Title Untitled - Luke 6:37-42
Contents
October 5, 2008 (Sun) 11:00 am Cheonan Salim Church
Title: Untitled
Text: Luke 6:37-42
When you give a title, the title already hints to a large part of the content of the text. As I prepared this week's sermon, I struggled. I struggled with what to say and how to give it a title, but in the end I decided to just follow the clue of the story I wanted to share, and decided not to give it a title. If I had to speak formally, would it be more like a ‘talk to share’ rather than a ‘sermon’?
For the past week and ten days until the beginning of last week, we have been pouring out our hearts and praying together over the issue of church unity. From the time the story first began to appear, it would be a month long, but if you count the period of discussion and public discussion within our church, it will be ten days. Last Tuesday, it was finally decided that there would be no church unification.
During the discussion, I was in the midst of a mixture of emotions, but when it was concluded, I was able to look back on the process.
What do you mean? I told a few people who were the representatives of the discussion, but do you think it felt the same as ‘team spirit training’? It should not have been compared to an inappropriate military training term, but I think such an analogy is possible in that it did not lead to actual integration but was given an opportunity to check one's own 'strength' and reflect on oneself.
But on the other hand, I wondered if it could be compared to a situation much more serious and fundamental than what could be compared to ‘team spirit training’. I think it might be like the traces of one typhoon. It may seem strange to the alumni who were not directly involved in the discussion, but to the person who was in the middle of the discussion, it felt like that. What terrific thing happened to make such a harsh analogy?
There was no typhoon damage this year, but when you think of the traces of a typhoon, you often think of a huge disaster, right? That's not what I was thinking of. Typhoons are a disaster for humans, but in terms of the order of life, they also have the effect of purifying polluted nature and restoring the vitality of nature. In particular, it is said that once the strong wind overturns the seawater, it turns all the things lying on the bottom of the sea, purifying the sea and restoring vitality. I think that might be the effect of this experience for us. In that sense, it may feel harsh to compare this experience to a typhoon, but it seems to have been a valuable experience for us.
Many of you may be wondering why the discussion on church integration did not reach its actual goal and ended only as a discussion. In short, I can only say that it was because of the difference in culture and sentiment between the two churches.
Most crucially, the problem was that the decision-making processes and structures of the two churches were completely different. We are accustomed to the method of gathering common opinions without neglecting every step of the process. It is true that our method is unfamiliar to the overall climate of the Korean church, but we are already used to the common decision-making method. Because of that, I felt unfamiliar to him, sensing a different way. In this regard, we were very concerned.
After that, there was a difference in the financial management method, and misunderstandings and understandings were mixed in this passage. Again in this regard, there is something different about the way of our church compared to the way of the general church. So internally, we deliberated enough and so the context was understood so it wasn't a problem, but it seems to have caused a lot of misunderstanding. There was no room for dispelling the misunderstanding during the brief discussion period. At the same time, there was a level of issue that we had to humbly accept in this regard. I won't go into much longer, but I would like to confirm that there were also issues on the side that were quite stimulating to ourselves.
In conclusion, consolidation has not been achieved because of such latent problems. As I said earlier, the reason was the difference in culture and sentiment of the two churches that had different experiences. At this point, I think it is necessary to conclude that way and respect each other's decisions. There should no longer be any unsavory rumors circulating or hurting each other because of it. Rather, both churches should take this opportunity as an opportunity to have a valuable experience and pray for each other.
Earlier, I compared this event to the traces of the aftermath of a typhoon, but it is a metaphor with very positive expectations. If we can't enjoy the same effects as nature's purification and vitality restoration after a typhoon hits, this event may leave us with some sediment or some kind of scar. I hope that doesn't happen.
It allowed us to take a naked look at ourselves, though in a very limited way. It's like a flipping experience. Among them, we confirmed our own precious goals and values that we want to achieve in the Korean church, and at the same time, we also confirmed what we lack in pursuing such goals. We need to renew our mindset to build a healthier church in the future while deeply engraving on both sides at the same time.
The Bible text we read together today gives us a clue in that regard. I am not going to add any exegetical explanations to those words today. I think it's enough to just keep it in mind as a clue that awakens the fundamental attitude of looking at ourselves.
When we look at ourselves, it's not that the first thing we don't think of is self-help. In light of our usual belief that we should acknowledge various differences and achieve harmony in spite of those differences, we may think that the failure to achieve unity is also contradictory to ourselves. However, in this regard, there is an aspect that it is difficult to talk about everything only with our own attitude because this case was a case of a clear opponent. Therefore, rather than clinging to the problem, we should reaffirm our valuable values in a more constructive and positive sense and, at the same time, make efforts to reaffirm our attitude to overcome what we lack.
What is our ‘virtue’ that we have reaffirmed through this opportunity? It may seem unfamiliar to the average level of the Korean church, but the shared decision-making method and shared responsibility orientation are valuable virtues that we must keep consistently. It is somewhat far from efficient. Even if it is a bit slow, it is an attitude of not easily overlooking even a single person's opinion and at the same time trying to achieve consensus as much as possible. It is an appropriate way of respecting individual will and at the same time oriented towards the collective responsibility of the community.
However, there are aspects that we need to rethink in this regard. That is, we must avoid falling into dry rationality. It is aimed at valuing even one person's opinions and gathering those valuable opinions to reach a general conclusion, not the purpose of procedural justification itself. It is a process of gathering each other's hearts, so it is a process of understanding each other and ultimately a process of making love. We must fully understand its meaning. It should always be remembered that justice is not a rough blade, but a love that fully understands and accepts each other.
What do we feel we are lacking again? There is a bit of a leap forward to directly relate to this event, but isn't it the enthusiasm and devotion to build a church community that we lack? Aiming for shared responsibility is not just at the level of decision-making. It must correspond to the overall human and material dimensions of the church. We must be generous in understanding each other's inevitable circumstances, but we must also be zealous in bringing our hearts together for a common purpose. Only then can the church we aim for maintaining its independence and fully fulfilling its role.
With this incident as an opportunity, I have been thinking deeply on my own. What will the future of Cheonan Salim Church be? It is not just a matter of the future of Cheonan Salim Church. It is a question of what the future of the so-called progressive church will be like with us.
A religious sociologist I know well recently said that the proportion of progressive churches or progressive Christians in the Korean church can be estimated at 2-3%. This is a surprising fact. But there is nothing surprising. There have always been a few progressive churches. Nevertheless, it is only necessary to consider what the conditions were to make a significant contribution and strive to fulfill that share. There are many dynamics at work at the social level as a whole, but there are key attitudes that we must maintain ourselves. You have to have more enthusiasm and dedication than anyone else. In order to overcome the problems of the conservative church that we are trying to overcome, we must be able to overcome the enthusiasm and devotion of the members of that church.
Diversity of religious orientation and free ethos of church life are great virtues of a progressive church. It must be preserved and spread as much as we cherish it. But what should be done to protect and spread it? Otherwise, there is no graveyard. If we know that freedom is precious, we can only do so with greater zeal and dedication to protect and spread that freedom. Isn't that why we set realistic goals at the beginning of the year, perhaps out of sync with our free-spirited church?
We have a dream of a truly beautiful church and are now meeting face to face like this. We hope our dreams come true. I hope that you will enjoy the thrilling feeling in the process of making that dream come true, and I hope you feel the real reward. It is a thrill and reward that comes not from a desire to stand up for us, but from the hope of truly planting the Church of Jesus Christ. May our daily lives become more joyful and full of vitality as we enjoy the thrill and reward at the same time.*