JAPAN CHURCH ON MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

ARCHBISHOP NATHANIEL UEMATSU WITH EPISCOPAL ASIAMERICA MINISTRIES AT THE 2015 GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

Editor’s Note:

The Most Rev. Nathaniel Uematsu, archbishop and primate of Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK) was one of the keynote speaker at the recent Episcopal Asiamerica Consultation held in Korea. I took the liberty of sharing these excerpts in light of current world situation. Nowhere in our generation is the urgent need for the Church to become ministers of reconciliation, which Archbishop Uematsu calls for:

Wartime Japan: “The church, lacking a clear understanding of the Christian faith and the Gospel…prayed for (Japan War) victory and proved unable to speak out against (militarization) …and thus approved the occupation of other nations and contributed to the war in the name of Christianity.”

Post War Japan: “There was a period when Christianity attracted the hearts of many Japanese people, and the Church once again found a role as a means of contact with Western culture. However, as the nation rallied the populace toward accelerated economic growth, and with the emergence of a materialistic consumer society, the identity of the church, too, underwent a dramatic transformation.”

21st Century: “We felt called to repent and seek reconciliation and deeper engagement with our neighbors in countries throughout Asia (e.g. Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea) who had first suffered under Japanese occupation and colonization, and then been made subject to economic control under Japan's post-war development…. and apologized for the Japan’s role in the colonization of the Korean peninsula.”

Church Mission: “We believe God is asking us to walk together with the worldwide Anglican family, with all its diverse gifts. We must be willing to share with one another, willing to take the time to listen to one another's different experiences. We believe this is the shape our church must take in the 21^st century. “ PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. – Fred Vergara

 

JAPAN AND THE CHURCH IN JAPAN:

MISSION OF RECONCILIATION

The Most Rev. Nathaniel Uematsu, Archbishop and Primate,

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK, Anglican Church in Japan)

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK = the Anglican Church in Japan) was among the first Protestant churches established after Japan was re-opened to the world in 1854, ending 200 years of isolation.

In June 1859, the Rev. Channing Moore Williams, missionary priest and later missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church, landed at Nagasaki, in southwestern Japan. Williams joined the Rev. John Riggins, who had docked at Nagasaki one month earlier, and the Anglican mission in Japan began.

Six years ago, we celebrated the 150^th anniversary of that beginning. For the 150^th Anniversary celebration services and events held in Tokyo, we had a great pleasure to have your Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, with other distinguished guests like the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt. Honorable Rowan Williams, and the Primate of Anglican Church of Korea, Archbishop Paul Keun Sang Kim.

The foundations of the Anglican church throughout the country were laid by four organizations: The Episcopal Church Board of Missions in the United States which sent John Riggins and Channing Moore Williams and many more to Japan; the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), both from England; and later the Anglican Church of Canada. These missionaries helped establish a rich and broadly catholic and evangelical tradition within the NSKK.

The common vision of the missionaries was always the formation of an independent Japanese church supported by Japanese Anglicans. Owing to their insights and efforts, the first General Synod of the NSKK was held in Osaka in 1887. Now formally organised, the NSKK began pioneering work throughout Japan, in an environment of still considerable misunderstanding and prejudice against Christianity. In addition to planting churches, the NSSK was active in the fields of preschool child-care, secondary education, medicine, and social welfare. This work continues to this day, thanks to the efforts of the overseas missionaries as well as countless Japanese clergy and lay people. We express our heartfelt gratitude for their dedication.

Roughly fifty years after Channing Williams' arrival, Japan began a marked turn towards becoming a militaristic nation, as symbolised by the forced annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910. The flow of events during this period was indeed overwhelming, as Japan engaged in armed conflict and undertook a program of occupying and colonizing neighbouring Asian countries. The church, lacking a clear understanding of the Christian faith and the Gospel, using the form of “Special Prayer Service for Shina-Jihen (China Incident)” and “Special Prayer for Dai-Towa War (Great Asia War)” prayed for victory and proved unable to speak out against these events. Thus the NSKK approved the occupation of other nations and contributed to the war in the name of Christianity.

(China-Incident: total scale China-Japan war provoked by the July 7^th battle near Beijing. Japan called the wars “incidents” in China because it did not declare them officially as “Great Asia War:” naming of the Asia Pacific War by the Imperial Japanese government. It implies the understanding of the character of the war as “liberating Asian nations from the colonization of the West”. The word is being used even today by those who deny the historical fact of Japan’s aggression.)

Moreover, in 1941, the Japanese government expelled all foreign clergy and missionaries from the country, and the unity of the NSKK itself was shaken by the desparate reactions to the government's attempt to force all Protestant churches together into a single umbrella organisation. Even as we are mindful of the hardships faced by our brothers and sisters in the church during that period, we must also continue to remember this painful history.

After Japan's defeat in 1945, the country entered a period of rebuilding "from the ashes." Free at last from long years of oppression under a militaristic government, there was a period when Christianity attracted the hearts of many Japanese people, and the Church once again found a role as a means of contact with Western culture. However, as the nation rallied the populace toward accelerated economic growth, and with the emergence of a materialistic consumer society, the identity of the church, too, underwent a dramatic transformation

The Pan-Anglican Congress held in 1963 in Toronto, Canada proposed to the Anglican world the idea of the "mutual responsibility and interdependence" of the various Anglican churches worldwide. By 1970, missionaries from overseas Anglican churches, who had contributed so much to the work of evangelization in Japan, had nearly all returned to their home countries. The NSKK, both as a province and at the parish level, was no longer a "receiving church" dependent on overseas support, but rather was called to bear mutual responsibility and become a spiritually, administratively and financially independent church among many in the global Anglican Communion. The NAKK became a self-supporting province in 1972.

At the same time, influenced by ongoing changes in the world social order as well as in thinking about mission, the NSKK searched for a renewed ecclesiological shape. A new Prayer Book (1990) and Hymnal (2006) arose out of this quest. Also during this period, while respecting the differences in theological convictions, the NSKK also recognised the ordination of women to the priesthood (1998). The NSKK today is made up of nearly 280

Churches in 11 dioceses, claiming roughly 51,000 members, including over 220 active clergy.

At the same time, the NSKK began to look back over the events leading up to the Asia-Pacific War. We especially felt called to repent and seek reconciliation and deeper engagement with our neighbours in countries throughout Asia who had first suffered under Japanese occupation and colonization, and then been made subject to economic control under Japan's post-war development.

We were especially blessed by our fellow Anglicans in the Anglican Church of Korea (ACK), who opened their hearts to us even before Japan had come to terms with and apologised for its role in the colonization of the Korean peninsula. As brothers and sisters sharing the same faith, even as the ACK drew our attention to the inadequacies and errors of Japan's historical awareness, they also opened the door to exchanges between individuals, churches, dioceses, and at the provincial level. Last year the NSKK and the Anglican Church of Korea together celebrated the 30^th anniversary of Korea-Japan Anglican Mission Partnership in Jeju Island, Korea. Since 2007, through an inter-provincial agreement, clergy from the Anglican Church of Korea who sense a calling to evangelism in Japan are now serving in areas throughout Japan. We have welcomed over 20 such missioners to date.

With regard to Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and other countries which also suffered under Japanese wartime occupation, the NSKK has sought reconciliation and a restoration of our bonds under the same Lord, Jesus Christ. At the same time, we have been blessed by the wealth of faith-filled experiences of our brothers and sisters in these countries.

In 1972, after walking a path of suffering separated from the Japanese mainland for 27 years, Okinawa was returned to Japanese control, and the Diocese of Okinawa became part of the NSKK. Even now, though, the Okinawan people continue to suffer under the intense strain of the presence of U.S. military bases. We take seriously the challenges to peace pointed up by their struggle, and are keenly aware of being called to work toward realizing the peace that is in Jesus Christ.

Let me go back to the issue of NSKK’s repentance and reconciliation in relation to the partnership with the Anglican Church of Korea, because I believe it is the most crucial and turning point for making a new vision of the mission of the NSKK. This year of 2015 is the 70^th anniversary of the end of the WW2. For Japan, it is the 70^th year of the defeat, but for Korea, it is the 70^th anniversary of the liberation and emancipation from Japanese colonization. As I said, last year, the NSKK and the Anglican Church of Korea celebrated the 30^th anniversary of our mission partnership together. Before we began official partnership in 1984, both churches had experienced very difficult time, in which we were suffering from the scars and pain caused by the war. Atrocities committed by Japan during the invasion of Korean Peninsula by Japanese Army and forced Annexation of Korea to Japan caused among the Koreans pain, grudge, sorrow and humiliation. Before our two churches agreed to begin the official relationship, only few people had been trying to build the bridge between Korean church and Japanese church. Although we were neighbors and Anglicans, we simply could not come close to each other for 40 years. Even after we started the official relationship, we admit that the work of reconciliation between two churches was not easy. There have been a lot of tension, torment, embarrassment, disappointment, and even anger in the course of making new relationship. Sometimes, our joint programs came to a deadlock.

But now, we can tell you many stories of grace which we rejoice and celebrate as a result of walking together the path of reconciliation. Bishops of two churches are all good friends, and if the consecration of bishop takes place either in Japan or in Korea, most of bishops likely participate in the laying of hands.

Youth seminars and camps are jointly held, and they learn from each other and become friends. Some Japanese youth go to college or seminary in Korea. In the NSKK, now about 20 Korean priests are working. Four years ago, when the Great East-Japan Earthquake struck north-east part of Japan, many Korean clergy including Archbishop Paul Kim and lay persons and youth groups visited the affected areas to help those victims, churches, and church activities. It was a sign of our good relationship and solidarity. Because two churches experienced the war and its aftermath, now we are launching together to make ourselves to be the instrument of peace.

We have co-hosted the Anglican Peace Conference twice: one in Paju, Korea, and one in Okinawa, Japan.

Last December, on one Sunday, I was a preacher at the Cathedral in Seoul. It was the first time that a Japanese bishop preached at the Seoul Cathedral after the war. It took 70 years to make it happen, but it was a definite progress of our reconciliation process

In order to engage in the work of reconciliation with our neighbors, especially with the Korean Church, there needed the scrutiny of our history and church’s involvement in that history. It was the most difficult task for us. However, without this process, we could not have gone forward. In 1995, the year of the 50^th Anniversary of the end of the Asia-Pacific War, the NSKK held the Mission Consultation to discuss and evaluate our past as the church in Japan. Under the theme of “Responsibility for History and Prospects for the 21^st Century,” we admitted our war responsibility; based on repentance and looking toward the 21^st century, we determined to walk with those who were historically persecuted and victimized during the war and still discriminated against, including Koreans in Japan. Furthermore, at the NSKK 49^th General Synod held in the following year, 1996, we adopted the Nippon Sei Ko Kai’s Statement on War Responsibility” and all churches agreed to collectively share NSKK’s war responsibility, convey an apology in the name of NSKK to the churches in the countries which Japan had invaded, and to start and continue a program in each diocese and parish to review the historical facts and deepen our understanding of the Gospel. Admitting our own guilt and sin is always the most difficult thing. However then, only from then, we can go on repentance and then we can experience the blessing that we are forgiven.

Four years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami struck on March 11, 2011. The NSKK immediately organized a project called “Issho ni aruko”, which means “Let us walk together” to help the victims. As the NSKK had decided in the War Responsibility Statement, we have been trying to live and to be with those who are marginalized or have been forced to live in very difficult conditions because of the disaster. We are very appreciative that many people overseas contributed for the work of “Let us walk together.” I would like to say on this occasion thank you to our friends in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Korea. Presiding Bishop Katharine and Archbishop Paul Kim were among many people who actually visited the affected area to be with the victims, to pray for them, and to cry with them.

The aftermath of the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is still going on. We have not resolved nor yet found a certain direction to resolve the problem. Even now, people were forced to leave their homes, and families were broken up while suffering from the fear of health-harming radioactive contamination. The NSKK have decided to walk together with the nuclear victims and to establish the No-Nuke Project.

As we mark this 156^th year of an Anglican presence in Japan, in many ways it seems that we have failed to adequately sustain the tremendous energy that the missionaries first brought to mission and evangelization in this country. It seems we have not yet been able to give adequate expression to our faith as those who live in Japanese society. We face declines in the numbers of both lay members and clergy, and our congregations as a whole are ageing—problems which cannot be solved overnight. Throughout the country, in spite of the lack of priests at many churches, Sunday worship has continued to be carried out by a small number of lay people. We give thanks for the dedicated service of these people, and ask for the Lord's special blessing on them.

And yet, in the midst of these conditions, there have continued to be enthusiastic, energetic gatherings of young people in our church, both locally and at National Youth Conferences.

  

As we have looked back over the great blessings God has bestowed on the NSKK over the past 156 years, we have reflected on what this church has accomplished, on what we intended but failed to do, and on many things we simply did not consider.

Just as worship is called "the work of the people" (leitourgia), the church is above all the community of the people of God. We are called to be instruments carrying the Good News and the love of Christ to the world. As such, wherever we might be, we are gathered together in worship, nourished by the Word and the Eucharist, and sent out into society. The work of the laity is therefore equally as important as that of the clergy. The church does not exist only for its own sake, but is also called to seek the presence and action of God in the world, particularly among the least in society, and to serve the world. This work is carried out not only within the NSKK, but also in dialogue and mission collaboration with churches in other traditions.

Even though the NSKK is a small flock, in the midst of a world experiencing deep pain and division, the rest of the Anglican Communion looks to us to continue proclaiming a message of peace and reconciliation, grounded in our own repentance. At the same time, as we saw at the Lambeth Conference in 2008, we believe God is asking us to walk together with the worldwide Anglican family, with all its diverse gifts. We must be willing to share with one another, willing to take the time to listen to one another's different experiences. We believe this is the shape our church must take in the 21^st century.

PREACHING CHRIST IN A GODLESS WORLD

PREACHING CHRIST IN A GODLESS WORLD

(The Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara, St. James Church, Elmhurst, New York, 12.5.2015)

“A voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill be made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth---and all people will see the salvation of God.’”(Luke 3:1-6)

Today, we hear the voice of John the Baptist, calling people to repent and prepare the way for Christ. John was the fearless, selfless and passionate prophet who became the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Jesus said there is no other prophet greater than John the Baptist (Luke 7:28) and he came to be baptized by him in the Jordan. John told the crowd, “I baptize with water but this One, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie, will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Mark 1:8). When Jesus was baptized, heavens opened, the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove and the voice of God said, “This is my beloved Son!” (Matthew3:17).

The title of this sermon is “Preaching Christ in a Godless World.” What is a Godless world? It is a world where God is remote; a world where people do not dream God’s dream, do not think God’s thoughts, do not do God’s will. It is a world where people do not know the true God (Hosea 4:6); or if they once knew God, they now have forgotten Him. 

Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby came to a realization that the England which he once knew is longer the same. This realization came when the Anglican Church produced an advertising of the Lord’s Prayer and the cinemas in London rejected it saying that it may offend the British people who belong to other faiths or those with no faith.

There was a time when England was a Christian nation and English missionaries spread throughout the world. That was a time when England was known as “the empire where the sun never sets”--- because when the sun sets on their colonies in the west, it rises on their colonies in the east. Today, England is no longer the same. The demise of British Empire has long ended and the British people no longer know where the sun has gone.

There was also a time when the Anglican Church was predominant in England. Reformation started in Germany and spread across the British Isles in the form of Anglicanism. Anglicanism was like the air that the British people breathe. Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, was asked why he was an Anglican and he replied, “I am an Anglican because I was born in England; had I been born in India I might have been a Hindu.” Today, the Church of England has waned and waxed and its power is no longer recognized.

As Germany, England and much of Europe, Christianity in the United States is also in crisis. The competitors of Christianity are not Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism but secularism. In New York City alone, the number of those who profess no faith has exceeded the mainline denominations. Even those who claim to be “spiritual but not religious” are actually atheists or agnostics. 

The consumerism and other secular values have been deeply embedded in American culture. We’ve just finished Thanksgiving and are now preparing for Christmas and you can see the flurry of commercial activities. As someone said, “Christmas is another season when Americans buy things they do not need, with the money they do not have, to impress the people they do not like.”

We have been secularized in our thinking. We put our trust in our government, in our military, in our economy than on God. We worship money, entertainment and power. There are more people who turn up for sports than for church; there are more people glued on their television sets, computers and cellphones than praying or reading the scriptures. There are more people shopping during Black Friday than those who worship on Good Friday. Even family times are no longer quality times for bonding because we now fiddle with our cellphones by the dinner table.

Honestly speaking, even as Christian people, we act secularly. We have devalued the Word of God. Congregations cannot sit for long sermons. In many of our churches, people come to church but are anxious to leave even before the service is over, but they would line up for Broadway Shows and spend hours in sporting events. Many churches, including Episcopalian, accommodate this lukewarm interest in hearing the Word of God by shortening the sermons into five or seven minutes. Someone said, “because we preach sermonettes, we grow Christianettes!” We grow members who are “neither hot not cold” but lukewarm in the faith.

When we listen to our political leaders, we do not hear an appeal to God who guides our destiny as a people and as nation. What we hear is an appeal to the secular god of money, might and power. One cartoonist puts it this way: “We are suffering from a ‘military industrial complex.’ We have 1,800 nuclear missiles, 283 battleships and 9,400 planes. We spend more in military than the incomes of twelve nations combined and we increase military spending year after year---and yet we still feel insecure.” 

The values of the godless world is akin to the values of the Roman Empire, the context  of John the Baptist preaching, the context on which Herod ruled: gold on top and human beings at the bottom. Conscience was wanting, human life was devalued and the rule of the thumb was “might is right.”

So how do we preach Christ in this godless world? Let us draw inspiration from John the Baptist.

1. Preach Christ with passion!

John the Baptist preached with passion. Like the Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos and Joel, John called people to repent and turn to the Lord. When some lukewarm Hebrews came for his baptism, he rebuked them saying, “Who warned you of the wrath of God that is to come?” Change your life, changed your conduct, rend your hearts and not your garments because even now, “the ax of judgment is laid on the roots of the trees.” Because he preaches with passion, John attracted so many people---even in the wilderness.

That’s what I like with our new presiding bishop, Michael Curry. He preaches with passion, with energy. You are electrified with his energy. Samuel Chadwick once wrote, “Preaching is never a profession; it must always be a passion.” St. Paul said, “Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16). 

John the Baptist saw that His people have forgotten God. They have placed their hopes in human achievements. They were lost. They were no different from the pagan people around them. So he preached with passion to prepare the way for Christ!

2. Preach Christ with compassion!

Although John the Baptist was often pictured as an ascetic who preached hell, fire and brimstone, he was actually a compassionate prophet. His parents were devout Jews: father Zechariah was a priest and mother Elizabeth was cousin of the Virgin Mary. In other words, John and Jesus were second cousins.

John’s birth was a miracle, an answer to Zechariah’s prayer, because Elizabeth was past child-bearing when she got pregnant. And so when the child was born, they named him John, derived from the Hebrew term meaning “God is gracious.” As he was passionate, John was also compassionate---the reason why many people came to listen to him---even in the desert. 

Compassion in Greek brings the image of being gripped in the intestine. Being compassionate is to feel the pain of people, bodily within yourself.  Have you ever tried looking at the homeless people shivering in cold, hungry and thirsty and not feel their pain? Have you ever been to the slums in some Third World countries and see the poverty and squalor of those who sift through the garbage dump looking for something they can live on and not feel their suffering? Have you ever visited the sick or those in prison and not feel their suffering and agony? Have you ever heard the cries of the widows and orphans of those who died in wars and those who recently lost their lives in terrorism and senseless violence and not feel their anguish?

Indian evangelist Ravi Zacharias said that “somewhere in the universe, there is a place where all the heartaches in the world are funneled into.” That place is in the heart of God who aches in love and compassion for the world which He made. The pain of God is expressed by Hosea who suffered pain from the faithlessness of His people, “How can I give you up Ephraim? My heart recoils within me and my compassion was stirred.”  And when Jesus saw the poor and the oppressed he was filled with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd! And when he looked at the disunity of God’s people, He said, “How often would I wish I were a hen gathering her chicks under the shadow of her wings but you would not!”

Have you seen the movie Gandhi? There was a scene, in which Mahatma Gandhi was asked by Anglican missionary Earl Stanley Jones what advice he would give to Christians so the Indian people would accept it as an Indian religion and Gandhi said (Year 1919).

First, you who are Christians or who call yourselves Christians, must live more like Jesus. Make him alive in your life.

Second, you must practice your religion, without adulterating or toning it down. Do not tone down the name of Jesus just because you may offend other people. No, the essential offense is not in proclaiming your faith but in toning it down. It is strange that many American Christians, in their desire to be inclusive, do not want to mention the word Jesus anymore and others wanted to abolish “Christ” from Christmas tree, Merry Christmas, etc.. Gandhi said, “Do not tone Jesus down but present Him as He really is.”

Third, emphasize love and make it the center of your proclamation because Jesus is love.

Fourth, study other religions more sympathetically.

One of the things that bother me with the escalating violence and terrorism is the pervading reaction of many, including those who profess to be Christians. And the reaction is aimed at demonizing Islam. While it is true that the fanatical ISIS claim they do their evil deeds “in the name of Islam,” they do not necessarily speak for the Muslim community in the same manner that Ku Klux Klan do not represent the Christian community or the anti-abortionist terrorists do not represent the evangelical prolife movement.

Furthermore the political rhetoric does not sympathetically ask the question why these people devalue lives? Why? Do we really stop, look and listen? Why do this couple in San Bernardino would leave their six-month old baby to commit a killing spree on innocent civilians, some of whom are the husband’s friends?

With all the fears from terrorism, there is an upsurge of civilians, including those who purport to be Christians, buying their own guns and training to shoot in order to defend themselves, maybe to the delight of the NRA (National Rifle Association). What? Don’t we remember what Christ said, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword?” Violence begets violence; more violence begets more violence---and the cycle never ends! As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot be overcome by darkness; only light can. Hate can not be overcome by hate; only love can.”

In 1966 Simon and Garfunkel debuted a song, “Hello darkness my old friend, I come to talk with you again…people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening.” Some asked the question, “Where is God in all of these? Why is God silent?” The poet Charlotte Elliot once wrote, “If we have a keen sensitivity like God, we can hear the blade of grass grow and the squirrel’s heartbeat and we will die from the roar that lies at the other side of silence.”  Maybe the silence of God can be deafening and if God speaks, we may die by the sound of it.

3. Preach Christ for transformation!

Stanley Jones wrote in one of his books, “Christianity has its creeds but it is not a creed; it has its doctrines and documents but it is not a doctrine or document; it has its rites and ceremonies but it is not a rite or a ceremony; it has its buildings and institutions but it is not a building or an institution. It has at its center the Person of Jesus Christ.”

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles” (1Corinthians 1:23). To us, Christians, the Cross, the Calvary love of God in Christ, is the power and the wisdom of God.”

Therefore, the ultimate purpose of preaching Christ is a revolution of values, a revolution of love that leads to reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). God has acted in coming down from heaven and became incarnate in Jesus Christ to reconcile us to God and to one another. 

John the Baptist was the reformer but Christ is the transformer. John baptized with water that we may be cleansed from sin but Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit that we may change our hearts. There can be no new person without new heart; no new society without new humanity. Corruption is like a fish. When removed from water it dies and begins to decay. What is the solution? A new creation! Jesus said, “Behold I make all things new” (Revelations 21:5). When  you are in Christ, you are a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Your values, your thinking, your actions must change. 

Preaching Christ must therefore aim to change the value system. Revelations 21:21 speaks about the streets of the City of God paved with gold. This is a reversal of value system. In the kingdom of Herod, gold was on top and human being beneath. Gold steps on human beings. But in the kingdom of God, human beings are on top, gold beneath. In the kingdom of Herod, gold steps on human beings but in the Kingdom of God, human being walk on gold. The power that comes from the barrel of the gun is transformed by the power of love!

CONCLUSION

Let me end my sermon with a story on allegiance. I do not mean the Broadway Musical starring my favorite singer, Leah Salonga. I still have to see it sometime. But this story on allegiance was set in the Middle East, a story from the Muslim context. I heard it many years ago spoken by an Indian evangelical leader, Sam Kamaleson:

In the era of the Caliphates, there was a Caliphate (king) who was so self-centered, so jealous and so insecure. He was secretly disliked by many people. Unlucky for him, a new prime minister was elected who was so popular, so selfless and so magnanimous and he was well-liked by everybody. His name was Jaffar. So the king, unable to accept a competition, had Jaffar killed. Then he issued an edict that whoever mentions the name of Jaffar would have his head cut off. In the middle of the marketplace, a former Ethiopian slave, shouted “God bless Jaffar.” The guards arrested him and brought him to the king. The king said, “Are you a fool, trying to disobey my command? Now the guards will put you in chains, torture you and then cut your head off.” The Ethiopian smiled and said, “O King, I was in so many chains and Jaffar set me free.” Then he looked up to heaven and said, “O Jaffar, even these chains I offer to you.” It appeared to the king that nothing could break this man’s spirit, so he ordered his guards to cut the chains and offer the slave gold and silver to win him over. The guard untied him saying “I don’t know what happened to the king but he wants you free and also to have these gold and silver. Now to whom does your allegiance belong?” The slave raised up the gold and silver on his hands and said, “O Jaffar, even these, I offer to you.”

Because of his allegiance to Jesus, John the Baptist head was cut off by King Herod. Allegiance to Christ is costly.  Salvation is free but it is not cheap. Christian discipleship is costly. But when we commit to follow Christ, preaching love and reconciliation, He will set us free from every chain that binds us---even from fear and death.  Amen.