Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 2nd December 2007 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 40:1-9 and John 3:1-21.


To-day is the first Sunday in Advent. According to tradition, it marks the beginning of a new Christian year. It is just like September 1 is the beginning of a school year in Hong Kong and April 1 is the beginning of a financial year for the Hong Kong government.

Every social grouping on this planet earth has its calendar. Every school has its own calendar. Every social work agency has its own yearly plan. So is the Church. The Church has a Christian calendar. The purpose of having a calendar for any organisation is to let its members know what to do: when to work, when to rest and when to celebrate. The Ecclesiasticus of the Apocrypha has these words in its 33rd chapter, verses 7-9:

“Why is one day better than another,
though the sun gives the same daylight
throughout the year?
They have been differentiated in the mind of the Lord,
who has differentiated the seasons and the feasts;
Some he has made more important and has hallowed,
others he made ordinary days.”

Broadly speaking, the Christian calendar is divided pretty evenly into two halves: the first half is the Year of the Lord. In it, the Church celebrates the life of our Lord Jesus Christ: from his birth, his ministry, his death and resurrection to his ascension. The second half is the year of the Church. In this Church year, the Church moves from commemoration and celebration of the life of our Lord, to re-enact his ministry – his words and his deeds. This is the year when the Church goes to work.

You must have noticed the change of the liturgical colours: from green to purple. Green represents the earth. The Church goes out to work on this earth. Purple or what we sometimes call the royal purple represents the presence of the King. Purple also represents our repentance. We confess that we have turned away from our Lord. Now we need to turn back to him.

In this Advent, I propose we read chapter 40 of Isaiah in our morning worship, a portion each Sunday. This chapter marks the beginning of II Isaiah. In this chapter the prophet prophesied the eventual return or salvation of God’s chosen people. It is one of the most moving chapters in the Hebrew Bible.

I have also chosen the very last verse, viz. 40:31 as the theme of my Advent series of sermons. It reads,

“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (NRSV)

Those who wait for the Lord. This is from the NRSV of the Bible. The NJB reads “those who hope for the Lord” and the Bible in our pews reads, “those who trust in the Lord”. Whether wait, hope or trust carries the same proactive meaning. It does not mean we do nothing. But rather we need to refocus our life.

According to some church traditions, the four Sundays in Advent are attributed to Rebirth or Born again from Above; the Bible; John the Baptist and Mary. So I would like to preach on how those themes help us to do the refocusing: Born from Above, listening to the Word of God; humble service and absolute obedience.

The theme for the first Sunday is Rebirth. I have chosen Jn 3:1-21 as the basis for our reflections.

Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night and engaged Jesus in a very serious conversation. Through this conversation, the Gospel writer of John introduced one of the two main themes of the whole Gospel: God is Love. The other was in chapter four – through Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman, the Gospel purported that God is Spirit.

Who was Nicodemus? He was a Jewish leader, most likely a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the ruling body which took care of all social, cultural and religious affairs in the Jewish society in Palestine. Because of his high position, he felt more comfortable to come to see Jesus at night. He was also a Jewish teacher – a man of wisdom. He knew from Jesus’ teaching that Jesus was sent from God; and that because the miracles or the signs Jesus performed, God must be with him.

What was Nicodemus’s concern? We do not know directly. But from what Jesus said, we know that Nicodemus’ concern was about the Kingdom of God.

First in verse 3, Jesus said, I am telling you the truth, nobody can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.

“How can a grown man be born again? He certainly cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time.” Nicodemus asked a very pertinent question. Like many of us, Nicodemus could not go beyond what is physical in his thinking. That explains why in many versions of the Bible, instead of the words “born again”, “born above” were used. “Born above” signified special or extraordinary birth. In line with the same thinking, the Early Church insisted that Jesus was born of Virgin Mary. In fact since the fourth century, “Jesus born of Virgin Mary” has become a part of the Christian dogma.

In modern times, the term “born again Christians” was popularized since the 1960s in the southern part of the United States of American which was called the Bible Belt. When a Christian was born again, he would give up certain things. Oftentimes, before that person was born again, he would engage in several of the social ills, like drugs, womanizing, alcohol, gambling and so on. After he was born again, he would give up all these things. He would even quit smoking and dancing.

Some fifty years ago, a Sunday school classmate of mine went to Blue Mountain College, a Baptist college to further her studies. She was socially very active. One of the first letters she wrote was about how hard it was for her to be in this fundamental college. There were a lot of rules which she had to follow. One of those was that Dancing was forbidden. She was often asked whether she was saved, alluding that she had not been born again. Even up to this day, many born-again Christians still think that they are worldly better than others. They are not only dogmatic but rigid, exclusive and dominating as well. A typical case is the U.S. President, George W. Bush. He admitted that he was a wayward youth; but after he was born again, he was a different person. He thought whoever was not for him were his enemies. So North Korea, Iraq and Iran are the axis of evil.

Second, in verse 5 Jesus took Nicodumus a bit further, “No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” “Born of water” alludes to the ritual of Baptism. Jesus himself was baptised in River Jordan by his forerunner John the baptizer. Water used in the ritual has the cleaning effect. In the ritual of baptism the old self of a person is washed away. He is a new person. The old person exists in the state of sin as recorded in Genesis 3-11. This is the state of disobedience, rebellions, ingratitude and arrogance; in a word separated for God. The new person is in the state of Genesis 1 and 2. It is a state in full communion with God.

A new person is born out of water; but at the same time into the Spirit.

Anyone born into the Spirit becomes a free person: free from the bondage of sin or limitation. A person with the Spirit is a person not bound by rules and regulations; not bound by the value system of this world – fame, power, status, wealth, success, numbers, achievement etc. But instead, he/she is free and able to respond, especially respond to the needs of other people.

Third, beginning from verse 11, Jesus moved from the explanation of the Kingdom of God to the King. Jesus was the King. He was born from above. Therefore he was able to show us the special love relationship in the Kingdom of God. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only son…” (vs. 15). Because of this love, Jesus was willing to give up his life so that all kinds of broken relationships relating to God and human beings may be restored. A life in full communion with God and in appropriate relationship with each other is eternal life. The only way to experience this eternal life is to believe in Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ? Jesus gave the typology as recorded in Numbers 21:4-9 of the Old Testament. When the Israelites were wandering in the Sinai wilderness, many were bitten by poisonous snakes and died. So their leader Moses prayed to God. God asked that a bronze snake be made and that Moses would put it on a pole, so that anyone who had been bitten would look at the bronze snake and be healed.

Likewise Jesus would be hung on a cross later and all those who believed in him would have eternal life (Jn 3:16).

This typology highlighted how God through Moses saved the Israelites in the Old Testament; and through Jesus saved all humanity. In comparison, we know Moses used a bronze snake; but Jesus used his own life as the medium of God’s saving act. People’s required responses are necessarily different too! In the time of Moses, all those who wanted to be healed would only require to look at the bronze snake. But in our time, all who wanted to be saved and experience eternal life would have to believe in Jesus. “Believe in” implies total commitment. It entails like Jesus, our total obedience to God and again like Jesus live a sacrificial life, to be “a person for others”.

For indeed, this is what Jesus commanded all his disciples or followers: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:34// Mt 16:24// Lk 9:23).

To be born again or to be born from above is to decide to turn back to God; i.e. to be in communion with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is to say we decide to become like Jesus. This is the only way not only to have a glimpse of eternal life in the Kingdom of God; but also to enter it as well.

Glory be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.