Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 4 October 2015, Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Genesis 2:18–24; Hebrews 1:1–4, 2:5–12; Mark 10:2–16.

Last Sunday we were celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. It is one of the traditional celebrations of Chinese culture. Another name for this festival is the Moon Festival—a celebration of the full moon, a symbol of union and wholeness that generates happiness and joy.

(I shared with you a photo I received last Sunday from a KUC friend, Arthur Chan, who is now living in Australia. He said that no matter where we are we share the same moon on earth—very meaningful.)

The full moon is shining so bright and round. It is beautiful!

As we know, the moon is not always full. Part or all of the moon disappears when there is an eclipse. It is like our life; we are not always living as bright as the full moon. There are times when a total eclipse comes and we live in complete darkness.

In contrast to the full moon, which is a sign of union, the separation and divorce of married couples is an antithesis to the celebration of this special festival.

The Gospel reading according to Mark on divorce reminds me of a friend Mary who divorced her husband because he had an affair with another woman 10 years ago. Mary has a daughter. She was 12 years old when she divorced. Mary was feeling extremely depressed and broken. She felt pain deep inside her heart. She was living in complete darkness for a couple of years with no joy, no hope. By God’s grace, she fell in love with a man who has two young daughters whose wife had passed away. Mary loves the two girls and feels being called by God to take care of them. She then married this man with two children. As a stepmother bringing up her own child as well to form a new family, she tried very hard to foster trust and love among all these relationships.

The process has been full of challenges, however. The challenges were not just from within the family but also from outside.

Not long after her second marriage, for instance, a Christian friend from her home church one day said to her, “You have committed adultery because you have divorced and remarried.” Apparently, this Christian friend was referring to the Biblical text from Mark 10:2–12. This Christian friend had obviously rubbed salt in my friend’s old wounds. Her words not only reflected her insensitivity and misunderstanding of another person’s situation; they revealed also how unloving, if not ignorant, she was when Christians just take the scriptures in a literal way without taking the context of the Biblical world of the time into consideration as well.

The Gospel account of Mark 10:2–12 is not simply talking about morals of marriage and whether it is sinful to divorce and remarry.

Jesus, for example, was tested by the Pharisees with a question: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

Instead of answering the question, Jesus asked them what did Moses say accordingly to the law.

The Pharisees could immediately reply that, yes, Moses permitted it as long as a man wrote a certificate of divorce and sent his wife away.

Then Jesus began to give his view. Jesus said that Moses wrote this law because the hearts of the people at the time were hard. Jesus then affirmed that marriage is a holy union of two people in God’s Creation. Couples in a permanent marriage covenant should bond closely and love each other. In Jesus’ time, however, like in the ancient Jewish world, women were of low status, and they were the possessions of men. Husbands could abandon their wives at any time. The Law of Moses regarding divorce was thus meant to protect women. Jesus made a very significant remark on divorce. Divorce is sinful in God’s eyes because it originates in humans’ hardness of heart. It is human’s unloving, unkind and selfish attitude towards another spouse that caused sin. What Jesus cared for was not the legalistic act but the heart of the people who should live according to the will of God.

The subsequent account about Jesus’ welcoming and blessing to children reinforces his love and full acceptance towards the little ones. Children, like the women in his time, were also regarded as a father’s possession. They had no status and significance in the family and in society. That’s why even Jesus’ disciples did not welcome them and sent them away. In fact, Jesus was angry with what they did to those children. Jesus further reminded his disciples that the Kingdom of God belongs to the little children, and he warned them that anyone who did not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child would never enter it.

We see how Jesus in these stories has very much identified with the weak and the little ones.

On this World Communion Sunday, we gather to celebrate what Jesus did and what, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he still does.

We celebrate the Jesus who considered the unity of the family (a family based on marriage and clans or based on faith in God) to be important, we celebrate the Jesus who welcomed little children into his arms, we celebrate the Jesus who took time to bless everyone, no matter who they were and no matter what others thought of them.

Through Holy Communion, Jesus reminds us of our connection with him and with God as One.

The Letter to the Hebrews speaks of Jesus in exalted terms: he was crowned with glory and honor. He was the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s being.

But the way Jesus revealed God’s glory and honor was extraordinary: Jesus manifested God glory in his suffering of death. By the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9) The author of Hebrews further says, “Salvation made perfect through suffering.” (Hebrews 2:10)

Jesus came to us and saved the world through suffering and dying on the cross. This is an unusual faith, indeed. This is even contradictory to human instinct too because no one wants suffering and pain.

Whether we like it or not, we are living in an imperfect world where many people’s lives are wounded, broken and torn because of wars, poverty, exploitation and discrimination. Because of human greed and overconsumption, the environment has also been violated. Pope Francis pointed out that the environment has a right to restore her dignity.

In his faithfulness to God, Jesus overcame the suffering and power of death through his resurrection. He did not withdraw from pain and suffering. Jesus, who is one with us, has empowered us by his faith in God. In him, we are given hope.

From my friend Mary, I see how she reveals God’s glory in her suffering. Her love and patience for her children and family, her perseverance of not giving up on herself in the midst of hostility and challenge have redeemed her. I admire her for having a loving and very close-knit family now. I appreciate her too for her dedication to God’s service in working with a Christian organization for a number of years. I believe Jesus, the one who is with God’s beloved children, has comforted and strengthened her all the way in her journey.

Holy Communion means together with the Holy One. Jesus broke his body and shed his blood to share his life with us. World Communion Sunday reminds us and challenges us to be part of Jesus’ body, to live, to suffer, to die and to resurrect with him. Together, with churches of different traditions all over the world, we serve faithfully to God and to witness Christ on earth.  Holy Communion is a visible sign of Oneness with Christ and Oneness with God’s whole Creation.

From the internet, I found someone who has quoted Pope John Paul II’s words about the Eucharist (another name for Holy Communion in the Roman Catholic Church) that I would like to share with you: “The Eucharist is always celebrated ‘on the altar of the world.’”

Jesus’ suffering body links us to a suffering world. All of the Creation is caught up in the moment of Eucharist. With thanksgiving, our task is to love this world, a place full of suffering. To love the suffering world and suffering people is to be ONE with it in the charity of Christ.

To love the suffering world and suffering people is to be ONE with it in the charity of Christ.

The full moon in the dark gives an image of Oneness in Christ as Jesus is the light of the world. Our oneness in Christ is a light that shines in the darkness. May we receive it with a simple heart like a child.