{"id":739,"date":"2010-06-04T10:12:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T10:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html"},"modified":"2010-06-04T10:12:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-04T10:12:00","slug":"after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html","title":{"rendered":"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

We continue our series \u201c<\/i>After\u00a0Pentecost.\u201d\u00a0Exploring the life of the\u00a0Christian\u00a0in \u201cOrdinary Time\u201d. Todays perspective is\u00a0brought by guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata.<\/i>

<\/i>
Yasu Kamata is a recent graduate of North Park Theological Seminary.\u00a0 A native of Japan, he will return to his home country from this fall and serve with KGK, a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) and a sister organization of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.\u00a0 His role would be \u201cto help students grow deeper and broader\u201d \u2013 deeper by understanding historical Christian faith, and broader by being exposed to the realities of this world, on campus and beyond.\u00a0 For a description of the IFES movement, please visit\u00a0<\/i><\/span>http:\/\/www.ifesworld.org\/<\/i><\/u><\/span><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i><\/span>http:\/\/www.ifeseastasia.org\/<\/i><\/u><\/span><\/a>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/i><\/div>\n
\n

Striving and Trusting for the Kingdom<\/b><\/span>
The disclaimer, or a statement of the obvious<\/b><\/span>
As I write this reflection, I would like to give a disclaimer, or state the obvious:\u00a0 This is not a balanced reflection. I am a person with a particular story, and this reflection comes from a particular moment and time in my life.\u00a0 As I type it from my notes, I find myself feeling a desire to nuance or balance some statements.\u00a0 The logical connections might not be that clear either.\u00a0 But I will let them be, with some of the rawness and lack of balance, with the hope that others will graciously correct me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!\u00a0<\/b><\/span>
What does it mean to be a Christian living after Pentecost?\u00a0 As many of our readers would know, Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are able to live a \u201ckingdom lifestyle,\u201d to live as if the coming kingdom of God has come on earth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The other day, I was reflecting on how privileged I am.\u00a0 I was born in the country with the 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0highest GDP in the world, and currently live in the country at the top.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to worry about not having things to eat or a place to stay.\u00a0 I\u2019m a man.\u00a0 I have a lot of choice.\u00a0 I just finished my 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0Masters degree.\u00a0 Compared to many people in this world, I have a lot of power and privilege in this world.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I was thinking about these things, a passage of Scripture came to mind.\u00a0 \u201cHow hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!\u201d (Mark 10:23)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!\u201d\u00a0 At least, Jesus does not say that it is impossible.\u00a0 But it\u2019s still pretty darn hard.\u00a0 How hard is it?\u00a0 As hard as trying to make a camel go through a needle\u2019s eye.\u00a0 So that\u2019s virtually impossible.\u00a0 But then Jesus affirms, \u201cwith human beings this is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is it so hard?\u00a0<\/b><\/span>
Why is it so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
What is the kingdom, anyway?\u00a0 It is, as the Taize chant goes, \u201cjustice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit\u201d (Romans 14:17).\u00a0 It is God\u2019s reign come to earth.\u00a0 It is a \u201cnew world order.\u201d\u00a0 From observing Acts and reading some of Paul\u2019s exhortations, being the Church, the herald, sign, and foretaste of the kingdom, seems to involve things like \u201csharing of possessions\u201d \u201clooking out for each other\u201d and \u201caccommodating to & serving each other.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
Why is it so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?\u00a0 I think that part of the reason is that the rich has enough power to erect their own kingdom in which everything revolves around them.\u00a0 I will state the following as a person with power and privilege \u2013 we create our own kingdom so we won\u2019t have to share, look out for others, or accommodate to others.\u00a0 Instead, we get to live at our own fast pace, our own convenience, and satisfy our own \u201cneeds.\u201d\u00a0 The paradox is, however, that by living such a life, we, the rich, manage to alienate ourselves from true kingdom lifestyle, which is abundant life itself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, no one will ever be free from the allure to live a self-serving lifestyle.\u00a0 The moment one gains comparatively greater power & wealth (broadly defined) over others, the temptation happens.\u00a0 Issues of power and wealth is present in every level of human existence; between husband and wife, within a family, between friends . . . someone once said that as soon as there are two people, politics occur.\u00a0 Likewise, as soon as there are two people, issues of power and wealth start to occur.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The human predicament is to use whatever power or wealth for our own good.\u00a0 It would therefore be good for us to remember that we are blessed so that we may be a blessing, and that we are saved\u00a0from<\/u>\u00a0the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil and saved\u00a0for<\/u>\u00a0service to God and neighbor.\u00a0 It would be good for us to remember the 12 apostles\u2019 request to Paul that he will continue to remember the poor (Galatians 2:10).\u00a0 For our purposes, it would probably be good to expand the notion of poverty beyond material to include spiritual dimensions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lukewarmness and helplessness<\/b><\/span>
So how can we start to live like in such a way that \u201cremembers the poor\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
Now, the other day, I was visiting this blog (<\/span>http:\/\/krazydelicious.blogspot.com\/<\/u><\/span><\/a>) and came across a summary from chapter 4 of Francis Chan\u2019s book\u00a0Crazy Love<\/i>, called \u201cProfile of the Lukewarm.\u201d\u00a0 One of the characteristics, according to the summary, is that \u201cLukewarm<\/b>\u00a0people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. They are quick to point out, \u201cJesus never said money is the root of all evil, only that the\u00a0love\u00a0<\/i>of money is.\u201d Untold numbers of lukewarm people feel \u201cCalled\u201d to minister to the rich; very few feel \u201ccalled\u201d to minister to the poor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, that description hurts because it applies to my life.\u00a0 Being in an academic institution, I\u2019ve found it pretty easy to get caught up with attending to just my own needs and seek out relationships that would benefit me.\u00a0 In a few months, I will be in the world of student ministry, but I\u2019m sure it would be very tempting to work only with the best and brightest and neglect the least, the last, and the lost, both on campus, across the country, and around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

What shall I do, then?\u00a0 I\u2019m from the world of student ministry, so I will quote from a book that was popular in that world as well.\u00a0 Ole Hallesby, in his bookPrayer<\/i>, has a great passage that I will quote in length:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrayer and helplessness are inseparable.\u00a0 Only he (pardon the non-inclusive language \u2013 it\u2019s from 1931!) who is helpless can truly pray.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>
\u201cListen to this, you who are often so helpless that you do not know what to do.\u00a0 At times you do not know how to pray.\u00a0 Your mind seems full of sin and impurity.\u00a0 Your mind is preoccupied with what the Bible calls the world . . . Now and then you must ask yourself the question, \u2018Do I really desire to be set free from the lukewarmness of my heart and my worldly life?\u00a0 Is not my Christian life always lukewarm and half-hearted for the simple reason that deep down in my heart I desire it that way?\u2019<\/span>

<\/span>
\u201cThus an honest soul struggles against the dishonesty of his own being.\u00a0 He feels himself so helplessly lost that his prayers freeze on his very lips.<\/span>

<\/span>
\u201cListen, my friend!\u00a0 Your helplessness is your best prayer.\u00a0 It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas.\u00a0 He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness.\u00a0 He hears today as He heard the helpless and wordless prayer of the man sick with the palsy (Hallesby, 17).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hallesby\u2019s point is:\u00a0 we cannot live the kingdom lifestyle by our own strength; that is to assert our self-sufficiency.\u00a0 No, in the face of sin, we are not self-sufficient at all.\u00a0 But it is in the place of helplessness, in the place where we accept that we are powerless against the powers of this world, that God can start to do his good work in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because He has done it<\/b><\/span>
I recently came across a book called\u00a0Wild Man to Wise Man<\/i>.\u00a0 That might sound a bit too pop-psychology-like to some, but\u00a0 this was written by Richard Rohr (the Franciscan monk who wrote the big book on the Enneagram), so it\u2019s a pretty wise book. Now, in this book, Rohr has this chart in which he outlines the different stages a person goes through.\u00a0 At the very final stages, he has a stage which he calls \u201cthe holy fool.\u201d\u00a0 The description of that stage, if I remember correctly, is something like \u201cfully enjoying and swimming in God\u2019s grace because they know He has done it!\u201d<\/span>

<\/span>
\u201cHe has done it.\u201d\u00a0 Not by their own effort, but because He has done it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
I know a couple of people whom I think could be classified as Rohr\u2019s \u201choly fools.\u201d\u00a0 They are all old people, who have seen the thick and thin of a life lived in, with, and for God.\u00a0 And they live a kingdom lifestyle that I can\u2019t emulate.\u00a0 Not that they are perfect, but they have been greatly transformed by God through many years of struggle.\u00a0 No doubt, they must have had many moments of feeling helpless as well in the midst of those.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
So, as people living in this post-Pentecost world, still waiting for the fullness of the kingdom to come, let us struggle.\u00a0 Let us strive to live the kingdom lifestyle, and \u201cwork out our salvation with fear and trembling\u201d (note \u2013 working out one\u2019s salvation isn\u2019t about \u201cearning our salvation through works\u201d but about \u201cstarting to use and train what you already have,\u201d like \u201cworking out your body\u201d in a gym).\u00a0 At the same time, let us not be disappointed, be disillusioned, or lose hope when we \u2013 either as individuals or as the Church \u2013 find out that we fall short of the kingdom lifestyle, but continue with the assurance that \u201cit is God who works in you to will and act in order to fulfill his good purpose.\u201d\u00a0 But rather, let us remember that when we stand absolutely helpless before the enormity of our own sin and the sins of the world, that is when God works most powerfully, \u201dfor when I am weak, he is strong.\u201d\u00a0 And let us keep running the race in the confidence that when we persevere, the holy fool-ness in us will continue to grow, and that on the day the kingdom comes, we will look back and say \u201cyes, he has done it!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We continue our series \u201cAfter\u00a0Pentecost.\u201d\u00a0Exploring the life of the\u00a0Christian\u00a0in \u201cOrdinary Time\u201d. Todays perspective is\u00a0brought by guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata.Yasu Kamata is a recent graduate of North Park Theological Seminary.\u00a0 A native of Japan, he will return to his home country from this fall and serve with KGK, a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1678,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We continue our series "After Pentecost." Exploring the life of the Christian in "Ordinary Time". Todays perspective is brought\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We continue our series "After Pentecost." Exploring the life of the Christian in "Ordinary Time". Todays perspective is brought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Orant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-04T10:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Billy Kangas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Billy Kangas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html\",\"name\":\"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-04T10:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-06-04T10:12:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#\/schema\/person\/2c17428b1556df23f5982263d9dbd58d\"},\"description\":\"We continue our series \\\"After Pentecost.\\\" Exploring the life of the Christian in \\\"Ordinary Time\\\". Todays perspective is brought\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/\",\"name\":\"The Orant\",\"description\":\"Conversations About Following Jesus\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#\/schema\/person\/2c17428b1556df23f5982263d9dbd58d\",\"name\":\"Billy Kangas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c62caf5013b1314de00735bfe5204a74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c62caf5013b1314de00735bfe5204a74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Billy Kangas\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/author\/bkanga\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata","description":"We continue our series \"After Pentecost.\" Exploring the life of the Christian in \"Ordinary Time\". Todays perspective is brought","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata","og_description":"We continue our series \"After Pentecost.\" Exploring the life of the Christian in \"Ordinary Time\". Todays perspective is brought","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html","og_site_name":"The Orant","article_published_time":"2010-06-04T10:12:00+00:00","author":"Billy Kangas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Billy Kangas","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html","name":"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-06-04T10:12:00+00:00","dateModified":"2010-06-04T10:12:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#\/schema\/person\/2c17428b1556df23f5982263d9dbd58d"},"description":"We continue our series \"After Pentecost.\" Exploring the life of the Christian in \"Ordinary Time\". Todays perspective is brought","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2010\/06\/after-pentecost-guest-blogger-yasuyuki-kamata.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"After Pentecost: guest blogger Yasuyuki Kamata"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/","name":"The Orant","description":"Conversations About Following Jesus","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#\/schema\/person\/2c17428b1556df23f5982263d9dbd58d","name":"Billy Kangas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c62caf5013b1314de00735bfe5204a74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c62caf5013b1314de00735bfe5204a74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Billy Kangas"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/author\/bkanga"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1678"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}