Title: My Father Is Alive
Let me tell you an old story. There was a baby angel who was going to descend from heaven, soon to earth. The little angel asked God.
“I heard that God would send me to earth tomorrow. But I can’t afford to be born with such a small and incompetent baby.”
God has spoken.
“So I have prepared an angel for you. That angel will take care of you.”
“But I want to sing and laugh and be happy here.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Your angel on earth will sing and smile for you. You will be loved by the angels and live happily ever after.”
“But I don’t know what people are saying, so how can I understand what they are saying?”
“Your angel will speak to you in the most beautiful words in the world. And I will teach you to speak with patience and love.”
“What do I do when I want to see God?”
“Your angel will take your hand and teach you how to pray.”
“It is said that there are many bad people on earth.”
“Your angel will protect you, even at the risk of your life.”
“But it would be very sad not to see God…”
“Your angel will tell you about me and show me how to come back. I will always be by your side, though.”
At that moment, the sky calmed down and the sound of a baby's birth began to be heard from the ground.
“God, if I have to leave now, please tell me the name of my angel.”
“Your angel you will call ‘Mom’…”
In the story of the little angel, there is a passage where God reassures the little angel who is afraid of going down to earth, and God explains what an angel named Mom is like.
“On earth, your angel will sing and smile for you.”
“I will tell you the most beautiful words in the world.”
“I will teach you to speak with patience and love.”
“Your angel will protect you even at the risk of your life.”
How is it? Don't you think it's a good description of the motherhood that mothers usually have? I think that this is the greatness of motherhood that fathers cannot dare to touch.
Today is Family Sunday worship, so it is a worship service that all alumni worship together. Now here, children and teenagers are also participating, aren't they? When it comes to Mother's Day, there is a poem that is most often quoted. I got the title of today's sermon from here, and I'm sure many of you know it. If you know, please follow along.
Do your best to serve your parents, who will live.
After passing by, it's sad
I wonder if this is the only thing I can't fix in my life.
This is the progenitor of <The Songgang Gasa> by Songgang Jeong-cheol, a Confucian scholar in the Joseon Dynasty. When your parents are alive, you may not know how precious and precious your parents are, and how big and deep the love they gave you. I live my life thinking that it is natural to raise children when they have children, and it is natural for parents to give their children what they need. Then, if you give birth to a child, see the speed rot because of your child, and feel the futility and limitations of life as the years go by, the love of your parents, which you had taken for granted until then, grieves deeply into your heart. Then he said, “Ah, I’ve been living my life as a child. There are a lot of people who think, “You have to take good care of me from now on…” So this poem seems to have come.
The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind does not stop
The child wants to be filial, but the parent does not wait.
Do you know the story of a tree frog that cries sadly when it rains? There lived three tree frogs. They were disobedient children who said to go to the east, and did this to each other, but when their mother passed away, if they asked, “Please bury me on a sunny hillside,” I thought it would be buried by a stream, so I asked him to bury it next to a stream. Then, the brothers gathered together and buried them in the river, asking if they should obey their mother's will. So when it rains, my mother's graveyard is said to be washed away, so I cry so sadly. It must have been a story made up by the old sages to not mourn after death and to be filial while alive.
From now on, I would like to tell you a little bit about the education of your children. I would like to tell you a few things about my experiences at school. There is something I desperately felt while meeting and consulting with students at school. The point is that “behind the problem student there is the problem assumption”.
In my experience, more or less money doesn't have a huge impact on student derailment problems. It seems almost unrelated. Even without money, if parents love enough, children will grow up well. On the contrary, there are quite a few children who stray from economically wealthy families.
The biggest hindrance to the personal growth of adolescents in the relationship between parents and children is (in my experience) when parents pay off their sorry feelings for not being able to fulfill their roles with money. The lack of parental love cannot be compensated by money. Here are my conclusions from my 19 years of working with students. The idea is that everyone has a certain amount of love that they must receive from their parents when they are young. When the basic capacity of that love is not filled, there is nothing that can take its place.
It is very difficult for a student without parents to grow up well. It is not uncommon for them to overcome difficult circumstances and grow up as strong members of society, but there are not many cases where they grow up to be warm and balanced personalities.
If there is only one parent, children will grow up well if one person keeps the family strong. They seem to grow up better than when both parents are present and neglect or obsess over their children.
A few years ago, I had a group discussion with students in class. Before and after Mother's Day, I gave them the title <Wishes for Parents> and had them discuss and present in groups, but there were children who made embarrassing presentations. The number one wish list was “Open the door” and the second place was “Give me food”. I thought for a moment that the children were playing. However, while listening to the presentation, I was able to quickly confirm that the earnest hopes that the students in the group really wanted were contained in that short sentence. Most of the children in that group (perhaps it's a normal thing for teenagers these days) didn't have anyone to open the door to and welcome them back home. Of course, there was no one to prepare the meal. Because my parents were all gone to work.
If possible, share one meal a day with your children. If that is difficult, even if it is 5 minutes a day, be sure to take time to talk with your children.
In Ephesians 6:4, which we read together today, there is a saying, “Nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.” The King James Version says, “Nurture them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.” It is not “because you are my child, according to my thoughts” but “by the discipline and admonition of the Lord.”
Getting too caught up in the idea of “my child” can lead to an obsession. If the thought of “my child” becomes an obsession, the words, thoughts, and actions you say for your child can actually ruin your child. Before thinking “this child is my child”, think of “God has given me my child”. In fact, we do not have the ability to create life. Life is not made, it is continued. The life passed down from parents and ancestors is passed on to children through me. If we go back to our parents and ancestors, we will meet God. Therefore, the idea of “only my children” is not correct and inevitably leads to obsession. That attachment can lead to greed, and greed can lead to anger.
Is there anyone who thinks, “My child must be like this”? If so, then just think about one more thing. “Will God be pleased with that?” Please make sure you have the idea. “How do I make the child I want to grow up to be?” Think more about “how can I make a child who is not ashamed to look up to heaven?”
I can only say one more thing to parents about what I desperately felt while at school. Children ‘see and learn’ more than ‘listen and learn’. There is no point in telling the children to “live right” when teachers and parents are not living properly. Rather, the habits of teachers and parents who act carelessly affect children a lot. Parents' habits are easily passed on to their children. Because that's what I've always seen. In that sense, all parents should “live well”. It doesn't mean you have to have a lot of money. You should be able to live well without money. Much more important than trying to do well in 'teaching education' is for parents to show through their entire lives how a person should live.
Finally, I would like to close by saying a word to the students. What do you think is the greatest filial piety you can give to your parents? Be the daughter and son your parents want you to be. What is the most important thing to your parents? Is it home? Is it money? Is it a nice car? Are you traveling abroad? Do all of that when you can afford it. As an option… . But the most precious thing to you is not your house or your car, it's you. May you all grow up wonderfully and live happily ever after... . There is no greater filial piety than that.