James 1
1 From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.[a]
2 My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.
Jeremiah 22
4 If you obey me, the kings from David’s family will continue to rule Judah from this palace. They and their officials will ride in and out on their horses or in their chariots. 5 But if you ignore me, I promise in my own name that this palace will lie in ruins. 6 Listen to what I think about it:
The palace of Judah’s king
is as glorious as Gilead
or Lebanon’s highest peaks.
But it will be as empty
as a ghost-town
when I’m through with it.
7 I’ll send troops to tear it apart,
and its beautiful cedar beams
will be used for firewood.
8 People from different nations will pass by and ask, “Why did the Lord do this to such a great city as Jerusalem?” 9 Others will answer, “It’s because the people worshiped foreign gods and broke the agreement that the Lord their God had made with them.”
The Toil of God as He Tries to Raise up His Beloved Children
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 11, 1959
Ladies and gentlemen, do you sincerely want to become God’s sons and daughters? Does unquenchable sorrow shake your heart? Does unstoppable sorrow move your minds and bodies? You should feel something similar to this.
You cannot become sons and daughters, no matter what you have to offer in this human world. Only when you never forget to think solely of the Father, only when you fight and run forward in your daily life do you have a possibility of becoming His sons and daughters.
You have to have this mind-set and be able to shed tears even over a simple branch. You should be able to say that you have finally come to know that all existing things are mourning and longing for the day of liberation. Bowing your head, you should apologize for human ignorance. This is not some abstract concept. When we see a colleague struggling to find the path, we should hold him and cry, “You are my brother.”
No matter how sad and lonely you may be, you have to understand that it is nothing compared to what God is experiencing. When you look at nature, you should see traces of God’s tears there. When you see water flowing, you should see God’s tears. When you are lying down, you should see that where you are lying down is a river of God’s tears and has traces of the cross of Golgotha. God is looking for sons and daughters who can cry out, “Father, who had to let the Lord bear the cross on Golgotha!” You should declare, “Although Jesus left grief on the earth when he died, I will not die but will alleviate Your sorrow as a living person.”
The six thousand years have been a history of God’s efforts to find His beloved sons and daughters. Therefore, we have to become people who feel that we are indebted to God, who has toiled for six thousand years. We have to feel the culmination of God’s tears of six thousand years and pay for the sacrifice at Golgotha.
When we then repent of our past sins, pay indemnity for our present sins, and cherish hope for the future, calling upon our Father and going to Him with open arms, the Father can say, “Oh, my son, my daughter.” Forgetting about His dignity, He will shed tears of joy and sorrow. Only those who can achieve this will become sons and daughters of the Father. Only when you understand that God and Jesus are like that can you become God’s sons and daughters.
God can elevate these sons and daughters before Satan’s world and all things of the universe, saying that they are the lords and sons and daughters He has been looking for. Only when these sons and daughters appear can God finally forget the labors of the six thousand years. He can entrust Heaven and earth to them and rest in peace.
Just as Jesus cried over this history of sorrow and died, if there is a way that God’s will can be accomplished, you should pursue it obediently. You have to remember that you must live such a life of devotion.
Richard: The way that we can do God’s will and establish His kingdom is through Home Church (tong ban) activities in our neighborhoods.
Prayer
Father! We are so ashamed. We have learned that this path is an awesome path, a path of inextinguishable sorrow.
Father, You sought these children out not for one day or for several years, but for six thousand years! Please let us understand now how much trouble we have caused for You, how much we have angered You, and how much we have wronged You. Before we entered this relationship, we fought over the things of the world. Please allow us to understand how sinful we are.
Father, Your sons and daughters who are gathered here do not have to know everything. Please let them at least understand the God that we believe in, the Jesus we should attend, and the sons and daughters we must become.
What is our hope? We did not come seeking for well-dressed people or people with power or to satisfy some desire. We came only because we long for the Father’s love and a relationship with Him. Father, if the Father has tears, please let us possess those tears. If the Father is experiencing pain, please let us feel the pain.
Please let us understand that we should not become princes who are seeking joy but princes who bear responsibility for sorrowful and painful history, and let us pay indemnity for it. We have learned that You yearn for sons and daughters who are victorious under such circumstances, sons and daughters worthy of God’s pride before Heaven and earth. We have also learned that Your labors for the six thousand years have been to elevate Your beloved sons and daughters.
We pray sincerely that You will allow us to fulfill all the responsibilities entrusted to us and to fully cope with the missions given to us. Please guide us to become the most exemplary children of filial piety, and patriots.
Until the day that the Father of history, the Father of the present era and the Father of the future becomes our Father and mobilizes the entire universe to sing songs of joy, please protect these people. We prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.