Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 26th November 2006 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Leviticus 26:3-10, Philippians 4:4-7 and Luke 17:11-19.

According to the Christian calendar, to-day is the last Sunday of the year. For the traditional Churches it is also the festival of Christ the King. Next Sunday, the 3rd of December, will be the first Sunday in Advent. Advent is not only the season of preparation and waiting; waiting for the birth of Jesus; it also marks the beginning of a new Christian year. In order to prepare for the Christian New Year, many of us worked hard yesterday, to thoroughly clean the church buildings, to put up banners and decorations… In this last Sunday of the Christian year, it would be most appropriate to offer our thanks to God, who for the past year has done wonders in our life. God never failed to love us and care for us, though often times God did it in God’s own way; in a way which we do not fully understand.

Many Churches throughout the world celebrate this Sunday with a special service of thanksgiving. Like what our children did a while ago, congregation members bring farm products, various kinds of vegetables and fruits as well as other things symbolizing the richness of God’s blessings, to be offered to God. This practice was originated from an ancient Jewish tradition: the celebration of the Festival of Tabernacles. Three thousand years ago, when the Israelites left Egypt, the land of bondage, and after 40 years in the wilderness in the Sinai Peninsula, they went into the Promised Land, Canaan. Most of them became farmers. Naturally it was extremely tough in the beginning year. After a lot of hard work, they were ready to harvest. So they built terbanacles to store their farm products. More importantly, they gathered and offered their thanks to God joyfully. Psalm 65 was written as a hymn of Thanksgiving and praise to God:

“You visit the earth and make it fruitful,
You fill it with riches;
The river of God brims over the water,
You provide the grain.
To that end
You water its furrows abundantly, level its ridges,
Soften it with showers and bless its shoots.
You crown the year with your generosity,
Richness seeps from your tracks,
The pastures of the desert grow moist,
The hillsides are wrapped in joy,
The meadows are covered with flocks,
The valleys clothed with wheat,
They shout and sing for joy.”
(Psalm 65:9-13)

The modern “Thanksgiving” festival has everything to do with a group of puritans who left England on board the Mayflower in the year 1620. Life in a new land was never easy. So in their first harvest, they chose to return their heart-felt thanks to God. The federal government of the United States of America had long pronounced that 80 days after the Labour Day (i.e. the first Monday in September) is “Thanksgiving Day” and it is a public holiday across the nation. This usually falls on the 4th Thursday in November. On that long weekend, family members, no matter how far away they are, tend to go home and celebrate thanksgiving in joy with the entire family.

Nowadays, most of us live in concrete jungles. We are alienated from any kind of farm life. It is difficult to feel the joy like the farmers did after they reaped the fruits from their hard labour.

Half-a-century ago Hong Kong was a rather poor city. There was a Chinese saying, “a bowl of congee or a bowl of rice does not come by easily.” So in those days, whenever people had a bowl of rice to eat, they felt happy and were satisfied.

To-day, Hong Kong has become rather affluent. Things come to us fairly easily. Hence all of us tend to take things for granted. It was not that easy for us to have a thankful heart.

When I was a boy, whenever I received a gift, I was overjoyed and treasured it very much, though the gift may be small and did not worth much in monetary terms.

Nowadays, I wonder how many of us treasure gifts from our loved ones, friends or colleagues? No wonder instead of getting a wedding gift, oftentimes people simply buy a cash coupon for the newly-weds!

Fifteen years ago, five American academics published a book called “The Good Society”. It was the result of a research project for more than a decade. These were some of the findings. To-day, the book stated, most of the Americans were selfish and laxed. They were spoiled by the abundance of their own country. Easily, they could get whichever consumer goods they like. Most Americans had lost their zest to work. All they wanted was a good life, which was synonymous with material comfort and enjoyment. They received no challenge from their family, school, nor work place. They seldom thought of striving for the welfare of others. Take family as an example. Its members hardly felt that since they belonged to that family, they had a responsibility to contribute to its well being. On the contrary, they expected the family to take care of them and satisfy their wants and desires. Whenever the family could not satisfy them, they would just leave . The book concluded by saying that on the whole people did not feel that they exist for the society. On the contrary they expected the society to take care of their needs. Yet even by chance when their needs were satisfied, they would never bother to say a simple “Thank you”.

Is this also a vivid description of many of us? Indeed a thankful heart is foreign to all of us.

In the gospel lesson we just heard, Jesus healed ten lepers. But only one came back and thanked Jesus. As the Bible is a mirror of all of us, we need to look at that passage again and again, and asked the question, “how can I be that Samaritan who has a thankful heart?”

Apostle Paul had gone through a lot of hardships and tribulations in his life after his conversion. In his second letter to Corinthians, he wrote, “Compared with other apostles, I have been in prison more. I have been flogged more severely, many times exposed to death. Five times I have been given thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been ship-wrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a night and a day; continually traveling, I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people, and in danger from the gentiles, in danger in towns and in danger in the open country, in danger at sea and in danger from the people masquerading as brothers. I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing. And besides all the external things, there is, day in and day out, the pressure on me of any anxiety for all the churches. If anyone weakens, I am weakened as well; and when anyone is made to fall, I burn in agony myself.” (II Cor. 11:23-29, NJB). And yet with all this, Paul wrote to the Philippines these words, “Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7, TEV). A thankful heart makes all the difference in this world and in our life as well!

On 22nd November, 1963 at about 1 p.m. Eastern Standard time, the 43rd U.S. President John F. Kennedy was shot dead. The whole nation, including myself who was a student at Yale at the time was shocked and dumbfounded. Six days later it was Thanksgiving Day. Both Mrs. Kennedy and President Johnson declared that both of their families would celebrate Thanksgiving as usual. Because of their decision, the whole nation experienced a new meaning of thanksgiving. A thankful heart can help us see the deeper meaning, hence the abundance, of our life. It enables us to move forward, even in the low ebbs of our life.

In this Thanksgiving Sunday, we thank God for giving us so much in our life. As Paul once said, “God’s grace is enough for me” (II Cor. 12:9). The greatest gift God has given us is not only our life, but also God’s forgiveness. We have sinned, both in the things we have erred and in the things we have neglected.

For example, God has put us in this great universe with all its beauty. Do we know how to enjoy it and care for it? More importantly, have we tried our best to protect it? The abuse or the pollution of the environment has become the second most serious problem in the world other than Poverty. Another example: We live in God’s oikomene. In it there are people with different cultural gifts, different abilities and different orientation in life-styles. This plurality is a great gift from God. Have we tried to embrace all of this or reject some of it only because of our narrow-mindednees and prejudices? In a word, we have been alienated from God and God’s creation. Because of our selfish will and deeds, we have also been separated from many other people, which include those who need our help, our colleagues, our friends and even our loved ones.

But through the sacrificial love of the Incarnate Christ, all our sins are forgiven. We can once again experience harmony in our life, with other people and indeed with God. We can experience “Shalom”, or “the peace which passes all understanding.” So Thanksgiving finally is about Thanks-forgiving.

We have received from God, much more than we realize. Do we want to share with other people, especially those in dire need a part of what God has given us?

What can we offer? A great deal! I have seen time and again many alternative abled people doing things even able people find it difficult to do. Not too long ago, there was a featured story in Ming Pao. It was about a 30-year old man, who without arms and hands used his feet to repair watches. There is a Chinese saying, “heaven gives birth to everyone for a useful purpose.” We do not give not because we are incapable of giving, but it is because we do not want to.

Indeed we are full of all sorts of excuses for not offering what we have. When I was a theological student in the U.S.A., I worked in church camps in both summers. I learned many camp songs. One which sticked in my mind entitled, “Use me O Lord, but not now”.

It goes something like this: The first verse: Use me O Lord, but not now; please use me only when I graduated from college. The second verse: Use me, O Lord, but not now; please use me after I have established my career. The third verse: O Lord use me, but not now; please us me after I have gotten married and started my own family. The fourth verse: Use me O Lord, but not now, use me after my children have all grown up…

Beside the excuse that there is no time, other excuses included: we do not have enough education, nor talent, nor experience…

We are all familiar with the parable of three servants as recorded in Mt 25:14-30. The three servants received five, two and one thousand silver coins respectively from their master. The morals of this parable is not about how much the servants received; it is about whether the servants make use of what they have. Likewise some of us may have a Ph.D., others with only primary education; some of us may be wealthy, others as poor as a church mouse. That makes no difference. Our love and care for someone in need; or our kindness and a smile to the people we have never met oftentimes can go a long way. The issue of giving or sharing is not a matter of quantity, but always it is a matter of our mind and our heart.

One day, Jesus sat near the temple’s offering box and watched the people as they dropped their offering into the box. There came a poor widow, she carefully put two little copper coins into the offering box. Jesus had this to say, “I tell you this poor widow put more into the offering box than all others. For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches, but she poor as she is, put in all she had – she gave all she had to live on.” (Mk 12:41-44; Lk 21:1-4). So thanks-offering or thankful giving is a matter of our attitude. This is what Jesus had to say about the greatest and the first Commandment, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind; and the second greatest resembles it; you must love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mt 22:37-40; Mk 12:28-31; Lk 10:25-28 and Jn 13:34-35).

God has given us more than we realize. Every life is like a gold mine. When we dig deep, we are bound to find some gold. A person with a thankful heart and a heart of sharing will always find within hmself or herself a great deal of hidden potentials and talents.

A person with a thankful heart will seize every opportunity to do greater things. There was a story about the great conductor Tusconini. Tusconini, a violinist, was suffering from severe myopia. He could not see the music clearly. So he worked hard to memorize all the music. One time, just prior to a performance, the conductor felt ill. Since Tusconini knew the music well, he was asked to be the substitute conductor. It turned out to be a very successful concert. This marked the beginning of Tusconini’s career as one of the best known conductors in the 20th century.

Thanksgiving is the basic attitude for every Christian. We thank God for the many gifts God has given us, the greatest of these are God’s forgiveness to us and a life full of love. Let us decide then to turn our life into a life of thankful-giving.