Dr. Ki Hoon Kim’s Sunday Message

Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Chair of FFWPU North America, gave the following message titled, “True Parents Are the Way, Life, Truth and Love” on Sunday, November 22, 2015 at the Clifton Family Church.

True Parents Are the Way, Life, Truth and Love

Good morning, everyone.

You know, God called two angels, and God directed one angel: “My dear beloved angel, I have a mission for you today.” And God gave a big basket to this angel. And to the other angel he said, “I also have a special mission for you today,” and God gave him a big basket. This basket was thousands of times bigger than our donation baskets up here today. [Laughter]

God then asked one angel to go down to the earth and collect, not all the money, but people’s loving hearts, their appreciation and their kindness. “Please collect all that kindness of heart and bring it back to me.”

The other angel asked him what he should do. God said, “You go down and collect all the complaints from down on the earth.”

And so they went down. One angel came back after 30 seconds with his mission fulfilled—a big basket of complaints, hatred and killing. This angel brought his basket to God and said, “God, my mission is fulfilled.”

God then waited for the other angel whom He sent to collect appreciation, honor and kindness. God is still waiting after 6,000 years.

Today many religious leaders mention how critical today is. People are losing their spiritual sense; people are losing their hearts.

So today my sermon’s title is “True Parents Are the Way, Life, Truth and Love.”

Do you know what True Father’s lifelong motto is? I’ve spoken of it many times. True Father’s lifelong motto is “Living for the sake of others,” for which our Heavenly Parent has been waiting for 6,000 years.

Have you heard what True Mother’s lifelong motto is? “Let us cultivate.” Let us inspire one another, appreciate one another, and let us appreciate today and how far we’ve come before Heavenly Parent and True Parents.  

This story is one I heard a long, long time ago, when I was 12 years old, from a Sunday school teacher. It reminds me today of all the young kids who are the future of our church, our community, our nation and the world.

A God-Centered Spirit

We understand that this country, America, was founded about 240 years ago when our founding fathers came from Europe and built this nation with a God-centered spirit. Everything was for God’s sake. And when True Father came to America for the first time in 1965, he said, “This country does not have only 240 years of history; this country is the outcome of the last 2,000 years—the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of Christianity.” Our national anthem, everything, is God-centered, but we are losing that spirit today.

Everywhere—school, family, church, the political field, and every field—it is very hard to find a God-centered spirit. True Parents came to this nation with the founding fathers’ spirit. God told them very clearly, “My country is losing power like a steamship; there’s no more power or steam. This ship is falling down.” God asked True Parents to go and save this country, and awaken this country to become a new nation. This was their mission over the past 50 years.

And True Mother asked me: “Dr. Kim, you are a leader in America, so what do you have? You are like the captain. Where is the ship of America headed? Do you have a clear target, a clear destination?”

We have many ways to explain about how we can, as much as possible, bring this country back to God’s side. Before I talk about all these things, I want to reveal what True Mother said about her commitment and desires toward American Unification family members.

A Spirit Like Jonah

True Mother spoke of one man in all the testament, a man by the name of Jonah. You’ve heard about Jonah.

We need to have a spirit like Jonah’s. First, he received the message from Heavenly Parent: “Jonah, today I have called you to do something very special.” And Heavenly Parent told him, “This is my message. Go to this city—Nineveh—and tell the king and his people, ‘If you do not repent, I will destroy this whole kingdom. I will kill everyone in your city, and descendants of human beings will never remember this city any longer.’” After Jonah received this direction and message, what was his attitude? Jonah had fear. He thought, “How can I, just an ordinary man, go to this city which is corrupted and left God, and how can an ordinary man represent God and tell them to stop?”

So what did he do?

I wonder, if I met God and received a clear message, what would I do? I don’t know. I would have no question about that. You would have no question about that. If God told us what to do, why, what are we waiting for? With one hundred percent confidence, we could say, “Yes, I am totally, absolutely one with God’s spirit and moving forward with God’s power.” We would do that.

But Jonah, although he had God’s direction, he had his own ideas. And then he followed his own ideas. He didn’t follow God’s direction and he went away and got on a boat to run away with other people. And then God’s anger came with a storm, and the boat started to sink. The people on the boat told Jonah, “Because of you, God’s judgment is coming to this boat.” And Jonah was thrown into the water.

A whale swallowed Jonah, and Jonah was in the whale’s stomach for three days. How could someone survive in a whale’s stomach for three days? That’s impossible. Spiritually and physically, he would be dead. But somehow after three days he came out as a new person. As a new, committed person. Not the same person that he was three days ago. After three days he revived and resurrected, and this time he was very clear.

Whether he was alive or dead or in a risky situation, he would go one hundred percent with God’s direction. So he went to this city and told them very clearly about God’s ideals. What was their response? The king and all the people in this kingdom came out from the palace, from their houses, wearing white clothes. They knelt down and, shouting and wailing, they said, “God! We are very sorry and we repent! Forgive us!” Then God saved this city and these people, because of one man. And three days later he found himself again. “I am God’s messenger. I am God’s son. And I must unite with God and tell people whatever God has told me to tell them.” So when we unite with True Parents’ way of life, thinking, truth and love, we can change this nation, this community, this world. Don’t you think so?

When I heard this story from True Mother, I was really wailing, my heart was wailing. Oh, am I still lost, or have I found the way to do True Parents’ direction, God’s direction? Where am I? Am I before the three days in the whale’s stomach, or am I in the stomach of the whale, or am I after the three days, moving forward, telling this king God’s message?

So once Jonah lost everything, after three days once again he found all of God’s providence on his shoulder. Once he made a mistake, and God was still with him, and moving forward he completed his mission.

Living Our Mission

True Father’s last prayer on earth was, “It have completed everything.” What is God’s message, God’s direction? True Parents’ providence of restoration was to restore the last 6,000 years. True Father was very clear, and after True Father met True Mother in 1960, after the seven-year course was over, True Father proclaimed, “I am the Messiah, the second coming of the Messiah, and I am the Savior for humankind.” What did the Divine Principle say? What was the mission of Jesus 2,000 years ago? God created Adam and Eve. Jesus was the second Adam, so there must be a second Eve. True Father is the third Adam, so there must be a third Eve. Without Eve, the position of True Parents’ providence cannot advance for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven. So without Eve, without sisters, without wives, we cannot call ourselves husbands. If we call ourselves husbands, there must be wives. That is God’s creation: husband and wife and family.

So True Father and True Mother came, and what they showed us for the past 50 years was True Parents’ providence here in this country, the family centering on God and centering on True Parents. If you don’t know the Principle, you can’t do anything. You will be wandering in the wilderness course if you don’t know Divine Principle. Why are people confused, why are people attacking, why are people lying? Because they don’t know the Principle. If we don’t know Principle, we must go back. “What’s wrong? We found something wrong; how can we repair this something wrong?” We must go back to the principled way. Otherwise we cannot get any kind of answer about how to repair it.

With Jonah it was the same. For three days he didn’t know, he lost everything, and three days later once again he found God’s message, principle.

Do you know the four fallen natures? What is the first one? Leaving God’s point of view. Thinking my own way. This is the first step in the wrong direction. If I am going south, but my first step forward is north, I have to correct this. That is the first fallen nature: leaving God’s point of view. What is the second one? Improper position. What is the third one? Reverse the order. I don’t know who I am. What is the fourth one? Multiplying wrong information. You see, around our community, around our church, what you hear, what you say, all these things. We must find out the Principle. Otherwise we will still be in the stomach of the whale. We cannot get out of there and then tell people what our mission is.

Truth and Tribal Messiahship

Always I’m explaining that True Father left two wills. Two different kind of wills. I found that out myself. No one told me what True Father’s last will was; I found it out. I traced back for three years from True Father’s last day on earth, what True Father said. And True Father left two things for us as his last will. What are they? What is the first? Truth. He left us the truth, the Divine Principle. His message is the truth. So he is the truth. True Parents are the truth. And what else? You are a tribal messiah. Be and act like a messiah. Not just “Dr. Kim”; that is not a good title. Tribal messiah is a title that is blessed by God. Believe it or don’t believe it; that is our portion of responsibility, like Jonah. If you believe it, you are a messiah. Not just an ordinary person, you are a messiah.

Think about True Father. Without self-awareness, no one can become a messiah. We’ve been waiting for 6,000 years. And our tribes have been waiting. You believe yourselves to be tribal messiahs, but not many people have confidence, “Yes, I am the tribal messiah for the Kims’ family, Kims’ tribe.” Then I can be acting like a messiah.

Awakened by True Parents

How can we have absolute faith in God and True Parents? We must have confidence in whatever we heard from True Parents. That’s why we joined our church. We understand the Divine Principle. We thought we understood True Parents, but I have found that I didn’t know True Mother three years ago. What kind of a mother is just next to True Father, just behind True Father?

In the past three years I found another True Parents, from True Mother. How God prepared True Father, how True Mother herself was prepared by God. You know this kind of wisdom. Her passion. Her absolute faith in True Father and Heavenly Parent, everything. I found out. Oh, this awakened me. I didn’t know True Mother before. Sometimes you have that kind of awakening momentum. I found her now. So this is a life of faith.

I found out that True Mother has power of spirit, she has knowledge. I learned so much in the last three years from scripture that she mentioned and from experience here in this country. Some people, yes, are misunderstanding what True Father is doing. Even when we have True Parents, still they are people. And now it’s centering on True Mother, but True Mother has that kind of self-awareness like True Father. I remember that I was next to True Father’s casket at the moment when the casket was closed. And True Mother was next to True Father’s body, and she was telling him, “Father, thank you so much for your dedication, but now please don’t worry and rest well. I and we will carry on the mission and responsibility to establish Cheon Il Guk.”

From that time on, she had all kinds of mission of messiahship. And not only True Parents, but we are the tribal messiahs, this is True Father’s will that he left to us: understanding Divine Principle and being a tribal messiah centered on Divine Principle. That’s why True Father called all American family members as well as worldwide family members, “Come, everybody, attend the Original Substance of the Divine Principle (OSDP) workshop.” It was in the last three years that True Father prepared it.

I was with True Father at that time, and I saw how True Father really was educating and True Mother was inheriting the spirit of True Father and True Parents. So please, when you are struggling or when you are stuck or feeling, “How can I overcome, where can I go?” then go back to the Principle. And you will find it, I guarantee. You will find the way. Come out and you will know the way to go, leading to life and truth and love. You will know. You will see where the finish line for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is located. Our life is always up and down, up and down. But don’t lose faith in True Parents, in God. This is our ongoing trial, every day. Don’t just think about our mission for the Clifton Family Church; think about a broader, higher mission for the sake of America and for the sake of the world. When you think like True Father’s lifelong motto, when you think like True Mother’s lifelong motto, it will guarantee that you too will be in a very good position.

Faith Bigger than a Mustard Seed

Always I believe that the church has two purposes. One is the education of our congregation. We don’t know so much! For the last 45 years I didn’t know about True Mother. I just found out about her in the last three years, and now I am in the process of finding out. That is the education and self-awareness, understanding. So we need a lot of education and self-study; that’s why True Father says Hoon Dok Hwe has all the answers. Hoon Dok Hwe, Divine Principle; all answers come from there. And you will find True Mother’s course, having become the only begotten daughter whom Heavenly Parent prepared as the True Mother.

So for everything, when we don’t know, when we are confused, we must come back to our origin and Divine Principle.

My conclusion. Do you see anything there [blank piece of paper]? Even I have eyeglasses, but I cannot see anything there. Do you see anything? Something is there, right? Can you see?

Because you have so little faith, truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Mountain! Move from here to the Clifton Family Church’s backyard,” and it will move! Nothing will be impossible for me, for you. Who told us this? God told us. God told me and you.

This tiny, tiny mustard seed—have you ever seen mustard seeds, how tiny they are? If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will move Mount Everest to the backyard of the Clifton Family Church. How wonderful. I believe I have faith that is bigger than this mustard seed. Don’t you think so? You have faith that is bigger than this. Don’t you think so? Let’s give ourselves a big hand!

I have, I believe I have Heavenly Parent’s power. I have, I believe I have True Parents’ power. I can move a mountain. I can move people’s hearts. I can transform this community to a God-centered community. I believe. I know you have faith that is a lot bigger than this small seed. We can change it. True Father in spirit, True Mother on earth, waiting for that moment, like Jonah did. Believe it. You have faith that is a lot bigger than a mustard seed. Have confidence. Have faith. Yes, we can. Let us reform our culture, which True Father and True Mother created.

Think about yourself: You are the way; no one can come to the Kingdom of Heaven without you, without me. What kind of blessing do we have; what kind of mission do we have; what kind of responsibility do we have? The greatest. At the same time we have the greatest blessing in human history, True Father said: to be a tribal messiah.

Once again—thank you for listening, thank you for coming to Sunday service. God bless you all.