コへレトの言葉３章１節―１７節
「何事にも時がある」 “There is a Right Time for Everything”
私たちの神と主イエスキリストから、恵みと平安があなた方の上にあるように。アーメン。
浅野先生というルーテル市ヶ谷教会の牧師さんが今年の年頭のエッセイを「突き刺さる時間」という題で書いているを読みまして、時間というものはなんであるか、考えることがありました。
最初に時間とはどこで生まれたのでしょうと先生は質問しています。私たちは時間に追われて生活をしているのですが、時間とは誰が考え出したのでしようか？勿論私たちの生活は時間を気にして動き回っているのですが、物理学者はそもそも、時間などと言うものは存在しないと言うのです。私は以前に日本人ほど時間を気にする民族はいないと書かれた文章を読んだことがあります。新幹線は朝６時から７時までに毎日５分おきに東京から大阪のに出発します。それも十両編成です。日本の新幹線ほど正確に時間通りに動くものはないと言われています。私は思うのですが、日本人は誰でも家を出る前に時計をはめて、夜、時計を外して床に入るまで、腕時計とにらめっこして生活しているのではないでしょうか？
今日の旧約聖書はコへレトの言葉です。皆さんがもう何回も聞いたことがある言葉はコへレトの言葉3章1章の「何事にも時があり、天の下の出来事にはすべて定められた時がある。それは生まれた時、死ぬ時、植える時、また植えたものを抜く時である、コへレトはすべて定められた時があると断言するのです。
しかしコへレトの言う時間は神様の定めた時間であって、私たち一人一人が作り出すものではないのです。私たちの人生はそういう意味で、神様からいただいた、あるいは預かった時と言っても良いでしょう。
私がこの復活ルーテル教会の日語部の礼拝に始めて来たのは１９８９年の夏の終わりでした。その年の春、ELCAのシカゴ本部よりPacifica Synod とSoutheran California West synod よりMission Director としての招聘を受け、ダラス・テキサスから家族とともにコロナに引っ越ししたのです。その時、娘のKatie は、まだ４歳、息子のAndrew は生まれて３か月目でした。コロナはリバーサイドの隣町ですから、私とNancy にとっては人生の中で一番長い間暮らしているところです。今もう２４年この土地に住んで来たわけです。子供たちもここSouthern California が自分たちの故郷なのです。
さて時を遡のぼり、１９４８年、第二次世界大戦が終わり、日本がまだ戦争の恐ろしさから立ち上がらなければと少しずつ再建の夢を抱き始めた時の様子を思い出してください。この年にアメリカの特に、Protestant の教会の団体が、日本にイエス・キリストによる救いの希望を与えようと、多くの宣教師を送り始めたのです。
その一つの教会の団体はEvangelical Lutheran Church という北欧系のアメリカ人の教会で、特にNorway からの移民たちが多い教会でした。Evangelical Lutheran Church は戦争が終わったが、まだ暗闇の中で何も希望のない日本に伝道調査団を送り込んだのです。その主事にあたったのが、Dr. Olaf Hansen という宣教師で、その人により東京の巣鴨という山手線の近くに、倉のあった大きな家と土地を買い取り、アメリカから宣教師とその家族の住めるアパートを建てたのです。
同じころ、私の両親はお見合いをし、結婚をすることを決めていたのです。又、父も母もすでに洗礼は受けていましたから、結婚式はぜひ教会でしたいと考えていたのです。そんな時、父は先に述べた宣教師のOlaf Hansenさんと川島亀三郎という英語のできたルーテル教会の牧師さんに出会い、ぜひ私たちの教会にいらしてくださいと勧められ、自宅から歩いて３分のところでしたので、これは好都合と、この小石川ルーテル教会の初めの会員になりました。その時それは１９５０年のイースターの日でした。その年の１１月に両親は小石川教会で第１号の結婚式を挙げ、母は、着物と角隠し、短刀を帯に隠してという面白い日本式の結婚式を見に多くのルーテル教会の宣教師達が来られたと聞いています。５年ほど前、トーレンスのFirst Lutheran Church で宣教師として働いていた山本裕先生はその時神学生で小石川教会に来ていましたので、父と母の結婚式に出席していたのです。そう云う訳で、私は赤ちゃんの時から両親に連れられて教会に行き、日曜学校にも教会礼拝にも何の違和感を持たずに出席していました。又、教会での遊び相手も宣教師の子供たちでしたので、そのころからアメリカに行ってみたいと思っていたのです。父は、早稲田大学の土木課を卒業後、人事院に勤めていましたが、役所の仕事が自分の好みではないと早く悟り、大学時代の先輩のお父さんが始めたダイヤモンド経済雑誌社に入社、そこで父は多くの会社史の編集の担当をしたのですが、大学時代、それは戦争の時期で英語を習うことができなかったことをいつも残捻と思い続けていたのです。ですから私がアメリカの高校にExchange student として一年行きたいといった時、是非行きなさいと言ってくれたのです。そして立教大学を卒業する前にアメリカで神学校に行きたいと言った時も母は悲しそうな顔をしていましたが、父は、自分のやりたいことをやるのが一番と賛成してくれたのです。そういうわけで、私は娘にも息子にも、自分のやりたいことをしなさいといつも言っています。
皆さんの中で、岸野先生、また同じことを言っていると思われている方もいるでしょう。しかし、今年、私の３４年目になる牧師としての働きは、いつも神様からのここに行きなさい、あそこで伝道をしなさいとのガイドがあったのです。
一番最初の招聘はAssistant Pastor としてPhiladelphiaの歴史の古い教会でした。多くのお年寄りの会員を訪ねることと、Youth Ministry を尋ねることが私の主な仕事でした。 このZion Lutheran Church はほとんどがblue collarの教会でしたが、何もまだよく知らない私の手を取り、足を取り助けてくれたのです。
続いて２回目の招聘は１９８３年にDallas郊外 のPlano というところで、設立してからまだ間もない、テキサスの中で伸びていた教会の副牧師のポジションでした。この教会で、私の役目は新しく教会を訪ねてきた人たち、又、新しく引っ越ししてきた人たちに教会の案内状を持って訪ねることでした。 又６０人のHigh school student のConfirmation の担当をまかされました。Plano でのministry の３年目にTexas 州での伝道主事、Mission Director から新しい教会を始める仕事をする気があるかと聞かれ、しばらく家内と考えた末、これも神様からのCalling 、招聘ではないかとそのチャレンジを受け取りました。6,000件もの新しい住宅が建つという今まで草原であったGrand Prairie というところで毎日毎日door knocking をして少しずつ新しい教会に興味を示した人たちを家に招き、その輪を大きくしていったのです。これは自分でも信じられないことですが、door knocking を初めて４か月目にShopping center の一部を借りて礼拝をする機会を与えられました。それから1年後にOur Redeemer Lutheran Churchが創立されたのです。
私はこの教会を出ようとは考えてもみなかったのでが、1989年の春、Chicago のELCAの国内伝道局より南カリフォルニアでのMission Director としての招聘を受けたのです。その最初のコンタクトはこのLCRの日本語部の伝道を支えていく仕事、また多くの新しい教会を築くMission developer である牧師さんたちの教会設立の仕事のアドバイザーとして働きました。１９９５年から1998年はInterim minister としてClaremont とWhittier の教会で働き、2010年からLCRの日本語部担当の牧師として今日まで来たわけです。
今、これらすべての伝道の仕事を振り返ってみる時、私は神様の導きの中に生きてきたとの強い確信があります。
しかし、神様とともに生きるとは何時も私たちの人生、仕事が旨くゆく、成功するということではありません。その反対に、失敗したことがたくさんありました。自分が如何に惨めな者であるかを知らされた時も沢山ありました。皆さんもご存知のように、私は自分が惨めな時は無口になり、いつもの活気もなくなります。そのことを気づいていた方もいらっしゃるでしょう。しかし自分では私は本当はみんなの中で、楽しく物事をやりたい、悲しみに沈んでいるいる人と共に泣き、ともに重荷を負いたい。お互いが、お互いの思いを心の底から語り合い、許しあい、受け入れあい、泣きあい、祈りあう、そのような場を、神様から与えられたのです。それは、皆さんにとっても人間として最高の時と場であると信じます。
今日がLCR 日本語部の私にとって 最後の日と考えると寂しい気持ちになりますが、実際には祈りの中で共にいることを覚えてください。そして、もう一つお願いがあります。この教会のリーダーをいつも一人一人の名を指して祈ってください。日本語部でいつも、一生懸命お世話してくださっている、芙美さん、祥子さん、この教会の日本語部のwebの管理をしている愛子さん、礼拝の中で受け付け、司式、お祈りを担当する皆さん、誕生日のケーキを作ってくださる民さん、オルガニストであり聖歌隊のリーダーであるさと子さん、そして、カール先生、又、これからの日本語伝道の主事となる安達牧師を皆さんの祈りに覚えてください、支えてください。牧師は信徒のために祈りますが、同じように牧師も信徒さんからの祈りと励ましが必要です。
明日から私は1週間にわたり、日本に行ってきます。今では電話にも出られなくなり、転んでばかりいる母を訪ねます。意志疎通が難しくなった母にとって息子のゆうちゃんは一年に１回しか私を訪ねてくれないと思っていた時もあったでしょう。ルーテル老人ホームに入ったときはお父さんも一緒にいたのに、今は一人ぼっちで寂しいと思っているかもしれない。もっと親孝行をしたかったと思うのですが、母は何時もイエス様に対して子供のような信仰を持っていました。母がよく私がまだ幼い時に歌ってくれた讃美歌は、「主我を愛す、主は強ければ、我弱くとも恐れはあらじ、わが主イエス、わが主イエス、わが主イエス、我を愛す。」。さようならを言うのは、もの悲しいことですが、同じイエス様を信じる私たちは信仰によって繋がれています。ただ会員が多くなることが教会の目的ではありませんが、一人でも多くの人が、主イエス・キリストからの恵みの愛を受け、その愛をお互いの生活の中で実行することができるよう祈りに覚えます。
最後にもう一度、コへレトの言葉に戻ります。神は「永遠を思う心を人に与えられる。しかし神の時間は時計では測れません。どの様な人生も神様の時間の中で与えられてきたのです。初めから終わりまでの私たちに託された時間の中で、お互いにお互いの思いを打ち明けることができるように、そしてそこに神様も皆さんと共にいてくださることを覚えてください。
私たちは神様に生かされているのです。イエス様を信じる者は幸いなりとは信仰を持つことです。どうか、この神様の愛が皆さん一人一人のうえにありますよう祈ります。アーメン。
どうか、私のこれから始めるinterim ministry を皆さんの祈りに覚えてください。人知では測り知ることのできない神の平安が、あなた方の心と思いをキリスト・イエスにあって守られるように祈ります。アーメン。
There Is A Time For Everything 「何事にも時がある」
Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Amen.
Recently, I read the article written by the Rev. Asano, the pastor of the Ichigaya Lutheran Church of the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church (JELC). He was asking the reader, “What is time”?
He is asking, “What is time”? And where does time come from? Who invented the notion of time? I have never thought about this but according to the physicists, there is no such thing as time. It’s the invention of humans by observing the universe. I still don’t understand this, but I do know that our lives are organized by our watches and clocks and these things give us a sense of time, time limits, and the sense of short and long periods of time.
I recently read the article that stated that there are no other people that are as conscious of time as the Japanese. It is true that the majority of Japanese are very conscious about time such as appointments, work deadlines and train departure and arrivals. Almost 20 years ago, I spent a month in Mexico and lived with a family for the purpose of learning Spanish. They lived in a typical looking home, but they did not have any clocks in their home and they did not wear any watches. They had an expression which is “mas or menos” meaning, “Whenever, whatever” and that drove me crazy.
I do believe there is a lot of truth in that article that stated, “There are no people like the Japanese who are so concerned about time.” One example is the Shinkansen train. There are 12 Shinkansens, (or bullet trains) each carrying an average of 600 people that leave Tokyo station for Osaka station between the hours of 6:00 and 7:00 AM every day. Seven days a week, these trains leave and arrive on time 96% of the time. And if they don’t, the train’s staff are very apologetic about this.
You just heard the words read from the writing of Ecclesiastes this morning. Perhaps you have heard this many times, but let me read this one more time. In chapter 3, verse 1, it is written, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, a time to love, and a time for peace.
The time that Ecclesiastes is talking about is God’s time and the time God has set forth and has established for us. This “time” is nothing that we can produce by ourselves. Our life in that sense is given to us by God and we are the custodians of the time that has been given to us by God.
In the spring of 1989, while I was living in Grand Prairie, Texas, I received a call to be the Mission Director for the Pacifica and Southern California West Synods. I came to visit the Japanese Service here at LCR In the summer of 1989. Remembering back to that time, our daughter, Katie was 4 years old and our son, Andrew, was only 3 months old. For them the Corona/Riverside area is their home for more than 23 years.
Looking back on my life, I must say that my life was really led by God. In 1948, the first American Norwegian Lutheran missionary, Dr. Olaf Hansen, arrived to the war-torn Japan, to plant the seeds of the Lutheran Church development. Prior to World War ll, the Lutheran Church, had established many churches in Kyushu, Japan, but all the American missionaries were sent home when the war began.
After the war, in the early 1950’s, the American Board of Missions from many denominations were very eager to send missionaries to Japan. In fact, the government of the United States encouraged many Protestant Denominations to send missionaries to Japan in order to bring Christianity to the Japanese people.
When Dr. Olaf Hansen arrived in Tokyo in 1948, he studied the Tokyo and Tokai areas and chose many Lutheran Churches to be planted there. The Mission Board purchased land for several churches and recruited many missionaries from the United States. Dr. Olaf Hansen himself started the first Lutheran Church in Tokyo and that was just a few blocks away from my parent’s home. The reason why I am sharing this with you today is because I believe that my life was led by God even before I was born.
I shared the following story with you three years ago when I started my duty as pastor of the Japanese Ministry here at LCR (Lutheran Church of Resurrection). My father met Dr. Hansen when he was searching for the meaning of life after Japan had been devastated by the war. He and his parents lost everything. Their home and all their belongings burned during the war. Although he was a graduate of Waseda University, there were no jobs, and there was no money. He was one of the many Japanese who were seeking the meaning of life and were trying to rebuild their lives after the war.
Fortunately, he had a professor who was a Christian in Waseda University who introduced the Bible to him. He then was baptized at one of the Nihon Kirisuto Kyoudan Churches, but that church was not in his neighborhood. This professor of Waseda University was my mother’s uncle. You may remember that this professor arranged the omiai (arranged introduction for marriage) at his home for my mother and father. My mother was a Methodist Christian already.
Once they decided to get married, they wanted to find a church near my father’s home where they were living at the time.
I really believe this was God’s work. One day my father saw a sign on one of the old Japanese houses that survived the fire and the sign read, You Are Welcome to Worship with Us! As he was standing there, wondering what kind of church this could be, Dr. Hansen came out from the building and invited him to come inside. To make a long story short, both of my parents were impressed with Dr. Hansen and became charter members of this congregation. They even got married at this Koishikawa Lutheran Church near Sugamo Station in Tokyo, Japan.
There were more than a dozen missionaries and their wives who attended their wedding at the old Okura (warehouse) that became the first church building. My mother wore the traditional Japanese kimono and all the American missionaries were so interested in seeing a traditional Japanese wedding. If you remember, Pastor Yamamoto, who served the First Lutheran Church in Torrance, was an intern pastor at this old warehouse church and he also attended my parent’s wedding.
I spent a lot of time in this church where my parents were the first couple to be married and I was the first child to be baptized. My playmates were the missionary’s children. You may remember Pastor Luttio, who attended our Japanese retreat several years ago, he was also one of the missionary pastors who served that church. I believe growing up with these missionary friends and families, was also another reason why I became so interested in becoming a Lutheran Pastor.
As I shared in the past, I spent a year as a high school exchange student in Northern California and this was a very good experience for me. After the school year was completed, I spent the summer working in Great Barrington, MA with emotionally disabled children and this is when I felt the call to become a Pastor.
The Lutheran Theological Seminary, in Gettysburg, PA, accepted me after I completed my undergraduate studies at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, where I majored in Christian Studies and Philosophy.
One of my biggest surprises was my 3rd year or the internship year of seminary. We seminarians met and were interviewed by several prospective church pastors who were looking for interns to serve at their church. I still don’t know why, but Pastor Wilson Hoyer from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, in Lebanon. PA, interviewed me and told me emphatically that he had decided to take me as his intern. I don’t know even today, why he wanted me to come to his church. But I can tell you two things. First, I had the best internship experience and second, I met my wife, Nancy, while I was living in Lebanon, PA. She was introduced to me by a member of my internship church.
My graduation, ordination and wedding came within one months’ time in June of 1979. I was also very pleased and relieved when I received the call to be the Assistant Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, PA, because Nancy was attending Temple University at this same time and we were worried we would have to live separately until she completed her education.
After four years of living and serving in Philadelphia, I received a call from my mentor pastor, Pastor Matsushita from New York, the headquarters of the Lutheran Church in America (LCA). Pastor Matsushita and my other mentor, Pastor Minnick, the head of the Division for Mission of North America, asked me to go to Texas. “Why Texas” I asked myself? But I knew that this too was an experience I needed to pursue. I have learned that the call to ministry comes from unexpected places and at unexpected times.
Resurrection Lutheran Church in Plano, Texas, was one of the fastest growing churches in those days in the LCA, and I was called to be a part of that exciting new ministry as the Associate Pastor. Concurrently, during this time, Nancy also gained valuable career and work experience in Dallas, Texas, that led her to be able to gain the knowledge necessary to start her current therapy practice here in California.
We also started our family and our daughter, Katie, was born during this time in Plano, Texas.
Then in 1987, the Mission Director of Texas Louisiana Synod of the ELCA asked me to start a new congregation in Grand Prairie, which was southwest of Dallas. I hesitated for a while, because we were enjoying our life in Plano, but I also had a growing sense that this new call was a call that I needed to take. After prayerful conversations with Nancy, I decided to take this new pastor developer position. My Mission Director, Rev. Yontz, who later was elected as Bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Synod, was my mentor and friend who taught me everything I needed to know in order to begin this new ministry development. With the help of God, I had the opportunity to give birth to this new congregation in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Following this experience, I received a phone call from my friend in Chicago and he informed me that the position of Mission Director in the Pacifica Synod in California was open and he strongly encouraged me to apply for this position. This was another invitation that I was not expecting at that time in my life. The interview took place in the hotel of the Los Angeles airport, and interviewers were from the Division for Outreach staff in Chicago and Bishop Miller of the Pacifica Synod, here in California. The news soon came that I had been chosen for the position in the spring of 1989. Nancy was pregnant with our son Andrew and after three weeks of giving birth, we were on our way to California.
Throughout the next sixteen plus years as Mission Director of this Synod, I visited this Japanese Ministry of LCR from time to time. This was the first time I had contact with a Lutheran Japanese Ministry and it was very important for me to keep in touch and in contact with the Japanese Pastors of this ministry.
I then left the work as Mission Director in 2005, and was called by the Bishop to be Interim Pastor first for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Claremont and next in St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Whittier.
At the end of my second Interim call at St. Andrew, Whittier, I was invited by Pastor Itoh in 2009 to observe here at LCR for the Japanese Ministry. This was my first time in all the years in ministry that I assisted in a Japanese congregation. And then after Pastor Itoh left I started serving as pastor of this Japanese Ministry.
Recently, Bishop Finck called and asked me to serve as Interim Minister in a congregation in Moreno Valley in Riverside County , CA. I worked with this ministry when I was Mission Director early on in their ministry development. I felt that I was being called to be a part of this ministry re-development. And I was reminded once again that the call to ministry comes from unexpected places and at unexpected times. So after a long and prayerful consideration, I decided to accept this call.
Please pray for me and my family as I begin this new ministry.
I want to thank all of you who helped me and supported me along the way during the past three years of my ministry with you. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your families.
I will pray for you and for Pastor Carl and Pastor Adachi. May you follow God’s guidance and the joy of knowing that you are loved and cherished by God. Amen.
