Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 13th April 2008 by Rev. Kwok Nai Wang. The scripture readings that day were Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Matthew 9:18-26.


The Old Testament lesson (Genesis 1:1-2:4a) for this morning is rather lengthy. It was a hymn of creation – it praises God as the Creator – and not a scientific account regarding how the earth and all that is were created. In Genesis, there are 2 “creation accounts” – one was this morning’s. It was usually titled the “P” account. The other follows immediately after the first account. It is found in Genesis 2:4b-25, which began with these words, “When the Lord God made the universe, …” to the very end of chapter 2. This is the “J” account. The first account, the Priestly or “P” account came much later than the “J” or Jehovah account. The whole book of Genesis attempted to affirm the beginnings of God’s creation. It was God who called everything into existence. The word Genesis literally means the beginnings.

A more appropriate translation for Genesis 1:1 is “When God began to create the universe”. This suggests God’s creation continues. It did not end with the order of the universe which God had called into being.

Another point worths our attention is during the process of creation, it was God’s Word which brought things to life. God commanded, “let there be light”, there was light (vs.3)…. God commanded” let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places”. And it was done (vs.6-7)… the same were repeated in vss 9; 14; 20; 24 and 26.

Thus, God’s Word and God’s acts are two sides of the same coin. God’s Word causes things to happen and God’s acts represent God’s living Word. In final analysis, God’s acts always bring forth Life. Hence God’s Word is the Word of Life.

Human beings are called into existence by God. It is therefore only in God’s Word that human beings find meaning and purpose in life. When we do not live by God’s Word or the Word of life, our life becomes hollow and meaningless. Thus, we only exist instead of really live.

In the Genesis story, we also learn that God’s acts are all good. That is why in every epoch of God’s creation, Genesis includes these words, “God saw that it was good.” (vss 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 and 51 – both NJB and NRSV use these words). In context, the word “good” denotes wholeness or perfection.

Some Biblical scholars suggested that God’s creation was not so much creatio ex nihilo or creation out of nothing; but rather it is the creation from chaos to order. Both the New Jerusalem Bible and the New Revised Standard Version Bible stated clearly that when God began to create heaven and earth, the earth was formless and void… so God put things in order, one by one, from space to time, from plants and animals… and finally to human beings, until everything is in good or perfect order. It is always God’s will to put the entire creation from chaos to order. Much later Apostle Paul would write in his first letter to the Corinthians, “God does not want us to be in disorder, but instead in harmony and peace.” (I Cor 14:33). It is human beings, the centre of God’s creation, who constantly defile God’s will and cause disorder and confusion in this world. From the Word of Life, we turn it into the word of destruction.

God came to us through Jesus Christ to show us once again in no uncertain terms about the Word of Life.

Our ministerial group studied the Bible together every fortnight. On March 11, we studied chapter 9 of John’s Gospel. It is by far the longest healing story ever recorded. It was about the healing of a blind man by Jesus. We all got many Biblical insights from this very interesting healing story. One which stood out was what the blind man said, “One thing I know, I was blind, now I see” (vs. 25). What he meant was that Jesus had made him whole. Yes, Jesus is the Word of Life. Jesus always has compassion on our brokenness – whether physical, psychological or spiritual, and will make us whole again.

I have a graduate student who has been with me for two years. Despite the fact that she was blind, she serves as a preacher in a small local church in East Kowloon. I greatly admire her dedication in her studies. She took notes with her simple machine. She asks questions and fully participates in the discussion during classes and sometimes even after classes. She uses her computer to read her assignments since all my books as well as most the assigned books are in the computer. She would just transmit these into her own computer for blind people. She told me one time that it was her faith in God which helps her to overcome her handicap.

Jesus’ Word of Life also beckons us to live in God’s entire world instead of hiding in our little “secure” corner. Necessarily, sometimes we find life is too tough, too complicated and too depressing. So we tend to build our own small but illusory world and live within it. My father who lived until he was about 96 never flew on a plane. Not only that he was afraid of flying, but also he felt he could not sleep other than on his own bed and that travelling would upset his life pattern he so used to. In his final days, I felt that he regretted a little he had never gone to England to visit her daughter and two grand-daughters!

Jesus beckons Peter to come out of the boat to walk on the water (Mt.14). Sometimes the boat represents the Church and the water, the world. Oftentimes Christians do not want to have anything to do with the world despite we live in it. Many think that the world is evil. So they just want to hide inside the church and build their own close fellowship which is cozy and comfortable.

Jesus as the Word of Life beckons us to come out and embrace the world and all there is in it. After all, this is God’s world. It is a wonderful and sometimes even a very beautiful world despite the various kinds of destructions caused by human beings.

The Word of Life is the Word of Possibility.

One time, when Jesus was in the mountain with Peter, James and John – the transfiguration of Jesus as recorded in Mk 9:2-13, Mt 17:1-13 and Lk 9:28-36 – many sick persons approached the other disciples of Jesus and asked to be healed. But they could not (obviously they tried very hard). So when Jesus came down from the mountain after the transfiguration his disciples asked him, why? Jesus replied, “All is possible for one who has faith” (Mk 9:23).

The human words are often the words of impossibility: I can’t do this. I can’t do that. But Jesus’ Word is the Word of Possibility.

The movie “My Left Foot” is about a very talented artist from Ireland, Christy Brown. Christy was almost completely paralyzed except the left foot. In Taiwan there was a writer name Hsu Shuk Shui. Her conditions were similar to Christy’s. She has learned to use the only one toe she could move to play the piano and to work at the computer. Her autobiography entitled “The Sunflower Angel Facing the Sun” has touched the lives of many in Taiwan and beyond. Both Christy and Shuk Shui live by the Word of Possibility!

Another person who lived by the Word of Possibility is Tanya Liu. Tanya was a popular anchor woman at Phoenix T.V. In May 2002, Tanya and a friend was involved in a horrific rail crash in the train platform in Hertfordshire, England. Her friend died instantly. Tanya was seriously hurt. Nobody at the time thought that she might survive. But she defied many medical experts both in England and in China with an extremely difficult and slow recovery. She wrote during her two years of struggles in several hospitals, “My whole life revolved around just trying to get better. Daily the physical torture starts as soon as I finished brushing my teeth.” Because of her determination, she won against all odds and finally regains her health. Though still very weak and slow, she is now ready to go back to work, perhaps not an anchor women, but a reporter.

Another real life story from Hong Kong. In 1997, Yip Wai Fun discovered that she had cancer in the nymph gland of her neck. This was a big shock especially when she was at the peak of her career. Soon after her doctors administered chemotherapy in the lump in her neck, small lumps were found elsewhere. Her doctors almost gave up on her. But she was determined to fight the battle. So she practiced “Chi Kung” (氣功) several hours per day and followed a strict diet suggested by some experienced Chinese herbalists. Last year, she decided to share her struggles and her experiences with people with similar ailments by starting the “Global Chinese Cancer Support” with a web-site www.chinesecancersupport.org.

Jesus’ Word of Life is not only the Word of Possibility, of Hope; but it is also the Word of Comfort. In the Biblical sense, “comfort” means “to give strength”.

The New Testament we read this morning gave us a very important miracle performed by Jesus (also in Lk. 8:41-56 and Mk 5:21-43). It was about Jairus’ daughter being raised to life.

Jairus was the President of a synagogue. His daughter felt sick. So he went to ask Jesus to come to his home and cure her. At the time Jesus was busy curing a woman with hemorrhage (Mt. 9:20-21). When Jesus had finished and was about to go, he received word that he did not need to go because Jairus’ daughter had already died. Then Jesus told Jairus, “Do not be afraid, only have faith and she will be saved.” These are the words of comfort. Jairus’ faith in life was greatly strengthened. His daughter was eventually raised from the dead by Jesus.

Lo Wai Yeung suffered from cerebral palsy since birth. If not for his mother’s love and care, he would never be able to further his studies at the post-secondary level. In order to care for her son practically 24 hours a day, she quit her job. Her patience and love did not only help bring up her son, but has also encouraged many to cope with similar situations. In a press interview, Wai Cheung said that without the strength his mother gave him, he would not have lived, much less a graduate from Open University. It was his mother’s Word of Life which lives in Wai Cheung which in turn enables him to live!

“Seek God and you will live” pleaded an 8th century B.C.E. prophet Amos (Amos 5:4, 6). According to Amos, it is God’s Word and not the human word which enables people to live a rich and fulfilled life. The human word is the word of success, fame, status and wealth. But the Word of God is the Word of sharing, giving and sacrifice. God’s Word is the only genuine Word of Life.

Job was a good and just man who suffered total disaster – he lost all his children and property and was afflicted with a repulsive disease. But Job did not lose his faith in God. Indeed, he lived by the Word of God. Thus he was able to rationally sensed and emotionally felt the profound meaning of life:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return; The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

May we all live in God’s Word of Life forever. Through Jesus Christ we know that God’s Word is the Word of wholeness, of openness, of possibility and of strength. May we also try our best to share this Word with the people around us, our relatives, our friends and colleagues as well as the people near and afar who need to hear and experience this truly Living Word.