作者Revd Dr Samuel Wells 聖馬田堂主任牧師 今日我想通過門徒嘅眼睛嚟講述以馬忤斯路上的故事。 故事嘅開頭係咁樣嘅:「佢哋企咗喺度 , 面上 帶 著 愁 容 。」在座嘅各位教友,有無一部分嘅你係「呆著並充滿憂愁」呢? 呢個就係你,你就喺呢個故事當中。 隨後耶穌引導門徒講出整個故事。「我地一直咁盼 望嘅、 要贖以色列民的就喺佢 !」讓我地再次停低,然後幻想將你嘅生命中最令你心碎嘅一件事,去填滿「但我們素來、一直以來 所 盼 望…」呢個空間。其實呢一個「盼 望」,本身已經係一個故事。比如有一個小朋友去世,你會為你所認識嘅佢而感到悲傷; 但有更加多嘅悲痛,係為著呢位小朋友本來應有嘅大好歲月而婉惜。 「我地一直咁盼望嘅。」呢個就係你,你就喺呢個故事當中。 之後耶穌講咗一個故事,這個故事同門徒所講嘅故事並無抵觸,而且更將佢包含喺一個更大嘅故事當中。耶穌反問門徒「乜唔係應該咁樣嘅咩?」呢一刻,就好似當你嘅生命故事 有如碎片一樣咁 散落在地,然後有人細心溫柔地執起、並充滿鼓勵地將呢啲碎片重新組合、成為一幅有意義嘅圖案,就好似工程師將散落喺車房的零件,重新裝嵌成為一部電單車一樣。 「乜唔係應該咁樣嘅咩?」呢個就係你,你就喺呢個故事當中。 當耶穌要離開嘅時候,門徒唔希望佢結束。佢地話:「請你同我地住下罷 !請你留低同我地喺一齊」。我地想要更多更多, 但係我們無可能將畫面定格。「請你留低同我們喺一齊」呢個就係你,你就喺呢個故事當中。 「然後佢哋的眼睛就明亮了 。」 一切都突然變得清晰。門徒嘅故事同基督嘅故事都變得清晰合理。就好似望住一個老朋友,突然間心諗:「我係愛呢位老朋友嘅。」 「然後他們的眼睛就明 亮 了。」呢個就係你,你就喺呢個故事當中。 最後,「我哋嘅心唔係火熱咗嘅咩?」難道你唔覺得你心裏火熱麼,就喺這一刻?以色列、耶穌、教會——整本聖經從創世記一直到最後啟事錄——都濃縮喺一個路上嘅夜晚,以及飯枱上面。 「我哋嘅心唔係火熱咗嘅咩?」呢個就係我地, 我地就喺呢個故事當中。。 讓我們 細看呢個故事到底是什麼。 「佢哋就呆站著,滿臉愁容。」。呢個就喺我地嘅生活,沒有神:迷失,無意義,無望。 「我地一直咁希望嘅」我地感覺到上帝,或者基督,但這沒有意義,我地感到失望,困惑。 「乜唔係應該咁樣嘅咩?」我地重新聽一次呢件事,並且與我地嘅自身嘅故事結合,讓我地被捲入了一個更偉大的故事之中。 「留低同我地喺一齊,」我地放下防備,意識到我地想聽到整個故事,想永遠留喺呢個地方。「然後佢哋嘅眼睛就明亮咗 。」突然間, 我地意識到呢次對話,呢頓飯嘅呢個小故事,不單止係我哋自己嘅故事,而喺一個關於永恆包含一切以及每一個人嘅故事。 「我哋嘅心乜唔係火熱咗咩?」我地帶著使命,由呢一度出發一次又一次地與每一個我地所遇見嘅人去分享這經歷。 我剛才描述嘅就是被我地所稱為嘅聖餐禮。 聚集- 我地開始嘅時候帶著迷茫和沮喪。懺悔我地分享我地脆弱的故事。 我地聽到上帝嘅故事:讀經和講道。共融-我地決心同食。然後 我地嘅眼睛喺擘餅中就明亮咗。我地離開時意識到我地嘅心已經火熱咗。 呢個就喺敬拜。一方面,耶穌將我哋嘅故事,好似半塊餅咁樣。另一方面,基督將上帝嘅故事,即是另外嗰半塊餅。當我哋同上帝相遇嘅時候,基督傷痕累嘅手掰開了那餅, 以及我哋嘅故事都同基督破碎嘅身體融為一體。 然後呢兩個故事就變成了一個故事:現在同埋永遠。 (Original) I want to tell the Emmaus Road story through the eyes of the disciples. It starts like this: ‘They stood still, looking sad.’ Is there a part of you that’s stationary and sad? Here you are, in this story. Then Jesus coaxes the story out of them. ‘We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.’ Pause again, and put the most shattering event of your life into that space. ‘We had hoped…’ That covers it. See how the word ‘hope’ contains a story. When a child dies, you grieve what you’ve known; but even more you grieve the years that never came to be. ‘We had hoped.’ Here you are, in this story. Then Jesus tells a story that doesn’t deny their story but envelops it in a larger story. ‘Was it not necessary…,’ he says. It’s the moment when you scatter the broken pieces of your story out in front of you, and then someone gently and kindly but inspiringly puts them together in a coherent shape like a mechanic assembling a motorbike from items strewn across a garage forecourt. Was it not necessary? Here you are, in this story. The disciples don’t want it to end. ‘Stay with us,’ they say. We want more. But we can’t freeze the frame. ‘Stay with us.’ Here we are, in this story. ‘Then their eyes were opened.’ Everything suddenly made sense. Their story and Christ’s story all fell into place. In a flash, you looked at an old friend, and thought, ‘I love that man.’ ‘Then their eyes were opened.’ Here you are, in this story. And finally, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us.’ Don’t you feel your heart on fire, right this moment? Israel, Jesus, the church – the whole Bible from Genesis to the maps – all condensed into one evening on the road and at the supper table. Were not our hearts burning within us?’ Here we are, in this story. Behold what this story really is. ‘They stood still, looking sad.’ This is our life, without God: bewildering, meaningless, hopeless. ‘We had hoped.’ We have a sense of God, Christ even, and yet it doesn’t make sense, we feel let down, baffled. ‘Was it not necessary.’ We hear the story again, in a way that envelopes and embraces but doesn’t deny or obscure our story. We’re swept up into a larger story. ‘Stay with us.’ We lower our defences and realise we want to hear the whole story, stay in this place forever. ‘Then their eyes were opened.’ Suddenly we realise this small story of this conversation, this meal, is not just our story, but the story of everything, everyone, for ever. ‘Were not our hearts burning within us?’ We go from this place with a mission to share this experience with everyone we meet, and to go through this process over and over again. What I’ve just described is what we call the Eucharist. We begin confused and crestfallen: gathering. We share our stories, in all their fragility: confession. We hear God’s story: readings and sermon. We resolve to eat together: communion. Then our eyes are opened in the breaking of the bread. And we leave realising our hearts have been on fire. This is worship. In one hand Jesus takes our story, like one half of the bread. In the other hand Christ takes God’s story, the other half of the bread. And when we meet God, Christ’s scarred hands break that bread and our whole story is conjoined in the broken body of Christ. And the two stories become one story: now, and forever.
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作者Revd Angela Sheard, 聖馬田助理牧師 在西歐歷史上,一些最偉大的科學發現,都是通過質疑已知的理解來實現的。1543年,波蘭天文學家尼古拉斯·哥白尼質疑了地球是否位於宇宙的中心,並在臨終前發表了一個新的理論,即地球和其他太陽系行星實際上是圍繞太陽運行的。1664年,英國數學家和物理學家艾碩·牛頓質疑了一個蘋果為什麼會從樹上掉下來,後來形成了對萬有引力的了解,明白萬有引力不僅使空中物體向地球掉落,也使行星繞太陽運行。1861年,法國化學家路易·巴士德質疑了當時關於疾病由“瘴氣”或“惡臭空氣”引起的假設,發表了他的理論,即疾病實際上是由一種叫做細菌的微小生物引起的,亦是首次在顯微鏡下看到細菌。
這三個發現都是由一個問題開始,並且完全改變了我們對世界的看法。在每一位科學家身上我們看到了一種天然的好奇心,他們願意檢驗先前的假設,而這些假設在當時被大多數人所相信。我認為在今天的福音經課中,多馬表現出了同樣的好奇心。實際上,在這本福音書中,多馬在慶祝過逾越節的晚餐後曾經提出了一個深思熟慮的問題 - 耶穌準備離開上層房間時,西門彼得問他:“主啊,你往哪裡去?”耶穌說:“你們知道我往哪裡去。”然而,多馬對此不滿意,反駁道:“‘主啊,我們不知道你往哪裡去,怎麼會知道去那裡的路呢?’”只有在多馬提出這個深入探究的問題後,耶穌才給了我們他最美麗和令人安慰的教訓之一:“我就是道路、真理、生命。” 在今天的福音經課中,其他的門徒都親眼目睹了一件令人難以置信的事情 - 他們復活的主的臨在。我們首先聽到多馬的回應,似乎是一個有點固執的話:“我非看見他手上的釘痕,用指頭探入釘痕,又用手探入他的肋旁,我總不信。”但實際上這是一個有條件的陳述 - 我們可以將它轉換為類似這樣的說法:“如果我看見他手上的釘痕...那麼我可能會相信。”世界的主流假設是死去的人不會再次復活 - 我們即使在今天也會覺得這是極其合理的!但與其關閉對替代觀點的窗戶,我認為這個陳述實際上是打開了一個問題的門,這個問題將完全改變多馬對世界的看法 - 這個問題迴響千年,也徹底改變了我們對世界的看法。拿撒勒的耶穌會是活著的嗎?這一次,耶穌的回應不是告訴多馬答案,而是通過他真實的臨在向他顯示,用他真實的聲音宣告平安,帶著他被釘死並復活的身體的傷痕,供多馬親眼看見,甚至親手觸摸。 信仰和懷疑常被認為是同一個硬幣的兩面 - 我們說信仰是回答,懷疑是發問。但是,當我們尋求有關世界的真相,尋求有關上帝的真相時,往往是我們的問題驅使我們尋找答案,而我們的答案反過來又引發更多的問題。在我們的福音經課中,耶穌的回應將多馬的質疑轉化為一個新的答案。難以置信的是,耶穌,拿撒勒的耶穌,雖然死了,卻從死裡復活了。在多馬深刻的回應中,我們聽到了耶穌的復活對他和對我們的意義:“我的主啊,我的神!”多馬的朋友、老師和主也是他的神。這種“答案”的信仰實際上是一個深奧的奧秘,而在使徒時代後的幾個世紀裡,人們又將答案變回成為問題:“這怎麼可能?”“這意味著什麼?” 作為今天的教會,我們是使徒的後裔。就像福音經課開始時的多馬一樣,我們是那些沒有見證耶穌復活身體的人。我們也是一個被科學、技術、工程、醫學、數學和許多其他領域永遠改變的世界的繼承人 - 由於人類的好奇心勇於提問,並用我們的感官來探索,知道答案可能會永遠改變我們對世界的看法。我認為這種好奇心不是一種可恥的事情,而是一份來自上帝的禮物,如同耶穌在世時對我們的選擇充滿好奇;祂深切渴望認識我們每個人的神秘內涵。但對於我們中的許多人來說,在我們的好奇心中,信仰總是在與懷疑進行永恆的對話,問題變成答案,然後再變回問題。在這對話中,可能我們很難看到耶穌為我們展示並提供的永生。但我認為有兩種實踐方式可以幫助我們,讓我們成為那些雖然未見,卻相信的人。 首先,我們可以並且必須培養我們的問題,當它們出現時要認真對待,仔細探索其涵義,尋找在我們的聖經和教會的傳統中是否有相同的問題,並與他人分享。同樣地,我們也可以支持和鼓勵他人對信仰提出自己的問題,尤其是那些在我們教會和社區中可能被忽視的聲音。其次,我們可以在我們現在的生活中尋找回答問題的方法,不僅僅是在教會的歷史傳統中,更是在基督已經復活,充滿了主聖靈的世界中。當我們培養並表達我們的問題和懷疑時,我們也可以敞開心胸接受賦予生命的聖靈的力量,並尋找聖靈在我們中間的工作的跡象,促成上帝終極的復活應許:將我們的世界完全轉化為耶穌基督的國度。 Original - Some of the greatest scientific discoveries in the history of Western Europe have come about through the asking of a question that overturned previous understandings of the nature of reality. In 1543 the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus questioned the assumption that the Earth was at the centre of the universe, and on his deathbed published a new theory that in fact the Earth and all other planets in our solar system orbited the Sun. In 1664 the English mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton questioned why an apple had fallen from a tree, and later developed an understanding that a force which he called gravity not only caused objects in the air to fall towards the earth, but also caused those same planets to orbit the sun. In 1861 the French chemist Louis Pasteur, after questioning the assumption at the time that diseases were caused by ‘miasma’ or ‘bad air’, published his theory that disease was in fact caused by tiny organisms called bacteria, which could be seen for the first time under a microscope. All three of these discoveries, which began with a question, have completely changed how we see the world. In each of these scientists we see a natural curiosity that is willing to test previous assumptions, which were believed by the vast majority of people at that time. I think that in our Gospel reading today, Thomas displays that same curiosity. Thomas has in fact asked a searching question earlier in this Gospel – after the celebration of the Passover meal, Jesus makes to leave the upper room and Simon Peter asks him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’. As part of his response, Jesus says: “you know the way to the place where I am going”. Not satisfied with this, Thomas retorts, “‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’” It is only with the asking of this probing question from Thomas that Jesus gives us one of the most beautiful and comforting of all his teachings: “I am the way, the truth and the life”. In our Gospel reading today, the other disciples have all witnessed the unbelievable with their own eyes – the presence of their risen Lord. I think that we first hear Thomas’s words in response as a somewhat defiant full-stop: ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ But this statement is actually a conditional – we could flip it to say something like, ‘if I see the marks of the nails in his hands… then I could believe’. The prevailing assumption about our world – that dead people don’t rise again – is one which even today we would find eminently sensible! But rather than barring the windows against an alternative perspective, I think that this statement is actually opening a door to a question that will completely change Thomas’s view of the world – a question that resonates down the millennia to completely change our view of the world as well. Could Jesus of Nazareth be alive? This time, Jesus will respond not by telling Thomas his answer but by showing him through his real presence, proclaiming peace with his real voice, bearing the wounds of his crucified and risen body for Thomas to not only see, but to touch. It is often said that faith and doubt are two sides of the same coin – to the extent that faith comes in the form of answers, doubt comes in the form of questions. As we search for the truth about our world, as we search for the truth about God, it is often our questions that drive our search for answers, and our answers which in turn drive more questions. In our Gospel reading, Jesus’s response turns Thomas’s questioning into a new answer. Incredibly, Jesus of Nazareth, though he died, has risen from the dead. In Thomas’s profound response we hear what this means for him and for us: “My Lord and my God!” The man who was Thomas’s friend, teacher and master is also his God. This ‘answer’ of faith is in fact a profound mystery, and in later centuries those who come after the apostles will turn it back into questions again: ‘How can this be?’ ‘What does this mean?’ As the church today, we are the descendants of the apostles. Like Thomas at the beginning of our Gospel reading, we are those who have not seen the resurrection body of Jesus. We are also the inheritors of a world that has been changed forever by science, technology, engineering, medicine, mathematics and so many other fields – by human curiosity that is unafraid to ask questions and investigate them with our senses, knowing that the answers could change how we see the world forever. I think that this curiosity is not at all something to be ashamed of, but rather is a gift from the God who is always curious about us, always wanting to know more deeply the mysterious matter that makes up each one of us. But for so many of us, in our curiosity faith is in a perpetual dialogue with doubt, the questions turning into answers and back again. In the midst of this dialogue, it can be difficult to see the eternal life that Jesus shows us and offer us. But I think there are two practices which can help us as we seek to be people who have not seen, and yet believe. Firstly, we can and must nurture our questions by taking them seriously when they arise, by carefully exploring their implications, by looking for the same questions in the scripture and tradition of our church and by sharing them with others. In the same way we can also support and empower others to ask their own questions about faith, especially those whose voices can go unheard in our church and our communities. Secondly, we can search for answers to our questions not only in the historical legacy of our church but in our lives now, in our world imbued with the presence of the risen Christ at the heart of all creation, and soaked through with his Spirit. As we nurture and speak our questions and our doubts, we can also open our hearts to the life-giving power of the Spirit, and look for signs of her working in our midst, bringing about that ultimate resurrection promise: the total transformation of our world into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 作者林立豐弟兄 (平信徒分享)
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Sam Wells描述了一種世界觀:在這種世界觀中,基督徒的門徒訓練和整個教會的生活都屬於他所謂的五幕劇。 五幕分別是:‘創造‘; '以色列’; '耶穌‘; ‘基督徒(教會)’; '終結'。 上帝是這個故事的中心(不是世界),但世界作為上帝之愛的流露而存在,世界可以自由地回應(或不回應)這種神聖的愛。 在這五幕劇中,教會處於第四幕,我們需要即興地在世界中發揮自己的角色。Sam 提出我們在準備「接戲」時,一共有三種策略:阻擋 (blocking),接受(accepting),轉化接受(Overaccepting)。 「阻擋」所指的,是我們在面對世界上發生的事情是,被動的躲避,保持沉默,視而不見。比如說,當教會看到世上被排斥的,弱勢的,貧窮的,流離的,卻無動於衷,或單單口裡說關顧而不與人同行,那便是採取了「阻擋」的策略,使教會不能籍此榮耀上帝。 「接受」所指的,是教會對於世界上的所發生的事情,需要勇於承認並接受情況的現實,即使它很困難或不舒服。它涉及到對正在發生的事情同在的勇氣,而不是試圖逃避或避免它。「接受」的策略提出一種世界觀,認為上帝是唯一的“給予”(givens),而其他一切都是作為“禮物”(gifts)接受的。 但Sam 提出,這種「接受」容易陷入「照單全收」的陷阱,讓人誤以為世界上所有的苦況是無可避免,不可改變的,以致教會不能夠嘗試挑戰世界上的不義。 在「接受」的世界觀為前提下,Sam 提出「轉化接受」的概念。在面對世界上所發生的事情(禮物),與其在選擇「接受」或「阻擋」這份禮物,或許更好的回應是:「教會如何才能忠實地理解或使用這份禮物?」「轉化接受」提議教會在理解「禮物」以後,應思考接受「禮物」的方法 - 在神的國度裡,這份禮物能變成什麼?譬如聖經中,舊約中被賣的約瑟,新約耶穌手中的五餅二魚,「轉化接受」要求基督徒運用他們的想像力,看看創造的恩賜如何超出我們對「禮物」的理解,切合上帝拯救的大故事當中。 最後,Sam 提醒我們,在認識三種即興發揮的方法時,必須時刻記住上帝更大的故事 - 上帝愛世人的敘述。教會作為信徒的群體,也作為地上的社會架構,需要看到世界上被忽視的人,曾受過傷害的人,曾被教會排斥的人。即興發揮的終極目的,便是為了實現「重新整合」(reincorporation)的本能飾演。 我們以英國聖公會的洗禮禮儀作結: 天上的父, 你用你的愛包圍我們 讓我們在你的子民中佔有一席之地。 你應許在整個生命的戲劇中與我們同在,並把我們安全地帶到你的國。 您邀請我們踏上探索耶穌為他人服務的方式的終生旅程。 靠著聖靈的力量, 讓我們的心在我們扮演自己的角色時充滿喜悅; 靠著你的恩典,在我們救主耶穌基督的愛中,使所有失喪的都得被尋回。 阿門。 |
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