The King Provides for His People

Delivered by Rev. Jonathan Oh on Sunday, June 28, 2026.

英語のテキストの後に日本語訳があります。こちらはGemma4（ローカル大規模言語モデルAI）による機械翻訳であり、文法的な誤りが含まれている可能性があります。基本的な正確さを確認しております。

Passages:

Genesis 22:1-14 (NRSV)
The Command to Sacrifice Isaac (Heb 11:17–19)

1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. 

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Romans 6:12-23 (NRSV)

12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 

Slaves of Righteousness

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. 

20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Sermon Text:

• Reflection: We have been celebrating the 60th Anniversary of WTUC, and it has been wonderful being able to reconnect with so many folks who have been a part of this community during the past few decades. Our anniversary celebration is coming to an end today with our Closing Sunday, but it is incredible how the Lord has brought incredible fellowship and community through so many different people.

• RCL: A part of our anniversary also included something else that was interesting because it looks like God even directed the passages that we would be using in the sermons that were preached, particularly when Jim Sack or I would preach. The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year schedule of passages for the Church calendar year from Advent to Advent and is not specific to WTUC, but the messages that were preached this year seemed to really line up appropriately in the life of our church. Even today’s passages were selected based on this cyclical guide.

• Abraham: Today’s passage from Genesis is a shocker for those of us in our modern cultural mindset, that God would require a human sacrifice of a man who waited almost a century to have a son. God testing Abraham in this way seems cruel, and yet, Abraham believed that God had a plan, and in the end, God provided a ram to take the place of Abraham’s son Isaac, and that faith Abraham had is recognized even today. We read about the depth of such faith in Hebrews 11.

• WTUC: As we reflect on how the Lord has cared and guided us for 60 years, our church sits at a crossroads, seeking to know where the Lord is leading us. We actually face some difficult challenges ahead, such as not knowing how long we might be able to meet here at Japan Lutheran College - a place we have gathered for most of our church history. We have also had many more members in the past, but we are continuing to see our numbers shrink, and we have to ask if we are still being an effective witness in our current approach. However, even as we consider what is ahead, we are still called to give our whole selves to God, just like Abraham was willing to completely follow God.

• Romans: We see in our passage from Romans how this applies to us. Christ gave His life so that we are freed from sin and become slaves to righteousness. We should live as people saved from death and given new life, and we are to be instruments of righteousness. We are to live, love, and serve as God has freely and graciously loved and served us. We have the freedom to completely be devoted to God, to follow the Lord’s direction wherever He may lead us.

• Break: Now we are about to go on our summer break, which is not something a lot of churches do. However, our spiritual lives are not on break. We are still called to walk as fully devoted disciples of Christ. We are to be praying for WTUC, praying to hear God’s voice, and remaining connected to the body of Christ, whether through other churches or Bible study groups or just calling up others in this community and connecting with them.

• Thanks: We give much thanks to God for His faithfulness during these past 60 years. I am thankful to and for WTUC for being such an incredible reflection of God’s love. Let us pray for our church, and let us devote ourselves fully and wholly to God, so that we may bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

日本語の翻訳：

（振り返り）
私たちはこれまで、WTUC（教会名）の創立60周年をお祝いしてきました。ここ数十年の間にこのコミュニティに関わってくれた多くの方々と、再びつながることができ、本当に素晴らしい時間となりました。今日、この記念のお祝いは「クロージング・サンデー（締めくくりの主日）」をもって終わりますが、神様が多様な人々を通して、素晴らしい交わりとコミュニティを与えてくださったことは、本当に驚くべき恵みです。

（RCLについて）
今回の記念行事の中で、興味深いことがありました。それは、説教で使われる聖書の箇所までもが、神様によって導かれていたのではないかということです。特に、ジム・サックさんや私が説教した時にそう感じました。「RCL（改訂共通聖書朗読表）」というのは、待降節（アドベント）から次の待降節まで、教会が使う3年周期の聖書箇所のスケジュールのことです。これはWTUC独自のルールではなく世界的に使われているものですが、今年語られたメッセージは、今の私たちの教会の状況にぴったりと合っていたように感じます。今日の聖書箇所も、この周期的なガイドに基づいて選ばれたものです。

（アブラハムについて）
今日の創世記の箇所は、現代の感覚で読むと非常にショックな内容です。あと数十年待ってようやく息子を授かった父親に対し、神様が「人間を犠牲に捧げよ」と要求されるからです。このような方法でアブラハムを試される神様は、残酷に見えるかもしれません。しかし、アブラハムは「神様には計画がある」と信じ切っていました。最終的に、神様は息子のイサクの身代わりに雄羊を用意してくださいました。アブラハムが持っていたこの信仰は、今でも高く評価されています。ヘブライ書11章では、このような深い信仰について記されています。

（WTUCの現状について）
この60年間、主がどのように私たちを世話し、導いてくださったかを振り返るとき、私たちの教会は今、大きな「岐路」に立っており、主がどこへ導こうとしているのかを模索しています。実際、私たちは困難な課題に直面しています。例えば、教会の歴史のほとんどを過ごしてきたここ「日本ルター神学校」で、あとどれくらい集まりを続けられるのかが分かっていないことです。また、以前に比べてメンバーの数も減っており、今のやり方で本当に効果的な証しができているのかを自問しなければなりません。しかし、将来に不安があるとしても、私たちはアブラハムが完全に神に従おうとしたように、自分自身をすべて神様に捧げるよう招かれているのです。

（ローマ書について）
ローマ書の箇所に、それが私たちにどう当てはまるかが書かれています。キリストが自らの命を捧げてくださったおかげで、私たちは罪から解放され、「義の僕（正しいことを行う servants）」となりました。私たちは、死から救い出され、新しい命を与えられた者として生き、正義の道具となるべきです。神様が惜しみなく、恵みをもって私たちを愛し、仕えてくださったように、私たちもそうして生き、愛し、仕えていく必要があります。私たちは、神様に完全に身を捧げ、主がどこへ導こうとも、その導きに従う自由を与えられているのです。

（夏休みについて）
さて、これから私たちは夏休みに入ります。多くの教会が休みを取るわけではありませんが、私たちの教会は休みに入ります。しかし、私たちの「霊的な生活」に休みはありません。私たちはこれからも、キリストに完全に献身した弟子として歩み続けるよう呼ばれています。WTUCのために祈り、神様の声を聞けるように祈り、他の教会や聖書勉強会に参加したり、コミュニティの仲間に電話をかけたりして、キリストの体（教会）とのつながりを保ち続けてください。

（感謝）
この60年間、忠実に私たちを導いてくださった神様に深く感謝いたします。また、神様の愛を素晴らしく映し出しているWTUCという教会に心から感謝します。私たちの教会のために祈り、自分自身を完全に神様に捧げましょう。そうすることで、私たちの主であり救い主であるイエス・キリストに栄光がもたらされますように。アーメン。