Luke ルカ14:16-24
Once
again, we are looking at a parable of Jesus.
So far, we have learned that Parables are teaching tools that come out
of real life experiences and Jesus uses them to teach us some real life
Spiritual lessons. The weak point here may
be with us who misunderstand the parable or if we don’t follow the
teaching. The lesson here seems to be straightforward:
Be ready to come when He calls.
The
problem in this story is that the people who were called did not take it
seriously at all. In fact, they came up
with three pretty silly and, could be interpreted as selfish
or foolish reasons. 三人の貧しい者の言い訳
1.
Bought a field and now I got to go see it?
Really? Would you really buy a
field and not see it first?
2.
Bought five oxen and need now to go try them out? Really? Why did he really buy them before he
tried them out before hand?
3.
Just got married? Really? Already blaming his inaction on the
wife! If something goes wrong-blame the wife.
It
would like the line some make when they don’t want to go on that date: “I can’t go out with you on Friday because I
am washing my hair.” “What about Saturday?” “No,
I’m drying my hair!”
It
would have been better if they told the truth: “I don't care about your party! Leave me alone!”
Well,
this response from the man’s friends angered him. Angry because his friends were treating his
offer so poorly. Angry because his
friends would not show him any courteous for his kindness. In short, they grew
cold toward him.
The active people in our
story are unnamed but ever so important to the results. “His
servants”, “the servant”, “his servant”
by title only. This
role
was one of action and of being very involved with the community around him. He was doing the will of his master. この共同体における仕えるも
のとしての役割
Going, talking, pleading in some cases, reporting back factual reports of how
things were going. This person or group
of people were really dedicated to their master and would do anything and DID
do anything for him. They responded to
the master’s request to compel others to come for the meal. To go beyond the comfort zone and really ‘get’ those people to come in for the
feast.
In
short, I really liked these guys. Men of action. 行動する男性。Men
with a mission. Men who really went the extra
mile to satisfy their master. But we
don't know their names! A group of no bodies. No named workers…
The
Bible is filled with such people. Who
was it that built the Tabernacle? (Exodus 25) Oh, we got a few names of the men
God chose to give special talents with gold and silk and gems but he (Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur of the tribe
of Judah and Oholiah from the tribe of Dan) did not do ALL the work by themself. They had helpers. Who were they? Don’t know.
Who
were the men who fought for Israel. We
got a few names of the leaders and about 70 Men of Valor with King David, but
they too had seconds to help out but we never hear their names.
And
even if we did read of their names, the names were hard to pronounce. Yet, the Work of God continued and He got the
Glory for all the Acts of God in Human History.
When
it comes to the New Testament, Paul, esp. uses a lot of names of Saints who
followed the Lord. He even named some
enemies of the Gospel-telling the reader to watch out for Alexander, the metalworker
who did Paul great harm. (2 Tim 4:14) In the letter to the Romans, Paul goes
into very deep theology when he explains the Gospel. Great passages dedicated to the understanding
of the Secrets of God and he ends that great discourse with a list of names he
wanted to say hello to. Names that we
know like Priscilla and Aquila and Mary but also names like Urbanus, Herodion,
his relative, and Rufus and his mother.
Who are they? What is their
story? In that passage, over 36 names are used and other men and women. Most of us will not know—or care—who they
were but they were part of the early church and ones that were ready for the
Great Banquet.
Why
am I taking this time to talk about these unnamed people? Because we
are those people. わたしたちはそのような者です! People who will follow us in the Church in Japan may never remember
our names, but God knows them. He knows our
names. He knows our every thought. Those names are written on the palms of His
Hands. Those people—like ourselves—are
remembered by our Savior. We all are
part of this work here in Tokorozawa.
All of us. No matter if you are a
deacon or a piano player or a teacher or the one who sits in the back row on
the left side of someone who comes only once or twice a month. We are known by the Master and we are part of
the whole. And when you are not in the
picture—when you stay home or go someplace else rather than to church on
Sundays, you are really missed and that hurts the Body.
It
is not the question of “What am I getting
out of the service?” Or even “I am
not being feed here.” What are you putting in the service/THE CHURCH? It is a matter
of coming to the banquet and sitting down to the meal the Lord has
provided. I may not be the best preacher
this land has ever seen but your ‘role’,
if you will, is to pray for this man so that he would be the best in this spot
on Sundays.
Sunday
after Sunday, do you pray for me?
祈る必要Do you ask the Lord to bless my heart with deeper
understandings of His Word? Do you ask
the Lord to protect my heart from fear and uncertainty? Are you praying for the next person who will
be leading our Church? Make no mistake
about it. The Power of the preaching is not
in the pastor’s words but in the prayers of God’s People for the delivery
of God’s Word.
I
can look back over these years in Japan with a great deal of wonder and
excitement. Sometimes, the ministry went
very well while other times it seems like lead was added to my shoes. Sometimes that was because I was not looking
to Christ for my direction. Other times it was because I was.
In
1979-80, while teaching English at Unoki Church in Ota-Ku, Tokyo, I was excited
about the Work the Lord was doing. We
had well over 60 kids in our Sunday School program while the church only had
about 25 members. My helper and I were
speaking about the size of the group and he said: “There are too many kids!” I
thought he was getting his English a little mixed up and said to him: “Not enough room for all the kids!” すべての子供のためのない十分な部屋。 He
said: “No, too many children!” He did not misunderstand me; he misunderstood
the Work of God.
The
time is right for us to look ahead to grow.
The tendency is for people to stop coming—for the group to shrink. No real need for that. If it gets hard to come to a shrinking
community, invite others to come with you.
The more the merrier. Go into the
areas of your own relationships and ask them to come—to the banquet. Remember
the Words of Jesus?
Matthew マタイ25:35-44. “35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me
in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 35 あなたがたは、わたしが空腹であったとき、わたしに食べ物を与え、わたしが渇いていたときに、わたしに飲ませ、わたしが旅人であったときに、わたしに宿を貸し、36 わたしが裸のとき、わたしに着る物を与え、わたしが病気をしたとき、わたしを見舞い、わたしが牢にいたとき、わたしをたずねてくれたからです。』
37 “Then the
righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or
thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
needing clothes and clothe you? 37 すると、その正しい人たちは、答えて言います。『主よ。いつ、私たちは、あなたが空腹なのを見て、食べる物を差し上げ、渇いておられるのを見て、飲ませてあげましたか。38 いつ、あなたが旅をしておられるときに、泊まらせてあげ、裸なのを見て、着る物を差し上げましたか。39 When did we see
you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will
reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 39 また、いつ、私たちは、あなたのご病気やあなたが牢におられるのを見て、おたづねしましたか。』40 すると、王は彼らに答えて言います。『まことに、あなたがたに告げます。あなたがたが、これらのわたしの兄弟たち、しかも最も小さい者たちのひとりにしたのは、わたしにしたのです。』
41 “Then he will say
to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed
clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not
look after me.’ 41 それから、王はまた、その左にいる者たちに言います。『のろわれた者ども。わたしから離れて、悪魔とその使いたちのために用意された永遠の火に入れ。
42 おまえたちは、わたしが空腹であったとき、食べる物をくれず、渇いていたときにも飲ませず、43 わたしが旅人であったときにも泊まらせず、裸であったときにも着る物をくれず、病気のときや牢にいたときにもたずねてくれなかった。』
44 “They also will
answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you
did not do for me.’ 44 そのとき、彼らも答えて言います。『主よ。いつ、私たちは、あなたが空腹であり、渇き、旅をし、裸であり、病気をし、牢におられるのを見て、お世話をしなかったのでしょうか。』45 すると、王は彼らに答えて言います。『まことに、おまえたちに告げます。おまえたちが、この最も小さい者たちのひとりにしなかったのは、わたしにしなかったのです。』
46 “Then they will
go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Our
problem was indeed that we had so little room for all the kids that were coming
to Unoki Church. The children’s number
was great! He—even after I explained to my
helper the importance of all these kids coming to hear the Gospel, still he did not move from the idea that God was
doing a great work. Later this month, I
will be visiting that very church and some of our past students have been
invited to attend the service. Some of
the names will be missing from my memory but God knows them very well. He had died for them and He will
remember.
Just
like here. The purpose of ICCS is not to have your or my name be remembered but
that the Cause of Christ would impact people’s lives for Christ sake and for
His Glory. To please Him in all we
do. And in all we do, we are getting people
ready for the Great Banquet. There is room here
for a lot more. 祈る必要 Get ready for
them. Keep the Gospel alive here and
they will come.
Go
beyond your comfort zone and get “THOSE” people to come. The master is happy when the room is full to
receive his blessing. So that ALL will taste and see that the
Lord is good!
It
is a question of HOW, isn’t it? We will
grow God’s way. Can I quickly share what has been on my heart
for a long time? Walk with me here:
•Vision, ビジョン Mission ミッションand
Goal ゴールof ICCS: We
glorify God by making disciples of all nations. ....として私たちはキリストのようになる(Starting with ourselves!) Not a game, not a club, but as a Family of
God!
•We Glorify God
as we become LIKE Christ. ....として私たちはキリストのようになる
Following Christ and becoming like Him is the vision
of ever Believer and of every Church! It should be.
•Through our worship
gatherings, we exalt God in Christ as the Only one who is:
--Worthy
of our Worship
•We glorify God by making
disciples… ....弟子を作ることで...again-start with us…
Four primary facets of
discipline-making are:
o
Share the Word 言葉を共有する-lifestyle
o
Show the Word言葉を表す-in action
o
Teach the Word言葉を教える-in word and deed
o
Serve the Word言葉につかえる-out of the heart of Love.
•The question we need to be constantly asking at ICCS is:
How can we most effectively make
disciples of all nations?
•Small Grow Groups: The primary avenue for disciple-making to occur:
1. Approximately 8-12 believers sharing life together
2. Growing inward by showing and teaching the
Word
3. Growing outward by sharing and serving the
Word
4. We want to see small groups of disciple-makers all
over the planet
•We glorify God by making disciples of all nations.
Everything
we do at ICCS, we do ultimately for the
sake of God’s Glory in all nations! すべての国は、神の栄光のために！
a. Through short-term missions, we encourage one another
to
give 2% of our time each year in contexts around the planet in a way
that transforms
the other 98% of our time here in the process. Work
toward reaching out to others.
b. We are investing in national disciple-makers
and churches
in other contexts and equipping them to go into the world with
us.
c. We are joining hands with Faith Families
around the planet so that together, we are impacting our world for Christ.
•The WIN is World-Impacting Disciple-makers
Acts 2:42-47 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs
were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had
everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to
anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the
temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and
sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
42 そして、彼らは使徒たちの教えを堅く守り、交わりをし、パンを裂き、祈りをしていた。43 そして、一同の心に恐れが生じ、使徒たちによって多くの不思議としるしが行われた。44 信者となった者たちはみないっしょにいて、いっさいの物を共有にしていた。45 そして、資産や持ち物を売っては、それぞれの必要に応じて、みなに分配していた。46 そして毎日、心を一つにして宮に集まり、家でパンを裂き、喜びと真心をもって食事をともにし、47 神を賛美し、すべての民に好意を持たれた。主も毎日救われる人々を仲間に加えてくださった。
•Our Values: Biblical 聖書
Biblical
Proclamation (Acts 2:42)
Sacrificial Care
(2:42)
Wholehearted Worship
(2:42)
Desperate Prayer
(2:42)
Exponential
Multiplication (2:47)
•Reproducible: 7Questions we NEED to ask are …再現性 7つの質問
1. What if God choose to add 10,000 people to the
kingdom this year in Tokorozawa?
2. Would we be ready to support such growth?
3. Are we currently organized for routine addition.
4. Can we be organized for rapid multiplication!
5. Is ICCS is not a place of ministry or a base of
ministry
6. Can we eliminate all references to the church as a
building from our vocabulary.
7. Are we decreasingly dependent on ministries that
require large budgets or buildings
•To
Be
Cross-Cultural. That is the thing we all like about
ICCS. Don’t loose it!
•Keeping things SIMPLE: 物事を保つ シンプル
· Worship Gatherings
· Small Groups
· Short-Term Missions
Four levels of support:
· Assimilation
· Administration
· Communication
· Education
•KEEP things Radical: 合理的な
· For the sake of the lost ... 失われた...
· For the sake of the poor ... 貧しい…
· For the sake of the Church ... 教会...
· Ultimately for the sake of Christ! キリストのために！
•So that His Word can Impact The Planet
A church
with this vision, mission, goal, values,
and strategy will produce world-impacting disciple-makers.
Pray with me?
愛CCS
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