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Worcester, MA 01608 USA
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공지사항
Sunday Morning Service - Sermon
Rev. Hyuntae Kim; 3/29/20
Translator: Jee Hoon Jung
“We can do nothing without Jesus” (John 21:1-14)
Greetings and peace to all of you, the members of Worcester Korean United Methodist Church, who have become holy in Jesus Christ and been called saints, as well as to those who call the name of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:2-3). COVID-19 has been leaving us many unexpected changes in our routines and environments. We see many international students around us as an example, as well as ourselves not being able to get together in person today. Minkyung who is graduating high school this semester just got aboard on the flight bound for Korea this morning, and many others are leaving or planning to leave U.S to go to their home countries like her due to the change in their school courses from class-based into online-based system. We hope their safe flight and visit, and wish all the best for their future.
1. After meeting Jesus who resurrected from death, His disciples have been spending their days fishing in Galilee region, looking forward to meeting Him there.
The chapter of today’s Scripture (John 21) starts its sentence with “afterward”, not specifying how long it had been since his last appearance in front of all Jesus’ disciples, including Thomas. We see that they have been spending their days fishing since then, even after meeting Jesus who resurrected from death and receiving Holy Spirit through His breath. As some theologians like Raymond E. Brown said, their lives seem somewhat aimless, still not fully recovered from Jesus’ death, since fishing seems to have nothing to do with their mission, which is to spread the peace given from Jesus to the world. However, by reading Mark 14:28 and 16:7, we can realize that Jesus already told His disciples that He will meet them in Galilee after His resurrection and His disciples were looking forward to meeting Him there, rather than giving up their lives as His disciples and abandoning their mission. There were 7 disciples fishing, including Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, and sons of Zebedee, who were originally from Galilee. Thomas was a carpenter, but we can see that Thomas follows the other disciples around, even to go fishing together, not to miss a chance to see Him desperately this time.
2. Jesus shows up again in the distance when His disciples are fishing, letting them catch a huge amount (153) of fishes.
On the night introduced in today’s Scripture (John 21:1-14), the 7 disciples catch none of the fish even through a long struggle overnight. This could have been very disappointing and exhausting moment especially for some of them who spent most of their lives as fishers. On the way back from the fishing, they see someone on the shore who suggests them to throw a net to the right side of their boat, already knowing that their fishing net and bucket is empty. However, they don’t realize that He was Jesus until they take His suggestion and catch a huge amount (153* = can be alpha-numerically translated into “Sons of God” in Hebrew) of fishes. Once they realize that the man on the shore was Jesus Christ, they approach Him and Peter even throws himself into the sea and swims to see Jesus. We can see how delightful and desperate they were to meet Jesus. Also, they could have realized that they can’t do anything without Jesus, recalling what Jesus told them before (John 15:5).
3. Jesus prepares grilled fishes and breads to feed His disciples, who got worn out and hungry over the long struggle with fishing.
On the shore, the disciples found that Jesus prepared grilled fishes and breads to feed them. Jesus always showed Himself in front of His disciples in a very humanly and friendly way even after His resurrection with a glorified and renewed body so that they receive great comfort and recovery both physically and spiritually through Him. This was the second time when the Sea of Galilee was called “Tiberias”, following the first time when Jesus fed over 5,000 with 2 fishes and 5 breads at the same place. John could have wanted to connect these two events and show that Jesus is “Bread of Life”. Also, we can learn that Jesus wants to get involved in and supply our needs not only through our spiritual events or gathering but also in our daily lives.
4. God fills our heart with His profound peace and hope even when our surrounding seems miserable and hopeless, so that we can serve others, boldly following His great example of service.
The article in the next page is written by Iulian Urban, who works as a doctor at a hospital in Italy, the second deadliest country next to China, where many people are dying from pandemic COVID-19. Even through this chaotic outbreak of a deadly viral infection and tragic deaths of the patients, God continues to make history and fulfill His holy will through His people like the 75year-old pastor, who accomplished his mission by spreading the peace given from Jesus to the people around him. We don't know when and how this will be over, but we believe that Jesus our Lord will fill our heart with His profound peace and hope so that we can participate in His great service in the midst of this miserable and hopeless situation by boldly following His great examples showed in this Scripture.
[ I (Jim McCarthy) received this forwarded message today from a friend in Italy. It was written by Dr. Julian Urban, a 38-year-old medical doctor, serving in a hospital in Lombardy, Italy. Please pray for Dr. Urban, his coworkers, and the people of Italy. Please share this post with others that they too might pray.
---LIGHT IN A DOCTOR'S DARKEST NIGHTMARE--
Never in my darkest nightmares did I imagine that I would see and experience what has been going on in Italy in our hospital the past three weeks. The nightmare flows, and the river gets bigger and bigger. At first, a few patients came, then dozens, and then hundreds. Now, we are no longer doctors, but sorters who decide who should live and who should be sent home to die, though all these patients paid Italian health taxes throughout their lives.
Until two weeks ago, my colleagues and I were atheists. It was normal because we are doctors. We learned that science excludes the presence of God. I laughed at my parents going to church.
Nine days ago, a 75-year-old pastor was admitted into the hospital. He was a kind man. He had serious breathing problems. He had a Bible with him and impressed us by how he read it to the dying as he held their hand. We doctors were all tired, discouraged, psychologically and physically finished. When we had time, we listened to him.
We have reached our limits. We can do no more. People are dying every day. We are exhausted. We have two colleagues who have died, and others that have been infected. We realized that we needed to start asking God for help. We do this when we have a few free minutes. When we talk to each other, we cannot believe that, though we were once fierce atheists, we are now daily in search of peace, asking the Lord to help us continue so that we can take care of the sick.
Yesterday, the 75-year-old pastor died. Despite having had over 120 deaths here in 3 weeks, we were destroyed. He had managed, despite his condition and our difficulties, to bring us a PEACE that we no longer had hoped to find. The pastor went to the Lord, and soon we will follow him if matters continue like this.
I haven’t been home for 6 days. I don’t know when I ate last. I realize my worthlessness on this earth. I want to use my last breath to help others. I am happy to have returned to God while I am surrounded by the suffering and death of my fellow men.]