Title: The Right Posture of Faith
As in Matthew 16:14-, there are various views about the one Jesus, today's text shows various views on Jesus, centering on the miracle of the Five Byeong-Eye. Some people saw Jesus as a human army, rationalists like Philip, blind believers like Andrew, Jesus who fled to the mountains and stayed overnight, those who came to Jesus after seeing Jesus coming over the sea and looking for meat and bread, the disciples who are said to be a treasure trove, and they all left after being disappointed with the lesson of the bread of life. I see a variety of people, including crowds. Analyzing and summarizing, everyone interprets and judges Jesus with their own preconceived notions. In this case, there is no difference between East and West.
After retiring, I can see the Korean church and today's religion relatively objectively and analytically. No matter what anyone says, the structure of consciousness of Koreans is
① Shamanistic fanaticism that began with the nation,
② 1500 years of Buddhist way of thinking and liberation of the living atmosphere, the philosophy of dissociation,
③ The consciousness of Koreans is structured under the influence of the Confucian ethics, moral judgment and spirit of the Three Rivers and Five Ryoons of 500 years. Here the gospel was accepted.
I. It is not a question of how passionate we are in our expression of faith and life, but how smart we are.
① Let me give you an easy example. I went to a certain assembly on the mount. Nearly a thousand church members gathered in a chestnut forest and a crevice of rocks. He was clapping and chanting, twisting his body as if on fire with his sweat-drenched palms on his red face. At that time, three girls, about 15 or 6 years old, broke into the cramped seat. When the woman who was singing the passionate hymn opened her eyes, the room was cramped because of the children. He clasped the girl with the elbow he was clapping and singing a hymn to. It's an amazing scene.
② Isn't it a passion that has no object of hymns, no meaning of hymn lyrics, and no relationship between one's own soul and hymn in that enthusiasm? Therefore, it is not a matter of how passionate I am, but how smart my thoughts, intentions, minds, feelings, and spiritual sensibility are more important.
II. Second, he insists that the problem is not how holy it is, but how true it is.
① The truth I am talking about here is not the truth of ethical and moral human relations in general. At least it's true about yourself. Awareness of how hard I am and how heavy a burden I am, my thirsty self, the realization that I cannot help mourning, the awareness of what to do, brother, and the scarlet and crimson awareness are the best gifts a person can offer to God.
② Man cannot himself be holy enough to receive God's approval. If you can, there is no reason why Jesus died on the cross.
③ Luther said. “I have no reason to live. But it must be true,” I say stronger. “In front of Jesus, a priest of hypocrisy was cursed, but a true prostitute became a daughter of God.
Ⅲ. It is not a matter of how good or bad we are before God, but how much we depend on whether we live or die.
① Human good and evil are not a problem before God. In the dark night, there is a difference between a 10-point bulb and a 100-nib bulb, brighter and less bright. But there is no difference in front of sunlight in broad daylight. Good and evil are relatively problems between people. Before God, one lost sheep was more precious than 99 sheep, and the prodigal son, who was a burden, was more precious than the firstborn in the house.
② In Jesus' lifetime, no one was chosen because he was good, and no one was rejected because he was evil. Did you go to paradise because the robber of the cross was good? It was because they depended on life and death.
(Concluding remarks) What is precious to us is that it is more important to sing, pray, speak, and worship with smart, personal skills, smart thinking, smart will, conscience, heart feeling, and spiritual sensibility than enthusiasm. It's not about how holy you are, it's not about how true you are. Rather than how good or evil you are, let's build a right relationship with our Lord.