作者Revd Sally Hitchiner 聖馬田堂副主任牧師 乍看之下,今天的福音經課似乎只是亞伯拉罕這個偉大人物的主要故事裏面的旁支(花邊)情節。上帝應許亞伯拉罕成為一個偉大國家的國父。但他的妻子撒拉年老且無子。 撒拉和亞伯拉罕無法想像上帝的應許如何能實現,於是他們做出了一些妥協。為了實現被應許的偉大成就,撒拉建議亞伯拉罕娶他的埃及使女夏甲為妾,以此獲得一個後嗣。 夏甲懷孕了,並因為撒拉無法懷孕,夏甲利用她腹中日漸長大的嬰兒來取笑打擊撒拉。撒拉向亞伯拉罕抱怨,亞伯拉罕說:「你可以隨意待她。」於是撒拉苦待夏甲,夏甲逃走了。上主的天使在曠野中遇見了夏甲,告訴她回去順服撒拉,並期待擁有眾多後裔。夏甲稱上主為以勒魯伊,即「看顧人的神」,你可以將其翻譯為「關注人的上帝」。夏甲生了一個兒子,名叫以實瑪利。 後來,撒拉生下了一個兒子以撒,但當撒拉看到小以撒被稍大一些的以實瑪利戲弄時,她就要求亞伯拉罕將他們母子趕走。亞伯拉罕打發夏甲和她那尚幼的兒子到曠野,只給了他們很少的糧食和水,結果水很快就用完了。 遠離家園,在曠野的中心,夏甲悲哭著將她的兒子放在一棵灌木樹下,她坐得足夠遠,讓她可以看到孩子但不會聽到他死亡時的哭聲。但是上帝聽到了孩子的苦痛,呼喚夏甲,讓她看到了一口水井。以實瑪利在曠野中長大成人,而夏甲最終返回埃及,為他找到一個來自她故鄉的妻子。 這是一個令人心碎的故事。故事裏面很難找出一位英雄主角。撒拉表現得彷彿夏甲和她的孩子可以被隨意利用,然後在不需要的時候被丟棄如廢物。亞伯拉罕將自己與妻子的安逸生活看得比兩個在他照顧下的人的生死更重要。 夏甲本身也很複雜。她被當作奴隸,就像當時幾乎所有女性一樣,她無法選擇自己的婚姻對象。她作為妾的地位比亞伯拉罕的正妻撒拉低得多。但她利用自己的孩子來小看撒拉,並透過取笑撒拉來讓自己感覺更有權力。我們甚至可能對上帝在這個故事中支持撒拉和亞伯拉罕壓迫夏甲的作為感到不舒服。 為什麼這個故事會出現在聖經中呢?如果亞伯拉罕的故事只是一個簡單的故事,講述了他從一無所有到如今世界上超過一半的人(猶太人、回教徒和基督徒)都聲稱他是自己的祖先,你可能會認為這個關於夏甲的故事會被省略掉。如果歷史真是由勝利者一方編寫,為什麼他們會浪費時間講失敗者的故事,尤其是那些被英雄主角如此惡待的失敗者呢? 或許編纂這個故事的人在舊約聖經結尾時回顧以色列的歷史,意識到夏甲體現了猶太人的許多特點。這就是為什麼故事中提到她是聖經中首位受到天使造訪的人,也是聖經中唯一一個給上帝起名字的人 ── 以勒魯伊,看顧人的神。她是唯一一個收到上帝後裔應許的女人。她是第一個為一個垂死的孩子哭泣的女人 ── 而在舊約聖經中,許多女人都經歷過這樣的境況。她出生在埃及,是一個奴隸 ── 而舊約聖經中的以色列人同樣在出埃及時爲奴,以及在舊約聖經結尾時被擄。舊約聖經的作者們留意到了夏甲,並珍視她的故事。 但我們仍然必須努力理解為什麼上帝似乎拒絕了她。對於基督徒來說,上帝看似拒絕她是這個故事的關鍵。想一想。這個人是上帝約定的核心。這是一個體現了以色列出埃及和被擄時期的人。如果以色列要實現其使命,這個人的痛苦似乎是必需的。這是一個在她最痛苦的時刻被驅逐出去的人,她懷疑她的上帝為何背棄了她。這個人被輕視、拒絕和深知悲傷。你看到這個人像誰了嗎? 這就是為什麼夏甲的故事出現在聖經中。因為她的故事 ── 出埃及、被擄和被女人、男人甚至上帝拒絕 ── 就是耶穌的故事。 對於基督徒來說,這個故事出現在聖經中是為了確保我們記住,耶穌更像夏甲而不是亞伯拉罕。對於基督徒來說,夏甲的故事意味著沒有自由、沒有好消息、沒有救贖、沒有福音,是通過踐踏、驅逐、虐待和剝削夏甲而獲得的。 但這個故事中沒有絲毫的感傷情懷。一開始,我們就被告知夏甲並不是天使。重點不在於耶穌與那些誠實但受壓迫的民眾產生共鳴。重點是耶穌存在於那些可以說是自己導致自己失敗的人之中,但很有可能這些人所受的傷害比他們所犯的罪還要多。無論如何,他們今天都在流浪、哭泣、被蔑視和拒絕。這是一個複雜的,充滿了強烈情感的故事,其中夾雜著殘忍、背叛、恐懼和絕望。這個故事很複雜,但在福音的光照下,它實際上可以是相當簡單的。 如果你今天來到這裡的時候,感覺別人看不見你的苦難或不在乎你的苦難;如果你今天來到這裡的時候感覺到很難與上帝建立聯繫,似乎教會中的其他人生活都比你輕鬆;如果這就是你的情況,那麼這個故事就是為你而存在。聖經中的其中一個最早的故事是關於一個人驚訝地發現上帝看見了她。在她身上,或許也在你的生命中,我們能找著讓我們能夠看見耶穌的其中一個故事。 At first glance today’s Gospel seems to be a side story of the main story – the story of the great man Abraham. God promised Abraham he would be the father of a great nation. But his wife Sarah was old and childless.
Sarah and Abraham didn’t could not imagine how God’s promise could be fulfilled so they made some compromises. In order to achieve their promised greatness, Sarah suggested Abraham take his Egyptian slave girl Hagar as a second wife and get an heir that way. Hagar conceived, and used her growing baby to taunt Sarah who couldn’t conceive. Sarah complained to Abraham, Abraham said “Do what you like,” so Sarah was cruel to Hagar and Hagar ran away. An angel of the Lord met Hagar in the wilderness and told her to return and submit to Sarah and look forward to having a great many descendants. Hagar called the Lord Elroi, or the “God of Seeing,” you could translate it “The God who pays attention” and she had a son named Ishmael. Later Sarah had a son Isaac, but when Sarah saw little Isaac being teased by Hagar’s slightly older son Ishmael, she demanded Abraham throw them out. Abraham sent Hagar and her toddler son to the wilderness with meagre provisions, which duly ran out. In the middle of the wilderness, far from home, Hagar, weeping, placed her son under a bush and sat far enough away so she could see him but not to hear his cries as he died. But God heard the boy’s distress, and called to Hagar, and she saw a well of water. Ishmael grew up in the wilderness, and Hagar eventually went and found a wife for him from her home country of Egypt. This is a heartbreaking story. It is hard to see a hero. Sarah acts as if Hagar and her child can be picked up and used then disposed of as rubbish when they are not needed. Abraham values an easy life for himself with his wife over the life or death of two people under his care. Hagar herself is complicated. She has been given as a slave, and like almost all women had no choice who they married. Her status as second wife was much lower than that of Sarah as Abraham’s primary wife. But she used her child as a tool to taunt Sarah, and used taunting Sarah to make herself feel more powerful. We may even feel uncomfortable with the way God acts in this story, backing up Sarah and Abraham in their oppression of Hagar. Why then is this story in the Bible? If the story of Abraham was a simple story of going from nothing to the person more than half the world today (Jews, Muslims and Christians) claim as their ancestor, you’d think this story about Hagar would have been left out. If it really is the winners who write the history, why would they bother to waste time on the losers, especially the losers they treated so badly by the hero? Maybe those who compiled this story at the end of the Old Testament, looked back on Israel’s history realized how Hagar embodied many characteristics of the Jewish people’s story. That’s why the story notes that she’s the first person in scripture to be visited by an angel and the only person in scripture to give God a name – Elroi, the God who sees me. She’s the only woman to receive God’s promise of descendants. She is the first woman to weep over a dying child – something many women do through the Old Testament. She was born in Egypt and is a slave – like Israel at the start of the Old Testament in the Exodus and again at the end of the Old Testament in the Exile. The writers of the Old Testament saw Hagar and valued her story. But we still have to struggle with why God seems to reject her. And for Christians the fact that God seems to reject her is the key to this story. Think about it. This is a person who was at the heart of God’s covenant. This is a person who embodied Israel’s exodus and Israel’s exile. This is a person whose suffering seemed to be required if Israel was to fulfil its destiny. This was a person who was cast out and, in her moment of deepest agony, wondered why her God, her God, had forsaken her. This was a person who was despised, rejected, and acquainted with grief. Do you see who this is like? This is why the story of Hagar is in the Bible. Because her story, the story of exodus and exile and rejection by woman and man and even God, is the story of Jesus. For Christians, the story is in the Bible to make sure we remember that Jesus looks more like Hagar than he does like Abraham. For Christians, the story of Hagar means that there can be no freedom, no good news, no salvation, no gospel, that’s won by treading down and expelling and abusing and exploiting Hagar. But there’s not an ounce of sentimentality in this story. At the very beginning, we’re told that Hagar is no angel. The point is not that Jesus identified with the honest but browbeaten oppressed peoples of the earth. The point is that Jesus is to be found among those who have may well have contributed to their own downfall, but are, in all likelihood, more sinned against than sinning, and either way are to be found today wandering, weeping, scorned and rejected. It’s a complicated story, with intense feelings, laced with cruelty, betrayal, terror and despair. It’s complicated, but in the light of the gospel it’s maybe actually quite simple. If you have come here today feeling like people don’t see or don’t care about your suffering. If you have come here today feeling like it is hard to relate to God as everyone else in church seems to have life easier than you. If this is you then this story is for you. One of the first stories in the Bible is a story of someone who was surprised to discover that God sees her. In her, perhaps in your life, we find, one of the first stories where we can see Jesus.
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作者Revd Dr Samuel Wells 聖馬田堂主任牧師 亞伯拉罕、撒拉和三位訪客的故事描述了一種笑聲如何從一種轉變為另一種。故事的開始,訪客告訴亞伯拉罕,他的妻子將生一個兒子。撒拉笑了。這是一種苦笑──一種忍耐的笑聲,一種自我保護的笑聲,一種不是因為一件事有趣而笑的笑聲,一種說著:“唔好玩我啦。”的笑聲。但過了一段時間,她從苦澀、諷刺的忍耐的笑轉變為充滿活力、愉快的喜悅的笑。“撒拉說:‘神給我帶來了笑聲;凡聽見的都要與我一同笑。’” 訪客問亞伯拉罕的問題總結了今日整個故事:“耶和華有難成的事嗎?”我想告訴你,這個問題不僅總結了亞伯拉罕的故事,也總結了整本聖經和整個信仰的故事。等我解釋一下。 我想為你勾勒出一條連接一系列畫面的線,這些畫面共同構成了聖經故事。最初什麼都沒有。神說話,宇宙萬物應運而生。如果沒有神的話語,就什麼都不會有:沒有宇宙、沒有地球、沒有人類、沒有你和我。請記住這一點。神來到亞伯拉罕那裡,三位三位一體的形象造訪了疲憊,不育的撒拉和她的丈夫。神說話,生命在她的子宮中誕生。如果沒有神,就什麼都不會有。一千年後,以色列人在巴比倫流散流亡:情況絕望。神說:“我的百姓啊,你們要得安慰,我在曠野為你們預備道路,使你們回家。”如果沒有神,以色列仍然會留在巴比倫。什麼都不會有。五百年後,馬利亞是處女。然而,加百列告訴她,她將懷孕生子。如果沒有神,就什麼都不會有。然而,耶穌來到。三十三年後,耶穌躺在墳墓裡。看起來故事已經結束。然而,聖靈召喚他,有了復活。如果沒有神,就什麼都不會有。 你明白嗎?耶和華有事難成的嗎?聖經是一系列故事,其中情況看似絕望,但在絕望的極點,神卻帶來喜悅。耶和華有事難成的嗎?一次又一次,神將忍耐的苦澀笑聲轉化為充滿歡樂的笑聲。每一次都是出乎意料的。但看看聖經是什麼:它不是一連串的審判,為了讓我們全都成為失敗者,將我們定性為罪人;它是一句耳語、一句謠言、一個迷因,一個潛在的反抗之詞,逐漸聚集起來,大聲地說:“有一個比你所認為的故事更大的故事。當你陷入絕對絕望之際,它將包容你,抬升你。即使你已經沉浸於它的模式和奧秘之中,它仍然會讓你驚訝。無論你有多少哭泣和悲傷,總有一天你會笑。沒有什麼事對耶和華來說太難成,太奇妙。無論是亞伯拉罕的時代,還是耶穌的故事。無論是現在,在大流行病中。不論何時。” 基督教不是一種陰郁的忍耐,一種延長的諷刺幽默,旨在在面對令人無法承受的悲傷時使我們的精神分散。基督教是對神應許的信仰,這些應許一次又一次地從虛無中帶來奇妙,從不育中帶來新生,從流散中帶來歸家,從絕望中帶來希望,從死亡中帶來復活。有時當一切似乎都失去時,我們會在壓迫和使我們沮喪的環境中以反抗的方式發出笑聲。但那種笑聲只是預示著超越它的笑聲,一種創造群體的笑聲,如同撒拉所發現,「凡聽見的都要與我一同笑。」。這種笑聲不僅僅是一種忍耐的笑聲,也不僅僅是一種抵抗的笑聲。它似乎最常出現在漫長的不孕、流亡、孤立、悲慘、失敗或被拋棄的時期結束的時候。但最終它是一種永無止境的喜樂之笑。。 在我們的生命中,我們每個人都必須面對一個關於我們所處故事的選擇。我們可以像亞伯拉罕和撒拉在故事一開始時那樣說,這個故事是關於我們的:生活太難了,有些事情永遠不會發生,信仰是一種苦澀、諷刺的忍耐形式,在諷刺中找到幽默,在浮華中看出荒謬。但我們每個人收到一個邀請,就像亞伯拉罕和撒拉在故事結束時一樣,看得見這世界不是關於我們的故事;我們被賜予了恩典,能夠在一個關乎上帝的故事中扮演角色──一個在我們最絕望的時刻上,上帝最為顯現的故事; 當我們無法想像有一個好結局,但卻發現沒有什麼事對耶和華來說是難成的事。然後,笑聲就完全不同了。基督徒就是撒拉所說的那些人,她說:“神為我制造了笑聲。凡聽見的都要與我一同笑。” The story of Abraham, Sarah and the three visitors describes how one kind of laughter changes into another. In the first part of the story, the visitors tell Abraham his wife will bear a son. And Sarah laughs. It’s a bitter laugh – a laugh of endurance, of self-protection, a laugh that isn’t about something being funny, a chuckle that says, ‘Don’t make me laugh.’ But some while later, she’s transformed from the bitter, ironic laughter of endurance to the effervescent, gregarious laughter of joy. ‘Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”’
The question that sums up the whole story is the one the visitors ask Abraham: ‘Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?’ I want to suggest to you that this question not only sums up the whole of the Abraham story; it also sums up the whole Bible, and the whole experience of faith. Let me explain. I want to trace for you a line that connects a series of moments that together constitute the biblical story. Originally there’s nothing. God speaks, and creation comes into being. Without God speaking, there would be nothing: no universe, no earth, no people, no you and me. Hold that thought. God comes to Abraham, the three figures of the Trinity visiting to the tired and barren Sarah and her husband. God speaks, and life comes into her womb. Without God, there would be nothing. A millennium later, Israel’s in exile in Babylon: the situation’s hopeless. God says, ‘Comfort ye my people, I’m preparing in the desert a highway for you to go home.’ Without God, Israel would still be in Babylon. There would be nothing. Five hundred years later, Mary’s a virgin. Yet Gabriel tells her she will bear the Lord. Without God, there would be nothing. Yet Jesus is here. Thirty-three years later Jesus lies in the tomb. It looks like the end of the story. Yet the Holy Spirit calls him out and there is resurrection. Without God, there would be nothing. D’you get the idea? Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? The Bible’s a series of stories in which things seem to be utterly hopeless, but right at the very utmost point of despair God gives birth to joy. Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? Over and over, God turns the bitter laughter of defence and endurance into the overflowing laughter of convivial joy. Every single time it comes as a surprise. But see what the Bible is: it’s not a concatenation of judgements designed to make us all failures and catch us out as miserable sinners; it’s a whisper, a rumour, a meme, a subversive word of resistance that gathers into a crescendo saying, ‘There’s a story bigger than the story you think you’re in. It’ll embrace you and lift you up when you are at your moment of despondent despair. It’ll surprise you even if you’ve immersed yourself in its patterns and mysteries. However much you weep and mourn, one day you will laugh. Nothing’s too wonderful for the Lord. Not back then with Abraham. Not in the story of Jesus. Not now, in the midst of the pandemic. Not ever.’ Christianity isn’t a bleak form of endurance, an extended form of mordant humour designed to keep our spirits distracted in the face of grief too devastating to face. Christianity is, instead, faith in God’s promises, which time and again have brought wonder out of nothing, birth out of barrenness, homecoming out of exile, hope out of despair, resurrection out of death. Sometimes when all seems lost, we laugh subversively in the face of our persecutor, resisting the circumstance that oppresses and depresses us. But that laughter’s just the foretaste of a laughter that transcends it, a laughter that creates a community, as Sarah discovers when she says, ‘Everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ It’s not merely a laughter of endurance, and it’s not limited to a laugh of resistance. It seems most often to come at the end of a long period of barrenness, exile, isolation, misery, failure or abandonment. But in the end it’s a laughter of never-ending joy. At some point in our lives we each have to face a choice about which story we’re living in. Well may we say, like Abraham and Sarah at the start of this story, this story’s about us: life’s too hard, some things will never happen, faith is a bitter, sarcastic form of endurance that finds humour in irony and spots absurdity in pomposity. But we each have an invitation to see things like Abraham and Sarah at the end of this story: it’s not a story about us; we’re given the grace to play a role in a story that’s fundamentally about God – a God who becomes most visible at our times of greatest despair, when we can’t imagine a good outcome, but discover nothing is too wonderful for the Lord. Then the joke’s a very different one. Christians are those about whom Sarah spoke when she said, ‘God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ 作者Revd Angela Sheard, 聖馬田助理牧師 我的外祖父一生都在用他自己的母語泰米爾語和英語收集智慧諺語或箴言。除了他的基督教信仰,這些箴言也是他的指導源泉,是他應對生活挑戰和在不確定時期做出正確決定的一種方式。他將其中的許多名言傳給了我母親,而母親又傳給了我。她會用這類話語提醒我:傾聽每一個人的意見,可是只對極少數人發表你的意見;接受每一個人的批評,可是保留你自己的判斷。(譯註:出於哈姆雷特第一幕第三場景) 現在,在他去世多年後,我祖父的箴言不僅留在我的記憶中,而且還留在我的嘴唇和心裡。他多年來收集的智慧話語本可以很容易地隨著他去世而消失——但在他死後很久,這些箴言仍然通過他與家人的親密關係存在。 我祖父的去世是一個潛在的中斷時刻,他的智慧箴言可能會永遠消失。以類似的方式,耶穌離開門徒可以被視為他在地球上的使命面臨巨大不確定性的時刻。在這一刻,耶穌已經死了並且從死裡復活了——到目前為止一切順利。但是他即將到來的國度的統治又如何呢?這將在何時以及如何實現?耶穌的門徒既崇拜他又懷疑他——他們知道他是上帝的兒子,但也許他們亦想知道他回到天父身邊後如何繼續他的使命。 耶穌的回應是將他已經開始的使命交給他的門徒——就像我母親和我自己傳遞祖父的箴言一樣,耶穌的門徒將繼續他的工作,以實現上帝的國度。 他們將如何做到這一點?耶穌給了他們兩條指示:施洗,和教導他人他所吩咐的一切。首先,奉父、子、聖靈的名施洗。洗禮標誌著我們進入門徒團體,同時也是我們自己事工的開始,因為我們尋求使用我們自己的恩賜來做上帝的工作。正是在洗禮中,耶穌正在進行的使命——帶來上帝公義與和平的國度——被交給了我們每個人。對我來說,關鍵是耶穌在加利利離開他的門徒,而這正是耶穌開始他的公共事工的地方。當時祂在會堂裡宣讀先知以賽亞的話: 主的靈在我身上,因為他用膏膏我,叫我傳福音給貧窮的人; 差遣我報告:被擄的得釋放,瞎眼的得看見,叫那受壓制的得自由, 報告神悅納人的禧年。 現在,在同一地區的一座聖山上,他將這項任務交給了他後繼的人——而我們同樣也在受洗時被聖靈恩膏,繼續這項工作。 但更深刻的是,在耶穌受洗時,我們聽到上帝的聲音,宣告耶穌是誰:這是我的愛子,是我所喜悅的。此刻,我們聽到聖父與聖子之間的愛的關係,聖神化作鴿子降臨在耶穌身上。在我們自己的洗禮中,上帝同樣以三個位格存在——我們的名字呼喚,並被吸引到構成三位一體的愛的關係中。洗禮不僅是我們自己事工的開始——它是對我們每個人也是上帝所愛者的肯定,並且被父、子和聖靈之間流動的愛所愛。 除了指示他的門徒施洗外,耶穌還要求他們教導他所吩咐的一切。但是門徒應該如何總結耶穌的教導——他教導的一切的本質是什麼?在耶穌的公開傳道期間,他回應了人們就一個類似問題的爭論:應該放哪條摩西誡命在首位?耶穌回答說:耶穌對他說:你要盡心、盡 性、盡意愛主─你的神。這是誡命中的第一,且是最大的。其次也相倣,就是要愛人如己。這兩條誡命是律法和先知一切道理的總綱。 在這個總結中,我們了解到耶穌的教導源於他在三位一體中所知道的愛——聖父、聖子和聖靈之間的愛。正是出於這種愛,他可以教導他人愛上帝和愛他們的鄰居。同樣,如果門徒們記得他們也被一種愛所愛,這種愛將伴隨他們一直到世界的盡頭,那麼他們就能執行耶穌的使命。他們的事工最終必須成為三位一體之愛的見證,而這種愛維繫著上帝在地上的國度。 我們每個人如何在自己的生活中完成耶穌託付給我們的工作?首先,我認為最重要的是要提醒自己,我們也是上帝所愛的孩子——我們每個人都被呼喚並被聖靈恩膏。我們每個人如何更深入地進入三位一體的愛中?也許對你來說,這可能意味著花時間與上帝在一起,也許在三位一體的聖像或圖像前,傾聽上帝所說的話。或許這意味著反思你自己的洗禮,以及接受聖靈的恩典對你意味著什麼。 其次,我們需要注意耶穌的使命在當今世界的哪些地方得到執行。在過去的一周裡,我在許多參加坎特伯雷朝聖活動為 Connection 籌款的人身上看到了這些跡象,我知道其中包括你們中的許多人!在那些走路的人、提供茶和咖啡的人、娛樂和鼓勵他人的人身上,我在我們中間看到了神國的跡象。我看到了耶穌在我們這個時代執行使命的跡象。我想知道:神國的徵兆在你生命中的哪些地方出現?耶穌的使命在我們這個時代延續的跡像在哪裡,比如我祖父的箴言被代代相傳?在接下來的幾周里,讓我們每個人都祈求上帝的靈向我們展示聖三位一體在當今世界的哪些地方工作,以及我們如何也可以加入耶穌基督令人興奮和持續的使命。 Original -
My grandfather collected wise sayings or proverbs throughout his life, both in his own native language of Tamil and in English. Alongside his Christian faith, these proverbs were a source of guidance for him, a way of navigating the challenges of life and of making good decisions in times of uncertainty. He passed many of these sayings down to my mother, who in turn passed them down to me. She would remind me of words like these: “Give every man thine ear but few thy voice; Take each man’s censure but reserve thy judgement.” Now, many years after his death, my grandfather’s proverbs live on not only in my memory but on my lips and in my heart. The wise teachings that he collected over the years could easily have died with him – and yet they lived on long after his death, through his loving relationships with members of his family. My grandfather’s death was a moment of potential discontinuity, a time when his wise sayings could have been lost forever. In a similar way, Jesus’s leaving the disciples could be seen as a moment of great uncertainty for his mission on earth. At this point, Jesus has died and has risen from the dead – so far so good. But what about the reign of his coming kingdom – when and how will that be accomplished? Jesus’s disciples respond both by worshipping him and doubting him – they know that he is the son of God, but perhaps they wonder how his mission can continue after he returns to his Father. Jesus responds by handing over to his disciples the mission that he has begun – like my mother and myself passing on my grandfather’s proverbs, Jesus’s disciples will continue his work in bringing about the kingdom of God. How will they do this? Jesus gives them two instructions: to baptize, and his second is to teach all that he has commanded. Firstly, by baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. Baptism marks our entry into the community of disciples, and also the start of our own ministry as we seek to use our own gifts to do the work of God. It is at baptism that the ongoing mission of Jesus – bringing about God’s kingdom of justice and peace – is handed over to each one of us. For me, it is significant that Jesus leaves his disciples in Galilee, the place where he began his public ministry by reading in the synagogue these words from the prophet Isaiah: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ Now, on a holy mountain in the same region, he hands that task over to those who come after him – and we too are anointed by the Holy Spirit at our baptism to continue this work. But even more deeply, at Jesus’s baptism we hear the voice of God declaring who Jesus is: “This is my son the beloved, with whom I am well pleased”. At this moment we hear the relationship of love between the Father and Son, mediated by the Spirit who descends upon Jesus as a dove. At our own baptism, God is likewise present in three persons – and we are called by name and drawn into the relationships of love that make up the Trinity. Baptism is not only the start of our own ministry – it is an affirmation that each one of us is also the Beloved of God, and is loved with the love that flows between Father, Son and Spirit. As well as instructing his disciples to baptize, Jesus asks them to teach all that he has commanded. But how should the disciples summarize Jesus’s teachings – what is the essence of all that he taught? Well, during Jesus’s public ministry he responds to people arguing over a similar question: which of the commandments of Moses should be first of all. Jesus replies: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ In this summary, we learn that Jesus’s teaching flows out of the love that he knows in the Trinity – the love between Father, Son and Spirit. It is out of this love that he can teach others to love God and to love their neighbour. Likewise, the disciples can only carry out the mission of Jesus if they remember that they too are loved with a love that will be with them all the way to the end of the world. Their ministry must ultimately be a witness to the love of the Trinity, which is the love that sustains God’s kingdom on earth. How can each one of us, in our own lives, carry out the work that Jesus has entrusted to us? Firstly, I think it’s fundamental to remind ourselves that we too are beloved children of God – that each one of us has been called by name and anointed by the Spirit. What does it look like for each one of us to enter more deeply into the love of the Trinity? Perhaps for you this might mean spending time with God, maybe in front of an icon or image of the Trinity, and listening for what God has to say. Perhaps this might mean reflecting on your own baptism and what it means for you to have received the grace of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, we need to be attentive to where Jesus’s mission is being carried out in our world today. During this past week I have seen these signs in the many people who took part in the Pilgrimage to Canterbury to raise money for the Connection, which I know includes many of you! In those who walked, those who provided tea and coffee, those who entertained and encouraged others, I saw signs of the kingdom of God in our midst. I saw signs of the mission of Jesus being carried out in our own age. I wonder: where are the signs of the kingdom of God appearing in your life? Where are the signs of Jesus’s mission being continued in our own era, like my grandfather’s proverbs being lovingly passed down through the generations? In the weeks which follow, let us each pray for the Spirit of God to show us where the holy Trinity is working in our world today, and how we too might join in with the exciting and ongoing mission of Jesus Christ. |
講道分享輯錄在聖馬田中文堂分享和講道的文字稿,讓弟兄姊妹能在日常重溫,咀嚼講員所分享的話。 類別
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