Letter from Japan
Larry Spalink is the director of the Christian Reformed mission team in Japan. This is a recent update from him.
Dear friends, family and supporters,
As you know, Ruth and I arrived back in Japan on the 8th. At around 2:46 PM, while we were both at home, Northeast Japan was struck by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in its history, that was felt throughout the entire country.
Though we were about 200 miles from the epicenter, it was by far the strongest earthquake we have ever experienced in our 30 years here. The quake was followed by enormous tsunami waves, some reportedly as high at 10 meters, that destroyed many coastal areas and severely compromised a nuclear power generating plant. Before and after pictures are now being posted on the Internet, and the extent of the damage takes your breath away. Estimates of lives lost are approaching 20,000 now, and will probably exceed that in the end. Hundreds of thousands are staying in refugee centers, having lost everything, including many family members. Churches within our immediate circle of fellowship were damaged, and at least one church building was destroyed by a tsunami, the elderly pastor and his wife managing to escape only with their lives. Some of our friends and colleagues have no water, sewage or gas, things we tend to take for granted, right? And the post-traumatic stress of it all still is to come.
Even in Tokyo, which other than getting a good shake (and many subsequent ones from hundreds of aftershocks), didn’t have the kind of damage you are seeing on your TV news, people have gone into a heightened state of preparedness and alarm, which translates into hoarding of foods, fuel and many other daily necessities. This has made life a little difficult. While it is little more than an inconvenience for us, in the northern areas, these shortages are life threatening. The government, military (US as well as Japanese), many NGOs, and many free-lance volunteers are mounting a tremendous relief effort, but at this point, it is not enough. It’s flu season in the refugee, and cholera is not far behind. Hospitals in the area are running out of even basic supplies.
I have been given a role similar to the one I played for the Reformed Church after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. I am serving with Emergency Response Headquarters to translate from Japanese into English the reports of damage, appeals for support, and summaries of relief and rebuilding activities, so that churches around the world will have this information.
How things will go over the next few days at the nuclear plants is perhaps the biggest issue for us personally. Christian Reformed World Missions has a Crisis Management Team that has been monitoring numerous reports. –Excuse me. It’s 6:57 PM, and we just had a fairly strong aftershock, the first one I felt today. The ground is still swaying as I sit here. Makes you feel a little dizzy.– Naturally, we have been monitoring these reports too, to try to determine the best course of action to ensure our personal safety, especially from the threat of radiation. –The emergency news announced that the aftershock’s magnitude was 6.1, a fairly strong quake that certainly gave our church in Hitachinaka a good rattling, as the epicenter was right nearby. That’s the strongest aftershock in two days, I believe.– Unlike the nuclear expert who is preaching doom in the USA, I am pretty optimistic that they are getting on top of things. But with the variety of opinions and many rumors, it’s hard to know whom to believe. Considering all this, World Missions has strongly urged us to evacuate to another area of Japan where there is little or no risk of exposure to significant doses of radiation, should the worst case scenario occur. I want everyone to know, that we are not experiencing any kind of significant radiation exposure here in Tokyo. I have dutifully urged my colleagues to leave, and as of Monday afternoon, I will be here alone with two other partner missionaries. Ruth left for Thailand today on a previously planned trip with the senior class of Christian Academy in Japan. She’s supposed to come back to Japan on 3/27. I hope we have our reunion here then, but who knows? I am making a contingency plan for myself to evacuate, but at this time, I don’t feel a sense of urgency to leave my home, and I have plenty to do keeping up with the role I’ve been given.
I can’t even count the number of emails, thankfully short ones, from so many of you, telling us of your love and concern and prayers. Thank you so much! And many are asking what they can do to help. I have been working closely with the disaster response coordinator of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Wayne de Jong, and I am pleased to refer you to them. World Missions is naturally incurring extra expenses (I’ve given out about $5,500 in the last two days to help with evacuation expenses, and that number will climb.), so your gifts to our general fund would be helpful, but anything you designate for earthquake relief should go to CRWRC. Please look up the special website that has been created to give you updates and giving information at . Also I asked the web people to put up a link a colleague from South Africa sent me, but I also give it to you here: . It allows you to download (in English or Afrikaans) a Power Point program you will find interesting.
Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Thank you to those who have already given, to those who will give, and to those who will give again and again for the sake of our mission work and now for the sake of extending the love of Jesus Christ in a very concrete way as we reach out to our Japanese neighbors in his name.
I know this update is already long, but bear with me just a little more. Some have suggested that these natural disasters are the judgment of God on a people that have merited it. I refer you to Jesus words found in Luke 13:1-5. I know it’s a tease, but you’re going to have to look it up! Others have suggested that perhaps many hearts will be shaken open by these things to be more prepared to receive the Gospel. No one will deny that God is sovereign in all things, and we pray that this will indeed be an outcome of these terrible tragedies unfolding around us. Meanwhile, we will do our part to give as much relief as can be given, and trust that our Lord will bless it. We pray for his mercy and grace.
Thanks for standing with us. Please keep watch and pray for God’s protection for all of us still here.
Larry
What’s a Blessing For? Jude
What’s a Blessing For?
What gives strength to a person and to a community? Jude is about to enter into a hard conversation with people who have liars, deceivers, and destroyers of community in their midst. Living in this environment they need strength. Jude offers that strength in terms of a blessing:
“May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Jude 2
A blessing of mercy, peace and love. A blessing is a prayer for God to give something to a person or to a people. But it is also much more than that. When done rightly a Biblical blessing is given by one of God’s representatives. This means that no one less than God himself stands behind the blessing. It is God who will bring to fruition the blessing that his spokesperson has pronounced. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says, “In general, the blessing is transmitted from the greater to the lesser. Its major function seems to have been to confer (i.e. grant or bestow) abundant and effective life upon something or someone.”
Jude, as God’s representative, is bestowing an abundant life of more and more mercy, peace, and love. Mercy speaks of God’s loyalty and lovingkindness toward his people (in the Old Testament mercy refers to God’s covenant faithfulness). In the New Testament Jesus most often shows mercy by bringing all different kinds of healing into people’s lives. In a situation where the people are struggling God assures them of his loyalty to them and his tenderness toward them. The blessing is one of mercy and peace. Peace is about God giving his people security, safety, prosperity and happiness–it is the promise of a full life. In the Old Testament peace or shalom was pictured as each man under his own vine and fig tree. The New Testament does not shy away from giving a full-orbed picture of God’s shalom (both physical and spiritual fullness), but it always holds that complete peace comes only with the return of Christ and our concern needs to be first with God’s kingdom even if it means we have to sacrifice some physical fullness (see 1 Timothy 6 and Hebrews 10.32ff). But even in this sacrifice we can find the fullest life possible on earth as we live blessed by God’s peace. The blessing is mercy, peace, and love. Love is God’s unfailing giving of himself for his children.
This blessing gives strength to the community Jude writes to and to us. For the blessings we read in the Scripture are blessings that are ours. Ours not only because we read them and take the words in with joy, but because these blessings are spoken over us at the end of worship services. John Calvin once said it was worth going to worship just to hear the blessing given. Sometimes people make a dash for the exits during the last song in a worship service–it is a sad mistake, for they are missing the blessing of God conferred on them and the community. A blessing of mercy, peace, and love.
Read MoreA Little Word…a Big Change
Jude 1.1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ…
When I was in middle school one of my favorite things to do was to play football at night under the lights that illuminated the front area of a local church. My friends and I would play until our fingers were cold and we had done too much damage to that church’s front yard. Somewhere in the midst of our game I was sure to hear the voice of my mom calling me to leave the game behind and head home (we lived next door, a good shout or three would get me home). When I heard that voice I knew (although I would not have put it in these terms in middle school) that I was being called out of one thing and into another. I was moving from playing a game and hanging with my friends to doing homework, getting read for bed, and being with family.
Jude, in his tightly packed first verse, tells us that we have been called. Like my calling on those cool autumn nights, God’s calling calls us out of one place and into another (see also 1 Peter 2.9-10). What we may miss in this concept of call is that God is not simply calling us out of one state into another state. In other words, He is not calling us out of being unforgiven to being forgiven. Instead God, like my mom, is calling us to a new place. Through the good news of Jesus Christ He is calling us out of our present way of life and into His kingdom; He is calling us out of the people we are presently a part of, and into being part of the new people of God.
This calling changes us in dramatic ways. We now begin to live the values of the kingdom. When we are part of this kingdom we see far beyond our own salvation and into God’s great plan to redeem the cosmos. Our lives become part of this overarching goal of God’s redemptive plan. As N.T. Wright reminds us, “…in Scripture itself God’s purpose is not to just save human beings, but to renew the whole world. This is the unfinished story in which readers of Scripture are invited to become actors in their own right.” Not only do we begin to live the values of the kingdom, we become part of a new people, the people of God — the church. We become committed to this community where we strive to love, honor, and care for one another, and we discover that our commitment to the community we were called out of calls for our commitment in new ways. We are committed to that community and the people in it to help them see the wonders of God’s kingdom, to serve them in ways that enhance the kingdom, and to invite them to hear God’s call.
“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called…”
Kept
Jude 1
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It is surprising to see how much is packed into one verse in the Bible. Jude 1.1 is an example of this tight and wonderful packing. We read in Jude 1 “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ…” In our previous posts we have looked at most of this first verse. There is, however, still more, namely, “…kept for Jesus Christ…”
These few words again feel just a bit off. We expect them to say, “…kept by Jesus Christ…” We may expect this especially considering John 17.12, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” While that is our expectation it seems that after Christ’s resurrection and ascension that the work of keeping us is put into the hands of the Father. When we pay close attention to the work of the trinity it becomes clear that the one who keeps us is the Father and what we are being kept for is the day when Jesus returns, we are, indeed, kept for Jesus Christ.
To be kept in the Greek means to cause someone to stand or persevere. For a people who are facing the struggles that we find in Jude this is wonderfully good news; they are secure in God the Father’s safekeeping. This, of course, will raise all kinds of questions in the coming verses since there are people who are the edge of leaving the faith and false teachers who seem to have left the faith. How can Jude hold out that we are kept for the day and then tell us about people who are dangerously close to walking away? The Bible gives no answers to these questions–it just holds out the promise that God is keeping us for Jesus Christ.
Perhaps what we take from this is the wonderfully good news that we are kept even when our faith feels weak, we find ourselves in the middle of doubt but longing to still believe and be held; in those moments we know that we have a Father who has promised to hold on to us even when our grip on him is slipping.
Judges 2
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths…” v10-13
I forget things fairly often. It’s a common problem that’s shared by mankind, unless you’re the Rain Man. I enjoy reading books and find myself taking various notes within them as one page flips to the next. However, the amount of information that I retain and can recall is not ideal to me. Now, I’ve read books on how to retain more information from reading (ironic huh?), but I still tend to forget large chunks of an author’s work. I’ve tried to combat this over the years by reading books with other people. This allows us to read the books in our own solitary spaces and then gather together to discuss the stories, discern the author’s intentions, and to find applications for life. The old school word for this might be “Book Clubs,” but we’re much too cool to recognize it as that. No matter the name of it, this has been key to me being able to retain and remember an author’s work, and I highly encourage anyone to try this method or a similar one. The books and ideas continue to change me when I remember them…a renewal of sorts.
In Judges 2, a new generation has forgotten God. I’m sure that their ancestors had to of at least mentioned what God had done for them, where God had brought them, who God was, etc. However, over time I assume that this discussion became less prominent within each household as God’s name, law, and character was proclaimed from their lips less and less. That’s how this stuff usually happens. Day by day we slowly forget until we have forgotten. Somewhere along the way passages like Deut 6 lost their importance, people stopped being intentional about the way they lived and the culture of the day swallowed the people up. Once again, instead of being a blessing to the culture, the people chose to misuse their blessings and add to the curse that mankind had brought upon itself.
When I read passages like the one found in Judges 2, I feel the Spirit forcing me to stop and pause for a moment. Somewhere along the way the people stopped discussing the beauty and majesty of their God. I can’t help but wonder that if they would’ve had people in their lives to continually study God’s law with, remind one another of God’s work, and thereby remember the story being written through them…they wouldn’t have forgotten their God. I meet in ultra-cool “Book Clubs” with others to dig in, retain, and remember truths found within various books. Passages like this should remind us that we are to do the same with the Text, lest we forget the LORD, our God.
Read MoreRemember…Justice
In Deuteronomy 27 God’s people are on the cusp of taking the land that God has promised to them. The previous generation of grandparents, mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles chose against God’s desires and wouldn’t be entering the land. So the new generation is told that when they cross the Jordan into the land 6 of the 12 tribes will pronounce blessings, while the other 6 will pronounce curses. This Sunday Larry will be discussing idolatry in a broader way than most of us have previously thought of it, so I’ll leave that section to him. However, something from this account pertaining to justice struck me in my reading this week that connected with Larry’s message on Sunday. This is the Text that jumped out:
“Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.” And all the people shall say, “Amen!” “Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.” And all the people shall say, “Amen!” “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” And all the people shall say, “Amen!” - Deut 27:17-19
So, lets take a look at each one:
Neighbor’s Boundary Stone – This is a landmark that was used to mark off property lines for the various people and tribe’s territory. This type of crime had to be done in secret, because if you were caught entire peoples and tribes would come against you. Since all land belongs to God and was believed to be assigned by Him, this was seen as a sin against God and His will done “in secret.” One was taking advantage of another person’s property/territory while spitting in the face of God. – see Deut 19:14 as well.
The Blind - In Lev 19:14 we are told that the people are not to “place a stumbling block before the blind, but instead, they are to fear the Lord.” Most Jewish sources interpret this passage a little more broadly by stating that “the blind” are not simply people without sight, but those that are uniformed/misinformed or have been offered bad advice (source-Josephus). Thus, the people are not called to just gain wisdom for themselves, but to pass that wisdom on to others who may be blinded to God’s truth. It’s also possible to include those that are weakened by their position in life due to circumstances they can’t control (think education, poverty, location, etc). It is not only the job of the community of God to not place stones in front of these “blind people,” but to actively remove any that others may place. Our situations and knowledge should be used to provide justice to those more susceptible to injustice. Remember that we are blessed to be a blessing.
Foreigner, Fatherless, Widow – If the people didn’t want to include those that are weakened by their position in life within the last one, there is no way the people of Israel didn’t get the message within this one. And it’s not as if God hasn’t tried to get this concept across to them already (see Ex 22:22, Deut 10:18, Deut 14:29, and Deut 24 for some examples). The reason for this is that people in these situations lost much of their power within a community, leaving them vulnerable to injustice. If you didn’t catch Larry’s message on Sunday, “Our God is a God concerned about justice.” When the Israelites are entering the the land, God wants them to remember those who are in weaker positions/situations. One of my favorite verses on this is Deut 24:17-18: “Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.”
Did you catch that? Remember. It’s amazing to me how many times God’s people are told to remember within the Text. So God tells the people here: Remember, that you were once foreigners, a people living in a land that didn’t belong to you. You owned nothing and weren’t even a people till I called you. You were once without a father, someone to guide you, walk with you, provide you a place to live, and dwell among you. You were once vulnerable and oppressed with no one to stand in the gap for you…remember. The people are to remember what God has done for them so that they can pass on His justice, His love, His desires for all people…unfortunately, in Jeremiah 7 and throughout the other OT Prophets we see that the people forgot, they didn’t remember. The land is taken from them, God’s house is closed off, and later on we see that a famine from the Word of the Lord is brought (Amos 8:11-13).
The idea of remembering is to look back, assess, and to walk into the future with wisdom from the truths learned/found. Then we work as His ambassadors within the world (2 Cor 5), putting boundary stones back, leading and walking alongside of the blind, and standing in the gap for the weak, underprivileged, and broken. This is a broader picture than most realize. EverGreen is called to be a people who ask how we show justice in our marriages, communities, politics, economics, arts, and throughout every area that God claims His dominion over. As Larry stated on Sunday, “God’s vision is bigger than the bottom line, bigger than each person just getting economic justice.” We must Remember, that you and I were once fatherless, we were once without a home, we were lost and blinded, and it’s only by God’s grace that we were brought out of Egypt…And all the people shall say, Amen!
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