Dr. Yo Han Lee

Sermon given in New Jersey

June 10, 2007

“LET US BE MATURE AS AN ORIGINAL HUMAN THROUGH A TRUE LIFE OF FAITH”

The title of my sermon this morning is “Let us be mature as an original human through a true life of faith” But, the introduction of me was too long. I am sure you are not here to listen to the introduction, but to be a true person, aren’t you? If you say yes, you must reflect how much you long for today’s gathering. You must evaluate yourself. Are you a person of concept or habit? Or, are you a person of longing or respectful heart?

When I arrived this morning, people were working on wiring all kind of cables for the preparation of service. I know they are cable for powers, sound and visuals. They are needed to operate equipment. Likewise, we all have cable of lineage. When I saw people working, I wonder how much they have a true heart. If you live every day just in concept, habits and appearance, then that is a life based on fallen nature. Then, what is a true life? When you wire cables and lines, you must regard them as your lineage. We want to have a respectful heart, bright heart, and mysterious (divine) heart. That should be the attitude of a religious person. How can we possess truth when we work? What is the truth? Is a life of concept, habit, external appearance, knowledge and experience a true life? Check yourself how much you have loved with sincere devotion. If you have a sincere heart of devotion in accomplishing God’s purpose, that is a true attitude. Otherwise, you are false. A false life is not rooted in love. All of us pay attention to our health. There is no one who is not concerned about his/her health. But, how much are you concerned about your heart of love? When I say “love”, I am not referring to horizontal love; I am talking about vertical love in vertical relationship. Horizontal love comes from fallen nature.

We just greeted each other this morning. When we greet someone, you should check your greetings whether you did it with true heart or false heart. False greeting is when you greet just because you see someone. There is no heart attached. It is a secular worldly type of greeting. In family, some couples live with a dark heart. They conflict each other and don’t understand each other and live in pain. That is because the relationship is not truthful. You should check yourself if you are true or false in every day just like you check every day about your health. We come to the church motivated by God’s words. We live motivated by God’s words. However, I often see some members are here just because they understand that they must go this way. It is only conceptual understanding. Therefore, they are just observers. Those people usually yield to their own situation, and hardly made internal progress in their original nature by going through self-denial course. They lead their life of faith in selfish way. When they don’t want to go Sunday service - they don’t go! Because they come to the church holding their fallen nature, their life of faith is in pain, conflict and struggle. There is no struggle in truth. Truth brings respectful heart. What is the opposite of struggle? It is compassion. The person who has original nature has compassion and tears. Therefore, True Father’s life is full of tears and compassion. God’s history is full of tears and compassion. The life of Jesus was full of tears and compassion. The lives of Saints were full of tears. Why? It is because of the way of living from their original nature. People who have fallen-nature don’t have tears and compassion. The original nature brings no keep-out, no hatred, just compassion. When we are in conflict with someone, we try to keep him out and disregard him; it is a fallen nature. The cable is connected, but there is no power or light coming through. If we are really connected, we connect to power and light. It is the original nature. When you are wiring cables, you must think my lineage is the same, I must be connected to power and light. That way of thinking is from the original nature. I must know about the original nature.

All external appearances are reflection of our internal natures. The external environment is a reflection of human beings. Many of us lead hypocritical lives. When I met with TF in the early days, I was a conceptual person and did not have a heart of love. I could respect TF, but I felt many struggles sometimes with TF. I was frustrated with TF because TF was doing many things that outside people could not understand. TF was supposed to save all humanity, why didn’t he do something what people can understand and believe in? I was frustrated.

I came from an established Christian church. I was so impressed with the Divine Principle because it solves many Bible mysteries. There are many mysteries in the Bible. No matter how much I read the Bible, I could not understand many things. Even seminary professors did not understand. In the Old Testament, there is a story that Abraham had four wives and had 12 children. Another story is a story of Tamar. Christians never understand the meaning of those stories. I was taught at the Christian Theological Seminary that those stories were stories of ghost. (No one would try to understand). Therefore, they talked about Crucifixion instead. Actually, they didn’t even understand fully about Jesus’ Crucifixion, either.

Unless you evaluate your internal self whether or not you are true, external hard work has no meaning. Am I living according to my original nature and with a heart of love? Or, am I living my life from habits, concept and external appearance? You should truly understand yourself. Today, we greeted each other in Sunday service. Greeting is a good thing. But, it can also be bad thing, if you don’t have heart attached. It can be a hypocritical relationship. If you greet brothers and sisters with true heart, you want to visit their home and want to find out if there is anything I can do for them. Attachment, longing heart and compassion should come along. If you love the person, we want to know his/her situation or problems and want to know if there is anything you can help. Without that kind of heart, if you just greet each other, it is hypocritical relationship. That is something ordinary people do in this secular world.

We should have a right attitude. We should be people who are reborn. We should live with original nature, not fallen nature. We must clearly understand this. In our family, we must value family based on love. When you see your children, you should have heart of respect, love and attendance. By using kind and warm words, children can develop respect toward parents naturally. It is a duty of parents. Parents are not supposed to dominate children. Parents are in leader position. But, if parents guild children without natural respect from them, it is painful. If parents dominate children by power, they are not parents but enemies. Children want to leave home when they are grown up. Many blessed children are happy when they graduate high school, because they can be apart from their parents who interfered in their lives. Parental love is not interference. Parental love is to protect, to respect, and naturally to lead children to respect their parents. Husband and wife relationships are the same. A husband must gain natural respect from his wife, and his wife should do the same. A husband often thinks that she is MY wife. It is an evil master. It is archangelic. The archangel did not gain respect from Eve. He just seduced her. Therefore, in this secular world, people seduce and dominate the opposite sex. It is selfish individualism. They think everything exists for the sake of them. We should live for our family. But, without love, we cannot be the master of families. We think we are doing God’s will. But, without having truth in you, you are not doing God’s will. Having fallen nature is against God’s will.

TF’s life is full of tears and sorrow. If he was here this morning, it would be a sad moment. When he sees many members who have been reborn, he would be very happy. But, he would be very sad when he sees members who rejecte self-denial. He calls those members Cain-type members or observers. Observers are those who have no sorrow, no tears. They misunderstand who they are and who they should be. They don’t know they are descendants of Adam and Eve. God cannot talk to those people directly. God cannot tell to you directly to cleanse your lineage even though He knows it is necessary. It is God’s resentment. God could say to Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit. But, when they actually were going to eat it, He could not say “Stop it”. When Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, they eliminated God within themselves. Therefore, God could not interfere in the action. No one likes interference. Can anyone repent and cleanse him/her self by someone else’s interference or force? No. We cut it out. We all have experienced that kind of emotion based on fallen nature, haven’t we?

Before we resolved our internal problems or cleansed our fallen natures, we were matched and blessed. That’s why couples struggled with each other. That is a fight between fallen nature and fallen nature. That’s why we need absolute faith. Absolute faith is to deny ourselves. What must be denied? It is our fallen nature. We must have no fallen nature. We should not have actions or emotions based on our fallen nature. How can we do it? We can do it by denying ourselves. When you are rejected, hated, or mistreated, you should be grateful because it cleanses you internally. But, actually, when we are rejected, we are upset. When Satan accuses us straight, it should be a grateful moment. Therefore, those who have more fallen-nature accuse others so much. Those who have deeper internal problem judge and criticize others strongly. When you are criticized by those people, you must have compassion and be grateful.

Let us lead a truthful life. I know it is not easy. We cannot live truthfully with fallen-nature. As I mentioned, when you are wiring cables, you pray that you want to be connected to power and light, then you are living truthfully. Without that kind of heart, you just work externally, it is not a life of truth. You must reflect each moment if you have that kind of heart. Don’t work just for work. See the value and put your heart and sincere devotion into it. You must lead your life based on heart (Shimjung)

Once you have that kind of internal life, the spirit world starts working with you. When you deny yourself, the spirit world can give you answers. When I was struggling with some Bible contents, the spirit world gave me answers one by one. The spirit world told me that Japan would be defeated before the end of WWII. I was so worried and praying so hard for God’s providence under Japanese dominion and persecution. But, I was answered “Don’t worry Japan will be defeated.” When I questioned about the Lord of the Second Advent, I was told that the Lord would come to Korea, in prayer.

When we live for the sake of others, we feel happy because we all have a conscience. When we treat other badly, we feel guilty. When we are treated too well, we feel indebted. The past does not matter. What matters is which spiritual level I am in NOW. When I move out from my physical body, what status will my spirit be? Recognition by others is not the purpose of our lives. Many people achieved great accomplishment in this world. But, those people’s spirit bodies were not matured. It is because we live in a hypocritical world.

TF said recently that we should live mysteriously or live together with the spirit world. In a sense, TF himself is living in the spirit world. He came to the earth to resolve problems in the spirit world. We must live mysteriously, too. Don’t you want that kind of life? You dream at night, don’t you? Dreaming is activity of your sprit body. While your physical body is resting, you are educated by spirit world. For example, in your formation stage, the spirit world teaches you about your Abel figure and what he/she worries about and etc. Also, in this formation stage, your spirit is developed in the relationship with Abel figures, such as church leaders.

In growth stage, you should develop your character. Your heart is developed with tears and compassion. Your spirit become brighter and you are able to find other people’s problems. At this level, you can see others spiritually as your sprit grow.

We have hundreds of people gathered here. We must check if we are true or false. You can determine your spirit level by checking which part of TF words you are inspired. That is your spirit level. If you have no inspiration, your level is so low. Some people fall in sleep during divine principle lectures. Those people never struggle with human problems. People who struggle with internal problems, struggle between a good and evil mind, can truly relate and appreciate divine principle. Those who never suffered with internal struggles, they have no inspiration or no tears even when they face the contents that strikes the original mind.

Therefore, when we are resurrected or reborn, we go through the gate of tears, the gate of death. When a baby is born, the mother goes through life or death situation. When a new life is born, it must go through the gate of death. Our life of faith is the same. When our spirit is going up to the next level, we must go through deadly situation. A growth is realized from the death. From formation to growth, growth to perfection, at each level we go through the gate of death.

We all drove and arrived here this morning. We went through some intersections, didn’t we? When you cross the intersection, you went through the cross of life and death. We cross the intersection as a part of daily normal life. Why don’t you think of that in relationship with our lives of faith? Traffic laws are similar to laws of love. If you violate traffic law, for instance, if you cross the intersection at the red-light, you will die. If you obey traffic law and cross the intersection at the green-light, you keep your life. Therefore, it is the principle that we must go through suffering to gain true love. Being patient is suffering, struggling with someone is suffering and conflict is suffering. By going through suffering, we seek true love. That should be our life of faith. If you don’t like suffering, you will fail in your life of faith. Suffering brings life and rebirth. Crucifixion realized the eternal life by going through death. If you are a true Christian, you must go through crucifixion to gain a life. All of us carry our own cross. If you don’t carry your cross, you have nothing to do with TP. Why we carry our cross? It is because we are descendants of the fall. We must carry cross at formation stage, growth stage and perfection stage. It is the path of finding love.

When you do your job or anything, we feel pain or suffering, because you have to relate to someone you cannot get along with. Pain comes because you cannot deny yourself. If you could deny yourself, you can be with anyone without pain. Fallen descendants should welcome suffering and seek true love. That is the secret of crucifixion. We are destined to reach the realm of four great loves.

Why do we need church? We need church to make our families true. Therefore, people who are not connected to church, they have problems in their families. Families in this world are in hell. Blessed families may have difficulties, but we don’t crush each other. Blessed families try to bear the difficulties. Why can we be patient? It is because we know couples represent the dual characteristics of God, and we must be patient and develop ourselves. What about outside families? They cannot deny themselves and crush each other. Blessed families are not perfect yet and our love is not good enough. But, we stop at the red light and be patient. Husband’s fallen nature and wife’s fallen nature are both sending red-signal. It is dangerous. Until you see green light, you should be patient and cleanse yourself with your tears. When you confront with someone, it tells you that you must sanctify yourself. It is not the other’s fault. It is your fault. You must interpret it this way. It is my fault if I struggle with someone. If you think that I am miserable because of someone, or I am right and he/she is wrong, it comes from your fallen nature. If you think it is my fault and my fallen nature causes conflict with someone, compassion and tears come into your heart. Even though he/she was wrong, you still think you have to be responsible. It is a heart of compassion. Some of you may not be able to understand what I just said. You might think you are not wrong. It is because my husband is too stubborn. I even gave birth to children and I should be happy. However, because of my husband shortcoming, I ca not be happy. Why do I have to think it is my fault? Some of you may say that. But, I want to ask them who are your ancestor? Aren’t Adam and Eve your ancestor? I know no one would say “No” to that question. All of us are descendants of Adam and Eve. We struggle because we are from Adam and Eve’s lineage. There is no exception. Actually, there are a few exceptions. Jesus was one. But, he was killed because he declared he was an exception. TF also declared he was only one who carry God’s lineage. Then, he was almost killed. People cannot understand or accept what he says.

Because we are blessed families, we must think couples represent God’s dual characteristics, bear the situation and wait for love to emerge. Be patient with tears. Have we become people who can laugh? Have we become people who can make God laugh? We are not qualified to laugh. We should carry tears and sorrow, because we carry the wrong blood lineage. If you think you carry good lineage, you don’t live in truth. You are hypocritical. This world is filled with hypocritical people. All religious leaders are hypocritical leaders. Is there any religion which understands God’s sorrowful heart? Any religion which understands Jesus’ painful heart? There is none. How can they seek mercy from God and Jesus who had already suffered and been sorrowful so much? There is no true religion in this world. I am not talking about the outside world only. What about us? We are not true until we resolved issue of blood lineage. Am I right? Do you believe it or not? If you do, you must be sorrowful. You understand, but you don’t share God’s sorrow.

When you meet and bow to TP, what kind of heart or attitude do you have - joy or sorrow? If you feel only joy in your life of faith, you don’t know parents heart, and you are at stage of kindergarten. Children can laugh without knowing parents’ sorrow. We can not blame them. But, they are in immature stage. Immature people don’t know how much blood was shed in the American history. They don’t know the history. When I see the forest, I see the beauty of this country. When I see the highway system, I see how much wealth this country has. But, I wonder if people remember the history of this nation that is built upon sacrifice and suffering. Those who just enjoy convenience in this modern age think about only themselves. Those who know the history of this country behind the prosperity feel responsibility toward this nation. People who don’t know the history have no patriotism. They think about their lives. I worry it seems that those kind of people are increasing in this country. If the younger generations don’t know the history and just enjoy the prosperity, this country will decline.

What is true love? True love is a master of responsibility of history, a master of sorrow. When you have grown up to adult age, you should start understanding parents’ suffering heart. If you don’t, you are not dutiful son/daughter, not child of attendance.

The word “attendance” means to inherit sorrowful heart from parents and be recognized and rewarded by parents. That is what we call filial piety.

People who want to come to America and enjoy prosperity are thieves. I worry about them, because they don’t want to do for the sake of America. TF did not come to this country to enjoy his life. He came here for the future of the world. He knew America stood as the second Israel and the elder son nation with God’s blessing. He had to guide this country to attend God’s providence as the elder son. He came here with such mission and tears. We must know this clearly. He knew he couldn’t accomplish a world level dispensation without America. Because God loved and nurtured America the most, America is the elder son. Whoever lives in this country should never forget about this. We are all responsible for this elder son nation. We should not live as individuals. We are universal and historical beings.

My conclusion today is that we should examine ourselves if we are to become matured as an embodiment of true love based on family. Without family, true love cannot be rooted. If you have problem in your family, your true love has no root. Do you understand? And, church stands as the parent of families. Church is the central family in a tribe. If you don’t associate with the local church, your families become cool and dry. Couples who are connected to church have hope. But, if you yield to your own situation before church, your family will lose love. Ask this to your internal original mind. Should we value the connection with church? Or, do we determine by our own situation whether or not we go to the church? Absolute faith comes from self-denial. Each one of us must maintain right attitude in absolute faith and value of life. This is the era of completion. This is the era of completion of love. It is also dangerous, because the spirit world descended and is close to us. The reason why TF mobilized the spirit world this time is to cleanse selfish people. Selfish people will disappear in front of our eyes. What is the value of blessed family? We were in the dark and selfish world, but we were taught how to be true families by TP. Once you have learned, what should we do? We should be patient and try not to conflict but to resolve the problem in family. International & inter-cultural couples are facing an intersection. We must turn the red signal to green, otherwise it is dangerous. We must turn the conflict into love in our families. This is the age of attendance. It is not easy. Especially, old people have difficulty to attend younger people. Old people think age itself is valuable. It is a dangerous idea. Age does not add value. Love adds value to the person. How much we can be humble toward my family? When parents face children, parents should not have a dominant attitude. Bad parents force children to listen to them and obey from the position of parents. However, parents should be in the position of servant of love. Parents should serve children absolutely with a humble attitude. “I am your mother, you must listen to me” This comes from fallen nature.

Some people think age adds value to the person and elders should be respected. Why is this concept is wrong? That is because love and tears are missing. Where should we seek tears? The bible tells us that we can find tears in funeral. No one can laugh in the funeral. Where can we find tears and sorrow? Be humble. Love is humble.

Because this is the age of completion, we don’t need education. We just practice TF’s message, then we will be brought up to the completion stage. What is TF’s message? TF taught us about God’s resentment (“Han”), Jesus’ resentment and TF’s resentment. Then, we should have the same resentment. What kind of resentment - resentment toward myself who has fallen nature? God’s resentment comes from human fallen nature. God himself is working throughout history to liberate and release the resentment. We, too, have to be responsible for liberation and release.

We are facing intersections. We must hold on at the red light. Holding on means to have a humble attitude and think that problems come because of my fallen nature. I offer service and compassion to others, and being responsible for other people’s problems. This kind of attribute makes you humble. If you cannot have this kind of attribute, you are not a religious person. Religious people respect others and deny him/her self. Religious people thinks other are all closer to God and deny him/herself. Can you do this? You may not be able to practice, but at lease you must have desire to do so. Or do you reject this?

What I spoke about this morning is already familiar to you, isn’t it? But, you don’t practice this, as if you don’t know. It should be common sense. TF’s teaches that lineage can destroy people. It is a true story. And, you know about true love. Truth of the parent-child relationship. Truth of mother, truth of children who has a heart of attendance. You cannot deny those. All of us have the root of truth. But, we don’t grow it within us.

Did you reflect deeply? Try not to have a horizontal attitude. Horizontal attitude is to live in habits, concept and external appearances. We should be armed with God’s Words and live vertically with a heart of attendance. We should never break this tradition. If you break vertical attitude, nothing is possible. It is very dangerous. If you came here to greet people and listen to music, it is the same as outside people. And, those kind of members will not change. Those members who can change never break or destroy vertical attitude. In families, mothers should maintain a vertical attitude even when they cook meals. We should have heart of attendance & respect, and attitude of protecting God’s family.

Those people who have jobs are not working for money. You should think you are working for a public mission with love given by God. It doesn’t matter the company is someone else’s company. You should think it is God’s company, because this country is God’s country, not Satan’s. Even if you work for an outside company, you should value the company as God’s company. We are not there for money. When you sell something on the side of street, you don’t do it for money but for love. No matter what we do, we do it with love, and then God’s love is with us and protects us with heavenly fortune. If you become horizontal, God cannot be with you and loses connection. You should never forget this. Satan is horizontal. Fallen nature is horizontal. Fallen nature tricks you and leads you to hypocritical life. You should be sorry and try to live with a vertical attitude. After this Sunday service, do not go back to horizontal life. When you meet friends, just keep your mouth closed. Don’t develop friendships horizontally, but develop vertically. Otherwise, we cannot be resurrected to the original status. We must be resurrected from fallen nature to original nature. To do so, we must change from horizontal life to vertical life with serious heart. That is the life of TP. His life is full of tears and sorrow. He is the embodiment of sorrow and embodiment of resentment. We should never forget this, not even for a moment. We want to live with TP. We want to live with a vertical attitude. We must make effort to realize such a life. Without that effort, it is fake no matter how loudly we sing holy songs in Sunday worship. We must eliminate fakes from UC, otherwise, there will be no difference from established religions. Established regions are fake religions who know nothing about God. What do you think? Established regions are for the sake of themselves. But, UC is for the purpose of liberating God’s sorrowful heart. We must understand this clearly. Otherwise, we cannot establish relationship with TP.

If a grown-up child is enjoying his/her life without knowing how much parents are suffering, this child will be an enemy of the family. This kind of child will destroy the family. We understand God’s situation when we compress that to family level. Aren’t you suffering if you have a family member who is so selfish? Yes, you are. That kind of child does the same in school and gives teachers a headache. Are you going to be a headache of God or good child protected by Him? To be loved and protected by God, you must maintain vertical attitude. Please check yourself at every scene of your daily life.

I would feel sorry if you turn back to where you were after the Sunday service. I know it is not easy, because our lives are so horizontal. We don’t even know what is vertical and what is horizontal. We are in darkness. How can we lighten the darkness? When we attend our Abel figure, we can understand ourselves. If we keep ourselves, we are still in darkness. TF taught us so kindly and in detail, but we don’t change. What shall we do?

TF emphasizes the contents of the Peace Messages in Hoon Dok Hwae. But we don’t practice. Everything that TF spoke of can be realized. There is nothing impossible to practice in his teachings. If you believe there is something impossible, you should ask about it. We don’t even ask. We hear God’s words in Hoon Dok Hwae, but we don’t practice it. Then, we cannot liberate God’s sorrow.

Some of you may have questions. But, before asking something, you should reflect on your life of faith. Can you be proud of your life? Or feel shameful? God is speaking through your conscience to eliminate shadow and lighten your conscience in the settlement at high-noon. Of course, we cannot accomplish this overnight. Let us eliminate our darkness little by little by lightening our conscience.

Do you understand what I am talking about? I am sure you do. But, you just don’t practice, do you? Whatever TF teaches us such as Abel and Cain relationship, we can find it in our family. If you don’t understand UN providence, you can learn it in your family. In a family, parents stand as Cain UN and children stand as Abel UN. That is a reduction of the world UN affairs. A family is a reduction of world and human history. Therefore, families should be engrafted to the true root of Adam to change the blood lineage. That is what TF teaches us. Engrafting should not stop in your family. You must share the excitement of divine principle with others and expand branches of engrafted tree. It is possible. You may think it is impossible, because we don’t live seriously. You may say “It’s impossible! I don’t know engrafting. I don’t understand change of blood lineage.” But, it is a delusion.

We should know ourselves. Sometimes you want to come to Sunday service, sometimes you don’t, even though you are one person. All of us experience similar struggles.

END

Translated from Japanese to English by Mr. Jim Saito and Proofread by Lewie Soaivan