Sermon: Same as Ever
Matthew 5:13-18
Every time I visit Korea, I make time to visit some bookstores. I’ve noticed that if you find the same book as soon as you enter each store, that’s the book that Korean readers are most interested in buying; the ideas in the book are certainly selling. This summer, that book was Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, by Morgan Housel. The book promises the readers will learn 23 little stories about things that never change (in a changing world) from an economist’s perspective.
I have not yet finished the book, but this morning I would like to explore with you the things, from my perspective, that do not change. I wonder if there’s anything Jesus says about the things that never change. It’s an interesting question to ask in an era like ours, marked by change, in a society and culture that praises constant change, always attracted to the new.
Housel says, “I once had lunch with a guy who’s close to Warren Buffett. This guy, let’s call him Jim, was driving around Omaha, Nebraska, with Buffett in late 2009. The global economy was crippled at this point, and Omaha was no exception. Stores were closed, businesses were boarded up. Jim said to Warren, “It’s so bad right now. How does the economy ever bounce back from this?”
Warren said, “Jim, do you know what the bestselling candy bar was in 1962?” “No,” Jim said. “Snickers,” said Warren. “And do you know what the bestselling candy bar is today?” “No,” said Jim. “Snickers.” Warren said. Then silence. That was the end of the conversation.
If you travelled back in time five hundred years in the past or forward five hundred years into the future, you would be astounded at how much technology and medicine would change. The geopolitical order would make no sense to you. The language and dialect might be completely foreign. But you’d notice people succumbing to greed and fear just like they do in our current world. You’d see people persuaded by risk, jealousy, and tribal affiliations in ways that are familiar to you. You’d see overconfidence and shortsightedness that remind you of people’s behaviour today. You’d find people seeking the secret to a happy life and trying to find certainty when none exists in ways that are entirely relatable.
When transported to an unfamiliar time, you’d spend a few minutes watching people behave and say, “Ah. I’ve seen this before. Same as ever.”
Except for the time of Covid when I was unable to visit my parents in Korea due to international travel restrictions, I have tried to visit Korea with my children every two years. Since 2007, I have frequently visited Korea as a guest. Each time I visit, I notice something new. Korea is a very trendy country. Every time I go, something has changed. The most popular types of stores change, and the advertisements you see the most also change. At one time, it was insurance, another time it was beauty products, and now it seems to be K-food…
When I first left Korea, everyone would hail a taxi by waving their hand on the street when they saw an empty one. Now, you can’t get a taxi that way. You open an app on your smartphone, request a taxi, click the one you like, and you can see the taxi coming to you within 4 minutes. The app shows the taxi moving on the map like a video game. A message even pops up saying, “Please wait a moment. Arriving soon." just in case you can’t wait those 4 minutes.
In a culture, a world, and a life where everything changes every two years like a complete renewal, what is it that remains unchanged? When I go to Korea, I don’t look for the things that change every two years as if repainting Korea. I go to find deep things that have not changed over the past ten years and will not change for the next ten: things that move my heart, comfort me, and convey love to me.
Christianity has changed over the last 2000 + years, and even now is changing. We might be very surprised to see what Christianity, a local church, a congregation would look like in Victoria in 2040, for example. In all imaginable ways, change is inevitable. Some changes are important - they nurture and deepen our faith and actions; they are transformative. At the same time, many of us come to worship, come to gather in this community to find a family, find your spiritual tribe, where we search together for deep things, warm things that move our heart, comfort us, open our mind and heart, and convey love to us. These things are not likely going to change in the next 10 years. These things have sustained all of us, Christianity and other religions, cultures, families, societies over the last 2000 years, over the last 2 years. As a living creature of God, we intuitively, as if it is a law written on our hearts by God, lean in to learn, listen, open towards what never changes because we are God’s creation. Because that’s how we are created to find meaning, drawn to the warm source of love…Same as ever. As long as we have ‘life’, as long as we have this beating heart, thinking mind, moving body, and our relationship with the earth/“the land” we live on, there is a never-changing Same as Ever that all beings are inclined towards.
If there is one great achievement from this trip for me, it is that my second son, Jah-bi and I have grown closer. He has been going to daycare since he was 8 months old, and in our early, busy, immigrant life, I hardly noticed how Jah-bi was growing. I remember when I looked at the 3 or 4-year-old Jah-bi, I thought to myself, “Is he my son? How is he growing? Who is he?” A special part of this year’s trip to Korea was that I was able to spend un-busy, uninterrupted time with my son. My older son Peace and my partner Min-Goo went on a trip to Japan in the middle of our trip, so Jah-bi and I spent the last three weeks just the two of us.
We spent 24 hours a day together - through the entire three weeks - and I started to really know my son. For example, whenever Jah-bi sensed that my attention was wandering, in a second he would play pranks on me. I could see how his eyes and attention were on me; he wants my attention and wants to be mothered.
He told me how he wanted to have fun and have deep conversations with me in Canada just like we did in Korea. He said that when we return to Canada, he wants to go to fun places with me after school or on weekends, go to beautiful places and share delicious drinks, and visit the board game café in downtown Victoria with the whole family. Jah-bi will live a lifetime of change; it was good to learn that who he is – the playfulness, the depth of character, is the same as ever.
Likewise, this summer, I had a close, body-and-soul meeting with my parents, who are in their 70s now. This summer, my mom, dad and I were like people who have decided to convey only 100 percent wholesome love to each other. To summarize my parents this summer in one word… Love, aimed solely at me and my family, and for our complete well-being and health. My parents invited me and my family this summer to give us all of that never-changing love (The “Same as Ever”), and their love strengthened us.
Coming back, the same goes for our church. While many things are changing in the world, over the past two years, it’s incredible to think how able we, BVU, were, as just one local congregation, to go through a tornado of transition with such success and stability, and steadiness, and here we are! I wonder what could enable us to do that?
We promise to each other what never changes - the Same as Ever -. We promise to each other love and care, connection and prayer and that we will pass on the same quality love and care and connection and prayer towards all beings connected to us, who suffer and love and deserve peace.
What we seek is not something that changes and turns over every two years. What we seek is the unchanging nature of the culture based on connection, safety and love, that actually is the source and the power that changes the world to be better. It was just like that 10 years ago, it will be just like that 10 years from now, too, 2000 years ago, and 2000 years from now. What never changes, changes us and the world to reflect the light of the Kingdom of God.
Let’s look at today’s stories from the Gospel of Matthew. These are the little stories about the things that never change in Jesus’s words from the Kingdom of God’s perspective.
Jesus’ metaphors of salt and light — “the salt of the earth (v.13)” and “the light of the world (v.14) are about people, those who have the “same as ever” characters. The truly righteous does not lose their taste, the saltiness. The truly righteous does not hide their light but let it shine where all people can see. Overcoming fear, shame, oppression, greed, the people of God will remain the salt and the light of the world. They are called “blessed” in the Beatitudes, which is another word for “happy.” What makes us truly happy? What do we seek?
Jesus’ stories touch on the things that never change.
Here’s one more billionaire story (and I am embarrassed as I share it — same as ever for me.): Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once said that he’s often asked what’s going to change in the next ten years. “I almost never get the question: What’s not going to change in the next ten years?” He said “I submit to you that the second question is actually the more important of the two.”
Change captures our attention and curiosity because it is new, surprising, and interesting. However, it is the unchanging patterns of human behaviour that provide us with profound insights, such as what in June, Min-Goo presented — “the longing for belonging”. Things that never change such as our thirst for love, truth, humanity, and connection — what never changes in a changing world bring important and profound changes and societal advances towards equality, peace, justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion, growing children, nurturing elders, creating the same as ever circle of faith, hope and love wherever we go.
Comments
Post a Comment