Title Leave the road
Living in the unique historical and socio-political context of the United States of immigrants, I often wonder: Is the gospel of Christianity for all who hear it? Wherever they live, home or foreign? It's like an invitation to the traveler's path, to the life of immigrants.
Perhaps the Bible story that forms the basis of immigration theology is the story of Abraham in Genesis 12 to 22. The motives for immigrants are different, but for immigrants who are suffering from loneliness and various difficulties to live well by leaving their homeland and living in a country with a different language, culture, race, and climate, they believe in God’s promise of blessing and leave their homeland to spend the rest of their lives in a foreign country. The story of Abraham, who lived in and buried his bones in a foreign country, has many meanings.
One day Abraham hears the voice of the Lord: “Leave your country and your relatives and your home and go to the land I will show you. I will make you the father of a great nation. … You will be a blessing to others. … All nations of the earth will be blessed through you.” (KJV, Genesis 12:1~3).
How terrified and trembling must Abraham have been at this incredibly amazing and tremendous promise of promise. Unfortunately, the biblical text omits how Abraham felt when he heard these promises. It is simply that Abraham believed the word of promise and, as Jehovah had commanded, set out on the road without leaving any regrets in his “hometown, relatives, and father’s house” (Joint Translation of Genesis 12:1), where he was born and raised. . Packing his beloved wife, his nephew Lot, his servants, and household goods, he quietly sets out on the road, as the Lord has commanded, without knowing the exact destination yet. Whether he had a farewell party with his family or relatives, whether he promised the day he would return home, or if Abraham had a strict patriarchal social structure at the time, I don't think he would have objected to his wife's departure... .
At first glance, he seems to live by inspiration without a plan and blindly. However, the author who wrote the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, a descendant of a distant, distant descendant, praises the forefather Abraham as a witness of faith. Abraham could go back to his hometown whenever he wanted, but believing in the promise of God's invisible blessing and leaving, Abraham went on the path of a pilgrim and a stranger to the end. His life testifies to the attitude of life not only for immigrants living abroad, but also for all believers in Jesus Christ.
leaving the road... . It is not so easy to step into an unknown world where something is not certain. We must empty all the things we have become accustomed to traditions, customs, languages, lifestyles, and values. It takes courage to make a decision. It requires patience and faith.
However, when we feel a strong invisible force that exists beyond our limits and guides us, when we hear an unexpected and clear voice from deep within our hearts, we don't have any regrets about our past lives at all. You may be guided by its irresistible power to set off on your way.
Consider Abraham's journey on the road. At the age of 75, I left my heart full of promises from the Lord to bless me, but when I look back on the path of a stranger who has been walking for over 100 years, it was by no means a smooth road to walk. Every day was the beginning of a new journey, until I left my beautiful hometown on the east side of the sunrise, walked tens of thousands of miles, and settled in the land of Canaan today. From famine, from strife, from Bethel to Shechem, to Egypt, to Hebron, Gerar, Beersheba, Kirjath-arpah… There have been many times when I have almost lost both my property and my life while traveling as a sojourner from one place to another. There was also the risk of having lost his beloved wife Sarah twice. Lot, his nephew, who had followed him from his hometown, nearly died in the land of Sodom. I still vividly remember the painful memories I had to watch as a father when Hagar and Ishmael, who were hated by Sarah, were driven out. Perhaps the happiest moment of her life was when Sarah gave birth to her youngest son, Isaac. As much as it was the happiest moment, it must have been the most miserable moment of my life when I climbed Mount Moriah to sacrifice Isaac.
Whenever Abraham faced such dangers, I wondered if the voice of the woman he had heard was not a vision? Would he not have lamented that he was foolish when he decided to leave? Before leaving, would you have regretted that you should have asked Jehovah and negotiated more clearly what this route was? I think. By the way, the Bible does not address these religious psychological issues. Instead, the author of Genesis focuses on telling how rich the life of Abraham's traveler was through these hardships.
Imagine an old Abraham, who was about to die: his beloved wife Sarah, a lifelong companion, has long passed away. The youngest Isaac, the seed of Jehovah God's promise, is married and is living happily ever after.
One summer night, after taking a deep sleep, Abraham came out of the tent and looked up at the night sky. As Abraham looked at the countless stars that beautifully embroidered the dark sky, he suddenly remembered God's promise: “Abraham, look at the sky. Can you count all the stars? Your descendants will multiply like this (KJV, Genesis 15:5). … I will make you the father of a great nation… You will be a blessing to others (Genesis 12:2).”
To Abraham, who is now aging and nearing death, the promise of fertility remains as a noble future promise to be fulfilled. However, counting the countless stars in the night sky one by one, Abraham begins to count God's blessings he received on his long journey as a stranger.
One star for one blessing... … .
Since I left my homeland without any regrets, I never looked back. Without being bound by the past, he boldly opened himself up to the future that was coming before him. I was not afraid to believe that Jehovah God was with me. Whenever Abraham was in trouble, Jehovah God did not leave him alone. Saving Sarah and herself from a crisis, saving Lot, Ishmael and Hagar living safely in the eastern land, increasing their wealth by becoming a blessing every time they went through difficult times, and Isaac, who was about to offer a burnt offering, survived and made a living. Continuing work, being respected by other races in the land of Canaan, and living peacefully without conflict. The wisdom and courage, care and love, and boundless grace and kindness that God has bestowed on us are as immeasurable as the stars in the night sky.
I do not dare to compare myself to Abraham, but I think I can understand the feelings of Abraham as he shed tears of thanks while counting the stars in the night sky. I had a sabbatical after 20 years of leaving, so I met many people I missed while staying in Korea for the first time for 4 months. What they had in common was, “How hard have you been?”
Obviously, life as an immigrant was not easy. After completing my master's and doctorate at Princeton and moving to Denver, I didn't want to pass even near Princeton for 7 years. I gave birth to my first child when I was in my second year of my Master of Divinity program, and when I was driving for an hour and a half with that child, going back and forth to a Korean church in the Bronx, New York, every week as an evangelist, it was so hard that I even thought about quitting my studies. I had to stop studying for a year because a car driven by an epilepsy patient who had an epileptic seizure suddenly hit my car at a red light traffic light and got injured. When I was at Ewha University, when I heard about my accident, Professor Jang Sang, who was my advisor, said, “Kim Eun-ju is over!”
When I was the first Asian to be admitted to the doctoral program in preaching, a professor who taught preaching at a famous seminary in Korea came to visit me, and it was a major mistake that Princeton Seminary made without knowing the situation of the Korean church in selecting a woman, not a Korean man, for the field of preaching. ' he complained to me.
Teaching at a white supremacist seminary in an American seminary filled with white supremacy is difficult, but it reminds me of a special mission. A few years ago, I became the president of my school belonging to the American Methodist denomination.