Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 29th April 2007 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Jeremiah 30:1-11 and John 8:1-11.


Christianity has its roots in Judaism, or the religion of the Jews. Our Holy Bible consists of both the Old and the New Testaments. The Old Testament is actually the Bible of Judaism which is generally known as the Hebrew Bible. Though arranged slightly different, the five books in Torah (or the Law), eight books in Neviim (Prophets) and 11 books in Ketuvim (holy scrolls) correspond with the 39 books of our Old Testament.

Jesus himself was a Jew. His disciples and most of their followers were Jews. In fact the word “Christian” which signified the early Christians was only first used in Antioch in the middle of the first century B.C.E. (c.f. Acts 11:26). In other words, it is correct to say that the first generation of Christians were Jews before they became Christians.

This point is worthy of our reckoning. For oftentimes Christians tend to forget our roots. Many of us think that in order to affirm our beliefs, we have to give up our cultural identity, heritage and gifts.

From the Acts of the Apostles, we know that the Early Church worshipped very much like what the Jews did: rather simple. It probably included the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the singing of psalms, prayers, etc. Only the preaching by Jesus’ disciples was added. The teachings or didache of the Early Church put a great deal of emphasis on Jesus’ teaching, other than those in the Septuagint which is equivalent to the Old Testament in Greek.

What is unique in Christianity is in the person of Jesus Christ, Indeed, Jesus Christ is the Gospel or the Euvangelion. This was emphasized by the Early Church in their writings.

The faith in God in the Old Testament times had become stagnant long before the birth of Jesus. The pious Jews came to rely on the Torah instead of the living God. Their life goal was to try to follow the Torah or the Law. The Law had thus become their god.

Of course, the Law can help us to understand God. It can help us to consolidate the God-people relationship: God is our God and we are God’s people. This was in fact the central message of the whole Old Testament. But the Law can never replace God. In a word, instead of helping people to be faithful to God, the Law could become an instrument to separate people from God. This alienation was so serious that finally God had to decide to send His Only Son, Jesus Christ to restore this inalienable God-people relationship. This explains why in all the three Synoptic Gospels: Mark, Matthew and Luke, it was emphasized that when Jesus had breathed his last, the curtain in the temple which separated the congregation and the Holy (the Holy symbolized the presence of God) was torn into two from top to bottom (Mk 15:37// Mt 27:51// Lk 23:45).

Jesus had reconciled all humanity to God. So the Gospel of Jesus, first and foremost, as Paul called it, is the Gospel of Reconciliation (II Cor 5:19). This Gospel does not only say that we are not in servitude to the Law; but because of our genuine relationship to the living God, our life is very precious. Or to put it in another way, the Gospel of Reconciliation says that no matter who I am or whatever I have done, I am accepted by God!

This is what the story we read this morning, the story of the woman who caught in adultery, all about. This story as recorded only in John (or rather only in some manuscripts in John) is not about whether adultery was permissible. It is not even about how Jesus avoided the adulterous woman being stoned to death. But it is about how Jesus accepted the woman even though she was despised by the whole society. Moreover, this story is about how Jesus enabled the transformation of the lives of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees as well as the crowd. When Jesus confronted them by saying that “whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the stone at her” (10:7), they finally realized that they were all sinners one way or the other, so they left one by one. I believe the scribes, the Pharisees, as well as the crowd had not only accepted the woman, but had also come to terms with their own life as well.

We often feel a sense of deep alienation. We feel that we are separated from our loved ones. We feel that we have difficulty even to accept ourselves. We have these feelings because we are alienated from God. Therefore we need to hear once again and accept the Gospel of Reconciliation. God has reconciled himself to us through Jesus Christ. We are totally accepted: accepted just as we are. Our life is precious. Thus there is no way we cannot accept ourselves, our relatives, friends and colleagues.

Coming back to the Gospel of Reconciliation, it is never cheap. Jesus Christ had to die on the cross so that this reconciliation could take peace. The cross is the demarcation between Judaism and Christianity. To the Jews and non-believers, the cross is nonsense or scandalous; but to us Christians, it is the power of God, so says Paul (I Cor 1:18; 22).

However, the cross was never the end. The cross was to be followed by the empty tomb. Jesus’ crucifixion was followed immediately by his resurrection. This was the core of the Apostolic Preaching. The Acts of the Apostles recorded five sermons by Peter in chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10; and one sermon by Paul in chapter 13. The central message of these six sermons was exactly the same: “God has raised Jesus from death” (2:31; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40 and 13:30).

The Cross and the Empty tomb are two sides of the same coin. The Cross is in vain if there is no resurrection. Likewise, the empty tomb is not possible without Jesus’ sacrificial love.

It is extremely rare that all the four gospels narrated Jesus’ teaching in the same manner, using almost exact wording. But Jesus’ teaching about the mystery of life is an exception.

“For whosoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whosoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it” (Mk 8:35-36// Mt 16:25-26// Lk 9:24-25// Jn 12:24-25).

Superficially, this is a striking contradiction. But when we think over this slightly deeper, it is not too hard to comprehend. If I am only concerned about myself, it is unavoidable that I shall reduce all my attention only to my life and my well being, forgetting there is a whole wide world outside me.

Early this month, one of the richest woman in Asia died. She was 70. I could imagine that she was not a happy person. In the past decade, she was involved in a lengthy legal battle with her father-in-law over her late husband’s estate. I was told that she almost secluded herself in her office cum living quarters at the flag office tower of her conglomerate in East Tsim Sha Tsui. Except a handful of senior colleagues, she saw no one, including her very close relatives. Outside her work and essential engagements, she did nothing. Despite she was rich and was in control of a huge business empire which worth at least 30 billion HK dollars, her life was very poor by any standards. She was isolated from people. She was extremely lonely indeed. It seems her problems are not yet over and that she cannot rest in peace following the cremation of her body. Another legal battle over who can inherit her wealth is now looming. This was what Jesus meant when he said, “Does a person gain anything if he wins the whole world but loses his life? (Mk 8:36// Mt 16:26// Lk 9:25).

Today, with very few exceptions, people live and work for themselves only. The dominant mindset of the day is “everybody for himself”. There was an old Chinese saying, “人不為己，天誅地滅”or “if people do not seek for their own interests and benefits, heaven and earth will destroy them”. Unfortunately this has become a truism in this post-modern world.

But this is contrary to what Jesus preached. Jesus preached the Gospel of Renunciation, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.”(Mk 8:34, NJ.B// Mt 16:24// Lk 9:23).

We now live in a rather chaotic or even horrid world. We are worried about our own safety or safety of our children constantly; we worry about our job, our career, our growing up children as well as their education and so on. When we look around, it is even more scary. Almost daily we hear about immense human suffering due to natural disasters or senseless killings. The latter does not only take place in war zones in Iraq and Darfar, Sudan, but also in the sanctuaries of learning. We were all shocked by the mass murder of Virginia Tech ten days ago… It seems that we are living in a hopeless world. Not quite. This is the message of Prophet Jeremiah of the 6th century B.C.E. In the year 586, Jerusalem was overturned and many Jews were deported to Babylon. Once again the Jews were dispersed. In the midst of extreme harsh realities, this was in part Jeremiah’s message of comfort:

“so do not be afraid,
do not be alarmed,
declared Lord God.
……
For I am with you to save you.
……”
(30:10-11)

As history unfolded, God’s promise through Jeremiah was fulfilled some 30 years later.

God’s promise also applies to us to-day. No matter how harsh our situations, how long our difficulties last, God will be with us and save us.

To assure us of this promise there is always hope against hope, God sent his only son only to be crucified on a cross. There is nothing like this in all of human history. Let me paraphrase the very end of Jesus’ farewell discourse with his disciples (as found in Jn 14-16): Jesus’ sacrificial love has defeated all evil forces in the world.

To-day, Churches and Christians throughout the world want to put evangelism as their priority in mission. They all believe what Paul had said, “I am under the orders to preach the Gospel. I should be in trouble if I failed to do so.” (I Cor. 9:16). But what gospel do they preach? The Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the Gospel of Reconciliation through Renunciation or the Gospel of personal reward and possession? Oftentimes, our goal to do evangelism is to fill our pews with more people. However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands us to become like Jesus. Jesus’ Gospel is never the gospel of success and the expansion in quantity. It has nothing to do with the increase in numbers and hence the genuine Gospel of Jesus was never popular.

Perhaps the most urgent task now for the historic and universal Church of which KUC is a part is to engage in serious self-evangelism. We all need to re-learn the Gospel of Jesus Christ through in-depth Bible studies and through the sharing of our reflections on our life experiences. The core of the Christian Gospel is about life, our life as well as Jesus’ life. In order to preach the Gospel, we have to become like Jesus. Jesus taught his disciples always by example. In teaching them the new commandment of love, Jesus humbly washed his disciples’ feet. He took up the cross in Golgotha to demonstrate what his Gospel was all about: “For the Son of Man himself came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45// Mt 20:28// Lk 22:27).

Glory be to God, to Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.