Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 29th March 2009 by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 11:1-9 and 2 Cor 5:17-20.


Today, I deliver the last sermon of my Lenten series: Repentance and reconciliation: Christian faith in context. In the sermons of the last few weeks, I have touched on various topics and themes in which I attempted to reflect of our God’s nature and how we as Jesus’ disciples and God’s church respond to the call of Lord in our contemporary context. I had shared a sermon on God of Equals, who concerns women’s plight and gender equalities. Another one is about God of Justice who cares for the oppressed and the marginalized, we are thus asked to defend the poor and the needy. God of Creation was my sermon last week to address ecological concerns by challenging ourselves to care for our earth by becoming good steward. All these sermons will be uploaded to KUC’s web-site for readers.

I started my first sermon of the Lenten series on --- God of Mission: repent and believe in the good news. Today, I would like to share with you the good news of peace and reconciliation. As Christ’s followers, we are given the ministry of reconciliation, to manifest God’s mission for peace. It is the restoration of harmonious relationship which reflects God’s beautiful creation.

In time of chaos and conflicts in families and nations, in time of economic turmoil and uncertain future, in time of outburst of hatred and exclusiveness in our world, prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 11:6-8) has offered a beautiful vision of peace in our time.

How nice it is to see in the imagery of a peaceful community where all members may live together without fear, they enjoy each others’ companionship. They lie down together, feed together, eat together and play together. These are the basic requirement of community life that the strong and weak, the great or small, the developed and underdeveloped, harmful or safe stay together in harmony.

In 2 Cor 5:17-20, St Paul pointed to us that Christian and faith community of Christ have been given the promise and hope in Christ for what Jesus had fulfilled. At the same time, he said very clearly that all of us who are in Christ are given the ministry of reconciliation. We are requested and given the important role of ambassador for Christ, to restore relationship and reconnect people with God.

We are given a vision of peace and a mission of reconciliation.

Yes, we live in an imperfect world. However, Isaiah’s vision has given us the possibilities of harmony and goodness because of God. God promises members of the community will not be hurt or destroyed on his holy mountain for the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord. (11:9) When we return to God and in God, the harmony and beauty of God’s creation will be restored. The vision does not say that we have already achieved it, but it is encouraging to know God has given us a dream to dream and work towards something difficult but not impossible.

God knows well of the limitations and weakness of humankind. God loves us and thus gives us the chance to change and participate in his creation and salvation plan. God has called us to restore relationship with him and all things. Jesus Christ, both human and God has demonstrated radical love and peace in his suffering, death and resurrection. His forgiving love has saved all sinners who turn to him. Jesus Christ has taken away all human shames and guilt. We are thus free persons to reconnect with God, reconcile with God.

Jesus has given a strong model for being a peace maker. While we do not agree with the idea and practice of ‘an eye for an eye’, it is however common for people to defend themselves by using some violence if they are being harmed physically or their lives under threat. Jesus had offered a very extraordinary way to encounter violence and injustice. Jesus is a radical advocate for peace. In 2 Peter 2:23-24, it says “When he was abused, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness…” Jesus had demonstrated his extraordinary commitment to non-violence. He had used his life to resist the death of violence and injustice. Such a non-violence resistance is very powerful. A person becomes strong and undefeatable if she or he is not afraid to sacrifice their lives for the sake of love, peace and justice.

In our world, we witness the power and good deeds of some extra-ordinary people who insist non-violence approach in dealing with threats, conflicts and abuses. To name a few, Burmese human rights leader Ms Ang San Suu Kyi and the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. Both of them are Nobel Price winners. Both of them suffer by losing their freedom and their lives have been under constant threatened somehow. But they continue to fight and resist by non-violent approach. There were leaders who fought for dignity and liberty of human kind by sacrificing their lives. Gandhi from India fighting for independence and freedom of his country. Martin Luther King dedicated his life for racial harmony and equality. There are thousands upon thousands of people in the world who have been working silently for the cause of peace. How about us, my friends, living in Hong Kong, a very safe place with low crime rate and materially rich city? How do we contribute ourselves to become the ambassador for Christ to bring forth peace and reconciliation?

The people I mentioned above are prominent figures that we may not be so easy to identify with. Some of us may think I am just an ordinary person and how can I do great things like them? Peace making and the ministry of reconciliation starts with ourselves, our home and our church.

We need to have peace with ourselves. We need to fully accept ourselves and then we will have this capacity to accept others and tolerate others. I have shared in my sermon in ‘God of Equals’ that I was a victim of sexual violence, molested by a stranger when I was a child. I carried the guilt and blame for many years. At the bottom of my heart, there was a deep scar. From the healing story of the woman who suffered from discharge of blood, I was touched by the healing power of Jesus through his unconditional love and acceptance. Besides the words of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit, my engagement in a developmental course had also helped me to restore my relationship with myself. After the psychological and spiritual healing, I did not take the role of victim anymore. Instead of being victimized, I took up a new position of being a survivor. I reclaimed a lot of power and confidence after I reconciled relationship with myself. I felt very much liberated. This liberation released a lot of my energy and enhanced my passion to serve women suffering from similar problems and trauma. That was the background that drove my involvement in setting up the first organization and rape crisis center --- Rain Lily in Hong Kong in the year 1997 to 2001.

Reconciliation starts at home too. As I always said my son is my spiritual director for he always inspires me to reflect, although the process is not always pleasant.

He shared with me that I easily lost temper and became more impatient to him when I was under stress. He even gave a very good justification that I need ventilation when I was pressurized. While I was amazed by his good articulation I also felt sorry for him. It is common that we easily project our anger to our families or those who are close to us. It is not only wrong, but detrimental to relationship. We should not take advantage of our close and intimate relationships with our loves ones, like family, marriage and partners. Beside, we have to be aware that we should not take advantage of our position and power to manipulate relationship for our own benefits and desires.

I have heard situations like domestic helpers are abused by their employers because their employers are emotionally upset by the economic problem. It is absolutely wrong to discharge one’s emotion to others and pass our own sufferings to others.

When my son shared with me and I shared with you openly, we were vulnerable for we did not know how others would respond. Peace makers who take up the ministry of reconciliation need to have the courage to stand in vulnerable position. The good news is in the grace of Jesus Christ through his incarnation to the world, we are able to stay close to God. We are healed and liberated in the love of God. The liberation given by Jesus Christ has freed us from any bondage but become a free person to engage in God’s mission of peace.

As a community of faith as church, what are we going to do in the ministry of reconciliation?

In our human history, there are many human abuses and injustice that kill not only human lives but human dignity and left so many scars and broken hearts. The feeling of pains has caused the continuation of violence and hatred. Desmond Tuto, the Archbishop in South Africa who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), had tried very good effort to bring forth peace and reconciliation amongst abusers and victims after the abolition of apartheid.

There are however, some people who object to such reconciliation and find it unjust. One of the criticisms comes from the family of prominent anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, who was killed by the security police. Biko's family described that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had 'robbed them of their right to justice.' The family opposed amnesty for his killers on these grounds and brought a legal action in South Africa's highest court. In general, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been regarded as a success. It is true however, that reconciliation should never be an excuse for the legitimization of violence and or further oppression. In the ministry of reconciliation, we need to be very sensitive to the needs and pains of victims as well as people who possess less power. Furthermore, reconciliation must be based on justice. If there is no justice, no eternal peace can be achieved.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission may have given us insight as church to keep our sensitivity to people’s suffering and unjust treatment, and to act with courage when the time comes.

Conclusion

The church’s mission is God’s mission. The prime role of the church is to fellow Jesus’ footstep. We have to continue the mission of Jesus Christ. Today, we have been reminded once again of our identity, we are God’s children, we are disciples of Christ. In Christ, we are a new creation. Everything old has passed and everything has become new!

In the season of Lent, we repent and turn to understand God’s mission in our contemporary world. God of peace has given a vision of peaceful kingdom and a ministry of reconciliation today. It is time for us to respond and take actions. Church is witness of God to continue Jesus’ mission to share the good news with people in our particular era in face of different challenges of gender inequalities and violence, injustice of poverty and marginalization of the poor, climate change and ecological crisis that threaten the whole creation.

Let’s be a channel of peace, to serve God and his creation together. May our work be delighted in God to bring a better world of love, hope and joy. Glory be to God, now and forever. Amen.

To conclude my sermon, I invite you to join with me a prayer for peace.

This prayer is found in the internet, possibly originated from the Philippines.

God,
Grant Us Peace

Grant us peace that will

BREAK our silence in the midst of violence

then prophetic voices shall resonate

Grant us peace that will

PULL US DOWN from the steeple of our pride

then we’ll learn to wash each other’s feet

Grant us peace that will

EMPTY us of hate and intolerance

then we’ll turn guns into guitars and sing

Grant us peace that will

SHUT our mouths up when we speak too much

then we’ll learn to listen and understand what others are saying

Grant us peace that will

DISTURB us in our apathy

then we’ll dance together under the sun

Grant us peace that will

BURN our lethargic hearts

then we’ll endure burning and let love and justice glow