Sun Myung Moon
December 4, 1977
Washington, D.C.
Translator-Bo Hi Pak
I can see how hard the Washington members have worked to make this day possible and I'm sure they have learned a great lesson about how hard restoration work can be. It is common sense that it is not easy to restore something to a state better than it was originally. The Unification Church, however, has a new tradition of acquiring something old and restoring it to a state better than its original condition. That is our faith and dedication. It is very symbolic that we have restored a former Mormon Church into our heavenly temple, but we are not just talking about one church. We are going to follow this pattern to restore the nation, the world and the cosmos. Therefore, my message this morning is titled "Renewed Pride."
Suppose there is an ugly man who puts something beautiful and dazzling into the environment; then he seems to be a noble man. We must know how important it is to have the right environment. The goal of the Unification Church is the completion or perfection of restoration. What then is the goal of restoration? It is to restore the original state of creation, to raise everything to the original level of God's expectation. God created Adam and Eve according to a certain standard in the Garden of Eden, but that standard was lost. Now God is going to restore it. Would God want to do it halfway, to perfection or even beyond perfection?
Think for a moment about what kind of face or what kind of appearance Adam and Eve must have had before the fall. I'm sure Adam didn't have good razors or good hair cutting equipment, or even decent clothes. Without cutting his hair for many days Adam must have looked like a hippie in the Garden of Eden. But today man has many conveniences, good clothes, good razors and grooming equipment. Today's man may be better looking than Adam was in the Garden of Eden. Did Adam have a toothbrush and toothpaste in those days? The Unification Church is talking about restoration and going back to the original; does it mean going back to that ugly appearance or primitive state?
Suppose there is a big mansion which is most beautiful and elegant, but there is no host or hostess in that house. That mansion has no value in that case. Before the fall, Adam and Eve may have looked primitive, but their master, God, was inside of them. With his host dwelling inside, Adam was the temple of God at that time. Adam was beautiful because everything he did and thought was an expression of the living God inside him. Before the fall Adam and Eve were looking with the eyes of God, listening with the ears of God and thinking with the mind of God. God and man were one.
Adam and Eve's relationship with God
Was Adam inclined to sing some song at that time? What kind of song can you imagine for him? Probably he had a song of joy, but can you have joy alone? Before the fall every motivation he had came from God and naturally his song concerned the glory of God. He was singing only of God. Adam must have smiled and laughed, but where did his smile and laughter originate, and for whom? Did the motivation for his joy and smile come from looking at Eve and she looking at him? It came from feeling the existence of God within his own heart. Even Adam and Eve's smile and laughter were expressions of God's smile and God's laughter. Suppose Adam danced in the Garden of Eden. To whom was that dance dedicated? It was merely the expression of the joy of God and must have been dedicated to God.
They both must have worked, and even their work was for the sake of God. They must have eaten and drunk, but only for the sake of God. There was a full awareness of God dwelling within them. Adam and Eve's every act -- going to sleep, waking up, working -- was motivated by God. If this Adam and Eve had matured and married, what would have happened? Before marriage their primary give and take was with God but after marriage a new kind of relationship would have emerged. How would Adam have acted? Would he have thought that now he could do everything on his own, even if God didn't like it, without caring about God's feelings, or would he still have listened to God?
Do you think Adam knew that the marriage relationship existed? I'm sure he knew what marriage was and what a woman was. He knew just by observing the natural relationships between male and female animals, but although he knew what marriage was going to be, he was not yet fully aware of love itself. The time would have come when God would have poured an awareness of love into Adam and Eve, awakening them to the joy of love in the level of perfection that they were growing into. However, love cannot mature without the blessing and participation of God m Without God, they could not consummate love.
Suppose the time had come when God could bring Adam and Eve together in heavenly matrimony. What kind of message would He have given them? Have you thought about it? I'm sure God would have said, "You are now husband and wife. Love each other and be happy." Then suppose they were in love; how would they manifest that love? Because no tradition was already established, there must have been some guidelines from God for Adam and Eve and the first provision would have said, "Love each other. Adam, love Eve more than you love me. Eve, love your husband more than you love me." Do you think God would have said that or would He have been greedy and said, "Love each other, but a little less than you love me"?
How would you feel if you were in God's position? Until marriage Adam's entire love and dedication would be directed toward God, as would Eve's, and then all of a sudden they love each other more than they loved God. Do you think God would feel left out or forgotten? Until then God had formed a trinity with Adam and Eve, making a relationship with each one of them. All of a sudden Adam and Eve had each other, so wouldn't God feel left out? Why not? Would a physical parent feel left out? Suppose there was a widow who had a wonderful son whom she loved with all her mind and soul, and one day he married and went away with his wife. The mother would naturally feel happy, but there would also be a part of her that would feel lonely. In studying Divine Principle haven't you encountered this question? Unlike the mother, God would not feel lonely because God is love itself, the center of the universe. Adam and Eve were a manifestation of that invisible love and through loving each other they would become deeper in God as well. Therefore, the more intense the love they felt for each other, the deeper God could dwell within them because their love was centered on Him.
Therefore, if Adam hadn't fallen, he would have loved Eve in the position of God. In other words, he would have loved his wife as God loved her and Eve would have loved her husband as God loved him. Therefore, Adam and Eve united in perfection would have been the walking God, living God's way of life, God's life itself. It was the Principle of Creation that Adam and Eve feel the joy of God. When they feel joy, God feels joy; when God feels joy, they feel joy. There cannot be any barrier between them because love is one. Love belongs to God, to Adam and Eve and to couples. One love unifies. Even though Adam and Eve were united in oneness, the central figure would still be God. That was the ideal of creation.
Suppose God is in the center. The center is always stable. Love is at the center of everything and the entire universe revolves around it as the active force of the universe. Without love there is no axis and without love there is no center. To make a family one, parental love serves as the axis. For the nation to become one, the sovereignty serves as the center. For the universe to become one, God Himself must serve as the center.
Therefore, when you have that c]ear and absolute center in your life, no matter how far out you stretch, you always come back to the center. You will never stray. Neil Armstrong traveled a long way to the moon but he didn't want to stay there. He wanted to come back home to earth where love is. Isn't it true that you want to return to the central place where love is? Sometimes you run home to get food, which is temporal, but ultimately you long for the center where love is. That's the real home. Love is precious, and when you really want to give true love it means that you are committed to creating a true home, a true center.
Love is the axis around which the universe turns. All creation wants to have its homecoming in love. Therefore, it's very logical that the entire existence of the universe is in a circle; also the entire motion of the universe is a circling motion because of this truth. For there to be a circle there must be an axis, and all living creation is circling around that axis.
Children have certain items they cherish and carry with them all the time. Parents, picking up an item loved by their children, find hidden value in it. If a little child made a tiny clay bird which you could hardly see, but his mother found it one day when she was cleaning, then knowing the heart and effort the child made to create it she would be attracted to it and use it to decorate her desk or table. Why is that? Love links and communicates.
Let's think for a moment about what God likes most. God likes power and likes to see wrestling, right? Is God envious of all kinds of knowledge and having more knowledge is God's goal? More than anything else God likes money? But think about what God does not have and what God needs. Not power, knowledge or money, but love. God needs love simply because even God Almighty cannot create love by Himself alone. Love needs an object or partner, and without a circuit of give and take even God cannot consummate love. For that purpose God created man to be His object of give and take, to create a circuit of love between God and man.
Can anything be offensive or ugly in the object you love?
What makes everything look beautiful? Love makes the whole look beautiful. Everything else may be partial, but love makes it whole. Love dominates and love controls and love overcomes. Is there anything dirty or filthy where there is love? Is there some ugliness in love? Suppose you are a parent and you love your children. What is ugly; what is filthy? If the dirty things become beautiful in love can you even eat everything the children make or have? If the baby needs a diaper change, the mother and father can take care of it with no problem, but how about tasting it? Why does everyone laugh? "Father, what kind of talk is that? Aren't you crazy?" But the power of love can go beyond. Maybe you think you can love your child up to the point of changing diapers, but no more. Is that the kind of love you have for your children? No, I want you to go over.
You applaud and you seem to be happy. Suppose a husband loves his wife very much, but on one particular day he takes her hand and sees it is dirty.
Can he say, "I cannot love you today. Keep your distance"? Whether her hand is dirty or manicured doesn't make any difference in love. Have you thought about which kind of love you would prefer? Perhaps your wife's fingers have a lot of germs, maybe even poisonous germs, but you are totally intoxicated in the love of God and love itself. When you kiss her hand the germs would become helpless! They could not be lethal because love is all-powerful. Will people think you a crazy man or will they envy you? What a love! Do you want to become a person whom people envy, a person who is intoxicated in love to that degree?
Let's imagine another crazy thing. Suppose the wife is going to the bathroom and is taking a long time, so her husband goes into the bathroom. Whatever the atmosphere or smell doesn't make any difference to him and he just gives her a big kiss. Is it good or bad? Once you are intoxicated in love you can be blind. You don't smell any ugly smell. These are extreme examples but think about it. What kind of husband or wife do you want? Do you want the person who can love you conditionally up until this [limit and no more, or unconditionally and blindly?
I don't know what you think, but I think love which is all-powerful and unconditional is most desirable. Conditional love isn't even love. I want to have a person truly giving himself unconditionally for the fulfillment of love. What kind of love would you go for? Only love that will be manifested in a clean, sweet-smelling place, or are you intoxicated in love so that you are always giving unconditional devotion?
If you can be a man or woman who can love someone to that degree then you will be a happy person. Or if you are the man or woman who can be loved by someone with that kind of love, you are truly the happy person. When I look at the spirit world I see that the highest realms are occupied by the men and women who demonstrated unconditional love here on earth. Think about yourself. You go to the bathroom and you smell your own smell. It's not pleasant, but do you think about getting out in a hurry? No, because it's you yourself who are making it. So what's the difference if someone else is doing it and you love him or her as yourself? I am using the bathroom as an example so you will never forget this idea!
You can revolutionize yourself and stop being the person who draws a line. Become an unconditional person instead Love transforms everything, transforms ugliness into beauty and dirty smell into perfume. Where does this unconditional love dwell? In heaven Sometimes you see a married couple who are drastically different from each other. The woman is charming and beautiful, but when you see her husband you never could have imagined how ugly he is. Nevertheless, they look so happy together, smile in at each other, talking to each other. What makes them that way? Love does, because love blinds them and goes beyond any logic or reason.
Beautiful appearance is logically stimulating, but when you go beyond that level you don't even see it. Suppose there is a person with a long, hooked nose, ugly ears and a dark, scarred complexion. Many people think that's all a deficiency or handicap, but for his loved one those features become his strong point and she will say, "I love your nose." that's love. Without love life is a desert and it has no sweetness.
Have you ever thought about how God looks? Is He handsome or is He ugly? I don't want to answer that question directly because whether God is handsome or ugly doesn't make any difference. The most handsome man in the universe without love is far inferior to the ugliest man with love. An awesome, all-powerful God without love doesn't make any sense. God is almighty in love; He is unique and He excels in love. That's why He is God, not because He might be tall or handsome. His love makes Him supreme, nothing else.
Do you need love? Nowadays American love is very carnal love. Is that true love? We are talking about restoration and about uniting the world in brotherhood, but unless all these things are centered upon true love, there is no meaning or substance to them.
What would make God want to dwell in this new church?
This morning Col. Pak was probably very happy at the opening of the church, but I didn't feel that kind of excitement because I have one small regret. Yes, you have done the job and I commend you, but how much better would it have been had we built this church from scratch? Suppose this morning you could have said, "Father, we carved the marble from the top of the mountain and carried it here and laid it. From scratch to this perfection, we did it all." Then how much love and value would this church have? You worked in restoration for about two months but when the Mormons built this temple it took them about three years m They worked for three years and you worked for two months; there is no comparison. Was your effort inferior to theirs? Can you people who worked on it say that you put a thousand times more effort and energy into this building so that it has become yours? You said yes, but do you think God would agree with you? Do you think God will acknowledge that you invested more effort in it?
I had another thought when I walked into the building. The Mormons built this building with lots of energy and hard work, but then they sold it. They abandoned it and then went out and built a new temple. The important question is: did they put more energy, tears and sweat into building the new and bigger temple than they did for this church, or did they just invest a lot of money and give the plans to the contractor to build? Did money build it, or heart, sweat and labor? That's the important question.
Put yourself in the position of God. Will He think, "Since the Mormons built this big marble temple now I have a bigger house. I want to go and stay there." Or, "Even though this temple is smaller, because the members put their heart and labor into it I would rather stay here." That's the key question. Does the size of the building determine where God stays? God isn't crazy for power or money or economy. No matter how big a temple man builds, in the sight of God it may be nothing. It could be less than dust. The important thing is the spirit and the soul inside. The size of the building will not determine the dwelling place of God.
I walked into this building thinking, "Father in Heaven, Your sons and daughters are in this congregation. They really poured out their heart, sweat and energy for this building. That is valuable for You. Furthermore, we restored this temple not for our own glory but for the celebration of this city, the nation's capital. We have a purpose and a providence to be here. Even though this temple is smaller than the new one the Mormons built, Father, because of our purpose I know You are dwelling with us here."
If we gave all of our energy unselfishly for the sake of God in heaven, then we are superior to any church on earth. In that respect this temple could be greater than any temple on earth. If giving yourself unselfishly was your determination, then you have literally made this a historic place. Then from this time on, our action must surpass any record set by the previous members of this church or of Christians of any denomination. Our sweat, our tears, our energy and the intensity of our love of God must be greater than any which was seen before in this place. Then this will become our place.
Therefore, this morning I encourage you to have new pride and new confidence. This building has finally met its master, finally met the people who truly love it. This edifice will feel excitement because for the first time it will truly serve the purpose of God. I wonder what you have been thinking for the past two months. If your feeling of love and responsibility to God were intense and you unselfishly gave of your sweat, then that intensity can surpass any known here before.
What were you thinking while you were painting? "We are restoring our church" or "God, this is Your house. I'm painting Your house so that You can embrace the world and bring the entire world in. For that purpose I'm restoring this wall." Who was occupying the center of your thought-you, our church and our members, or God and the universe? That determines the value of what you did. Have you made a place where the entire population of the spirit world can come down and dance in joy? Can even God come down and feel that this is truly His house, His temple where He can stay? Did you make that kind of temple? With what frame of mind did you work? If you truly have intense love for God then in even fifty days you can surpass thousands of years in the world of heart. That is only possible in heart.
Don't talk about the Mormons any more. This is not the Mormon church. This is our church. This is God's house. From this time on we must make new history and the intensity of your love will determine your success. How much have you loved? How much will you love?
Even among those who restored this building there could be a difference in feeling. "Why is the Unification Church driving me crazy? Why can't we have two more months to finish? Why can't we have a fun job?" Some people might have had that complaining heart. Is that loving this place as God's house? Suppose one person worked sixty days and nights with a complaining heart, but suppose there was one man or woman who came just one night and apologized to God, "Father, this is Your house. I'm sorry I couldn't come any sooner. Now that I'm here I want to dedicate my whole heart and effort this one night." That one person's heart and effort can go beyond sixty days' work. It's the intensity of the love in your heart that counts.
Love is great; love is absolute and unique. Love can shorten the time and go beyond barriers. Love is all-powerful. In order to make a new pride and make this a new place, you must love this building as God's temple more than any previous member of the Mormon congregation did. Then God will make Himself at home right here and will work with you far more than He ever did with the Mormons.
Do you think this temple is saying, "Just love me and take care of me. Don't let my roof leak." Or will it say, "Yes, I want to become the dwelling place of the world. Let the world come in and use me for the service of God." If it had a personality and mouth would this building say, "Love me more than anything else and never leave me" or "Love this city more than you love me. Love the nation and love the world more than you love me"?
What about God? God is here right now and what would He say to you? Let's say on the restoration team there was one man who was an extraordinary example and loved this building as the dwelling place of God. Would God tell you to love this city, the nation and the world more than this man loved this building, or would God say not to worry about the city or the nation or world but just love Him?
Think about the history of Washington. In 1976 we didn't have any building like this but we certainly made history anyway. We ran around to every corner of the city and had gigantic impact. What would Washington residents say to you? "Last year when you didn't have any decent house you visited door to door, laboring to bring God's message to the city. Now that you have this home you want to be comfortable and sit back and relax, don't you?" Would you like to hear them say that? They are fair people. But other people might say to you, "Last year without having any decent dwelling you made history. Now with this magnificent church as your home and temple, let me see how much more you can do. I expect you to really bring salvation to this city. I want you to live up to what you said last year."
God would be a lot happier and would prefer to stay with you without a home if you were going door to door bringing people the message of love. Unless you are more powerful and have more impact on this city and nation than before, you cannot sanctify this place or justify owning it. If this becomes only your dwelling place, God will never come. He will have no interest in it. All the beautiful moldings or the pipe organ will be nothing if God doesn't dwell here.
The significance of our having this church in Washington
Today is the day of dedication and resolution m Each one of you must pledge to God to demonstrate far greater energy than you did for last year's God Bless America Festival in Washington. "God, we are going to truly give ourselves in a far greater way. We will have an impact on the nation's capital, on the nation and the world." This is a day of pledge. Because all members of the Unification Church made tremendous sacrifice to make the Washington Monument Rally successful, on that foundation I was willing to spend the money to further that tradition so we could go on and gain the victory for God. That's the only reason I spent that money here in Washington Members came from all states to be guests in Washington and work a year ago, but now we want to become the host of this city. None of the Christian churches will even be able to complete with us because of the intensity of our love. This is not just a Sunday church. It's a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year church.
On 16th Street there are so many churches that people call it the Avenue of God, but many of those churches are run-down and dirty and some areas are crumbling. We have not only cleaned up our church, we are going to make a movement in the community to clean up God's Avenue. I want you to go out to serve that way, without sleeping and only eating one meal a day. That is precious. God is always with the person who is awake. Many people sleep long hours every night and wake up late, but the Unification Church is busy 24 hours a day. At 5 a.m. someone is praying and at midnight there is some activity. God is with you when you are active, not when you are sleeping.
With our energy and our effort, we want to restore the pride of God and restore the pride of the entire Christian community. Many churches are unoccupied on Sunday mornings and that emptiness is crying out, "We want to be like the Unification Church. We want to be used for God." We want to set the example. You must feel that you are a history-maker. In the 200-year history of Washington there were many good Christians who fervently gave their service for the sake of their fellow man and for God. But you must think, "I am a historic person. I am going to surpass all the records any Christian of this city has set."
We should be historically superior to everyone. That is going to be our pride. We are not just competing with our contemporaries; we are competing with history. We want to set the new record in history. We shall surpass all Christians, being in the forefront of the sacrificial love of God. Your physical appearance, however humble it is, doesn't matter. I want you to have a shining spirit inside. I want you to become men and women who shine as bright as the sun.
Even though Adam and Eve had no shaving cream or beautiful perfume before the fall, they were absolutely beautiful because they were the dwelling place of God. Because love was shining inside of them, they were as bright as the sun. Even though you look pale or weak, your love shining inside will make you beautiful.
Washington is the nation's capital and what we are doing here is a first. For example, this is the first Christian church we have occupied Moreover, it's the first time we have put our symbol on a spire high in the sky. When we bought Barrytown, I gave instructions to take down the symbol which our members put up. Why won't I say the same thing here? This symbol will remain eternally up in the sky in Washington because it represents a symbolic victory. This is the tower which the Unification Church has built in the nation's capital and from this time on our symbol will remain on that tower; we are trying to show the entire world what we are, where we are and what we are going to do.
The first time I came to the city of Washington in 1965 no one knew the name of Sun Myung Moon, but I prayed to God and made Him a promise. That promise was fulfilled with the victory at Washington Monument last year. Because that victory was won here in 1976 I wanted to make a monument in Washington, a living monument of heart, so that from generation to generation the spirit of the Washington Monument victory of 1976 would be immortalized. For that purpose this building was selected and restored, and for that purpose we are dedicating it today. The foundation of the Washington Church is the victory of Washington Monument. Therefore, this church is standing on the greatest of all foundations. We must build higher and higher and higher.
Following the victory of 1976, 1977 is a new era of fulfillment, of declaration and of victory. For that reason I have been looking for this tower in Washington. For that particular reason this edifice has been chosen and given by God, and for the first time in history we put our symbol high in the sky. I would like to have this symbol shine out from this place to all the world m This is a new history, a new day in our movement. How far will this symbol shine? It will start here and go on until we make the entire world the holy place of God. We will make the whole world the dwelling place of God so that it can be seen everywhere. Until then, the spirit of this symbol is the starting point. That symbol will be the symbol of the heavenly palace and of the Kingdom of God. Our goal is high and noble. It is so deep and far that before we reach it, we may face many setbacks and take much pain, but nothing will stop us until we reach the ultimate destination. We know only one thing: March forward, no retreat. We never learned to retreat.
Marching forward always means the sacrifice of comfort. Despite the amount of sacrifice, we have set the unselfish goal for the sake of God and humanity and as long as we continue on our march, God will be with us and we will win the victory. There is no other result we can expect except victory.
So far we have not been walking on smooth ground. We have been fighting on the rugged sea. That may continue in the future, but nothing has stopped us thus far and nothing will stop us in the future. I want you to know that unless we bring the kingdom while we are here on earth and put the symbol of the kingdom up on high, even though you are elevated in the spirit world there will be no rest. You will have to give your added energy, coming down as a spirit man to continue that task here on earth. We would rather do it while we are in the flesh.
Do you think I would tell you to love this church more than I love it or just to do the best you can? What do you think I expect of you? I want you to exceed me. One thing is sure. I know God and God's love, and if you had that same power of love, then you would exceed my level. If you really have the same God and the same love of God then it can be done. Compared to me you haven't suffered so much to come this far. Compared to my standard, you should go farther. If the Christian church had been united and had supported me from the beginning, then I would not have had to go through all that suffering for so many decades. I suffered for them and for the sake of the nation and world.
I won the battle and received the blessing and I want to share it with you and with the world. Do you want to ask me for those blessings free, or would you rather be deserving and worthy of them? In order to do that you must have a parallel direction of love. That direction means that I have been working single-mindedly for one goal for the sake of God and for the salvation of humanity. For that purpose I suffered, so you must think; in the same way. Think of humanity, and without hesitating go toward any amount of sacrifice. God is looking for champions who won over the cross and who want to go beyond the cross. God is not looking for the opportunist who sits idly waiting for the reward. Certainly that is not God's ideal man.
Make the upheaval you cause in this nation the most memorable in history
The Civil War was the largest war fought here in America. Unless you fight a greater war than that, you cannot exceed that record of heroism. The American people know the Civil War had the most impact on this country and they have become complacent, thinking the record has been set. You people have to provoke a greater upheaval and have a greater impact than the Civil Warm Then people will say they have never seen such a thing in history. Let's say you fought a greater war than the Civil War and contributed to the nation and the world m Then all the great wars of the past would become insignificant because people would have something greater to remember. Even though the Civil War has a 100-year history, our impact must be greater than any of those wars.
By the same token, God has already seen the Washington Monument Rally of 1976 and if you want to draw God's attention to you then you must start a greater campaign and win a greater victory The only way you Washington members can evoke God's interest in coming here is to be geared up to another victory. There is no simple way.
All along 16th Street there are numerous churches, but they are dark most of the week except for probably one night. This church shall be lit 24 hours a day, not because we are wasting energy but because there is activity. The lights should never go out. This room should never be empty, even if there is only one person praying. Washington must organize the same standard as the Washington Monument Rally, using this place as headquarters. From this time on, another kind of Washington Monument campaign must be resumed.
We will start a trend by being the only church lit up as the others go out at night, but one after another the other churches will follow our example. They will have to have more meetings at night and more prayer services in the mornings at 4 or 5 a.m. First one church, then two, then four and five will follow. This is a lighting-up campaign. Maybe they won't respond right away but then you must make them light up. How can you do that? Perhaps we have ten members praying here; one will stay and nine go out and knock on the door of another church. The pastor might answer, or if he is away the janitor must answer, and our members will say, "We have come to pray at your church." That person has to put the light on to ]et you pray. That is the house of God and if people came and wanted to pray, how could he say he could not light it for them? The pastor might be inside doing something else while the Unification Church members are praying in his sanctuary all night. He would probably feel rather uncomfortable. God was with us at the Washington Monument and that same God will continue to work with us in this campaign.
In the Unification Church our goal is perfection and the completion of restoration. Who was the motivating factor in Adam's laughing and smiling? God. When he sang, who was the motivation? God. When he danced, who was it for? God. That's the way we should be, the way this place should be. You sing for God and you laugh and dance because God is the motivation. It is not even for me or for anybody else but God. When loud bursts of laughter come out of this building at night, it is not because men and women are having lots of fun, but because God and man are having lots of fun.
If you should say to God, "You need a better place to stay. Why don't you go down to the White House or Capitol Hill," God would reply, "I want to stay right here!" God is not drawn to the size of the building but the intensity of the desire to serve and bring mankind into salvation. God dwells wherever the power of salvation burns. It's not the White House which brings salvation, or Capitol Hill, and if you make this the place for salvation of the nation and the world, God has no place else to go except here with you. That's the secret: you make God your prisoner. You can monopolize God. The monopoly of God must start right from this place. God has no choice but to become your prisoner if you are His representative. Then God will say to Reverend Moon, "Because of your good deeds, you have really given me new pride. You really restored my confidence and my value." God will be joyous, anxious to be with you. He has only one desire. He will say to you, "I want you to make the men and women you are bringing to me better than you are. I want to train and discipline them m Then I shall be content." In order to assure continued prosperity, the children should be greater than the parents. By the same token, I want you to be better than me. In order to achieve that goal there may be a prison cell waiting for you, or much suffering. There may be all kinds of curses and scorn waiting for you. Do you mind?
Christianity has just the same tradition. God wants to have Christians be even stronger than Jesus. Jesus was put to the supreme test on the cross and God's plan was for Christians to be even stronger than Jesus and go beyond the cross. That spirit and power was kindled in the early centuries of Christianity and could conquer Rome. That's the secret.
If you truly love me and truly want to follow me then you must become better men and women in the sight of God than I am. That's my wish. That means you can inherit 100% of what I have received from God. My foundation, tradition and blessing can all become yours. I am approaching the age of 60 but I never think that I have done the job. I always think, "From now on God, give me a chance and I'll do it. This is a new beginning." I will continue in that philosophy until the day I die and on the day of my death I will never think that I have accomplished something, but that death is just a new start.
God has been shamed and you have been called here to save the dignity of God. You are here to save His prestige so that He can really declare to the world that He is God. You can also uphold the True Parents, and save the nation and save your own face too. Because people look at you more than they look at me, they will evaluate the Unification Church and its leader through you. If you are noble then they will conclude that your leader must be a noble man. Your image represents my image. The people who went to the Science Conference were totally enchanted with our young people and declared, "I don't know too much about Reverend Moon, but through you I can imagine what kind of person he is.'
The Unification Church will prosper and always go on to victory if each one of you thinks that you will go a step further than I have m If you commit yourself to that then you are already a success, and we are already an invincible force which nothing can deter.
December 4 is a very amazing day. I came to Washington, D.C. twelve years ago on April 12. April is the fourth month. Today we are dedicating this building to God on December 4, which is the reversal of the two numbers. When I first entered Washington twelve years ago, Prayed and promised God what I would accomplish in the next twelve years m Those years have all passed and today I am praying and promising God what I will accomplish in the next twelve years m In the next twelve years, our task is going to be very simple if each one of you makes a determination that you will go a step further than me, and go over one more hill than I have. Then the entire world will come under God in those twelve years and you shall be living in the Kingdom of God here on earth.
You are restoring the dignity of manhood and womanhood
Will you promise that you v. ill save my dignity and honor? In addition to that, you men must preserve the dignity of manhood which has been lost in the sight of God. When you think of the men in history- Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jesus-it is clear that although they played a tremendous part in God's providence, in one way or another they failed. In this time in the providence your determination to God will be, " I will be a man who will not fail You." You must restore the honor of men. Otherwise, you will not become sons of God. Unless you are honored as being victorious in the satanic world, you cannot even dream of restoring yourself to the level of Adam before the fall.
How about the women? Here in America the women are having a field day, aren't they? You women have your dignity and honor in America. Even the President has to open the door for a woman simply because he is a man. Who is more responsible for ruining this country, the men or women? Honestly speaking, women have a more cunning character. They are trying to hide their true selves and present some other nature through their manicures, cosmetics and furs m A made-up face is not genuine. You have really inherited Eve's character; she approached Adam in a very suave and calculated manner and enticed him, and if you women truly want to restore women's dignity and honor in the sight of God, you must make an about-face. How about Unification Church members, do you have long fingernails or short ones? Women who have long fingernails don't want to work; they just want to make themselves up colorfully and get attention. That's why I don't like a lot of makeup.
In heaven and earth women must feel, "God, I'm a true woman. There is no deceitfulness in me. I am a true, honest person and I am honorable in Your sight. I have no shame." How many women can say that? You never thought about it from that angle, but when you really think about this, it has a lot of meaning. A lot of thinking needs to be done.
Therefore, let's dignify woman in the sight of God. If there is a handsome, muscular man who tries to entice you, would you become his victim? I trust you because Unification Church women are different. They listen to what I say and believe the truth. If I ask them to go on the MFT it means that these beautiful women will walk miles and miles every day. I know those devoted women in the Unification Church, and there are many of them.
Why do you follow me? You are obedient to God's will in order to indemnify the sin that Eve committed in the garden of Eden, when she thought only about herself and tried to have her own way, instead of obeying Adam. In reality you women are restoring your true dignity in the sight of man. Are you MFT members walking the street in that spirit? I have heard about all kinds of unbearable experiences, of sisters going out and getting no result except scorn, and standing on the street corner and literally crying. I let you experience that hardship to let you feel the shame that Eve brought down to earth in the fall. In order to restore her sin each woman now takes a position of being exposed to shame. It is only through single-minded devotion to God that she can still go on, and in that way she can prove that she is a worthy and honorable woman. On the MFT money is secondary. The most providential reasons come first: restoration of the honor and dignity of men and women.
I want women to be absolutely dignified and restored to honor so that they can walk in the sight of God without shame and in the sight of men without shame. Then nothing under the sun can deter or weaken such a woman and she can go straight forward to God. No kind of enticing can weaken that kind of woman. No temptation under the sun can change her direction. Even though her body is tired, if her eyes are shining and looking toward the one goal, nothing can tarnish her. That is a strong, invincible woman.
I want the Unification Church woman to be proud of being handpicked at this particular time in human history, thinking, "I am fulfilling the most extraordinary role. No amount of work at any other time in history can duplicate my mission. I am a proud woman." Do you want to fall behind the men or not? I would like to see women in the Unification Church who are more capable than men. I would like to make a woman captain of a fishing boat because most men do not want that job.
Once women do extraordinary things and truly restore their honor, that accomplishment will remain and the words of criticism will be blown away. I want you to know that you are not just restoring your own honor, but you are doing a great favor to the billions of women in spirit world. Those women are ashamed to lift up their faces but because dignified women are being restored here on earth, a condition is being made through which all women in spirit world will be liberated. Because of you, all the women in spirit world can be proud women and they will thank us.
Each person has the responsibility of making themselves shameless in the sight of heaven and earth
I am giving you such hard work and pain and suffering that you want to get back at me, right? I am pushing you out into pain and suffering and you still love me? This seems ironic and certainly people outside our Church cannot understand, but this is the basis for eternal joy. From the shortsighted point of view, you may be a foolish person to follow that kind of instruction, but in the long-range vision of eternity what intelligence you have! What a virtue to accept it and follow and fulfill it. People of the world look down and only see shortsightedly, but we look up with an unlimited vision in front of us. Since we are climbing up, there are a lot of hills to go over and it's not easy. When you continually go down, however, your sight will be more and more limited until it's buried in the ground.
Among American people the philosophy of hard work is quickly vanishing. Americans have much food and because they eat instead of work they become heavy. Which sex has more fat people? Women cook and taste the food all the time but men manage to stay slim because they work. The Unification Church is advertising a new diet program: All the fat women can come to the Unification Church. We'll put them on the MFT and within three months they'll be thin!
What I am saying is that man must restore man's dignity and honor, and women must restore women's original dignity and honor. At the dedication of this Washington Church I am declaring that you must commit yourself to the responsibility of becoming a changed person in the sight of man and heaven. Women, you must become shameless in the sight of the universe. Walk in the broad daylight without shame and let people see you.
You possess the love of God. Wall; without shame, looking straight up to the eyes of God and straight out to the eyes of the people. You are truly noble sons and daughters of God. I want you to know that your rank in the spirit world will be decided by how well you live this way of life here on earth. Each one must become a shameless person in the sight of God. In the sight of husbands, all the wives are to be shameless; and in the sight of wives, husbands are to be shameless. In the sight of the children, parents are to be shameless. Then your perfection and the completion of restoration will be finished. The love of God is the standard.
In today's society how many wives and husbands have some kind of secret shame that they cannot speak of to each other? What kinds of things are exposed to their children, like divorce, fighting and killing among adults. If we wipe away the shame, everything will be solved. When you women demonstrate pure and genuine love for your own husbands, you are actually loving all the world of men. When you love your own wife, you are loving a representative of the entire world of women of God. When you love your own children, you are loving humanity, because those children represent the manhood and womanhood of God. All mankind is manifest in them. That is the way I live.
Every day I am hard on myself because I don't want to have shame. Sometimes Mother is weak or sick, but I insist that she come with me all the time. Sometimes she must feel that she has a cruel husband, yet she always comes. I am looking at a different level because I never think of myself as one man or of Mother as one woman; I look at the entire universe and the consequences in spirit world of every action m Whether Mother goes to a certain place or not makes a tremendous difference in spirit world. All of womanhood in spirit world would be disappointed and we just cannot leave this stigma in history. You may not understand much of this sermon, but some day you will understand. When you go to spirit world you will really know how I was right.
Here on earth let's make ourselves shameless. A woman must become a shameless wife in the sight of her husband. Before heaven and earth you must become a shameless person. If someone doesn't go along the straight course then you must advise him and bring him back to the original course. If one person becomes shameful and another person becomes sympathetic to that person, it will ruin both of them. You must be a shameless person and bring the other person back to a shameless course. Children must be raised to know these things.
There's a gigantic universe out there and a gigantic God out there, but man is actually a microcosm of that universe. One man is actually one universe, and one woman is actually one universe. When a man and woman are walking down the street, heaven and earth are moving together because man represents heaven and women represents earth. Love is blooming there, bringing the two together into one entity. You don't have to seek the love of God or even ask God to give you love. Just open your arms and make yourself a container and the love of God will come and fill you. When you become that kind of container, all kinds of gifts will come to you and all kinds of good people will come around you. When husband and wife become that kind of God-centered man and woman, then good children are the automatic result. Love is the key.
When you can look at your neighbors and mankind and love them as you do your own husband or wife, you are truly the saint of all saints. Indeed you are then the sons and daughters of God. Completion of the restoration is the extension of this kind of life on different levels. You live in this love of God, and love the world and love mankind as you love God, as you love your spouse. You exercise that way of life on a small scale, then on a larger scale in the nation and world. Each time you go over one level you are approaching perfection, and ultimately the infinite world will come under you.
I am doing just that. Wherever I go I want to be with Mother so we can feel sorrow together and feel ecstatic joy together. We will look at people from God's position and weep from the position of God.
I had an apology to make to my own children. One day l asked them, "I am always going out with Mother. I don't leave her at home so much and you are left alone. Do you still want me to always go with Mother?" The children all said, "Father, we don't want you to go alone. Always go with Mother." When I replied, "But we won't be here to take care of you," they said, "That's all right. For you to go with Mother is far more important than us being alone at home." Basically they know that if Mother and I go away that something important is being fulfilled. They know where our hearts are and what we are doing.
When we come home very early in the morning, maybe 2 a.m., we go to the children's rooms and look at their peaceful sleeping faces. Then I really feel parental dove in a silent way, more than at any other time. I feel that distance can be comforting; separation doesn't mean anything if there is the link of the love of God and genuine trust and honesty. Nothing can break that.
I have created a tradition for my children to follow. You are going to inherit the same tradition, and your children as well. The love of God is the moving force. With the love of God you can cleanse all sins and make yourself whole in the sight of God. Then what is the love of God? It is to love others more than you love yourself. That has been God's tradition from the very beginning of creation. God wanted to love Adam more than He loved Himself. God wanted Adam to love his wife more than he loved himself and Eve to love her husband more than she loved herself. That was the tradition. What we are setting as a tradition today shall remain as a tradition in the future, and this way shall be walked by millions and millions of people in the future. Our responsibility is a great one.
This is some advice for you. Many people cry and repent for their sins in the sight of God, but you have a faster way to get to heaven. Pray and repent for lacking the love of God m "I want to love God more. I want to love the world more. I'm sorry I couldn't do enough today." That's the fastest route. Our mandate in the Unification Church is to go beyond the level of just loving ourselves. We love others more than we love ourselves. That is the tradition the Unification Church is setting for the world.
God's love is all-powerful and will dominate all. Those who want to become the hosts of this love, to have burning zeal in such love, those who can pledge to God and True Parents that you can confidently do that and live that life, raise your hands please. Thank you. Let us pray.