Title: Jesus the Peacemaker
Contents
Witness of the Word 1, Jesus the Peacemaker
(Isaiah 32:16-18)
June 20, 2010 Youth group dedication service
Kim Yoo-jin's sister
I try to read books to my children often. Most of the books make me think about the reason for life, so when I turn off the lights and start reading, children immediately take out their cushions and close their eyes. I love the children who pretend to sleep and listen to everything and then write down why they study, what is the most meaningful thing to me, and where happiness comes from. I am not going to introduce you to such a boring book today. I would like to begin the talk by introducing you to the two children's books that I heard in June.
The second book is a fairy tale called <The Pot and the Ladle War>, written by Michael Ende before the unification of Germany. With a large mountain in the middle, there was a country on the right and a country on the left. A prince and a princess were born in both countries on the same day. However, the 13th-degree aunt, the witch, who was not invited to their birthday party, is angry and offers a suspicious gift. The country on the left was given a ladle and the country on the right was given a pot. “When the magic pot and the magic ladle meet,” the witch told each country, “a delicious and nutritious soup will continue to form. Each country that has only one will lie and steal to get the other, and will continue to hate the other country. However, the prince and princess of the two countries met in the mountains and became friends, eventually stealing a ladle and a pot to cook the world's most delicious soup.
As you can see in the two books, war is repeated because of greed, even because it is too old for no reason. About 14,500 wars took place from 3000 BC to 1950, and only 8% of the 5,000-year history of human history where there was no war was peace. The children are only 13 years old and have been divided into North and South since birth, so they do not know why Korea was a divided country or why war broke out. Not even a good or bad feeling. It would be great if what happened in the book actually happened. The reality is dark, but the ending of the two books is very warm. Of particular note is the fact that it ends with a shared meal. In the end, I came to the conclusion that peace is eating together with the children.
In the meantime, I have had three errors about peace. First, I thought that peace was spiritual. Take a look at the Bible verses we read today.
16 Justice will be found in the desert, and fairness will be found in the fertile land. 17 By doing justly, peace will come, and the result will be peace and security forever. 18 My people will live in a place of peace, in a safe house, in a place where they can rest.
I have never thought of peace as being spiritual, spiritual, and material from heaven. But as I read this verse, I was convinced that peace is both spiritual and material. I am concerned that the Bible may have been distorted, but I would dare to interpret it as ‘peace is sharing equitably, food, clothing, and shelter are guaranteed’.
Seeing the life of the Zoe in the tears of the Amazon, I thought it was the most peaceful place in the world. You will remember the scene where you only hunt as much as you need and share it. It is shared equally by those who hunt and those who do not. Without electronic scales, it is very difficult to divide equally, but whether it takes an hour or two, they divide as equally as possible in their eyes. Wouldn't that be peace?
Second, I thought that peace means the absence of conflict. In Ephesians 2:14 it is written, “He is our peace, who made the two one, and broke down the middle wall.” But Matthew 10:34 says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” Peace is not about avoiding conflict. Because Jesus Christ is both peace and sword, I think it is a proclamation of things that do not lead to peace. Death, desire, and lies that are contrary to true peace must be eradicated. I remember a monk who said this. “Religious people these days are wiping tears and comforting them, but they do not eliminate the causes of tears.” I too believe that religion should do both of these things. Because Jesus is both peace and the sword.
The third mistake I have about peace is that I thought that peace comes if you wait. But peace didn't just come, it required constant practice, training, and exercise. There are some skills you can improve with practice. Here, rather than calling it a function, it should be called a kind of 'sensibility'. On a sunny day when visibility was said to be the greatest, I wrote poetry with the children while looking at the sky while lying on the playground. Children who are addicted to swearing all day say that they are about to cry when they see such a sky for the first time, and that something is coming up in their minds. The children themselves were astonished as to where the award was hiding. Likewise, if you keep exposing your peaceful sensibility, it will gradually increase, and you will start to feel uncomfortable about disturbing the peace. Peace of mind starts with making other friends sick, destroying the earth, making fights irritating... making these things 'inconvenient'. In other words, if you wait for peace, someday weave from heaven! Instead of coming down and overflowing like a river, you have to work hard to make it, practice until it doesn't work, and develop it into an exercise.
The definition of peace given by children varied. Peace is like an afternoon without homework. Peace is not feeling bad even if you lose a game, Peace is being comfortable with yourself and your friends are comfortable, Peace is waiting and not coming, Peace is not using violence, Peace is not breaking flowers, Peace is a mindset There were as many definitions as the number of children, peace was quiet but the strongest, and peace was not greedy. Even though my classmates give such a wonderful definition of peace, there are always things that are far from peace, such as small quarrels, fights, and bullying. A few weeks ago, we discussed how to create peace in the classroom. Which of these was the most popular? Yes. That's right. It was ‘I share food with my friends’. Next was ‘I take care of my friends’ anniversaries.’ Third place was ‘I always change my mind’, and fourth place was ‘I don’t ignore anyone’s opinion.’
I realized that peace, which I felt so grand and distant, can eventually start from sharing material things, and that I need to control and train my mind to treat everyone fairly.
I would like to close by sharing a passage I read from Johann Christoph Arnold's The Peaceful Jesus. “Is anti-war enough? If millions of tons of wheat are stockpiled in North America and elsewhere as millions of people starve in Asia, isn't that war? If poor families live in single rooms while wealthy people live in luxury mansions surrounded by parks, isn't that the same reality as war? If some people make less than basic living expenses and some people have huge bank deposits, isn't this like a war situation? Jesus said that those who work for peace are happy. If you really want peace, you have to talk about it in the holistic realm of life. Peace is a harsh practice that cannot be broken and can be sustained only if there is hope, courage, vision and devotion. “Peace does not happen overnight. I want you not to forget that in order to preserve and develop the peace that Jesus has given you, you have to work hard to create it... that movement starts with me.