A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 6 January 2013
by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 72:1–7, 10–14
and Matthew 2:1–12.
Opening prayer:
Dear God of life, we thank you
for your steadfast love. Open our hearts to receive Your Word. May the Holy
Spirit inspire us to dwell in Your truth of sacrificing love.
May the word of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable and pleasing to You. Amen.
Introduction
Good morning and happy New Year!
As Christians living in HK, we
are lucky and blessed to have three New Year. We celebrate the church New Year
in the first Sunday of Advent. We celebrate the Chinese New Year around
February.
Today, we celebrate the New Year
of 2013.
A good beginning is half way to success.
I wish all to have a good start in 2013.
With the pulpit fall in white put
in place, we have entered into another liturgical season after Christmas – the
Epiphany.
Epiphany – in Greek it is ‘theophaneia’,
meaning ‘appearance or manifestation’. Epiphany is a time in the Christian calendar
when we wonder at the revelation of God to the world in Jesus Christ. The
unfolding season of Epiphany reveals and honors Jesus’ life and his ministry in
the world.
The offering of the magi
God came to the world in human
form through Jesus Christ. God incarnated in human flesh with limitations and
vulnerability, and lived in a world full of brokenness. God’s incarnation is a
great mystery of God to reveal his love to humankind in general, and to the
little, the weak and the vulnerable in particular. Jesus Christ, the savior was
born as a baby in a humble stable facing harsh living condition.
In the midst of inadequacy and
threats, God was fully present in Jesus, his incarnated Son. God inspired the
magi, the wise men from the East to pay tribute to this new born King. King of
the Jews.
The word “magi” refers to people
with leading position and scientific knowledge in ancient time. They are not
Jews but are gentiles from the East. Their tribute shows that the birth of
Jesus has universal significance.
The magi brought with them
treasure chests and offered to infant Jesus precious gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh.
These gifts have their own
symbolic meanings.
Gold is precious and has high
exchange value. Gold is offered to someone who is important. In ancient time,
Gold was offered to the king and used by royal family for decorations and
dining instruments.
In referring to Jesus’ identity,
gold represents his kingship.
Gold also represents worldly
possession which is precious and highly valued – these may refer to money, properties,
jewelry, professional qualifications, and position that bring you power and
status. People need such worldly possession for physical survival. People with
wealth may lead a decent and comfortable life.
The second gift the magi offered
was frankincense. Frankincense is a kind of incense which is derived from the
gummy resin of the tree called Boswellia. The gum produced a sweet odor when
burned. Frankincense was used on the altar for God.
It represents Jesus’ priesthood
and his deity.
Frankincense represents holiness,
divinity and spirituality. Something is connected to God, the holy one.
The third gift from the magi was
myrrh. Myrrh consists of a mixture of three different kinds of substance –
resin, gum and the oil myrrh, which produces its characteristic odor. Myrrh was
used to bury dead body.
Myrrh is thus a symbol of Jesus’
sacrificial death and burial. It implies Jesus Christ is a king who lives to
love and to die.
Therefore, myrrh represents
sacrifice, a life of giving for the sake of love.
Story – James and Carol
Let me share with you a story. It
is about a young couple --. James and Carol. They were newly married. They were
poor and yet they loved each other deeply.
Both of them wanted to give the
best to their spouse.
In the first Christmas they
celebrated together after their marriage, they wanted to give a Christmas gift
to their dear one.
But they were too poor to buy any
precious gift. Each one of them, however, had a possession which was precious
and valuable. Carol had a bunch of long hair, black, shiny and very soft. She
loved it so much. And she knew James loved it too. For the sake of her husband,
she decided to cut it and sell it for money so that she could buy a gold chain
for her husband. Her husband had a very nice and valuable gold watch without a
gold chain. This gold watch had special meaning to James because it was a gift
given by his father. This gold watch in fact was James’ family treasure passed
on from one generation to another.
What did James do for his wife Carol?
He wanted to buy his wife a tortoise comb as he appreciated her hair. More
importantly, he knew that Carol loved her hair very much and she wanted to have
a nice comb for a long time. He thought a special tortoise comb would give her
much happiness. As a result, he sold his only valuable possession – the gold
watch for money so that he could buy Carol the comb.
When they presented the gift to
each other, they embraced each other in tears. If you are James…, what would be
your response? If you are Carol, what would be your feeling?
On the surface, it seems that their
sacrifice and giving away their best possession were in vain as both of them
cannot get what they need but have lost their precious and personal possession/gift.
Materially speaking, both of them
gained nothing they need. They have even lost what they considered valuable and
important. But when we look at the story and their relationship deeper, we will
think otherwise. Out of love, they gave up the best of their worldly possession.
In this act of unselfish giving, they received great and deep love from each
other. This self-giving love is more valuable and nothing can compare with it. At
the end of the day, they received more than they gave.
God loves the world and all
humanity. As heard from the familiar biblical verse taken from Gospel John
3:16, “For God so loved the world he gave his only son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may
have eternal life” “Indeed, God did not send the Son to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved.”
God came to the world in the form
of human and broke into human history to save and to give new life. God has
shared with us the precious life through Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus came not to
rule as a powerful king but a humble servant to heal the sick, to care for the
poor and to embrace the excluded. Shall we in return respond to God’s forgiving
and life giving love with love?
Love without action is nothing. In
the New Year, I would like to invite you my dear sisters and brothers to think
of our offerings to God.
God has given us the best. Are we
willing in return to give to God our
best?
Would you try to lead a life of
giving in response to God’s
invitation for his disciples to
become faithful stewards?
What are the worldly possessions
that you have and are willing to give to build up God’s church and kingdom on
earth?
Would you offer to God your heart
and spirit so that you can always be connected in his divine love, and your
life be enriched?
Are you prepared and ready for
sacrifice and move beyond your own needs but focus more and more in God and for
God?
Stewardship is a response to
God’s generous giving to us in the first place. In the past few weeks, we have
launched the stewardship campaign at KUC. We have kept on asking for your prayers
and appeal to your participation to serve in KUC. It is our hope and prayer
that together we develop KUC into a strong faith community to witness Christ in
the community of HK and beyond.
Today, we will uplift our pledge
of service at KUC to God. I invite you to spend some time to reflect on the word
we heard from the bible and from the pulpit today. You may take this time to
fill in the stewardship pledge form if you have not already done it. You are
also welcome to write on the back what and how you wish to offer to God in this
year of 2013. We will collect it later.
Closing prayer:
Dear God,
We thank you for the gift of life
given to us. You are the source of the universe and everything is from you. In
You we lack nothing. We thank you for the gift of love. In your sacrificing
love, our sins have been forgiven and our lives renewed. May the Holy Spirit
empower us to love you more and take concrete action to serve with courage and
commitment. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Wednesday, January 23, 2013
