Title Continuing History - Deuteronomy 34:1~9
Contents
August 23, 2009 (Sun) 11:00 am Cheonan Salim Church
Title: Continuing History
Text: Deuteronomy 34:1~9
This year, many people who have played an important role in our modern history have left us. It has not been long since former President Roh Moo-hyun left, and last week, former President Kim Dae-jung left. Unlike the former President Roh Moo-hyun, it was somewhat foreseen, but many people who remember his life are saddened by it. Perhaps even someone who does not fully sympathize with his political lines, or who does not give an entirely positive assessment of his achievements as president, will not dispute his place in our modern history. His role in contributing to democracy and human rights and for the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas cannot be denied.
So many people mourn his death. Moreover, the regret seems to be even greater because he died in the midst of the decline of democracy and the stagnant path of peaceful exchange between the two Koreas. I wanted to see if a good world would open up, but since that is not the case, his existence has no choice but to stand out.
Last week, I saw another pouring out. It was a message from Professor Chan-guk Kim, who was also a former Yonsei University professor and Sangji University president who was also dedicated to democracy and human rights movements. Personally, as my gift, he was virtually the only professor I admired when I was in college. When I entered school, I couldn't learn directly because I had been laid off, but I learned through his various writings. When I returned to work in the second semester of my fourth year, I was able to learn one semester by myself. At the beginning of the semester, our students welcomed his reinstatement. However, the reinstatement welcome ceremony also served as a memorial service for Professor Seonam-dong, who passed away just before reinstatement. For that reason, Professor Kim Chan-guk, who said he did not know whether to cry or laugh, is still vivid. Around the time of graduation, the bad boys, who had been enjoying the entertainment after the graduation ceremony, broke into the teacher's house in the middle of the night and stayed for the night. I still vividly remember the next morning, sharing the table with the shy disciples, saying, “There is steam, there is chan, and there is soup, so please stop by.”
He, too, has walked a path that is not very different from that of former President Kim Dae-jung. It felt unusual to receive a heavenly call from the same town during the same week. There was a clear feeling that an era was coming to an end. When an era is coming to an end, it also means that a new era is being prepared.
When the giants of an era leave us, there are often humanistic thoughts. It is a pity that those who dedicated themselves to a better world have left so much that it would have been better if they had tasted a better world. Moreover, it is even more regrettable because democracy is deteriorating, the human rights situation is deteriorating, and communication between the two Koreas is blocked. You may feel that there are still more roles to be played.
However, history, or life, seems to proceed contrary to our simple expectations. And, perhaps, the history and life that progresses contrary to our simple expectations, seems to give special meaning to the living.
Today's text is about the death of Moses. It is the story of Moses, the leader of the people of Israel, when he escaped the people from Egypt and reached the land of Canaan, the destination, and when he died with the land in front of him, Joshua became the leader in his place. Looking at this story, I have a question. This is why the leader who devoted his whole life to fulfilling God's command and fulfilling God's promise had to disappear from the stage of history without tasting the fulfillment of that promise. Moreover, according to the text, Moses was 120 years old at the time of his death, but his eyes did not become blurred or his strength waned. He was doing his part as a leader who led the people with so-called “correct and energetic even at an old age”, but the question always comes to mind as to whether he suddenly pulled him back into history.
We talked about the thoughts we had already heard when we met the two of them, but there are many such cases in our history as well. There are many people who dedicated themselves to the liberation of their country or for the reunification of their country, but there are many who disappeared from the stage of history without seeing the results. Whenever I think of such a case anew, I wonder why God does not fulfill his promises in one generation, and calls people who have dedicated themselves to that promise. Sometimes I think that God is very clever and ruthless.
A clue that can answer our questions is found in the New Testament book of Hebrews. Perhaps the writers of biblical times had similar questions as we do. Hebrews 11 is well known as the chapter on ‘faith’. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, which the forefathers have obtained by this.” This verse that begins like this explains the examples of the ancestors of faith one by one. Starting with Abel, Abraham, the main character of today's text, Moses, and countless others, the author of Hebrews says, “To list them all, time is insufficient,” and refers to examples of the forefathers of faith.
And we conclude in verses 39-40. “All these men received a good testimony through faith, but did not receive what was promised.” Verse 39 confirms our question again today. It is a story about people who were strong enough to receive God's approval, but God did not fully reward them. But the reason is stated in verse 40. “They will not be complete without us, because God has a better plan for us ahead of time.”
This final conclusion is the clue that solves our question. In the end, people with great faith lived with hope, but that hope is not over when that hope is fully realized in their own generation, but that completion is entrusted to the present. Of course, “us” in the book of Hebrews means first of all, the Christians of the early church who followed Jesus Christ. However, from our point of view today, that ‘we’ refers to ‘today us’. It is ‘we’ as the eschatological subject to continue the mission of history. This ‘us’ is not limited to a limited period of time. Any person who has a mission to continue this history at any time.
This ritual rejects the idea of 'innocent' or 'naive', 'the end of history' and 'the completion of history'. It says that this history is continuing, and the subject who will carry on the line of that history is always being called. Each new point in time reminds us that new actors must fulfill their historical mission. The ‘promise that was not fulfilled at the time’, in other words, ‘those who devoted themselves to the present age do not receive full compensation at the present time’ reminds us of ‘the mission of history that continues. It is an insight and confession about the ongoing history and God who is with us even now. God always calls us through the “remaining blank”.
The consciousness of ‘I will accomplish everything in my day’ and ‘I will definitely taste the results’ always leads to dangerous situations. Because of excessive desire, they violate the law rather than follow the rules. The absoluteization of power and the absoluteization of the system all stem from this idea. It makes people sick and makes society sick. Even though they cannot achieve everything by themselves at the time, they cannot give up their desires, so people seek ‘hereditary inheritance’ as an alternative method. Leaving a blank space and passing it over is the way to follow the rules. Of course, sometimes it takes forward thinking and the decisiveness to cut and join, but it is dangerous to think that all of them can be fully accomplished at the time.
Today's text, which tells the story of Moses, who has a lot of work to do, disappears into the back of history and hands over the historical responsibility to young Joshua, reminds us of that fact today. Even Jesus, who is known to have declared “It is finished,” said that he would come back to this earth. This fact tells us that there is still a lot of blank space left.
This is the lesson we must learn when the giants of history disappear. It is not the responsibility of the living to simply mourn with a sad heart. It is up to the living to realize that they are being called to be the subjects of a new history.
On the one hand, they must inherit the great will of the advanced leaders, but on the other hand, they face the task of overcoming even their limitations. The sudden disappearance of giant trees into history may be a kind of revelation for us to realize the latter task more clearly. It is not a follow-up to the past, but a sign of ushering in a new era.
The community that believes in Jesus Christ is not a community of remembrance of Jesus Christ who died on the cross. It is a community of hope for a new heaven and a new earth. Today we pray that we will renew our resolve to move forward toward the hope of a new history.*
* Sorry. I couldn't record today, so I can't upload the audio file.