Just Right

Spring 2010 Sponsor letter (Mailed 4/27/2010)

   Occasionally, I take some lesson time in my kindergarten/preschool classes and read an English children’s book.  One of the children’s favorites is Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  In the version that I read, when Goldilocks finds appropriate porridge, not too hot or too cold, and the chair that neither rocks too fast or too slow, the narrator exclaims it is “just right!”  The children have become so accustomed to the story that when it comes time to say, “Just right,” they join in.

   This past month, while stopping by to pick up some papers at the kindergarten office, several of the teachers were working.  One of the teachers asked if it was true that I was returning to the US this summer.  I told them indeed that it was true, I would be returning to the United States, as my term as a missionary had come to an end.

   One of the teachers then asked, “How has your time in Japan been?”  Without really thinking, I said the first thought that came to mind, “Tadashi” (正しい); which in this context can mean “positive or good.”  She quickly said in English (in the voice of a young girl from Goldilocks and the Three Bears) --- Oh! “Just right!” whereby we both laughed.  I continue to think about her quip, “just right.”

   Measuring what is “just right” or not is easier to determine for some things than others.  Just look at the picture of the car above that just fits into its parking space.  That type of scene is not uncommon --- using every available inch to get things to fit just right --- in crowded Japan.  But besides space, I can also tell pretty quickly if my Bible story, message and English lesson made any sense to the children in the kindergarten, or for that matter if people are staying awake during my sermons at Meito Christ International Church where I serve as Pastor!  However, sometimes it is hard to define one way or the other if what I say, hear, or experience is “just right.”

   I have three monthly English Adult Bible study classes at three separate locations organized by the local Lutheran congregation with whom I work, Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran Church.  One of the classes is in the evening and intended primarily for people coming home from work.  Over the three years that I have run this one evening class there are times when I am the only person.  I have had participants but for various reasons, usually work and/or family commitments, they are unable to continue for long.

   I, with Nagoya-Kibo Lutheran and the pastoral staff, have worked hard to advertize and invite participants, yet to no avail.  Yet, we wonder, now that my missionary term is coming to attend, did we do enough?  Should we have tried harder to find an alternative time or location?  Would my time have been better utilized somewhere else? 

   Yet, on the other hand the class is “just right” in many ways.  I did not have to travel as this study is located on the first floor of where we live.  When no one comes, I can use the time to do other work or read the Bible.  Or, after waiting for a suitable amount of time, turn off the lights and lock the door.       

   From one point of view, the evening class has been a complete failure.  Yet, in another way, it has been “just right” for those who have attended in the time that they did have.  In those times when I have had a person(s) attend, we have had a positive time talking and exploring scripture.

   From my experience as a missionary in Japan, not everything can be measured as positive or negative, based on numbers, success or experience, so perhaps it is not a search for what is “just right.”  That does not mean that everything that is going on in mission and ministry should not be open to change if something is not working; rather, I think mission and ministry with our partners, like the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church, is recognizing that mission is God’s adventure for us.  Certainly there are “thrills and spills,” but mission revolves around the living out of God’s adventure.

   A few years ago I wrote down a quote that I read from a small book called: Lord Teach Us: the Lord’s Prayer & the Christian Life.  The authors’ point was that in many ways, the “Lord’s Prayer” is meaningful in worship because, in its simplicity, those who pray its words find acceptance.  The authors wrote:

“It is comforting to know that even though you don’t always feel like a Christian, though you do not always act like a Christian, much less believe like a Christian, your relationship as a friend of God is not based on what you have felt, done, or believed. Rather, you are a friend with God because of God’s choice of you in Jesus through the church.”[1]

  

   For me, that is a way of saying God’s adventure is “just right” regardless of how I feel, what I am able to do or believe I have accomplished.  It is not a search for what is just right, but an adventure!

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Summer 2010

   I have posted a 2010 Summer Calendar on my blog, so if you would like to have me visit to share about my work here in Japan, please review the schedule and send a request as soon as possible.  I revise the schedule based on the requests we receive, so it is first-come, first-served.  A gentle reminder that all costs for a visit are fully funded by churches requesting a visit.  Neither the ELCA nor I cover those costs.  My blog address:  www.nagoyamission.typepad.com

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[1] Lord Teach Us: The Lord’s Prayer & The Christian Life, Willimon, William H., Hauerwas, Stanley, & Saye, Scott C., Abingdon Press, 1996