gNamastheh (Greetings) from India. It is a privilege to meet you all again as an extended Christian family member from the southern tip of India, Kerala State. I extend my hearty thanks to Rev. Masaji Akiba and the church committee whom graciously allowed me for todayfs sermon and accommodation for few days at this Godfs own place Yoyogi Uehara Church. I also very much grateful to my good friend Rev. Hiroishi Nozomu for his ongoing support for my peace activities and our charity activities of Seeds-India.
Today is the 70th memorial day of Nagasaki A-Bombing , since then luckily there is no A-bombing or Nuclear war faced by the world but the same time world experienced more than 270 wars across the globe last 70 years and still it is going on . The peace we are passing through last 7 decades also prevented another world war which will be caused the end of the life in this earth.
When Jesus was born the angels sang gGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Humanity). (Luke 2:14). Bible shared lot of times about peace and tranquilly, Jesus taught us how to make peace and make the ground for peace through non violence, sharing and forgiveness.
Today I took the passage from Bible :Romans 14:17-19 gFor Godfs kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. And when someone serves Christ in this way, he pleases God and is approved by others. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification g.
Jesus suffered himself for mankind at the cross and advised his disciples do not take weapon on any circumstances. Many of our world leaders are looking for their own way of introduce peace, that mostly through terrorising the world by mass destructive weapons and nuclear arsenals. The most powerful nations showing their strength by keeping 16000 nuclear bombs today and that prompted the poor nations like India, Pakistan to become the nuclear powers. Now other poor nations like Iran, North Korea etc also wanted to develop nuclear bombs to create the atmosphere of fear for their own sake. More than deterrence, ultimate goal of these anti-human, anti-God weapons is destruction all creations of the God almighty .We are all gborn free and equal in dignity and rightsh. We all have a right to live in freedom, harmony and equality.
Look the other side of the world reality.
Nineteen thousand children under age five still die each day, most from preventable diseases.
Two and a half billion people still lack access to sanitation. Disparities between different social groups are widening. Environmental sustainability is under severe threat.
Our planet is strained and stretched. The World Hunger Organisation reported that there were 925 million hungry people in the world; 98% were in developing countries. Income inequality is rising, the average income in one of the 20 wealthiest countries is 37 times that in the 20 poorest countries, which is twice the 1970 ratio (by World Bank). One fourth of the worlds poor are living in India but our leaders advising us to be proud about nuclear bomb- that easily manipulating the poor and uneducated by national jingoism. The same happens all over the world.
Generations will have to pay the price of debt for wars they did not fight, for ideas they do not hold, for a regional and global system that no longer exists, and for decisions made by leaders no longer in power. People need to see the fruits of peace in their own lives - through schools, jobs, basic services, the opportunities to live in freedom.
Development and peace are two sides of the same coin. Spiralling conflict, violent extremism and humanitarian crises threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades. Natural resource depletion and adverse impacts of environmental degradation, including desertification, drought and land degradation and the prospect of irreversible climate change, add to the list of challenges which humanity faces. The survival of many societies, and of the planet itself, is at risk.
All people yearn to live in peaceful and harmonious societies, free from fear and violence. We want to foster peaceful, safe and inclusive societies.Transforming the world towards a peaceful home of all is our responsibility and it is todayfs need too. Peace is essential to Christianity. There can be no doubt about it.
As a Christian , sometimes I was confused a lot about Peace , once we overcame one issue, the world can find another one sometimes more bigger problem is there for us to face. But note that , God assured the peace maker as a precious one . Last year first time I organized a program in India in connection with the UN Day (Sep.26 ,2014) for gTotal Elimination of Nuclear weaponsh . Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation Chairman Mr. Komizo told on that occasion, UN took long time to accept this important day to observe and to educate world about the real threat of all living one on earth. We forgot the invisible threat of human family because we are living for just considering today.
April 26-27 ,2015 Peace Boat came to our state and with YMCA and Kochi city ,our NGO SEEDS-India organized two big events in Kochi and that was attended by 7 Hibakushas from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their heart touching story attracted many good human souls. They were answered many questions by the youths and medias but the prominent question was gDid you forgive to USAh . I found that, without a doubt they clearly mentioned gwe are talking for today and want to save the world from another world war so join with us for a nuclear free worldh. For Indians it is a spiritually oriented answer, for Christians it is the essence of Gospels- forgive and forget but do the good for others, turn away from evils and temptations. August 4 , I handed over 10000 peace signatures to the Hiroshima Mayor collected from Indian schools and universities. Promotion of Peace is the daily obligation of each human being for our future generations. Hiroshima city through the Peace Boat officials handed over to me the Peace Flame (through a pocket warmer) from Hiroshima Peace Park to install the flame in India. I am working on this (Technology is not easily to get in India ) and hope to install in Kochi soon. May be this is the first one outside Japan to show the world that we also joined the vision of Hibakushas - gthe flame will be stopped only after the destruction of all nuclear weapons on earth. It is a challenge but it worksh.
Most of us are familiar with the Old Testament word for gpeace.h It is shalom. For Hebrew speakers, shalom has a much richer and fuller significance than the English word gpeace.h Whereas we sometimes limit the idea of peace to the absence of conflict, shalom includes far more. It comprises notions of wholeness, completeness, soundness, and prosperity. The Old Testament conception of peace is closely related to the New Testament notion of fellowship. The New Testament Greek word for fellowship, koinonia, might better be translated as gintimate fellowship.h When we have peace with God, we live in intimate fellowship with him. Similarly, peaceful (peace-full) human relationships are also characterized by koinonia. God created the world as a place of peace: justice, harmony, fellowship.
Thanks and God Bless You all.
In Christ
Thomas Mathew