January 2, 2017

Posted on January 6, 2017 by jgarrott

Ephesians 1:17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Paul’s various prayers recorded in his letters are excellent examples for us to follow in how to pray for each other. It is when our prayers are in line with God’s will that we can have full assurance that they will be granted, and nothing could be more in line with God’s will than what is expressed here. God wants us to know Him, or He would never have sent His Son to let us know what He is like. However, God is so far beyond us that it takes the help of the Holy Spirit to be able to get a handle on Him at all, and that’s what this is talking about. Everything else flows from knowing God, so that’s where we need to start. The rest of this prayer could be said to be an amplification of what is actually included in this one verse. We come to know God through His Word, through our experiences, and through the testimony of others, but in all of that we need the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit or we are entirely likely to misinterpret things. We need to ask, for ourselves and for others, that God would pour out His Holy Spirit, who provides the wisdom and revelation we need to grasp who God is, what He has done for us, and who we are in Him.

As a pastor I am constantly praying some variation of this prayer for the people in my care, but it would probably be helpful for me to come back to this specific passage and appropriate these words as my own prayer. It breaks my heart to see people decline the riches God has provided for them, stumbling along in poverty of spirit, seeking to fill the void in their life with things and feelings rather than with God Himself. I need to pray this prayer for them, because it’s for sure I can’t give them wisdom and revelation on my own! I delight to share the Word with people, but I desire even more that they learn to take it in for themselves, and choose to do so regularly. However, I have tried until I was blue in the face to get people to develop a regular habit of personal devotions, and have simply proved that I can’t force anyone to do anything. However, I can pray for them, and I must do so faithfully. God has proved time and time again that nothing is impossible for Him, so I need to pray with assurance and joy for His will to be done.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the good service yesterday and for the Word You spoke through me. I pray that we would all rejoice to be chosen by You and respond with both gratitude and obedience, so that we may welcome Your Spirit and allow You to transform us into the children and servants You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 1, 2017

Posted on January 6, 2017 by jgarrott

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

It’s interesting that I was so sure we had used this verse as the verse for the year not that long ago, but we can find no record of that having been the case. It may be because it comes out so long in Japanese that I had avoided it, choosing shorter verses instead. I am of course preaching on this verse this morning, but there is so much here it looks like a series to me. The focus for this morning’s message is on the fact that we are chosen. Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” (John 15:16) We may question His wisdom in choosing us, but it’s not up to us. Paul wrote at length about God’s choosing in Romans 9, but in the end it remains rather a mystery to us because of our being in the flow of time and God being outside of it, having created time in the first place (since time can’t exist without matter). Because God sees everything at once, He knows who chooses to follow Him and who chooses either to ignore or to rebel against Him, but that doesn’t mean He forces us into those choices. That’s what predestination and free will are all about. We get caught in traps of human logic when we try to think about that too deeply, because this also touches on the whole area of prayer, and why it makes any difference to pray. We have to come back down out of the clouds of philosophy into the “real world” of our experience, simply because we are not outside of time, and so have no real vocabulary even to think about it clearly. We tend to think about God’s choosing as a matter of discarding the ones not chosen, but those have eliminated themselves from God’s choice by their own choices. That’s not to say they have deliberately chosen against God, but rather that they have chosen all sorts of things instead of God. Jesus’ statement and Peter’s statement do not eliminate human responsibility and accountability.

I see that I’m faced with quite a challenge in communicating this clearly and simply this morning! I need to focus on what Peter and Jesus said was the purpose of God’s choosing: that we may declare His praises and so bear much fruit. As a pastor I am involved in far more than just my own choosing/being chosen, but I’ve got to remember that it is ultimately not up to me, it is up to God. I can do spiritual warfare on behalf of people so that they may have a clear path to escape the devil’s traps, but it is up to them as to whether they take that path. I am to provide nourishment for the flock, (John 21:15-17) but I cannot force them to eat and drink. God knows how they will respond, which is part of His choosing. I am not to write people off, but I am to yield them to God. I am not to be proud of having been chosen, but I am to urge others to allow themselves to be in that category as well.

Father, thank You for this Word, for today and for this year. I can see that I really need Your wisdom and guidance as to what to say and how to say it in the message this morning, or I will leave people terribly confused. May I speak Your words in the power of Your Spirit to that Your will may be accomplished, in individual lives, in this church, in this city, in this nation, on earth as it is in heaven, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 31, 2016

Posted on January 1, 2017 by jgarrott

Lamentations 3:25-26 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.

Any time we read Lamentations it’s important to remember the horrendous circumstances under which it was written. Modern warfare can certainly be horrible, but precisely because they didn’t have guns and explosives back then, war was intensely personal. In most cases you saw the person who killed you, which is the opposite of today’s drone strikes. Jeremiah had lived through that, and he was faced with the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem after a very long siege. Detailing the horrors he experienced isn’t perhaps necessary, but we do need to have some sort of grasp of the level of faith expressed in this third chapter. We need to let the truth expressed here work its way into our hearts and minds so that we can have peace and stability regardless of what is going on around us. That is a treasure indeed!

What we have gone through in the past month is no comparison to the horrors of war, but it has been training in faith nonetheless. We have been faced with seemingly insurmountable circumstances one after another, and have seen the Lord get us through them. Last night I called the owner of the land next door to give him a report on all we are doing to move forward toward getting through all the red tape involved in our purchasing the land, and he spent virtually the entire call emphasizing how it was hopeless for us. I stood firm, without lashing out at him more than to say at one point that he had already made himself very clear, but at the end of the call I was tied in knots, to put it lightly. However, just a few minutes later he called me back and said that he was working on what amounts to an end run around the regulations about the sale of agricultural land, applying to get it re-zoned as non-agricultural. He emphasized that such applications are rarely approved, but it is certainly true that the land in question has not been used for agriculture since the end of WWII at least. If that application is approved, then he can simply sell the land to the church, no questions asked, and what we do with the land after that is entirely our business, with no time pressure. That would be welcome indeed! However, my focus isn’t to be on the land, the owner, the bureaucracy, or any plans involving all of that. My focus is to be on my Lord, who owns it all and has it all under control. On this last day of the year I need to remind myself and others of the goodness of God, and place my hope and my expectation entirely in Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I ask for guidance, wisdom and strength for all that today holds. Help us get each thing done in turn, leading up to a very blessed Watch Night Service tonight. May we all focus our hearts and our minds on You, allowing You to do in and through us all that You desire and intend, so that we may be prepared for all that You have for us in the new year, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 30, 2016

Posted on January 1, 2017 by jgarrott

Luke 2:50-51 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.

It struck me as I read this just now that there were communication problems even in the Holy Family! Two people can be using the same words but each have a different frame of reference, so their words and minds don’t connect. It’s also important to note that even so, Jesus was not rebellious toward Mary and Joseph. The English says He “was obedient to” them, but the Japanese says He “served” them. That attitude isn’t so common in most teenagers! What I think we need to take from this is that hearing is far more than taking in the vibrations we call sound. Maybe this sort of experience was why Jesus spoke so many times about “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:23 and many more) Our problem in hearing God accurately is that always our frame of reference is vastly more limited than His, but even between two people, the more different our life experiences, the more difficult it can be to communicate on more than a surface level. That’s a major factor in male/female communication, because the biological/physiological differences automatically generate different frames of reference. Every one of us needs the grace and help of God to communicate and get along with our fellow human beings!

Recognizing the complexities in communication made me switch from a Chemistry major to an English major in college. (I ended up with a Speech/English major, which was really Drama/Creative Writing.) Having been born and raised in Japan, I had an extremely different frame of reference from my classmates in a school in East Tennessee! One of the biggest factors in my deciding to marry Cathy was that I felt we could communicate. I now know that was because she also had a frame of reference that was strong on music, creativity and faith, but my thinking wasn’t quite so clear at the time. I can’t say there weren’t other factors, too! That said, our communication hasn’t always been smooth in the years since 1969, but we have both worked at it, and that has made a big difference. Ministering in Japan, communication could be said to be 90+% of my life, for good or for bad. Communication difficulties abound, to the point that I probably couldn’t even list them all. I have got to maintain humility, first toward God and also toward the people around me, because the moment I get proud, I stop really hearing them. Different frames of reference isn’t a matter of blame, it’s simply a fact of life. I’ve got to seek and depend on the help of the Holy Spirit to get it as right as possible, and not dwell on misunderstandings. One of the biggest things I have to look forward to in heaven (to hear the reports of those who have been there) is perfect communication!

Father, thank You for this reminder this morning. Thank You for the awareness of communication You have given me over the years. Help me be Your agent all the time, communicating accurately with You and with those around me and helping them to do likewise, so that the lies of the enemy may be exposed and defeated and Your truth set people free indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 29, 2016

Posted on December 31, 2016 by jgarrott

Matt 2:15 And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Matthew emphasized the fulfillment of prophecy more than any other New Testament writer, making it clear that he was writing for a Jewish audience. Recent computer analysis indicates that he probably wrote originally in Aramaic, which was translated into Greek for general consumption. (The oldest texts we have are all Greek.) He wanted to show that Jesus wasn’t just some generalized Savior, much less some run-of-the-mill “holy man,” He was the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, David, and many more down through the centuries. Human beings are very prone to focus on right now, on whatever their senses tell them at the moment, but God sees the end from the beginning, and He has it all in His hands. We need reminders of that from time to time, to give us perspective and keep us from losing it over the crisis of the moment. After all, Jesus was “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) God knew the mess the world would become from the moment He created it, so He had His solution ready from that point as well. When that is the case, why do we get tied in knots over such minor things (however major they might seem to us)? We are in the flow of time and so see things from a linear perspective, but God sees it all at once, and we need to trust Him with all of it.

This is certainly applicable to me right now. This whole business of the land next door has been an emotional roller coaster ride, but that could be said about all of my 35 years of ministry here in Omura. Yesterday at the Prefectural Office I got a fairly warm reception, along with an explanation of the mountain of regulations we will have to deal with in purchasing the land and building the facility, not to mention operating it. At the same time, when I called one of the church board members to ask for prayer about the issue, I found out that for various personal reasons he and his wife and son will be attending a different church from now on, reducing our numbers even further. Though not unexpected in itself, the timing made it a bit more painful. It was a reminder that, as the song says, “In Christ alone I place my trust.” We have nothing else to rely on, but that’s really not a bad place to be. Even now, in the middle of all this turmoil, I am to rest, relax, and rejoice, not letting the devil steal anything from me through doubt and anxiety. I am to look forward each day to what God is going to do, savoring each moment and His presence in it, as His agent for His glory.

Father, thank You not only for yesterday but for this past year. Thank you that I’m not who or what I was a year ago. Help me keep growing, always looking to You and allowing You to operate through me, so that in every detail Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 28, 2016

Posted on December 30, 2016 by jgarrott

Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

Confirmation can be wonderful indeed. We indeed walk by faith and not by sight, (2 Corinthians 5:7) but occasional visual confirmation is very comforting. Particularly before GPS, spotting a landmark that matched the directions we had been given was quite welcome. God leads us in various ways, and some of those lend themselves to this sort of confirmation more than others. That’s where spiritual growth comes in. It might be ideal if all of us trusted God perfectly all the time and never missed a cue, but reality is very far from that ideal. That’s one of many reasons we need our brothers and sisters in Christ. Not only can we comfort and encourage each other, sometimes one person will spot a confirming sign that another has overlooked. God doesn’t want us wandering around confused and He doesn’t want us losing hope, but He does want us to be strong in faith and knit together in love.

The Lord has certainly had us in a fairly intensive training program for a while now. We have several different things happening simultaneously, and He has given signs related to each one. We need to be encouraged by every one of those signs, even when they don’t seem connected to the immediate issue, because they are confirmations of His faithfulness. For example, the Hong Kong missionary team being interested in buying the house in another city that is being moved out of should be an encouragement that things aren’t going to fall through about the church getting the land next door here. God sees the whole picture, and every bit of it is interrelated. I am reminded that the star appearing again for the Magi did not mean that everything after that would be easy. They had to go home by a different, probably less convenient and possibly more dangerous route, and the Holy Family had to escape into Egypt. It is certainly not wrong for me to rejoice at the various confirmations we are given, but at the same time I am not to presume that the next step will be easy, nor resent it when it isn’t. Today I will be visiting the Senior Welfare Office at the prefectural capital. Much depends on the decisions that are made today, but I am not to be anxious about any of it. Neither am I to take any of it lightly. I am to go in a high state of humility, sensitivity, and expectation. I am to be respectful of whomever I talk with, receiving the information and advice they give me, but letting God tell me what it all means. At no point am I to despair, whatever I am told, but rather keep my heart fixed on Christ. The road ahead will not be easy, because we need more spiritual muscle and God is giving us a workout, but the end result will be very good indeed.

Father, thank You for all this training. It really isn’t much fun in the middle of it, so help us keep our eyes on the goal. (Hebrews 12:11, Philippians 3:14) Help us not decide ahead of time what the path ought to be, but rather trust You with it and follow faithfully, whatever the route. You have said to rest, relax, and rejoice. We are learning just how hard that can be, but Your grace is more than enough for us. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Help us recognize and welcome that grace at all times, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 27, 2016

Posted on December 30, 2016 by jgarrott

Luke 2:39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

This seems like almost a throw-away line to advance the narrative, and actually it skips over not only the wise men but the escape into Egypt. However, it brings out an important point: Mary and Joseph didn’t think they were exempt from anything just because their Child was the Son of God. Today people come up with all sorts of reasons (they think) why they are special and don’t need to be bound by everyone else’ rules. We see that big time in politicians, but people lower down on the totem pole do it a lot as well. When it comes to human rules, some are indeed absurd and need to be changed or abolished, but the thing is, until they are, they are still rules for everyone. When it comes to the Law of the Lord, mentioned here, there is every reason for everyone to obey it, but we tend to look for work-arounds even there. It is true that some of the Levitical law was situation-based and therefore expired, and it is certainly true that Christ fulfilled all the Law and therefore completed it and superseded it with the law of grace, (Matthew 5:17, Romans 6:14-15) but such universal truths as the 10 Commandments are pretty evident. Even so, as human beings we search for “wiggle room,” even from the clearest rules. In contrast, Jesus said that even lustful thinking was a violation of the commandment against adultery. (Matthew 5:28) God’s rules always have good reasons, and they are always for our good. The very act of kicking against them makes them much harder on us. As John said, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

This is painfully applicable to me right now, because I am running full tilt into Japanese laws and regulations related to the purchase and use of the land next door. Because some of it is classified as agricultural land (though it hasn’t been used for that for at least decades, if not a century) it can’t even be sold to someone who isn’t a farmer without the classification being changed. That in turn requires approval of the new use, which in our case requires approval of our plans to build a group home. However, in Japan a “group home” is strictly for either mentally handicapped people or people with dementia, and we don’t want to limit our facility that way. That in turn raises other questions, and the list seems endless. I’ve made an appointment at the related prefectural office for tomorrow, but I certainly need to let go of my reactions/rebellion and let the Lord give me the guidance and wisdom I need. I’ve also got to remember that this is something the whole church is doing, not just me, as I was reminded a few minutes ago. All these rules are not without meaning, and going through all the steps is going to grow and polish not just me but this whole church. I am not to panic, much less throw in the towel, but rather take each step at a time, receiving and using God’s wisdom and strength, so that His will may be done on His schedule for His glory.

Father, thank You for all You are doing. Help me remember that You are doing it, and give You thanks and praise rather than resentment and rebellion. As You had me pray a few minutes ago, help me indeed seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness on every level, so that everything I need may be provided in Your way for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 26, 2016

Posted on December 28, 2016 by jgarrott

Luke 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Simeon was one of the last people to experience the Holy Spirit in the Old Covenant way. It is significant to note that this does not say he was filled with the Holy Spirit, but rather that the Holy Spirit was upon him. (The Japanese is also very clear about that distinction.) That said, he was certainly a good man, in right standing with God. It also strikes me that even though he was such a good man, he still hadn’t seen that for which he had waited so long. By the grace of God he was allowed to see Christ, who was the answer to all he had hoped and prayed for over the years, but he certainly didn’t live to hear Jesus teach, much less witness the cross and resurrection. He was actually more blessed than the people listed in Hebrews 11 as examples of faith. As it says there, after giving that list, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40) Simeon was allowed to see the Messiah, and that was enough for him. We are under the New Covenant rather than the Old, so the Holy Spirit is available to fill, to indwell us in a way that He wasn’t for Simeon, so we’re already a step up from him. However, we need the same level of patience he had, waiting for God to fulfill His plans on His schedule. We don’t have legitimate room to complain about His timing, but we tend to complain anyway! We need to trust Him enough to leave our date book in His hands, letting Him decide what happens when and not striving to impose our own schedule.

This has been simultaneously a strong point and a weak point for me. I have tended to “go with the flow,” sometimes to the point of avoiding responsibility, but at the same time I have been jealous of “my” time. I need to be active in my obedience without running off on tangents or trying to run ahead. That’s certainly applicable in the matter of the land next door. It has very much been a combination of “right now” and “not yet.” We first desired it and began praying for it around 18 years ago, when we first started preparing to build this church building. Over the years various people have joined us in that prayer, but it was somewhat on the level of abstraction of “the consolation of Israel.” The house on the land was increasingly collapsing, and in June it was finally demolished and that part of the land cleared. Immediately after receiving word that had been decided, before the work began, one of our church members told me they wanted to give the money to be able to buy the land for the church. However, their money wouldn’t become available until September of 2017. I informed the landowner of that, and he was skeptical. Then in early December I was prompted to call him again, and he told me negotiations were well underway for the land to be sold to a developer, with the final contract to be signed in January, so if we really wanted the land, we had to come up with the funds by the end of the year. That caused a crisis of faith! However, God miraculously moved in the heart of a friend who is not yet a Christian, and she loaned us the $275,000, unsecured. The landowner is in shock! Today I will go to City Hall to deal with some of the legal technicalities, but God is clearly in control. The city will not be issuing more permits for group homes (which is what we want to do on the land) until fiscal 2018, so again there is waiting, but God is certainly teaching us to wait expectantly on Him.

Father, thank You for Your overflowing grace! Help us rest in that without being passive, trusting You totally without being presumptive, so that all of Your plans may indeed be fulfilled on Your schedule, in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 25, 2016

Posted on December 28, 2016 by jgarrott

Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Every part of the Christmas story is very familiar, and this verse too has been set to music that I hear in my head every time I read it. As with all such things, there is the danger of over-familiarity making us numb to the reality of what is written. Here, it is helpful to imagine ourselves in the place of the shepherds. The angelic visitation was remarkable enough, but they had just had direct physical proof that the angel and the angelic chorus hadn’t been been a dream produced by something they had eaten for supper. As the angel had said, the baby lying in a manger was indeed a sign to them that every word the angel had spoken was true. That meant that the baby was the Messiah, and there could hardly have been any more marvelous news than that. They were kept from expecting instant liberation from Rome by the fact that this was indeed a newborn infant, so they would have to wait for Him to grow up, but still this was proof that God had not forgotten His promises to Israel. I can’t help but wonder if any of the younger shepherds later became followers of Jesus, 30 years later. It’s for sure none of them forgot this experience for the rest of their lives.

It is always wonderful when God confirms by physical means something He has told us in our hearts. I gained great peace that the land next door would come to the church legally for us to build a group home there when people showed up at the City Christmas because of the fliers I had taken around a few days earlier. I had even specified the sign myself, saying that even a 1% return on my efforts would be very satisfying, and two people showed up when I had distributed less than 200 fliers. As of this moment the process isn’t complete, but things are moving along in the right direction, and I have great assurance. The whole matter of the group home is a sign that God intends to fulfill the vision He has given us of Omura again being the foremost Christian city in Japan. The fact that attendance at the Christmas Eve service last night was good but not spectacular is an indication that it’s not going to be instantaneous, any more than the angel’s words to the shepherds meant that the Jews would be liberated that year. There is still much faithfulness and dedication called for, but the results are in God’s hands, and so are settled.

Father, thank You for this reminder and assurance. Thank You for guiding me as I drove around to the churches of the city just now to pray for the Christian city that You have already decreed in Your plan. Help me indeed walk by faith and not by sight, so that I may not miss any of the things You have planned for me and for this city, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 24, 2016

Posted on December 27, 2016 by jgarrott

Luke 2:3 And everyone went to his own town to register.

It has been interesting to me that this is something that Japanese understand much more easily than Americans. Japan has had a system of registration for hundreds of years, whereas many Americans, or at least their ancestors, went to America precisely to begin a totally new life, as cut off as possible from the past. In Japan, legal marriage is simply going to the local city office and adding the wife’s name to the husband’s family registry, and divorce is accomplished by X-ing the person’s name from that registry. In addition, each person is formally registered as a resident of the municipality where they live, and address changes must be reported. Criminals have been caught simply because they automatically did this, even though they were fleeing the law. Police go around periodically and check on who is living where, confirming that the registered address information is correct. So, whereas many Americans can’t figure out why Joseph and Mary would have had to travel all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, for Japanese it seems completely natural. We forget that Judea was not “Western,” much less American! Cultural context is very important in reading the Bible, especially some passages in Paul’s letters, even though the fundamental truths are universal.

Having been born of American missionary parents in Japan, all the cross-cultural issues are an accepted part of life. It wasn’t until my own children were studying at Christian Academy in Japan, in the Tokyo area, that I first heard the term, Third Culture Kids (TCK). I identified immediately! I have been a misfit, in a sense, all my life, looking American and so not being accepted as Japanese, but feeling rather like a fish out of water in America. The thing is, I’m not Japanese, having attended American schools all my life and being raised in an American home. (I have come to the conclusion that the Japanese school system is the biggest factor in the “Japanese-ness” of anyone, which is why Japanese children who have attended school for any length of time overseas have such trouble fitting in when they return.) At the same time, I don’t feel American, having lived 50 of my 68 years in Japan. Rather than labor over that, much less be bitter about it, (which many TCKs succumb to) I need to be grateful for the richness of my experience and heritage and make full use of it in communicating the Gospel across the cultural barriers to the Japanese.

Father, I didn’t expect to run into this issue this morning! There was a good bit of xenophobia in the phone call from the landowner of the property next door last night. He couldn’t believe I know the various things involved in property transfer in Japan, and that I’ve already been through them. Help me dot those I’s and cross those T’s properly, and communicate Your grace and love in the process. I pray particularly that Your Gospel would communicate effectively in the Christmas Eve candle light service tonight, that many people would understand that You sent Your Son for the people of every nationality, every ethnicity, and open their hearts to receive Your salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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