God is one (4)

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. (Mark 12:32)

After reading the previous meditations, some of you may think and question “do you mean I don’t need to believe Jesus now?” If they can be saved whether they believe Jesus or not, or whether, they do good things or evil things, they may think that they do not need to believe Jesus right now with much hardship. Such question and concept of a man are quite far from the real Christian belief.

It is a wrong concept to hold the view that believing Jesus is a hardship. To believe Jesus is not a hardship but a joyful thing. It is not a matter of heavy burden but it is something that is light and easy to carry. Jesus once told his disciples, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The law is really a heavy burden. But the gospel gives freedom and emancipation to listeners just as a poet or an artist derives joy from their creative and imaginative activities. If someone feels burden with his religious life, there goes something wrong with him.

Do you find it hard not to tell a lie, not to drink, attend early morning prayers, to give offering and attend the church despite family’s objection for believing in Jesus? Belief in Jesus does not have any relationship with those things that we cannot do. Sorry to say that those Korean Christians who still find it difficult to do most of the things that Christians aught to do with ease are far from the essence of Christian faith.

The essence of faith is to know and accept the salvation of God that has been completed through Jesus Christ. This is really wonderful and joyful news. From here only we can get real peace and complete rest. It is so, because, it cannot be obtained by our own effort but it is a gift from God. Those who have received this gift enjoy the joy of it and pray for all the people in the world that the salvation of God may be with them too. May God grant them the same mercy that God has given us!

The Power of Daily Life

“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. (Mark 1:16)

The author of the Gospel of Mark describes so simply the meeting between Jesus and Simon and his brother. It says that Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee and saw Simon and his brother Andrew who were fishing. We could not say decisively because the text did not describe in details, but it might be very possible that Jesus used to go for an early morning walk everyday to the beaches of Galilee. In that case maybe Jesus could see them more often. Probably he could talk with them several times. Jesus used to take a walk to the beaches everyday, and Simon and his brother did fishing everyday.

Take a close look at the description in today’s text. You could see it very simple and dry. Look at verbs only. Walked beside, saw, casting. It ends with the sentence “they were fishermen.” Every description has every aspect in everyday life. We live like this. We wake up and walk beside in the morning, we cast for making money, we see people, and we live with having our name and title. Some people who have a little bit professional jobs teach, study, play music, or fight. Everything happens in this world could be our daily lives.

Such things like these might seem to be boring on the surface. So people could easily fall into mannerism. But there is no greater event than everyday life. Our daily life in which we breathe, eat, excrete, give a birth, live to look at each other is in accord with God’s creation. I don’t think I have to explain these things in details. It is so strange that our daily life has cosmological meanings to someone who has the insights for daily life, but to someone it could be so meaningless. Why does such a thing happen?

The answer is that they cannot see mystery of daily life. For example, it is so mysterious for us to feel gravity, I am saying. What you feel gravity means that you are alive, and also that the earth is working out mechanism of life. If we could feel gravity among our steps of our simple and fatal daily lives, mystery of our daily lives could be enlightened wonderfully. Between people as well as between man and insects, actually there exists a mysterious organism. We just miss the point in them.

Jesus walked beside the beach as usual and he saw Simon and Andrew who were fishing as usual. What on earth did it happen between them? Through the Bible, we could not figure out what had happened exactly. If we did not know the story after this event, we might not have any glimpse of what would happen. Luckily we know what’s going on in the Gospel. Their encounter became a turning point for history of Christianity, and even more for history of the world.

Don’t you think that some amazing events like this are hiding in our daily lives? Those could be exposed or buried in actual history. The results could be enormously important or insignificant according to your point of view. You don’t have to think about it consciously because nobody knows the answer. But it would be nice if we remember that our daily lives are related with history of God’s salvation. There is none excluded from this. Even tax collecters, prostitutes, or sinners are not excluded. All the daily lives are related with the event of Christ in a secret way.

Lord, we like to open our eyes to mystery of our daily lives. Amen.

God is one (3)

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. (Mark 12:32)

The earlier two meditations might have been delivered to you with the nuance that, possibility of salvation is opened even to the people outside of the church. It is right. There are two reasons for this. First, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is the universal power of salvation. Second, the power of God’s creation is able to overcome the evils of men. Having these reasons in hand, now it is time to give the third reason.

The Holy Spirit, a person of the Trinity, is the spirit of life. The Spirit is the spirit of creation, the spirit of resurrection and the spirit of everlasting. The spirit creates life not only in the church community but also in the entire world. Christianity alone cannot completely monopolize the life. In other word, Christianity cannot monopolize the Holy Spirit.

According to the teachings of John’s gospel, the Holy Spirit is just like the wind which we do not know where it comes from and where it goes. To be free like the wind has some personal implications. He creates life in the world in his own way and at his own discretion. Christians believe the spirit of life as the one God. Therefore, we should not put a limitation on the activity of the spirit by confining his activity within the walls of Christianity.

I hope you do not misunderstand what I mean. I do not mean that all the religious activities in the world are the acts of the Holy Spirit. Many of them are controlled and occupied by the evil spirit. Idol worship is an act of being manipulated by the evil spirit. An act of incantation and spell of charms is also the work of evil spirit at the cost of damaging man’s spirit.

Furthermore, we must understand the fact that complete submission of ourselves as an empty vessel for the work of the Holy Spirit does not mean that we fall into a religious autism. There is a big difference between a state of belief that firmly holds on one’s wholehearted resolute belief and that easily falls into a religious autism.

The Holy Spirit who works beyond our thoughts and imagination is the Spirit of life. The Spirit fills the entire universe. O Come, Holy Spirit!

God is one (2)

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. (Mark 12:32)

I told you from yesterday’s meditation that the power of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ can be divided into two levels, namely, positive level and passive level. This is a dialectic relationship of tension rather than a division. Christians experience the joy of salvation in the positive level and at the same time we should also open it in the passive level. Those who truly experience the positive level of salvation naturally accept the passive level of salvation. The reason lies on the fact that God is one and the only creator.

According to Physicist’s explanation, the entire universe including the solar system to which the earth belongs began from a certain point. It is believed that at one point of time there occurred a “Big Bang” (great explosion) in the past. This is the bone of contention between the scientific explanation about the beginning of the universe and the Biblical explanation about the creation. The Bible says God created the universe out of nothing. This nothingness could be referred to the particular point which physicists contend.

God of the Bible we believe is the one who created the heavens and the earth. The creator has the responsibility for his creation activity. Undeniably, the beauty of God’s creation is greatly damaged as a result of human’s sin but even this is also God’s ultimate responsibility. This is God’s mercy. For example, it was the younger son’s responsibility when he left his father’s house as depicted in the parable of the prodigal son. However, the father felt the deep sense of responsibility even for this grievous separation. The father risked his entire destiny for his son’s return. By the mercy of the father, the younger son was saved.

We should not lose the fact that the one God we believe is the creator. With the creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning, God’s creative activity has not yet come to an end, but is still continuing and will be continued till the end of time. Does not God plan to save the entire human beings who had lived, who are living and who will be living?

Repentance and the Good News (4)

“‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news’.” (1:15)

The last part of yesterday’s comtemplation was to explain that repentance means to lessen your religious works, and then to pay attention to God’s sovereignty. Maybe some people could wonder why. Does it make sense to reduce religious works, when we are needed to get together more often and evangeliz to the end of the world? And basically why does such reduction mean repentance?

The most misunderstood thing in Christianity generally is that Christians are doing some works in God’s place. It is a non-sense. It is arrogance. We almost don’t have anything to do for God. More strictly speaking, there is none of those on earth. Because salvation, that is the most important thing for God, is totally an exclusive action. We should only take a close look at how salvation being made, and then after we realize what have happened, there is nothing else except praising Him. (doxology).

Of course, it is possible to say that we must get together more often to praise His salvation, and we should do world mission in order to praise Him. But in here we should take a close look at ourselves more honestly. Do we honestly praise His salvation? If so, we might try to learn more what God’s salvation means. This could be repentance. In church life for today’s Christians, is salvation from God regarded as an importanct topic? No, do we actually pay attention even to knowing God? Except small numbers of people, most people do not have any attention to the kingdom of God and His salvation. Of course they use lexicon “salvation”, but it became a dogmatic word, not eschatological event, with open-minded meaning for the future life. The words like God, salvation, glory, sovereignty are dead in the church. I have witnessed that not many preaching from many pulpits are having done for the kingdom of God often.

Maybe some people could ask if we should liquidate our churches. That is not what I mean. Since our religious enthusiam is far from God’s sovereignty, it might not make any serious problems, even though we reduce a lot. Of course materialistic and human resources could be affected. But such things are not related with the kingdom of God. Basically speaking, church should be satisfied as a minority community just like yeast in flour. Without flour if yeast only exists, the relation between flour and yeast might be collapsed. It might be difficult to say decisively, but evangelizing a certain people had not had direct connection with the kingdom of God when we look through history. Latin churches after Emperor Constantinus, European churches during the middle age, Russian Churches before the Red Revolution, could not be our role models.

The problem is what Christianity feels very nervous about being remained as minority. As long as an individual church or the assembly of church consider growth as their priority, it is impossible for repentance basically. This concept applies to our daily lives in the same way. When economic graph shows downsizing, if people might be so anxious that their life could be ruined, it would be impossible for Korea to repent seriously. She could not be a country for justice and peace.

There is none to be more foolish than to waste our spiritual energy meaninglessly. But come to think of it, on the other hand, the reason to waste our spiritual energy meaninglessly is the fact that basically we do not repent. It could mean that we do not pay attention to the kingdom of God, but only to the church as an organization.

Lord, give us a spirit of repentance not to waste our lives and also our spiritual energy. Amen.

God is one (1)

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. (Mark 12:32)

The scribe was repeating the same statement, “God is one” which Jesus earlier mentioned. Who is the one God? The God is the very God that the Bible talks about. Then who is the object whom other religions follow as the absolute one? In fact, there is no such object. Worshipping something that does not exist is idol worship.

Christians know the answer of the above question. However, we have to think a little more seriously about this world, history and the destiny of human beings. As believers of God, the creator of the universe, it is not a proper attitude if we insist to monopolize God by considering that people outside of the Bible community are hopeless. The God whom the people outside of the Bible community follow may also be a part of God the one. If we premise that having experience with their God is life-oriented, it is also hard to say that there is no life in them.

I do not mean that Christian belief can be compromised with pluralism or relativism. I would rather mean that we should not keep a limitation on the unlimited power of God we trust and follow. Keeping the same analogy in mind, the power of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ works as a great source of power for salvation not only for those who believe in him but for the entire universe as well.

We should not lose Jesus’ cross and his resurrection, the center of Christian belief, both in positive and passive level. In positive level, the incident of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is the power of God to save especially those who believe in him. In the passive level, it is the power of God to work even with the unbelievers beyond our imagination.

Neighboring love

The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)

The second important command is to love our neighbor. Loving God sounds obscure but loving our neighbor is practical. Here an inquisitive question may arise as to what action follows love. It may be said that that sharing food in starving, taking care in sickness and helping in times of trouble is love.

However, the major problem is the question of practicing real love for our neighbor. The content says to love your neighbor as yourself. Such a degree of love is impossible for most of the people and not easy even for people of great discipline. In case of a neighbor who is attacked by a rare disease needs a huge amount of money. They do not have money. Then should I provide them medical fee by selling my house? If I get sick, I may sell my house.

Why did Jesus suggest this impossible command as the second most important commandment? I would divide this love into two. First, Jesus might not give us an impossible teaching. This verse has high possibility of being a religious confession that came from the early Christian community’s life. It means that the early Christians accepted loving God and neighbor as the core theme of Christian ethic. Second, it may rather refer to the limitation of human love and the need of God’s favor than an ethical norm. In other word, it signifies that human should ask God’s favor for he does not have the power to love.

A theologian, Friedrich Gogarten says, “Man can practice what God demands only when God enables him to do it.” (Der Mensch zwischen Gott und Welt, 1956, p. 426). Lord, have mercy on us and grant us the power of love!