Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 3rd May 2009 by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 23, I John 3:16-24 and John 10:11-18.


Opening Prayer

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be always acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.
Introduction

Psalm 23 and Gospel John 10 that we read this morning are familiar scripture about good shepherd. God our creator and Jesus Christ our redeemer are regarded as our good shepherd to care for us, protect us from enemies, and so love us even to die for us as Jesus had done this. The green pasture pictures a place of tranquility and a place of rest.

God has given us rest and the best in life. In God’s provision and life giving love through Jesus, apostle John challenged us to learn and follow Jesus’ words and deeds to lead a life of love and service to God by abiding to our Lord’s commandment of loving each other.

The central biblical message of today’s sermon sounds straight forward and yet it is very challenging for us to be determined like our Lord Jesus to commit our lives to God. It is challenging to us because we are human beings and full of weaknesses and limitations.

Jesus regarded himself as a good shepherd. One of the characteristics of being a good shepherd is his strong will and great intention to love his sheep. He was willing to pay the great cost. Jesus’ love is so deep that he has even lain down his life for them. The sacrifice was out of love and was voluntary. He was not being forced to do so.

Good shepherd offers rest and the best to the sheep. While we enjoy the grace and privilege from our God, the shepherd, have we thought of the pains and sufferings the good shepherd Jesus bore for his sheep?

I would like to share with you a story about my eldest sister. She was divorced without any children. She volunteers herself to take care of our niece, the daughter of our brother. Our brother has been under medication for over 20 years because of his chronic illness. My sister-in-law cannot take care of their child for some reason. My niece was diagnosed as an autistic child and requires a lot more patience and love in taking care of her. My eldest sister is very patient to teach and nurture our niece. The progress of our niece is however unstable. It is often like two steps forward and one step backward. Our niece is 11 years old. Like many other adolescents our niece has become rebellious. It makes my eldest sister very frustrated. In many occasions when she feels so disappointed and upset, she thought of giving up. But what keep her to continue is her love and her promise to our mother. My eldest sister as the first child in our family, she has a very close relationship with our mother. As our mother has been very worried about our brother because of his health problem, my eldest sister has promised her that she will help our brother to take care of his family. My eldest sister pays great efforts and offers her time and energy to take care of our niece since she was three years old. It has been 8 years since then. I can feel my sister’s struggles all along. Even though my sister has been facing difficulties to take care of our niece, she continues to keep and serve this child. She shares that the compassion towards this child keeps her going. As she is not the biological mother of the child, she can have every reason to take the child back to her parents, but she realizes that it is not the right time to make such a move for the child’s sake. It is her strong faith in Jesus and strong link to the love of God that keep her patience and acceptance toward our niece.

I have great respect for my eldest sister. She did not receive formal education for she had to go out to work since 11 years old for our family was poor and she had to earn money to reduce the financial burden of the whole family. Although she was so deprived of formal education and material life when she was young, she never complains but remains very committed to serve the family. She is definitely a giver, a cheerful giver. Jesus commanded us to love one another. However, it is not easy at all for some people especially those who have wounds or hatred inside their hearts. When people’s hearts are filled with hatred and complaints, there is no place for love. My eldest sister is able to give thanks and praise God for everything that she is given. Although she did not get a proper education and in a way very much deprived when she was a child, she accepted it for she understood it was caused by the circumstances then. She is able to lead a happy and peaceful life for she depends on God’s provision and care. Her faith in God has given her freedom and joy. In return, she shares her grace with other people.

To be faithful to God and take up the role of the good shepherd is not as easy as one imagines. The process is full of struggles and tests. The good shepherd has to pay great cost. Only when the shepherd has great determination can he/she stand for it and persist. Our Lord Jesus’ determination to love us by laying down his life to save all humanity has demonstrated the possibilities of radical love and power of life over the power of death. Jesus’ strong will power and resurrection power has overcome evil that brings us hope and courage.

As pastor of the church, I have gone through similar struggles during the course of ministry and preparation for ordination. A full time vocation to serve in a local church is a great challenge. There have been times of frustrations and enormous pressure along the path of ministry. Whenever I felt very negative to myself and the ministry, and depressive emotion overwhelmed my mind and my heart, I would think of leaving due to personal weakness. But thank God that the gracious love of Jesus Christ through the Spirit fills me with hope and courage time and time again. The love of God empowers me and carries me through. Jesus’ determination to love and serve people by overcoming his pains and sufferings on the cross is striking. God encourages me through words of encouragement from friends of the congregation, sometimes it is through the hymns, sometimes it is through prayers and scriptures that God speaks to me directly of God’s love and will.

From Jesus and my eldest sister, I can see the power of ‘determination’. Radical love induces great human power to find ways to achieve the impossibilities.

The call to become a shepherd for God like Jesus is not a privilege offered to pastors only. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls all his disciples, that is, both you and I to be good shepherds, to love and take care of others who are in need.

The first case of H1N1 human swine Flu in HK was confirmed on Friday night, 1st of May. Hong Kong Pandemic response level was raised to the top grade of ‘emergency’. The Metropark Hotel where the infected Mexican man stayed before his hospitalization was under seven days quarantine lockdown. A series of actions have been taken by the HK government in response to this first confirmed case.

The Government of the Hong Kong SAR has demonstrated her determination to control the spread of the H1N1 human swine flu in Hong Kong. The outbreak of H1N1 human swine flu virus which has taken nearly 100 lives in Mexico has alerted the world. Hong Kong people have learnt a great lesson and paid great cost from the outbreak of SARS in 2003. The virus took away 300 of our lives and more than 1700 people were infected.

The threat of the H1N1 human swine flu has somehow reminded me the horrible and yet touching moments in Hong Kong in 2003 when there was the city wide outbreak of SARS. I remembered the young medical doctor, Dr. Tse Yuen Man who was a Christian. Because of her determination to serve her patients, she had given her best till the very end, she offered her precious live in that battle against SARS. Many people in Hong Kong were greatly touched by her sacrificing love and had demonstrated great respect to her deep commitment to her patients. 2003 was a splendid year to the people of Hong Kong. Amidst of the threat of the deadly disease, the community had demonstrated the spirit of mutual support and love for one another.

Dr. Tse Yuen Man died of SARS when she carried out her duties as a medical doctor to provide treatment to patients. Dr. Tse was a shepherd to her patients. She had given her life for her sheep (the patients). As a matter of fact, that there were many other good shepherd during this time of crisis that had helped the community to overcome the trauma.

God is our good shepherd. God our creator is always there to provide us with what we need, to save us from enemies, and to give us an enriched life. God has demonstrated God’s love through Jesus’ determination to sacrifice and die for people and the world. We as disciples of Jesus are challenged today to take up the cross with determination of loving God and loving each other. We are reminded to learn from Jesus and become good shepherds to lead a life of love and service by following Jesus’ commandment of loving one another. With our faith in Jesus Christ and with this determination to love, we are given the power from the Holy Spirit to the act of love.

Mother Theresa, a prominent nun had devoted her life to serve the poor and the sick. She was a good shepherd in our time. This good shepherd had demonstrated her great determination to love and serve God through her committed service to the poor.

At the end of my sermon, I am going to share with you a power-point that I received through e-mail. I found the words are very meaningful and encouraging.

Virus is contagious, love is contagious too. The power of love is much greater than the power of virus. Our determination to love will bring a great difference to the life of others and the world.

May God bless you and give you strength. Amen.