"yes" and everything else

The response to God's offer of forgiveness, mercy, and love in Christ is not something we get to make up as we see fit. It's like when someone proposes marriage. There's "Yes" and there's everything else, which is "not Yes". In Christ, God both proposes and promises love--engagement and wedding combined. The "Yes" is clearly defined in Scripture: faith (complete trust in Jesus Christ), repentence, baptism, and the intention, with God's help, to live a life of obedience (or at least try one's level best). That's it. Anything else is "not Yes". That means a "decision for Christ" is, biblically speaking, not yet a "Yes"--find some water somewhere, finish what you started! Much less is something along the lines of "I'm so thankful for the love God has shown me, and I will try never to forget this feeling of gratitude." That's a "not Yes." You're flattered, but your Suitor is still on His knees, waiting.

a showdown at the harbor (Acts 13:4-12)

Led by the Holy Spirit, Paul and Barnabas preach their way across the island of Cyprus, Barnabus' home, and make a long stay in Paphos, a port on the west coast of the island. "The proconsul, Sergius Paulus" (v. 7) summons Paul and Barnabas to hear their message, which must have been causing quite a stir.

As Roman citizen, Paul is well-suited to establish a rapport with Sergius Paulus, which he uses to tell him the Good News about Jesus Christ. Paulus, "an intelligent man" (v. 7), is impressed by Paul's message, and is nearly ready to accept faith in Jesus. But then Bar-Jesus, the proconsul's Jewish counsellor and fortune-teller, steps in to interfere.

Filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit (v. 9), Paul can see what's going on: Bar-Jesus is operating under an evil influence. Satan (=the force of darkness that opposes God and His works) hates it when people come to believe in Christ—the devil doesn't want us to receive the forgiveness or healing or salvation or eternal life that God wants to give us. Forces that try to turn people away from the winsomness of Christ are finally demonic.

Bar-Jesus means "son of salvation," but Paul perceives that Elymas is really "a child of the devil" (v. 10)—i.e. acting as a proxy for the devil.

Serious problems require serious remedies, just as a brain tumor requires radical treatment. Paul declares the remedy that God will take in this situation: Bar-Jesus will be temporarily blinded. In other words, his inward spiritual blindness will be made clear and concrete in the form of temporary physical blindness.

When Paul declares this: "Immediately mist and darkness came over him" (v. 11=Luke the physician is here using contemporary medical language to describe the scene).

Paul surely recalls his own experience of being blinded on the road to Damascus, which changed his life. God does not cause sickness, although He may allow inward spiritual disorders to take on outward physical form. But God certainly does use times of sickness and physical and mental distress to bring about great change in us, fresh awareness, renewed resolution to live in consonance with His will.

The proconsul is deeply impressed because both the words and the actions of Paul reflect the reality of God. And so, Paul leads Paulus to Christ, his first Gentile convert.

み名によって（使徒言行録4:5-12）

「あなたがたもイスラエルの民全体も知っていただきたい。この人が良くなって、皆さんの前に立っているのは、あなたがたが十字架につけて殺し、神が死者の中から復活させられたあのナザレの人、イエス・キリストの名によるものです。」（使徒言行録4:10）

聖書では誰かの「名により」行動を取るというのは、その人のように、その人の権限をもって動く---つまり、その場でその人の代理人となる、という意味を持つ。イエスがこの世に遣わされたのは、罪人に赦しを、疲れ果てている人に癒しを、抑え付けられている人に自由をもたらすためであった。十字架によってこの働きに終止符が打たれたわけではない。むしろ、復活のキリストがその権限を教会に委任し、赦しと癒しと解放の働きを継がせてくださったのである。わたしたちの課題は、イエスのみ名によって、イエスのように、み国の力をしっかり行使していくことである。

教会も初心に立ち帰るべき

2012年4月8日復活日　下町ニュース　聖職者リレーエッセイ

先週、病院の新入職員と一緒に清里に行って来た。約２００人の若き方々に囲まれて、いつも「まだそんなに年いってない」と自分に言い聞かせていた小職はやはり違うことに気づかされる。

新人さんは「聖路加国際病院で働くために大切にしたいこと」をテーマについて話し合い、発表するというグループワークを課せられた。

発表会はなかなか面白い。１６組が「大切にしたいこと」をさまざまなイメージでまとめた：木、体、電車、自転車、ビルヂング、スカイツリー、山登り、地球、クマさん。カレーライスもあった。なんと、３つ重ね合う「愛の丸」といういかにも三位一体的なイメージもあった。

内容はだいたい同じ。一人一人の患者さんに喜んでもらえるために何が必要か。それは、病院の理念にある「キリスト教の愛の精神」を土台に、人への思いやりや優しさ、チームワーク、コミュニケーション、絶えざる向上心など。

教会も時々初心の気持ちに立ち帰って、福音の喜びを一人一人周りの人に知ってもらえるために何が必要か、考えるべきだと思った。病に患っている人への医療と神の憐れみと愛を知らないで寂しく頑張っている人への福音宣教は、結局のところでは似たものだと思った。

a find

I love opening up old, dusty books that I've never heard of before and discovering unexpected treasures inside.

Probably operating under some kind of low-level panic control impulse, I am cleaning out the chaplain's office at the hospital. At least four generations of chaplains have left their books behind here. Most of it is sheer crap. Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of Man kind of Protestant rationalism (=embarassed, petulant Deism) at its most boring. Plus, heaps and heaps of pastoral counselling pablum, for chaplains who are wanna be pipe-smoking psychotherapists.

It's all so drearily respectable. So Seventies, like, let's hug and do bong hits, man. So begging to be dismissed and forgotten forever.

I am gleeful at the prospect of exorcising the office of it all.

But here and there, among the tomes of twaddle, I find a book that seems of at least passing interest.

So, today, my eye was caught by a little book called "The Gospel of Victory." Ooh. What have we here?

If this were published in 2012, it would go straight into the round file. But this one was published in 1955, before the prosperity gospel and Word of Faith quasi-magical mumbo jumbo urging us all to live our best lives now by naming it and claiming it. What would a "Gospel of Victory" mean to people in the 1950s?

The subtitle reads: "A Study in the Relevance of the Epistle to the Galatians for the Christian Mission Today." Well, despite the fact that "today" is a half century ago and the fact that the subtitle contains the red-flag word "relevance," I decided to take a look. After all, at least the focus is on Scripture. One book of Scripture even, not a scatter shot of proof texts.

I was also intrigued by that little "the." "For the Christian Mission," implying, I think quite radically, that there is ONE mission entrusted to the Church by its one Lord Jesus Christ. I'd bet 1,000 yen that any publisher today would change that either to "for Christian Mission" or, more probably, "for Christian Missions." Because, you know, "mission" is something that various church groups just sit around and think up on their own for more or less imperialistic reasons.

The author is M.A.C. (Max) Warren, whom I don't know from Adam. On the inside flap, I read that Dr. Warren is (was) General Secretary of the Church Missionary Society. So I do the calculation. 1950s. Hmmm. At the time, people in charge of British missionary societies were probably still believing Christians, maybe even true evangelicals.

The publisher is SCM Press. I have a vaguely positive impression of that publishing house, not sure why. Unlike HarperSanFrancisco or Church House or Seabury.

So I open up the slim book to chapter 1, "Paul and Abraham." And there, on the first page, behold! Rhetorical and theological delight! Here's the opening salvo:

PAUL was a slave of Jesus Christ, 'bought with a price': and as such was a man under a divine constraint, filled with an overwhelming sense of obligation--'woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel."...We may seek to study [Paul] as a disciple, as a pioneer missionary, as a statesman; but our study will be in vain unless we recognize that the three men are one man, always to be seen in the context of devotion and obedience to a Redeemer who was no remote object of worship but his accompanying Lord.

The first paragraph has me ready to raise a celebratory fist in the air. "Accompanying Lord." Wow. That will bear chewing on for a while. Max goes on:

Paul's "theology was a theology of experience, if ever there was one. It was hammered out in via and not in a study. It was never reduced to a system, indeed it could not be, for it was wholly involved with a Person. For Paul theology was the exploration of a friendship, and like that friendship the theology was something which grew."

To be sure, these are somewhat risky words, because a liberal "Christian" could use these or similar words before launching into an attempt to deconstruct Paul into smithereens. But after that "accompanying Lord" phrase, I'm willing to give Max the benefit of the doubt. For now.

Max concludes:

"The last word on Paul's theology written at the end of his life was the simple testimony of a man to his friend: 'I long to know Christ...I do not consider myself to have "arrived", spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me.' (Phil 3:8, 12 Phillips translation)"

"A man to his friend." Paul to Jesus. Already I have much to think about. Jesus Christ as Lord and proper object of devotion and obedience but also "accompanying Lord," implying the necessity of a journey and Christ's abiding presence with me on that journey. And then the idea of Paul, the ex-Pharisee lone wolf, driven and sustained his whole amazing life by a deep friendship with Christ.

And that's just page one!

I'm definitely reading on.

the gospel is this

"The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."

 --Tim Keller, Senior Pastor of Manhattan's Redeemer Church, on various occassions
 

「福音はこれである。わたしたちは、思っていたよりもずっと罪深くて歪んでいる者であると同時に、イエス・キリストにおいては、わたしたちがあえて望んでいたよりもずっと愛され、受け入れられているのだ、ということである。」

 ーティモシー・ケラー、マンハッタンにあるリディーマー教会牧師、あちこち仰る
 
ちなみに、リディーマー教会が2010年から東京の銀座に教会を植え付けた：グレースシティチャーチ東京。礼拝は日曜日の午後3時からだからいつか行ってみたいと思います。
 
Redeemer has a new church plant called Grace City Tokyo. Worship on Sundays at 3pm--I plan to visit one of these days...

onward and upward

Here is a nice news segment about the Anglican Church in North America, and how it is growing, especially among college students. The report features a bit about my friend Matt and the church where he and his wife serve, Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, New York, which I had the great pleasure of visiting a few months ago.

Very encouraging stuff...

deck chair, titanic

An American priest once told me about a vision he had. He was a down to earth kind of guy, not really given to visions. But he told me about what he believed was a real vision from God, which happened while he was at a gathering of clergy in his Diocese (which rhymes with Kerjin-ya).

In the vision his fellow clergy were sitting around a table, passing around a huge mason jar. Everybody was stuffing the jar with cash. When the jar was full, somebody took it and started squirting lighter fluid into it. Then, they set it on fire. Everybody watched the cash burn.

The priest who told me about it was horrified: You're burning the money! This is a waste! This is sinful!

His interpretation: The clergy gatherings were a complete waste of time and energy. From that day, he stopped going.

I was thinking of his vision at the Tokyo diocesan synod today. Over a hundred clergy and lay people together from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. And what did we accomplish that will have any meaningful impact on anyone's life? Hmm...

The highlight of the day for me was the opening prayer, which includes these words:

Increase the numbers of those who believe in Thee, heal those who are troubled in mind or body, bless the children, restore those who have fallen into evil and turn them toward the good, bring back those who have wandered far from Thee, forgive those who repent, and grant that all who live in this land may share in your salvation.

The rest of the day had absolutely nothing to do with any of those things. Instead, we rearranged deck chairs on the Titanic. Hearing reports from a dozen committees. Changing the way the diocesan tax (I mean, assessment) is calculated. Drawing down more funds to cover expenses.

The last order of business was a resolution to send the Government some Statement about getting rid of nuclear power plants. I never speak at these meetings, but I stood up to speak against this resolution--because the drafters didn't manage to craft the actual language we were supposed to send.

I don't know whether the government should abandon nuclear energy. I do know neither the government nor anyone else in Japan will give a flying fig about what the Tokyo Diocese of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai has to say about it.

We represent less than 5,000 people in a country of 120 million. We should be worried about growing in holiness, proclaiming the Gospel, loving our neighbors--you know, living as Christians.

Not sending out meaningless statements on diocesan letterhead. And not wasting a whole day focusing on nothing of substance.

me and mr. st. james

As a hospital chaplain, I never know what I'm in for when someone calls to make an appointment.

Last week, I got a call from a woman I vaguely recalled having met once before. "I want to ask you about 19th century Evangelicalism in the Church of England."

Yeah, right, I thought, I've heard that one before (?). I made the appointment, figuring we would talk for a few minutes about Wilberforce and Spurgeon and then she would unload about her horrid recent diagnosis, or her shattered relationship with her boyfriend, or her grief having lost her mother, or her conviction that "They" were planting bugs in her bedroom.

But no. She wanted to talk about...19th century Evangelicalism in the Church of England. For a research paper on Jane Eyre. Jane's relationship with her Calvinist cousin, Mr. St. James.

Well, it's easily been 25 years since I read Jane Eyre. But we had a good time talking about Wilberforce and John Newton, the Continental Reformation and Puritanism, as well as John Henry Newman. We both shook our heads and tut-tutted at the grim doctrine of Total Depravity. I gave Calvin’s concern for the sovereignty of God its due five minutes and then went all Armenian on the subject of free will.

But as we were talking I realized something: Whatever their stripe, all those Evangelicals were tapping into some kind of huge energy source. Wilberforce’s tireless, decades-long campaign against slavery. Charles Spurgeon’s impassioned, prodigious preaching. A whole army of Christians setting out across the globe into hostile, unpleasant, sometimes lethal situations to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

They had all discovered some secret spiritual dynamo that gave them the courage, the endurance, the eagerness, the creativity to do all these things.

And I knew what that dynamo was: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

The knowledge that God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Righteous and Holy Judge, would bother to notice, much less reach down and lift up...even one such as me.

Then it clicked. I may not be a five-point Calvinist*. But I am a forgiven sinner. And knowing that I am a sinner, and knowing I that I have nonetheless been forgiven extravagantly by a gracious God--yeah, that knowledge is for me a source of actual energy and encouragement, even in the daily grind of ministry.


* The five doctrinal points of Calvinism are represented by the acronym TULIP:
Total Depravity (the unaided will is incapable of doing good)
Unconditional Election (God doesn't look into the future and see our choices before electing us)
Limited Atonement (Christ's atoning work only extends to the elect)
Irresistible Grace (I'm just a sinner who cain't say no)
Perseverance of the Saints (once saved always saved)

doing it right

People involved in parish ministry risk becoming near-sighted. Immersed in the small world of your own people every Sunday, you tend to forget there are other ways of doing things. Slowly, imperceptibly, you can fall into the "always done it like this" mindset--the same mindset that probably drove you a little crazy when you first arrived.

So it's instructive to visit other churches from time to time. Even if the church sucks, you're bound to encounter differences that make you think about the status quo in your own congregation.

How much better, then, to visit a church that seems to be doing many things extremely well. Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of worshipping at Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, New York. My old spiritual war buddies from seminary, Matt and Anne, co-pastor this church. Boy, was it exciting!

I'd had a meeting the previous day in the southeastern part of the state, so I drove 150 miles over mountain roads and through pelting rain to get there for Sunday Eucharist. There was a moment of panic when I discovered that most of the entry points to Binghamton were under several feet of water. Thank God for GPS navigation systems.

There were so many good things going on at Good Shepherd, I'll only list a few of them:

An active, well-attended Adult Sunday School program. I got to the church at about 9:45 a.m. Finding the sanctuary empty, I went downstairs. There, flooding notwithstanding, I found a room full of maybe 50 people, ranging from college students to octogenarians, median age probably around 35. There were several different ethnicities represented, and an even number of men and women.

Okay, this is the Bishop, not Matt, but you get the idea...

When I slipped in, they were all listening attentively to Matt. He was pacing furiously around the front of the hall, using an exposition of the Great Commission (Matthew 28) to talk about the mission of Good Shepherd.

People asked questions, made comments. They answered Matt's occasional Bible knowledge questions! Matt was enthusiastically painting a picture of a congregation embedded in local communities, looking outward, eager to show God's love through service and gospel proclamation.

At one point, Matt asked: How many of you have been at this church for more than three years. Maybe half a dozen people raised their hands. Then he asked, how many have been here for more than a year and a half. About three-quarters of the people raised their hands. Talk about new growth. Something is drawing these people in.

Reverent, joyful worship. The whole service, with readings and hymns, was printed attractively in a booklet. Hospitality trumps tree conservation!

Before the service, Matt reminded the congregation, which apparently includes many new or not-yet Anglicans, to pray the words of the liturgy attentively. I suspect liturgical inculturation occurs through little catechetical moments like that.

There were maybe 130 people there (fewer than usual because of the flooding), but it felt smaller because the sanctuary (a former Catholic church) is so huge. Who knows? Maybe it will be filled one day--in the not so distant future, if current trends continue.

The music was a mix of standard Anglican hymns and praise music. A band consisting of the music director on piano, bass guitar, and bongo, acquitted themselves fairly well without drawing too much attention to themselves. I enjoyed singing.

Especially considering Matt's strong Reformed Anglican commitments, the worship style was fairly High(ish). There was a procession, with two torchbearers and a crucifer as well as a Eucharistic Minister. The altar team genuflected at some of the right places (i.e. the words about the Incarnation in the Creed) although I don't think anybody else did. A few older folks crossed themselves. Matt wore a chausuble for the Ministry of the Table. A sanctus bell accompanied his reverent elevation of the consecrated elements.

There were informal moments, too. Matt greeted us at the beginning, while Anne came to the microphone at announcement time holding the baby. The passing of the peace was a lengthy, boisterous affair.

They've just started having a person at the back of the church standing by to pray with people at any point if needed.

Solid preaching. When I get a chance, I catch Good Shepherd sermons online, so I've come to expect passionate, orthodox preaching tied closely to the biblical text. In fact, Matt and Anne's expository preaching has inspired me to do more of that with my own congregation, which has been well received (somewhat to my surprise).

Matt changed the readings in light of the week's devastating floods. It was a variation on the theodicy (=seeking to understand the place and meaning of suffering in the will of God) message that Matt has preached before, such as after the massive earthquake in Haiti.

I was again struck by Matt's refusal to let God off the hook. "God allowed this flooding to happen." Given his understanding of the inviolable sovereignty of God, that's pretty much where you have to end up. But Matt also followed that declaration with a very definitive "and we cannot know all the reasons why." Seems to me that Job would agree.

I also liked this line: "There have been many floods. God spoke about only one." Meaning: The story of Noah doesn't allow us to say that all floods are punishment for human wickedness.

Well, go read, or better yet, watch or listen to the whole thing. In fact, tune in to Good Shepherd's sermons every week. You are sure to be edified.

Also: Matt's sermon went on for more than 30 minutes, and NOT A SINGLE PERSON was looking at their watch impatiently. In an Anglican church. Nobody. They seemed quite content to sacrifice the 0.29% of their week it took to sit and listen to somebody preaching the Word of God.

Outward-looking ethos. During the floods, the church had been providing food as well as shelter for a handful of displaced families. Good Shepherd already runs a soup kitchen.

In Sunday School, Matt expressed his vision of all Good Shepherd members becoming Kingdom agents in their own communites. There was a huge, hand-drawn map of Binghamton on the wall, with parishoners' houses marked. The goal is to have various local mission groups take responsibility for their own neighborhoods, in terms of service and evangelism.

In Sunday School, and even more pointedly in his sermon, Matt was really calling on his people to go out in service. We're not social workers, he said. What we do is different. When people ask us why we're doing what we do, we say "Because God loves you and He told me to do this."

Well, there's more I could remark on. But it is clear that God is blessing the faithfulness of Good Shepherd, and that He has blessed them with passionate, clear-thinking pastors in Matt and Anne.

I'm excited about the future for this church. Especially in the wake of this flooding, which comes as a serious blow to an already economically depressed city. What better environment for the gospel to flourish in?

ホスピタリティはこのチャペルの使命です（ローマ12: 9-21）

聖霊降臨後第１２主日（A年・特定１８）
司祭　ケビン・シーバー
聖路加国際病院聖ルカ礼拝堂
２０１１年９月４日・１０時３０分　聖餐式

今日は、ホスピタリティについて皆さんと考えたいと思います。「もてなし」でなくてホスピタリティという言葉を使っているのは、元々のギリシャ語の単語は客の世話をする、馳走することよりもっと深いニュアンスがあるからです。「フィロクセニア」という単語で、「外の人を愛する」という意味になります。もしかしたら「もてなし」の本来の意味は聖書に意味に近いかも知れませんが。

このチャペルの理念から抜粋させていただきます。

神の恵みにより建てられた聖ルカ礼拝堂は、病院・大学の礼拝堂としての特性を踏まえ、これらの存在基盤である「キリスト教の愛」を、常に示し続ける使命を担う。具体的には、
　病院の礼拝堂としては、患者、その家族、医療スタッフ、職員、ボランティアに対して、
　看護大学の礼拝堂としては、学生、教職員に対して、
　教会としては、地域と社会の人々に対して、
　祈りと慰めの機会と場を提供していくとともに、これらの人々と教会員が、神の愛のみ旨を成し遂げていくことができるように支え合い、ともに働き続ける。

さまざまな人に「祈りと慰めの機会と場を提供していく」。これこそホスピタリティの精神ではないでしょうか。問題は、どうやって祈りと慰めの機会と場を提供できるか、ということです。その前、一つのストーリーがあります。

ある日曜日の朝、ある男の人がお母さんに起こされました。「早く教会に行く準備をしなさい！」
「教会に行きたくない！」と頭の上に枕を覆いながら息子が言います。
「行かないと」とお母さん。
「だって、あの教会の人たちは冷たくて、あいさつもしてくれない。心地悪い。
　　説教もつまらないし、お茶の菓子は美味しくない、全然。」
「早く起きなさい。教会に行くのだ。」
「どうして？どうして行かなくちゃいけない？わけが分からない！」
「あなたはその教会の牧師だから、いかげんにしなさい！早く起きなさい！」

初めて教会の礼拝に参加しに行くのに、勇気が必要だと思います。この病院は「敷居が高い」と言われたりしますが、チャペルもそう思われたらちょっともったいない気がします。（祈るために紹介状はいりませんから！）

でも確かに、勇気を出して、初めて礼拝に出る人は、突然いろいろな変わったことに遭遇します。まず、教会で変な単語は山ほど使われています。アッシャー、オルター、チャプレン、聖奠、信施、供え物、降臨節、聖霊降臨節、聖餐式、陪餐、祝福、使徒、信徒、主教、司祭、師父、執事、小羊！などなど。

そして変な行動をします。座ったり、立ったり、ひざまずいたりします。いきなりお辞儀を交わします。いくつかの布袋を回します。全員で礼拝堂の前方に行進します。
これらのことは面白くて、少し慣れて来てその意味が少し分かったら素晴らしいことになり得ると思います。だけど、初めて来られた人に「祈りと慰めの機会と場を提供」しようと思うのなら、この一風変わった環境でどうやって歓迎できるか、「ここにわたしの居場所があるかも」と感じてもらえるためにどういう対応が必要なのか、それが問題だと思います。

ホスピタリティはそういうことに関心を持つのです。ホスピタリティについて３つ話したいこと：

• まず、皆さんは、自分自身ここに居場所があるということを知っていただきたいです
• それから、神はわたしたちに常に人を送ってくださり、そういう人たちを歓迎して欲しい、ということを知っていただきたいです
• そして、わたしたちの責任は、新しいクリスチャンを作るのではなくて、神の愛を示すことだ、ということを知っていただきたいです

まず、皆さんは、自分自身ここに居場所があります。

聖パウロがエフェソのクリスチャンに：

以前、あなたたちは「キリストと関わりなく、イスラエルの民に属さず、約束を含む契約と関係なく、この世の中で希望を持たず、神を知らずに生きていました。しかしあなたたちは、以前は遠く離れていたが、今や、キリスト・イエスにおいて、キリストの血によって近い者となったのです。」（エフェソ2:12-13）

わたしたちは全員、天の父の家にウェルカムされています。元々わたしたちの家ではありません。ホテルでもありません。ゲストとして扱ってもらうと思ったら大間違い。どちらかと言うと、教会は避難所に近いと思います。被災地で、ある大物がその屋敷を被災者のために開いてくれて、わたしたちはここで居候をしているような感じです。

この世に生を受けるというのは、神から遠く離れているという大惨事の状況に生れることになります。罪はそういうことです。だけでイエス・キリストは、わたしたちの罪のために死んでくださいました。イエスはその大惨事からわたしたちを救い出すために死なれたのです。だから、イエスのおかげで、わたしたちは避難所に逃れることができています。心の拠り所が与えられています。他の被災者との交わりが与えられているのです。

ここに皆さんの居場所があります。皆さんはイエス・キリストによってウェルカムされています。

２番目知っていただきたいことは：神が常にわたしたちに人を送ってくださっています。そして、そういう人たちを歓迎して欲しいのだ、ということです。
わたしたちが「神と関わりのない生活」から救い出されて、ここにウェルカムされているので、今度、わたしたちが他の人をウェルカムする番です。

このチャペルでの日曜礼拝（聖餐式）に、毎週平均５名の新来者が参加します。結構な人数です。大勢見える週もありますが、少ないときでも１人、２人の新しく来られた方があいます。とにかく毎週平均５名の方が始めてわたしたちと一緒に礼拝をしています。１年で言いますと．．．２６０人になります。

神は絶え間なく人をわたしたちのところに送ってくださっているのです。

それは、わけがあると思います。誰もただ偶然で教会に足を運ぶ人はいないと思います。必ず意味があるのです。もちろん、「わたしの人生で欠けているのはイエス・キリストだと気づいたので、イエスさまに出会うために教会の礼拝に出てみよう」と思って礼拝に参加する人は殆どいないと分かっています。

（皆さんも最初に礼拝に出たとき、そういう意図で出た方はあまりいらっしゃらないと思います。）

礼拝に出る理由は人によって違います。好奇心がある。友だちに連れて来られた。大事な人を亡くして、何かの慰めを求めている。病気や何かの不幸があって不安になっている。人生で道に迷って、何かの方向性や希望を探している。いい音楽を聞きたい、歌いたい。トイレを探していたけど場所を間違えた（笑）。

０．００１％の人は説教を聞きに来る。（どうもどうも、ようこそいらっしゃいました！）

でもこれら全部が、人間の観点から考えられる理由になります。神は神なりの理由で人を礼拝に導かれます。今日、初めて礼拝に参加している方に知っていただきたいのですが、偶然ではない、ということです。わけがあってあなたがここに導かれています。

神が人を教会の礼拝という不思議な世界に導いてくださる第一の理由は、み子イエス・キリストに出会わせることです。

イエスは今朝ここにいらっしゃいます。目に見えないし、おられることを感じ取れないかも知れませんが、間違いなくここにいらっしゃいます。なぜかと言うと、いらっしゃると約束なさっているからです。
「二人または三人がわたしの名によって集まるところには、わたしもその中にいるのである。」（マタイ18:20）

２人、３人どころか、１００人以上イエスのみ名によってここに集まっています。今日だけイエスさまがその約束を守らないわけがないと思います。

最後に知っていただきたいことは、わたしたちの責任は、新しいクリスチャンを作るのではなくて、神の愛を示すことだ、ということです。

聖公会の信者が多いこの集いに向かっては話しています。熱狂的に伝道活動をやり過ぎることはあまり心配しなくていいと思います。（むしろもっと積極的に自分の望みを人と分かち合って欲しいのです！）

だけど、このコミュニティ自体が伝道的な存在になるはずです。コミュニティを通して、わたしたちの関わり合いを通してキリストの愛を現すことが求められていることです。お互いに接することから本当のホスピタリティが生れるのです。

聖パウロは、そういうことを今日のローマの信徒への手紙で言っていると思います。イエスも、マタイの福音書でそういうことを仰っているのです。

わたしたちは、兄弟姉妹としてお互いの人生の大事なことを分かち合います。「喜ぶ人と共に喜び、泣く人と共に泣きなさい。」最近、この礼拝堂で結婚式を挙げたメンバーもいます。お葬式を行ったメンバーもいます。わたしたちは、人生の浮き沈みを共有しています。

また、ここで社会的格差はあまり通用しません。この中で医者も、看護師も、病院の他の職種の人もいます。看護大学の教員も、職員も、卒業生もいます。病院や看護大学と全く関係のない人もいます。さまざまな経済的な状況の人もいます。いくつかの国籍を持つ人もいます。

わたしたちは高ぶらないで、できるだけ互いに思いを一つにしようとしています。喧嘩や摩擦が生じたとき、兄弟愛をもって対応するように努力しています。（まあ、あまりうまくやっていないこともありますが、それは別の説教で！）

とにかく兄弟愛をもって関わり合うように励んでいると思います。そして、その兄弟愛がここから溢れ出て、神が送ってくださる人々を包んでいくことが、神が望んでおられることだと思います。

だから、わたしたちは「人をクリスチャンにする」ことは必要は求められていません。そういうことを神に任せればいいのです。人の心が神に向かうのに何が必要なのか、どのぐらい時間がかかるか、計り知れないことです。このチャペルに一回だけ来て、神の愛に気づくのが数年後になる人はいるかも知れません。でもここで種が蒔かれるかも知れません。

イエス・キリストはわたしたちの間におられます。わたしたちがお互いを愛し合えば、そして来られた人に心を開けば、わたしたちを通して人々がイエスに出会うことができるはずです。

経験者が語ります。僕は、何かを、人生で足りない何かを探していたときにある教会コミュニティに出会いました。何を求めていたのか、自分でも分かりませんでした。神も仏もあるものかと思っていた時期です。まさかイエスに出会いたいと思いませんでした。

出会ったのは、ホスピタリティのコミュニティ。全く見知らぬ、放蕩を尽くしていたこの僕を彼らにウェルカムされました。その共同生活に受け入れられました。最初躊躇していたが、やがて信頼関係を気づくことができたのです。

僕のことに関心をもってくれる人もいたし、自分の信仰を話してくれる人もいました。お互いへの愛情は目に見えました。神のことを大事にしていたことも明らかでした。そしてその音楽は最高でした。

ようやく、悟ったことがありました。すなわち、このコミュニティを通してイエス・キリストに近づいていたのだ、ということに気づいて来ました。それよりも、実はイエスさまが、その普通のクリスチャンの団体を通して僕をご自分のもとに近寄らせてくださっていたのだ、ということに気づきました。

ここでの普通のクリスチャンの団体ととても似ています。

ホスピタリティはこのチャペルの使命です。

フィロクセニア

「聖なる者たちの貧しさを自分のものとして彼らを助け、旅人をもてなすよう努めなさい．．．喜ぶ人と共に喜び、泣く人と共に泣きなさい」（ローマ12:13, 15）

ホスピタリティの本質は、他者に対して開かれた心を持ち続けることである。相手の困難や苦しみ、またその喜びに深く関心を寄せること。そして他者を近寄らせて、短い間だけでも自分たちの共同生活にあずからせてあげることである。そういう意味で、ホスピタリティは、イエス・キリストを通して神がわたしたちと関わってくださっていることを真似しているに過ぎない。

philoxenia

"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality…. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:13, 15)

Hospitality, in its essence, is an openness to the other, our readiness to become invested in the troubles, the sufferings, and the joys of the other--and our readiness to allow the other to approach and to participate in our common life, even if only for a short time. In this sense, hospitality is merely our own, small imitation of God's dealings with us in Jesus Christ. 

やっぱり、忠実であること

神はジョン・ストット博士の長年の働きを通してその栄光をいろいろな形で現したと思う。その一つは、ストット博士を用いて、聖公会の中でも聖書に基づく正統的な信仰の居場所を保ってくださった、ということがあると思う。

６０年以上にわたり、聖公会全体はますます大胆に異端的な不誠実へと進んでいる。少なくとも、イギリスやアメリカというかつて支配的な力を持った地域ではそういう傾向は強い。

一方では、今全聖公会の大半となっているアフリカや東南アジアの各管区は、最初から正統的な信仰を支持してきた。

ストット博士は両世界において大きな存在だった。信仰に関する真理を常に、明瞭に説く彼の熱心によって、圧倒されそうになっている西洋の信者は大いに励まされて、聖公会から離脱する誘惑に耐える力を得たのである。

また、ストット博士がグローバルサウスの各地に行き渡って証をすることによって、若い聖公会の信者の戸惑いをなくすことに至ったと思う。すなわち、欧米の宣教師たちから「これは神のみ言葉だ」と言われた聖書を受け入れたのに、今になって「その中で教えていることを真剣に受け止めなくてもいい」と言われている矛盾。

明らかになっているのは、聖書や「一度伝えられた信仰」（ユダ3）に忠実である教会は、そのコミュニティは成長して増える。そうでない教会は、縮んで死んでしまう方向にどんどん早く進んでいく、ということ。

これは、聖公会で急激に衰えている地域でも、飛躍的に成長している地域でもそうだと思う。前者の例えと言えば、イギリスにおけるアルファ系の教会植え付けブームや新しくできた北米聖公会の成長（創立以来2年も経たない間、250の教会を植え付け、1400人以上の大人に洗礼を授けている成果がある。）

ストット博士についてのある記事で、日本のことも触れられたことに驚いた。オクスフォード宣教研究センターの創立者ビナイ・サミュエル博士は次のように書いた：

広がっていく聖公会では「聖書において、エバンジェリカリズムにおいて、正統な信仰において忠実であった教会は成長してきた。日本にあったように、この様子が見られなかった教会は死んでしまった。結果として、今日、非西洋の聖公会の3分の2の教会は、聖書に忠実である、エバジェリカル系の教会になっているのである。」

死亡を宣告された教会に属しているわたしにとって、全然嬉しくない話である。でもサミュエル博士は間違っているとも思えない。

しかも、サミュエル博士がわたしたちに日本における「教会復活」の唯一の道を示してくれている気がする。どうか、主がこれを実現できる大勢の人を育ててくださるように祈っている次第である。

it's faithfulness, stupid

It seems to me that one of the ways God showed forth His glory through the long ministry of Dr. John Stott was by using him to help preserve a foothold for biblical orthodoxy within Anglicanism.

For more than 60 years, Anglicanism as a whole has moved with increasing confidence in the direction of heterodox disobedience. At least that is the case in formerly dominant regions like the UK and North America.

By contrast, in the provinces of Africa and Southeast Asia, which now make up the vast majority of the Anglican world, Anglicanism has been predominantly orthodox from the outset.

Dr. Stott was a major presence in both worlds. His consistent, clearly articulated convictions about the essential truths of the faith greatly helped to shore up the confidence of besieged Western-world believers tempted to give up on the Anglican Communion.

Likewise, Stott's witness and extensive travels to the Global South helped dispel the confusion facing younger Anglicans, namely this contradiction: You missionaries gave us the Bible and told us it was the Word of God, and now you tell us we don't need to take the Bible's teaching seriously.

The way things work is fairly clear cut: Where the church is faithful to the scriptures and "the faith once received" (Jude 3), Anglican communities grow and multiply. Where this is not the case, churches fall into ever more rapid contraction and death.

This seems to hold true both in regions where Anglicanism is waning rapidly as well as in the younger churches that are growing by leaps and bounds. Some signs of the former can be found in the Alpha church planting boom in England, and in the Anglican Church in North America (which has planted 250 churches and baptised more than 1,400 *adults* since its inception less than two years ago).

I was surprised to find Japan "outed" in this regard in one article I read on Dr. Stott. Dr. Vinay Samuel, founder of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, wrote this:

In the growing worldwide Anglican Communion, "where there was biblical evangelical and orthodox faithfulness, the churches grew. Where these elements were not present, the church died, as in Japan. The result today is that two-thirds of the non-western Anglican Churches are biblically faithful Anglicans of the evangelical variety."

I must say, I'm not glad to be a part of a church that has been pronounced dead. But I also do not think Dr. Samuel is wrong.

Moreover, I think Dr. Samuel points us to the only possible avenue for resurrection in Japan. May God raise up faithful men and women to make it so.