To the body of Christ. I have many brothers and sisters all over this world that God has made and given to us. And, I am very proud of them -- not only am I proud of the Christians that I have met in Japan, but so too am I proud of the many I have only heard about; such as those Anglicans in Africa, who after accepting the messianic Jewish teachings of Paul, among the Apostles, chose to forsake a portion of their cultural heritage and, being holy in this teaching, be noticeably monogamous. Having done this thing, God further blessed them in giving them a strong voice in announcing the true direction of God's Church within this faith, thereby rejecting the popular view of homosexuality today and the issue of homosexual leadership that threatened to destroy this branch of the Church. This was a great victory for God's people, and we should remember that God used His black people, not His white people, to do this. But, I do not merely hero worship here. In truth, I only have one hero and that is Christ, who is as much alive today as He was when He taught us 2,000 years ago, and who was alive long before He was born to us, a Jew and heir to His ancestor King David's throne. No, I do not worship any of my brothers and sisters like Christ, but everyone has proven themselves courageous, as it was given them to be. I am proud of them instead because they chose to be faithful -- that is the source of my pride and joy in them.
Christian love.
But I write this because every member of this, my family, are at different levels of growth and I wish to help all of those among my family who are still struggling with issues that I have already overcome, even as I desire the support of those who are beyond me. Our Lord and King, Jesus, prayed and often taught that we should have this love for each other. And, I believe, this is righteousness, and can easily accept what our Lord said as true; that by this, those who are as yet without will know that we are Christians, because of such marvelous love. I believe this is a love given to us, and not one that we have yet to obtain, and I believe that we must learn to use it for the sake of the Kingdom, for our love of Christ, and for the love of all Mankind. It is the greatest thing we can do after truly loving our true God with all of our hearts and beings. [And, I say this not only to my brothers and sisters, but to all people -- for there is one true God, who made us, and loves us, and He is not without power but has made a way for us to go so that we can be saved, even though we are failures. And, I have learned that when we come to that place where we truly know Him we will also love Him as He already loves us, and this great love that comes from Him will then flow through us, allowing us to love even those whom He alone loves, if we truly love Him. This is the great peace that only Jesus offers the World.] I am saying that this is a thing that is within our power to do because of our relationship to Jesus, and I am saying that we should honour Him in doing it. Again, I say, it is the greatest, and also most wonderful, thing we can do, once we truly love God.
Christ's presence.
Now, as I have said, I am writing this because many of my brothers and sisters need to hear these following words: Our Lord is indeed very much alive, and able to share Himself with us as there is need, and we should never doubt this -- though our lives are often filled with doubts. Today, Chapel Noah's pastor, Katsumasa Hirota, has chosen a large passage from the Acts of the Apostles, in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, and this is found in Acts 27:1-26. I will not repeat his sermon for a translation of it in English can be found at . But, I would like to remind you of a point in the text found in verses 21 to 26. Here we find Paul had been in prayer and fasting amidst a terrible storm and ordeal. This may be a thing to remember when we meet crises of kidnapping, hostage-taking, and hi-jacking in our personal lives. The angel of God, whose Paul was, and whom Paul served came to Paul, and comforted him in his misery, and then Paul took these words of comfort and translated to the community of people who were suffering with him. This was the work of Christ. It was Christ who met with Paul in Paul's travail. Paul sought out the Lord, and the Lord answered. The fact that this was not delusion is evident in the results. Prophecy was given and fulfilled in a short space of time. Hearts were lifted and lives were spared. But, let me make this more clear, for the King James translation seems ambiguous at first glance, and the NIV, NASB, NRSV, and the NJB I am sorry to say, are misleading. At issue here is the word translation in the KJV "the angel of God" as opposed to "an angel of the God" in those other texts mentioned. The greek is unclear here. And, doubtless, Luke the writer was none the wiser. As he does not have the experience himself, though he too was in the tempest. At the heart of it, is Paul's reliance in God's will, or rather Christ's will, for him to preach the Gospel to the Romans. This was Paul's most sacred journey, even though he indeed voiced a desire to continue in his ministry in Spain at a later date. It was Christ who revealed Himself to Paul in the beginning, and Christ who directed Paul, moreover it was Christ that owned Paul, and Christ whom Paul served. And so, the logical conclusion too is that it was Christ who gave Paul his hope in this terrible hour when all hope was lost. Though the weight of modern translative scholarship seems against me, even so, I see here the evidence of Christ's manifestation; and it is based on relationship. Mysteries.
Among all Christians, I must confess that I hate mysteries. This may bring a smile of self-recognition to some of you. How great it will be when we enter into that final relationship with our God, when all things will be made known to us for His pleasure, when we can finally see the sense of all that has happened to us and to the World, including our ancestors and the angels themselves. How nice it would be to know our future histories even as our Father does now. But, we are afforded so little. Perhaps because of our weakness, as we are still bonded to sin, and will be until our bodily deaths. However, on that note, I praise God that upon such death, we who have trusted in Christ will at last be free. However, the reliance of many clergy on the presumption of "mystery" urks me. To one it was said, "that no one has ever delved deeply enough into the Bible to discern all that is contained within it". By this I suppose that we often fail to gain the full implications of the Word of God, and hence misconstrue the knowledge it imparts to us. I truly believe there are fewer mysteries in that text than we suspect, analogies aside. One I would like to draw your attention to, that relates directly with this message, is the epiphanies of Christ that we find in the Old Testament. John, the Apostle, and our Lord both tell us that Christ was alive from long ago. Jesus refers directly to King David's Psalm 110, saying 'how could I be both David's descendant and Lord?' implying unless I be God. John equates Jesus, the name a derivative of Joshua meaning 'God saves', with his famous gospel text: "In the beginning was the Word: the Word (conspicuously capitalized in our translations) was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him." (NJB) The interesting thing about Jesus is the role He plays in human lives -- He is the God we see. He is never the mind, but forever the body. Because of this, I have said that Christ is God's interface between us and Himself. And this view agrees with the acclaimation that we can only be saved through Christ. For, if Christ is our interface to God, there can be no other way. It verifies too Christ's enigmatic statements: 'when you have seen me, you have seen the Father', and 'I and my Father are one', while affirming that 'only the Father knows the future', and Christ 'only knows what the Father has told Him', as well as, 'only does what the Father has instructed Him to do'. So let there be no confusion: Christ is God. There are not three Gods in Christianity. Neither can Christ be an angel as we know Satan to be, or Michael to be. However, the wording does appear confusing. The epiphanies are confusing. No one has seen God; meaning the Father, yet Moses sees God's back (is this not the same thing, is the energy that flows out of God's face more destructive to us than any energy that flows out of any other part of the Father's body, an energy so strong that God has bade special six-winged angels cover Him from the direct sight of His creation (which, I remind you was made directly through Christ)? There is a logic which makes sense here. Do not despair. Reality hinges upon Jesus, whom we no longer see in the flesh because He is no longer here but has risen (to Heaven) until the fulfillment of the Time of the Gentiles. Well, enough of this. There is much more and it can fill books. What is important now is that we recognise Christ in our daily lives and realize that He is with us even now.
The Great Commission.
In my work, I teach. I teach Japanese people contempory English conversation, and this is my "tent-making"; the occupation that allows me to exist in this country with my family at this time, but I also teach Christians, and the Church, for this is part of God's will for my life. As it may be for some of you. However we are not all teachers. Some of us are evangelists, big and little, noticed and inconspicuous. And, of course, others are pastors, helpers, intercessors... The list is long and probably incomplete. But, two facts remain. After Christ's death, the Church was in disarray, with Christ's resurrection, the Church was affirmed in its mission on Earth, and that remains to go to the world and preach the Gospel, making others disciples of our Lord, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. That is all of our duty. And the second comes out of this knowledge, that God has equipped each of us to play an active part in this mission to the World. Much has been made of this, but it is not something to feel inadequate about; because God has given us the means to do it. Therefore, stop being shy. Stop submitting to fear, and injustice; to little voices in your heads that threaten disaster or cajole you with useless fortunes. Reality hinges upon Christ alone. John has written "that in Him all things hold together [this some of us know to be the general unification theory] and in Him all things have there being." So be it. The World needs to know this. So speak of what you know. Let your voices be heard. Use the offices God has given you. Use the gifts that He gave you from that first moment of belief and allegiance in Him that saved you. Be what you are to the fulfillment of His command, and be victorious.. for we know that the gates of Hell cannot remain closed against us. Ours is the Earth. How far can we go?
Alas, nothing is new under the sun, while everything is new under the Son. I wish to conclude with the same words I first wrote to you, more than three years ago: The world is getting smaller both in its limited resources and also in its interconnectedness through technology. These too are the natural effects of the Enlightenment paradigm we are leaving behind us. An optimist would say there has never been as much potential for church growth as there is now. Indeed, with accessible fast air travel, and with the advent of the 'internet', people can almost reach anyone they want to. If only things were that simple. Like the ecology of our biosphere, we are learning that there are always more unseen, unanticipated factors at play than we can measure. As sentient beings we are still very limited in our attempts to see into the future. But we do have two thousand years of history, carefully assessed and debated. And, as Christians we also have a sure faith in God's ability to provide for His Church and Creation.
The mission field is altering with long-term missionaries being replaced by transient missionaries in the West, which is a direct result of a stifled cash-flow as many countries battle with debt and push the tolerance of the people in taxes. In addition, there are missionaries being sent by the Two-thirds World,[22] so-called because it was traditionally the place Western missionaries were sent to.
More importantly perhaps are the impatient people worldwide now looking for hope. Their hope we know can only be found in Jesus. However, the message needs to be related to them in their own communities - if anyone is going to be able to reach out it will be, not the specialists, but the common Christians, like you and me. High costs now inherent in study are reducing the hope of trained professionals. But, perhaps this is a good thing.
We are so hopelessly passionate about our habits that only God can lodge us free to act responsively in this world.[23] We already have before us the proven techniques of small groups ministry, of multiple lay-leaders, and an increasing desire to serve. These need to be balanced against our priorities as the laos (people) of God.
We need to embrace God as Francis of Assisi did, perhaps not in poverty but certainly in a willingness to serve Him. But, before we can do this we need to honestly confront God with our lives. He is the giver. We have done nothing more than receive. We can place His will first in our lives, or we can ignore His will. The Kingdom is not so much a social reality as it is a mental one. Our battle is in our minds, but He has given us the right to take captive all thoughts for Jesus Christ, and if God be for us, who can be against us?
The brotherhood and sisterhood of Jesus Christ is all around us. Our family is bigger and better and more wonderful than we can ever fully experience now. It includes the clergy and the laity, the rich and the poor, men and women, adults and children, all races. It is universal. The Ecumenical paradigm fulfilled will be its mental realization. It is waiting for us.[24]
Bibliography.
McKenna, David L., The Coming Great Awakening: New Hope for the Nineties, Downer Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1990.
Segler, Franklin M., The Christian Layman, Nashville: Broadman Press, 1964.
Copyrighted September 1999
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