The Last Hour Workers: What can we contribute to God's
Vineyard?
The Centennial Celebration of the Korean American (KA)
Immigration The Northern Illinois Annual Conference, 13 June 2003 Mt 20:
1-16
Andrew Sung Park
United Theological Seminary, Dayton, OH
This parable is connected with the parable of the talents in Mt 25:
14-30. Both parables reject the idea of "the more, the better" or "the less,
the worse." Whatever opportunities we have, we used them for God's vineyard.
Then, KA [Korean American] churches need to check what we have and what we
will do with it for God's community. We have the gifts of Hahn (sheer
inclusiveness), Jung (compassionate passion), and Mut (the beauty of grace).
Hahn (sheer inclusiveness)
Hahn means sheer inclusiveness, oneness, and sublimity, referring to
Heaven or the Sky. Koreans call God Hahn-u-nim (honorific). Hahn is
the divine mind. Hahn's frame of thinking is an undivided whole. Its
worldview is an unbroken integrity. (It is different from han, the
wound of a victim, bitterness, or pain).
First, We have the two sides of self: the great and small self. People of
hahn in connection with the divine mind choose the great self over the small
self in their decision-making.
Second, hahn is "sheer inclusiveness," which underscores
tolerance and acceptance.
The hahn mind does not reject others but embraces them. Jesus said, "I
have come to call not the righteous but sinners" (Mk 2: 17). Here, "sinners"
are not all sinners.
The so-called sinners consist of persons of dishonorable occupation and
low status such as the sick or the poor. Jesus' followers in general were
the disreputable, the uneducated, and the ignorant. They were publicans (Mk
2:16), prostitutes (Mt 21:32) or the sick. The hahn mind includes the
excluded and hears all voices in our society.
Jung (compassionate passion)
jung is warm endearment. In a Korean American community, most people
transcend their loneliness through their jung. With jung,
people are fond of people.
jung is a compassionate passion. Koreans are a people of suffering.
When they see people suffering, their hearts are filled with passionate
compassion. People of jung suffer together in solidarity.
First, we need to treat each person with jung, warm endearment. We meet
and treat each person as if we meet and treat our best friend, whom we have
not seen for years. That attitude is jung, warm endearment.
Second , we need a compassionate passion. While the first group of
laborers worked for the pay, the last group worked not only for pay, but
also for the owner. While the first group worked in the sense of duty, the
last one worked in love for the owner beyond the pay. They did it with
passion. KAs have been graced by God and we need to serve God in passion and
love, not in the sense of obligation.
Mut (the beauty of grace)
Mut is another important Korean ethos. Its rough translation is the
"beauty of grace," "asymmetric beauty," or the" grace of gentleness."
First, the people of the beauty of grace (mut) dare to be different.
Second, the people of mut work for great reversals. In the Way (Tao),
there are pairs in chains of opposites: the yang vs. the yin, male vs.
female, strong vs. weak, big vs. small, synthetic vs. natural, and hard vs.
soft. The former categories are favored in general. The idea of mut reverses
the order by opting for the latter categories.
According to Ralph Nader, as in the middle ages, 1% of the population in
this country own 900/0 of its wealth (Ralph Nader, "Stop Corporate Welfare,"
in Third World Traveler, Fall 1996, excerpted from a speech Nader delivered
at Pennsylvania's Haverford College). Nowadays the wealthiest 200/0 of the
world's population receive almost 83% of the world's income, while the
poorest 20% receive less than 2% (Ched Myers, 2001)
By enhancing local businesses, we can subvert the structure of
transnational corporations that have escalated world poverty, moved the
glove toward a monoculture, impoverished the conditions of urban areas, and
disrupted environmental conditions. For instance, for a carrot stick to be
on our dining table, it needs to travel 1,300 miles on average. Shipping a
truckload of produce across the country costs up to $4,500. By,
buying local producers' carrots, we stop unnecessary trucking and vitalize
our local economy. A dollar used on local foods goes around in the local
economy, generating $1.81 to $2.78 in other business.
Conclusion
KAs have been graced by God. Called by God into this country, we must
truly love and serve God and people, not for our recognition or achievement,
but for the increase of God's reign in love and gratitude, contributing to
this society with what we have.
With hahn, we move from the small self to the big self and embrace and
accept the otherness of others, particularly the marginalized and the
rejected, using our own wound as a healing balm. With jung, we treat
everyone in compassionate endearment and served God in a deep compassionate
passion. With mut, we emphasize the beauty of difference and bring forth the
great reversals through a graceful stream of justice.
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