The famous cherry blossoms, known as sakura, draw tourists to Japan, while newscasters report daily on the best places to see the flowers. The blossoms create a cultural event powerful enough to disrupt the everyday life. People enjoy picnics under the trees while indulging in public drinking which is usually taboo. Photographers swarm to capture the shades of white and pink, sharing their pride of beautiful trees and beautiful Japan. Sakura flavored teas and snacks are everywhere. Cherry blossoms permeate Japanese media and entertainment. One old cherry blossom tale weaves the story of two men and a dog.

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived with his wife and dog. The man was kind, but his neighbor was greedy. One day while the kind man was walking, his dog began to dig and unearthed a container full of gold. The kind man praised the dog and hurried home to show his wife. The greedy man, upon realizing the situation, demanded the use of the dog. The kind man consented, so the greedy man and the dog left. During the walk, the dog found another box, but the greedy man discovered garbage inside the container. Infuriated and disgusted, the man killed the dog. The kind man mournfully buried the dog’s body.

Soon after, a tree grew over the dog’s grave. The kind man remembered the dog’s love of rice, so he cut down the tree and formed a mortar for cooking rice. At lunchtime, he discovered that the mortar created gold rather than rice. The greedy man, peering through the window, saw what happened and requested the mortar. The kind man obliged, however the greedy man discovered that the mortar made neither rice nor gold, but instead created garbage. Infuriated and disgusted, the man burned the mortar. The kind man, not wanting to waste the ashes, spread some among his trees.

Soon after, the kind man and the greedy man gasped as cherry blossoms bloomed months early. The prince of the land heard the news and called for the kind man. The prince wanted his cherry blossoms to bloom early, so he requested the kind man’s help. The kind man climbed up the trees, spread the ashes, and then watched in amazement as the flowers bloomed. The prince rewarded the man with a new title, “Sir old man who makes trees blossom,” along with much gold. 

Like any story, the cultural assumptions and lessons inhabit the tale. Kindness, for example, remains the great virtue, while greediness, violence, and snooping are disdained. Overall, the story teaches the lesson “You reap what you sow,” yet this leads to further questions. What is the standard for good and evil? Is there any point of “no return?” Can someone break the chain of deeds? This is where the gospel conversation takes place.

Illiteracy is awful. We knew stepping foot into a new culture creates difficulty, but the inability to read labels in the grocery store caused frustration. Do you know how many types of spinach looking greens exist? Japanese grocery stores have at least four, because it took four tries to buy spinach. Add the frustration of illiteracy to the frustration of difficult conversation, different customs, and new manners to learn and life becomes difficult. “Culture shock” refers to the challenges of living within a different culture. Thankfully, culture shock wears off with time and exposure, but some transitions have permanent effects.
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The Bible explains that God became human, specifically that God the Father sent the Son to be born as a human. The One Who created the galaxies willingly became a baby, dependant on human parents to care for Him. How embarrassing, and yet what great humility He displayed. From that point on, the essence of humanity became part of the Son. For all eternity, He will be both God and man in one person: Jesus. 

Why go through such embarrassment? For the sake of God’s glory. God created this world for His glory and majesty. Humans were given a special place within the world, yet they chose to rebel against God. Rebellion deserves severe punishment, yet amongst the punishments, God made a promise to restore everything back to perfection and to destroy evil. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. In order to bring everything back to perfection, including humanity’s relationship with God, Jesus was born as a man so that He could die an undeserved death for the crimes we commit. When Jesus came back to life and ascended to sit by the Father’s throne, it sealed the fate of this world: He will return to destroy evil and reign as King.

Christmas is the time we celebrate the beginning of God fulfilling His promise: the coming of Jesus as a human baby. We hope each of you has a joy-filled Christmas, knowing that God’s plan will come to fruition and the King of kings and Lord of lords personally advocates for each of His own. Merry Christmas!