Sunday Sermon

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, “We are fearfully and wonderfully made!”
Today’s text, Psalm 139, is a well-known and well-loved psalm that begins with expressing God’s infinite knowledge about humans. From verses 1-6, God searched, as in examined, everything a person does, thinks, and says, even before those actions occur. This is a source of comfort for those who honor God but a warning to those who defy Him or think that God does not see what they do or say. I pray for a listening heart for all of us in the beginning of this new year, what does God want to teach us through this text.
Today’s text says God has perfect knowledge of us; all our thoughts and actions are open before him. God knows us more than we know ourselves. Sometimes, we do not know why we feel the way we do; sometimes, we cannot find out why specific thoughts keep popping into our minds all day. But God knows why. God even knows our innermost thoughts or the hurts we buried deep within, something that happened so long ago, like in the embryonic or infantile stage, something that we do not even remember, or something that is too hurtful to remember. Hence, we pushed them into the unconscious level; God knows them all.
Last Sunday, when we canceled our service because of the weather, I felt guilty so much that I left the parsonage at 7:30 when the temperature was -9 to come to church and stayed in the sanctuary worshipping and praying until 10:30. I came to church thinking that since I worshipped as a representative of Gillespie Methodist, we did not cancel church. However, all day long, I could not help but feel guilty, not knowing why. I searched my heart to see whether I felt relieved even a little from the burden of preparing for the sermon when the admin board informed me of the decision to cancel church. I did not know why I felt guilty all day long. Was that guilt stemming from canceling church when I knew that some of those people in Arab nations who are being persecuted for their faith in God would walk five hours to come to worship in a secret location, or people in North Korea would never cancel service even with the risk of being executed when their worship is found out? Or do I still feel guilty for enjoying the unexpected vacation I thought I had when the bishop recommended closing the church when the pandemic first broke out, not knowing one or two Sundays I thought it would be, will be extended to such a long time? Whenever I think about that time, I repent with such a shame to this day. I still do not know why I felt guilty the way I did that Sunday. To some degree, I still feel guilty. I share this at length to point out that God knows us more than we know ourselves. Although I might not know why, God surely knows it. God sees us clearly through His piercing eyes, going beyond the excuses and rationale we come up with and telling people why we have made certain decisions. We can never fool God; we will be accountable for every evil intention and action we have committed on judgment day unless we repent.

Second, God hears every careless word we say in our daily lives. Verse 4 says that before we form words on our tongues, God completely sees our hearts, motivations, and intentions. Then, how much more God hears what and how we say? Those who are quick to say negative and critical words about others instead of building up and encouraging should know that our words are being recorded with God. Our careless words will judge and condemn us when we stand before the judgment seat. I am not talking about those careless words we say we didn’t mean but those words we speak that come out of evil, negative, and critical heart. In this new year, let us start being positive and saying things to encourage people instead of being negative and discouraging. Do we want our church to grow? Do we want to bring more people into our church? Then, we ought to say positive things about our church and the pastor. Who would come to church if all they heard about the pastor and the church were negative things? I am not saying this for my sake but for your souls. Some people think pastors are just hired hands rather than servants of God, the God’s anointed. How you view your pastor, a hired hand, or a servant of God doesn’t matter to me. However, If I am a servant of God, if God indeed sent me to you to care for your souls, then when you speak ill of your pastor, you might very well speak ill of God since I am a representative of God. When your pastor makes mistakes, which I often do, come to talk to me and let me know instead of talking behind to slander or talking out loud in public to shame your pastor. Again, I am not saying this for my sake but for your spiritual well-being. A Pastor’s job is to teach and correct in the ways of God. If you dismiss or rebel against your pastor’s warning or teaching, you should know that you rebel against God. I do not hold a grudge against those who insult, reject, or hurt me. God helped me view all the hardships I endured as a pastor as a way of participating in and accompanying Jesus on his way to crucifixion. In this respect, I should welcome any hardship with the attitude that the harder, the better to be more like Christ.

I am cautioning all of us to live our days as God intended for us to live, which leads to the third point. Verse 16, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” This means even before God formed us in our mothers’ wombs, God has written and numbered our days, and our God-given destiny is written in His book. In other words, God saw us as persons even before we were formed, meaning life does not begin after birth but even before conception in the mother’s womb. Does it mean that our life, then, is fixed and predestined? Absolutely not! In Revelation 3:5, Jesus said, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life.” If human life is predestined in stone, one’s name cannot be deleted later, or one’s destiny cannot be changed later; it will be as it is written if it is set in stone, predetermined. “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” means that God destined the most perfect and the best life for everyone to live, declaring “good” and being happy when God saw us before the creation. According to some people who visited Heaven testify that in God’s Book, it is written how God intended for us to live fully in the perfect and best possible way, but we are the ones who come far short of God’s intention and God’s destiny given to us. Even for Hitler, God destined him to be a superb preacher building God’s kingdom. However, it was he who failed God terribly and became Satan’s instrument, persuaded with his God-given tongue and speech skills, leading the masses into destroying six million Jews. Consequently, his name was blotted out from the Book of Life.

In this regard, we must think again and ask ourselves before we utter words or do things in action. Am I fulfilling the God-given destiny given to me by what I do and say now? Would my decision at this juncture fulfill the perfect and best life God has intended for me? Am I being Satan’s instrument or God’s instrument? Is my name is written in the Book of Life?

Let our prayer for this new year be, “Search me, oh God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Amen!