The Three Hour Sermon on God, Sin and Salvation

This pitiable state of mind of uncivilized peoples is like the darkness of the night. You know, many people believe ghosts appear in the night-time but never in daylight. During the night they imagine that all sorts of dreadful creatures roam about.

Children are especially afraid to go out in the dark, fearing they may encounter those dreadful creatures of the night. Perhaps yonder in a dark corner Black Bozu [apparitions having their heads shaven like Buddhist priests] might be glaring at them. Or, under that big willow tree, white ghosts might be standing, pale-faced, long-haired, with their hands in front of them. And the childish mind imagines these frightful creatures make their appearance only during the night; when the dawn approaches they all retreat to their hiding-places, and the world is once more cleared and safe.

Not only they, but even the stars of the night which twinkle so merrily in the heavens, will all vanish away before the brightness of the morning sun.

Just so, while the country is uncivilized and ignorance reigns among the people, they believe in all sorts of false gods which swarm in the imaginations of all ignorant people. But when once the sun of enlightenment rises on the horizon of the childish mind, all these apparitions will disappear, and people will begin to worship only the one true God of the universe.

You know that well-known saying, " There is only one sun in heaven and not two suns, and there is but one Lord in the land and not two Lords."

Truly, there is but one sun in heaven that shines upon this earth and not two. No man would say there is a Japanese sun and an American sun the Japanese sun shines only upon Japan and the American sun shines only upon America. Is there one among us so foolish as to say or to think that, although our sun is round, there may be other countries where suns are triangular?

No, no, the sun which shines upon the whole earth is one and the same sun.

Now seeing that even the material sun which lights the whole world is one and not many, can you still say that our spiritual sun, the God of the whole world, is many rather than one?

There are many people in Japan even now who say that the different countries of the world were created by different sets of gods, and are ruled and protected by their respective gods. They say Japan was created by the gods of the Japanese, and is ruled over and protected by them alone. So we Japanese need not worship any other gods but our own. It is right for people of other countries to believe in their own gods, but for us Japanese to believe in the other gods of the world and forsake our own gods, the gods of our ancestors would be unprofitable to our country and unfilial to our ancestors.

This is a very common saying among many Japanese who do not understand what Christianity is. They still believe that the different countries of the world were created by and are ruled over and protected by different sets of gods. And in the opinion of many it is the duty of the people of each country to reverence their own gods and not those of any other country.

It is quite natural for ignorant people to think so. But do you think that in the light of the present-day civilization such an unreasonable belief can be maintained?

Look, for example, at the form of the human body. Can you imagine that the different races of the world were created by different sets of gods? Do you think that the different sets of gods would have made the people of this world so nearly alike in form as they are?

The world population is now approximately seventeen hundred millions. Take, then, the seventeen hundred million human beings and examine the construction of their bodily organs* Do you think you can find any difference among them? No, not in the least. The construction of the human body is exactly the same all over the world. Of course there is a difference in colour among the different races of people; some are white, some are black, some are yellow and some are red; but this difference in the colour of the skin is of minor importance and is often due to climatic conditions. Moreover, we find a difference of colour not only among the different races, but even among people of the same race. Tonight, I believe, we have here a representative gathering of the people of this city. And yet as I look at the audience from the platform I see a marked difference in colour among you. I see many beautifully white faces among you as white as the white races of the world. But I must say, though I am sorry to say it, that among you I see also faces as dark as the brown races of the world.

Now if among our own people we find such a difference in colour it is quite natural that we should find a great difference in colour among the different races of the world.

But what I am here contending for as to the sameness of the human body is not its colour but its construction. For example, in travelling all over the world can you find any threeeyed or three-legged people among the races of the world? Can you find any human race which has six fingers or six toes? In one place where I asked this question one of my audience cried out, " Oh, yes, there are six-fingered persons in the world." Then I said, " My friend, where did you find such a person? Please tell me the place."

He answered, " Oh, yes, deformed persons have sometimes six fingers."

Sure, but they are deformed, not ordinary men. Among ordinary men you do not find six-fingered persons. Everywhere in this world man has only two eyes, two hands, two legs and ten fingers. Not only are these external organs the same in every man but all of the internal organs are the same. The lungs spread out on both sides of the chest like two branches of a tree, and the heart hangs on the left side. Nobody has his heart hanging on the backbone. Stomach and bowels, kidneys and liver, are in exactly the same position. So all human beings are of the same form, just as all the rice crackers cut out by the same cutter are the same, although there may be a difference in colour, according to the degree of baking. Some are baked too much and become black as Africans. Some are not quite done and are pale as the white races. While some are baked just enough and are coloured like the yellow people. But all these differences are only in colour, not in form of construction.

And now, if there are many gods in this world, as some people say, each trying to make their own people, do you think that they would make them so nearly alike? We can not suppose that the gods of the whole world convened a congress of gods in the beginning for the man-making business, and decided upon the form of man by majority of votes. No, they would not do such a thing in consultation. And if really these different sets of gods each made their own people independently, surely there would be a great difference in the form of men. Suppose you give a similar piece of cloth to each of ten women and let them each make a dress, entirely independent of each other, do you think they would make the same kind of a dress? No, impossible.

Now what does this prove? Why, it proves decisively that the god who made the people of this world must be one and not many. There can not be more than one creator of the world. And this one true God who made the seventeen hundred million people of this world is the true and real Father of all mankind. We are all His children. We all have our earthly parents and we love and honour them. But they have simply given birth to us and not made us. There is a great difference between giving birth to a child and making a child. Man can not give the spirit of life to a child. Only God can give the spirit to man. So He is the true spiritual Father of us all.

If any man disobeys his parents and treats them unkindly, he will be condemned by his fellowmen as unfilial and undutiful. You know ingratitude toward one's parents is regarded in our country as a most heinous sin. Our obligation toward our parents is said to be the highest obligation on this earth, and is higher than the highest mountain and deeper than the deepest sea. And now if you say that our obligation toward our earthly parents is higher than the highest mountain of the earth, ought we not to say that our obligation toward our Heavenly Father is higher than the very heavens? Yes, certainly, our ingratitude toward our Heavenly Father is the greatest sin of all.

We are indeed the children of God. Here lies the dignity of man as the head of creation.

The true worth of a man does not consist in his earthly possessions nor in his human rank. Of course these have their place. But having or not having them does not make a bit of difference in regard to our true dignity as the head of creation and our worth as human beings. Our true dignity and honour lie in the fact that we are created in the image of God, thus being the children of the King of the Universe.

Now to believe in this one true God, and to obey and love Him as our Father, and to try to become children worthy of Him, created in His own image, is the gist of the whole teaching of Christianity.

If God is our Father then we are all brothers and sisters of each other, no matter to what race or country or people we belong. And if we are really brothers and sisters, why should we not love one another and live in perfect peace.

Now, my friends, these two great truths the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Man are the two foundation stones on which the Christian religion is built. Jesus said, when He was asked, "Which is the greatest commandment of the law?" "Thou shaft love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. This is the great and first commandment; and the second is like unto it; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Do you not see now that, if the entire world would believe in the Christian religion and obey our Lord's commandments, as given to us by Jesus Christ, its condition would be. entirely changed and peace and happiness and righteousness and justice would reign all over the world?

NOW we come to the second great point of my sermon. The first was on God. The second is on sin, which is enmity to God.

Christianity teaches that we all are sinners, men, women and children. No human being is sinless in this world. " There is none good, no not one." When we preach such a doctrine to our people some object to it at once, saying: "Am I a sinner? What have I done? On what evidence do you call me a sinner or a criminal? I have done nothing of the kind in my life. Why do you call me by such an awful name as a sinner or a criminal? It's outrageous. These preachers are always saying sin, sin, sin, just as if they were prison officials talking to the convicts. This talking about sin is one thing I always disliked in Christian preaching and I do hate to hear it. They look down upon us from that high pulpit as if we were criminals brought before the judge. Therefore, I don't like to attend Christian services."

I have oftentimes offended many persons in this way, by telling them they are sinners, because they misunderstood the meaning of sin. They thought I was charging them with some awful crime, and naturally would be offended. Even tonight if I should say from this platform that you are all criminals, thieves, murderers, and so on, would you not be offended at my words? Yes, indeed, you would be offended, and some of you might jump up here and knock me down for saying such dreadful things. And I should deserve it if I insulted you with such charges. But, please do not misunderstand me when I say you are all sinners. I do not think there are any thieves or murderers present in this audience. But what is theft and murder? Are they not offences against the law of this country? Of course there are no such lawbreakers in this congregation. The lawbreakers do not wear such clothing as you and I do; they wear a prison uniform, as you know, and as I -do not see any such uniforms here I am sure there is not a single criminal in this audience tonight.

But what I am speaking of here is not such crimes or offences against our state laws. Of course those crimes are included in the general designation of sin. But they form a very small part of it.

Sin in its broad and true sense is an offence against the law of God. As every well-governed country has laws of its own, so this universe has laws of its own. And what Christianity teaches as sin is the breaking of the law of the universe. An offence against the law of a country is different from an offence against the law of God. Because God's laws and state laws are entirely different. May I tell you the difference between these two kinds of laws?