Being the Body of Christ

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Series on 1 Peter

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Being the Body of Christ 1 Peter 1:22 – 2:10 In 1944, Lt. Hiroo Onoda was sent by the Japanese army to the remote Philippine island of Lubang. His mission was to conduct guerrilla warfare during World War II. Unfortunately, he was never officially told the war had ended; so for 29 years, Onoda continued to live in the jungle, ready for when his country would again need his services and information. Eating coconuts and bananas and deftly evading searching parties he believed were enemy scouts, Onoda hid in the jungle until he finally emerged from the dark recesses of the island on March 19, 1972. Called to Duty Hiroo Onoda was 20 years-old when he was called up to join the army. At the time, he was far from home working at a branch of the Tajima Yoko trading company in Hankow (now Wuhan), China. After passing his physical, Onoda quit his job and returned to his home in Wakayama, Japan in August of 1942 to get into top physical condition. In the Japanese army, Onoda was trained as an officer and was then chosen to be trained at an Imperial Army intelligence school. At this school, Onoda was taught how to gather intelligence and how to conduct guerrilla warfare. In the Philippines On December 17, 1944, Lt. Hiroo Onoda left for the Philippines to join the Sugi Brigade (the Eighth Division from Hirosaki). Here, Onoda was given orders by Major Yoshimi Taniguchi and Major Takahashi. Onoda was ordered to lead the Lubang Garrison in guerrilla warfare. As Onoda and his comrades were getting ready to leave on their separate missions, they stopped by to report to the division commander. The division commander ordered: You are absolutely forbidden to die by your own hand. It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens, we'll come back for you. Until then, so long as you have one soldier, you are to continue to lead him. You may have to live on coconuts. If that's the case, live on coconuts! Under no circumstances are you [to] give up your life voluntarily.1 Onoda took these words more literally and seriously than the division commander could ever have meant them. On Lubang Once on the island of Lubang, Onoda was supposed to blow up the pier at the harbor and destroy the Lubang airfield. Unfortunately, the garrison commanders, who were worried about other matters, decided not to help Onoda on his mission and soon the island was overrun by the Allies. The remaining Japanese soldiers, Onoda included, retreated into the inner regions of the island and split up into groups. As these groups dwindled in size after several attacks, the remaining soldiers split into cells of 3 and 4 people. There were four people in Onoda's cell: Corporal Shoichi Shimada (age 30), Private Kinshichi Kozuka (age 24), Private Yuichi Akatsu (age 22), and Lt. Hiroo Onoda (now age 23).

They lived very close together, with very limited supplies: the clothes they were wearing, a small amount of rice, and each had a gun with limited ammunition. Rationing the rice was difficult and caused fights, but they supplemented it with coconuts and bananas. Every once in a while, they were able to kill a civilian's cow for food. The cells would save up their energy and use guerrilla tactics to fight in skirmishes. Other cells were captured or were killed while Onoda's continued to fight from the interior. The War is Over...Come Out! Onoda first saw a leaflet that claimed the war was over in October 1945. When another cell had killed a cow, they found a leaflet left behind by the islanders which read: "The war ended on August 15. Come down from the mountains!"2 But as they sat in the jungle, the leaflet just didn't seem to make sense, for another cell had just been fired upon a few days ago. If the war were over, why would they still be under attack? No, they decided, the leaflet must be a clever ruse by the Allied propagandists. Again, the outside world tried to contact the survivors living on the island by dropping leaflets out of a Boeing B-17 near the end of 1945. Printed on these leaflets was the surrender order from General Yamashita of the Fourteenth Area Army. Having already hidden on the island for a year and with the only proof of the end of the war being this leaflet, Onoda and the others scrutinized every letter and every word on this piece of paper. One sentence in particular seemed suspicious, it said that those who surrendered would receive "hygienic succor" and be "hauled" to Japan. Again, they believed this must be an Allied hoax. Leaflet after leaflet was dropped. Newspapers were left. Photographs and letters from relatives were dropped. Friends and relatives spoke out over loudspeakers. There was always something suspicious, so they never believed that the war had really ended. Over the Years Year after year, the four men huddled together in the rain, searched for food, and sometimes attacked villagers. They fired on the villagers because, "We considered people dressed as islanders to be enemy troops in disguise or enemy spies. The proof that they were was that whenever we fired on one of them, a search party arrived shortly afterward."3 It had become a cycle of disbelief. Isolated from the rest of the world, everyone appeared to be the enemy. In 1949, Akatsu wanted to surrender. He didn't tell any of the others; he just walked away. In September 1949 he successfully got away from the others and after six months on his own in the jungle, Akatsu surrendered. To Onoda's cell, this seemed like a security leak and they became even more careful of their position. In June 1953, Shimada was wounded during a skirmish. Though his leg wound slowly got better (without any medicines or bandages), he became gloomy. On May 7, 1954, Shimada was killed in a skirmish on the beach at Gontin. For nearly 20 years after Shimad's death, Kozuka and Onoda continued to live in the jungle together, awaiting the time when they would again be needed by the Japanese army. Per the division commanders instructions, they believed it was their job to remain behind enemy lines, reconnoiter

and gather intelligence to be able to train Japanese troops in guerrilla warfare in order to regain the Philippine islands. Surrender In October 1972, at the age of 51 and after 27 years of hiding, Kozuka was killed during a clash with a Filipino patrol. Though Onoda had been officially declared dead in December 1959 Kozuka's body proved the likelihood that Onoda was still living. Search parties were sent out to find Onoda, but none succeeded. Onoda was now on his own. Remembering the division commander's order, he could not kill himself yet he no longer had a single soldier to command. Onoda continued to hide. In 1974, a college dropout named Norio Suzuki decided to travel to the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Nepal, and perhaps a few other countries on his way. He told his friends that he was going to search for Lt. Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman. 4 Where so many others had failed, Suzuki succeeded. He found Lt. Onoda and tried to convince him that the war was over. Onoda explained that he would only surrender if his commander ordered him to do so. Suzuki traveled back to Japan and found Onoda's former commander, Major Taniguchi, who had become a bookseller. On March 9, 1974, Suzuki and Taniguchi met Onoda at a preappointed place and Major Taniguchi read the orders that stated all combat activity was to be ceased. Onoda was shocked and, at first, disbelieving. It took some time for the news to sink in. We really lost the war! How could they have been so sloppy? Suddenly everything went black. A storm raged inside me. I felt like a fool for having been so tense and cautious on the way here. Worse than that, what had I been doing for all these years? Gradually the storm subsided, and for the first time I really understood: my thirty years as a guerrilla fighter for the Japanese army were abruptly finished. This was the end. I pulled back the bolt on my rifle and unloaded the bullets. . . . I eased off the pack that I always carried with me and laid the gun on top of it. Would I really have no more use for this rifle that I had polished and cared for like a baby all these years? Or Kozuka's rifle, which I had hidden in a crevice in the rocks? Had the war really ended thirty years ago? If it had, what had Shimada and Kozuka died for? If what was happening was true, wouldn't it have been better if I had died with them?5 During the 30 years that Onoda had remain hidden on Lubang island, he and his men had killed at least 30 Filipinos and had wounded approximately 100 others. After formally surrendering to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Marcos pardoned Onoda for his crimes while in hiding. When Onoda reached Japan, he was hailed a hero. Life in Japan was much different than when he had left it in 1944. Onoda bought a ranch and moved to Brazil. In May 1996, he returned to the Philippines to see once again the island on which he had hidden for 30 years.

My point with this long story is this: Sometimes when we don’t have all the information

necessary we can really be held captive by our own minds!

We can have the wrong information in our minds and have that bad information cripple our minds. It then cripples our actions. We’ve been going through 1 Peter and I want to walk us through the end of Chapter 1 and then into Chapter 2 today to capture some thoughts. The first three verses of Chapter 2 really belong to the same thoughts from Chapter 1. Chapter breaks are sometimes just in the wrong spots. REMEMBER:  The Battle is in the Mind. If the enemy can plant something in the mind that sticks, it gets into our hearts and then comes out in our words and actions. OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART THE MOUTH SPEAKS. What guards your mind? Is your mind filtered by the Holy Spirit or is it an open sewer drain?  Holiness is about ACTIVATING THE MIND. It’s not about what our wardrobe alone! It’s about having the image of Christ working in us! We need to be REMINDED of our position in Christ. Peter is reminding his readers of WHO they are. We do not fight FOR victory as believers. We fight FROM victory. We have the high ground already! We enter the battle as VICTORS. Christ has secured this. We need to be reminded. Friends, the war is decided! Japan surrendered! We need to get the memo. We need the reminders. God is building his great house IN US. We are the Body, the Church. We need to be reminded of who we are and enter into the life that is abundant! REMEMBER: This is not about ATTAINING favor. This is about having the incredible grace of God touch us and we have a loving response. When we have truly been touched by love… WE RESPOND!

Follow this trail with me in 1 Peter 1:22 through Chapter 2. 1. We are cleansed from our sins when we obeyed the truth. Truth touched us. Jesus comes walking through town one day and sees Matthew collecting taxes. Matthew has been watching Jesus. His thoughts probably were, “Wow! If Jesus would call, I would give this stuff up!” Jesus called. Matthew responded. He obeyed the truth! I was reading about AW Tozer. He was a great pastor and preacher in the 20th Century, pastoring a church in Chicago and Toronto for many years at each location. He wrote great books based on his sermons, one of which is called The Pursuit of God. Tozer’s conversion is quite interesting. As Tozer was walking home from his job one afternoon, he heard a street preacher say, “If you don’t know how to be saved…just call on God.” When Tozer got home, he did exactly that by going into his attic and praying. He OBEYED. Friends, the grace of God calls out to us. We proclaim it. 2. When we are touched by the love of God, it shows. When love truly touches us, it shows up. I’ve been married to Terri for over 23 years now. We have our official countdown to 25 started, because our goal is a trip to Italy! When I realized Terri was the one for me, it affected me. One of my closest friends in college saw it coming and he pulled me aside to talk. He wanted to make sure I was sure. He could see I was changing. Peter tells us that when the love of God has touched us it shows in our love for others. v. 22 – “Love each other deeply with all your heart.” (NLT) Treating others BETTER shows change. It shows something has happened!

What does it all boil down to? The great commandments! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This is where we pay attention and realize the first three verses of Chapter 2 really belong in the same thought pattern as Chapter 1. When we are loving others, we are getting obstacles out of the way! We don’t want deceit, or hypocrisy, or jealousy or unkind speech any more. We want to treat people WELL. We want to BE DIFFERENT. Why? The love of God has touched us! Sometimes we may get it in our heads, “Well, I was lovable! I was just a great big teddy bear!” Well, when it comes to “bear” I hate to break the bad news to you, but you were just un-BEARable! Peter lays out some basic action steps. These are so good. In our day when social media is causing us to be rude at new depths, we need to hear these words. Schools are consumed with teaching kids about cyber bullying. It’s a problem. As believers, we are called to be different. Youth, when you are online, your Facebook needs to show the kindness of a loving God. It’s not about being rude. Adults, and for me, there are temptations to fall into those traps. We have to watch ourselves. Loving people isn’t about just not saying bad things. LOVING PEOPLE IS ABOUT BRINGING KINGDOM RIGHTNESS INTO THEIR LIVES. It’s about speaking the truth into their lives. That means we are willing to bring the TRUTH of the Kingdom into their lives at the right moment.

We MUST be led of the Spirit to do this! And when it happens, you act because of LOVE. You speak the truth without fear of their reaction. Too often we want people to like us so badly we’ll NOT say something that will bring healing to them. OR, we want to manipulate a response. LOVE OTHERS. Get rid of the deceit, the jealousy, the hypocrisy. Don’t let unkind words pour out! Sometimes there is a slip. Don’t let it be a sewer pipe! Why speak good only of those who speak good of us? Isn’t that how the world operates? OUR CALLING IS HIGHER! 3. Touched by the love of God, we love God. Years ago there was a black singer named Fred Johnson. I had a recording of him singing at a crusade and I would play that song over and over again. The song itself ran over 10 minutes. Fred was singing, “I keep falling in love with him, over and over again!” And he would get so overwhelmed with the love of God, he couldn’t stop. Peter says we are to crave the pure milk of the Word. This is tough because we have to have a careful balance. This is not about ONLY craving the milk and not growing up. This is not about having milk for awhile and then moving on. This is about realizing the basics will always be there and we need to be reminded of those things regularly. Communion is a great illustration. We remind ourselves weekly. We need those regular doses of the pure milk. At communion time we will say the Lord’s Prayer together. It’s not for repetition’s sake. It’s for reminder’s sake. Truths that need to bore into our souls over and over again. I have a list I call the “Ancient Wells.” Scriptures that I visit on a regular basis to prime the pump of my life. These are passages that keep me rooted. The desire for the Kingdom rises back up in me as I go over this very familiar territory.

WE NEED A NEW CRAVING! WE NEED TO FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS OVER AND OVER AGAIN!

We are a part of the Great House of God.
God is building his great house in US. In verses 4-10 we are reminded of who we are. Again, let’s get this in our minds. This is not fighting FOR victory. This is fighting FROM victory. Peter is not saying, “Go and become priests.” He is saying, “YOU ARE PRIESTS! I want to remind you of this amazing calling!” As we work in this freedom, I want us to be reminded of our tasks. We are the Body of Christ. I am so challenged! We had Mark Durene last week and as he talked about planting churches in Thailand, I was excited. I am praying for the day when we will get to see this happen! I pray for us that the Spirit would be poured out and we see consistent healings, deliverance, and salvations. We have a Spirit-empowered work to do! 1. We are to stayed nourished in the Word (2:2,3)

2. We are rooted in formation This is the work of the Spirit. We walk in the power of the Spirit and he teaches us. 3. We are rooted in the world I am writing this in faith, but I assume I will be preaching this on May 22. May 21 was to be the end of the world. The rapture was coming. We’re still here. Now what? WELL… we are HERE. We have a work to do! So, we better be rooted in Christ. We are to love others! We need the love of Christ flowing through us!

Preach the gospel by all means! And if necessary… use words! (Francis of Assisi)

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