Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 20th January 2008 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 49:1-6 and I Thessalonians 5:12-18.


Since the middle of the 19th century, there were small circles of Christian leaders who pioneered the concern about the unity of the Church, notably the leaders of the Oxford Movement and many women groups in Europe and N. America. But it was not until 1968 that the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity which started to promote the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity every year on January 18 to 25, to pick a theme as well as to prepare special material for use in local churches all over the world.

HKCC for decades sponsors an open communion and fellowship breakfast for church representatives, organize seminars, and prayer meetings during the week and the exchange of pulpits on Unity Sunday. It also prepares or translates material for local churches to use during the week as well as for Sunday services.

All these endeavours help promote better understanding between Christians and especially church leaders. For a lot of hostilities were due to misunderstanding and ignorance.

About 15 years ago I received a phone call from the Orthodox Church who have just begun to work in Hong Kong. They tried to organize a course on Christian worship. It would consist of 4 seminars: respectively about the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, the Anglican and the Free Church traditions. They wanted to put an advertisement in the Christian Weekly, but to no avail. Later I found out that the staff of the Weekly (and perhaps the conservative church leaders behind the scene) did not know anything about the Orthodox Church. They thought the Church was not “Christian” but rather a sect like the Mormors. How sad! You know, if there are any deviations from the origins of Christianity, it would be the conservative Christians; and also ourselves at KUC!

The situation is actually much better now than when I was growing up. One of my earliest sermons preached was at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in Shek Kip Mei in 1967. Twenty years ago, I was invited to concelebrate a wedding at St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church on Prince Edward Road. But there is still a very long way for us Protestants to get to know some of our roots from Roman Catholism and the very rich Orthodox tradition.

The Christian Church began in Jerusalem 10 days after the ascension of Jesus Christ. There was only one Church. It was a movement and the life as recorded in Acts chapters 2 and 3 was simple: “Each day with one heart, they went to the Temple… they shared their food gladly and generously… they praised God.” However, soon it expanded and grew very rapidly. Churches were built all over the Greco-Roman world. There were both Jews and non-Jews in those churches. So there was the dispute whether Christians should follow the first Jewish Christians and be circumcized as well as to follow other Jewish laws and customs. The first church council ever held as recorded in Acts 15 pleaded for tolerance and inclusiveness.

As the Christian Church developed, “follow the leaders” game followed. Some said they belonged to Cephas and some to Paul; other claimed they belonged Apollos and yet others to Christ… (I Cor. 1:12). Apostle Paul had tried to hold the divisive Church at the time together. All Christians should look only to Christ he said. There was only one Christ who suffered and was crucified on the cross for all humanity. Paul also used the analogy of a human body to describe the Church. The Church has members from diversified cultural backgrounds, but in Christ they all belong together; just as a body has many parts: legs, hands, ears, eyes etc. Also, just as each part of the body is useful, every member within the Church is essential. (c.f. I Cor. 12:12-30 and Rom. 12:3-8).

The first serious split within the Christian Church happened in 1086 A.D. when the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople took the extreme action of mutual excommunication. But in reality, the split between the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East happened long before the 11th Century. The Western Latin Church and the Eastern Byzantine Church were two very different churches in culture and language as well as in ecclesiastical rites and order.

The second serious schism happened in the 16th century. The Church of England broke away from Rome over the struggle for supremacy; and the German and Swiss reformers broke away from Rome over doctrinal controversies.

The post-reformation gave rise to denominations. There were the Anglicans and the Episcopalians; the Lutherans and the Presbyterians; the Congregationalists; the Anabaptists which gave rise to the Baptist, the Alliance and the Evangel Churches. The Methodists are an offshoot of the Anglicans, etc. etc.

By one count in Hong Kong to-day there are more than 40 different denominations and about 1200 plus local congregations in the Protestant and Anglican arm of Christianity. In Hong Kong the Lutheran family alone has 7 different groups: the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Tsung Tsun Church related to the Basel Mission, the Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Synod, the Rhenish Church, the Hong Kong and Macau Lutheran Church… I was told some would not talk to the others. They even refuse to pray together. How very sad!

A handful of church leaders with visions for long have realized that the Church Universal divided was contrary to Christ teaching that the Church should be One. They have also concluded that only a Church united would help the common witness of God’s love and justice in the increasingly chaotic and violent world, while a church divided would only engage in doing their own things, rather than addressing important issues of the day; worse still would engage in mutual attacks. Consequently, since the beginning of the 20th century, there were many attempts to work towards the Unity of the Church, at least on a national or regional level. Prime examples included United Church of Canada and the Church of Christ in China in the 1920s. The Church of South India (CSI) established in 1947 went one step further. For the CSI, besides free churches it also involved the Anglicans. The Church of North India, and the Church of Ghana established in 1960s basically followed the C.S.I. model.

One of the major purposes of the modern day ecumenical movement was to promote church Unity – perhaps not so much organic unity of the church, but rather churches working together. “Joint Action For Mission” was their famous motto.

Following the zenith of colonization by the Western powers in the 19th century, missionary societies flocked to Asia and Africa to work. As a result there were fierce competitions in the mission fields. The mission conference in Edinburgh in 1910 and its aftermath established the principle of parity. In a word, churches which followed this principle agreed that they should try to work not in the same area or region. For example in South China, Fukien Province was mainly the mission field of the Reformed Church in America; while the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. mainly worked in Canton. So the first phase of the Ecumenical Movement was a movement about churches throughout the world praying together and working together. It was to avoid a repeat of what Jesus Christ warned in his farewell discourse with his disciples that “those who share the same table lifted up their heels against each other (Jn 13:18 quoting Ps 41:9). This prediction was not only about Jesus’ betrayal by his own disciples; but also his followers over the centuries who engaged in fierce competitions and worse still mutual attacks.

The contemporary Ecumenical Movement aims much more than the Unity within one Church. True to its name, ecumenical or “OIKOUMENE” – the whole inhibited earth, it advocates especially the reconciliation of the humankind; and indeed the Unity with God and God’s entire creation.

The history of the Christian Church is a history of 2,000 years of constant splits and schism. In a way, it was unavoidable because of its rapid expansion ever since the beginning. Even as early as the end of the third century, churches were established all over Europe, Northern part of Africa, Middle East and by one report as far as India. There were certainly very different cultures, customs and languages in these vast areas. It was true that the first vital schism between the Western Church and the Eastern Church as well as the second important Schism within the Western Church were due to serious theological differences. However, if we look deeper, we can conclude that almost all schisms since were due to the fact that people have put God aside. Churches have become merely human “fellowship” or “families” rather than God’s Church or God’s servants on earth.

In the week of Prayer for Christian Unity, our attention invariably is on the macro level. We pray for the Church Universal, forgetting that the unity within our own local church is just as important. Over the past four decades working in Hong Kong, I have seen many times quarrels in a local church over very trivial matters rather than issues of life and death. These quarrels sometimes even ended up with certain members leaving the church and started their own. These incidents in local churches invariably began with a kind of dogmatism: “This is the way I see things. I am right and you are wrong”. Dominance and rigidity play a key part in all this. Worse still, we often think that we have to insist our way because we have to defend God. But brothers and sisters, God does not need us to defend. We need to be reminded constantly that God is the God of all creation. God’s creation is so huge, diversified and complex that we need to learn how to embrace and appreciate it. There is only one and only one road towards Church unity and the unity of the humankind: All Christians and Churches must turn to God (Te Deum) in utter humility like John the Baptist and absolute obedience like Mary, the Holy mother. Church unity is a reality. Only that we intentionally or unintentionally cover it up because of our self-centeredness.

The theme for this year’s Unity week is “Pray Without Ceasing”.

It is often said that the end of the path we take is the beginning of God’s way. This world is in dire need. So do we, the Church, and us individually. We need to once again be serious about how to be in full communion with God again. Prayer is the key. When we pray, we give up our self-centeredness and thus will be able to reunite with God.

Secondly, Prayer also helps us to focus our actions in the right direction. It is often said that prayer is the action before our action. Just look at Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane. Jesus was about to be arrested and be put on a cross, to suffer and die in the most humiliating way. “His soul was extremely sorrowful” (Mk 14:35). Thus he prayed to God, “Abba, Father, for you everything is possible. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have it.” (Mk 14:36// Mt. 26:39// Lk 22:44). After Jesus had prayed aguishly and earnestly, he decided to go God’s way!

At this moment in the Unity Sunday, it is most appropriate that we pray not only for Church Unity, the Unity of humankind, but especially about our unity with God.

Let us pray:

O God of peace, who through your son Jesus Christ set forth one faith for the salvation of humankind: Send your grace and blessing to all Christians who are striving to draw nearer to you and to each other, in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace. Grant us penitence for our divisiveness; wisdom to know the truth; courage to do your will; love which will break down the barriers of pride, prejudice and hate; and an unwavering loyalty to you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.