“‘Spread the gospel to the edge of the world,’” Jesus’s command to his disciples before leaving seemed so impossible. All of the disciples themselves were poor; none of them were part of the ruling class of society either. The Jesus they relied on was not tangible or visible to them anymore. The situation they were in was quite dark, and the world — like a predator — was grinding its teeth and flexing its jaw. Where even was the edge of the world? The disciples were in a place where even leaving the house was quite difficult/dangerous. It was a circumstance where they were struggling to just feed themselves and survive. But Jesus never gave the disciples a direct/concrete way of carrying out his command. Instead, he told them to wait and seek for the 'helping Holy Spirit.'
At that time, the disciples trusted and relied on the words of Christ. They gathered together, prayed, and waited for the Holy Spirit. They did not look at the circumstances or themselves; they instead lifted their eyes towards the light of glory and stood up towards that radiance. God in turn shined the light of grace upon them. The miraculous world of today — where the gospel is preached all around the globe — is the result of the disciples standing up towards the light of glory."
This was the subject I shared at the North America Mokja Retreat last weekend. As a pastor, I got to share that I was experiencing the urgency felt by the early-churches and that it was a time to pray.
We observed Lent as well as Daniel Fasting and now, we are at the morning of resurrection. The path that the early-churches took, we are following as well. Passing from Cross to resurrection, and moving on from the forty day walk with Jesus, we continue to step forward, waiting for the works of the Holy Spirit. Praying and hoping that the grace given to the Early Churches would also be given to our Hanmaum church, we walk this path. We look ahead to tomorrow where God will continue to pour on us the strength, wisdom and faith needed to carry out the mission that has been entrusted upon us.
We pray that the grace of God will abound within each of the Mojkangs as well as our Hanmaum Church members.
From pastor, JiWon Choi