Title: The Danger of an Empty Soul
Contents
First of all, I would like to thank God for allowing me to experience the winter retreat of Saegil Church with the theme of the spirituality of modern people. In addition, I would like to say that I was greatly moved by the sincerity of the members of the congregation who are thinking and pondering the word of God together. We begin today's sermon with the hope that the words we shared three times will come to you with new strength in your thoughts and lives.
The text contains the content of Jesus' enemies who slander against Jesus when they see Jesus healing demon-possessed people and performing miracles and miracles that people around cannot understand. In response to Jesus' actions in defeating demonic powers and freeing people from demons, the adversaries are plotting that he is acting in unity with the demon king Beelzebul and relying on his power. In other words, the power of Jesus did not come from God, but from the king of demons. Jesus' response to this was:
First, Jesus said, “If I cast out demons with the power of Beelzebul, the king of demons, whose power did your colleagues who have had the experience of exorcising demons so far rely on? asks. Behind these questions lies Jesus' intention as follows. "Let's stop arguing and fighting over these issues. What we really need to be concerned about is finding ghosts and expelling them from people, isn't it?" Jesus thought that being set free would be God's work and building the kingdom of God on this earth. Actually, the reason Jesus healed the sick and the demon-possessed was for the realization of the kingdom of God. The beginning of a new life in which body and mind have been cleansed by leaving completely by the power of Jesus, this is the beginning of the kingdom of God.
If we read the text of the text further, we will come across content that conflicts with the core theme of today's text. The fact is that the demons that were driven out through the power of Jesus are looking for a new place to live, but can't find a proper place to live. When I came back, I found that the old owner's heart was completely empty, but it was in a state of an empty vessel that was not filled with anything. So the demon brought in seven more friends besides himself, and he played an evil role in him more strongly than the first time. When I looked up the commentary on the text of the text, it read: "When the evil spirit is driven out, the house is emptied. But the house must not be left unattended. The empty house must be managed and governed responsibly until the end." It emphasizes that we must become the true masters of ourselves, freed from the power of demons. The danger of an empty soul, that is, the fate of an empty house, can be the title of the text.
There was a novelist. A novelist is a being who makes his or her life by writing. At some point, this man became deeply frustrated. He tried to achieve his life by writing, but he came to the limit that it could never be his life. At this point, the writer is living, but not living. He was screaming, "I can't do it. I can't write a single line anymore. Don't write lies." A friend came to the desperate novelist and told him what a climber had to say.
A person who lives with a clear path to go, a person who does not deviate from the essence of nature and walks along the road while trembling in fear, a person who is afraid but knows that overcoming that fear will open not only despair but a new perspective on life and freedom. Those who go their way while weeping because of their existence are full of souls. It is by no means an empty soul into which seven demons can enter.
What does the Bible mean by a demon-possessed person? Doesn't it refer to a person who wanders here and there, unable to get where he should go? Isn't this talking about our lives wandering around without finding the place where we should be, the place we should live on, and the goal we need to walk on? The original Hebrew word 'hamartia', which originally means sin, has the meaning of being deviating from the goal, and it is seen that saying that we are all sinners is actually the same as the state of being possessed by a demon. We who are proud of being modern people are demon-possessed and sinners who are deviating from the basics.
When we, who knew the way we should go, what life is through meeting with Jesus, have lost track of the way we should go because of greed and desire, and lost the fundamentals we need to hold onto, and wandered here and there, so life feels more confused than before we knew Jesus We will rediscover the reality of the seven demons within us. Between the teachings of Jesus and the reality, living within God's limits and in the midst of temptation to step outside God's realm, we are now living with greater frustration and conflict. Isn't that the situation where the seven demons make us more dizzy and confused? The Bible's description of the dwelling place of the demon-possessed as a cemetery seems to point out the ephemeral nature of human existence away from the village, the true haven of life.
As I said before, we who have had the experience of meeting with Jesus and the truth are people who have the way to go. But it is becoming increasingly obscure. It is either neglecting or moving away from it. Some people speak of faith, but they accept it only as a belief and become formalized, while others use it as a means to satisfy their greed. The encounter with the reality of faith is gradually absent. But what is clear is that even though we know the truth, we are afraid of the truth, and when we neglect or avoid the mountain we should go, when we are lost again by the road we left behind because of the road we should go, our lives become more and more conflicted. The fact is that it is dizzy with confusion. This is what the Bible says about being possessed by seven demons. Jesus says: "Be no more subject to a yoke of slavery, since I have set you free," and "If you abide in Me, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We must all hold onto this word and build a precious life free from the danger of an empty soul.