From the Rev. John Armagost
Missionary to Japan
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A Story of Changed Lives
Mark 9:14-27

Good Morning. It is good to be with you here today. I am sorry my wife was not able to come along. She is down in Kelso sharing with the First Baptist Church of Kelso, but I brought my daughter, Alisen, and son, Andrew, along. When we left this morning in southwest Seattle, where we are making our home this year, it was foggy and dreary looking and by the time we got to Mountlake Terrace the sun was shining and it was beautiful and we thought, "Wow, what a wonderful place to live." You folks must be blessed to live here.

I see in your bulletin and in the pew there are the offering envelopes and the posters on the way in for the World Mission Offering. And Dennis and Diane are all dressed up and talking about the mission emphasis this month. I know that you are taking the offering for the WMO in support of missions around the world and I want to say, "Thank you for that," as my wife and I are one of those mission couples you are supporting. We appreciate you and want to say, "Thank you" for your love, your gifts and your support. It means so much to us to know that people like you are supporting and praying for us. And you are a part of what God is doing around the world in Thailand, the Philippines, Africa and Japan.

I hope you came today asking what is Christ doing in Japan. What's happening in Japan today? Let me turn that just a little bit and let me ask you, "What is Christ doing here in your community? What is Christ doing in Mountlake Terrace or wherever your home might be?"

For the last nine years my wife and I have been working with a little Baptist Church in the city of Kobe, Japan. Some of you remember the name Kobe, for on January 17th, 1995, a very devastating earthquake took the lives of over 6,000 people, including the pastor and several members, some in Sunday School of a small Baptist Church. They were without a pastor for about four years and they asked my wife and me to come and do ministry with them, and so for the last eight or nine years we have been involved in ministry at the Nishi Okamoto Christ Church. It has been a blessing and a pleasure to see how Christ has worked in this small Church. This is a story of pain and sorrow. It is a story of lives that were turned upside-down. It is a story of faith. It is a story of healing. It is a story of lives that have been changed. A story of new life through Christ Jesus. This is part of the story I want to share with you this morning.

What is Christ doing in Japan today? You know we have been saying that for as long as I know, in the modern mission movement, which has been about 130 or 140 years. We have been saying that about 1% of the Japanese population are Christian. It is a very difficult mission field. We have been saying that for all this time. We know that because we know who is in church on Sunday and we know who we baptized and we know how many churches there are because there aren't that many. So we know who the Christians are. We know them. It is less than 1% of the population.

Something interesting happened a year ago. George Gallup, Jr. and his polling survey organization were in Japan and doing what they say is the most extensive survey of its kind in Japan. They did some polling of the Japanese people and they had some very interesting results they discovered. What they discovered was that 6% of adults call themselves Christian. And, 7% of teen-agers call themselves Christian. Now that's pretty exciting. Let me tell you, those of us in the Church in Japan were excited and we want to know where these people are. That is six or seven times as many people. We don't know where they all are, but we are pretty excited about it. I mean, it is a little different there than here where somebody might say they are Christian because they somehow grew up in America. Japan is a different culture. If they are going to say who they are from a cultural background they may say they are Buddhist or Shinto. So something is going on. Jesus is doing something that we aren't quite sure what it is. Jesus is doing more than we imagined. Christ is doing more than we know about. I bet there are some stories you could tell about what Christ is doing here in your community, too. There might be some stories that you are not even aware of that Christ is doing right here in your community.

I want to thank Diane for reading the Scripture this morning. What a story! Jesus, James, John and Peter have been on a mountaintop. The story begins with Jesus, James, John and Peter being on a mountaintop having a mountain top experience. Unbelievable things have been happening up there. We call it the Mount of Transfiguration. James, John and Peter have been there to witness something miraculous. Something that is difficult to understand and explain. They have been having this mountain top experience and they leave that and come back down into the real world. Into real life. Into, what shall we say, the real messes and struggles and trials of real life. And there they see the other disciples having an argument, it says, with some of the teachers of the Law. Something is going on and Jesus says "Hey, what is happening?" And they say, "There is a man who brought his son." A father and son come to Jesus. Now there is an image, too. A father and a son. They come to Jesus and the son is convulsing, having fits and foaming at the mouth. There is some kind of evil spirit or something that has taken hold of this boy. It is a story of life that is full of pain and hurt. It is a story of life that has been turned upside-down. As we read the story it is a story of faith, healing and a story of life that is changed.

Sunday morning a few years ago in this little church in Japan... (This morning when my daughter and son walked in here they said how big this church was compared to the church in Japan. Well, it is maybe about half. And we don't have all the other rooms). Our little church of about 50 members with about 40 on Sunday—one Sunday morning a father walked in, a single parent and child walked in. I went to greet them and to get to know them. It took a few weeks to get to know them and to hear their story. Their story was this: He was divorced, a single father and he had sole custody of his son. You know it is not easy to be a single parent. And I am not saying it is harder for a father to be a single parent than it is for a mother, but I imagine there are different challenges that each might face. It is not an easy task.

This father came and shared his story. In Japan men have different responsibilities. There are different challenges, maybe because the culture is different. Part of that cultural difference is that when you are a man you have to be a part of a group and the group is where you work. There is responsibility, like here. But there are things that we might not understand exactly. Part of that is that if you are part of the group and the group leader is the supervisor or the boss you don't leave work before the group leader leaves. If that time comes at 5 o'clock and the group leader is still there—you are going to be still there. Six o'clock comes around and he is still there then you are still there. Seven o'clock comes around and if he is still there you're still going to be there. For a single father with a son, sometimes that means the son is at home alone after school for a long time. Maybe dinner is on his own. Maybe getting his homework done or not done is his responsibility. Getting the bath at night or getting off to bed on time at times become the responsibility of the child who is maybe not ready for that responsibility.

There is a lot of hurt. Now I am not blaming it all on divorce, but there are a lot of things happening in this family. There is a lot pain and a lot of hurt and this is a story of pain and hurt and a story of life that has been turned upside down. As we got to know this man and his son the church wanted to embrace and help them as best we could. We discovered that there were challenges and here was a young life in this boy who had hurts. We discovered that when he would come to Sunday School it was difficult for him to get along with the other kids. We discovered that when something was going on and there was something happening he would leave the group and come and sit by me and have a little one on one conversation with me or one of the other adults.

Last summer, the summer of 2006, he had been growing up in the church and Junior and Senior High camp was offered. My wife took a group from our church to this camp and they went to summer camp. At the opening of this small camp (maybe 20 campers and staff – 50 or 60 people) they all sat around in a small group in the chapel area sharing around the circle. Everyone was sharing something about themselves, where they came from, etc. and when they came to him he could not even say his name. Come on, just say your name. My wife was trying to look after him and help him. I think she said, he tried her patience to the limits and a little bit beyond. Maybe a little more than beyond, he was sleeping when the speaker was talking. He was awake when he should have been asleep. He didn't find his way to the shower as much as some would have liked. It was a little different than here in the summer. It was about 90 degrees and 95% humidity. He just wasn't participating in the ways we wished he would have been. A lot of hurt, a lot of pain.

I think of our Scripture today, too. A father and a son have come to Jesus looking for help. We read there is a spirit or something physical going on but I imagine that there is a lot of other pain in this boy and father's life. Just imagine. They say he is demon possessed. Imagine what the other parents are saying, "Hey come away from him. That is a strange boy." What is happening in his heart? What is happening in his father's heart to hear those things? I imagine that there are a lot of different kinds of pain taking place in this boy's life and in his father's life. More than just the danger of falling into the water and fire. The boy's father says to Jesus, "If you can help. If you can do anything." Jesus says, "If? All things are possible for him who believes." The father says, "I do believe, but help my unbelief."

I was with your pastor and his wife on a dinner cruise and my wife and I just happened to be at their table. What a blessing. I was asking them about Mountlake Terrace and church here. I had already been called and asked to come and I think I said something about the children and Sunday School. I think I asked if you had children in Sunday School and Diane said, "Not yet." I love that. Because, what I sense, and even today as I talked with Dennis before the worship, I sense that there is a spirit of faith. We may not see the way yet but there is faith. I believe, Lord, but I can't see the way so help my unbelief. This is where I am at sometimes too.

This is a story of life that has got hurt and pain. A story about life that has been turned upside-down but it is a story about faith and healing. A story of life that has been changed. What I really wish is that we could come to this story of the father and son five or ten years later and see what is happening as they are now walking with the Lord. Not only to see that this spirit is gone but as they begin to see how the way becomes clearer as they walk with Christ and how lives are changed around them because their lives have been changed.

Last spring my wife was in charge of the spring camp in our area. She was the director of the camp. It is not just for junior/senior high but is for all ages. We have all ages that come and she is the director of it and she was announcing it at church and our young friend, who she struggled with the summer before said, "I want to come to camp." She said, "Oh, I don't know. You and I had a little trouble last summer. Do you remember?" He said, "I know, but I want to come to camp." She said, "Well, you have to promise me that you will be listening when you should be listening." He said, "I promise." She said, "You have to promise me you will participate when you are supposed to be." He said, "I promise." He begged. She was the director so she said, "Yes," and as the director she gets to have some say in how things go. She got on the phone to one of the small group leaders who is a fifth grade teacher and explained the situation and asked her if he could be put in her group. She agreed. She called one of the young pastors (in his late 20's) and asked if he would take him under his wing and see that he gets to the showers, etc. He agreed.

They were also thinking of the closing worship and during the closing worship they would be asking the campers what they got out of the camp. She said to the worship leader when it comes to him if it he doesn't say anything don't get stuck there just move on. Don't just keep trying to make him say something. Just move on and let the spirit lead. At the end of camp everything has gone well. My wife has kept an eye on him to make sure that all was well. When they come to the closing worship they come to him and he says, "My name is so and so and I am from the Nishi Okamoto Christ Church and I am glad I came." My wife had tears coming down her cheeks and his group leader had tears coming down her cheeks. And everyone who knows this young man and the pain and hurt that has been in his life had tears in their eyes.

What can Christ do? We know from the stories that physical healing can take place. He does more than that because he can change hearts. He can bring healing to the pain that sometimes is so deep down.

I went to pick them up after the camp and had my little van. So I had a carload of kids and it was karoke all the way home as this young man sat and sang songs. He was on his mountain top experience because of meeting Christ somewhere—through his small-group leader, pastor or friends. Christ changes our bodies and our hearts. A story of pain and hurt. A story of life that was turned upside-down. A story of faith. A story of healing. A story of life that is changed.

I am looking forward to what the next five or ten years might bring in the relationship of a father and a son and their relationship with Jesus Christ.

As I close with a word of prayer, I hope you will remember with me a father and a son who are on my heart and all the youth of Japan. Also let me pray for you and the ministry here.


First Baptist Church
22800 56th Ave. W.
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-3922
(425) 778-2046
firstbap@FirstBaptist-MtlkTerr.org
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Last Modified
16 October 2007
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