A
sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 25 February
2018, the second Sunday in Lent, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The
scripture readings that day were Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Roman
4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38.
Opening Prayer
Everlasting
God, may your word show us your promise of life and love. By the power of the
Holy Spirit transform us and renew us. Amen.
Introduction
Today
is the tenth day of Chinese New Year. In the old days, Chinese New Year could
be celebrated for up to fifteen days. Living in a busy and efficient city like
Hong Kong, we can only afford to have a few days’ holiday for celebration.
During
Chinese New Year especially the first few days, there are some taboos that many
traditional families try to avoid.
On
the first day of CNY, the family should not wipe the floor. Wiping the floor is
no good because it means you wipe away your wealth. I always have questions why
do they take rubbish as wealth.
The
second taboo that I have heard of is not to wash your hair on the first day of
CNY. It is the same logic of wiping the floor. Washing your body may be taken
as removing the blessing and fortune.
Another
taboo during Chinese New Year is don’t mention about death. So families whose
beloved ones passed away before Chinese New Year, they would either to do their
funeral before or after fifteen days of Chinese New Year.
Death
is one of the life crisis many Chinese find it very difficult to take. Many
just avoid to talk about it. Death is something bad and unpleasant.
Scripture
In
the Gospel of Mark 8 according to this week’s lectionary, we saw also how
Peter, Jesus’s disciple, could not accept that Jesus foretold his own death.
Peter did not want to hear about Jesus’ death probably not because it was a
taboo. He identified Jesus as the Messiah who came to save his nation. How
could Jesus suffer and die? No way!
Although
Peter could recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, he did not fully
understand the purpose of Jesus coming to the world. Peter did not understand
Jesus in his suffering, death and rising again to fulfil God’s mission.
In
Roman Chapter 4:13-25, Apostle Paul reiterated that the core faith of
Christians is to believe in Jesus, who came to live, to die and to be
resurrected.
Why is it that important to believe in Jesus’s death and resurrection?
God
who came to the world in the form of human flesh was not bounded by the human
constraints. Jesus who revealed God Himself and reflected His glory,
lived eternally. He came in human flesh that would die but death was not his
last word. He had risen from the dead and living eternally with God. Jesus who
was from God and with God the Holy and Almighty could endure suffering and
pains on earth. He could overcome death as well. In Jesus we affirm that God is
a God of transcendence. Jesus Christ who was the transcendent God broke the
boundary of life and death, time and space, heaven and earth.
The
faith of God’s transcendence empowers us to understand the mystery about life
and death. The faith of Jesus’ resurrection from death gives to us strength and
hope to encounter life struggles in physical illness, deep grief in the loss of
beloved ones, sense of loneliness in the separation of relationships. All this
brokenness and separations are only temporary. At the end, Jesus overcomes
pains and death. In and with Jesus, we will not be defeated by suffering and
death. This profound faith encourages us to live every day in full and with joy
within.
Billy
Graham passed away last week. Through the WhatsApp I received this message with
words by Billy Graham, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is
dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am
now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the
presence of God.” This powerful saying he adapted from the preacher and
evangelist of the 19th century Dwight L. Moody has revealed to us, Billy Graham is indeed a man with great faith.
In
the past one year, five men to whom I felt close passed away. They are my
teacher on spiritual direction, my father in law, two aged uncles, and our
young brother from the church Saimon. To me, it is a year with heavy heart. But
at the same time, I learn and reflect a lot about what is faith in midst of
suffering and death.
Ekman
Tam, my teacher on spiritual direction, demonstrated to me his deep
spirituality and his close connection with God. In his teaching and writing, he
always said in life and in death, he is always with God. From a spiritual point
of view, nothing can take away one truth, we are God’s beloved children. In all
places and in all times, good times and bad times, we are in union with God. We
are forever connected with God even after our death on earth.
Although
Ekman suffered great physical pain caused by cancer, he lived every day with
joy, hope and peace. He continued to work and lived cheerfully until his last
day on earth.
I
found that our young brother Saimon had also lived his life fully by uplifting
his life to God. Saimon suffered from his health challenges seven years ago
when he was fourteen years old. He seldom complained. His endurance in
suffering and pain is amazing. Whenever he was in hospital and I asked him if
he had Jesus inside him and felt the peace within, he always nodded his head.
Two weeks before he passed away, his condition was improved a bit. He was
always smiling and looked cheerful. Amie told me Saimon held the cross Rev Judy
brought him and kissed it after praying. This was the last encounter she had
with Saimon on Sunday that she saw him for the last time. The image of his kiss
on the cross is very touching to me. He could not speak. But his act showed his
love and trust to Jesus Christ. The kiss on the cross showed to me his deep
connection to God through Christ. In Christ, Saimon has triumphed over
suffering and death and is living freely and eternally with God.
God’s Promise Realized through Faith
We
took ‘Signs of God’s Promise’ as the theme for Lent this year.
You
shall see the banners hung on the wall tell about signs of God’s promise. They
were all made by Pastor Maggie with help of some ladies.
Last
Sunday, the Old Testament revealed to us that covenant of the rainbow is a
visible sign of God’s promise.
You will see in the
church there is another banner with the patriarch Abraham on it.
Abraham
was promised to be the Father of many nations. Patriarch Abraham is a symbol of
God’s promise. In Genesis, we learned that Abraham was a man very faithful to God.
He put his full trust in God in the midst of the uncertain promise of having a
son when he was so old and his wife was barren. Although he was not so sure of
God’s promise to him in making him father of many nations, he took the courage
to leave his homeland to a foreign land. It demonstrated Abraham’s full trust
in God.
In
Abraham, we learned that God’s promise was realized through faith. This was
reinforced by the teaching of Apostle Paul in Romans.
Paul
said – “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham
or to his descendants through the law but through therighteousness of faith.” He further said that
promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants who share
the faith of Abraham.
Righteousness
of faith is to trust in God and believe that in God all things are possible. We
do whatever we can and trust in the Lord who will fulfil His will. The
righteousness of faith requires of us to let go of our own will and act beyond
pre-assumptions according to social norms and our own human experience.
New names
When
God promised Abraham and Sarah to be a Father and Mother of great nations, He
gave them new names. The new name given by God is a sign of the Holy One’s
presence. In many traditions, a new name given to a person is to symbolize
change and a new stage of life.
It
is remarkable to see God gave both Abraham and Sarah a new name. In here, God
endorsed gender equality. God recognized the importance of both man and woman.
In church, we always heard about Abraham who was given a new name and promise.
In Genesis 17:15-16, it said very clearly that Sarai was given a new name –
Sarah. God blessed her with a son and she shall give rise to nations, Kings of
people shall come from her. We see in here the promise of God is given to both
men and women.
In
Catholic tradition, the baptized person is given a Christian name. He or she
may be named after apostles from the Bible such as Paul and Peter, or named
after some saints, like St. Theresa, St. Mary.
For
many of us here are from Protestant background, we might not be given a new
Christian name when we were baptised.
The
new name of Abraham and Sarah given by God and Apostle Paul’s assertion on the
importance of faith to all believers inspired me to affirm one truth. All
Christians who are followers of Jesus Christ are given a new name called faith.
Apart
from the promise of great nations, God promised Abraham and Sarah to make
covenant with their next generations. God’s promise is everlasting to all
generation. We are all heirs of Abraham and Sarah. Therefore, by faith we are
able to receive God’s promise.
In
the New Testament, God promised to save us and the world by sending Jesus to
the world.
Let
us remember and affirm our identity as God’s beloved children and by faith in
Jesus Christ who died and rose again from the death, we are given eternal life
and forever united with God.
In
the second Sunday of Lent, may our ancestor Abraham, our Lord Jesus Christ, our
early church Apostle Paul and our beloved brother Saimon remind us that God’s
promise is realized through faith.
May
our name Faith and our trust in God’s promises of everlasting life and love
carry us through an uncertain future and a challenging life journey with hope
and joy.
Closing prayer
Thank
you God for your promise to our ancestors and to all generations after them,
male and female, young and old, rich and poor. May you strengthen our faith and
guide us by the power of the Holy Spirit to return to Christ and be faithful to
God. May the faith within us transform our heart to love and to live our
life more like Christ. Amen.
