Title: Our Sins / Isaiah 55:3-7
Isaiah 55:3-7
Give ear, and come to me and listen. Then your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, which is my sure grace toward David. I have made him a witness before many nations, and I have made him a leader and commander of many nations." You will call on a nation you do not know, and a nation you do not know will run against you, because the Lord your God, the Holy God of Israel, Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on the Lord while he is near. The wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous forsake his thoughts, and turn to the Lord. The Lord has mercy on him. Return to our God, and the Lord will forgive you generously.
1 Corinthians 10:10-13
Do not complain, as some of them did. They were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them as an example, and they were recorded as a warning to us who have met the last days. Therefore, anyone who thinks he is standing, be careful not to fall. There is no trial that has overtaken you other than the trials that are common to people. God is faithful. He will not allow you to suffer more than you can handle. He also provides a way out with trials so that you can endure them.
Luke 13:1-5
At that very moment some came and told Jesus that Pilate had slaughtered the Galileans and had their blood mixed with the sacrifices they were offering. Jesus said to them. “Do you think that these Galileans are more sinners than all the other Galileans because they have suffered this disgrace? Do you think the eighteen who were beaten to death have sinned more than all the others in Jerusalem?
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President Kim Dae-jung, who took office on February 25th, while giving his inaugural address, hung his throat and cried. "We are all being demanded of land, tears, and suffering right now. We must look back at how we got to this point. Even if the leaders who have led politics, economy and finance are not affected by the political-economic ties and government finance It would not have happened. When I think of the faults committed by the leadership and the suffering suffered by innocent people, I can't contain my anger." President Dae-Jung Kim is holding the leading leaders in each field responsible for Korea's economic and social issues today. In a way, it may be more accurate to say that the current difficulties are the result of the faults and errors that all of us have accumulated over the past few decades. At this time, in light of today's text, I would like to meditate on the nature of our sins and errors that have caused our present suffering.
The first text, Isaiah 55, is the word proclaimed during the Babylonian captivity and reveals God's work of salvation. The second Isaiah, the main character of the text, warns the groaning people of Israel who have fallen into captivity in Babylon, "Forsake the evil and unrighteous way, turn around, seek God and call." He urged us not to miss the opportunity, because the time for spiritual restoration through penance has come and God is already ready to forgive and bestow His grace.
The second text, 1 Corinthians 10, deals with the question of whether it is okay to eat sacrifices on the altar of foreign gods. Among the Corinthians, believers who wanted unlimited freedom in behavior and attitude thought they were free in all things because they had already believed in Jesus, were baptized, and participated in the Lord's Supper. They were self-confident and completely unaware that eating sacrifices might appear to those of lesser faith as participation in the pagan idolatrous rites. The Apostle Paul warned by recalling the memory of the Exodus. It reminded me of the fact that, despite the special protection and guidance of God, the people of Israel committed sins such as unbelief, idolatry, adultery, and murmuring. . He also warned that even Corinthians who participate in baptism and the Lord's Supper will not escape God's judgment as long as they commit arrogance and self-indulgence like the Israelites.
The common emphasis of today's three passages is that those who are bound by suffering and sin must change their minds and turn to God. Instead of arguing that you are innocent, you must repent of your sins and transgressions and receive God's forgiveness. The most representative word for sin in the Bible is 'Hamartia' in Hebrew. It means 'missing the mark', and it means that humans fail to reach their original destination by taking the wrong and wrong path. In other words, it means to deviate from God's good will and word and go where He does not want to go.
Second, our people have become deeply immersed in the sins of greed and selfishness. The book of James says that when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin grows up, it brings forth death. However, our appearance is that we have lived competitively to satisfy our greed ahead of others. Because of their selfishness and greed, the chaebols ate even the small and medium-sized businesses, paying bribes and taking care of politicians and officials as if they were taken for granted. When you try to set up a garbage incinerator or disposal plant, why do the whole neighborhood stand up like a swarm of bees to protest and protest? In the courtyard of my house, the Nimby phenomenon that it should never happen in our neighborhood, in other words, is not it because of the localism that has become a phenomenon of our psychophysiology? Why do citizens push into elevators or subways before they even go crazy? Why would you start hoarding if you think the situation is a little bleak? It is also the cause of the shallow selfishness that is only for himself and his family.
Finally, the third is that we are not free from the sins of falsehood and unfaithfulness. In our country, honest and sincere people are always treated as incompetent. It is said that foreign people do not feel free to trust Korean entrepreneurs or officials. Because of our lies and infidelity. Concealing a serious fact that will harm people's livelihood is dishonest and is typically dishonest.
This sin is being revealed in a different form to the church, which is a community of faith, and to its members, Christians. For example, faith in ups and downs based on material blessings, denominational and sectarian exclusionism, quantityism that sees a mega-church with tens of thousands of people as an example of successful ministry, and the decline of spirituality and piety are representative examples.
The words of Isaiah 55 in today's text are declaring this to us. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous forsake his thoughts, and turn to the Lord, and the Lord will generously forgive him.” It is possible only when we cast away the above sins and turn to God, that we can be freed from sin and recognized as righteous, become free and become his children. What we suffer today may be the trials God sends us to enable us to live such a new life. We Christians must sincerely repent of our sins together with the whole nation and overcome this difficult time wisely with God's help.