing.” For the first time I felt God’s deliverance and forgiveness deeply in my life personally. From that night I vowed to God, and to my self, to live true to who I am. And the life I chose that night was a life as a forgiven sinner by God’s grace. After that night it took a while to kick the bad habit of my speech and attitude towards girls to change. But it was clearly the beginning of living my life as a confident, secure, and dearly loved child of God by Jesus’ grace alone.

We all need a savior. We all need to be delivered. God can and will deliver you from your bondage. Bring them to him and experience his saving grace. What is your storying of deliverance?
II. Obedience (Ex 19:5): Our Response to GraceAfter God showed his grace in verse 4, he says in 5a, "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant." Let’s think about those two phrases. How do we "obey God fully"? God spells it out in the 10 Commandments, which Jesus sums up in 2 Great Commands: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. Simply put, we live a life of "full obedience" when the direction, desire, delight, devotion, duty and deeds (6 D's) of our hearts are to love God and love others.

Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching" (Jn 14:23). A Christian's motivation to obey the Bible should be love for Jesus. Obedience as taught in the Bible is not simply an act of the will or human resolve. Obedience should also involve our mind (cognition) and heart (emotion). In Ex 19:4-6, the motivation of obedience is the unconditional grace of God. However...

Ex 19:5 seems to say, "If you obey me, then I will bless you. If you obey, then you will be my people." It surely sounds like God is conditionally saying, "Obey me THEN I will save you." But in context, God first said, "I saved you (Ex 19:4). Now obey me (Ex 19:5)." Either way there is obedience. The difference is whether obedience precedes salvation or follows salvation.

This is the difference between Religion and the Gospel. Religion says, "I obey, therefore I'm saved." The Gospel says the opposite, "I'm saved, therefore I obey." This may seem inconsequential. But it makes all the difference in the world. Thinking Religion makes the Christian life heavy, burdensome and with a false sense of holiness and spirituality like that of the Pharisees. But knowing the Gospel brings a continuous revival in our soul all the days of our lives.

Still, we wonder if Moses is confused by making 2 seemingly opposite statements in Ex 19:4-5: "God saved you by grace" (Ex 19:4). "But unless you obey, God won't save you" (Ex 19:5). How do we explain the conditional "If/then" language in Ex 19:5? Before doing so, let us examine 3 wrong ideas that people, including Christians, have about salvation:

1. We are saved by obedience. If my good outweighs my bad, I will be saved and blessed.

2. We are saved by grace and obedience. Without obedience I can’t be saved.

3. We are saved by grace, so we don't need obedience. So I can do whatever I want because God will save me anyways.

The second phrase is “keep my covenant.” What helps me personally understand the obedience God expects and the covenant he expects us to keep, is to understand them in the context of a relationship. To understand obedience as a Christian, it helps to understand 2 things about responsibilities:

1. Every relationship has responsibilities. These responsibilities require self-denial, submission and obedience to certain expectations. Marriage may be the best human illustration and example. But even in friendship. A good friend is one who understands the responsibilities they have when given the trust, heart, and secrets of another person. These responsibilities are what makes friendships thrive and grow into deeper and deeper relationships.

2. Responsibilities are a blessing. The responsibilities I have as a husband to my wife and as a father to my kids are not always light. But they are always a blessings. Because as I keep those responsibilities I grow to have a deeper relationship with my wife, I grow to have a more intimate relationship with my kids. The most miserable and unhappy Christians are those who try to have the least possible responsibilities, with maximum blessings and rewards. In our responsibilities and obedience to God, we grow in a deeper relationship with Him.

To one who knows and has tasted the sweetness of God's grace, obedience is a responsibility that is at the same time a wonderful blessing. Their obedience is simply their happy life living in gratitude and in response to the grace of God.

Let me conclude this part on obedience and covenant relationship by sharing with what many of you have heard me say many times. But first let me ask you a question. What is something you love? Is it music? Soccer? Video games? Basketball? Reading a good book? Hanging out with friends? Sleeping? What do you notice about the things that you love? You can spend endless hours doing them, without it feeling burdensome. Doing them gives you life. They excite the heart and the soul. When we’re in love, there is no limit to what we’ll do. So here’s the phrase that my dad always says, and that is that, “a lover will always out work a worker.” Sure sometimes the work we do is difficult, requires much sacrifice, and even painful. But when we’re in love, we can do it. I pray each of you may grow in obedience that flows from your relationship with God.

III. Blessings/Calling (Ex 19:6)
When we have a deep appreciation for God’s grace, our obedience pours out. This is our relationship with God. And in this relationship we have many many blessings and a calling (a purpose). Verse 6 give us a picture of what this blessing and calling looks like. But before we dive in, at first glance, these verses seem to be exclusive words for the Israelites. We know they are God’s special possession because of his calling and choosing Abraham, through whom he would send our Savior Jesus into this world. So maybe these verses are just for the Jews…? But based on 1 Peter 2:9, which you should have covered in your Bible study. We can claim this promise as our own. The blessing, and the calling in this verse, has been extended to us because of our living stone Jesus Christ. So let’s look at verse 6, phrase by phrase, and claim this blessing and this calling as our own.

These promises are expressed in how they change who we are. They change our identity. God promises to make us the following:

1. Ex 19:5b "Out of all nations you will be my treasured possession"

The first blessing is that God has made us his treasure. In response to God’s grace, our obedience brings us to a very secure relationship with God that is expressed in being his treasure. This is such a wonderful blessing, because we can live all the days of our lives in this safe and loving place as a child of God. Dearly loved. Dearly treasured.

2. "Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests”This is our calling as treasured children of God: to be a kingdom of priests. So does that mean we should all enter the priesthood, or because full time pastors? Obviously not. A very simple definition of the role of a priest is that a priest is a mediator who brings God to people, and who brings people to God. That is why we asked in our living out God’s word question “what can you do to be a “priest” to one person around you?” 1 Peter 2:9 and 10 give us a place to start. “That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful life.” The first thing we can do as priests is to share our personal testimony of God’s deliverance to others (declare the praises). Not necessarily the big story of your conversion, but even in the small ways, like Helen shared about her car, that God delivers. But your personal testimony of finding God is the place to start. And I loved what Abraham Ahn shared in his reflection, about the opportunity to dialogue with an agnostic friend about life, and faith, and the existence of God. As we share with others our personal testimony, it will spark conversation about God and who he is. And I pray for each of you, that God would give you the Holy Spirit, and the words to share in each unique situation. Our commitment to studying the Bible deeply in UBF is to help us be effective priests, knowing God’s word, in order to bring God to people, and people to God. I pray each of you may find small and maybe even large ways to grow as “priests” in your circles of influence.

3. "a holy nation" (Ex 19:6).The final thing we will think about here is what it means to be a Holy Nation. Let me first clarify the meaning of nation. In Chicago UBF we have often prayed for “North America to be a kingdom of priest and a holy nation.” And in it’s original context, God may have been talking about a specific nation, the Israelite's. But when Peter extends this calling to others in the book for 1 Peter, he is writing to “God’s elect, exiles scattered through out [many providence's], Asia and Macdeonia.” (1 Pet 1:1). So this calling transcends nations and people groups. By the blood of Jesus, all of us, no matter what our nationality or ethnicity, have become one nation, one people united as brother and sisters. And this invitation has been extended to you, to me, and to everyone.

So we are all to be one Holy Nation through the blood of Christ. So here’s my last question to ponder. What does it mean to be holy? Holy means to be set apart, to be consecrated or dedicated to God. Holiness is not optional in the Christian life. Why? God says, "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Pet 1:16; Lev 11:45, 19:2). We should desire to be different, but not act like an elite or extra special group of people. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. We should all desire to be like Daniel who though exiled to Babylon, acted in wisdom in tact, accepted a new name, accepted the indoctrination of Babylonian history and culture, but he had resolve to be clear when he needed to be clear. And in this way God stood before the kings of Babylon declaring the praises of God. This happens as we grow in obedience to God. I pray that each of you may be a set a part person. Someone who is different, but not better. Someone who lives true to God’s will and God’s ways. And then some day, be able to stand before the figurative “kings” of your time to testify to who God is.

In this new year I pray we would each grow deeply in our faith. Specifically in these three areas: 1. Grow to know the fullness of God’s grace and deliverance from our sins. 2. Out of the overflow of knowing and appreciating this grace, I pray we’ll grow in our obedience to God. And 3. I pray that we will grow in the blessing and calling we have to be a part of God’s international kingdom of priest and holy nation people.

I want to close by coming back to the “living out to God’s word” question. Maybe you had time to think about it deeply, maybe you didn’t. Maybe the message gave you some new insights. But I want to give you each a few minutes to think about that some more. Add anything. Or just pray and lift up the decision to God. And then in a couple minutes I want you to share that decision you have with one person, and pray for each other.­­