Follow the Light

Preached by Michael Cheuk
January 27, 2008, Third Sunday after Epiphany
Matthew 4:12-23; Isaiah 9:1-4

What a January it has been for the Davis family and for our community. Exactly two weeks ago, Wayne Davis buried his twenty year old son Brandon, and this afternoon, he will bury his eighty-two year old father Clyde Davis, who has literally been an institution here in Farmville as the owner-operator of the Davis Pontiac-GMC dealership. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers go out to the Davis family during this time of loss and grieving. But it is not just the Davis family who has experienced tragic losses recently. The Collmann family, the DeTorres family, the Young family, the Tatum family, the Bryant families, the Terry family and others have all lost loved ones during the last two months. In these dark winter months, it seems like we as a community have walked in the darkness of grief and in sorrow. We’ve been groping around trying to find our bearings even as we stumble over more tragedies that we could not have foreseen.

During times like these, how we hope and pray to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. And in today’s Old Testament and Gospel lessons, we are reminded that we are not alone in that hope. Throughout many times in her history, Israel has walked in darkness, the people of God have lived in the land of the shadow of death. During a particularly dark time in Israel’s history, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed a message of hope to the people living in Zebulun and Naphtali, “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Hundreds of years later, Jesus began his public ministry precisely in Zebulun and Naphtali. After John the Baptist, Jesus’ relative, had already been put into prison, and instead of making a big announcement at the Jordan River telling everyone how he was going to take over John’s ministry, Jesus returned to Galilee to live in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. Now, I’ve got a question for you, how many of you know where those places are? Well, not too many people do. That area was where the town of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee were located, north of Nazareth, way out in the boonies, out on the margins, off of everyone’s radar screens. The prophet Isaiah also described this area as a land of darkness because that remote region was the most exposed to the enemies north of Israel, and the people there were the first to suffer at the hands of those invading oppressors.

So, to begin his earthly ministry, Jesus went into Zebulun and Naphtali, into a land of darkness, into a remote place of sorrow, grief and despair. He went as a light dawning on those living in a land of the shadow of death. And that is good news for us this morning.

Witness the Lamb

Preached by Michael Cheuk
January 20, 2008, Second Sunday after Epiphany
John 1:29-42; Isaiah 49:1-7

I’ve got a confession to make this morning.  When it comes to looking for things, I’m terrible!  When I’m the one cooking dinner, it takes me just as long to hunt down the ingredients I need as it does to actually prepare them.  I dig around in the cabinets and pantry, looking for that oil or pasta or whatever, and after five or ten minutes, I give up and call in the reinforcements.  Beth promptly comes in and within seconds, bing!  Pasta?  Pantry shelves, eye level.  Oil?  In the cabinet, as always.  Eggs?  In the refrigerator, right hand side.  This is true with all sorts of things in our house – pens, flashlights, my own wallet, you name it.  Often the kids or Beth will be busy with something in the basement and I’ll hear, “Daddy would you bring me the … oh, never mind.  It’ll be quicker if I go get it myself.”  In fact, Beth used to tell people that she had children so that there would be somebody else in the family who could find things.  I look and look, but I don’t always see.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, there was a lot of looking and seeing described by the apostle John.  Twelve times in fourteen verses, John used verbs like “look,” “see” and “reveal” in his portrayal of the baptism of Jesus and the selection of Jesus’ first followers.  In this baptism story found in verses 29 to 34, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  Then, John explained that he was commissioned to baptize with water so that this Lamb of God might be revealed to Israel.  And when Jesus was baptized, John saw the Holy Spirit come down and remain on him, so that he proclaimed: “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”  In this episode, John the Baptist witnessed the Lamb, he observed the Son of God coming to him, and he saw what the Spirit of God had said about Jesus.

Now, some of you might be thinking, “So, what’s the big deal about that?  Jesus shows up to be baptized, John the Baptist sees him coming and says, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’  I could have easily done that!”   Well, maybe easy for you, but not for John the Baptist. 

The Voice of Truth

Preached by Michael Cheuk
January 13, 2008, Baptism of the Lord Sunday
Psalm 29; Matthew 3:13-17

Growing up both in Hong Kong and in Shreveport, Louisiana, I remember having an aversion to water as a child.  My family hardly ever went to the beach, to the lake or to a pool to go swimming.  So I never really liked being in water, especially trying to swim in it.  In high school I made straight “A’s” throughout, except for the “B” I made in PE class during the semester when they taught swimming.  Even today, when we go to the beach as a family, chances are, I’ll spend most of my time out of the water while Beth and the kids spend hours in the surf.

It was only recently that I found out that I have good theological reasons for my aversion to water.  For you see, for the ancient Hebrews, water symbolized chaos and death.  In Genesis 1:6-9, we read that God created the universe by voicing a command that separated the waters of chaos in order make space for the sky and for dry ground.  And in the days of Noah, it was those waters of chaos and death that invaded creation and flooded the earth.  And even though God eventually held back those deep and deadly waters, and promised to never let those chaotic waters flood the world again, I think the ancient Hebrews were always a little wary about floods and storms, wondering if the divine levees holding the waters back might break, just like those levees that failed in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck in August of 2005.  It was a body of water, the Red Sea, which stood between captivity and liberation for Moses and the Hebrews slaves.  God had to separate that body of water in order for the Hebrews to pass safely through into freedom.  It was a storm in the midst of the sea that finally got Jonah’s attention, while terrifying the sailors with him who thought they were surely going to drown.   So now, when people ask me why I won’t get into the swimming pool or into the surf, I sometimes launch into a dissertation about the ancient Hebrew’s understanding of water, and that is usually pretty effective in discouraging them from asking me again!

But it is with this background that we can now better understand Psalm 29, a hymn that pronounces the glory, strength and splendor of God Almighty.