With the completion of last week’s segajok (new member) training, I have officially become a member of Saemoonan Church! From the moment I arrived at church, I was welcomed with remarkable warmth. A welcomer kindly escorted me to the service and guided me to a seat reserved for newcomers. Everyone sang for me, and I was given the chance to offer a brief greeting. After the service, I met briefly with Pastor Paek Sok-Joon, who oversees the youth ministry, together with another new member.
Throughout it all, I felt so happy—almost like a honeymoon phase, where everything seemed especially warm and beautiful. Then the pastor gently added a note of realism. He explained that the youth fellowship I would be joining might not feel as warm or attentive as the new members’ group, since those who had welcomed me were specifically serving in that role, while the youth members are simply ordinary participants in church life. He also said that while this may not be the best church in South Korea, it is, without question, a church that truly loves God.
I appreciated this honesty, because it reflects a simple truth: no community is perfect. Wherever we go, there is both good and bad. Even a church, which is meant to reflect God’s love, can never fully embody it. All we can do is try: strive for what is good, appreciate what is good, and pray about what is lacking, asking for love and wisdom to face it well. As I enter this new community, I carry no particular expectations. My joy comes from my recent encounter with God, which began in Ivory Coast and continues here in Korea, and from having found a community to belong to. For the rest, I leave it to God.
Matthew 28:6-10
6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
The period from Easter to Pentecost is referred to as the “Great Fifty Days of Joy.” In fact, this was the only season observed by the early Church. Thus, the Christian faith is primarily centered on joy and praise. However, since the Middle Ages, the focus on the cross and suffering has overshadowed the joy of the resurrection, and the Church has not fully revealed the power of the resurrection and empowered believers.
The emotions of the women at Jesus’ tomb were “fear and great joy.” Here, “fear,” or phobos, is not terror. The fear of the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb was a shrinking dread of impending judgment for their actions, but the women’s fear was awe and wonder flowing from an overwhelming sense of holiness. It is like standing amid vast nature: rather than feeling diminished, we are overtaken by a sense of freedom and wonder.
The joy of the world comes when fear is removed, but the joy of the resurrection comes through this awe. This is why reverence and joy coexist. The resurrection of Jesus is the gospel of all gospels, bringing awe and wonder. Yet many people come to church seeking a joy they cannot find in the world, only to encounter something more somber—formal greetings paired with stern expressions. That is far from grace. A life of faith should be filled with joy and wonder.
The fact that He has risen again means that our sins have been forgiven and that we are now free. The devil condemns and labels us as sinners, but the resurrection of Jesus sets us free from our sins—the sins we have done in the past, the sins we do in the present, and the sins we will do in the future.
Believers are welcomed as new creations into the new order under the reign of the risen Christ, and within it, their victory is assured. Just as Christ has overcome, so our lives will also overcome. God reigns above us, Jesus intercedes for us, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. This is a life of complete security. The believer’s life rests within this triune reality, and therefore it cannot but lead to victory.
The command to “seek first his kingdom” (Mathew 6:33) is not merely a moral standard imposed on us. Rather, it is a declaration of freedom: God has already prepared the foundation of our lives, and we are invited to live within that freedom. Scripture is not merely a collection of moral teachings. It is living and active, working within our lives. It is not confined within the frameworks of culture, intellect, or ethics—it is the living Word of God.
I started going to church after meeting a woman in Ivory Coast who encouraged me to go. Normally, I would have ignored that kind of advice—I had for years—so I sometimes think of her as an angel in disguise. She shared Matthew 6:33 with me and I understood it quite literally at the time: I put God first, and He will give me what I’m striving for—whether passing the public exam or, more broadly, having a good life.
I understood that passage differently this week. I’m not putting God first in order to receive what is good. Rather, I can put God first because my life is already secure in Him. This means I don’t have to worry about whether my life will turn out well, or treat devotion as a condition for receiving blessings. Instead, I’m free to focus on God precisely because He has already given me a secure foundation.
It’s like Shohei Ohtani, my favorite baseball player. He’s one of the greatest because he can focus entirely on baseball. He doesn’t have to worry about dishes, groceries, or finances, since those are all taken care of by the people around him. His life is structured so he can give his full attention to baseball, and that’s what allows him to excel at what he does. In the same way, my life is set up so I can put God first. Since everything else is already taken care of by Him, I’m free to do what I was created to do: rejoice and live in awe and wonder of God.
I struggle to understand the idea of forgiveness of sins by faith. While it is indeed good news, I wonder how the sins of someone who continues to hurt others should be understood. If a person harms others and is forgiven, does that mean he is fine simply because he believes in God? What if he continues to hurt others without remorse, while also holding the idea that humans are inherently sinful and that sin is therefore in some sense “normal” and part of being human? In that case, he may be comforted by the thought that, no matter what he does, he is forgiven and free from his sin through faith. Is the call then to stop dwelling on sin, turn away from it, and rejoice in God?
I may be misunderstanding the nature of God’s forgiveness here, because it seems that a person who truly loves God would not continue to hurt others. Still, I find it difficult to grasp the idea that someone who harms others (and continues to do so) could be forgiven simply by faith. Perhaps faith also means not dwelling on these questions, but focusing on God instead? When it comes to others, judgment belongs to God alone. My role, then, is to turn inward—to examine my own wrongdoings, avoid harming others, and turn away from sin. But I think God has given us the freedom to explore faith and to take our own journeys in it. So I’m here wondering: what does it mean to be forgiven of our sin we did in the past, our sin we are doing in the present and our sin we will do in future?
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