Sun Myung Moon
March 1, 1983
Excerpts
Belvedere
This concept can be divided into three parts:
(1) man's part of responsibility,
(2) restoration by indemnity, and
(3) time of perfection.
When today's average Christian hears about indemnity, he may think, "Almighty God has a soft heart, He is a God of love. What do you mean by indemnity? That's cruel, and God is not cruel." He would rather simply believe that if he maintains faith in Jesus, he doesn't have to do anything else to be saved. When someone says he believes in Jesus, does he mean he believes in the Jesus who resides in the individual, the Jesus who is in the family or society, the Jesus who reigns over a country or the universe, or the Jesus who is in God? That makes a lot of difference.
A favorite source of Christian faith is John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Today, Christians minimize the most important clause and stress the less important clause. The most important clause is: "God so loved the world."
They forget that God so loved the world. Not because God so loved a church or an individual that He sent His only begotten son, but because He loved the world, the universe. Jesus was meant to save the world. When we say we believe in Jesus, do we also believe in the parts we don't enjoy so much? Actually, we should believe in what Jesus would like us to believe, and protect ourselves from what he would not like us to believe in. Then what is it that Jesus would not like? Satan and sin. We must protect ourselves from Satan and sin and separate from them. That is the only kind of position from which we can believe in Jesus.
We must repent of the fact that we constantly live with Satan. Once we have separated ourselves from Satan and sin, then Jesus urges us to believe in heaven and to serve heaven and what is to come from heaven. Jesus' mission was to create individuals separated from Satan and sin, families separated from Satan and sin, a country separated from Satan and sin. Did Jesus accomplish that during his lifetime? Is there any church on earth which can claim that it is absolutely separated from Satan and sin and striving to believe in Jesus exactly according to his desires? None. Satan exists in the church, where there k an almost equal amount of sin as anyplace else. The church is a convenient place from which he can readily protest to God, "Look at these people: they hate others, they don't love mankind, they aren't faithful. Therefore, this must be my church." If the church remains like this, it must perish along with the evil world.
Americans, who represent Christianity, are so individualistic. How did Americans come to be so egoistic, so individualistic, when Jesus had nothing of an egoistical nature? If they really believed in Jesus they would not have become egoistical. Rather than believing in Jesus for Jesus' sake and God's sake, they believe for their own benefit. They feel that if they just keep on believing, God will keep on pouring out His grace on them. Such people feel that they can receive everything they want, without doing anything. Their attitude is like that of a thief, who just takes things without working.
Was this how Jesus believed in God? Did he think that because God sent him as His only begotten son it meant he had all power without making efforts himself? If Jesus couldn't, what is the justification for thinking that Christians can? If everything could have come to Jesus all by itself, why did he witness? Why did he have to go through persecution and tremendous suffering?
Jesus did what he had to do; he took the road of persecution and bloodshed. Jesus realized what was ahead of him, but he also knew that in order to accomplish God's will he had to go through it. He knew what God wanted him to do: love and save the people and the whole world.
It stands to reason, therefore, that everyone who loves Jesus must join him in doing God's will: love the world and save the people. Jesus had the obligation, the mission, to transform the world into a world that God could love. There are many churches today, and in their own ways they embrace the world. But can they and the world they embrace be considered worthy of God? When God looks at the church and the world, He will hate them and be unable to bear looking at them; Satan, however, will love the church and the people.
Make The World Lovable By God
Why did I bring up this topic today? Looking at reality, most Unification Church members were at one time or another Christians before joining the Unification Church. They find the Unification Church so different from Christian churches and so much more difficult and demanding that they wonder if the way they used to believe might not have been of more benefit to themselves after all. In other churches, people can sleep as much as they want, etc.
The true faith is what Jesus tried to establish in his time. He invested everything to gather the people and teach them, to establish the kind of world that God can love. Jesus had to love the world before he could accomplish his mission. When all people become capable and worthy of being loved by God everything will be fulfilled. When Jesus makes the world lovable by God, he accomplishes his mission; and when the people of the world are loved by Jesus and God, they are satisfied.
From this perspective, today's Christianity has no excuse; it deserves to perish, for it is confusing people. Individualism, which is a fruit of the churches' efforts, deserves to perish as well. Moreover, if God is angry and strikes the church, America cannot escape His wrath, because it is a representative of Christianity.
God will strike America through communism. When a healthy individual is invaded by germs, the white blood cells go on the alert and rush out to consume the germs; otherwise, the body will not survive. In this huge, once-healthy country, the germs of Satan and communism are entering fast; unless the church in America comes up with a measure to eliminate this germ, this country will die.
This germ of communism proclaims that the world belongs to the working class. God proclaims that the world belongs to all God-fearing people. When Satan claims something wrong, a movement should emerge on God's side to proclaim the truth even more strongly.
Two different voices need to be heard, two different sides shouting at the top of their lungs. Will the multitudes follow those who say, "You must love me," or those who say, "You don't need to love me, but let me be of service to you; let me love you"? In this hopeless world, if a group emerges who loves the world, thinks more of serving than being served, and does mainly what Jesus did, then God will have fulfilled the promise He made when He sent His only begotten son out of love for the world.
Because Of The Responsibility Principle, God Doesn't Help Us
On the one hand, our movement is trampling down sin and communism, protecting ourselves against this germ, consuming this germ. On the other hand, we are sacrificing ourselves as Jesus did, bearing our own cross, so God can love this world. We are making this world a lovable world, worthy of God. Our way of working contrasts with the style of other religious groups. The difference is not slight; it is almost like that between day and night.
It is a sin if we try to compare our lifestyle with that of Christian churches. These two are never supposed to be the same. Since God loved the world so much, and since I love you so much, I am driving you out to an intolerable degree, in order to make this world lovable. It's important to know why we have to do this. The reason is man's portion of responsibility. Inch by inch, I have had to fight to regain ground for God.
Would God be ashamed of the emergence of the Unification Church? Would He be ashamed that we work harder than other Christians? No, He would be proud of the Moonies. However, it may seem that He doesn't care, because no matter how badly the Unification Church is persecuted, still He does nothing on our behalf.
When Jesus was crucified, God certainly was watching over the scene. Was it because He lacked power that He didn't stop the Roman soldiers from crucifying Jesus? What kind of father could bear to look at the blood of his own son, who was being treated unrighteously and not do anything about it? Why did God look down on sin and pretend He did not know? Into this seemingly common but very important issue, comes human responsibility.
Great discoveries have been made in science. But this law -- man's responsibility -- was the greatest discovery of all. Without this principle, no major issue in the history of mankind or in theology can be solved. Why are righteous people always suffering and being sacrificed? Why is it that only after they die are their names resurrected? You must realize that this is not a passing fancy, but the discovery of a lifetime. We are the ones who should most like this principle of responsibility. But I know that the Moonies, like everyone else, hate it the most.
Have You Gone Through All 8 Steps Of Indemnity?
Another principle inevitably follows responsibility: restoration by indemnity. The duration of that indemnity period nobody knows -- not God, not the spirit world, not me, not any leader.
If God were to help someone in a really miserable situation, man's responsibility would have been nullified. When Adam and Eve were about to fall, all God would have had to say was, "Don't do it." God couldn't do that. When I was going through the period of indemnity, God could not help me. Instead, God said, "You are about to inherit all that was given to Adam. In order to receive it, you have to go through that course by yourself, and win over yourself." When I was already suffering in the cold weather, I took off my coat. Satan couldn't stand to see me suffer that way, so he would press somebody to offer me a coat. Not even God could take away a coat which had been received in such a way. Once Satan does something to clothe you, neither God nor any other Satans can take it away.
There are individual levels of indemnity, followed by family, clan, national, universal, spirit world, and cosmic levels of indemnity -- eight steps in all. So the question is whether you have ever gone through these eight steps of indemnity.
Why is it so incredibly complicated? One might ask. This is not something I reasoned out; it existed, although not understood in an analytical way, from the very beginning. All Adam and Eve needed to do was to keep God's commandment and live for 21 years faithful to God. But since the fall took place and since restoration efforts have consistently failed, now we find that to separate each step, from individual to cosmic levels, from Satan takes so long. This law of indemnity, and these steps of indemnity, are applicable not just to specific individuals, not just to Unification Church members, but to everyone -- those who believe and those who still don't; everyone eventually has to go through these steps.
People see that I make Unification Church members work incredibly hard without pay. If people get paid and are well taken care of, their efforts do not constitute fulfilling man's responsibility. If we don't fulfill man's responsibility, we remain under satanic domain. There is no way to escape satanic domain without fulfilling man's responsibility.
I have consistently taken the position of not wanting any individual to help me, no family to aid me, not even a nation to support me. My relatives and my closest surroundings all opposed me. I knew that I had to adhere to this course, because in order to be able to establish a clear indemnity condition, once and for all, I cannot be helped by others. I proclaimed to God, "God, I am doing this on my own will, not because You demanded it of me."
Extend The Name Of True Parents
So what was my goal? One day, after the completion of my mission, to have hundreds and millions of people calling themselves true children, looking up to me as True Parent and receiving instant benefit, without having to do so much themselves. Man's responsibility originally applied only to Adam and Eve. Until Adam and Eve complete man's responsibility, all areas are hindered.
This is what Christianity has been expecting -- someone to come to earth to fulfill this human part of responsibility True Parents, Second Advent, to deliver all the Christians back to God and His realm of love. This is what all mankind has been awaiting. Now True Parents are in the Unification Church; Unification Church members are under the realm of grace, but the name of True Parents has not yet gone beyond the nation or world. Still we have the nation to go over, the world to go over, and Satan to go over. Even though satanic forces are straggling and disorganized, they still fire at us.
Now the Unification Church must extend True Parents beyond the church boundaries to the nation -- through witnessing, fundraising, etc. Those who donate to our fundraisers automatically come into God's grace and blessing.
Imagine a fishing line with America on one end and Moonies on the other. Which will fish for the other: America for the Moonies, or the Moonies for America? ["We'll fish for America," the members reply.] Will America reel in, or will the Moonies reel in? You had better have a strong reel, or it will strain and the line may snap! How is your line? Is it strong enough? You say yes, but when I look at you I don't feel so comfortable! Your line needs a little maintenance. You know, there is a chemical which you can spray on your reel to make your line powerful and strong. God's words are like that chemical; they work a miracle within you and you can become strong once more. So when you listen to me, do you become weaker or stronger?
The only person who has successfully carried out all these eight steps of indemnity is Rev. Moon. But for whom did I go through this? Because God loves the world, I did it. We are doing exactly this: along with the begotten son, we are making this world the kind of world God can love.
Jesus wanted all the people of the world to be loved by God, just as Jesus himself was loved by God. Jesus was the first-loved by God, and all mankind was second-loved by God. He called himself our elder brother, so that means we are his younger brothers. How close it feels to have Jesus as your elder brother! Who is Jesus? [In English:] Jesus is favorite, my favorite elder brother.
Jesus wanted everybody to be a family. Once Jesus built that lovable society, all he would have had to say was, "Father, they are ready, love them."
The democratic world may one day decline. The communist system will certainly be eliminated and leave no trace behind. Everyone else may go, but the Unification Church will remain for eternity. As long as God exists, we know this is true.
The glory may eventually be returned to God, but God cannot initiate this restoration. The restoration needs to be done among ourselves, in the archangel position, namely in this country which represents all the archangelic countries of the world. We have to get together and work for the sake of God and America.
Sacrifice For Something Bigger Than Yourself
What is the goal of restoration through indemnity? We suffer and sacrifice to find someone bigger than ourselves. What if someone claims instead that the bigger should be sacrificed for the sake of the smaller? That makes no sense. What is the biggest being in the universe? God. Everything is for God; therefore, God cannot sacrifice Himself for the sake of something smaller than Himself. Each sacrifice should support God, helping sustain Him from all four directions. The center, God, should not move under any circumstance.
In order to save a country, the people of the country should sacrifice. Not the other way around. For the sake of the world, one country should be and will be sacrificed. And for the sake of God, the world should be and will be sacrificed.
The more you sacrifice, the closer in love you become to the people of the world. A patriot is the one who works more than anybody else for the country. A filial son is the son who works harder for the parents than the other children do.
Are you enthusiastic about your new discovery of the right laws of our existence before God? This is what Jesus meant when he said, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 16:25). Those who want to cling to a small thing and ignore the big thing will die. They retreat, and to retreat means gradually to die.
I chose this first day of March to wage a new movement in our church. My strategy and purpose is not to benefit the Unification Church or me, but to make all Unification Church members people who meet the standard of man's responsibility.
State leaders are responsible to make the state they are leader of lovable by God. If you are a state leader, you have to travel and cover every village of your state. Appeal to the people, "If you don't listen to me, you all will die; you all will perish." Those of you who have cried for yourselves, raise your hands. Those who have never cried for any reason, raise your hands. If you didn't cry for the world and the country, then you can conclude that you cried for yourself.
When human history began, did it start from tears or from laughter? Adam and Eve left the Garden with tears, tears for themselves. God was equally, if not more, tearful, because He had to expel them. So we have to indemnify that.
The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand
Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed repentance for the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The Unification Church is making the same cry, repentance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In place of Adam and Eve, Unification Church members should cry for God and mankind. Don't worry about whether you go to heaven or hell; cry out to God on behalf of mankind. "If You want to send me to hell, I don't fear that; hell was where I started," you can tell God. I am not so much concerned about whether or not I go to heaven, but whether I can stop God's tears." Only by doing this can we help save mankind.
The Dursts come and say, "If we are going to do something, we want to do it joyfully." But I say there is no such thing as 100 percent joyfulness. If God is crying or on the verge of tears, how can Unification Church members stay joyful? If mankind is on the brink of perishing, can any Unification Church member be cheerful and gleeful? Forget it. If someone feels, "Father, I can only do it when I am happy," he must understand that the only way of happiness is to do work which will prevent God from shedding tears and prevent mankind from certain perishing. "If I am going to do something, I will do it right, and that is where my happiness will lie." There is no other happiness except that.
We want to be loyal citizens and filial children. The loyal citizens and filial children can only work to fulfill the most critical needs of their king or parents. When we faithfully do that, we are fulfilling our mission. Such people are holy people, sacred people, saints. All Unification Church members must be saints before they can be eligible to be sons and daughters of God. The level of saints is below, not above, that of sons and daughters of God, but below it. We are to be sons and daughters of God. That means we have to surpass the level of saints.
A Life Of Tears
Year after year, day after day, my life has been filled with tears. I pray to God, "It doesn't matter that I shed tears, but if I shed tears, I pray that they can stop Your tears and those of millions and millions of people. If that can result, I don't mind shedding tears."
When I was betrayed by my own wife, I did not shed tears. When my own children or relatives did things to me, I never shed tears,. But never did I pray without tears. Those tears are holy, sacred tears; we cannot accomplish anything without those tears.
Since tears originated with Adam and Eve's fall, I did not want to repeat that. The only reason I cry is to stop those tears. There have been many complicated situations, family affairs, national affairs, whatever. But these never cause me to shed tears. In the midst of war and misery, blessed couples make love and have children, but you must understand clearly that if you shed tears and cry for your sake, it has nothing to do with this restoration. Don't you ever cry for your own sake.
So again, those who want to die will live, and those who want to live will die. If someone who does good things and gains good results but with a motivation centered on himself rather than on mankind and God, where do you think he will end up? Heaven or hell? He gained so much result for the church and did public activity, but he may still end up in hell. On the other hand, if you did something for the sake of God and mankind, even though what you did was not so much, still you have a chance to go to heaven.
Does that mean the Unification Church is nothing but a succession of misery, and there is no time for members to laugh and be joyful? Certainly not. But keep in mind the goal of God and mankind. When there is a moment of respite, we can laugh and enjoy ourselves, but then take up the next task.
In the morning, we go out to the world to work, a little anxious about how we are going to accomplish our goal. We are filled with anticipation and confidence, for if we work with all our might, heaven and spirit world should help.
I may feel absolutely sick, tired, or exhausted, because every day is a day of competition, every day is a life and death situation, as I try to achieve a result. After a number of years, I could feel that it was my business and I was born for it. But now I don't want even to think about those days. That is how difficult it has been. [In English:] The course of 1 restoration is a long, long time.
If you win something after going through the hard way, and you know it is even more valuable than your life, you will certainly not want to lose any of it. You might as soon die than give up what you gained and come down. If you are about to collapse, still you can move even a few inches further.
Have you American leaders lived with that kind of seriousness? All American leaders must repent, because they have not had that kind of seriousness. From this moment on, American leaders and members must take the road of crying and shedding tears all day long for the sake of God and mankind. When that is accomplished, you will be able to inherit God's blessing for you. If you are really serious and take to your road and do it faithfully, later you will think 1 back and wonder how you could have been so cruel to your wife and children, how you could have lost your common sense and become crazy. I know this ground you are standing on, because I pioneered it. I know it 100 percent. When I know that, how can I let you take it easy? My standard of conscience is how harshly I treated my own son; that is the criterion I should apply to all Unification Church members, so that every one of them will have a chance to avoid failure and obtain success. Then I will be able to turn around and speak to my own persecuting wife and child and tell them, "Because of you I was able to establish the absolute criterion which was later able to save hundreds and hundreds of lives of Unification Church members. Therefore, I am so grateful to you." Even when I was harsh to my wife, I was not doing it in order to have a good family later. I did it only for the sake of God and for the future of mankind. That was why I pushed myself to that edge.
The liberation of mankind. The liberation of God. All the Korean members are now shedding serious tears for that goal. If America does not inherit that tradition, no matter what you may do, you are not connected. This is serious.
I have decided to launch a new campaign during these next three years. During these three years I will plant this tradition in the soil of America. If God comes seeking His lost children, do you think you can easily meet Him? Do you think you can shake hands with Him and say, "How do you do?" You would shed tears -- the worst kind of tears you can imagine. Only by tears can God and newly recovered people meet each other.
All leaders must cry for their area of responsibility. You must shed tears for the state, in place of God and in place of unknowing mankind. If you do that, you won't need to worry so much about witnessing. People will come on their own. During one really intense time, I cried ceaselessly for the sake of God and for the future of mankind. Guided by the spirit world, many people came to me. I didn't even go out and witness to them. I cried so much that those around me became worried; I never ate, all I did was cry. This was the beginning of the Unification Church. "Father, don't do that," the members told me. "I will go out and witness." Voluntarily they went out and started witnessing.
This is the typical pattern of the Unification Church.
The first step of Christian faith is repentance. Since Adam and Eve fell with tears, we cry again, but not for our own sake -- for God and mankind. That is the beginning of the Christian faith.
Who Cares About American Christianity?
Those of you who are Americans, raise your hands. Are you Americans? Are you truly Americans? Is your country in the process of perishing or prospering? Christianity once flourished here. Where are the Christians now? Who is responsible?
If some Americans take this responsibility, maybe America will live. By whom will America survive? [In English:] I will take this way and I will do it in spite of death. What kind of decision have we arrived at? We must arrive at some decision by which God will be happy, with which God will be comfortable. [In English:] Who will liberate God's situation? Who will take that kind of position of God?
Who will take God's position? Only the Moonies can do it. Can you do it? As long as you start doing it, the Unification Church is guaranteed to prosper. We need more Moonies in this country. The very ones Americans hate so much -- Rev. Moon and the Unification Church -- are doing something about prostitution and moral problems. Who cares enough about American Christianity? The very one who is so hated and persecuted by Americans.
These social evils... these young people interested in drugs, their brains melting like butter; they cannot live any longer, or even if they lived they would be like vegetables. Their numbers are increasing every year.... Drugs are being sold on the street in broad daylight. Who in the world is putting a stop to it? This trend of free sex, where does it originate? The movies, television, are sources for stimulating them. Who will cleanse them so they can no longer destroy young people's morals? Also, gambling places where all sorts of evils take place, who is going to put an end to this?
American Christians are the ones who must do this, but are they capable? Can communists do it? No, they would rather accelerate these trends, because they want America to be eradicated. Rev. Moon is the only one who is insane enough to save America and warn her to protect herself from communism; otherwise, this great, gigantic nation will be inferior in a couple of years. These are the things which are the origin of God's sorrow. These are the things which stop man from becoming better.
Why did I match blacks with whites? I know this will cause great difficulties. Did I do it to create some sensation, to gain a reputation? Certainly not. A bigger racial confrontation is certain to come in the future, unless religious people do something. Black people will fight against white, white against black. There will he tons of bloodshed. I must prevent that. Therefore, I matched and married whites and blacks.
Anybody who is reasonable can see this. There is no alternative. I am doing this from a much deeper analysis of Principle. You have eyes and ears. But do your eyes discern this cry? America is like a gigantic animal about to die, shouting out in cries of pain and agony. Your ears must be able to hear that kind of cry.
As long as Satan has a grip on people, they are happy regardless of the kind of condition they may be in. You must understand: to protect the people and prevent Satan from further maltreating them, we must really liberate young people.
Let me ask you a simple question: do you love America? If you say you love America, it does not mean anything unless you take this task seriously. When cancer starts, you hardly perceive it. As it progresses, you can notice it a little. But you know with certainty that the organism will die. Then how can you remain idle? How can you be indifferent? If you just think about your own life and your own family's blessing and going to heaven, how is such an attitude different from that of the Christians? That is what I am trying to tell you.
Go and appeal to Christians, go and appeal to officials. Tell them what is coming over America. That is our mission, to cry out and proclaim this. If they don't listen, burst into tears. When you cry out, God will start listening to your prayer. If you just pray, God will never pay attention. If you pray while you are being persecuted, while you are working hard, then God listens.
So starting today, we decide to eradicate the incorrect understanding of heavenly tradition of all American leaders -- and all other leaders, for that matter. We will make a brand new start towards establishing the genuine, correct tradition of God and True Parents in our church, beginning today. For one thing, I would like to see tears rolling out of those blue eyes. I would like to appreciate how beautiful those tears are. Until now, I have seen tears coming out of only black eyes! [In English:] How about that? You work on that?
The age of perfection does not come in laughter, joy and glee. Instead, we must go over the hill of misery, over the hill of tears, before we can see the day of perfection. On the heavenly timetable, these are the days of tears, not joyful, merry, happy times.
To fulfill restoration through indemnity, we will have to shed tears to reach the stage of perfection.
This is where home church comes in. Even though there may be some period of persecution, after a reasonable period of time, people will learn what we are up to. Gradually, we will be able to explain to them. Through home church you will accomplish these stages in a condensed form, in a nutshell.
So do you welcome indemnity? The principle of indemnity means to sacrifice the smaller entity for the sake of a larger one. The individual sacrifices for the sake of the family, the family for the sake of the nation. We do it because it is the truthful way of restoration. No matter how long it takes, no matter who you are.
Before now, you didn't know these things so clearly. In the past, you were not necessarily so happy doing things. But now you are happy only because you are tagging along after me, step by step, along the same course. [In English:] Will you be happy? Will you be happy? Will you do it?
Doing is the happiest thing. Not knowing, not even being, but doing. [In English:] From now on we will do. Shall we march on? Shall we march on?
God bless you.