Hak Ja Han
December 19, 2014
Address to ACLC Pastors
As I look at you, as we are gathered here today, I am reminded of many things. Some people wonder, is what we are doing public or is it something personal? When we look at the providence, we see many providential figures. What kind of relationship do we have with those figures? Those Unificationists gathered here, you are close to the movements of the providence. Your positions are similar to those of historical providential figures, right? It’s not an easy vocation, is it? Do you agree with me?
Heaven is alive. God is alive. Throughout history we can see it clearly. Because of Adam’s mistake, the fallen world came into being. I think you already know this. God wants to fulfill His Will and He definitely will fulfill His Will. Throughout providential history God has been working to save fallen humankind. Through specific individuals God worked very hard to find the one chosen people. It took four thousand biblical years to do this. You can imagine how long that is. That process to find those providential figures has been very difficult. Those chosen people suffered a lot. We understand this from the Divine Principle.
Through a course of long suffering, God was able to send Jesus Christ to the Israelites as His only begotten son. He is the one for whom the Israelites were waiting for so long. We understand that Jesus was born through Mary. Of course, there were many providential figures who were close to God as during this time. There were three wise men who came to pay respects at Jesus’ birth. Why did it take four thousand long years for Jesus to be born? And why was his life so short? To this day, two thousand years have gone by since the beginning of Christianity, and nobody understands why this was. No one has tried to find out why, not even those Unificationists closest to the providence. Many seek only their own personal salvation. There are many people celebrating Christmas. Of those people, how many understand the meaning of Jesus’ birth and why he had to go through so many difficulties? At the time of Jesus’ life, there were some public figures who were very well known but who did not fulfill their responsibility. When Jesus was on the cross, he said that he would come back. What did he say when he was about to leave? Did he speak about the feast of the lamb? Jesus should have established a family. He should have become a parent in his lifetime. He suffered so much, and also God suffered a lot.
God raised the Israelites for thousands of years. Why, then, could they not attend God’s Will? At the time of Jesus, they were under the rule of the Roman Empire, a very powerful empire. At that time, the Israelites should have clung to God and believed in His promise to send the Messiah. What would have happened if the Israelites had believed His promise?
We need to remember this, especially as American members of the clergy. True Parents spent their golden years—almost forty years—in America. They invested their best years because they are the parents of humankind and they are able to accept any kinds of difficulty. When the Bible was translated into English, many people could understand it more clearly, and the Pilgrim Fathers of America came here seeking their religious freedom. They wanted to attend God freely. They risked their lives and came to a new land, a new continent, to do so. In 1620, they arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower. They suffered from cold and hunger, but despite these kinds of hardships, they saved their grains and seeds for the sake of the future. They put them aside. When they settled, the first thing they did was to build a church where people could attend God. Afterward they built a school to educate future generations. Then they built their own homes. You already know that. God blessed the people who were striving to live, standing on His side. Even though there are many nations, God made this one, America, to be the representative of all nations, especially Christian nations.
America’s beginnings were beautiful. However, America is now forgetting about its original mission, and Heaven is truly concerned about this nation. Rev. Sun Myung Moon came to America for this reason. There are so many problems in America today: family breakdown, ideological conflicts—this nation is really going downhill.
Rev. Moon said that he came here as a firefighter, and as a doctor. In the beginning there were some conscientious people who listened to that voice. They were grateful. However, as the voice was getting louder, some people felt threatened. However, despite all kinds of challenging situations, True Father and True Mother are not ordinary parents. There are no parents who would want their children to go the wrong way. Eventually, this nation even sent True Father to Danbury prison. But because he is the parent, he forgave this nation.
I have missed you very much. This is because I want to reveal the truth about all this. Providential history has been developing step by step. But there are many people living in the Old Testament Age or the New Testament Age. You need to guide them to True Parents, don’t you? You can’t save them by idealizing yourself. This is the Completed Testament Age. Cheon Il Guk is now open. So what do you think you should be doing? You are living in this world, in the flesh, today. You should not be concerned only with physical things and physical matters. You know that there is a spirit world where we will be going. Our life span on earth is about 100 years. But we are seeking the eternal world. In that case we need to be going beyond the physical world. No matter how wonderful this place is, if you are alone, you will be lonely. We should not think just about our own family. You need to be leading your tribe. There are so many problems in this world. Sometimes we cannot even predict what will happen tomorrow. The natural world, the beautiful world that God created for us, is being destroyed. Our physical time on this earth is short, and we should be concerned about future generations.
Our responsibility is to take care of this world. You need to guide your congregations to this goal. Two thousand years ago Jesus should have been accepted, but he wasn’t, so he said that he would come back and he did, and paid all the indemnity. We have been reborn. You should think about the seven billion people who do not know about True Parents.
True Parents wanted to reach out to the world through this nation. True Father started the providence in America here in Las Vegas. If you think about it, this is the city of sin. It needs to be reborn, and True Parents already have started that rebirth process. If we can change Las Vegas, that change will spread to the rest of the world