ORLANDO CHINESE CHURCH MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
MARCH, 2003
From Less to More
The topic I would like to share is "less" in contrast to Brother Ting's emphasis of "more" during the Thanksgiving retreat. The Chinese people like to have more: more sons and grandchildren, more wealth and blessings, etc. Not very long ago, I had the privilege of sharing at the gospel fellowship meeting on the topic of "blessing". We contrasted the earthly with the heavenly blessings. The earthly blessings may include what the Chinese emphasized, such as wife, son, house, car and money. Among these, it is generally considered that the more the better, except that one wife is enough! But, from a spiritual point of view, the blessings are different. Life is like a chain of hopeful hopelessness. Every one of my students looks forward to the day of graduation with his or her degree. They do not know that pressure of life, however, only becomes greater after graduation. We may be expecting a wonderful reunion with the family members. After a brief few days, we bid each other farewell again. The happy moments seem to be so short. Indeed, everything we pursue on the earth is brief and short, not eternal. The reality of constantly flowing time stream is a cruel reminder that we all are facing death. If there is no death, time is meaningless. Many philosophers seem to understand death, but can never accept the fact that we are marching toward death ever since the day of birth. Not able to face this hopeless end result, many eventually release themselves by committing suicide. We thank the Lord, because we have the hope of an eternal life. Our hope is eternal!
At the retreat, Brother Ting was talking about more spiritual pursuits: more faith, more service, more prayers and fellowship, etc. Today I'd try to discuss how to be "less' in order to reach the "more". We shall read three portions of the scriptures which all have something to do with the idea of "less":
I thank God for my son and my daughter. After going to Georgia Tech as a freshman this year, my son wrote back. In the letter, he expressed his gratitude for all the spiritual nurturing our Brother has provided over the years, so that he could withstand the pressure and temptation while away from home. I read that letter and was deeply touched. Then, my daughter wrote an English composition, in which she listed "faith" as the first goal of her life. I was greatly shaken by her statement. How many of us can honestly say that "faith" has the highest priority in our lives? When one day we see the Lord face-to-face, how many of us can claim that we have done all the duties He has appointed and run the race He has given us? May the idea of "less" encourage us to gain the "more" of the Lord. Great is His grace, therefore may we by faith be mindful not of the temporal but the eternal, for Christ is the better One! (Hebrew 8:6)
- I John 2:15, "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." The Apostle John exhorted us to have less of the world. King Solomon was the wealthiest man while he reigned over the strong, peaceful and prosperous kingdom of Israel in his time. He built kingdom and gardens. He had great flocks of cattle and thousands of servants and maids. However, in the Book of Ecclesiastes he began by saying "vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (1:2). Why did a wise king consider all is vanity? It can be answered as we read on in his writing. Ecc. 2:21 says that one labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, but just gave his legacy to one who has not labored. Indeed, we can accumulate a lot of wealth but cannot take it with us when we die. My parents live in a town near Taipei. Where their big apartment building is located used to be a farmland. The landowner became a rich man overnight when he sold the property. But he still maintained a very frugal life style. His sons were not diligent men and did not care to earn a proper living. When the old man died, immediately the sons took his money and bought Mercedes and BMWs. All the labor of his life did not bring the man any enjoyment, but left the wealth to the children who did not labor. Solomon continued in Ecc. 3:16 to point out that there is wickedness in the place of justice and righteousness. A news report not long ago said that a prison guard killed an inmate in a small town of Florida when he was trying to carry out discipline. The action was careless and unjustifiable, and the guard was prosecuted. But at the end of the trial, the jury acquitted him, because the jurors were all town residents, related to the prison system one way or the other. A court of law is supposed to be a place of justice, but in this case there was no justice except wickedness. Then, in 3:17 it says that God will judge the righteous and the wicked for a time for every matter and for every deed. The divine judgment is in heaven, and one day we will all appear before Him, just as 12:14 says, "Because God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." Therefore, we should "set our minds on things above, not on things on earth" (Col. 3:2). By picking up the cross and following the Lord, we may receive the inheritance of His Kingdom and share in His coming glory. The word "vanity" appeared more than twenty times in the Book of Ecclesiastes. But it is full of divine promises, which are there to give us hope and encourage us to live a God-fearing life.
- II Cor. 12:9, "And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness." This verse points to the power of Christ, perfected in the "less" or decreased self in man. We will now extend our discussion to the man's flesh or "self". Our flesh has its growing root in our pride. As Christians, we may not show any pride in our earthly possessions, but often are proud of our spiritual advancement. We feel that we know the Bible better, pray more fervently and give more in offering to the church, etc. We are therefore convinced that one day we will be better off than others when we get to heaven. However, if we consider that we have already attained and are assured of the glory in heaven, we probably have not yet dealt with the members our earthly body or removed the pride of our hearts (Col. 3:5). In Luke 18:9-14 a Pharisee and a tax collector went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee was very proud of his regular tithing and fasting, considering himself a just man. He must believe that he was ready to reign in the heavenly kingdom. On the other hand, the tax collector was humbly beating his breast, saying. "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" The Lord said in verse 14 that this man went down the house justified, "for every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
Let me use another example from my research work to illustrate this point. We design new semi-conductor chips, which are as small as a quarter of my thumbnail. One type of such chips can receive optical inputs and convert them to electrical signals. In order to achieve this function, the chip material has to be as pure as possible. Less impurity will lead to more signal. So is our spiritual life: less the spiritual impurity in our hearts, the more can we absorb the Word of the Lord.
- Finally, we consider II Cor. 8:9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." How the Lord has set an example by becoming "less" so that we may have "more"! Matt. 8:17, "He Himself took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases." He labored all day while on this earth to teach the disciples, heal the sick, and finally went the cross for our sins. He knew in advance the pain and suffering of the cruel cross, but He did not withdraw the slightest, and showed no regret. On the cross He sacrificed Himself to become an eternal sin offering for the mankind.
In relation to my business trips I often get the chance to see some historically significant places. One type of the scenery I like to visit is ancient battle-field. Recently, I visited the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania. That was the last decisive battle between the North and the South during the Civil War, with the heaviest loss of human lives. An army of twenty-seven thousands of the Confederate came up from Virginia to approach the North's army of more than twenty-thousand soldiers stationed at Gettysburg. The North was defending itself on a plane field, while the South attacked from all around. After three days of fierce battle, the death toll and the wounded exceeded fifty thousands. It was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Standing before the battlefield, I seemed to hear the roaring cannons and the cry of the wounded soldiers. What could be going through the minds of those present at that time in the battle? What drove them to march forward disregarding the stake of their lives? I believe that they all had a belief in their hearts, for which they were willing to sacrifice themselves. So did our Lord Jesus Christ. He became "less" so that we may become "more". Accordingly, do we have the faith to receive such a wonderful grace of the Lord?