{"id":37520,"date":"2025-12-31T15:35:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T20:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/?p=37520"},"modified":"2025-12-31T15:35:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T20:35:22","slug":"standing-at-the-end-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/?p=37520","title":{"rendered":"Standing at the End of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing at the End of the Year\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.\u201d
\n(John 20:20)<\/p>\n

It was the year 1918\u2014a time of hardship and confusion as the world reeled from the devastation of World War I. In a small mining town called Bovey, Minnesota, there lived a Swedish immigrant named Eric Enstrom, who ran a modest photography studio.<\/p>\n

One day, an elderly man entered the studio. He looked utterly worn down by life\u2014his hair white with age, his clothes tattered. He had come in to sell shoe dusters. Clearly exhausted, the old man asked if he might rest for a moment. Apologetically, he also asked if he could have a cup of tea. Moved by compassion, Enstrom offered him some bread and a small bowl of soup.
\nThen something remarkable happened.<\/p>\n

The old man sat down before the simple meal of bread and soup and bowed his head in prayer, giving thanks. In that moment, Enstrom felt a deep stir in his heart\u2014a sense of awe and holy trembling. That frail and impoverished old man suddenly appeared to him as a great man.
\nEnstrom thought to himself,
\n\u201cThis man may not possess much in this world, but he has something far greater than many others. He knows how to give thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though poor and weary, the old man possessed a grateful heart. In his simple prayer of thanksgiving, Enstrom realized that this man was, in fact, richer than anyone else in the world.
\nRight then and there, Enstrom took the man\u2019s photograph.
\nLater, Enstrom\u2019s married daughter, Ronda Nyberg, saw the black-and-white photograph and was deeply moved. She painted it as an oil painting. That painting\u2014depicting the old man praying in gratitude\u2014came to be known as \u201cThe Grace.\u201d Many of us have seen it at least once. It has hung on the walls of countless American homes.<\/p>\n

The English title, The Grace, deliberately points to that moment\u2014that grace, that sacred encounter\u2014when the old man offered thanks over a humble meal of bread and soup. This image, both the photograph and the painting, was later selected as the official state photograph of Minnesota in 2002.<\/p>\n

On the evening of the resurrection, the disciples were gathered in the same place where they had shared the Last Supper with Jesus. Their hearts were still gripped by fear, and the doors were tightly shut.
\nThe risen Lord came to them\u2014not by opening the door, but by appearing among them. His resurrected body was no longer confined by space.<\/p>\n

The disciples were stunned. What they saw went beyond their faith and imagination. They did not know how to comprehend it.
\nJesus spoke first: \u201cShalom.\u201d
\nThe apostle Paul later interpreted this peace as \u201cthe peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds\u201d (Philippians 4:7).<\/p>\n

After speaking peace, Jesus showed them His hands and His side to assure them that it was truly He. The pierced hands of Jesus became an unforgettable image in their hearts\u2014an image of grace, much like the praying old man.<\/p>\n

When Thomas, who had not been present, returned, the disciples excitedly testified about what they had seen\u2014the nail-marked hands and the pierced side. Thomas resisted their testimony, but Jesus appeared again and invited Thomas to touch the marks for himself.
\nThen Jesus said,<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be unbelieving, but believing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas became the first person to touch the nail marks in the risen Lord\u2019s hands, and from his lips came the greatest confession of faith:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d (John 20:28)<\/p>\n

This is the climactic confession of the Gospel of John.<\/p>\n

The nail marks in Jesus\u2019 hands are the marks of forgiveness\u2014the scars (stigmata) of the One who bore all our sins and transgressions. The apostle Paul even declares that he himself bears such marks in his body (Galatians 6:17).<\/p>\n

Today, the Lord invites us as well\u2014to see and to touch those marks.<\/p>\n

As another year comes to a close, and as we send off the year 2025, the Lord calls us to behold those scars and to become people who believe and give thanks.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father,
\nMay we, like Eric and Ronda, behold Your grace as if capturing it in a photograph.
\nMay we look upon the nail-scarred hands of Christ, believe, and give thanks.
\nWe pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

Shalom!
\nMay the end of this year and the beginning of the next be warm and grace-filled.
\nMay the new year bring you renewed health and hopeful steps forward.<\/p>\n

New Year Blessings!
\nIn Christ,
\n\u201cMay the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.\u201d
\n(Romans 15:13)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Rev. Jaewoong Chang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standing at the End of the Year \u201cAfter He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.\u201d (John 20:20) It was the year 1918\u2014a time of hardship and confusion … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-30"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37522,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37520\/revisions\/37522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mdkumc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}