Radical Grace

Scripture Passages

Isaiah 11:6-9, Ephesians 2:14-20, John 17:22-23

Worship Video

Sermon Video

Sermon Audio

Sermon Script

It is wonderful to gather together like this. This gathering itself is inspiring. It would be nice to have worship service like this every Sunday. One of the planning team members asked, can we do that every Sunday? How nice!

God wants us to gather together and worship God in one spirit regardless of who you are. People from East and West and North and South come and worship God. Having this ONE SPIRIT is important to have a meaningful worship. So Jesus said, first be reconciled to your sister or brother and then come and offer your gifts.

So we have gathered together this afternoon with A REPENTANT HEART to confess our sins that hurt our sisters and brothers PERSONALLY or/and SYSTEMATICALLY. We recognize that we have treated our sisters and brothers with less than FULL RESPECT. We recognize that we have been blinded by our own ENSLAVEMENT of PRIVILEGE AND POWER. We recognize that our SELF-CENTREDNESS had created prejudice, hurt, and division. We recognize that our laziness, complacency, indifference, and wilful blindness had ignored SYSTEMIC RACISM and injustice that had been going on for many years.

Now we have come to recognize all these things and ask God to heal us and restore the one spirit within us. We come before God to ask God’s forgiveness and God’s help. Without God’s help and our conviction, this event will become another SHOW we put on.

By God’s grace, not only are we forgiven but we are EMPOWERED to be able to live as a NEW CREATION. By God’s grace, we are not anymore victims of division, separation, animosity, and domination. We are free by God’s RADICAL GRACE.

As St. Paul confessed, I am who I am by God’s grace. He is saying that I am not anymore a victim of my dark history, my power-hungry environment, and my prejudiced self. I am free in Christ. In this freedom, I can be deeply connected to God and to others. So deeply connected that we have become one.

So he confessed,

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

In that freedom, the wall that divides us is broken.

The letter to the Ephesians captured this idea very well. Even though it may not be Paul’s authentic letter, it captures Paul’s idea very well.

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. (Ephesians 2:14)

In Christ, we are one. We are not just black, white, or yellow. We are not just Canadians, Koreans, Chinese, Hungarian, and Arabic. We are a new creation by God’s radical grace. We are given a new humanity.

The fact that we are different does not divide us. Rather, it should be a way to ENRICH us. Unity can exist ONLY IN DIVERSITY. Without diversity, there is no unity, only UNIFORMITY. To create uniformity, you have to kill diversity. But to have the unity, diversity is necessary. Our differences should not be the reason that DIVIDE us. They should be the reason for us to CELEBRATE. So there is no reason to IGNORE these differences, FEAR these differences, and attempt to NEGATE and NULLIFY these differences.

But that is not the reality that we see around us or we face every day in the world we live in. Instead of celebrating their differences, they have often become THREATENED by these differences. Their differences became not only their REASON but also their WEAPON to conquer and submit those who are not like them. Instead of finding a beautiful voice of harmony, they have SUPPRESSED different voices with the POWER and the PRIVILEGE they have. They cannot sing in HARMONY any more. Now they are all forced to sing in UNISON.

By nullifying differences, we nullify our unique identity. By nullifying differences, we destroy the beautiful vision of being one. By ACCEPTING others, by RESPECTING others, and by EMBRACING others, we can be one.

Without you, I can never be complete. That should be the attitude we should have. You and I together COMPLETE THE PICTURE.

My congregation members know this phrase very well because I have quoted many times. As a matter of fact, our minister, the Rev. Simon Park just quoted last Sunday. It was originally an African saying:

I am because you are.

I can never define who I am without you. I am deeply connected with you. I am because you are. I can never be whole without you.

Adam saw that when he saw Eve.

This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. (Genesis 2:23)

When God created human beings, he didn’t create just two human beings: Adam, Eve. He created “And” that connects Adam and Eve. Now Adam, And, Eve. He created the RELATIONSHIP. He created the CONNECTEDNESS. The Unity.

They did not have to pretend that they were NOT DIFFERENT. They were who they were. But by God’s grace, they were connected. Jews and Gentiles were one in Christ, Paul said. Gentiles did not have to be like Jews by being circumcised to be one in Christ. They are one in Christ by God’s RADICAL GRACE, not by their SIMILARITY. Their differences do not separate them. Their differences enrich them.

Don’t be intimidated by your differences. When you nullify your differences out of fear, you are destroying the SPIRIT within that person. You are taking the BREATH out of that person. You are SUFFOCATING them.

That is what RACISM does. Racism brings SUFFOCATION to humanity. We human beings have been suffocated not just for 8 MINUTES AND 46 SECONDS but for a long time because of racism.

We need to bring back the breath, the breath of life to humanity. That was what Jesus did to us. He brought back the breath by blowing the air into our mouth.

When he had said this, he breathed on them… (John 20:22)

We ask the Spirit to blow his breath upon all of us. The fresh Breath will give us a new life. The living Spirit will empower us to live a new bold life. The mysterious Wind will take us and guide us to where we have never been before. The Spirit, the Breath, and the Wind – as you all know, they all come from the same word, Ruach.

In this new life, our differences will not divide us. In this new life, our differences will be HONOURED and CELEBRATED. Jews and Gentiles, Slaves and free, male and female will all become one while they are all different. Being a COLOUR BLIND does not do anything. Be COLOURFUL and enjoy your colourful life. That is the power of God’s radical grace. That was what Jesus did for us.

And this was Jesus’ last prayer.

The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22, 23)

Isaiah saw the same vision. He saw this wonderful vision that not only human beings were one, but the whole universe was in harmony. The animosity disappears. No more enemies. They have all become friends.

Now we have gathered together this afternoon with COMMITMENT and CONVICTION. We came with HOPE. We ask God to grant his grace so that we may be able to pursue this dream of being one. God’s RADICAL GRACE will be able to empower us to do so.

By the request of the planning team, I will quickly summarize my sermon in Korean. I am sorry that I cannot do that in other languages.

간단히 한국어로 설교를 요약해 드리려고 합니다.

우리가 이렇게 모였다는 자체가 역사적인 순간이라고 생각하며 하나님께 감사 드립니다. 하나님께서는 한 마음과 같은 영으로 하나님께 예배 드리는 것을 원하십니다.

그래서 우리는 회개하는 마음으로 이 자리에 모였습니다. 그동안 주위에 있는 형제 자매들을 아프게 했던 일들이 있었습니다. 그것이 개인적으로 하였던 아니면 제도적으로 했던 말입니다. 우리 자신이 힘과 특권의 노예가 되어왔다는 것을 알지 못할 때도 있었습니다. 오랫동안 진행되어 왔던 인종차별을 무시하고 내버려 두었던 것을 인정합니다.

하나님의 은혜로 우리는 더이상 이런 차별의 노예로 사는 것이 아니라, 이제 새로운 피조물이 되었다는 것을 깨닫게 됩니다.

바울사도께서도 내가 나 된 것은 하나님의 은혜라고 하였습니다. 더이상 옛날의 내가 아니라, 새롭게 태어난 자유로운 몸이라는 말입니다. 이전에 자기가 갖고 있었던 우월의식이나, 잘못된 차별의식을 그는 버리고 그리스도 안에서 우리가 모두 하나가 되었다는 것을 고백했습니다. 유대인이나 헬라인이나 차별이 없고, 노예나 자주자나 차별이 없고, 남자나 여자나 차별이 없다는 것을 그는 깨달았습니다. 이제 막힌 담이 허물어졌다고 그는 고백합니다.

하나가 된다는 것은 다양성이 없이 하나가 될 수 없습니다. 일치와 일률적인 것은 다른 것입니다. 일률적인 것을 이루기 위해 다양성을 죽여야 하지만 일치를 이루기 위해서는 반드시 다양성이 있어야 합니다.

이 다양성을 무시하고, 다양성을 없애려고 하는 것이 바로 인종차별입니다. 힘으로 서로의 차이를 존중하고 받아들이는대신 그 차이를 말살해 버리려고 하는 것이 바로 인종차별입니다.

인종차별은 우리의 숨을 막히게 합니다. 우리가 반드시 깨달아야 하는 것은 당신이 없으면 내가 온전해 질 수 없다는 사실을 반드시 받아들여야 한다는 것입니다. 우리가 같이 함께 어울려 하나를 만들어 나간다는 것입니다. 우리를 하나로 만들 수 있는 것은 오직 하나님의 파격적인 은혜로써만 가능합니다. 인간이 만들 수 있는 것이 아닙니다. 하나님의 은혜로써만 가능합니다.

예수님의 마지막 기도도 우리가 하나가 되는 기도였습니다.

아버지여, 아버지께서 내 안에, 내가 아버지 안에 있는 것 같이 그들도 다 하나가 되어 우리 안에 있게 하사 세상으로 아버지께서 나를 보내신 것을 믿게 하옵소서.