Articles From the February 1993 Unification News

 

Assessing Our Society

Kevin McCarthy's Sermon
Washington DC, Unification Church
Sunday November 8, 1992

Following the Presidential Election, Rev. Kevin McCarthy Delivered this sermon to the Washington DC community.

Wednesday morning. How did you all feel? One thing that we should all feel is an added sense of responsibility for the direction of the nation because we know God's will for the nation. But if you say that publicly, people are really afraid of such statements. However in the beginning of our nation, ascertaining the will of God for the nation was common practice, it was the bedrock of the founding of this country, so we shouldn't be embarrassed or reluctant to feel such a mandate that God is depending on such people as us to really lead this nation. And that means it is up to us to educate Mr. Clinton, don't you think? Ultimately from God's point of view it is our responsibility - we who know the will of God to educate the leaders of our nation. For this reason Father has founded many organizations that end in "WP" - World Peace. I think it is important that we have an understanding of what that vision is, that purpose, and what is really our role as we enter this new era in American history.

I felt personally, on Wednesday morning, that my value had just skyrocketed. And you should feel likewise that your value, the value of all our "WP" organizations is now at a premium.

For me, Wednesday morning was a day of declaration: No More Illusions! - We truly are the only hope! That may sound a little presumptuous, a little arrogant, but let's consider this.

To say we are the hope of the nation sounds good, but actually it is a blessing and a curse. It means we are responsible for the nation, and if the nation goes down, then we have to bear that responsibility, so we must be very serious about what constitutes that hope.

What is the Heart of Reviving America?

Our founder spoke very clearly when he said "Revive Christianity!" What a bold statement people may think. If we have to revive Christianity that means Christianity is dead!

We have to understand the meaning of the Revival of Christianity. Father said Christianity is the root of western civilization, and the root of Christianity is the Bible, so the fundamental core of western culture is in the Bible, the DNA. Therefore understanding the deepest aspects of that DNA, the hidden dimension of the Bible, is the key to resurrecting Christianity.

In his speech to the professors and scholars of the IFWP, Father made a very important statement which I would like to share with you.

"To develop the necessary solutions, we need to look to the deeper; origins of such problems. Our task should be a fundamental re-assessment of all the institutions and lifestyles of our contemporary world. Such a re-assessment will enable us to identify those aspects of our world that can be considered suitable and fitting by an enlightened and awakened humanity possessing a renewed consciousness"

Ultimately I believe that is the fundamental mission of all "WP" organizations that Father is now founding. A re-assessment of ALL the institutions and lifestyles -- that is our fundamental mission. Let me read further: Father said:

"In order to make the Ideal World of Peace come about, the IFWP will provide the Ideal and Philosophy and will educate the worlds's populations. "WP" will assist spiritually, mentally and financially the neediest nations. It will set the highest moral standard and be the locomotive of world change."

People long for peace but they have had no true philosophy or meaning of peace. And without these, there can be no true methodology for achieving peace.

These are like fundamental mission statements related to the work of the IFWP, IRFWP, the WFWP, and USA-FWP.

When we attended Mother's speech 'Women's Role in World Peace' we found the context to be very challenging didn't we? Certainly it is a part of our responsibility to bring people to a point where they can understand what Mother is saying. We need to understand that this is the heart, the fundamental philosophy out of which will emerge the true methodology to bring world peace!

To bring about an assessment of our society we need a perspective, we need a standard by which to assess, and what should that word be? It has to be a word that provides an insight into the fundamental meaning of the Bible. When we realize that, then at that moment we should realize why we are standing in the central position for the revival of this country! Why it is us who represent the hope for America! It's not because we are handsome, or intelligent or wise, but it is simply because of what we know and what we are striving to be, who we know, and that we are striving to emulate who we know! That's s what makes us the hope for the nation. That hope should burn bright and shine right through the channels of the various "WP" organizations! That should be the burning bright hope of our home which is the "Home of Now Unification for World Peace" We can understand from this perspective that to renew the traditional values is not enough! When I hear others say that we have to go back to the way things were, we have to re-establish those good values upon which the nation was built, I', thinking that's a good idea, I hope we can do at LEAST that. But if that is all that we can do, then it means that we are just postponing the present day struggle that we find ourselves in. We're just postponing it for another 100, maybe another 200 years!

The Clash of 2 Cultures.

This struggle that we see in our world is a clash of two cultures - one is a body-affirming material-exulting, flesh-centered culture, and the other is a culture that finds its root in the sacrifice of Jesus' body. The clash of these two cultures have been going on throughout Western history and this war has intensified in our age. Do you see this war in your community? As a matter of fact, we can even see this war within ourselves, which is the heart and soul of the meaning of Romans - 21 through 17 - 23, that this conflict begins WITHIN the individual and manifests as two cultures, one affirming the flesh, exalting the body, and the other rooted in the sacrifice of Jesus' body on Calvary.

It is the seeming decline of influence of the culture of Jesus which should cause serious concern in the hearts of all Christian people. The influence of the body-centered culture seems to be rising, and getting stronger and stronger encroaching on the territory of Jesus. Is that your assessment?

If we understand that one role of religion is to establish, protect and maintain the public virtue, then - if we are serious about saving the nation - our assessment must move into that area that has previously been taboo, previously been sacred! And that means we must assess Christianity itself. And that is not easily done. Already I've had a little experience at the ICC Conferences where 7000 Christian ministers studied the tool of assessment, which is the Divine Principle. I want you to know that even though this is not easy, unless it is done, unless the light can be shone into that area of our civilization then the prospects for America's resurrection do not look good.

Ultimately we must assess the institution of Christianity itself. The point here is that there is something within the so-called traditional values that led themselves to be dominated by the body-centered culture.

It isn't enough to say the body-centered culture is wrong; we must also examine what it is within our traditional values that is leading to their demise. We must discover that which is leading to the decline of the Culture of Jesus in the United States of America.

That is the real assessment, and who can do this? Only men and women who have a deeper insight into the very root and heart of Christianity - and that is you and me and all of us! This is our fundamental role. When Mother comes to the podium to speak this is the role she is taking - she is assessing the heart of Christian culture, providing clarification and a new direction. Father never says "let's restore traditional values" - he's talking about new values - values that have never been accomplished in the past.

New Values

We need new values - values ;that originate in the heart of God, values that pertain to the original purpose and will of God. This is what we are talking about - values that are the reflection of the Original Intent and purpose of creation, the values that reflect the deepest motive of God and his primary will for creating. And this is what we know!

When we say we know God's will, God's deepest desire is to incarnate in Parents. To incarnate in First Parents, called True Parents. Adam and Eve were to be those parents - in the ;beginning God wanted to incarnate in those parents, and then to expand from the family, to the society, nation and world. Jesus said, 'As you see me you see the Father' but the hidden dimension that the world could never know until now is that Jesus wanted also to proclaim 'And as you see the Family you see God as you see the society you see God, as you see the society, you see God, as you see the nation and the world, you see God! Jesus came to establish the pattern for the visible manifestation of God from the individual to the world level. But there is one element necessary to that expansion. What do you think this is?

The one very important human event that must take place for the expansion of the manifestation of God is the God-centered sexual union between a true man and true woman. To talk about the sexual union in church seems very strange and out of place. The satanic world degrades it. How lost our society is - on one hand the body-centered culture degrades sexuality immensely, and on the other hand the Jesus-centered culture doesn't talk about it! Christian society has some sense of shame, a feeling that something's not right, something's not complete, something's not fulfilled. So either sex is degrading or it's something less than Godly right? It is taught that Jesus was born sinless owing to the sexless nature of his conception. Jesus never engaged in sexual union. Paul recommended very strongly that if you can overcome the desire for fornication , it is better to be like him - single. But if you cannot overcome this desire then get married. That's basically the ceiling of vision for marriage! These things lie at the heart of the decline of Western civilization, brothers and sisters!

These misconceptions are at the root of the present decline of our nation, and unless we can talk about them, we cannot resolve them! The fundamental problem, as I see it, is the total ignorance of Jesus' Primary Mission.

Jesus' Primary Mission

Even the concept that Jesus had a Mission other than to sacrifice his body is scandalous in most Christian circles. Sharing this point with the 7000 Christian ministers at the ICC was like a time bomb! Without understanding this primary mission of Jesus, we cannot understand the primary purpose for which God created him, nor can we understand why he must return. So it is not a coincidence that on the one hand the Christian World is ignorant of the Primary Mission of Jesus, is likewise confused and divided about the nature of his return, and what he comes to do!

The more Christian influences declines as Christianity continues to divide, the more the concept of God's will for the nation will become more and more vague!

The first two years of Jesus' ministry, he never talked about the cross - It wasn't until the last year of his ministry, in Matthew 16:21 from that time Jesus began to talk about his suffering to come. In the final year, he began to speak differently, and the reaction of his apostles in Luke 18:34 shows they did not understand a word of it. Until today it has not been known what that primary mission was - it was to fulfill the mission of Adam! And to restore the position of Bride, the position of Eve, and thus to be the first point where God incarnates in parents. And with the incarnation of God in Parents, from that point would come the substantial expansion from the individual Jesus, to the nation and culture of Jesus, to the world and cosmos of Jesus! And that would be a very good world.

The fundamental understanding of salvation is that through the blood lineage, we inherit a historical condition of claim - Satan's claim over our lineage - owing to our ancestral link to the dead Adam! That is the heart and soul of Christian Doctrine. Owing to this ancestral link, we are born into a state of sin; into a state where we desperately need to transfer from one lineage of a dead Adam to a new and living Adam. So if Jesus produces a living lineage, if Jesus and his spouse can stand in a position of True Parents, does Satan have any claim over that union? Satan would have no claim over that sexual union, over that substantial lineage, and that's why this would be the lineage that could become the expansion of the manifestation of God! That is the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth! ln his analogies of the Kingdom being like a little yeast, a mustard seed, Jesus is alluding to his own blood lineage. The victory of the cross is that it atoned for sin, but the tragedy of the cross is that the substantial expansion of God through the lineage of Jesus could not take place. This is why Christ must return. It is also why even though we may be born again, we may be saved on a personal level however - there are no 'True Parents' within Christianity.

The meaning of 'True Parents' is that we pass on the Godly heritage from ourselves to our descendants. Even though Christian mother and father may be saved personally, they give birth to a child that is still in desperate need of rebirth! That child must grow up and be born again, and is ultimately the reason that the subtle pang of conscience is there when husband and wife in the tradition culture of Jesus come together and engage in the sexual union. The pangs of conscience of the original mind is there! The original mind knows that something is lacking and that's why endemic to the Christian faith is a hope for a coming fulfillment, a glorification to come, which is the redemption of our bodies.

It is under this condition - that we promise to unite with that glory when it comes, that the culture of Jesus has been able to dominate the body-centered, body-exalting culture. But when this day arrives, for the body to be redeemed, and the Christian world closes their eyes, denying that fulfillment, then the condition is gone! And Christianity will have lost its power and ability to dominate the body-centered culture. That is the present state of affairs that we see in this country, and that is why truly the hope for world peace is that men and women understand the value of the Holy Blessing!

The understand the need for Blessing! It is under the Blessing of True Parents that men and women can cone together, that God can claim and affirm the sexual union of a man and a woman under an absolute and eternal commitment to each other. And it is the fruit of that union that will indeed be a son and daughter who is true who is not in need of rebirth. One birth is enough!

The age of God's Blessing has come to us and it is the dissemination of that Blessing that is the ultimate methodology for world peace! And therefore for men and women to come to a point to understanding the value of that Blessing, and to develop the willingness to safeguard and to preserve that blessing - that must be the true groundwork for bringing world peace.

 

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