Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 4th February 2007 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Genesis 1:26-31 and Matthew 25:14-20.


To-day is the Stewardship Sunday at Kowloon Union Church. I was told that KUC usually holds such a Sunday in the beginning of a new year. The purpose is to remind all of us to support KUC’s operation through planned financial contributions as well as to be generous about our time and talent in participating in the work of KUC. All these are vital. These measures can assist the Council especially the honorary treasurer to do some planning for the year. However, it is far more important that we use this occasion to reflect on the meaning and purpose of our life as Christians.

The New Testament lesson we just heard is about a parable in the fifth teaching block in the Gospel of Matthew. This teaching block is generally considered as Jesus’ teaching about the Last Judgment. Many presume the Last Judgment is about our future. But in reality, it is not. It is about our present. It is about the ethics of God’s Kingdom; or if you like, it is about how we, as members of God’s Kingdom or the Church, should behave in this world.

Simply put, this parable is about three servants. Their master went abroad and so used the opportunity to test the talents of his three servants. He gave them 5,000, 2,000 and 1,000 silver coins respectively, hoping that they would make use of whatever was given to them wisely, hopefully to make some profits for him.

The one who received 5,000 silver coins worked hard, took the risk and earned 5,000. Likewise the one who received 2,000 earned 2,000. But the one who received 1,000 was afraid to take the risk and thus decided to dig a hole in the ground and hide the money he received. Upon the return of their master, the two who worked hard and took the risk in investment and doubled what they had been given were commended: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant! You have shown you are trustworthy in small things. I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness!”

But the one who did not work hard and took risk was scolded by his master, “You wicked and lazy servant. If you are so afraid to lose the money I give you, you should deposit it into a bank and earned some interests.” So the master threw the third servant into the darkness outside, leaving him weeping and grinding his teeth.

I hope you will get it right. This parable is not about encouraging you to invest your money in high risks stocks so that in no time you can double what you have. The moral of this parable is about “stewardship”. It is about the servants who are also acting as stewards being faithful or not faithful to their masters. As stewards, they must use whatever their masters give them to further the interests of their masters.

Likewise, Jesus, as our master expects all his followers to make full use of any gifts we have been given, not so much to increase our benefits; but more importantly to further God’s Kingdom, which means for the well being of all of humanity, especially those in dire need.

Superficially, some people may receive more than others. But in reality we all have some gifts. The question is whether we decide to make full use of whatever has been given to us. Helen Keller had many physical disabilities. But she used her heart to the full and thus became one of the most important educators in the 20th Century. Stephen Hawking makes full use of his brain and thus has become one of the greatest scientists of our time. We all have gifts. But the greatest gift God has given us is our life. How do we live our life for God’s glory is the question we should ponder all the time.

We are never alone. We are related to God. Apostle Paul put this God- human relationship in these words, “In God we live, move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). This close God – people relationship was stated in the Jewish Holiness Code (as found in Leviticus 17-26). “I shall be your God and you shall be my people” (Lev. 26:12). This important insight was further elaborated by the 6th Century B.C.E. prophet Jeremiah and a host of other Jewish sages.

According to these sages, God is the only Creator. God owns the entire creation. As the Psalmists of old wrote, “The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his” (Ps. 24:1). They believed further that God does not only create human beings, it is also his will that human beings take care of the earth and all that is in it. This is what the Old Testament lesson (Gen. 1:26-31) for this morning is all about.

So straightly speaking, human beings do not own anything in this world. Everything is a gift from God, so acknowledged King David (I Chron. 29:14). That is why the Christian faith finds it more meaningful to talk about “stewardship” rather than “ownership”.

The Biblical tradition went one step further: as people of faith, we are called to be servants of God. Hence our responsibility is to use whatever we are given to serve God and God alone. We find plenty examples in the Old Testament. God called the Levites as priests to serve in God’s altar; God called David to be the King to serve God’s commandments (I Kings 11:34); God called the prophets in every age to serve God’s Word (hence many times the classical prophets in the Old Testament times often began their oracles by saying, “The Lord says….” Finally God called his servants Israel to be “a light to all nations” (Is. 42:7; 49:6) and so on.

We are God’s servants in God’s world. God has entrusted us with the responsibility not only to take care of His Creation, or to be more specific the whole environment, the whole planet earth, and even the whole universe; but also of each other (Gen. 2:15). Thus as the second fall story in Gen. 4:1-15 indicates, we are the keepers of our brothers and sisters.

Yet, as Jesus told us, we are not ordinary servants, for ordinary servants do not know what their master is doing. We know what God is doing and what He wants us to do (Jn.15:15). For God has revealed to us in and through Jesus about God’s love and plan for oll humanity. Let me quote Jn. 3:16: “For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

As God’s servants, we must all participate in God’s saving plan with “all our heart, all our soul and all our mind.” (Mt. 22:37).

The Jewish forefathers institutionalized this idea of stewardship by introducing the idea of “tithing”, i.e. all Jews had to give a-tenth of what they made for charity and for upkeep of their religious enterprises. To-day the Mormons and most of the fundamental Christians still practice or even enforce this idea of “tithing”. I know, for instance, a famous Church in Washington D.C. called Church of the Saviour. If people want to join that Church as members, they had to first of all go through a two-year course. Then when they joined, they had to pledge to donate a tenth of their total income to the church and to give a tenth of their time, i.e. 16½ hours a week for the work of the church. Since its inception 50 years ago, this Church has a membership of around 80 only, very similar to the size of KUC.

In general, when Churches teach stewardship, they concentrate to encourage their members to give ---- to give generously their money, time and talent to the Church they belong; the more in quantity, the better.

But “stewardship” has little or nothing to do with the question “how much”. But rather it is about the attitude we have in giving. Remember the story about in widow’s offering as recorded in Mk. 12:41-44 and Lk. 21:1-4)? It is about how much Jesus was impressed with the widow’s offering of two little copper coins. Jesus told his disciples, “most people offered what they had to spare of their riches, but this widow offered part or whole of what she had to live on”.

To-day, most people, Christians included, consider whatever we possess materially is of utmost importance. We consider the possessions or wealth we have as a yardstick of success. We also believe these worldly possessions can provide us with a sense of security. But Jesus used the parable of the “rich fool” (Lk. 12:13-21) to teach us otherwise. In fact, riches or all kinds of material things or possessions, like fame, status, riches, etc. can only give us a false sense of security at its best.

Our monastic fathers have taught us another important lesson. One of the vows all monks and nuns had to take was “Poverty”. According to them, poverty has nothing to do with possessions or no possessions. It had everything to do with our attitude towards possessions. Poverty means detachment. When a person, whether materially rich or poor, has taken the vow of poverty, he has taken a different attitude towards all he has. He is detached from all his possessions. Thus he becomes a free person. This implies that as long as we have to have, say a million dollars to live on, we are attached to it and cannot be free. In other words, only when we are detached from the “we have to have” mindset, can we be truly free.

There was a sage in the Old Testament named Job. He worshipped God and was faithful to God. He was able to see through all this.

According to the Scriptures, Job was the richest man in the East, “He had seven sons and three daughters, and owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand head of cattle, and five hundred donkeys. He also had a large number of servants.” (Job. 1:1ff).

One day his home was destroyed. He lost everything. Yet this was what he said,

“I was born with nothing, and I will die nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised.” (Job. 1:21)

Can we be so detached and nonchalant about our possessions? It is only when we reach this stage can we be a free person and use whatever we have for God’s glory. Only then can we find our life fulfilled; and that we are a happier person.

Our life is a tremendous gift of God. Whatever other gifts and possessions we may have are secondary. We must make full use of our life.

One of the most famous writers in Taiwan was Liu Xia (劉俠). Her pen-name was 杏林子. Out of her 60 years of life, she lived 48 of them often in great pain. Since she was 12, she had been suffering from chronic rheumatism. Since then, she was wheel chair bound. But all this could not stop her from writing, mostly about her unpleasant life experiences and how she learned to cope with them. Her writings have influenced many people in Taiwan and beyond. Through her writings, she has given hope to a great number of people who have lost hope and meaning of their life.

In one of her novels she wrote, “one day when I leave this world, I know that I have lived fully.”

As Christians, we must have the conviction that whatever we have or do not have; however our state, smooth sailing in rough waters, God has a purpose for us. So let us live our life to the full. Let us use whatever we have been given for the betterment of this world.