Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 16th March 2008 by Ms. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 118: 1-2; 19-29 and Matthew 21:1-11.


Opening prayer: Triune God, may your Words inspire us and guide us to the Truth through the Holy Spirit, we ask in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

On Friday noon time, I received a call from a former classmate at Divinity School of Chung Chi College. She told me a sad piece of news. A Myanmar student, our common friend, died all of a sudden. The cause of her death is still under investigation. The name of this Myanmar student is Soe Soe Mar. A month ago she was with us worshipping God together in this sanctuary. A few days before she died, we were communicating with each other through e-mail. I was shocked and saddened to hear her sudden death. Life is so unpredictable and vulnerable.

The gospel reading for today is Matthew 21:1-11, Matthew quoted this passage from Zechariah 9:9 when narrating the story of Jesus' entry to Jerusalem. Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem marked the beginning of his passion and death on the cross in a week’s time. Amidst all the noise and excited crowd, Jesus realized well that what was ahead of him was an agonizing journey of betrayal, torture, crucifixion, and death.

The journey of passion was predicted by Jesus as described in Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23. It was only the crowd and even the disciples who could not believe that Jesus, who was identified as prophet, a person that they expected to save them, will be crucified so soon. The time came very quickly, Jesus was crucified less than a week after such an honorable entry to the city. All of a sudden Jesus died on the cross. It would be no surprise if the disciples and the crowd were shocked and saddened.

What does Jesus’ messianic entry to Jerusalem and his passion and death that came afterwards mean to us? Who is our savor?

Last September when many monks and activists protested against the brutal junta rule, they fought for their basic human rights in Burma, Soe Soe Mar sent me an e-mail sharing her confession upon the episode of the suppression of civil movement and killings of the monks. This piece of sharing was later published in the Newsletter of the Divinity School of Chung Chi College I summarize in brief she said,

“I have to confess my sin to God. I am just working in lip service. Christians claim that Christianity is a religion of love. But I don’t have enough love that the reverent Myanmar Buddhist monks have. My love in me is mingled with fear. I don’t have such kind of power and love that the monks possess. I do not dare to suffer the pain that the monks have been through. I cannot face the deadly torture that the monks have experienced in the barracks. I cannot die as indecently as the monks’ corpses in the river. I have no intention to give my life for poor Myanmar like what the monks have given. I claim that I will die in Jesus but I never put it into practice. The monks who do not know Jesus died for the sake of Myanmar’s recovering. They died not in Jesus but Jesus dies in them.”

In her piece of sharing she continued, “God is revealing God-self to Burma not through Christianity or me or Christian leaders who so-called themselves the children of God but through the Buddhist monks who do not possess the person of Jesus but the exact image of Jesus, who have the exact ethics of Jesus, which is the virtue of love, who exactly follow the road that Jesus has walked, who are not interested in their own personal salvation or eternal prosperity so that they, too, are not interested in others’ salvation but the whole cosmos being freed.”

Her sharing was striking not only because of her sincere self criticism and repentance, but also her sharp perception to challenge Christians who claim to be children of God, people of God, disciples of God, our neglect and escape from human sufferings. In her sharing she also raised an important question for response to the passion and death of Jesus. Instead of passively taking the advantage of God’s grace, how do we participate in the salvation of the humanity through Jesus Christ? It is a core faith for us as Christians

When we talk about Myanmar, the Nobel Price Winner Aung San Suu Kyi is another suffering figure of the country due to the military autocratic rule. As of today, the 16th March, Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for a total of 12 years and 141 days. She is still under house arrest. Suu Kyi has been suffering from violation of human rights but insist to fight against tyranny through non-violent struggles. Suu Kyi chose not to leave her home country when her husband died in England in 1999 because she knew once she leaves she will never be allowed back into the country. She chose to fight for a democratic Burma that people can lead a live free from oppression. She pays the cost of sacrificing her family and her own freedom. Her suffering however has not yet come to an end.

Amidst the despair and suffering, the Monks and Suu Kyi’s sacrifice have encouraged many people in Burma and all over the world to demonstrate in solidarity with the Burmese people. At the centre of their pain, there is light and hope. They have touched the hearts of many people who join with them the struggles for liberation, life of enrichment and love-kindness for human-kind. A Free Burma Coalition---Hong Kong has been set up recently to continue the concern and support to the people in Burma, to fight for a better society where human rights are respected. Last Sunday was the Global Day of Prayer for Burma, an interfaith candle-lit vigil to demonstrate solidarity and pray for the people of Burma in particular for women was organized in Hong Kong. Although the progress seems very slow and the road to make a change is still steep and rough, the struggle will go on for there is still hope.

Here I share another story of how a person was in touch with our suffering God, Jesus Christ. I met an old lady Mrs Tse a few years ago. She was in her 70s and suffered from lung cancer. Two years before she died of her incurable illness, she had to go in and out of the hospital for treatment. One of the problems she suffered was accumulation of water in the lung that made it difficult for her to breathe. She had to undergo an extremely painful water extraction treatment several times. But when her son asked her if she was painful, she shared that the pain that she had gone through in the treatment when compared with the pains of Jesus at the Cross was nothing. Mrs Tse was courageous to stand for the pain. She had no complains of God or anyone. She prayed to God for peace every time she had to take the treatment. Every single time after the treatment she gave thanks to God for the peace she was given. Mrs Tse was a very positive and kind person, whenever she felt a bit better and was able to walk around, she would give help to patients in her ward by pouring warm water to those who were unable to move. She would also grasp the opportunity to share with others the gospel and to comfort those who were in distress. As a human being, Mrs Tse did suffer physical pain and emotional turmoil of separation from family after death. Through her love to her family and God, as well as her trust in God, she was able to overcome her stressful and painful moments in the last stage of her life. Mrs Tse was a tough woman; she became a widow when her youngest son was small. She had to take care of her family on her own. Even though she was burdened by family responsibilities; she nevertheless continued to serve in her church and to serve those in need till the end of her life. In Mrs Tse, I could see how Jesus’ passion and death had given her life.

Mrs Tse’s focus on the pains of Jesus during her sickness had saved her from the physical hardship. Through her compassion towards the suffering of Jesus and her willingness to walk with Jesus’ passion, she was healed spiritually. Her faith in Jesus had brought her comfort and relieve.

Let’s go back to the scripture of Matthew 21:1-11. Through the drama of Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem as the messianic king, he fulfilled the messiah-ship by visually demonstrating to his people of who he was.

Jesus rode on a donkey. Donkey is a creature not associated with what it means to be king. The Messiah of Zechariah 9:9-10 is quoted in Matthew 21:5. The Messiah does not mount horse; instead, he will abolish war chariots and weapons and bring peace to the nations. Jesus rode on a donkey rather than a warhorse, it was strong indication that his kingdom will be one of peace rather than of coercion.

In addition, Jesus rode on a donkey and on the colt of a donkey is to be understood as an expression of his kindness, peaceableness, and gentleness. From earlier passage Matthew 11:29, where Jesus had described himself as ‘gentle and humble in heart”. In Jesus, we can see the delicate quality of lowliness and humility.

Our God who saves us does not and will not triumph through force of arms. Jesus was victorious and yet meek. The type of leadership that Jesus has illustrated is a complete opposite to the world’s notions of kingship and authority. In our competitive and instrumental world, success is too often defined as how much power do you have to control other people and dominate different resources. We have to learn from Jesus’ kindness and his approach of peace and meekness.

Jesus came to the world to give peace. Peace also means wholeness. Jesus was handed over to passion and through his passion accomplishes his divine task on earth. It is good news for a world passionately searching for wholeness.
Today is the Palm Sunday. It occurs on the Sunday before Easter Sunday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar. It signals the upcoming end of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. In the Holy Week, we can recall the stages of Christ passing from this world. It is a solemn passage through loneliness, betrayal, injustice, and brutal suffering. It is a movement from life to death.

Holy Week means accompanying Christ on his final journey, bearing our own crosses in trusting silence. In the coming Holy Week, we can try to let go of our own situation and focus on Jesus, a suffering God who is giving his live to humankind in order to save us. By embracing the pain, we can then talk about joy. We can then share a life that experiences the full presence of God, the grace and love fill abundantly in a person who is in full communion with God.

Holy Week is a season of Passion. Passion can be taken as a kind of waiting---waiting for what other people are going to do. If we say we are in need to be redeemed, then we have to take an active part in Jesus’ passion in our life. We have to share the struggles of Jesus Christ, our Lord who suffers and goes through a painful journey.

The triumphant entry demonstrates to us Jesus our Lord is the holy one in highest heaven who manifests himself in humbleness and kindness. Our savior is a suffering God. It is his unconditional love and compassion through his utter vulnerability that we are saved.

When I re-read Soe Soe Mar’s sharing, her sincere and deep confession touch my heart once again. Her critical reflection of faith has posed a challenge to all Christians to re-examine our commitment to God’s love and, our sincere response to Jesus’ suffering and death who comes to the world to save our fallen humanities. This challenge is timely at the season of passion.

Prayer:
Dear God, we thank you for your unfailing love to us and all humankind reveal in Lord Jesus. You are our savior to give us life and to transform our life with faith and hope in Jesus’ sacrifice. Lord, guide us and give us courage to walk with Jesus for a life of passion, pain and yet fulfilling and meaningful. God, help us to live under your cross and proclaim the hope of your cross unceasingly. Amen.