Repent and Believe

Sermon Preached by Michael Cheuk
January 22, 2012, Third Sunday after Epiphany
Mark 1:14-20

On a balmy spring afternoon at the University of Virginia, I was walking to my seminar class when I heard a voice echoing across the lawn, “Repent and Believe!”  Ahead of me was a preacher carrying a big sign that said, “Repent!” and he was shouting at the top of his lungs that all of us students were going to hell for getting an education, because “the Word of God was all that’s needed.”  Most of the students paid little attention to the commotion and hurriedly walked on to their class.  Others shook their heads and made comments among themselves.  I paused for a second, wondering how his proclamation was going to attract students to the cause of Christ.

It is interesting that in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus himself also proclaimed “repent and believe” as he began his earthly ministry.  It seems to me that in today’s society, no one wants to be told that they need to repent.  “Repent” is a “four-letter” word (yes, I’m mathematically challenged!).  It has negative connotations and people who tell others to repent are often seen as judgmental, negative, and condemnatory.  That’s not how you win friends and influence people these days.  As a pastor, I’m tempted to believe that if I want to successfully recruit disciples and followers, I should stay positive and not step on people’s toes.  I should stick with the “come and see” strategy recorded in the Gospel of John that we saw Jesus used last Sunday, and ditch the “repent and believe” strategy that we see Jesus use today in the Gospel of Mark.

Known and Loved

Sermon Preached by Michael Cheuk
January 15, 2012, Second Sunday of Epiphany
John 1:43-51

In 1954, psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote a book called Motivation and Psychology, in which he argued that human beings have a hierarchy of needs.  According to Maslow, the most basic and fundamental human need is physiological: the need for food, water, air, sleep.  Then we need safety and security: personal security, financial security, health and well-being and safety against accidents and personal harm.  After that, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, colleagues, confidants).  They need to love and be loved by others.  In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression.[1]  Maslow also identified the need for esteem and the need for self-actualization to complete his hierarchy, but for my purpose this morning, I just want to note that the need to belong, the need to be loved is a basic human need. 

But in order to be loved—truly loved—one has to be known by others.  But somehow, in the society and culture in which we live, it is hard to truly know one another.  In many cases, we’re just too busy to invest the time.  Oftentimes, we’re so busy with work, school, and other obligations, we don’t have time to fully know even our own spouses and children. 

Other times, we make quick judgments about people, and we assume that we know them already.  Back in 2005, when we told our friends in Charlottesville that we were moving to Farmville, one of our acquaintances asked us in a concerned tone: “Have you ever been to Farmville?”   I told her, “Of course we visited Farmville and the church before deciding to move there.”  I’ve come to learn that outside assumptions about Farmville does not reflect reality.

I think yet another reason why we don’t really know one another is because of fear. 

Home for Christmas

Sermon Preached by Michael Cheuk
Christmas morning, December 25
John 1:1-14

It is so good to see you here this Christmas morning!  Isn’t it nice to be home for Christmas?  This morning, I’ve complied my “Top Ten Reasons to Stay Home for Christmas” this year.  Why don’t you count down with me?

10        High gas prices
9          Not having to pack
8          No hauling gifts around
7          No fighting holiday traffic
6          No fighting kids while fighting holiday traffic
5          No one asking every ten minutes: “Are we there yet?”
4          Being able to sleep in your own bed
3          Being able to use your own remote control while watching football
2          Making other family members jealous because they have to travel
1          The number one reason to stay home for Christmas this year: so that you can attend the Christmas morning worship service at Farmville Baptist Church!

For those of you who stayed home and are here this morning for worship, I’m so glad you’re here.  For those of you who traveled to visit family and friends in Farmville, I’m sorry that you’ve had to travel, but I’m so very glad that you’re here!

Loving Reception

Sermon Preached by Michael Cheuk
December 18, 2011
Luke 1:26-38

“Congratulations!” said the doctor to Beth and me. “Beth, you are pregnant!”

You. Are. Pregnant.  Three simple words, and yet, how they’ve changed our lives!  Beth and I had been trying to conceive for several years and after having gone through the first round of fertility treatments, we finally heard the news that we had been waiting for.  Now, I don’t know about Beth, but after the elation of those glad tidings wore off, a wave of panic began to flood my mind.  “Oh my goodness!” I thought.  “My life will never be the same!”

Well, I had no idea!  There is something about having a baby that totally rocks your world.  Rebecca Woolf has written that when you have a baby, a lot of things change.  You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.  The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive; in fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)  Others mentioned that once you have a baby, you give parents with a screaming child an “I-know-the-feeling” look instead of a “Can’t-they-shut-him-up?” one.  You also start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution.[1]

But let’s be honest, in addition to wonderful changes, having a baby can also make disruptive changes to your life. 

Joyful Expectation

Sermon Preached by Michael Cheuk
December 11, 2011
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Today is the third Sunday of Advent, a Sunday that is focused on joy.  Joy seems to be a rare commodity in our world these days.  In fact, it seems everywhere we turn, enemies of joy are lurking in every corner.   On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Americans’ wealth last summer suffered its biggest quarterly loss in more than two years as stocks, pension funds, and home values lost value.  On that same day, there was another shooting at Virginia Tech.  In a world such as this, where is there a place for joy?

Thousands of years ago, our spiritual ancestors faced a similar situation.  The Israelites, who were exiled in a hostile and foreign land, were finally able to return home.  But going home to Jerusalem wasn’t all that was cracked up to be.  For them, going home meant being confronted with the ruins of that once-great city.  It meant being overwhelmed by the devastation of the city walls, their security.  It meant the heart-ache of seeing the charred remains of the Temple, their beloved place of worship known as the house of God.  What remained were the rubble of rocks strewn like dried bones, jagged stumps of once-proud trees, and the picked-over remains of pottery and utensils that even looters didn’t want.  In their exile, and now, in their return, they experienced the loss of their homes, imprisonment, death, broken hearts, fear and anxiety.  In a world such as theirs, where was there a place for joy?

Hopeful Waiting

Sermon preached by Michael Cheuk
November 27, 2011
Psalm 130

On this first Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of hope. It seems that we all need a measure of hope these days. The economy is still struggling, not just in America, but throughout the world. People are getting restless about the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. There’s instability in many governments throughout the globe. We are not certain about the kind of future that our children will face when they grow into adulthood. Many are mired in the depths of an economic recession, while others are struggling in the depths of a psychological depression. These are unstable times that we’re living in, and we hope that better days are ahead.

In our Old Testament Lesson today, the psalm writer was crying out to the Lord from out of the depths. We don’t know the exact circumstance that is causing him to feel like he is in the depths, but the psalm writer is crying out because of his sin, crying out because of a need for forgiveness and mercy, because of a need to be made whole and to be redeemed. Yet, even in this state, the psalm writer makes this proclamation: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” In dire straights, the psalmist is engaged in hopeful waiting.

Changing Seasons, Unchanging Lord

Sermon preached by Michael Cheuk
October 23, 2011
Deuteronomy 34:1-12

“No one ever steps into the same river twice,” said the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who believed that change is ever-present in the universe. Others throughout history have agreed with him, and we’ve probably heard people say “Change is the only constant,” and “nothing is permanent except change.”  As we look out in our world today, we can literally see and feel change in the air.  Autumn is upon us.  Daylight is growing shorter, the temperature is getting cooler, and the leaves are turning colors.  The changing of the seasons is part of the cycle of life we live in, and we see that not only in nature, but also in our individual lives.  I visited with one of our church members at Holly Manor this past week and the first thing she told me was that, it’s been a long time since I’ve come by to visit her!  But as she got to talking, she recalled the changes that took place in her life that led her to Holly Manor.  She said that while living alone in a nursing home was not her first choice, she is at peace with it and is making the best out of it for her sake and for the sake of her family members.  There was a lot of letting go and some grieving that had to take place before she could get to the place where she is now.

The seasons of life change not only in our weather or in our individual lives, but also in the life of a people.  In this morning’s Old Testament lesson, the people of Israel were facing a season of change.  Moses, their strong leader for over forty years had died, and like it or not, changes were about to take place.  I wonder what kinds of memories the people of Israel had as they closed out one chapter of their life in preparation for a new beginning and a new future? 

Raising Our Ebenezer

Sermon preached by Michael Cheuk
October 16, 2011 – FBC 175th Anniversary Service
1 Samuel 7:7-13

Today, we celebrate the 175^th anniversary of Farmville Baptist Church.  What a wonderful occasion to have all of you here—church members, former ministers and staff, representatives from our Baptist associations and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, friends and neighbors.  What an honor it is to have you here with us to commemorate this significant event in the life of Farmville Baptist.  In Old Testament days, the Israelites commemorated significant events in their lives by erecting memorial stones as a way to give thanks to the glory of God.  Jacob set up a stone and called it “house of God” after he had a vision of a ladder to heaven and realized that God was with him even as he ran for his life.[1]  Joshua commanded that twelve memorial stones be set up at the Jordan River, marking the significant event of the Israelites finally crossing over to the Promised Land.[2]  In our Old Testament lesson today, the prophet Samuel erected a memorial stone after the Israelites defeated the Philistines in a significant battle.  Samuel named the stone “Ebenezer” which literally means “the stone of help.”  This stone was huge; it was erected like a monument raised upright standing twenty to thirty feet tall.  It could be seen for miles and from that time on through succeeding generations, every time the Israelites saw it, it would remind them of how God has helped them thus far.

Earlier this morning, we sang the hymn, “Come Thou Found of Every Blessing” in which the second verse says: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come.”  And so this morning, like the ancient Israelites, we come raising our Ebenezer acknowledging and celebrating the ways in which God has helped us thus far in the victories we’ve achieved and the significant events we’ve experienced in our one hundred and seventy-five years of existence as a church. 

Joy and Peace in the Present

Sermon preached by Michael Cheuk
October 9, 2011
Philippians 4:1-9

There was a man who was born into a good religious family.  At an early age, he displayed great intelligence and a deep faith.  His family, at a great cost, sent him to study under a world famous teacher at the best theological school of the day.  After graduation, his career was on the fast-track up, and he was making a name for himself.  But one day, inexplicably, he notified his parents that he had joined a new religious cult.  His parents couldn’t believe it, and they disowned him.  His former friends and colleagues now called him a traitor and rejected him.  And as he constantly went about traveling to distant lands, he was exposed to danger everywhere, and often in hunger and in thirst.  Several times, he was beaten, stoned, flogged, and jailed for his zeal in spreading the ideas of this new faith.

This man’s name was Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, and now, he is under house arrest in Rome, waiting for his trial before the Emperor Nero, who would determine whether he would live or die.  He had lost everything that was once of value to him—the privileges of his upbringing, his impeccable credentials, and his accomplishments.  Now, he’s even separated from his friends and supporters, and his future is in doubt.  By all rights, Paul would be justified for being a little down in the dumps.  But as Paul sits down to write a letter to his friends at the church in Philippi, he finishes his epistle by telling them: “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!”

How can one be joyful in such a situation? 

The Proper Value of Our Past

Sermon preached by Michael Cheuk
October 2, 2011
Philippians 3:4-14

How many of you have had to create a resume as part of a job search?  I had to do that when the search committee here at Farmville Baptist asked me to apply for the pastor’s position.  When you’re writing a resume, you try to put yourself in the best light, highlighting your past accomplishments and successes.  Of course, some people do this better than others.  This past week, I found a website that posted items found on actual resumes written by real people.

For reasons for leaving the last job, some resumes had this:

Being in trouble with the law, I moved quite frequently.

My last employer insisted that all employees get to work by 8:45 every morning. I couldn’t work under those conditions.

I was working for my mom until she decided to move. (Didn’t she tell him where she was moving)

 

For Qualifications, Skills and Accomplishments, these were listed:

I am able to say the ABCs backwards in under five seconds.

I never take anything for granite.

I am creative, dependable, and housebroken.

I have excellent memory, strong math aptitude, and excellent memory.

I am quick at typing, about 25 word per minute, 35 when I’ve had caffeine.[1]

Wow.  Compare those entries with the resume of the apostle Paul in this morning’s Epistle’s Lesson.