Who are these people and what do they have in common?
この人たちは誰で、共通点は何でしょうか？
1. Barack Obama. U.S.President. Probably the most powerful person on the planet.
2. Christine Lagarde. Head of the International Monetary Fund. Has huge sway in global financial policies which affect the employment, salaries, interest rates and the affluence of millions of people around the world.
3. Jay Z. Hip-hop artist and entrepreneur. “The Emperor of New York”. “Self-made”. Worth $460. Married to Beyonce. “His influence stretches across races, religions and regions”. (Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of NY)
4. Sheryl Sandburg. Facebook CEO. Has influence over the social networking of over 1.1 billion users.
5. Jonathon Ive. “Apple’s Jedi Master.” Anyone who has a smartphone has been influenced by him. In terms of both design and usage, he has probably had a bigger impact on the way we communicate than anyone else in the world.
Whether we know these people or not, they are some of the most influential people in the world. They are the real power brokers. They are the princes (and princesses) of this world.
この人たちは真の実力者です。彼らはこの世の王子（王女）たちです。
It leads us to an interesting question, though. How much influence – how much control – do these people really have in our lives? Most of us would probably like to think “not that much” and think that we are pretty much in control of our lives. If we’re living as Christians, we probably like to think that God is pretty much in control of our lives.
この人たちが私たちにどれほどの影響を与え、どれほど支配をしているでしょうか？“それほど”と思いたい人がほどんどでしょうし、自分のことはだいたい自分が支配していると思いたいことでしょう。
The real question I’d like to put to you today is:
Who or what controls your heart, your life?
誰が、又は何があなたの心、あなたの人生を支配していますか？
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”
If we accurately recorded the time we spent in a day or week, we would likely find exactly where it is that our heart lies and therefore who or what is really influencing and controlling our lives.
イエスは言いました。
一日、又は一週間の過ごした時間を正確に記録したとしたら、私たちの心がいったいどこにあるのか、誰が、又は何が私たちに本当に影響を与え、支配しているかが分かるでしょう。
* We might find that we spend considerably more time in leisure activities than with our families yet we would probably say that our families are more important. But where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
家族と過ごすよりも遊びにかなりの時間を費やしているかもしれません。でもおそらく家族の方が大切だと言うでしょう。
* We might we find we spend considerably more time thinking about our studies, our vocations, our finances, and so on, than we do caring for others, especially those in need, although we might like to think that others are important. But where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
人のこと、特に困っている人のことを思いやるよりも自分の勉強、仕事、金銭などのことを考える時間をかなり費やしているかもしれません。人は大切だと思いたいのですが。
* We might find that we spend considerably more time in entertainment – listening to music and watching TV or movies – than we do in God-focussed activities like reading the Bible, praying and fellowshipping in church etc yet we would probably say that God is more important. But where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
聖書を読んだり、祈ったり、教会で交わりをもったりする神様に焦点をあてたことをするより、娯楽にかなりの時間を費やしているかもしれません。でも神様の方がもっと大切だと言うでしょう。
And so on.
We can fool some (maybe many) and even ourselves with the priorities of our heart. But not God.
The Bible says that “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Galations 6:7
If you sow in lies, you’ll reap in deceit.
If you sow in bitterness, you’ll reap in bitterness.
If you sow in anger, you’ll reap in anger.
If you sow in selfishness, you’ll reap in loneliness.
If you sow in doubt, you’ll reap in confusion.
If you sow in materialism, you’ll reap in emptiness.
If you sow in smut, you’ll reap in smut.
The same is true the other way around:
If you sown in kindness, you’ll reap in kindness.
If you sow in gladness, you’ll reap in gladness.
The same for holiness, love and so on.
嘘の種を蒔けば、偽りを刈り取ることになります。
恨みの種を蒔けば、恨みを刈り取ることになります。
怒りの種を蒔けば、怒りを刈り取ることになります。
自己中心の種を蒔けば、孤独を刈り取ることになります。
疑いの種を蒔けば、困惑を刈り取ることになります。
物質主義の種を蒔けば、空しさを刈り取ることになります。
汚れの種を蒔けば、汚れを刈り取ることになります。
その逆も同様です：
親切な種を蒔けば、親切を刈り取ることになります。
喜びの種を蒔けば、喜びを刈り取ることになります。
聖なること、愛などに関しても同様です。
This is a principle that is profoundly true.
これはきわめて真実な原理です。
God’s principles are different from those of the world.
神の原理は世の原理とは違っています。
Triangles all 180 degrees?
No! Triangles on a sphere (3 dimensional) can be up to 540 degrees!
Once we introduce another dimension, the laws change.
別の側面を導入すれば、法則が変わります。
The principles of this world look certain – those with money are powerful, those with charm and looks get the girls, those with fame are popular and happy…
But once we introduce God into the equation of our lives we see that the laws of this world no longer apply and are limited and flat (2 dimensional). The laws of God bring a whole new understanding, a whole new set of profound truths into this world and into our lives.
神を私たちの人生の方程式に導入すれば、この世の法則は限界があり平ら（2次元）であることが分かります。神の法則はこの世と私たちの人生に全く新しい理解、全く新しい意味深い真実をもたらしてくれます。
Again, Who or what controls your heart, your life?
誰が、又は何があなたの心、あなたの人生を支配していますか？
Be careful how you answer this.
Who or what controls your heart, your life?
The Bible says that
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9
So again, Who or what really controls our lives? 誰が、又は何が私たちの人生を本当に支配するのでしょうか？
Ourselves? 自分自身でしょうか？
Those we love? 愛する人たちでしょうか？
The media princes of this world? この世のメディアの王子たちでしょうか？
The political rulers of this world? この世の政治的支配者でしょうか？
The promises of the world? 世の約束でしょうか？
Isaiah 40: 21-24, 28-31
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
A life lived without devotion to God is a life not lived to the full.
神に献身せずに生きてきた人生は精一杯に生きていない人生です。
King David prayed, “Give me an undivided heart, that I may revere your name”.
Psalm 86:11
Give me an undivided heart!
We tend to do that, don’t we? Divide our hearts. What does a divided heart look like?
分かれた心とはどんなものでしょうか？
Let’s have a look at some charts that show us how we might divide our hearts:
[pie charts]
But rather than anything that might be represented by these charts, David asks God for an “undivided heart”.
What might that[an undivided heart] look like on a pie chart? Something like this:
分かれていない一つの心とはどんなものでしょうか？
[pie chart]
Another way of praying this might be, “Lord, Give me a heart that is saturated with You – a heart
that is filled with You”.
Give me a heart that is not filled partially by the media, partially by advertising, partially by my stomach, partially by my own wants, partially by money, even partially by my own responsibilities. Give me a heart that is wholly and solely filled with You.
主よ、メディア、宣伝、食べたい物、自分の欲、お金、自分の責務によって一部満たされていない心を私にください。完全にあなただけに満たされた心を私にください。
Is such a life really possible?
そのような人生は本当にありえるでしょうか？
Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Ephesians 5:18
“Being filled” with the Holy Spirit means to be under the control or influence of the Holy Spirit.
聖霊に“満たされる”というのは、聖霊の支配や影響のもとにあるということです。
Some people might oppose the idea of being controlled by anyone or anything including God. (It’s my observation that those people, often have the least self-control of anyone!)
But being under the control of God (which includes excelling in self-control), is a wonderful thing because God is love itself, He has a plan for our lives, He cares about every aspect of our lives and He can be wholly trusted to bring only Good into our lives.
しかし神の支配のもとにあるということは素晴らしいことです。なぜなら神が愛そのものだからです。
More so, when we entrust our lives to God through His Son Jesus Christ, he promises that we will enjoy “full lives”. Jesus said, “I have come to give you life and to give it to the full!” (John 10:10) Not a busy life but a full life! Not to fill your life with activities or things, but a life full of joy, peace and purpose. Not merely a life with good things like family and work but a full life of joy and peace and purpose within the good things and beyond them.
それより、御子イエス・キリストを通して神に人生をゆだねるとき、神は私たちが“豊かな人生”を楽しめると約束しています。
忙しい人生ではなく、豊かな人生です！物事で満たす人生ではなく、喜び、平安、目的に満たされた人生です。家族や仕事のような良いものに満たされたただの人生ではなく、良いもののうちの、そしてそれ以上の喜び、平安、目的の豊かな人生です。
Today, I would like to give two invitations.
The first is to those who have never known Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He lived a perfect life, was killed and three days later rose from the dead. And He lives today! This is the gospel. Jesus is resurrected. We serve a risen Lord! By his death, he removed our sins from us and made us right with God. By His resurrection He gives us new, full life both now and for eternity. But these gifts of forgiveness and new life must be received by repentance and faith. If you would like to receive the forgiveness of sins, the promise of new life and to live a life filled with and led by the Spirit of God, I invite you to come forward in a minute and take communion, marking your entry into a new life in Christ.
今日は2つの招きをしたいと思います。
1つはイエス・キリストをまだ知らない人にです。イエス・キリストは人となられた神です。罪なき人生を生き、殺され、3日後によみがえりました。そして今生きています！これが福音です。死によって、イエスは私たちの罪を取り去り、神と正しい関係にしてくださいました。復活によって、イエスは新しい豊かな人生を今、そして永遠に与えてくれます。しかしこれらの赦しと新しい人生の賜物は悔い改めと信仰によって受け入れなければなりません。罪の赦しと新しい人生の約束を受け入れ、神の御霊に満たされ、導かれた人生を生きたい人は、キリストにある新しい人生の中に入るしるしとして、あとで前に出てきて、聖餐式にあずかってください。
You can’t add God to your collection of loves and trusts. When you give your life to Christ you forsake all else.
あなたの愛と信頼のコレクションに神を加えることはできません。人生をキリストにゆだねるとき、ほかのすべてのことは捨てるのです。
The second invitation is for those who are already Christians but have been living with divided hearts; who have not allowed the Holy Spirit to fill their hearts and lead their lives. Today is the day for you to say ‘Enough!’. No more divided heart. No more wavering between different influences, or wavering between doubt and faith. Today I give my life wholeheartedly to You, God. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I might finally enter my rest and enjoy the full life that you have prepared for me and desire to share with me.
2つ目はクリスチャンではあるが分かれた心を持って生きてきた、聖霊に心を満たされようとせず人生を導いてもらってこなかった人にです。今日が“もう十分だ！”という時です。分かれた心はもう十分です。いろんな影響の間で迷ったり、疑いと信仰の間を行ったり来たりするのはもう十分です。今日、神様、あなたに私の人生を心からゆだねます。あなたの聖霊で私を満たしてください。そうすれば私はついに休まり、あなたが私のために備えてくださり、私とともに分かち合いたいと願っておられる豊かな人生を楽しむことができます。
In a minute I will ask you all to come forward and receive the elements of communion.
The bread and the wine are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ and taking them marks a person’s entrance into and surrender to the body of Christ and the life of His church. If you have never taken communion before or haven’t for a long time but tonight would like to commit or re-commit your life to Christ, I invite you to come forward with the others and receive prayer and the elements.
このあとすぐに聖餐式にあずかるよう前に出てきてもらいます。パンとぶどう酒はイエス・キリストの体と血の象徴で、それらを受けることによりキリストの体とキリストの教会生活に入り、ゆだねることを示します。今までに聖餐式を受けたことがないけれども、今晩、キリストに人生をゆだねたい、または長いことあずかっていないけれども、もう一度キリストに人生をゆだねたいと思う方は、いっしょに前に出てきて祈ってもらい聖餐にあずかってください。
Take a moment to examine your lives and when you are ready, please come forward.
自分の生き方をよく省みる時間を取って、準備ができたら前に出てきてください。