Hello, everyone. If the service becomes long and you want to go to the restroom, please don’t hesitate. And if you need any assistance with something, the staff is here, so feel free to relax as you listen. With today being the Harvest Thanksgiving Service, you can see here the vegetables lined up, and there are also grains of rice. In these times of convenience I might say, the World Church of Messiah farmers who produced these are taking great pains to do so without pesticides or fertilizers. Although the Harvest Thanksgiving Service is of course for expressing our gratitude to God, I would also like to thank, at this time and together with all of you, the farmers who are trying to respond to Meishu-sama’s will of Nature Farming. And as Meishu-sama speaks about the importance of food, I hope that from here on too, if possible, people who do Nature Farming can increase and that it can be passed down and continued. Now, with this year coming to an end with only a month to go, we automatically look back on the year, and this year, the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah took place. This was of course possible because of Meishu-sama’s will, Kyoshu-sama’s will and the mobilization of all your efforts. But I was thinking about it again, and it was actually possible because of the situation we refer to as the Church purification that arose. If the Church purification had not happened, World Church of Messiah would not have resurrected, and the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah would not have taken place. When we think about it like this, the way Meishu-sama makes things occur is mysterious, isn’t it? As such, if we were able to respond to Meishu-sama’s wish because of the Church purification, then in the end, we have to give thanks to the Church purification and to Meishu-sama who made the Church purification happen. Of course, at first glance, the purification was not a good thing, so I believe you feel difficulty of giving thanks to it. But through it, we were able to hold the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah. So I believe it was truly a blessing. Also, as it was said in Kyoshu-sama’s opening prayer today, finally, from here on, let us, as World Church of Messiah, materialize the construction of sacred grounds by our own hands—of course this, too, is coming to fruition from the currents of the Church purification. Now, while we say, “We are going to construct World Church of Messiah’s sacred grounds from here on!” there are the sacred grounds that we had come to be familiar with—and we are holding a service on one of them today too. I have been wondering what kind of thoughts we have now regarding these sacred grounds. Well, I am not talking about the trial and such, which is a different issue. But in regard to our own faith, how are we accepting this? We have been familiar with these sacred grounds for many years, so there may be some of you who have a kind of, how would I say, personal attachment to them. All the efforts you put into it, all the memories you hold—those kinds of matters. Of course, it is fact that the sacred grounds exist because of all your efforts until today. However, in our constructing new sacred grounds from here on, how will we proceed? With an attitude of “Let’s do it!” or with a vague one of lingering feelings from before? This is my point. And of course, it might be rather difficult to simply move forward without hesitation, giving thanks to the Church purification and saying we will construct a new sacred ground. I mean, it is unfortunate, for sure. And when I say “unfortunate,” I don’t at all mean it as in “Too bad we can’t go there anymore” or the like. In a word, seeing that the sacred grounds, places that Meishu-sama poured his heart and soul into, are being maintained by those kinds of people is an unfortunate situation. It is certainly unfortunate, isn’t it? I think so too. But putting that aside, we really just have to thank Meishu-sama for everything that has happened up until this point related to the sacred grounds. What does this mean exactly? In Sekai Kyusei Kyo, it is stipulated that Kyoshu-sama is the symbol of the unity of all the members. That is how it is written in the bylaws of Sekai Kyusei Kyo. The symbol of the unity of all the members. Then I was wondering what “unity” meant. Of course, I had a vague idea about it, but when I looked it up in the dictionary, it said, “State of two or more parts being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole.” So what does it mean to be the symbol of the unity of all the members? There are all of you, the members, and of course there are two or more of you, so Kyoshu-sama is an existence made up of all of you, the tens of thousands of Sekai Kyusei Kyo members combined into one. And to be a symbol means that he is an embodiment. In other words, Kyoshu-sama is one human being named Yoichi Okada, but when he is “Kyoshu, Yoichi Okada,” all the members are combined into one within Yoichi Okada Kyoshu-sama. The Emperor of Japan is what we call the symbol of the unity of the people of Japan. All the people of Japan are combined into one within him, and daily, he offers prayers, for example, for our sake. Kyoshu-sama is the same. The symbol of the unity of all the members. He is certainly a symbol, right? I mean Kyoshu-sama isn’t going to suddenly divide into some tens of thousands of individual people. Rather, within the one individual Kyoshu-sama, all the members of Sekai Kyusei Kyo dwell. That is why “symbol” is used. Of course, there are all kinds of religions in the world, and I believe that their thinking regarding their central figure, the spiritual leader if you will, varies from religion to religion. But at the very least, at Sekai Kyusei Kyo, as it is stipulated that Kyoshu-sama is the symbol of the unity of all the members, all the members are united to Kyoshu-sama. This includes myself, as I, too, am a member. Well, to be more exact, my membership was apparently taken away, (everyone laughs) and the same happened to some of the people sitting in the front row. (everyone laughs) (Editorial note: Sekai Kyusei Kyo revoked membership from Masaaki-sama and other leaders, some of whom were present in the congregation that day, for standing up for Kyoshu-sama.) Putting that aside—at any rate, we are all united to Kyoshu-sama. And if that is the case, then to do something to this Kyoshu-sama is to do the same thing to all the members. That is to say, this isn’t simply just a matter of Kyoshu-sama being secretly followed and filmed and us saying, “What a terrible thing they did to Kyoshu-sama!” That’s because in Sekai Kyusei Kyo, it is stipulated that Kyoshu-sama is the symbol of the unity of all the members, so those acts were against you and all the members too. But I believe those people would justify their actions by saying that it was because Kyoshu-sama violated the teachings of Meishu-sama. And if that is the case, it means that when someone does not act the way they want that person to, their solution is not to open up a dialogue. Rather, their idea of a solution is to gather what they believe to be unwelcome information for the other person and use that information as a threat to keep him or her quiet. To have done that against Kyoshu-sama means to have done it against all the members—it is with that kind of mindset that those people are facing all the members of Sekai Kyusei Kyo. So those pieces of land, land that those people maintain—can they be “sacred grounds”? No way. But we believed. We believed that the executives and Kyoshu-sama became one and were going to go forward protecting the divine work of Meishu-sama and the sacred grounds. But the so-called executives harbored some unthinkable thoughts toward Kyoshu-sama. As Kyoshu-sama is the symbol of the unity of all the members, the thoughts harbored against Kyoshu-sama are thoughts harbored against all the members. So if we weren’t aware of the secretly following and filming, it would have been a lot worse. There is absolutely no way that Meishu-sama would say of the place maintained by those kinds of people, “This here is sacred ground—it is sacred.” There is no way. So through the Church purification, we came to know this truth. This is something we can be truly grateful for. In the first place, to expel Kyoshu-sama who is the unity of all the members is just plain suicide. I mean to kick out Kyoshu-sama is to kick out all the members. And that’s because it is Kyoshu-sama alone who embodies all the members. And I am pretty sure that the person Sekai Kyusei Kyo considers to be their current “Kyoshu” is not expected to take on this role. (Editorial note: The current “Kyoshu-sama” of Sekai Kyusei Kyo is Nobuyuki Watase, who took on the name “Nobuyuki Okada” without permission from the Okada family, even though he has no relation to the Okada family.) As you know, he does not speak in front of the members. So if this new “Kyoshu-sama” has not taken on the role to be the symbol of the unity of all the members and if they kicked out the true Kyoshu-sama, then Sekai Kyusei Kyo is simply a hollow shell. No matter how you look at it, it is a hollow shell. It would only be a group of people that presume they believe in Meishu-sama, and nothing more. But for us who are allowed to be together with Kyoshu-sama, the symbol of the unity of all the members, we are not a hollow shell. Of course, if it were not stipulated that Kyoshu-sama is the “symbol of the unity of all the members,” then there wouldn’t have been any issues. But in Sekai Kyusei Kyo, Kyoshu-sama is stipulated as the symbol of the unity of all the members, so if he were expelled, no one would be left there. It would be a hollow shell. Even if there were pieces of land called sacred grounds, there’s no meaning to them. (Masaaki-sama looks at the program) It is written in today’s Bible verse from the book of Ephesians (Ephesians 5:1–21). No one who is immoral, indecent, or greedy (for greed is a form of idolatry) will ever receive a share in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words; it is because of these very things that God’s anger will come upon those who do not obey him. So have nothing at all to do with such people. You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord’s people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light, for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth. Try to learn what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light. (It is really too shameful even to talk about the things they do in secret.) And when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed; for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. (Ephesians 5:5–14) It says, “Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words.” And it says, “Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness.” Secretly following people or secretly listening in on them or secretly photographing or filming someone is an action done in secret, in the darkness, isn’t it? So have nothing to do with it and “instead, bring them out to the light.” You have to point it out to them. “Hey, what you guys are doing is wrong.” “It is really too shameful even to talk about the things they do in secret.” It is unpleasant to talk or hear about people secretly following and filming others, which those people actually did, isn’t it? To put it into words feels shameful. So have nothing at all to do with those kinds of people. This is obvious, right? But it says that, ultimately, “when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed; for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light.” What does this mean? Needless to say, we will have nothing to do with people who do those kinds of things, but that doesn’t mean that we will judge ourselves as good and those other people as evil or say “That side is evil” when their dark acts are revealed by the light. If we do that, those things will never become light. Instead, we can say, “Ah, their posture is actually my posture”—this is it. In the root of their acts are postures like wanting to prioritize one’s own interests or prioritizing material things—don’t we have those kinds of postures within us? Obviously, we do, right? So if you say, “Ah, God, You forgave this part of me,” then God will say to you, “That’s right, I did forgive that part of you.” That is light. To become light means to receive God’s forgiveness. On the other hand, if you start saying that acts like that are justifiable, like those people are doing, or as long as you judge those acts like it is someone else’s problem, then everything will remain in darkness. And that’s because you simply don’t receive God’s forgiveness. Those people have stopped at “this is justifiable” or “we are not evil,” but my hope is that one day, they may come to the thinking that “Ah, God forgave those postures; He used me for that; what a terrible thing I did.” After all, they were fellow believers of the same Meishu-sama. Another thing that comes up a lot is how Kyoshu-sama is a symbol, so he or she has no real power—this is not true. In Sekai Kyusei Kyo, Kyoshu-sama has the important role of unifying Sekai Kyusei Kyo based on the teachings of Meishu-sama. In other words, the Church is unified by Kyoshu-sama. If it is not, then all we have is various kinds of thinking—Meishu-sama’s Sacred Word means this; no, Meishu-sama’s teachings mean that; then let’s accept this, let’s accept that; let’s try a variety of things; having a lot of possibilities is good. As such, if the power to unify does not work, then the Church will end up splitting. But originally, at Sekai Kyusei Kyo, Kyoshu-sama unifies us as one, based on the teachings that Meishu-sama left. This is the point. Still more, Kyoshu-sama has the role of determining the teachings, presiding over rituals and ceremonies, determining the outline of the construction of sacred grounds as well as authorizing people in high positions. And when were these roles of Kyoshu-sama properly determined? It was during the Church purification in Sandai-sama’s time. It was back then that our posture and attitude toward Sandai-sama, that is, Kyoshu-sama, was one of neglecting Kyoshu-sama, and we realized it could not continue like that anymore and had to be changed. We decided to go forward properly receiving Meishu-sama through Kyoshu-sama. After the results of that trial, I think many members believed the executives’ announcement of going in that direction. They believed that from then on, Sekai Kyusei Kyo would go forward being Kyoshu-centered. During that time, Sandai-sama gave various Sacred Word with that point in mind. But as it turned out, that wasn’t the direction we went in, right? We made a big fuss with the trial, spent all that money and effort, and then we of Sekai Kyusei Kyo pledged to have faith in Meishu-sama under the leadership of Kyoshu-sama from then on—but the reality of the situation was entirely different, wasn’t it? The people who believed the executives’ announcement—they were just duped, weren’t they? Even though the executives’ announcement was about how from then on, they would repent of their own posture toward Kyoshu-sama and change, the reality was completely different. So isn’t it a good thing that through the Church purification, we also came to know these truths? It is much more futile to not know anything, believing that Kyoshu-sama and the executives are one and harmonious. If something were happening in a hidden place without us knowing or if we just didn’t know the truth, it’s like we were made fools of, right? Isn’t it a good thing that Kyoshu-sama set the record straight five years ago at the Beginning of Spring Service? On the other hand, does it mean that we should be friends with those people from now on? No, it doesn’t. “Have nothing at all to do with such people” (Ephesians 5:7). You have to be clear and decide what kind of life you want to live. So this time, it was a big blessing that we came to know that Meishu-sama’s sacred grounds no longer exist on this earth. Meishu-sama approached us and told us to know this. And now, I believe that under the leadership of Kyoshu-sama, you will construct sacred grounds that Meishu-sama is truly wishing for. Thinking about it that way, there are many things that we owe to the Church purification. The sacred grounds, the resurrection of the name World Church of Messiah. Then there is the Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah that Meishu-sama held and the actual ceremony that he wanted to hold but made his ascension before he could—we were able to hold the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah through our own hands. Each one is wonderful. And then there is Johrei, how after his brain stroke, Meishu-sama said that Johrei was not as important anymore and that we have entered the world of sonen, or how he said that he discovered a new Johrei by sonen. He said these things. This is huge. The Church publication at the time published this, and all the members knew of it. But it was only in the last year of his life that Meishu-sama spoke of these matters, and all we did was focus on Johrei until recently. So even though Meishu-sama actually spoke about those matters, we couldn’t just give up Johrei because it was convenient for attracting people to the Church. But only thanks to the Church purification were we able to actually begin responding to Meishu-sama’s will, right? The Church purification began, and people criticized Kyoshu-sama for telling us to surrender since it was denying Johrei. And because these criticisms came out, it came to light that Meishu-sama had actually spoken about those things. Thus, we were able to know that Kyoshu-sama did what he did for the sake of Meishu-sama’s will. I believe these kinds of matters became clear because of the Church purification. Otherwise, it would have been difficult even for Kyoshu-sama, to all of a sudden tell everyone that “Meishu-sama was actually saying something else” when all the members had been focusing on Johrei this whole time. Or how about working in concert with Christianity? Meishu-sama wants to work in concert with Christianity in order to save all humanity using all his heart and soul, right? But this too, didn’t we basically bury it away without thinking about it deeply? When we think about all these matters, I mean really, what would we be doing if the Church purification had not happened? Of course, if Meishu-sama hadn’t said any of this, it would be a big problem. But Meishu-sama did say these things. Just look, the Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah taking place; the name of the Church not being Sekai Kyusei Kyo (World Church of Salvation) but World Church of Messiah during Meishu-sama’s time; the subject of sonen. These were all matters that Meishu-sama himself spoke of. The Hall of Worship (Kyusei Kaikan, or literally, “Salvation Hall”) was Messiah Hall during Meishu-sama’s time to begin with, remember? And in that Messiah Hall was an orchestra pit that Meishu-sama had built. Basically, he had the idea of the altar also being a stage. Meishu-sama said that there will be prayer, and following right after it, there will be things like an orchestra and music, so the transition to become a performance stage has to be harmonious and seamless, which will be rather challenging. He also said that, on the stage, “Hallelujah” chorus will be performed, and a 60-person orchestra will be prepared for it. I mean, an orchestra pit! Meishu-sama spoke about this over 70 years ago already! Look at how great Meishu-sama’s passion was for music. But the pit is no longer there—there is no orchestra pit in the Hall of Worship right now. To have had the orchestra pit made, I believe, is what I would call a teaching in itself, the act of making it. I mean, this is one incredible message for us: “I’m doing music! I’m going to have the members listen! We will turn our hearts directly toward God, but we’re doing music too!” World Church of Messiah’s current services too are precisely that—a time to turn our hearts directly to God and a time for music. They have been joined together in complete harmony, for each and every grand service. But from the start, this was the kind of service that Meishu-sama had envisioned. He imagined something that combined prayer to God and music; a union of the two. So the prayer facility in the sacred ground that we will build in the days ahead has to be constructed with our firm acceptance of the message Meishu-sama left for us when he built the Messiah Hall. And needless to say, technology has advanced dramatically since that time. Meishu-sama made the orchestra pit with a lift system using the most advanced technology of his time. Since then, seventy, eighty years have passed, so we too have to construct a prayer facility that unifies music and religiosity using the most advanced technology of our time. I think Meishu-sama is wishing for this too. So at World Church of Messiah, let us respond to this Meishu-sama’s will, by all means, and construct that kind of sacred ground. I think it’s about this. Today’s Sacred Word was entitled “Music in the future,” but I don’t think there are many of you who know of it, as it was not a Sacred Word included in Foundation of Paradise and suchlike. In this Sacred Word, a member asks Meishu-sama what he thinks about music in the future. Meishu-sama then says, “In the future, music will play a major role in our Church. I intend to create a new, global music through our Church.” Isn’t this Sacred Word amazing? And consider Meishu-sama’s vision: “I intend to create a new, global music” and “The Messiah Hall in Atami will be constructed based on this thinking.” This Sacred Word is from 1949, so it took some time before his vision actually took shape. Meishu-sama said that in the future, music would play a major role in his Church, and through it, he wished to create new, global music. And he said, “We are also going to put on things like modern, light comedies, music concerts and films.” Still further, “I also want to create music similar to that of mass in Christianity.” I don’t really know what music in mass is like, but at the very least, Meishu-sama heard music from Christian mass, and he wanted to create music similar to that in our Church. I mean this is a tremendous Sacred Word, isn’t it? And he says that now, as music has reached a dead end, “our Church should create new music.” He’s telling us to create new music. He also says that “Western music is movement. Japanese music is stillness. Chinese music is love. We want to make something that unifies all of these three.” And what surprised me in this Sacred Word was the question within it. It is written that this member said musicians were joining the Church one after another. It says: In February, soon after the music professor came to know the Church, his pupils also joined the Church one after the other. This included a young man with an exceptional gift for musical composition, a soprano singer and other talented individuals. Wanting to forge, even more boldly and widely, a true, new path of music through the teachings of the Church, the professor is in high spirits. In World Church of Messiah too, we currently have “a young man with an exceptional gift for musical composition,” right? His name is Naoya Ichioka. He is certainly a young man, still in his 20s. Then it says “soprano singer.” As all of you already know of course, Ms. Itsuko Ozawa usually sings for us, but we too have someone who has been singing for us recently, Ms. Michiko Matsunaga. Then it says “other talented individuals,” and as you know, World Church of Messiah has a Music Department. There, new people have been coming in, and a lot of young people have been singing in The Messiah Choir these days too, right? I don’t think these things are coincidences, do you? The part that says “a young man with an exceptional gift for musical composition, a soprano singer and other talented individuals” feels like a Sacred Word that was left just for us, right now, doesn’t it? And Meishu-sama says that he wants “to create a new, global music” and that we “should create new music.” So it’s clear that he wants to create new music. So what is this new music that Meishu-sama is talking about? In the Bible passage we heard today in the service, Psalm 96, it says: Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. (Psalm 96:1–2) It says a “new song.” This Psalm 96 describes what this new song is, and it appears in the middle: Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved. (Psalm 96:10) It is this, the “new song.” The “new music” that Meishu-sama speaks of is also this. It says “The Lord reigns”—the “Hallelujah” chorus that Meishu-sama loved so much also has lyrics like this too. The joy that the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, reigns over the world from here on—this is what the “Hallelujah” chorus sings about, right? What does it mean exactly when it says, “The Lord reigns. The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved”? When we look at the world from our viewpoint, we don’t think of all the kings of the world as already reigned over by God, right? Don’t we say things like the president or prime minister of this country or that country is no good, they need to change? Isn’t this how we view things? But in actuality, the Lord is already reigning. And the world cannot be moved anymore. So this is what is “new.” In the current world, although there are occurrences that appear to our eyes as inharmonious, they are very necessary to God. And with the authority of a king, He is making all things happen. Our view is “God is sleeping.” We say, “God, please don’t sleep.” We want Him to hurry up and step in. We want Him to do something about the world. “Please do something about my life. Please hurry and become King. Please stabilize this earth.” This view of the world is one where light has not yet come. The view we should actually have in those circumstances is this: God, You are awake; within me and within all people, You are firmly established; yes, this is something to rejoice over. We should rejoice. I mean, it is the “Hallelujah” chorus that sings about this joy. The “Hallelujah” chorus sings of the joy that Christ has become King and will reign forever and ever. I believe that Meishu-sama intuitively felt this new music when he listened to the “Hallelujah” chorus. It was just like the time when he received the revelation on Mt. Nokogiri. He became certain that a new world was already established within himself and that all he had to do was increase the number of people who felt the same way. So we too really need to place importance on this Meishu-sama’s Sacred Word “Music in the future,” the fact that he made an orchestra pit and that he loved “Hallelujah” chorus above all else—we need to place importance on these matters and advance The Messiah Choir activities. Anyone can join The Messiah Choir. You don’t need to be musically talented because Meishu-sama wanted the members to sing the “Hallelujah” chorus. So let all of us, all the members, create and sing a new song—the new, global music that Meishu-sama was wishing for. Let’s do this in World Church of Messiah. This is what I think. And here, as we heard in Meishu-sama’s hymn today during the service—there were nine hymns, and as I listened, I was thinking how long it must have felt for the assisting officiant to intone all of them. (everyone laughs) So the first hymn says: “The resolute voices / That extol and praise Your accomplishment, O God, / Resound throughout the whole universe!” The “resolute voices” mentioned here refer not only to our prayers, but also to the resolute voices that sing songs of praise of God’s accomplishment. God’s accomplishment would be the deed that He has done, that is, He stood firm for us. God has stood firm and has made the world so that it cannot be moved. We have to extol and praise this accomplishment of God. “You are Lord!” and “You are already in everything to the fullest measure!”—we have to say these with our resolute voices through the activities of The Messiah Choir and through our daily prayers so that it resounds throughout the whole universe. There are people who cannot speak, aren’t there? In this case, you can express it in your heart. After all, all creation is within you. So let the voices within your heart resound with God. That’s what it is. The next hymn: “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / How awesome and joyful it is, / When you, the Messiah, descend to the earth, / To this very world we now live in!” The meaning of hallelujah is “praise the Lord.” So with the word hallelujah, we can praise the soul of God that is the Messiah that descends into us, and that is certainly an awesome and joyful occurrence. Even though it is not visible to our eyes, God already governs the world. So why don’t we praise God with the word hallelujah? This is what the hymn is saying. Today, an announcement about the Hallelujah Project is printed in the program for today’s service. It’s a call to go to various locations throughout Japan, sing the “Hallelujah” chorus and other songs, and make the sound of praising God resound throughout the universe. I believe this is what Meishu-sama is wishing for as well. And it is what we are trying to realize with our own hands right now. The third hymn reads, “From ancient times, / The only religion founded through art / Is the religion of the Messiah. / That’s right. There is no other.” Meishu-sama really placed importance on art, didn’t he? There were the sacred grounds, the orchestra pit, various art pieces that he collected. But as I had spoken about it in the first half of my talk, and as written in Meishu-sama’s hymns today, “Pathetic are those who, / Even though they are wrapped in the clothes of culture, / Commit barbaric acts.” And also, “Miserable are those who, / While dressed up in the beautiful clothes of culture, / Hide their ugly selves.” Even though Meishu-sama prepared a beautiful culture for us, even though he left beautiful things of culture like art pieces, they were tarnished. Through these two hymns, Meishu-sama is communicating to us: Our hearts are what is truly important, right? The pure hearts that praise God. No matter how much we talk about the greatness of the sacred grounds or the art pieces, thinking that with these things we are dressing ourselves up in the beautiful clothes of culture, if you do those kinds of acts toward Kyoshu-sama—and that would mean acts toward all the members—then it’s over for you. How pathetic is that? This is what the hymns are saying. Next hymn: “Know this, everyone: / Art exists in heaven and not in hell.” True art exists in heaven. So if you forget heaven, say how important the things of this earth are, decide on your own what art is, then there’s only hell. There is no art. What Meishu-sama wants from us is described in the following hymn: “How precious is the work / That elevates the spirit of all people / Through beautiful art!” Meishu-sama wants us to enlighten the human spirit through genuine art, to purify people’s hearts by making them come in contact with wonderful art. Thinking about it this way, we know that Meishu-sama’s sacred grounds no longer exist here on earth. But at the same time, this also means that there are no longer any organizations on this earth that carry out the art activities that Meishu-sama wishes for either. There are no longer any organizations that have inherited Meishu-sama’s wish for a religion of art. Of course, there is no way that people’s spirits can be elevated through works of art handled by people who committed such actions against Kyoshu-sama. So right now, on this earth, Meishu-sama’s sacred grounds do not exist, and people who have inherited Meishu-sama’s wish for a religion of art do not exist either. The only people who can do those things now are all of you of World Church of Messiah. So what do we have to do specifically? Meishu-sama says in the last two hymns. One reads: “I tell you this: / Purify your heart / So that you can serve in the work / Of cleansing this defiled world. / You must become this kind of person.” In this one, Meishu-sama is saying, do not forever put yourself in the position to be saved like we did until now, but rather purify your heart—meaning, receive and accept the Lord of Atonement. Because if you don’t, you cannot go on to the next stage of forgiveness—so purify your own heart, and after that, become someone who serves in the work of cleansing this world. Rather than be in the position of receiving, appreciating art, like “Ah, this is such a wonderful work of art,” each one of us needs to cleanse the world. And each one of us can sing songs, so with all of our singing voices, we can cleanse the hearts of the people of the world. And then the last hymn: “The voices of the members / Burst out from their sincere hearts. / Do they have the power to influence and change the world? / Of course they do!” It says that the voices that come from the sincere hearts of the members have the power to influence and change the world, no doubt. So this is my point. Song. Meishu-sama said that in the future, music would play a major role in his Church. So through The Messiah Choir, through song, through the voices that burst out from all of your sincere hearts, we have to change the world. Meishu-sama says that the world will change, doesn’t he? We don’t normally think that we members, just by singing, have the power to influence and change the world, right? Meishu-sama is saying that if we members sing with sincere hearts, the world will change. So the activities of The Messiah Choir are not just about us singing and enjoying songs by ourselves—it’s completely different. The truth is, they are activities of salvation. We cannot simply conclude with being in the position of receiving art, like appreciating beautiful art objects. From there, we have to move on to the next step. As such, the time has come when each one of you, through The Messiah Choir, go forward embodying Meishu-sama’s wish for a religion of art. And in order to realize these things too, I believe we have the construction of sacred grounds. So all the things I have been talking about today came to light through the Church purification. We have been guided by an unseen thread all the way to this point: the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah; World Church of Messiah; sacred grounds; religion of art; and the “Hallelujah” chorus. And that’s why we should be thankful for the Church purification in all aspects. The 18th of this month is the Service for the Births of Meishu-sama and Jesus Christ, and until then, there are less than three weeks left. When you go into town now, there is quite a warmth to it, I might say. The excitement of Christmas is there, and families and couples are enjoying themselves. When I was looking at such a scene the other day, the exact opposite scene suddenly came into my mind. What was it? It was Jesus on the cross. The crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus was forced to wear a crown of thorns on his head; was verbally abused, “You think you are the King?”; was spit on and slapped in the face; and carrying his own cross on his back, he climbed up to the hill of Golgotha, the place where he would be executed. There, his hands and feet were then nailed to the cross. In that terrible pain, the surrounding people mocked him, telling him to save himself if he is the King; he saved others but why can’t he save himself. In that enormous despair and isolation, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46), and finally died in that spot. We can only enjoy Christmas now because of the suffering that Jesus went through. We can exchange Christmas presents, think about what to do for Christmas dinner, have family gatherings or go on dates only because of Jesus’s suffering. The scene that Jesus actually confronted is the exact opposite of these joyful scenes. Meishu-sama also left the following Sacred Word in this hymn: “O God! / Without the atonement of the god Tokotachi, / The whole universe would certainly have perished already!” Much can be said about the god Tokotachi, but as Meishu-sama says Jesus is the Lord of Atonement or the Lord of Redemption, then the highest in atonement is Jesus. Which means, without the atonement of Jesus, this universe would certainly have perished already. I mean, this is Meishu-sama’s hymn, everyone. Without Jesus’s atonement, we certainly would not be able to enjoy the Christmas cheer that we do today. Not only that, Meishu-sama would not have been born in the first place since the universe would have already perished. So without Jesus’s atonement, Meishu-sama would not exist. Our encounter with Meishu-sama and our walking on this path of faith in Meishu-sama would not have happened. We would not be living today or living tomorrow or the day after that. This atonement is the foundation for everything that we do. Have we ever thought about that until now? So that is why we say, “Without Jesus Christ, there is no Meishu-sama.” Isn’t this a given? As the hymn says, without his atonement, this world would have already perished. Meishu-sama’s greatness is undeniable. But without Jesus’s atonement, not even this Meishu-sama would have existed. In the hymn I quoted earlier, it says that without atonement, the whole universe would have perished already. It means we can’t do anything without that atonement. We can’t enjoy today’s meals or talk with our friends or even fight with them or be joyful or be sad or cry or think “Meishu-sama!” or sing a song—all of these things, we would not be able to do. We would not even be able to live or breathe. So no matter how much Kyoshu-sama and I are criticized, I will absolutely receive and accept the existence of Jesus and place importance on him. In that sense, as Christians call Jesus “Lord,” if Jesus is the Lord of Atonement to us, then Jesus is our Lord too. Our Lord. And the one who revealed to us that Jesus is the Lord of Atonement is Meishu-sama. Meishu-sama. So Meishu-sama is also our Lord. He is the “Lord who reveals,” isn’t he? [The shu in Meishu-sama literally means Lord in Japanese.] Didn’t Meishu-sama reveal to us the truth too? Meishu-sama, the Lord who revealed to us Jesus’s true wish for all of humanity to be born anew as Messiahs. Meishu-sama who showed us the model of what it means to be born anew as a Messiah through his intense pain and his own life example. So Meishu-sama is our Lord too. Jesus is our Lord and Meishu-sama is our Lord. On December 18, we will praise both our Lords at the Service for the Births of Meishu-sama and Jesus Christ. Up until now, we never thought about Jesus and how he was the basis of our encounter with Meishu-sama. Not only that, without the atonement of Jesus, we would not exist now. So he is the foundation of our entire life right now. So in the end, I believe we need to thank Jesus. The fact that we are able to exist today. The fact that we were able to encounter Meishu-sama. These are possible because Jesus came face-to-face with despair, isolation and darkness—the exact opposite of Christmas cheer. So with these things in mind, let us prepare for December 18, our first Service for the Births of Meishu-sama and Jesus Christ. With that, this is the last time this year that I can speak to all of you like this here at the headquarters. And I spoke a lot here this year. (everyone laughs) I am very thankful that all of you have listened, but thinking about the end of the year, we all just want to be happy in the end, don’t we? Even though all kinds of things may happen, at the end, we want to be happy. We want to say, “Thank goodness!” at the end, don’t we? It’s the same now at the end of the year too, but we’d like to say that for everything, right? But actually, more than anyone else, the one who wants to be happy at the end is God. At the very end, God wants to be happy with all of humanity. We call it purification, but various things befall us. There, at one glance, it seems as if God’s love doesn’t exist, but God is causing all kinds of things to happen because He thinks, “At the end, I want to be happy with you.” “At the end, I want us to be joyful together, hug each other and laugh together.” For sure, there are times that it is rather difficult to believe in that. For example, say a person has already committed suicide. We might think, there’s nothing that can be done about it, is there, God? But even for that person who committed suicide, God will definitely guide that person to an encounter with His eternal life under His presence. And for the people left behind who believe they will never be able to overcome that sadness and suffering, God will surely lead them on the path where they can overcome those feelings and laugh and smile at the end. God is not someone who will give us sadness or suffering that we cannot overcome. So even if someone does commit suicide or dies from disease, there is no reason to despair. Even if you think you can no longer be happy in life after that person committed suicide, even if you think you can’t ever be happy after such a young child or young person dies in that kind of accident, you don’t have to despair. Why? Because with His thought, “At the end, I want to be happy with you,” God is doing His best to guide us as He Himself is feeling the pain too. So with what is left of this year and also next year, let us place our trust in God and say to Him, “You have surely prepared a place where we can be happy together with You at the end.” And if you are able to think this now even if just a little bit, in that moment actually, you are getting a taste of that happiness. As such, the God who has undoubtedly prepared light and hope for us—He guided us this year, and He will guide us next year too. While there are certainly many things happening in the human world, let us have courage, trust in God and go forward together in the next year too. Thank you very much.