Reflections: June 2016

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 26 June 2016 by Bruce Van Voorhis. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 26:1–4, Romans 5:1–5, Luke 10:21–28.

God of love, God of peace, may the meditations of my heart, of my mind and of my spirit be acceptable and pleasing to you, and may they faithfully express the wisdom you have given to all of us. In your Son’s name, we pray. Amen.

If you’ve ever looked closely at any U.S. dollar bill, you’ve noticed our sermon title printed on the back——“In God We Trust.”

But does the United States really trust in God?

If one reflects on the U.S. government’s foreign policies or the recent tragedy in Orlando and the reaction afterwards on gun control, one could deduce that there is probably more trust in money or economic power, military strength and guns than in God.

Our message this morning though is not about life in America and its government’s policies but rather is about our lives here in Hong Kong.

Thus, we should ask ourselves this same question: Do we trust in God?

Before we answer this question, we should first make sure that we have a clear understanding about what we mean when we use the word trust.

The Oxford English Dictionary lists a number of definitions, but this one I think bests encapsulates the meaning for me: “[a] firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability or strength of someone or something.”

Thus, our trust in someone or something hinges on whether or not we believe they are reliable. Can we depend upon them in any circumstance? Do they care for us?

Another way of saying the same thing is whether we have faith in someone or something. In this case, do we have faith in God?

Most of us, I believe, will naturally say yes. Otherwise, why are we here this morning?

But do we really have faith in God? Do we really trust God? And why should it matter?

In our Old Testament reading today in Isaiah 26:4, we are invited to trust in God. “Trust in the Lord forever,” the scripture says, “for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”

In other words, trust in God because God is “an everlasting rock”; an anchor for our lives; a divine, holy and spiritual being upon whom we can depend and who is our Creator and our Sustainer. For these reasons, we can have faith in God.

But again, do we?

For myself, I would honestly have to answer no. For if I truly trust God, if I truly have faith in God, then I will be at peace, meaning I won’t have any fears, I won’t have any worries or anxieties, etc. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I’m guessing that others here may feel the same way I do.

Why is this so?

It seems so simple to trust God, to have faith in God, and there is no reason not to do so, but yet, I don’t think I really do. What seems so simple is also so very challenging.

What is the roadblock or obstacle to trusting God, to having faith in God?

For me, I think I am the biggest obstacle to trusting God. My ego does not want to surrender to God. I do not want to lose control or am afraid of losing control. Consequently, if I don’t surrender to God, there is really no trust in God, and there is no true peace in my life. Perhaps others here can relate to this predicament as well.

How then can I, can we, overcome this dilemma?

Let us look for a possible answer in our epistle reading this morning in Romans 5:1–5:

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”

The relevant portions of this passage for us today are the links between faith, peace and God and most importantly the pouring of God’s love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. If God’s love dwells in each of us, then why do we not trust God, why do we not have faith in God?

Again, I think the ego is the culprit.

How then can we overcome this culprit that is us. In other words, how can I get out of the way of myself?

The Benedictine monk John Main and his disciple Laurence Freeman offer us a prescription: Christian meditation, or contemplative prayer.

Meditation is a way for us to subdue our egos and to connect with the Divine that resides in each of us. Meditation is perhaps a practice that we associate more with Buddhism or Hinduism, but Fr. Main and Fr. Freeman in the 1970s resurrected the Christian tradition of meditation begun by the Dessert Fathers in the third century A.D. in Egypt. Through meditating for 20 to 30 minutes twice a day, we can begin to silence our egos over time and can begin to listen more deeply to God in us. Developing a more profound relationship with God can naturally strengthen the bonds of trust and bless us with a greater sense of peace.

This peace though is not intended to be kept within ourselves, but rather, we are called to share it with others. Today during our worship service and, indeed, every Sunday service we share our peace with one another.

But the sharing of the peace inside of us is, of course, not just reserved for our Sunday services. We know from the Beatitudes in Matt. 5:9 that we have a responsibility as Christians to be peacemakers; but before we can work for peace, we need to be at peace with ourselves and with God: peace in the world begins with peace in me and in each of us. Our relationship with others is a reflection of our relationship with God and with ourself.

You know from reading or listening to news reports that our world today cries out for peace, that there is a great need for us, as people of faith, to be peacemakers, that our faith challenges us to heal the brokenness of the world. This message is most appropriate today as the United Nations has declared June 26 as the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. We may feel, however, that the violence or problems of the world are far away from us or are too big for us to deal with. It is normal to feel this way. Hong Kong though is in need of peace. Our city is divided over how to achieve a more genuine democratic political system, for instance. Moreover, we may encounter people in our daily lives in our neighborhood, in our workplace, in our school, in our family, who are not at peace because of an accident or an illness, etc.—people for whom we can do some small act to give them a greater sense of peace. Sometimes it’s something as simple as listening to their problem. Peacemaking does not necessarily require some grand act or great skill. It just requires a commitment to others.

By now, it may be apparent that at the foundation of being a peacemaker is love, fulfilling the commandments that Jesus gives us in our Gospel reading today in Luke 10:27 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

As peacemakers, we express our love for our neighbors both near and far; and in so doing, we reveal our love for God who calls us to love our neighbor. Our inner peace, built on our trust in God, is reflected in our actions for peace in our world. The inner joins with the outer, and our faith becomes whole. Amen.

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, June 26, 2016

“God is our refuge”

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 19 June 2016, World Refugee Sunday, by Timothy Chan Ka. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 42, Galatians 3:23–29, Luke 8:26–39.

Today is a refugee Sunday. You might be looking around and wonder who is refugee, and who is not. However, I would say, every one of us needs to seek refuge and no one knows what would happen in our life in the next second. Last week, in America, Orlando, 49 people were killed in a gay bar because of homophobia and hatred towards sexual minority. And In Hong Kong, one of the missing booksellers Lam Wing-Kee came back to Hong Kong and stormed the media, telling how the Chinese government confined him, and threatened him. Persecution, violence and injustice are closer than we imagine. In this Sunday, I want to remind every one of us, no matter who you are and where you from, God is our refuge, Before we go into the scripture and today’s message, let us pray:

Loving God, may you open our eyes, to see how much we need you in our life, and may you open our ears, to listen what you are telling us this morning. May your Holy Spirit transform us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

According to the Refugee Convention adopted by the United Nations in 1951, a refugee is “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” However, this definition might not be able to include all the people facing persecution and different life threats. Think about the victims in the Orlando shooting, do they match with the definition? Maybe No, the immigration office in Hong Kong might deny their case! And in today’s reading, in the Gospel of Luke, we read about a man of the city Gerasenes, who had demons taken him. Do you think he would be accepted as a refugee in our society today? If he is in Hong Kong right now, who can he turn to, for help and assistance? In this story, he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, and he lives in the tomb, isolated, keeping distance with the “normal citizens”. He is not welcomed by his own city, and the tomb is the only place he can go. However, Jesus came all the way to cross the Lake and see this man and casted out the demons in him and give him a new life.

Today in our society, in Hong Kong, many politicians are calling to build a close camp for refugee, propose to detain them somewhere in Hong Kong or Shen Zhen, and keep them away from the HK citizens and keep them isolated. This is what exactly the citizens in Gerasenes did to this man that he was chained and kept in tombs! A tomb is a place for dead people, by sending this man to the tomb, the citizens might just want to kill him slowly, or in their eyes, this man is already a dead man. Today we have to question ourselves, do we see refugee as a problem? Do we also see them as dead people? That we just want them to disappear from our sight, so that we do not have to be responsible to what had happened to them?

Jesus offers another way. Jesus rebuked the demons and casted them to the herd, and hundreds of swine rushed down to the cliff and drowned. The man who was naked, is now clothed and he got back his mind. And the man who had been possessed by demons had been healed. The man who had no dignity has gained his identity back! Praise the Lord! What a miracle is this! But sadly, this is not what the citizens think. The bible says they were scared and fear of Jesus! And they urged Jesus to leave them. They might be troubled by the loss of the pigs which jumped off the cliff, those might worth a lot of money. However Jesus valued this man much more than those swine and money. Jesus cherish every one of us, and particularly to those who are marginalized by the society, and those who are weak. Today our media is trying to stamp a label of “fake refugee” on the asylum seekers in Hong Kong. They are trying to tell the citizens of Hong Kong that they do not deserve our help, as they are not “REAL” refugee. BUT today we have to say No to these politicians, and No to these inhumane discourses. Today we have to decide that we will follow Jesus’ teaching and his example, to help and love those who are in need, no matter they have the “certificate” of “refugee” or not.

In fact, when we listen more to the stories of our friends, fleeing from their own countries for different reasons. It opens up our mind. I have started serving refugee and asylum seekers in KUC about six months ago. As I was listening to their stories, I was really moved, at the same time, very shocked too. To be honest, I think you are all very tough and brave. I’m very moved by how their faith to God is so strong. In such a tough situation, they still managed to praise God, and dance for God. Looking at myself, maybe I would blame God and would never go to church again. However, through our asylum seeker brothers and sisters. They show me that, the more in need they are, the harder they pray and more they want to come to church and praise God. Today they might be stuck in Hong Kong, but God’s healing is everywhere. Jesus said to the man in Gerasense : “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.” Yes, today our refugee friends still cannot go home, however, they have been proclaiming what God has done for them in Hong Kong! Our team would go to different schools and churches in Hong Kong, we will go and share, not just about how hard their life is, but how God has helped them to go through all of these. They are counting the grace of God. This is the very thing we can learned from their stories!

In today’s reading, psalm 42, you may open your bible to psalm 42 and read together again. Psalm 42 is a Maskil of the Korahites. A Maskil is a genre of the Psalms, it means a contemplative Psalm, and the Korahites, are the descendants of the Levite who are chosen by God to serve in the temple. They were used to lead the Israelites to Praise God in the temple! In this Psalm, the Psalmist is very likely a priest, or someone who used to serve in the temple. However, he was in great trouble and sorrow. In verse 3, the psalmist says

“My tears have been my food

day and night,

while people say to me continually,

‘Where is your God?’”

Even the servant of God would face the time of trials and turmoil. In fact, every one of us here might have experienced something similar, we had bad moments, and time we have no idea where to go, what to do, we couldn’t see our future. To a point that we doubt “Where is our God.” When the asylum seekers came to Hong Kong, they have no right to work, forced to rely on a very thin subsidy from the government. They do not have money to pay for the school fee for their kids, they do not have enough money to pay for the sky high rent in Hong Kong. They might have asked “Where is our God?” this is also a question many of us would ask, not just the refugee and asylum seekers, but every one of us. However, the psalmist did not give up, he continues to say :

“5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my help and my God.”

For the psalmist did not give up on God even though he might be surrounded by his enemies, and the people around him are mocking him, teasing him saying “Where is your God?” The psalmist demonstrated his faith in God. It reminds me of a brother in our fellowship, He comes from India and he is in midst of us now. He grew up in a Sikh family, but he met Jesus, and decided to become a Christian. Unfortunately, his family and people in his community are not happy about this. They had beaten him, threaten to kill him, and denounced him publicly, and his family has decided to cut the relationship with him and the statement was on the local newspaper. When he showed me the newspaper, I was really upset. His life is being threatened if he decides to follow Jesus, that’s why he came to Hong Kong. However, he did not lose faith in God, when he was facing all these threats around him, he did not give up on God, where it was supposedly the easiest way for him to survive. Give up his faith and he will be accepted by the community again. But he did not, he remembers God, and when he came to Kowloon Union Church, you know what the very thing he said to me? He said “I want to be baptized” I hope that, very soon, we will all witness his baptism here in KUC. Okay?

So the Psalmist says:

“My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember you”

Do you remember God when your soul is cast down and when you are in trouble?

At the end of the psalm, the psalmist reminds us one more time

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my help and my God.”

God is our refuge. This psalm might be resounding in the heart of the man from Gerasense. Even he was possessed by demons, he might still remembering God. Today, I pray that this psalm would also resound in your soul whenever you are facing challenges, persecutions, threats, and all kind of difficulty you may encounter in your life. Last night, in the Vine Church, the refugee ministry group in Hong Kong was celebrating the World Refugee Day. When the Aineo Gospel Choir sing the song “He’s able”, one lyric touches me so deeply, it says “Don't give up on God, cause he won't give up on you”

Brother and sister, in the third reading of today, in the book of Galatians, it says

“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

Today, our society is giving us a lot labels, I believe everyone in KUC are holding a different ID card, or paper right? Some of you are holding a working visa, some of you are permanent residents, some of you are domestic helpers, some of you might be a travelers, and some of you are asylum seekers or refugees. But these identities are no longer important when we are calling “God, help me!” you do not need a HKID to pray, “Hey God, see I am a HK citizen! Listen to my prayer!” or “Hey God, see my papers! I am a ‘real’ refugee! Help me!” God’s Love and protection is beyond all these identities the world has given to us.

In God “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, there is no longer gay or straight, and there is no longer the so called “real refugee” or “fake refugee” FOR WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.

God is our refuge! Amen!

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, June 19, 2016

“Radical Love”

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 12 June 2016, the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 32; Galatians 2:15-21; Luke 7:36-8:3.

Opening prayer:

God of love, open our heart to hear your Word and inspire us through the Holy Spirit. May your Word transform our faith and our life to be more like Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Getting married is a happy life event. But it was not so for Eddie and Rachel. Although they had planned to get married, Rachel was pregnant before their marriage. They had to arrange quickly the wedding ceremony. As both of them are Christians, they would like to have a church wedding. They wished to make their solemn vows before God and to witness God’s love in them. Of course they would like to have God’s blessings for their marriage, their new family and new life ahead. When they approached their home church minister, they were condemned for committing sins of pre-marital sex. The minister discouraged them having a church wedding because they had sinned. They were also asked to confess publicly before the congregation. With great disappointment, stress and guilt, Eddie came to KUC one day, checking the possibility of having a church wedding service here. I’ll never forget the first time I met Eddie. He was so lost and distressed. He said he did not know what to do. He felt confused, shameful and broken. While he was under great pressure from the church, he was worrying about her girlfriend Rachel. But he was faithful to God and wanted to seek God’s guidance ahead.

The woman in the gospel account from Luke that we heard this morning reminded me of Eddie and Rachel. Like the woman, this young couple was regarded as sinners. They have committed the sin of pre-marital sex in the eyes of their church leaders.

The response of Jesus to the woman gave us light in responding and receiving sinners as such. From the gospel story, the author did not mention what was the sin this woman had committed. There were biblical commentaries referring it as sexual sin. This woman might have been a prostitute. She was a kind of person who received no respect from her community. She had possessed expensive perfume and thus she might not be that poor financially. But she was poor and marginalized in the social sense. She was rejected and not welcome by her community.

When the Pharisees challenged Jesus in their heart for he related closely to the sinner, Jesus realised it and he confronted the religious leaders by asking an interesting question with a parable about debts.

From the parable, he shared the message about forgiveness and love. The more debts cancelled, the more love the debtor has for the creditor. To translate it to sins - the more sins forgiven the more love shown by the sinner. He then affirmed the woman of what she did for him – washing his feet with her tears, drying it with her hair, kissing it, and anointing it with the expensive ointment (a kind of oil people used to bury dead body or purify priests). It indicated she treated Jesus as an important person.

This woman who did not even have her name mentioned in the account was affirmed by Jesus. Jesus received the affection and care from this woman without hesitation. Unlike the Pharisees who focused on the law, sins and the past record of the person, Jesus focused on forgiveness and the transforming power that love brought to a person. Jesus cared more about the relationship with this woman who had shown him love, gratitude, courage and humility of faith.

After Jesus responded to the challenges raised by the Pharisees, he said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Jesus’ public proclamation of sins forgiven to this woman was remarkable and powerful. It was a full acceptance and embrace of this woman in God. His public declaration also indicated the chain of sins that this woman carried was broken. She was free – free from guilt, free from isolation, free from rejection. Jesus received her as a full human being with dignity.

Jesus’ act of forgiveness was a great contrast to the minister of Eddie and Rachel. Instead of asking the woman to confess her sins publicly, Jesus declared forgiveness to her.

Jesus’ love was to empower. He did not only say to the woman – your sins are forgiven. He further said – “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” He acknowledged her effort and her faith. Jesus showed his great respect to this woman. Jesus was not portrayed as a superior man and God showing his power and claiming all credit. No! Jesus treated this woman as equal partner in making herself anew and become whole again.

Jesus gave to us such good example for relating to sinners, those who are rejected and marginalized in our society today such as the sex workers, the LGBTI community, ex-offenders, HIV/AIDS carriers, you name it. Let us embrace and receive these marginalized with the love like Jesus. Let the divine love transform the heart of people.

While we always have something to learn from Jesus, I would like to highlight what we may learn too from the woman who was regarded as sinner by her community.

This woman was not a passive person awaiting for salvation. She did act with love and faith. She had the courage to break the social norms that prevent her from seeking God’s grace through Jesus. She had faith in God and the inner strength to get close to Jesus. As woman she was supposed to sit at the side and not stayed so close to Jesus, the guest of honor. This woman, however, refused to fall into the category other people defined her – a sinner. She did not constrain herself but to do what she thought was right. She demonstrated great love to Jesus in the public.

Radical love is to give and love by removing all barriers with courage. Radical love is a mutual relationship. Like the woman and Jesus, they had demonstrated love to each other.

As God loves us, our desire and love to God is equally important.

Let us go back to the story of Eddie and Rachel.

After hearing their story, I felt a strong urge to give them support so as to demonstrate God’s love and grace upon them. I agreed to officiate their wedding in our church. They however decided not to go ahead because Rachel’s family and their home church did not support. I did my part anyway. They appreciated what I have done for them. I was invited to witness their marriage at the Marriage Registry and shared prayers and bless their marriage. In midst of all the rejection and condemnation, my presence and acceptance somehow revealed Christ’s forgiveness and love. In them, I have witnessed the transforming power of forgiveness. Jesus forgave the guilt of the woman’s sin. Jesus forgave the guilt of Eddie and Rachel. Anyone who is bold, humble and trust in God may go to him for forgiveness. Jesus’ radical love can set us free and bring us back to the love of God. Radical love includes also faith – our trust in the Lord. As promised by the Psalmist shared in Psalm 32 - Steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.

Last month Eddie sent me the good news of the arrival of their baby. He is thankful to God and is hoping to bring glory to God through him and his family. I saw their love and trust in God. I am thankful for that.

To the lost Christ shows his face, to the unloved he gives his embrace, to those who cry in pain or distress, Christ makes his friends, a touching place.

May we all learn from Jesus Christ of his radical love to move beyond all human boundaries, to feel for the people we most avoid, to feel for the confused and to feel for the lonely heart.

How can we act like Christ to love and be liberated from the laws and social norms that are suppressive? Apostle Paul from Galatians reminds us of Christ’s radical love of sacrifice and our deep union with Christ is the way.

The Word taken from Galatians 2:19-20 is a remarkable passage for us to remember.

Here I read:

¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Sisters and brothers,

Let us live everyday by faith in Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. It is this self-sacrificing love of Christ that encourage us and empower us to declare this faith statement:

“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:19-20)

May the radical love of Christ stay in us and our radical love for God shine. Amen.

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, June 12, 2016

“In the Web of Creation”

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 5 June 2016, the Eco-Concern Sunday, by the Rev. Hans Lutz. The scripture readings that day were Psalms 104, 1-24; Revelation 22, 1-5; Matthew 6, 26.

1. During recent weeks and again during the last days a confrontation occurred at Ma Si Po Village in the North East New Territories over the problem of land ownership. A large property development corporation which in recent years has bought massive pieces of land in the North East New Territories claims that the village falls within their land and therefore takes action to take it back. The villagers claim the place their home and insist that no one can take it away by force.

From the corporation’s perspective, the villagers are sitting on other people’s property illegally. They are hindering development and jeopardizing the legitimate financial interests of the corporation. From the villagers’ point of view, the property developer is endangering the land they have been working for over half a century. They are now forced out from their own place.

There is a basic conflict going on between the needs of the city for more housing and the rights of total people who have cared for the land for decades.

2. Today the whole world is experiencing the conflict between God’s creation and the needs and the greed of the human race. For the past 200 years industrialization and new technologies have expanded the domination of humanity. We have been and still are living by a questionable understanding of Gen. 1, 28 where God says to humankind, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on earth.”

3. Today it dawns on us that we have misinterpreted God’s intention. Now we pay more attention to another verse from the book of Genesis, namely Gen. 2, 15 where it says, “God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it.”

A friend of mine always emphasizes that as Christians we should not speak of ecology and environmental concerns, but of “creation care”. God wants us to look after his creation.

4. Along with the shift from domination of creation to care for creation, we realize that we are very much part of creation and depending on it. St. Francis has addressed the elements as brothers and sisters. He spoke of brother sun and brother fire, sister moon and sister water, and mother earth. We are part of one big family.

Psalm 104 gives expression to this. What is most remarkable about this psalm is that it positions humans as one among many species of animals and also within the framework of nature. It speaks of the birds, the wild goats, the moon, the seasons, the setting sun, the beasts in the forest, the rise of the sum, and then the humans who go to labour until the evening. And then the psalm exclaims,

O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

The earth is full of your creatures . verse 24

Human beings are one of the creatures God has made.

5. At the same time psalm 104 depicts God as constantly and actively sustaining his creatures.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;

They flow between the hills,

Giving drink to every wild animal;

The wild asses quench their thirst.

By the streams the birds have their habitation,

They sing among the branches.

From your lofty abode you water the mountains,

The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the cattle,

And plants for people to use,

To bring forth food from the earth. Verses 10-14

Jesus has referred to the sustaining grace of the father when he said,

Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Mt. 6, 26

6. God provides not merely for basic subsistence, but also for pleasure:

You cause the growth of wine to gladden the human heart,

Oil to make the face shine,

And bread to strengthen the human heart. Verse 15

My wife and I live in Mei Foo Sun Chuen. Every morning we take a walk in the Lai Chi Kok Park and enjoy the flowers on shrubs and trees. Hong Kong is a small place , but it has so much to offer in terms of natural beauty.

7. A member of a European party has criticized that all too often we sound like school masters when we talk of environmental concerns. Our approach should be guided by love and care. We are part of the web of creation. This web is one in which are interdependent and in which all are dependent on God – the one who created them and sustains them.

8. God loves the world and so should we. We are called to heal the creation where it is broken as God will heal his creation when his kingdom comes. In China the authorities are turning to treat the soil where it has been poisoned by industry. The book of Revelation gives a vision of a healed creation:

Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the lamb and flowing crystal clear in the city street. On either side of the river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the leaves which are the cure of the nations.

Rev. 22, 1f.

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, June 05, 2016

Reflections...

“In God We Trust?”

“God is our refuge”

“Radical Love”

“In the Web of Creation”

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