A
sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 16 December 2012 by the Rev.
Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18.
Dear God,
May the word of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart be acceptable and pleasing to you. Send to us, God, the Holy Spirit to
inspire us and lead us to your truth. Amen.
We have come to the third Sunday of Advent. The
candle we light today is joy.
The light of the candle reminds us to wait for
Jesus Christ with joy. The light of the candle reminds us joy is the present,
the gift given freely by God through Jesus Christ.
From the Epistle, Philippians 4:4-7, the author reminds us to rejoice, to rejoice in
the Lord always. The word encourages us to “let your gentleness be known to
everyone. Don’t worry about anything but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the
peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus.”
Christmas is always regarded as a season of joy.
Indeed we are joyful whenever we have party and meals to celebrate together.
For the Church and Christian faith, we are joyful
because God gives new life to people and redeem the world through Christ Jesus.
How do we make sense of this faith? How does Jesus
Christ redeem the world and bring joy to his people today? The story of Jesus’
birth has been retold every year. But our world is still in chaos. Take a look
in the recent events:
- In the United
States, a young man, just 20 years old, shot
27 people to death, many of them are children, he then killed himself.
- Liu Xiao-bo (劉曉波), the Chinese intellectual and democracy activist was sentenced to 11
years of imprisonment in 2010. His wife Liu Xia (劉霞) is under house arrest after Liu was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize.
- Bombing and violence in the Middle East
has taken thousands and thousands of life every year. Many communities have
been destroyed.
- The Word Bank estimated 1.29 billion people were living in absolute
poverty in 2008.
- Disasters in poor countries have taken away many lives and homes.
Worse still, it takes years to rebuild.
- The deteriorating nature due to human exploitation of the
environment.
In view of all these chaos in the world, where is
joy and peace? How do people experience joy and peace in their life of
struggles?
A few days ago, I received an email calling for
joining a petition, asking the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) to release Liu Xiao-bo and Liu
Xia. This on-line petition is initiated by Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop
Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa,. Archbishop Tutu in
fact had joint 134 Nobel prize winners across different Nobel disciplines to
make such a request to the new leadership in China in early December.
Although Liu and his wife are still not free and under
persecution, when there are people around the world sharing their plight and
struggle, I hope their pain and suffering can be transformed to hope and peace
as they are not alone. The solidarity from people around the world would be taken
as a source of joy, a deep joy kept in the heart.
I always remember Ding Zilin (丁子霖), the key organizer of the
Tianaman Mothers fighting for clearing the names of the victims who died in the
Democratic movement 1989 and supporting the victims’ families to request for
compensation from the authorities. Her son was one of the students who died in
the movement. She has been a fighter for democracy in China since
1989. She however pays a great cost for this. She said to the media, the
solidarity of people from Hong Kong as demonstrated
in candle-lit vigils held in June 4 and the marches around that time every year,
has given her a lot of comfort and hope.
My mother passed away on December 16 last year.
Today is the first anniversary of her passing. Yesterday, when I was in the church
office, Maggie came to me and gave me a big hug to share her love with me and
my family for this special time of remembrance. When I went home and checked my emails, I
received an e-card from Maggie. I am very touched and greatly appreciate what
she did. When we were hugging each other and when I opened e-card and listening
to the music that comes with the card, I felt strongly Maggie’s presence and my
mother’s presence in me. This is a great present to me. This is a present of
love that grant to me deep joy at heart.
Present means a gift. Present also means being
together. Present also means here and now. Being together is a present. It is a
present of love, a present of joy and a present of peace. This present is from
God. We have joy and peace because God is with us.
In times of pains and loneliness, it may be due to
the loss of loved ones or loss of freedom, or loss of good health, or loss of
human dignity, any act of love and care, such as a simple presence, a hug, and
a card would reduce the suffering and bring deep joy and peace to the person.
Joy is not an absence of problems and difficulties.
Joy is not an absence of despair. Joy is the present of love and care share
with each other.
In the Season of Advent, we are listening to the
word from John the Baptist who was the one to prepare the way for Jesus.
Today John has given his followers an important
message when we hear from the Gospel Luke. He told them they have to bear
fruits worthy of repentance.
When the crowd asked what should they do? John told
them to share clothes and food that they have extra with those without.
John also gave suggestion to people the way to bear
fruits. He mentioned that people in high position should not be greedy and
abuse their power for their own personal interests and desires. He used tax
collectors and soldiers as examples.
We are playing different roles in family and in
society. We are parents, elder brothers and sisters, carers of an animal in the
family. We are teachers, school student leaders in school. We are employers in companies
and at home with a domestic helper. We are boss of an organization. Many
different roles, you name it. No matter in which roles you are playing, we have
to make good use of our position and power given to serve others but not to
manipulate and control.
Jesus had come to the world in the form of a baby
two thousands years ago. He came to redeem God’s people and transform the
world.
In celebrating Advent, we are expecting Christ’s
second coming to bring God’s Kingdom of hope, peace, joy and love. We wait with
expectation. We wait with thanksgiving and praise. We wait with prayerful
actions.
God’s servant John the Baptist was the chosen one
to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming. He had baptized people and preached God’s
word to them.
Bruce preached last week and in his sermon - ‘No one
but you and me’, has encouraged us to act for God’s kingdom of justice and
peace.
Today we are called as God’s servants to prepare
Christ’s coming to redeem the world, we have to take a proactive role and
faithful actions to prepare the way for Christ to redeem and liberate the world.
This Sunday we share the message of joy as a
present from God. While we share the joy of the prophet of Isaiah for God’s
salvation to God’s people, and rejoice and give thanks to God as suggested by
the early church leader, let us prepare ourselves for becoming God’s present to
share the joy with others according to their needs and what can give.
Sisters and brothers,
God has given a big present in Jesus Christ, shall
we present to God our present by bearing fruits of joy with our family members
and friends who are in need of care and support in this season of love?
Let us pray:
Dear God, thank you for giving us the present of
joy. May we share this joy with others in your name and by the power of the
Holy Spirit lead us to love and care for others with sensitivity and
generosity.
Help us God to have a meaningful Christmas this
year by living in the present, here and now, do not worry about tomorrow, but
to bear fruits by sharing with others the essence of Christmas in bringing
hope, deep joy and deep peace in the love of God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Monday, December 17, 2012
