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March 23, 2003: Third Sunday in Lent; Cross Sunday
Sermon by Pastor J. T. Kim

�KINGDOM BUILDERS�

(Exodus 20:1-17, NRSV)


[1] Then God spoke all these words: [2] I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; [3] you shall have no other gods before me. [4] You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [5] You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, [6] but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. [7] You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. [8] Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor and do all your work. [10] But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work�you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. [11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. [12] Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. [13] You shall not murder. [14] You shall not commit adultery. [15] You shall not steal. [16] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. [17] You shall not covet your neighbor�s house; you shall not covet your neighbor�s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

(John 2:13-22, NRSV)

[13] The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [14] In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. [15] Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. [16] He told those who were selling the doves, �Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father�s house a market-place!� [17] His disciples remembered that it was written, �Zeal for your house will consume me.� [18] The Jews then said to him, �What sign can you show us for doing this?� [19] Jesus answered them, �Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.� [20] The Jews then said, �This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?� [21] But he was speaking of the temple of his body. [22] After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The war has begun and, as of now, it still continues.

It is sad to see that some people stand on very extreme views on war. These people are either extreme �anti-war pacifists� or �warmongers.�

Ironically, throughout the world community, those crowds demonstrating against the war with Iraq seem to start another �war� against law and society � against order and national leaders. We hear that some of the radical demonstrations are being turned into chaos and unrest.

On the other hand, we also witness many hate crimes happening against Iraqi Americans and Islamic communities in the United States. Some people with an �extreme nationalism� and �distorted patriotism� hate and attack certain targets.

I hope and pray that never again would American people commit hating the people who have ancestors from other countries than the United States or the European countries � only because of their different origins of nationality.

Well, in a sense, we should be grateful that both of these extreme views could be expressed among the people in this nation and to the world. And this means we have a great nation of freedom. The people can express whatever they think or believe. Not many people around the world could enjoy this kind of liberty.

My brothers and sisters in Christ!

This morning, if you want to hear about politics, you�re in wrong place.

If you want to hear about philosophies or ethics, you�re in wrong place also.

But, if you want to hear about life based on the Word of God � then you�re in right place.

I preach God�s Word and share with you how to apply biblical principles into our lives. That�s why I had to change my sermon in order to make it relevant to our life.

Christians have struggled with war for centuries. Many people, including those who have these two extremely different views, have used the Bible to give validity to their understandings of war.

In reality, if you don�t care about context, you could quote any Bible verses that can justify your points � in anything � pro or con.

But what does the Bible really say about war and about the use of force?

First of all, I need to clarify about one important thing: One of God�s primary traits is peace. God�s ultimate concern was to bless the humanity with peace. God desires all people to live in peace. That is how He created the universes. There was complete, total peace.

Isaiah said the Messiah would bear these names: �Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace� (Isaiah 9:6, NIV).

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, encourages all Christians with these words: In Romans 12:18 (NIV): �� live at peace with everyone�.�

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, in Matthew 5:43-45: �You have heard that it was said, �You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.� But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

Christians are to be people of peace. There are many other references to peace in the Bible.

But what about war?

Yes, there is a time for war.

You remember when our church hosted the first Community Lenten Service at our church, Pastor Carol used the Scripture from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV).

[1] There is a time for everything,
a season for every activity under heaven.
[2] A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
[3] A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to rebuild.
[4] A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
[5] A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
[6] A time to search and a time to lose.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
[7] A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.
[8] A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

Throughout the Old Testament, on many occasions, God directed the people of Israel to go to war, especially when they crossed into the Promised Land. God instructed them to completely remove the peoples of that land.

We have a hard time accepting the fact that God gave the Israelites these instructions.

So, why would God give them instructions for war? When is there a time for war?

I. A TIME FOR WAR IS WHEN FREEDOM IS TO BE DEFENDED.

Throughout the book of Judges, God calls the Israelites to go to war against the Midianites and Philistines. Why? Because these nations were trying to conquer Israel � even destroy Israel! So, they were called to defend themselves.

The United States of America is founded based on freedom and justice. The birth of our nation involved war. The freedom we enjoy today came from the sacrifices many Americans made in the course of the history.

Throughout John�s text, we read that Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem at the time of Passover. Passover was a time to remember God gave them freedom from the bondage of Egypt.

But some thing happened. Jesus got mad at what was going on at the temple.

[15] Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. [16] He told those who were selling the doves, �Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father�s house a market-place!�

We all know this �Cleansing of Temple� passage. He was really serious about cleansing the temple.

Since Passover was a pilgrimage feast, many of those coming would have traveled a great distance and would not have brought animals with them. They needed to buy animals in Jerusalem in order to participate in temple worship � the sacrifices.

Moreover, the temple tax could not be paid in Greek or Roman coinage because of the human image (the emperor�s head) on these coins (Matthew 22:15-22). Foreign coins had to be changed into the legal Tyrian currency in Jerusalem. If the worship was to proceed, animals needed to be sold and the money changed.

Problem was this trade became some sort of �religious habits,� rather than genuine worship. The worshippers became focusing on getting these sacrifices and money than on God himself.

It was ironic that for the worshippers, the celebration of Passover itself became their bondage.

And Jesus asserted, with his physical force, that the main focus of the house of worship is God! He teaches us that we need to be free from our bondage that distracts our worship and our relationship with God.

Jesus proclaims, in John 8:32 (NIV), �Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.�

When we truly worship God, we can be free, and we can make others free as well.

II. A TIME FOR WAR IS TO REVEAL GOD�S JUSTICE.

A coin has two sides. God has also two main characters: love and justice. We just cannot overemphasize either side. God�s side is both love AND justice.

Proverbs 21:15 says: �Justice is a joy to the godly, but it causes dismay among evildoers.�

As I already mentioned God�s ultimate concern for us is peace. However, peace without justice is appeasement. God is not only a God of peace, he is also the God of justice.

In the Book of Genesis chapter 14, God led Abraham to deliver Lot who had been captured by Chedorlaomer and his army. Abraham took 318 men and attacked them at night and defeated the enemy. Amos was called �the Prophet of Justice.�

In Amos 5:21-24 God cried out through Amos to the people:

[21] I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
[22] Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. [23] Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. [24] But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

How about Micah 6:8?

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you? But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

Real peace cannot happen without justice.

In terms of discipleship and commitment to God, Jesus Christ proclaims a rather radical message:

Matthew 10:34: �Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.�

Jesus� point is on commitment. And our challenge for today is to commit ourselves to face with evil and help others free from the evil bondage!

The U.S. and British troops are striving to liberate those innocent Iraq people from the bondage of Saddam Hussein�s Tyranny. That�s why we call this �Operation Iraqi Freedom.�

III. ANOTHER TIME FOR WAR IS TO STOP THE SPREAD OF EVIL.

Many of the people of Anti-war demonstrations do not like this war because it is a �preemptive� war. Well, not exactly.

The war indeed began on September 11, 2001, by terrorists who were controlled by evil forces. Or � on the very first day the humanity committed sin after the creation.

We still remember what had happened on 9/11. Unfortunately, Saddam Hussein has been acting as an evildoer not only against the world peace but also against his own people. Evil will not stop on its own. There comes a time when evil has to be fought.

There has to be laws to stop those who are evil. If the laws and resolutions are not kept, then evil will continue to flourish. So God gave us the Ten Commandments that are found in the Old testament�s text. Every law ever written is rooted in these commandments.

You may say, �Doesn�t the sixth commandment say, �Thou shalt not kill.�?�

No. It says Thou shalt not commit murder.

There is a difference between killing and murdering. Many times God commanded capital punishment for those who break the law.

Unfortunately, sometimes capital punishment involves war.

Ditriech Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and an ordained minister of German Confession church at the time of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a symbol of evil at that time. Bonhoeffer somehow got involved in the assassination of Hitler.

At first he was horrified at the thought of murder, but he knew he could not stand by to witness the annihilation of so many people. As a minister he said he felt he must do more than comfort the relatives of those killed by the drunken driver; he must seize the wheel.

But the plan failed, and he was arrested and executed at the age of 39.

Yes, peace is our ultimately expected state for the entire humanity.

But peace, in the course of history, in many occasions, is established through strength � because it is proved that evil is not compatible with human sanity, reason, and basic goodness.

My brothers and sisters in Christ!

We are living in a very critical and uncertain time. We cannot predict what would be written in our history book!

However, one thing for sure is that comparing the time of eternity, this war is a short one � and temporary.

I was watching CNN last week. One of the university professors mentioned about the U.S. Here is what he said: �� the U.S. has, just as other countries point out, �super power,� but, at the same time, it is true that the U.S. has �super humanity.�

That�s why the U.S. and British troops carry not only all high tech weapons but also food, aids, and supplies for Iraqi people.

There is still a tension between North and South Korea. 53 years ago, when the Korean War broke out, the United States sent more troops than any other countries.

Korean people still remember that and give thanks for that. Being one of the allies of the U.S., recently, South Korea has decided to support U.S. and send an Engineer Battalion troops to Iraq � in order to help rebuild the �new� Iraq and for its democracy.

For the world peace and justice, we all must work together! Remember we Christians are the builders of the Kingdom of God.

St. Agustine said: �That which man builds man destroys, but he city of God is built by God and cannot be destroyed by man.�

God�s kingdom is the indestructible kingdom.

Hussein regime will pass away. And all other dictators, including North Korea, will fade away.

But God�s Kingdom is eternal, and we are building it on this earth and forever.

The war we are facing now is not simply a physical one.

Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, �For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.�

We Christians have already been at spiritual warfare � since the time of the Garden of Eden.

My brothers and sisters in Christ!

I don�t like war and no one likes war, either.

Whether you like Bush or not, it is the time for us to be united in prayer!

We need to pray for our nation and our leaders � because they are decision-makers.

We need to pray for our troops and all other military personnel � because they sacrifice their lives to bring peace, freedom, and justice.

We need to pray for Iraq and the people. We really need to pray for the war be ended quick.

And we need to pray for the world peace.

As we walk the journey of Lent, we experience war. In many ways, we are faced with fears and anxieties. And we ponder upon the reality that we are at war against evil.

But we already have good news and a reason to give thanks. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has saved us!

No matter what circumstances we are in now;

No matter what mixed feelings we experience these days; Remember! Easter is coming!!!

In Jesus Christ, we already have the victory!

We are "Kingdom Builders" for God�s ultimate peace! (Amen)



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