December 7, 2014
Advent 2
2nd Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8
(prayer)
Today I want to share with you the story of a great Christian: Moon IkHwan. I am grateful for the United Church grassroots worship resource called “Gathering” for sharing IkHwan’s story.
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IkHwan was born June 2, 1918. His father was a minister, who had studied in a seminary in Toronto. IkHwan and his is father lived through the time of Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese rulers treated the Koreans very poorly - even trying to force them to not use their native language, Koreans were forced to take on Japanese surnames, cultural artifacts were destroyed (sound familiar?). During the second world war, Koreans were conscripted into the Japanese army.
IkHwan studied to be a Christian minister like his father. He was a good student, learned Hebrew and Greek.
Years later, IkHwan helped create a Korean translation of the Bible - which is still used and read today - the GongDongByunYuk (the Korean Common Translation).
Years later, IkHwan helped create a Korean translation of the Bible - which is still used and read today - the GongDongByunYuk (the Korean Common Translation).
Being a Christian in Korea in the early 20th century was not easy. Speaking out could lead to confrontations with police - many people were beaten (mostly students, as is so often the case when it comes to protest movements); some were sent to jail; some died. These kind of crackdowns are brutal attempts to silence voices crying for justice.
Moon IkHwan and his friends continued to stand up for what they saw as ‘right’ - and because they believed in God’s love for them, they were full of courage.
IkHwan had a poem-song rolling through his head - words that gave him hope.
With the wings of our mind on the wind flying,
to the silent breathless earth God's love sending,
let the brave justice flag wave high above,
to the heavens and the earth freedom bringing. (#698VU - verse 1)
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The Japanese colonial rule of Korea ended with the end of the second world war. But as with Europe, the victors divided the spoils - along the 38th parallel.
At first, the Soviet Union administered the northern half of the peninsula and the United States, the south.
In 1948, two separate governments were formed in two separate nations, which we call: North Korea and South Korea.
“Sovereign States” might be an overstatement as this was the time of intense cold war politics.
At first, the Soviet Union administered the northern half of the peninsula and the United States, the south.
In 1948, two separate governments were formed in two separate nations, which we call: North Korea and South Korea.
“Sovereign States” might be an overstatement as this was the time of intense cold war politics.
Two years later in 1950, the North invaded the South and the Korean War began. There was an armistice in 1953, followed by the establishment of a 4km wide demilitarized zone near the 38th parallel, which to this day is patrolled by both North and South Korea and other international forces. Technically, there was no formal end to the Korean War and the Korean people remain divided by an artificial cold war line.
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Moon IkHwan and some of his family were on the South side of the DMZ and other family members were in the North. Many Korean families were divided as such.
The story goes that, one day as he sat reading his Bible, IkHwan got an idea - he would protest the division of his people by walking walking from one side of the country to the other.
IkHwan walked north. When he got to “the line” he just kept walking. The border guards tried to stop him. They shouted; they threatened him with jail, but IkHwan just kept walking - past the guns, past the tanks - right over the line. No one stopped him. Maybe the poem in his heart gave him strength.
Moon IkHwan kept on walking until he reached his family’s home. There were hugs and tears and a nice reunion.
After the visit, IkHwan walked South. When he got to “the line” again, there were people waiting for him - some family, some supporters, some police waiting to arrest him - which is what happened as soon as he crossed the line. He was not allowed to see any of his family. In fact, he never saw his mother again, because by the time he was released, she had passed away.
But that ‘walk’ was not the only time Moon IkHwan ignored the lines in the sand. He was a preacher, an activist, a theological professor and a faithful person of God - who lived out what he believed. He was a vocal and active opponent of military dictatorial rule in the South (it didn’t get a democratic leader until 1988). He spent ten scattered years in prison after five different arrests. He was released from jail in early 1993 for having made another unapproved (and therefore illegal) visit to the North to talk with leaders about possible reunification.
Moon IkHwan passed away in 1994, at the age of 76. His life gave hope to many people in his country and throughout the world.
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We are more than the lines that get drawn around us. One of the messages of Advent is that we should be excited about the possibility of more in our midst.
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John the Baptist preached that people were more than their shortcomings - more than their times where God was ignored. John not only believed in the love, grace and mercy of God - he acted on it.
He called into the crowds and invited people to search their own hearts for the desire to ‘be more’.
And those so inspired would come down to the waters and allow themselves to be renewed - coming up from the river, a new creation - a renewed child of God who knew both grace and mercy.
The best definition of Grace that I know is to say that it is getting what we don’t necessarily deserve; Mercy is the other side of the coin of God’s Love - not getting what we might honestly deserve.
John not only preached this - he offered people the chance to experience the truth of it.
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But there was more... When people were too eager to praise John, he spoke of ‘one still to come’ who could show the world even greater grace and mercy.
John would not even try to compare himself to this ‘one’ - he would not even claim to be in the same league.
John would not even try to compare himself to this ‘one’ - he would not even claim to be in the same league.
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In Jesus (the one of whom John spoke), God’s love (grace and mercy) would be made manifest - tangible, real.
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I know that I am preaching to the choir - literally and figuratively - when I say that Christmas (and Advent which leads to it) is more than fancy decorations, parties and presents under a tree.
It is even more than being with family, sharing joy - dare I say it is more that giving to others.
All of the things we associate with this time of year (both commercialized and spiritualized) do not paint the whole picture.
There are still lines to cross; still divides to be broken.
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My facebook friends might have seen my post from Wednesday after the second US grand jury in a week declined to charge a police officer for killing an (admittedly large-in-stature, but none-the-less) unarmed African-American male. Now, there was a big divide of opinions about the case in Ferguson MO - was 16 year old Michael Brown an imminent threat to Officer Wilson’s life, so that he needed to be shot dead in the street. But, there is a much more united outrage in the case of Eric Gardner in Stanton Island, who died as a result of a violent chock-hold takedown because he was simply suspected of selling single cigarettes and the ignoring of his cries of “I can’t breathe”. Ironically, on the day that the grand jury decided that Officer Daniel Pantaleo would not be arrested, over 80 protesters were arrested.
My post was my own outrage at the propensity in our society to want to move quickly out of a time of tension. There is a call for people to not protest, to not block streets, to not enter onto an NFL field with your hands up (implying ‘don’t shoot’), to not disrupt the lighting of the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree (no justice, no tree), to not be upset when a police car just drives up within ten feet of a 12 year old boy in Cleveland who has been brandishing a pellet gun and the officer shoots him dead only two seconds after stopping the vehicle. We can’t do those things because they serve to divide us and raise tensions.
More so, there is a call to pretend that the racial divide in the US doesn’t exist - that these are isolated incidents.
My post was that, when our society of broken in this way, we need to live with the tensions - to feel the real pain of the division. Maybe then and only then, we will find the courage to not just paint over tensions and divisions so that we can ignore them for a while, but to change so that the tensions and divisions are erased.
We need to be more than we are today.
To do that we need the attitude of humility that John the Baptist expressed. “It’s about more than me.”
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Moon IkHwan drew courage from his faith - enough that he could walk past guns and tanks to visit with family. IkHwan endured prison and isolation so that a dream of a united people could be kept alive.
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As people of God - as followers of Jesus - we are more than the divisions and societal categories of people.
Decades after his birth, Jesus would openly flaunt his acts of welcome - dining with sinners, welcoming the outcasts, challenging those who held the powers of oppression and violence.
We know that this time of year has to be more than feeding our own selfish greed. But this time of year also needs to be more than the celebration of baby Jesus’ birth - it needs to be more than the good works we trot out once every twelve months.
This new season, new church year needs to be a renewal of our greater purpose: to live out the love of God in everything we say and do.
Inspired by the story of Moon IkHwan, we can make long-term commitments to the concepts of grace and mercy - to put ourselves on that ‘straight paths’.
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Let us pray:
God, you show us the paths of restoration and peace. May we trust in your tenderness and love. Amen.
And now, let’s sing together Moon IkHwan’s song of inspiration:
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