In February I began writing a series of articles in the monthly newsletter to help explain and make Methodism easier to understand through my ministerial experiences. July’s article is below. I hope these articles will help you better understand Methodism and confirm and develop your faithful identification as a Methodist. Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about Methodism and/or this article. All feedback is welcome!

Q) What Is Our Understanding (as Methodists) of the Kingdom of God; the Resurrection; Eternal life?
When I arrived at O’Hare International Airport in September 2011, I was amazed and surprised to see lots of various people and ethnic groups. I knew that O’Hare was a famous international airport, so there would be a lot of foreigners, but this situation continued outside of the airport. Asian, African-American, Anglo-American and Hispanic people all live together in the Chicago area. There are a lot of people living here and trying to pursue living together peacefully. In my nation of South Korea there is only one ethnic group: only Koreans. The vast melting pot in America is so amazing to me. I imagine that the Kingdom of God is like this, in that everyone, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity will be rejoicing together.

Jesus showed us what it meant to live in the Kingdom of God in this world. When Jesus wanted to bring his Kingdom into the corrupted tax system of Jerusalem, the first thing Jesus did was recruit Matthew, the tax collector, to invest his efforts to clean up the corruption of that society. The Kingdom of heaven is economically and socially egalitarian within man’s world (Matthew 20:1-16). The Kingdom of heaven is the mirror of justice. There is no classism, racism, or sexism.

The Kingdom of God is where God’s love, grace, and justice are fulfilled. Methodists believe that God’s reign will be fulfilled not only after our deaths, but also on this earth. The Kingdom of God has already come. The coming of Jesus Christ stands for the beginning of the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ showed the hope of the Kingdom of God. Not only is Jesus Christ equal to God, he came to earth in the form of a perfect human. He was crucified on the cross to resolve the sins of humans. Also, the Kingdom of God is hope. We can receive hope through Jesus’ cross.

Personally, I had many chances to witness to patients before their death during my time as an intern chaplain. There were many different appearances before death, however I clearly remember one patient. The patient was in the last stage of cancer. Her doctor said to me that she did not have any hope of recovery. She never lost her smile, even though she was dying and in so much pain. She said to me, “I believe in heaven, so I have hope and I am not afraid of my physical death. My life was so good with Jesus.” At that time, I recognized that death applied equally to all people, but people had such different experiences of death depending on their situation.

As Christians, we need to think about our death. It may be a time of fear and pain, but Jesus Christ overcame death and was resurrected. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can believe in eternal life.

Blessings,

Pastor Kook Ho

Posted in From The Pastors