Congregational Context
congregation-location: Korean Americans, Korean students, and Angloamericans/ size: 25/ average age: 51/ occupations: businessmen, factory workers, waitress, students, housewives/ interests, challenges and strengths: all of my congregation are under 65. Some are interested in retirement plan. Some are seeking a job after graduation. Some are unemployed. All of them are to live christianly and in a transformed way.
Liturgical Occasion: new year service
Form of the sermon
I begin with a story which draw the hearers' attention to the significance of attitude. I arbitrarily selected seven typical qualitative principles for Christian life style pervasive through the Scriptures. I arranged them according to alphabetical order from A to G. In the conclusion I confirmed the significance of having right attitude.
Introduction
While one sailing ship moves to the east, the other to the west, even if they are under the same wind condition. What makes a difference between them? It is the direction of each sail. Because of this, under the same wind condition, the two ships may produce totally different consequences.
Likewise, human life under the same condition differs according to one's own attitude: one lives a blessed life, the other a cursed life. Just as important in sailing is not wind direction but sail's direction, so significant in human living is not human condition but human attitude to deal with it.
For this reason Prover
bs 4:23 testifies, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." It means that your future is determined not by human conditions but by your attitude to them. God gives you Blessings, but you have to prepare your soul sufficient enough to take them. Therefore, you must extend your soul. In order to extend your soul, what should you do? You need A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
1. First, you need A, affirmation.
In the desert a man had wandered for two weeks. At last he found a house and fell down in front of it. A missionary, the owner of the house, found and brought him into the house. Due to his care, the man came to consciousness in a day. The man gave thanks to him and asked him the direction to a big town. When getting out of the house, the man saw a horse in the backyard and asked him, "May I borrow your horse?" "Yes, you may. But you must know that my horse is different from other horses. If you say 'Thank you, God!', it walks. If you repeatedly say 'Thank you, God! Thank you, God!', it runs. But if you say 'Amen', it stops." "It's not a big deal," said the man. The man began his journey by ride. At first the man said, "Thank you, God!" The horse began to walk. But the man was not satisfied with its speed. The man repeatedly said, "Thank you, God! Thank you, God!" The horse began to run so fast. The man was so pleased. By the way, a cliff showed up on his way. The man shouted, "Woh Woh!" But the horse wouldn't stop. At that moment the man remembered the missionary's word and said, "Amen!" The horse stopped 3 inches right before the cliff. The man sighed and exclaimed, "Thank you God! Thank you, God!"
This joke teaches us how important tongue is in our life. A Korean proverb says, "A tongue pays off million dollars of debts." Likewise, tongue is so important. Nevertheless, we speak so easily without discerning if it would be blessing or curse. But the blessed speak wisely. They say positively. Tongue is the mirror of the heart and the reflection of the mind. Your speaking is directly related to your heart and mind. Therefore, put your heart and mind under discernment, speak positively and wisely, my beloved.
2. Second, you need B, belief.
One speaks negatively since he/she has no belief in his/her heart. When Jesus wanted to feed 5,000 crowd with two fish and five loaves of bread, Andrew, one of his disciple thought in doubt if he could really feed all those people (John 6:9). But Jesus fed all people and made the disciples gather lots of leftovers. When Jesus tried to revive the dead daughter of Jairus, the synagogue leader, spectators laughed at him (Mark 5:40). But after saying to Jairus, "Do not fear, only believe," Jesus revitalized the girl (Mark 5:36). When your calculation tells deficiency, when your life tells hopelessness, the Lord says, "Only believe." The power to make you rich and eternal comes not from you but from the Heavenly Father. Therefore, in amidst of deficiency and hopelessness, you don't need to say, "It's too late!", but must say, "Nevertheless, I believe God is with me."
3. Third, you need C, commitment.
Modern diseases are often derived from the heart. Since the heart is sick, the immune system of the body is weakened, so you catch a cold, have a cancer, and so forth. Why does your heart get sick? It is because you don't entrust yourself to God. Since you dont' entrust yourself to God, your body and soul gets sick. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give your rest" (Matthew 11:28). Psalms 37:5 testifies, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." Commit your worries and plans to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act.
4. Fourth, you need D, delight.
There was a small woodworking shop in Ajuera, Costa Rica. A visitor entered the woodworking shop. The shop was just 40 feet by 12 feet wide. It was a bed shop. A heap of coarse lumbers were piled in the backyard. A carpenter was making beautiful beds by those lumbers. All beds were such strong and beautiful arts.
The visitor appraised the carpenter's works. "How many people work here?", asked the visitor. "Two," replied the carpenter. But the visitor couldn't find the other worker. Then, the carpenter smiled and said pointing out heaven, "I work with God here. God makes wood, I make bed."
What is the source of delight, my beloved? When you believe, "God works with me," you are full of delight.
5. Fifth, you need E, expectation.
You have expectations that tomorrow will be better than today, next month will be better than this month. Without such expectations, you become pessimistic and have a negative attitude to everything. Accepting Jesus necessarily entails cheerful expectations. If you have good things, give thanks to God. If you have bad things, give thanks to God, because he will make all things work together for good after all (Romans 8:28). Therefore, live with optimistic expectations in this year, and the Lord will make all your wishes come true according to his will.
6. Sixth, you need F, faint not.
In life many things make you disappointed. Failures always follow after you. But the problem is not failure itself. All great discoveries and inventions were made after multiple failures. Therefore, the problem is not that you have failures in your life but that you assess consequences from a negative perspective. Let's listen to Rev. Robert Schuller.
What is failure?
It does not mean that you are a failure
but that you have not yet arrived at the goal.
What is failure?
It does not mean that you have achieved nothing
but you have something to achieve.
What is failure?
It does not mean that your prestige is harmed
but that you just tried to do something courageous.
What is failure?
It does not mean that your way is wrong
but that you need try in other ways.
What is failure?
It does not mean that you are inferior
but that you are not perfect.
What is failure?
It does not mean that you wasted your life
but that you have good reasons to start over again.
What is failure?
It does not mean that you must give up
but that you must try harder.
What is failure?
It does not mean that you can never do it
but that it takes much longer to do it.
What is failure?
It does not mean that God deserted you
but that God has better plans for you.
Dr. Thomas Crank said, "The basic measurement for success and failure is yourself." This connotes, 'If you don't give up, you are not a failure; but if giving up, success gets away from you.' Failing is human, but giving up is demonic. Love fails but never gives up. Whoever beholds God in amidst of failure will be given love, courage, and the divine plan, so that he/she will unfailingly achieve success.
7. Seventh, you need G, giving glory to God.
Mark Hartfield visited sister Teresa in Calcutta, India. He spent a day with her looking around her ministry. At the end of the day he said to Teresa, "You have too much things to do. Have you ever been disappointed because your capacity is too limited?" She smile and answered, "No, I've never. I am called not for success but for faithfulness.
My beloved, you are called not for success but for faithfulness. Without knowing this, if you achieve success, you boast yourself and get arrogant. Success may become a precipitator of destruction. So Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, and haughty spirit before a fall." Faithfulness is ours, success God's. We sow, God harvests. When knowing for what you are called, you can give glory to God.
Conclusion
I have said to you seven principles of soul management. Just as a pilot checks up every details on the dashboard, so check up your everyday life according to those seven principles, and you will bear ripe fruits in this year.
First, A. affirmation: "Do you have a positive attitude today?"
Second, B. belief: "Do you believe despite deficiency and hopelessness today?"
Third, C. commitment: "Do you commit yourself to God today?"
Fourth, D. delight: "Are you delightful today?"
Fifth, E, expectation: "Do you have cheerful expectation today?"
Sixth, F, faint not: "Do you see better plans of God today?"
Seventh, G, giving glory to God: "Do you give glory to God because of your own success today?"
If you can say 'yes' to all those questions, you can manage your soul successfully. If not, you must be wasting the precious resources of success given by God. If you develop your soul, you will get wisdom, knowledge, senses to overcome all bad conditions and succeed in Christian living.
Therefore, remember A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Check up your everyday life according to such seven principles. Live positively. Believe in God' power. Commit yourself to God. Be delightful. Have cheerful expectations. Faint not. Give glory to God. And God will lead your life to beauty and greatness.