Title Meditation on Advent (2010.12.12)
Contents
Title: Upside Down Heaven
Text: (John 3:28-30)
Hymns: 321. to Jesus who redeemed me
Date: December 12, 2010 (Sunday) 5 am
Venue: Jeonju Yebut Church Small Worship Room
<short verse>
“He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30).
<Meditation>
Henry George, author of Progress and Poverty, which is called the clergy's book, wondered, 'What is the root reason why the poor are not disappearing while society is advancing dazzlingly?' One day, he accidentally found an answer. It was none other than because of ‘the rent to get unearned income from land that is expensive enough to be paved with gold even if you own one pyeong’. But it was not only the problem of poverty that was frightening. In an unequal society, power is always concentrated on the worst. In a society where honesty or consideration for others is everywhere, and where people only see people gain power through corrupt wealth, they tolerate corruption and eventually become envious of it. In the end, people will gradually resemble the characteristics of corrupt rulers, and even if the corrupt rulers change, in the end, it is even scarier that the country cannot be revived because of corrupt people.
In this darkening age, the church has been commissioned to realize the punishment of Jesus Christ and to establish the kingdom of God in which all people in the world are saved. However, in 2009, when the ‘Christian Ethics Practice Movement (Ki Yun-sil)’ surveyed 1,000 citizens, the reliability of Christianity was 19%. In a recent survey of ‘Most Trusted Religion’ published in the magazine ‘Sisain’, 57.6% of Catholicism, 50% of Buddhism, 26.4% of Protestantism, and 6.2% of Won Buddhism were found. Churches and Christians who do not embrace the spirit of Christ and the life of Christ cannot establish the kingdom of God on this earth. No, you should seriously reflect on your own salvation problem. This is because the kingdom of God is a place where the opposite principle from this world rules.
The words, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30) is also evidence of how we and other beings build the kingdom of God through the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus.
Our Lord is earnestly asking us to pray for our neighbors, to bless this world, and to pray with a loving heart. Then, we will be able to become Christians who embrace life that changes the world without being stained by the world.
<Prayer>
1. Let us all cast aside our selfishness and create a world where we can all live together!
2. The harvest is plentiful, but workers are scarce. Send faithful co-workers!