For reasons unknown even to the Japanese, they have an old tradition where they celebrate the third and seventh birthdays of girls and the fifth birthday of boys. Normally, to celebrate this they dress up in kimono and go visit the shrines. Instead of going to the shrines, of course, in church they still celebrate when children turn these ages. So yesterday they did this celebration for two children, Tsuyoshi and Maria (who also happen to be Masuda Sensei's grandchildren). To have a chance in sharing in this tradition that I'm not accustomed to, Masuda Sensei asked me to come forward with them and pray over them. His daughter translated for the congregation as I prayed. It was a nice experience. I thanked God that He placed them in a believing home and I asked that God would give them an understanding of His Son even at a young age.
During Masuda Sensei's sermon, he mentioned how Japanese customs can be seen in a biblical way. They celebrate kids' growth at ages 7, 5, and 3. These three numbers have some importance in the Bible. Seven has many meanings, but he specifically talked about how Jesus told us to forgive 7 x 70 times. Five represents the number of loaves of bread that were multiplied to feed the mulititudes, which signifies how God multiplies man's talent when it is offered to Him. And three represents the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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