The Kingdom of Heaven in West Tokyo

Written By Jonathan Oh

Delivered by Rev. Jonathan Oh on Sunday, September 6, 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:

Mark 4:26-34 (NRSV)

The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mt 13:31–32; Lk 13:18–19)
30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 

The Use of Parables
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. 

Matthew 13:24-35 (NRSV)

The Parable of Weeds among the Wheat
24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28 He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ” 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mk 4:30–32; Lk 13:18–19)
31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 

The Parable of the Yeast (Lk 13:20–21)
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” 

The Use of Parables
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth to speak in parables; 
       I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Sermon Text:

  1. Greetings: It’s not something that many churches do - in fact, I actually don’t know of any other churches that do this, but… I get to say this: welcome back after summer break! I hope that the past couple of months were a wonderful opportunity to connect with other sisters and brothers in Christ and to have a refreshing opportunity to reconnect with God in other ways. It’s great to be back and to be able to see y’all.

  2. Opening Sunday: As it is Opening Sunday, I wanted to take the opportunity for us to reflect back as well as look forward to what is coming up this year. We just finished celebrating our 60th anniversary, and many of the messages that I had shared with you were focused around our role as a church in a community that has changed over the decades. What is the role that God has planned for us in this season? How can we continue to serve as salt and light for this part of Tokyo? How are we able to grow as a congregation, especially spiritually, during this time of change?

  3. Puzzle: I have a question for you - how many of you are fans of puzzles? Some of you might like puzzles of the classic type - jigsaw puzzles. I didn’t really grow up doing jigsaw puzzles, and so I’m horribly slow at them. My wife is an expert. She can take care of thousands of puzzle pieces much more efficiently than I can. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t like them - or puzzles in general for that matter. I like the idea of dealing with issues and problems and finding logical connections and steps to resolving them. There’s a reason why I’m the nerdy computer geek who can take the time to look at an issue and work through them. Sometimes our lives can be like a puzzle - we struggle to figure out what the big picture is supposed to be, and if you’re like me when it comes to jigsaw puzzles, sometimes we can get tangled up a bit with the details and forget that there is a much bigger picture that we need to see.

  4. Parables: Our two passages today, which might seem similar to each other, reflect this point. Parables are puzzling, at least, they can be. And it’s funny how this is intentional. As a fulfillment to prophecy, Christ spoke in these curious ways in order to reveal truth. We know Christ spoke quite often through parables, but while everyone might have heard them, not everyone understood them, and frankly, one wonders if WE even fully understand them. However, as puzzling as some parables may be, they are there to show us something about Christ and the world that He has created. Today’s passages are just a few of the Kingdom of Heaven parables. We didn’t even read one of the really big ones, which came just before our second Scripture reading - the parable of the sower, the one where the sower goes out and spreads the seeds on various types of soils and rocks, and what happens to them ranges from the seed being eaten to a harvest of hundreds and thousands. But today’s passages show us some other aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven, and I believe that they help us to understand how God is working here - at West Tokyo Union Church and throughout this area.

  5. Seed Growing: Like take the parable we read first today. The Kingdom of God is like a scattering of seeds. The farmer goes for days and nights, and in the process, slowly but surely, the seed sprouts and grows. I found it humorous that in verse 27, the passage says the farmer does not know how. And that’s actually quite true. Even when I try to care for a house plant, somehow it ends up turning brown and droops, and so it’s a wonder how other plants grow so well. But in the end, after the grain is ripe in the parable, it is harvested. But what is this passage supposed to tell us?

  6. Mustard Seed: Or what about the next parable? The Kingdom of God is like a grain of a mustard seed, but when it grows, it becomes a huge tree, larger and bigger than any of the trees around there at that time. This mustard seed might be a reference to the black mustard seed, which on average is about 1 to 2 mm. That’s tiny. Most of us might miss seeing the seed if we just randomly saw it on the floor here. And yet, over time, little by little, it’ll grow, and it grows up to 3 to 5 meters. I thought our daughters as small as they are growing up super quickly, but from 1 mm to 5 meters? That’s incredible. That is how the Kingdom of God is like. So what is this passage supposed to tell us?

  7. Weeds and Wheat: During a time when agriculture was significant for those living in Palestine, Christ spoke to their context. So when we continue our look at parables in Matthew, we again see so much about plants. In this passage, we see that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, but at night, an enemy came and sowed weeds. That jerk. That would tick me off to no end. Over time, the wheat and the weeds grew together, and nobody likes that, but instead of plucking out all of the weeds, the farmer allows them to both grow. At harvest time, the weeds would be collected and burned, while the wheat would then be harvested and stored. So again, what is this passage supposed to tell us?

  8. Yeast: And finally, there’s this really short parable after the other mustard seed parable in Matthew, about how the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that is in three measures of flour, and when mixed in, it all became leavened. Yeast can make or break your bread if you use it wrong. But what is this supposed to tell us about the Kingdom of Heaven?

  9. Reflection: We can take a bit of time to work through all of the details and the parallels that we see in each of these passages, and there is a time for that type of study, but I think one approach that also need to take is to step back and look at the big picture of what Christ is telling us about the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember that when Christ was teaching this, His disciples weren’t sitting there taking notes to review and reflect and study in the way we are doing it today. We have the privilege of studying God’s Word in a way that the disciples did not. What would Christ likely have wanted His disciples to see and perceive from these parables? I’m not saying this is the only thing that we glean from these parables, but I think there are a few key insights we could see here.

    1. God is at work, even if we don’t understand. Just like that farmer who did not know how the seed was growing, we are not going to understand everything that God is doing. Yet what we do know is that in the end, God will accomplish all that He wills, and what we get to do is grow in Him, letting the Lord do the work in our own lives.

    2. God is at work, even if it starts or seems small. Many times, we talk about how WTUC is a small congregation, and personally, I have had mixed feelings about this because it could mean that we are a tight community, which we are. It could also mean that we are tiny, which in numbers, we might be. But look at the impact that this church has had and even continues to have. We have a history of so many believers who have been a part of this community, and I can tell you that WTUC has served in powerful ways more than we could have imagined. This past July, we hosted our WTUC Summer Youth Camp, and you would have been amazed at what God was doing there. We are working now to develop our youth program again at WTUC, but we had a much larger group of middle and high schoolers during that camp who grew deeper in love and fellowship with each other and with God. The Kingdom of Heaven is not bound by human limitations. It is not bound by human perception or human size. God works beyond our greatest imagination, and that should help us to see that God’s work is powerful and amazing. And in the end, it will work through everything, because our God is a redeeming God, transforming what seems small and insignificant to His honor and glory.

    3. God is at work, giving us hope even when it seems difficult. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just about what is to come after this life. It is also about the hope that we have today. Some have a tendency to cheapen the grace of God as a free ticket to a wonderful afterlife, but what about the abundant life that Christ promised to us? That is the hope that we get to reflect upon through these parables. We do not know how everything will work together, but we do know that everything WILL work together because God will make it come to fruition. We can have hope that because of this Good News, we can believe and trust that the Kingdom of Heaven is here. We can trust that God will see us through any and all situations.

    4. God is at work, patiently and graciously loving and caring for us. This connects to the hope that we have in God. Instead of tearing everything up because we live in a fallen world, our God grants us grace and mercy. God provides us with the opportunity to grow and change to understand the love of God in ways that we might not have understood before. The Kingdom of Heaven challenges us to look and see beyond what makes us happy or comfortable. The fact that a kingdom outside of our own hearts and countries exists should alert us to the fact that God is working above and beyond our understanding.

  10. Application: How does this impact us at West Tokyo Union Church? As we embark on a new year, we have an opportunity to see that God is at work in West Tokyo. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a distant future but a present reality as well. We have a chance to focus once again on being disciples of Christ, to love as Christ loves, and to declare the Good News to a world that desperately needs to hear it. We are to renew our hope in our Savior and to look beyond ourselves and to our amazing God who is at work today.

  11. Conclusion: When Christ came, the Kingdom of Heaven was inaugurated, and the doors were opened so that we may be able to be a part of God’s work in the world. The Church, including WTUC, is a part of that work. As we seek to grow in the love and knowledge of Christ, let’s take bold steps of faith, trusting that God is at work in us and through us, and that even when things seem difficult and uncertain, God will lead us forward, because the Kingdom of Heaven is here, now, present in West Tokyo. Amen.

日本語の翻訳：

1. 挨拶
皆さん、こんにちは。他の教会がやっているかは分かりませんが……ここでぜひ伝えたいことがあります。「夏休み、おかえりなさい！」この数ヶ月間、クリスチャンとしての兄弟姉妹と交流したり、また違った方法で神様とのつながりを深めたりする素晴らしい時間になったことと思います。こうしてまた皆さんの顔が見られたこと、本当に嬉しく思います。

2. 新年度の始まりに
今日は新年度の最初の主日（オープニング・サンデー）です。そこで、これまでの振り返りと、これからの一年について一緒に考えたいと思います。私たちはちょうど創立60周年のお祝いを終えたところでしたね。これまでもお話ししてきましたが、ここ数十年の間に地域社会は大きく変わりました。その中で、今の時代に教会として私たちはどんな役割を担っているのでしょうか？ 東京のこの場所で、「塩と光」としてどう仕えていけるでしょうか？ 変化の激しい時代の中で、私たちはどのように（特に霊的に）成長していけるでしょうか。

3. パズルの話
ここで皆さんに質問です。パズルが好きな人はいますか？ ジグソーパズルのような定番のものが好きという人もいるかもしれません。私は子供の頃にジグソーパズルをやってこなかったので、実はめちゃくちゃ遅いんです。でも、妻はエキスパートです。数千ピースあっても、私よりずっと効率的に完成させてしまいます。
とはいえ、パズル自体が嫌いなわけではありません。むしろ大好きです。問題に取り組んで、論理的なつながりを見つけ出し、解決していくプロセスが好きなんです。私が時間をかけてじっくり問題に向き合う「コンピュータ・オタク（ギーク）」なのは、そういう理由があるからだと思います。
私たちの人生も、時々パズルのようになることがあります。「全体の絵はどうなっているんだろう？」と悩んだり、私のようにジグソーパズルに苦戦するように、細かい部分にこだわりすぎて、本当に見るべき「大きな全体像」を忘れてしまうことがあります。

4. 比喩（たとえ話）について
今日の聖書箇所にある2つの物語は、まさにこの点について教えてくれています。「比喩（たとえ話）」というのは、時にとても不可思議で、パズルのように難しいものです。でも面白いのは、それが「意図的」であるということです。イエス様は、あえて不思議な言い方をすることで、真理を明らかにしようとされました。
イエス様はよく比喩を使われました。誰でもその話を聞くことはできましたが、全員が理解できたわけではありません。正直に言えば、今の私たちでさえ完全に理解できているかは分かりません（笑）。けれど、たとえ不可思議であっても、そこにはキリスト様と、彼が造られた世界についての重要なメッセージが込められています。
今日は「天の御国」に関するいくつかの比喩を読みました。有名な「種まく人の比喩」（種がいろんな土壌に落ちて、食べられてしまうものもあれば、何十倍にも実るものがある話）は飛ばしましたが、今日の箇所は天の御国の別の側面を見せてくれます。そしてそれは、ここウェスト東京ユニオンチャーチ（WTUC）、そしてこの地域で神様がどう働いておられるかを理解する助けになるはずです。

5. 成長する種
まず一つ目の比喩を見てみましょう。神の国は、種をまくことに例えられています。農夫が種をまき、昼も夜も時間が経過する中で、種はゆっくりと、しかし確実に芽を出し、成長します。面白いのは、27節に「（農夫は）どうしてそうなるのか分からない」と書いてあることです。実際、そうですよね。私は観葉植物を育てようとしても、なぜか茶色くなってしおれてしまいます。だからこそ、植物がちゃんと育つというのは不思議なことなんです。けれど最終的に、穀物は熟し、収穫されます。さて、この話は何を伝えているのでしょうか？

6. からし種の話
次の比喩はどうでしょう。神の国は「からし種」のようなものです。小さな種ですが、成長すると周囲のどんな木よりも大きな木になります。この「からし種」はおそらく黒からしで、大きさはわずか1〜2ミリほどです。本当に小さいですよね。床に落ちていても気づかないくらいです。なのに、少しずつ成長して、最終的には3〜5メートルにもなる。私の娘たちだってあんなに早く大きくなったのに、1ミリから5メートルへの成長は凄まじいことです。天の御国とは、そういうものです。では、ここから何を学べるでしょうか？

7. 麦と雑草の話
当時のパレスチナの人々にとって農業はとても身近なことでした。だからマタイ福音書に出てくる比喩には植物がたくさん登場します。ある人が畑に良い種をまいたところ、夜に敵がやってきて「雑草」をまきました。……なんてひどい奴でしょう！ 私だったら怒りでたまらなくなります（笑）。
やがて麦と雑草は一緒に成長しました。誰もそんな状況を望みませんが、農夫はすぐに雑草を引き抜かず、そのままにしておきました。そして収穫の時に、雑草を集めて焼き、麦だけを収穫して倉に入れることにしたのです。さて、これも何を伝えているのでしょうか？

8. 酵母（イースト）の話
最後に、とても短い比喩があります。天の御国は、小麦粉に混ぜられた「酵母」のようなものであるという話です。使い道を間違えればパンを台無しにしますが、正しく混ざり合えば全体をふっくらと膨らませます。これは天の御国の何を表しているのでしょう。

9. 全体像を考える（リフレクション）
それぞれの詳細や共通点についてじっくり勉強することも大切ですが、ここでは一度視点を上げて、「キリスト様が天の御国について何を伝えたかったのか」という「大きな全体像」を見てみましょう。
イエス様が教えていたとき、弟子たちは今の私たちのようにノートを取って復習したり研究したりしていたわけではありません。私たちは恵みによって、当時の弟子たちにはできなかった方法で神の言葉を学ぶことができます。では、イエス様は弟子たちに何を感じてほしかったのでしょうか。全てではありませんが、いくつか重要なポイントがあると思います。

  1. 理解できなくても、神様は働いておられる。
    種がどう育つのか分からなかった農夫のように、私たちは神様がされていることのすべてを理解することはできません。けれど確信できるのは、最終的に神様はご自身の御心（みこころ）を成し遂げられるということです。私たちはただ、主の中で成長し、人生における神様の働きに身を任せればいいのです。

  2. 小さく見えても、神様は働いておられる。
    よく「WTUCは小さな教会だ」と言われます。私個人としても、複雑な気持ちになることがありました。「アットホームな共同体だ」と思えば良いですが、「人数が少ない」ということでもあるからです。でも、この教会がこれまで、そして今も与えている影響を見てください。多くの信者の方々がここを通り、想像以上の力強い働きをしてきました。
    今年の7月のサマーユースキャンプでも、神様が驚くべきことをされていたのを目の当たりにしました。今、ユースプログラムを再構築しているところですが、キャンプでは多くの中高生が集まり、互いに、そして神様に対して深い愛と交わりを深めていました。「天の御国」は人間の限界や、人数の少なさ、固定観念に縛られることはありません。神様は私たちの想像を超えて働かれます。神様は「贖い（あがない）」の神様であり、小さく価値がないように見えるものを、神様の栄光のために変えてくださる方です。

  3. 困難な時でも、神様は希望を与えながら働いておられる。
    天の御国とは、単に「死んだ後の世界」のことだけではありません。今、この瞬間に持つことができる「希望」のことでもあります。神様の恵みを単なる「天国行きチケット」のように安っぽく考える人がいますが、キリスト様が約束されたのは「豊かな人生」です。どうして物事がうまくいくのかは分かりません。けれど、最終的にはすべてが組み合わさり、実を結ぶことを私たちは知っています。この「福音（良い知らせ）」があるからこそ、天の御国は今ここにあり、神様があらゆる状況の中で私たちを導いてくださると信頼できるのです。

  4. 神様は忍耐強く、恵みをもって私たちを愛し、ケアしてくださっている。
    これは先ほどの「希望」につながります。私たちは不完全な世界に生きていますが、神様はすべてを壊してしまうのではなく、私たちに恩寵（おんちょう）と慈しみを与えてくださいます。私たちが成長し、以前は分からなかった神様の愛を理解できるようになる機会をくださるのです。「天の御国」という視点は、単に「自分が幸せか心地よいか」という枠を超えて物事を見ることを教えてくれます。自分の心の中や、自分の国の外に「神の国」が存在しているということは、神様が私たちの理解をはるかに超えたところで働いておられる証拠なのです。

10. 私たちの生活への適用
では、これがウェスト東京ユニオンチャーチの私たちにとって、どう影響するのでしょうか。新しい一年を始めるにあたり、私たちは「西東京で神様が働いておられる」ことを再確認できます。天の御国は遠い未来の話ではなく、「今ここにある現実」です。
もう一度、キリストの弟子として歩むことに集中しましょう。キリストのように愛し、このメッセージを切実に必要としている世界に福音を伝えましょう。救い主への希望を新しくし、自分自身の視点を超えて、今日いま働いておられる素晴らしい神様を見上げましょう。

11. 結び
キリスト様が来られたとき、天の御国は始まり、私たちは神様の働きの一部となるための扉が開かれました。WTUCを含む教会は、その働きの一部です。
クリストへの愛と知識の中で成長しながら、大胆に信仰の一歩を踏み出しましょう。たとえ状況が難しく不透明に見えても、神様が私たちを導いてくださると信じてください。なぜなら、天の御国は今ここに、この西東京にあるからです。

アーメン。

Jonathan Oh