Father’s speech on December 31, 1975 at Belvedere international training center Tarrytown, New York. Father continually reviews his past sermons. He asked that this speech be read by all members worldwide. Though it was distributed to all nations, we are printing it here for the edification of all members.
Good morning, family. I left America on December 25, traveled all the way to the Far East, visiting Japan and Korea, and returned to the United States December 30. During this period, I had a fresh feelli1g that we are living in a lightning-fast world, in. which we can travel like lightning. If Unification. members and families work all together utilizing such advantages we can improve a great deal in. a short time.
In the last six days I felt the preciousness of every moment of time. Further, I spent every precious moment well, hastening God’s restoration work.
RECEIVE THE LOVE OF GOD AND HUMANKIND
When we look back upon 1975, we see that the Unification Church has certainly accomplished a great deal. In this year the Unification Church solidified the foundation on the national level in. the Far East, primarily in. Japan and Korea. At the same time, the central stage of our activities has shifted from Asia to the United States, which is the fruit of the Western cultural sphere. We now have the urgent mission of solidifying the same foundation in the United States.
From the standpoint of God’s will, there is no concept of East and West. In the sight of God, all of us are the same kind of children. Today, the fact that there is division between the Orient and the Occident is due to various injustices which are not the result of God’s plan. It is the result of the human fall. Looking at this reality, God cannot but feel increasing sadness. We must feel this.
Then who is going to unite the world, and how can it be done? This is not done by God Himself. He has called upon people on earth to unite the world through religion. However, no religion in history has accomplished that mission. The well-known passage from the Bible, John 3:16, states that “God so loved the world,” not that He so loved the United States. Rather, God said, “I so loved the world that I have given to this world My only begotten son, and whosoever believes in. him will not perish but will gain eternal life.” He sent His son to the world-not to Christianity alone, not to Judaism alone.
God does not love the Unification Church alone either. To receive God’s love, we must be able to love humankind in the place of God, who loves humankind. Only such a religion can receive God’s love. A religion which does not do this is not needed. It is important for God’s will to prevail. Therefore, we are assuming the responsibility to fulfill God’s desires.
No one knew how God viewed mankind. People still do not know about the will of God. Therefore, we must free ourselves from the shackles of any one church or one form of religion; we must go beyond these to embrace all humankind and God. In this way we can fulfill God’s age-old desires.
I know that each one of you loves me very much, and I love each one of you as well. I love you, but this is not my personal love. I love in. the context of the ideal of God. Thus I am conveying God’s love to you. That love will not be contained within the limits of the Unification Church. God’s love will endure forever in. the contain.er of the entire world, the contain.er of all humankind. I am placing you on the front line, to plant such love throughout the world.
To contribute this love, you must be able to sacrifice and to endure suffering. Thus, the purpose of the Unification Church is to educate you to become people who receive and embody the love of God and who also deserve the love of all humankind. We must become masters of divine and human love. You should look for love from humanity and God, not just within the Unification Church. The focal point of our activities is loving humanity and loving God. Therefore, instead of loving you within. the Unification Church, I would like to love you within. God’s love and the love of humanity. You have to know me clearly. Religion historically has never proclaimed this viewpoint.
WE NEED GOD’S VIEWPOINT
My philosophy is to guide you by setting the example. I do not want to be indebted to others. If I incur a debt to you, then I would be exploiting you. Such a person cannot set the standard of public righteousness before God.
I am the person in the Unification Church who has suffered the most. I am the person who has received the most persecution worldwide and suffered the most in my heart and mind. I have suffered not just for a short time, but for one year, two years, three years, ten years, twenty years .. You must know that I expect those who join the Unification Church to share my character, understanding and conviction. I expect you to endure quietly, without fighting back, despite constantly increasing persecution.
When you and I become surrounded by persecution, we should be able to bind together God’s heart by unifying internally. If such persecution unites you and me with God, it is valuable. I believe that God, you and I must think along the same lines. If God seeks revenge upon the people who are persecuting Him this world would perish. I know God, and I think the way He thinks. Our work and our goal must be the same as His. If you join. with me the situation will change. We will create a unity so strong that anyone who strikes it will have to retreat. This will happen by God’s doing.
It is very difficult to create this triangular bond between the teacher, followers, and God, but once we establish such a unified trinity, we can receive the timeless will of God. If we move forward in. this knowledge and oneness, then we will not miss the mark.
God and Jesus shared the same way of thinking were the same, but the disciples’ thinking was different. Here was the problem. If the seventy disciples had united with the twelve apostles, then even the objections from the nation could have been resolved. In that case, for someone to strike the apostles would have been to strike Jesus. That would have been like hitting God, because the three were united.
During the turmoil over the controversy created by Ted Patrick, I am paying more attention to you, to see how you respond to this challenge. I feel that even if he does his worst against us, we will not change and God will not change; we will bounce back. People commit crimes without knowing what they are doing, but God cannot punish them until the truth reaches them.
SURPASS THE OPPOSITION
Parents oppose us out of ignorance. They are ignorant because we have not completely taught them about the will of God. However, if you have communicated God’s will completely to your parents and they understand the truth behind what you are doing, they will be judged if they still oppose us. I feel responsible to let them know who we are, and that mission has not been fulfilled yet.
Fundamentally, no parents oppose their children’s well-being and development. In fact, they get agitated when their children go the wrong way and are harmed. You know that we have nothing to hide: our consciences are clear about what we are doing. You and I both know we are here for a righteous cause.
I been persecuted, not just now but throughout my entire life, because people have not known my thought and my way of life. When people come to know this they will not attack me. You feel anger and chagrin. when you receive opposition; I am the same. However, I look at it from a different angle: the worse the situation becomes, the more responsible I feel to quickly teach the world. If people oppose us even after we teach them, then I have no more responsibility for them. However, if they keep striking me after learning my teaching, many supporters will rise up on our side.
This is typical of God’s history. Because religious people have known this principled path, they have continued to walk forward. That is why we must teach our opponents, whether if we have to shed tears once, twice or even three times. That was the purpose of our Madison Square Garden rally and our preparations for the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument rallies. We will let the world know publicly, at least three times, what we are about.
I assume that there is no American who has not heard about Reverend Moon, but many people know about me in a negative light. They consider me more frightening than the Mafia. [Laughter.] That is why there is so much commotion. How long will it last? You have shrugged off the commotion because you know that it will not last long. Since you know the truth, you will defend me, and stand up for me. Even if I try to stop you, you will explain about me at the risk of your life.
In this midst of all this we are doing better and greater things than the American people, including our opponents, can ever do. For example, Rabbi Davis has spoken against the Unification Church, but we are doing fifty times better thin.gs for the nation and world than he is. He has been ahead of us, but as we increase he will be accusing us from farther and farther behind, crying out, “Oh, my goodness!” in despair. Is his strategy going to work? “Oh, my goodness!” [Laughter and applause.]
I will give an illustration. Although Korea and its established churches mobilized to reject me thirty years ago, they now receive me with open arms. It is the same in Japan. Here in America we are just beginning, so although I am getting hit now, before long people will welcome me. Even among the Unification Church members today, I think there are those who sinned against me by feigning ignorance while people of the world accused me. Isn’t it true that you’ve done that? You admit it in your thoughts.
I have no pangs of conscience at all, before God or man. I am helpless before the ideals of justice and righteousness, but I stand stronger than anyone against injustice and unrighteousness.
Many Western people grumble and complain about this Oriental teacher. They think, “How nice it would be if we all could follow a wonderful religious leader like Billy Graham, rather than Reverend Moon!” If you worked for Billy Graham 24 hours a day, your parents would be so happy, and would boast that their daughter is doing so well. [Laughter.] The determining factor is how quickly you young people of the Unification Church become greater than the youth working for Billy Graham. When that happens, everything will be solved. Can you do that? [Yes.] If you can, America will break open and the spirit world will act. Ability and results will clear up everything.
I wonder what will happen if you young people come to resemble me. For the past three years, we have caused an uproar around the entire United States. You speak well and you are familiar with the American lifestyle. If people like you enter various districts and stir up the people, will this affect America for better or for worse? [Applause.] When you become brave soldiers, acting out of good motivation, the United States will not perish; furthermore, because this country represents the democratic world, the world will not perish.
PLACE THE CORNERSTONE PROPERLY
Therefore, you should not be concerned if your influence is not felt immediately by the world. If the situation thirty centuries from now-or at any other time-requires this doctrine and thought, then this small Unification Church group will eventually lead the world. Even if the world is not ideal now, the ideal world will definitely come into being. There needs to be a nation with this doctrine and thought, but it does not exist in the present world. Only the Unification Church possesses this thought.
In such a place we must establish the cornerstone. We should decide the standard of measurement correctly. When the cornerstone is set properly, the whole building will be oriented correctly. Since the victory of history and the universe depends upon the placement of the cornerstone, the role we unworthy people play in placing this cornerstone is fearful. We must devote ourselves completely to make sure the cornerstone is well laid, in line with the will of God. One hundred years later, there will be chaos if the cornerstone is out of line. Even if the pillars are a little off, they can be realigned centering on the cornerstone, as long as it is laid correctly. Money is not of concern. Neither is power, honor or fame our goal. Nothing else compares with the importance of properly placing the cornerstone. Unless we set the tradition of sacrificing ourselves for the sake of greater things, a new world will not come about. If we cannot do this, everything will be in vain.
You and all Americans are indebted to me, a Korean. You are being supported by me, right? I did not spend money made in America; instead money was donated from overseas for our work in America. When I first came here to work in 1972, the members here did not want me to do this. There is a difference between the way you think and the way I think. Now, after three years, you are beginning to appreciate what I am doing. Now you work with me without complaint.
WE PROGRESS UNDER PERSECUTION
People know that our small association can exert influence on national and world affairs. Everyone who looks at this small group doing things on the worldwide level considers us to be worthy of historical study. The Communist Party, which occupied one third of the world, is resolved to crush me.
Even if the world and the Communist Party disappears, God wishes this Unification Church to remain. If this is true, would God like the established churches to oppose me? [No.] Do we oppose the established churches? We have never even once opposed them. We have been trying to make unity with Christian churches, but they have been opposing us for no reason. They are so small-minded that we cannot even relate with them. Isn’t that ridiculous? [Laughter.] People who oppose us should do so with a little more dignity, addressing our doctrine at least. This way we can discuss theoretical issues, instead of dealing with opposition that has no content. Such opposition cannot last long.
I know the established Christian theology, and I am the one who established the theology of the Unification Church. I know the enemy, but the enemy doesn’t know me. Thus, the enemy has already lost the war. If you listen carefully, you hear such childish and ridiculous statements coming from the established churches.
In conclusion, we young, smart people all used to believe in Jesus in the traditional way. We used to attend the established churches. Since the established churches cannot hold onto such bright young people and they all come to the Unification Church, the churches are jealous. It is a natural conclusion that America is moving because its young people are joining us. Since this is happening throughout the world, the world as well is moving. The established churches have so many elderly people that they remind me of retirement homes. Before long, many of them will have to close up, because as their elderly members die, that will be the end of them. It’s a pitiful situation.
The Communist Party opposes us out of fear. As history progresses, the number of people who oppose us will decrease, while the number who receive opposition will grow. Will God assist those who are declining in fear, or the proud and strong Unificationists? Because God wishes to assist us, the Unification Church will develop.
During persecution, has the size of the Unification Church fallen or risen? [Risen.] When I first came here, this room seemed too big, but now this room is cramped. How much we have grown! Next year, the number will multiply tenfold. [Applause.] I If there is something of which we can be proud, it would be that although the people of the world disliked us, God likes us, the spirit world assists us, righteous and conscientious people will support us, and posterity will welcome us. Because our sphere is increasing, we can conclude that we will be victorious eternally. Let people oppose us as much as they want: we will shrug it off. Let them try their best; later they will not be able to sneer at us. You should not wrestle with them, because as we become greater, they will naturally disappear.
Is it better to quicken the process, or to sit quietly and wait? [Quicken it!] American people say that since the work day is normally eight hours, it is enough to work eight hours. But to me, even 24 hours a day is not enough time to work for the sake of God and humanity. God does not distinguish between day and night. We should become the kind of people who can tum sunset into sunrise. Is it bad to live for the sake of God and humanity? [No!] Those who criticize that have to know better.
I have done everything, including fundraising. It is because I have done it that I let you do it. I have studied and have done many things, including learning how to mobilize many people united with one purpose.
THE PROBLEM LIES WITHIN OURSELVES
Knowing this, is it good that you joined the Unification Church? [It was good!] Do your parents say that it was good? Those people whose parents oppose us, raise your hands. What will happen when we pass over this stage and the world recognizes we are good? Do you want to see such a time? Do you expect it to come without any effort? Do you want me to make it happen, or do you want to do it yourselves? [We want to do it ourselves.] Then I will go back to my homeland tomorrow! [No!] No? If you make it happen, you won’t need me! There are countries which need me more than you do, so I must go to those countries. The sooner you send me and enable me to work in other countries, the better.
Even the U.S. State Department tried to push me out. Without their interference, I am planning to leave. I’m getting tired of seeing you anyway! [Laughter.] I did not come to this country looking for money or hoping to enjoy American culture. I already can generate more money than people who are well off in the United States. But wouldn’t it be good if you made the American people support our work? [Yes.] Wouldn’t God also say, “Since Reverend Moon is suffering that much, I’d like to bring salvation all at once”? [Yes!] Then, it must be possible.
Do you think I feel good when you are kidnapped and subjected to deprogramming? I do not want that to happen. Where is the problem? God is not the problem; I am not the problem. The problem is with you. If your desire was more ardent than God’s desire and my desire, the situation would be different.
If your parents had said, “We will not go,” but their beloved son says, “Morn and Dad, let’s go,” they will go along with you, even if reluctantly. It becomes even easier when they begin to realize what is going on and they respond enthusiastically. The day you work harder than God and me, a miracle will happen.
In conclusion, our conviction and our way of life is righteous. Not only God but all humanity can support it. If we assert this at the risk of our lives, it will come back with millions of times its original value. To be born at this time and to have our ultimate desire fulfilled is glorious. If you think so, raise your hands!
Do you want me to go on? [Yes!] But my throat hurts. I’ve been speaking continuously for six days. Don’t you have any sympathy? I’m wearing the same clothes I put on yesterday; I didn’t have time to change. Is it courteous or discourteous to ask me to go on? [It is courteous.] So, deciding democratically, I am trapped. [Cheering and applause.]
GOD TOILED TO BUILD THIS NATION
How wonderful it is to think that we can tum things around all at once. Reversing thirty years of persecution, you are excitedly witnessing to the masses who are ready to support us. We can use television and radio to tum around the world. It’s going to be great, don’t you think? [Yes!] Don’t you think God also feels this way? [Yes!] Would He not come running down to the earth with a rush of wind, grab you tightly with one hand and take you up with Him? [Laughter and applause.] Is it possible that such a time will come? [Yes!]
Human history has a span of 6000 years. Until now, God has worked to make one perfected Adam. After creating Adam, didn’t God create Eve through him? Jesus came as the bridegroom, and naturally a bridegroom needs a bride. Because God lost Adam, through whom He created all things, by restoring Adam He can restore all things. That is why Adam must be restored. Only then can the True Parents appear.
Fallen people were born through false parents. This is why the human race is out of order and must be fixed. This means we have to repent. The Messiah has to save the entire world by engrafting the children to good parents, a good tribe, a good nation and good world. All must be washed and made new. God, humanity and religion have worked together to establish the Messiah, the completed Adam, who can inherit God’s work.
In order to save the world, the Messiah has to start with the individual. Because man and woman fell in the Garden of Eden, only when man and woman unite in accomplishing restoration through indemnity can they go on to save humanity. The next thing they must seek is the family; they must have sons and daughters.
Ladies and gentlemen, if Jesus heard his son calling out, “Father!”, don’t you think he would feel good? Don’t you think he would want to marry? If Jesus’ grandchild called him grandfather, would God feel bad? [No!] Would Jesus feel bad? [No!]
Even in this world, if sons and daughters do not get married by a certain age, their parents cannot sleep peacefully. Having sent His son as the Messiah to this earth, and seeing him unable to marry and have sons and daughters even by the age of 33, do you think God was happy? Do you think that God loves bachelors only? Because God is the Parent, He wanted to have His children and their descendants here on earth representing Him. He wanted to see that first family grow into the first society, first nation and first world with God as the center. Since God is like that, Jesus is the same. Even humanity today hopes to become God’s sons and daughters, and to return to God.
However, is this God’s world? [No.] Does God’s nation exist? [No.] Do the established churches today represent God’s ideal? [No.] Then, can we find God’s family? [No.] The individual whom God wants to see is the starting point for the family, the tribe, the nation and the world. The person representing this collective body is the Messiah. Only if there were a people and a nation for Jesus to guide could he save the family, society, nation and world within seven years. To indemnify what was created during seven days takes seven years; everything will be done within seven years.
WE MOBILIZE TO SAVE THE WORLD
In the last days will come the seven-year tribulation, based on the meaning of the number seven. We have to prepare things so that Jesus can freely develop his work. The Israelites were prepared for this. Judaism and the Israelites had to be ready to do anything for Jesus. If Jesus told you, “Since we are responsible for the world, even though we are poor, let us work together to help the world,” would you have answered, “Oh my goodness, what is he asking?” Is it acceptable to reject the Messiah just because you like your husband? Would you have said, “Oh my goodness, our couple is just fine; please let us stay together”? Both man and woman fell and became servants, so both have to be engrafted with God’s lineage. However, they cannot all be engrafted at once; they must separate and each one be engrafted and recreated.
While Jesus is trying to save the world, would you refuse to help do the work? Do you want to save the world, or stick to your own position? This is what Jesus meant by saying that your family will be your enemy. Furthermore, Jesus pronounced woe upon women who are breast-feeding. That means that the Messiah comes for the world, not just for the nation of Israel. The women who are breast-feeding are those who remain on the national level, unable to go to the world level.
How long would it take to save the world if men work but women do not cooperate? Men and women should work together. Is the command to go forth to save the world, forsaking your own husband and baby, a good command? After you work to save the world, the people of the world will minister to your sons and daughters, bringing them into a glorious position.
The people who have been loyal to the nation should go the next step and be loyal to God beyond the nation. The fact that they invested everything after abandoning their homes and family becomes the most important factor in establishing the tradition for the future.
Perhaps one person out of a hundred dies every year. If there are 220 million Americans, then 2.2 million will die every year and go to hell. Of the world’s four billion people, perhaps forty million die every year. That is as many people as the population of Korea; in other words. each year a nation the size of Korea is going to hell. Don’t you think God would like to stop that as soon as possible, no matter what the sacrifice? Problems occur because of one’s wife and children. Wouldn’t God want to mobilize even mothers and grandmothers in order to save even one more person?
Because of this, we conclude that the religion that can mobilize people 100 percent is the true religion. I am talking about 100 percent mobilization, abandoning everything, whether it is one’s house or whatever. We must remember that this is a time of urgency in God’s providence.
If we believe in God and love God, can we say, “I don’t care”? While God is concerned about all humankind, the world’s religious leaders say we can forget about the whole and seek our own comfort. These are the enemies. These hypocrites! If an emergency period comes and I order the Unification Church to mobilize everything, can you be mobilized?
The blessed families in Korea had to go out for the sake of God’s will, abandoning children, spouses and everything, for three years starting in 1970. At that time, people fumed, saying that I was destroying families. Would God say, “Reverend Moon, you did well”? You can understand, right?
OUR SACRIFICES WILL BE REPAID
Jesus said, “He who seeks to save his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” This principle applies to the individual, to the family, and to even higher levels. Those who are willing to sacrifice themselves and their families for the sake of the Messiah will live.
Why was the nation of Israel destroyed 2000 years ago? Why did the people of Israel suffer such a miserable destiny? If the people of Israel had been truly determined to die for the sake of the Messiah, Jesus, they would have prospered for eternity. However, because they only wanted to save themselves, they lost everything. They perished and their nation crumbled. This is the lesson of history.
Today, at this time of emergency for God, do you want me to raise you up as someone concerned only for your own life, or as someone ready to die for the cause of God? Are you really willing to die for God’s cause? You have my pledge that if you have such a commitment you will never perish. You will live, prosper, and remain for eternity.
There is only one God and only one Divine Principle. There is no compromising the principle. The same principle which operated 2,000 years ago operates now, today. I am a living example of the philosophy of God. Surely, therefore, when God declares an emergency, I will hold nothing in reserve. My own family underwent untold suffering and tragedies for my sake. What if I had been unwilling to make this sacrifice? Would God have wanted me to take pity on the situation of my family, my parents and my brothers or would He have preferred me to march toward the mission even though it meant that my relationship with my family would suffer? Since He would prefer that I sacrifice the relationship, that is the way I have lived.
My first marriage unfortunately ended in divorce. My wife wanted only to cling to me and begged me to disregard my mission to the world, but I could not do that. Which would you choose: to reach to the world for the sake of God or to grab onto your own wife? Actually, I never even contemplated a divorce. But the family of my first wife plotted one thing after another in their attempt to destroy me and my mission. They conspired with the established churches to destroy me. Meanwhile, I did everything humanly possible to be a good husband. I did whatever I could for my wife, leaving no stone unturned. Finally, however, I was instructed by God, “You must pursue the mission and reach out to the world.” I did as I was instructed, knowing that God was leading me. This is how God is leading all mankind.
When God instructed Abraham to offer his son Isaac for a burnt offering, did Abraham say, “No, God, I cannot do that. Are you crazy?” No. He brought Isaac to the altar and readied himself to offer his son to God. That is the faith that can save everyone.
By the same token, the wife of a prophet of God should be ready to say, “You may offer me any time on the altar of God. I am willing to be the sacrifice for His cause.” If a wife has such loyalty and devotion, why should there ever be a separation?
Foremost in my mind is only one goal-to serve God and fulfill my mission. For this goal there is nothing I cannot offer: my family, my wife and children, even my own life.
I have learned another principle from God: before you love the members of your own family, you should love your spiritual family, your brothers and sisters and spiritual children in the faith. I have certainly lived this way. I have loved the members of the Unification Church more than any member of my own family, because this is God’s way of life. God in His love sacrificed His own son, Jesus Christ, for the sake of fallen humankind, who are strangers living in the bosom of Satan.
I understood that when you practice God’s way of life unconditionally, time and again God will provide you with aid in miraculous ways. Many mysterious events have occurred around me. For example, God worked to isolate me so that I would have no personal attachments to my own friends and relatives. At one time I had many good friends, but one by one God called them to the spirit world. Also my older brother and sister cherished and loved me deeply, but God quickly called them to the spirit world. In hindsight, I can interpret these events and understand that God did not want me to cling to personal attachments and personal sentiments, because there should be nothing to sway me from the grave mission I must fulfill.
Hence, I felt lonely in the early days of my divine mission. In this loneliness I found God. I communicated deeply with God, with nothing to distract me. Later when the Unification Church sprang up, I began to attract people who were just like those former friends and my older brother and sister. God sent those types of people as my first fruits and followers. Sometimes I would meet a member and be so surprised, thinking that here was my older brother or my dear friend who had died many years ago. Then I realized that God was sending those people back to me. God sometimes requires a sacrifice, but whatever God takes away will return to you many-fold.
Now you know that if you sacrifice a certain amount, God will reward you with a much greater amount. If you sacrifice your own family for the sake of God, He will return more than the value of your family to you. If you sacrifice your country, God will return more than your country to you. If you sacrifice your life, God will add to your life many times over. Why are young men and women from all over the world willing to sacrifice their lives in this cause? Because many years ago I gave up everything, now God is rewarding me with followers worldwide. I did not create this phenomenon. I cannot control or hypnotize you. It is God who is sending each one of you to me.
THE REASON GOD ASSISTS US
From the distant mountains of faraway Korea, I came to America with nothing. I brought with me hope which can solve the problems that plague this great nation. Do you think I am doing this based on my own thinking? Not at all. The power of God is thrusting me forward and making this result possible.
Sometimes when I am riding off in a car and our young members are dashing to get a glance of me, waving at me and saying, “Father, come back soon,” I am amazed. Why do black and white people run after this yellow man saying, “Father”? Oftentimes you might not know why you are running after me, but there you are, running and waving. What power makes you do that? It is an act of God, not any human power. The president of the United States has ample worldly power, and many ministers and clergymen are powerful. Why don’t people run after them the way you run after me? Why can’t those powerful people do the things that we can do? It is because they have nothing to do with God’s emergency.
I am unique among religious leaders because I know the time of God’s emergency. Therefore, I am desperate to fulfill God’s will. For me it is a matter of life and death. Others may have worldwide fame and authority, but they spend their days in comfort. However, there is not one relaxed moment for me. Every day is an anxious and desperate struggle. I pray to God in tears, determined that even if I am the only one I will take this responsibility. The defining characteristic of my life is that I agonize and suffer over God’s dispensation. If an American president or any American religious leader agonized over God’s will and struggled desperately to fulfill it, America would not be in its present condition. With such leadership, a clergyman would not face revolt and opposition from the pews, nor would a president face complaints from the people.
Indeed, the Unification Church is different: different in its way of life and different in its commitment. Our commitment is total. We invest our lives totally to fulfill the will of God. This is my way of life, and it should be the way of life for my followers.
Are we ready to mobilize 100 percent? Ask yourself in your heart if you are ready. There is no day and night for me. There is no breakfast time; I completely forget about eating. The moment when I am most careful is when I am alone and extremely tired. Then I think, “Whether or not I am ready for God’s command right now will decide my destiny. Am I ready?” I am always prepared to receive God’s instructions. God can give me an order at any moment and I am ready to go. I can declare, “Nothing matters besides the mission that You command me to fulfill. I am ready. Go ahead and issue Your orders at any time.” Once an order is issued, I will march forward regardless of what other people might say. While I am single mindedly working to fulfill God’s order, I have no time to deal with my opponents. Perhaps after the mission is accomplished I may return and have a talk with them, but until the task is done, I have no time for that.
God is 100 percent with me, for if God were to neglect my well-being, His own will would be delayed. God certainly does not want that to happen.
When I sleep very comfortably at night, my conscience hurts; I would rather that my body hurt than my conscience hurt. If I have a good meal, my conscience hurts. I would rather my conscience be clear and happy than my body be satiated.
WE ARE CREATING ONE WORLD
When God declares an emergency and the order for mobilization is issued, will you be ready? If each one of you lives with that attitude and has that commitment, then this country is only a small target and the world is but a small stage for us. During World War II, the United States government called young men out of their families and out of the factories and sent them to the front line. If people had refused to go, the United States would have been unable to fulfill its national goal. When the nation summoned them to become soldiers and fulfill their patriotic duty, did they not have to leave their families behind? Our call is much greater. It is the call of God. The existence of God’s kingdom is at stake. When God summons you, will you hesitate or go directly to the mission?
If your mother says, “Stay with me, don’t go,” would you listen to her? My own loving sister was like that. In my younger days in North Korea I was in one prison after another, sometimes in jail or under police investigation, because of my testimony to the Bible and my loving God. My younger sister said, “Brother, why don’t you stay with me? Let us live happily from now on. You don’t have to bother with preaching; let someone else do that.” If I had heeded her blandishments, would the Unification Church exist today?
Sung Jin Nim’s mother truly loved me and respected me. She knew that she could not find any better husband than me. Yet she kept saying to me, “Don’t trouble yourself so much about these crazy ideas. Who cares? Come with me and live happily. Let’s make a happy, sweet home together.” Her attitude was understandable, but if I had heeded her requests, would there be a Unification Church today? Sometimes I had to make cruel decisions because I knew the significance of the divine call. I knew the emergency of God.
My mother was a loving mother. My whole family-including my brothers and sisters and my first wife-all tried to stop me from pursuing the divine mission. Yet I loved the mission and the Unification Church 100 times more than that members of my own family.
Those who opposed me have collapsed. Each of them has had a tragic life. I, on the other hand, grow more and more prosperous. Even in worldly terms, am I successful or not? Already my accomplishments surpass those of any other religious leader in history, greater than what others have even dreamed of.
Today is the most serious emergency in God’s providence. The democratic world is crumbling, Christianity is declining, and communism is threatening everywhere. God must have His representative who can stand up for Him, revive Christianity, and bring an end to communism. God needs a man here on earth who can carry out this mission. Knowing this emergency, I am pushing myself to solve these problems at all costs.
I began fulfilling the mission on the individual level and was victorious. Then I was victorious at the family level, and then at the tribal level. In order to make the foundation at the tribal level, we should sacrifice our family for the sake of restoring the tribe. With the foundation of a tribe, we can begin to establish heaven’s sovereignty on the earth in one model nation. Then, with one nation as a showcase, the rest of the world may follow it and establish the Kingdom of Heaven. In this manner; the entire world will be transformed into the Kingdom of God on earth.
When I undertook his lonely battle to achieve victory on the individual level, all the individuals in my life came against me. The satanic powers knew when I was most vulnerable, and they wanted to crush me at that level. When I advanced to the family level my family opposed me, yet I overcame opposition and established a heavenly tribe. Now that we are at the level of a tribe, all the tribes of the world will come against us and try to crush us. Regardless of this, we should expand and establish the national level on the way towards the world level.
1976 IS A TURNING POINT
On June 7, 1975, when we held the World Rally for Korean Freedom at Yoido Island in Seoul, we climbed over the summit of indemnity, spiritually and physically, for the nation of Korea. We know that according to the law of indemnity, our history must indemnify the past failures of God’s history. Thus, we must be in a position to indemnify the failure of the dispensation at the time of Jesus Christ. Jesus was crushed by the power of national sovereignty. In order to indemnify such a situation, we had to achieve a victory at the national level. The rally at Yoido Island had this significance.
Upon returning today to America with this national-level victory, what am I supposed to do? The spiritual world regards the United States, founded upon Christianity, as the central nation. However, America has to cultivate the substantial national foundation and connect it to the Christian spiritual world in order to influence the world spiritually and physically. I will lay down that bridge here in America.
The mission which I am undertaking in America from 1975 through 1977 is to restore spiritually and physically the failure of Jesus’ three-year public ministry. Next year, 1976, America will celebrate its bicentennial. All the major failures of the 2,000-year history of Christianity have been reenacted during America’s 200-year history. Once we have passed 1976, we will have indemnified all the failures of 2000 years, making this nation truly ready to accept the Messiah.
The victory at Madison Square Garden in 1974 laid a foundation for the national-level victory in Korea at the rally on June 7. Likewise, victory at Yankee Stadium in 1976 will lay the physical foundation to expand our activities on the national level in America.
As you know, Jesus Christ is the second Adam. As the second Adam, Jesus fought a life and death battle on the earth. By the same token, our second rally in America is Yankee Stadium. It will be the most critical life and death struggle of all, deciding the heavenly destiny. Next year is not only the 200th birthday of America; it is the consummation of 2000 years of Christian history.
Thus far God has been working on the spiritual level. For 2000 years Christianity has had a spiritual ministry. Next year’s victory will bring the physical and spiritual levels together, uniting mind and body. Then we can go on to a new stage in the providence.
Today, all the turmoil surrounding me resembles the mob which confronted Jesus and yelled out, “Crucify him.” However, at Yankee Stadium the moment of crucifixion will become the moment of total victory. Yankee Stadium will be our Calvary. This time we are not going to be nailed on the cross. At this place we will proclaim victory and lay the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God here in America.
Two thousand years ago, if Jesus had not been crucified, Christianity would have started on both the spiritual and physical levels. However, due to the crucifixion only the spiritual providence continued. Yankee Stadium is a new Mount Calvary, where we will declare victory over the crucifixion to heaven and earth. We have the responsibility to fulfill our historical mission through this rally.
Today America parallels the Roman Empire of 2000 years ago, and Korea parallels Israel. A new age has started and a new spiritual movement has started from the small Palestine of the twentieth century, the Korean peninsula. It soon landed in the new Roman Empire, the United States of America. Two thousand years ago Christianity was supposed to march toward Rome, bring the empire to its knees, and establish Christianity there. Likewise, it is our destiny to bring America to its knees in repentance and cause it to accept God’s will. We are the ones who will make this victory possible through the event at Yankee Stadium. Therefore, Yankee Stadium is the showdown of God’s 6000-year providence. At stake is the destiny of God’s providence and His kingdom.
Whether the Unification Church and American Christianity will unite will be decided by the outcome of this rally. If we are successful, it will be like Jesus entering Rome and declaring his victory to the world. Therefore, unity must be created between American Christianity, the Unification Church, and me. Two thousand years ago, the failure of the disciples and the people of Israel to unite with Jesus caused the entire dispensation to crumble. By winning the victory at Yankee Stadium, we will prove that we can make this unity in our time. Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ could not march with his disciples to Rome. He could not declare the kingdom of God in the Roman I Empire. Victory at Yankee Stadium means that God’s living son, the living Christ, is declaring to the nation and the world the arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YANKEE STADIUM
Next year America will elect its fortieth president. The number forty, as you know, is very significant. If we fail our mission at the time of the number forty, it may prolong the providence an additional three generations. It is not a coincidence that America is celebrating its 200th birthday at the same time that it elects its fortieth president, nor is it a coincidence that at this same time the Unification Church is readying itself to be crucified at Yankee Stadium. God set the timing of these events thousands of years ago.
We are calling the Yankee Stadium rally the Bicentennial God Bless America Festival. We are launching a spectacular movement for a new patriotism, a movement for America to return to God. This is the significance of our Yankee Stadium crusade.
We say that God has been suffering for 6000 biblical years, but in actuality He has been suffering for many tens of millions of years. God’s heart is heavy. He has been crying with grief, and we can hear Him weeping. Now God wants someone to vindicate His heart. God wants to be comforted by something. We will comfort God at Yankee Stadium. America should be honored that it is the land where God’s sorrowful heart will be vindicated by our victory. Therefore, America should permit us to succeed, and we should let America cooperate with us. We are the key to making this possible.
Jesus Christ died on the cross with a heavy, sorrowful heart. His sorrow awaits healing, and his heart awaits liberation. God has been waiting for this day for so many thousands of years. I want you to understand that the victory at Yankee Stadium will not be just our victory, but the victory which Jesus has waited for 2000 years. His heart will be comforted in this victory.
Furthermore, so many martyrs and saints have suffered during the history of Christianity. Many saints died with sorrowful hearts and they, too, await the day when their hearts will be liberated. They, too, wish to be comforted. I want you to know that Yankee Stadium will be the victory which will vindicate all the martyrs and saints who shed their blood for the cause of God.
Furthermore, Yankee Stadium will be the day of fulfillment for the Unification Church and me. Throughout my entire life I have suffered. I have been misunderstood and persecuted. We must have our day of vindication. The victory at Yankee Stadium will be the day of liberation and vindication for me and every member of the Unification Church throughout the world.
Furthermore, the people of the world are suffering, living in darkness. Millions are dying every day without hope, tragically destined for hell. We must liberate them and bring hope to humankind. The victory at Yankee Stadium will herald the dawning of hope and life to all people and all nations of the world.
Whether I will succeed or fail at Yankee Stadium will have a universal impact upon human history. Therefore, truly at Yankee Stadium we will put our lives on the line; we will stick our necks out. Not only are our necks on the line. God, Jesus, all the saints and righteous people in the spirit world, and all the conscientious, righteous people in this world are sticking their necks on the line. Whether this gamble is a failure or a success depends on us. Satan knows this better than anyone else. Satan cannot afford to let us succeed; therefore, he is mobilizing his arsenal of negative forces. You know well that all the liberal American news media are trying to crucify me before Yankee Stadium. But we will never permit a failure!
Throughout my life I have been waiting for this one day of hope, vindication and liberation. That day is approaching in June 1976. If we succeed, my joy will be ecstatic and indescribable. If we fail, my misery will be impossible to fathom. The day of the Yankee Stadium rally will be a day of joy and at the same time a day of dreadful judgment.
When I stand on the stage at Yankee Stadium, will I carry the flag of victory or the flag of failure? If I carry the flag of failure, it will be a dismal day not only for the Unification Church but for all of humankind. I would not be able to lift up my face in front of Heavenly Father. We cannot even imagine the situation that would befall humanity after that. The communists would be the only ones to joyfully celebrate their victory. After only a short time, even before 1980, communism would become rampant in America. America will be power-less to contain such a formidable avalanche of evil ideology. Knowing this clearly, we have answered the summons to be front line soldiers and fight for victory at Yankee Stadium.
If we are victorious at Yankee Stadium, we can proceed to bring this most victorious wave toward the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. We can finish off 1976 with an even greater victory at the Washington, D.C., rally. We will bring over 500,000 people to the Washington Monument, making it the single largest gathering in the history of America. That in itself will make history, but it will have a spiritual impact which no one can even imagine.
VICTORY WILL OPEN DOORS
After the victory at Washington Monument, all thinking Americans will begin to study me. Scholars will busily research to find out what power I possess to bring such a victory in such a short time. Aspiring millionaires will want to know my secret for making money. Some politicians might seek my secret for mobilizing the masses. The entire religious world will conclude that my God must be a special God, and they will want to find this true God. Those who have been opposing me until now will follow behind with notebooks. Although they may officially continue to say negative things about Reverend Moon and the Unification Church, their hearts will have been deflated and they will begin moving quietly toward my direction.
You think you know America very well, don’t you? I observe that America does not have any real shepherd. Democracy declares that the people are their own shepherds. Most of you do not have even the qualification to be masters of yourselves. In fact, the American people lack roots. They waver with the wind, moving first forward and then backward.
Individual American citizens lack the confidence to guide themselves because they have no solid foundation. Anyone who aspires to be the shepherd of this nation must first become the master of himself. Then he can become the shepherd to his family, tribe, community, and nation.
American youth wander from the hippie movement to the streaking movement to free sex and then to the drug culture. Since none of those things brings them satisfaction, they hit a stone wall. Most American young people are like bodies without a soul, pursuing the paths of moral degradation. Mean-while, the communist threat is growing every day.
New York City is on the verge of collapse; bankruptcy may follow. But this is not just one city’s predicament, it is the destiny of all American cities. For New York to recover it needs a spiritual revolution. If New York City was given into my hands, I think I could deal with its problems in three years and make it the most prosperous and beautiful city, a heaven on earth.
There are many thoughtful and decent young people in America. They are good people and highly motivated. They are seeking answers, but could not find them in the churches. They looked for answers from Billy Graham but could not find them. They searched here and there. Meanwhile, they have heard so much about Reverend Moon and the controversy he is stirring up that they want to check it out. These people are starting to come to our church.
I am sure that many of you joined the Unification Church after coming to investigate the negative things you heard about it. If, as a result of the Yankee Stadium and Washington “Monument rallies, the American people began to think good things about the Unification Church and Reverend Moon, the entire nation could be turned around overnight, right? If we become a prominent movement in America, within three years we could influence the rest of the world.
If I announced that I was offering a billion dollars to feed the world’s hungry people, many foreign ministers would line up in front of the gate at East Garden. When they find out that Unification ideology has the power to rebuild their nations and give rebirth to their people, they will ask us to help them. “That’s easy,” we can reply. “We will send some lecturers. Bring your president, your prime minister and all the cabinet members to a three-day workshop.” After that, let them attend a seven-day workshop. In no time they will begin to change.
When we bring victory at Yankee Stadium rally and the Washington Monument, the entire world will come into our arms. We need a foundation to influence the world that includes money, people and spiritual power. I have all three in ample amounts.
You happened to be born in this particular age. You happened to meet me. Are you lucky to have met me? Then you won’t mind if I push you out to do hard work? [No!]
MAKE A NEW COMMITMENT
After liberating God and humanity, what more is there to do? If you die, you are dying with honor. Actually you never die; you will live forever. I know that this world is only a shadow compared to the original world of spirit. Once I have accomplished his mission here on earth I will have no attachment to this world.
Even at this moment, I am fighting at the risk of my life. America is a jungle of crime. You can buy a gun for just $10. I was told that one can hire a man to kill somebody for only $170. $170! Despite these dangers, I am teaching the truth to America’s youth without any hesitation or reservations.
Furthermore, the communists will conspire to assassinate me. They will send agents to infiltrate our ranks. This is the most dangerous moment in all my life. I have never risked my life to such a degree. Why can’t I stay in the background and relax? The Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument rallies are the showdown with the satanic world. The 6000 year-old desire and dream of God will be at stake. I cannot retreat one inch!
Today’s message is entitled, “Let Us Go over the Mountain with Hope.” That mountain is the Yankee Stadium rally and the Washington Monument rally. We must go over that mountain with a victorious spirit.
The Madison Square Garden rally was a formation-stage crusade, and Yankee Stadium is the growth stage. According to the Divine Principle, the growth stage is always the most difficult. Washington Monument will certainly be the perfection-stage crusade.
Jesus’ first year of ministry was rosy and full of optimism, but in his second year he hit a stone wall. If Jesus Christ had been able to shatter that wall he would not have been crucified. We must shatter the stone wall and be victorious. Then we can certainly open the door to a new heaven and earth.
Let us be strong and courageous. We cannot sit still! We must stand up and march forward! This is an emergency for God, for Jesus Christ, for all the saints in history, for all humankind, and for the Unification Church and me. You courageous members of the Unification Church have been handpicked by God for this task. To mobilize the power for victory, each of you must become a representative of God, Jesus, and True Parents.
Let us welcome the first day of 1976 with a fixed resolve. Next year will decide the destiny of America and all humankind. You, the members of the Unification Church, hold the key to this destiny. Today we will make that commitment in front of heaven and earth. We will pledge to God that we will bring Him the glory and victory which He has desired for 6000 years.
Remember, the more hardships we encounter the greater the joy of victory. Let us shatter all obstacles and bring the victory! Those who pledge that commitment, raise your hands! Let us go over the mountain with hope and bring ultimate joy and comfort to the heart of Heavenly Father.