Opening introduction: Since Pastor Hirota is away at Kobe this morning, we have a special guest speaker, a pastor and a doctor, to give us a sermon. Mr. Orita is a doctor in Fukuoka, whose hospital specializes in paliative care for the dying. All of the doctors and nurses in his hospital are committed Christians, seeking to prepare their patients for the place they may choose to go to after their deaths.

Pastor Orita:

I had just been a member in my church until the day that I realized that I needed to stand up and be a leader in my church. Well, I was leading a group in our church in a study on 'discipleship' when I was called to lead sick people so that they might be prepared for their death. The kind of hospital that we have is sometimes called a hospice. Most of those kinds of hospitals are run by Christian doctors in Japan. Unfortunately, some are Buddhist. Well, patients staying at our hospital are very seriously ill; most of them have advanced cases of cancer.

I often wonder why Buddhists have hospices. We need to get ready to leave this world having eternal life. Do they have this same eternal life? In this point and truth, it is our christian duty. Some people may wonder why we offer this service to the terminally ill. Well, most of those people are ready.

In the past, I had a certain patient who had cancer, and we told him the truth - that he had cancer. He had been a well-educated and confident all through his life. Everyone around him testified that he had been one of the strongest individuals they had known. However, upon hearing the truth of his predicament, his shock was beyond description. He was not a strong man any more. He was worried, anxious, afraid and in great pain. I can understand how much he suffered, for I myself had gone through this sort of anguish. It was when I was twenty-seven years of age that I had learned that I had cancer. Though I became panicky just like other people, because I was a Christian, I began to think about the world after death that is the inheritance of those who have eternal life. When people are spiritually opened, they lose their panic, and begin to prepare for their death.

Of course, we do our best to save our patients, but in the meantime, we try to help them prepare for their deaths. Sometimes, we cannot avoid getting into troubles with their relatives. Their families are eager to have some cure. But our jobs, as Christians, is to be witnesses.

In this blessed time of history, God works through people. Here are God's words, here are those who pass it on, and here are those who need it. The people who need it are sick and scared. They are really searching for the deep answers. And here is our job to pass these answers on.

Until I was forty years old, I had forced myself to be an ideal Christian; I never talked to ladies in a closed room, if I gave ladies a lift in my car, I asked them to use the back seat, or if ladies were seated on the right side, I was seated on the left, etc. I tried to be a perfect observer of the Laws. But, I was not an attractive Christian at all. I was not freed from the bounds of the Law. People could not find love or joy in me at all! Gradually, I was changed into a flexible, tactful human being. There are different kinds of people and situations. I can't force my own ideas or opinions on them. This wouldn't be kind.

I also want my patients to be honest with me and themselves. They should be themselves. If they feel pain, I want them to tell me so. I want them to be human beings, as God created them, with free minds. And, with those free minds, I want and hope that they will accept Jesus as their Saviour.

In today's scripture, Matthew 5:13, we are told that we are the salt of the earth. There's no point in the salt losing its saltiness. What kind of thing is Jesus trying to tell us here? Jesus was going to leave the world at the age of thirty- three. In the short period of time that He had to disciple His Apostles, He had to make them into followers of Christ. At that time though, people had to observe the Law to be saved. But, of course, it was impossible! Read "the Beattitudes" in Mt.5:3-11. Jesus showed His love by forgiving sinful people. And He tried His best to educate and discipline His disciples by spending whole days with them for three years. Through these days, Jesus wanted them to be real followers of Christ, and the salt. To be able to spread out the Gospel is impossible unless we are like salt, which is pure, keeps things (food) fresh and melts. This "melt" was my first goal in life. Probably, being a doctor, or having such a slim body, used to make people feel uneasy. I learned to melt spiritually. I needed to learn how to appreciate other people's opinions. I was still hardened.

I hated to go to Buddhist funerals. From my Christian point of view, I was refusing everyone that acted outside of my Faith. But then, one time, while I was having my devotional time with God, I was opened. Now I am like the salt that melts and takes in or accepts everything surrounding me. I always wanted others to look at my only good points. Only when I was finished cleaning my house did I have an open house. I was always well-dressed. Probably, some people hesitated to come to me because of these habits of mine. Again, I learned to melt. I learned to show my self to others. I think the real Christians are free from any ego attitudes.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
For another sermon see: Oita Evangelical Christ Church
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