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Passages: John 9:25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” John 8:31-32 31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Romans 12:2 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ------------------------------ Good morning Church! I want to thank the kids who helped today. This Sunday- being the last Sunday of the month- is our youth Sunday-- thanks guys for helping us out every month! and you may have noticed that this week we will take another look at John 9! Last week Pastor Tabuchi brought us a message on this passage- one of the verses I had also already chosen to speak on a few weeks ago! Neither of us knew that the other had chosen that passage so….makes me wonder if we are maybe supposed to be looking hard at this passage- lets give it another look ok? It’s an interesting contrast between what we read in the New Testament about Jesus and his followers and what we see in most churches today. We work hard to know stuff but How much does one really need to know? How much does one need to know to get saved? To get baptized. To get healed. At what point do we know enough? Let’s look at a few examples of what we see in the Bible. First, I love the story in John 9 – yes, John 9- about the blind man who is healed by Jesus. I hope you enjoyed the skit this morning- thanks Ed and friends! Most of us know the story well. Jesus and his disciples come upon a blind man and they want to know whose fault it was, but they are redirected in this moment to consider a new possibility – God will use this man’s healing in a good way. Ok, then, you have to agree this is weird, and I hope, I am never asked to heal anyone this way- Jesus makes some mud with his spit - like Pastor Claudia showed us last week with little Hamlet and puts it on the guy’s eyes then…says “now go wash this off over there” and he does! So, a couple of steps not just “be healed”. Good to see that the man had to trust Jesus enough to let him put the mud on him and then go do something- almost all the healings of Jesus have a part the person needed to play- some part Jesus or God and some part them or us. Ok, so then the guy can see! He goes home and everyone is shocked- then the church people want to question him- NOT like wow- this is great- more like hmmmm, this is trouble. We need to check this out – with frowns! So, they push him hard to “tell the truth” - as they say - and explain how Jesus did this and push their objections that this is not right, nor God and that Jesus is in fact…. a sinner! The guy just says, famously: “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” Amen! So much we don’t know- so many questions we cannot answer- so much to confuse or throw us off or cause us to miss the point- what this guy KNEW was- he was blind but now he could see. Wow, good answer! And he wasn’t kidding- just after that Jesus meets up with him and asks him essentially if he believes in the messiah – The son of man- and the guy is open, “uh who is that?” and Jesus says – that’s me- “ok” the guy says and he believes! I wish we could all start like this- get touched by God but not try to explain the history of the church -- just know what we know and go introduce others to that guy I mean if you are touched or changed or healed- you know it. That’s actually a big deal- don’t get sucked in to trying to explain it too much! Much of what we actually know can get buried in debate over things we don’t know but…. which mostly don’t matter! He knew he got healed and then he trusted Jesus for the next part of believing in Him as the anointed one- the son of man. That works! I love other passages where the people seem to have sort made up something they imagined about Jesus …. and Jesus went along! You know what I mean? I mean who told the Centurion that Jesus was like his army unit? Who told blind Bartimaeus to yell (and what the heck – Jesus followers telling him to be quiet! So good he did not listen to them!!) What was Mary thinking when she overrode Jesus – when Jesus said , “not yet Mom” – but Mary told the servants, “ do whatever he says” - bit pushy but…she got the wine! The woman with the issue of blood- where did she get this idea- “If I can just touch a bit of his robe…” Really? BUT funny how these tiny small trivial pieces of Knowing- things they thought were true – were honored by Jesus. They trusted Jesus even with their little knowing. I suggest that Jesus knew their hearts- and that they – in their simplicity and in their hearts knew who Jesus was- just enough to make the connection. I mean I doubt anyone really knew who Jesus was! Really knowing?! Like we try to do today with scholarship and study and endless debates- no- Jesus asked Peter as we read in Matthew 16 15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. Right. What we need to know is that we don’t need to know a lot and the spirit may be our main source of knowing. I love this passage when church people present their views on baptism. Churches often walk people thru a system of prayers and study but listen to how this went in the book of Acts chapter 10 Acts 10: 44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message. All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have!” So, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days. Oh no! What about the prayer of confession and they had no classes on baptism! Funny. All of that is not all bad- but …sometimes it is …when we make it bigger than it should be. I like the way this passage reads in the amplified Bible as it opens new meaning to a familiar verse: Matthew 11:28-30 (AMP) 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. I worry that we make getting saved, healed, delivered, set free, too hard- harder than Jesus made it. A few solid Bible passages give us a hint that truth is found with our spirits more than our minds like Jesus suggested in Matthew 18:3 where he says we should come as kids: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Hmm. So, what’s the point. It’s actually good news….and bad news. The good news is you can get saved and healed and delivered and it need not be complicated! The bad news is you are here in church so you may have a lot of baggage in the way! I have found it easier to pray for healing for non church people than church people. They seem more open! Church people seem to get confused with too much information or church mis information! So, what to say to my brothers and sisters in church. First, as Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (NIV) … “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Start with the Bible and know it – look for the patterns and don’t get stuck on single passages. The patterns are the major things like love and faith taking care of each other. And in Romans 12:2 (NIV) 2Do not be conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. We renew our minds primarily in two ways- we read our Bible and …. we ask for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to what is there and show us what it means John 14:26 says in the New Living Translation: But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I think I shared with you all before- when I first came to Japan, I was in a state of …disaster or “renewal” I guess if I say it another way. I mean I was down/beat up /defeated and was needing to reset; restart; and one thing which is funny- in preparing to come to Japan God specifically told me- no extra books and commentaries - just your Bible- for that season- read it and listen and I will teach you first. It was a profound lesson and a great couple of years and what he revealed to me has been priceless all these 35 years. Now I do have all my extra books and commentaries- they’re not bad- we just need to get the priority right on some stuff. And I always check with the Holy Spirit as well. So, here is my challenge for you today: Do you need help? Do you feel like you are “saved” “sanctified” “whole”? IF not- the good news is help is here (Holding up Bible) and it’s not a 4-year program! With a Bible and the Holy Spirit, we can have more than what we probably think is fair or reasonable! I want us to be like Mary and insist a little; to take what you we know and use it like the centurion, to be persistent like Blind Bart – if you are in trouble- yell out and don’t let the church people quiet you! Press in like the Canaanite woman- which is the only time I recall when Jesus turned someone away- he was making a point that he was first here for the Jews, but she needed help- for her daughter and so it went like this in Matthew 15 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 26Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” 27She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” 28“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed. Good on her! Jesus is here now and wants to connect- Don’t let what you don’t know mess up what you do know Let me say that again- it’s one of my fav phrases Don’t let what you don’t know mess up what you do know ….nor who you know! Do you know you need the touch of God but can’t explain predestination? Are you struggling for how to present the gospel to a friend when you maybe just need to pray a childlike prayer- “God help my friend know You.” and share what you do know. I bet your spirit knows some stuff and you need to let God touch you wherever the hurts are – you need to invite Jesus to transform you as you renew your mind with His word. ----Let’s pray God help us focus on you and your presence Protect us from getting confused and missing the point. Help us be strong with the little we know and our confidence in You. And for those of us with needs- help us trust you for the answers we need. In Jesus name- Amen.
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Scripture: John 9:1-12, 35-41
Good morning, and How are you? It is 19th of July today, that is we are already in the latter half of this month, and also the latter half of this year 0f 2020. Again I want to ask you another “How” question, and how was your first half year of 2020. COVID-19 Pandemic is the most unexpected, severe and vigorous influence towards our society. We are seriously worried to be infected with this disease for our physical body and also to our mind, mentally.During this time, we have been force to listen many news about the pandemic and the opinions of many people disagree, competing more than that, criticizing or attacking to other person, between medical doctors, critics, economists, and politicians. Some use very strong expression something like “not true”, “fake” or even “lie.” Why is that situation? Everybody thinks it necessary to overcome the situation and make people safe and happy, I strongly believe, but there are so many disputes, argument, and battles of the words and idea. It is very interesting and actually alarming that the top politician in one country calls a prominent medical doctor’s comment as “fake” and ”lie.” Is this caused by this person’s personality only? In one sense we can say “yes,” but if we see that politician’s comment in broader context or background, we may see other reason for that. By the way, which do you trust more in science or political philosophy? Or Science to religious belief? It is rather tricky question in the Christian church situation. But for many ordinary, non-religious people in the society, the answer is quite simple, SCIENCE! of course! Then how the people are so sure? And I would like to ask the people, then, what is the meaning, and its character of science, could you explain? This is the point that made unhappy relationship between science and politics, or science and religion. We should know what does science mean to us, I cannot give a two hours lecture on this topic here today (if you don’t mind, I can though), but to get to the point straight, science cannot claim the absolute truth at all. It can present most plausible or probable propose on any subject based on the most available evidence. Yes, it shows us a hypothetical solution, very suggestive and useful at that time, but not the ultimate, only one resolution. Sometime later, other better idea or understanding for the issue, it would be replaced the position as a leading opinion for that. Taking the COVID-19, it is very little known to the medical society yet, and many hypothetical suggestions are proposed, but nothing definite and absolute. How about vaccines or medicines or to wear face masks or not? Talking about face masks, the medical experts insists to put them on to prevent any harm to yourself and the people around you, that comment is very persuasive to me, but we know that one simple mask, something like Abeno-mask, cannot protect us perfectly. So, someone who expects the perfect and the full ultimate solution to science, sometime feels disappointed with the answer from it. They could easily say “fake” or “lie” to it. More than that, person like me who could not get very good scores in Math and Science at high school tends to see scientific thinking rather critical even cynically. What I want to insist here today is, science is the hypothetical resolution to any issues, but well plausible, possible, persuasive and effective if they are firmly based on objective evidence as much as possible. But still not absolute. It is rational enterprise indeed, solely based on the facts. The problem of the people claiming this reasonable engagements as “fake” or “lie” is that thy are weak to produce the counter facts to the scientific arguments, or sometime no base for their claim, saying “I just think so”, or “from my own knowledge”. That attitude is quite subjective and self-centered, or very narrow minded failing to see different idea or things other than themselves. And this kind people appeared in today’s scripture, John chapter 9. It is the fairly long chapter and today I asked to read only the very first part of it and the last. Please read rest of this chapter after the service. Story itself is quite simple, Jesus came to meet a blind-beggar from the time of his birth, who has no name here, So temporary only during my sermon I may call him Mr F after the name of the Saint on 19th July St Felix, (following the Catholic traditions though). Then Jesus opened his eyes, that’s all what happened. Yes, an eye opening experience for Mr F. If we read other Gospels than St. John, story ends here, however, in John this incident ignited huge discussion on Mr F. Curiously, many people there had seen what happened to Mr F but some Jewish leaders of the community thought it was a fake happening, and even call Mr F a liar. Mr F insisted what had happened to him, but finally he was kicked out from his society, since he claimed it was fake news, as people said to him. Why people took it as fake, there are couple of reasons for that. No.1 Mr F was born-blind-beggar, and many common people saw some disadvantage people like him had no favor from God, as the disciples of Jesus commented on him, as "who sinned, this man or his parents?” His problem was caused by his or his parents sin. and God never give mercy to those people, they thought with their religious idea. No.2 Jesus was becoming a popular preacher of Gospel to many people, who were rather segregated from “normal” people of his age, but His words and deed were so powerful and encouraging to many. So some religious leaders of His time had some jealous feeling even thinking Jesus “dangerous.” So whatever Jesus did, they were reluctant to recognize it as God’s action, and saw the outcome negatively. To sum up these reasons, No.3 the ordinary people surrounding Mr F had strong faith in God through their own common sense, knowledge, and experience. They knew God’s miraculous act towards their ancestors in the story, tale, or tradition, but never thought it could happen their time. Yes, God is great, God saves us, God is mercy indeed, but not now, not here, not to him, that is not to Mr F. They had been keeping their faith as a custom or habit, just following the formality and style. Was this type of faith could be “Living Faith” for them? Could they see God’s in real and admire the God’s commitment to the people at the time of their own? Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, here Pharisees, to whom we heard from Hiroko-san last week, “ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (v.41) If the people claimed that they could see everything clearly, but actually they failed to admit Mr F’s eye opening experience, one simple fact, and urge him to deny it. If we want to avoid fakeness, just stick to the facts, to pursue the reality of the incident to understand its background and reason. Do not make any hasty judgement only on the indirect, obscure information. As you are not based on the real facts, you cannot present persuasive, reasonable opinion of yours. We should not comment about anything, nor never call it “fake” without firm evidence, or we will be making ourselves “fake” person. How do you think what the people and Pharisees around Mr F really failed to see? The fact of his eye-opening incidents? Jesus’ miraculous power of healing and cure? Yes, you are near to the right answer, however there is a most important thing to him more than these things, that Jesus remind the people and us to recognize. Why people and we only argued whether Jesus could open his eyes or not, how this kind of miracle could be done? And never congratulate him for his eye-opening for the first time in his life. Why they and we could not share his overwhelming joy. The most central issue of John 9 is, “the works of God might be displayed in him” (v.2), or another version of the Bible says, “God could show what he can do for him.” (God’s Words translation), Yes, God did works to him on that very day, and Jesus showed the people and us, very simple fact, God cares us always, in other word, God loves us! And this very basic fact we and many common people dismiss and blind to recognize. Even the disciples of Jesus thought the cause of Mr F’s former rough situation caused by sin, this idea is just deeply rooted into our tendency to any kind of our discrimination to others, who are different from us, or even among ourselves. Do you see what God is doing to you through the Gospel of Jesus, right now, right here, and right for you ? Let us pray, God, Open our eyes to see your commitment among us right now, right here, and right for us and me. Please teach us how to love and accept others, since you are always love us, to which we sometime fail to see. Give encouragement to our people far and near to our community particularly at this difficult time of pandemic, natural disaster, and economic situation. Please show us how to love our neighbors in these situations. We pray this prayer in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen Matthew 9:14-17
14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” *************************************** Hello, my name is Hiroko Hayase. By the way, do you have any hobbies? My hobby is growing vegetables. I'll show you some pictures. There are several houses that have kitchen gardens in our residential area and we too have a small garden to grow vegetables. The place where we live is top of Rokko Mt. The ground is mountain soil which contains scarcely enough nutrition to grow vegetables. When we prepared the soil for planting, we found lots of stones and rocks which is not ideal for growing anything. We collected fallen leaves to make compost, removed stones & rocks, dug up large tree roots, and finally replaced the mountain soil with rich compost and fertilizer which took nearly 2 years. So, we learned planting new vegetables requires a brand new soil and this gave me an inspiration to Todays’ lesson. OK Todays Bible verse, Matthew 9:14-17, the question John the Baptist’s disciples asked: "Why don't your disciples fast?" - Why don't they keep the law? The Jews had the habit of "fasting" as a religious good deed (Luke 18:9–13), but their fasting was often hypocritical and was meant to show off to people about their actions. Although both John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting which is a common Jewish practice, they were not particularly close. John’s disciples simply could not understand why Jesus' disciples wouldn’t fast as they do. To this question, Jesus answered by talking about the bridegroom, new unshrunk cloth, new wines, new wineskins: what is the connection to the question of Fasting? Are you satisfied with this answer? What do you think of? It is like somebody asking me for directions to the station in the garden, and I start to explain how important it is to change the mountain soil to grow vegetables. As you can see – the answer does not match the question in the conversation, does it? So why did Jesus start to talk about ambiguous parables? There is a reason for it. Let's take a closer look at the situation behind this. The legalism of the Pharisees up to now is a hypocritical and external performance of faith such as offering, praying, fasting, and these are showing off to others. (Matthew 23:5–7, 25, 27, 29, 33) They also transgress the commandment of God because their tradition neglected the important teachings. (Matthew 15:3, 6) Many times the Lord Jesus said to them “Listen and understand”, but the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying. (Matthew 15:12) Bible says that the Pharisees went out and plotted against Jesus, how they might destroy Him. (Matthew 12:14) Knowing that, Jesus wouldn’t want to be caught by the Pharisees in order to fulfill the salvation of God as prophesized by Isaiah. The time for God’s salvation plan has not yet come, and God's timing Kairos has not come yet. Jesus does not want to be caught before God’s timing. Therefore, Jesus doesn’t give the Pharisees an opportunity to take an advantage of Him. He talks in parables to hide the true message of the Gospel making it difficult for the Pharisees to argue or understand. Interestingly, Jesus’ disciples at that time asked Jesus why he would speak in parables. It's as if they speak from our hearts. Jesus replied Matthew 13:13 "I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” In other words, it's because they're listening to Jesus, but they don't understand what it means. The message behind the Jesus’ parables are hidden deliberately. Therefore, Jesus says that disciples and we/ need to understand the will of God through examining the parables carefully. So, let's take a look at what's hidden in the parable one by one. The first parable, here Jesus does not condemn the fasting of John's disciples or the Pharisees. Fasting is for repentance and sadness, and at a joyful wedding banquet, Jesus replies, "How can the friends of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” At the time of the celebration, it is not appropriate to show a sad face as if it is a time of mourning. John the Baptist himself said in his figuratively speaking that Jesus is the bridegroom and he is the friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29). And this parable was easy to understand for John's disciples since the story of the daily life of Judea at that time. But when the time comes when the bridegroom is taken from the disciples, they will fast. The time refers to Kairos when God determines, apparently the crucifixion, when Jesus is taken from this world. This was still hidden to the disciples. However, now is the time to rejoice being with Jesus, and to listen to the words of the Lord and experience the joy of the gospel. It's not the time for fasting. After this parable, Jesus tells two more parables. The second parable is about a patch of unshrunk cloth. When a new piece of cloth is sewn onto an old garment, the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. I remembered learning the different shrinkage of the cloth in home economics at school. The old cloth which is often washed and was shrunk, while the new cloth still retains its elasticity. When washed, the new piece of cloth shrinks pulling the old garment and creating a greater tear than before. There is a risk of laundry when the clothes have different shrinkages. This is wisdom and common sense for the Jewish housewives. The third parable is about pouring new wine into new wineskins. The newly prepared premature wine will ferment and increase more and more in volume. Depending on the rate of expansion, the wineskin must also be resilient and the leather needs to expand together with the wine fermentation. The old wineskin has already expanded and lost its elasticity. Thus, pouring new wine into an old wineskin will inevitably burst the wineskin and the wine will run out. The result is ruin to the wineskin and the newly prepared wine. From these three parables, Jesus is talking about the bridegroom, the new piece of cloth, the new wine, and the new wineskin. They are common sense stories based on daily life at that time, even a child would have understood. Then, what is the hidden message in these parables? The disciples and we need to understand the hidden message in which we need to hear and see. It is quite a common knowledge that we don’t sew a new patch of cloth on an old garment. Firstly, we need to think about what an old garment means. Secondly, we need to think about the situation at that time, 2000 years ago. Jesus who preached the Gospel entered the world during the period of legalism and authoritarianism of the Pharisees. For the Pharisees and religious leaders/ what Jesus said was considered alien and it was as if stitching a new cloth on an old garment. These religious leaders felt that the Gospel of Jesus was creating confusion, threat and division among themselves and the Jews. We cannot sew the Gospel of Jesus, which is a "brand new patch of unshrunk cloth", on the old garment of legalism. It's a whole new Gospel. In other words, Jesus says that the teaching of Gospel of Kingdom of God is not an extension of current legalism in the Jewish community. And pouring new wine into an old wineskin will tear the wineskin – It is quite a common knowledge at that time as well. You can now imagine what the new wine is. The new wine is the Gospel that Jesus brought. What Jesus is trying to explain to the John’s disciples and Jewish leaders is that you cannot put the Gospel of Jesus which is the new wine into the Pharisees’ legalism like Fasting which is the old wineskin - This would be unrealistic and both will be ruined. Therefore, the new wine must be poured into a new wineskin and both are preserved. Hence, the new wineskin represents – New faith led by the Holy Spirit. As mentioned before, the legalism of Pharisees neglects the important God’s grace in the original law. The fasting that John's disciples aptly questioned was also mere religious performance by the Pharisees. These religious performances are now considered to be old garments and old wineskins. It means they have nothing to do with the New Gospel Jesus teaches. On the other hand, Jesus means that the Gospel is a new garment, a new wine, in which God is the central axis putting emphasis on the inner self. The message of salvation and the Gospel that Jesus is going to fulfil, as promised in the Old Testament, is this – the new Gospel will NOT be neither an extension of the legalistic culture of the Pharisees nor will it be an addition to the existing Jewish teachings. The two teachings are incompatible. Jesus wasn’t revealing yet that a new era of faith is coming soon after the impending cross, where He will shed his blood for the atonement of our sins, died, and resurrected on the third day, and send the Holy Spirit on Pentecostal day to our hearts. When the time comes, everything must be renewed like a new garment or new wineskin. This is the message of Jesus hidden in the parable that we need to understand and prepare our heart for the gospel. So, what is the message for us today? We need to discern every day what is new in our faith, spiritual growth, or conversion to new faith. Many people at KUC participate in the online service and also participate in the Sunday school more than before due to Stay at Home policy during this corona virus epidemic. Some may have a new faith guided by the Holy Spirit. You may have been experiencing a deeper fellowship with God. You may have an increased desire to know more about the Bible and to understand God. Some may have a wish to follow Jesus with a new faith. Please put your new faith, renewed faith and your spiritual growth on a new garment or into a new wineskin. Jesus warned that if you let a new faith and spiritual growth put together with your old self, both your new faith and yourself will be ruined. What does the ruin mean? It is difficult for us humans to face our weaknesses, bad habits, temptations, and indulgence and to overcome them. Because our enemy is stronger than we are and is more cunning than us. And one of the greatest weapons that this enemy has is temptation. He is the Evil One. And so Jesus teaches us to pray “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” If you are sitting on the fence, undecided either on your old self or your new faith, you'll give this formidable demon a chance to intervene in your life. Even though, you may not be able to forgive yourself, may be suffering from you past failure or your inferiority, may be in pain physically or emotionally, may be in financial trouble, may be isolated and lonely, we need pray together that we believe in God who can deliver us and provide a solution. And we are able to follow Jesus with our new faith. I'll say it again. Jesus says: if a patch of new cloth on an old garment, the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse, and if you pour new wine into an old wineskin, the wine and the wineskin will be ruined. But the new wine is poured into a new wineskin and both are preserved. Today, if you feel you have a new faith, spiritual growth, new desire to know God more, please take a positive step to start a new life to invite Jesus into your heart. Yes, 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” That way, it will be the first step to our great vision that we grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ. (2nd Peter, 1:8) I would like to finish this sermon with Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr. Let us pray, God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace. Amen. Matthew 20:1-16
Revised Standard Version 20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” ----------------------------- I’ll begin with this cartoon of the sheep talking to each other about the parable of the vineyard. “This parable bugs me! That first guy gets totally ripped off” The second sheep responds, “Well, if you think about all the people Jesus called before you and I, we are coming into this a little late in the game too don’t you think?” The first sheep goes, “I LOVE this parable”. I will share a little background to help us understand this parable better. In Jewish tradition long ago, it was thought that God had especially blessed the rich and that’s why they were rich. In their way of thinking, if a wealthy man could not receive salvation, then how could a poor man have any hope? In Matthew 19:23 Jesus answered, 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With mortals this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 27 The disciples then asked Jesus who could be saved? Was it fair the rich might not be saved? Was if fait that those who worked the hardest would be save along with those who didn’t? Speaking about fairness, I would like to share a personal example. My kids growing up would say, “It’s not fair!” Whether it was who got the bigger slice of cake or who had to do more chores. Or who got more t.v. time. My sons are 6 years apart so back when they were young, the older one, Kai, had more chores than the younger one, Koh, but Kai would complain why he had to do more chores and say it wasn’t fair. I would patiently (or not so patiently) explain that his younger brother was not capable of doing as much as he was because he was older and bigger. Unlike the story about my kids and their different capacity for work, this parable doesn’t tell us what the quality of the work was or who did a good job or not. It just lets us know that they were all paid the same wage regardless of what time they were hired. We, as adults, struggle with what is fair or not. It is not fair if someone has a better job than you do when you have the same experience. It’s not fair some people have more money than others. Life has not been fair for those who have skin a different color, race, or ethnic group. In Japan, has life been fair for the Koreans and other Asians who have lived here for generations and cannot even vote. If we look around, I am sure we can all find examples of unfairness in the world. The traditional meaning of this parable Matthew 20:1-16 is the fact that you can become a Christian at any point in your life and you will receive equal treatment in heaven. But parables can have more than one meaning. Let’s look again at the story. It was the harvest time. The landowner went to the Town Square to hire laborers for his vineyard. Throughout the entire day the owner of the vineyard is going out to invite workers to work! The owner could be responding to the workers need to work more than to his need for workers. If we look at Matthew 25 and this parable together you see how Jesus came for the needy, the poor, the hungry. The bible is full of stories of Jesus helping the outcasts and God favoring the poor, the widow, and the oppressed. Maybe the landowner decided to hire those who could not work long hours – the elderly and the disabled – or maybe those who were rejected - those who were discriminated against in society or on the periphery of society. We can only speculate. What we do know from the parable is that at sunset all of them lined up to be paid and had been paid the same amount. Those who had worked eleven hours had been paid the same as those who had worked only one hour. This made those workers who had worked longer quite upset. But the landowner replied, "Do you begrudge me my generosity?" Am I not allowed to do what I please with what belongs to me? It is just not fair. It's grace. We have to take seriously that God's grace doesn't meet our usual standards of fairness. So if the landowner wanted to help those other people and be generous it was his choice. God’s ways are not our ways. It may seem unreasonable. Actually it is unreasonable. God turns the world upside down. Maybe some of those who were asked to work later were disabled and could not work as long. People in Japan with disabilities are often discriminated against in society. Roughly one in 20 people in Japan has some sort of disability or another -mentally or psychically. They are invisible in Japanese society. Rev. Toyohiko Kagawa, who was born in 1888, felt called to help those on the periphery in society. He didn’t believe is was fair for the poor to have so few rights. He felt called by God to live among the poor in the slums of Kobe. In a society where things were not fair, Kagawa tried to help and treated those on the periphery as God’s children. God is gracious enough to keep inviting folks. That is God’s way. The owner of a vineyard, God, keeps coming out to invite more and more people to join in the labor of his vineyard. Here us another sheep cartoon for you. We still may worry about what is fair or not. But God’s grace is not based upon what is fair. If God had went strictly by what is fair, then salvation would be out of our grasp. Laboring for God is a blessing. If you work longer in the field than others, the blessing and grace is in the work itself. None of us deserve God's grace; it is freely given. We can be partners with God in bringing that grace to others. How can we do this? We are invited to serve in God's vineyard. Like the Lord, we are invited to be generous and loving. Our Lord came as a laborer and invites us to that fruit of the vineyard, his holy labor of a body broken for us and a blood poured out for us. We are welcome to the Lord’s vineyard -all of us. Amen. |
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