“History is His Story”
2.9.25. Mars Hill UMC
Going Before Me
Imagine
a teenage girl growing up as a pastor’s kid. She was raised in the church and has her own faith, but lately, she has begun to question. She asks herself, “What
if I weren’t a pastor’s kid? Would I still believe in God? God is
invisible—does He really exist? Is He even alive?”
Determined
to find answers, she spends 5-6 hours praying in the sanctuary. She tells
herself that if she discovers God isn’t real, she will stop going to church.
She can’t waste her life on something that doesn’t exist. So, she cries out, “Are
you real, God? Are you there?” Suddenly, she feels something.
On
her closed eyelids, she begins to see a panorama of moments in her life where
God was undeniably present. She feels God’s presence filling every part of her
body as if her nerves and cells are sparking with the Holy Spirit. She cannot
deny that God is in her—He has been in her memory, her body, and her soul all
along.
That
girl was me. At age 12, even though I had encountered God several times before,
I doubted Him. But at that moment, I realized that God had gone before me.
Since then, I have never doubted His existence. Before I knew God was with me,
He was already in the center of my life, pouring His grace into me. As
Methodists, we call this Prevenient Grace—the grace of God that comes to
us before we are even aware of it. I realized that God had been writing His
Story in my life before I knew it.
Who Am I? Who Is God?
Here
is another His Story. This picture is painted by Marc Chagall. There are three
stages of Moses’ life. We see Moses’ calling at the burning bush—a bush ablaze,
yet not consumed in the center of this picture. God calls out, “Moses,
Moses!” (Exodus 3:4).
God
doesn’t call Moses when he kills an Egyptian in a misguided attempt to save his
kinsfolk. Instead, He calls Moses at the age of 80, in the wilderness. God
says:
“Then
the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who
are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.
Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have
come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of
that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and
honey”(Exodus 3:7-8)
There
are five active verbs here: observed, heard, know, come down to deliver, and
bring them up. These actions belong solely to God. Even when it feels like
God isn’t listening or present, He is at work, with a plan to deliver us from
our misery.
When
God tells Moses, “I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of
Egypt” (v.10), Moses responds, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”
(v.11). Moses sees himself as a failure, a murderer, and someone who lacks
eloquence. But God doesn’t dwell on Moses’ inadequacies. Instead, He reveals
Himself:
"I
AM WHO I AM" (v.14).
This
profound statement, translated from the Hebrew phrase Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh,
reveals God’s self-existent, eternal, and unchanging nature. God is not limited
by human understanding. As Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us, “His ways are higher
than our ways.”
Moses’
name means “I drew him out of the water” (Exodus 2:10). Just as God
rescued Moses from the Nile, He now calls Moses to rescue His people from
slavery. But who is the primary actor here? It’s not Moses—it’s God. God writes
His Story through Moses’ life.
Jesus
Calls the First Disciples
Today’s
passage is another chapter of His Story. Many people wanted to hear God’s words
from Jesus. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon. Jesus
reached out to Simon first and chose his boat. From there, He sat down and
taught the crowds.
After
finishing His teaching, Jesus, a carpenter with no experience in fishing, told
the seasoned fisherman, Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your
nets for a catch.” Simon had already spent the entire night fishing with no
success. He knew that fish were typically caught in deep water at night and in
shallow water during the day. However, having heard about Jesus from his
brother Andrew and listened to Jesus’ message, Simon replied, “Master, we have
worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet, if you say so, I will let
down the nets.”
This
was the moment Simon entered God’s story. They caught so many fish that their
boat began to sink. But instead of rushing to sell the fish, Peter fell to his
knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
When
we encounter God, the Holy One, we see ourselves for who we truly are. Just as
Moses took off his sandals at the burning bush and said, “Who am I?” Peter,
encountering Jesus, humbled himself at His feet, recognizing his sinfulness.
But
Jesus responded with grace: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching
people.” Jesus told Peter he would become a fisher of men. Jesus didn’t care
about Peter’s past or his imperfections. He knew Peter before Peter knew Him.
Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God, the Messiah, and called Peter to
follow Him.
Simon
Peter would go on to become the leader of the twelve disciples. This was the
beginning of God writing His Story in Peter’s life.
Redemption
Story
Oswald
Chambers reminds us in his book My Utmost for His Highest:
"Our
calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the
Gospel of God. The one thing that is all-important is that the Gospel of God
should be realized as abiding Reality. Reality is not human goodness, nor
holiness, nor heaven, nor hell, but Redemption."
This
redemption story is not about us—it is about God. It is not my story or a
self-centered story. It is a God-centered story. Chambers further notes:
"Personal
holiness is an effect, not a cause, and if we place our faith in human
goodness, in the effect of Redemption, we shall go under when the test
comes."
God
has been writing the story of His redemption through all calling stories in the
Bible. Sometimes we focus on people who became holy, but our all history is His
story. His redemption story.
Nursing
Home Ministry
Nowadays,
I often proclaim that God is the primary actor in my life and in our ministry.
Revival is not something we earn; it is a gift in our faith journey. Abraham
Heschel once said, “Faith is making God’s dream your own.” Our journey
of faith begins with God’s dream. What is God’s dream? He wants us to observe
the misery of others, hear their cries, know their suffering, and let them know
that He has come down to deliver us and lead us to the Promised Land. He wants
us to be fisher of men.
While
praying to understand His people’s needs, God allowed me to meet a woman in a
nursing home. She is 84 years old and has been in and out of the facility for a
few years. After our monthly nursing home service, she asked to meet with me
privately. She shared her passion and compassion for the other residents. She
had started a daily devotional time with some of them at 10:00 a.m. They wanted
to learn more about God and His Word, and she asked for help. I felt God’s
divine intervention in this moment.
When
I shared their needs with my small group, one of the women stepped up, and we
visited the nursing home. There were 10 people gathered, including us. One of
them said, “I have been a Christian, but I don’t know God well. I want to
learn.” Other one said, “ I don’t know God well, but I want to be around my
friend, Roberta.” I strongly felt that God initiated this ministry and
gathered people who shared His dream. Recently God sent two Chinese couple in
Houlton church. They couldn’t speak English, but they wanted to go the Nursing
home Bible study. They helped people to open communion kit, nursing home
residents taught the English. We are leaning on God’s arm, and we are leaning
on each other’s arm. God starts to write His story through our lives.
The
Primary Actor in the Story
“Who
is your primary care?” I’m sure all of you have a primary care provider. But
let me ask you this: “Who is your primary care in the story of your life?”
We
live in an age of anxiety. Sadly, children are exposed to media, video games,
and social networks at an early age, which only increases their stress and
worry. Many adults, too, are overwhelmed by the constant stream of troubling
news, especially during this period of political transition in our country. In
South Korea, there’s even a term, “civil war insomnia,” describing how many
people cannot sleep because of anxiety caused by political tensions and stress.
Just
as the Israelites lived in misery, we, too, face hardships. Just as Simon Peter
struggled all night without catching any fish, we, too, often feel exhausted
and defeated. So, I ask again: “Who is the primary actor in our lives, in our
church ministry, in our town, in our country, and in the whole world?”
I
firmly believe that God is writing His Story in our lives. God has called us to
be a part of Mars Hill UMC, and He has called us to be fishers of people—both
within our families and in the Mars Hill community. I was so encouraged during
our Administrative Council meeting last Wednesday. Together, we can dream God’s
dream and join Him in His work.
God
is the primary actor in all of history—His Story. And God will continue to
write His Story in our lives. Amen.
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