< Holy Spirit that Allow Us to Dream >

May the peace of the Lord be with you.

I have sent peace to you now, but have any of you received it? I'm sure many of you have never seen it. I'll keep sending it again, so if you didn't receive it, don't feel so sorry for it. You have now received invisible peace. In fact, this may not be the first time. Through the text, you have already received many blessings from Jesus saying, “Peace to you.” And in the previous text, you will also remember that Jesus sent his disciples, saying, ‘I entrust you in my place of that peace’ prayer. Today, I would like to take a look at the invisible Holy Spirit, you and I, and share the message from there. The scriptureof the Gospel of Luke, given to us today, points to the existence of the Holy Spirit with great care. In this passage where Jesus introduces prayer to his disciples, another person of God appears, the ‘Holy Spirit’. Who is the Holy Spirit and why did he appear here?

1. The Holy Spirit, a spirit that resembles the heart of Jesus

We do not know the character of the Holy Spirit well. Because we haven't seen it in person. However, the disposition of the Holy Spirit can be known through the human Jesus. He promised that Jesus would be his replacement in his absence, so we can guess that he would be like the one who loves us. However, there is no way to know why the introduction of the Holy Spirit is the last of the ‘prayer taught by the Lord’. However, it is clear that the Lord's prayer is the prayer the Lord has left for us so that we can do it today. Also, this prayer is the prayer that Jesus said for his disciples, but also the prayer that the Lord read their sorrows. Let's see what happened at the moment when they all learned the Lord's Prayer together.

Luke 11:1–4, which we read earlier, is the content of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’. And verses 5 to 13 below have a single theme, ‘Ask, seek, and knock. If you do, it will be given. It is a good thing given to children, and that good thing is the Holy Spirit. So, save it’ – today’s scriptureis written. The first scene in this scripturebegins with the disciples coming to Jesus who came out after praying and saying, “Master, teach us to pray like the disciples of John the Baptist.” Through this opportunity, Jesus teaches and his disciples learn one by one in front of him. Through this, Jesus puts what he wants his disciples to live like after his death, one sentence at a time, into the mouth of the disciples in front of him as a will. In fact, the disciple's question also hides a sense of ignorance. John the Baptist had already been executed by Herod, and his disciples were still in a community, and it can be seen that the disciples are asking Jesus directly the question of their identity as or distinct from them. Moreover, Jesus had already given two death notices. Luke records that the disciples did not understand and were afraid to ask any more. It is not until the 18th chapter of the Gospel of Luke that the third death is announced, but considering that Jesus was already on his way to Jerusalem, it is expected that even the immature disciples would have sensed a strange tone.

The contents of the Lord's Prayer that began in this context are mainly four. The first is that we call our Father in heaven—and let his name be hallowed. The second is that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, so that it may become the kingdom of God. Third, grant us our daily bread—and fourth, deliver us from our sins. We forgive those who have offended us. Among them, the first two themes refer to ‘the name of God’, ‘the kingdom of God, and its coming’, and the latter two themes refer to ‘the issue of food for human survival and forgiveness. But in fact, they asked the Lord to teach them to pray, but they already knew how to pray and their power. At the time when Jesus went on a missionary journey in pairs with more than 70 people, they witnessed miracles happen through prayer, and they had the experience of rejoicing when they returned and reported to Jesus. I also got compliments. So, why are you asking how to pray now? Maybe they felt there was something wrong with their prayers, or maybe they thought there was something that didn't change when they prayed. However, when they prayed one sentence at a time with the Lord, they might have stopped breathing and had a sad expression on their faces. That part, the final part of Luke's Lord's Prayer, was about forgiveness. The Lord sees these disciples and does not push them to forgive them unconditionally. However, he said, “I only hope that you will not fall into temptation,” and he looked at him with a sad heart.

2. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit that makes the impossible of forgiveness possible

This request for forgiveness is embodied in the Gospel of Matthew as forgiveness of one's neighbor, a practical matter such as the forgiveness of debts in a debt relationship. However, in the Gospel of Luke, both relationships are described as ‘forgiveness of sins’ using the Hebrew concept of sin ‘hamartia’. Putting the two together, it means “I forgive everyone who owes me money and of heart.” In the Gospel of Luke, however, the Lord's prayer, which ended with 'forgiveness', said, 'Ask, knock, will you give your children snakes instead of fish', and 'your heavenly Father will give you 'the good things'. , it is the Holy Spirit who works to forgive and not fall into temptation. Likewise, in Luke's Gospel, the story of the 'Holy Spirit', which is not at all in Matthew's Gospel, is placed after the Lord's prayer, and the work of the Holy Spirit is emphasized. In fact, the Luke community was diverse in its members. Compared to other communities, the region of origin and class of origin were different. There were many migrants from other places, orphans and widows, the poor, the sick and women. They came from completely different places, but when they saw each other, it was heartbreaking. Luke's profession as a doctor cared for many sick people, with the poor being more vulnerable. The reason was that the Roman Empire continued to fight incessantly in wars, extortion of materials, and exploitation of manpower in the entire Near East, including Judea, and if they resisted, the entire region was set on fire and indiscriminate genocide was carried out.

The problem was not only economic extortion, in which the barren, dry land was cracked and the wheat and grain harvested from it were taken away. Society was divided and increasingly divided into the few who had power and the class deprived of what they had. A minority in power who conformed to the Roman power and a radical majority with national identity were arguing over the political ideology of restoring the state again, and here the religious elites were making a distinction between ‘the holy and the secular’ in their own way. Due to this anxiety, social classes were reluctant to treat each other and treated each other coldly, and society was becoming more divided due to extreme individualism. However, when each of these people gathered in the Luke community, they came to Jesus and formed a community, but it was difficult at times. When the person who hurt and the person who was hurt met together, heartbreaking things would have come to mind, and it would have been difficult to eat together. However, even if he prayed for forgiveness from his heart every day, it did not work out well, and he may have suffered even more with a sense of self-blame for not being able to ‘forgive’ at once. Luke must have seen that their community struggled with an unforgiving heart. And you must have seen that if it were not for the Holy Spirit, there was no choice but to be hopeless. If you cannot forgive with the help of the Holy Spirit, you may have found that it is impossible to enjoy peace.

3. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit that gives me hope

When I'm angry, my face stiffens and contorts. In the end, the moment we check the fact that the spot is accumulating on the face with a mirror and a photo, we just need to keep the photo and the mirror away. However, when I am angry, my heart is broken, and when I recall the past connected with it, the present time is all gone. Reaffirming it is like looking at a ruined report card, a report card of your life, and it hurts my heart. The Holy Spirit regrets that we do not enjoy the beauty of the present, that is, the gift of the time we live. He wants me to straighten my wrinkled brow, take care of my precious people together, and enjoy the present with the Lord that I don't know how long there will be in the future. “Thank you for the last hour. If there is anything wrong, please forgive me.” If it can be arranged neatly and neatly, he wants you to only look forward to the new things to come. By focusing on ourselves, we take care of the self we have not been able to take care of, support us again, do what we love, and reflect on what kind of person we wanted to be or who we want to become in the future. And God wants to show us who we are. When the Holy Spirit was present in the early Christian community, they must have been reminded of the psalm, “How good it is to live together as brothers!” They were one as a common group, but each retained its own individuality. The character of the Holy Spirit, the character of the Holy Spirit, is revealed in this way. It was one that came down from the sky, but scattered like branches, respecting each person's language and culture as it is, appearing like several. The Christian community that Luke preached also had all of these characteristics, and even later philosophers say the following about it. ‘They were protected from external forces that attacked them, so they did not have to show aggression; Their beautiful hearts grew stronger and more alive.’ God's disposition of love and justice in them and being a child could be expressed as it is.

4. Holy Spirit, the Spirit that confirms that I am part of the kingdom of God

The reason why we have not been able to draw the kingdom of God even if we have tried so far may be because of our despair for ourselves. It must have been a meeting of the despair of not being able to get out of this world with the me and the world I live in now, what could be better than this, and whether it could be changed. If it wasn't, it would have been the desperation that nothing more was possible in a situation where we had to be satisfied with this world. “I can only dream of the possibility that this world can be improved only when I see the possibility of hope within me,” my teacher said. At that time, I was only at a loss, and ironically, I came to know that the possibility of hope in me comes only after I lose the thought that I can do it or the possibility that I can build the kingdom of God. You may have experienced it too. It is when we recognize that it is God's work that we cannot let go of even if we let go of the line, and that is when new possibilities open up. As Jesus began to open his mouth as he taught the prayer, he revealed the heart of all established relationships. ‘God and us’ is the relationship between ‘parents and children’ in humans.

When Matthew said this, in a stronger tone, he said, ‘You have to do it, because you can already do it as a child of his. Come on, do it.” Luke conveys the feeling that this act of forgiveness is ‘again, it may not be possible, but if it doesn’t work… the Holy Spirit will help you.’ What is important is that you are ready to forgive that forgiveness, and the conviction that ‘the authority is already within me’. Now, we see sin from a completely different level. The fact that God is looking at me has changed all the settings of this world. In the Lord's Prayer, just before the fourth pardon, Jesus had obtained the daily bread from the master of the world in advance. We have no reason to be bound by this any longer. A life that focused everything to make a living is now freedom. After that, you will be able to gradually free yourself from the need to be tied to this world. This is not a simple escape or escape. It is an opportunity to pursue what this world cannot give you in another world, and the realm has been opened. It is about living in this world physically, but at the same time dreaming of a life in which we are not confined in this world, throwing ourselves into it, and envisioning the reality that will become such a reality. At this time, only those who have been to the destination in advance can teach in advance what it is necessary to visit the place marked on the map or on the navigator. Jesus Christ has promised us that he will mark the kingdom of God, guide the way by pointing in its direction, and provide energy and fuel to get us to that destination. The Lord's Prayer is a guide for children who have been visiting God's house for a long time by taking this indicator. Jesus also told us why we should go to this place. God is our ‘father and mother’ and that place is our hometown. That is where we are comfortable. It's because they came from there. On the way home, on the way back, as strength to use while on the way, the Holy Spirit will help you with both physical strength and fuel. The destination where someone is waiting for me isn't too hard on the way. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to move our feet and run our cars. He encourages you to overcome the gravity that makes you want to sit down due to lack of strength and move forward. At this point, forgiveness is the beginning. It is an invitation and invitation to use the gift of the Holy Spirit to use that power and identity of forgiveness.

5. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Dreaming Again

Luke tenderly offers this tender invitation of Jesus. He personally experienced the Holy Spirit. What Luke's community experienced was gratitude and joy. It was neither an illusion nor a virtual reality of the moment, but the reality of reality. “This is what we were! We were originally born to give thanks and joy to God!” This joy was the reason they were able to be with Jesus Himself. Although he was disappointed for a while after he left, it was the reason the community of Luke continued to dream, who again found life and vitality in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Human history cannot forget this event that actually happened. We pray for a society where everyone is equal and respects everyone, and a society that does not lose its dignity due to poverty.

Now, finally, let's talk about it from our point of view. We no longer expect gratitude and joy. It seems that our Korean church has ceased to hope that it can become a light for the entire Korean society, a salt for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and contribute to world peace. I do not think that it can be improved and greatly transformed to become like the early church community. So we do not believe that our situation, our character, and our church community are becoming completely different beings. We are no longer dreaming. Instead, we know. We know that we can't do it in our own strength. But Jesus looked into our eyes and spoke. And he promised. He said that the Holy Spirit is a spirit of reminder, and that God inspires the mind to want. The Holy Spirit is not a thing but a gift, so we cannot do it our way or our efforts. Because it's a gift. So we have no choice but to pray. “Have mercy on us.” The Lord prays for us as well.

Prayer

Father God, until now, it has been difficult for us to forgive those who owe us. Today, we stand before the Lord again and listen to the prayer the Lord has prayed for us. The Lord who reminded us of who we are and who gently comforted us, the Lord who respects our will, we want to be like you. Renew us so that we can share your dreams with you. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who is love itself. amen.