Ephesians 3:17-19 ( NRSVUE)
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Today we begin Advent. The Advent season includes the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. The four candles on our Advent candle wreath represent hope, peace, joy, and love. Advent is from Latin adventus which means “coming” or “arrival.” We await the arrival of Jesus who came, is here, and will come again. Advent is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. Advent is a season that brings to mind the Two Comings of Christ. Therefore, Advent reminds us of two things: a past gift from God and prepares us for a future promise. The past gift is the great gift of God coming to live among us because God wanted to be here with us – Emmanuel - God is with us. Advent helps us become more aware that Jesus is already here with us -here with us today. Advent reminds us also of a future promise which is that we look forward to Christmas not only as the memory of a wonderful event in the past, but we are challenged to look at Christmas as the promise of an even more glorious future coming of Jesus, which we prepare for now in our daily lives. Sr. Joan Chittister, one of my favorite authors, us some questions to ponder during this season of Advent at this time. What does the life of Jesus now mean to us? How does Jesus’ life affect our own? Are we ourselves living both the promise and the potential? Are we living to our potential here at KUC? Can we do more? We are having an AGM today and will mostly be discussing and then approving the budget but we also have positions where people can still serve on Council and KUPC. Are you using your God-given gifts and graces in our church and community? We all have our gifts and God calls us to use them. Paul prays the church in Ephesus. He prays for the Ephesians to have Christ “dwell in their hearts.” (Ephesians 3:17) Paul wants the church to become fully united to the love of Christ. We want KUC to be fully united in the love of Christ. We encourage one another, share our gifts, and show our love to others. It is a love, Paul says, which “surpasses knowledge,” but should still root and ground us, running into our the core of our motivations and desires. Paul used a picture from nature to describe our relationship to Christ’s love. Just as the roots of a tree are to sink down into the earth in search of nutrients and stability, the love of Christ nourishes and stabilizes us as followers of Christ. In addition, the roots connect us to each other and for us Christians, we connect with one another by “being rooted and grounded in love.” (Ephesians 3:17) (Slide of Redwood trees) That is how the Redwood trees in California, where I am from, grow so tall – the roots gain nourishment from the soil and from the other roots of other trees and are connected and help support the other trees in the forest. We are all interconnected and support one another. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together!” (Desmond Tutu) We are nourished by the Holy Spirit. The Christian who is rooted in the love of Christ has an endless supply of nourishment. Verse 18 says, “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth” We know that the love of Christ has breadth, for Paul has taught us it is wide enough for the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike. The love of Christ has length, for Paul has shown us it is as long as eternity, having been established from the foundation of the world. The love of Christ has height, for Paul has taught us it has raised believers to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places. The love of Christ has depth, for Paul has shown us that, though we were dead in sin, we find forgiveness in Jesus. Christ. Paul envisions a people who are completely overtaken by the love of Jesus Christ. This kind of love will help all of us at KUC to grow together, to share our gifts, to reach out to others in the community, and to change the world. May we use this Advent season as a time to grow closer to God and as a time to share God’s love. The Advent season reminds us that God is with us – Emmanuel – God is with us. God has never forgotten us. This Advent season all of us can invite the discouraged to rekindle hope and prepare to see God’s love in people and places where we may have never looked before. I close with these words from Ephesians 4: 2, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” May we be “grounded in love” for one another and Jesus here at KUC. Amen. We will now hear from our KUC moderator, Devin Stagg. “Grounded and Seated in Christ” Ephesians 4:7-16 (NKJV) Kobe Union Church --- November 27, 2022 Preacher: Devin Stagg, KUC Council Moderator I would like to add a couple passages of scripture in addition to Pastor Claudia’s message. Grounded in love means we are also grounded and seated in Christ. The outcome of being rooted and seated in Christ is that you are positioned to receive Christ’s grace that comes in the form of men and women through the five-fold ministry. Eph 4: 7-16 (NKJV) 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also [d] first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [e] edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Jesus gave gifts to all of us. Let’s review five different aspects of Jesus’ grace. Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. Jesus the apostle. This speaks to His mission. As well as his grand mission to redeem us by His work on the cross. Jesus the prophet. He did only what he saw Father God doing. For example, the woman at the well. Jesus used a word of knowledge from the Father to speak into her situation. Jesus the evangelist. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. The thousands that gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Jesus the pastor. The word made flesh, He marries us to himself. In intimacy and love, He cares for our deepest needs. Jesus the teacher. Jesus opened up the scripture as He taught. The pages became alive because we serve a living God. Each of these graces Jesus has given to us so that we may become mature. That we may grow up into the fullness of who He is. Think of it like a soda fountain. Are you familiar with the Subway sandwich fast food restaurant? My first job ever was working at one in my hometown. Most fast-food places have soda fountains, so I had to learn how they work. Soda fountains don’t have each individual drink. They have the soda water base and different soda syrups that mix to give you your drink. So when you go up and sit under the coke fountain, you receive Coca Cola grace into your cup. In the same way, when we sit under a pastor, we receive pastoral grace. Or when we receive from an evangelist like Brother Roy, we receive evangelistic grace. If we are desiring to be mature believers, then it is our challenge to come under the different graces of Christ so that we may look more like Him. I will end with this verse. Eph 2:19-22 (NKJV) 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Once we come into God’s family, we become parts of the temple. Everyone finds their place because every position references and points back at Jesus Christ himself. He is our cornerstone. He is our soda base. What flavor are you? Now that you are soda, the world needs a taste of you. We come here to be trained and equipped and in that process are transformed into a mobile temple. A tabernacle. You are a mobile temple, sent to change the world.
0 Comments
(My name is Bhim from Nepal. I am serving as in-charge among 21 churches around in my community, Nepal).
I am 2015 graduate from ARI, this is my second time in Japan, and I am as TA. Today, I am grateful and thankful for the opportunity to share about it, and happy to fellowship together. Title: God’s love and power is the Christian Identity Paul said; “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Jesus said, “You are looking for me. But I am going to die like a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies. On the third day I would rise again. I would be glorified and would ascend to My Father. You who are looking for me will be able to see me. You will still be able to see me in my fruit.” • Jesus shows the Love and power of God People can see in the Church: Love of God and the power. The love of God was shown by Jesus in many instances, one of which was when the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman who was caught in adultery. The Pharisees asked Jesus what He would do with this woman. The Law of Moses commanded that she should be stoned to death, but Jesus did not answer immediately, He stooped down and wrote on the ground, a list of their secret sins. Then Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you let him throws a stone at her first” (John 8:6-7). They were convicted by their conscience and they all left. And Jesus said to the woman: “I do not condemn you, go and sin no more” (John 8:9, 11). This instance shows the love of God. Jesus came to forgive and to save sinners, not to condemn them. His sufferings and death on the cross showed the love of God to us. The fruit of the Spirit shows the character of Jesus which can be summarized as divine love. This is how people will be able to see the Love of God in our daily life, and then people will say, we can see Jesus in the Church because we experienced the love of God in Church.
He Himself rose from the dead. All these things showed the power of God. When the Church exercises the gifts of the Spirit and the miracles begin to happen, then the people will exclaim that the power of God is present in the Church. Jesus is alive in the Church because His miracles can be seen. We need both the Love and the power of God to show to the world that Jesus is alive in the Christians Church. We cannot separate one from the other. They are like the two wings of the bird which are both needed by the bird to fly. (For the loves of Christ compels us (II Cor. 5:14). In 1970, Dr. Toba’s, a Japanese couple came to Nepal, They lived among the Khaling community and study the Khaling language and culture and produced dictionaries and many more. The Toba’s were Christians but at that time it was against the law to propagate Christianity. But they were able to make friends among the village people by dispensing medicines for common ailments, health care. At Christmas time, they invite whole village and presentation of the Christmas story. In 2001, Under Wycliffe, I got the chance to participate in the translation of the Bible into the KHALING language. It was not easy, we faced a lot challenges and hurdles, and it was stressful, financial crisis, also a time of political upheaval. Despite all these hurdles, in answer to prayer we completed the translation in 2012. Before coming to translation, I was working in tourism as a guide for foreigners Climb Mountains. It used to be a good income, and my hobby is climbing mountains, in this process, Toba sensei repeatedly requested me to translation of the Bible, I refused fourth time after last I said, yes, and started to translation, then at the end of the month he paid me Rs.4000. I was shocked, I thought, oh! How I would survive in Kathmandu city, I could not sleep well the night; I cannot escape because I already assigned the agreement for complete translation. But it was God's plan, and it was actually God's love that compelled me to complete the work of translation. The day of the dedication of the whole bible in my mother tongue tears of joy come. At that moment I realized God’s love and power. How did the gospel of God spread in remote villages in the Himalayas of Nepal? My uncle became a Christian in India and returned to Nepal, and he start to preach the gospel and pray for sick people, at that time my mother was serious sick and he prayed for my mother and she got new life and we became Christian, After being baptized my parent house was the first Christian family in village. but it was dangerous and against the law to change one’s religion in country. The number of believers increased so did persecution, Christians were taken to the jailed. Believers met secretly at night in different houses. As the beginning of the Church in Nepal was really difficult; Christian could not assemble publicly. Many of the early believers were beaten; those opposed threw stones and beat the bloody. Even Christians kept their faith and thanked their God, love and forgive them even what they done, increasing number of believers nonstop even persecution times. According to Nepal's constitution, all religions are free to practice, but even that is unpopular with extremists, anti-Christian activities are still going on. We are still not allowed to preach with complete freedom. One real story during persecution: In 1995, 68 Years Asiman Khaling, became seriously ill and died. As his son and a number of believers prepared for the funeral; washed and dressed the dead body in white burial clothes, the dead man sat up and start to speak: Oh!! My God, How long I slept; I was going up into the sky with angel, but then a very white man touch me back and said: You can’t come now!” All those who had gathered there were afraid, amazed and praise God. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also loved one another. By this, All will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). The believer, who fails to show love, has not experienced the transformation of God. “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love has been perfected in us.” God’s Love & power inspires and motivates us in this world. God’s love & power motivates us to act towards those we love. God’s love & power is active and exemplary. Through God's love and power, we churches can continue to be Christ's witnesses until His return. We are left with no other option about this identity. - The believer died with Christ and they rose with Christ to a new life: because of God’s love and power- Amen?
Sunday, November 13, 2022 - Sermon title: Brokenness, Healing and JOEE / Preacher: Ruth Ingulsrud11/13/2022 Good morning! May God’s peace and healing be with you. It’s wonderful to be here at Kobe Union Church where my former pastor, Claudia serves. My Japan home congregation is West Tokyo Union Church and Pastor Claudia served there for about seventeen years. We miss her but we are happy that she has found a warm and caring congregation here in Kobe.
My name is Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud and I am the founder of JOEE - Joyful Opportunity English Education, an “Ippan Shadan Houjin” which provides free English lessons to children growing up in care homes, or orphanages, here in Japan. JOEE provides an opportunity for these children to learn basic English with the help of native language teachers. We teach using puppets and games and songs, making the classes joyful and compelling for the children. Learning English will help them find jobs and connect with the wide world as they launch out on their own, with no family support at the age of 18. These children come from a place of brokenness. They need healing, support and love. This is why I do what I do here in Japan. Brokenness and healing compel me to act. Have you ever broken anything? A glass or a watch or an iPhone screen, or a relationship? … some things can be fixed and others can’t. Have you yourself ever been broken? Skin, bones or heart… brokenness is painful. Scars remain - both visible scars and invisible scars. The Bible has a lot to say about brokenness and healing. Look to the Psalms for words that share both pain and hope: Psalm 6:2-4 reads, “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of Your unfailing love.” Psalm 34:18 — “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 147:3 — “[You, Lord,] heal the brokenhearted and bind up all their wounds.” I’m 60 years old now, so I have been through my share of brokenness: I encountered a glass door at age 4 and got a sliver in my liver when a long shard of glass entered my small body. I have many remaining scars from that unfortunate encounter. I cracked my upper jaw on an oak banister while flying down a staircase (knocked out a baby tooth); broke a thumb while skiing; broke the other thumb in a car door; broke various toes many times over the years; snapped my Achilles’ tendon while playing badminton. I think you can tell by now that, although I want to be full of God’s grace, I am not very graceful. Most recently, last June, I broke both bones in my wrist while on a fundraising ride for JOEE — but amazingly, everything healed eventually. I have lots of visible scars, but like most people, it is the invisible scars — the ones that are a result of tragedy and heartbreak — that are the scars which are truly the deepest and most painful. I had the advantage of growing up with loving parents who took good care of me. They couldn’t protect me from everything, of course, and it seems like the wounds that are gathered when one is young are the ones that make the most lasting impressions. Childhood is important. It shapes who you become. These children that JOEE serves have been through some very rough experiences. That’s why they were taken from their families into protective care. These families are broken and the children are broken-hearted. I wish I could provide a loving family for every one of these children, but I cannot. What I can do is provide lessons with consistently kind and caring adults to help prepare them for a future on their own. In my experience, brokenness is often healed by reaching out and healing others - not focusing on our own needs but on the needs of others. The world is full of organizations that rescue hurting and abandoned animals. I know of prison programs, for example that match a rescue animal with an inmate that will care for this forlorn, needy creature. But what often happens is that these animals end up rescuing the people who take them in. Having someone to love is very healing. God knows we need love and we need healthy connections. We seem to have an innate compulsion or instinct to help when we see another animal or human in distress. Many animals, besides humans, also have this helping instinct. Both of the golden retriever dogs that I have had in my life showed this instinct to rescue. They seem to have been bred to bring the lost ones home. My childhood dog, Cinnamon, brought three orphaned bunnies home one spring day, carrying them in her mouth and gently placing them on our doorstep. We cared for them until they were ready to be released back to the wild. Our Japanese golden, Bjorn, (who was a great friend of Claudia’s) brought a tiny stray kitten home in our neighborhood in Tokyo. Dogs know the importance of rescuing critters in need. Perhaps it is no coincidence that “dog” and “God” use the same letters. But sometimes I wonder if our own hearts are less compassionate than the hearts of dogs. It seems easier for us humans to rescue and adopt broken animals than for us to rescue and adopt children from broken families. And you know, God is all about adoption. We are, all of us, adopted children of our loving heavenly parent. And we all know what it’s like to need a family. 2 Corinthians 6:18 says, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” And John 1:12 states, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Belonging and love heals the inner brokenness. We are all broken and in various stages of healing. And part of our healing, I believe, is helping others to heal. If each one of you got to know these children who are healing and being protected in the many care homes in Japan, your heart would go out to them too. There are over 40,000 displaced children in Japan but here in Japan, foster homes and adoptions are at the lowest percentage of any highly developed nation. The majority of the yearly few hundreds of adoptions that happen in Japan are mainly adoptions of young adult males. They are typically legally adopted because of a need for someone to take over the family business. Adoptions of young children, however, are very rare in Japan. Does God hear the thoughts and prayers of these children? How does God respond to these children who are in need? I believe that God hears and knows and cares deeply. One of the ways that the Lord of the universe might respond to a child in need is to send one of us, one of God’s adopted children, to go and help that child. I’m sure that if you got to know any of these kids whom JOEE serves, you would want to help too. In one of the care homes in Tokyo, there is a little boy, whom I will call “K-kun.” Recently K had to say goodbye to one of his best friends who has recently been reunited with his family. If a mother and father successfully go through counseling, the family can be reunited. So K’s friend got his family back, but K-kun is still in the orphanage. He is so sad that he no longer comes to the JOEE lessons. He used to be a star during JOEE time, calling out the English words, singing and dancing, playing with the puppets. I’m afraid that K-kun is acutely feeling the brokenness in his life. I wish I could heal that hurt. Some of these children will spend their entire young lives in a care facility. Many enter the facility at the age of two or three and grow up there. The staff at the children’s home become their only family. These kids are discriminated against at school and in society at large. They face so many challenges here. We want to give them some advantages to help them succeed in life when they are are out in the world on their own, without family support when they turn 18 years of age. I know that the world is full of brokenness and needs healing. Some healing does happen while we are still here on earth. Other healing has to wait until we get to heaven. My father lost his right hand in an accident when he was only 18 years old. He married when he was in his twenties and I, of course, only knew a father with one hand. But I did not even notice this lack of a hand until I was in first grade. I remember the exact moment when I realized he was missing his hand. A school friend, who had just met my dad, ran up to me and asked, “What happened to your dad’s hand?” In that moment, I panicked, thinking that he had just had an accident and I asked her what she meant. She gave me a quizzical look and said, “He’s missing his hand.” Right then, it hit me… my dad was missing a hand! I did not realize it until that moment. To me, he was perfect… my loving daddy, a whole person, completely capable with a great sense of humor. He was Lutheran pastor and a counselor. He played the viola, single-handedly, loved Gospel music, and had a wonderful singing voice. HIs favorite song, by the way, was “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” He was always joking about his missing limb and lived life with exuberance and not a smidge of self-pity. After my father died several years ago, I had a dream that he was embracing me in heaven. It wasn’t until after I woke up and was recalling the dream that I realized my dad was hugging me with both hands. In heaven, all brokenness is healed. I realize that some healing may have to wait until we are in heaven. Our Heavenly Father knows that we are broken but God sees us as whole, perfected creations. God know what we can be and offers healing. At the same time, Jesus loves us just the way we are. Brokenness is not the end. Sometimes brokenness is the way that we open ourselves up to the healing presence of God. When we are broken, we have an opportunity to be open to God’s healing. This may be a turning point in our lives when we finally turn to God. And our brokenness reminds us that others also need healing as well. We can be wounded healers like Jesus. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Jesus shares in our brokenness and our ultimate healing, our forgiveness comes through Jesus being broken for us. Jesus shares in our suffering and carries healing in his body. His brokenness and sacrifice on the cross saves all of us. None of us will make it though life without experiencing brokenness. But as adopted children of our wounded healer, we are invited to reach out in spite of our brokenness and even because of our brokenness to become a force for healing and love in this hurting world. Let’s pray: Dear Jesus, You know each one of us. You know our histories, our stories of sorrow and brokenness. We come to you asking for healing and hope. Equip us to be helpers and healers in this world. Fill us with love and wisdom, grace and strength. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen Happy All Saints Sunday! Let us begin with the Apostles’ Creed and you will find where I got the title for today’s sermon.
Apostles' Creed (Ecumenical Version) I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic* church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. In the Apostles' Creed, the holy “catholic” church means the holy “universal” church and the "Communion of Saints" is used as a synonym for the Christian Church. In that sense, “saints” is a reference to all believers in Christ. If you are a believing Christian, you are a saint! ☺ In Hebrews 12:1, it is mentioned about “a great cloud of witnesses” and these are the saints who have gone before us and many have inspired us with their faith and lives. That the cloud is referred to as “great” indicates that millions of believers have gone before us, each bearing witness to the life of faith we now live. To see who is being referred to in this scripture, we need to look at the previous chapter in the Book of Hebrews. There are many names: Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, and some others in the Old Testament are mentioned as “these people were still living by faith when they died” (Hebrews 11:13). Looking at these saints of the past means that we ought to act as if they were in sight and cheering us on to the same victory in the life of faith that they obtained (Hebrews 12:2). We are to be inspired and encouraged by their stories. There are the well-known saints such as the disciples of Jesus and also people like St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Theresa of Avila, Martin Luther, John Wesley and his mother Suzanna Wesley (please don’t forget the mothers of people who helped influence them! They are saints!), Rev. Toyohiko Kagawa and his wife Haruko Kagawa (please do not forget the spouses of people who helped the saints to do all they could to serve God!) Fr. Maximilian Kolbe (who gave his life for another prisoner Auschwitz in 1941), and Mother Teresa (whom I had the honor of meeting in Tokyo back in 1981). These people all loved the Lord and did what they felt called to do by God. One interesting thing is when you start meeting saints, one of the first things you may notice is they are not always “saints.” What I mean is that they have flaws. They are not perfect. Like us. We also have flaws. Even the folks in the Bible had their flaws. In most of his letters, the apostle Paul refers to the recipients as saints, including to the Corinthians at the church in Corinth, where there were significant moral and theological problems! But they are saints because God has called them and God has called us. They owe their status to no one but God. It is in and through Jesus Christ that God has “sanctified” them (1 Corinthians 6.11), or “made them holy,” or “made them saints” (Ephesians 1.1; Philippians 4.21) Some of these saints who are famous and really considered an inspiration to us have quirky personality traits and imperfections. Let me give you a few examples. Rev. Toyohiko Kagawa (1880 -1960) is someone I greatly admire and I worked in ministry at the Kagawa Center in the Sannomiya area when I first moved to Kobe in 2011. From 1910 to 1924, Rev. Kagawa lived for all but two years in the slums of Kobe with the poor. He was a Christian pacifist, pastor and a reformer of society. He founded churches, unionized the workers, wrote over 150 books, started the co-op, and influenced the lives of many. He did many good things. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyohiko_Kagawa However, Kagawa’s daughter, Momi, who was a Presbyterian pastor in the US, said that her two brothers and she felt their wonderful dad neglected them – he was always caring for others. They rarely saw him. They felt he neglected his family. Other saints such as Mother Teresa who was known to be hardworking, generous, altruistic and empathetic was also difficult as she expected her Sisters of Charity and volunteers to adhere to her austere lifestyle. She also sometimes accepted donations from people with not so good backgrounds as well. Nonetheless, she helped many who had been refused hospital care to die with dignity. Legend has it that St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order of priests and lived a life of poverty during the 1200s, used to roll around in the snow naked to protect himself from bad thoughts. Some, like him, had some odd habits. Generally speaking, saints are not distinguished by their goodness. They are distinguished by their extravagant love of God. One way to say it is that saints are just ordinary people whose love of God has oftentimes led them to do extraordinary things. But there are a few saints who do seem quite holy and extra special. These are the saints we admire and thank God for them. “In His holy flirtation with the world,” writes Presbyterian minister, and novelist Frederick Buechner, “God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are saints.” On All Saints’ Sunday, I sometimes feel the paradox of this day. As we celebrate the lives of those departed, we might also be sad about the loss of those whom we have loved. One saint (person) who passed away on April 27, 2022 was our KUC member, Billy Burke. He did many wonderful things as a missionary in Japan and was well loved but has some flaws too according to his son Jay. We also can remember some of the former KUC pastors who are also now part of “the great cloud of witnesses.” One of these pastors, Rev. Arthur Gamblin, who pastored at KUC from 1973-1980, felt his calling was to serve as pastor and as a Methodist missionary at KUC. Pastor Arthur Gamblin and his wife Haruko started an information center for the international community known as CHIC (Community House & Information Center) which was back then in our previous Sannomiya Kobe Union Church. ( We moved up here to Nagaminedai in 1992.) Pastor Gamblin worked very hard as KUC’s minister and he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 52 years old. Kobe Union Church named the fellowship hall “Gamblin Hall” and that is where we will hold today’s forum. You can see a plaque in his memory on the wall in Gamblin Hall near the kitchen. There are other saints at KUC who are longer with us. Last week we heard from Pastor Chuck’s widow, Kelly Graff and she recalled fond memories of Chuck and how she struggled after his death but now found her passion for what God has called her to do. We believe that the ones who have left us and are now home with God are in a place described in the Book of Revelation as a place where John saw a great number of people “that no one could count from every nation, from all tribes and all peoples and languages, standing before the throne (of God) and before the Lamb (Jesus Christ)” (Revelation 7:9). KUC is made up of an international diverse group of people. We walk with people of all tribes and cultures toward the eternal place promised to us in the heavens. When we think of heaven, we can remember those who have gone home to God. Let us pause now for a moment of silence and say their names quietly out loud in a whisper or silently in your heart. (A brief moment of silence.) For some people remembering those who are no longer with us might be a time to think about grief and forgiveness. Sometimes grieving the loss of someone involves forgiving ourselves for all the ways in which we feel like we may have not spent enough time with them or, had not done enough for them. Please forgive yourself. God loves you. For others, maybe you just wanted to have one last hug with your loved one, one last chat, or one last meal together. Isaiah promised that God would “wipe away the tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8). Now John, the author of the Book of Revelation, restates that promise for this great multitude (Revelation 7:17). As you mourn, God is beside you. In life, in death, and in life beyond death we are not alone and, for this, we can say thanks be to God. On October 29, I taught the Saturday Special class at 11am and we discussed All Saints Sunday. The participants shared those who had influenced their faith journeys such as a pastor, their elder brother, grandmother, and we also discussed how we are going on to be saints and maybe meet saints in our day to day lives. It doesn’t mean they are perfect people but they do hold the love of God within them. Every follower of Jesus Christ is a saint. If you have turned away from your sins and trusted in Jesus and what he has done on the cross, you are a saint, a “holy one.” The light shines through saints with even our small acts of love and service to others. The righteousness of Jesus makes us a saint. As saints of God we should be constantly growing spiritually and should attain a higher level of perfection by emulating more and more of the example Jesus Christ set us. One of the participants (Roy Mislang) said, “We cannot do anything on our own but through what Jesus has given to us. The holiness of God is in us. God making us holy and striving to perfection through the work of the Holy Spirit.” I was reminded by his words of what Rev. John Wesley, the “founder” of Methodist Church (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley), said, “we are all going on to perfection” "Wesley took seriously Jesus's invitation to 'be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect' (Matt 5:48). By 'perfection,' Wesley meant perfection in the sense of Christian maturity and love. If Jesus invites us to seek perfection, perfect love is possible. He didn't mean we would be free from mistakes, temptation or failure. We are all a work in progress and God is not finished with us yet. But, by God's grace, "we're going on to perfection!" We are in process of sanctification. The word translated “sanctification” (or “holiness” in some translations) is part of the same word family as the word for “saint” from the word “Sanctus” - which we translate as the word "holy." All Christians are can be holy because of Jesus in us. A saint is a “holy one,” and someone who is set apart for God's special purposes and God has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within you. The Holy Spirit is at work in you to transform your life so that you reflect the ultimate holy one, the Lord Jesus Christ. We belong to God. We are a community of saints. There are saints who have gone before us and there are saints now. The saints, including us, may not be perfect models but we are saints because the sanctity of God has touched our lives. We can be transparent to show God’s love. There are people around us who are alive and with us and who inspire us. All of us are knit together in the “communion of saints.” As saints of God, let us live our lives to the fullest following the Lord. As saints, let our lives remove the darkness of sin so as to enable the gentle light of God to pass through. Our purpose is to allows God’s light to pass through us. As saints, the Lord use us in reaching out to and ministering to others, allowing the grace, love, compassion, and generosity of God to shine through us and flow out from us to others around us. We will have a forum today and can share our vision for our church and how we, as saints of God, can work for the future of KUC. We are inspired bythose saints in the past and present. Someday we will join “the great cloud of witnesses” but until then, let’s us glorify God in all that we do, love one another and share God’s love with others. (We can grow through our worship, fellowship, discipleship. outreach, service, evangelism, connecting, Bible study, Sunday School, Zoom classes, and, of course, prayer!) We are “equipping the saints” as it says in Ephesians 4:12 and equipping the saints which means us to go out to do more work for the Lord! Let us work toward holiness and make KUC a better church knowing that “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God…” (Romans 8:28) Let us prayer. Eternal God, we give you heartfelt thanks for all the saints who have gone before us and those who still live in this world. We give thanks for this church and all who help it to grow. Let your Holy Spirit guide today’s forum with a vision on a way to your new creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |
English ManuscriptsHere you can find the English manuscripts for our sermons. Archives
May 2024
Categories |