作者Revd Dr Samuel Wells 聖馬田堂主任牧師 麥子和稗子的比喻告訴我們,世界上確實存在善,它之所以存在,是因為神把它放在那裏。這個比喻亦告訴我們,世界上確實存在惡。如是者,我們面對兩大問題:神學問題和倫理問題。 神學問題是:惡從何而來?故事說「這是仇敵做的。」因此,世上的惡並非從神而來。一般來説,聖經對惡的起源或確切本質不太感興趣。我們沒從這個故事或其他地方發現神仇敵的特性或目的,但我們得知神出於某種原因容許世上存在惡。倫理問題則更為深入。聖經和這個故事都非常關注的倫理問題是:我們應該把稗子拔除嗎?答案毋庸置疑且也許出人意料:不應該,原因有兩個。首先,我們沒辦法在不拔除小麥的情況下拔除稗子。其次,收割終會來臨,那是神整頓一切的時刻。 故事出人意料的地方並不在於一開始我們發現世界是善與惡的混合體,也不在於惡從何而來、為何存在的問題。故事出人意料的地方是田主說「不要現在薅稗子,要等候收割,到時再以其他方式薅稗子。」這個比喻關心的是,惡無疑存在,我們應當如何自處。所有公義的直覺都告訴我們,我們必須面對惡,與其爭戰,把其根除並燒毀。 然而,這個比喻說這種方法有兩個問題。首先,它行不通,你不能肅清世界。要是你着手根除惡,你就連同善一併根除。精準轟炸這回事並不存在。其次,自發消除世界的惡顯示,你不相信這正是神在歷史終結時會做的事情。我們不是告訴自己不相信神會做這件事,就是告訴自己我們不能等那麼久。這正是這個比喻所提出的兩種反應。這個比喻指出,神會做這件事,我們應該等待,因為只有神才能做這件事,而不致造成壞處跟好處一樣多。 這個比喻呼籲基督徒保持革命式忍耐。世界上充滿想自行伸張正義的人,這種人看到一片邪惡的土地,就樂得砍擊並焚燒全地。世界需要的是有耐性的人,這種人相信神的審判終會施行一切必要篩選,同時樂於忠心照料農田,並深知田裏並非所有作物都是小麥 耶穌講了很多比喻,但真正的比喻是耶穌自己。這是關於忍耐的故事,但神的忍耐就是耶穌自己。在耶穌身上,我們看到神的忍耐。耶穌所做的是在惡面前保持忠心,傳講真理,賦予社區權力,展示聖靈的果子,帶來和好,以自己的身體承擔作見證的代價,並在各方面等候神公義的時刻到來。祂並無撃殺仇敵、剷除邪惡、倉卒草率行事,也無天真地試圖締造沒有惡的田野。相反,祂保持革命式忍耐,完全信服神最後的審判。 耶穌這粒麥子把世上的稗子扛在自己身上,以自己的身體承受稗子的審判,讓世界終可擺脫稗子,世人皆可活在夢想的田野上。原來,展現基督所啟示對神的信心的最好方式未必是顛覆式干預,而是革命式忍耐。 The parable of the wheat and the tares tells us that there is real good in the world, and it’s there because God put it there. Then it tells us that there is real evil in the world. Then we are presented with the two great questions, the theological one and the ethical one.
The theological question is, Where did the evil come from? The story says “An enemy did this.” So the evil in the world does not come from God. The Bible in general isn’t very interested in the origins or precise nature of evil. We don’t discover in this story or elsewhere the character or purposes of God’s enemy, but we learn that God for some reason permits evil in the world. But the ethical question is more developed. The ethical question, with which the Bible and this story are very exercised, is, Should we pull the weeds out? The clear and perhaps surprising answer is no – for two reasons. First, there’s no way to pull the weeds out without pulling the wheat out too. Second, there’s going to be a harvest, and that will be the moment when God will sort everything out. The sting in the story is not at the beginning where we find that the world is a mixture of good and evil. It’s not in the question of where the evil came from and why it’s there. The sting in the story is when the farmer says “Don’t gather up the weeds now. Wait till harvest and they will be gathered up in other ways.” The parable is about how we live in the face of undoubted evil. And all our righteous instincts say we must confront evil, fight with it, root it out and burn it up. But the parable says there are two things wrong with this approach. First, it doesn’t work. You can’t clean up the world. If you set about rooting up evil, you root up the good too. There’s no such thing as a clinical bombing campaign. And second, taking it upon yourself to rid the world of evil shows a lack of faith that that’s exactly what God will do at the end of history. We either say to ourselves we don’t trust God will do it or we say to ourselves we can’t wait that long. Those are exactly the two responses this parable is about. The parable is saying God will do it and we should wait because only God can do it without doing as much harm as good. The parable is calling Christians to revolutionary patience. The world is full of people who want to take justice into their own hands and see a field with evil in it and are happy just to slash and burn the whole lot. What the world needs is patient people who believe God’s judgement will finally do all the sifting that’s necessary and in the meantime are content faithfully to tend the farm knowing that that not everything in the field is wheat. Jesus told many parables but the real parable is Jesus himself. This is a story about patience, but the patience of God is Jesus himself. In Jesus we see God’s patience. What Jesus did was to maintain a faithful presence in the face of evil, speaking the truth, empowering a community, modelling the fruits of the Spirit, bringing about reconciliation, taking in his own body the cost of witness, and in every way waiting until the time of God’s justice would come. No killing the enemy, no rooting out evil, no premature summary action, no naïve attempt to make a field without evil. Instead, revolutionary patience, resting entirely on trust in God’s final judgement. Jesus was the wheat who took the darnel of the world upon himself and suffered in his own body the judgement of darnel that the world might finally be free of darnel and we may all live in a field of dreams. It turns out the greatest way we show our faith in the God revealed in Christ may not be our transformatory intervention, but our revolutionary patience.
0 評論
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. 作者Revd Sally Hitchiner 聖馬田堂副主任牧師 有甚麼比「做對了」的感覺,能給我們帶來更大滿足感?「做對了」固然好得無比,但卻附帶一項挑戰。你的生活方式可能「做對了」、你關心父母和子女的方法可能「做對了」、你在工作場所活出的信徒見證也可能「做對了」。對於教會應該如何正確運作,你的判斷可能「做對了」,而且分毫不差。還有如何帶領崇拜或團契、歡迎來賓、奉上熱茶等等,你都可能「做對了」。當基督徒應有之道,你都「做對了」。既然凡事都做對了,究竟還有何挑戰?問題很簡單:對於做錯了的人,你要如何應對? 耶穌時代的宗教領袖,對於「做得對」非常著緊。當時,巴勒斯坦受羅馬人統治壓迫,要保存作為上帝忠心子民的身分,殊不容易。任何干擾太平的行徑,都可能招致殺戮與嚴刑責罰。羅馬人不會理會是哪些猶太人挑起爭端,而最重要是確保社會整體不能出現亂子。宗教領袖最大的盼望,是回到猶太人流亡之前的光景,那時外邦人普遍敬重猶太國,認為猶太人是上帝的忠心子民。然而,無論他們多麼努力地保存這種身分,還是有愈來愈多的人,或者因為太過軟弱、或者因為漠不關心,而不願繼續追隨他們的榜樣。 就在這樣的背景脈絡中,耶穌將追隨者叫到跟前,開始談論公義。他以謀殺為例,作為引子。追隨者都聽過這個記在創世記裡的老故事。第一宗謀殺案並非發生在互不認識的陌生人之間,而是發生在兩兄弟之間。人類第一對兄弟,到上帝的祭壇前獻祭。不知為何緣故,上帝悅納亞伯的供物,卻不悅納該隱的供物。於是該隱對他的兄弟亞伯說:「讓我們到田間去。」二人在田間的時候,該隱起來攻擊他的兄弟亞伯,把他殺了。耶和華對該隱說:「你兄弟亞伯在那裡?」他說:「我不知道!我豈是看守我兄弟的麼?」 如今,耶穌告訴門徒,謀殺事件並非故事的唯一癥結。我們干犯謀殺之前,已經心懷憤怒、怨恨。我們詆毀別人,眼中所見盡是自己為別人加上的標籤。我們干犯謀殺之前,已經自以為義、以為我們的弟兄不義。也許在這一切發生之前,我們內心深處,已向上帝說道:「我豈是看守我兄弟的麼?」 耶穌告訴他的跟隨者,若要與上帝「連線」、與上帝建立關係,他們不能與弟兄疏離…… 即使弟兄是宗教領袖,一心要與耶穌跟隨者疏遠。向上帝獻上供物並非一人之事。事實上,耶穌說,我們獻禮物的時候,若想起有人向我們懷怨,就當把禮物留在壇前,先去與人和好,然後再向上帝獻禮物。這並非跟隨上帝的額外要求。上帝希冀的,絕對不是沒有和解的宗教。 然而,我們如何能夠一方面熱切關心正道,一方面又與做錯事的人共享團契? 耶穌把追隨者叫到他跟前。 他借用了該隱和亞伯的說話。耶穌就像亞伯,本來無辜,只因與上帝關係密切,招人怨恨而被謀殺。然而,耶穌通過自己的作為,在此重新演繹該隱和亞伯的故事,所展現的卻不是怨恨和憤怒的力量。 亞伯的血有聲音從地裡發出,對他的兄弟提出義憤的控訴;耶穌寶血所發出的,卻是對全人類愛的呼喚,把他們稱為上帝家內的弟兄姊妹。 耶穌將愛與亞伯的無辜連在一起,猶如上帝聖父對上帝聖子說:「你的兄弟該隱在那裡?」於是,與上帝聖父心意完全相通的上帝聖子,把那份完美的禮物放在壇前,前往尋覓對他心懷不滿的人類。在我們邁向審判日的時候,是耶穌主動尋求與人類和好。 活在這一事實之中,就是活在天國之中。上帝將要藉著他的兒子,引領萬物進入公義。我們現在就可參與其中,但這並非真的關乎我們的義。我們的義並非衡量上帝是否與我們同在的標準。所以,我們可以活在弔詭之中,永遠不用犧牲對他人的愛,才能成為上帝公義的子民,只因上帝也永遠不會那樣做。上帝的福音挑戰我們,宣告世界並非以好人與壞人作為區分。上帝要捍衛我們的身分,也要捍衛每一位曾奉聖子之名而活的人的身分。耶穌既是我們的弟兄,也是我們的守護者。 阿們。 Is there anything more satisfying than being right? It’s great being right but it comes with a challenge. You can be right on how you live your life, the right way to care for your parents and children, the right way to display your Christian faith at work. You can be right in discerning exactly the right way for a church to work. The right way to lead a service or a fellowship group or how to welcome people or to serve tea. You can discover the right way to be a Christian. But the challenge comes with one simple question: what do you do with the people who are wrong?
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day put a lot of thought into doing what is right. It wasn’t easy to preserve their identity as the faithful people of God at a time when Palestine was under the oppressive Roman rule. Any disturbance of the peace could result in killings and harsh punishments. The Romans didn’t care which Jewish person started the disagreement. It was important that the whole community tried not to cause a fuss. More than anything the religious leaders wanted to get back to where they had been before the Exile when the Jewish nation was respected by the gentiles as the faithful people of God. But however hard they tried to preserve this identity, there were more and more people who were too weak or too unconcerned to follow their example. In this context Jesus calls his followers to himself and starts talking about righteousness. He starts with the example of murder. They knew the old story from the book of Genesis. Murder began not through people who had no connection, but through brothers. The first brothers of humanity offered gifts to the alter of God. For whatever reason God accepted Abel’s gift and did not accept Cain’s. So Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Now Jesus says to his disciples that murder isn’t the only thing that matters. Before we murder, we harbour anger, resentment. We call people names so all we see is that label. Before that, we label ourselves as righteous and our brother as unrighteous. Perhaps before all of this, in our heart of hearts, we say to God “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. Jesus tells his followers that to be able to connect with God, they cannot distance themselves from their brothers... even the religious leader brothers who are distancing themselves from them. Offering gifts to God is not a solo pursuit. In fact, Jesus says, if we have a gift and we remember that someone has something against us we should leave our gift and seek to make peace with them before offering our gift to God. This is not an added extra to following God. The type of religion God wants is never without reconciliation. But how can someone care passionately about what is right, while being in community with those who are wrong? Jesus calls his followers to himself. He uses the language of Cain and Abel. Like Abel, Jesus is an innocent, murdered out of resentment because of his connection to God. But the power here in Jesus’ retelling the story through his own action, is not resentment and anger. While Abel’s blood cried out in righteous indignation against his brother, Jesus’ blood cries out in love for all humanity who are now called the brothers and sisters of God. Jesus binds love to Abel’s innocence. It’s as if God the Father says to God the Son “where is your brother Cain?” So, God the Son, in perfect communion with God the Father, leaves that perfect gift in front of the alter and seeks out humanity who has something against him. Jesus is the one who seeks to make good with humanity while we are on the road to the day of judgement. To live in this reality is to live in the Kingdom of Heaven. God will bring all things into righteousness through his Son. We can participate in it now, but this isn’t really about our righteousness. Our righteousness is not the measure of God’s presence with us. So, we can live the paradox, we never have to sacrifice love for others to be the righteous people of God, simply because God never does that. The Good News, the offensive news is that the world is not split into good people and bad people. God upholds our identity, and the identity of every human being who has ever lived within the identity of his Son. Jesus Christ is our brother and our keeper too. Amen. |
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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