Title: Faith and Salvation
faith and salvation
(Hab 1:1-4, 2:1-4), October 31, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
thirst of soul
The prophet Habakkuk was a prophet who was active in a period between 625 and 587 B.C.E. Judea, located in Canaan in the 6th century BC, was going through a very precarious time. 587 B.C. was the year when Judah fell to Babylon. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, all valuable furniture was plundered, and thousands of people were taken captive to Babylon. Imagine the wars of the ancients. A defeated country is completely devastated. Even ten years before Jerusalem fell, it was already under attack by the Babylonians. At that time, the collapse of the Jewish dynasty could be avoided on the condition of paying tribute. There were times when the reforms of King Josiah were shining, but after Josiah died in the war with Egypt, Judah was on a path of decline. Habakkuk's time was one of the most tragic times in Judah's history. I can imagine how the prophet must have felt when he received the word of God and preached it in front of the fate of his country like a wind lantern.
Habakkuk expresses his feelings in this way: “O LORD, when I cry out, you do not hear me? I cry for violence, but you do not save me” (Hab 1:2). It is said that justice is perverted because the wicked surround the righteous. It was difficult for Habakkuk to accept this situation. God not only created the world, but He also saves the world. He is the one who establishes justice in the world. He destroys the wicked and raises up the righteous. However, what is happening in the eyes of the prophet Habakkuk is contrary to God's power. God's people are ridiculed and despised by the Gentiles. It is a situation in which the wicked immobilize the righteous. In verse 1:13, Habakkuk explicitly states: “Why do you stand by the lies and remain silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” No matter how much we cry out, we do not feel God's salvation. Habakkuk could not stand this situation. His soul thirsts for God's salvation.
The prophets were those who felt the thirst of the soul. The thirst of the soul is not quenched by the satisfaction of one's personal life. It's like orphans, no matter how good the living conditions are, they can't fill the void. The thirst of the soul can be solved only in unity with God. The prophets of the Old Testament were people who wanted to experience the fact that God was with them in history. The desire for God's justice to come alive in this history was intense. If God rules the world, of course, justice and truth must be revealed like fire, but on the contrary, I couldn't stand the fact that injustice and lies spread wildly. Most people agree with the feelings of the prophets, but do not agree with them. They also agree with the reform of the church, but do not participate together. The reason is that the truth is uncomfortable.
time of the apocalypse
With a burning thirst, the prophet Habakkuk waits for an answer from Jehovah God. It is the heart of a watchman waiting for dawn. Look at verse 2:1. “I will stand at my watch, and I will stand in the ramparts; I will wait and see what he will say to me, and I will see how he answers my questions.” Jehovah God's answer is: Listen to verse 3. “This vision has an appointed time, and its end will come quickly, and it will not be false; though it may be delayed, wait for it, it will surely come without delay.” The time of the apocalypse, that is, the time of the end, refers to the time when God's justice will be realized. Then evil will be completely removed, and righteousness will be fully revealed. Rape and violence can no longer exist in this world. This is the moment when God's silence ends.
The key to Habakkuk's answer from Jehovah God here is that the time of the apocalypse is coming “soon.” This is Habakkuk's unique spiritual insight. God speaks through the spiritual insight of the prophets. Habakkuk lived in a frustrating reality, as described earlier. The world is a mess. No matter how much I cried out, there was no answer from God. But Habakkuk realized that God's revelation was coming soon. It may seem slow from the outside, but if you wait, you can get the answer that you will surely respond “without delay”.
The spiritual condition of the early Christians was similar to that of Habakkuk. We believed and waited for the promise of Jesus' return, but Jesus' return was delayed. Many Christians have left the church. They were embarrassed. I was also anxious. But they began to think that the second coming of Jesus would come like a thief who came in without warning. Outwardly there seemed to be no sign, but the Second Coming seemed to be continually delayed, but it was believed that it would happen soon. With such a belief, they kept their arduous life of faith. Our faith today is also rooted in the Second Coming of Jesus, who will ultimately judge and complete the world. Although Jesus has not returned for the past two thousand years, we believe that He will return soon even at this very moment. Does this claim make sense?
No matter how mysterious time may be, you may think that it is difficult to live with only such spiritual insight in everyday life. In everyday life, people are hungry right away, have to earn money, are betrayed, and focus their energy on finding happy conditions. And justice must be done right now. I want to make sure that evil is destroyed. For those living in this daily life, it seems too far-fetched to say that the time of the apocalypse is soon to come. It is also empty. Everyone gets tired of waiting. So most of the time, they live in moderation while compromising reality. I understand people who live like that. I am one of those people. There are many times when I doubt whether the Korean church and society will be renewed by God's justice. I wonder if it's just a loss to go out in such a public movement. Fall into defeatism and cynicism.
Why didn't Habakkuk also receive this temptation? The Bible says that Habakkuk stayed up all night with his eyes open, waiting for the apocalypse like a watchman waiting for dawn, but behind the scenes there are all kinds of conflict and anxiety. Such conflict and anxiety appeared as a question to God. Why not save? Why are you silent? How are we supposed to endure this reality? Job's wife shouts to Job, who is sitting in the ashes and scratching herself with pieces of earthenware, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die." (Job 2:9) No light anywhere. In the face of this dark reality that is unlikely to come in, everyone has no choice but to cry out like this. We are tempted to take a step back from God's salvation, his reign, and his revelations. No one is an exception here. When Jesus was crucified, he said, “God, why have you forsaken me?” did you cry?
live by faith
Habakkuk found the right path in a spiritual labyrinth. That is the sentence that sums up the entire thought of the Old and New Testaments. “The righteous shall live by his faith” (Hab 2:4b). Faith here refers to an attitude of life that is doomed to the fact that the time of the apocalypse, the time of salvation, is soon to come. The writer of Hebrews refers to faith as “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This is the faith Habakkuk speaks of. By faith the righteous can actually wait and hope for the time of the apocalypse, the time of invisible salvation. Faith allows us to experience it in substance and experience it as solid evidence. Only in such experiences one lives. No matter how dire the situation is, it is because you have already seen the light of salvation. Paul quotes this sentence from the book of Romans and explains the gospel as follows: “In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith to faith, just as it is written, The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17), which means that faith is the foundation of salvation. Without faith, you die.
One of Martin Luther's three theological propositions is 'Solar Fide' (Faith alone). The spiritual insight into Habakkuk's faith continued through Paul in the New Testament to Luther. Luther confronted the Roman Catholics on the question of justification. The Catholic Church insisted that works along with faith are the foundation of righteousness, and Luther argued that there was only faith, excluding achievements. Luther did not deny human action itself. It just means that works are not the basis for justification. Luther correctly interpreted the spiritual views of Habakkuk and Paul. It was through the fact that the initiative of righteousness lies only with God. It means that the time of the apocalypse will come according to God's time calculation, not our human time calculation. Only when we are completely dependent on God, that is faith, man attains righteousness, that is, salvation.
Habakkuk said that he lived by faith waiting for the time when God's justice would come in the desperate situation of the nation. They proclaimed the truth without knowing the exact history of God's salvation. God's work of salvation was realized in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the realization of the apocalypse. This is Kairos, the time of God. It is the promise of the ultimate world completion. He who believes in him lives. That's right. Those who believe in Jesus Christ find life in this wild, vain, and clich d world. You are such people. Amen.