Sermon: ‘I am in the Father and the Father is in Me’
The following sermon was delivered by Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Continental Chairman of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) North America, at the Belvedere Family Church, on November 13, 2016.
Good morning, everyone. The weather is still very nice. I especially enjoyed the weather this morning at Belvedere, looking down at the Hudson River view and praying at the Holy Rock. For me, this is like the Kingdom of Heaven. How about for you?
I’m very honored that we will be hosting True Mother as she comes back to the homeland, America. I really hope we can bring great joy to True Mother, with the spirit of the end of the year. Let us make our meetings in New York and in Washington, D.C joyful, and let True Mother bring this spirit back to Korea, our fatherland, as she prepares for the coming Foundation Day in February. We have a lot of things to prepare in Washington, D.C., New York, and even East Garden. I am thankful to all our East Garden and Belvedere staff members for their preparation. Let’s give them a big hand.
The last time I was here, I spoke on the title, “Chambumonimeul jaranghago saranghaja.”It translates to: “Let Us Love True Parents and Let Us Testify to True Parents.” This calligraphy was written right here, in 1996, on God’s Day. It was the title of True Father’s speech that day. I didn’t realize, and somebody said to me, “Oh, your title is in True Father’s calligraphy.” I didn’t know until someone told me, “Your title is here.” This is amazing. And today my title is “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.”
I really have been thinking about this verse. Why, first, ‘I am in the Father’ and then ‘the Father is in me’? What if we changed it around? That would not make sense. First, I am in the Father. And then, the Father will come down to me.
True Parents prepared everything for the sake of all blessed central families. They are already here, so I must rush myself into them, and then I will find the Father.
In the time of Jesus, Jesus’s disciples were sometimes confused. They were not clear about Jesus; they did not know Jesus very well. This is the reason the disciples raised a lot of questions to him about his Father. So Jesus tried to comfort his disciples. “I’ve been with you for a long time. Why are you still looking for my answer? I am the way. I am the truth. Without me, no one can come to Heavenly Father.”
Today, we sometimes have a lot of questions. Sometimes we are confused. But this is one of my answers to each one of us. We’ve been with the True Parents for 10, 30, some of us 50 years. Still, we have things to work out. What kind of Parents are we seeking in working with True Parents over the years?
You know True Mother’s great works in the last four years: testifying to True Parents through the Holy Scriptures and bringing people back to True Parents’ heart and understanding about the Principle and the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. So our final destination is determined.
What was the purpose of Jesus coming two thousand years ago? Nothing other than building the Kingdom of Heaven. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” And the Kingdom of God is within you. “I am the way, the truth and the light. No one can come to the Father except through me.” This is how Jesus tried to show the Kingdom of Heaven on earth to his disciples and to the people two thousand years ago. When he said, “Repent,” that meant “You must be saved by God’s son. Otherwise no one can come to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” This is the reason Jesus told everyone: “Believe in me. I will lead you to the Kingdom of Heaven that you have been seeking for a long time. When you believe in me, you will be saved and you will see God. You will see the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” But first you must be in the Father, and the Father will appear to you.
These days, there are Christians who are in the same state as the people of two thousand years ago. True Father and True Mother already prepared Foundation Day and the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, Cheon Il Guk.
Another scripture: “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Whoever gets this key can open the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven. We have the master key. Jesus gave this master key to Peter. What does that mean? We have our own portion of responsibility. We have to have this key, and we have to open the gate. Without our opening the gate on earth, we cannot open the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven. So we have responsibility.
It is like it says in the scriptures. What is the purpose of the Second Coming of the Messiah? Here are True Parents, the Savior and Messiah. This is their mission, saving the people, saving the nation. How? How can this Savior save all human beings on earth and in heaven? How can True Parents save people around the world? The Blessing. We must change our blood lineage through the True Parents and through the Blessing.
This is the reason we must give the Blessing every day, not every month. Every day. This is our mission. This is the commission we have from True Parents. So all of you who are Blessed, you have the first qualification, you have the keys for your tribe. Without you, your tribe, your neighbors, cannot see the people in the spirit world.
It’s so amazing. This Blessing ceremony that True Father initiated goes not only to the people on earth but even to our ancestors in the spirit world. You know, I have liberated three hundred generations of my ancestors. I believe that at least a hundred thousand of my ancestors are behind me, protecting me, centering on True Parents. So whenever I stand at the podium, whenever I testify to True Parents, I have someone else with me, including True Parents. I feel that I have spiritual power. When you see me, an “office” Dr. Kim and a “podium” Dr. Kim, they are totally different people. I am always filled with spirit. Because I am Blessed by True Parents, and my ancestors really protect me.
When I was a very young boy, my family was very dismayed. “Oh, this boy can’t talk,” they said. My family thought that I was dumb, that I could not speak. But after I met the True Parents and after I joined the Unification Church, everybody was surprised. True Parents made me into a new person. This is True Parents’ mission and our mission and the purpose of the Second Coming of the Messiah.
In the Chambumo Gyeong, how does it say the Savior can save this world? It is through the Blessing, which brings people into God’s lineage. Therefore, you absolutely must give the Blessing to the members of your clan, even if you have to push them to do it.
Once I heard True Father say, “You can even Bless on the expressway. You go onto the expressway and stop the buses. And you go on the bus and you give the people on the bus Holy Wine.” This is true. I heard this from True Father. This is the destination of True Parents and of all blessed central families. This Blessing ceremony for us and those in the spirit world is incredible. Who can do this? Only True Parents.
After the presidential elections, some people are very sad about the outcome. Some people say they are proud of it. Where do True Parents stand? Where does True Mother stand?
There is only one way to save this country, America, and the world. Only one way: Testify to the True Parents. This is why True Mother is coming right after the election, and I can imagine what message she has prepared. There is only one way for America to be saved, and for America once again to be a nation blessed by God, a beautiful nation: when it lives for the sake of True Parents.
So you don’t have to worry about who the next president is. But we are very proud of our True Parents. True Mother is representing True Parents and Heavenly Parent, and this is our blessing and our power to lead this country, America, and the world.
Who believes that hell is still here? I don’t believe that hell is here. I believe that only the Kingdom of Heaven is here, because the True Parents are here. This is the incredible outcome and foundation of the works of True Father and True Mother.
Jesus said, “How can we enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Believe in me.” Jesus said so. But what did True Father say in Chambumo Gyeong? Now there is only one way. You must take it to enter the Kingdom of Heaven on earth—Cheon Il Guk—and in heaven. You must take this way. You have only one way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. True Father said there is only one way: It is following True Parents. There are no other options. I got this mission from Jesus and from Heavenly Parent. You don’t have to worry about anything else. And who will build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth? Yes, we will. We have to build this Kingdom of Heaven on earth, following True Parents. This is our responsibility.
Jesus gave us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. That’s why we have to have many keys, not just one key. Maybe we have to go to the first gate, and the second gate, the third gate, the twelfth gate. Maybe this is the reason Jesus told Peter that he has to get keys. Here’s another answer from Chambumo Gyeong. The Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven will be achieved by you. Not by True Parents, but by you. This is our portion of responsibility achieved by our unity with True Parents in front of God.
This is the meaning of True Parents’ message 40 years ago at the Washington Monument rally and True Parents’ message 40 years ago at Yankee Stadium. Christianity and Unificationism are brothers. They do not have different purposes. True Father said that Christianity is equal to the Unification Church; Unificationism is equal to God. Jesus, True Parents, and God all equal one another. This is great news. We have learned this over the last 40 years with True Parents here.
Another piece of good news: True Mother is coming to East Garden. This is an incredible blessing that we have. True Parents are still with us. What is the best way to welcome True Parents back to East Garden, Belvedere, and Washington, D.C.? We must fulfill our portion of responsibility. How can we prepare our heart? How can we prepare for True Mother coming here?
This is my conclusion today, so I will go back to the Chambumo Gyeong: God comes only on the foundation of an offering. This offering is not only donations. This is why the Unificationists need togo through the age of offering on the individual level and fulfill the offering on the level of the people, and then move forward on the path of the world offering. This is a requirement: tears, sweat, and blood. That kind of offering was laid down when True Father founded our church in 1954. That was the official founding, in 1954, but long before that, True Father already initiated all kinds of offering, all the time welcoming Jesus and Heavenly Parent.
I really want to emphasize this one point: How can we welcome True Parents, True Father in the spirit and True Mother on earth, our Heavenly Parent, and our ancestors in the spirit world? Have you ever talked to your ancestors in the spirit world? Have you ever felt some kind of relationship, some kind of inspiration? When you dream, many times True Father will appear in your dreams, True Mother will appear in your dreams. All these kinds of relationships are based on our offering, and our fulfillment of our portion of responsibility. These kinds of things are taking place everywhere in our community. I thank you, Ocean Church; for 21 days they have been fishing in the Hudson River. Let’s give them all a big hand.
Now we are in the 100 days before Foundation Day, doing prayer conditions and Hoon Dok Hwe conditions and fasting conditions. So many things happen when you try to be in the Father. A few days ago I got a report from Los Angeles. One Japanese sister, every day they prepare and many nights they have a fervent prayer condition for the CARP movement. This Japanese sister is working on the campus of the community college, and this semester they received 120 new membership applications for CARP. They selected forty and started teaching the Divine Principle. I reported this to True Mother a few days ago.
So, America, when we try to be in Heavenly Parent, when we try to be in True Parents’ heart, we can bring about many miracles. In Las Vegas I met a young man, 20 years old, from Maryland. I was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and I saw one new face. He said, “I have been to Korea two times for the 21-day Top Gun workshop. I saw True Mother and I heard her message.” I asked him why he was in Las Vegas instead of in Maryland. He replied, “I really want to feel True Father’s heart here in Las Vegas.” You know what he said? “True Mother needed me.” Not “I need True Mother.” That kind of urgent feeling he received at the two 21-day Top Gun workshops. His name is Robert; he’s very young, still in college, and he didn’t want to lose this spirit. He wanted to go to the most active community, and he selected Las Vegas, and every day he has been going out witnessing.
When we are in the Father, when we are in the True Parents, we will see so many things and we will do so many things. In the eyes of other people we will be miracle makers.
Once again, thank you so much for listening. And I hope that while True Mother stays here for a few days, we can make a most joyful and historic moment.