Title: Human Choice - Jeremiah 18:1~11
Contents
September 8, 2002 (Sun) 11:00 am Cheonan Salim Church
Title: Human Choice
Text: Jeremiah 18:1-11
This is a poem from a book I received just before I prepared my sermon.
Amen
Tae-Jin Cho
in sin
the greatest sin
Not paying tithing
It's not a sin for not keeping the Sabbath.
Even when I see a neighbor who shed tears of blood
Eat well without blinking your eyes
Heartless sin is the greatest sin
the pastor said
I unconditionally said Amen to that word.
"Why does violence exist within religions and between religions? It is because of the exclusive self-righteousness that insists, 'Only the sky that I saw with my brushstroke is real, only the one who has seen all of the sky'. It is like flowing water and wind.” But through history, it became stagnant water and turbid air.
The 'holy war' or 'jihad' (holy war) in religious scriptures is an ideology that should not be accepted. The basic principle of religion is 'rebirth into a new existence through self-denial'. Religious people who do not complete this process become 'aggressive religious people' full of hate and desire for domination instead of service, peace, and compassion.
How can we become religious people who achieve peace, freedom, equality and mutual maturity? You have to accept that everything is relative, not absolute. I would like to call this 'hermeneutic eye opening, penance'. All human knowledge and understanding is 'relative' as it is limited and susceptible to inflection. Even if it is a religious truth, you should know that it is a 'relative truth experience'. In the world of language or logic, which we know partially, we are enveloped in ambiguity. The truth has always been understood and expressed in a concrete 'historical, cultural, and linguistic framework'.
Now, we are not in a 'righteous competition' to determine which religion has the better 'system' of truth, but a 'righteous competition' to determine which religion serves more freedom, justice, peace and service movements. ' should be A good tree is known by its fruit. The true essence of religion is not doctrine, system, theology, or order, but 'life itself in freedom and love' in the 'here and now'.
We see as much as we know, understand as much as we see, love and cooperate as much as we understand. Ignorance and prejudice against neighboring religions are important causes of inter-religious conflict and violence. Religion should not ride on the bandwagon in the age of fetish worship and the age of praise of growth myths, but fulfill its responsibilities for self-purification, enhancement, and sublimation of humanity."
It is said that at the same place, Hyeon-gak made this point.
"The men who attack New York's World Trade Center are murderers from one point of view, but martyrs from the other. Presidents Josh Bush and Osama bin Laden both said, 'God will help us.' Each of us has our own god, so we believe that only the one we believe in is right and the one we believe in is wrong. This is religious exclusivity.
To cling to one's own beliefs and not acknowledge others' beliefs is itself religious violence. The 'Kingdom of God' that Jesus spoke of is the same as liberating mercy in Buddhism.
Jesus said, 'The truth will set you free.' What the hell is that truth, and how can I find it? As a Catholic, I wandered spiritually with such questions and read countless books. And finally, through meditation practice, I realized that there is no difference between the truth spoken in Christianity and the truth spoken in Buddhism.”
The words we read together today are also the words we shared last week during the Wednesday Bible study class. Since it is not a Bible study that follows a set curriculum, the text studied that week sometimes leads to the inspiration of the Word.
But was this parable originally meant to speak of determinism? Let's take a good look at the Bible. Rather, these texts can be much better understood by someone without a clumsy theological knowledge. These texts are a touchstone that reveals how doctrinal and theological presuppositions can distort their true meaning. In fact, Calvin's theory of predestination is also understood as not determinism, but predestination in the popular sense is understood as determinism. People understand these analogies according to the premise of that determinism. No, that's what the Church has taught me until now. However, if we read the texts without such a premise, we quickly see that this analogy is a direct rejection of determinism. The parable of the potter and the earthenware is a warning to those who believe in determinism and are skeptical. In that respect, Jeremiah in today's text and Paul's position in Romans are no different.
Jeremiah, more than any other prophet, was a prophet who enjoyed proclaiming prophecies not only in words but also in symbolic actions himself. Today's words too are actually described as the situation the Prophet himself is experiencing rather than being told as a story.
The most decisive key in today's verse is verse 4, which is, "The potter made a vessel out of clay, and if it didn't work out, he made another vessel out of it." Do Christians here immediately think of God's total sovereignty? Moreover, looking at the words of verse 6, “As the clay is in the hands of the potter, so you are in my hands”, it is easy to think that the meaning of emphasizing God’s sovereignty is unwavering.
But is it really meant to emphasize that fact? What follows shows that this is not the case at all. “But even if I have promised to build and plant a certain nation or nation, if those people do not obey my word and do what I see is evil, I will reap the blessing I promised to bring upon them” (9-10). ). This is not determinism, but rather a direct rebuttal of determinism.
Of course, it is true that God's free will is emphasized. However, it emphasizes the fact that God's free will is rather relative. If the potter is combing the bowl and the soil is not good, he will make something else out of the poor soil and make the one he wants to make with good soil. The same is true of the relationship between God and Israel. Now, the Israelites do not look back on themselves, but believe only in the fact that God has chosen them. It is the belief that 'Once chosen, God will never forsake us, because we are eternally chosen people'. Jeremiah is proclaiming 'Thousands of Words!' to the Israelites who keep this faith. The potter doesn't make any bowls by touching the soil as he pleases. Even if you want to make a bowl out of any kind of soil, if you think it is inappropriate, use it for another purpose. The sovereignty of the potter is not the sovereignty of 'whatever you want'. The use is divided according to the soil. It is the same with God's sovereignty. God holds the Israelites accountable.
The character of the parable about the people of Israel and, by extension, human responsibility is, in fact, reinforced by Paul.
"What was made said to the Maker, 'Why did you make me like this?' can you say?" If you look at the words you say, it seems that you are only emphasizing God's total sovereignty.
But Paul emphasizes. “God has called us, not only from among the Jews, but also from among the Gentiles” (24). This verse criticizes the Jewish people's sense of choice. They are refuting the determinism that only they are saved and the Gentiles are not saved. The texts in which Paul reinterprets the Old Testament make that fact even clearer (Hosea / Isaiah). Those who are not 'my people' are called 'my people', and they even say that they are not 'my people' to those who believe they are God's people. The interpretation of the book of Isaiah emphasizes, on the contrary, man's choice, not God's. There are many, but few choose the path of salvation.
The parable of the potter and the earthen vessel continued to Jeremiah and Paul is, after all, a word that emphasizes the selective action of man rather than the word that emphasizes God's selective action. Both Jeremiah in today's text and Paul in Romans are declaring to people to choose the way of salvation with a very urgent heart.
There is a saying in our old saying, 'Jininsa Daecheonmyeong' (盡人事待天命). It is a story about human beings doing their best and waiting for the will of heaven.
Today's Word criticizes the easy faith in which humans do not do their part and turn or expect everything to be God's will. We warn you of an attitude of relying on God's will in the midst of not doing your part with all your heart. Moreover, they rebuke their unreasonable faith in hoping for God's blessing even after committing an evil thing. We condemn the false belief that we are chosen by God simply because we confess with our mouths, keep the system, adhere to the doctrine, and have a name. From those who believe that they have monopolized the truth of God in such an attitude, God is saying that he will turn his attention now. Today's Word declares that we are blessed because we are a Christian nation, and not because we are Christians. He declares that God loves those who follow and do His will.
In the reality of human affairs that is happening right before our eyes and we are experiencing with our skin, it is dangerous to turn everything into God's will without doing what we should. Please don't 'busy' God with that attitude and don't 'trouble' God. Realizing the will of God that I have realized, and humbly asking whether it is right before God is the attitude of a true Christian, a true believer. God is with us, not when we shout loudly, but when we humbly seek to realize the will of God that we have realized.
We earnestly pray for us at this time to keep that humble but firm faith.*