Title Concession
Contents
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 Concessions
When an old man died, he left a will to his three sons. "With the 17 horses I left behind, the eldest son gets 1/2, the second gets 1/3, and the youngest gets 1/9." The three brothers held their father's funeral with tears and counted 17 horses according to their father's will. If the eldest son is 1/2 of 17, 8.5 is 8.5.
If the second is 1/3 of 17, there are more than 5.5, so we will have 6 of them. But the eldest and youngest are against it. The youngest is 1.9 if it is 1/9 of 17, so we will have 2, so the two older brothers insist that we have to pay the bill. In this way, while the three brothers were arguing over how to calculate the distribution of inheritance, a certain evangelist heard the rumor and went to visit them. Then he gave the horses he had ridden to the brothers.
Now, the three brothers could easily count 18 horses by adding the one the evangelist gave them, so they could each have 9, 6, or 2 horses as they wished. But the strange thing is that even if they split the first request, there is only one left. Then the three brothers realized that they were ashamed and returned the horse back to the evangelist.
Gentlemen, things can be divided exactly, but things that have life, such as horses, cannot be divided in half. Someone has to make a concession. When King Solomon ordered the children to be divided in two and to have half and half, the mother who had a mother gave up her own children. Because he couldn't possibly kill his beloved child with the cruel mathematical distributive law. But the real mother who gave up her child found her again.
Ladies and gentlemen, life is never yours just to grab hold of it. On the contrary, you gain more when you yield, lose, and sacrifice yourself. But in today's selfish society, people seldom yield. Today, concessions are no longer a virtue, but a shortcut to damage and a representative way of living a foolish life. But the Bible often speaks of the virtues and blessings of yielding.
This is a satire on Koreans. It is said that one day, ten people representing each country got on a ship. However, the ship had a capacity of 7 people. There were 7 people, but 10 people got on, ignoring the capacity. The ship continued sailing for a long time when water seeped in and put the ship in danger. So, unless at least three people get off the ship, everyone aboard this ship faces the fate of death.
They look at each other, waiting for someone to make concessions. At this moment, the first person stands up and says: "Gentlemen, I am a citizen of the British Empire. I will use my gentleness to save you." And the first thing to do is dive and disappear into the water.
Then, watching who else will jump in, the second person jumps up. And it says: "I'm from America. If I, the world's greatest power, don't make concessions, who will?" And it is said that the man also jumped into the water. Then, the third person jumped up and shouted hurray for the Republic of Korea three times, then suddenly shoved a Japanese person next to him and pushed him into the water.
As a fellow Korean, hearing this kind of story is on the one hand funny, but also embarrassing on the other. And when I hear stories like this, I envy the Canadian culture here. As you know, isn't there more concessions being made here than in Korea? Everyone makes concessions to the disabled and the elderly. And he's very good at yielding when driving. So, it is a country where traffic laws such as 4way or 3way are followed under the stop sign. If there is no yielding spirit, these traffic laws will not be effective.
There are stories of poor results for not making concessions. One time, when President William McKinley was a congressman, he rode a tram after work. An old woman came up with a heavy bag, but no one gave up her seat. Reluctantly, Grandma dragged her luggage to the back seat of the tram and stood in the hallway, but the tram shook and she could not stand properly. But no one got up and gave up.
However, there was a person sitting in front of the seat where the grandmother was standing, and when she saw her, she gave up her seat and instead of getting up, she put her face closer to the newspaper she was reading and pretended not to see it. McKinley got up and gave up his seat to the old woman. Later, when McKinley became president, the list of ambassadors came up, and when I checked it, I found a man in an old streetcar with a newspaper covering his face. A rude little act of refusal to yield when he was young left him a chance of a lifetime.
Another story. A light plane carrying a pilot, students, evangelists and politicians suddenly crashed due to engine failure. The pilot came to the passenger and jumped off saying, "Unfortunately, we only have three parachutes. I must report this accident, so I must have a parachute backpack."
Then the politician came up and said, "I have to take one too, because I have to make a great contribution to humanity," and he grabbed his backpack and jumped. The evangelist turned to the student. "Son, I have lived a long life. Your life has a bright future ahead. Have your last parachute. Good luck." Then the student said with a bright expression. "Don't worry. We have two parachutes. The second jumper took my bag."
On the other hand, there are stories that yield good results by making concessions. This is the story of World War II. A British platoon of 30 soldiers surrounded by the enemy in a sweltering field. There was no way out of the enemy's siege, and the siege was getting smaller and smaller. The soldiers were suffering from the heat and thirst. But for those who were struggling, a small amount of water was all they had in a canteen worn by the platoon commander at his waist. Considering the water in that canteen, it was an amount that even five people could not eat properly.
The platoon commander opened the canteen with a wretched heart and gave it to the soldiers. The platoon members took turns drinking water from each other. But, strangely enough, all 30 members of the platoon drank the water from the canteen and there was still leftovers. Why? It was because they drank only a small amount of water, thinking of their comrades to drink next with a heart of concession to each other. These comrades who shared suffering and made concessions for each other were able to endure until the end and survive until reinforcements arrived.
Have you ever heard of a book called 'Freezing Point'? Ayako Miura, who wrote this book, is a famous Japanese female writer. But before she wrote this book, before her name was known, her family had a hard time living on just her husband's income. So, with the intention of getting help in life and spreading the love of Christ to customers, I set up a small shop. However, the store was so good that I couldn't even open my eyes.
Then one day, the husband felt sorry for his busy wife and said, ?쏦oney, it is good that our store is doing well, but what if other stores around us are not working because of us???Ms. Ayako Miura heard her husband's words and realized something she had never thought of before. From then on, she did not bring any items into her shop at all. If a customer finds the item, they are directed to another store.
This freed up her time. So from time to time
Writing with a pen is a famous work called 'Freezing Point'. God rewarded her in this way when she made concessions for her neighbor. Today's text also speaks. ?쏛ll things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial; all things are lawful, but all things are not edifying.
Everyone, in Genesis 13, Abraham was concerned about the reality that his shepherds and the shepherds of Lot, his nephew, were fighting over pasture. Abraham thought that the only way to settle this dispute was to make concessions. So he called his nephew Lot and said, "Aren't you and I one flesh? So let's not argue. If you occupy the left, I will have the right; if you want the right, I will choose the left."
Although Abraham was an uncle, he yielded to his nephew, and while he was an adult, he yielded to a young man, and he had a beautiful heart to reconcile. Also, Abraham conceded something better. It is said that the land Lot chose was rich in water and was like the 'Garden of the Lord' and that it was like the fertile land of Egypt. Abraham had yielded to his nephew the priority of the better and the choice. Then God appeared to Abraham, told him to look north and south, and promised to give him and his descendants all the land he saw. That is, the heart of concession made Abraham blessed. God blesses those who yield, like Abraham, even today.
However, rather than making concessions, human beings have different personalities, values, and goals, so conflicts and conflicts are highly likely to form. I want to be caught up in greed and greed. Therefore, a society without concessions results in chaos and disorder. If there is no concession, the kingdom of heaven cannot be achieved. If there is no concession, there is no love of God, and it is not easy to achieve reconciliation among church members.
Guys, keep that in mind. Concessions seem to be a temporary loss, but they always bring joy and benefits. Concession is a precious tool for accomplishing God's love and blessings. The one who yields is the one who sacrifices, that is, the one who is humble. The concession of the humble brings peace to all, brings joy to others and peace to the members of the community.
Finally, I will close today's talk by introducing an illustration. Two goats met on a narrow, small log bridge by a stream. They were stubborn, never going backwards. On a narrow bridge they could not even pass by each other. They were all about to fall under the bridge. Then one of the goats gave way to the other, and knelt down on his knees. Then the goat on the other side rode over it. So the two goats were able to safely reach their destination.
If these two goats had quarreled and insisted on not yielding to each other, yelling to get out of the way, they would either never come, or both would have fallen under the bridge. In this way, gentlemen, concessions benefit each other. Concessions bless each other. Concessions are essential to building the kingdom of God. I pray that you and I will yield to each other, you and I will yield to each other, the women?셲 and men?셲 missionaries will yield to each other, and everyone in our church will yield to each other, so that you may receive the blessings of heaven and nurture the kingdom of heaven beautifully. .