Title: The Scattered Traveler
Contents
1 Peter 1:1-2
Today, I am going to give you a message under the title of a scattered stranger.
1st century AD, that is, around 60 AD. So, there is a 2,000-year gap between the first recipients of this letter and us today, and if it is Asia Minor, it is Turkey, so it is far from Christians living on the Korean Peninsula. Because of commonalities.
First, the Christians of the early church at that time were being treated with coldness from the society ruled by the Roman Empire and had a hostile perspective. Second, in the 1st century AD, at the time of the Early Church, the region was a time when very diverse religions and supernatural myths prevailed. Greek mythology and Roman mythology are still famous today. So, Christianity in a socially cynical atmosphere and Christianity in a very spiritually chaotic situation are very similar to the reality we are facing today.
Now, Christians in our country are surrounded by two atmospheres that are very difficult to evangelize. One is the stinging gaze of criticism against Christianity. These days, the phrase ‘You are doing well!’ is popular. Christianity no longer has authority. From the point of view of today's unbelievers, the Christian gospel is not so fresh or attractive. On the other hand, mystical and supernatural ideas are more popular with people than Christianity. Everyone likes mysterious mythical stories. This book of 1 Peter will be a customized message for two classes of believers in that respect. One is for those who are in various types of suffering or a cynical atmosphere, and the other is for those who want to lay a solid foundation for the gospel.
Let's read verses 1-2 together. The Apostle Peter uses a very meaningful term for the saints. It speaks to the saints who receive the letter, in verse 1 they are scattered strangers, and in verse 2 they are the chosen ones. Doesn't that sound like a bit of a conflicting word? Choose something carefully and choose something. And then scatter it like a throw. To put it more precisely, the word scattered stranger has the meaning of scattered in an unfamiliar place, scattered randomly. However, there is a wonderful secret hidden in these words.
Let's think about God's election in verse 2. We tend to memorize God's election too dogmatically. In choosing us, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the three Gods were selected one by one through a very perfect discussion process. The foreknowledge of the Father, the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, as one of us comes into the world, and they have conferences quite often. There is no one here who just happened to come into this world.
Our God does not have a soul that is accidentally chosen by accident. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit had a serious and deep discussion about my life, and as a result of that conference, before I was born, they had more plans than a grain of sand on the beach, and a wonderful treasure-like plan to the extent that the three of them were excited. It's a great experience to count that you were in the subdivisions. This is called spiritual self-esteem.
If you look at the three years of discipleship training, Peter failed. After three years of training, he denied the Lord three times, sold all his sense of duty, and returned to his life of fishing in Galilee. Gentlemen, it is not so easy to have spiritual self-esteem. It is said that the caterpillars are comfortable eating pine needles. Since I was born into a fisherman's house, is it true that I have nothing but fishing for the rest of my life? But even after three years of discipleship training and witnessing the resurrection of the Lord, Peter goes back to the Sea of Galilee to fish. Until then, the Lord will come again. Indeed, Peter has nothing to say before the Lord. The Lord gives Peter another mission, saying that in the future you will become a shepherd of my sheep. But even so, he did not know that he would be tending a flock of 3,000 in one day. Then, he made a wonderful and precious plan only for Peter, and he roughly scribbled a one-line scribble-like plan for us on a notepad!
But the problem is verse 1. In order for us to believe that you have chosen us so amazingly, shouldn't it be appropriate for us to be quite reasonable now? It is true that we were chosen by God, but now the saints are ‘scattered strangers’. The most difficult thing for us to bear is that the Lord sees me as precious, and that he will never leave you and that he will protect you even if you pass through fire and water, but our reality is just that. Even if you work hard, it is difficult to buy a house, you do not sleep and study, but your TOEIC score does not go up.
Then those people did not come to hear Peter's sermons. He had lived in a foreign country far away to keep the Passover and came to visit. But that day, God had a plan to make those people God's children. Hearing Peter's sermon that day, he was pierced by the sword and became a Christian by saying that Jesus' death on the cross was for them. Their number reached 3,000, and that community became the Jerusalem Church. And for various reasons, each of them scatters to his hometown.
Considering the history of Korea, this image of a scattered traveler is appropriate. We also have a lot of ‘Diaspora’. In missiology, they did not have an active missionary mindset and were evacuated and exiled due to the storms of history and scattered. Through this scattered history, the gospel of the Lord has flowed and spread in many cases. When the Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon, they never went on a mission. But somehow, God's people wouldn't have gone all the way to Babylon to farm and live. They naturally teach the fear of God to their Babylonian masters and their neighbours. As a result, Babylon and Persia in the East will be evangelized. The wise men we know well are from the Persian region, and how they came into contact with the idea of the Messiah, the king of the Jews, cannot be explained except for the 70-year history of the Babylonian captivity.
The Korean War is like a sieve that shakes the entire Korean Peninsula, mixing the two Koreas together. In fact, the North Korean gospel flowed to South Korea through 6.25. After liberation and before and after the Korean War, there were heartbreaking times when the two Koreas were scattered. In search of freedom, in search of food, they dispersed as separated families. And there is a huge amount of immigration to the United States, to Canada, to South America to feed their families. It's going to be scattered.
However, due to the scattering, the evangelization of Korea from the 1960s after the war has spread rapidly. I thought it was heartbreaking and painful suffering and tribulation, but God allows the gospel to spread throughout the Korean Peninsula through those events. If you look at history for a long time, you can see what God is doing. The history of war orphans and their enormous overseas adoption and immigration afterward is painful and painful in terms of scattering, but we do not know what God will do through this scattering.
Dear members of Heavenly Gate Church, let's set a proper view of life and live. A person who lives comfortably, owns a lot of wealth, and lives long and healthy lives with the goal of living a life of “comfort, wealth, and health.” However, if I set my life goal like ‘I live to shine the light of the Lord’s gospel’ and live, it becomes simpler. When things go well, you can preach the gospel in peace; when you are in a high position, you can use that position to preach the gospel; if you lose your health, you can go to hospital and preach the gospel to the patients.
Don't forget two things, let's buy one. We are God's chosen ones. The Lord still has many plans for you and my life. It is not something to give up or be discouraged about. We are strangers scattered according to God's high providence and will. A special and delicate plan is in the works. I expect that Heavenly Gate Church will become a very strong, rich and diverse community in 20 years' time. Look forward to the next 20 years for each of you. Change your perspective. You have a lot to do with us.