Good Evening. My name is Han. I am the
church planter of Madison Korean Church.
This evening, I am glad to have the
opportunity to deliver the message of God and also give you the chance to get
used to Koran accent.
We gathered here together this evening to
do something with ashes. As putting ash in our foreheads, we will remember who
we are and where we are from.
(Slide 1)
Tanzing Ridgol is a Tibetan refugee and an
artist. In 2010 he heard that the earnest wish of his father generation refugee
is to step on their own land before they die. So this bright young artist
started an interesting project. In 2011, Tanzing Rigdol brought twenty
thousands kilogrm of native soil from Tibet to Daramsala, small town in India
and spread it out in one place. From all around the world, more than 10,000 of
Tibetan Refugee visited Daramsala to step on it. With the soil, they
cried, sang and remember their home that they cannot go. Isn’t it lovely story?
I am sure that there was no mark such as
“made in Tibet” but it surely had very special meaning for them. Through that
soil and that experience, they could remember the home and remind where they
are from.
What about our ashes? Ash is just Ash.
There is nothing special in itself. But through this ash, we will remember who
we are. We are from dust. We are actually dust without the grace of God,
without the breath of God, the Creator. I hope that as we put ashes us, we can
remember our eternal home where we are from and we are eventually going to.
From today the season of Lent starts. 40
days of holy practice is Lent.
I believe that psalm chapter 51 that Steve
read for us is a good prayer that we can repeat during Lent.
Create in me a pure heart. Restore the joy
of salvation to me and sustain me.
Open my mouth and my mouth will declare
your praise.
Do you know why the Lent is 40 days? I
don’t know. It is a tradition. Of course, 40 is a special number in the Bible.
Israel people stayed in the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus stayed with his
disciples for 40 days after the resurrection. Jesus was tempted for 40 days by
the devil. In Noah’s story, the rain poured down for 40 days. And there is
another 40 days in the Bible. Moses stayed in the mountain, Mt. Sinai for forty
days until he got tablets. He was there twice as you know, The first one
was broken when he saw that his people worshipped the idol. He went to the
mountain again, and God made him wait there for another 40 days. This story is
in Exodus chapter 24 and 32.
I am just wonder what Moses did in the
mountain.The bible gave me just some clues. It says.. (exodus chapter 34 verse
28) Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights without
eating bread or drinking water.
But we don’t know what happened there. No
internet, no phone and no television…
I love mountain. There are lots of
beautiful mountain in my home country. Wisconsin? Sorry for you. When I was
invited to Mt. Horeb church, I asked them where the mountain is but nobody
answered me. I am gonna tell you what I learnt and experienced in the mountain
about 10 years ago.
At that time I was a youth pastor and my
wife was a youth teacher in my church. We just started dating each other. I
really wanted to spend time together as much as possible. But she was a kind of
a lady of virtue. 9 pm was her Cinderella time. She always said to me around
8:50 pm “Han I have to go home now~ So I suggested her to go to mountain. I
knew that she loved the mountain. In S.Korea, there are many mountains that you
can go up to the top and come back in one day but there are also big mountains
that you need several days to get to the top. I chose the biggest one. Of
course there are some cabins and women and men are supposed to sleep
separately. That was why she said yes. anyway~ It took three days. It is
what I and my wife miss most when we think of Korea or the life without our
kids.
On that mountain, I learnt three
things. First. There is no McDonald in the mountain. In the mountain, one
bottle of water, one bowl of white steamed rice is extremely precious. We
didn’t bring enough food because my wife didn’t know that the mountain was that
big and I didn’t bring many food either. We felt hungry there. Through that
unexpected fasting, actually, after coming down the mountain and having a big
table of Korean food, I realized how blessed I was. Our daily meal is a gift of
God. and it also reminded me that there are people who cannot have their daily
meal for them or their kid.
Second, there is not many things to do on
the mountain but if you see the sunrise or if you look up the sky and see the
twinkling stars at night, you cannot help praying. As we saw the wonders of
God, the world that God made, we just called the name of our God. In the
mountain we can see the work of God and talk with God. It is a prayer.
In the mountain Sinai, Moses didn’t eat
anything. I believe Moses also talked with God in the mt Sinai. I mean
prayer.
The last things that we experienced in the
mountain was… Although we didn’t bring many food, we survived. There are some
angels in the mountain. (picture) Most of people were so good at sharing their
food with us. So, when we need to eat, we could eat. You know why? It is more
dangerous going down the mountain than going up the mountain with a heavy
backpack. So, they needed to make their backpack light. It might be a
reason that they were so kind. You know, it is very easy to make a friend in
the mountain. When you are in trouble, they will not ignore you and help you. I
encountered many people who was so good at giving their hand.
Fasting(although it was not intended),
praying or just calling the name of God before the wonders and the works of God
and Armsgiving. These three things are what the Christian churches have traditionally
done during the season of Lent.
We don’t have a big mountain here in
Madison. You don’t need to look for the place to stay with your boy or girl
friend little bit longer. But I’d like to invite you to do the holy trekking.
Fasting or controlling(moderating) our
desire is a great way to be close to God.
Prayer? Of course. And Armsgiving(good
work)
When Moses went down the Sinai Mountain,
Bible said his face was shining. It was so shiny that people had to cover his
face with a cloth. I hope after staying our spiritual mountain and after we
fast, pray and love people for 40 days, our face will be shiny on the Easter
Sunday so the pastors need a sunglasse. I bless your 40 days of holy trekking.
