When I was in elementary school, my father left for the United States to study. It was not until I was in my third year of middle school that he finally returned to Korea. Shortly after his return, my homeroom teacher asked me to bring a parent to school because I was not studying. At the time, I was in a special class made up of students preparing to go to high schools in Seoul, but I was near the bottom of the class.
Then one day, my father came to school. It was a day he had been called in because of my poor performance, but to me, it was something entirely different. It was the day I could show everyone, “I have a father too.” That alone filled me with joy.
From that day on, my life began to change. I started studying seriously. My grades rose from around 60th place in the entire school to 3rd. Eventually, I was accepted into a high school in Seoul.
Looking back, what changed my life was not simply my determination.
It was the fact that my father came to where I was.
In the Gospel of John, the disciples were hiding behind locked doors, gripped by fear. Then the risen Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” When the Lord came to them, their fear no longer had power over them.
Faith is not about becoming stronger on our own.
It is about the Lord coming into our lives.
A few years ago, while preparing a memorial service for an elder who had passed away, his grandson contacted me and asked for a photograph of his grandfather’s hands. Years earlier, our church had created a book featuring photographs of the hands of members over the age of 75, titled “Story Hand- Our Korean-American Journey”
Young people who translated that book into English came to me and said, “Pastor, we cried so much while translating it.” They had come to realize that every wrinkle in the hands of their grandparents was a cross—each one a testimony of sacrifice and love.
Even the risen Jesus still bore His wounds.
We, too, carry many wounds in our lives.
But when we encounter the risen Lord, those wounds are transformed.
They become stories of grace.
The marks of pain become evidence of love.
When the risen Jesus came to the disciples, the doors of their lives were opened.
And today, the risen Lord comes to us as well.
When we receive Him,
the closed doors of our lives will open.