Order, Order!

[0:00] In Matthew 4, verse 17 to the end of the passage, And John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he caught them.

[0:36] Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him. And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

[0:49] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics.

[1:00] And he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Order!

[1:18] Order! Order! I know what I'm doing. Order! Order! Order! Order! Division! Order!

[1:30] Order! There's no good people shouting. There will be an opportunity for other points of order, but the Prime Minister must and will be heard. Order! Order! The horrible gentleman has got to learn the art of patience.

[1:43] And if he is patient, if he deploys Zen, he will find that it is ultimately to everybody's advantage. So we'll leave it there, and we come now.

[1:56] Now, I'm not... If it... No, very well. Order! Order! Order! Order! Zen! Restraint!

[2:09] Patience! Order! The title of this sermon is taken from this repeated cause of parliament speakers.

[2:20] This is John Burkow. He's been 10 years in the British parliament. And during... This one is in... I think it's German who put it up.

[2:32] And so when he retires, people just make lots of videos about him calling orders. So when these speakers, when they're shouting, order, order, they are giving an order to keep orders.

[2:49] The word order has two major meanings. One is to do things in turn, or in proper perspective. Another meaning is to give or receive a command.

[2:59] For example, in Matthew 6.33, Jesus said, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So this is an order to set the order of our priorities right.

[3:12] So in this sermon, I'm talking about these two kinds of orders. One is to see things in an orderly or proper perspective, and paying attention to wise orders.

[3:25] Sometimes they're a bit mixed up. Hopefully you can pick them up. So the members of the parliament know that they need someone to keep their meetings in order so that they can be efficient with the use of their time.

[3:43] But having elected such a person, they often fail to listen to the order of this person. So in the parliament, it reflects the life as general in our society.

[3:54] So we all like to live in an orderly world, but we do not know how to order our life, and we do not like to follow orders. I suppose most of us appreciate an orderly existence, such as knowing where to find a new pair of socks, or queuing up to enter a tenant event, or vehicles on the road, or obeying traffic rules.

[4:21] However, being orderly takes effort and time, and conforming to orders often infringe our right to comfort, respect, and self-expression.

[4:32] For example, we may set an alarm to wake us up according to our schedule, but when the alarm sounds, we might lock the alarm off.

[4:45] Why do we do that? Why do we get upset when the alarm sounds at the correct time? Because it interrupts our comfort.

[4:57] The desire for comfort often influences our behavior more than anything else. Another thing we observe in the parliament is that parliamentarians are usually merciless.

[5:12] They belittle or provoke one another. However, they do not care what their opponent's viewpoints are. They do not care if their opponent had a bad day or bad time in their family or personal life.

[5:26] Their priority is to win the argument. So they kept talking even when their times were up. This is to do with our desire or need to be respected.

[5:39] No one likes to appear to be a ruser in front of others. And also the heroes of our time are those who dare to challenge or rebel against others and show the world what they can do without conforming to social orders.

[5:56] We see others as some kind of oppression that stifles self-expression. We often think that we could do better than others if we are given a chance to express ourselves.

[6:10] So there is something wrong with the world. We seek comfort, respect, and self-expression. But these things usually bring these orders. As every one of us want to express ourselves, then there won't be order in the world.

[6:27] So it is like electing a speaker for parliament to keep orders. For everyone is busy expressing their wills and ignoring the calls to keep order. Or it is like setting an alarm clock to keep us up to our schedule but ignore the alarm and sleep in.

[6:43] Jesus came to a world like this. So in chapter 4 of Matthew, we were told firstly, Jesus met with temptations to claim his rights to comfort, respect, and self-expression.

[6:56] Jesus chose to be faithful to God's words, God's orders. Then Jesus became the light to the people in Galilee.

[7:08] Being the light of the world, Jesus showed us how this order of life is. If we live in a darkness, we never know how... We thought that our lives are good and orderly.

[7:21] But once the light shines, then we will know things are not that we thought it would be. And that's what Jesus was doing to the people in Galilee and the rest of the Matthew.

[7:34] We can, as we go on to the other chapters. So at verse 17 of chapter 4, Jesus said, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[7:46] So that is the first thing that Jesus said. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent from seeking for your own kingdom. If the highest priority in your life is your right to comfort, respect, and self-expression, you will not find satisfaction or rest.

[8:05] However, if you give up your kingdom and seek the kingdom of heaven, you will find something more precious than your own right. This kingdom of heaven is not far away in space or time.

[8:16] It is something you can be part of now. The kingdom of God is at hand. So how did Jesus go about getting people to repent and change their ways? He started with setting right the order of things.

[8:31] So the first thing we can consider is the order of relation from Matthew chapter 4, verses 18 to 22. So what I mean by order of relation is how we relate to people and God.

[8:45] How do we see people or God in relation to us? How important they are? Do they see people as people? Jesus called the disciples.

[8:59] And then, why did Peter and Andrew, James and John, left their families and occupation and follow Jesus? It was because who Jesus was and whom Jesus called.

[9:12] I know that we usually understand the call to these brothers show the authority of Jesus as their king. So Jesus, we consider Jesus king, so he called, people will respond.

[9:25] And that is true. But there's more than that, I think. It's not that Jesus just simply called anyone he met or you think that this person looks smart or looks capable and he will call.

[9:40] There is a history behind that. First of all, in the book of John, we knew that at least John, the apostle, and also Andrew, they were followers of John the Baptist.

[10:02] So they, these two, John and Andrew, at least, maybe their brothers as well, there's Peter and James, they were already people who were looking for a better world or something that is different to what they experienced.

[10:23] And so when John the Baptist came, they followed John the Baptist. And here, we see the role of John the Baptist. he prepared a role for the Messiah and John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to Andrew and John.

[10:38] Andrew and John went to meet Jesus and spent some time with him. They then told their older brothers about Jesus. They knew enough about Jesus when the call came.

[10:49] Jesus also knew them and their families. In Matthew 8, verse 14, we will read about Jesus visiting Peter's mother-in-law and healing her illness.

[11:02] So, Jesus knew those whom he had called and he was interested in things that matter in their life. The political leaders focused only on their political against.

[11:14] They will make use of other people to reach their goals. Jesus did not call the disciples to be pawns in achieving his purpose. He called them to be followers and to be children of God.

[11:25] In the parliament, some people are indispensable. Without them, the government would not function. But most people are unimportant.

[11:37] Why are they unimportant? Because nobody, in a sense, inside the parliament itself, they are not being respected. Usually, you can see people just belittle the other politicians.

[11:52] They don't care much about them as a person. They care more about them as a means for them to be successful in their careers or to, yeah, either to help them or to make them or put them down.

[12:08] So, this is how our world functions. But in the kingdom of God, everyone is important because everyone is being redeemed by the blood of Jesus and people are so important that, yeah, the Lord Jesus died for them.

[12:32] But nobody is indispensable just because the kingdom of God will go on regardless whether we follow Jesus or not. Whether we do anything in the church or not, the church will still go on.

[12:47] So, that is the difference. in the system of the world and the kingdom of God. So, Jesus does not force or trick anyone to follow him because while everyone in the kingdom is important, none of us is indispensable.

[13:10] So, in the kingdom of God, personal comfort, position, and self-expression are no longer our priority. the disciples live together, rejoice together, suffer together.

[13:22] They do not need to outperform one another but learn to forgive one another and build up one another because of their relationship with Jesus and with one another. As we go on with the book of Matthew, we will see that in calling the disciples to follow him, Jesus would show the world that the proper order of things.

[13:43] The world sacrifices others to achieve the desires of their hearts. You will notice that people will tend to abuse those who are most willing to help them.

[13:54] If our parents help us a lot, we will tend to abuse their help before considering their own needs. This is a way of the world. Jesus sacrifices himself to complete those who follow him.

[14:08] While the first order of things in the world is personal comfort, respect, and self-expression, the first order of things who Jesus loves is love. How people relate to God and how people relate to one another.

[14:23] Then in Matthew chapter 4 verse 19, we see the order of commission. That is, how do we live our life? Not so much about purpose-driven life, but whose purpose that is.

[14:38] What we live for. We see that in John's baptism, there is a purpose in his life. He didn't care about what the world offers.

[14:50] He just lived in the wilderness and prepared himself for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

[15:04] Jesus was ordering Peter and Andrew to do something which they had not planned to do. Peter and Andrew were trained by their father to be fishermen. They would be expected to continue the family business.

[15:17] In addition, we know that at least Peter was married. What right did Jesus have to tell Peter and Andrew to leave their families and occupations and follow him?

[15:29] At this point, when my person asked, why did God not raise more people like John the Baptist to go with Jesus? It would have been easier for people who do not have any time with families or family business to follow Jesus?

[15:47] I suppose God could have done that. However, we can see that God's plan was to gather people into his church, not monastery. So God's church is made out of people like you and me, people with families and occupations.

[16:03] If you ask Peter why he obeyed Jesus' order, he might answer, don't the Baptist told us that Jesus was the Messiah we were waiting for?

[16:15] Andrew and I did check him out and found that Jesus was not an ordinary person. How should I explain this? Peter would try to imagine what Peter would say.

[16:29] Jesus may not be attractive physically, but he was beautiful. He was poor, but he lived like the richest person in the world. He was troubled by the suffering and injustice around him, but he was joyful all the time.

[16:44] He was humble, but at the same time, noble. So there's something about this Jesus that attracted the first disciples.

[16:56] Peter may ask, you ask me why you obey him? Would you not obey a man like this? You ask me why I give up my family and my job?

[17:08] At first, I did think that I gave up my family and my job so that I could help create a better world for my family by following Jesus. Now I understand that I did not give up anything.

[17:19] My family was not mine to give up, my job was not mine to give up. They belonged to God in the first place. By following Jesus, I gained life. My family also gained life.

[17:31] I could not hold on to my family forever. I could not hold on to my job forever. But the life in Christ is forever. If you ask Peter, do you know what it meant to follow Jesus?

[17:46] He told my answer. In the beginning, I thought I had joined a party of political and social, change. John the Baptist said the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

[17:58] I was sick of the injustice, corruption, oppression in society. I could not wait for the kingdom of heaven to come. I was shocked when Jesus started to tell us that he was going to be killed by the current political leaders.

[18:14] How do you fight injustice, corruption, and oppression by being killed by such a system? I now understand that I was part of the disorders in the society. I could not even change myself.

[18:27] How could I think that I could change the world? Jesus' death was necessary for my sins to be forgiven and for me to receive the Holy Spirit. It is only with the Holy Spirit that I could become like Jesus, living a life that brings blessing to others and glory to God.

[18:44] God. If you ask Peter, which is easier, to catch fish or to catch men? Peter might say, there are two different matters.

[18:57] You catch fish to sustain your life. To catch men, you need to give your life. As Paul told Titus that all men were foolish, disobedient, led astray, slave to various passions and pleasures, passing their days in malaise and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

[19:21] Titus 3.3 How do you catch men like this? It is impossible unless the Holy Spirit was in you and in their hearts.

[19:33] In the kingdom of heaven, relationship with God and with one another is more important than personal comfort, respect, and self-expression. Having a sense of mission, a higher purpose in life is also important.

[19:47] As Jesus becomes our Savior and Lord, we will have life. And this life will come with a mission. In Matthew 4, 23a, we come to the next order, the order of logic.

[20:07] That is, what are the most important things in life? how do we logically decide what to live for or how our life should be? Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.

[20:24] We shall learn some of the teachings of Jesus in the subsequent chapters of the gospel. For now, it is enough for us to understand that Jesus was the Logos. The gospel of John says, in the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was God, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.

[20:45] Logos was translated into word in English. However, Logos means much more than word as we understand it. Logos also means logic and order.

[20:58] What was Jesus teaching? He was teaching that there was logic and order in the existence of things.

[21:10] We can only understand this when we know this Logos. Woly logic tells us that we have the right to comfort, respect, and self-expression. When I'm in pain, or lose my reputation, or not given a chance to show others what I can do, what should I expect from God?

[21:30] I would expect God to intervene and restore my comfort, respect, and self-expression. However, as you know, life seldom turns up like that.

[21:45] Our pain, our humiliation, and our obscurity may persist without any deliverance. We want a God who intervenes on demand, defeats our enemies, relieves our sufferings, solves our problem quickly.

[22:00] The first disciples had the same expectation from God. In the following chapters of Matthew, we shall see that Jesus was teaching disciples about suffering for the kingdom of heaven.

[22:15] Holy logic about life does not make sense when we suffer in this disorder and disrupted world. The logical order of things starts with our willingness to suffer.

[22:26] The suffering is not mainly for others or for God, but for ourselves, for us. Holy logic tells us that we must fight for our rights, otherwise our life is not worth living.

[22:38] Jesus said, deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me. It is only when we suffer the loss of comfort, respect and self-expression that we can start to understand the kingdom of God.

[22:51] Even John the Baptist had his doubt about Jesus when John was languishing in prison. We read from Matthew 11, 2-6. Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

[23:14] Why did you not say that? Because the Messiah who came was supposed to set the prisoner free and he was still in prison. And Jesus answered him, go and tell John what you hear and see.

[23:29] The blind receive their sight and the lamb walk. Lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them.

[23:40] And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. John the Baptist was wondering why he was suffering in prison while Jesus was performing miracles in the community. John the Baptist was like the prophet Elijah.

[23:54] They are both faithful servants of God and they both expected God to defeat evil with power. Jesus replied to John was, what I preach and what I did are enough to reassure you my identity.

[24:10] I will indeed defeat evil and restore order to the creation, but not in the way or the timing you expect. Do not trust me because I do things according to your orders, but trust me because of who I am.

[24:27] If we live by the logic of the world, we will be offended by Jesus. Jesus did not come to make our earthly life more comfortable. Jesus did not come to help us to fulfill ourselves.

[24:40] He came to live a life of love and obedience to God. In doing so, He redeems us and tells us to follow Him. The way of the cross is the only way for us to be different from the way of the world.

[24:53] The way of the cross is the only way for us to find rest in our souls. And the last one is from Matthew chapter 4, verse 23, B, until, and verse 25, the order of creation.

[25:08] There is, what does God want, what does God want to change in our minds and our hearts, in our thinking as well? There is, why does God create the whole universe?

[25:23] So God created the universe with the seventh day in mind. It is the day of rest. The creation was waiting with ego, longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

[25:34] That is from Romans 8. The creation was subjected to futility and is waiting to be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

[25:46] God. In the presence of Jesus, the son of God, we see the healing of those who were afflicted with virus, disease, and pain, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics.

[26:00] This is a taste of what is to come. At the revealing of the sons of God in the day when Jesus comes again, sickness, demons, pains, and paralysis will no longer be able to interrupt the day of rest for those who are in Christ.

[26:18] We heard the speaker of the parliament telling members to practice Zen to keep orders. The world does not know how to keep orders. Practicing Zen may help us to calm down for a while, but it does not last long.

[26:33] God does not tell us to practice Zen. God does not just shout order, order. He does something about this. God sent his son in Jesus. we see orders.

[26:46] Before Jesus' natural and physical disorders submitted themselves, Jesus showed us a more excellent way to live.

[26:57] In Matthew 11, verses 28 to 30, Jesus said, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[27:19] The order of relation is shown in the Trinity. In the baptism of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on him, and the Father said, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.

[27:31] Jesus then gave a new commandment to his disciples, love one another. When we are called to follow Jesus, we will have the ability to love. Real love cause.

[27:43] It cause us comfort, respect, and self-expression. 1 John 4, 7 said, Beloved, let us love one another, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

[27:57] How do we love? We love when we start treasuring God and other people. The order of commission is also shown in the Trinity. As the Father has sent me, so send an eye you.

[28:10] When we are called to follow Jesus, we will have a sense of mission in life, a mission that makes us forego personal comfort, respect, and self-expression. A missional life does not start with preaching the gospel.

[28:24] It can, but it doesn't need to. It starts with something simple, just like being on time, being considerate to other people, and being gospel-minded in what we do.

[28:36] The order of logic is shown in the Trinity. In the beginning, the world was chaotic and without form. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. God spoke, and the world obeyed its creator and became orderly.

[28:52] When we are called to follow Jesus, another change is in our mind. Our minds are being renewed day by day. Through suffering, we gradually learn to trust God's order of things, and not demanding God to do things according to our own orders.

[29:08] The order of creation is shown in the Trinity. God set aside the seventh day of the Sabbath. The Lord Jesus said He was the Lord of the Sabbath. Meanwhile, Jesus said, My Father is working until now, and I am working.

[29:21] The Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit to convict, comfort, and bring many sons to glory. The restoration of relationship, the restoration of regional life, and the restoration of our minds are all necessary to bring us rest in the pride in God.

[29:39] Jesus is still proclaiming, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Through His disciples, Jesus is still calling and sending disciples. The way of the cross is uncomfortable, and often humiliating, and usually means obscurity.

[29:56] But as you walk in it, you will find love, purpose, meaning, and rest. would you repent of your way and follow Him? Let us pray.

[30:13] Father, we usually do live in darkness, and many a time we don't like light, because we don't want our evil is exposed.

[30:28] we thank you for your goodness to us, and you pull us out from darkness, and change us, and help us to see your intended way of life, what life supposed to be.

[30:47] We worship you, and to know that you are the God who created all things and ordered all things. Thank you, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[30:58] Amen.