Title: The Truth of Life
Contents
Today's text is one of Jesus' parables. He testified of the lesson of deep truth by giving the example of salt. Salt has a long history and uses as a seasoning to adjust taste. Even in the biblical example, salt was used to sprinkle over the offerings of meal offerings (Leviticus 2:13) and burnt offerings (Ezekiel 43:24) in religious ceremonies. Salt was also included in the ingredients of incense burned in the temple (Ex. 30:35), and salt was sprinkled for medical purposes for newborn babies (Ezekiel 16:4), and it was also used as a preservative. But the main role of salt is to flavor it.
However, various understandings and interpretations of the expression that it loses its taste are possible. Among them, salt can be confirmed by its taste. Salt that has lost its taste is of no use. They are only thrown out and trampled on by people (Matthew 5:13), and they are of no use for the soil or for manure.
After these words, we conclude with a very meaningful statement: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear'. In the parable of subordination, Jesus gave enough words to the crowds who followed him. All that remains now is for the crowd to understand Jesus' words well and make wise decisions. This decision is merely chosen by the free will of the listener.
Through today's short parable of salt, you can seriously feel the problem of the identity of a disciple who follows Jesus. It is thought that the problem of identity as a disciple of Jesus can be countered by the saltiness of salt.
Since the 1970s, the churches of the world have highlighted the following three characteristics while linking the core characteristics of the gospel with the circumstances of the times. By arranging these three directions as the content of the self-identity that Christians should have today, we want to learn religious lessons.
First, it is the liberating evangelical truth that means structural salvation. What became globally recognized in the 1970s was the cat of social and political consciousness. It has been exposed that political oppression and economic exploitation are not partial phenomena, but rather are related to the subordinate structure that exists between the powerful and the weak, and between the rich and the weak. The social character that individuals exist in a communal and relational web, not merely an individual being, has been highlighted. Thus, the practice of Christian faith to restore human dignity and human rights from socio-political injustice and oppression has emerged strongly. From this perspective, 'God's politics' was discovered, and the core of it was the realization of faith to achieve love, justice, and peace, which are the realizations of the kingdom of God. This included self-repentance for Christianity's role as an individualistic and social escape function for the past 2,000 years.
Second, it is unity centered on spirituality, and it is the evangelical truth towards wholeness. In the 1980s, liberation theologians in Latin America discovered the need for spirituality beyond emphasizing the practice of right conduct. It is the realization that we need an existential and spiritual thing about the truth based on our inner wholeness in order to put into practice the truth we have realized. The difference between religious practice and political and social behavior is the absence of a spiritual foundation. Faith must have a spiritual awareness of the truth, which cannot be reduced to mere political action. Spirituality is a very comprehensive concept, so my understanding of spirituality has expanded. In particular, understandings of feminine sensibility, flexibility, and physicality are beginning to become important to the concept of spirituality.
Third, it is the understanding of the gospel as a universal awareness according to the understanding of life. Entering the 1990s, the truth of the gospel has not only been reconciled between the gap between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, men and women, but also the fundamental creative order and preservation of humans and nature, living things and inanimate objects, plants and animals I came to speak of reconciliation.
Our era, whether economically advanced or underdeveloped, has become unavoidable from the catastrophe that results from human irresponsible management of nature. According to the report of biologists, it is exposing the devastating tragedy that various species of animals, plants and insects that have existed so far in the course of evolution for more than 5 billion years are forever disappearing from the earth. These creatures were not created by humans. Man could never exist in such a disobedience to God's creation.
As we approach the 21st century, we Christians must clearly understand the core of the truth we believe in and follow. The significance of the church's existence is to provide its salty taste with salt, and what is the salty taste, that is, the core of the truth? It is a responsible awareness of one's own life along with the life of God that exists in the whole universe and all things. Man is not just a body made of dust, but a life with the Spirit of God. The gospel is the truth that saves, restores, and transforms this life so that it can fill the more abundant life of God. In the face of political and economic oppression of life, internal mental distortion, and the severance of cosmic relationships, we must personally realize the truth witnessed through God, who is the essence of life, and practice and unfold the truth of eternal life. This is the meaning of our existence today and will be the basis of our identity.