ガラテヤの信徒への手紙2:1-2 Galatians 2:1-2,

わたしは、自分が異邦人に宣べ伝えている福音について、人々に、とりわけ、おもだった人たちには個人的に話して、自分は無駄に走っているのではないか、あるいは走ったのではないかと意見を求めました。　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（ガラテヤ2:2）

この箇所については、いくつもの違った翻訳がなされています。2018年に日本聖書協会から出版された新しい聖書協会共同訳では、「私は、異邦人に宣べ伝えている福音について、人々に、とりわけ、おもだった人たちには個人的に示しました。私が走り、また走ってきたことが無駄だったのかと尋ねたのです」と翻訳されています。微妙にニュアンスが違うことをおわかりいただけるでしょうか。私たちが今使っている新共同訳聖書のように翻訳すると、パウロは自分が異邦人に伝道してきたことが無駄ではなかったかという心配をもっていたというニュアンスになります。ところが、新しい聖書協会共同訳のように翻訳すると、パウロ自身が異邦人伝道が無駄であったと心配していたのではなく、エルサレム教会の指導者たちがパウロの異邦人伝道を無駄と考えるかどうかを、パウロが問いただしているというニュアンスになります。

さらに、福音派の教会で用いられている新改訳聖書の新しい版では、「私が今走っていること、また今まで走ってきたことが無駄にならないように、異邦人の間で私が伝えている福音を人々に示しました」と翻訳されています。この翻訳ですと、パウロ自身は異邦人伝道が正しいことであるのを確信しており、それがエルサレム教会の指導者たちの反対によって「無駄にならないように」説明をしているというニュアンスになります。現代に広く用いられている四種類の英語の聖書は、どれも新改訳聖書の新しい版に近い翻訳をしています（REB、NRSV、NIV 2011、ESV）。

そうすると、私たちが今使っている新共同訳聖書の翻訳は間違いなのでしょうか？そうとも言い切れません。パウロは、この手紙の4章11節で2章2節と同じメー・ポースというギリシア語を用いて「あなたがたのために苦労したのは、無駄になったのではなかったかと、あなたがたのことが心配です」と書いています。そして、この箇所の翻訳については、日本語の三つの聖書も英語の四つの聖書もほぼ一致しています。ですから、「自分は無駄に走っているのではないか、あるいは走ったのではないか」という翻訳も4章11節に基づけば、一応可能なのです。しかし、4章11節には「心配です」という意味のギリシア語がありますが、本日の箇所の2章2節にはそれがありません。また、新共同訳の「意見を求めました」や新しい聖書協会共同訳の「尋ねたのです」というのも、実は原典のギリシア語にはない言葉なのです。そうすると、2章2節の終わりの部分の最も適切な翻訳は、新改訳聖書の新しい版の「私が今走っていること、また今まで走ってきたことが無駄にならないように、異邦人の間で私が伝えている福音を人々に示しました」という翻訳である、という結論になります。

（5月7日の説教より）

Last year, the issue of so-called cults in our country was widely discussed due to the murder of former Prime Minister ABE Shinzo. What is the difference between dangerous cults and healthy religions? In an interview with Asahi Shimbun Publishing’s AERA dot. news website, Prof. SHIOTANI Naoya, head of the religion department at Aoyama Gakuin University, responded as follows to the reporter’s question, “What is the difference between belief in God and mind control of dangerous cults?”

A healthy religion does not take away a person’s ability to think. Rather, it gives them that power and does not make them give up thinking. On the contrary, dangerous cults take away the power to think through mind control and other means. Concerning Christian religion, a healthy Christianity asks the question, “What does the God of the Bible say about this, and what do you think about it?” It keeps you in dialogue with God, and so to speak, “gives you the power to have a conflict.”

Indeed, when we listen to the words of the Bible, we cannot help but think deeply about God, about life and about the world. This is because the Bible’s teachings contain within them seemingly conflicting tensions. The words of the religious reformer Martin Luther, which I spoke in the first sermon of Galatians, are a good example of this. At the beginning of his book On the Freedom of a Christian, published in 1520, some 500 years ago, Luther wrote the following two propositions. The propositions are: “A Christian is a free lord over all things and subject to no one” and “A Christian is a bound servant of all things and subject to everyone.” At first glance, these two propositions seem contradictory. To be “a free lord over all things” and to be “a bound servant of all things” are, to common sense, quite opposite things. However, it is Christianity that recognises both of these seeming opposites as truths. This means that Christians always think in both directions when they consider their way of life.

Consider, for example, the issue of church offering: the Catholic Church in the 16th century taught that by offering to the church one could make atonement for one’s sins. It also sold “indulgences.” In particular, they taught that by buying “indulgences,” one could atone for the sins of the dead in “purgatory,” the place between heaven and hell, so that the souls of the dead could go to heaven. In this way, the Catholic Church had believers make donations by way of “indulgences.” The modern cult of the Unification Church, or “Family Federation of World Peace and Unification,” has a teaching called “Ancestor Liberation.” In other words, “Ancestor Liberation” is the teaching, that the grudge of ancestors who have gone to the spirit world with grudges from others or grudges held against them, can be liberated through the actions of people on earth. The ancestors in the spirit world who have been liberated from grudges through “Ancestor Liberation” will then work to ensure the blessings of their descendants on earth. Based on this teaching, the Unification Church brainwashed its followers into making large donations.

What about offering in Christian churches? A Christian is saved by faith in Christ and become “a free lord over all things.” Therefore, giving an offering does not save oneself or a dead person. In other words, there is no teaching that one must make an offering for salvation. However, a Christian is “a bound servant of all things” who lives according to the teachings of Christ. Therefore, as a servant’s service, one may serve the church, the body of Christ, by giving an offering. In that case, you have to think about how much you are going to offer. This is a difficult question. You must carefully consider the combination of your gratitude for being saved by Christ, your aspiration to support the church that feeds your soul, and your responsibility to maintain a healthy life for yourself and your family. You must then confide what you have thought about to God in prayer and talk to him. In this way, the amount of the offering is to be determined. In this way, Christianity teaches each one of us to think about how to serve God in the freedom given to us by Christ’s salvation. And when thinking about how to serve God, it is helpful to think not only in dialogue with God, but also in dialogue with those who serve God together. In other words, it is in the fellowship of the church that how we live in service to God is made sure.

The Apostle Paul was a man who was convinced that he had been given the mission to proclaim Christ’s salvation to the Gentiles. But he was also in fellowship with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, the first Christian church in the world. And in that fellowship, he was confirmed in his mission. Verses 1 and 2 of today’s Bible passages state as follows.

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

The Japanese Bible which we use reads “after fourteen years” as “fourteen years after he had gone into the regions of Syria and Cilicia,” in response to what is written in chapter 1:21. But rather, this should read “fourteen years after Paul’s conversion in Damascus,” as in 1:18, “then after three years.”

So which passages in the Acts of the Apostles, where Paul’s steps are recorded, correspond to Paul’s going to Jerusalem with Barnabas? Acts 11:22-26 tell us that Barnabas was sent from the church in Jerusalem to lead the church in Antioch, and that Barnabas invited Paul, who was evangelising in Tarsus in Cilicia, to be a leader in the Antiochian church. And in the next verses, 27-30, it is written as follows.

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Saul, needless to say, is Paul. Biblical scholars believe that the reference in this passage to Barnabas and Paul going to Jerusalem with the relief is probably what is meant in today’s passage, “I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas.” If so, it could be that the prophecy of the prophet Agabus in the Acts of the Apostles corresponds to the statement in verse 2 of today’s passages, “I went up because of a revelation.” However, it is more natural to assume that when Paul says “revelation” he means the “revelation” he himself experienced, as the phrase “a revelation of Jesus Christ” in verse 12 of chapter 1 of this letter indicates. In that case, the statement “I went up because of a revelation” must mean that Paul received a revelation from Christ by the Holy Spirit that he should go with Barnabas to Jerusalem.

According to verse 2 of today’s passages, on his second visit to Jerusalem, Paul “set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.” “The gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles,” refers to “the gospel” that “the Gentiles,” i.e., non-Jews, can be saved if they believe in Jesus Christ. The three names of “those who seemed influential”  are mentioned in verse 9. Furthermore, “privately” probably means that he spoke privately and in detail about his evangelism to the Gentiles so that they would have a good understanding of what was going on.

In Japanese Bible which we use, the end of verse 2 is translated into “seeking their opinion whether he was running or had run in vain.” Is it possible that Paul, who received revelation directly from the resurrected Christ in heaven and became an apostle proclaiming Christ’s salvation to the Gentiles, would think that he was running in vain, or that he had run in vain? In fact, there are several different Japanese translations of this passage: the new translation by the Japan Bible Society in 2018, says: “I asked if my running was or had been in vain.” Can you see that the nuances are slightly different? In the Japanese Bible which we use, the nuance is that Paul was concerned that his evangelism to the Gentiles was or had been in vain. However, in the new translation, the nuance is that Paul was not himself concerned that his Gentile evangelism was or had been in vain, but that he was asking whether the leaders of the Jerusalem church thought Paul’s Gentile evangelism was or had been in vain. The nuance is that he is questioning them.

Furthermore, the newer version of the Japanese Bible used by evangelical churches translates it as “so that what I was running and had been running was not in vain.” This translation gives the nuance that Paul himself was convinced that evangelising the Gentiles was the right thing to do, and that he was explaining it so that it would not be “in vain” because of the opposition of the leaders of the Jerusalem church. The four English-language Bibles (REB, NRSV, NIV 2011, ESV) widely used today, all have translations that are close to this Japanese Bible.

Does that mean the translation of the Japanese Bible which we use, is a mistake? We cannot say that it is. Paul writes in 4:11 of this letter, using the same Greek word, “meh-pos” (μή πως), as in chapter 2:2: “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” And both the three Japanese and four English Bibles are almost in agreement on the translation of this verse. So the translation “seeking their opinion whether he was running or had run in vain.” is also possible, to a point, based on chapter 4:11. However, while 4:11 has a Greek word meaning “I am afraid,” today’s verse, 2:2, does not. Also, the words “I asked” in the new translation are actually not in the original Greek. This leads to the conclusion that the most appropriate Japanese translation for today’s passage 2:2 is the translation used by evangelical churches, “I had shown the people the gospel I was preaching among the Gentiles, so that what I was running and had been running was not in vain.”

Paul was convinced that he had been given the task of proclaiming Christ’s salvation to the Gentiles. However, he did not go about his evangelism in a self-serving way because of his conviction, saying that he did not care what anyone else thought. He communicated with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, the first Christian church in the world, explaining his ministry in detail and seeking their understanding. But it was not to get the leaders of the Jerusalem church to approve his ministry and give him authority. Rather, it was because as every Christian church belongs to the one body of Christ, they can do fruitful work when they understand each other well and do their work as servants of Christ. Paul explained his ministry well and sought understanding in the fellowship he was given, so that the leaders of the Jerusalem church would not waste the fruit of Paul’s Gentile evangelism without a good understanding of Paul’s ministry.

This gives us an important insight into our own Christian walk and the walk of our church, the Shiki-Kita Presbyterian Church. Each one of us here has been given different gifts from God, and each one of us is doing a different work. In order for these gifts and ministries to be fruitful, we need to worship together, pray together and learn together. If we stop fellowshipping because we insist on living a unique Christian life, that unique life will no longer be fruitful. Furthermore, our church is a church that has been given unique gifts by God, and it does unique works. In order for these gifts and works to bear fruit, it is necessary to be in fellowship with other churches, especially with the churches of the Church of Christ in Japan that confess the same confession of faith. In fellowship, we can learn about the gifts and works of each church, and become convinced of the gifts that this church has been given and the works that only this church can do.