A Japanese American Perspective on “Keep Awake”

By Rev. Michael Yoshii

On the 1st Sunday of Advent congregations are being invited by FOSNA to join the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People by providing space in worship services for Palestine.   Organized under the theme, “Keep Awake,” the lectionary gospel text from Mark 13:14-27 serves as the highlighted scripture for services.   As a recently retired United Methodist clergy I share a perspective from my ancestry as a Japanese American on why your congregation’s participation in the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is especially urgent this year.   

In 1981, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians convened congressional hearings in different cities across the country to hear testimony from Japanese Americans on their experiences of mass incarceration during World War II.  At the hearing in the San Francisco Bay Area I testified on behalf of my family.  My father’s family was incarcerated in Topaz, Utah while my mother’s family was incarcerated in Jerome, Arkansas.   Displaced from their homes in 1942, both families found their way back to California in 1945 following the end of the war.  For the Japanese American community the hearings were a significant time to tell stories that had been long suppressed and deeply buried for many families.  The hearings also created space for public recognition of a collective community narrative which had remained untold in educational institutions and history books.  The hearings ultimately led to the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 providing an apology to Japanese Americans and redress.  The commission cited war hysteria, lack of political leadership, and pre-existing racism as the causes for the miscarriage of justice.  The opportunity to have our stories heard ultimately led to the execution of justice making for our community. 

Christian congregations did very little to stop the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans in 1942, and in fact, most supported it caught up in a theology of national loyalty and patriotism.  But congregations were able to make amends, and make a difference in the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.  Congregations and denominational agencies responded to outreach for support of the passage of the Civil Liberties Act.  Congregational participation can make a difference. 

We know that the Palestinian story has been suppressed and distorted by the overwhelming influence of Zionist ideology in both the context of mainstream U.S. media and within church bodies.    In addition, Christian Zionism dehumanizes and demonizes Palestinians with varying degrees of influence in our respective Christian bodies.   At a time in which political leaders speak openly about official annexation of Palestinian land already subjected to settler colonialism, and when Christian Zionists provide substantial economic and political support, your congregational participation in solidarity with Palestine comes at a significant time. 

Your congregational participation will provide space for Palestinian voices to be heard and affirmed educating your people while lifting up those who have been marginalized and demonized.  Your congregational partnership will add to the collective spiritual energy and consciousness inspired by a simultaneous witness of faith.  Your congregational participation will help build spiritual power where story telling in worship can lead to justice making in the public square.

The text from Mark 13 is the conclusion of an apocalyptic message by Jesus begun in the beginning of chapter where he foreshadows the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, the persecution the disciples will face at the hands of “governors and kings,” and a description of the great suffering of humanity.   As we pick up in verse 24, the suffering has passed and Jesus paints a dramatic image of a darkened sun and moon, falling stars, and a shaken heaven that precedes his glorious return described in verses 26-27: 

26Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great 

power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his 

elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of 

heaven.

Anticipating questions about when this will take place, Jesus clearly states that “the day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”   Exhorting the disciples to keep alert, he then goes on to tell the story of the man who goes on a journey and leaves his servants to watch over his dwelling.  Without finishing the story, Jesus shifts to a direct caveat to the disciples and says: 

35Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master 

of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, 

or at dawn, 36or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.

 37And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.” 

In his apocalyptic message to his disciples Jesus is more concerned that they “keep awake” for what is happening on the earth in the present moment, than he is about preparing them for a specific time that he might return following his crucifixion and resurrection.   In fact, he is likely preparing them to brace for the coming crucifixion which they do not anticipate, as well as for the extreme hardship they will face as bearers of the gospel in a hostile environment.  Jesus prepares them with exhortation to a spirituality of vigilance, to keep awake, to stay alert, and to be watchful for the things to come. 

Ironically it is texts like these that can propel Christian Zionists into stronger political and economic support for the fulfillment of their vision of a Greater Israel through the annexation of Palestinian land.   The call to spiritual vigilance is especially urgent to resist the colonization and annexation of Palestine and challenge the morality of Christian Zionist ideology. 

FOSNA has been moved by the Spirit to synchronize sacred time with the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Peoples for a collective day to  “keep awake.”  May God’s blessing be with your congregation in the planning for this time of collective witness and worship.  And may the grace of Christ Jesus lead the way!