NYUBF | New York UBF

2011 New Year’s Message

At the Feet of Jesus

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Happy New Year! (Cantonese) Sun nien fai lok, (Mandarin) Xin nian yu kuai. (Spanish) Feliz Año Bueno! (Korean) Sehe Bokmanee Bateuseyo. As I looked back upon everything that happened last year, I felt that 2010 was one of the toughest years that I have ever experienced. Maybe it was because according to the Chinese calendar, 2010 was the year of the tiger, a ferocious animal. Yet, we give thanks to the Lord, acknowledging that He has been extremely merciful to all of us. I hope and pray that 2011 will not be as tough as 2010, but more gracious and comforting. One thing I noticed last year through many trials and events is that God wants our attention. I pray that in 2011 we may pay more attention to Him no matter what circumstances we may be in.

Most of us make a New Year’s resolution at the beginning of the year, only to forget it after a few days. But making a New Year’s resolution is good even though you may not be able to keep it. Why? It’s because it at least gives you a sense of direction. It’s a new beginning. What is your resolution for this year? Someone made a resolution that she would be more forgiving and generous to others this year. Someone made a resolution that he would read the Bible and pray more. Some want to continue to challenge themselves and expand the horizon of their experience and understanding, so that they can serve the Lord better. In fact, some are preparing to serve needy people in far away countries.

I pray that all members of our congregation may grow mature in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ this year. I want to see more young disciples being raised through our ministry, taking stewardship and even being sent out to serve God’s kingdom work, beginning from NYC campus communities and beyond. Living in New York City for a while, I realize that it’s very important for each of us to overcome our stress and tiredness and be more vitalized in our day to day life, so that we may participate in serving the Lord and His people with joy and loving care this year. As we continue to engage in serving the needs of college campus students, teenagers and younger children, we face new challenges and need to develop new programs that can promote spiritual development. I hope that we can develop a more structured discipleship program as we continue to support our current BBF, CBF, HBF and college campus ministries. We also need to embrace intercultural aspects of our ministry even more in order to reach out to the wider community. We will have two major conferences altogether this year, one during Easter and the other during the summer. Besides these two, we will have other activities for leadership development, like campus prayer meetings, GBS and other programs. We want to see our praise and worship teams grow continually as God’s servants and disciples and we want to see a new orchestra and choir born. We will have to pay attention to young couples who are struggling to take care of newborn babies while working full time or studying. These young leaders can be bound and stuck spiritually by their heavy crosses. But these can also provide excellent opportunities for their spiritual growth and maturity if we provide proper care for them. Some of our older members are aging and facing health problems. They need a new paradigm to serve God’s work by and large. We pray that this year many more new house churches may be established. We will also have to support small house church chapters in the Northeast region, especially in the Greater New York area. We also want to continue to support our coworkers who have been sent out from New York as well as other missionaries throughout the world. In 2011, we want to see our spiritual mentorship grow through one on one Bible study and prayer. Throughout the year 2011, we will be studying Mark’s gospel and learn Jesus’ humble servantship.

How can we do all of this? As a pastor of New York UBF, I want to become more proactive in serving the Lord and His ministry this year. I am very excited and at the same time I am challenged. “What is my new resolution for this year?” That’s a good question. When I actually think about how we will do all these things, I am overwhelmed. Well, we need to have faith in God and we have to be changed in many ways to be God’s instrument. On the other hand, I also realize that we can’t do anything by our own wisdom or strength.

So what is my resolution for this new year? My resolution is to sit at the feet of Jesus. In other words, I want to listen to God more attentively and wholistically, so that I can depend on Jesus, receive his personal vision and be fully embraced and empowered by him before doing anything. Even though I may have many good plans for this year, unless I discipline myself to sit at the feet of Jesus and surrender to him first, all the good plans we have will be just nothing but plans, no matter how hard I may struggle. I will be just like chaff, blown by the wind. Recently I happened to pick up a book to read, entitled “The Only Necessary thing”, which is a collection of the writings of Henri Nouwen, edited and compiled by Wendy Wilson Greer. Although I didn’t finish reading it, it already began to inspire me a great deal. It’s a guide to living a prayerful life. The title “the Only Necessary thing” is derived from Luke 10:41 and 42, which reads, “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” I think that most of us are familiar with this passage.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. (10:38) I believe that the village she lived in was a small town called Bethany, just on the outskirts of Jerusalem, less than two miles away. It was a few days before Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus was about to fulfill God’s redemption for humankind through his sacrificial death on the cross. It was the most important work of the Messiah.

According to John’s account, Jesus and Martha, her sister Mary and their brother Lazarus shared a special bond of love. (Jn 11:1-2) It’s such a wonderful thing that Martha invited Jesus and his disciples to her home at this crucial time. She wanted to honor and express her gratitude and love for Jesus as best as she could. But in spite of her good intentions, she was so distracted and carried away with the preparations that she became very upset. She even felt betrayed by her sister Mary who left her to do everything. While Martha was working hard, Mary was just sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his words. From Martha’s point of view, Mary was senseless. Mary’s sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him was doing nothing. To Martha, Mary’s behavior was unproductive and even irresponsible at this time. So she protested to Jesus in verse 39, saying “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

But how did Jesus respond to her protest? Jesus took Mary’s side and said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” It does not mean that Martha was wrong in wanting to serve dinner. But her problem was that she was doing the right thing with the wrong attitude. In fact, Jesus came to her home to spend time with her. Yet, she became so preoccupied and disturbed by so many things that she failed to spend time with Jesus and didn’t pay attention to him at all. She was carried away to the point that her dinner preparation became the center of everything. To her surprise, Jesus clearly expressed that he was not impressed by Martha’s many works at all and that only one thing is needed to please him, and that one thing is listening to him. Jesus said that Mary chose one thing that was necessary and even better. And her choice pleased Jesus very much.

This event is recorded only in Luke’s gospel. What is Jesus trying to tell us? The event in today’s passage is not about the role of women in the church, but about the essence of discipleship. Jesus is telling us that the essence of Christian life is not about our works or even our ministry but about relationship with the Lord and listening to Him. Sometimes, we think that we can do many things for God. That’s true. But we must know that our activities or service to God is in vain unless it is centered in Christ. In other words, it’s our relationship with Christ that should be the center. In other words, if we fail to acknowledge our limitations and to depend on him and his power, we cannot truly bring glory to God. In fact, although Mary seemed to be doing nothing, she understood what was truly important. She was fully enjoying the presence of Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet and listening to his words. And you know what? It made Jesus so happy. We generally think that we can please Jesus when we work hard for him, to the point that we even faint. But that’s not always the case.

We sometimes make Jesus and others very annoyed through our busy body. However, we can actually make Jesus really happy even when we don’t do anything but sit at his feet and listen to him. And Jesus said that that’s the only necessary thing. It does not mean that we shouldn’t do anything for the Lord. But our real work starts when we sit at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging that he is the Lord of everything, trusting him, sharing our feelings, and listening to him so that we may be his humble servants. Jesus said in John 15:5,“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We know this very well. But we don’t practice it in our day-to-day life. Psalm 1:1-3 also said, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

I hope and pray that 2011 may be a blessed year and even the best year for all of you. Last year, I felt that I wasn’t doing enough for the Lord and for those who are facing many problems. I often felt overwhelmed and powerless because there seem to be many problems without solutions. Yet, instead of kneeling down at the feet of Jesus, I was like Martha. I was disturbed and upset. I now understand more seriously why Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” This is so simple truth. Unless I abide in Jesus the vine, I will become weary, burdened, tired, and empty. No matter how hard I work, I will be like a dried branch if I do not abide in Jesus. We may have a lot of new and good plans for this year. We are going to be very busy this year. We feel overwhelmed by so many problems in the world. We must continue to believe that God who is trustworthy who sent Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will continue to do His great work among us and all over the world this year. He is the One who brings His salvation. We are invited to join it. Therefore, we shouldn’t be like Martha. No matter how busy we may be this year, we should sit at the feet of Jesus, praying and listening to him, like Mary did. At the feet of Jesus, we are embraced by God’s grace and love. At the feet of Jesus, we are inspired and strengthened with his wisdom. Are you prepared to listen to Jesus? Are you ready to sit at the feet of the Lord, the Master of the Universe? Are you ready to launch a new journey along with Jesus? We are all invited to do so. When we sit at the feet of Jesus, we can please him, bring honor and glory to him and be a part of his wonderful life-giving ministry. By the end of the new year, you will see the difference. Happy New Year! God bless you all.