Families who live apart

Families who live apart
Timothy 5:8
I received a title for today's sermon, 'Families who live apart'. But I asked God, "Lord, the sermon for Sunday worship service should apply to everyone. Even though this is Canada, how many people will this sermon relate to?"
But how did God reply? He didn't. He gave me no answer. There are times like this when God does not answer us. He just tells us to do something with no explanation.
In Genesis chapter 22, God called Abraham, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Wasn't it enough to make Abraham wait until he was 100 years old to get Isaac? And now you want him to kill his precious son? This just does not make sense at all.
With demands like this from God, we can question and disagree him in many ways, "Why God? Did you suddenly decide to become a cannibal? Why not stick to cows and sheep for BBQ's? Are you crazy?"
But God dose not give us hints like this, "I have a good will for you. I am not a cannibal. Trust me." But he only commands us and asks us to obey his command. He does not answer our question "Why?" But of course, we end up realizing God's demand that seemed ridiculous end up being for our benefits.
God commanded me. I asked him "Why?" But he did not answer me. Today's fathers explain very well to the questions of their sons and daughters. But God has no explanation but only command. In this case, what is your attitude toward God?
"I don't like God because he has not given me a good explanation." Or "Lord, I am not smart like you. I cannot fully understand your demand. But I believe you have a good will for me. I will obey you." Hallelujah!
And sometimes when God does not respond, you can find the answers in the bible. That is what I tried to find the reason, for God wants me to use today's sermon title 'Families who live apart'.
And I was surprised by what I found. It is that everyone on the earth are related to Adam and Eve, Furthermore we are all part of Noah's family. If we look in the bible, we know that during the Noah's flood, only 8 people survived. Noah and his wife, their 3 sons and each of their wives. And we Koreans, are the descendants of the first son Sam.
After Noah's flood, Noah's whole descendants built a tower called Babel. They tried not to be scattered over the face of the whole earth even if God wants them to be scattered on the whole earth. That Babel tower is the tower of disobedience, arrogance and betrayal.
God came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. God thought that would be no good for themselves in the future. So God confused their language so they will not understand each other. Therefore they were scattered over all the earth.
Some people may ask God, "God, you should help people, not ruin their buildings under construction. Are you really God?" And when God does not reply, people might give up on God.
Perhaps there are people in a situation like this. Are you? Not liking the way things are turning out? Are you thinking, "God, how can you do this to me? You said you loved me. Is this your definition of your love? You are cruel."
But we have to know God did not stop the construction of the Babel tower to bother us. It was to protect us from the disaster following the completion of the Babel tower. We have to know the will of God is always good.
As the construction came to a stop, Noah's family was scattered and separated. Therefore the descendants of Noah who are all the people of the world became separated family members.
Do you think the families that live apart happy? Or do you think the families that live together happy? That is a wrong question. Some families are happy when living apart and some are happy living together. Therefore it is the will of God for some families to live apart and some together. Case by case.
In Korea, the family that live apart are called wild goose family. I'm curious why they say wild goose family... why not sparrow family? Or why not migratory bird family? So I did some research. And I found out that it is related to the habits of the wild goose.
When a female wild goose lays the eggs, the male wild goose protects them, and brings food for them. Like this, in a the wild goose family, the dad works to provide money for his wife and kids to study and live. That's why people call them wild goose family.
Wild geese is very faithful to their spouse. They never remarry when their spouse is dead. They take care of their babies very carefully. So people call these kind of dads a wild goose dad. There are many wild goose dads in our church. I think they are very lonely. Sometimes we hear the bad news from Korea, "A wild goose dad suicide!"
But we Christians talk to our God about situations like this, "God, why does my family have to live apart?" If we have a good answer to this question from God, that is very nice. But when we do not have an answer from God, we try to look at the families who live apart in the bible.
We can find lots of families who live apart in the bible. When God called Abraham first, he told him, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household."(Genesis 12:1) As you know, the family system was originally made by God. But God commanded Abraham to leave his family. Why? Sometimes we don't understand.
And Jacob lived for a long time apart from his family because his older brother tried to kill him. And Joseph lived for a long time too apart from his family because he was kidnapped by his step brothers. But in the end, living apart from his family became better and the best way for the future.
My dear brothers and sisters, everyone is living apart from their family. I am also living apart from my family. It does not mean I have a second wife or a hidden child. This means my beloved father and mother are living apart from me.
They are living in the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes I miss my father and mother. But If I meet my father and mother, that is the day of my death. And if this happens, my wife and my daughter will also be separated family members.
There are so many family members here who live apart. Some might miss their family, and some might not want to see them. Anyway we are all separated families. But don't worry too much. We will meet them again someday. After a soldier finishes his duty in the army, he can go home and see his beloved mom and dad, and brothers and sisters...
When we finish our heavenly duty, our family can join altogether. I pray that all of you finish you work well, to the end, with patience and endurance. The most beautiful day will wait for you. And don't forget this scripture, "Take care of your family."