A sermon
preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 28 December 2014 by Paul Cooper. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Galatians
4:4-7;
Luke 2:22-40.
Our gospel
story today is rooted in the very earliest origins of the people of God. It is
a part of the Passover story that is being re-enacted by Mary and Joseph in the
Temple; part of the fundamental reason for the very existence of the children
of Israel.
Let me
remind you of the story. It all happened many years after the time when Joseph
went into Egypt, and rose to be the governor of the land. The children of
Israel – the Jews – had become numerous, and the Pharaoh of Egypt had become
afraid that they would become too powerful, so he enslaved and oppressed them. God told Moses to ask Pharaoh to
allow the Jews to go free so they could worship Him. And we all know that Pharaoh refused, and the plagues
of Egypt were visited on Egypt until Pharaoh
relented. But Pharaoh would not relent until the final, dreadful plague – the
killing of all the first-born sons.
Only the first-born children of the Israelites were spared, by the sacrifice of
a lamb.
From this
time onward, from the days of the wandering in the wilderness, the Law of Moses
held that all first-born males, both animal and human, belonged to God. Animals
were sacrificed, but humans had to be redeemed or bought back from God by a
sacrifice.
For every
first-born boy, there had to be a sacrifice. The sacrifice prescribed in the
Law of Moses is a lamb; the sacrifice in our gospel of two doves was an
alternative for those who could not afford a lamb. So, in this reading we have
evidence that like a lot of newly wed couples, Mary and Joseph had some
difficulty stretching their budget!
A few
years ago, I read of a theory that Joseph was a bit more than a humble
carpenter – that he was something like a master-builder, or perhaps the better
analogy today would be a building contractor. But here we have evidence that,
at least when Jesus was born, Joseph was not in a big way of business, as he
and Mary had to go for the economy option when presenting Jesus at the Temple.
So far, so
good. As the writer of Hebrews says, Jesus had to share in every aspect of our
humanity, and on its own, the presentation of Jesus at the Temple is a sharing
with all other baby boys of the basics of the faith of the people of God. It is
a celebration of their deep roots; it is a sharing with all that makes them the
children of God. It is worth thinking about for this alone, and if it had not
been in the Gospel, I think we would have assumed that as good Jewish parents,
Mary and Joseph would have taken Jesus to be presented, as it is what the Law
prescribes. But Luke reports events that we recall every time we attend an
evening service. For Mary and Joseph didn't just go into the temple, and do
what was necessary and leave.
I don't
know if we can picture the events, but going to the Temple wasn't like going to
church, where things happen at set times and in set ways. We have the benefit
of good communications and of accurate time-keeping; in those days, the priests
had to be ready whenever the people turned up! So the Temple was always
thronged with people – priests, worshippers, people who simply wished to be
near the Holy of Holies, feeling the presence of God.
We can
imagine Mary and Joseph pushing their way through a crowd to find a priest
whose duty that day was to take care of those presenting firstborn boys. They
would have bought the doves on their way; perhaps they bought them from the
father of one of those whose tables Jesus overturned 30 some years later!
Perhaps
family members like Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist were there too;
perhaps the priest was someone known to them through Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband,
who was a priest. We don't know and can't know. But we do know that there was
no shortage of people to witness and take an interest in the presentation; it
is clear that as well as those coming to the Temple with specific needs, there
were a lot of people who simply “hung out” at the Temple!
Among them
were two elderly people, Simeon and Anna. Obviously both were known to the
Temple hierarchy; perhaps they were a sort of equivalent to our greeters!
Anna has
some standing as a prophetess; perhaps a bit like a Lay Reader or other
Licensed Lay Minister! For being female, and maybe not a member of the priestly
clan, she could not be a priest. But in her widowhood, she had found a niche in
the Temple, working for God's glory.
Simeon we
know less about! Some people wonder if Simeon was the priest to whom Jesus was
presented, but we simply don't know. He isn't named as a prophet, but in this
one instance – perhaps the only time in his life – he was given the prophetic
utterance that we know so well as the Nunc Dimittis, or Song of Simeon.
And it is
in the response of these two holy people that we see God breaking through.
Jesus isn't just another baby, important to his mother and father, who are
doing their best for him and to whom he is the apple of their eyes. Simeon and
Anna give us another view; the view of Jesus' real Father in Heaven.
Simeon's
song tells us all the essentials, “My own eyes have seen the salvation which
you have prepared in the sight of every people; A light to reveal you to the
nations and the glory of your people Israel.” In these few words, Simeon
encapsulates the wonder of God with Us; the amazement that God can break
through into our ordinary lives. And it gives the message that the Messiah is
about salvation and that this salvation is not only for the children of Israel
but for the whole world.
So much
for so few words!.
No wonder
we repeat them in our evening services! And Anna, though her words are not
recorded, goes round excitedly praising God and giving thanks for the child
Jesus. But Simeon knows the darker side as well; he is aware that Jesus will
not come into his glory without pain and opposition, and he foretells this
privately to Mary and Joseph.
I want us
to think about this intrusion of God into an ordinary setting. All of us lead
pretty ordinary lives. We work and play much as people always have; we are set
in the ordinary world. But God comes into our lives as a flash of lightening,
just as the child Jesus came into Simeon and Anna's lives. And the prophet Micah
says “Suddenly the Lord will come into his Temple; the messenger of the
covenant whom you desire will come”
Yes, our
lives are ordinary and often humdrum. Yes, things seem to go on as they always
have and it seems as if they always will. But we must make room for God; room
for Him to intrude into the ordinariness of our lives and to bring life and
light into them. Simeon and Anna are just two ordinary elderly people. They
probably thought that their lives would end without any real change. But God
intrudes; God reveals and God changes things.
And God
showed Simeon and Anna something wonderful; that the child that this poor
family had brought; this child for whom the minimum sacrifice had been made ,
was indeed the one who would change everything.
Are we
ready for God to enter into our own lives? Do we see the wonder of ordinary
things around us? Are we willing to let Him enter into our lives? In this
Christmas season, let us look for God in everything, and let us be ready to be
surprised by Him in the middle of the ordinariness of our lives.
AMEN
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 28, 2014
A
sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Christmas Day,
25 December 2014,
by the Rev. Phyllis Wong.
The drama today reminded me of my nativity play for the residents living
in an elderly home in the United Kingdom 25 years ago. In the play, I was taking
the role of Angel Gabriel. After the play, I was called Angel for a year.
During Christmas, the gospel stories of Jesus’
birth are retold. Every year we listen to the same story. Would the old story
inspire us to think something different?
To many people today, Christmas is a time for family reunion, parties
with friends, holiday trips and so on. For Churches, Christmas is busy season
to prepare different programs. Christmas has been a time of joyful celebration.
When we looked at the birth of Jesus from the
gospel accounts, it wasn’t that pleasant. Mary and Joseph could hardly find a
place to stay when Jesus was born. He was born in a stable. He stayed with
animals. Jesus and his parents were even facing the threat of persecution. The
situation wasn’t that peaceful. I can imagine Mary and Joseph being worried and
frightened.
Can you imagine a saviour of the world was so deprived and vulnerable?
God came to the world in the form a child: little, weak, poor and
vulnerable. This has given us a profound message. God identifies with the
vulnerable and the weak. The vulnerable God informs these people, they are not
alone! God is with them!
2014 is closing. It has been a difficult year for
many people in Hong Kong and all over the world. Family relationship, work and
employment, study, health and so on are of concerns of many people. The
development of democracy and advocacy for universal suffrage culminating in the
Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, the war in Gaza, natural disasters and
terrorist attacks in different parts of the world (just to mention a few) are
of concerns to many people.
We cannot escape from the hard realities of the
world. But Christmas informs us that God is working. Jesus Christ, the full human
and divine being is with us – Immanuel: God’s full presence in Jesus Christ
will give us strength to overcome all ups and downs in life.
I would like to encourage friends who are in confusion, distress and
crisis, don’t give up. Open your heart to God and entrust in Christ, who is
with you, will listen to you and guide you to the right way.
Christmas matters because of Christ – who came to the
world to give life and love and be with all creation. This is a gift and grace from
God.
Christmas is the divine work of Christ. But Christ
is in need of co-workers. He requires people of faithful to engage in God’s
salvation.
The nativity of Jesus reveals to us God needs people like Mary, Joseph,
the Shepherds and the wise men to serve as God’s co-workers to carry his
salvation plan.
Celebrating Christmas and hearing once
again the same story of nativity, would this old story inspire us to think
something different? Would this old story invite you to do something different?
For non Christian friends, are you ready to receive the love and life
given by Jesus Christ?
For Christians, are you ready to continue the faith journey to share the
good news of Jesus Christ and bring forth the Kingdom of hope, peace, joy and
love on earth?
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Thursday, December 25, 2014
A
sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 14 December 2014, Third Sunday in Advent, by Abraham
Peterson.
The scripture readings that day were Isaiah
61:1-4, 8-11, Psalm 126 and Luke
1:46-55.
Mary doesn’t
get enough press, you know?! At least not
in the Protestant world. What’s up with that?!
She’s an astonishing Advent figure. As is her nephew, John the Baptiser.
John and Mary - two Advent figures who are
astonishing!
Why is John amazing?
We see in John the Baptiser’s
announcements the idea that the paths are made straight for God. The heights are made low, the low are made
high.
What I’ve
been learning lately is that there is a unity in all things. I think I am starting to see these verses in
terms of that understanding. The image
is that the heights and the depths, to some respect, disappear. There are not such extreme ups or downs. Heights fade away; depths fade away - the
only thing that matters is God. From Top
to Bottom - only God! When we get ready
for God, we find a unity in all things.
John’s message, then, is that these things all change at
the advent of God. Without God, we still
distinguish these extremes in our lives.
With a complete and utter focus on God, we start to lose sight of Good
and Evil, Right and Wrong, Heaven and Hell, Sin and Salvation - these
bifurcations and polarities that take our focus from the presence of God. All we see is God. Our focus should be on God showing up. So John reminds me - hopefully reminds us -
to talk past those things! John reminds us
to go beyond such categories, such highs and lows, and to dwell on God and God
alone.
Last week we heard from John the LeMond, not John the
Baptiser, about the fading of distinction of time, that we live with God in a
holy present, a holy now. John reminded
us that there is no difference, no distinction as we dwell in God’s presence and God’s present.
So,
John and Mary… Or 2 Johns. And
Mary.
Mary. This
woman is absolutely astonishing and we just glaze right over her. Shame on us.
She is who we all should want to be… we
talk about asking Jesus into our heart and homes and lives and all these things… SHE
had Jesus insider her very BODY!
She EMBODIES John’s
understanding of what happens when you remain focused on God and God
alone. Not only in her life, but truly
in. her. body. Her body that bears God.
The question I kept thinking of while writing this
sermon is: “Where
does Mary end and Jesus begin?” Likewise
“Where does Jesus end and Mary begin?”
These questions explain a physical representation of
how I think I have begun to see Advent, a way I think that gives us insight
into the Good News. It’s a questions we
hopefully have for ourselves - “Where does God end and I begin?”
Mary has a wild story of being chosen by God, of being
the vessel for God. Mary, just before
our verses in Luke, goes away from home to visit her cousin. Surely she was getting more ‘pregnant’ and things were getting more tense. So she visits her cousin, whether as an
escape from the pressures in her home town, or for some closeness with a family
member in a similar situation we don’t
know. And the story goes that Elizabeth
is filled with the Spirit and praises Mary and then Mary bursts into song, this
song, this “Magnificat”
based on the first word of the Latin text. “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” “My
soul magnifies the Lord.”
Though scholars agree this is not a verbatim dictation
of the words of Mary, like a South China Morning Post article recording the
details or video feed on the MTR News, it does demonstrate an intention. It demonstrates how the early church viewed
Mary and quite possibly how Mary viewed not only herself but her role and her
Son’s role.
Interestingly, the words are ever so similar to what
we understand from John the Baptiser. We
find John saying to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight paths, to see
the change in valleys and mountains, to see God showing up. From Top to Bottom, God!
We find something similar in Mary’s
song.
BUT… It’s
no longer nature that is being changed, it is people.
We see the powerful brought down and the lowly lifted
up.
We see the hungry filled and the full empty.
We see the idea that things change when God shows up,
that these distinctions start to disappear.
We see things like wealth and hunger, things like
power and emptiness start to waver.
We see they shift and take on different roles and
meanings.
When our attention turns toward God, things in the
world turn upside down and inside out.
We see differently. We think
differently. Our understanding changes
and our minds change. You know the word “Repent”? Well, the Greek is simply “Change
your mind!”
Your thinking changes when you start to see God, when
you start to see God showing up EVERYWHERE.
That’s when your mind changes. That’s
when your life changes.
Another questions I continue to ask is, “Where
is there that God cannot be?” or “What place exists where
God is not?” It seems we so often
solidify God, make God a being like us, give God a place like “heaven” and
then limit God to there so that He must become human. We push God away from our lives, from the
close places, from our very heart, our very heartbeat - we push God into heaven
and in so doing, we lose a piece of our heart, too. We lose a piece of ourselves.
In this Advent season, perhaps we regain a piece of
ourselves as we realize God is Among Us, when we change our minds, when we
repent!
John reminds us from Top to Bottom is God! Mary reminds us from Creator to Creation, or
Father to Son is God. And later in
Jesus’ life we see from Life to Death, from King to Slave - There is no place
God is not! And the story is that God is
no longer OUTSIDE but INSIDE and OUTSIDE and
SIDE-TO-SIDE and UPSIDE-DOWNSIDE-INSIDE-OUTSIDE Topsy-Turvy…
EVERY SIDE.
EVERY WHERE.
ALL THE TIME.
NOW!
In Advent, we say that God Became Flesh, that God
dwelt among us. But was God more in Jesus
Christ than in our presence right now?
How could God be? Is God more in
the baby in the manger than in the babies that run these aisles? Is God
less in our tea and cake than our communion of bread and wine? Is God less in you than
in the baby of our Mother Mary? You may
think that heretical, but for God to be more or less in a certain place or a
certain time makes God limited, constrained, makes God WELL... not God.
Psalm 139 asks “Where
can I go from your presence, O Lord?” Do
we truly believe this?
God is in all places.
In all time. We hear later in
Colossians 3:11 that all distinctions disappear and that Christ is all and is
in all. There is nowhere where Christ is
not. There is nowhere where God is
not. God is All and in all.
And
THAT is why I love Mary - because she is that very story of God. There was a blurry line between her and
Jesus.
“Where
does Mary end and Jesus begin?”
There was a blurry line between the Baby and the
Mother.
In Advent, it is an important reminder that we are
like Mary and there is a blurry line between us and the Christ born in us. “Where does Christ end and I begin?”
When we imagine the Mother with Child, we hopefully
imagine the same God within us, kicking, moving, living.
When we think of Christ born into turmoil and
political instability then, we think of how Christ in us is surrounded by the
same.
When we think of Christ being inseparable from the
womb of Mary, we are reminded how God in us is similarly inseparable... All and
in all.
Mary, like John, shows us what it means to be focused
on God, to let all distinctions blur in the presence of the Almighty. Mary shows us that God touches all of us -
rich or poor, lowly or mighty, hungry or fed.
Mary shows us the God born in us.
The God present from Top to Bottom.
The God present in all times, in all places.
The God who is all and in all.
The God born in us today!
Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 14, 2014
A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on
Sunday 7 December 2014, Second Sunday in Advent, by the Rev. Dr.
John LeMond. The scripture
readings that day were Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8.
In the season of Advent we wait for our Lord to come
But the coming of
the Lord is often tied together
With the end of the world as we know it.
Last week, in the reading from Mark
We were told by Jesus to stay awake
That there is something coming that will surprise us
And in the Sundays preceding Advent
We read of the time when there will be a judgment of all
humanity.
Laying each of these themes side by side
We come to a clearer picture of the central meaning of
Advent.
According to the early Christians,
It was the fullness of
time that was coming upon them.
And they expected it at any moment.
It was a time when all the old, bad things would disappear
And a time of complete righteousness would exist…
A time of complete unity, harmony and peace with God.
It would be a new reality,
In which they themselves would be righteous:
Right with God.
It was in this sense that
The early Christians hoped
for the end of the world as they knew it.
Of course, they lived in a world
In which they were a persecuted minority.
They longed for Christ to return in power and great glory.
Yes, there would be suffering and darkness and confusion,
But that was only the first
stage;
The darkness before
the everlasting light of God’s kingdom;
Before the eternal
union with God.
What happened to this hope of the early church?
What happened to the expectation
That everything will change
Suddenly and soon?
In fact, much of the once Christian world
Has now lost this hope of a coming savior.
The kingdom of God,
An earth of peace and righteousness
Have not materialized.
It’s an old dream, an old story,
Seen by many to be the worn-out belief of a past age.
But what about us?
As we sit here today
We seem to be saying by our very presence here
That we do see the world differently.
We might not expect the second coming of Jesus Christ
To happen tomorrow…although we think it might,
We aren’t sure.
And we aren’t sure what it will mean if Jesus does come again.
What would unity and harmony and peace with God look like?
The truth is, even we,
Who come together to worship the Lord of Advent,
Rarely spend time thinking about the second coming of
Christ.
We are content with, or at least we accept,
Life as it is now.
We’ve learned to live with life as it is now.
Death concerns us
far more than the second Advent of the Lord
Because death is constantly a part of our lives.
We see it, we experience
it,
And so what we
want to know desperately is:
What happens after death?
The Second Coming…is not a desperate question for us.
Of course, we do have hope
that it will someday take place.
And that’s enough.
Hope is, after all,
The certainty of something that we have never seen.
In fact, it is the certainty of something
That our ancestors have never seen;
Something that our grandchildren for many, many generations
might not see.
It might be another 2,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 years
Before the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
Does it really make any difference?
No…and yes.
Peter says:
No
It makes no
difference to us how long before the expected reign of God
For, he says,
with God one day is like a thousand years,
And a
thousand years is like one day.
This is one
of those scripture passages
That we
sometimes quote when we need to.
It’s easy to
remember,
But it often
makes little or no impact on our lives.
What does it
really mean?
What Peter is
telling us is this:
That with
God, time
does not matter
Time is only
a reality for us, and not for God.
It is not
just that time is kind of strangely mixed up for God:
One and a
thousand, a thousand and one.
No. It is
that time itself has no meaning for
God.
For us…it is everything.
What time is
it? What time should we meet?
How long did
you live in that place? How old are you?
Am I
late? Am I early? Am I on
time?
There were
celebrations all over the world
When we
entered into the 21st century,
As though
some great boundary of time had been crossed.
When is
Christ coming again?
When is the
end of time coming?
When will God
reign?
Will it
happen before I die?
These
questions concern us because time
concerns us
We are
obsessed with these questions because
We are
obsessed with time.
But Peter
assures us: God is not concerned with time
For God, one
day is like a thousand years,
And a
thousand years is like one day.
So, Jesus
lived 2,000 years ago
Would that be
2 days for God
Or would it
be 2 million years.
To ask an
illogical question like this almost makes sense to us,
Because time
makes sense to us.
But when time
makes no difference
When there is
no distinction between yesterday, today and tomorrow
When, in
fact, there is no distinction
Between one
day and one thousand years
No difference
between 2,000 years ago and this present moment
No difference
between 2,000 years ago—and 2,000 years from now
Then, we
begin to see
That we live,
not in anticipation of the coming of Christ,
But in the
presence of Christ…at every moment.
We live in
the presence of the crucified and risen Christ…now.
We experience
the coming Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ…
At every
moment.
And once we
have understood this
Peter asks an
important question:
If this is
true…how should we live?
Does it make
any difference that we have not seen the coming of God in our time?
In terms of
time, Peter says, no.
But in terms
of the way we live our lives…
Yes.
It makes a
difference,
Because we
are called to live without seeing in time.
We are called
to live
As though
Christ’s death and resurrection are now
To live as
though…
Christ’s
second coming is now
To live as
though…
God’s kingdom
is now.
Peter reminds
us
That we live
in hope: believing without seeing
Knowing
without understanding.
Trusting
without demanding.
A life that
reflects the time-less reality of
God’s kingdom
Peter
encourages us: Live in peace
Live in peace…
Because you
live, right now
In this moment…
In the
presence of…
Jesus born,
Jesus among us, Jesus crucified and Jesus come again.
That is what
we celebrate at Advent.
The timeless
coming of God into the world.
The salvation
of God is timeless…
Or as Peter
puts it
The salvation
of God is patient.
Live
patiently in the Lord.
Live in
peace.
Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 07, 2014
