Foundation of Substance
Hyo Jin Moon November 5, 1989 Belvedere Sunday Service
The whole restoration process relies on man manifesting the foundation of substance, which ultimately means we are to obey and emulate the Messiah. Let me read some verses that describe why such an absolute standard is necessary. Jesus says in Matthew 5:18: "For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." Matthew 5:37: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." Matthew 6:24; "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon is deified riches.
It is clear that it is our responsibility to obey the Messiah, to become an object who will embody the master, to become like Jesus Christ. You must first deny yourself: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself...." (Matthew 16:24) The Messiah is the manifestation of God, His living Word. Our ultimate goal is to emulate the Messiah, and thus become part of God's ideal creation.
To do this Jesus emphasizes that we have to choose to follow and obey the Messiah. "Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25) Jesus is saying that if I am willing to sacrifice everything of myself in order to become one with God by becoming one with the Messiah, then I can ultimately find true life. We have to put ourselves in a position to be embraced and accepted by the Messiah, by True Parents. That is the way to find Heavenly Father.
Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus told this parable during one of his talks to the multitude: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while the men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn'." (Matthew 13:24-30)
Jesus is saying that at the time of judgment those who are not worthy in the eyes of God and the Messiah will be put aside. Once again he stresses the importance of man's following the laws of Heavenly Father and the ways of the Messiah.
There is another parable in Matthew 22:2-14: 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to be king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come." Again he sent other servants, and the people went so far as to kill them. As time passed the king became kind of desperate. He said to his servants, 'Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, 'friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."
Jesus said more than once, "For many are called but few are chosen." Jesus came to become the parent of mankind. There has to be order in the ways that mankind can become one centering on Jesus. Those who are chosen to be the elders of mankind, the subjects who ultimately will guide mankind to Jesus, are only the few. Not everyone can fulfill this divine position to help Christ restore man and establish the heavenly lineage of True Parentship.
Decide to Be Obedient
Maybe you don't really understand how essential your responsibility is and that's why you neglect to study the Principle. The Bible emphasizes over and over again the importance of the responsibility of individuals. You can't expect someone else to make you an ideal being. Only you can make the decision to be obedient to the Messiah.
Even in taking Holy Communion, receiving the bread and wine, you are making that decision: "Yes, I want to become part of the Messiah." The basic theme repeated all throughout the Principle and the Bible is the importance of obedience and submission.
What is indemnity? To undo what you have wrongly done and to do correctly what you haven't done. Since through our own volition we manifest things of evil, it is our responsibility to reverse this evil. Adam failed to obey God. The disciples failed to obey Jesus Christ and to accept him as who he was with no doubt whatsoever. Making that absolute connection with Jesus Christ was the disciples' responsibility. Because disobedience brought forth the fall, according to the law of indemnity obedience will bring forth the realization of God's ideal.
Nowadays the word "obedience" has been watered down into the word "surrender." It is the same word but colored in a different way so that people can somehow relate to and accept it. Obedience implies that someone will be in a superior position over you, which is distasteful in a world where independence is so highly regarded. No one wants to himself to another.
Relationship of Love
But when you look at it in a heavenly way, is a son inferior to his father? The father and the son hold different positions, but there is not just superiority and inferiority. There is a connection brought forth by love. Whatever I have within this loving relationship is yours and whatever you have is mine.
I am part of my father, an extension of him. Although we are each unique, we are one through the institution, the body, called family. Thinking that individuality requires the exclusion of others is very detrimental to the harmony and unity that we all desire in our hearts.
We have our individual freedom; we are free to do what we are born to do. God has promised us the right to have dominion over the creation. The ideal process to attain this possession is through inheritance from parents. Therefore, by centering upon parents who fulfilled their responsibility, man can inherit from them the blessings that were promised by Heavenly Father. But if we do not act according to God's conditions and standards, there is no way we can claim these promised blessings. Also we cannot rightfully claim anything that is outside the domain of True Parents.
Because of the Fall, man has been in a position lower than the creation itself. The process of offering things is a way for man to restore his wrongdoing and to gain proper dominion over the creation. Attaining dominion over creation is inevitable -- man has the potential to do whatever he wants with creation. But you must first put yourself in the position of being obedient to God to restore your failure, recreate yourself as an ideal being, receive the Blessing, and then you can take rightful dominion over creation. That was the ideal process, but fallen man has claimed things without centering upon God's commandments.
Even a small violation can destroy an absolute condition because not even one little thing can be compromised in a heavenly standard. If you do even one thing that is wrong, you may lose everything.
To make the foundation of substance, we have to choose the way of goodness, which is the way of the Messiah because he is the manifested Word of truth and goodness. Understanding the way of the Messiah, the way of Parents, gives us knowledge of what is right and good.
After we understand the way of our Parents, we must act according to it. The process of becoming part of True Parents begins by a foundation of faith, a personal resolve to obey the Parents and follow their ways. The point will come when Father will say, "Son, you have truly walked a way I can be proud of. You have brought forth a good result in my eyes. I will accept you as an ideal son, the embodiment of my word." Until you are granted this ideal status, the foundation of substance is not fulfilled. That decision ultimately comes from Father. The foundation of substance encompasses every little thing you do for the sake of the providence and every endeavor made to reach this position, fulfilling the faith Father has in you. If you can endure whatever hardship may come in the, future, and are absolutely committed to this goal, you will ultimately acquire the foundation of substance.
Be One with Parents' Standards
The foundation of substance means that you are becoming absolutely one with Parents' standards and ways with not even the slightest difference or discrepancy. Embodying Father is our ultimate foundation of substance.
If you are lacking the qualities of our Father, how can you claim to be like him? You must strive for the time when Father will recognize you as being an ideal person who resembles him. Until you receive that recognition, you have not truly fulfilled the foundation of substance. It is every man's obligation and responsibility to do this. So every day we are struggling to become like Father.
Because of man's irresponsibility we have to walk this course of suffering. I understand some of Father's suffering because I literally have seen all his scars. Having seen and touched them, I cannot forget what he's been through, though I myself never experienced being branded with a branding iron, or being tortured, strung up and struck by a stick or bat.
To truly embody True Parents you don't have to endure all of that. Father says by having absolute faith in and obedience to his words, we can become part of him and can receive the blessings that are to come from Heavenly Father. That is certainly a lesser indemnity!
Sometimes I hear people who have enough nerve to say, "Just my presence here in the Church should be enough and Father should be grateful that I am here, because without my presence and my efforts he cannot exist." Those people will be put aside. All of the wheat and weeds will be harvested together -- but the weeds shall be burned and purified. Think about all the accusation you will receive from your ancestors if you don't fulfill this opportunity to attend True Parents while they are living, to assist and serve them in doing God's work, and ultimately earn the status to govern mankind. You are to take the position of the first ancestors in God's direct lineage. It sounds wild and far-fetched, but that is how it is.
Jesus said that those who are the first shall be the last and the last shall be the first, because those who were chosen to be the first, the scribes, priests, and scholars, failed to receive Jesus, and thus became last. Because they failed, someone else had to fulfill their position. So the relatively insignificant people -- fisherman, beggars, thieves, and whoremongers -- were chosen to be his disciples, and became the first. John the Baptist was revered as the greatest prophet by the Israelites. But in Matthew 11:11, Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Because John failed his responsibility, he became the least.
Be an Extension of True Parents
That means there is a concept of subject and object relationship. Someone must be in the parental position to govern mankind. Twelve tribes will exist and through them we can embrace all people and have a direct connection with True Parents. Just as the Messiah reflects the image of God, we are to ultimately reflect the Parents' image to mankind. Through us, Father can touch and govern mankind. If this world is to become an ideal family, Father must have dominion over his house.
I must give everything of myself to my Parents because everything has come from my Father and Mother. What I have received I must return. Adam and Eve were to give themselves absolutely to God. Although they might think other than what God intended, they should have put that aside in order to become part of God. But their individual desire was stronger than their commitment to obey God.
God could have chosen to exist alone, but He did not. He wanted the emotions that come from give and take action with an object of la% e. It is man's responsibility to become like Heavenly Father and accept that the ideal way is give and take between subject and object. It is also our obligation to subjugate any desire to deviate from the expectation of God.
God has given everything. He was willing to risk the Fall for the sake of the realization of His ideal. The actions committed by Adam and Eve and all the other chosen people who failed have brought great suffering; many times God repented that He created mankind. But because the desire to manifest love is so great, He has been willing to persevere through His suffering.
You must put yourself in the position to truly desire love and be willing to give everything that you value. What do we value? Joy and happiness. The reason that Adam and Eve chose to fall was because that seemed the way to greatest happiness. Many times we have to cast aside our individual inclinations toward some kind of self-gratification in the moment and become obedient to True Parents. We can receive true happiness only by embracing True Parents.
We must do our best to make our foundation of substance in our lives, feeling that, "Without True Parents my true happiness does not exist. I must do my best to live with True Parents every day of my life. I am willing to give every ounce of my energy for this goal."
It is important to realize what you can do and have confidence in your own ability while also remembering that humility is greater than anything. You are meant to bring glory to God every day all throughout your life, not just one moment. Of course when we do something good, we are proud of it. But I choose to put aside even the things that I do good because I know I need to bring glory to my Father as long as I live. He is existing for the greater family of mankind and is even willing to sacrifice his own children to fulfill the things that you haven't done.
The First Shall Be Last
Jesus described how even the workers who came in the last hour all were paid a penny. You are to become equal to all the prophets who have come beforehand. But it does not just end there. You are to become the first ancestors of God's new lineage. It is by the action of the Messiah that the ideal world will begin. If you do not accept this fact, you are repeating Satan's argument against humbling himself to humankind: "Why is he to be better than I? I am part of the creation. I served You before they came. I know what You want. I brought You a lot of result and joy. I attended You and did what You asked. Why am I to be lower than these insignificant human beings? Look at how young, inexperienced, and ignorant Adam and Eve are. How can I put myself in a position which is lower than theirs? How can I serve these people?"
You must accept the ideal ways, whether you like it or not. The ideal way is for Satan, and the other angels, to become the objects of man, whether they like it or not. Whether woman likes it or not, she is to become an object to man. Whether you like this or not, the young are to become the objects of the elders, the child is to become the object of its parents. That is how God intended the ideal world to be.
Only a few will be chosen. If you are negligent in fulfilling your responsibility, your ancestors will not have the opportunity to become significant figures in the Kingdom of Heaven. You think you don't like following now. Just wait until you don't do it. Then you will be the last. You also have to be grateful. Without gratitude you cannot be in the realm of God. I am grateful because I can be part of God's ideal Kingdom. Even if you are least in the Kingdom of Heaven, you must have gratitude toward Heavenly Father.
You may have imagined Jesus said "Love your enemies" very softly and sweetly. That's what you want to hear. But don't you think he probably yelled at those disciples instead? He was angry at them because they weren't doing what they were supposed to. You have too much self-ness in your lives and the ways you are thinking. You try to interpret everything according to what you want to hear. I need to tell you these things strongly, forcefully, to drive them into your hearts.
How to Be Perfect
It's important to understand that fulfilling our responsibility to manifest God's expectation and desire is the most significant aspect of our daily lives. You must reach the point at which True Parents recognize who you are and who you can be. That is your ultimate foundation of substance. Everything matters. The process of growth is as important as perfection itself because without the ideal process of growth there is no ideal perfection. So in everything you must endeavor to reflect the expectation and desire of God.
You must do this until you die. Simple as that. That's how you should think. It makes your life much simpler than thinking you will be finished at a certain time and then being disappointed. If you cry for the sake of yourself, even the tears will look at you in a distasteful way. They will be disgusted: "Ugh. Did I come from that guy? Maybe I will jump into this other person's eye."
My mother's mother just passed away [Soon Ae Hong – Dae Mo Nim]. Her life, in the earthly sense, was very difficult. She had to become object to her own daughter, but she submitted absolutely, without any complaint, all throughout her life. She truly dedicated herself for the sake of the well-being of True Parents, praying and giving everything she had all throughout her life.
She realized the importance of True Parents and what they represent -- through these beings, humanity will be grafted into God's lineage. Nobody can be above True Parents since they represent Heavenly Father on this earth. To establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth as well as in heaven, there has to be the presence of God on earth. When True Parents are here, give your utmost to attend them in the right way. The Principle should be reflected in your attitudes.
Without the subject-object relationship there can be no oneness or order. As the false subject, Satan has demanded that we follow the subject-object principle centering upon his ideal and desires. He has abused the concept of subject-object and we have been deceived about the way to find happiness. But though people have tried all throughout history to find a better way, there is none. The ideal way is the Principle way.
I have stressed the importance of the subject-object relationship. It is very important for us not to reject that idea but to accept being an object to a subject with a grateful heart. Then everything will be okay.