作者Revd Angela Sheard, 聖馬田助理牧師 不知道你有否想過一間房子和一個家的分別呢?也許,你像我一樣,曾經住過一些不感覺像家的房子或公寓。可能對於你來講,你將「家」這個概念和現在不是房子的事物聯繫起來 – 可能是已經不復存在的兒時的家,可能是一些更廣闊的東西,例如郊外,又或者整個城市或國家。也許你會記得當房子變成家,或反之的時刻。 不管我們有怎麼樣的回憶或故事,我認為一間房子和一個家的最主要分別,是在於你在那個地方建立的關係。對我來說,當關係得到培育的時候,房子就變成了家:當房子的空間在愛的緣故下發展出來,讓住在裏面的人活出一個真正充實的生命時,它就成為家了。 我認為當耶穌說「在我父的家裡有許多住處」的時候,祂指的是家,不是房子。總的來說,約翰福音經常用「地方」來當作關係的隱喻。當人進入一個地方,或是住在一個地方裏面,通常代表他與另一個人建立密切的關係。在這卷福音書裡,敬拜上帝不再在一個固定的神聖空間,也不是在世界上任何的的殿宇,相反,耶穌所指的,是以祂的身體爲聖殿 – 耶穌就是連結神與人關係的地方。彌賽亞耶穌並未被介紹為從加利利拿撒勒而來,而是從天父而來,也會往父那裡去的 – 祂的住處強調了祂與父上帝的關係。因此,在這個框架內,我們不會將父的家理解為一座實體建築,而是理解為一個家庭或關係網絡——父的家指的是門徒與天父之間的關係,以及住在房子裡每個房間的人之間的關係。 在福音經課中,耶穌向他的門徒介紹了這個父的家的比喻——但他自己在這個關係網絡中的角色是什麼?耶穌告訴我們關於這個家的其他三件重要的事情——祂會往那裡去,祂會再回來,門徒會知道祂要去的那條路。多馬明智地問耶穌,當他們根本不知道目的地在哪裡時,他們怎麼知道去這個地方的那條路呢!但正如耶穌所說 「我就是道路、真理,生命。」 在這裡,我們了解到耶穌是通往天父之家的道路——就像一條通向前門的小路,祂是將我們與天父聯繫起來的中保。 但是如果我們記得約翰經常用地方來比喻關係,我們就會意識到耶穌也住在父裡面,如同父住在祂裡面一樣。耶穌不僅是門徒進入父的家的道路——祂也是門徒與父之間獨特的關係。當耶穌去為我們預備地方時,祂與上帝建立了關係,當祂回來接門徒們到自己身邊時,也與他們建立了關係。在福音下一章,耶穌用葡萄樹和枝子的比喻來反映他和門徒之間的關係:他解釋說,不僅枝子住在葡萄樹裡,葡萄樹也住在枝子裡,正如他告訴他的門徒「常在我裡面,我也常在你裡面。」由此可見,耶穌不僅住在天父裡面,也住在我們每個人裡面。 當我們明白耶穌擔當我們通向天父的道路,以及將我們與天父聯繫在一起的重要角色,我們同時學習到耶穌不會永遠以同樣的方式擔任這個角色。祂對門徒說:「我實實在在地告訴你們,我所做的事,信我的人也要做,並且要作做比這更大的事,因為我要往父那裡去。」耶穌會回到祂來的地方,但祂會賜給祂的門徒另一個保惠師--聖靈。不僅如此,耶穌自己的門徒在被差派出去傳教時,他們將會成為天父與世界之間的中間人。我們在耶穌向天父的祈禱中聽到這一點:「你怎樣差我到世上,我也照樣差他們到世上。」 在聖靈的引導下,作為教會,我們是基督在地上的身體,是上帝與上帝子民建立關係的聖殿。當我們通過洗禮被迎入教會時,耶穌為我們每個人在神的家中預備了一個位置。同時耶穌也呼召我們繼續祂的工作:在我們自己的心中和我們的生活中為他人騰出空間,培養那些會吸引他人進入上帝家中的慈愛關係。這是耶穌一生中爲祂遇到的所有人所做的事情。即使在祂在十字架上遭受最大痛苦的時刻,耶穌也向與祂一起被釘在十字架上的其中一個人保證說「你將與我同在樂園裡」,並且還在心愛的門徒約翰的家中為他哀悼的母親瑪利亞找到了一個家。 我在想:如果我們在自己的生活中騰出空間讓別人遇到上帝的愛,會是什麼樣子呢?也許對你來說,這意味著在你的一周裡抽出時間與你認識的孤獨的人交談;也許這意味著停下來,向坐在路邊的人打招呼;也許這意味著花時間坐在一個正在與焦慮、抑鬱鬥爭,或失去所愛之人的人身邊。所有這些小小的善舉(以及許多其他的善舉),甚至在我們現在說話的時候,都能夠幫助其他地方在上帝的家中,耶穌已經為他們準備的房間裡,佔據一席之地。 最後我將以聖女大德蘭的禱文結束,這是一篇美麗的詩,提醒我們被上帝呼召,成為這個世界上基督的身體。 除了你的身體,基督沒有身體; 除了你的手腳,祂沒有手,沒有腳; 你的眼,就是祂用來憐憫這世界的眼。 你的腳,就是祂在人間走動行善的腳; 你的手,就是祂用來祝福世界的手。 你的手就是那雙手,你的腳就是那對腳, 你的眼就是那雙眼,你就是祂的身體。 除了你的身體,基督沒有身體; 除了你的手腳,祂沒有手,沒有腳; 你的眼,就是祂用來憐憫這世界的眼。 基督在世上沒有身體, 除了你的身體之外。 I wonder if you have ever thought about the difference between a house and a home? Perhaps, like myself, you’ve lived in houses or flats that haven’t really felt like home. Perhaps you associate home with something that isn’t currently a house – maybe a childhood home that no longer exists, or with something broader like an outdoor space or even an entire city or country. Perhaps you can remember a time in your life when a house suddenly became a home – or vice versa.
Whatever our own memories and stories might be, I think that the key difference between a house and a home is the relationships associated with that place. For me, a house becomes a home when relationships are nurtured there – when space is made, out of love, for all those who are dwelling there to live authentic and fulfilled lives. I think that when Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places”, he is referring not to a house, but to a home. In John’s Gospel more broadly, place is often used as a metaphor for relationship. To be in a place, or to dwell in a place, is to be in relationship with another person. Within this Gospel, there is no longer any fixed sacred space or earthly temple from which to worship God, but rather Jesus speaks of his body as being the temple – Jesus is the place of connection between human beings and God. Jesus the Messiah is not stated as being from Nazareth or Galilee, but rather is someone who comes from heaven and is going to God – so Jesus’s own “place” emphasizes his relationship to the Father. So, within this framework we might understand the Father’s house not as a physical building but as a household or network of relationships – relationships between the disciples and the Father, but also relationships between those occupying each room in the house. In our Gospel reading, Jesus introduces his disciples to this metaphor of the Father’s house – but what is his own role in relation to this network of relationships? Jesus tells us three other important things about this home – that he will go there, that he will come back again, and that the disciples will know the way that he is going. Thomas then sensibly asks Jesus about how they can know the way to this place, when they don’t know where it is in the first place! But as Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Here we learn that Jesus is the way to the Father’s house – like a path that leads to the front door, he is a mediator figure that connects us to the Father. But if we remember that John uses place as a metaphor for relationship, we realize that Jesus also dwells in the Father, as the Father dwells in him. Jesus is not only the disciples’ access to the Father’s house – he is also the unique relationship between the disciples and the Father. Jesus is in relationship to God as he goes to prepare a place for us, and is also in relationship to the disciples as he returns to take them to himself. In the following chapter Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches to reflect the relationship between him and his disciples: he explains that not only do the branches dwell in the vine, but the vine also dwells in the branches, as he tells his disciples “Dwell in me, and I in you”. So Jesus dwells not only in the Father, but in each one of us too. Even as we hear about Jesus’s important role as the way to the Father and as the relationship that binds us to the Father, we also learn that Jesus will not be in this role, in the same way, forever. He says to his disciples: “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” Jesus will return to the place from which he came, but will give his disciples another mediator, the Holy Spirit. More than this, however, Jesus’s own disciples will become mediators between the Father and the world as they are sent out in mission. We hear this in Jesus’s prayer to the Father, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”. Guided by the Holy Spirit, as the church we are Christ’s body on earth, the Temple where God comes into relationship with God’s people. Jesus prepares a place for each of us in the household of God, as we are welcomed into the church through our baptism. But we are also called by Jesus to continue his work, by making space for others in our own hearts and our own lives, by nurturing those loving relationships which draw others into God’s household. This was something which Jesus did for all whom he encountered, throughout his life. Even at his hour of greatest suffering on the cross, Jesus promised one of those crucified alongside him that “you will be with me in Paradise” and also found a home for his grieving mother Mary in the house of John, the beloved disciple. I wonder: what might it look like for us to make space in our own lives for others to encounter the love of God? Maybe for you this means making time in your week for a conversation with someone you know who is lonely. Maybe this means stopping to say hello to someone sitting on the side of the road. Maybe it means spending time just sitting someone struggling with anxiety, depression or the loss of a loved one. All of these small acts of kindness (and so many others besides) help other places to take up their places in the household of God, in the rooms that Jesus is already preparing for them, even as we speak. I will end with a prayer from St Teresa of Avila, which is a beautiful reminder of our own calling from God to be Christ’s body in our world. Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which He looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours. Amen.
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