Friday, February 5, 2016
The Martyrs of Japan
Today the church remembers The Martyrs of Japan, 1597.
Japan was first introduced to Christianity by Francis Xavier, a great Roman Catholic missionary. For nearly half a century the churches he founded flourished and grew. Finally, the Japanese government became alarmed at the spread of Christianity, which they regarded as a cloak for subversive activity by foreigners. Christianity was made illegal, and to show that the authorities meant business, six missionaries and twenty Japanese Christians were publicly crucified in Nagasaki.
But this was only the beginning. For the next 250 years, any Japanese people who were found to be practicing Christianity were subject to the death penalty. Through the years many thousands died rather than forsake Christ. At last the ban was lifted in 1859. Christian missionaries again entered Japan. To their astonishment they discovered several secret Christian communities still surviving, without priests and with very little education, but still keeping the faith in a most admirable manner, as they had through centuries of persecution.
Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs in Japan triumphed over suffering, and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of everlasting life. Amen.
O God our Father, source of strength to all your saints, you brought the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of eternal life: Grant that we, encouraged by their example, may hold fast the faith we profess, even to death itself; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan
Japan was first introduced to Christianity by Francis Xavier, a great Roman Catholic missionary. For nearly half a century the churches he founded flourished and grew. Finally, the Japanese government became alarmed at the spread of Christianity, which they regarded as a cloak for subversive activity by foreigners. Christianity was made illegal, and to show that the authorities meant business, six missionaries and twenty Japanese Christians were publicly crucified in Nagasaki.
But this was only the beginning. For the next 250 years, any Japanese people who were found to be practicing Christianity were subject to the death penalty. Through the years many thousands died rather than forsake Christ. At last the ban was lifted in 1859. Christian missionaries again entered Japan. To their astonishment they discovered several secret Christian communities still surviving, without priests and with very little education, but still keeping the faith in a most admirable manner, as they had through centuries of persecution.
Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs in Japan triumphed over suffering, and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of everlasting life. Amen.
O God our Father, source of strength to all your saints, you brought the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of eternal life: Grant that we, encouraged by their example, may hold fast the faith we profess, even to death itself; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan
Daily Readings for February 5, 2016
Genesis 24:1-27
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac." The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?" Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your offspring I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there." So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I shall say, 'Please offer your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels'-- let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master." Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder. The girl was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me sip a little water from your jar." "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, and said, "Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?" She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." She added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place to spend the night." The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD and said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the way to the house of my master's kin."
Hebrews 12:3-11
Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children-- "My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts." Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
John 7:1-13
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come." After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, "Where is he?" And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, "He is a good man," others were saying, "No, he is deceiving the crowd." Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.
Psalm 69 Salvum me fac
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have risen up to my neck.
2 I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no firm ground for my feet.
3 I have come into deep waters, and the torrent washes over me.
4 I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; my eyes have failed from looking for my God.
5 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. Must I then give back what I never stole?
6 O God, you know my foolishness, and my faults are not hidden from you.
7 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.
8 Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, and shame has covered my face.
9 I have become a stranger to my own kindred, an alien to my mother's children.
10 Zeal for your house has eaten me up; the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
11 I humbled myself with fasting, but that was turned to my reproach.
12 I put on sack-cloth also, and became a byword among them.
13 Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, and the drunkards make songs about me.
14 But as for me, this is my prayer to you, at the time you have set, O LORD:
15 In your great mercy, O God, answer me with your unfailing help.
16 Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters.
17 Let not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swallow me up; do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
18 Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind; in your great compassion, turn to me."
19 Hide not your face from your servant; be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
20 Draw near to me and redeem me; because of my enemies deliver me.
21 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; my adversaries are all in your sight."
22 Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one.
23 They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
24 Let the table before them be a trap and their sacred feasts a snare.
25 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and give them continual trembling in their loins.
26 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
27 Let their camp be desolate, and let there be none to dwell in their tents.
28 For they persecute him whom you have stricken and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.
29 Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, and let them not receive your vindication.
30 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living and not be written among the righteous.
31 As for me, I am afflicted and in pain; your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
32 I will praise the Name of God in song; I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
33 This will please the LORD more than an offering of oxen, more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.
34 The afflicted shall see and be glad; you who seek God, your heart shall live.
35 For the LORD listens to the needy, and his prisoners he does not despise.
36 Let the heavens and the earth praise him, the seas and all that moves in them;
37 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; they shall live there and have it in possession.
38 The children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his Name will dwell therein.
Psalm 73 Quam bonus Israel!
1 Truly, God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped; I had almost tripped and fallen;
3 Because I envied the proud and saw the prosperity of the wicked:
4 For they suffer no pain, and their bodies are sleek and sound;
5 In the misfortunes of others they have no share; they are not afflicted as others are;
6 Therefore they wear their pride like a necklace and wrap their violence about them like a cloak.
7 Their iniquity comes from gross minds, and their hearts overflow with wicked thoughts.
8 They scoff and speak maliciously; out of their haughtiness they plan oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their evil speech runs through the world.
10 And so the people turn to them and find in them no fault.
11 They say, "How should God know? is there knowledge in the Most High?"
12 So then, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase their wealth.
13 In vain have I kept my heart clean, and washed my hands in innocence.
14 I have been afflicted all day long, and punished every morning.
15 Had I gone on speaking this way, I should have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 When I tried to understand these things, it was too hard for me;
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God and discerned the end of the wicked.
18 Surely, you set them in slippery places; you cast them down in ruin.
19 Oh, how suddenly do they come to destruction, come to an end, and perish from terror!
20 Like a dream when one awakens, O Lord, when you arise you will make their image vanish.
21 When my mind became embittered, I was sorely wounded in my heart.
22 I was stupid and had no understanding; I was like a brute beast in your presence.
23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me by your counsel, and afterwards receive me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? and having you I desire nothing upon earth.
26 Though my flesh and my heart should waste away, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27 Truly, those who forsake you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful.
28 But it is good for me to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge.
29 I will speak of all your works in the gates of the city of Zion.
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac." The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?" Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your offspring I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there." So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I shall say, 'Please offer your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels'-- let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master." Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder. The girl was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me sip a little water from your jar." "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking." So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, and said, "Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?" She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." She added, "We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place to spend the night." The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD and said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the way to the house of my master's kin."
Hebrews 12:3-11
Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children-- "My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts." Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
John 7:1-13
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come." After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, "Where is he?" And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, "He is a good man," others were saying, "No, he is deceiving the crowd." Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.
Psalm 69 Salvum me fac
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have risen up to my neck.
2 I am sinking in deep mire, and there is no firm ground for my feet.
3 I have come into deep waters, and the torrent washes over me.
4 I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; my eyes have failed from looking for my God.
5 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. Must I then give back what I never stole?
6 O God, you know my foolishness, and my faults are not hidden from you.
7 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.
8 Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, and shame has covered my face.
9 I have become a stranger to my own kindred, an alien to my mother's children.
10 Zeal for your house has eaten me up; the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
11 I humbled myself with fasting, but that was turned to my reproach.
12 I put on sack-cloth also, and became a byword among them.
13 Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, and the drunkards make songs about me.
14 But as for me, this is my prayer to you, at the time you have set, O LORD:
15 In your great mercy, O God, answer me with your unfailing help.
16 Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters.
17 Let not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swallow me up; do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
18 Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind; in your great compassion, turn to me."
19 Hide not your face from your servant; be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
20 Draw near to me and redeem me; because of my enemies deliver me.
21 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; my adversaries are all in your sight."
22 Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one.
23 They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
24 Let the table before them be a trap and their sacred feasts a snare.
25 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and give them continual trembling in their loins.
26 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
27 Let their camp be desolate, and let there be none to dwell in their tents.
28 For they persecute him whom you have stricken and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.
29 Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, and let them not receive your vindication.
30 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living and not be written among the righteous.
31 As for me, I am afflicted and in pain; your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
32 I will praise the Name of God in song; I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
33 This will please the LORD more than an offering of oxen, more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.
34 The afflicted shall see and be glad; you who seek God, your heart shall live.
35 For the LORD listens to the needy, and his prisoners he does not despise.
36 Let the heavens and the earth praise him, the seas and all that moves in them;
37 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; they shall live there and have it in possession.
38 The children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his Name will dwell therein.
Psalm 73 Quam bonus Israel!
1 Truly, God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped; I had almost tripped and fallen;
3 Because I envied the proud and saw the prosperity of the wicked:
4 For they suffer no pain, and their bodies are sleek and sound;
5 In the misfortunes of others they have no share; they are not afflicted as others are;
6 Therefore they wear their pride like a necklace and wrap their violence about them like a cloak.
7 Their iniquity comes from gross minds, and their hearts overflow with wicked thoughts.
8 They scoff and speak maliciously; out of their haughtiness they plan oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their evil speech runs through the world.
10 And so the people turn to them and find in them no fault.
11 They say, "How should God know? is there knowledge in the Most High?"
12 So then, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase their wealth.
13 In vain have I kept my heart clean, and washed my hands in innocence.
14 I have been afflicted all day long, and punished every morning.
15 Had I gone on speaking this way, I should have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 When I tried to understand these things, it was too hard for me;
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God and discerned the end of the wicked.
18 Surely, you set them in slippery places; you cast them down in ruin.
19 Oh, how suddenly do they come to destruction, come to an end, and perish from terror!
20 Like a dream when one awakens, O Lord, when you arise you will make their image vanish.
21 When my mind became embittered, I was sorely wounded in my heart.
22 I was stupid and had no understanding; I was like a brute beast in your presence.
23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me by your counsel, and afterwards receive me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? and having you I desire nothing upon earth.
26 Though my flesh and my heart should waste away, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27 Truly, those who forsake you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful.
28 But it is good for me to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge.
29 I will speak of all your works in the gates of the city of Zion.
Meditation for February 5, 2016
Genesis 24:14 Let the girl to whom I shall say, “Please offer your jar that I may drink,” and who shall say, “Drink, and I will water your camels”—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac.
It must have been nice to receive direct answers to direct questions. Abraham’s servant wants divine guidance, so he asks for a nice, clear, impossible-to-miss sign. As he is finishing his prayer, Rebekah shows up, waters his camels, and as a plus, turns out to be Abraham’s great-niece. Isaac marries her and loves her, and it’s clear as a bell that the sign was authentic.
Guidance today is a much murkier business. Only once in my life have I ever experienced words forming in my head, giving a direct response to a directly prayed question. It was amazing, but it has never happened that way again.
I don’t know if the servant’s approach—a directly asked question leading to an easily interpreted sign—happens all that often. Perhaps it does for some people. For me, at least, it seems that blundering around is part of the process. Stumbling along, feeling my way down the path, tripping and getting back up, seems to be my undignified way of lurching toward Zion.
It must have been nice to receive direct answers to direct questions. Abraham’s servant wants divine guidance, so he asks for a nice, clear, impossible-to-miss sign. As he is finishing his prayer, Rebekah shows up, waters his camels, and as a plus, turns out to be Abraham’s great-niece. Isaac marries her and loves her, and it’s clear as a bell that the sign was authentic.
Guidance today is a much murkier business. Only once in my life have I ever experienced words forming in my head, giving a direct response to a directly prayed question. It was amazing, but it has never happened that way again.
I don’t know if the servant’s approach—a directly asked question leading to an easily interpreted sign—happens all that often. Perhaps it does for some people. For me, at least, it seems that blundering around is part of the process. Stumbling along, feeling my way down the path, tripping and getting back up, seems to be my undignified way of lurching toward Zion.
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