作者Revd Angela Sheard, 聖馬田助理牧師 我想知道您是否看過童話劇——這是一種現場表演的戲劇, 在英國各地的劇院、 學校和教堂演出, 而且最多是在聖誕節期間演出。 一些經常演出的經典劇目,包括《灰姑娘》或《阿拉丁》——不知道你有沒有最喜歡的一個? 不同的童話劇故事背景不同,人物也不同,但都有一個共同點——壞蛋角色。 通常,壞蛋從後台出現,英雄在前面,而每當壞蛋出現時,觀眾總是要大喊“他在你後面!”。 這種童話劇的傳統告訴我們,角色通常可以清楚地分為“英雄”和“壞蛋”。 童話劇所講的故事,通常會給我們非常明確的道德教訓, 並且以英雄打敗壞蛋而結束,英雄並從此過著“快樂的生活”。 作為基督徒,我們經常將耶穌的比喻當為童話劇的故事 。我們想清楚講出,誰是好人,誰是壞人,誰是英雄,誰是壞蛋。我們想指出,這些故事所教導我們的簡單道德教訓,並且為“此後快樂地生活”而感到歡欣。但事實是,比喻是類型十分不同的故事 ,福音書裏面大部分比喻都不會附帶任何型式的解釋, 比喻是開放式的,邀請我們參與當中。這些比喻發生的背景,是第一世紀以色列 / 巴勒斯坦,所以要明白這些比喻,需要明白當時的世界。但由於我們各人有不同的背景,這些比喻所講的事件,對於今天的我們每個人來說也有不同的含義。 例如,在大家熟識的浪子的比喻,視乎我們是父母,或是“最受寵愛”的孩子,或我們的行為魯莽和不負責任,或我們經常被父母忽視和遺忘,那麼浪子的比喻對我們的意義都可能不同。 然而,更重要的是,當我們細心觀察, 比喻好像經常拋出問題多於提供答案。 在今天我們所聽見的比喻, 我們想知道為什麼撒種者會魯莽地將種子撒在路上,在石地,及在荊棘中。 可以肯定的是,他應該知道那些種子大概不能生存。 而結實一百倍是不可能的巨大回報。那麼,這些種子怎可能有這巨大收成呢? 在故事終結時, 耶穌的說法很奇怪,祂說:“有耳可聽的, 就應當聽!” 究竟耶穌想說什麼?我們又應該聽到什麼呢? 在這個比喻,耶穌實際向門徒解釋其含意,這是較為罕有的。 但是,即使在這解釋中, 也可能衍生其他問題。這比喻本身好像是關於種子, 種子撒在哪裏, 種子之後怎樣。 但在耶穌的解釋中,衪稱呼這比喻為“撒種者的比喻”(譯者註;英文聖經是“撒種者的比喻”,見NIV,馬太,3章,標題,及18節。中文聖經是“撒種的比喻”), 這就建議一個不同的重點。 誰是這神秘的撒種者?種子解釋為“天國的道”, 而土壤就是聽道的人 ,但我們是哪種土壤 ?是滿有石頭的土壤, 或是滿有荊棘的土壤,我們怎樣成為好土 ,去孕育種子,並且結實收成? 這個故事奇怪及令人產生混淆 ,怎樣幫助我們在人生路上作耶穌的門徒? 我們所閱讀的福音書分為兩部分:即比喻及其解釋。 但在馬太福音中,在這兩部分之間,門徒問耶穌:“你為什麼用比喻對他們說話?”耶穌的回答只能視為為矛盾的: ‘ 我用比喻對他們說話的原因是 “他們看也看不見,聽也聽不見,也不明白。”’我認為,這比喻的奧秘不在於, 這故事有一個隱藏的含義,如果我們以某種方式看待這個故事,就可以了解其中含義。 相反,這比喻的奧秘,是對我們的挑戰,要求我們審視自己生活中隱藏的部分,聆聽我們自己生活中我們通常不去聆聽的部分。 或許,這個比喻可能會對我們發出挑戰,要我們去審視我們自己的生活哪些部分像是路旁,哪些部分像是土淺石地,哪些部分像荊棘裡的土壤——我們自己的生命和我們自己的那些部分無法接受種子,無法結實收成。 但更重要的是,如果我們思考耶穌稱呼這個比喻為“撒種者的比喻”,或許這個比喻就會挑戰我們,是否應該懷疑我們能否真的結出屬於神國度的豐盛的果實。 撒種者將種子大量撒在好土和壞土上——同樣,神的話語、神的恩典也大量傾注在我們自己和世界所遇到的所有復雜情況。 也許我們所有人,我們的每一部分,都有能力成為好土壤,能聽到真道,並明白真道。 上週末,我幫忙我的伴侶詹姆斯打理園藝——他想栽種一些新的花,而我在花園後面發現了一些花盆,已裝滿泥土。 花盆看起來已經很久沒有使用了,我們看第一個花盆的時候,其表面有不少荊棘。 清除掉荊棘後,我在泥土中翻找,手指間摸到了很多小石頭,並把這些小石頭拿上表面。 詹姆斯說;“小石頭會阻止植物生根,但別擔心,我們可以很容易將其全部清除,然后泥土就可以使用了。” 或許我們每個人都像這個花盆裡的泥土一樣,正在走向一個旅程,邁向成為好土,能夠孕育散落的種子。 種子落在好土和壞土上都一樣,重要的不是誰好誰壞——這個故事裡沒有童話劇的壞蛋! 相反,這個比喻的重點,正是撒種者的包容。 這種包容是一個邀請,挑戰我們作出回應,尋求對我們生活的新理解。 當我們繼續思考這個比喻,從中尋找新的意義,並耕耘我們自己生活的土壤時,我們也在為神國度的大豐收發揮自己的作用。 Sermon 16.07.23
Matt 13:1-9, 18-23 I wonder if you have ever been to a pantomime – this is a type of live performance which happens in theatres, schools and church halls all around the UK, especially at Christmas time. Some classic tales that are often performed as pantomime might be ‘Cinderella’ or ‘Aladdin’ – I wonder if you have a favourite one? Different pantomime stories are set in very different contexts with different characters, but there’s one thing that they all have in common – the pantomime villain. Usually, the villain appears from backstage and creeps across while the hero is at the front, and whenever the villain appears, the audience always has to shout, “HE’S (or SHE’S) BEHIND YOU!”. This pantomime tradition tells us that the characters can often be clearly separated out into ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’. The story of a pantomime usually has a really clear moral lesson for us, and ends with the villain being defeated by the hero, who has a ‘happily ever after’. I think that as Christians we often try to treat the parables of Jesus as if they were stories in a pantomime. We want to be able to clearly say who the good guys and the bad guys are, the heroes and the villains – we want to point to the simple moral lesson that these stories have to teach us, and to rejoice in the ‘happily ever after’. But in fact, the parables are a very different kind of story. Most of the parables in the Gospels do not come with any kind of explanation – they are simply left open to invite us into an engagement with them. These stories were told in the context of 1st century Israel-Palestine, so understanding that world is important for our understanding of the parables. But the events of the parable will also have a different meaning for each one of us today, depending on our own context. For example, the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son may have different meanings for us if we are a parent, if we are a ‘favourite’ child, if we have behaved recklessly and irresponsibly, or if we have often been overlooked and forgotten about by our parents. More than this, however, on closer inspection the parables often seem to throw up more questions than answers. In the parable which we have heard today, we might wonder why the sower seems to scatter seed so recklessly on the path, on rocky ground and among thorns – surely he must have known that those seeds probably wouldn’t survive? A hundredfold of grain would have been an impossibly large return – so how did any of the seeds produce this much? And what does Jesus’s strange instruction mean at the end of the story, “Let anyone with ears listen!” What are we supposed to be listening out for? This is one of the rare parables in which Jesus actually explains the meaning to his disciples. But even in this explanation, a number of potential questions arise. The parable itself seems to be about the seed – where it is sown, and what happens to it. But in his explanation Jesus calls it ‘the parable of the sower’, which suggests a different focus. Who is this mysterious sower? The seeds are explained as ‘the word of the kingdom’ and the soil is those who hear the word. But which soil are we? And how can rocky or thorn-filled soil, by itself, become good soil which nurtures the seed and produces grain? How can this strange and confusing story help us on our journey as disciples of Jesus? Our Gospel reading comes in two parts: the parable and its explanation. But in Matthew’s Gospel, in-between these two parts the disciples ask Jesus, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ Jesus responds with what can only be described as a paradox: ‘The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.”’ I think that the mystery here is not so much a hidden meaning that can be unlocked if we look at this story in a certain way. Rather, the mystery is a challenge to us to look at the hidden aspects of our own lives, to hear the parts of our own lives that we do not normally listen to. Perhaps this parable might challenge us to examine the parts of our own lives which can be like the path, or like the rocky soil, or like the soil with thorns – the parts of our own lives and our own selves that are unable to receive the seed and cultivate grain. But more than this, if we reflect on Jesus’s name for this parable as ‘the parable of the sower’, perhaps this parable might challenge us whenever we doubt that we can really produce an abundant harvest as part of God’s kingdom. The sower scatters seed liberally on good soil and bad alike – in the same way the word of God, the grace of God, is poured out liberally upon all the complexities of ourselves and our world. Perhaps all of us, every part of us, is capable of becoming the good soil that hears the word and understands it. Last weekend I was helping my partner James with some gardening – he had some new flowers that he wanted to plant, and I had found some flowerpots full of soil at the back of the garden. They looked like they hadn’t been used for a long time, and when we looked in the first one it had quite a few thorns on the surface. After we had cleared out the thorns, I rummaged through the soil and felt lots of small rocks between my fingers, which came to the surface. ‘The gravel will stop the plants from taking root’ said James, ‘but don’t worry, we could easily clear it all out and then that soil will be fine to use’. Perhaps all of us, like the soil in this flowerpot, are on a journey towards becoming good soil that can nurture the scattered seed. The seed falls on good soil and bad alike, and what is important is not so much who is good and who is bad – there are no pantomime villains in this story! Rather, it is the generosity of the sower which defines this parable. This generosity is an invitation which challenges us to seek fresh understanding of our lives in response. As we continue to wrestle with this parable, find new meanings in it and tend to the soil of our own lives, we are also playing our part in bringing about the great harvest of the kingdom of God.
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