“Silence” is a historical novel written by Japanese author Shusaku Endo. It is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to 17th century Japan, who endures persecution. The young Portuguese Jesuit priest Sebastião Rodrigues and his companion Francisco Garrpe arrive in Japan in 1639. There they find local underground Christians. At that time, security officials force suspected Christians to trample on a fumi-e, a carved image of Christ. Those who refuse are imprisoned and killed by ana-tsurushi, which is by being hung upside down over a pit and slowly bled. Rodrigues and Garrpe are eventually captured. The officials torture other Japanese Christians as Rodrigues looks on, telling him that all he must do is renounce his faith in order to end the suffering of his flock. Rodriges struggles. He struggles over whether it is self-centered and unmerciful to refuse to renounce. He struggles over the silence of God. With Us
In Psalm 124 the psalmist proclaims with so much conviction, “The Lord is for us. God’s name is our help!” (cf. vv. 1, 8). But some of us in this room may wonder and question as we listen to the song of Psalm 124: “How do you know that God is for me? How do you know that God is with me and that He is my help?” Through the week we hear news of family tragedy, career disappointment, health crisis around us and among us, along with depressing news of world events. In the midst of all these chaotic and traumatic situations God seems silent. Then, how can we still say, “God is for me. And God is my help”?
Psalm 124 is attributed to David. When we think about the life of David, he has been through a lot. At an early age he had to face Goliath, the invincible giant. Since then, he has faced so many different goliaths in his life – King Saul’s persecution, persistent dangers of wars with neighboring countries, rape and murder among his children, Absalom’s revolt. David does not have many peaceful days in his life. But as he looks back his own life, David digs deeply into these troubles – “goliath” (“facing the giant”) moments – and finds that God was there with him every single time to help him, sustain him, strengthen him. So David praises God:
“If the Lord had not been on our side…
then they [our enemies] would have swallowed us alive.” (vv. 1, 3 NIV)
David has gone through the worst and finds himself intact. He was not abandoned but helped. Although Psalm 124 is written based on David’s personal experience, this psalm is also considered a communal thanksgiving song. David encourages his people to join him in singing, “If the Lord had not been on our side – let Israel say” (v. 1). In other words, God’s help is not only David’s personal experience, but also it’s a corporate reality, communal experience as God’s people. In the Old Testament Israel experienced God’s help. In the New Testament the early church experienced God’s help. Today we Christians experience God’s presence and God’s help in danger of being swallowed up alive, in danger of being swept away by a flood. Immanuel. God-with-us.
Psalm 124 is attributed to David. When we think about the life of David, he has been through a lot. At an early age he had to face Goliath, the invincible giant. Since then, he has faced so many different goliaths in his life – King Saul’s persecution, persistent dangers of wars with neighboring countries, rape and murder among his children, Absalom’s revolt. David does not have many peaceful days in his life. But as he looks back his own life, David digs deeply into these troubles – “goliath” (“facing the giant”) moments – and finds that God was there with him every single time to help him, sustain him, strengthen him. So David praises God:
“If the Lord had not been on our side…
then they [our enemies] would have swallowed us alive.” (vv. 1, 3 NIV)
David has gone through the worst and finds himself intact. He was not abandoned but helped. Although Psalm 124 is written based on David’s personal experience, this psalm is also considered a communal thanksgiving song. David encourages his people to join him in singing, “If the Lord had not been on our side – let Israel say” (v. 1). In other words, God’s help is not only David’s personal experience, but also it’s a corporate reality, communal experience as God’s people. In the Old Testament Israel experienced God’s help. In the New Testament the early church experienced God’s help. Today we Christians experience God’s presence and God’s help in danger of being swallowed up alive, in danger of being swept away by a flood. Immanuel. God-with-us.
In Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence, as Rodrigues watches his flock tortured and looks upon a fumi-e, Christ breaks his silence: "You may trample. You may trample. I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot. You may trample. It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men's pain that I carried my cross." Rodrigues puts his foot on the fumi-e. In church history, and in our life, we find God who has chosen not to eliminate suffering, but to suffer with humanity, with us.
For Us
For Us
But, not only does God be with us, but also He goes before us and makes our paths straight for us. Suffering, catastrophe, disaster, disease, infirmity, death – they are the results of sin. When we are stuck with all this, when we are stuck in our old sin-dead life, God came to us to be with us and to set us free and bring us alive through Jesus Christ. In Colossians 2:14-15 the apostle Paul declares this truth as follows: “He [God] canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross” (NLT).
The Psalmist declares the same truth in this way: “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped” (v. 7). In Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan describes the power of the cross like this:[1]
The burdened Christian ran up this way, with great difficulty because of the load on his back. He ran like this until he came to a place where the road climbed up a small hill. At the top of the hill stood a cross and a little below at the bottom was a stone tomb. In my dream, just as Christian came up to the cross his burden loosened from his shoulders and fell off his back. It tumbled and continued to do so down the hill until it came to the mouth of the tomb where it fell inside and was seen no more. Christian was so glad and overjoyed and in his excitement he said, “He has given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death.” He stood still for a while and looked with astonishment at the cross. It surprised him that the sight of the cross released him of his burden. He looked and looked again as tears ran down his cheeks.
The burden fell off, and he is free at last. The snare is broken; and we have escaped. But God’s help doesn’t mean that God keeps us out of all difficulty. It does mean that we are never abandoned but helped and saved again and again in the midst of all difficulty. After Christian walks down the hill of the cross, he still faces many goliaths on his pilgrim journey. For instance, when he arrives at Palace Beautiful at night, he sees two lions lying in front of gate. Christian stops as if he would go back. But the gateman, whose name is Watchful, says, “Why are you so cowardly? Don’t be afraid of the lions, for they are chained and placed there to test your faith!” Yes! The snare is broken; the enemy is chained! God is with us, and He goes before us!
“Because He Lives”
As I close, I want to share the story behind the Gaithers’ “Because He Lives.” Bill and Gloria Gaither are two of the most popular Southern Gospel music writers in the world. It was the 1960s when Gloria wrote this song. The 1960s were a chaotic era in many ways – assassinations, drug traffic, and war monopolized the headlines. Across the nation, the educational system was being infiltrated with the “God is dead” idea, while racial tension was increasing. At the same time, Bill had been stricken with a severe case of mononucleosis, while Gloria encountered some painful false accusations in the church. As you can imagine, this was a very hard time for both Bill and Gloria. And God seemed silent. Around that time, Bill and Gloria discovered that they had a third baby on the way. It was wonderful news, but it also concerned them. They wondered, “Was it really a wise thing to bring a baby into such a world?”
One sunny day in the early spring, as Bill and Gloria walked across the paved parking lot, they found a tiny blade of grass that had pushed aside layers of dirt, rock, and concrete. For them, it was a sign of hope how God works in his creation. And it inspired Gloria to write a song expressing the hope shaped by the resurrection of Jesus:
“God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon; An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. … How sweet to hold a newborn baby; and feel the pride and joy he gives; but greater still, the calm assurance: This child can face uncertain days because He lives. … Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives!”
We don’t know one thing about the future. We don’t know what the next hour, next minute will hold. There may be sickness, accident, personal or world disaster, or death. We don’t know what the future holds for us. But there’s one thing we know for sure – “He lives.” And we know He holds the future. So we will not fear. We may suffer. We may go through the worst as if we are swallowed up alive and swept away by a flood. But we are not abandoned; God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth! (v. 8 MSG) May the Lord give us the calm assurance and unshakable hope that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Amen.
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One sunny day in the early spring, as Bill and Gloria walked across the paved parking lot, they found a tiny blade of grass that had pushed aside layers of dirt, rock, and concrete. For them, it was a sign of hope how God works in his creation. And it inspired Gloria to write a song expressing the hope shaped by the resurrection of Jesus:
“God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon; An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. … How sweet to hold a newborn baby; and feel the pride and joy he gives; but greater still, the calm assurance: This child can face uncertain days because He lives. … Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives!”
We don’t know one thing about the future. We don’t know what the next hour, next minute will hold. There may be sickness, accident, personal or world disaster, or death. We don’t know what the future holds for us. But there’s one thing we know for sure – “He lives.” And we know He holds the future. So we will not fear. We may suffer. We may go through the worst as if we are swallowed up alive and swept away by a flood. But we are not abandoned; God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth! (v. 8 MSG) May the Lord give us the calm assurance and unshakable hope that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Amen.
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[1]John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress (Illustrated): Updated, Modern English. More than 100 Illustrations. (Bunyan Updated Classics) (p. 38). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.
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