Title: The Son You Gave Us
I had no blood, so I brought up a son. I raised my parents with high expectations, but as I grew up, I caused all kinds of disasters and broke the hearts of my parents. Later, wealth was plundered and even knives were used.
These days, the family law has changed and the preference for boys has softened, and the way of thinking of living with children as in the past has weakened a lot. They fulfill their mission of giving birth and raising children, and watching their children grow up in the family, they only have expectations and uniqueness.
The common expectation in Israel is the idea of the Messiah, and the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was the hope of the nation.
In verse 6, on the third Sunday of Advent when Jesus the Son of God comes, “A child has been born to us, and a son has been given to us,” and records the good qualities of the Son, that is, Jesus in five ways.
The characteristic of Jesus is, first, that he is a strange person. It is said to be mysterious and surprising. It is so enchanting that there are no words or brushes to express it. Strange is an English expression. His person, his disposition, and his life are marvelous, 'the Word took on flesh and dwelt among us, the glory of the only begotten of God.' He was full of grace and truth, which the Apostle John expressed in his brief writings. The life of the Lord is strange to us.
Second, the name of the Lord is Counselor. This is not a gimmick. This word refers to a helper, that is, a counselor. Just think of a counselor who provides guidance through discussion and a counselor who wants to help. The Lord is the one who comforts, encourages, and provides help to the torn and wounded hearts along the many paths of life.
Third, Almighty God. This refers to power, and in the power of the infinite and almighty God, the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the same.
In the eyes of children, fathers and mothers are omnipotent. Children completely trust their parents as there is nothing the world cannot do. Our faith in Jesus by relying on God is just like that. The Lord is Almighty. Not only is he omnipotent with words, but he is omnipotent who atoned for our sins.
The princes of the world struggle to enjoy the power of dictatorship by receiving taxes. However, our Lord is a king, but He is Almighty, who forgives the sins of the people of the world, solves their troubles, destroys evil diseases, restores us as children of God, and promises eternal life.
Fourth, He is the Father of eternal love. How could a loving parent, a mother with a baby, forget her child? However, even if they sometimes forget, God does not forget us. “I have engraved you on the palm of my hand,” he said.
A child with and without a parent can quickly tell. A child with a parent is dehydrated and exhausted. The God we believe in is an everlasting God, a God who not only lives, but also lives forever and ever.
Other religions believe in a dead god as the head of the church, and there is the grave of that church, but our Lord is the eternal God in the world. Our Christianity is a festival religion that is activated by believing in the Lord of the Resurrection, the Lord of Ascension, and the Lord of eternal life.
Christianity we believe in is called ‘Creative Minority’ wherever we go. A creative minority, an outstanding minority. Believers in Jesus are active, enterprising, active, and constructive. Because we believe in the everlasting God. How grateful are you for throwing away all the worries and worries of the living Lord? The meaning of the name of Jesus is the eternal Father.
Fifth, “Shalom,” the King of Peace. In John 14:27, Jesus said, “Peace I give, and my peace I give.” God has come to bring peace on this earth through Jesus.
The Lord, the baby Jesus, who was given to us, first showed a great light to the people who were in darkness. Zebulun and Naphtali are the northern borders of Israel. It is a place where foreign enemies have always invaded, and here in Nazareth, the birth of the Messiah was glorified.
Jesus, who came as a child, was a great light to the people who were in darkness in their despair. Jesus was a great light to a man who had lost hope due to a paralysis for 38 years. Jesus was a great light and hope to the woman at the well who had changed her husband five times, but was not satisfied with her life and was always thirsty. Jesus was hope and hope for poor people like sheep who lost their shepherds who were starving because they had nothing to eat.
Second, this baby was a great joy to those who were heavily yoked. Verse 4 says, “For he has broken their yoke, the whip on their shoulder, and the rod of their oppressor, as in the days of Midian.
The yoke imposed by the conquerors on the powerless Israelites at that time was too heavy, and the oppressors' whips and sticks were too frightening. I always waited for a time when a Messiah like Moses would come and deliver the people from this oppression, or when the oppressors would be defeated just as Gideon defeated the Midianite army that had been tormenting Israel for seven years. will be
Jesus was a great joy and delight to those who had been heavily yokeed, and he took the yoke of sin from the back of a sinful woman caught in adultery.
This was a supreme joy for her.
The Lord was a great joy to those who were contemplating whether to pay taxes to Caesar or to God. In front of those who suffer from the heavy yoke of the law, Jesus came as the fulfillment of the law and gave us the new gospel.
Then, with what mindset should we welcome the season of Christmas when the Lord comes?
First, a heart of gratitude. There is a proverb like this in the Middle East.
"If the sun shines all year round, the world will soon become a desert."
The weather in life is not always sunny. Occasionally a dark cloud of pain descends and a rain of sorrow falls. However, I think this kind of climate is what makes life fertile by controlling the tension and moisture in life. Rather than getting irritated when it rains or complaining that the sun is shining, it is the attitude of the saints who celebrate the Christmas of the baby Jesus to live with a positive and grateful heart, saying, “I am very grateful when it rains and I am grateful even when it is sunny.”
The world's most beautiful-sounding violin is said to be made from a tree that has grown twisted and winded atop the Rocky Mountains.
Let's quietly meditate on God's providence, in which trials and pains resonate beautifully in our lives. Our members should have a grateful heart. You have to say something positive.
A young Polish man with red hair wanted to succeed as a pianist. He went to play with a few people who would recognize his talent, but was told that he was not good enough to become a pianist because his fingers were short and thick, and that he should try another profession.
One day, amidst a desperate situation, the young man happened to meet Anton Rubinstein and played, and Rubinstein encouraged the young man to keep trying because he could become a great pianist. From then on, he began practicing seven hours a day, and eventually became a great pianist. The young man's name is Paderevsky. Paderewski later became the first president of Poland.
If there is anything we leave behind for the rest of our lives, it is. Sometimes it lacks oxygen and sometimes it blocks the sun, but language is a lifelong thing. It would be a waste to use these words only as reproach, condemnation, slander, and slander. In this age when words of praise, encouragement, forgiveness and thanks are disappearing, in this age of jealousy, complaining, resentment, and pointing fingers, let's live a life of gratitude and affirmation by realizing the will of the Lord Jesus. The idea is to turn negative words into words of thanks.
Second, it is the practice of love.
In the book 'Geniuses' by Nun Bruch, an Italian female doctor, there is the following episode. You say that Mrs. Bruch once dissected the body of a young man when she was studying at school.
However, for some reason, he was holding his left hand tightly, so no matter how hard he tried to open his hand, it would not open. It was a dead body, so I had to use a scalpel. When I opened it, I saw a picture in it. It was a picture of the young man's lover. At this time, the woman again felt the piety of love.
A photo of a loved one holding a dead body in his hands, the love of all life is beautiful. Human love, created in the image of God, is even more noble. Among them, the love of the Lord is really precious.
Third, it is a diligent life. The Lord was diligent. This is a good lesson to look back on over the past year.
There was a time when people used bamboo cups to drink water during the flowering period in Korea, and it is said that foreign tourists often came to Jongno Street to buy these bamboo cups. When this bamboo cup is about 80% full, a hole at the bottom opens and water pours out. They say they bought it as a gift for a lesson, not to use it as a water cup. Don't overdo it, and give it to me when it's about 80% full.
These didactic devices are called gigi, and we had a fairly well-developed chigi culture. For example, scholars often rolled seven-sided dice in their hands, with seven sides engraved with seven letters, such as four, seal, and chan. Say thanks three times a day, be patient with anger three times, praise three times, say you are wrong three times, be patient three times and do not rebuke, three times do not covet, three times only It is the spirit to put into practice the seven precepts not to slander.
It is said that the Chunseong-gun County Office sent a note like this to public officials a while ago. There are ten things that I have to throw away: negligentism that pays more for extra work, modesty of doing it roughly, lack of belief in what to do in other departments, lack of mastery who wants to do something no matter what, authoritarianism that does what it tells them to do Let go of the cynicism of too many smart people, the opportunism of standing in line to get ahead, avoiding responsibility that this is not our business, the formalism of doing what the rules say, and the defeatism of doing everything that public officials do. is that
If you look at the life of the Lord, there are no such thoughts, words, or actions. The optimistic, positive, constructive and enterprising Son came and brought a refreshing shock to the dark land of Israel, where absurd thoughts prevailed.
If you go to Argentina in South America, there is the Andes Mountain on the border with Chile. A cross is held in one hand and the Word in the other, with the words "Even if this mountain falls, the peace of Christ will endure forever." We need to think in ten thousandths of the will of Jesus to come as the Son of God, to become a crossroads of reconciliation between people and to remove the wall of separation between heaven and earth.
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made their first 57-second flight and announced the news to their sister's home. The sister received the news and reported it to the local newspaper. However, the article in the morning paper the next day was that the famous bicycle dealer of our town was returning home this Christmas.
Everyone is busy before Christmas. Let's not forget the joyous meaning of Christmas and the true meaning of Jesus' coming with the excuse of being busy. Let's not distort the will of Christmas when the Lord has come.
I pray in the name of the Lord that our members will become disciples of the Second Coming Jesus and have a meaningful year-end and New Year holidays. Amen.
(1991.12.15)