Title: The Most Valuable Thing
Contents
In today's relatively short text, there are two parables of the kingdom of heaven by Jesus. The point of both parables is the same. It is said that the kingdom of heaven must be possessed. It is saying that you must possess the kingdom of heaven even if you give up everything else. What is heaven, so you must have it? Heaven is literally heaven. Heaven is where God is. Rather than God being in heaven, the place where God is is called heaven. In other words, heaven is the kingdom of God. It is a country with God. Why Should We Own the Kingdom of God? Because there is life in the kingdom of God. Jesus said: “For what profit does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his life? What will a man give in exchange for his life?” (Mark 8:36-37) Even if you give up the whole world, you must possess the kingdom of God. Because there is not only life but also happiness. That is, because there is an eternally blessed life.
No matter how much you say it, there may be people who say, "I don't need God, I don't want to live forever, I just want to live and die as I please for a reasonable amount of time." At least there are people who will do that. But refusing to live in the kingdom of God does not make us free. It would be nice to be able to live happily without God, but the problem is that it doesn't work the way you want it to. If you try to live without God, you will live with the devil, sin, and evil instead of God. There is no choice but to do so. Without being able to do anything you want, you will be caught up in dissatisfaction, pain, worry, anxiety, emptiness and despair. And that state does not end and goes on forever. That's hell. Just as Heaven is eternal, so is Hell. There is no middle ground that is neither heaven nor hell. Still, who would say that I don't have to go to heaven? There will be none. There must be none. We should all be the owners of heaven. To do that, I need to be able to give out everything I have when I need it.
The two parables of Jesus teach how important it is to have heaven, but they also teach the wisdom of our daily lives. In other words, it teaches wisdom about the life of making the right choices. Life is a life of endless choices. There are countless things worthwhile to do in this world, and many things you would like to do. But you can't do all of them. Here we have to rank our values and choose what we must do. It is up to you to decide which of the many things is the most valuable. Everyone has a limited life span and limited abilities, but those who make the right choices will have a successful life. If you mis-prioritize work and live with the priorities of work reversed, your life will be a failure. In that sense, life is an investment. You have to invest well to be successful. You need to invest your time and material right. A person who invests both time and material in the most valuable work becomes a successful person.
Our Presbyterian Church is a proud tradition of the Christian faith. There are several factors that make Presbyterianism a Presbyterian Church and set it apart from other Christian traditions. Among them, if I introduce only three of them at this time, one is the conviction that glorifying God is the most valuable thing. The other is the self-consciousness that sees ourselves as instruments of God's glory. Another is the emphasis on education and learning. The Presbyterian Church built a church wherever it went and at the same time built a school. And he devoted himself to education and learning. The reason was the sense of duty to give greater glory to God by maximizing the talents and energy that God has given to each of us through education and learning. In other words, all the assets in life that God has given us, such as talent, health, time, and material things, should be dedicated to the glory of God as much as possible. Therefore, the criterion of all our choices, moment by moment, is that God's glory should be the criterion. It is the principle of piety and economic life of Presbyterians to try not to waste anything on things that have nothing to do with the glory of God in order to spend it fully for the glory of God.
Our Saemoonan Church is now facing the great work of building a new temple. Building a temple is not something everyone can do at any time. It is something that God allows and can only be done together. There are many people who pass by without an opportunity to build a temple even once in their life of faith. Building a temple may be viewed as a burdensome burden. However, it is the attitude of a true believer to regard it as a privilege to have the opportunity to participate in the construction of the temple in one's lifetime and to accept it as God's grace. Perhaps the members of Saemunan now will never have the opportunity to participate in the construction of the temple again while they are alive. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We should thank God for entrusting us with this ambassadorial role.
All wealth and glory come from the Lord, and if it is God's will that it is in His hands to make great and strengthen everyone, He can take away all that we have even if we don't give it to us. It shows the belief that you can give. “What are I and my people, that we have the strength to give with such a joyful heart? All things come from you, for what we received from your hand we gave to you.” One thing David and the people of Israel did was to show that it was entirely God's grace and privilege that they were able to give their best to build God's temple. Devotion of joy. God's temple in Solomon's time was built like that.
I haven't dreamed of it since I was assigned to Saemoonan Church, but in the spring of last year, after making an appointment with my family to donate the house to the temple construction, I had that dream again after a long time. After returning from studying abroad in 1984, I bought a house 13 years after I started teaching at Jangsin University. Also, while receiving surgery for colorectal cancer and battling the disease, consolation money came from all over the place, and relatives who worked as out-of-state insurance salespeople had to pay reluctant insurance premiums. is. Thinking of my father in the old days, “I will at least not make my mother or my children suffer for the sake of my house.” This is a house that I made a promise to and kept until the end. Because it is a house soaked in blood and tears. I can only thank God for giving me the heart to dedicate the house so happily. There is nothing to spare in doing the most valuable work of your life.
Dear saints in Saemoonan, I hope that you will all participate in the construction of our new temple with the same heart that David and the people of Israel had. We ask that you take part in the donation plan starting next week with all your heart. The amount is not the issue. It really matters whether you do your best before God. God knows everything. God accepts what he enjoys with joy. Let's build a new temple that gives great glory to God. We wish that once in a lifetime a great history of dedicating each of us to the most valuable work, mobilizing all our abilities, will be made.