The Greatest Gifts
(1 Peter 2:1-10)
<Life’s Punctuation>
Thank you all for your support over the past three weeks through
prayers, offerings, calls, texts, cards, visits, babysitting, and providing
meal plans for the Han family while I was away for thyroid surgery in Korea. I
am truly a debtor to grace, and I will never forget the love and grace you've
shown. The blessings I've received made my cancer seem small, and I can confess
that God gave me a small cancer but greater gifts.
<The Greatest Gift - Salvation>
The passage we read
today is from 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 1-10, which is well-known for Jesus,
who became the cornerstone. Peter, a fisherman with a hasty personality
and no formal education, was Simon, the son of John. However, God called him to
be a disciple, even an apostle, forgave Peter three times for denying Him,
poured out the Holy Spirit on him, and even established him to be someone who
could write the books of 1 and 2 Peter, becoming a cornerstone of the church.
Through the book of 1 Peter today, we hope to receive the greatest gift that
God gave to Peter. The first gift given to Peter was "Salvation." In
verses 1 to 3 of chapter 2, it says to rid ourselves of worldly malice, deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander and to crave pure spiritual milk like newborn
babies. Through this, it aims to make us grow into salvation. Having
experienced the desperate yearning and crying of newborns as they seek and
hunger for milk during five rounds of breastfeeding, I felt how intensely they
suckle with a pure, spiritual longing. God tells us to seek Him with such
earnestness, leading us to salvation.
Do you know about Father Damien, the missionary on the island of
Molokai? This missionary, originally from Belgium, became a monk with his
brother and, in place of his sick brother, went to Hawaii as a missionary. At
that time, as the number of Leper patients increased, people sent them to an
island called Molokai. Father Damien devoted himself, both body and soul, to
serving over 700 patients at the age of 33. However, they did not open their
hearts to Father Damien, so the missionary prayed that they would become lepers,
too. Eventually, he became a leper and served them until he went to heaven. He
called himself the happiest missionary, and people called him the Father of
Molokai.
His life reminds us of Jesus, who came to save us. Looking at
Philippians 2:5-8, Jesus, though having the form of God, did not count equality
with God as a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men. He humbled himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He came to this earth in
the form of a sinner greater than Hansen's disease, taking on the appearance of
an infant who, depending on others, needed to be diapered and cared for, either
for 3-4 years or 1-2 years.
Why? Because, as stated in John 1:12, "But to all who did
receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God." Jesus came to this earth to save us from the slavery of sin, giving
us the authority to become children of God. As mentioned in Romans 8:15,
"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but
you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba!
Father!'" Through Jesus' greatest gift of salvation, we can now call God
our Father.
When I was diagnosed with cancer, I realized that God did not
start all these processes to kill me but to save me, initiating this process to
save me from sin and bring salvation between body and soul. Through this
process, I have learned what it means to live a life confessing that Jesus is
the Lord, living as a child of God, and living a life where the one who fills
all my needs, who is the Master of money, is the God who owns everything. I
experienced once again the God of salvation who overcomes the pain of death
with the assurance of salvation, precisely filling all the expenses for
airplane tickets and surgery. Are you currently in the swamp of despair? Are
you earnestly waiting for the touch of salvation? God has prepared for us the
greatest gift of "salvation." I pray that you take Jesus' hand,
receive the gift of salvation, and become one who shares this gift with others.
<The Greatest Gifts-Suffering>
I dare to say that the second gift God gives us today is
suffering. In 1 Peter 2:4-5, it says, "As you come to him, a living stone
rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy
priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ." God chooses the rejected stone to become a living stone, and
those who believe in Jesus become living stones, forming a spiritual house and
a holy priesthood offering sacrifices acceptable to God.
God chose me, like a discarded stone, to reveal Jesus, proclaim
Him, and call me as a pastor to build a spiritual house. I had a stone that I
wanted to eliminate and discard—namely, suffering. However, God chose the
suffering I wanted to get rid of and, in turn, rebuilt it as the cornerstone of
the building.
In times of Judah's corruption and confusion, wrestling in agony and prayer, Habakkuk, Job, and David, who had to flee for over a
decade after being anointed, all cried out in question, asking” why” God
allowed such pain. However, God turns their questions into praise of God's
existence “Who” and thanksgiving for everything, ultimately changing their
questions into praises.
When remodeling, we often see many pictures of before and after.
During that process, the photo taken is the miserable construction
site just before everything was destroyed. The process of destruction, where
everything seems to have lost direction, and everything collapsed, is the spiritual
remodeling process, of suffering. (Orientation – disorientation – reorientation)
God allows the suffering not for punishment due to sin but for the suffering
that leads to consecration. Hebrews 12:10-11 explains the reason: "They
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us
for our good, so that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems
pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it."
When diagnosed with thyroid cancer, God gave me gifts I had
longed for but could never obtain before cancer. Gifts such as a simple life,
the ability to focus on essentials, a life contemplating death, and the ability
to empathize with the sick. He filled my life with these gifts. He gave a small
cancer but a significant gift. Are you currently in tears, questioning why with
a heart filled with sorrow, anger, and resentment? If you momentarily turn your
eyes to what God is, what God's plan is, and what He is giving you, I believe
you will receive the gift packaged as suffering.
<The Greatest Gifts-Family>
The third gift that God gives us is family. In 1 Peter 2:9-10,
it says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but
now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you
have received mercy." God called us out of darkness, making us a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and His special possession. He made
us His family, allowing us to know mercy, grace, and compassion. Moreover, He
enables us to declare His praises.
Through the recent surgery process, I experienced the privilege
of becoming God's people and family. The members of my home church, Open Door
Church, have been praying for me, calling me, and generously helping me since
last August. I can never forget the grace of our church family in the United
States. Many church members who were not familiar with laying on hands for
anointing came out for my departure, laying their hands on me, crying more than
I did, hugging me, praying for me, giving heartfelt cards, offering donations,
and providing food and care for my husband and five children left alone for
three weeks. I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude for their grace. Many
people I barely knew came with gifts and meals, and friends, seniors, and
acquaintances visited, filling my body and soul with love. In these moments of
fellowship that cannot be explained without God, I have now gained the strength to
live again as part of God's family. God allowed the greatest gifts—salvation,
suffering, and family.
Are you happy? Are you receiving the greatest gifts God is
giving? The testimony of Sister Damien goes like this: "Indeed, my life
was happy with God." I earnestly pray that her testimony of receiving the
greatest gift from God becomes our testimony. May we become the happiest
people, and with all the saints, may we create happy people.
Very moving read, touched me deeply.
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