Message from Kyounghee
Time has flown by like an arrow, and here we are in December once again. While December marks the final month of the year according to the secular calendar, in the church calendar, it is a time of anticipation and celebration of Jesus’ birth, leading us into a new year. On one side of the world, people are groaning from wars, while on the other side, people are excitedly preparing for Christmas celebrations. We can't help but feel the irony of life.
How has your year been?
This morning, as I meditated on Jesus, my thoughts were drawn to Moses. Moses’ life, in a word, seems to be one marked by ‘rejection’. He was born into a world where the birth of Hebrew boys was rejected. Strictly speaking, he was abandoned by his parents to Nile River. At the age of 40, he tried to help his fellow Hebrews but was rejected by his own people. For the next 40 years, he lived in the wilderness of Midian, seemingly having forgotten God and his Hebrew identity. When God called him at the age of 80, Moses himself rejected God’s calling. Dragged back to Egypt reluctantly, he was rejected nine times by Pharaoh. Can you imagine how he must have felt? Even in the wilderness, he faced constant challenges and rejection from the Israelites, and ultimately, he was denied entry into the Promised Land by God.
Does this mean Moses’ life was a failure? Yet, no one remembers Moses as a failure.
Have you also faced much rejection this year? Jesus experienced the same. Over the past two years, I, too, have faced rejection. When I first began my ministry, I had a bold attitude, thinking, 'It’s okay if I’m rejected. Jesus was, too.' But that boldness has faded. Instead, I learned again that being rejected by people might be God's great guidance for me.
Jesus was not born in the welcome of all people. Although Christmas is increasingly becoming a festival unrelated to Jesus, it is still for us believers the manifestation of God who came to us. Unlike other gods, God came into our world, into our history, into our lives because he loved us so much.
May this love and peace of God be with you all. I hope that during the hectic days of December, you will have many opportunities to realize God’s presence in your daily life.
Merry Christmas to you all.