作者Revd. Simon Tsang 曾偉樑會吏 很榮幸今天可以和大家一起崇拜。我在這教會長大,在這裡有很多美好回憶:例如周末教堂聚會活動、主日學、功夫班;也有一些不算美好的回憶,例如中文補習班。 我在教堂的經驗,與人生的經驗何其相似。我們的日子有時順遂、有時困難(就像中文補習班);有時開心、有時憂愁。人生就如過山車,有高有低,車速超快,左衝右轉,有時把你整個人都反轉過來。 不論大家的靈性歷程處於甚麼光景,不論信主多年或者初信,或者重新回到上帝懷抱,或者正在考慮接受基督教信仰,都可以從今天的經課,學習如何應對人生的風暴。 太14:22-24 耶穌隨即催門徒上船,先渡到那邊去,等他叫眾人散開。散了眾人以後,他就獨自上山去禱告。那時船在海中,離岸邊甚遠。就在最黑暗的時刻,海面開始湧起大浪。 你若跟從上帝的計劃,人生的風暴仍會來臨。人若遭逢禍患,很自然會怪責上帝,因為我們相信上帝掌管一切,理應阻止禍患發生;上帝既是全能,理應可以改變我們的現況。然而,我們也該明白,人生出現苦難與問題,根源可能是我們犯錯,或者別人犯錯、作了錯誤的人生決定;有時我們更應明白,我們活在一個犯罪墮落、支離破碎的世界裡,只有回到天堂,苦難與憂愁才會完全消失。 至於目前,只要我們仍然活在世上,苦難就無可避免。藉著今天的經課,我相信上帝正在教導我們,如何面對人生的風暴。就此我希望和大家作三點分享。 第一、聆聽耶穌的話 門徒處於最黑暗的時刻,害怕得不知所措。耶穌在水面走過來,說了一句簡單的話,鼓勵、安慰他們。 第27節這樣記載:耶穌連忙對他們說:「你們放心,是我,不要怕!」 耶穌在風暴中走向他們,在黑暗惶恐之中,向他們發出鼓勵之言。 我的人生也曾遭遇風暴,衝擊非同小可。那時我在倫敦地鐵任職,一次當值期間,一名醉酒乘客出言謾罵職員,語帶威嚇。在場職員要他離開,他卻拒絕,甚至試圖襲擊那位職員。我和他發生糾纏,大家倒在地上。最後他在警察來到之前逃之夭夭,我也不再把事情放在心上。豈料一個月後,警方與我聯絡,隨後以「對他人造成實質身體傷害」(Actual Bodily Harm)的涉嫌罪名拘捕了我,要我接受警誡問話,假若罪成最高可判囚5年。那時太太正在懷孕,我則面臨被公司革職。我的律師甚至建議我及早另覓工作,以防官司不利令我職位不保。法院制度運作非常緩慢,那位醉酒乘客兩次缺席法庭聆訊,結果整個審訊過程歷時18個月才告結束。這段期間我身心交瘁,內心全無平安,經常擔心將會失掉一切。 耶穌在水面上走過來,並沒有將問題挪走。事實上,耶穌反而叫彼得在風暴中踏出信心之步,從船中出來,在水面上行走。在風雨飄搖的日子,上帝呼召我們憑信踏出前步,聆聽祂的聲音。倫敦地鐵事件的那段日子,我在禱告中聽到上帝安寧的聲音,叫我單單需要信靠祂。這段期間我依靠讀經,在上帝帶領下查考相關經文,學習信靠上帝,而非依靠自己的智慧。 舊約聖經記載,先知以利亞也曾陷入一場人生風暴。他被仇敵追殺,四面楚歌,自知能力已到盡頭,便禱告上帝說:「耶和華啊,罷了!求你取我的性命」。然而,上主的話臨到以利亞。聖經說:上主不在風中、不在地震之中、不在火中,而是在火後發出微小聲音。正是這微小聲音所發之言,給予以利亞堅持下去的力量。 當日助我克服困境的,也是上帝叫我信靠祂的溫柔慈聲。 讓彼得生出信心,克服恐懼,踏上水面行走的,也是耶穌鼓勵彼得的說話:「你們放心,不要怕」。 風暴來臨之時,我們感到不願再活下去的時候,可以聆聽上帝微小的聲音。上帝的溫柔慈聲,今天也可能對你說話:或者叫你寬恕某人,或者叫你不要害怕眼前風暴,或者叫你憑著信心,在當前困境中踏出前步。Richard 牧師成立的拿撒勒團體(The Nazareth Community),鼓勵成員每星期舉行三次一小時靜修聚會。在此靜修時刻,我們仰望上帝,將我們的擔子、憂慮、生活中的風暴,全部交託給祂,聆聽上主微小聲音。我們每天花點時間讀經,就可以聆聽上帝要對我們說的話。大家可以想像一下,在安靜中讀經祈禱,猶如鍛練肌肉,需要時間慢慢培養。你若放下個人讀經祈禱已有一段時間,而希望重拾靈修習慣,可以先行嘗試每天靈修5分鐘。我個人喜歡清晨讀經,也有人喜歡午飯時間或晚間靈修。一星期後,嘗試將時段延長至10分鐘,如此類推,直至你每天三次靈修與主親近,每次為時30分鐘。在聖公會傳統裡,我們稱之為早禱、晚禱、寢前禱。若用手機程式,還可以每天播放。就在這些時刻之中,你必會察覺上主的微小聲音,賜你信心度過風暴。 第二、定睛仰望耶穌 彼得邁出信心一步,開始在水面行走。起初他的信心堅強,然而後來他的目光離開耶穌,轉而注視身邊環境,便開始害怕起來。 第29節這樣記載:彼得從船上下去,在水面上走,要到耶穌那裏去,但見風甚大就害怕,將要沉下去,便喊著說:「主啊,救我!」 幾個月前,我們前往離家不遠一個小湖釣魚。要釣到這湖裡的小魚,關鍵是定睛看著魚竿末端。假如是大魚的話,眼睛不看也能感覺得到;小魚卻不一樣,必須看到竿末向下微微顫動,才知道是否有魚上釣。整天坐著注視魚竿末端,當然難免沉悶。周圍的事物隨時讓你分神:樹上的小鳥、旁人的交談、當然少不了要看看手機。而小魚總是在你剛好沒有留神看著竿末的時候出沒,這樣你就會錯失良機。在你身邊那位訓練有素的釣魚翁,這時會對你說:專注一點,你又錯失魚穫了! 目光離開耶穌、轉而注意周圍環境,就是彼得的信心開始動搖之時,如此便會錯失上帝要在風暴中向你顯明的事情。我們的目光應該專注於,為我們信心創始成終的耶穌。耶穌進入我們的生命,以生活的場景磨練我們、加添我們的信心;我們信心動搖之時,耶穌又進入我們的風暴之中,幫助我們安然度過。正如一條橡筋,拉長之後收回,韌度將與之前不同,下次可以拉得更長。我們的人生風暴也會磨練我們,挑戰我們的信心極限,但若定睛仰望耶穌,他將賜我們力量克勝困難。風暴過後,我們的信心將會變得更加堅定,更有力量應付逆境。 基督徒作家Max Lucado牧師曾經如此說:「助長恐懼則信心枯竭;助長信心則恐懼枯竭。」 也許你正受病患困擾、也許工作出現問題、與家人或朋友關係欠佳,波浪洶湧有如海嘯。果若如此,我鼓勵你定睛仰望耶穌,信靠他帶領你越過風暴,在水面行走。有時,孤單一人實在難以面對。我釣魚的時候,有一位專業釣魚翁陪伴,幫助我定睛專注魚竿末端。教會有許多經驗豐富的出色領袖,可以幫助大家專注,定睛仰望耶穌。大家可以參加聖馬田中文堂逢星期四晚舉行的網上團契,在一周之中得著鼓勵,定睛仰望耶穌。 一是聆聽耶穌的話; 二是定睛仰望耶穌; 最後是耶穌與你同在。 耶穌為你守護,與你同在。 第31節:耶穌趕緊伸手拉住他,說:「你這小信的人哪,為甚麼疑惑呢?」 我的孩子,還有我的姐姐和外甥,都很害怕那種體積較大的綠頭蒼蠅。事實上,除了爸爸媽媽外,我們全家都怕蒼蠅。幾星期前,我們在父母家裡同吃晚飯,這時約有5隻蒼蠅飛進房子。孩子們開始尖叫,亂作一團,情景有點像小說《蒼蠅王》的情節。我拿著餐碗便想跑出飯廳。就是媽媽也在大叫,呼喊大家別再大叫。只有爸爸氣定神閒,拿起電動蠅拍,不出半分鐘便捉掉所有蒼蠅,大家都鼓掌歡呼。爸爸十分冷靜,他說「有我在此,我有蠅拍。」 我們在天上的父親,也對我們每一人說:你們為何害怕?為何憂慮?為何不信任我?有我在此與你同在,可以趕走你的恐懼,能力當然勝過電動蠅拍。與你同在的,是擁有權能掌管自然、從無到有創造萬物的上帝。而且,你還有耶穌。 耶穌的死亡和復活提醒我們,耶穌的手向我們伸出,我們可以緊緊抓住,他也永遠不會放手讓我們跌倒。 所以,人生風暴臨到的時候,要聆聽耶穌的話;定睛仰望耶穌;知道上帝與你同在。 It’s a privilege to be with you all today. This is the church I grew up in and I’ve had so many fond memories of my time growing up here - parish weekends, Sunday school, kung fu classes and some not so fond memories of having chinese lessons here.
My experience of church is a lot like life. We have great moments, difficult times (like Chinese school) and happy and sad moments. Life is a lot like a rollercoaster. There are ups and downs. It moves fast and spins you around and life events can even turn you upside down. Whatever stage we are at in our spiritual walk, whether you’ve been a Christian for many years or you are just at the beginning, you’ve just returned back into a relationship with God, or you may be considering Christianity, we can all learn something from this passage today about how to navigate the storms of life Matthew 14:22-24 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. Jesus went up to the mountainside by himself to pray The boat was a considerable distance from the land and then the waves came when it was at its darkest moment. When you follow God’s plan, The storms of life will come. There is a natural tendency to blame God when bad things happen because we believe God is in control of everything, he should have stopped what happened, he is all powerful so he could have changed the situation. However we also need to understand that suffering and problems in life can come because of the things we have done wrong, or because of other people’s errors or Wrong decisions in life or sometimes its understanding we live in a fallen and broken world and suffering and sadness will only fully end when we are in heaven. For now, we are on this earth, and suffering is inevitable, I would like to share with you three things I believe God wants to teach us today as we face the storms of life. Firstly, Listen to Jesus’ words As the disciples were in their darkest moments and were overcome by fear. Jesus comes along walking on water and gives some simple words of encouragement and comfort. In verse 27 Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid Jesus went to them in the midst of the storm, in their moment of fear and darkness and gave them an encouraging word. There was a time when the storm came into my life and the waves were in full force. I used to work for London Underground and during one of my shifts at work, a drunk passenger was abusing staff. He was threatening, and all the staff asked him to leave which he refused. He tried to attack the Staff and I ended up wrestling on the floor. He ran away before the police came and I thought nothing more of it. it wasn’t until a month later I was contacted by police, arrested and interviewed under caution for Actual Bodily Harm which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. During this time my wife was pregnant and I was on the verge of losing my job. My lawyer actually told me to look for another job just in case it doesn’t work out. The court system was so slow, the guy didn’t show up to court two times so the whole process took 18 months. During this time I was devastated, I had no peace, I was so fearful of losing everything, When Jesus came on the water, he didn’t take the problem away. Jesus actually called Peter to take a step of faith during the storm and come out of the boat and walk on water. In these stormy moments, God is calling us to take a step of faith and listen to his voice. In my situation at London underground, during my prayer times, I would hear the quiet voice of God to trust him. I would turn to the bible and god would lead me to read scripture that called me to trust him and not lean on my own understanding. There was a prophet in the Old Testament called Elijah who was in the thick of a stormy situation and was chased by his enemies who wanted to kill him. Elijah reached the end of himself and prayed to God that he might die because things were really bad. Then the word of the lord came to Elijah, not in wind, nor the earthquake or the fire, but the Lord came in a still, small voice, a gentle whisper. It was these words that gave Elijah the strength to continue. And it was the gentle whisper of God saying trust me that enabled me to overcome my situation. It was the encouraging words of Jesus to Peter saying ‘take courage, do not be afraid’ which gave Peter the faith to overcome his fear in the storm and walk on water. When the stormy moments come and we feel like we don’t want to continue in life, you can listen to God in the still small voice. Maybe the gentle voice of God is speaking to you today to forgive someone, to not fear what you are going through or to take a step of faith in your current situation. The Nazareth community set up by Father Richard encourages members to meet for an hour of silence three times a week. In these moments, we lift up to God our burdens, worries, storms of life and listen to the still small voice of the lord. You can take time each day to hear what God has to say to us through the bible. I would like you to imagine reading the bible or praying in silence is like a muscle, it takes time to grow, so if you haven’t read or prayed on your own for a while, start with 5 minutes a day. I like to read in the morning, some prefer lunchtime or even the night time. Increase it to 10 minutes the following week and keep increasing until you have a good 30 minutes with the Lord 3 times a day. In the Anglican Church, we call this morning prayer, evening prayer and compline. And you can play this on your phone through the app everyday. It’s in these moments that you will discover the still small voice of the lord which will give you the faith to walk through the storms. Secondly – fix your eyes on Jesus Peter takes a step of faith and begins to walk on water. Initially his faith is strong but then he takes his eyes of Jesus and focuses on his circumstances and then fear takes over. In verse 29, we read Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” A couple months ago, we went fishing to catch some tiny fish in a small lake near my home. The key to catching these small fishes is to keep your eyes fixed on the tip of the fishing rod. If the fish was big you can feel it but these are tiny fishes and the only way you know if you’ve caught something in your hook, is when the end of the rod pulls down very slightly. As you sit there watching the end of your rod, it can get very boring. There are so many distractions. You notice the birds, you start to listen to other people’s conversation, you check your phone. And everytime you take your gaze off the end of the rod, a fish would come along and you would miss the catch. The trained fisherman would be next to you and say concentrate you just missed another one. When you take your gaze off Jesus and focus on the surroundings, that’s when Peter’s faith started to falter and you miss what God wants to show you in the storm. Our focus should be on Jesus. The author and perfector of our faith. Jesus comes into our lives and uses life circumstances to stretch us, to increase our faith and Jesus enters into our storms to help us through it when our faith falters. It’s like an elastic band that stretches but when it goes back its not the same as before as it can stretch even more. Our stormy situation stretches us, pulls us to the limit of our faith but when you focus on Jesus, he will give you the strength to overcome it and after the storm your faith and capacity to deal with the storms of life will be even greater. Author and priest, Max lucado said “Feed your fears, and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will starve.” You may be struggling with your health, with a work situation, with a family member or friend and the waves feel like a tsunami, I encourage you to fix your eyes upon Jesus and place our faith in him which will enable you to rise above the storm and walk on water. Sometimes it can be difficult to do it on your own. When I was fishing I had an expert fisherman to help me keep focus on the end of my rod. The church has so many great and experienced leaders to help you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. You can join the St martins Chinese congregation Thursday evening zoom fellowship to give you a midweek encouragement to fix your eyes on Jesus. Firstly, listen to Jesus’ words Secondly, fix your eyes on Jesus And Finally, Jesus is with you – Jesus is for you and is with you. Verse 31, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” My kids are scared of these huge bluebottle flies, my sister and my nieces are scared too. Actually the whole family are scared of flies except my mum and dad. A few weeks ago, we had dinner at my mum and dad and about 5 flies enters into the room. Chaos begins with all the children screaming. It’s like lord of the flies. I try to run out the room with my rice bowl. Even my mum is screaming telling us all to stop screaming. But Dad is calm and steady and picks up the electric bat, In less than 30 seconds, he catches all the flies and we all clap. My dad is calm, and he says I am here, I have the bat. Our father in heaven says to each one of us why are you all scared, why do you worry, why are you not trusting in me. I am here with you, you have something greater than an electric bat to get rid of your fears, you have with you the one who has power over nature, the one who called creation into existence. You have Jesus. Jesus’ death and resurrection reminds us that Jesus’ hand is stretched out towards us and we can grab hold of it and he will never let go of us. When the storms of life come, listen to Jesus’ words, fix your eyes on Jesus and know that God is with you.
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