Message: God's Two Hands / Isaiah 2:1-5 & Matthew 24:36-44

     When we look back at history, we can see that God works with God’s two hands. One hand is visible and familiar. It is the people of God who work for the Kingdom of God. The other hand is hidden and hard to understand. It is a holy mystery beyond our knowledge. Today’s readings from Isaiah and Matthew show us how God’s two hands work together in harmony.

The first reading from Isaiah shows us the one hand of God. The prophet describes the last day when all nations will come to the mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem. This day will not simply fall from heaven. People open the door to God’s kingdom through their actions and choices. On that day, people listen to the voice that teaches what truly matters and let it change their lives. Swords become tools for farming. War ends. The dream of peace comes true.

We are called to be God’s one hand. Through our compassionate actions and choices, God works with us to create a sanctuary where everyone is safe and free. This hope is not an illusion. It grows when we share our joy and sorrow with each other, when we visit someone who is lonely, when we listen with an open mind, when we share what we have, and when we speak the truth with love.

The Gospel of Matthew draws our attention to the other hand of God. Jesus tells his disciples that no one knows the last day and that only God knows. Even Jesus acknowledges the limits of being human. No one can fully grasp the whole mystery or explain everything through language. Human reason has discovered many amazing truths, yet what we do not know is still greater than what we know. True wisdom is not thinking we know everything, but having the courage to keep asking questions and the honesty to admit our limits.

The end will come, but no one knows when. This does not mean we should simply stare at the sky without doing anything. Rather, it is an encouragement to be ready for that time, with hope in every situation. As we accept that not everything can be accomplished through our own actions and choices, we can focus on what we need to do, freed from the obsession with the outcome. We can live each moment fully, knowing we do not need to be frustrated or despair over the things we cannot change.
 

The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) expressed this balance between God’s two hands in his well-known prayer:
 
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
 

In Buddhist tradition, there is a saying, Jul-Tak-Dong-Si, which means “pecking from inside and outside at the same time.” It describes the moment when a chick is ready to be born. The chick taps the shell from within while the mother hen taps from the outside. If the mother breaks the shell too soon, the chick comes out too weak. If she waits too long, the chick may become exhausted or even suffocate. Buddhists use this image to explain the moment of enlightenment. It is not something that can be achieved by one’s own effort alone, nor is it brought about only by help from outside. Enlightenment becomes possible when the time is ripe, when one’s effort and practice have matured and divine help comes together in delicate harmony.

God’s time works like this. As one of God’s hands, we are the small beak tapping from the inside. We pray, we serve, we learn, we love, and we share. These are the gentle taps of faith against the hard shell of the world. At the same time, God’s other hand works from the outside, preparing the moment when the shell of injustice, oppression, and violence will finally break open. When that moment comes, a new heaven and a new earth will appear, and what we hope for now will become what we see.

In this season of Advent, we set out on the journey once again. It is often coldest just before sunrise. As we walk toward the kingdom of God, the world around us may feel colder and darker. Yet on this road, we are never alone. As God’s visible hand, we take each step in the light of the Lord, while God’s other hand is already at work beyond what we can see, getting ready for the unexpected moment when the door will open wide to a new heaven and a new earth, full of peace, joy, and love.

Thanks be to God. Amen.


Rev. Min Hwang

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