PEARL HARBOR VILLAIN BECOMES EVANGELIST (See story that follows)
> He chose to become at odds with his past… family… culture…just as Jesus said we must be prepared on one level not to bring peace… yet he was called to become a missionary of true peace.
· Motivated by anger… to love
· From a purpose of revenge… to reconciliation.
Over the last few months, as our nation entered a new battle, the quest for peace has challenged us again…
> God is calling us to join a Divine Peace Movement…Divine Peace-Keeping Force for humankind.
Read together…
Matthew 5:9 (NLT)
“God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.”
Sermon on the Mount – Setting forth a new force into the world… a divine counter culture… who would enter into the reign and rule of God… that offers peace in a conflicted world.
From the very start… given a picture of human relationships apart from God… insecurity… Cain kills Abel.
Today despite all our progress…. The cost of conflict is telling.
· The total amount all countries spend on arms now exceeds $1 trillion a year, and about $140 billion of that is spent by Third World countries where those funds could better be invested in social programs for the poor, agricultural development, and educational improvements. ("The human cost of the small arms trade" by Larry Wilson. World Vision, Oct/Nov 1993. Pages 2-7.)
Cost of conflict in our courts…
· Consider these statistics from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). Between 1984 and 1991, civil caseloads in U.S. courts rose by 33%, yet the national population only rose by 7%.
· In 1990, "new cases filed in state courts exceeded 100 million--about one court case for every three persons in the United States."
· One research firm calculates that in 1991 alone, court costs, awards, and lost time frivolous lawsuits cost $132 billion. (’97 article in Info Search)
> Appreciate what the apostle Paul calls our calling to become “ambassadors of reconciliation.”
Christ isn’t setting forth simply an ideal…. Peace isn’t an idea; it’s a way of life.
Not just about racial harmony… but real neighbors… Rwanda… rifts between friends, family, co-workers, ….Middle East… but marriages…. Political ideas…. But personal reality. …. Becomes clear in what Christ goes on to speak of…
Matthew 5:23-24
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
> Profound truth about spiritual life… there is an inseparable relationship between our relationship with God and our relationship with others.
· Didn’t escape those who first heard… nor us.
· Worship is contingent on fellowship.
Becomes more specific about what such a process involves… as he speaks of the other side of conflict…
Matthew 18:15-18
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. [16] But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ’every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ [17] If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
[18] "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Jesus is setting before us very real principles for handling conflict as peacemakers…
God’s Way of Facing Conflict…
1. Take responsibility for being timely and direct.
· Jesus addresses both sides… common calling for all involved > “GO”… responsibility falls to both… and to both there is a responsibility to go directly and timely… as soon as you’re aware.
· My experience has shown me what a strong relationship there is between being timely…. and direct.
2. Don’t assume resolution will always be immediate…but trust a reasonable process.
· Jesus foresees a potential process involved…. Not with a sense of pessimism but realism.
· Common challenge… we don’t see our conflict as easily resolvable in one step…> Jesus didn’t presume it was.
Ø One step at a time.
3. Only involve others when needed.
· “Only if they won’t listen”… unresolved… are we to involve others.
· Difficult > The emotions at work in conflict aren’t patient. Anger and defensiveness… often go searching for allies… jurors and judges for the courtroom we develop in our minds.
Ø But involving others before going directly, invariably violates the relationship itself… by nature it contends with reconciliation.
4. Only involve others who are appropriate.
Establishment of witnesses…. Witnesses must have credibility… a fitting place in our lives / community.
5. The primary goal must be relational restoration… and as such will require an open heart and sincere respect.
Jesus is calling for reconciliation… relational restoration.
> Without an open mind and respect in heart… you’re not prepared to go. If my heart is set on punishment… revenge… don’t go.
Paul would describe such a heart…
· "Restore with the spirit of gentleness" Gal 6:1
· "Speak the truth in love." Eph 4:16
Both Jesus and Paul recognize…. There may be a point in which one’s refusal to deal with sin or evil in their life…. may make it appropriate for the community to treat them for what they are… a non-participant. (Ex - > they chose to beak fellowship.)
Things I’m learning about the process…
1. None of us are perfect in the process… and few of us are even initially natural at it.
Solicit feelings / fears…
1. Fears of being rejected and disliked.
2. Fears of creating anger and making things worse.
3. Concerns for hypocrisy or legalism.
4. Discomfort with sharing such feelings.
5. Lack of confrontational skills.
> Jesus didn’t say, “if you’re comfortable… not intimidated…”
2. Conflict will challenge our character… allowing us to face difficult issues in our hearts and to grow in significant ways. (Ephes. 4:22-32; cf. 2 Cor. 12:7-10; 1 Peter 3:13-15)
Conflict is about spiritual growth / discipleship… which by nature involves discomfort.
· Ex – While I was living in Europe in my early 20’s helping with a church plant…. Became resentful…. And I can still remember the moment a friend said to me, “It sounds like you have a chip on shoulder.” Suddenly my self righteousness was exposed. The truth was, I wasn’t taking responsibility for my life…. nor being direct with my needs.
3. We must rise above our natural defensiveness… especially the tendency to protect our ‘well developed case’ from engaging the objective truth that comes with an appropriate third party.
Defensiveness is natural… often we can create a well developed case… but we never present it openly… because it may not be as ideal a picture of the whole truth if all the facts were laid out fairly with others.
> Step up…. to those who have a grievance with another… step up or shut up.
To those who receive… careful of your own temptations… alliance, insider, drama.
4. Complexity of circumstances must not overcome the core principles of the Lord’s mandate.
I’ve served as the leader of a community for enough years to know… complex… conflict can involve many dimensions including personal, employment, and legal.
> The Lord’s principles hold up.
5. Be open to discovering a clearer picture. Never assume certainty of ‘the whole truth of the matter’ unless and until hearing all sides.
· I’d like to think I’m fairly astute at discerning issues… I’ve been sincerely humbled by developing perceptions before their time. I have had to learn to really guard my mind and heart from settling in to definitive judgments before really hearing all sides.
· I’ve found this critical in protecting my integrity of respect for spouses… if counseling marriages. True for my own feelings when I’m aware of someone’s criticism towards me. Not so much challenged by the criticism as I am hearing 2nd hand what I can’t address. Told they will…. But too often don’t.
· Significance of “two or three witnesses”… protects reputations…. The integrity of truth…
6. Mercy is the critical choice we must come to terms with… and is released by a deep humility before God. (cf. Matt. 18:21-35; Luke 6: 27-39)
Proverbs 19:11 (Read together)
“A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”
Tendency…such patience and overlooking reflects weakness > wisdom and glory. Why?
· Foolish to want life to be based on justice without mercy.
· Life is found in relationship to the living God who bears justice and mercy… so our glory is to become like Him.
· Matt. 18:21-35 > You live by mercy… so live by mercy.
· “Father … forgive….” > God is a God who cancels debts.
7. If we ‘go’ to others in this manner there lies a freedom that is phenomenal.
A lot of energy goes into a trial… both the literal courtroom… and the courtroom of our mind.
The anger, animosity and general adversarial nature… are negative and draining.
> Be reconciled… so you can live freely.
Conclusion:
Call for a response… a commitment to this call to become a part of a divine peacekeeping force.
All I’ve done is simply let us hear this calling again… and shed light on the challenges.
The Lord isn’t interested in an expression of conformity…. But of genuine conviction.
If you feel convicted that you haven’t really lived by God’s way in the past… convicted to commit yourself to them… ask you to stand with me.
Below is opening story -
SOLDIER EXPLAINS HOW SONG SUNG BY ENEMY CHANGED HIM
One Christmas Eve, Ira D. Sankey was traveling by steamboat up the Delaware River. Asked to sing, Mr. Sankey sang the "Shepherd Song." After the song was ended, a man with a rough, weatherbeaten face came up to Mr. Sankey and said: "Did you ever serve in the Union Army?" Sankey replied "Yes, I did, in the spring of 1860." The man asked, "Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright moonlight night in 1862?" Sankey was surprised and said, "Yes, I did." The stranger said, "So did I. But I was serving in the Confederate army. When I saw you standing at your post I said to myself: ’That fellow will never get away from here alive.’ I raised my musket and took aim. I was standing in the shadow completely concealed, while the full light of the moon was falling upon you. At that instant, just as a moment ago, you raised your eyes to heaven and began to sing. Music, especially song, has always had a wonderful power over me, and I took my finger off the trigger. ’Let him sing his song to the end.’ I said to myself. ’I can shoot him afterwards. He’s my victim at all events, and my bullet cannot miss him.’ But the song you sang then was the song you sang just now. I heard the words perfectly:
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us
Be the guardian of our way.
Those words stirred up many memories in my heart. I began to think of my childhood and my God-fearing mother. She had many, many times sung that song to me. But she died all too soon, otherwise much in my life would no doubt have been different. When you had finished your song it was impossible for me to take aim at you again. I thought: ’The Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty’ and my arm of its own accord dropped limp at my side." -From Religious Digest, reported in Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Paul Lee Tan.+
PEARL HARBOR VILLAIN BECOMES EVANGELIST
In the Christian History Online Newsletter, editor Elesha Coffman writes:
America’s latest blockbuster, Pearl Harbor, has already been blamed for dwelling on a shallow love triangle, ignoring the sacrifices of Japanese Americans, downplaying the Japanese empire’s aggression, and generally Disney-fying the "date which will live in infamy." No surprises there; as director Michael Bay told Reuters, "It’s not a history lesson." But it’s far too easy to shoot holes in Hollywood history. Instead, I’m going to fault the movie for missing a poignant and inspiring Christian story: the saga of Mitsuo Fuchida.
Fuchida grew up loving his native Japan and hating the United States, which treated Asian immigrants harshly in the first half of the twentieth century. Fuchida attended a military academy, joined Japan’s Naval Air Force, and by 1941, with 10,000 flying hours behind him, had established himself as the nation’s top pilot. When Japanese military leaders needed someone to command a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, they chose Fuchida.
Fuchida’s was the voice that sent his aircraft carrier the message "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!) indicating the success of the surprise mission. Later, he too was surprised when he learned that, of the 70 officers who participated in the raid, he was the only one who returned alive. He had another close call when he was shot down during the battle of Midway in 1942, but despite serious injuries, he survived again.
By 1945 he had attained the position of the Imperial Navy’s Air Operations Officer. On August 6 he was eating breakfast in Nara, Japan, where a new military headquarters was under construction, when he heard about a bomb dropped on Hiroshima. He flew to investigate, then sent a grim report to the Imperial Command.
On the same day, an American P.O.W. named Jacob DeShazer felt moved by the Holy Spirit to pray for peace. DeShazer had been in captivity since 1942, when, as a member of Doolittle’s Raiders, he dropped bombs near Tokyo and then was forced to parachute into China. While imprisoned, first in Nanjing and later in Beijing, DeShazer had become a Christian. He found his heart softened toward his Japanese captors. After being liberated, DeShazer wrote a widely distributed essay, "I Was a Prisoner of the Japanese," detailing his experiences of capture, conversion, and forgiveness.
Fuchida and DeShazer met in 1950. DeShazer had returned to Japan in 1948 as a missionary. Fuchida had read DeShazer’s testimony, bought a Bible, and converted from Buddhism to Christianity. DeShazer had recently finished a 40-day fast for revival in Japan when Fuchida came to his home and introduced himself. DeShazer welcomed the new convert and encouraged him to be baptized. While DeShazer continued to plant churches throughout Japan, Fuchida became an evangelist, spreading a message of peace and forgiveness in his native country and throughout Asian-American communities.
Fuchida died on May 30, 1976. Like dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, who wished his legacy to be one of peace rather than destruction, Fuchida wanted the message of his changed heart to supersede the memory of his infamous attack. He wrote, "That morning [December 7] ... I lifted the curtain of warfare by dispatching that cursed order, and I put my whole effort into the war that followed.... [But] after buying and reading the Bible, my mind was strongly impressed and captivated. I think I can say today without hesitation that God’s grace has been set upon me."
- Citation: Elesha Coffman, "Beyond Pearl Harbor," Christian History Online Newsletter (6-01-01)+
