The Israelites created a nation centered on the Temple, the Law and sacrificial offerings. They awaited the Messiah to come as the living Temple, the true King. Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom was at hand. With John he called people to repent and prepare to enter the kingdom. He was crucified accused as claiming to be the king of the Jews.

But when Jesus knew that he could not become the king, he said to render unto Caesar and to God, as two separate offerings. To God, he offered his spirit; to Caesar, he offering his body. Like Jesus, Paul said to obey earthly authorities, but in matters of faith, he stood against them in peaceful protest, and was jailed and they took his body.

Augustine set the Christian worldview of the two cities, of man and of God, interpenetrating each other, and these to cities reflect the struggle of mind and body. He wrote, "It is therefore no strange phenomenon partly to will to do something and partly to will not to do it. It is a disease of the mind, …. So there are two wills in us, neither by itself is the whole will;… there are two wills at odds with each other when we try to reach a decision, … When I was trying to reach a decision about serving the Lord my God, as I had long intended to do, it was I who willed to take this course and again it was I who willed not to take it. So I was at odds with myself. I was throwing myself into confusion. All this happened to me although I did not want it,…" (Confessions, VIII-10)

Augustine taught that the city of man should be subservient to and protect the city of God, but it will never be the true kingdom. In fact, the city of man was the result of sin, not part of the original order of creation.

Aquinas was more positive on the worldly realm, and viewed the secular state as part of God’s order of creation.

Martin Luther reverted to Augustine’s view of two kingdoms that will be separate until the Kingdom comes.

John Calvin accepted the sinful nature of the secular realm, but while called Christians to obey the magistrates, he said they should also do all they could to make it as good as possible. Hence Calvinism tends toward social activism and reform, and even believes that God can strike down evil kings. He wrote, "Sometimes he raises up some of his servants as public avengers, and arms them with his commission to punish unrighteous domination, and to deliver from their distressing calamities a people who have been unjustly oppressed." (Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV.xx.30)

The Puritans were Calvinist and tried to create an ideal Christian commonwealth in New England. Their first problem was that they couldn’t get everyone to come to church. Even more difficult was to get everyone to experience the saving love of God. They couldn’t control adultery. And when they couldn’t even bring their own children to follow their way, the Puritan vision reached the end of its rope.

The Puritan magistrates tried to force people to attend church and to be faithful, but external force failed. So too, our Father says the Kingdom of God will not come by threat or force. It has to come internally, by internal discipline and internal transformation. The Puritan ideal nation faltered at the border of mind and body, of husband and wife, of parents and children. Force and law cannot unite these partners.

The Chun Il Guk is exactly described as the nation in which all paired partnerships are united. This nation is described in the Divine Principle as analogous to the body of a perfected individual, with unity of mind and body. The presupposition is that in the Chun Il Guk, all are incapable of sin. "A new historical era will begin wherein people simply will not commit sins." (Exposition of the Divine Principle p. 9; cf. 340-4)

Are we there today? No one would claim that we are. True Father opened the door for the ideal nation and restoration of the four saints and our ancestors through home church two decades ago, and we did not achieve it then. I take heart from another teaching in the Divine Principle: ""Since not everyone feels an immediate need for religion, only a few exceptional people attain spiritual knowledge rapidly. For the vast majority, spiritual growth remains a slow process." (EDP p. 333)

When Theodosius established Christianity as the imperial religion, it did not lead to personal transformation of its citizenry. That took centuries, and that transformation is the story of medieval Europe.

How can we believe or expect that the people suddenly or easily will adopt God’s sovereignty today? The text following the passage I just cited goes on to imply that most people will come into the ideal world through the advance of science, the economy and politics, with it being the mission of the Messiah to harmonize those with religion.

And what does the advance of science, the economy and political systems provide? I believe that the key term is "ownership." Indeed, the newest addition to the Family Pledge is exactly that: chun il guk ju-in: "owners of the nation."

The sovereignty of God, the proclamation and even political success of the Chun Il Guk, is a line in the sands of time. It is powerfully significant, as was Moses crossing the Red Sea, or Theodosius establishing the church. But crossing the sea did not make saints of the children of Israel. Most died in the wilderness longing to return to Egypt. It did not make saints of the Romans. In and of itself it does not make us into filial children, patriots, saints and divine sons and daughters either. What does it accomplish?

I believe we have made the transition from Augustine to Aquinas. We are under a different regime, and hence our subjective view of the world changes. We have a new foundation. That means that we no longer view the world as Satan’s dominion, but as God’s dominion. Government is no longer viewed an unnatural impediment wrought by the advent of sin into the world, but as a part of the original order of creation, that we must work to improve.

What does this mean for you and me, and for my family and yours?

What does it mean for UTS? It means that the MSCHE, our accrediting body, is not an agency of the devil, bent on destroying us, but is a voice of help, wanting to guide us to success.

It means that the culture and the instruments it provides us are not an expression of evil, but teaches us lessons through which we can learn about God and Principle, and enabling us to teach others. It means that the advances of science, technology and economy are the work of God and that education and technical excellence are valued.

It means that Christianity, Islam, Judaism and all religions are not an instrument of Satan, but that God is working through Christianity and has claimed Christianity for His purposes, as well as all religions. It means that we are on the same team with other churches. Of course they are not perfect; they are full of fallen nature. But this does not make them so different from us.

It means that we can proclaim True Parents and Divine Principle, and fight it out in the public square without the mindset that Satan is blinding the minds of the unbelievers. It means that we will get a fair hearing in the world. Therefore, our task this year is education. Providing education means that people are ready to learn.

I recall a few years ago, the New Yorker Hotel and Manhattan Center received positive articles in the New York Times and Crain’s Business Weekly -- why? Because they were doing a great job, and Father was given credit as the owner and founder.

Therefore, our struggle is no longer against principalities and powers, but against flesh and blood -- our own limitations and disunity and lack of ability, and the real competition that is challenging us to excel and be worthy of leading the nation. Can we do a better job than George W. Bush and Colin Powell? Can we do a better job than Kofi Annan? Could we run Microsoft better than Bill Gates?

Maybe we can, but it’s up to us to prove it. This is how I understand the meaning of "substantial indemnity." We still have to work very hard -- even harder, if we really understand. Because when you are the owner, you work harder.

Why have people been immigrating to America since 1620? To get ownership. Why did our movement come to America? To get ownership. The beauty of the American system is that, relatively speaking, it bequeaths ownership upon its citizens. Without ownership, there is no freedom. Ownership means that you are responsible and accountable for your own results. According to the Divine Principle definition of freedom, one is not truly free unless one is successful. (p. 74)

Ownership of the Chun Il Guk means that you believe that the universe is fair and rewards your labor. That wealth is not achieved by trickery. That the fruits of your labor can never be lost. That if you give everything, then God’s Will will be done -- whatever the outcome looks like from your point of view. If you catch the train, that is God’s will. If you gave all you have, and miss it -- then that was God’s will and He had some other plan.

It is like my father working for someone else, which might be called conditional indemnity in which most of the results went to others. When he worked for himself, it was substantial indemnity and all the results went to himself, his family and his descendants. He worked much harder for himself, because he was the owner. So we will have to work much harder, but we will do it voluntarily, and joyfully, and with creativity and no complaint. That’s why Americans have always been known as people racing around to get things done.

True Parents gave us their clothes and personal items. Next, they want to give us the institutions, properties, teachings…their entire foundation, so that we become the owners. When we are owners, we have to make the decisions and take the responsibility for the results.

One of the most significant speeches from True Father I ever heard took place at the New Yorker Hotel sometime in 1989. Father drew a long horizontal line on the board, and then triangles rising up like pyramids with their base on the line, some small, some medium, some big. This was at the start of the hometown providence. He was trying to persuade us to move out of the socialist workers paradise (i.e. the hotel) and into the real world. He said we were all on the same level in his eyes, no matter our seniority or position. And he would judge us based upon the fruits of our foundation out in society. Some would make big foundations, some small, some nothing.

Look at the values expressed in the Chun Il Guk owner award system. It counts 70% for witnessing, 20% for financial giving, 10% for everything else, including public missions, participation in mobilizations, attending Sunday service, awards from True Parents, becoming a National Messiah, sending your children on the formula course, etc. From this point of view, the true Chun Il Guk citizen is… you figure it out.

In Luke 13:24-30, we read Jesus’ parable about those who try to enter the banquet and can’t because the master closed the door. They could have entered, but they were late. They didn’t come when invited. In restorational terms, they left the position of Abel. John the Baptist "left the position of Abel." So did Solomon and Charlemagne. This was Ham’s failure. They testified that they had been eating and drinking together with the Lord, and hearing his teachings, and the master did not deny it. But he told them they couldn’t come in, and even called them evildoers. It seems that the only criteria in the parable was that they were late. They didn’t get in before the owner closed the door. In such parables, Jesus implied that there are time periods; the door is open but it doesn’t stay open forever.

I experienced exactly that when I moved into the center, January 20, 1973. I thought I had forever to move in, but the hour that I moved in, I had a tangible spiritual experience of a huge cosmic door slamming shut, and I felt as if I had gotten through that door just one second before it had closed.

In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus gave the fig tree one more year, but during his last week in Jerusalem, he cursed the fig tree and it immediately withered. No more time; the door was closed.

When I knew my tenure as President would soon end, my desire was to go to my hometown. (True Father had another idea.) I hope that UTS graduates can have the heart of pioneers, to be like those New Yorker residents whom Father wanted to cast out into the world to find their own fortune or failure.

When the seminarians arrived in London on July 4, 1978, True Father gave us each 20 pounds and said, go find your home church area. Sleep in the park if you have to. It was so exciting! My youthful days of hitchhiking across America and back came to my spiritual aid. That night, I fell to sleep in a warm feather bed, having already knocked on 20 doors in my home church area, a veritable dream-like Penny Lane, and wept tears of joy. God is good, all the time.

Father said that if we bring success on the tribal level, God will take care of the rest. God has to take care of the nation, world and cosmos, and He will. "Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?" (Job 38:33) What’s amazing about True Father is not how much he does, but how little he does! All he does as a vocation is talk. What’s behind and inside his talking, that’s the key. When he’s done talking, he enjoys recreation, fishing, touring, visiting members. He gives his 1,000% at this, gives the rest to God and to us, and then deals with the results tomorrow.

If we were all one in our mind and body, we could fly out as seeds across the society and build the communities of principled love that registered, representative, blessed, central, purified, anointed, appointed and approved families should.

Sometimes I ask God to please liberate me. Please let me build my foundation to be an owner of the Chun Il Guk. UTS presidency is a blessing. HSA presidency was a blessing. My life of public mission is a total blessing. I have no complaints at all, only gratitude. But still, by Father’s words and Divine Principle, someday I have to go there. I need Father’s mercy because I did not make a real tribe and real Chun Il Guk foundation. Who among us really feels great about submitting our Chun Il Guk award application? I’m sure the first impulse of every member was, no, I can’t apply.

With my real foundation, to be a Chun Il Guk award candidate is so sad. I’m sure all of us at first felt that we cannot apply, that we are unworthy. But if no one applies, Satan can mock Father.

Going to Korea or not, candidate or not, I hope we each can make a commitment. Commit that my family wants to be citizens of the Chun Il Guk. Commit to sincerely repent because my situation is the result of my actions, no one else’s on heaven and earth. Commit to take personal responsibility to unite mind and body, centered on God, unite with my spouse, centered on God, and unite with my parents and my children, centered on God.

The key term here is centered on God. "Centered on God" makes it impossible, and yet, makes all things possible.

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