Repent and be Saved
The gospel reading talks about our need to repent to be saved.

Saved means that to live in peace and security with God and self and with our neighbor. In other words, when we are reconciled with God and one another, we are in peace. And that is what salvation is about. Being in peace with God and one another.

The gospel reading begins with a story of a person informing Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. There are no details given, but probably during Passover, as they slaughter the lamb, Pilate might have killed a few persons. So we have an image of human blood mixed with the animal sacrifices.

The news that someone has died in a cruel or unexpected way, might inspire fear, but the old testament perspective saw God’s punishment upon the dead person. That person might have committed dreadful sin, therefore God struck them. (Ironically blame does not go to the killer, the Pilate, but to the person who went through the cruel death….it is a sign of helpless towards the killer)

But the response from Jesus was “No, everyone needs repent. Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.

Jesus added another incident, this time, a natural disaster, a tower suddenly fell and the unfortunate people who were inside or nearby got killed. Jesus says they too did not die because they were worse sinner than other people who lived in that city, but unless we all repent we all will perish just as they did.

There is more to the gospel story. It continues with the story of fig tree…the owner planted and came back after three years and looking for fruits, yet found none. He was about to cut, but the gardener appeal to the owner, let’s give another year, I will dig around and give more manure. If it bears fruit next bears fruit next yet, well and good, otherwise , cut it down.

Here the three years means the perfect amount of time for the fig tree to bear fruits. God gives us enough time for us to bear fruits, the kind of good fruits, which God hopes for us to bear. But there were none. So then another year is given….

The story of the fig tree is a warning to anyone who might think they are blessed because no act of God has struck them down. It wasn’t the tree’s goodness which gave the tree another year, but God’s compassion let it happen…a free gift of grace. God has plans for each person and like the gardener in the parable, God will supply fertilizer in order to help each person to bear fruit….

When we think of life, the given life, as due to our own goodness, we tend to live with worry and anxiety, particularly as we see life’s unexpected death, such as accident, tsunami, 9/11, war…..rape, disease… We end up projecting our fear and anxiety upon others…they are worse sinners, therefore that happened…let’s get rid of the worse sinner…this happens because of them …sort of things…

Last night the Soulforce ride event was wonderful….God is constantly surprising me. It was a really good event….young college people riding on a bus to claim their rights and getting support…

Personally I saw quite a parallel between these GLBT folks and myself as ethnic minority. Here was a group gathered to advocate for themselves, support each other and celebrate who they are. It is what I need when I find myself surrounded by people of Northern European who don’t quite understand who I am. I could perfectly understand why they (sorry they I called you guys they) need to have that sort of event/celebration/support…seeing one another and one another’s talents, they are proud of themselves and need to affirm each other since the majority culture is heterosexual….I too I need to be reminded of the rich heritage I come from, which helps me to live as who I am in a heavily Caucasian culture…

There were times in the past that I saw fear and inadequacy from some LGBT folks in their face and body. I had a lot of compassion for them…But I never thought that I had that too…but where I work in my school where 95 % of the staff are white and the whole structure and curriculum come out of that culture, I don’t think I fully act as who I am…I accommodate a lot. So I think I share something important. Being who I am is not always automatically received…because being Korean or acting as Korean is not familiar to them, so then looked as strange, or even inferior? Or suspicious, not being trusted….yes that is it…which at times saddens me and angry me…

Last night I got an e-mail from a friend of mine. The title of the e-mail was prayer. My friend told me her fiancé’s cousin was hit in the hit and run accident . They thought he died last night, but he showed a vital sign of life at the University hospital. Please pray for him and his family members.” God is not punishing him or his family, but he has become a sacrificial lamb for all of us….so that we all would use extra caution …

We know that someday we will die…so then we are living in that transition time….God gave us that time to bear fruits…..We are alive not because we are good or righteous….but because life is a free gift… we don’t know when we will die and how will we die….

Lent is a time to be reminded of our mortality, dust you came, dust you will go….so during this time, we are reminded of who we are, whose we are, why I am here…what I am suppose to do…..what sort of fruits I am suppose to bear this year, or don’t know that we will finish this year…..Is my relationship with God fairly good, with my neighbor, too, including my family member, myself? Checking it.. amen.



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