ORDER NUMBER
83-03-01
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
PERFECTION OF RESTORATION
BY INDEMNITY THROUGH
HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY
March 1, 1983
Belvedere
Translator -- Sang Kil Han
Copyright (c) 1983 by Holy Spirit Association for the
Unification of World Christianity.
There are three concepts contained within the title of this
sermonman's portion of responsibility, restoration by indemnity, and
the time of perfection. Also we can understand the title to mean the
time of man's responsibility, the time of restoration by indemnity and
the time of perfection.
Some Christians today may be puzzled when they hear about indemnity
and think, "Almighty God is a God of a soft heart, a God of love. What
do you mean by such a cruel thing as indemnity? God is not cruel."
Often people would prefer to think that if they simply continue to
believe in Jesus they would be saved. They think they don't have to do
anything else.
Let us examine what is meant by "belief in Jesus." To what extent
does someone believe in Jesus? Does a person believe in Jesus on the
individual level or Jesus within the family or Jesus as he reigns over
the society, nation, the universe, or the Jesus who is in God? That
makes a lot of difference.
A favorite Bible verse of Christians today is John 3:16, which says,
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal
life." The most important part of that verse is that God loved the
world. However, many Christians put the greatest emphasis upon the
second part of the verse. Many people forget the most important thing:
that God so loved the world. God did not love the church or the
individual so much that He sent His only begotten Son. It was because
God loved the world, the universe, so much.
Thus Jesus is the one who was meant to save the world. When we
believe in Jesus the world is very much in our minds. God is in Jesus
and Jesus is in God.
When you say you believe in Jesus, do you only believe in those
things, that make you feel good? Do you reject those things about
Jesus, which make you feel painful? We should accept what Jesus taught
and do those things which Jesus himself would want us to do. We must
not take part in things, which Jesus would not like. What are those
things, which Jesus would not like? They are, simply, Satan and sin.
We must separate ourselves from Satan and sin and believe in Jesus
from that position, rather than from a position in which sin, Satan and
Jesus are all mixed together in our lives. This is why Jesus said,
"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." For what should we
repent? We must repent of the fact that we have been living together
with Satan and sin throughout our lives.
Once we have repented and separated ourselves from Satan, Jesus
urges us to believe in Heaven and serve Heaven. Jesus wanted to rule
over a world from which Satan and sin were eradicated, not a world in
which Satan was mixed together with everything and in which people had
just a vague belief in Jesus. Jesus' mission was to separate
individuals completely from Satan and sin and separate families and
countries from Satan and sin. Did Jesus accomplish those things during
his lifetime? That is a question to think about.
Even the most faithful believer in Jesus or the most righteous
church on earth cannot proclaim proudly that they are absolutely
separated from Satan and sin and that they are following Jesus exactly
as he would have them do. No one can say they are living in perfect
love in an ideal world with no suffering and tears. No church and no
Christian could say such a thing.
This means that Satan exists within the churches as everywhere else;
also, there is almost as much sin there as in the rest of the world. If
this is true and if what church people love and hate is no different
from what the rest of the world loves and hates, then there is very
little difference between the world and the church. Which would Satan
find more pleasure inthe church or the world? Why would he like the
sins of the church more than those of society would in general? Satan
likes the sins of the church more because then he can protest to God,
"Look at those people in the churchthey don't love others; they even
hate others! They are not faithful, either. This must be my church."
If the churches remain this way, they must perish at the time of the
last days, along with the evil, secular world. This is the way of God;
He will destroy all evil at the time of the last days. God would even
destroy such churches before the rest of society. This is the actual
time of the last days.
What really surprised me when I first came to America was the way
Americans used the names of Jesus Christ and God as an exclamationnot
to praise them, but to put them in the worst position. I wondered what
people meant when they said, "Jesus Christ!" and I realized that they
were describing something bad. What led to this kind of custom? What do
the best words imaginable have to do with the worst things that can
happen to people? Have you sometimes observed that certain Christians
may be worse than people of the secular world? Those who claim they
believe in God may actually be worse than those who don't they are more
egoistic, less loving and giving, etc.
This American nation is founded upon Judeo-Christian principles, yet
Americans have become very individualistic. Was Jesus an
individualistic person? How did Americans come to be so egoistic and
individualistic when Jesus had nothing of an egoistic nature? We can
come to the simple conclusion that if people really believed in Jesus
they would not have become like that. Instead of believing in Jesus for
Jesus' sake and for God's sake, some people believe in him for their
own benefit. In other words, they use Jesus and God for their own sake.
What do you think about this?
Returning to our original point. God sent Jesus to mankind because
He loved this world so much. Did mankind believe in Jesus the way God
wanted them to, or did people generally believe according to their own
discretion and desire? This is the most important determining factor of
a person's belief.
The greatest error occurs when people think that they can "just
believe" in God and Jesus and they will receive more and more blessings
from God. Such people feel they can have everything they want, without
doing anything in return. That is similar to the attitude of a thief,
who just takes things without working.
Did Jesus believe in God in that way? Did he think that because God
sent him as His only begotten son it meant he had all power? Did he
feel that all he had to do was to keep on believing and claiming his
faith in God, and then he could subjugate all the Roman Empire
automatically? If Jesus couldn't do that, what is the justification for
thinking that other people can do that? In other words, many people say
that Jesus couldn't just believe in God and do nothing. but that we
can. Jesus believed in God and we believe in Jesus. Jesus didn't just
say, "God, I believe in You so You must bring all the people and all
the Roman Empire under my domain." It is clear that such a thing would
not work for Jesus. To claim that people who do nothing but simply
"believe" in Jesus can enjoy the millennium and live in the ideal world
with every blessing is truly out of the question.
If everything could have come to Jesus automatically, why did Jesus
witness? Why did Jesus gather and train the 12 apostles, the 70
disciples, and the 120 elders? Why did he have to do all that and
endure so much persecution along the way? Jesus did what he had to do
according to God's dispensation; he had no other way to go. We can
clearly see that Jesus had to go the way of persecution and bloodshed.
Jesus knew the suffering that lay ahead of him, but he also knew he had
to go that way in order to accomplish God's will.
Do you think I am placing unnecessary stress on this or do you
understand that this point is the most crucial one of belief? Jesus had
to go the way he did because he knew what God wanted him to donamely,
to save the world and all mankind by loving them. Therefore, it stands
to reason that everyone else who loves Jesus must also do God's willto
love the people of the world and save them.
Because God loved the world so much, He sent His only-begotten son,
so Jesus had the obligation, the mission, to make the world one, which
could receive the love of God. Jesus looked around and saw that the
world was not lovable. At this time, there are many different churches
with great power and influence in the world. They embrace this world in
their own ways. However, can they or the world they embrace be
considered as truly worthy of God? Can God look at them and be really
happy and full of satisfied love for them? Anyone can clearly see that
when God looks at the churches and the world, He will not be completely
pleased with them. On the other hand, Satan will love those churches
and the people in them. Communists have even infiltrated the churches
and developed theologies to suit their own purposes, such as liberation
theology. How can God love such churches?
Why did I bring up this topic at the beginning of today's sermon?
Looking at reality most Unification Church members were traditional
Christians at one time or another before coming here. They find the
Unification Church so different and so much more difficult and
demanding than those Christian denominations, they sometimes get the
feeling that the way they used to believe might suit them better. They
could sleep and eat all they wanted, and so forth.
We can understand that the true, correct faith is not the way many
Christians have been going, but rather it is the way Jesus tried to
establish in his timeto gather the people, teach the people, and
establish the kind of world which God could freely love. Jesus had to
love the world in order to accomplish his mission. This was the work of
God and also the work of Jesusit was the purpose for which God sent
Jesus. Jesus had to bring the world to God for God to accomplish His
purpose of sending Jesus to the world.
Then what would have happened? When all people became worthy of
receiving the love of God freely, everything would have been
accomplished. God loved the world, so He sent Jesus; when Jesus had
made the world capable of receiving the love of God directly, he would
have completely accomplished his mission. When the people of the world
are able to freely receive the love of Jesus and God, they will be
satisfied. These things have to be accomplished; it is very clear.
God will allow man to be punished through Satan, namely through the
spread of communism. This is like a healthy body being invaded by
germsall the cells go on alert, and the white blood cells have to eat
up the germs soon enough or else the person will not survive. In this
huge, once-healthy country, the germs of Satan and communism are coming
in fast. Unless the churches in America come up with the means to
eliminate these germs as fast as they spread, the country will not
survive.
This "germ" is proclaiming that the society belongs to the working
class, the laborers. Satan is claiming this, but God is saying that the
world belongs to the God centered people, not simply the "laborers."
Since Satan has his own movement which is proclaiming an ideology,
there should be a movement on God's side which is claiming with an even
stronger voice, "No, you are wrong! The world belongs to God-centered,
religious people, no matter what economic class they belong to!"
The people of the world will be hearing two different voices
shouting at the top of their lungs; they will have to make a choice.
Which side will have the greater chance of being followedthose who are
advocating a false doctrine, or those who are stating a righteous fact?
Will the multitudes follow those who say, "You must love me," or those
who say, "I am not asking you to love me but to let me love you; let me
be of service to you"?
If a group of people emerges from this hopeless world who are loving
others, thinking more of serving than being served and doing mainly
what Jesus did, then God will be able to fulfill the promise He made
when He sent His only begotten son. In other words, a religious group
must emerge which is different from what has existed in the past; it
must do what Jesus himself did. Jesus sacrificed himself and gave up
his own life; he remained completely faithful to his mission of making
the world lovable by God, making the people worthy of receiving God's
love. If some new religion emerges in this time, following the path,
which Jesus trod, then religion and the world will have hope for the
first time in a long time. God will then have a foundation to
accomplish the same purpose, which He tried to accomplish through
Jesus. Do you understand?
Look around and see which denomination would fit these
specifications. What about you members of the Unification Church? Why
don't we do the same things that other churches do and believe exactly
the same way that they do? Why do we fight against communism? We do
this because it is the germ, which will destroy all religion, if it
prevails. Our movement is trampling down on Satan and sin and
especially communism, destroying these germs, and on the other hand we
are sacrificing ourselves as Jesus did and bearing our own cross so
that God can give His love to the world.
Our method of working is very different from other religious
groups. Would God say He likes Unification Church members? Would God
be ashamed that we work harder than other Christians? No, God would
say, "How proud I am of the Moonies!" Are you sure He would say that?
How about Jesus? When he looks at the Unification movement, would he
say, "Oh, you should be ashamed of yourselves; my other followers don't
work like you do. You embarrass me."? No, instead Jesus would say,
"You are my hope, my pride."
If God loves us and Jesus loves us, what about the people of the
world? They might be saying, "We hate those Moonies," but as they say
such things, they are watching us and gradually they are discovering
that there is nothing wrong with us. They are gradually coming to like
us and they will come to see hope in us. When the people of the world
have a real chance to see us and live with us, will they continue to
hate us or will they love us?
When you see me, do you think, "Father, what other burden are you
going to give us? You are not even American; you are Oriental. You have
come out of nowhere and are giving us all this trouble!" Are you clear
about the Unification Church; are we doing the right things or the
wrong things?
We should not try to compare our lifestyle with that of the existing
Christian churchesthe two were never supposed to be the same. If other
churches are joyfully celebrating Christmas, our church should be
working hard at Christmas. You may ask yourself, "Am I doing the wrong
thing, working so hard for the sake of God and His purposes instead of
taking it easy and celebrating Jesus' birth?"
Even if God says you are wrong to work hard like that, we can
protest strongly to Him. If He tries to tell us we shouldn't protest,
we could become even stronger. Ultimately, He will relent and will tell
us we are doing the right thing. Will God say, "That person is
disrespectful," or will He be pleased with you? He will be pleased with
you.
We are in a wonderful position compared with other Christians. Jesus
wasn't able to bring the entire world to God, but we will be able to do
that. Jesus was supposed to confront the Roman Empire, which was only a
part of the entire world. I have been confronting the government of the
U.S. and I have been proclaiming a war against the powers of Moscow, as
well. The most powerful effort of America to stop me was to try to put
me into jail for-one and a half years. Do you think such a thing would
stop our movement? Perhaps you Unification Church members never clearly
understood the value of what you were doing until now.
Since God loves the world so much and since I love you so much, I
continue to push you out in order to make this a lovable world. Is that
OK? When we undertake something worthwhile, it is important to have a
logical understanding of why we must do it first. It gives us the
support we need to carry it out. It is because of man's responsibility
that we must do the things we do.
Does God really love me or not? When you look at how hard I have
worked and how I have pushed myself, don't you think God might have
done something more on my behalf? You say that God really loves me, but
I might argue with you and say, "If God loves me, what has He ever done
for me?" At no time in my entire career have I ever had a peaceful
moment. Wherever I went, I was not readily welcomed at first; it was
only after I had given a lot and taught many things. I have had to
fight continuously to gain ground for God-inch by inch.
If God were to give me the power to work miracles and somehow
retaliate against those who persecute us unrighteously and show them
dramatically how wrong they are, they would not continue to mistreat
us. Why does God allow these unrighteous things to continue?
When Jesus was crucified, God was certainly watching the scene. Did
God not have the power to stop the Roman soldiers and rescue Jesus from
the cross? Jesus was God's own son. What kind of a father could bear to
see his own son's blood being shed in such an unrighteous way and not
do something? Can we call such a God a God of love and justice? Where
was God's justice then? When my court case was over and the judge
pronounced my sentence, why didn't God do something? Was it because
God did not have the power to do anything? Why did God seem to pretend
not to know about it? That is a riddle. In this common yet very
important issue comes the understanding of the human portion of
responsibility.
The discovery of man's portion of responsibility is a cosmic
discovery. Great discoveries have been made in science, such as the
atomic bomb or Einstein's theory of relativity; however, the discovery
of the law of human responsibility is the greatest of all. Without
understanding this principle, no major point in mankind's history can
be understood. Without this, all the most fundamental issues in life
remain as a puzzle.
There have been universal questions, which can finally be answered,
such as, "Why do righteous people always have to suffer? Why is a great
man's name only resurrected after his death?" These questions have
never before been answered clearly. You must realize that this
knowledge is not something superficial; it is truly the greatest
discovery of history.
The Moonies are the ones who are supposed to appreciate this fact of
man's responsibility the most, but ironically you hate it as much as
everybody else does. Do you truly appreciate it or do you hate it? Have
you accomplished your portion of responsibility or not?
Another principle inevitably follows upon the underlying fact of
human responsibility and that is restoration by indemnity. The duration
of the human indemnity period is not known by anyone-not God, not
spirit world, not me, not anyone. We may keep asking why the misery in
life must go on, but that is the fact of the principle. If anybody,
including God, takes away some of the indemnity from another person, he
can no longer fulfill the principle. This is why God did not intervene
when Adam and Eve committed the fall. God couldn't intervene because He
would not violate man's portion of responsibility.
When I was going through my period of worst indemnity, God could not
help me. Instead, He said, "You are about to inherit all that was given
to Adam. In order to receive it, you must go through this course by
yourself and win the victory by yourself." The same is true for
everyone else. I was suffering from cold weather but I discarded my
coat. Satan himself couldn't stand to see me suffering that way, so he
inspired someone to come and offer me a coat. God would never take away
a coat which had been received in such a way. Not only that, but also
no other satanic power can come along and take away such a coat. When
God allows you to suffer and the satanic realm tries to help you,
nothing worse can ever come against you. You have conquered the worst
possible suffering.
I have been persecuted for ten years in this country, yet I have not
done anything evil or wrong. Many people are watching what has been
happening to me and are curious about the source of the persecution.
Many well-educated scientists can see that even though the majority of
the world is accusing Reverend Moon, I have been doing things that are
worthy of praise and even assistance.
Once we win that kind of approval, the greatest power of Satan can
no longer prevail against us. After Satan has opposed someone so much
then God can freely love that person and Satan will have no chance to
accuse him any more. Thus a way is being created by which God can more
speedily love all those who have been unworthy of His love. Quickly the
conditions are made for God to embrace them.
Why can't Satan do anything more? There was no opposition to Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden at first. They were not under the
pressure of an evil world, yet they betrayed God. At this time, during
the time of restoration by indemnity, Satan is putting tremendous
pressure on people, trying to prevent them from doing the right thing
and following the Divine Principle and returning to God. However when
people overcome the pressure from Satan and join the Unification Church
and work hard, like Jesus himself, Satan certainly has no power against
that.
There is no more efficient way for people to go from the extreme of
being unworthy of God's love to being worthy except by going through
persecution. When you achieve the goal in the face of tremendous
persecution, God can bring you from the extremely bad position to the
extremely good position.
At the time of Adam, the archangel betrayed God and seduced Eve.
Unlike that archangel, the archangel who helps people to believe in God
at this time is instantly restored to a better position than even those
archangels who never fell. Satan can do nothing about it.
This is the clear reason why God allows things to happen the way
they do. The first thing we must do is separate ourselves from Satan.
Do we do that when our lives are cozy and comfortable? No, the best way
to separate ourselves from Satan is when we are enduring tremendous
persecution. Once we go beyond that situation of persecution, we are
automatically separated from Satan, so that is the best way.
We must understand clearly the time we are living in today. The
Unification Church is going through this period of tremendous
persecution, all the while doing righteous things and committing no
crimes or sin. In this situation, those people who support me and our
movement are automatically transferred from the fallen archangel's
position into the restored archangel's position, which is an even
better position than the unfallen archangel. That is the time period in
which we are living today.
The culmination of this was in 1976, the year when worldwide
persecution was at its height. Since that time opposition has gradually
declined. Before that year the satanic world was closing in on us, but
now they are opposing us from a basic position of retreat. Upon this
foundation I proclaimed the beginning of a new era on February 23,
1977. The time of worldwide opposition to the Unification Church has
passed and persecution will not become any worse. The tide of grace has
started to flow in.
In 1980, 1 inspired the growth of the CARP movement here in
America. It was strong in other countries, but that was the first time
it was emphasized so strongly in America. It was strengthened for the
purpose of annihilating all the communist activity on college
campuses.
Remember the reason why these things have been happening-everything
begins from the point of human responsibility. After man's
responsibility is accomplished, what happens then? Once an individual
successfully fulfills his portion of responsibility, that person enters
the realm of the direct dominion of God. That is the principle. What is
that direct dominion? Does God maintain that dominion over a person by
giving him a lot of money, or what? It is only through love that God
gains direct dominion over man. Once that direct dominion is achieved,
people can lead the kind of life, for the first time, which God
originally intended for them to live. Adam and Eve can then pass that
love along on the horizontal realm in God's place, and make the
foundation of Heaven on earth in reality. After that, no more indemnity
needs to be paid.
In the Garden of Eden there was no crime or sin. Adam and Eve could
do nothing really wrong except to violate the commandment God gave
them. Once Adam and Eve had come under the direct dominion, that would
have meant they had passed through the time of the possibility of the
fall. The only thing that would have been left for them to do was to
experience love. Nothing else would have been truly significant. Love
is the most essential and important element of the world; unless
someone had violated that, nothing would have been a sin. Therefore all
a person must accomplish is to receive the certificate of God's love.
God can make the world a totally peaceful place. Satan will be unable
to complain against God at all. When we finally possess God's love, we
never want to commit a crime or a sin at all. The reason why people
commit crimes and sin is that they want something they don't have. When
God's love is with us we are satisfied and have no need for anything
more. Do you understand?
We must clearly understand where we can fulfill our portion of
responsibility. It is only when we are on the front line. Only through
fulfilling one's portion of responsibility can one accomplish
restoration by indemnity; and that can be done only on the front line,
not in the rear area.
Not only is there the individual level of indemnity, there is also
the family level, the clan, society, national, world level, universal,
and cosmic levels. Altogether there are eight steps of indemnity. The
question is whether you have ever gone through these eight steps of
indemnity.
One might ask why this is so incredibly complicated. This is not
something I made up; this principle has existed from the very
beginning, although it hasn't been so well understood. It existed when
Adam and Eve were alive but all they needed to do was simply keep God's
commandment and live for 21 years faithful to God. All these conditions
would have been automatically fulfilled, with no need to mention them
again. Before Satan existed there was no indemnity condition to be
met.
Since the fall occurred, however, and since restoration efforts have
consistently failed we find that it takes a long and complicated route,
step by step, to separate from Satan-from the individual to the cosmic
levels. This law of indemnity and the steps of indemnity are applicable
not just to specific individuals or just to Unification Church members
but to everyone. Whether someone understands or believes this law or
not, he must eventually go through these steps.
This is the reason why we go the path we go, yet people are watching
only the external fact that Reverend Moon is pushing the Unification
Church members to work hard without a salary. Other people may work
only eight hours and receive a high salary, which they are usually not
satisfied with. However, if you received a big salary for your work,
what would be the result? You would not be fulfilling the indemnity
condition or fulfilling your human portion of responsibility. No one
can be liberated from Satan's domain without fulfilling man's portion
of responsibility.
I have consistently taken the position of not wanting any individual
to help me, no family to help me, nor any nation. Since I took that
position of absolute independence because that was the way to fulfill
my own portion of responsibility, my own physical relatives, my society
and nation have come against me. Those in my closest surroundings have
opposed me. However, I knew I had to adhere to this course. In order to
establish once and for all the perfect, clean and clear indemnity
condition, I could not receive any help from others. I never did it in
a proud way but I never counted on anybody else's help.
I proclaimed to God, "I am doing this out of my own desire, not
because you demanded it of me. I am doing this because I want to do it
so that I can be liberated by accomplishing my own responsibility." I
told God and myself those things. If there had been True Parents or
someone guiding me and pushing me to do it whether I liked it or not,
it might have been helpful. However, I didn't have any True Parents so
I had to do it on my own.
What was my goal? It was that one day after the successful
completion of my mission, I would see millions of people calling
themselves true children and looking up to me as True Parent and
receiving instant benefit, without having to do much themselves. The
complicated process of restoring man's portion of responsibility only
came about when Adam and Eve fell; the responsibility only applies to
the position of Adam and Eve. Now that True Parents have been
established, they can take care of the children and Satan cannot say
anything against those children within the True Parents' family.
In the beginning man's responsibility only applied to Adam and Eve.
Do you understand? That means that until Adam and Eve fulfill man's
portion of responsibility, all people everywhere are hooked or held
back by the law of man's responsibility.
Christianity has been waiting for someone to come to earth to
fulfill this human part of responsibility-the Second Advent of the
messiah-to deliver all followers back to the realm of God and His love.
This is what all mankind has been waiting for until now.
Now True Parents are established in the Unification Church; the
church members are under the realm of grace but the name of True
Parents has not yet been brought to the nation or the world levels.
Still we have to go over the nation, the world, and ultimately Satan.
Even though they are straggling and disorganized, satanic powers are
still coming against us. The Unification Church is not confining the
True Parents within the framework of the church, but is expanding it to
the nation and beyond. That is why we have been doing witnessing,
fundralising and so forth. Those who help us in our fundraising
automatically receive God's grace and blessing, as we know.
Now the dawn is approaching. True Parenthood has already started to
be accepted on the national level. It is starting from the most
miserable countries, torn apart between two powers, such as the Latin
American countries.
Intelligent Americans today can find no solid direction to follow no
clear road to take. Then they find the Unification Church. Think of a
fishing line, with America pulling on one end and the Unification
Church on the other. Who will reel in whom? Will America reel in the
Moonies or the Moonies reel in America? Then you had better have a
strong reel or it will strain and the line will snap! Is your reel and
line strong enough? You say yes, but when I look at you I don't feel so
comfortable; your line needs a little maintenance. You need some
help-there is a chemical which you can spray on your reel and your line
becomes very strong. My words are like that chemical; they work a
miracle within you and you can become stronger and powerful.
I am in the same position as you are, only at a higher level. I
really don't care what kind of wind blows against me for I know that
one day the wind will stop. Even if the wind blows you off the ground,
you shouldn't care.
Do you need restoration by indemnity or not? If you need it, what
about Jesus-did he need restoration by indemnity also? What about
Reverend Moon? Yes, no matter what, there is no way I can avoid that.
No matter how almighty God is, there is no way even He can avoid that.
We must march on continually for the indemnity course. There can be no
excuse. So do you understand this point clearly? But when I say, "Go
that way," it is something else! Will you welcome my direction or
not? It is no secret that this is an archangel country, and the
archangel country must fulfill indemnity well.
Now you have learned something new. Tracing back to the original
fall, the portion of human responsibility was only to have applied to
Adam and Eve, no one else. We must throw Satan out because he has no
legitimate place anymore. From now on your thinking can be very simple.
You don't have to wonder, but you can ask your Parents, "Father, should
I do this or that?" and you can receive direct guidance. It's very
convenient!
Most American youth today don't want to listen to their parents.
However this is not an altogether bad phenomenon because they are
guided by the spirit to know that their parents are not able to give
them the kind of spiritual nourishment they really need. The True
Parents are coming to them-children need True Parents. Also young
people are rebelling against Satan's world; they feel they would rather
do anything than live in this terrible world the way it is.
At this time young Americans are saying, A am not interested in just
the nation. I want to live on the world level and associate with
something, which is brand new and fresh, not just the old worn-out
ways. I want to associate with all kinds of people of the world, not
just the people I am familiar with. I hate what the established people
do; whatever they discourage, I want to do." That is a prevalent
attitude among many young people. They are very bored and they have
tried many things. They don't want to follow what their parents,
teachers and government tells them to do.
Then they see the Moonies and everybody is saying, "Stay away from
them! Don't even talk to them." They respond with, "I will check them
out!" Young people always want to go beyond the borderlines of existing
society and once they get out beyond the borderlines, they find the
Moonies. Once they meet the Moonies they find something brand new and
very promising. They become very happy people.
Many young people today have already had so many experiences they
feel they are already old and mature. But things are so different
within the Unification Church society. Young men have been accustomed
to trying to date attractive young women, but that is not the custom in
the Unification Church. In the secular world, if a boy gazes at a girl
for more than 10 minutes he naturally reaches out to kiss her, but here
we are together for hours, days, even years and we never kiss!
This world is doing such bad things-free sex, with no thoughts of
chastity. People from that background are joining the Unification
Church. We talk here about love in a different sense. We say we must
love the world, love the cosmos, and it is a new concept to young
people. A young person might ask himself, "When does my own love come
to me?" However he knows that it will come so he doesn't have to worry.
Is this something good or something bad?
A young man may touch a woman here, not like a spouse but as a
sister. What do you feel toward your own sister? A normal person
certainly doesn't look at his sister like a spouse. When the blessing
time comes a brother looks at a person he always thought of as his
sister. Suddenly God is telling them, "Although you have been brother
and sister, like Adam and Eve, now it is time for you to get married."
You might say, "Well, I will think about it." That is a normal and
wonderful way of thinking.
When a couple have lived as brother and sister and then get married
like Adam and Eve and have children, how can they ever divorce? Can you
divorce your own sister? Even though you may divorce, you are still
living in the same "house" in God's eyes. This is a small world, where
would you go if you divorced? There would be no place for you to go.
Therefore, you have to go back to each other and make up eventually.
Satan is always doing something, isn't he? However, he is actually
helping God's work generally. The communists are also helping God's
work. If something as bad as communism were not on the earth, what
chance would the Unification Church have of promoting the truth of God?
Communists work very hard because of what they believe, even though
their belief is wrong. They have worked hard for 60 years to get to
where they are now. From now on the Unification Church can accomplish
more in 6 years than what the communists have done in 60 years.
The only person who has to successfully carry out all the eight
steps of indemnity for the first and last time in history is Reverend
Moon. You might say, "I don't know if that is true or not. I have no
way to prove it. Father, when did you receive that much persecution,
even on the worldwide level?" Go to the library and read about history.
In the history of religions, has anybody ever gone through such
persecution? In that sense, do I belong in the Guinness Book of
Records? Even an ordinary person in a very few hours could find that
nobody has been more persecuted on a worldwide level than Reverend
Moon.
Unheard-of events are happening now. Parents are kidnapping their
own children-grown up children 30 years and older, college graduates,
and so forth. When those children are kidnapped, do they tell their
parents, "Oh, I have been waiting for you to come and rescue me. The
church wouldn't let go of me."? Or do they look desperately for a
chance to escape from the kidnappers and come right back to the
church?
Since you joined this church I have always taught you to love your
parents; I have never taught you to look at them as "false parents" or
to denounce them in any way. However, many parents have kidnapped their
children and have said many bad things against me. When that happens
the children are moved to say, "On what grounds can you say such
things? Have you investigated those charges on your own?" However, all
their negativity is usually based upon the words of other people-"They
said . . ." is the only foundation for their negativity. Satan always
makes up stories and can inspire people to say anything to suit their
own purposes. According to that criterion, who is standing on the
Heavenly side?
For whom have I gone through these things? As we said in the
beginning, "For God so loved the world..." and because God loves the
world so much, I have done what I have done. God so loved the world
that He gave them His only begotten son-He loves the world, but He
cannot give His pure love to the world directly. Therefore, He had to
send His son to prepare the world. What kind of love are we talking
about, then? God loves the world like a father loves his son; no closer
love exists than that between father and son. We are doing exactly
this: we are making this a world, which can be lovable to God. We are
taking the children to the parents and eventually to God.
Jesus completely occupied the love of God but he did not want to
stop there. He knew why God sent him to the world, so he did everything
possible to pass along God's love to other people. Jesus received the
purest love from
God and he wanted to spread out that love to the whole world. He
wanted to make all mankind into God's sons and daughters.
Jesus wanted all the people of the world to be loved by God, just as
he was. Jesus was the one who was first loved by God; all mankind was
supposed to be those who were second-loved by God. Therefore, the
relationship between Jesus and all mankind is like brothers. How close
you can feel to Jesus when you realize that he is your elder brother!
Many Christians have believed that Jesus or God are the subjects of
religion and we are their objects and we can never get close to each
other. They are so high and omnipotent that we can't even think about
being on the same level of relationship with them; if we do, that is
blasphemy. But we can see that Jesus is not the distant subject of
religious belief. He is a part of your daily life, just as brothers
and sisters in a family, not like the teacher of a religion relating to
his followers. Maybe the first step of relationship had to be distant
like that, but eventually Jesus wanted everybody to be a part of the
same family.
Jesus had to approve of something before God could approve of it.
When Jesus was able to approve of the situation on the earth, God could
automatically approve of it. When Jesus could love the people, so could
God. All he would have to say would be, "Father, they are ready to
receive Your love, so please love them." Thus, the meaning of John 3:16
would be accomplished, "God so loved the world . . ."
That is the kind of church we are working in and that is goal we are
working toward. We must understand that clearly. The democratic world
may decline one day; the communist world will certainly be eliminated
and leave no trace behind. However, the teaching of the Unification
Church will remain for eternity. We will begin to see the era of
completion. Everything will be completed and we will have nothing more
to do except enjoy the world.
I have been doing the necessary indemnity conditions
single-handedly. Why is True Parenthood necessary? Why must True
Parents do these conditions? The first thing people need is love. Why
do you need love? You need love because you are a representative of
God. This is the cosmic principle-before someone can be a
representative of someone else he must first be able to love him. You
only want someone you love to represent you. It is also a cosmic law
that any child who loves his parents the most and has a lovable
personality will someday inherit the most of the parents possessions,
even though there may be ten other brothers.
Therefore, we need love more than anything else more than clothing,
food, sleep, or even a big nugget of gold. A man alone can never
inherit the love or possessions of God; neither can a woman alone. Men
and women must be married in love, resembling the love of God and
coming under the dominion of the love of God and then they will
eventually inherit God's possessions.
Is the source or the beginning of love within men and women or does
it start from God? How about marriage? Should men and women get
together on their own and agree to start their marriage? Or would it be
a little better to get together and promise each other to marry but to
go to their parents and ask for their permission? Or before they
promise marriage to each other should they go to their parents first
and ask for their blessing and if they approve, then they will marry.
If they do not approve, they will not. Which is the best way?
Certainly it is the third way. God is the subject of love, so love
originates from Him. No matter how brilliant and strong a man may be,
he is always an object to God; he can never be the same as God.
This is one rigid area in the Unification Church. No matter who they
are, when two people decide all on their own to get married and they
come to me and ask for my blessing, I never do it. I cannot bless such
a union which did not start first from God but from within the two
people. The first condition they must set is to separate from each
other and then let God take over. What if someone takes the extreme
position and tells his parents, "if you do not approve of our marriage,
we will kill ourselves!"? Still the parents cannot yield to such a
threat; that is unlawful. You cannot give inheritance unlawfully. Why
do we maintain this law so rigidly? It is so that we can have the
right to inherit all possessions from God.
If the world were to call me True Parent, would you like it? Do you
think I want to have that much worry? If I have blessed 10,000
couples, do I have 10,000 worries or 10,000 happiness? Happiness and
worry cannot coexist, so which is it? It is worry in the beginning,
but if you do well it becomes happiness. If you do not do well, it
certainly cannot bring happiness to me. Whenever a couple has a problem
they want to come to me; they don't resolve it between themselves. The
husband may come to me and tell me all the bad things about his wife.
That is not necessarily bad because I am the parent. In Korea we have a
saying, "I am a sinner for being a parent." God, too, has been in that
position until today. He has never been able to receive joy and
happiness.
As loving as I am, I could say, "Let's forget about the world and
just enjoy each other as Unification Church members. Let's enjoy life
and forget about everybody else." Shall we do that, or shouldn't I
continue to drive you out into the cold weather to work and make the
world a lovable place?
I may have moments of enjoyment or good sleep for a few hours or a
good meal, but then I immediately feel uncomfortable. I think, "I
should have devoted this time for the sake of the world. I wish I had."
That is how I feel. If you rest and have an easy time in your position,
that prolongs the Parents' pain so much more because the objective is
to bring the whole world back to God. That objective is delayed if you
just take it easy.
The glory must be returned to God, but God cannot initiate this.
This restoration must be accomplished among people who are in the
archangelic position, especially in this country, which represents all
the archangelic countries of the world. You must plan, "This is the
situation, so we must take this action in America for the sake of God."
God always sacrifices the smaller portion for the larger one; this is
God's justice. We must learn God's way of thinking.
What is the goal of restoration through indemnity? If we suffer and
sacrifice, we do that to find something greater. It is never to find
something smaller that we sacrifice ourselves. If someone claims that
the bigger purpose should be sacrificed for the sake of the smaller
one, we know that is not right. Who is the biggest one in the universe?
God is. Therefore, every level of sacrifice should contribute to God's
purpose and give Him support from all directions. The center of the
universe, God, should not be shifted under any circumstance.
So, all indemnity must be done by mankind, not by God. This is a
basic principle of development and existence. The smaller purpose must
be sacrificed for the sake of the larger one. One man must sacrifice
for the sake of a hundred men. Is it a sin for a man to cut down a
living plant and eat it? When you cut a vegetable it contains liquid,
equivalent to the blood of an animal. We must eat every day; otherwise
we could not survive. Do the vegetables have the right to accuse you of
being a murderer since you are killing them? No, they don't because
smaller existences in the universe must serve the larger. That is the
law of existence.
Individuals within a country should offer themselves for the sake of
their country, not the other way around. That is principle. For the
sake of the world, a country should be willing to offer itself. For the
sake of God, the world itself should be offered. Those who go against
this principle will eventually perish; they cannot truly prosper.
Darwin had a point in his theory of evolution when he showed that
the stronger eat the weaker in development. When the stronger eats the
weaker for the sake of connecting to a higher level, there is a moral
justification for that. Is it a sin for a man to slaughter a cow or a
pig and eat it? If a man eats that animal in order to be able to work
for the sake of God and His love, certainly that is in accordance with
the law of existence. Everything will condone his actions, even the
animal he slaughtered.
When Unification Church members are living for themselves and I tell
them that they must go out and work for the sake of the world, does
this stand to reason? For the sake of the larger purpose, I can give
you that kind of direction. Do you want to go to a lower or a higher
place in the universe? You must avail yourself to the world. The more
you sacrifice the closer in love you become with the people of the
world.
A patriot is one who works the most for his country. A filial son is
the one who works more than any of the other brothers for the sake of
the parents. Do you feel enthusiastic about the discovery of the right
laws of existence before God? This is the point, which is described in
the Bible passage, "Those who are willing to die for My sake, will gain
their lives." Those people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for
the sake of the largest purpose will gain their lives. Those who want
to cling to their own small purpose and ignore the big purpose will
perish. They will gradually retreat more and more and eventually die.
I have talked to you sometimes harshly, disciplining you with my
words. Do you think I should just use words, or should I bring a big
stick and drive you out that way? Sometimes a child may be stubborn and
refuse to go where the parents want him to. He may kick and protest,
but the parents will drag him against his will. They can be so strong
because they are trying to bring the child to a great feast. When he
finally arrives at the feast, he will see delicious food everywhere and
he will smile from ear to ear. When parents know something strongly,
they will do everything to push a child into the right place because
they know it is good for him.
How do you rate me? Am I a good teacher or a bad one? Am I a loving
father or a hateful one? Should I leave the lazy children alone now
and allow them to be punished later, or shouldn't I do everything at
this time to push them forward so that later they can be rewarded? Some
parents are unable to be harsh even when they want to be. What about
me? Do you think I have that problem? Or am I able to push anybody
toward what I know is right? Certainly, I can. Without that, how could
I fight single-handedly against American and Oriental persecution? Do
you think I have guts? If someone has no guts he certainly cannot
proclaim a war against the Kremlin!
I know that if you do not live in a worthy way now, you will really
suffer in the spirit world. Since I know that, I would rather make you
do things well here on earth.
What do you leaders think of man's portion of responsibility? I
have been saying again and again that if headquarters helps a center
when it is going through difficulty, it is not good for them in the
long run. Their indemnity stops at that point. If a center is really
going through incredible difficulty and about to die, then the center
should think, A don't mind if I die, but I want to make sure that
something bigger than I will benefit from my death."
A state leader exists for the sake of his state, but if he thinks
that since he is the head of that state everyone else should come to
him and help him, he will never succeed. Such a method would not work
for Jesus and it certainly won't work for anyone else. First we must go
out and sacrifice ourselves, giving love and service to others. After
that they may offer help to us and we can receive it and offer it to
God.
America is a big, established country with many customs and
traditions. However, the only ones which are worth following are those
which are based upon the universal principles. Therefore, I do not
endorse the activities of any state leaders if they have been doing
things, which are not in accordance with the principle. When a leader
does things in his own way which is not in alignment with principle,
that leader is not a heavenly leader. Those who do not work hard in
their states because of difficulties there are already retreating.
I did not drop everything because of the incredible difficulties of
the court case. Instead, while I was fighting that battle I also
inspired the establishment of the Washington Times and many other
things, among them the CAUSA movement.
I am emphasizing these principles to all of you because this is my
own way of life. I have never asked for help from any individual,
family, or country, not even from Korea. I want to be in the position
to do something for the sake of Korea, not to receive something from
them. It violates my own portion of responsibility to receive such
help.
There are many millionaires in this country but I have never asked
them to help in this cause. Instead, I have given help to America. In
the midst of persecution and lack of cooperation, it took $60 million
to make the Inchon movie. Did we do that because we had nothing better
to do? Did we do it for our own sake? Certainly not. Whether Americans
accept this movie or not is up to them, but the fact remains that it
was produced with the utmost pain. Money and sleepless nights were
spent for the sake of America-these are facts which nobody can change.
The reason we produced this movie was to make American people aware
that they need strength like MacArthur's in order to revive their
country today. Without such a revival, America will stop where she is.
I am determined to make you the best, not mediocre members of the
Unification Church. I will train you and make you so strong that within
a few years you will be better persons in every way-better
personalities, better character, better educated, and better
disciplined than any congressmen or senators of this country who are
not God centered people. This is the reality of our movement today.
Such things are very noble and good things.
As long as there are Americans who will listen to what I am saying
and who realize that what I am saying and doing is right, I know we can
succeed. If the white people don't accept what we are doing, there are
others Black, Spanish, Oriental people, for example. If they accept
what we are doing then I know we can succeed. If I cannot succeed
during this generation, the next generation will have to do it. It
would be up to you to succeed in my place. Do you understand? I cannot
retreat. America was originally inhabited by Indians, who are of the
Oriental race, so this is my cousin country.
I chose this first day of March to launch a new movement in our
church. My strategy and purpose is not to benefit the Unification
Church or myself, but to make all Unification Church members people who
accomplish man's portion of responsibility.
State leaders have the responsibility to make their state one, which
can be lovable by God. As a state leader one must travel constantly,
covering the whole area. There should be no village which the state
leader has not visited you must feel such concern for the state. Of you
50 state leaders, who of you have visited the entire state? You have to
appeal to the people, "If you don't listen to me, you will all perish!"
Those of you, who have cried for yourselves out of misery, raise your
hands. Does that mean the others of you have never cried for your own
situation? Does that mean you have been that happy? Those who have
never cried for any reason, raise your hands. You all have cried in the
past, haven't you? For whose sake have you cried? If you weren't
crying for the world and the country, then you can conclude that you
cried for yourself.
Human history began many, many years ago. When it began it started
with tears. For whose sake did Adam and Eve shed tears? It was for
themselves. When they were expelled from the Garden, they left with
tears. What about God? Was He happy because they were shedding tears
and deserved it? We must understand that God was equally, if not more,
tearful because He had to expel them. We have to indemnify that. Is it
possible to repent with laughter? No, we can only repent by crying out
in tears.
Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed repentance because the Kingdom
of Heaven was at hand. The Unification Church is crying out the same
thing at this time. We must repent because the Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand. What does repentance accomplish? Adam and Eve wept for their
own sake. In the place of Adam and Eve, should the Unification Church
members weep for themselves too? No, they should weep for the sake of
God and for mankind. The best attitude for a Unification Church member
is not to care about himself and whether or not he goes to Heaven or
Hell. You don't have to think about that, but you should cry and pray
to God for the sake of mankind. Tell God, "I will cry for them. I am
not worried about whether or not You will send me to Hell. I am only
concerned about stopping Your tears, God. By doing this work, I want
to save mankind in the future."
Some leaders come to me and say, "We want to do this cheerfully and
joyfully." However, there is no such thing as 100 percent joyful and
cheerful. You don't understand God-if God is crying with a wounded
heart, how can any Unification Church members be happy all the time?
No, that is the wrong concept. If someone feels that he can only do
God's work when he is feeling happy, he must understand where true
happiness comes from. The only way to find your happiness is to do the
work, which will stop God from shedding tears, and will stop mankind
from perishing. Do it and do it right - that is where your happiness
will lie. There can be no other happiness except that.
We want to be loyal citizens and filial children. Such people can
only do what their parents or their ruler needs for them to do. God is
our parent, so we must faithfully do whatever He needs us to do. In
that way we will be doing our mission properly. Such people are called
holy, sacred people-saints. That is exactly what we ought to be. All
Unification Church members must become saints before they are eligible
to be sons and daughters of God. Sons and daughters of God is a level,
which is above that of saint, not the other way around. Therefore, we
must surpass the level of the saints.
This is what my life has been focused on. Year after year, day after
day, my life has been filled with tears. I pray to God, "I pray that by
my shedding tears Your tears can be stopped and those of all of
mankind, I don't mind shedding tears if that can happen." I am
confident now that Unification Church's members will no longer shed
tears for themselves.
When I was betrayed by my first wife, I shed no tears. When my own
relatives treated me badly, I never shed tears; but I never prayed
without tears. Those are holy, sacred tears and we cannot accomplish
anything without such tears. Since tears originated from the fall of
Adam and Eve, I did not want to cry in the same way. The only reason I
have wept is to stop the tears of God and mankind.
Many different kinds of complicated situations have existed within
my family, including financial problems, but nothing of that sort ever
caused me to shed tears. I thought that Satan would sometimes
deliberately test me. As a representative of the world and mankind, one
might weep from such a serious viewpoint and be justified. You must
understand that if you cry tears only for your own sake, it has nothing
to do with indemnity or the restoration. You cannot cross the eight
levels of indemnity crying for your own sake. Do you understand?
Again we see that those who want to die for others will live and
those who want to live selfishly will die. Even someone who does good
things and brings good results but whose motivation is for his own sake
and not for mankind or for God, will not end up in Heaven but will very
likely be in Hell. On the other hand, if someone else does something
less but he does it for the largest purpose of God and mankind, then
certainly he will be destined for Heaven. Do you understand?
Do you think I am saying that the Unification Church is nothing but
a succession of misery, with no time for the members to laugh and be
joyful? Certainly not, but keep in mind the goal of God. Become
successful. When there is a lull, we can laugh and enjoy ourselves, but
at the next moment we must take on the next task to be done.
Every morning when we go out to the world to work, we are filled
with anxiety about how we are going to accomplish our goal. We are not
really worried but we are tilled with expectations and we have
confidence that if we work with all of our might, Heaven and spirit
world will help. With such an attitude, you will have good results at
the end of the day.
I know that you are prepared to take on difficulties, but how much
difficulty? Every day is a day of concentration, a life or death
situation. After a number of years of living that way, you feel you
were born for such a life. I don't want to look back on the past days
of misery. The course of restoration is a long, agonized, tedious
time.
Once you win something the hard way, you really appreciate it and
you do not want to lose any part of it. You feel you would rather die
at that point than retreat or give up any of your victory. You would
want to fall forward when you collapse so that your head can move up a
few inches more. Have you American leaders had that kind of
seriousness'! All of you must repent because you were not serious
enough. From this moment on, American leaders and members must take the
road of shedding tears all day long for the sake of God and mankind.
When that happens, you will be able to inherit what the Parents have
and God's blessing for you.
If you are really faithful and serious to this way, you may look
back later and tell yourself, A was indifferent to the response of my
wife and my children. I lost my common sense and because crazy at that
time." This is the history of the Unification Church; it is the
foundation you are standing on. I know this because I am the one who
pioneered this path. Knowing these things, how can I just let you take
it easy?
I still remember how harshly I treated my own son; that is the
standard I should apply to every other Unification Church member. That
was the harshest I could possibly be, so I apply this standard to all
Unification Church members so that they will have no chance of failure.
Everyone will obtain success.I can think about my first wife and child
and say, "Because of you, I was able to establish the absolute
criterion which was later able to save hundreds of lives of the
Unification Church members. Therefore, I am grateful to you." That is
the way I truly feel. I was not harsh to my wife so that later I could
enjoy a good family; I wasn't concerned about that. I only did what I
did for the sake of God and the future of mankind. I can be grateful.
The liberation of mankind and the liberation of God are more
important to me than anything else. All Korean members must start
shedding truly serious tears now. If America does not inherit that
tradition, then no matter what you do you will have nothing to do with
my tradition. Do you understand? This is serious. I will not live in
America forever.
I have decided to launch a campaign during the next three years,
during which I will plant God's tradition in the soil of America. How
will you encounter God, who has been seeking after His lost children?
Do you think you can just casually meet, like two strangers shaking
hands and saying, "How do you do?" You must shed the deepest tears
possible; only by such tears can God and the newly recovered people
meet each other.
Therefore all leaders must weep for their areas, for the state they
represent and serve. You must shed those tears in the place of God and
for the sake of all unknowing mankind. If you did that, you wouldn't
have to worry about witnessing; the people would come to you on their
own. I had a very vivid experience during an intense time when I was
deeply weeping for God and the future of mankind. Many people came to
me directly, guided by spirit world. I didn't even go out to witness to
them. I cried so much that those around me were worried about me. I
disregarded eating and getting dressed. All I did was cry, so the
people came to me and fed me and clothed me. This was the beginning of
the Unification Church in Korea. People told me, "I will go out and
witness for you, Father." That is the typical formula or pattern for
the Unification Church.
The first step of the Christian faith is repentance. Since Adam and
Eve fell with tears, we must cry again not for ourselves but for God
and mankind. That is the beginning of the Christian faith.Those of you,
who are native-born Americans, please raise your hands. Are you truly
Americans? Is your country on the verge of perishing or prospering?
Christianity once flourished here. Where are those Christians now? If
some American people take on this responsibility for God, maybe America
will survive. If you are willing to say, "No matter how difficult, I
will take this way and I will do it until my death," America has hope.
What kind of decision have we arrived at today? We must reach a
decision which will make God happy and comfortable. Who will liberate
God's situation? Not everyone understands God's situation, but the
Moonies know about it. Can you take care of God's situation? As long
as you are taking that position of responsibility, the Unification
Church is guaranteed to prosper.
We need more members of our church in this country, as you know.
There are so many dens of prostitution and such things; they are
multiplying rapidly. Who is going to put an end to this miserable
situation? Reverend Moon, the one whom Americans hate so much, is the
very one who is cleaning up the terrible moral problems here. Who cares
the most about Christianity in America? The very person who is hated
and persecuted so much by Americans. Reverend Moon is the only one who
cares enough and is able to do something about crime, homosexuality and
lesbianism, alcoholism, and all the social evils here.
Those young people who are becoming addicted to drugs are melting
their own brains, like butter. They will not live very long, or if they
do they will live like vegetables. Their numbers are increasing every
year. Drugs are peddled on the city streets in broad daylight. Who in
the world is going to put a stop to all this? Where does the trend of
free sex originate from? The movies, television and so on are
stimulating it. Reverend Moon and the Unification Church members must
stop these evils from influencing the morality of young people here. We
must also put a stop to those gambling places which trap people in
another form of addiction.
Certainly American Christianity has the responsibility to stop all
these evils, but are they actually capable of doing it? No, they have
not been able to prevail over them. What about the communists? Will
they do something to stop it? No, they will encourage the acceleration
of evil here because they want to destroy America. Nobody has the power
to stop communism here, either. Reverend Moon is the only one who is
"insane" enough to say to America, "You must protect yourselves from
communism or you will be in peril within a few years." Why do I do
this? It is because these are the things which are the origin of God's
sorrow, the things which stop mankind from becoming better.
Why do you think I matched black and white people in marriage? I
knew this would be the source of great difficulties. Do you think I did
it for the sake of fame or reputation? Certainly not. We are seeing the
first stages of a racial confrontation which is certain to come in the
future unless the true religious spirit flourishes. Black and white
people will fight against each other and so much blood will be shed. To
prevent such an occurrence, I took the responsibility to bring black
and white people together in marriage. This is the solution to those
racial tensions.
Anyone with a reasonable mind will be able to see that what I have
been doing all these years springs from a deep conviction and
principle. Do you Unification Church members take this time casually?
You have eyes and ears but do you hear the scream of this world, which
is on the verge of dying? It is like a giant animal crying out in pain
and agony. Your ears must be able to hear that cry.
Satan blinds people to their true condition and convinces them they
are happy. To protect the world from further mistreatment from Satan,
we must liberate the young people. Otherwise Satan will have the world
in his hands, a world like a living corpse. Do you love America? Your
love for America means nothing unless you take this task seriously.
Only when you are serious about saving America can you truly say you
love America.
When a cancer starts the victim hardly notices it. As it progresses,
he notices it only a little bit. However that person will certainly die
unless the cancer is stopped. America is in the same situation. I have
been telling you American members that you cannot remain idle or
indifferent. You cannot just think about your own life and your own
family's blessing and going to Heaven eventually. What would be the
difference between you and conventional Christianity?
Go out and appeal to the people, go to the governor; tell all of
them what is happening to America. This is our mission to cry out and
proclaim the truth. If they absolutely refuse to listen, then they are
already buried by their sin. What else can you do? There is nothing
else to do but burst into tears. At that point God will listen to your
prayers. If you just pray calmly, God will not respond. If you pray
while you are being persecuted and working hard, God will respond.
Today is a big day for Korean people. On March 1, 1919, Korea
declared independence. Japan was occupying Korea and changing the
language and culture, even changing the name of the country-and the
Korean people had no weapons except their fists. Still, they came out
and proclaimed their independence.
A year ago today, the Washington Times began. On January 1, 1982,
200 people began the project and after only three months, the first
newspaper rolled out. No one thought it would be possible or effective.
They were thinking that even if we did print something, it would just
go into the trashcans. However, the impossible was not only possible
but also successful. I know that such an impossible miracle can only
occur within the realm of principle.
What is the position of the Washington Times now, after one year?
There are about 1750 daily newspapers in the country. Many times they
write, "The Washington Times says..." Many times newspapers attack the
government's activities because the media is so leftist today. When
something makes communism look good, they report that but not anything
that makes the government look good. However, the Washington Times not
only reports honestly about the good things that the government is
doing but also they speak out against anything the government does
which is wrong. The government actually appreciates such a stance.
People in government have lost their positions because the Washington
Times pointed out wrongdoing, which no one else was pointing out.
Newspapers are powerful tools to be reckoned with.
Starting today on this occasion, we must decide to clear up all the
misunderstanding of our own church leaders and make a brand new start
toward establishing the genuine, correct tradition of God and True
Parents in our church. How do you like that? For one thing, I would
like to see Heavenly tears rolling out of those American blue eyes.
Until now, I have seen only brown-eyed tears. When I see that, I can
say, "How wonderful you Americans are."
The era of perfection does not come through laughter, joy and glee.
Instead, we must go over the hill of misery and tears before we can
bring in that era. This is the time for us to go through those tears
and sorrow to accomplish that great era. By working this way, we will
fulfill man's portion of responsibility, the restoration through
indemnity. Only through shedding tears will the restoration through
indemnity take place. Then we can move into the time of joy and
laughter.
Home Church brings together all these elements. Although there will
usually be a period of persecution in Home Church, after a reasonable
period of time people will understand what we are trying to do.
Gradually we will win their trust and expand their understanding. After
those things happen, we will have completed the period of indemnity.
You are being grafted into the True Parents' tree, then wherever you
plant yourself you sprout up as the same tree as the True Parents. Your
fertilizer comes from those people who oppose you; you need that
fertilizer. Persecution is your fertilizer.
Do you welcome indemnity? The principle of indemnity requires that
the smaller purpose be sacrificed for the larger one. The individual
offers himself for the sake of the family, the family for the sake of
the nation, and so forth. We must do this because it is the truthful
way of restoration. No matter how long it takes and no matter who you
are, you must go this way. We have church members who have been
important in secular society, people with recognized ability and
government positions, and so forth. When such people join, do they go
to the front or the back of the line? If President Reagan someday
joins the church, even he will be the last in the line. That will make
you feel great because you will be in front of him! You will really
feel you are somebody then! In the past, you may not have been very
happy doing the things you were called upon to do; but from now on will
you understand better and be happy, following me step by step along the
same course? Will you be happy to do it? Is this the right or the wrong
way to go?
We can conclude that doing the right thing is the happiest way to
go. We have to remind ourselves of this as we follow the right way. It
is not enough to just know what is right; we must do it. Do you want to
do what is fight? Shall we march on? Those who pledge to do that,
please raise your hands. God bless you.