Title: Where Does Hope Come From?
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where does hope come from
<Fifth Sunday after Pentecost on July 4, 2004>
Psalm 85:1 - 13
1 Corinthians 15: 12 - 19
Old Testament Psalm 85:1 - 13
New Testament 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Finally, after three years of theology course, I applied for an overseas missionary. After a long process of selection and training, the young couple happily embarked on a missionary journey. His assignment was in the outskirts of Usrisk, Russia's Far East. There was no school to educate their two young sons, but they built a church with sincerity. The young woman, however, faced an ordeal. Cancer cells were growing in his chest. Thunderbolts seemed to fall from the dry sky, but the two could not find any other way than to pray. It was time to prepare a site for the church and start praying for the building of the chapel. It was the turning point of missionary work.
An even more surprising thing happened when it fell on the floor. Her husband, who was leaving the chapel after praying, was killed by a Russian knife. This Russian man was a drug addict. After getting drunk and having an argument with a Goryeoin, she killed her husband instead. After burying my husband in the frozen Russian soil, the sky seemed to fall. It didn't stop there. After I buried my husband, the sponsorship from the sponsoring church was brutally cut off. I couldn't even come back to my country. Because it was clear that once they left, they would not get a re-entry visa. The sky seemed to be falling. The world was disappointing. I couldn't move even a single foot.
The woman prayed that she would die when she died and ran to God. He was determined to be martyred and devoted himself to building a chapel. Then help appeared, just as God sent a raven to feed Elijah. Realizing that God had not abandoned her, the woman clinged to the building of the chapel. Four years have passed since then. When the construction of the chapel was nearing completion, his health deteriorated. When he couldn't bear it any longer, he had no choice but to return to his hometown with his two sons. The cancerous mass that had already grown from the chest had grown so large that it could no longer be used. Twice an artery ruptured in my armpit, leaving my breathing at risk. He has been hospitalized at Chonnam National University Hospital in Hwasun for three months now, but he is medically hopeless. My body is so weak that I can't even do chemotherapy. In fact, we are standing in a dead end where we cannot find any hope in life.
Dear Andong Church members, what kind of power makes Missionary Park endure like this? What is the power that makes you endure in a situation where you can't help but sigh because your own situation is lamenting and the sky is resentful? What kind of power of faith is holding M. Park? It would be faith in the risen Christ. It must be a love that wants to convey that the resurrected Christ loves the people of Russia as well. It must be a mission to teach and baptize Jesus by making the people of the land God's people.
The Resurrection of Christ: Hope for the World
Look at today's text from 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians is a letter to Corinth by the Apostle Paul between A.D. 55 and 56. At that time, the church in Corinth was in crisis. There were factions in the church, and they were arguing with each other. Some slept with prostitutes. There were even people who slept with their mother and walked around quietly. The church became an object of ridicule by the world by accusing the members of the world court. A conflict arose in the church over the problem of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Some fell into religious zeal and despised Paul's teachings. Some have even argued that those who cannot speak in tongues have no faith. Some even deny the resurrection of the dead. The religious crisis and ethical corruption reached its climax.
To them, Paul declared: “If Christ had not been raised, our mission would be in vain, and your faith would be in vain” (15:14, New International Version). That's right. The Apostle Paul found hope beyond all those problems in the resurrection of Christ. The Apostle Paul, in his strong words, emphasizes the fact that the resurrection of Christ is the fundamental driving force of the Christian faith. With the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith stands and falls.
The death of the cross was not only the end of a human being, but also the end of the history of Israel. The crucifixion foreshadowed the same painful death that would come to Jesus' disciples. Because of the death of the cross, the hope of Israel's history also faded. But the cross did not end with the cross. God brought new hope into history by raising Jesus from the dead. Therefore, the Christian faith in God is the resurrection faith. Because of the resurrection faith, those who suffer can have hope. Because of the resurrection faith, those who mourn are comforted. Because of the resurrection faith, loved ones believe that love will be fulfilled. Because of the resurrection faith, even sinners have the possibility to live again. Resurrection faith is the great hope that comforts and lifts us up.
Ladies and gentlemen, I spoke from the personal experience of Missionary Eunhee Park, but please turn our eyes to the world a little bit. It has become a world where we cannot see the world properly without fear of the end. Everyone, there are currently 36 nuclear power plants in operation in Korea. It accounts for 36% of the total electricity consumption. The government also plans to build a total of 17 nuclear power plants by 2020. By that time, a total of 53 nuclear power plants will be operational in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.
I'm not an expert on nuclear power plants, but I've been thinking about it carefully. What would happen if a war using missiles broke out on the Korean Peninsula? Will these nuclear power plants cause catastrophic damage?
You may remember the meltdown of the core at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine in 1986. The overheated core melted while the power plant engineer couldn't sleep and was distracted. It became a big fire and was scattered in the air by radioactive material and flew away. Research by scholars has shown that radioactive material scattered in the air flew as far as Switzerland, located in the heart of Europe. So far, a radioactive isotope of cesium 137 that has been scattered from Chernobyl has been detected in Switzerland. The range of damage is unimaginably wide. 17 years have passed, but people are still not allowed to enter the area within 60 km in diameter. With a diameter of 60 km, it is more than five times larger than the Seoul area. So far, 7 million people have died or suffered from disease.
What would happen if a war broke out between the North and the South? Even if North Korea is to be annihilated with powerful firepower, it will be catastrophic if the nuclear power plant is destroyed. The Korean Peninsula could be the land of the end. The same is true of North Korea's nuclear reprocessing facility. What would happen if a nuclear reprocessing facility, which might be in Yongbyon or elsewhere, was precision bombed while it was operating? A tragedy like Chernobyl will happen on the Korean Peninsula. Ladies and gentlemen, our peaceful life is bearing the seeds of an apocalyptic crisis in it. Ladies and gentlemen, now is the time to look forward not only to the history of a nation but to the end of mankind. It has become a terrifying world where the apocalypse is a reality. We are living in an era in which we cannot survive without hope for absolute peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no hope in a reality wrapped in a comfortable life. We must find hope for the true kingdom of God beyond the reality adorned with excessive consumption and pleasure. Our hope should be the eternal kingdom of God, where “love and truth meet, and justice and peace kiss” (Psalm 85:10). Do not forget that “truth springs forth from the earth, and justice bows down from heaven” (85:11). “The Lord gives good things, and our land will bring forth its produce” (85:12). Our lives will experience true peace when “justice goes before the Lord, and prepares the way for the Lord” (85:13). This is the resurrection faith we live in today. What God gives us through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hope of the eternal kingdom of God, the promise that we will taste it today.
Resurrection is the hope of the day
When we think of resurrection faith, we easily think of it as believing in the resurrection that will come after we live in this world for the rest of our lives. Of course, that belief is correct. According to the teachings of the Bible, we will be born again as people of the kingdom of God after the death of an individual or at the end of the world. When Jesus Christ returns and a new heaven and a new earth come, we too will be born again as God's people. All the peoples of the earth will be judged before God, and those who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved.
The problem is the present dimension of faith in the future resurrection. The problem is how a person who has such faith in the resurrection will live in reality. The problem is the life that has been changed through faith in the resurrection faith. If we say that we live according to our beliefs according to the resurrection faith and pursue only the comforts of the world, then that faith will be only half the faith. What God wants from us is not only to fully believe in the resurrection that God will give us, but also to overcome the world with this resurrection faith. To proclaim the true love of God to the world. That is why we mourn the death of Kim Seon-il and hope that all wars in this land will end and peace will be established.
Ladies and gentlemen, for Missionary Eun-hee Park, her husband's death and her own illness must have been an insurmountable barrier. That wall is the reality he faced. If Missionary Park had been frustrated in front of that wall, he would not have been able to find any new hope. However, because he believed that Jesus Christ overcame death on the cross and rose from the dead, he found hope beyond personal misery. In this way, faith in the resurrection is the source of true hope for all Christians.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must stand firm on the resurrection faith. Personal crises and the end of history have been overcome by people who stand firm in their faith in the resurrection and have hope for the world. Hope for the eternal kingdom of God becomes the fundamental driving force for a new life in this history. We have to choose whether to accept the reality of the evil forces that are driving mankind to the end and accept that reality, or to live as strangers in the hope of eternal life. I pray that all Christians who hold fast their faith in the resurrection and dedicate themselves to God's true peace on this earth will become.