December 7, 2014
- Joseph treats his brothers harshly -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 Now we are listening to the story about Joseph. In the previous worship service, we read the words of Chapter 41. The part from Chapters 42 to 44 is a series. Although I wondered what chapter I should ask you to read, for the present, I asked you to read the first half of Chapter 44.
1.2 First, let me tell you a rough outline of what happened up to Chapter 44. The Pharaoh of Egypt appointed Joseph, who predicted seven years' bumper crops and seven years' famine after them, to be in such a status as a minister in charge of food control. Chapter 41, Verse46 says that at that time he was 30 years old. We can assume that it was at the age of 17 that he invited the hatred of his brothers and was almost killed by them and as a result he was sold as a slave in Egypt (See Chapter 37, Verse 2). Therefore, three years or so have passed since then.
1.3 As Joseph predicted, terrible famine occurred after seven years' bumper crops. This famine seems to have broken out not only in Egypt but also in neighboring areas: Even in Palestine, where Joseph's father and brothers lived, food was gone. However, as they heard that there seemed to be still some food in Egypt, at their father's orders, Joseph's brothers decided to go to Egypt to buy some food. (According to a simple calculation, Joseph became the minister at the age of 30, seven years' bumper crops and seven years' famine broke out, and we can assume that he turned about 45 years old at this time. )
1.4 Chapter 42 starts here. Joseph, a great minister at present, met with his brothers. He recognized them at once, while his brothers had not the slightest idea that the minister in their presence should be their brother Joseph, for they met him for the first time in probably 20 or so years. Joseph dared to call his brothers spies and made an unreasonable demand of them by ordering them to bring Benjamin, his real brother. Then he put all of them into prison. Chapter42, Verses 21 and 22, describe what his brothers and Benjamin said: 'In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us and we would not listen; therefore is distress come upon us. 'And Reuben answered then, 'Did I not tell you not to sin against the lad? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.'
1.5 Joseph, who overheard this, shed tears but he did not tell them who he was or where he came from. He took one of his brothers, Simeon, as hostage, and told them to go home by providing them with food, saying that they should surely bring Benjamin the next time they would come. At that time, he put secretly the money, silver, into their sacks, that they paid to him. This part, which I will mention later, reminds us of his ambivalent feelings that vacillate toward his brothers. Let me omit the scene where his brothers were surprised to find that their money had been put back when they returned home and also their conversation with their father. This is what up to Chapter 42 has described.
1.6 Now they had eaten the grain which they had bought and again they went to Joseph again. This time they brought Benjamin with them. They carried double the money, silver, that was returned when they bought food for the first time, and the present with them. This time Joseph didn't call them spies but was delighted to see his younger brother again secretly. The banquet was held and Chapter 43 ended with the words, "they drank and were merry with him."
1.7 What is described from that part is today's word of Chapter 44. Joseph ordered the steward to fill the men's sacks with food and return the money that they had paid. But he commanded the steward to put his cup, the precious silver cup, which the Egyptian Pharaoh used for ceremonies or for divination, into his real brother Benjamin's sack. And Joseph ordered the steward to follow after his brothers on their journey and when he overtook them, he suspected that they had stolen the silver cup. When he searched, the silver cup was found in Benjamin's sack. When one of his brothers, Judah, saw this, he said the words of Verse 16. In response to this, Joseph said that only Benjamin should be his slave, when Judah said that he would remain as a slave to you and begged Joseph to return the rest of his brothers to their father.
2.1 I have talked a little long but this is the rough outline of the part up to Chapter 44. Through today's story, one thing that I want to emphasize is what if this story ended with Chapter 44. Although we are going to learn about the word in Chapter 45 again after Christmas prayer is over, there through Joseph God intervenes between these brothers. God doesn't directly intervene but through Joseph, the man who believes truly in God, and through that faith, God carries out his work. Through it, these brothers met again for the first time in 20 years or so and settled their differences beyond love and hate. To end the story with today's Chapter 44 without Chapter 45 means that there was no peaceful settlement even if there was some form of reunion. Probably Joseph made his real brother Benjamin a slave and the rest of his brothers ended up returning to their hometown without him.
2.2 That in today's verses 16 and 17 and Verse 33 at the end of Chapter 44 which we have not read yet, Judah and Joseph said the word, 'slave,'is very symbolic and significant, I think. I feel that if this story ended with Chapter 44, it would clearly represent that these brothers were made 'slaves 'in various senses. If you ask what kind of a slave, then you can find Judah saying in the middle of Verse 16, 'God has found out the guilt of your servants ,'and in Verse 32, 'I shall bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life. '
In other words, it means that they are slaves of 'sins.'It is among other things the sin that the brothers committed 20 or so years ago, but it doesn't just mean that but also it includes sins which are caused by it, and that Joseph is now committing. Those sins are about to lower these brothers into the state of a slave in various meanings.
3.1 Some of you may say that my word that Joseph is committing sins is a surprise. I titled today's sermon 'Joseph treats his brothers harshly.'Just as is seen in the rough outline, why did Joseph suspect his brothers to be spies, put them into prison, take them hostage or make a surprise assault on them? It seems that their interpretations are varied. Some people understand Joseph in a sympathetic way. Just as I said a few minutes ago, his fluctuating feelings toward his brothers come out there. But what comes out among others is still his hatred of his brothers and his desire to retaliate against them, who tried to kill him about 20 years ago, I think. It is a desire to retaliate against his brothers by using the power of the minister that he serves as.
3.2 Just because of that, his conduct cannot be explained away to God fairly with pride, I think. Once when Joseph was tempted persistently by the wife of his master Poti-phar, he said,' Because you are his wife, how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?' In contrast, can Joseph be proud of what he did to his brothers and Benjamin from verses 42 through 44 in the presence of God? He can never be proud of it, I think. We call what we do against God a sin. Sins are sure to control us. They make us slaves. They never lead us to happiness.
3.3 If things went on like this, Joseph would have used his power and have made Benjamin a slave. Of course, he didn't have any intention to make him a slave at all and he would have lived happily ever after with his real brother. Also we can interpret that even if Benjamin had been taken away, they would have accepted it, because they themselves said that God had revealed their sin and that they were receiving retribution and a punishment for that sin. But is this the solution of the sin that these brothers has had for 20 or so years? Is it the liberation from their sin? Is it a reconciliation? I don't think that is the case. Even if Joseph had kept Benjamin beside him, he would not have been liberated from his hatred of his brothers.
3.4 On the contrary, Joseph would have regretted that he had deceived his brothers and that he had taken Benjamin away from them. He would have continued to torture himself thinking that he had committed the deed that could be explained away fairly and squarely to God. Also even if his brothers had thought that this was the punishment for their sin, their hatred of the minister in Egypt would have grown, and if they had identified him as their younger brother Joseph, their grudge against him would have grown the more.
3.5 If the story ends with Chapter 44, it means that the way to cope with sins is dealt with in a way that human beings think of, after all. It ends without God's intervention. Although I repeat, it surely makes someone a slave. It makes someone a slave of a sin or hatred.
4.1 Furthermore, I would like to point out what would happen if the story had ended with Chapter 44. In Verse 17, which I often talk about, Judah says, 'God has found out the guilt of your servants.'While verses 21 and 22 of Chapter 42 say, 'In truth we are guilty concerning our brother ,'and, 'So now there comes a reckoning for his blood, 'these words mean in the final analysis that God is doing so. Now the brothers are regarding God as such an existence. If the story had ended with Chapter 44, the brothers would have ended up believing God to be such an existence.
4.2 Indeed God is the person who has found out the guilt of the brothers. Also the reason why such a series of events has occurred is probably that they correspond to retribution and a punishment for their sin. But what God does about a sin never stays there. As what I am going to talk about is concerned with the person's privacy, I cannot give you a concrete story but the other day a certain person who isn't a member of this church came to talk to me. He said that he feels as if he were on a subway train, that is, he feels guilty in the presence of God. I told him not to be a slave of human love and not to talk about it. I said that however wonderful human love might be, it was nothing but what belonged to a human being and that literally it made us slaves. I told the person that the time had come for him to direct God's light to his present state and to expose it to the sun. For that person to come to the church and to talk to the pastor itself already represents the coming of God's light. And God doesn't just find out the person's guilt. When light from God comes, it never fails to bring an intervention from God. It leads to a liberation from sins.
4.3 At the Joint Worship service on Thanksgiving Day the other day, we learned the Ten Commandments. God introduced himself like this: ' I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 'God doesn't allow us to deal with our sins in a human way and as a result to become their slaves. He liberates us from becoming slaves of sins. There through human beings who believe in God, God intervenes and tries to liberate those who are slaves of sins from there.
4.4 Two people started to take part in the meeting to prepare for baptism last Tuesday. At the meeting, they learn the program that contains a very simple content that I prepared. The beginning of the learning is always 'What is Baptism ?'The word that is always quoted is the word in Verse 3, Chapter 6 of Romans, 'all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus. 'It is said that this word is thought to have been established as the catechism which was read at the ceremony of baptism in the latter half of the fifties A.D. when this letter was written. What is baptism? They were taught that baptism is to believe in Jesus and to be baptized into Jesus. At the meeting to prepare for baptism for this year, I added the word in Verse 6, Chapter 1 of Romans, 'those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ 'to these words. We, who are baptized into Jesus, belong to Jesus through this. It leads to being baptized God and belonging to God in the long run. God connects us, who are made sinful and slaves of sins, with Jesus and makes us belong to Jesus, through which God gives light there and gradually liberates us from becoming slaves of sins.
Let's rejoice at the story not ending with Chapter 44 but continuing to Chapter 45.
(Translated by Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Genesis 44: 1-17
1 Joseph gave the steward these instructions: 'Fill the men's pack with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's silver at the top of his pack.
2 And put my goblet, the silver one, at the top of the youngest brother's pack along with the silver for the grain.' He did as Joseph had told him.
3 At first light the brothers were allowed to take their donkeys and set off;
4 but before they had gone very far from the city, Joseph said to his steward, 'Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say, "Why have you repaid good with evil?
5 Why have you stolen the silver goblet? It is the one my lord drinks from, and which he uses for divination. This is a wicked thing you have done."'
6 When the steward overtook them, he reported his master's words.
7 But they replied, 'My lord, how can you say such things? Heaven forbid that we should do such a thing!
8 Look! The silver we found at the top of our packs we brought back to you from Canaan. Why, then, should we steal silver or gold from your master's house?
9 If any one of us is found with the goblet, he shall die; and, what is more, my lord, the rest of us shall become your slaves.'
10 He said, 'Very well; I accept what you say. Only the one in whose possession it is found will become my slave; the rest will go free.'
11 Each quickly lowered his pack to the ground and opened it,
12 and when the steward searched, beginning with the eldest and finishing with the youngest, the goblet was found in Benjamin's pack.
13 At this they tore their clothes; then one and all they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city.
14 Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers arrived, and they threw themselves on the ground before him.
15 Joseph said, 'What is this you have done? You might have known that a man such as I am uses divination.'
16 Judah said, 'What can we say, my lord? What can we plead, or how can we clear ourselves? God has uncovered our crime. Here we are, my lord, ready to be made your slaves, we ourselves as well as the one who was found with the goblet.'
17 'Heaven forbid that I should do such a thing!' answered Joseph. 'Only the one who was found with the goblet shall become my slave; the rest of you can go home to your father safe and sound.'
(The New English Bible)
November 16, 2014
- Do not worry -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. Among many words of Jesus written in the Gospels, the words in today's passage are one of the best known by many people, I gather. The words we remember are not the ones in the Gospel according to Luke; the words we remember are at the end of chapter 6 of the Gospel according to Mathew called the sermon on the mountain. It says 'Look at the birds in the sky and the lilies in the fields.' Also instead of the phrase, 'Do not worry,' what are inscribed in our memory says, 'Do not consider anxiously,' which is the expression appearing in the earlier version of Japanese text.
While these words of Jesus are remembered by many, when asked if they understand the meaning of these words properly, many of us may find ourselves not be that sure, I'm afraid. Some put it saying, 'What Jesus meant to say here was not simply to return back to nature; not simply to become like birds in the sky or flowers in the fields. Human are already such that they cannot be anything else but humans.' (Yaguchi Ryunosuke "Seisho-no Jinsei-ron [View of the Bible on Human Life] p12) His view typically represents our tendency of having a feeling that - - - we are humans, to begin with, and cannot become birds or flowers, if we are told by Jesus to look at birds in the sky and flowers in the fields.
Reading the passage once again this time, I also embraced questions. Jesus said not to worry about food to keep us alive and clothes to cover our body. But even in Japan of today, not a few have to consider anxiously how to make both ends meet for a day today, I hear. One in six of children in Japan live below poverty line which is defined as belonging to households whose incomes are less than half of the average per capita incomes; the worst among the countries in the developed world. It is also often reported in the media that an increasing number of highly aged people cannot support their livelihood by pension incomes alone. The words of Jesus in today's passage sound a bit too optimistic against such reality, don't they? Or do his words mean that God will provide these people with food without saying anything to make it conditional so they don't have to worry? Does he mean we should not give any anxious consideration to our life or body?
2. While I was preparing the sermon for today with such questions in mind, I came across with startling words; the story of Joseph we learned only last Sunday.
An Egyptian king had dreams and had his mind much disturbed. He had worries, to use the words of today's passage. Hearing the king's dreams, Joseph learned that there will come seven years of bumper harvests and seven years of severe famine after that, and he told the king about it. Seven-year plenty and the following seven of famine were what God had already decided should take place.
Did it mean that the king and people of Egypt didn't have to worry about it but in its stead had only to let it pass like that doing nothing about it? That wasn't what Joseph told in advice. Joseph had been dubbed since early years as the symbolic representation and prototype of Jesus. Joseph advised Pharaoh to 'look for a man of vision and wisdom and put him in charge of the country. Take steps to appoint commissioners over the land to take one fifth of the produce of Egypt during the seven years of plenty.'
He didn't say they didn't have to worry if famines hit because God would feed them; they didn't have to store the harvests in warehouses and make reserves. On the contrary, he told them to make necessary preparation for the future of the country, provide for the famine, use their wisdom and manage the upcoming situation. Those were what Joseph, the prototype of Jesus, told them.
From this we learn that there is what we should not do, which is to worry about life and body and there is what we should do, which is to use our wisdom to control life and body wisely. We are taught to make clear distinction between these two.
3. Let us see, then, what it is to worry about life and body, which we should not do. The most important words Jesus spoke in relation to life and body in today's passage were to say, 'Can anxious thought add a day to your life? You cannot do even a very little thing like this.' What Jesus meant to point out was that life and body belong to God's exclusive jurisdiction, don't you think?
To think as if life and body are within our hands, which are under the rule of God and are not in our hands, and to think we can do something about them and try to do something is to worry which we should not do.
This is exactly what the Egyptian king did by having dreams and having his mind disturbed. Pharaoh troubled his mind greatly by the dreams in which seven fat cows came up from the river Nile and were eaten by the seven lean and gaunt cows that came up from the Nile later. By the expression of today's passage, he got worried.
Why did he worry? The most important task of an Egyptian king was to control flood of the Nile as we learned by the world history. It was the task of a king to reap only what was good. What the dreams implied, however, was that something bad could also be harvested from the Nile and that the king could not lay control over it. The king thought as if the Nile was something he had in his hands; it was natural and nothing marvelous he could do so because he was the king. That is the kind of view we of today in general have of our life, not just the king of Egypt. Thinking that our life and bodies are ours, we wish to harvest just good crops from them.
To the Egyptian king having such a view of life, Joseph told what God intended to do. It was to bring seven years of bumper harvest to be followed by seven years of severe famine. 'God was firmly resolved on that plan, and very soon he would put it into effect.' (Genesis 41: 32) He, despite being a king though, could not have a say in what belong to an exclusive right or jurisdiction of God. There are things God plans to do on our lives and bodies soon. His plan included seven year famine. We cannot do anything about it.
Yet we were taught that the words of Genesis chapter 41, verse 16 are significant which says, 'Joseph answered "Not I, but God, can give an answer which will reassure Pharaoh."' At the very base of God's action lay his intention to give fortune to the king. There would come bumper harvest, and there would come famine. Through those events God intends to reassure us. To the God's plan over our life and body we cannot have a say. If we did the only thing that would arise from such an attempt will be for us to worry.
4. What is the task like for us humans, then, to wisely prepare for the future as one in charge of our life and body? But before talking about this, I should like us to touch on what Jesus by his words in today's passage teaches about our life and body besides that they belong to the exclusive right of God.
Jesus said, 'Think of the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. You are worth far more than the birds!' 'Think of the lilies: they neither spin nor weave; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not attired like one of them. if that is how God clothes the grass, which is growing in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown on the stove, how much more will he clothe you!'
By these words Jesus meant that God will value us and clothe us far more than we value us ourselves and clothe us. The words 'more than,' as they appear in the sentence, which says, 'Life is more than food, and body more than clothes,' originally have such a meaning as I just said. God gave us life and body and clad us; so we will do well to accept them as important; to let them shine. That is what Jesus meant to tell us by his words, I am told.
What kind of value and clothes are they, then? God made our bodies from soil of the earth and inscribed on it the image resembling him; not from gold, diamond or platinum but from fragile material. The intention was that we should help and care for each other to live as creatures from earthen wares, I am led to think.
On verse 26, chapter 1 of Genesis is marvelous expression which says, 'Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness.' While there is one and only one God, why say in 'our' image, and 'our' likeness, was the question that arose in me. It shows that his image and likeness which God inscribed on us is deeply linked with 'us,' primordially. That is very reason why God created us humans from fragile earthen wares. It was for us to care for and help each other. That is the value and clothes God especially gave us human beings.
It is in this context that we get to understand what Jesus meant when he said, 'Give to charity,' on verse 33. These are words we don't find in the sermon on the mountain in the Gospel according to Mathew. Luke put these words of Jesus in here based on his unique understanding. That we can give to charity is the value and clothes God gave to our life and our body, the earthen wares. Jesus taught us to cherish them and to let them shine.
5. We are taught that this is the kind of control or care we can, or we should make as human beings on our life and body. By learning that God created our life and body like it, we make wise use of our life and body accordingly; exercise control over our life and body according to the will of God. It means nothing else but to 'seek the Kingdom of God.' If we make use of them according to the will of God, things necessary are going to provided; no need to worry.
Make use of our bodies made of fragile earthen wares to help and care for each other. If we do we can prepare for the famine if not prevent it from coming; can build up reserves out of 1/5 of harvest. Treasures and reserves we will have saved in heaven by mutual help and charity during our adolescence and the prime of our life or when we are healthy will never fail to serve as our provision for our later years when famine might come upon us. That way of living is the care we should make as humans and wise management of our life and body.
At the outset of my sermon today, I raised a question of what kind of message does the Bible passage for today tell against the backdrop of the reality where there are people finding difficulty in making both ends meet for the day. The answer to that question is now given at last, I feel. We too, as a part of 'us,' must naturally be concerned about, exercise control over and give care to the weakness of people having fragility of earthen wares. Mutual helps, cares to and concerns about us, earthen wares, each other are matters we as human beings must naturally do.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Gospel according to Luke 12: 22 - 34
22 To his disciples he said, 'This is why I tell you not to worry about food to keep you alive or clothes to cover your body.
23 Life is more than food, the body more than clothes.
24 Think of the ravens: they neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. You are worth far more than the birds!
25 Can anxious thought add a day to your life?
26 If, then, you cannot do even a very little thing, why worry about the rest?
27 'Think of the lilies: they neither spin nor weave; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not attired like one of them.
28 If that is how God clothes the grass, which is growing in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown on the stove, how much more will he clothe you! How little faith you have!
29 Do not set your minds on what you are to eat or drink; do not be anxious.
30 These are all things that occupy the minds of the Gentiles, but your father knows that you need them.
31 No, set your minds on his kingdom, and the rest will come to you as well.
32 'Have no fear, little flock; for your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell your possessions and give to charity. Provide for yourselves purses that do not wear out, and never-failing treasure in heaven, where no thief can get near it, no moth destroy it.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(The Revised English Bible)
November 2, 2014
- All these died in faith -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 First, the beginning of Verse 13 says, 'All these died in faith.'Although some of those whom we remember today might not be Christians, most of them died as believers. Did they die really as'they died in faith '? As a pastor I have buried dozens of people , but I could not help but doubt whether some of the deceased could have died in faith. With regard to my father, who turned 97 this year and who has severely suffered from senile dementia, I am not sure whether he can offer a prayer before a meal. We are very anxious about whether we can really die in faith.
1.2 To such people as us, the word at the beginning of this Verse 13 is shown as what gives us very deep comfort. The part'in faith 'is translated in the original Greek into'under faith 'or 'in terms of faith.'The translation 'in faith 'is pretty free and I suspect that such a thing as a certain preconception or stereotype about faith came in. When it comes to faith, we tend to regard as our holding faith or having it. Behind this translation lies the understanding that the faith that we hold is firm, even when we die and, because of it,'under the faith 'we can die. Anyway we have a strong stereotype that it is we that hold faith. Just because we think that way, we are struck by the anxiety about whether we can hold the faith firmly when we die.
1.3 However, to such people as us, the original of this word says that we can die 'under faith.'Through the word 'under, 'we can imagine, for example, that we are under a big tree. We are 'under'the tree, so naturally, we do not embrace this big tree nor have it. We are just allowed to stay under this big tree which does not sway. If we were to die under this tree, we would be invited into the activity of life of this big tree in nature. If we use the word 'embrace,'the original nuance seems to be that we do not embrace faith but faith embraces us. When we are about to die, we are shaken to a large degree, but God embraces us in faith, right?
2.1 Even if you are taught that way, some of you might have the following doubt: we understand that faith embraces us who are dying, but can the faith that we embrace when we die have such power? Here again, the stereotype that we said a minute ago we hold about faith appears. Just because we think we hold faith, we are prone to pay attention to the smallness or poorness or fragility of faith within ourselves. Everyone thinks that the faith within ourselves just before we die is as small as a mustard seed and that it can never embrace us at that time.
2.2 Indeed the faith which appears to our eyes and that we hold is such a thing, but what we are always taught at the church service is that faith is a treasure that originally God provided us with and that is derived from God. Faith is the treasure that God put into us, earthen vessels. Therefore, whatever a small seed it may look to our eyes, it has enough power to move a mountain. (Jesus often used this kind of word.) Thus, faith has originally power to'embrace'us when we die. Although we are anxious about our faith, originally it has power to put us under it, who are going to die.
2.3 Verse 11 of today's word talks about Sarah, Abraham's wife. By learning her faith anew, I think that we can overcome the stereotype about faith that we mentioned a few minutes ago. The second half of Verse 11 says, 'By faith even Sarah herself was enabled to conceive,
though she was past the age, because she judged that God who had promised would keep faith. 'This part reminds us of what took place in Chapter 18 of Genesis. At that time, Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was 89 but all of a sudden, three messengers from God came to visit them and they told them that they would be given their heir about this time the next year. Chapter 18, Verse 10 and the following say, ' 10 One of them said, 'About this time next year I shall come back to you, and your wife Sarah will have a son.' Now Sarah was listening at the opening of the tent close by him. 11 Both Abraham and Sarah were very old, Sarah being well past the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself and said, 'At my time of life I am past bearing children, and my husband is old.' 13 The LORD said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Can I really bear a child now that I am so old?" 14 Is anything impossible for the LORD? In due season, at this time next year, I shall come back to you, and Sarah will have a son.' 15Because she was frightened, Sarah lied and denied that she had laughed; but he said, 'Yes, you did laugh.'
2.4 If we read this part literally, however we read it, we cannot interpret that Sarah 'judged that God who had promised would keep faith ,' as this word of the Letter to the Hebrews says. On the contrary, she laughed , which shows nothing but her impiety. Why did A Letter to Hebrews say that she believed? This has been a big question since a long time ago. At one time I myself interpreted that this part glorified Sarah's faith. But I will tell you what has been shown to me this time.
3.1 It is true that Sarah's laughter is contradictory to the understanding of faith that we ordinarily hold. Chapter 11, Verse 1 of A Letter to Hebrews says, 'Faith gives substance to our hopes and convinces us of realities we do not see.'If we translate 'gives substance,'as how Sarah looks does not correspond to giving substance, it will be hard to say Sarah held faith. But if we regard faith as originally a treasure that God gives us, then what happens? God who keeps a true promise appears in the guise of strange travelers all of a sudden to this couple and tells them that promise. God's true promise which is hard to believe at once intervenes into this couple suddenly. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed but although they laughed, they were drawn and surely affected by this promise that intervened and they made a reply somehow. What kind of reply they made is not mentioned but, it might have been a sexual intercourse between them. This Letter to Hebrews says that they 'believed 'what resulted from God's giving this sudden promise, even if it contained a laughter, I think.
3.2 Originally, when God's true promise is shown, a reply available to human beings cannot be a laughter or doubt or impiety, can it? We are moved by this promise of God. We cannot help being affected by it. Although we laugh and we are in impiety, we make a response. This is what is 'faith ' given by God, right? Although I repeat many times, it is not what 'I embrace 'or 'hold 'at all. I cannot but say that it is just what is given by God or what is given birth to by him. It is such faith that embraces us.
3.3 The word in Verse 12 is based on a dialogue between God and Abraham in Chapter 15 of Genesis. At the October Meeting for Appreciating the Bible, I read this Chapter 15 of Genesis together with several members. When a certain man read the part in which God said, 'Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them , and so shall your descendants be,'and Abraham believed God, he said honestly, 'I don't have such faith as this and I always wonder whether I have any faith.'Indeed his faith nor our faith is such faith as to be able to believe God's promise. That Abraham 'believed 'means, just as we are taught now, not that he had no doubt or that he was able to completely believe, but that probably he was moved by this promise of God and that he lived in response to it.
3.4 If so, even in that person, we can figure out how he was moved by God's word and he was trying to live in response to it, I think. That shows the fact that he is attending the church service and the Meeting for Appreciating the Bible as well. It clearly shows how he lives by being moved by God. It is what we can describe as nothing but faith, right? To laugh and faith are never mutually contradictory. Rather, as faith that we embrace is moved by the promise from true God, it cannot help containing fundamentally what makes us laugh. In contrast, if it does not contain such a thing, it might not be able to be called faith.
4.1 Now with regard to what kind of 'effect ' faith embracing us has, today's word talks about roughly two things.: First, regarding the effect that was caused to Sarah and Abraham, Chapter 11, Verse 12 says, 'Therefore from one man, a man as good as dead, there sprang descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand on the seashore. '
4.2 What is written here is the promise of true God that is fulfilled with this couple, Abraham and Sarah, alone, who were chosen as the ancestors of Israel. It goes without saying that it is not literally fulfilled to us all. But this part shows what appears even to us as a universal effect through faith, I think. We are also actually 'barren 'and 'past the age 'in various senses. We are in such a situation as'one man, a man as good as dead.'Likewise, it is true not only with each person but also with our households and with this world as well, which is struck with fear of Ebola and ceaseless wars. But God is kind enough to keep a promise that we, humans as good as dead, and the world are'enabled to become a father.'Just as the couple, aged 99 and 89, gave birth to a child, God dares to use our body and this world and gives a promise that something good will be given birth to in this world, just like as numerous as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand on the seashore. It will lead to making our future some time. We make some response or other to it, which is connected with making our future some time.
5.1 The second effect that our being embraced by faith gives birth to is what is referred to in the second half of Verse 13: 'Although they had not received the things promised, yet they had seen them far ahead and welcomed them, and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens without fixed abode on earth.'It means that although those who were embraced by faith and died could not receive the things promised, they had seen them far ahead and welcomed them. Probably the bereaved families who are here could not see those who ascended to heaven welcome with joy. Therefore, you, bereaved families, have only memories about what a painful experience their loved ones must have had or how sad they must have been. But today's word tells us that that is what those who remained think of and not what those who were embraced by faith and died thought of. It means that those who were embraced by faith and died were shown the things promised and welcomed them ascended to heaven in joy.
5.2 What they had seen far ahead and the things promised are, from the flow of the passage, what is told in Verse 12 as follows.: What Abraham and Sarah could see in this world was their only son Isaack. But when they were dying, they were probably allowed to see numerous descendants born out of that Isaack. It is when we are dying that we are allowed to see for the first time how the world looks by God fulfilling his true promise, I think. To our regret, in this world we cannot see it. The reason is that we have desires and limitations due to taking steps on the earth. When we are dying, these limitations and desires are cut. At one time, they must be trying. But it is on that occasion that faith embraces us. This faith allows us to see not what we could not obtain in this world but what God provides us.
(Translated by Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
A Letter to Hebrews 11: 12 - 13
12 Therefore from one man, a man as good as dead, there sprang descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens or the countless grains of sand on the seashore. 13 All these died in faith. Although they had not received the things promised, yet they had seen them far ahead and welcomed them, and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens without fixed abode on earth.
October 19, 2014
- His possessions do not give him life -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. I should like to begin my sermon today by referring to the context or the flow of the story in which the Bible passage for today is put, just as I did the same for our study of the Gospel according to Luke the last time. The passage for today was written only by Luke. A section having parallel article (meaning that a similar event or a speech of Jesus is found written in the Gospels according to other writers) has reference to the other Gospels under the title of each section. But the section of this passage doesn't have any such reference at all. And Luke chose to put the passage for today which only he, among the Gospel writers, heard, at no other place but where we just read it written. I take it that Luke wanted to tell his message by putting the story here.
I want us to make a brief review of what was the message of the passage beginning on verse 37 of chapter 11. There it is taught I think, to make the story short, how difficult it is for us believers to stand before true God. The Pharisees and the scholars of the law whom Jesus harshly criticized were the kind of people who wished to live earnestly before God more than any other people. Consequently, however, they ended up talking about God who turned out to be heavy burden for the people. They ended up telling about faith which worked to keep people from coming close to true God. This was the result of them regrettably failing to live before true God.
As we've been taught time and again, if we live before true God peace and consolation should ensue from it; we should also be able to tell to people around us about God and faith opposite to those which will end up in turning out to be a burden for them.
We are learning from the Kings in the Old Testament Bible in our Bible Study & Prayers Meeting. We've just covered the life of Hezekiah, the king of Judah. Hezekiah was now mortally ill and was in bed. And the prophet Isaiah came to him with a harsh and unsparing message for a man on deathbed; he said 'Give your last instructions to your households, for you are dying; you will not recover.' What was God indeed intent on telling him I will touch on at the end of my sermon. Hearing these severe words Hezekiah could only shed tears and weep. Then God, seeing his tears, healed him, the Bible tells. How-so-ever stern the words may have been, they would heal us if they have been from the true God. The words Isaiah spoke were the words from true God.
Alas, we the believers, would often forge god in our own ways, and live before false gods. That was what Jesus gave us warning about when he said on verse 1, chapter 12, 'Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees.' This leaven would enter not just into the Pharisees but into all of us who believe in God and would talk of God. That is why Jesus told the words of chapter 12, verse 4 and the following so we can get to stand before the true God.
Whether the God we believe is indeed 'true' God is a difficult question, one which is critically important. That is why Jesus with full of choice words taught who the true God is. This was the very point we were taught the last time by the passage reading up to verse 12 of chapter 12. The Bible passage for today follows on that passage and I suspect that we are going to be taught the same lesson.
2. When we come to comprehend such flow of the story, then we come to be able to understand why Jesus, on verses 13 and 14, refused to satisfy the wish of a man in the crowd. I'm told that it was the common practice in Israel of the time that people would come to a man of religion for arbitration on a civil complaint. The members of the family who were in trouble with the man over the inheritance to succeed may have, therefore, consulted with the Pharisees or the scholars of the law, gotten award of arbitration and pressing on him to 'obey,' the ruling. The man, therefore, may have sought an arbitration of Jesus who he thought had more of 'God-given authority,' than they did, in an attempt to get greater authorization to say no to the demands of the disputing family members.
Mind you this is nothing else but 'the leaven,' which Jesus cautioned people to 'be on guard against.' The man believed that God was someone who would concern himself in a trouble on inheritance. By the words and parable of Jesus from verse 15 and the following we come to know that the man was 'greedy.' He wasn't that poor as to find it difficult to make both ends meet from day to day or wasn't robbed of what little money he had, and as a result was asking Jesus or God for help. He had already more than enough and believed that God and Jesus would lend their hands for him in trying to get more wealth. It was for this reason that Jesus told him, 'Who set me over you to judge or arbitrate?' You are fatally wrong in thinking who God is. You make God in your own imagination. God is not like who you think he is, said Jesus.
While I was reading the Bible commentary by the Reformist Calvin, I came across with his following comment which begins with the words 'And also,' and he wrote, 'it is very silly for the Anabaptism group to infer from this reply (of Jesus) that Christians are not allowed to partake in inheritance, or to be related to ruling by court or to be engaged in other public service.'
From among the Reformist a group of people called 'Anabaptists,' emerged. They don't accept infant-baptism. As they re-baptized ones having been pedo-baptized they were mocked and persecuted. And still there are people who, outliving the persecution, follow the doctorine today. I had a class-mate in the theological seminary who was from the denomination called 'Mennonite.' He is a pastor and a medical practitioner in Hokkaido. While of their group, only the re-baptization aspect tends to be given much attention, their greatest concern was about the churches of the time associating them with the state or the authority of the secular world.
I plan for us to learn from the words of Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 1, verse 17 next week. The verse 17 consists of the fundamental words leading to the Reformation. As October 31st is incidentally the Lord's Day closest the Reformation Day, I would touch on the Reformation a little bit then. It is a historical fact that churches for long made ruling or arbitration on secular affairs in the name of God or in the name of Jesus Christ. This was true in the days of Jesus also when men of religion concerned themselves with secular troubles and made ruling or arbitration in ways as if the decisions were from God. However, such decisions were, more often than not, made out of greed on the part of the churches or men of religious profession. I feel that the Anabaptism group wanted to say no to that practice. We also sometimes take the ruling and decision on secular affairs as that coming from God. I would wish it to be engraved on our minds that they are often human decisions arising simply out of our own greed.
3. Now back from the little detour. Jesus taught to the man who made up a false god out of his greed in his own way and to the people gathered around then who the true God is like. For doing so he told them by a parable. The story of the parable up to verse19 was about a man of wealth, who, finding that the harvest was more than he could keep in the barns, decided on pulling them down and building bigger ones so he could put all the harvest and other goods and tell to himself he has enough for many years to come so he could take life easy, eat, drink and enjoy himself.
Regrettably though the current version of the Japanese translation does not use the term, the original Greek version used the word 'my,' many times, as said by the man of wealth; 'my produce, my barns, my other goods.' And where it is translated as saying, 'I will say to myself,' it originally says 'I will say to my Psyche.' Psyche is sometimes translated as soul. It refers to the very deepest part of our inner self. The wealthy man thought that the produce, other goods, barns are all his and so also is his Psyche in that he has more than enough; that he can control all that he has and will be able to take a rest and joy.
Is it really so? There was a psychologist who submitted that happiness and the sense of security are like a fraction. The bigger the denominator, 'I,' gets, the lesser the sense of happiness becomes just as the smaller the fraction gets. The more bloated 'I' get, the lesser gets the sense of peace at your psyche. Even if the man of wealth hadn't been taken away his life that night so he could prolong existence in this world, overwhelmed by such worries as robbers might steal in the barns or a convulsion of nature might attack where he lived, his psyche wouldn't be able to find a moment of rest, don't you think?
While the man of wealth didn't say a word 'God,' the very things he would rely on was god for him. In other words, god for him was who would give him a rest for a while by more than enough produce and goods. The god he made up, however, won't give him a rest as he expected and won't let his psyche rest in peace. On the contrary, the false god would trap us into insecurity.
It is the very reason why Jesus told about the true image of God from verse 20, following the parable. 'You fool, this very night you must surrender you life.' We may stumble over the threatening words of Jesus and words depicting God as who 'would take away life.' But the real point Jesus was making was to smash the false god the man of wealth forged in his own way. Because false god is never able to give him rest and security while contrary is the case, Jesus had to show clearly the true God to him. To give us true rest and peace rather than take them away from us was what the true God would do for us.
4. I would now introduce to you the King Hezekiha of whom I touched on a little bit at the beginning of my sermon today. While his camp was under attack by Assyria the king was on deathbed. How did it turn out such a way? There could be many reasons for this and I feel that it was because of his insistence on 'I,' as typically represented by his words, 'I am the king and the king must deal with the national crisis.' However, this thought of his did not either make him strong or make him feel secure. I am inclined to think that this psychological pressure of having to do something made him mortally sick. Just as the man of wealth in the parable, Hezekiah also depended on 'me,' and forged a false god. And that made him mortally sick.
That was the very reason why the prophet Isaiah visited him and gave him the terrible words as coming from God as I touched on at the beginning, saying, 'you are dying; you will not recover.' The message was meant to say that Hezekiah, facing the national crisis, had already nothing he could do to deal with the situation. Talking harsh like it God would crush the thought of Hezekiah that 'I,' must deal with it; by so talking to him, God let the burden on his shoulder unloaded. God smashes false god which is unreliable. But for that to happen one must listen to the stern words like a poison from God such as 'you are dying and won't recover.' It was since he was attacked by Assyria like it that he became a frail human and stood before God shedding tears. God saw him in tears and so he was healed and given peace.
Jesus told 'not to pile up treasure for ourselves but provide for never-failing treasure before God.' That he said is the way to save our life which goods of the world cannot give. This God is the true God. In the words of the passage for today this God is who says, 'this very night you must surrender your life.' What does it mean that we get rich before such God? Is it possible at all? We cannot become rich in ordinary sense of the term as even our life is taken away by this God. Yet, Jesus promised that 'we can get to be rich before this God.' Our own self and our properties aren't reliable. But we can be secure when we get to be able to rely on the true God.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Gospel according to Luke 12: 13 - 21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family property with me.'
14 He said to the man, 'Who set me over you to judge or arbitrate?'
15 Then to the people he said, 'Beware! Be on your guard against greed of every kind, for even when someone has more than enough, his possessions do not give him life.'
16 And he told them this parable: 'there was a rich man whose land yielded a good harvest.
17 He debated with himself: "What am I to do? I have not the space to store my produce.
18 This is what I will do," said he: "I will pull down my barns and build them bigger. I will collect in them all my grain and other goods,
19 and I will say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid by, enough for many years to come: take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.'"
20 But God said to him, "You fool, this very night you must surrender your life; and the money you have made, who will get it now?"
21 That is how it is with the man who piles up treasure for himself and remains a pauper in the sight of God.'
(The Revised English Bible)
October 5, 2014
- A wish to visit Rome -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 Since 14 th of last month, we have been listening to The Letter of Paul to the Romans once in three weeks. Today is the second time. First, Verse 8 says, 'Let me begin by thanking my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, because the story of your faith is being told all over the world .'Paul says that he is thankful to God for the story of faith of people at the Roman church being told all over the world. A question that arises here is what the story of faith of people at the Roman church being told all over the world means. Was their faith worth great attention? Some people claim that this is just Paul's compliment that he has made to praise their faith.
1.2 My interpretation is as follows: The last time we listened, we learned that with regard to the situation where this letter was written, the fact that Jewish people, including Jewish Christians, who were in Rome in A.D. 49, were banished from Rome by the then Roman Emperor Claudio, had a decisively important influence. Among those Jewish Christians belonging to the Roman church who were banished, we can find the famous couple named Prisquilla and Aquila. Paul met them at Corinth and they built the Corinthian church. What this shows is that the banished Jewish Christians did not forsake their faith but on the contrary like the couple of Prisquilla and Aquila, they had such faith with which they would build a new church at the place where they were banished. Banishing did not destroy the faith of those people who were banished, but actually it prompted them to tell the splendor of the faith of people belonging to the Roman church who were banished, all over the world.
1.3 With regard to that, Paul says,'Let me begin by thanking my God. 'Regarding the fact that Christian believers at the Roman church who had this kind of faith, they are rather apt to be praised as being great. They tend to be praised for holding such faith. But Paul never praises them. Rather than that, he does praise God and thanks Him. That is because it is God who provides us with such faith. Faith is a gift from God, not what we have acquired by ourselves, right? Faith enables them to behave like this, since it derives from God, even if they are banished.
2.1 With regard to the power of faith, as I would like to talk about it, let me mention the word that I learned at the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting held last week. Now the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting has been dealing with II Kings. These days we have been learning about King Hezekiah of the kingdom called Judah. He served as the king of the southern kingdom from B.C. 715 to B.C. about 687, after the kingdom of King David was broken up into the northern and southern kingdoms after the death of his son Solomon. Five or six years before he became king, the northern kingdom was destroyed by Assyria, a big country located in the present-day Iraq. He must have seen and heard about this tragic reality and made a vow in his heart like the following: namely, just because kings of the northern kingdom deviated from God and believed in idols, this tragedy took place. Therefore, he would never do such a thing. Also, he thought that as long as he believed in the Lord the God, this kind of calamity would never come. Chapter 18, Verses 5 and the following of II Kings praised King Hizekiah highly, saying that 'there was none like him nor among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him 'and also that 'he never would not serve the king of Assyria. '
2.2 However, the incident that made Hizekiah act as if he were a quite different man took place. In B.C. 701, Assyria invaded the kingdom of Judah at long last and occupied its towns. The Bible says that Hizekiah, who was demanded a massive ransom money from, paid it even by stripping the gold from pillars or doors in the house of the Lord. It seems that he showed the attitude of allegiance that way, while he asked Egypt for its reinforcements. Here we see his faith that turned into something like the temple which was stripped of pillars or doors. The king of Assyria sometimes sent Hizekiah blackmail letters. In such a predicament, what did he do? Did his faith go away?
2.3 The word said that things did not go that way. As in Chapter 19, Verses 1 & 2 and 14, he went into the house of the Lord, read the letter from the king of Assyria in the presence of the Lord and prayed. Also he sent his men to the then prophet named Isaiah to ask him to pray. Then Isaiah sent to Hizekiah, saying, 'Your prayer to me I have heard. '
2.4 Hizekiah was put into a situation where it was impossible to pray and it seemed to be no use to pray, for the house of the Lord crumbled to pieces. But his faith enabled him to go into the house of the Lord and to pray. It is the power of his faith that made him do so. Hizekiah's faith was not worthy but his faith itself that God provided him with had power. And the prayer that is based on that faith is certain to be heard in such a way as pleases God's will.
3.1 Now this faith is 'the gospel of his Son 'according to the word at the beginning of Verse 9. Just as we have learned now, King Hizekiah did not have faith to believe the gospel of his Son yet. But still his faith in God had such power as to behave like this. If so, still more, faith to believe in God's son should exert our fullest powers within ourselves.
3.2 With regard to 'the gospel of his Son, 'in Chapter 1 Verses 3 and 4 that we listened to last time, the bottom line was talked about. Also'the gospel'means, when we get down to it, as is found in Chapter 1 Verses 6 and 7, that we are loved by God and called to be saints. God achieves this in that we belong to the son of God, Jesus Christ.
3.3 God made his son Jesus born to us as a human being and enabled him to pour his life into us until he was crucified and laid us in the connection with the eternal life of his resurrection. We belong to this person through faith. We are deeply connected with this person, feel attached to him and are made such an existence that is difficult to separate from this person. This is that 'we belong to Jesus Christ.' Only through it, we are loved by God and called to be saints. The faith to believe in this gospel is not what we have acquired by ourselves but the present that God has given to us. It has been made possible for us to believe. Faith is the present that God has sent to us. This treasure exerts its fullest powers. The faith to believe the gospel has such power.
4.1 Furthermore, if we continue to read Verse 9, we can find the word, 'God is my witness, to whom I offer the service of my spirit by preaching the gospel of his Son.' Verse 8 says that 'the story of your faith is being told all over the world ,' while Verse 9 says that the gospel of his Son is being told all over the world by Paul, the preacher who offers the service of his spirit.
4.2 The point of this part is the following, I think.: God leaves telling the gospel of his Son and spreading it to people up to those who believe God and preachers. We think that it would be more effective for God himself, Jesus in heaven and the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel, than for believers or preachers to do so with their foolish and clumsy words and testimonies. Wouldn't it be done in a much larger scale? But 'God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe '(1 Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 21). The reason is that it is the foolish means that fits'the gospel of his Son,'which is the content to be conveyed, I think.
4.3 Indeed, it is a really foolish and stumbling matter that God's son becoming a human being, his dying on the cross and his being resurrected are God's gospel to us. Just because of that, God entrusts those who believe with the means of spreading the gospel in their own words. The gospel, which is foolish and a stumble is told only by those who believe and accept it. God regards it as good. Now it is said that evangelism is not going well. The pastors, who are driven by the desire to spread the church influence, are discouraged by its stagnancy, irritated and exhausted. Just because of that, we would like to serve steadily by using this foolish means of preaching the gospel. Even if a tangible result something like fruit does not appear, we would like to perform the duty, with peace in mind, that is entrusted to us, as 'God is my witness.'
5.1 Let's go on to read furthermore. The latter half of Verse 9 and the following deal with how much Paul longed to visit the Roman church and why he wanted to do so. Paul gave three reasons for it. First, 'I want to bring you some spiritual gift to make you strong .' Second, 'I want us to be encouraged by one another's faith when I am with you, I by yours and you by mine.' Third, I want to 'have a harvest among you, too. ' What Paul wanted to realize by visiting believers at the Roman church is never what is available individually between him and the Roman church but what is given through the fellowship of believers of all the churches, right? Here lies the important point.
5.2 Of course, the effect and fruit of being given the treasure of the gospel will probably be realized or borne even when you are alone, but all that is specified is what is not available when you are alone. It is available through the fellowship of believers, and gatherings at churches. Let's pay attention to this point.
5.3 First, Paul says , 'I want to bring you some spiritual gift to make you strong.' This way of writing gives the impression that Paul gives something to those who belong to the Roman church in a one-sided way. But as he says, in the next verse, 'I want us to be encouraged by one another's faith when I am with you, ' this must be what takes place as a two-way thing. To share our gifts with each other and cooperate with each other is to be encouraged by one another's faith. It leads to bearing fruit.
5.4 What is 'some spiritual gift '? The Chinese character meaning 'spiritual' has double quotations on both sides of it. It means that it doesn't say clearly 'the holy spirit ,' but it is the spirit that God provides us with. Also, the ' spirit ' is translated into the 'wind .' The reason why this kind of quotations is attached to the letter is that it may have a nuance implying the wind. We cannot contain the wind in this kind of marks. We cannot store it. In this way the congregation gets together to pray and to praise, pray and listen to the word, only when the wind of the spirit blows, which is the gift that is provided for us at that time alone. When those who have the same faith in the gospel of his Son get together and offer prayers, there is the gift of the spirit and wind that is provided for us only at that place.
5.5 Sister Namiko Komatsu was present at the evening prayer meeting last week. I already informed you that her husband was called by heaven in January this year and her daughter was called by heaven in August. That sister attended the prayer meeting. I asked her suddenly to offer the prayer of thanks for donations. In her prayer, she prayed that we would be encouraged to be with Jesus whatever might happen. Also, for some time after the prayer meeting was over, I talked with her and we prayed together. Then she left. How much I was encouraged to see her figure! Just because faith is the treasure that God gives us, it becomes our power at any time. And it exerts its full powers above all, among the fellowship of believers. It is there that the wind of the spirit blows.
(Translated by Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Letter of Paul to the Romans 1: 8-12
The Letter of Paul to the Romans 1: 8~12 8 Let me begin by thanking my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, because the story of your faith is being told all over the world. 9God is my witness, to whom I offer the service of my spirit by preaching the gospel of his Son: God knows that I make mention of you in my prayers continually, 10 and am always asking that by his will I may, somehow or other, at long last succeed in coming to visit you. 11 For I long to see you: I want to bring you some spiritual gift to make you strong; 12 or rather, I want us to be encouraged by one another's faith when I am with you, I by yours and you by mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now ) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
September 28, 2014
- Fear him whom only we should -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. I asked the first three sections of chapter 12 read altogether this morning. In delivering a sermon, I am made to think how the Bible passage for the day is related to the passage preceding it, as you will have noticed it by my usual introductory comment at the beginning of my sermon.
Verses from 1 to 3 don't have any corresponding passage in the Gospels by other writers; the first three verses were written just by Luke. The passage of verses from 4 to 12 consists of two sections. And these two sections have corresponding passages in the Gospels by others as, for example, in the Gospel by Mathew, which put it immediately following the passage about the appointment of twelve disciples on its chapter 10. These two sections are indeed easier understood when put after the appointment of disciples. By the Gospel according to Luke, however, the preceding section is about Jesus having pungently criticized the Pharisees and the scholars of the law. At a first glance over the passage for today I could not well understand on what kind of understanding of the flow of chapters 11 and 12 had Luke write the passage the way he had. However, as I read it over and again I came to understand something about it, and it is that something which I should like to share with you in the first place.
Allow me start by making a review of what we learnt from the passage beginning verse 37 of chapter 11. Why did Jesus criticize the Pharisees and the scholars of the law so harsh? If you think it was out of hatred or enmity Jesus criticized them you are making a very shallow understanding about the story. To begin with Jesus and they were fellows of the same thought, it may be said, as we learnt it by the last sermon. The first words Jesus uttered in launching his mission were to say, "The kingdom of God is upon you." The kingdom of God means the reign by God, i.e. we live in the hands of God. Jesus took it very important and sought after that as also the Pharisees and the scholars of the law who sought after that more earnestly than anyone else.
While embracing the common wish in minds, Jesus and they differed in how they lived. When you get to the core of it the way the Pharisees and the scholars of the law ended up in loading men with intolerable burdens or building up walls of prevention. While trying to live under the reign of God they ended up with such a result. That was why Jesus said 'Alas,' a number of times about them. I feel I hear the regret and pity of Jesus in his mind about them.
If they lived in the hands of true God, they wouldn't have end up loading men with intolerable burdens or building up insurmountable walls. If they lived in the hands of true God, they would have found joy and peace. Jesus grieved over the Pharisees and the scholars of the law, his fellows, who sought to live under the reign of God more than anyone else, that they turned out to load men with intolerable burdens or build up walls. Jesus was asking how they could turn out that way. He is teaching us with the words for today so we won't turn out that way. Luke understood the criticism of Jesus in the context just mentioned.
2. That's the reason why the passage for today begins saying, 'he began to speak first to his disciples: "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees ―I mean their hypocrisy."' "The leaven of the Pharisees" is such that the efforts to live under the reign of God turn out to loading men with intolerable burdens and building up walls. It is not what they only have it in themselves; it could easily come into the disciples and even into us and rises in us. Therefore, Jesus warned us to be on guard.
What is then the source of the leaven? "Hypocrisy," said Jesus. In ordinary sense hypocrisy means to wear a mask and conceal your true self before men. Here it means that while wishing to live before and under the reign of true God, one puts oneself before untrue, false god without knowing it, it seems to me. False god is, to get to the core of it, gods made by men. Then it means that instead of living before true God, they turn out to be living before men. That is what is meant by hypocrisy here. It means one is made to live before being of false good, not before truly good being.
The horror of religions of faiths, I feel keenly, is that such a leaven sneaks in. No Pharisees, no scholars of the law, no leaders of Christian churches over generations, no leaders of "ISIS," thinks whom they believe is god and before whom they live is, in fact, such "hypocrisy." Every one of them believed whom they worship was the true god, and as a result of their belief, loaded men with burdens and built up walls high, and killed an unaccountable number of people without hesitation. We criticize the deeds of Islam fundamentalists as atrocious. But we have to admit that the acts of the Christians over the history have been more so.
That being the case, to prevent the leaven from coming into us, Jesus is trying to teach what it means to live in the hands of true God, and what is important in order to do so.
3. Turning back though, I want us to listen to the words from verse 8. On verse 10 it is said 'Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but for him who slanders the Holy Spirit there will be no forgiveness." Not a few, I know, are in fear that they may have committed unforgivable sins. It is my hope that what I talk now could be of some solace to such people.
What Jesus is telling here is the vital importance of speaking out that one is a fellow company of Jesus. If one acknowledges Jesus, he will acknowledge before the angels of God. And the Holy spirit will also guide him and be on his side. What does it mean? It means that to acknowledge Jesus is to stand before true God, to get to the core of it, doesn't it? That means to stand before the Holy Spirit, Jesus was good to mean.
Jesus doesn't ask us to say in loud voice and with conviction, 'This is God, Christ, the Savior,' as the Pharisees and the scholars of the law would. Furthermore, he even said, 'Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven (here the Son of Man means Jesus),' on verse 10. To say a word against means to murmur one's question or doubt if Jesus is indeed God, how a weak man who was put on a cross to be killed could be a savior. Yet we cannot leave away from this Jesus; we are pulled close to him. Asked whose company we want to be, by whose side do we wish to stand, we think we would rather be his company. Our faith being very weak just about to be able to say at the most that we are his fellows, we cannot predicate as unfaithful or persecute the people who cannot utterly believe he is God or Christ. Wishing to be his company will make us stand before true God and to keep us away from the leaven of the Pharisees, Jesus is so teaching.
People who fear they may have slandered the Holy Spirit may still think so even after hearing the above words of Jesus. Are you denying Jesus saying you don't know him? Or are you wishing to be his fellow company? My conjecture is that you always doubt or wonder if Jesus is God and savior because you are attracted by him. It is because you would know Jesus, not because you refuse to know him. He is someone we cannot get to understand if we wished to, and we are such as we cannot speak of God with full of confidence unlike the Pharisees and the scholars of the law. Yet Jesus is beside us who acknowledges us as good just for us wishing to be his fellow companies.
4. Let us now turn our ears to the paragraph from verse 4 to verse 7. It includes hard words of Jesus such as 'cast into hell.' This has put us in annoy since old ages. Did Jesus also take God as so horrifying? What is the like? These difficult questions arise from the passage, though I cannot deal with them today due to time limitation.
From the context of the story, we get to learn that Jesus is trying to tell us who the true God is; what will be the important things to keep us from the leaven of the Pharisees. Reading the words of Jesus from such an angle, we come to notice God is said, first of all, to be who, after he has killed, has authority to cast us into hell who, after losing body, still exist in some form (what kind of form it is Jesus did not say ,though). The phrase 'cast into hell,' gets us startled. What Jesus meant to say was that we are a being that continues to exist in some form even after our body is gone, and that such a being is, in fact, so very important that God cares us with his authority in our being in such a form. To us as such a being there is no one but God who can do anything ? even those who can kill our bodies do not have any authority on us without body.
There is one more thing Jesus told about true God; God is who does not forget even a sparrow, only five of which sell just for two-pence (it could be several tens of yen or several hundred of yen, meaning to say their market value is so little that they won't sell for a bird), and who counts all the hairs of your head of which there may be some hundred of thousand without leaving even one.
True God Jesus teaches us is, to get to the core of it, who is totally different from god we think of, and who cares us and relates himself with us in ways we cannot even imagine. Here lies the point. While we are simple-mindedly pre-occupied with this world, the body and worldly concerns, and therefore, forge god in a self-serving manner, true God cares us in our being in the form after we lost our bodies. While our attention goes to what is big, God puts his eyes on what are really small and minute. Our ways of life may be liberated from hypocrisy, burden and separating walls once we come to realize that true God is such, don't you think?
5. From the foregoing, it will have become clearer what the verses 2 and 3 mean. I used to take them to mean that anything we hide covered will be revealed over time. As we have learnt today we are taught what Jesus wanted to tell us was a lot different from what we've been thinking he was telling.
In a nutshell, true God cares as important what are hidden, covered and what even we ourselves fail to recognize. God is he who accepts our covered parts willingly even if they may ordinarily be subject to criticism of being unfaithful or of speaking against Jesus or God, because he takes it as arising from our wish to be company of Jesus. True God is who takes a being having lost its body as dead, and the covered and hidden being such as a sparrow only five of which can get to sell or a hair of our head. We are being counseled that we can live with the Son of God if we make company with Jesus.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Gospel according to Luke 12: 1 - 12
1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, packed so close that they were trampling on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples: 'Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees ―I mean their hypocrisy.
2 There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, nothing hidden that will not be made known.
3 Therefore everything you have said in the dark will be heard in broad daylight, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops.
4 'To you who are my friends I say: do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more they can do.
5 I will show you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Believe me, he is the one to fear.
6 'Are not five sparrows sold for two-pence? Yet not one of them is overlooked by God.
7 More than that, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid; you are worth more than any number of sparrows.
8 I tell you this: whoever acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God;
9 but whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.
10 'Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but for him who slanders the Holy Spirit there will be no forgiveness.
11 'When you are brought before synagogues and state authorities, do not worry about how you will conduct your defence or what you will say.
12 When the time comes the Holy Spirit will instruct you what to say.
(The Revised English Bible)
September 21, 2014
- Dreaming Joseph -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 Today we were given the word of Chapter 37 of Genesis. The story from this Chapter 37 to the last Chapter 50 (although only the next chapter 38 inserts what happened to Jacob's son, Juda's family ) is about Jacob's family. Especially the story centering on Jacob's 11 th son, Joseph goes on. Today I asked you to read aloud up to Verse 11. First, let me begin by telling the outline of Chapter 37.
1.2 Just as I said a minute ago, Joseph was Jacob's11 th son. He was the child that was provided for Jacob at long last and that was born between him and his beloved wife Rachel , who lost her life when she had a baby who was to be Joseph's younger brother Benjamin. We don't know clearly how old Jacob was when Joseph was given to him but Verse 3 says, ' Because Joseph was a child of his old age. ' Therefore, ' Israel loved him best of all his sons, and he made him a long robe with sleeves( verse 3). ' Judging from the analogy that Jacob exempted only Joseph from being in charge of the flock and from the description of how ' he told tales about them to their father '(at the end of verse 2), we can also interpret this part as representing that Joseph usually had a long robe with sleeves and that he was given a role of supervising his brothers'work and of reporting it to his father. Therefore, as in Verse 4, ' When his brothers saw that their father loved him best, it aroused their hatred and they had nothing but harsh words for him. ' Verse 5 and the following describe the scene where Joseph told his brothers and father about his dream proudly as if to rub his brothers up the wrong way without a second thought. All those dreams told them that his brothers and father would bow to the ground before Joseph. His brothers got infuriated and even his father rebuked Joseph.
1.3 This is what we have read up to Verse 11 today. Verse 12 and the following tell us that his brothers tried to kill Joseph, who came to where his brothers were pasturing the flock as he was told by his father to, but they refrained from doing so and cast him into a pit and they tried selling him to a slaver. His brothers lied to their father Jacob, saying that Joseph had been devoured by a wild beast. Thus, Joseph was sold for a slave of Poti-phar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard.
2.1 How do you feel when we have read the above-mentioned story? While I was preparing for today's sermon, I remembered that I had the same feelings about what happened to Jacob's grandfather, Abraham, or to his father Isaack. Probably we feel very sorry and feel wretched to see these things happen to the Jacob Family, right? If we had an ordinary family, aside from trying to kill Joseph or selling him for a slave or casting him into a pit, it would be natural for the parents to treat a certain child with an undue favor or for his brothers to hate the child who was treated that way. However, I feel first that it is strange for these things to happen to this Jacob and his family and that they should not take place.
2.2 The reason why I have such a feeling is that Jacob, the chief of the household, above all, had been encouraged and guided by his deep encounter with God so far. This family had been taking steps with Jacob as the chief of their household. With regard to what kind of steps they had been taking, as we had been reading the Bible so far, it won't be necessary to explain in details. Anyway, Jacob met God at Bethel twice and he was supported by God while he worked for 20 years of unswerving loyalty under his uncle Laban. Through a fierce battle with an angel of God all throughout the night at the ford of the Jabbok---in Verse 3 he was called not Jacob but Israel----this name ' Israel ' was given to him at the time of the struggle at the ford of the Jabbok. Such a person as had a deep encounter with God and as had taken steps of so deep faith as to be awarded with a new name doted on Joseph because of ' a child of his old age, ' just a natural feeling, without taking into consideration thoughts of the other brothers. No other person understood how much he and his family suffered as well as Jacob, because his father Isaack doted on Esau and in contrast he himself was doted on by his mother Rebeca, right? In spite of that, this Jacob is doing the very same thing to Joseph that his father did to his brother. Joseph became conceited and arrogant by taking advantage of his father's foolish love and his brothers are nursing a hatred of their father more and more. By taking advantage of foolishness , arrogance and dirtiness of the Jacob Family, a slaver who buys and sells human beings without a second thought comes into them.
2.3 We wonder where on earth this kind of story has faith. We are astonished, wondering whether Jacob's taking steps of faith has turned out to be worthless and whether we are helpless in preventing this kind of human foolishness, arrogance or wickedness. We are made to feel that our faith might be nothing more than this kind of thing.
3.1 The reason why we think this way is that we might have something like assumptions that faith and this kind of foolishness or arrogance or wickedness do not coexist or that if our life of faith gets longer, things such as foolishness will cease to exist in due course.
3.2 Last week Ms Hanna of the bookshop dealing in books related to Christianity, who comes to visit my house once a month, visited me. I started to read a certain book. It is a book that directly transcribed a dialogue in 1984 between Viktor Emil Frankl, M.D., Ph.D. who is well-known as a psychiatrist who survived the Nazis concentration camp, and Binhas Rabiede, who is a Jewish religious philosopher, also a scholar of the New Testament and served as a diplomat for Israel between 1951 and 1969. The title of the book is ' Meaning of Life and God. ' Although the content is so difficult that we cannot understand many parts of it, at the beginning, Dr Labiede says like this:
3.3 Quotations from the dialogue:
' I think that two great ways of thinking in the Western world can be reduced to the Greek way of thinking and the Jewish way of thinking. The Greek way of thinking is the way of thinking (This or That) and this---to our regret---was spread to the whole Western world. The New Testament is the best mirror image that reflects it. Either the person who is saved or the person who is condemned, either the son of light or the son of darkness exists. It is the picture of black and white. The power of imagination is not adequate and does not reach even gray. To put it another way, as what I say is right, you and all the rest of people are not right. Or the other way round. Those are only things that exist. I cannot be wrong. No way! Egoists would usually say so. '
3.4 (Continued from the dialogue.)
' The Jewish way of thinking, in which the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) represents its best document, is the typical way of thinking of (Both This and That). Although David is the greatest king ever in Israel, he is also an adulterer. Although Cora (the son of Levi who disobeyed Moses in the wilderness) is the worst traitor against God and Moses, his sons are regarded as the authors of some of the most beautiful psalms. There doesn't exist black and white in the Jewish Bible. There exists only gray with as many as 3000 different nuances. Human existence is relative and it is never (This or That) , moving in the area of gray shades, because such (This or That) exists nothing but under God. ' (The end of the quotations from the dialogue.)
3.5 If I use Dr. Rabiede's words, I take it for granted that faith and foolishness, arrogance and wickedness cannot coexist. That may really show that I am already infected with the Greek way of thinking (This or That). It is how this Jacob Family, the forefathers of Jewish people, and the family who were awarded with the name 'Israel ' behaved that may show not a choice between only two things, namely, between faith and foolishness, but the way of thinking of (Both This and That). This tells how our faith should look.
4.1 Then even if we take one step after another of faith, do we have to walk with hesitations about (Both This and That) or confusions, under the mercy of our foolishness and wickedness, we wonder. But in doing so, we can find out a certain light and encouragement in this story about Joseph, I think.
4.2 What on earth became of this Jacob Family? What happened to Joseph, who was sold in Egypt for a slave? Although it is not until the end of the story that we understand those things, everyone of you knows the end of the story well, I think. It is the end where Joseph underwent lots of ordeals and sufferings and rose to a high position such as the minister dealing with the management of critical situations by getting deep confidence from the Egyptian Pharaoh and he helped his brothers and father out who escaped from famine. I'll mention this later but Joseph's dream did really come true. Of course, it is not the incident where Joseph's arrogance nor pride was satisfied but the one where a happy event in which this family was saved was achieved, though.
4.3 What it indicates is that these foolishness, arrogance and wickedness of human beings, in spite of themselves, have roles to play so as to produce happy endings by God, which I mentioned a minute ago, where those human beings are quite unaware of them. For the past few weeks members of the women's club have been holding a meeting to do their work for the sake of the bazaar. My wife, who is quite bad at needlework, joins them. To say figuratively, the back of the embroidery or patchwork shows just clumsy pinholes made by people like my wife but what appears on the surface of them ---if we closely look at them, we may find out some clumsy pinholes ---is a superbly-prepared design and work. Thus, God is the person who can finish the last good work by using ugly deeds done by Jacob, Joseph, his brothers and the slaver. We are heading for such endings and such good endings. We can find great hope and encouragements in that our foolishness and sinfulness are used in such a way. Therefore, we must not be discouraged by our foolishness, arrogance or wickedness on our way, this story says to us.
4.4 To say furthermore, this means that if it were not for this kind of human behavior or deed, God's good endings would not be given birth to. Indeed it is true. If Joseph had not been sold for a slave in Egypt, this family would not have been saved from famine, right?
4.5 In today's story where nothing like faith is to be found, we can find the only description to convince us of Jacob's faith. It is the word at the end of Verse 11, ' his father did not forget the incident. ' This word is used twice in the Gospel according to Luke, in order to describe how Jesus's mother Mary behaved. Although Mary has a lot of unknown things about what the angels said about Jesus and what is going to happen to him from now on, she is going to leave everything up to God's will, by believing 'May it be to me as you have said. ' Jacob may not have had such faith as could get rid of his own foolishness or his sons'sinfulness. But he had thoughts that through their faithless and really miserable behavior, something would be going to take place. Verse 12 and the following tell us that the reason why Jacob ventured to send Joseph to his brothers although he knew his brothers's hatred toward Joseph is that he may have believed that he had nothing to do but to leave Joseph and the whole situation to God's hands.
5.1 Now lastly, I would like to talk about what is God's good work that is symbolically implied in Joseph's dream. Just as I said a minute ago, the dream that Joseph had and whose content he told to his brothers and father was nothing but what it predicted about the external form of the good ending that God was going to achieve last. Joseph cannot talk about anything of why his father and brothers are bowing to the ground before him or what it means. There are some people who are supposed to have a mysterious power like this and other people who feel anxiety and have an ominous presentiment by looking at such phenomena. But such a dream reveals only a fraction of a thing, I think. It doesn't reveal the whole picture of the salvation or good work which God achieves someday Joseph can only tell what is distorted because of his arrogance and that he is being bowed to the ground by his family.
5.2 But except for what Joseph distorted, the work of salvation , and the good ending that God is going to achieve is being implied, I think. What this dream indicates is not the ending where people bow to the ground before other people nor where some people control other people, I think. Not that, it is the dream where the time will come for us to bow to the ground before the existence whom we should really bow to the ground before and should worship as the Lord.
For the time being, we are those who bow to a human being as the Lord in this present kingdom. But we are not so, at the end where God comes.
5.3 At that time, Joseph says in Verse 9, ' I have had another dream, and in it the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me. ' The sun, the moon and stars are what we bow down to in this world by regarding them as gods or lords. But at the end where God comes, this sun, the moon and stars bow down in contrast. In this world we are made to bow down and the existence that firmly controls us is made to bow down at the end. Every existence bows down to only what they should bow down to. We are heading for such an end, although we are really foolish and wicked existences. Although we are such beings, we are being used for the sake of God's will. We would like to keep in mind God's plan.
(Translated by Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Genesis 37: 1-11
1 Jacob settled in Canaan, the county in which his father had made his home, 2 and this is an account of Jacob's descendants. When Joseph was a youth of seventeen, he used to accompany his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, when they were in charge of the flock, and he told tales about them to their father. 3 Because Joseph was a child of his old age, Israel loved him best of all his sons, and he made him a long robe with sleeves. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him best, it aroused their hatred and they had nothing but harsh words for him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, their hatred of him became still greater. 6 He said to them, 'Listen to this dream I had. 7 We were out in the field binding sheaves, when all at once my sheaf rose and stood upright, and your sheaves gathered round and bowed in homage before my sheaf. 8 His brothers retorted, 'Do you think that you will indeed be king over us and rule us?' and they hated him still more because of his dreams and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, which he related to his father and his brothers. 'Listen!' he said. 'I have had another dream, and in it the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.' 10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father took him to task: 'What do you mean by this dream of yours?' he asked. 'Are we to come and bow to the ground before you, I and your mother and your brothers?' 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father did not forget the incident.
September 14, 2014
- Words to begin the letter of gospel -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. Beginning today, I would like us to listen to the letter of Paul to the Romans once in three weeks. I should like to begin by telling how I understand about when and under what circumstances the letter was written.
According to Bible commentaries, the explanation about the letter most widely accepted today puts it that it was written and sent sometime during the period from 57 to 58 Anno Domini when Paul stayed in Greece for some three months on his last missionary trip (ref. Acts of the Apostles 20: 1 ? 3. Greece probably meant Corinth, it is said.)
Under what circumstances was the letter written? The following is an understanding I arrived at in my own way through the Bible commentaries: I must share with you the fact that it is not too clear, to begin with, when the Roman church was established and what kind of people were among its membership. That having been said, to put it in a broad perspective, the church, erected on the capital city of the then Roman empire, seems to have embraced both Christians having religious background of Judaism and utterly gentile Christians not having Jewish background.
However, in the year 49 A.D. it so happened that the Jews living in Rome were evicted by the then emperor Claudius (this is also written in Acts of the Apostles on its chapter 18, verse 2.) According to a Bible commentary, the historian of the time Suetnius (spelling unsure) in his work on "Claudius," wrote 'the emperor expelled the Jews who caused turmoil fanned by Chrestos (spelling unsure).' Chrestos is interpreted probably to mean Jesus Christ. But Jesus was no longer alive at that time. So the turmoil may well be understood to have arisen among the Jews in Rome instigated by Christians who believed in Jesus Christ. Christians were still thought to be a faction of Judaism at the time. So Claudius, upon hearing of the turmoil, decided to expel all the Jews regardless of whether they were Christians or Non. Among the exiles were a married couple of Aquila and Priscilla.
With the Jewish Christians gone, the Roman church now must have been composed just by gentile Christians. Such a situation lasted for about five years. In the meantime Claudius died in the year 54 A.D. and with the edict rescinded Jews and Jewish Christians came back to Rome one after the other. Priscilla and Aquila also seem to have returned. The letter of Paul to the Romans was written three years since that time. On chapter 16, which is the concluding part of the letter, Paul wrote greetings to the members of the Roman church one after the other; first among the addressee were Priscilla and Aquila. They were the people having deepest linkage with Paul among members of the Roman church, it would look like.
My guess is that Paul was consulted by the couple about the serious problems arising in the Roman church. You may be having a scent of what the serious problems were in the Roman church arising at about three year after the return of Jewish Christians to Rome.
Gentile or non-Jewish Christians of the Roman church were enjoying church life without restraint, as it were, because they were free from having to worry about the Roman empire keeping their eyes on them during the time when the Jewish Christians were outcast from the city. But when they returned the friction between the Jewish Christians and non-Christian Jews resumed (according to a Bible commentary, there lived some forty thousand Jews in Rome then.) That affected the church also. Among the gentile Christians, the voices got ever louder saying, enough, no more strife, and they would rather have all the relationship cut off that had to do with anything Jewish, and that they could live in faith without keeping that kind of relationship. Against such an attitude a reaction might well have arisen asserting, if not with the forces it arose in the church of Galatians, that it is important to practice the law, and that you gentiles also should observe the law. Pressure might have heightened towards "Judaization of faith," in an attempt to avoid frictions with Jews outside of the church. Paul was consulted in the midst of such a discord as to how best to deal with it.
There was no apostle better fit to face with that kind of problem than Paul. Born as a Jew, lived as a Pharisee and even persecuted Christians, and called on to work as an apostle of Christ and a missionary, Paul has been engaged till today as a missionary exclusively for the gentiles. He himself may have been convinced that he was called by God to face with this very problem. From verse 1 of the passage of the Bible given us today, which is only the beginning of the self-introduction of Paul to the Romans, we already sense his strong determination to that effect.
2. The passage of the Bible for today is still about an introductory greeting. Yet the will of Paul for facing up with the problem mentioned strikes home. Without going into details yet, the core of what he would say is already told clearly. Paul made it without ambiguity at the beginning of verse 2 saying, 'This gospel God announced beforehand in sacred scriptures through his prophets.'
In those days what we call the New Testament Bible is yet to be compiled. What is mentioned as 'The scriptures,' on verse 2, therefore, means what we read today as the Old Testament Bible. In which part of the Old Testament Bible was the 'gospel' already promised and by which prophets we will see as we come to the latter part of his letter. For now it suffices here just to say that Paul was unambiguous in counter arguing against the assertion of the gentile Christians to the effect that anything Jewish wasn't necessary, their life in faith won't be affected if they swept them away altogether. He said, 'The gospel of God is written and promised in the Old Testament Bible.'
And it means the following: if we were to go without the Bible, i.e. the Old Testament Bible, we would lose an understanding of what the gospel of God means, to begin with. It is because we read the Old Testament Bible written based on the foot- steps of faith made by the Jewish people that we get to understand what the gospel of God means to us. Without it, we will lose understanding of 'the gospel of God.' We will fail to understand who God is in the first place.
I say this because there were various kinds of gods in the gentile world then. What were they like? They weren't the kind which would tell 'gospel' to humans. Gospel is an announcement of happiness or good news. In the world of Greece, Rome and Asia of the time, it couldn't be that gods would ever talk to people words of blessing. Gods were such as would make sport of or lead men around by the nose, thrust them down to misfortune in an unconcerned manner. However, God described on the Old Testament Bible was who told gospel. That was the kind of God revealed in the Bible through the long paths of faith of the Jewish people.
That is the very point being taught us time and over again as we listen to the Genesis in the worship service these days, isn't it? God offered Jacob with a bridge from heaven. That was still at the stage of promise as it was 'gospel,' just to Jacob alone. Yet the gospel was already shown unambiguously. Gospel was also shown when God chose David for the thrown as we learnt it at the last worship service held together with church school children. God is who picked David the youngest and still a boy, is who rejected the choice by men and made a choice on his own, is who picked David by his will despite knowing he will commit an outrageous sin. Gospel is unambiguously shown. Because the image of God is thus depicted in concrete fashions we can accept what was revealed in Jesus as 'the gospel.' Paul told in the first place how indispensable it was to read the Old Testament Bible and to know the history of faith of the Jewish people.
3. About what was the gospel like as promised by the prophets in the Old Testament Bible, Paul touches on in detail in the latter part of his letter. Yet he tells of its essence already in the passage for today. Verse 7 says, 'I send greetings to all of you in Rome, who are loved by God and called to be his people.' The gospel, as it is witnessed throughout the entire book of the Old Testament Bible, means, to get down to the core of it, that God loves us, calls us by his side and makes us holy or his people.
There may be some who will cast doubt if it is true. There is a common misunderstanding about the Bible. It is only in the New Testament Bible that the love of God is written and that the Old Testament Bible describes only horrible God who gets angry with us, will punish and destroy us, it is said. Therefore, not much elucidation is made of the Old Testament Bible for words of sermon in the worship services. The Old Testament Bible is even said to be one meant for only the Jewish people to read. Indeed the Old Testament Bible describes God in many horrifying actions. But we have to think of why. Paul also gave thought to the question and wrote it in detail from chapter 1 verse 18 and the following under subtitle "God's judgment on sins."
Why does God get angry with us? He gets angry with us because he loves us; because he would call us to come by his side, and make us his holy people. But we humans are not fit for it. God made us humans in the image resembling him. Here lies the love of God, the original love. Seeing all that he had made and in which humans also lived he said, 'It is very good.' My question in this connection is do we have the good God was pleased with to see; where in this world is the good God said as very good? We can only come to feel sad when we think of it. If it is the case with us it must be more so with God. Because he would love us he must get angry with us; because he would call us to his side he must keep us away. There lies the love of God.
Where Paul points to our sins over and over again as if it weren't enough, we should not find there his enmity or hostility toward us. Rather we should see his love for us; the harsh words are due to the gospel of God.
4. Because harsh words are for the sake of the gospel of God, it had to proceed to 'the Son of God,' as written on verse 3. For God loved us, would call us to his side and make us his holy people, he sent his Son to us in order to propagate the gospel to all the people. Verses 3 and 4 put it saying, 'It is about his Son: on the human level he was a descendant of David, but on the level of the spirit ― the Holy Spirit ― he was proclaimed Son of God by an act of power that raised him from the dead: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord.' This again is elaborated in detail later in his letter. At this outset of the letter, only the essence is told. About the phrases such as 'on the human level,' 'on the level of the spirit,' and 'he was proclaimed Son of God,' there are a host of interpretations so I cannot present them all to you now. But I can tell you as follows: Why was it necessary for the Son of God to be born in flesh? It was necessary because sins in us, or the fundamental cause which keeps away the love of God from us sits in our flesh. Had it not been for the sins in our flesh Jesus didn't have to be born taking the form of flesh (though flesh without sin in his case!). Jesus took the form of flesh to share with us his flesh which is without sin, share the lack of sin in the flesh, I would think. Moreover, Jesus was born as a human to teach us the joy of living as a flesh or the significance of being a flesh. There are things that cannot be done unless in the form of flesh. It was in flesh that Jesus loved disciples so much as we know. He broke the flesh, made sacrifice in pain, and shed blood to love us. Jesus is telling us to make use of our own flesh the way he did.
Just as it was necessary for the Son of God to be born in flesh, I think it was necessary for him to 'resurrect from the dead,' in order for the gospel to reach us. For it is against death that we in flesh fear more than anything else and commit sins. Wishing to become like God we make desperate trials, and actually sunk in cares of life and despair. It is the reason why God raised Jesus from the dead. Through this we too rise to face up with death; find arms of God in the world of the dead, embrace a hope that there is a world beyond death where we'll be made children of God.
Getting to the core of it, this is what is said on verse 6, 'you who have heard the call and belong to Jesus Christ.' We cannot even hope to get to be able to say, 'I perfectly belong to Jesus,' on the strength of our faith and will. However, we simple-heartedly rely on and love Jesus who became flesh and was resurrected. To that God will say good and will bring us under the gospel.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Letter of Paul to the Romans 1: 1 - 7
1 From Paul, servant of Christ Jesus, called by God to be an apostle and set apart for the service of his gospel.
2 This gospel God announced beforehand in sacred scriptures through his prophets.
3-4 It is about his Son: on the human level he was a descendant of David, but on the level of the spirit ? the Holy Spirit ? he was proclaimed Son of God by an act of power that raised him from the dead: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord.
5 Through him I received the privilege of an apostolic commission to bring people of all nations to faith and obedience in his name,
6 including you who have heard the call and belong to Jesus Christ.
7 I send greetings to all of you in Rome, who are loved by God and called to be his people.
(The Revised English Bible)
August 24, 2014
- Benjamin, not Ben-oni -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. We've been learning from the Book of Genesis once in every three weeks. Today we'll learn from its chapter 35 and so finish the story of Jacob. Chapter 36 is about the descendants of Esau, the elder brother of Jacob out of twins. Then from chapter 37, while still about the family of Jacob, the focus shifts to Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob. Therefore, the words in today's passage are a conclusion of the story of Jacob.
According to Bible commentaries, today's passage is composed as a single section as it now looks, taking source references written in different ages and by totally different authors. This suggests that it is kind of difficult to identify a unified integrated message from the passage. On top of it, since returning from Koriyama, I've been engaged in the Smile Camp and spent time with children from Fukushima prefecture during the first half of the week so that I couldn't take enough time for preparation of the sermon. Nevertheless, I should like to share with you what's been revealed to me.
Of the words in today's passage, I was drawn in the first place to the phrase which says, 'They moved from Bethel.' Why did the Jacob family leave Bethel? Could they not stay in Bethel for good? If they could, pregnant Rachel didn't have to make a long journey up to Ephrathah, and she didn't have to lose her life by delivering a baby on that journey.
Bethel was an irreplaceable sacred ground for the family. It was at this Bethel that, after deceiving his father Isaac who was losing sight and getting the blessing which his elder brother Esau should have gotten, thereby, hated to the point of being sought after his life, and thus having had to leave his house, and lying in the open for a night with a stone for a pillar, God from his side spoke to Jacob for the first time and thereafter supported him for twenty years.
It was this Bethel again that Jacob should have headed for when he was coming home after twenty years of persevering under his uncle Laban. In its stead, Jacob was lured by Shechem, an upscale town of the day, would settle down there and wished even to establish a relation by marriage with the powerful family there. The choice of the way caught the family of Jacob in a great trouble.
To such Jacob God said, 'Go up now to Bethel.' Following the words of God, Jacob led the whole family, came over the crisis and arrived at Bethel. He led the entire family to become one in heart and could worship God and listen to his words.
2. When I look back on what it happened to the Jacob's, I tend to feel more strongly that the family shouldn't have left from Bethel. I feel I can say that it was because they would leave away from Bethel, Rachel died and a shocking thing took place as written in verse 22.
About these events no more details are given in the Bible. I suppose there must have been a reason why the family couldn't stay at Bethel. Earlier I suggested that Bethel was a desert land where Jacob once lay with a stone for pillow. My own imagination hints that Bethel, while a holy ground, wasn't a suitable land for a large family with as many as twelve to count just sons to sustain the worldly living. If they would remain and live there, the circumstances wouldn't allow them to.
Another reason to explain why they left Bethel is shown by the words of verse 13 which says, 'God left him,' where God had spoken with Jacob. According to these words, it was God who 'left' from Bethel first, it seems. God told Jacob, I think, that he cannot stay at the place for good; he cannot remain in such a close relationship as he exchanged words directly with me at the place.
This reminds me of the passage in Acts of the Apostles which says that Jesus after resurrection told the disciples he'll be with them for forty days but that after 40 days he returned to Heaven and could not be seen any longer. How peaceful the walks of the disciples would have been had Jesus of Resurrection stayed with them all along and gave answers to any questions they may have raised! How heartening it would have been if Jacob could stay at Bethel for as long as he wanted and could continue talking with God directly!
The fact that God 'left,' there first means it wasn't God's will that they stayed. Neither Jacob nor we can remain in a situation where we can exchange words with God directly at Bethel and can feel the presence of God close by. Walks of life in which we are directly linked with God are impossible. Walks of life in faith are not of that kind.
Walks of life in faith meant he had to depart from Bethel, and therefore, such as he had to ask if they were linked with God at all, if God was really guiding them and in such a situation he had to face with loss of the most loved one and experience a shocking thing as written in verse 22. However, we, believers, can accept those happenings in ways different from those non-believers will. Though being away from Bethel, we can accept them in faith as ones who know Bethel.
3. After leaving from Bethel, the first thing he had to face was the loss of Rachel, the most loved one who died while delivering a younger brother of Joseph. With her last breath, she named him 'Ben-oni (son of my plight),' but hearing it Jacob his father called him 'Benjamin (son of my happiness).' (By Hebrew language it was possible to give new meaning to a name just by adding a spell or even by changing its pronuciation.) This kind of story was often told in all ages and land. Many novels have been written dealing with loss of life of a mother during birth-giving and the bereaved child being alienated by the father, thus pushed to having to live with a burden on the shoulder.
I imagine the baby was 'son of my plight,' for Jacob more than anyone else who lost the most loved one. Yet he could accept the event and named him 'son of my happiness.' He could say it wasn't just plight and sorrow which the happening brought to him, but also happiness and joy as well. This way of accepting the events around one won't be possible for the people without faith in God; a change of name people with no knowledge of Bethel cannot make.
How is it that Jacob could take the event in a way he did? In verse 3 of chapter 35 he tells of God saying, 'We are to set off for Bethel, so that I can erect an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in distress; he has been with me wherever I have gone.' For Jacob God he met at Bethel was none else but the one who appeared and spoke to him in his distress; God was who ruled it was good to give him plight and meet with him in the midst of his distress. Plight was the only chance thanks to which he could encounter with God. That was the reason why he could accept the happening also as a source of 'happiness,' while 'plight,' it certainly was.
Rachel could only say with her last breath that the baby was 'son of my plight.' Indeed it was, and that's generally the word one can say at one's plight. In this month of August we are reminded of many plights. Just last week, hit by torrential rains, many lost their lives in Hiroshima. It became 'my plight.' It's nothing else but sorrow and plight for 'me,' and for 'my family.' There's no other way to take it.
Yet, we are taught through faith that this 'plight of mine,' is the plight of God, i.e. one which God is good to be deeply concerned with somewhere; one that gives us happiness and joy which one can get only through the plight.
Jesus suffered hung on a cross. Isn't it 'plight,' for God himself? The plight of Jesus was nothing else but 'Ben-oni,' for God. However, exactly because it was so it became 'son of happiness,' for us. Because it was so we can believe also that 'son of plight,' we give birth to is also 'son of happiness.'
4. Soon after Rachel was buried, something extraordinary took place in the family of Jacob. Verse 22 tells of Reuben, the eldest son, having lain with his mother's slave-girl and father's concubine Bilhah. Many Bible commentaries cast doubt about it saying if such a thing can take place for a fact. They are also bewildered as to how the story should be taken. Many end dealing with this part without giving any comment.
There is one thing I am led to feel about it. I think it goes without saying that Reuben didn't take such an act of running wild simply out of sexual desire. Simeon and Levi, brothers from the same mother, and religious fundamentalists in today's word, weren't too happy about their father being complacent with their sister Dinah about to marry with a son of the influential man of locality and stood up in rebellion against the will of their father. Reuben's action and that of brothers Simeon and Levi have something in common at some point, I feel.
Isn't father Jacob taking the death of Rachel, he most loved and their aunt, in too much calmness and with a matter-of-fact attitude? How can he name the baby 'son of happiness?' Should he not show more anger, sorrow and disagreement, and do the most he can within his capacity to do to make up for the loss?
If his father, the head of the family, doesn't do it, he as the eldest of the children, will do it in his place. Yes, he will try to produce something for making up the void resulting from his step-mother having been taken away from them by having relationship with Bilhah, the slave-girl of the step-mother. If God takes away we, the human being, will produce. I feel that the action of Reuben symbolically represented his strive to overcome the death of Rachel rather than literally to have sexual relationship.
About that way of taking reacting to the happening, that way of overcoming death of a person, the Bible only says, 'Isreal (meaning Jacob) came to hear of it,' and goes on straightly to list up the twelve sons of Jacob. In this I feel that the Bible is trying to tell us something.
Jacob simply hears with silence what his eldest son did. I think that in this attitude of Jacob lies his faith in God. He understood the intention of his son in doing what he did. But it didn't mean he endorsed it. Showing disagreement to God having taken away Rachel and trying to make up for the loss by human actions, what good will they bring? What a human being could do was only an un-reasonable act of having relationship with father's concubine. That cannot produce happiness. What we do in reaction to God taking away the most loved ones from us are all of that kind at best, aren't they?
To us as we are the Bible is telling something important by showing the list of the sons of Jacob in silence, don't you think? Rachel was taken away, indeed. But look at the children God gave. There are as many as twelve just by counting the sons. Are you still dissatisfied? What God gives only overcomes death and move ahead.
5. Time is running out now. I can only briefly touch on the death and burial of Isaac. Books of commentaries raise a question as to if in fact Isaac died there. The happening of Isaac losing his sight and being deceived into blessing Jacob in place of Esau well matches with the scene of his death. The Bible did not make mention of him or of Rebecca his wife thereafter. But it tells of his death at this point of the passage. It tells that he died fulfilled. He died fulfilled perhaps because he had a long life of one hundred and eighty years, I suspect.
I feel there was a greater reason for his fulfillment. Verse 27 says he was at Mamre near Hebron. That was where Abraham, the father of Isaac and the grandfather of Jacob had stayed, it says. Perhaps some of you will remember what the name of the place, Mamre near Hebron meant. It was a place of worship. It means Isaac died as one who worshipped God just as his father Abraham worshipped God all along. That way of life Isaac could show for sure to his twin sons, Jacob and Esau when he died. Death is described here also as a source of happiness.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Genesis 35: 16 - 29
16 They moved from Bethel, and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrathah, Rachel went into labour and her pains were severe
17 While they were on her, the midwife said, 'Do not be afraid, for this is another son for you.'
18 Then with her last breath, as she was dying, she named him Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was buried by the side of the road to Ephrathah, that is Bethlehem.
20 Over her grave Jacob set up a sacred pillar; and to this day it is known as the Pillar of Rachel's Grave.
21 Then continuing his journey Israel pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal-eder.
22 While Israel was living in that district, Reuben lay with his father's concubine Bilhah; and Israel came to hear of it.
The sons of Jacob were twelve.
23 The sons of Leah: Jacob's first born Reuben, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel's slave-girl Bilhah; Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah's slave-girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These were Jacob's sons, born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre near Kiriath-arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
28 Isaac was a hundred and eighty years old when he breathed his last.
29 He died and was gathered to his father's kin at this very great age, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
(The Revised English Bible)
August 17, 2014
- Get up! -
By The Reverend Reita YAZAWA
(A Problem in the Bible-Forgotten people who are suffering silently)
On this day, a festival was taking place in Jerusalem. Yet, in the midst of the cheer and joyful noises, there was a place forgotten by the people. It was the pool of Bethesda. People did not want to care about this place for a great number of disabled people used to lie there ? the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. There was no joy of the festival, only groans of the pain and curse.
The reason why so many disabled people ended up around this pool is that they heard a mythic tale about the water of this pool. Some manuscripts of this part of Scripture record as follows: "and they waited for the moving of waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had." This mythic tale was the last thing they clung to. As the pond had places of different heights, it seems that occasionally the moving and stirring of the water happened from one place to another. As the only the first person into the water was aid to be cured, this pool became the place of nasty antagonism and rivalry. Everyone is discontent and grumbling. People around the pool are not friends, but competitors and enemies. The place should be full of curse and envy.
(A Problem in This World-Constant rivalry and competition where we find ourselves broken)
It is said that "Bethesda" means "the house of mercy." We can find facilities of social welfare services named after this place. Yet, contrary to the original meaning of this name, what a miserable place this pool was! This image may perhaps also be the image of our life and society too. So many of us in our society tend to believe that success is to surpass others in our achievements, to win competitions, to gain credits and trust from bosses and to increase our income.
We experience how hard to grow and develop healthy, sustainable friendship with others. Sometimes we change our addresses or working places, hoping that this time things will go well. Yet in our new places we once again end up with hurts and emotional wounds. Even then we tend to only blame others and curse our circumstances. The image of this pool represents our daily life!
I recently saw a movie titled "The Railway Man." It was about an English soldier Eric Lomax, who became POW during the WW II. Captured by the Japanese Imperial Army, Eric was transported to Thailand, where he was forced to labor to construct the notorious Thai-Burma Railway. Because of atrocious treatment of the captives, numerous people lost their lives. As one of the survivors of this traumatic experience, Eric suffered in his life after the war as he had difficult time in building up relationship and trust with people around him. When we have more or less a heavily-laden heart of bitterness and pain, we do not know what to do with it...
(Grace in the Bible-Jesus raises a sick man)
Here we find a man who reflects such an image as ours. It is said, "One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years." Perhaps he was diagnosed as hopeless at his young age. He might have been deserted by his family. He would have no money with him. People around him are rivals who attempts to dive into the water whenever the curing water stirs. He has experienced no laughter, encouragement, meaningful conversations, or joy for so ling a time now. He lost such meaningful interactions decades ago.
Yet, into this wilderness of soul, one man comes. He is Jesus Christ our lord and savior. People in Jerusalem may avoid approaching this cursed place. They may want to forget that there is such a place in their midst. But Jesus is the person who enters such a place. He saw this man who has been laid here for nearly 40 years. Jesus saw this man and understood his condition and sufferings over these years. Even when Jesus asked "Do you want to get well," the only response this man could make was this: "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." This man only keeps complaining about and cursing others.
This man was even not able to say, "Yes, I want to be healed." He keeps blaming others. Yet Jesus says to such a man, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." I believe Jesus said this because Jesus took the pain and grief of this man on his behalf. "I bear and carry your misery, sufferings, your pains and grief, so that you may now rise and stand up!" The original word for "rise" here means "being resurrected." Jesus means here "I will defeat all sufferings, tribulations, and the power of death. You will rise with me in the light of resurrection. You are now rebuilding your life in light of this victory. You are now starting to walk as a child of God who will succeed the life eternal." This is the message to us from our lord and savior.
(Grace in Our World-God also raises us as a sign of Sabbath)
We know that our life also falls. We have sickness, failures in and loss of work, crisis in marriage, worries about and troubles with child-rearing, or messiness in our relationship with families and relatives. We sometimes worry if our path is right on track. We experience loneliness. We experience sleepless nights. Yet our lord and savior cares to walk into our heavily-laden soul and speaks to us: "Get Up!" "The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down" (Psalm 145:14).
Previously mentioned Eric Lomax visited Thailand almost 50 years after the war. When he met Mr. Nagase, former interpreter for the Japanese Imperial Army and conversed with him, Eric Lomax began to sort out his pains and trauma. They became close friends until the end of their earthly life.
The Day of Sabbath is the day when we receive healing and renewal of hope in the Lord. It is the day when we the fallen rise with the Lord. It is the day when we rise and worship the Lord. The pool of Bethesda was located beside the Sheep Gate. We enter the garden of God through the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). And there, we know and experience the true peace and true festival.
Prayer
Heavenly father, let us have peace in your Sabbath. Let us receive your words, "Get up!" Give us the power and strength to rise in and with Christ. In the midst of our weakness and pains help us to see your stretched arm and hand extended to help us rise again.
In the name of the Lord of Sabbath Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
(English words by The Reverend Reita YAZAWA)
The Gospel according to Mathew 19: 16 - 30
16 A man came up and asked him, 'Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?'
17 'Good?' said Jesus. 'Why do you ask me about that? One alone is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'
18 'Which commandments?' he asked. Jesus answered, 'Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not give false evidence;
19 honour your father and mother; and love your neighbour as yourself.'
20 The young man answered, 'I have kept all these. What do I still lack?'
21 Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.'
22 When the young man heard this, he went away with a heavy heart; for he was a man of great wealth.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly I tell you: a rich man will find it hard to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
24 I repeat, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'
25 The disciples were astonished when they heard this, and exclaimed, 'Then who can be saved?'
26 Jesus looked at them and said, 'For men this is impossible; but everything is possible for God.'
27 Then Peter said, 'What about us? We have left everything to follow you. How shall we fare?'
28 Jesus replied, 'Truly I tell you: in the world that is to be, when the Son of Man is seated on his glorious throne, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And anyone who has left houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or land for the sake of my name will be repaid many times over, and gain eternal life.
30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
(The Revised English Bible)
August 10, 2014
- You belong to God -
By The Reverend Ms. Misako YAZAWA
I suspect that we live carrying respective ideal image of ourselves in mind, don't we? This may be true not just when one is young; I think people live with a wish that 'they would like themselves to be such and such,' also when they get aged. The young man in the Bible passage for today was also making efforts towards living after his own ideal, which he developed within himself. He always tried to do good, and came to Jesus wishing to learn how he can be as good as perfect.
The youth was a man of great wealth. He made efforts upon efforts and built a wealth of asset. He rose to high position in society. He also had faith in God scrupulously and observed all the commandments. He had not only all that was necessary for living on earth but also rightly managed the way of life. People around him must have looked on him as an admirable believer. The young man was an exemplary follower and regarded as such by everyone.
Contrary to how people thought of him, the young man felt that something was wrong with his life. He could not fill the void of his heart. He thought he was still short of something. No matter how much endeavor he made, how much wealth he had, what a faith he had as admired by everyone around him, he could not find peace in his mind. He could not be at ease. Yes, he had enough wealth for life on earth. He had assurance of living on earth.
Was that good enough for his life? The life on earth comes to an end without fail. Everything one built up or saved through efforts after efforts would go away all too soon when one's life on earth is finished. Such a sense of vanity was somewhere in his heart and was making him feel uneasy.
I wonder if we don't have the same feeling as this young man. We have something we've spent years diligently to build up; we have something we have endeavored to keep. Yet the time will come we have to part with what we built up till then when our life on earth comes to an end. At that point in time all that we have relied upon for life on earth and all we have taken peace of mind from will lose any significance.
The young man could never cease feeling uneasy. That's why he approached Jesus with desperate question asking, 'Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?'
The young man wanted to have eternal life; a happiness that endures eternally, not the kind that vanishes upon one's death. He thought he never has gained a genuine peace of mind, never has reached perfect happiness unless and until he got blessing so he can live forever in the kingdom of God.
The young man did read the Bible well and scrupulously observed the commandments. Therefore, he knew that men will die without fail and that he is also mortal. In his young age, he was able to face with the time of his end. That's why he approached the Lord Jesus who, he thought, knew about the eternal life and wanted to be taught how he could gain it. He was determined to make even more endeavors if it were necessary to do so to gain the eternal life.
Then Jesus responded saying, 'Good?' 'Why do you ask me about that? One alone is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.' 'Which commandments?' the young man asked. Which of the commandments he should keep to gain eternal life? 'Which commandments?' he asked.
Jesus answered, 'Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not give false evidence; honour your father and mother; and love your neighbour as yourself.'
These are the ones given in the Ten Commandments. Even children knew them if they were Jews of the time. Without saying, the young man knew them. These were the commandments he firmly kept since his childhood. Therefore, the young man may have thought to himself why Jesus tells about those commandments now. The young man answered, 'I have kept all these. What do I still lack?' The young man has kept the commandments fully. Therefore, he may have expected Jesus to tell him, 'Alright then. The eternal life is yours.'
In its stead, Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.' You are yet to become perfect. Hearing Jesus say it, how did the young man react? He went away with a heavy heart. Why? He was a man of great wealth and he couldn't part with them. He had only to leave with a sad feeling.
When you come to think of him, the young man kept the commandments scrupulously, we are told. He must, therefore, also have been giving to the poor. As the almsgiving to the poor was much encouraged in the Judaism he did it.
But it was only so far as his own livelihood was not threatened that he gave to the poor. He did not give to the extent as he had to sacrifice the assurance of his livelihood. Numerous articles he gained as a result of his diligent efforts, the big house, gold and silver, servants and high status; those were the fruits of his labours, the assurance of his livelihood, something he would rely on for living. He could not part with them all.
In this young man we find us ourselves, who cannot part with all we have and give them to the poor, don't we? We too will hear the words of Jesus with heavy heart, right? We, as ones who hear to the words of Jesus with surprise, in sadness and lamentation, would need to listen to them earnestly as the words spoken to us.
Immediately after the talk with the young, the Lord Jesus told his disciples saying, 'It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' The disciples were astonished when they heard this, and exclaimed, 'Then who can be saved?'
Not just the disciples but also we are astonished and lament. Though not so much as the rich young man had, we too have savings necessary for livelihood. We cannot part with them all. That is how we are. If that's the case, the Bible passage says, it is more difficult for us to enter the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Then it is almost impossible; there's no way we get saved. When we think of it we are left with unbearable unease. What shall we do? Are we to make up our minds and part with all assets we have to gain eternal life, just as the Lord Jesus told the young man?
This is where I would like us to give thought to it once again. Did the Lord Jesus really mean to say that eternal life will be given those who parted with the entire asset? Does one have to part with the asset to gain eternal life? I want us properly to listen to what Jesus really wanted to tell. What does the Lord Jesus want from us?
Let us put the question in other form. What if someone could part with one's all asset? There may well be some in fact who can say, 'I left all my asset and followed the Lord Jesus.'
Let us think about this case more deeply. If someone could indeed leave all one's asset, the words of chapter 13, verse 3 of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians stand in our way saying, 'I may give all I possess to the needy, my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I gain nothing by it.' This, in other words, is asking us if we love the poor from the bottom of our heart. In doing the almsgiving to the poor, are we not wishing to be recognized by God? In other words, are we not making use of the poor to save us in the end? That is what the Lord Jesus is keeping his eyes on us to see.
And this was apparent in the attitude of the disciples. They saw the young could not part with his all asset. Knowing it they said to the Lord Jesus, 'What about us? We have left everything to follow you. How shall we fare?'
The disciples left everything, they said. And indeed they did so. Peter was a fisherman. Peter and his brother Andrew quit from being fishermen and followed Jesus. That was the case with the brothers of Jacob and John, too. They left fishing net and their fathers behind and followed the Lord Jesus who told them to 'follow me.' It was everything for them that they parted with.
They went as far as even asking 'How shall we fare?' They showed off before God what good they did saying, 'I am different from the young man. See, I left everything behind and followed you.' The Bible depicts how we are the whole way. It would describe the depth of our sin to the finish.
Indeed, the disciples left behind everything, all they had, and followed Jesus. Yet there was a desire in them; they wanted to be complimented saying, 'Well done! Good you are!' for the deeds which they made and for the reverence and goodwill they have toward God. We cannot get out from the thinking that my faith is good because I am recognized by God; the desire hangs around us to be praised by God for our merit and be bestowed eternal life. Here we find us doing things for us ourselves, not for God or for the poor. In this sense none of us can say, 'I am doing everything that I do with a totally holy mind; not for me but for the poor and for God. Therefore please give me eternal life.'
That's the reason why the Lord Jesus tells us it is impossible for us to gain eternal life by our own power. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. However, if you think of it, it is next to impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. It is not next to impossibility in the sense that while we can manage to do it, still it is difficult. It is simply not possible for us to do. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The Lord Jesus is telling it is not possible for us.
To those words of Jesus the disciples responded saying, 'Then who can be saved?' This colloquial Japanese translation is kind of curious because it says 'Who can be saved?' 'To save,' is an act on the part of the savior; it's not something we can have a say about if we can or cannot. Nevertheless the disciples said, 'Who can be saved?' We would draw the matter into the realm where we can do by any means.
The fact of the matter is we cannot do anything from our side to be saved. There is nothing we can do to save us. But the Lord Jesus said, 'For men this is impossible; but everything is possible for God.' Indeed it is beyond our reach. But it is possible for God. 'Everything is possible for God.'
'Everything is possible for God.' It has a great significance. That 'Everything is possible for God,' means God gives us his only son Jesus Christ to save us who cannot save us ourselves. God gives us eternal life by giving his son Jesus Christ to death. This is thoroughly a work of God. God gives us that something which we cannot get in our hands by however much of our possession or by whichever outstanding merit we may have, but by the death of God's own son. God is who can do such an awful thing as to give his beloved son to death as a price to save us. 'Everything is possible for God.'
Let us give our thought to the young man again who went away with a heavy heart. He was short of something. What was it that he didn't have? He was short of making a perfect almsgiving and he could not get eternal life for that? No! He was short of the recognition that he could not get eternal life on his own because he was not perfect; he was short of following the Lord. He did not realize that it is God and God only who is perfect; and he was short of following the God.
It was good of the young man to have realized that he could not on his own. But he could not accept that he could not; he could not swallow it. For that reason he could not honestly confess before the Lord Jesus saying, 'I cannot.' He could not surrender himself to the Lord Jesus and follow him.
The Lord Jesus wanted the young man to say, 'Lord! Have pity on me, the sinner. I cannot.' Jesus wanted him to reach and take hold of the saving hands of the Lord stretched out to him, leaving his hands away from himself who have had trust in his own ability and relying on his ability. The Lord Jesus wanted him to jump at him who would tell him, 'You belong to me.'
We tend to live asking the Lord Jesus saying, 'Teacher, what good must I do?' We apt to desire to do good, have it recognized by the Lord and that way get a peace of mind. But our life is not such as it is proper for us to ask, 'What good must we do?' That is a beside the point question to which the answer would be 'Why do you ask me about it?' as replied back by the Lord Jesus. It is a question to which the answer will be 'One alone is good,' and nothing else.
Our life is not the kind which will be good if we pursued to do 'something good,' for us so to be saved. Ours, instead, is one in which we have only to cling to 'One who is good,' who gives us, such sinners, eternal life and invites us to the kingdom of God. Imperfect and sinners we are and full of shortcomings we are. The Lord Jesus still loves us as are and died for us to let us enter the kingdom of God. Our life is only to put our whole selves in the hands of the Lord Jesus and to follow him.
The disciples followed the Lord Jesus. They may have done so with an impure motivation at heart to ask, 'How shall we fare?' They may well have been the kind who abandoned and fled from the Lord in the end while saying they believed. Yet the Lord Jesus accepts and continues to invite the weak disciples and all of us saying, 'That is alright. I know who you are. Just follow me.'
To the followers the Lord Jesus clearly said, 'Truly I tell you: in the world that is to be, when the Son of Man is seated on his glorious throne, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel because you have followed me.'
And 'Anyone who has left houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or land for the sake of my name will be repaid many (one hundred) times over, and gain eternal life.
Not that there will be no reward for those who follow the Lord. The path of the followers of the Lord will be remunerated one hundred times over. That something which one could not get no matter how much work one may have done for it is now given to the ones who surrender themselves in the hands of the Lord Jesus and follow him. The blessing of the eternal life is given. It is given even to us who have only so much faith as will crumble at anywhere however sincerely we would try to be to God with all our might. God will bless us as ones who reflect the glory of God, who bring the grace of God. However silly words we utter and frail faith we have God accepts us in grace, make us Israel, the people of God with reward the hundred times over.
It has already begun. We are made the people of the kingdom of God, accepted as belonging to God, turned as a part of the church of God, are given brothers and sisters in faith to live together eternally. Such a gorgeous reward is being given. The grand remuneration is now being given before our eyes which we could never get in our hands on our own.
Abundant life in full of grace is beginning here now as we sit at the table of the Lord, together with the members of God's family, where we can share the food for our bodies as well, share sadness and joy. The path of eternal, fully blessed grand life we will walk ahead together with the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Gospel according to Mathew 19: 16 - 30
16 A man came up and asked him, 'Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?' 17 'Good?' said Jesus. 'Why do you ask me about that? One alone is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.' 18 'Which commandments?' he asked. Jesus answered, 'Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not give false evidence; 19 honour your father and mother; and love your neighbour as yourself.' 20 The young man answered, 'I have kept all these. What do I still lack?' 21 Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.' 22 When the young man heard this, he went away with a heavy heart; for he was a man of great wealth. 23 Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly I tell you: a rich man will find it hard to enter the kingdom of Heaven. 24 I repeat, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 25 The disciples were astonished when they heard this, and exclaimed, 'Then who can be saved?' 26 Jesus looked at them and said, 'For men this is impossible; but everything is possible for God.' 27 Then Peter said, 'What about us? We have left everything to follow you. How shall we fare?' 28 Jesus replied, 'Truly I tell you: in the world that is to be, when the Son of Man is seated on his glorious throne, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And anyone who has left houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or land for the sake of my name will be repaid many times over, and gain eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (The Revised English Bible)
August 3, 2014
- I boast of nothing but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 So far once in about three weeks, we have learned the Paul's Letter to the Galatians since about this time last year. Today is the last time. Today's theme is derived from Verse 14 of Galatians 6' I boast of nothing but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.'We Christians, to put it briefly, can be called those who can boast of the cross of Jesus Christ, right?
1.2 Here Paul refers to only himself, saying in a very strong tone, 'God forbid that I should boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.'However, we cannot probably make such a strong assertion, I think. I have nothing to boast of, but if I replace 'boasting of 'with 'joy ,' then I have various joys besides the joy of the cross: the joy of being together with my family, the joy of being able to do my job, and the joy of living a pretty good healthy life, although I have some problems.
1.3 Last Monday I was invited to the house of one of the church members of my church, as he built a new house. It was a very nice new house and it will probably be what he can boast of. But what moved me more than that was that I looked at the two dictionaries that he spent as long as 15 years writing, which was the fruit of his long efforts. To him, those works must be the very pride of his life. Although Paul says strongly, 'God forbid that I should boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,'it does not literally mean that we should not have such a pride nor joys which I mentioned a minute ago, or that we cannot be called Christians because of those things. But still we can boast of the cross of Jesus Christ and we can think that we want to boast of it. This is the essentials of Christians.
1.4 On the other hand, it might be possible to say like this: The number of people whom I mentioned a minute ago and who could boast of his efforts is actually not large and many people, including me, would say that they have nothing to boast of, right? Some people regret that they have no such works that they have spent all their lives in making. But if you can boast of the cross, it can be called the very laborious work that you have spent your whole life on and the fruit of your labor, as well, right? To be able to boast of the cross is such a huge job. It is the greatest fruit ever that God has enabled us to accomplish. We can boast of that very much, can't we?
2.1 Then, why can we be so proud of boasting of the cross of Jesus Christ? Because generally it is very difficult to boast of the cross.
2.2 Paul said in his letter to people at the Corinthian church ,'Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,'( 1 Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verses 22 and 23).
2.3 First, to representatives of Gentiles, Greeks and Romans, it was foolish that Jesus who was killed in a cruel way on the cross was the Christ and Savior. Although this is my wild imagination, Greek people were those who made so much of beauty which appeared on the surface, right? And the beautiful body boasts of having its excellent health and strength. We are convinced that the Olympic Games originated in Greece. Also people in Rome highly esteemed real world usefulness and practical results, didn't they? They regarded their emperor as their god and savior but they did so, as long as he brought peace called 'Pax Romana ,'with a stronger power than anyone else's, which we studied in world history, and as long as he provided real world usefulness such as food and entertainments. To such gentiles, to regard the person crucified as God and Savior is not only quite absurd but also unforgivably blasphemous, because it meant to think of the person who was executed as the criminal of the Roman Empire, rather than the Emperor, as their god. As Verse 12 in today's word says, 'to escape persecution for the cross of Christ,'thanks to the aforementioned background and for the reasons, essentially, Christians were destined to be persecuted in Greek and Roman worlds.
2.4 Next, to Jewish people, Jesus crucified being the Christ and Savior was a stumbling block. It is because the Messiah that they were seeking after was just the opposite of the existence who was murdered on the cross. In addition, for the above mentioned reason, for Christians to be persecuted in the Roman Empire caused lots of fear in Jewish people.: Jewish people were provided with special benefits in the Roman Empire in those days and, if Christianity, which was one sect of Judaism, preached the cross further and further and caused trouble to the Roman Empire, the Judaism that I mentioned might lose the benefits that it had received from the Empire. Therefore, some people tried to keep Christians within the framework of Judaism eagerly: That was to force circumcision on them and to make them observe the law.
2.5 If we have such knowledge, we can understand that it is difficult to believe Jesus crucified to be the Christ and to boast of the cross.
3.1 This doesn't change in today's world at all and rather, it is getting more and more difficult, I think. The values of boasting of the outward beauty and boasting of bodily health and strength and boasting of actual usefulness in the age 2000 years ago, and the trend of society with such values are getting more strong and more radical, I feel strongly. Where on earth does the world head for?
3.2 Although I somewhat hesitate to mention this, while I was preparing for the sermon, it had been ringing in my mind. Therefore I cannot help mentioning it. It is the grisly murder in Nagasaki that came into our ears last Sunday. As the girl student who committed the crime is reported to have hurt animals in her primary school days, she has mental illness, I think. However, what struck me strongly from the media report is that as one of big factors leading to this heinous crime, after her mother died of cancer, her father, an excellent lawyer, married again, in less than no time, to be sure. Probably she could not put up with her beloved mother's death being forgotten in an instant in such a way, nor with her father dealing with it as if nothing had happened . I have heard that some people who have experienced the death of the beloved one are attracted to death in an extraordinary way and cannot be separated from the dead body. It is also the expression of an unbearable sense of estrangement about people around them and the world forgetting it, although it is so tough to have lost the beloved one and they feel so sad. It is the thought that they want to keep staying all the time beside the person who has passed away.
3.3 I have talked about this several times: The word 'living-person centered policy 'has been kept in my mind. It was invented by a journalist, of which I am not sure, whose husband died earlier, in order to describe how the world is going on, after her husband has died. Probably she says that the present world is focused on those who are living alone and that it regards living and, above all, living as a person who is strong and bodily healthy and who can produce actual usefulness as valuable. If the person dies, to be sick, to be weak, to suffer, to be unable to produce actual usefulness, those such things are nothing but negative and should be denied, be covered and the cap should be put on them. I am never saying that the heinous incident in Nagasaki is permissible. But I think that the family, nation or society that forgets a death so soon and that regards only outward beauty, strength and bodily health and achieving fame as a blessing will surely bring this kind of misfortune. The society that denies death has to pay a price with a huge number of deaths surely. The one that denies being sick or being weak is rewarded with more and more illnesses and weaknesses without fail.
3.4 Although today is the Lord Day of Peace, what is stressed in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Ukraine and Japan as well, is actual usefulness and trying to have more leads armed forces to clash against each other. I hear pretty many people say with fear that the present situation resembles the eve of World War I. Battles that are sporadically breaking out all over the world might turn toward another world war all of a sudden one day. Although I repeat, I am afraid that the present state of society might bring explosive deaths or illnesses or sufferings as retaliation.
4.1 This is why the cross is our pride. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 25 after Verses 22 & 23 that I quoted a few minutes ago, says, 'For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.'The event of the cross means that God put on 'foolishness 'and 'weakness 'in Jesus crucified, I think. To Greek people and Roman people and to Jewish people as well, God must have been an existence of just the opposite end of the spectrum from'foolishness 'and 'weakness.'However, in the event of the cross, our God combined himself with foolishness and weakness through the word 'of. 'He carried foolishness and weakness, above all, pain and suffering leading to death, on his back, as valuable things.
4.2 Not only that. God resurrected Jesus from the death on the cross. As I mentioned at the Easter prayer many times, what all the gospels tell us is the fact that on the body of Jesus resurrected the scar of the cross remained clearly. The disciples were delighted to see that scar and Jesus told Thomas to put his fingers and hands into this scar. What this indicates is that resurrection is definitely the resurrection of Jesus crucified. It was the cross that was established as an eternal thing and a thing that never perishes. The cross brings us joy and our putting our fingers and hands into the scar saves us. However strongly we may say that the cross is foolish, or a stumbling block or cruel, it is the cross that God raises and that forever. The fact that in the cross God regarded weakness, foolishness, the sadness of death and its cruelty as valuable keeps remaining as a thing that never perishes eternally in the midst of this world.
4.3 The Bible says that this is the meaning of the latter half of Verse 14 that says, 'through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world!' God is trying to save us and the society that will surely perish without fail if we go on as it is, by valuing the weakness, foolishness of the cross and death. Thus, he is crucifying us and our society where the values that originated in Greece and Rome have been getting increasingly strong. He is trying to combine this world and each and every one of us with the cross and to crucify it and us and to make a creation though the weakness, foolishness and death from there.
4.4 That is why I boast of this God who is foolish and weak. I boast of God who treats death tenderly. I boast of God who raised Jesus from the death on the cross. As we have to live in this world, we cannot help holding the values of this world. We are imbued with them. However we don't think that it is all right. We don't think that it will guide us into a better direction. Just because of that, we wish to boast of the cross and to be connected with the foolishness of God and with the weakness of God. Baptism means that. It means receiving the marks of Jesus branded and the marks of the cross written in Verse 17, and bearing the marks of the foolishness and weakness of this God.
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6: 11 - 18
11 Look how big the letters are, now that I am writing to you in my own hand. 12 It is those who want to be outwardly in good standing who are trying to force circumcision on you; their sole object is to escape persecution for the cross of Christ. 13 Even those who do accept circumcision are not thoroughgoing observers of the law; they want you to be circumcised just in order to boast of your submission to that outward rite. 14 God forbid that I should boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world is crucified to me and I to the world! 15 Circumcision is nothing; un-circumcision is nothing; the only thing that counts is new creation! 16 All who take this principle for their guide, peace and mercy be upon them, the Israel of God! 17 In future let no one make trouble for me, for I bear the marks of Jesus branded on my body. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, my friends, Amen.
July 13, 2014
- Everyone reaps what he sows -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 With regard to the study of the Galatians, we have come to the last chapter at long last. Today's word includes warnings and advice one after another, which makes it hard for us to understand what are focal points at a first reading. Also, the words from the latter part of Verse 7 to Verse 8 'everyone reaps what he sows. If he sows in the field of his unspiritual nature, he will reap from it a harvest of corruption; but if he sows in the field of the Spirit, he will reap from it a harvest of eternal life,'imply what can be called reaping as one sows. Professor Takemori, Masaichi, the teacher of the theological college who taught us, said about this word, 'This is a terrifying word, isn't it? …Paul, who had talked about grace exclusively, said that we should reap what we sow. What should we think about God's grace? Where is the power of salvation? The reason why we can find this word at the end of this letter is that we should think about grace deeply'(Koukai garateya bitoeno tegami (Interpretation of the Letter to the Galatians) pp. 213-214). This part is also where a theologically big question is raised.
1.2 In order to understand why Paul sent this kind of word to a church at Galatia and also to understand the focal points of what he wants to say here, we still need to know closely what was going on in the church and its problems as its background. This is a little review of what we learned in the last sermon but there seem to be some people who indulged in 'acts of sinful nature ,'as is written in Chapter 5, Verse 19 and the following, such as 'sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. 'It was not those who were opposed to Paul but, to our regret, Paul's friends that committed such acts. They believed that, concerning being regarded as righteous by God, that is, concluding bonds or an alliance with God, they no longer needed the Law nor circumcisions but that they had only to believe in Jesus and to be united with him in faith, in order to have strong ties with God. It seems that among such people, some people thought that now that they had built never-broken bonds with God, they were allowed to do anything that they wanted to and they were tempted to indulge in acts of sinful nature.
1.3 If we say furthermore, we can imagine that although they did nothing but acts of sinful nature, they even boasted that they were led by the Holy Spirit and that they were doing good. What Chapter 6, Verses 3 and 4 say describes such acts of theirs, right? Therefore, Paul clearly taught how to distinguish them. Chapter 5 Verse 19 and the following go through the list of acts of sinful nature, while Verse 22 goes through the fruit of the Spirit. Paul tried to teach that what they were doing was never the acts guided by the Holy Spirit.
1.4 If those who believe in Jesus and who are regarded as righteous by God boast that acts of sinful nature are the very acts that are guided by the Holy Spirit, we must say that their illness is very serious as the illness that believers tend to take. In the worship service last week, we learned the word in which when Jesus healed the deaf by driving the evil spirit, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, who recognized themselves and were recognized by others as the most faithful in their society in those days, accused him of his act by saying,'By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons. 'They said that the act by the Holy Spirit was the act by the Evil Spirit. It is as it were, calling white black. But in today's word, in contrast, black is called white. In any way, it is those who were faithful believers that mixed the acts guided by the Holy Spirit with the ones not guided by it. To lose the sense toward the sacred happens to believers. This is a really dangerous serious disease that we might get as believers. Today's word from Paul can be called a prescription
2.1 Now that we have understood the background like this, we can understand what Verses 7 and 8 that I introduced a minute ago and about which Professor Takemori said, 'This is a terrifying word, isn't it? ,'really want to say. Those who said so fooled God in the word of Verse 7. They boasted that the acts of sinful nature were the ones guided by the Holy Spirit. They called black white. Although people might be deceived by such 'deceptive talking 'or 'confusion,'God cannot be deceived. The acts that are guided by sinful nature, which Paul calls 'sowing in the field of his unspiritual nature ,'give birth to the results that correspond to them clearly. God make those who did the acts reap the fruit of them. In contrast, the acts that are guided by the Holy Spirit and that are sown in the field of the Spirit give birth to a good harvest that corresponds to them. Indeed, here we can find the words representing reaping as one sows but this is a thing of a different dimension from the great principle of faith that we are saved exclusively by believing in Jesus and through God's grace. This is the question of how those who are regarded as righteous by God will bear fruit that corresponds to those who are regarded as righteous in their footsteps that they will take afterwards. If those who are saved call black white and confuse acts of the Holy Spirit with the acts of sinful nature in the footsteps that they will take afterwards, they probably cannot help inviting a terrible result to themselves. I would like to add a little but you can find the words 'he will reap a harvest of corruption ,'in which probably 'corruption 'does not mean to be deprived of being saved by acts of sinful nature, because we are promised to be given salvation by believing in Jesus. However it is true that such acts will invite some grave result.
2.2 Thus it is important for us to listen to a warning in view of a grave result that acts of sinful nature gives birth to, but from this word, I would like to feel more than that, what a wonderful harvest we can reap from sowing in the field of the Holy Spirit. As Paul says in Chapter 5, Verse 17 ,'the sinful nature and the Spirit are in conflict with each other,'we , who have believed in Jesus, cannot get rid of the sinful nature. We are those who do acts of sinful nature. Sometimes probably we cannot help reaping corruption because of them. But instead of grieving over doing acts of sinful nature, if we wish to take steps by following the Holy Spirit, God will pour the Holy Spirit on us through his grace and let us do acts of the Holy Spirit and the harvest will be several times or dozens of times as large as the harvest that we sow in the field of sinful nature. The harvest that we reap in the field of the Spirit will overwhelm the one that we reap in the field of sinful nature. Here lies God's grace above reaping as one sows.
3.1 Therefore, Paul recommends that we should never tire of doing good in Verses 9 and 10. He talks about how powerful it is to do good. This was a concrete prescription as a believer for those who have fallen sick.
3.2 I take the power of doing good to heart again. I feel that we Japanese people hate and despise'hypocrisy 'more than necessary, right? If we feel that there is a little bad thought or sinful nature in the inside, even if we do good which appears in the outside, we are apt to take an all- or- nothing attitude and to disregard it as hypocrisy and throw it away as worthless. And the principle of the Protestant church of 'Not through acts but solely faith, and grace 'is added to it. As a result, there is a far less support for doing good. Just as is shown, there lies sinful nature in our deepest inner part. If we take a look at ourselves with an all- or-nothing attitude, we cannot do any good and it will be hypocrisy. But Paul doesn't say such a thing. He encourages us by saying that even we can sow in the field of the Spirit. He also says that we can do good by God's pouring the Holy Spirit on us and that if we never tire of doing good, in due time we will reap our harvest.
3.3 This is a slightly irrelevant remark but I would like to talk about the Morita Psychotherapy, one of the psychotherapies which is peculiar to Japan. This is the therapy that Dr. MORITA, Shoma (1874-1938) invented. As I was attracted to it, I have a few very simple reference books on it. The characteristic of this therapy is, to put it simply from my standpoint, to make much of moving, taking actions and working, by laying aside the inside of a human being, especially, feelings that fluctuate. Our inside, like hearts or feelings, cannot be relied upon and they are the most unstable. Therefore, this therapy puts an emphasis on working on something or labor, without getting involved in the inside of a human being. Novelisit KURATA Hyakuzo, who wrote the novel 'Shukke-to-sono-deshi (A priest and his disciple),'came to Dr. Morita to ask him for advice, saying, 'I cannot write anything at all. 'In response to it, Dr. Morita told the novelist that it didn't matter whether he could write or not and advised him to sit down at the desk and to write anything, whether it is the hiragana characters he, no. he, no, mo, and ji arranged to make a drawing of a face or not. This advice of the doctor's is really something that I, who have trouble preparing for the sermon every day, can appreciate. With nothing shown to follow the example of, I often sit down at the desk , almost half a day, idling away my time. But I get started at long last. I start to write down how I have felt after I have read the words of the Bible. And then, strange to say, I am given what I have sought after. I think that it is moving or the power of action that is important.
4.1 Then what in the world is a good conduct? In today's word, Paul has already given us a concrete prescription about what it is.
4.2 Verse 2 says, 'Carry one another's burdens,'and Verse 5 says, 'everyone has his own burden to bear.'And with regard to concrete teachings of burdens to bear, Paul advises that in Verse 1, you should gently set someone right who is caught doing something wrong, Verse 6, which is used as advice for the congregation of this church at the inauguration of the pastor, says, 'When anyone is under instruction in the faith, he should give his teacher a share of whatever good things he has, 'and lastly, Verse 10 says,' let us work for the good of all, especially members of the household of the faith. 'What is taught here is to bear burdens that are given as church members. 'to bear your own burden'never refers to bearing burden of yourself and your family members and close friends as an extension of those people, but members that have become members of the household of the faith, that is, other people, the members of the church. Or it is to bear the burden to support your pastor's life or to support your church. You might be disappointed to hear that, thinking that it is a good conduct. You might say that you have already enough burden to support yourselves and your family and that you could not afford to support other church members or your church any more. However, whatever you might say, in today's word, Paul says that it is sowing in the field of the Spirit and a good conduct.
4.3 A church member who listened to last week's sermon and was impressed with it offered the following prayer at the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting. In the sermon last week, I said that only praying for my church members as pastor enables me to be provided with the Holy Spirit for me, the pastor of the church and to straighten my back up. That person who listened to my words, talked clearly about the word ' burden,'as if he knew the content of today's sermon in advance, and prayed for the joy with which he would bear it. We might not talk about what is going on among our fellow members of the church lest we should place a burden upon other members. But on the contrary it deprives us of the opportunity to share the burden with each other. It robs us of the opportunity to sow in the field of the Holy Spirit and to reap a wonderful harvest from it. We would like to keep in mind what a wonderful harvest of the Holy Spirit to share the burden of our church members with each other would bring.
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6:1 - 10.
1 If anyone is caught doing something wrong, you, my friends, who live by the Spirit must gently set him right. Look to yourself, each one of you: you also may be tempted. 2 Carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 4 Each of you should examine his own conduct, and then he can measure his achievement by comparing himself with himself and not with anyone else; 5 For everyone has his own burden to bear. 6 When anyone is under instruction in the faith, he should give his teacher a share of whatever good things he has. 7 Make no mistake about this: God is not to be fooled; everyone reaps what he sows. 8 If he sows in the field of his unspiritual nature, he will reap from it a harvest of corruption; but if he sows in the field of the Spirit, he will reap from it a harvest of eternal life. 9 Let us never tire of doing good, for if we do not slacken our efforts we shall in due time reap our harvest. 10 Therefore, as opportunity offers, let us work for the good of all, especially members of the household of the faith.
July 6, 2014
- Unclean spirit returns -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. To be frank with you, I still have hard times preparing for sermons. This time I went through birth pangs, so to say, preparing for the sermon of the day. In so doing I was helped much by the commentaries of two scholars and so I should like to begin by introducing them to you. While it wasn't out of my intention though, the two scholars I picked happen to be with what is called "the Non-church movement."
The first one to introduce is the text from "the Lectures on the Gospel according to Luke, Volume 2," by professor Tadao Yanaihara. The comment he made is appreciably severe just as he was. He said "A house is not occupied means that the Spirit of God hasn't been allowed in after Satan was ousted. If the Spirit of God dwells in a man and the man's body has become a temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Satan may just be able to see inside the house but cannot find a space to live in it. On the other hand, if it finds the house unoccupied, Satan will be only pleased to come back to it and live in it again. To our regret, we come across with such a kind of man now and then. --- A man who lost sensitivity against sin, or a man who therefore lost the fresh heart of thanks to the gospel of the forgiveness of sins; if Satan peeps in the heart of such a man, it will find the house cleaned up by the gospel of the forgiveness of sins un-inhabited and the Spirit of God does not dwell there though it may have a frame on the wall with the phrase, "the Love of God." What's there in the house are hypocritical faith and arrogance so it better suits the more wicked spirits to settle in. (Quoted from page 372)
I should like next to introduce a text of commentary by professor Masao Sekine on the Gospel according to Mathew chapter 12, verses 43 ? 45. While some part of his text may sound a bit out of touch, which is only unique to him, I still wish that you can grasp what he wanted to say as a whole. He wrote saying, "When Jesus comes one will touch him to a greater or lesser extent and he will be purified, all theories aside; swept clean. Then that state of cleanliness has an opposite effect of inviting a much greater risk. --- Where it was swept clean remains a vacuum and unclean spirits will come in it just like the higher you are raised up the lower you'll be plunged down; and also the cleaner world you come into contact with the dirtier things will come into your eyes. Concretely to put it, it involves a risk for one to come to have touch with faith. Because you come in touch with the best thing you'll be drawn to despise what is holy and good unless you firmly stick to it. In other words, you lose sensitivity. This is a theme you need to give good consideration to the longer gets your life in faith." (Quoted from page 225 of "the Lectures on the Gospel according to Mathew)
I hope what Jesus wanted to tell with the difficult to comprehend words for today will have been roughly understood hearing the commentaries of the two scholars.
2. When we get the approximate point of the words of Jesus, we then begin to understand why Luke put these words at this place, or the meaning of the linkage it has with the preceding passage. When I was originally thinking of what to do with the sermon for today I thought I would have the passage read beginning with verse 14 under the subtitle "the dispute with Beelzebul," down to verse 26. But once I set about the sermon I found that it was too long to deal with all of them. So I decided to cover just the verses from 24 to 26. However, it is also apparent that the part I omitted and the part I am dealing with today are closely linked in substance. This linkage is also there with the line beginning with the words before verse 14 where Jesus taught us to 'Ask and you will receive.' Furthermore, this is also following up on and is unbreakably linked with the teaching of Jesus about the Lord's prayer.
I take it that Jesus taught us by the series of his words our figure of just having to ask. We learned the other day that a contemporary which the philosopher Shozo Kajima wrote to say that we don't have to ask that much; out of the feeling of we don't have this and we don't have that, we may be asking too much. But in my opinion, no matter whoever may say what, we are such a being who only has to ask God in heaven. This is so because we have diseases, hunger and are subject of attack by evil spirits which only God in heaven can deal with. That is why we have to pray and ask. And this leads to us being given the Holy Spirit. Verse 13, which precedes verse 14, puts it saying, 'the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask them!'
Professor Yanaihara wrote, 'if it finds the man un-inhabited by the Holy Spirit, Satan will be only pleased to come back to it and live in it again.' Why will it turn out that way (meaning the state of the un-inhabited house with only a wall-hung frame statement saying "the Love of God")? It turns out that way because we don't feel we are sick or feel the temptation of evil ones, and therefore, we do not pray and ask God for help. Just as Professor Sekine wrote, "you need to give good consideration to it the longer your life in faith gets," the longer your life in faith will get the less you feel the need to pray and ask for God's help. While the fact isn't that you are as if 'the house is swept clean and tidy,' you fall in the trap of thinking you don't need help of God or of the Holy Spirit. That leads you to 'hypocritical faith and arrogance,' according to Professor Yanaihara, though it may sound keen to our ears.
3. It is these people who fell in the trap that criticized Jesus saying, 'It is by Beelzebul that he drives the demons out,' as in verse 14. Jesus healed a man who had been caught by a demon and had become dumb. Many people who witnessed it were honestly astonished. But there were others who gave him the said kind of criticism. Recording the same scene, the Gospel according to Mathew wrote it was the 'Pharisees,' (Mathew chapter 12, verses 22 and the following), while the Gospel according to Mark said it was the 'scribes.' (Mark, chapter 3, verses 20 and the following). Indeed it was these Pharisees and the scribes that were respected in the society of the time for their faith, which was regarded as more earnest than those of others. They were the people who recognized themselves as 'the house swept clean and tidy,' and were regarded as such also by the people around them. But that was the very reason why they could only see the work of Jesus as one performed thanks to the power of Beelzebul. They have lost a straightforward sensitivity to accept that what took place there was thanks to the power of the holy one up above. Just as Professor Sekine wrote, 'you lose sensitivity towards what is Holy.'
How did they get to be how they were? We find arrogance with them in thinking that their judgment and sensitivity are absolute. What represents what is holy, they think they can judge and determine. The longer one lives a life of faith the more apt one gets to embrace arrogance of that sort. However, what makes them the way they are is, more than anything else, the lack of prayer to seek what is holy to be poured under the self-recognition that their internal being is far from 'swept clean and tidy,' is messy as pigpen and that they are sick, a being to be swept clean and tidy by the holy power. If they had been continuing to pray and ask for it, they must have been able to understand what took place before their eyes was possible thanks only to the holy power to drive out the evil spirits. That I can understand very well from my own experience. If they had been feeling from day to day that it was only thanks to the holy power that the messy conflict in them, insanity brought about by the evil spirits and sickness could be driven out, they would have understood it as their own affairs.
Should we, with long life in faith, alas, fall in such a situation, we have to say that 'that person's plight is much worse than before,' as said in verse 26 of today's passage. Such a man criticizes and takes light what is holy when it is showing itself right on the spot; makes a mock of it saying it is the devil showing up. In such a case, how is he going to encounter with who is holy? How could he ever accept the holy power which would save him? How can he be saved?
Following the dispute with Beelzebul there is a sentence in the Gospels according to Mathew and Mark, which is dubbed as the most difficult to comprehend. It says, 'whoever slanders the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin,' for instance in Mark, chapter 3, verse 29. I don't know if indeed 'he can never be forgiven.' But if seeing what is holy presenting itself right there on the spot as the working of the Holy Spirit, he is still not moved in heart and says it's the work of an evil spirit, it will certainly be difficult for the man to be saved. If he loses his body of flesh and is liberated from the stubborn heart he had on earth, and yet faces in heaven with the Holy Spirit in the way he did on the earth, how is he going to be able to accept the work of God meant to save him? That is what is implied by the line saying 'he can never be forgiven.'
4. How healthy we are made by being enabled to pray and ask; how far we are kept away from the unclean spirit which is trying to come back to what's been turned to be a temple of God thanks to the Holy Spirit having been poured on through our prayers, strike me home deeply.
As I repeat a number of times, for one to get to pray like that, one has to be made aware of oneself being at the opposite of the state of the house written in verse 25. Certainly it is hard and miserable to get to become aware of your own state. How long do you remain trapped in such a state of messy conflict? Are you not a church minister? Have you not followed the life in faith for several tens of years now? Such a miserable state of me is brought to my self-recognition. But this is all the more the reason why I have to pray. Then the Holy Spirit is poured right there. And it guards us against the unclean spirit and as many as seven other evil spirits.
I had a sudden telephone call from a church member about a month ago to tell that her child is seriously sick and that she was going to a hospital. What has become of the child I have restrained myself from asking her. What I could do since was really only to pray. I cannot abandon praying. What hit me home was that to pray for the followers of faith, to pray for them as my own affair is indeed the task of a pastor. To deliver sermon at the worship service is also an important task of a pastor. Other than that there is no task more important for a pastor than to pray. When I pray the Holy Spirit is poured. That protects me trapped in a pot of problems and distress. Having troubles is, in a way, like having several evil spirits settle in the house. If we leave them lay they'll have it their own ways. But if we pray we'll be protected from being held their captive.
This is why I tell you incessantly to pray. I plead you to pray for you recognizing that your internal self is such as having to be swept clean and tidy by God, and pray for the fellow members of the church who you know are in great suffering. Is it possible, I wonder, that there is one who doesn't have to pray? Can anyone boast of oneself that he needs no prayer because his house is swept clean and tidy? To pray will protect you all. Prayer is that which keeps you sound and turns you to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Gospel according to Luke 11:24 - 26
24 'When an unclean spirit comes out of someone it wanders over the desert sands seeking a resting-place; and if it finds none, it says, "I will go back to the home I left."
25 So it returns and finds the house swept clean and tidy.
26 It goes off and collects seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they all come in and settle there; and in the end that person's plight is worse than before.
(The Revised English Bible)
June 29, 2014
- A scandal at Shechem -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. The Bible passage read for this morning is considerably long and must have sounded awfully shocking to you. What kind of a message was God intent on giving us is a question not that easy to find an answer to. I should like to go over the whole story with brief comment made here and there.
After 20 years of toil under uncle Laban, Jacob, while conflict-torn and fear-ridden, was now able to see elder brother Esau for the first time in years given a supportive push from God. But when invited to go together with his brother who told him, 'Let us set out and I shall go at your pace (chapter 33, verse 12),' Jacob declined the offer and headed for a place called Succoth, where he built himself a house or a cottage as the name of the place indicated (verse 17). However, he soon moved over to a place called Shechem where he purchased a piece of land for 100 units (how much was it in monetary value is not clear though.) This, it seems to me, was the root cause of all the troubles on which I will touch in detail in due course.
Jacob so planned to settle down in Shechem, and it was natural for his children to develop contact with the local people. And this would have been more so for girls and women. One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, went out to see girls of the district. It was then that Shechem, a son of Hamor the chief of the local people, took her, lay with her and violated her, the Bible tells. Some scholars say it was an act of rape. However, the majority of commentators seem to take it as a relationship developed on the consent between the two to marry. I am of the same opinion with the latter.
I'm told that there used to be custom of 'marriage by plunder,' so to say, in Japan too in the old days based on consent between the two (rather than arranged). I gather that there was some such a practice in Shechem as well. It was against this background, I would think, that Jacob, even after hearing this, could remain peaceful as written in verse 5. Moreover, I kind of feel he was pleased that such a relationship developed with a son of the local chief.
However, for the sons of Jacob, especially Simeon and Levi, who are thought to be brothers of Dinah having been born from the same mother, it was an intolerable outrage. It was humiliation and dishonor for them that such a relationship should develop before her parents, brothers and the two families had made a formal consent to it, regardless of how strong consent was there between the two.
The conditions offered by Hamor and Shechem were quite reasonable. Yet the sons of Jacob came up with a horrible plan against them. They asked Hamor and his people to be circumcised saying, 'if you follow our example and have every male among you circumcised,' they will give consent to the marriage of Dihan to his son. Their plan may be one with the intention to kill the people of Shechem from the beginning or may be one conceivably to put them to test.
We don't know for sure how important had circumcision grown to be by that time around. But it grew to be a bond with God which the Israelites of later years could not do without. How the people of Shechem would take the matter of such an importance, was the question they had. Or it may have been that if Hamor and his son would agree to be circumcised just because he would marry with Dinah while not sharing the faith, it would amount to a blasphemy, which is intolerable. If only the people of Shechem said they could not agree and be circumcised, the sons of Jacob may have left with the girl, without leaving any trouble as they said in verse 17.
The fact is it didn't turn out that way. The people of Shechem also had their own hidden agenda. Circumcision is not a big deal. If they agreed to be circumcised all the properties of Jacob would be theirs someday, they conferred among themselves (verse 23). Such of their hidden agenda may have been known to the sons of Jacob. And the sons set out on a rampage.
The two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, with others entered the town and killed every male, who was still in pain after circumcision. And the reaction of Jacob to it was appallingly wretched. The only idea he had was that he and his people will be the subject of hatred and they would be an alienated few in number. He said to his sons, 'you have brought trouble on me; you have brought my name into bad ordour among the people of the country, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few; if they combine against me and attack, I shall be destroyed, I and my household with me;' words of real thought oozing out from the bottom of the heart of a man who purchased land and would settle down there.
The sons did not repent either and replied to Jacob saying, 'Is our sister to be treated as a common whore?' A big gulf of understanding developed between Jacob the father and their sons. I cannot help but worry about what will become of the family in the days ahead.
2. The first thing we are taught from the story is that there was Jacob behind the rampage, who purchased a piece of land at Shechem, would be pleased to see his daughter come into affinity with a son of the chief of local people, and would thereby to get out from being a few.
Where was it, in the first place, God told Jacob to go after coming back to his homeland from the place of his uncle Laban and after meeting with his brother Esau? He was told to 'Go up to Bethel and settle there,' according to the first line of chapter 35. Bethel was also the place God instructed him to go when Jacob was fretting about leaving from uncle Laban. Genesis chapter 31, verse 13 puts it saying, 'I am the God of Bethel --- Now return to your native land.' So the first thing Jacob should have done after returning to native land was to head for Bethel. That was the will of God.
Yet he didn't go to Bethel but settled at Shechem. He didn't simply settle there but paid for a piece of land and settled down, though how much he paid we don't know. He must have been wishing somewhere in his heart that his daughters would fall in love with sons of the local chief. There in his heart lay the fundamental cause of the rampage committed by his sons.
What did it mean to head for Bethel? That meant, as we have recollected it for a number of times, not to forget what happened as written on Genesis chapter 28, i.e. to get back to and stand on where he started.
Twenty-years ago when he was at least 40 years of age, Jacob was going broke in his life. Cunning and would always bereave anything of others, he deceived even his own father who lost sight and was almost killed by his elder brother, with his uncle being the only clue he could have recourse to. He became like a kite with the thread cut and could only wander around. He by himself alone, with nothing valuable, lay at night in the wilderness with a stone for the pillow.
It was there that God appeared before Jacob, whom he had never taken the trouble of worshipping or praying, but whom his grandfather Abraham and father Isaac have unalterably believed. To Jacob, the threadless wandering kite, God stretched a bridge from heaven, tied a thread with him giving promise that he won't abandon him in the future whatever may happen. Since then, Jacob was indeed supported by the bond with God throughout the difficult 20 years under Laban. That clue have made him today the one with many family members and a wealth of property.
To head for Bethel meant, before anything else, to remember the bond with God given him twenty years ago; to tell his clan that it was the bond with God that helped him make the big family of today; to give it a recognition or confirmation by the entire family to it that so long as they have the bond with God in heaven all the rest will come to them as well.
3. However, Jacob did not head for Bethel. He purchased land at Shechem and planned to settle down there. How far his choice went astray from the paths trodden by his forerunners since the days of Abraham? How much the way of life he lived twenty years ago was ignored?
We've learned that a plot of land Abraham could finally get in his life-time was a gravesite meant to bury his wife Sarah. Isaac, the son of Abraham and father of Jacob, never sought to purchase land during his life-time. However, that's the very reason why he could manage to deal with repeated harassments (such as snatching the title of a well Isaac dug) by leaving the place of trouble and continuing on to dig wells at other locations. And in such an environment he built an altar and paid worship service to God. Both his grandfather and father remained a temporary settler and traveler. To borrow expressions from verse 30, they remained to be a few, ones given the cold shoulder and ones disliked by everyone. But they let it go at it that it was good and enough to have the bond with God.
Compared to his ancestors how did Jacob do? He certainly built an altar and worshipped God. But he went first to buy land. His worshipping of God was after he purchased land. Furthermore, he wished that his daughters and sons will become relatives with the local families in power and so he would get more wealth in hand. Dinah the daughter was trying unconsciously to satisfy such of her father's wish.
I don't mean to say that you, the followers, should not buy land in this world or build a house. We are being taught that each of us has a goal or a point of origin we should not forget but aim for.
Forgetting it we'll have harms falling upon us; scandals come. They are, however, inquiries cast on us by God to think twice why the scandals, where is Bethel for you to head for and set your feet on: a question of are you not standing away from where you should be.
I am made to think one more time where my original point or Bethel is. It may not have been, I admit, a scene of direct encounter with God like Jacob had in his dream. Yet it forms that part of us we have to have for having our personality and disposition. Losing it one loses his/her identity. Getting to the core of it, our point of origin is what God has worked on us and formed in us, isn't it?
It is the Reverend Mr. Shigeji Seya, the pastor at Yokote in Akita prefecture, who gave me a name. He used to visit us at home without fail on the birthdays of me and my sister for celebration. One day he gave me a book on Dr. Schweitzer. Since then it became my dream to become a physician for villages where there was none. That dream, however, collapsed when I hit myself against the wall as I didn't do well in the subjects of natural science. Yet I think that it stemmed out from one and the same point of origin that I, later, wished to be an attorney at law, and/or a staff at care house or a house for the disabled, and in fact became a church minister like today. It was out of such a dream, I think, that I could take up the responsibility for a long time of being a principal of volunteers' group for the people of cerebral palsy and also worked to serve food to the homeless in Koriyama.
I haven't had a scandal apparent on surface but I've been having ones in my heart. It is so because, forgetting the important destination of standing on the point of origin or at Bethel and settling down on purchased land at Shechem, my heart is drawn and lured to where the will of God does not lie.
Such desires still haven't gone away even from Jacob, who, given the bond with God twenty years before and was supported by him, had endured the hard time under uncle Laban for twenty years, and who wrestled with God at the ford of Jabbok and so had repeated special encounters with God.
4. That was all the more the reason why the rampage by his sons took place, we are taught. By saying the following I don't mean to say I would accept the rampage done by Simeon and Levi. However, if that hadn't happened, if the rampage by his sons hadn't taken place, Jacob might have remained at Shechem, might have developed affinity with the local chief's family and might not have headed for Bethel any longer. He might have forgotten the important point of his origin, I would gather.
The people of Shechem were saying to themselves in verse 23. 'Their herds, their livestock, and all their chattels will then be ours.' This makes me think that it wasn't just the tangible property eyes could see that Jacob was going to lose by making alliance with the people of Shechem. What he was about to lose was by far the more important, i.e. the way of life proper to Jacob or Israel which was totally different from that of the people of Shechem.
The word repeated in the talks of Hamor and his son Shechem related to 'land,' as in verse 10 'Acquire land of your own,' in verse 21 'The land has room enough for them.' The land as a bate the Shechem tried to win over Jacob and his people, let them follow their way of life, and would finally sunk them at the bottom. For the Shechem, living was made on the land which eyes could see. Large enough land would allow them to make a living. And on top of it, the important thing was property. For them, therefore, circumcision was no big deal as long as they could grab the properties of Jacob and his people out of their hands.
The way of life of the Shechem was one of thoroughly secular. The bond with God or circumcision as a clue to having the bond meant nothing at all for them in pursuit of their secular life. In the light of this, father Jacob may have been utterly won over by them if things had been allowed to evolve as was. Therefore, while the means the sons took in winning back their sister was not to be allowed, it was significant that they told their father saying, 'Is our sister to be treated as a common whore?'
There was something important which shouldn't be impinged on for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and for them, his sons, who may succeed it. Something not to be impinged upon or be lost to someone else was about to be stepped on so the sons made a desperate repulsion against the threat. I repeat and underline that the means which the sons deployed couldn't be justified. But what lay on the bosom of their thought may be something we could feel empathy for, aren't they?
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Genesis 33: 18-20
18 So having journeyed from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem in Canaan and pitched his tent to the east of it. 19 the piece of land where he had pitched his tent he bought from the sons of Huamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred sheep. 20 He erected an altar there and called it El-elohey-israel.
Genesis 34: 1-31
1 Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit women of the district,
2 and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the local prince, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and violated her.
3 But Shechem was deeply attached to Jacob's daughter Dinah; he loved the girl and sought to win her affection.
4 Shechem said to Hamor his father, 'You must get me this girl as my wife.'
5 When Jacob learnt that his daughter Dinah had been dishonoured, his sons were with the herds in the country, so he held h is peace until they came home.
6 Meanwhile Shechm's father Hamor came out to Jacob to talk the matter over with him.
7 When they heard the news Jacob's sons came home from the country; they were distressed and very angry, because in lying with Jacob's daughter Shechem had done what the Israelites hold to be an intolerable outrage.
8 Hamor appealed to them: 'My son Shechem is in love with this girl; I beg you to let him have her as his wife.
9 Let us ally ourselves in marriage; you give us your daughters, and you take ours.
10 If you settle among us, the country is open before you; make your home in it, move about freely, and acquire land of your own.'
11 Schechem said to the girl's father and brothers, 'I am eager to win your favour and I shall give whatever you ask.
12 Fix the bride-price and the gift as high as you like, and I shall give whatever you ask; only, give me the girl in marriage.'
13 Jacob's sons replied to Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah:
14 'We cannot do this,' they said; 'we cannot give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for we look on that as a disgrace.
15 Only on one condition can we give our consent: if you follow our example and have every male among you circumcised,
16 we shall give you our daughters and take yours for ourselves. We will then live among you, and become one people with you.
17 But if you refuse to listen to us and be circumcised, we shall take the girl and go.'
18 Their proposal appeared satisfactory to Hamor and his son Shechem;
19 and the young man, who was held in respect above anyone in his father's house, did not hesitate to do what they had said, because his heart had been captured by Jacob's daughter.
20 Hamor and Shechem went to the gate of their town and addressed their fellow-townmen:
21 'These men are friendly towards us,' they said; 'let them live in our country and move freely in it. The land has room enough for them. Let us marry their daughters and give them ours.
22 But on this condition only will these men agree to live with us as one people: every male among us must be circumcised as they are.
23 Their herds, their livestock, and all their chattles will then be ours. We need only agree to their condition, and then they are free to live with us.'
24 All the able-bodied men agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every able-bodied among them was circumcised.
25 Then two days later, while they were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, full brothers to Dinah, after arming themselves with swords, boldly entered the town and killed every male.
26 They cut down Hamor and his son Shechem and took Dinah from Shechem's house and went off.
27 Jacob's other sons came in over the dead bodies and plundered the town which had brought dishonor on their sister.
28 They seized flocks, cattle, donkeys, whatever was inside the town and outside in the open country;
29 they carried off all the wealth, the women, and the children, and looted everything in the house.
30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have brought trouble on me; you have brought my name into bad odour among the people of the country, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few; if they combine against me and attack, I shall be destroyed, I and my household with me.'
31 They answered, 'Is our sister to be treated as a common whore?'
(The Revised English Bible)
June 1, 2014
- Do you love me? -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 As today's worship is conducted together with Church School students, as is usual with the joint worship service, we follow the textbook that teachers at the Church School use and the word of the Bible is provided for us.
Now, as I have already told you, originally this gospel according to John probably ended with Chapter 20. But for certain reasons, it is said that the 21 st Chapter that we read today was added. One of the reasons is that it was to talk about Peter, one of the protagonists of today. Although I would like to mention later, everybody in those days knew the fact that Peter turned Jesus away as many as three times. Why did such Peter become an apostle again and above all, the leader? Why was he able to accomplish his mission to the last, although he had trouble walking as was written in the second half of Verse 18 and Verse 19? To clearly answer those questions seems to have been a big purpose. At the time when this part was written, Peter's death that Verse 19 refers to was already a well-known fact to the readers. Why was such a person as turned away Jesus as many as three times able to die a martyr for his faith? What made him do it? It is today's word that tries to give a reply to that mystery.
1.2 Also, today there is one new thing that is shown to us when we hear this word. Although I don't know well why this word was chosen at this time as the topic of the sermon for the Church School, with regard to the present time of the church, next week we have the day when the Holy Spirit falls, namely, Pentecost. As those who use 'The Daily Bread'know, last Thursday was the day when the resurrected Jesus was raised to Heaven. Luke, the author of the gospel according to Luke, wrote Acts too. According to Chapter 1 of Acts, the resurrected Jesus made his appearance in the presence of his disciples or women for 40 days. And 40 days later, he rose to heaven and on the 10 th day, namely, on the about 50 th day after he was resurrected, the Holy Spirit was provided. Then that day came to be called Pentecost, which refers to 50 in Greek.
1.3 But this distinction, that is, the progress from the Resurrection, to the Ascension, to the Coming of the Holy Spirit, was actually described only by Luke. And John, who wrote today's gospel, didn't make any distinction. In the gospel according to John, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Coming of the Holy Spirit are forming a harmonious whole. From that perspective, Jesus, who is referred to in today's word, is already the existence who rose to heaven. As the person who returned to Heaven, and as it was especially necessary for Peter, Jesus appeared to him and made questions and answers. What Jesus taught Peter in this question and answer was, as it were, advice from Heaven, and something like a gift from Jesus who returned to Heaven, I think. I have so far regarded this part just as a story about the encounter with the resurrected Jesus, but I have learned anew that this is not only that but also a suggestion, a question and advice from Jesus who returned to Heaven and from Heaven just because he is in Heaven. Just because of that Jesus encouraged Peter deeply and was able to support him until he died a martyr for his faith. By reading today's word, we also got deep encouragement from Jesus in Heaven and we were provided with support for taking steps in faith.
2.1 Now Jesus first asked Peter,'Do you love me? 'as many as three times. Especially, in the first question Jesus added ' more than these other'according to the Bible. It goes without saying that the reason why Jesus gave this question as many as three times, as I said at the beginning, corresponds to the fact that Peter turned away Jesus three times. Then what is Jesus's intention? Probably there is no one here who thinks that Jesus reminds Peter's turning him away three times by making him answer the question three times, he accuses him of it and makes him repent of it and make up for it or compensate for it. To try to make him make up for it or compensate for it in that way is what people on the earth do and what Jesus who returned to Heaven doesn't ask Peter for it. Still less, Jesus who returned to Heaven, takes all the trouble to appear on the earth and to give it as a gift to Peter who is going to serve as his disciple. Therefore, the words' more than these other'don't mean literally.
2.2 Then, in terms of what intention, did Jesus ask this kind of question? Already in Chapter 20, when Peter met Jesus who was resurrected for the first time, Jesus said, 'I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit '(Chapter 20; 21 to 22). But when we imagine how he felt after that, he had mixed feelings, namely, that he was confident of being sent, he was at a loss what to do if he should turn away Jesus again, and this time he would be sent by doing all that he could without turning away Jesus and he would have to take steps with as strong faith as his other fellow disciples. He had thoughts of bravery and lack of confidence combined, I imagine. But there he had a clear misunderstanding. Jesus in Heaven understood that Peter could not take steps as his disciple at all. Therefore, Jesus appears to Peter again and asks him.
2.3 The reason why Jesus asked, 'Do you love me? 'is, as I said before, as it were, Jesus's proposal of love and three-times courtships to Peter. Jesus says, 'I love you still now as much as before. Although you turned me away as many as three times, that couldn't injure my love for you at all. Therefore, I want you to love me. 'Furthermore, there is one more thing that has made me aware of this time anew: The fact that Jesus asked 'Do you love me? 'this way means that he tried to make Peter aware that the relationship from now on between him and Peter, or Peter's steps as a disciple solely depend upon 'love,'I think. Was there love in Peter's feelings that I imagine , which I talked about a minute ago? Probably not. What was there was, his determination to go on with clenched teeth and not to turn away Jesus again and furthermore, his inclination to be strong and as strong as any other disciple.
2.4 That's why Jesus tells Peter: Peter, it is love that I ask you for. It's not such an intention or perseverance or determination. It's not strength that you talk about when you compare yourself with other people. It's just to love. Only to love can make you obey me to the last and accomplish the mission that I entrust you with. It is OK that that love is love that you pour on me, just because you turned me away as many as three times, and because you know the pleasure of being still loved by me. This is what I repeat, but I really get deep comfort in that this question comes from words from Jesus in Heaven. Jesus, who returned to Heaven, realized the truth deeply that to love is the more important. Jesus thought that he had to inform Peter of it. He tried to inform Peter that no motivation other than love should move missions as the disciple. We are taught deeply that the value that is common to Heaven and Earth and what encourages us are love.
3. 1 Peter does not fully realize Jesus's depth of heart yet. Verse 17 says, 'Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me? 'But Peter is able to reply, 'you know that I love you ' to the questions that are posed three times, before he knows it. This answer is a very important answer. Just as I said a minute ago, Peter thinks that he has to overcome his turning away Jesus three times with his will or strength by all means. From that standpoint, to say that he loves Jesus tends to be something that is mixed with a will or strength. I love you as strongly as any other person. I am confident of it. I know it well. This way Peter may boast of his love. That is why' Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time.'
3.2 On the other hand, Peter can say, 'you know. 'You can say you know that I love you. I as well as other people don't know that. Sometimes we are put into such situations. We sometimes don't know whether we really love Jesus. There are times when we get senile dementia and we don't even know that we are believers. However, even if that happens, 'you 'know that I love God and Jesus. Even if no one knows it, God knows it.
4. 1 In the above-mentioned relationship of 'to love, 'Jesus said to Peter, 'Then feed my sheep. 'How much we pastors have been encouraged by this word!
As I often mention, today pastors get exhausted one after another and leave their missions. One of the big reasons why they get exhausted is that they have thoughts of 'more than these other.' They try to seek after 'more than ,'in various senses, in comparison with their fellow pastors or churches around them and they feel sad about 'less than.'Also instead of saying to God'you know ,'they place their hope that 'I want you to understand ,'on their church members. Jesus in Heaven talks to such people as us as follows : 'The reason why I entrust you with an important mission is not that you are superior to other people but that you love me in your own way. Also you have only to love your church. You have only to love your believers. You have only to love to talk about God and to love a life of faith. Love the area which you were sent to and the people whom you meet there. That's all right, even if no one knows it, isn't it? That's all right, even if you are not highly esteemed, isn't it? That is after all what only I know.'
4.2 However, this is the word that is given not only to us pastors but also to you, I think. Each and every one of you is entrusted with the mission to feed someone. There are some beings that cannot be fed without you. But probably you may get tired of it. You may expect other people to highly esteem you for it. But that mission is not provided for you, just because you are compared with other people. It is not what other people appreciate your deed. It is just because of love. It is the mission that you can accomplish by loving God and also by loving those people.
5. Lastly let's listen to Verse 18, what Jesus said to Peter. We are strongly moved that this is also the word that Jesus in Heaven left for Peter. John gave an explanation about it like this: 'He (Jesus) said this to indicate the manner of death by which Peter was to glorify God. 'Jesus in Heaven can see Peter's future from his high place. It was the steps that Peter will have to take in such a way as'a stranger will bind you fast, and carry you where you have no wish to go.'But Jesus in Heaven can see that the place which he is going toward is fast connected with Heaven, too. The word from Jesus in Heaven cannot be an advance notice of a misfortune. The word from a person in Heaven is the one full of blessings. That's why John gave an explanation to the effect that ' He said this to indicate the manner of death by which Peter was to glorify God. 'It is how Peter looked at the end of his life, how he looked when he was going to die, and how he looked when a stranger bound him fast, and carried him where he had no wish to go that glorified God. It was the figure of the person who was to go to Heaven and who was full of blessings. To Jesus in Heaven, our death looks full of that kind of blessings. There is the person in Heaven who looks at it closely, who says that it is all right. Peter probably walked away with such a promise provided by Jesus. We would like to follow suit.
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The gospel according to John 21:15-19
15 After breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these other?' 'Yes, Lord,' he answered, 'you know that I love you.' 'Then feed my lambs,' he said. 16 A second time he asked, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' 'Then tend my sheep.' 17 A third time he said, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?' 'Lord,' he said, 'you know everything; you know I love you.' Jesus said, 'Then feed my sheep. 18 'In very truth I tell you: when you were young you fastened your belt about you and walked where you chose; but when you are old you will stretch out your arms, and a stranger will bind you fast, and carry you where you have no wish to go.' 19 He said this to indicate the manner of death by which Peter was to glorify God. Then he added, 'Follow me.'
May 25, 2014
- It is for freedom that Christ set us free. -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. You, my friends, were called to be free.' At no other place in the Bible we can find it said so clearly that the work of Jesus as Christ was meant to set us free more than anything else. For this reason the Letter of Paul to the Galatians is often called "The Letter of Freedom." Martin Luther, the founder of our Protestant churches, wrote a book on "the Freedom of a Christian," based on this letter to the Galatians.
As there may be some people among us who are reading this part of the Bible, the Letter of Paul to the Galatians, for the first time, I should like us to read and learn from it verse by verse. The verse 2 says, 'I, Paul, say to you that if you get yourself circumcised Christ will benefit you no more.' It is followed by the verse 3 which says, 'I impress on you once again that every man who accepts circumcision is under obligation to keep the entire laws.'
Circumcision is surgical removal of part of foreskin from human penis which boys born to Jewish family had to receive on so many days after their births. Non-Jewish adult male also received the surgery in order to be recognized formally as a Jew.
There arose a problem, and a big one at that, as to whether or not it was necessary for the so-called gentiles or aliens such as Greeks or Romans to get circumcised when they become Christians whereas no problem of the kind was there for a Jew-turned Christian.
Paul was of the view that getting circumcision was unnecessary for a gentile male to become a Christian. However, some people thought it was necessary and the supporters of this view grew in number gradually among the churches of Galatia. To that Paul rebutted saying, 'if you get yourself circumcised Christ will benefit you no more.'
The verse 4 says, 'When you seek to be justified by way of law, you are cut off from Christ: you have put yourselves outside God's grace. While getting circumcised is an act of following the laws in a broad sense, I would think, the contestation became ever stronger to say that 'one cannot be justified,' without obeying the laws including getting circumcised.
Paul got very indignant about the people of such a view to the extent of even saying, 'Those agitators had better go the whole way and make eunuchs of themselves!' in verse 12.
2. So much will be for tracing over verse by verse for an introduction. The key words for today, I think, are 'to be justified,' on the verse 4. Paul believed it was by Jesus and Jesus alone that we get justified, and that we are given freedom. But the people whom Paul was angry about insisted that being justified by Jesus wasn't enough; one had also to get circumcised and practice deeds commanded by the laws.
On the subject of being justified, I have been trying in my own ways to elucidate it by means of allegories and parables. To quote from what was shown us by the last sermon, to be justified means that we are placed under the relationship of alliance with God. And our alliance with God has its foundation in that, unlike species of plants and other kinds of animals, we humans were created after the image of God, as long as I understand it. As this relationship having been inscribed by God on us, it's not going to be damaged or taken away from us, I believe. This is the ultimate 'justice (or righteousness),' I would think. But that is not good enough an explanation of being justified, I am reminded afresh, on the occasion of learning from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians at this time.
God created us, humans, after his image. And what did he say on the 6th day of creation? The Genesis chapter 1, verse 31 says, 'and God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.' On earlier days of creation when he had made the heavens and the earth all the natures on it, he saw his work and simply said it was good. But after creating us, humans, he said it was 'very' good.
From this, we are led to understand that 'to be in the righteous relationship,' means that we ought to maintain the so-called 'very good' universe and to even add to its goodness deploying the ability, gifts and treasures especially given us humans, who are created in the image of God. We are 'righteous' not just as ones created in the image of God; the steps or the process we take for adding to the goodness of the universe dubbed as already good are the state of us being justified.
If that is the state of being justified, then we must admit that we live in a reality of being unjust. I feel it for myself that I am lost far away from the state about which God would say is 'very good.' As taught by the sermon on 'sin,' in the Lord's prayer, the reality is that, when compared to other creatures, we humans alone fall seriously ill, go out of order, get unsound and get tainted with mischievous deeds. Seeing the dog which always lies down by my side, I am led to think how peaceful and fulfilled he looks. By comparison, I find myself way short of such peacefulness. Jesus said, 'Martha, Martha, you are fretting and fussing about so many things.' That has been said to me, I feel. I cannot help but find myself and the world 'submitted to the yoke of slavery,' as written at the latter part of verse 1.
3. It is for this reason that the question of how it is possible for us, the unjust, to regain the righteous relationship with God, becomes a compelling problem. Only by regaining the relationship can we become free; and liberated we get from distress and fretting.
The steps for regaining the righteous relationship with God for the people of Israel were the circumcision and the practicing of deeds following the laws. It is not clear since when it was that they had started following such practices. The Genesis chapter 17 tells that Abraham, instructed by God, got circumcised but I think it is not true for the fact. I would rather think that the description is designed to give ground to the Israelites practicing circumcision as something 'they could not do without,' by saying it has been observed since the time of their father Abraham under the commandment of God.
When was it, then, that the practicing of circumcision and other deeds of the laws became a must for them? It was during the days called the Babylonian captivity. During the decade of 580s BC the land of Judah was attacked like hell, was drawn into warfare for over two years when the people inside the city gate had to eat the flesh of their own people in the end, it is said. It culminated in the survivors being taken captive to Babylon, where they were detained for more than 50 years.
This must have been an age when the Israelites were brought to face up with the reality that they were not 'being justified' before God: total loss of a state about which God said 'it was very good,' in the final passage of the Genesis chapter 1. As to the question of why did such a state of affairs evolve, the Israelites thought it was because the justice with God had been lost.
Then they sought for an answer; answer as to how they could regain the state of justice which was lost in their relationship with God; how they could regain internal freedom if liberation from the yoke of slavery as captives wasn't possible? The answers were the practicing of circumcision and deeds of the laws. These were identified as the things to be observed for a ladder given by God, a clue shown by God to regaining the relationship of alliance with God, not out of their own invention or fancy.
4. If that's the case, however, why is it then that Paul criticized the people so strongly who insisted the circumcision and other deeds of the laws were a must? Paul criticized them because the practicing of the laws and circumcision had changed a lot as the time passed and had changed so much by the days of Jesus.
As to how did they change, you will recall from various episodes of the gospels. Could the laws bring about the joy, the blessing, and the freedom with no compulsion or obligation given from God by being justified? The answer was absolutely not. On the contrary, people have come to fear God, to get down to the core of it. In order to be brought in the relationship of alliance with God, we, humans, now had to do something on our side, before one realized it. They were caught with an idea that the relationship of alliance with God could be taken away at any time. In place of the blessing words of God to say, 'it was very good,' they were led to hear threatening words 'it will be taken away unless they did this,' 'you'll be punished unless.' Their faith was changed to such.
That, I guess, was the figure of the churches of Galatia, which would observe the circumcision and the deeds of the laws. And the churches of any age could fall into that state, though they may not practice the laws at their face values.
Why was it that the people of the churches of Galatia were drawn to practicing circumcision and other deeds of the laws? We could think of many factors for this. On the verse 11 reference is made to 'still being persecuted,' and to 'the cross of all offence.' Around the time when the letter was written (which was during the 50s AD), the Christian churches were regarded as a branch of the Jewish religion. By that the Christian churches benefited in a variety of ways including evading to be made the target of persecution, for there were privileges granted only to the Jews. Under the situation the teaching could go so far as to say it was natural for a Christian to be circumcised as a Jew; the teaching went even to say, I gather, that it wasn't right for one to believe such a person who was executed as one convicted on death row and felonry as his Christ and thereby be justified while benefiting from the privilege granted by the Roman Empire.
We could think of other reasons as well. The practicing of the laws becomes something like a tangible certificate of warranty for keeping the relationship of alliance with God. And also the more sincere a person is the more he likely thinks that because we are allowed to enter in a relationship of alliance with God, it will be inevitable for us, on the side of humans, to pay a corresponding compensation and shed our blood. That way they would please God so much more. At its base lies a very sincere and laudable will.
However, that 'little leaven leavens all the dough,' of faith and puts it in danger. Why a danger? By following the laws, the actions, compensatory payment and blood shedding on our side become increasingly larger factors to such an extent that one starts feeling that the relationship of alliance with God may be taken away at any time unless you practice the laws, unless you can practice them. That way you start fearing God and lose the blessing of God. We lose that way the invaluable idea that we are beings blessed by God; it leads us to the yoke of slavery and deprive us of our freedom.
5. It was for this very reason that Jesus wanted to set us free, liberating us from the yoke of slavery. What was it that Jesus taught us to pray in our relationship with God? He taught us that we are in a relationship with God like 'The Father in heaven (Abba) ? his little children.' That was the core of what Jesus told, an essence of the gospels.
What can we, the little children of God, do for our Father in heaven? What kind of compensation are we going to be asked to pay? Children would scream curses at their parents without giving a second thought. Yet parents never hate their children. If we, the parents in flesh, are like that how much more so God, our Father in heaven is.
Some might say it is too much of dependence to take the relationship of God with us that way. However, we have to remember that by teaching us that our relationship with God is like that of 'Abba ? his little children,' Jesus allowed us to be so very dependent. That was why Jesus got angers of the leaders of Judaism of the time and was put on a cross.
Why was it that Jesus became a man? Why was it that his last on earth was the death on a cross? That we live as humans itself is the blessing; that was what his life and death is telling us, I think.
Sometimes we bear suffering on our back for the cross of each. Sometimes we think we are placed under such a circumstance because God is nowhere; we wonder if God is not punishing us. Yet, the suffering which Jesus had on a cross tells that there is meaning to it that we bear our cross on the back, tells that it is because God's love is being poured on us. Us, inclined to be chained in the midst of suffering to the yoke of slavery such as fears and worries, Jesus tries to free by means of his cross.
Jesus also made appearance of himself before the disciples who betrayed and fled from him, and before Paul who persecuted his disciples. What did he free us from by doing so? He freed us from our own self-determination that we are no good because we give more importance on us ourselves in our relationship with God, because we have done things unpardonable.
In this way we are justified by Jesus before God. We are allowed to live as children of God given his unqualified blessings. The circumcision, the practicing of the laws and the giving importance to us ourselves, all these things are not necessary.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Paul's Letter to the Galatians 5:1-13a
1 It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and refuse to submit again to the yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words: I, Paul, say to you that if you get yourself circumcised Christ will benefit you no more. 3 I impress on you once again that every man who accepts circumcision is under obligation to keep the entire laws. 4 When you seek to be justified by way of law, you are cut off from Christ: you have put yourselves outside God's grace. 5 For it is by the Spirit and through faith that we hope to attain that righteousness which we eagerly await. 6 If we are in union with Christ Jesus, circumcision makes no difference at all, nor does the lack of it; the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. 7 You were running well; who was it hindered you from following the truth? 8 Whatever persuasion was used, it did not come from God who called you. 9 'A little leaven', remembers, 'leavens all the dough.' 10 The Lord gives me confidence that you will not adopt the wrong view; but whoever it is who is unsettling your minds must bear God's judgment. 11 As for me, my friends, if I am still advocating circumcision, then why am I still being persecuted? To do that would be to strip the cross of all offence. 12 Those agitators had better go the whole way and make eunuchs of themselves! 13 You, my friends, were called to be free; (The Revised English Bible)
May 11, 2014
- Let us forgive those who sin against us -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 We have been learning Lord's prayer in detail which is written in the Gospel according to Luke. Today it is five weeks since we got started and we are going to listen especially to the word, 'for we too forgive all who have done us wrong. And do not put us to the test 'in Lines 2 and 3, Verse 4. In our prayer that we usually offer, it corresponds to the part 'forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.'
1.2 Now today's word is a place with a certain feature in the Lord's prayer. I'll explain what kind of feature it is. The 'subjects' of the Lord's prayer that we have learned so far are all heavenly Father. We have prayed that God may extend his reign and give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, regarding them as essential to us. The subject of the last part 'do not put us to the test'is also God. But with regard to today's word, apparently its subject is 'we', which refers to our forgiving those who sin against us. This is the first feature.
1.3 The second feature is that our forgiving of those who sin against us as the subject is closely and inseparably connected with our Heavenly Father's forgiving of our sins. How God' s forgiving of our sins is connected to our forgiving of those who sin against us has been a big problem for a very long time.
1.4 Our translation says 'as we forgive,'at the end of line 3, so the literal meaning is that our forgiving of those who sin against us becomes ,as it were, something like a prerequisite, which leads to God' s forgiving our sins. For reference if you open your Hymnbook 21 to page 148, you will find three versions of Lord's prayer. Version B, which is translated by Japan Christianity Association, says 'As we forgave those who sinned against us, forgive us our sins,'which expresses more clearly that our forgiving of somebody's sins is a condition for God's forgiving of our sins. On the other hand, in our Lord prayer that we usually offer (in your hymnbook) as Version A, as you know, it says 'As we forgive those who sin against us, 'and this part doesn't mean 'a condition, 'although the conjunction 'as 'has at least a somewhat subtle meaning. It expresses that our action and God 's forgiving of our sins are in a parallel relationship or a relationship of promptitude and they are in such an inseparable relationship.
2.1 Today almost all people don 't think that our forgiving of those who sin against us is a prerequisite for God 's forgiving of our sins, I think. As we learned last week, God 's forgiving of our sins meant liberating internal sickness, madness or insufficiency that we are fundamentally equipped with. As a simple example, we can think that a doctor will cure a sick person. If we use a metaphor of a doctor and a patient, it is impossible that the doctor will impose some kind of prerequisite before he starts to cure the patient who is lying before his eyes. It is impossible that he won't treat the patient unless he sets off someone else 's debts. Also even if a vicious criminal doesn't make up for his crime at all, if he falls ill, the doctor will treat him.
2.2 Then from what perspective did Jesus teach those two things? In my last sermon I advised you to read a thin book entitled 'Central message of the New Testament, 'written by Jeremius who taught us the meaning of 'Abba Father. 'He is trying to clarify what kinds of original words were used in Verse 4, and what Jesus originally intended to teach. According to him, this part would probably have been ' Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us, through this. '
It goes without saying that'through this 'refers to God 's forgiving us our sins.
2.3 If I elaborates on what Jeremius says, I can say the following: If I refer to precedence, what is precedent is apparently God's forgiving us our sins. And first the fact that we have been forgiven by God cannot help giving birth to a generally unthinkable dramatic new relationship where in a person to person relationship, especially in a relationship of debts or sins, we forgive it or cross it off. There was God 's intervention into sickness and involvement. Even if it is not complete, sickness is being healed. Why can't it bring about some good change or something new in a person to person relationship? In other words, if in a person to person relationship some new relationship is given birth to, then whether in a relationship with God our sins are forgiven is doubtful. Also whether we are getting better is doubtful. Therefore, Jesus teaches us to pray in the following way: As a person who is being healed by God, in terms of it, in a person to person relationship, especially in a relationship with those who sin against me, guide me to cross that sin off. Let being forgiven by Heavenly Father give birth to this kind of effect in a relationship with human beings. Please guide our being forgiven our sins by God so that we will end up being of no use.
3.1 Our being forgiven our sins by God gives birth to some kind of effect in a person to person relationship. Then why does that domain refer to especially forgiveness of sins and crossing them off? When it comes to human relationships, aren't there any other things?
3.2 When it comes to debts, the most typical one is borrowing money but also they refer to what I can make the other person pay and avenge myself on him for as my right and sometimes I can file against the court of justice and ask about his responsibility for and make him compensate with money for. Therefore, as has been said since the old times in the phrase 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth 'they refer to our hating the other person or avenging ourselves on him when we suffer from unjust violence or unfair treatment. Anyway, in an ordinary society, we are right in avenging ourselves on the other person and have a right to make the other person compensate with money or to ask for our reward and to use it.
3.3 But the problem is that when we carry it out as natural justice, it often brings a very tragic result not only to the other person but also to the person who has used it. I would like to share my unforgettable experience that took place years ago.: When I was in the Tohoku Parish, I made a proposal at a certain public meeting, where a certain pastor blamed me in an unjust way. Actually he was a pastor of the church next to mine in the same city and we were on bad terms with each other for various reasons. I felt a strong anger rise in myself. I had a sudden outburst of rage. I' ll tell you what happened as a result. I got cystitis. So bloody urine came out to a small degree. At that time I took to my heart that anger destroyed myself rather than the other person.
3.4 Although I talked last week, at the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting, we have been learning about Kings of the Old Testament. I told you that the prophet called Elijah was nurtured by crows day and night and supported by a widow at the time of drought. I would like to tell you what happened next.
3.5 God ordered Elijah to appear in the presence of King Ahab and to cause rain to fall. What was going on, during the time when Elijah was nurtured by crows and the widow? King Ahab's wife Isabel was slaughtering Elijah's companions and prophets during that time. Elijah showed up in front of King Ahab as he was told by God. However, what he did after that was not what God ordered him to do. At Mount Carmel the famous confrontation between Baal's prophets and Elijah was conducted. As a result, Elijah won a victory. What did the winner Elijah do? He slaughtered Baal's prophets. Why did he do such a thing? It was because he was driven by anger over the killing of his companions and by his desire to avenge the slaughter of his companion on Ahab, Isabel and Baal's prophets whom they believed in, I think. In a sense, it was probably natural revenge and retaliation.
3.6 But regarding what this caused further, Elijah, who heard Isabel's threat to kill him by all means and confronted her at Mount Carmel, went alone to the wilderness unlike the man who used to be, and groaned to God, saying, ' It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life'(Kings 19:4).
Now we see the Elijah who is suffering from so-called 'burnout syndrome.'What caused him to be in such a state was not just a threat from Isabel but rather his involving in the slaughter that his anger drove him to and that God did not order to carry out , I think. Although it is natural revenge, to be involved in it destroys not only the other person but also ourselves.
3.7 Therefore, Jesus teaches us to be liberated from this. And we can do this. The reason is that as I repeated lots of times, it is our natural right to cross off the debts or money that the other person owed to us and to abandon the revenge. Our right can be abandoned. As it is under our right, we can abandon it without using it.
4.1 It is here as I said at the beginning that in today's word there is a deep meaning to the effect that the subject is 'we.' It leads to what we were taught last week: that is, Imago Dei, that God ingrained only into the human beings, creativity and subjectivity. We have been taught that just because of that, only we human beings get sick and commit sins. God heals it and liberates it. Therefore, to be healed by God make its appearance by itself as the recovery of creativity or subjectivity. Although we might be faced with uncontrollable situations and we might struggle with them, it will appear as in the form where we can make our life as our own and with our own creativity. Jesus teaches us that what is typical is to forgive debts against us. It is that we can create our own life as protagonists.
4.2 The figures that we see in the Bible and that impress us are all those people. Isaac had many wells that he dug with much difficulty taken away because of harassment and had them buried. But without retaliating against those people, he continued to dig wells one after another. We can understand from the word of God that it is God that made him do it. It was the name Esec meaning "strife" that he gave the last well that he dug. The next well was named "Citna" meaning "hostility." The name of the well that he dug last was Rehobot meaning "a large place." And "the Lord made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land." (Genesis 26; V15 and the following). Although there were many conflicts and hostility and Isaac was entitled to resist them and fight against them, God did not make him do so and led him to a large place. It was God's involvement that made him do so.
4.3 The same is true with Isaac's son Jacob. For the 20 years while he stayed with his uncle Laban, he continued to be deceived. He was not given any reward. It was natural that he retaliated against his uncle. But just because of God's involvement he parted from him without fighting with his uncle. The same is true with Jacob's son Joseph. His brothers tried to kill him. Although he was saved, he ended up being sold as a slave in Egypt and had a great difficulty. In a drought his brothers who came to Egypt found him to be a minister. Joseph came near to retaliating against them. But God intervened. It caused him to forgive them. It is forgiveness that has made Israeli people and us Christians live to this day and live in a creative way amid various sufferings, I think.
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The gospel according to Luke 11: 1-4
1 At one place
after Jesus had been praying,
one of his disciples said,
'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'
2 When you pray, say,
Father, may your name be hallowed;
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we too forgive all who have done us wrong.
And do not put us to the test."
(The Revised English Bible)
April 13, 2014
- May your kingdom come -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 The week called the Passion Week begins with today. According to our days of the week, Jesus was put on the cross and was killed on Friday this week. He was resurrected early in the morning on Sunday. We call today that is the day of the beginning of the Passion Week, especially Palm Sunday. But without reading the part of the Bible that is related to it, let's listen to the 'Lord 's prayer' again that Jesus taught us last week.
1.2 We are going to review a little what we learned last week. Luke, who wrote this gospel, put Jesus'words about the prayer and words of the Lord 's prayer on purpose immediately after an episode about Martha and Mary. At the end of Chapter 10 Jesus said to Martha, 'Martha, Martha , you are fretting and fussing about so many things; only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best; it shall not be taken away from her.'The fact that he put the Lord 's prayer after the above mentioned words expresses a certain idea of the man called Luke. It is that a prayer, especially the Lord 's prayer, is indispensable to us and what shall not be taken away from us.
1.3 The reason why a prayer is indispensable to us is that in reference to what is written in Chapter 10, as is found in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we are like the traveler who was robbed of a precious thing and the one who must be taken care of by God. If we are put in such a situation, we will call 110 or 119. That is how we ask God for SOS. To ask for SOS is quite necessary for us. A prayer is such a kind of thing.
1.4 Then what are we robbed of and stripped of? What kind of state is 'being stripped of ' that must be taken care of by God? It is deeply associated with what kind of person God is and how we were created in relation to that God and, as what kind of existence we were created and made to live, I think. Therefore, Jesus began the Lord's prayer by teaching us what kind of person God is. When we have understood what kind of existence we are in relation to God, we come to understand what we are stripped of or what we have lost or what kind of SOS we should ask God for.
2.1 Then Jesus taught his disciples to pray first by saying 'Father .' 'Father ' is said to be ' Abba, ' in the language that Jesus used in those days. The scholar called Joachim Jeremias made it clear in his study that this word ' Abba ' is such a word as young children who have started to utter words use when they call their fathers saying ' daddy' or ' papa,' and that it was impossible for Israeli people to call God this way. But Jesus said that it was OK to call God that way and that God was just pleased with this. Therefore, God being ' Abba ' brings us the fundamental relationship which means that we are infants who call God that way.
2.2 What on earth does this relationship between us and God represent? Those who have children, please remember what kinds of feelings you had toward your children when you were their father or mother. These days some parents neglect their children without shame but usually parents never fail to keep an eye on their infants, and still less they never leave their infants hungry or leave them to fall into the state of danger. Even human parents never do such a thing, still less does God. On the other hand, there are times when parents refuse to accept their wishes resolutely when their children carry on. It is because they know as their parents and as adults that to grant their wish as they want does them harm or put them into danger rather than good. The same is true with us and still more with God.
3.1 Here I must talk about the words in the Lord's Prayer written in the Gospel according to Matthew. In Luke we find the word 'Father ' simply, whereas in Matthew just as we usually pray, the word 'Our Father in heaven' is added. We don't know whether the original word that Jesus taught was Matthew's word or Luke's but even if Matthew added this word, it would not displease Jesus. Jesus often tells that God , Father is 'in heaven ,' and 'Heavenly Father .' What does God being not just 'Abba, Father ' but 'Father in heaven ' add to the relationship between us, namely, his children, and God?
3.2 It adds the meaning that watching or care or guardianship for us, children, from our Father comes from heaven. It means that whether it is bread that God who is Abba Father provides us children on the earth, or support, or guidance, everything comes from heaven. For what purpose does Father in heaven provide us children on the earth with bread from heaven? It is for us to grow up like Father in heaven some day. It is the bread and the guidance for that purpose that are important. God does not take care of us indefinitely in such a way as leaves us to be infants on the earth. Even if we seek after it, it is nothing but crying on. As he is God in heaven, he refuses it resolutely. The reason for it is that it does not do us any good.
3.3 Of course, God, who is Father in heaven, will provide us infants on the earth with food and bread that we need by all means so that we can live as infants on the earth. It is the words about 'our daily bread ' that we are going to learn next week and beyond. But it is not provided indefinitely. When time comes, he cannot help but separate us infants on the earth as if a rocket that is launched into space were separated from its first stage rocket and second stage rocket and turned into a satellite. If the rocket were not separated, it could not be launched into space. We have to know that it is only within a certain period of time that God will provide us infants on the earth with daily bread of the earth, I think.
4.1 From the above-mentioned words, we come to understand what I said at the beginning, that is, what on earth we are robbed of or stripped of. Although the relationship between God, our Father in heaven and us his infants is not stripped from us nor destroyed, on our side we sometimes fail to see that relationship. We sometimes fail to understand it. We sometimes have times when we think that God won't make any reply to our SOS or when we think that we are being tossed out into the world on our own as if we were ' parentless children.' It is this situation where we have valuable things robbed of and stripped of, I think. A variety of things whisper to us, as if they were our 'parents .' They say, 'You are lacking in this and that, too.' And as a result, we are put into the same situation as Martha's , that is, 'You are worried and upset about many things.' Therefore, what we have to pray for above all is for us to be protected as God's infants. We pray to him that we can understand that we are not short of anything and that our heavenly father will surely provide us children who are to grow up toward heaven with what is necessary. We pray that we can live with this faith kept in our mind.
4.2. From these things, you will come to understand the meaning of the prayer 'may your name be hallowed.' It goes without saying that ' your name' means that God is 'Father in heaven .' It means that when we pray to God or when we call God's name, we should not pray in such a way as demeans God being Father in heaven or profanes him or in such a way as is left behind somewhere. To our regret, we often offer such prayers. We carry on, asking for this or that, indefinitely and as an existence that resides on the earth everywhere. God would say to such people as us: You are an existence who will be like me in heaven some day, aren 't you? The care that I provide you with is for that purpose, isn't it? In spite of that, why don't you understand my heart? Why are you trying to continue to be infants on the earth indefinitely and by all means? It is what I can never provide you with, as I am Father in heaven. The prayer for it denies the relationship between 'me being Father in heaven and you being his infants on the earth .' This is what Jesus taught us.
5.1 Already some time has passed. We would like to listen to the word 'your kingdom come. ' The scholar Jeremias whom I mentioned a few minutes ago says the following thing in his excellent book entitled 'Central Messages in the New Testament ' : The prayer 'may your name be hallowed; your kingdom come ,' corresponds to Kadesh, the sacred prayer that Israeli people offered at the end of their prayer on Sabbath that they observed in those days. Kadesh, which the scholar Jeremia introduces, is as follows: 'May his great name be praised and worshiped in the world that he created as he wished! May his kingdom prevail as early as possible in their life and age and also in the life of all Israel! Say Amen to this. ' To be sure, Kadesh corresponds to the Lord's Prayer. But although they look alike in words, the scholar Jeremias pointed out that Jesus probably taught the Lord 's Prayer as a prayer that has a quite different content.
5.2 Kadesh, the prayer 'your kingdom come ' , as you know, seeks after God' s control that is yet to come. I myself feel that when we also offer this part of the prayer, we share the same feelings. But I am reminded of the following thing through today's word of the Bible. : Jesus changed Kadesh, the prayer that Israeli people in those days offered as an exclusively future thing and as a thing that has not come, into the prayer for the kingdom that has already come and the one where you are already able to put yourself under that control, didn ' t he? You are not in the kingdom where you cannot put yourself or from where you cannot benefit, but you are already under that control and God 's control has already started. Our Father in heaven, God, has you infants on the earth under firm control. Be aware of it. Offer your prayer because of that. Jesus taught this. I am reminded of Jesus's first voice in his spreading the gospel, 'the kingdom of heaven is near. '
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The gospel according to Luke 11: 1 - 2.
1 At one place
after Jesus had been praying,
one of his disciples said,
'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'
2 He answered,
When you pray, say,
Father, may your name be hallowed;
your kingdom come.
(The Revised English Bible)
April 6, 2014
- Lord, teach us to pray -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. We have been learning, of late, from the Gospel according to Luke once in three weeks. Starting from this Sunday, however, I would like us to learn from the Gospel in succession. As you will have noticed from the passage read this morning we are now learning from the section about the prayer Jesus taught his disciples (called the Lord's Prayer). The Lord's prayer is far better learnt in succession, I should think, than learnt in a separate piecemeal fashion.
The Lord's prayer is also written in the Gospel according to Mathew. You will notice that prayer is put in much longer sentences by Mathew. Incidentally, the Lord's prayer we usually use is the Mathew's version for your information. The two prayers appear in totally different context also. In the Gospel according to Mathew the prayer appears in a section referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. By Luke, however, the prayer comes right after chapter 10.
The chapter 10 is very unique in that most of what are written are stories only Luke chose to put in. The last passage of the chapter from verses 38 to 42 is about the famous episode of Martha and Mary in which Jesus told Martha saying, 'Only one thing is necessary.' And the Lord's prayer, the main topic for today, comes right after this passage.
We have no clue to knowing on what kind of occasion Jesus taught the prayer. However, from the way the Gospel was written we get a glimpse of how Luke understood the prayer contained in the Lord's prayer. He took the prayer as something 'we cannot do without,' like Jesus told Martha. The prayer is the necessary thing which should never be deprived of from us Christians.
2. The question is why is the praying necessary as something we cannot do without. For me, the praying has been that necessary since my childhood. My father who is going to be 97 years of age this year and my mother who will be 88 were a couple between whom there had been incessant quarreling. It was horrifying and sad for me as a little child to be awakened by the quarreling voices of my parents at midnight. Behind our house were a number of water reservoir for agriculture and they were where some people jumped in to finish their lives. I was afraid that my mother might also choose to do so when she got out of door from the house. This prompted me to pray every day in bed for 10 or 15 minutes in tears wishing that my parents won't quarrel tonight. I not only prayed but also cleaned all rooms of the house before going to bed thinking that doing so will please God and he will listen to my prayer that much more.
But such of my prayer often ended up without being answered and I ceased the custom of praying though I don't remember well since when. While I never ceased going to church even then, I have been away for some time from making prayers that eagerly.
With such a background I became a pastor and it's been some 30 years since. It is pleasing that I am led to a deeper awareness of the necessity to pray these days. The strongest of my prayer is about it that words of God be given in making draft of the sermon; that the words with which I, as a pastor, speak be ones that tell of God himself. I must also pray in earnest so that I could speak words of solace for the bereaved and the church members on an occasion of a sudden passing of a church member like the sister just the other day.
Why praying is something we cannot do without? Praying is necessary because we feel, to quote from the well-known parable of 'Good Samaritan,' in the verse 30 and the following of chapter 10, that the man on journey who was set upon by robbers, beaten and stripped, and was left half dead on the road side was me myself. I feel that we are travelers making travel steps of life who were robbed of some very important things by somebody and are left abandoned. Therefore, we have no choice but to send SOS signals to God, to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit shouting for help. We are faced with 'being stripped,' which no human being or the means of secular world could make up for. That is the kind of hardship only God can help out or care for.
People who are not aware that they have such problem within themselves will feel not even a bit of necessity to pray. Or if they have hardship within they don't feel they have to pray in so far as the hardship could be dealt with by humans or by the means of the secular world. When encountering with robbers we would call 110 or 119 numbers shamelessly. Praying is like calling of 110 or 119 numbers, it comes home to me.
3. What kind of 'stripped and robbed' men we are in the eyes of God? This question is deeply connected with who God is as well as who we are humans in relation to God, it seems to me. Who is God and how he would like to see us walk as travelers in this world, and what is he giving us for food, for footwear and for a stick for the travel? I think it is when we begin to have answers to these questions that we can get to appeal saying, 'God, I am robbed of this. Help me!'
From this point of view we can get to understand the words in the latter half of verse 1 which says, 'one of his disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."' What directly motivated the disciples of Jesus to ask to be taught the Lord's prayer was very interestingly the fact that John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray. Which of the teachings John the Baptist gave to his disciples about how to pray caught the attention of the disciples of Jesus? What was it that made the disciples of Jesus think, 'they also wish to pray, they must pray'?
We don't have clear image of what kind of prayers the people in general were making during the age of Jesus. My own conjecture on it is that they must have been very formalistic and ritualistic prayers. Prayers may have been so understood as something to be offered exclusively by priests and Levites serving at shrines in pre-determined words and in a right way. It was John the Baptist, I gather, who changed the ritualistic prayers of the day to ardent calls of common men to God through dial numbers 110 and 119.
As regards how John changed the nature of prayer to God, the answer is that he did so by telling above all who God is, and by telling what the humans in their relationship with God were deprived of and stripped off, led them to be aware of their situation and sensitized them to the necessity of having to pray, I would guess.
We don't have enough time now to go into details of how John taught about God. However, chapter 3 of the Gospel touches on how he told. The sentences such as 'Who warned you to escape from the wrath (of God) that is to come?' 'Every tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down by the axe already laid,' were the figure of God, in a nutshell, told by John.
If that is who God is, he must have created us humans such that we were to bear good fruit. But we are hindered from bearing good fruit. And every tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down by the axe and is thrown on the fire. Therefore, we have to pray so we can escape from being cut down and thrown on fire, so we can get to bear good fruit and so the things that keep us from bearing good fruit are removed.
There is no mention in the Bible as to what did John tell were keeping us from bearing good fruit. However, it has to do in large measure with the fact that he was called John 'the Baptist.' His teaching must have addressed, I gather, that the hindrance barring us from producing fruit will be washed away and we will so get cleansed. Such as we are that we have to be purified by God.
To the people who asked John 'What are we to do?' he advised saying, 'Whoever has two shirts must share with him who has none,' and to the tax-collectors he told saying, 'Exact no more than the assessment.' And to soldiers he said, 'No blackmail.' Getting to the core of them, he must have taken men as greedy.
Seeing the disciples of John having been clearly taught who God is and therewith led to making ardent prayers, the disciples of Jesus were drawn to them, I guess. They were driven to the wish and necessity of praying. That manifested itself in the form of a request to Jesus to teach them to pray as in verse 1.
4. It was for this reason that Jesus began teaching 'the Lord's Prayer,' by teaching who God is, just as John also did so. And according to Jesus God was 'Father.'
'Father,' by the language used by Jesus in his age was 'Abba.' Incidentally in Akita prefecture where I have been brought up, 'Appa,' is a dialect for mother.
Joachim Jeremias, a renowned scholar of the New Testament Bible, publicized in his masterpiece, "Shinyaku Seisho-no Chushinteki Shishin (The Central Message of the New Testament Bible)," what kind of word 'Abba,' was in the society of his age (and in fact it was the word an infant just about beginning to talk would use in calling his father saying, 'Daddy or papa,' and how foreign and surprising, even to the point of blaspheme.
New Testament Bible scholars point out that the Lord's Prayer which begins by addressing God calling him 'Abba,' was a prayer only a limited few were allowed to recite in the early-day churches. Thus we come to comprehend it wasn't a prayer which was taught to anyone and one that could be recited by anyone; and that it was inseparably linked with the Holy Communion which only the baptized can participate in. To pray by addressing God calling him 'Abba,' was that surprising, and subject to misunderstanding.
Jesus taught his disciples first of all that God may be called 'Abba,' and God is who will be pleased that we call him that way. From it that God is like such a father stems the most fundamental fact that we are like his children and infants.
Then it becomes clear how God would see us walk as a traveler along the steps in this world, what will be the food, stick and foot wear for us during the journey. Paradoxically it means we are his infants. Our status as his infants may look just the opposite of food, support and power needed for the journey. What good does it bring to be an infant, we tend to think.
But in being made to think that way lies our true figure who are 'stripped off' something important in making a journey as a traveler. We are being whispered what kind of strength will be given us for making a journey in this world by God being our father and us being his infants. Not from the true father who is in heaven but from the father and the mother of this world, and from various being having influence on us such whispers are breathed in. And we are deprived of being God's infants. And we make prayers not as his infants, but as ones who would be opposite of being his infants.
Shozo Kashima used to be a scholar of English literature. Living at Inadani Valley of Nagano prefecture, now teaches mostly about the thought of Laozi, an ancient Chinese philosopher. Though he is not Christian I read his books now and then.
He edited a book, which is a collection of poems and lyrics titled 'We don't wish or ask.' It is a challenging title for us Christians who cannot live without praying and asking. But the title of the book makes a deep inquiry in us. In the postscript he says as follows: 'Humans are a being who cannot help but wish and ask for something. While I don't deny this premise ? seeing how we live in this age I feel we are asking too much, like it or not. Rather we are driven to ask. Perhaps it's time we learnt from the thought of Laozi who said affluence comes from learning to be satisfied--.'
I hope that the prayers we make, thinking that we cannot do without, are not the ones driven by the voices around us despite ourselves. I wish we don't forget that God is Abba, our father and we are allowed to live in this world as his infants; and in itself everything is sufficient and satisfying. If anything, we wish we could learn about its sufficiency more deeply.
That is what is meant by hollowed be the name of God, our father.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
The Gospel according to Luke 11: 1 - 2
1 At one place after Jesus had been praying, one of his disciples said, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.'
2 He answered, 'When you pray, say,
Father, may your name be hallowed;
your kingdom come.
(The Revised English Bible)
March 30, 2014
- The wrestling at Peniel -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 Jacob was finished with 20 years' laborious work under his uncle Laban and he was just about to leave for his hometown. But there his twin brother Esau, who had hated so much as to be willing to kill Jacob 20 years ago, was waiting. Today's word describes how Jacob was worried about meeting Esau again and how he made his utmost effort to prepare for it, and how God's angels appeared in front of that Jacob, and also how a mysterious entity wrestled with him at the ford of Jabbok and how Jacob was given the new name 'Israel'and he was leaving to see his brother Esau.
1.2 First, Verses 2 and 3 read like this: 2 As Jacob continued his journey he was met by angels of God. When he saw them, Jacob exclaimed, 'this is the company of God,' and he called that place Mahanaim. Why God's angels appeared to Jacob all of a sudden nor why Jacob called them 'the company of God 'and 'Mahanaim '(meaning two camps) were mentioned at all. Verses 8 and 9, and Verse 11 explained that Jacob divided the people with him, as well as the sheep, cattle, and camels, into two companies in case Esau should attack Jacob and that Jacob had so large a fortune. However, these Verses 2 and 3 don't mention anything about it.
1.3 What gives us an important suggestion is the words at the beginning of Verse 2. According to the reference book, the original reads 'Jacob went along his way. 'I took the trouble to read the original in Hebrew and surely I confirmed it. It says 'his way. 'What it means is that the way to his hometown that Jacob was going to take was literally 'his way. 'It was the way that he thought of and that he was going to take. That is, it was probably different from the way that God tried to make him take. To be sure, he was going to take the way to his hometown but it was not the way to meeting his brother Esau again. God's word and instructions told him to go home but didn't clearly tell him to meet Esau again. Therefore, even if Jacob were to return home, he would not think of meeting his brother again, I assume. As he had so large a family and possessions that he could divide them into two companies, he could live without depending on his brother after his return to his hometown.
1.4 As Jacob was going along his way that he thought of taking, God probably stood against him in such a strong way or with such a strong urge that Jacob felt God to be 'the company of God 'instinctively, I think. Jacob feels that his company and ideas and God's company and ideas are facing each other. He feels that he stands at the crossroads wondering which of the two camps he should support. Although the ford at Jabbok is said to be located at the border between Palestine and its east side, Jacob is now standing on the borderline between these two camps.
2.1 Then what is God's will? It is of course to make Jacob meet his brother Esau again. Why does God make him do so? It is not just meeting his brother Esau again nor their reconciliation, I think. God shows that rather it is meeting what Jacob used to be until 20 years ago and it is an opportunity to face what he used to be with what he had fostered for 20 years under his uncle Laban after that.
2.2 What kind of man was Jacob until 20 years ago? He was given birth to not with his own will but as a burden shouldered by God and as a twin younger brother. It is what is called a destiny or fate. The reason why he was named Jacob was that he was able to get out of his mother's uterus by grabbing his brother Esau's heel at long last. Whereas his brother grew up to be a strong hunter and was loved by his father who liked meat, in contrast Jacob became a man who I imagine was somewhat weakly by nature, and who liked to stay around his house. Therefore, he was not loved by his father but doted on by his mother. Jacob became a man who constantly compared himself with his brother Esau and tried to rob him of his belongings. It was 20 years ago that Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive his blind father and that he was hated by his brother and had to leave his house. I don't know his exact age in those days but it is certain that he was at least 40 years old. It was the result of the life that was at the mercy of and controlled for 40 years by what is called his destiny or fate. Finally 20 years ago he escaped from such a life.
2.3 God's will is that you should not leave it as it is, I think. Face what you used to be 20 years ago and face it with what you have fostered for the last 20 years or with what those years have brought you. You cannot escape from it, God says. If Jacob leaves it as it is, it means that his life is only at the mercy of or controlled by what is called the destiny or fate. In the end, human beings are nothing but slaves to what they cannot control. God gives us a question or a challenge: Is that all right?
3.1 Then Jacob tries to meet Esau with what he has fostered for 20 years under his uncle Laban. What kind of thing was it? When we read Verse 4 and the following, first we can understand that what Jacob tried to push toward Esau was the property that he had acquired for 20 years. First what he tried to have his messengers say the words in Verse 6, 'I have acquired oxen, donkeys, and sheep, as well as male and female slaves, and I am sending to you this, my lord, so that I may win your favour.' When Jacob heard the messengers report that Esau was on the way to meet him with four hundred men, he was very afraid and distressed and divided the people as well as the sheep, cattle, and camels, into two companies, the Bible says.
3.2 Then what Jacob acquired for 20 years under his uncle Laban was only his family and fortune? No, it wasn't. What is written in Verse 10 and the following is a praying Jacob. Twenty years ago in the Jacob who ran away from his home and lay using a rock as a pillow, we couldn't find the figure of praying. However, 20 years later, it is true that first he depends upon his fortune and possessions but he is turned into a person who can pray. The 20 years spent under his uncle Laban made Jacob grow like this.
3.3 What was the center of Jacob's prayer? It is God's word of promise 'I shall make you prosper ,'as is repeated in Verses 10 and 13. What he had realized above all for the last 20 years and experienced was that this word of God's was true. It was that however wickedly his uncle Laban treated Jacob, he couldn't prevent God from being on Jacob's side. Just as I said a minute ago, Jacob was placed for 20 years under the deceiving Laban who was an overwhelming ruler. But he was not a slave to that. God was on his side. What he got through it was his visible fortune and family.
4.1 Thus, Jacob tried to meet Esau again with what he fostered for 20 years, but as he was still short of what he depends upon, God himself appeared to him in the form of a mysterious entity and wrestled with him as is described in Verse 23 and the following, I think.
4.2 I skipped from Verses 14 to 22. Now Jacob comes to the ford at Jabbok, the borderline with his hometown at long last. Although he had sent his family and all that he had across the wadi, he was left alone. Then someone appeared and wrestled with him, the Bible says. According to the reference book, this is probably the spirit of the river or a guardian of the river. That is why the man said, 'Let me go, for day is breaking.' However, as Jacob said in Verse 31, 'I have seen God face to face and yet my life is spared', before he knows it, he feels that it is God himself. Therefore, we can interpret that God appeared to him and wrestled with him.
4.3 Why did God wrestle with Jacob? I wonder why he made this kind of special appearance. Twenty years ago, when Jacob was lying using a rock as a pillow, in his dream God set up a ladder from heaven and gave him a word. When He urged Jacob to leave Laban, He gave just a word. Now why do we have sumo or wrestling? Because for Jacob to meet Esau again and to cross the wade at Jabbok was just against his intention and a battle against God's will and a wrestle with it, I think. It is not what was easy to accept.
4.4 And the Bible says that Jacob won this battle. As finally Jacob 's hip was dislocated, he had trouble walking, which means that he was clearly defeated. As my oldest son suffered from congenital dislocation of the hip joint, I felt this word of God's very familiar. Although Jacob was defeated, God says, 'You have striven with God and with mortals, and have prevailed.' This is nothing but my imagination but I think that Jacob wrestled with God stark-naked. And he wrestled so tenaciously and so powerfully that God had to take such a measure to dislocate Jacob's hip and he was able to'prevail. 'It turns into his self-confidence. Thus you have been able to wrestle with God. If so, you will be able to win a wrestle with Esau. It is all right to wrestle stark-naked and meet him again with self-confidence. That's why the scene of a wrestle was necessary, wasn't it?
5.1 Furthermore, the following thing is shown, as the meaning that Jacob won a struggle with God: As I have repeatedly say, Jacob was made to shoulder the burden of living as a twin younger brother by God as something like a really unreasonable destiny or fate. God made Jacob struggle under Laban for as many as 20years and tried to make him meet his brother Esau against his will. He struggles wondering why. The result is that he is beaten. His hip is dislocated easily and he has trouble walking. He cannot win an ultimate victory with God. But Jacob doesn't become a slave to this kind of unreasonable environment that God provided with but he struggles and now he tries to meet Esau again by overcoming his fear. Here we can find the figure of a man who tries to struggle with congenital restrictions that God provided him with and who tries to overcome them.
5.2 Thus Jacob was provided with the new name 'Israel. 'It was a blessing that he was provided with. Israel is a really mysterious name. According to the reference book, it can be translated like God struggled or God won a victory and also (someone) struggled with God and he won a victory over God. It is this name in which two just opposite meanings were put together. And it is a blessing. We are also provided with this name 'Israel ', where a defeat and a victory are put together. On the other hand, we are the existence that is challenged by God and must be defeated. We must meet God face to face. By our doing so, our hip will be dislocated. It is a suffering and ordeal. But we cannot get the better of mortals or God without the defeat. Verse 31reads, "Jacob said 'I have seen God face to face and yet my life is spared.'" Jacob was defeated but he made a fresh start in his life. The sun has risen.
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Genesis 32: 2-13;
2 As Jacob continued his journey he was met by angels of God. 3 When he saw them, Jacob exclaimed, 'this is the company of God,' and he called that place Mahanaim. 4 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau to the district of Seir in Edomite territory, 5 instructing them to say to Esau, 'My lord, your servant Jacob sends this message: I have been living with Laban and have stayed there till now. 6 I have acquired oxen, donkeys, and sheep, as well as male and female slaves, and I am sending to you this, my lord, so that I may win your favour.' 7 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, 'We went to your brother Esau and he is already on the way to meet you with four hundred men.' 8 Jacob, much afraid and distressed, divided the people with him, as well as the sheep, cattle, and camels, into two companies. 9 He reasoned that, if Esau should come upon one company and destroy it, the other might still survive. 10 Jacob prayed, 'God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, LORD at whose bidding I came back to my own country and to my kindred, and who promised me prosperity, 11 I am not worthy of all the true and steadfast love which you have shown to me your servant. The last time I crossed the Jordan, I owned nothing but the staff in my hand; now I have two camps. 12 Save me, I pray, from my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and destroy me; he will spare neither mother nor child. 13 But you said, "I shall make you prosper and your descendants will be like the sand of the sea, beyond all counting."'
Genesis 32: 23-33;
23 During the night Jacob rose, and taking his own two wives, his two slave-girls, and his eleven sons, he crossed the ford of Jabbok.
24 After he had sent them across the stream with all that he had,
25 Jacob was left alone, and a man struggled with him there till daybreak.
26 When the man saw that he could not get the better of Jacob, he struck him in the hollow of his thigh, so that Jacob's hip was dislocated as they struggled.
27 The man said, 'Let me go, for day is breaking,' but Jacob replied, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.'
28 The man asked, 'What is your name?' 'Jacob,' he answered.
29 The man said, 'Your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel, because you have striven with God and with mortals, and have prevailed.'
30 Jacob said, 'Tell me your name, I pray.' He replied, 'Why do you ask my name?' but he gave him his blessing there.
31 Jacob called the place Peniel, 'because', he said, 'I have seen God face to face and yet my life is spared'.
32 The sun rose as Jacob passed through Penuel, limping because of his hip.
33 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew that is on the hollow of the thigh, because the man had struck Jacob on that sinew.
(The New International Version)
March 16, 2014
- Let us go to the house of the LORD -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. Our Tsukuba Gakuen Church was founded on March 21, 1978. Come next Friday, it will be the 36th anniversary of its foundation. In the worship service for the week on which the day of its foundation falls, it's been our practice to listen to the word of the Bible given us as the word for the year. Let us, therefore, listen to the words of the Psalm 122 as at the last foundation day service, for the Bible word for this year is just the same as that of last year.
A note is given at the heading in fine print before verse 1 begins, and it says the psalm is 'A song of the ascents: for David.' All psalms from number 120 to 134 have the same note, which says it is 'A song of the ascents.' Psalms of these numbers are said to have been sung by the people on pilgrimage to the city or to Jerusalem along their ways or at inns. Though the name of David appears in the note, few scholars if any think they were actually made by him.
'The house of the LORD,' means God's holy temple. The poet expressed his feeling in a very straight fashion saying, '"I rejoiced," when they said to me, "Let us go the house of the LORD."'What made him feel that way? I think of a man who for years had been calling on his family and friends to join him in a pilgrimage to the Temple only to be declined. But now after so many years they tell him they'll join him in the tour. His family and friends have come to understand now the significance and importance of paying pilgrimage to the house of the LORD. It is why he is rejoicing so much.
On the occasion of the anniversary worship service of last year we put the joy of the psalmist on top of our own wish, as we are also ones who also for years have been longing to see our faith succeeded by our family members. This year, however, the following has come to my mind. March 11, the last Tuesday, was the third anniversary day of the East Japan Great Earth Quake and in the late afternoon that day a special worship service was held at our church premise sponsored by the Kanto District, one of the 17 districts under the United Church of Christ in Japan. So facing the church foundation anniversary my heart has been strongly with the Quake disaster victims. Reading verse 1 what came to my mind, more than anything, was that it would be greatly rejoicing if only just one more of the victims will be led to come to the house of the LORD, i.e. to church, and if they come to realize that the God is our Lord.
2. Why have I come to have such a thought? To go to the house of the LORD means to go to the house in which God is the lord. That way one's thought is directed toward it that God is the center character and he is the one in charge. Going up to the capital city, to the house of the LORD, one leaves his own house, leaves the place where he usually is around and heads for the place or a situation where God is the lord.
What does it mean that one leaves his own house, leaves the place where one is usually around? It means to leave from a situation in which he is the lord and various things of this world are the lead characters, or the ones in charge.
We, the followers of Christ, are enabled to achieve such a state by coming to the church, the house of the LORD, week after week and by observing worship service. It is made possible for us to leave 'a house,' where we ourselves and things of this world are the rulers of it, and to find us in 'the house,' where God is the lord of the house.
Such a state of us I will refer to in detail later. It suffices here just to say that verse 2 puts it saying, 'Now we are standing within your gates, Jerusalem.' That we are able to place ourselves in the house of the LORD means that we are guarded within palaces, ramparts and fortresses. That one is able to keep oneself in the house where God is the lord is as if one is guarded within unshakable castle.
The victimized people were hit by the quakes, Tsunami and accidents of nuclear power station. Three years since the scars have gotten deeper and bigger. On this March 11th, the prime minister at a press meeting talked about the importance of bringing health workers and counselors in providing victims with mental health-cares. The question I had to that was if indeed mental health-cares are provided by sending such experts. The fact that the quakes and Tsunami are still digging deeper in the bosom of the hearts of victims makes us wonder if there aren't any deeper reasons for their sufferings.
3. I think we can safely say that the Israelites who sang the psalm had kept encountering with disasters equal in the magnitude to the earth quake and Tsunami a number of times; the destruction of their sovereign states with their people having been enslaved, persecutions and the Holocaust have been their lords that ruled over and confined them.
Yet the Israelites could leave from such a cruel reality for a while through opportunities of making the ascents on their pilgrimage to the house of the LORD. They could get peace coming from the fact that God was their center character. That I think is the kind of solace we are given by this psalm.
Turning our eyes on us, what about us, then? While I don't remember too well if it was a book titled "Miraculous Christianity," written in Japanese language or a separate book compiling conversations between the authors of the book, it was pointing out that we are more so ego-centered than any other races that the idea that just one God is at the center and is the lord of all we, the Japanese, cannot accept. For good or for bad, the Japanese have not lived outside its insular lands nor it has been invaded and deprived of its statehood; since ancient times its people have been able to dwell on the same place and to cultivate the same soil generation after generation. That is the very situation in which the people themselves or such a way of life or the history is the center character for us. And peace is assured as long as such a living continues.
Once such a life is ruined, however, the main, the center, the axis gets ruined. Then the destroyed way or the ruined state of living becomes their only ruler. They have no knowledge of how to leave away from such a situation. The way I put it may sound harsh - please forgive me out of consideration that I am also one of the victims of the disaster - but I see in the affected victims prevalence of the kind of situation just mentioned.
Among the members of Koriyama Church which I served previously was a lady who resided in Nami-e Town of Fukushima prefecture. After the Quake she had to move to many places and is now settled together with her son and his family on the Ishigaki Island of Okinawa prefecture. She must be over 90 in age by now, I gather. I send weekly gazettes of the church once in six month to her and she learns by reading the gist of my sermon produced on the gazette.
She goes to a church on the island and faithfully attends the worship service in the hope that if she can be of any help for the church by doing so. It may be just to me though, she never utters recurring complaints or jeremiad on the phone. I know she has a fine house and a tomb of her husband as well in the town of Nami-e back in Fukushima prefecture. Yet she doesn't murmur grudges and I am made to wonder why. The answer is that it is thanks to the life which will bring her to the house of the LORD that she doesn't complain; thanks to the life which tells her God is her Lord. That knowledge offers her a castle that protects her in peace (a peace of mind repeatedly referred to in verse 6 and the following.)
4. It is indeed a mystery for us to come to know that God is the Lord and that the temple built by humans is the 'house of the LORD,' where we can meet with God, the Lord. By the same token, it cannot be by nature that church, just an organization made by men is 'the house of the LORD.' But as a matter of fact it is, for a reason we don't know. But it is so because God himself thinks it is good that way. God allows it good that way ? for if not, where can we go and encounter with God the Lord? -- because we need it.
That having been said, what then is the indispensable thing for a house built by men or an organization made by humans to become 'the house of the LORD?' What is it that makes a temple or a church 'the house of the LORD?'
The answer to this question I think is given by the story of 'Kings' we are reading in our Bible Study and Prayers Meeting on Wednesday. We are now reading the story of the king Solomon who is offering a Temple constructed for the purpose of worship. The Temple took no larger land space than the one on which our house is built. But Solomon spent 7 years to complete its construction. He lavishly used Lebanon cedar, woods of highest quality of the age, and gold was used for interior decoration. But such glorious materials didn't make the Temple the house of the LORD.
To complete the construction of the Temple something was brought in it in the end. That something was "the Ark of the Covenant." It was a box in which the Tablets of Stone with the Ten Commandments inscribed on were contained. In this context the words of the First Book of Kings chapter 8, verse 9 are impressive to my heart. It says, 'There was nothing inside the Ark but the two stone tablets which Moses had deposited there at Horeb, when the LORD made the covenant with the Israelites after they left Egypt.'
Written on the tablets were the 'Covenants,' as mentioned; the words of contract. Inscribed on the stone tablets were the words of covenant from God offered to the Israelites wandering about in the wilderness as a bridge to link them with God as we hear it taught at worship services a number of times these days, or in today's terminology 'the Fortress,' given to protect them.
Other than the words of covenant there was nothing. There were only tablets of stone. Just stone tablets there had been there, tablets with promising words of God inscribed; they made a structure built by men 'the house of the LORD.' I find a profound significance in this.
Let us say that a victim of the Quake comes to church; what kind of Lord can he meet there? What will the one who is called the Lord give us who lost houses and lands in the wake of the Tsunami and the Quake? For the people brought up on a long tradition of seeking from gods the material benefit of this world, it will seem like they get faked out. What they encounter with in a church is just 'a stone tablet.' Words inscribed on a tablet of stone.
Our church building is nothing glorious unlike the Temple built by Solomon. It doesn't have the glory which the Japanese Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples have. The words of covenant inscribed on stone tablets; they represent Jesus himself. The only thing one can do is to listen to the words of 'the Covenant,' written in the Bible, the words of God.
Yet we, following the Israelites generation after generation, have been seeing the image of the Lord by listening to the words of the covenant inscribed on the stone tablets, or to the words from God. And in the words of God we've been feeling the reign of the Lord. By responding to the words and living in compliance with the words of the covenant, we've been standing up against the rulers and the lords of this world, erecting castellated walls.
We have nothing but the stone tablets. Yet that's enough God tells us. The words of the covenant bring the house of the LORD to existence. That's where, we are told, the fortress to guard us is built.
5. Coming to the house of the LORD and listening to his words there, what kind of castle walls will be built then? What kind of security will be given us? My attention is called to the words in the latter halves of verses 3 and 4. They say, 'Built compactly and solidly,' and 'to give thanks to the name of the LORD, the duty laid on Israel.'
God, the LORD, is who compactly and solidly builds, and finally makes it possible for us to give thanks. That is what is meant by these words. 'To give thanks to the name of the LORD,' doesn't mean it is the obligation. Rather the word duty here means that God will enable us without fail to do so, as I take it.
Many things take place around us for which we cannot be thankful. We become kings, set thrones and judge by our own yardstick, just as verse 5 puts in saying, 'For there the thrones of justice were set, the thrones of the house of David;' then we make judgment saying this is good and that is bad. It is at this very point, though, that all kinds of divisions and separations arise as reported by media.
We cannot overcome them for ourselves. We are told it's the Lord who helps us overcome them and build things solidly, and that we are headed towards such a time as when we can offer thanks for everything. It is only just for a while that we can reside in the house of the LORD. Yet, nothing will go in vain when we can listen to the words of God in the house of the LORD for he will build castle walls within ourselves.
(Translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Psalm 122: 1-5 A song of the ascents: for David
1 I rejoiced when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD.'
2 Now we are standing within your gates, Jerusalem:
3 Jerusalem, a city built compactly and solidly.
4 There the tribes went up, the tribes of the LORD, to give thanks to the name of the LORD, the duty laid on Israel.
5 For there the thrones of justice were set, the thrones of the house of David.
(The Revised English Bible)
February 2, 2014
- Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. We learned from Genesis chapter 28, verse 10 and the following that God stretched a ladder from heaven down unto Jacob and gave him a promise saying, 'I shall be with you to protect you wherever you go.' We were taught in the learning that we can take Jacob as someone for whom a bridge was by God and who was placed under that promise.
This Jacob at times made us even doubt if he was indeed someone offered a bridge by God. As we learned a number of times Jacob, though placed under the promise of God, had his own free will and was so placed under the human and the social relationships with somebody like Laban his uncle who would deceive him time and again that not all his behavior was conducted under the guidance of God.
That having been said, however, the way of his life had to come out shining brightly because God did not turn his back on him and because he was placed under the bridge connecting him with God. In this fact we find great encouragement and solace. The Bible passage given us today is about such a path of life of Jacob.
2. For the Bible passage of today we read from verse 1 of Genesis chapter 31. It covers a story which should have been read beginning from verse 25 of chapter 30. The two stories from verse 25 are subtitled 'wheel and deal with Laban,' and 'contrives of Jacob.'
When we read the sections from verse 25 to 43 of chapter 30 and compare it with the passage for today, i.e. verse 3 and the following of chapter 31 where God talks to Jacob, we'll come to notice one thing. That's to say that the section from verse 25, chapter 30 to verse 2 of chapter 31 depicts Jacob not as being able to walk the path of life in his relationship with God under whose bridge he was placed, but Jacob drawn into wheel and deal with Laban his uncle who would single-mindedly benefit by deceiving him so he had to deal with Laban with his desperately thought-out contrives. Where that ultimately led him to is written in that section.
In contrast to that, the section from verse 3 onward of chapter 31 depicts how Jacob was changed when God clearly showed him the bridge and the connection offered him by God. Words of God in verse 3 chapter 31 gave Jacob a distinct starting line, bringing to him an ostensive change like before and after something.
Let us begin by reviewing how Jacob was before that critical something. Verse 25 of chapter 30 tells that Jacob told his uncle Laban saying, 'Send me on my way, for I want to return to my own home and country. The passage doesn't say anything as to what made Jacob embrace such an idea.
The most important point here is that, as is self-evident from verse 3 or 13 of chapter 31, it may have been a decision given by God when he was clearly suggested to 'Go back to the land of your fathers and your kindred.' The decision was derived more than anything else from the indignation developed in Jacob for not having been rewarded at all during the 20-year period he worked for Laban, and also from the restless urge about his possibility of not being able to have even his own house in the future.
To leave the place one lived for 20 long years isn't a small decision to make. Laban, though an uncle who has deceived Jacob, was the one who received him willingly when he was welcome by no one else, and who gave him two of his daughters as wives.
Therefore, it shouldn't be just out of his indignation and impatience that he should decide to leave the place of his uncle. God told him in verse 25, chapter 28 saying, 'I shall be with you to protect you wherever you go, and I shall bring you back to this land.' If that's the case, then God would show him unambiguously when he shall return to his home and country; God would take the initiative in carrying out the plan. However, Jacob uttered coming back to the land of his fathers without waiting for the will or initiative of God.
3. That's the reason why his walks of life since then were dragged in the midst of wheel and deal with Laban his uncle over the reward for his work. And his determination to go back to his home country was easily turned over when the conditions he suggested to Laban were accepted. Was his determination to return to his homeland only such? I repeat and say that his determination was only that strong as would disappear when presented a certain level of remuneration. His walks of life after that were not based on the unambiguous purpose of going back to the land of his fathers and kindred, and therefore, had fallen to mud-flinging over the level of reward.
I don't have time now to go into the details of the wheel and deal. But it is kind of interesting to read for a story. The reward Jacob asked Laban to give wasn't extortionate at all. According to a Bible commentary, sheep in those days was usually white and goat was black in hair. The reward Jacob asked for consisted of black lamb, and all the brindled and the spotted goats. Jacob modestly asked for ones which were weaker than the normal ones and of which the numbers weren't large. So Laban accepted the request. Then he put that kind of lamb and goat of which there weren't many in number in the custody of his sons and thereby hid them from the sight of Jacob.
Against this Jacob reacted with his contrives relying on the use of superstitions widely followed in the world during the age. For reasons I don't know for sure his tactics went well. The secret to the success of the tactics is revealed in the today's Bible passage as a work of God. However, Jacob at the time thought the success was due to his contrives; due to the superstitions he relied on.
What were waiting to come as a result? That's the thing written in verses 1 and 2 of the section I asked to be read today. They were the wrath of Laban and his sons against Jacob who became rich winning over the wheel and deal game. The mood was such that a direct confrontation between them could take place at any time.
4. It was at that very moment that God revealed clearly that a bridge from him is connecting with Jacob, which until then was kept hidden. In verse 3 God says, 'Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred.' God spoke to Jacob in a dream also by words of verses from 11 to 13, though I am not sure if these other words were spoken at about the same time as words of verse 3.
Jacob was told it was time for him to go back to the land of his fathers. Whatever it may entail, no matter if he can secure a reward or not, and even if he feels torn away from something, God showed Jacob his mind by saying, 'Now leave this country at once and return to your native land.'
How did this, i.e. the revelation of God's will, change the walks of Jacob? I am drawn to imagine what would have happened if God had not spoken. They may have fallen to fight; or Jacob may have fled with his family and property before a fight broke out. This latter case looks more likely would have happened. Jacob may consequently have done the same thing as what is written in chapter 31, verses 17 and the following.
Has he not ended up doing the same thing in spite of God talking to him? He could not depart from uncle Laban in peace, could he? Some may say if that's the case what were the words of God for? The important thing, however, is the state of one's mind in facing the same result. With what state of mind could he leave from Laban? That is the question.
Without God talking to him, the departure of Jacob could have been taken as resulting from strife with uncle Laban and his family over the level of reward. In that case he would have been seen as having had no option but to flee from the muddy strife, and having nowhere else to head for, had to reluctantly return to the land of his fathers; not that he was going back to the homeland thanks to the will of God in heaven and that under a good cause that he was going a holy and great path shown by God, proceeding in the direction of light.
That was the case 20 years ago. Jacob had to leave from his home as a result of strife over reward with his twin brother Esau. Then he had no place to go to and sought help of his uncle Laban. After 20 years since, does he have to tread a similar path all over again? Is he this time coming home as a result of mudsling over the level of reward? How can Jacob face up with the difficult challenge of reunion and reconciliation with his brother Esau who once hated him to the extent of desiring to kill him?
This time, however, such wasn't the case. Jacob's return to the homeland was thanks to the bridge being offered by God in heaven. If it looked on surface Jacob was fleeing from Laban he was being given a sure peace of mind.
5. Such a path of Jacob reminds me of the time when I left from Koriyama after 24 years of service to come to and be a pastor of Tsukuba Gakuen Church. This I did in the belief that this was under the guidance of God.
It was in the first place by the profound guidance of God that I was led to serve as a pastor of Koriyama Church. I met with my wife in Sendai city; she was who happened to have been brought up in Koriyama. And Koriyama Church is where I got baptized. I consulted about my going to study at a theological seminary with the then pastor of Koriyama Church; he wished that I come back to the church as a pastor and I got a lot of support during my 4-year study at the seminary.
What caught me with even greater surprise than anything else was to find out that the Reverend Mr. Osamu Fukaya, whom the Yuzawa Church of Akita prefecture, which I went led by my father since childhood, called upon for the first time when it grew from a missionary station to a full-fledged church, was someone who spent his youth days at Koriyama Church and entered a theological seminary from the church.
Therefore, I could not leave from the church on my own audacious thinking, which I served for 24 years under God's guidance. Yet, if I stayed longer with the church it would likely become a "church of pastor Fukushima," a development both my wife and I wouldn't like to see. Having such an idea in mind we didn't consult with anyone about a possible new church to serve; we kept the belief that if our departure or transfer is the will of God it will be specified in some objective manner.
In February of 2 years before the Great Earth Quake, my father lost his way to the church and didn't show up in time for the service. For a while we made up our mind that he could be gone. I felt a special responsibility about it because it was my idea to bring my parents from deep snow Akita prefecture to Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture after when I became its pastor. It was against this background that I declined an offer of a pastor's post relayed to me on the phone by the dean of the seminary in May of that year.
Usually rejection to an offer puts a period to the case. However, we got a letter following the telephone call. Then it was my wife who had declined to any talks of transfer told me she thinks it's time we should move. I won't go into how a passage of the Revelation of John given the next morning for our daily scripture reading decisively pushed me.
Through a series of events as mentioned, I came to be able to accept that my transfer to Tsukuba was the will of God upon me. Without the will of God about it, what will have happened, I wonder. Big among many factors is the Great Quake. Some may have said that pastor Fukushima headed for urban environment leaving the people hit by the quake behind and leaving even his parents. Others may have said Fukushima has gone allured by good remuneration. Such an idea could well arise even in myself.
But the decision didn't emerge from within me. It came out of the mind of God. That is everyone's knowledge. Therefore, I had no sense of guilt and nothing to hide in leaving Koriyama and in coming to Tsukuba.
So must Jacob have been. Fleeing from Laban he was it may have looked. However, it's totally different from such within him. There is a big difference between an idea that he left from Laban on his own audacious will or as a result of strife with him on the one hand, and a conviction given that he did so under God's guidance on the other hand. He could take that it is alright to go along the path he has chosen.
In light of the limit of time I must conclude with a final remark now. It wasn't just the message to go to the land of fathers that Jacob heard from God. God let him know that God guided him even in the wheel and deal and in the mudsling with uncle Laban over the level of reward. He was made to realize it was a work of God and not due to the superstition Jacob relied on that the flocks of sheep and goat grew in number. What looked pulpy walks of wheel and deal were also holy steps under the guidance of God, and this is also a great encouragement for us.
(From the gist of sermon prepared in Japanese translated by Hiroshi NISHIDO)
Genesis 31: 1 - 13
1 Jacob learnt that Laban's sons were saying, 'Jacob has taken everything that our father had, and all his wealth has come from our father's property.'
2 He noticed also that Laban was not so disposed to him as he had once been.
3 The LORD said to Jacob, 'Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred; I shall be with you,'
4 and Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out where his flocks were in the country.
5 He said to them, 'I have been noticing that your father is not so friendly to me as once he was. But the God of my father has been with me.
6 You yourselves know I have served your father to the best of my ability,
7 yet he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times over. But God did not let him do me any harm.
8 If your father said, "The spotted ones are to be your wages," then all the flock bore spotted young; and if he said, "the striped ones are to be your wages," then all the flock bore striped young.
9 It is God who has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me.
10 In the season when the flocks were in heat, I had a dream in which I saw that the he-goats which were mating were striped and spotted and dappled.
11 The angel of God called to me in the dream, "Jacob!" and I replied, "Here I am!"
12 He said, "See what is happening: all the he-goats mating are striped and spotted and dappled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
13 I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a sacred pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this country at once and return to your native land."'
(The Revised English Bible)
January 26, 2014
- Christ came under curse for our sake -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1.1 The direct reason why Paul wrote this letter to those Christians in the churches in Galatia was the following: Chapter 3, Verse 1 that we listened to last time says, 'You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.' Galatians believed that Jesus who was put on the cross was Christ, the Savior. In those sermons which dealt with this part, they heard the 'bridge, or ladder' repeatedly. They believed that it was Jesus put on the cross that was the bridge or ladder which was extended to us from God. But they were drawn to the teaching in a moment that to carry out the Law was the bridge. Therefore, Paul had nothing but to write this letter filled with wrath and grief.
1.2 Now, as we have nothing to do with carrying out the Law, we do not understand the problem that Paul addresses in this letter. But when we read the words in Chapter 3, Verse 1 and the following in the last sermon, we were made to be aware of one thing: We are not enticed to carry out the Law but we move away, before we know about it, from believing Jesus on the cross to be the Savior and from remaining in that belief, right?
1.3 Even in Western countries, it is said that people are distancing themselves from Christianity in a remarkable way. The other day TV reported how time-honored church buildings are being sold, one after another, by turning into a bookshop or a training institute for a circus troupe. In Japanese churches, a lot of people who have gone to the trouble to be baptized distance themselves from their churches and prayers and, as I said just now, many of them end up distancing themselves from the faith where they believe Jesus on the cross to be the bridge from God. Today's word reminds us why such a situation takes place.
2.1 This is also what the words in Chapter 3, Verse 1 and the following in the last sermon reminded me of again. So that we may believe Jesus on the cross to be the bridge from God and so that we may remain in that faith, a certain thing that is a prerequisite is essential for us: It is a condition on our side, under which we receive the bridge from God, who is Jesus, as an essential thing.
2.2 To put it figuratively, Jesus on the cross is the existence that came to rescue us, who fell down to the bottom of a valley and who was unable to climb up, by Jesus himself tumbling down the side of the valley to its bottom. In order to rescue the person who tumbled down to the bottom of the valley, it is essential that something should be lifted down to the bottom of the valley and that someone should come up to him, whether a member of a rescue team or with a rope or with a rope ladder. Jesus put himself on the cross and rescued us, who tumbled down to the bottom of the valley, by lifting us upward and to heaven. In order to regard this Jesus as the member of the rescue team from God, it is essential for us to be aware that we are beings that have tumbled down to the bottom of the valley, I think. It is not until we become aware of it that we will be able to receive Jesus who have tumbled down to the bottom of the valley and to extend our hands to his rescue and to leave ourselves up to him.
2.3 People in Galatia could not retain this self-consciousness, couldn't they? And those who distanced themselves from this faith kept away from the awareness that they had tumbled down to the bottom of the valley before they knew it, I think. The Galatians seem to have experienced something special about the Holy Spirit when they believed Jesus on the cross to be Christ. They also seem to have experienced some miracle. Then they were raised from the bottom of the valley to a higher place all of a sudden. Before they knew it, they came to think that there was no need for them to ask for such a rescue by a man who died on the cross as a man who was executed as a criminal of the Roman Empire. They probably thought that it was important to engage in carrying out the Law in order to advance high up furthermore, as beings that already ascended to a high position, right?
2.4 The same is true with us, I think. Although we are not drawn to the practice of the Law, we forget the starting point where we accepted the cross of Jesus as our salvation before we know it, if we become Christians and our church life becomes long. The thought that we are not those who will tumble down to the bottom of the valley but beings who can live independently as working adults and also in our families gets stronger and stronger and we come to think that we don't need the bridge of Jesus on the cross.
2.5 How can we remain in the self-consciousness as those who have tumbled down to the bottom of the valley? Even if we try to force ourselves to think that way, it will be impossible to do so. When we get down to it, we may come to the conclusion that it is nothing but God's work, too.
3.1 In my university days, I used to go to Hirose Kahan Church in Sendai City. I attended the preparation meeting designed for those who wanted to be baptized for two years in a row but it stopped halfway for two years in a row. As a result, it was just before I started to work for the Sendai YMCA that I was baptized. The reason why the preparation meeting stopped halfway was that in the first year the Rev Mr. Yamamoto Naotada said, 'Mr. Fukushima, you are lacking in the sense of sin, aren't you?' He has taken good care of me in the same Tohoku District since I became minister and last year I attended a funeral with him in Nagoya City. Whenever I met him, we talked about this preparation meeting. When I asked him, 'At a preparation meeting, do you always point out such a kind of thing?' he said,'No, it only applies to you ,' playing dumb. When I look back on it, the remark that the Rev Yamamoto made hit the nail on the head, I think.
3.2 Of course, all of those who are baptized do not necessarily have their own sense of sin, that is, the self-consciousness that they have tumbled down to the bottom of the valley when they are baptized, right? However, I suppose that to be baptized originates in some intuition or a shallow faith, even if it is not a clear idea, that Jesus was kind enough to become a bridge for the sake of me, who has tumbled down to the bottom of the valley. And it should get deeper by degrees. Just because it gets deeper, it can keep on staying in that faith.
3.3 It was shortly after that that I was baptized. Probably it was because the consciousness as a person who has stumbled down to the bottom of the valley was growing up in the steps that I took for this preparation meeting. After I graduated from university and I attended the lectures of the Department of Education as an auditor, with the aim of becoming an instructor for an institution for those who are handicapped, I studied at a training institute at Tokorozawa for one year. But I experienced a big setback there. I knew that I could not do such work at all. I knew that I was not the right person for the job at all. It was the consciousness as a person who had tumbled down to the bottom of the valley although it was shallow. It must have led me to be baptized.
3.4 I became a pastor and fortunately that consciousness got deepened. At the farewell party before I left Kooriyama Church for this church, a church member named Sagawa Hisamitsu gave me a large square card on which he wrote words, with a brush, from 1 Corinthians Chapter 1, Verse 23, 'but we proclaim Christ nailed to the cross ,' and said,'At long last I understood that you had always talked about this. 'Now, that square card is hung in the Japanese-style room of Bokushikan, the residence of the pastor with care. It is a proof that the job of the cure of souls in Kooriyama Church for 24 years was not wrong, I think. Through my job of the cure of souls, to be able to let them know Jesus on the cross is a proof that I, a Christian, have not distanced myself from the faith that Jesus on the cross is the bridge but I have been able to deepen it. For that purpose, although it was an event that God gave, I needed several experiences that made me aware that I am at the bottom of the valley by all means.
4.1 Now Paul remained in this consciousness for all his life, as a person who has stumbled down to the bottom of the valley and has deepened its consciousness, I think. He talked about himself, saying, 'Christ bought us freedom from the curse of the law,' and referred to the consciousness that he is the person who has stumbled down to 'the curse ,'I think. And he says that in order to save 'me', who has stumbled down to the bottom of the valley called 'the curse ,' and redeem 'me,' Jesus himself came under the curse on the cross. By the way, the word 'redeem ' is rarely used nowadays, it means that a third party pays the debt for the person who has been sold as a slave and sets him free.
4.2 That a person is placed in 'the curse ' is a very peculiar expression, I think. It is quite different from the self-consciousness that he has stumbled to the bottom of the valley of illness or the self-consciousness of his weakness or fragility or the self-consciousness that he is placed in the valley of death or something like them. When I wondered what it referred to, one thing occurred to me: It is a scene in II Samuel of the Old Testament, which we have been reading at the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting. There a man of Saul's family, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, cursed David continually and threw stones at David, who had been fleeing from Jerusalem because his son Absalom revolted against him. Shimei said in II Samuel, Chapter 16, Verse 5 and the following, 'Get out, get out, you murderous scoundrel! The LORD has taken vengeance on you for the blood. '
4.3 The sin that David committed about the blood refers to the one in which he robbed the wife of his subordinate Uriah and when the incident came almost to light, he ordered General Joab to send Uriah to the front line and made him die by deserting him there. However hard David tries to hide it, he continues to be accused of his sin about the blood, through Shimei's cursing. To be cursed means this kind of situation. It is decisively different from being placed at the bottom of the valley called illness or weakness. It means that we are committing the sin about the blood.
4.4 Paul regards himself as the following person, I think. : Acts, Chapter 7, Verse 58, says that when people stoned Stephen and he died a martyr for his faith, Paul kept watch over his clothes. Chapter 8, Verse 1 says that Paul was in favor of the murder of Stephen. That is, Paul's hands were dyed with the blood of the Christians whom he persecuted. Probably he continued to remain in this guilt all his life. And Jesus' disciples and their representative, Peter, also probably kept on remaining in the guilt of deserting Jesus, fleeing and somehow joining in letting Jesus' blood flow. But that very thing formed the basis of their believing Jesus on the cross to be the bridge from God and of their keeping on talking about it.
(Translated by Mr. Akihiko MOCHIZUKI from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Paul's Letter to the Galatians 3:13 - 14
13 Christ bought us freedom from the curse of the law by coming under the curse for our sake; for scripture says, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a gibbet.' 14 The purpose of this was that the blessing of Abraham should in Jesus Christ be extended to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
January 12, 2014
- Jacob, his wives and children -
By Reverend Sumio Fukushima
1. On the weekly gazette of last Sunday, I wrote that we'll be reading today from chapter 29 verse 31 all through chapter 30 verse 24 of Genesis. But it' s a bit too long to read all and we won't be able to pay attention to every subsections of the entire passage in any case. So I asked that only the beginning and the last part of the passage be read for his worship service.
As you already know it the passage is about the struggle, tension and rivalry in having children of Jacob between his two wives and each of the female servants to his wives; the two wives were daughters of Laban his uncle and therefore they were sisters. Some of you may wonder what kind of a message we can hear from this sort of a story. Fortunately I could gain a very clear hint from it and I would like to share it with you.
You will remember that we learned from chapter 29 from verses1 to 30 the last time around. At the outset of the chapter we were taught with what kind of viewpoint should we read the story of Jacob from chapter 29. The answer was that we should read it from the point of view written toward the end of chapter 28.
In a dream Jacob saw a ladder, which rested on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; the LORD was standing beside him and said, 'I shall be with you to protect you wherever you go.' With this marvelous promise given Jacob made his way to his uncle Laban.
It was a response of the one 'who was justified by God through faith,' to use the words of the Letter of Paul to the Galatians. How will the one, who is offered a ladder to heaven, make steps of life under the protection and guidance of God? That is the story written on chapter 29 and the following.
2. If the story from chapter 29 is about Jacob counted as righteous by God, how can we say that a man made steps of life as righteous one while having relations with two wives as well as their female servants and having had children with them?
I was seeking an answer to it by reading a Bible commentary; it pointed to verse 18, chapter 18 of Leviticus which says, 'You must not take a woman who is your wife's sister to make her a rival wife, and to have intercourse with her during her sister's lifetime.' 'Levi,' was the name, without saying, of the third son of Jacob by Leah. This meant that Jacob did what the Leviticus instructed not to saying, 'You must not.' I can imagine without difficulty how shameful it was for the Israelites of later generations, especially for the people of such pious faith as to have written the Leviticus that Jacob, their direct forefather, behaved like that.
But the Bible passage for today tells us that even such a life of Jacob was lived where God offered a ladder for him; he lived it as one counted righteous by God.
In the first place, it wasn't out of the will of Jacob himself that he had two wives who were sisters. It resulted from the trick the sisters' father Laban plotted out of his foxy calculation to make Jacob work even a day longer without pay.
If Jacob was under protection hiding himself behind the ladder from God, how was it that he could not escape from Laban's trick? That the one is placed under the protection and guidance of God would mean that one's path of life can evade such a trick by men, wouldn't it? That is how we think it should be.
3. We've learned about the paths of lives of Abraham and of Isaac. And we've heard a number of times that the Bible doesn't tell us or God doesn't think that the protection of God for us will evade us from havocs of life.
During their times, Abraham and Isaac did more than once what make us wonder why they did such a thing for we've been thinking that the link with God should keep us from doing such a thing.
But it isn't so for the fact of life. While we are offered a ladder from God, and that's the kind of situation we are placed in, we are not puppets of God. We are given freedom. We, while counted as righteous, cannot also avoid encountering with the likes of Laban. God does not keep such beings away from us.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could not escape being put in a relationship with the likes of Laban who would deceive or force them into doing something despite their intentions. The Israelites, after losing their homeland and having been made to wander in exile, are placed exactly in that kind of situation. Just as Jacob had to take recourse to Laban, his uncle as the only one to give him hide-out, the Israelites have nowhere to hide themselves.
However, being placed in such a situation doesn't mean it is an evidence for them of not being placed under the guidance and protection of God; it is not a circumstance resulting from them having been abandoned by God. Rather, being placed in such a circumstance, one finds a ladder being offered from God: a fruit only the ones justified as righteous by God can bear thanks to the linkage they have with God.
That, I think, is the message directed to us, as well. We at times fall into doing despite ourselves what we think we cannot ethically and morally pardon ourselves doing. We could also be a cause of major accident by negligence. We could be plunged in a situation where we feel remorse of what we've done.
To such likes of us, the Bible passage for today tells that in a circumstance of that nature the fruit will be born which can grow only thanks to us having been justified as righteous by God.
The best, of course, would be not being put in a situation as Jacob had been. But, as I told you a number of times, we cannot at times escape being put in such a situation. However, a ladder from God is offered even to such a place, and a fruit will bear which appears only when one is counted right by God. To be justified righteous by God and to walk the ladder offered by God are so deep; a relationship no one can break down.
4. The next question is how is the fruit making appearance in Jacob which bears solely thanks to God offering a ladder to him? The answer to this is clear in the words of verse 31, chapter 29 and in verse 22, chapter 30. The answer is clear there for what resulted then thanks to the cares God gave to Leah and Rachel were clearly written; thanks to the intervention God made over the relationship of Jacob to them and to his offer of ladder or bridge.
To say it in a reverse way, the verses tell how the relationship of Jacob with his two wives would have been, had there not been intervention or guidance by God. Through that depiction we get to have a better understanding of what kind of fruit God gave.
To extend a bit more on what if there had been no God's intervention, Jacob unloved Leah, which I would say is quite natural. Laban, the father of Leah, could not deceive Jacob without collaboration of Leah. It was natural that Jacob unloved and disliked Leah who deceived him hand in hand with her father.
Verse 17 of chapter 29 puts it that 'Leah had gentle eyes.' But it could be translated to say 'she was dull-eyed.' Some are dull-eyed and I wonder if that is because of disease. At any rate it must have been hard for a woman to be dull-eyed. On the other hand, Rachel 'was beautiful in both face and figure.' And Jacob loved Rachel with all his heart.14 years of work without pay was 'like a few days' because he loved her. (Chapter 29, verse 20)
Was Jacob's whole-hearted love for Rachel sufficient for everything? No, it wasn't, I would think. There was something of vital importance that cannot be had just by his love to Rachel. And it was child.
Chapter 30, verse 22 puts it that God took thought for Rachel; he heard her prayer and gave her a child. No matter how so much Jacob loved Rachel the couple couldn't have a child without the intervention of God. It goes without saying that Leah, who was unloved by Jacob, also couldn't have a child without God working for her.
It is said that love is everything; anything can be done if you have love; if only we have will or thought anything is possible. The fact is that it is not so. Jacob learned of it with much pain as written on verse 2 of chapter 30. 'Can I take the place of God, who has denied you children?'
Jacob learned that there is something that cannot be had without intervention of God, no matter how much he loved Rachel and how much he wished to have a baby. Coming to know of the limitation of one's own love is perhaps the fruit he could get thanks to being put in a place where a ladder from God is offered.
5. In the ways mentioned, fruits were born from who Jacob unloved and also from who Jacob could not have even with so much love, but only thanks to God having justified him as righteous. Verse 31 of chapter 29 puts it saying, 'When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he granted her a child.' What a wonderful words! Words we would inscribe in our hearts. God's intervention worked at whom Jacob unloved.
And from who Jacob unloved were born good beyond imagination. The last section of chapter 29 tells about births of four children. From the third son Levi emerged Moses and Aaron, from who developed a tribe of priest in later years. From Judah the forth son arose David, the family line leading to Jesus Christ.
Those were the children who could not be born just out of the natural human feeling of love and hatred on the part of Jacob; children leading to the Israelites after generations and to the faith of us of today. What are truly good came to life by the intervention of God from Leah who was unloved by Jacob.
I see the wonders of being offered a ladder by God, of being justified as righteous by God. As taught at the outset we may also be having unloving and unloved relationship. We have relationship in which we are forced to do things despite our will; relationship, matters and people we wouldn't accept with pleasure. However, the intervention of God is poured on such a point and that point will be made opened.
Let us review how Leah who was blessed by God talked in giving names to her children.
She said, 'The LORD has seen my humiliation,' 'The LORD, hearing that I am unloved,' 'Now I shall praise the LORD.'
The children of Jacob who are linked down the road to the faith of us today in God are the ones who were given their names by mother Leah out of her faith in God; the children not from whom Jacob loved, but from whom Jacob unloved and whom God in his place loved and blessed. And we happen to be their descendants.
(Translated by Mr. Hiroshi NISHIDO from the gist prepared in Japanese)
Genesis 29:31- 30:2, 30:22- 24
Chapter 29:
31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he granted her a child, but Rachel remained childless.
32 Leah conceived and gave birth to a son; and she called him Reuben, for she said, 'The LORD has seen my humiliation, but now my husband will love me.'
33 Again she conceived and had a son and said, 'The LORD, hearing that I am unloved, had given me this child also'; and she called him Simeon.
34 She conceived again and had a son and said, 'Now that I have borne him three sons my husband will surely be attached to me.' So she called him Levi.
35 Once more she conceived and had a son, and said, 'Now I shall praise the LORD'; therefore she named him Judah. Then for a while she bore no more children.
Chapter 30:
1 When Rachel found that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister and complained to Jacob, 'Give me my sons, or I shall die!'
2 Jacob said angrily to Rachel, 'Can I take the place of God, who has denied you children?'
Chapter 30:
22 Then God took thought for Rachel; he heard her prayer and gave her a child.
23 After she conceived and bore a son, she said, 'God has taken away my humiliation.'
24 She named him Joseph, saying, 'May the Lord add another son to me!'
(The Revised English Bible)