A sermon preached at Kowloon Union
Church on Sunday 30 September 2018 by Dr. Kung Lap
Yan. The scripture readings that day were Psalm
19:7–14, Mark 9:38–50.
The phrase, “I am
not the only one”, may sound very familiar to many of you. This comes from
the lyrics of the song, Imagine, by John Lennon. “I am not the
only one” means a lot to people engaged in the Umbrella Movement, for they know
that they are never alone. However, on some occasions, we are happier when we are the only ones than when we are not the only
ones. This
is the concern of the Gospel for today.
What
the real issue is
It records a
conversation between John and Jesus. John said to Jesus,
Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your
name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us. (v. 38)
John’s saying was concerned about the
authenticity of the man having the authority and power to cast out demons but
without following Jesus. It is whether the man was committing a heresy, and/or
whether he had abused the name of Jesus. Apparently,
John’s concern
is well established, but if we pay
attention to what had been happened to the disciples some days before this
event, we may have different interpretations of John’s saying. In 9:28-29, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why could we
not cast demons out?” Jesus said to them, “This kind can come out only
through prayer.”
I believe that
first, John had prayed very hard so that he
might have some successful experiences to cast out demons. If this is so, the question John
puts to Jesus reflects that he was unsatisfied with the man whose spiritual
life in terms of casting out demons was stronger than John himself, but the man
was not supposed to be. Second, the man did not follow Jesus, and this implied that he was not
chosen or he did not want to bear their cross. More importantly, he was not
sent by Jesus. If this is so, his authority and power to cast out demons was an
abuse of the name of Jesus. Third, since the man was not following “us” (the
disciples, not Jesus), he was not subject to the disciples. In other words, the
disciples no longer had the monopoly of Jesus’ teaching. When we take all
these concerns into consideration, we can say that the core
issue is not simply about how to keep the authenticity of faith, but it
is the fear of the loss of status, prestige and position of John among the
followers of Jesus. This was especially true in
the early church when Jesus was no longer present. Apparently, it is about
setting up criterion in order to distinguish between orthodoxy and heresy, but
it is more about protecting one’s status, prestige and position.
Pride as sin
What is the nature of
protecting one’s status, prestige and position? Is it about a matter of
dignity, respect or a matter of pride? Pride is to see himself/herself beyond
what he/she is, and to refuse admitting
his/her
limitations and shortcomings. Pride is to
focus on
himself/herself only, and even greedily to get what is not his/hers. In order
not to lose one’s status, prestige and position, he/she not only lies and over-boasts about
his/her achievements, but also uses all means to disqualify the achievements of
others. In fact, pride is the result of fear,
self-pity and lack of confidence. Does it mean that people always having the words of
“Thanks, God” or Hallelujah in their mouths are humble? This is
not necessary, for there is something called spiritual pride. This is what
Jesus criticizes in the Pharisees and scribes. How about the Gay Pride? Are they
arrogant? It is important to distinguish between what Gay Pride is talking about
- pride as dignity and what we are talking about - pride as sin.
Pride is sin, because first, it does not help one to have an honest and authentic
self-understanding, but rather it leads one into self-deception, and
consciously and unconsciously live in self-deception. Second, pride is sin,
because competition, not fellowship, is its logic of relationship. It does not
have the capacity to appreciate and allow people better than him/her. Third,
pride is sin, because its nature is a work ethics, and it denies that what we
are graciously gifted from day 1. Pride
is a kind of self-love, but it is a misguided self-love. Pride makes one to say
“I am the only one,” but in fact, he/she
is not.
Do not stop him
In order not to let
John fall into the trap of pride, Jesus says to him, “Do not stop him” (vs. 39).
First, Jesus explains that “for no one who does a deed of power in my
name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.” It is true that some
people abuse the name of Jesus for their own sake, but there are many people
who are faithful to Jesus Christ. We
may not fully agree with their interpretations of the faith,
but we should
not simply use our own yardstick to measure them. Rather
we have
to be open, to be listening and even to bless their work. In fact, they have done something that we are not able to do. This is
what Kowloon Union Church is doing for our little congregation, One Body in
Christ. I have to be honest that most churches in Hong Kong would have
hesitation to receive us, but you welcome us and share your resources with us. You have shown us what it means by “We are not the only ones.”
Second, Jesus explains that “whoever is not against us is for
us.” We sometimes may victimize ourselves by saying that no
one is standing beside us, but Jesus reminds us
that we may not receive positive support, but support can be expressed in terms of not against us. If we see in this
way, we are not alone as what we think.
After
saying this, Jesus makes a positive statement, “For truly I tell you, whoever
gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by
no means lose the reward” (vs. 41). This is what the
Kowloon Union Church has been doing for the asylum seekers, overseas domestic workers,
and us.
No
franchise of faith
“We are not the only ones”
is to remind us that we are one of the many to inherit the Christian faith and traditions. We do not have the franchise of
the faith. We should not fear losing our status, prestige and position, but we learn
to appreciate the diversified expressions of faith through the work of the Holy
Spirit. We have experienced the graciousness of God in our church, but “we are
not the only ones.” So, we happily share our resources with others and bless
them whole-heartedly.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, September 30, 2018
A sermon preached at
Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 9 September 2018, Sixteenth Sunday after
Pentecost, by Dr. Hope S. Antone. The scripture
readings that day were Psalm 146; Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-37.
Greetings of peace to you, my
sisters and brothers in Christ!
Please join me in a short
prayer: “Dear God, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts
bring us closer to you. Amen.”
Today’s gospel reading (Mark
7:24-37) narrates two healing miracles of Jesus that happened in Gentile
territory – Tyre and the Decapolis. The first and more familiar story is that
of a Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter who was
possessed by an unclean spirit. This is my favorite passage in the Bible
because a woman from a different ethnic and religious background dared to defy
socio-cultural and religious norms to beg Jesus, a male Jewish teacher, to heal
her sick daughter. I can understand why a mother would do such a thing for her
child. But I remember it was unthinkable in biblical times for a woman to speak
to a man in public. Yet here is a Gentile woman who dares to speak to a Jewish
rabbi in public, begging him to cast the demon out of her daughter!
This is one story that has made
many readers uncomfortable because Jesus seems to show a lack of compassion for
the woman and her daughter. His response to the woman’s plea was: “Let the
children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw
it to the dogs.” His statement reflected the Jewish stereotype/label for
Gentiles, the non-Jews, as ‘dogs’; while the Jews claimed the label, ‘children
of God’. Some preachers have tried to lighten the label’s connotation by saying
that Jesus only meant ‘household pets’ rather than the stray dogs. But the
general Jewish regard for Gentiles as “unclean” was common knowledge in
biblical times. Driven by her love for her daughter, the Syrophoenician woman
responded to Jesus: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s
crumbs.” Such wit and humility prompted Jesus to respond: “For saying that, you
may go – the demon has left your daughter.” We don’t know how the healing
happened but when she reached home, she found her daughter lying on the bed,
completely healed.
The second story is that of a
deaf-mute man, brought by some people to Jesus when he came to the Decapolis
(the ten cities). Although the man’s ethnicity is not identified, scholars
surmised he must have been a Gentile. We know from our experience that deafness
and muteness always go together because one’s ability to speak is connected to
one’s ability to hear. We learn a language by listening to and mimicking how
people speak, pronounce, and use different tones. Jesus’ healing of the
deaf-mute man was similar to exorcism: spitting on the ground was a warning
against evil spirits; touching the man’s ears and tongue was a sign of infusing
him with God’s power; saying a word, “Ephphatha”, was a command in Aramaic
that meant, “Be opened” or “Be released”. Immediately, the man’s ears were
opened, his tongue released, and he spoke plainly – a description that he was
healed, freed from the demon that was believed to have bound his ears and his
tongue.
In biblical time,
disease/illness was associated with demon possession or sin; if not one’s sin,
of one’s parents. We recall the story of a blind man about whom Jesus’
disciples had asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?” Perhaps it made
sense to people in the early days that whatever could not be explained was
attributed to the supernatural. But Jesus
replied, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind
so that God’s works might be revealed in him” (John 9:1-10).
So what do these stories have to
do with us who may not find ourselves in similar situations as the
demon-possessed daughter or the deaf-mute man? Or for whom many diseases can
now be explained scientifically? Or where some medical breakthroughs have been
found? Are these stories too remote from our reality or situation today?
Some of us may wonder why this
kind of healing miracle does not seem to happen anymore in our time. My father
kept asking why God did not hear his prayers for my mother to be healed from
cancer and for him to be restored to good health. I responded to him that
illness/sickness and ageing are
aspects of our human finitude, and that healing can take different forms,
including returning home to God where there is no more pain, struggle, or
suffering.
I believe that healing miracles
still do happen, if we have just the eye to see them. Early last week, the BBC
carried the news that a one-year old toddler, who was born profoundly deaf,
started to hear and respond to sounds following a cochlear implant. Serious
cases of deafness require more than a hearing aid which simply amplifies sound.
Isn’t it a miracle that people with various disabilities are now able to live
life in its fullness because of scientific discoveries and technological
innovations? Consider the invention of the hearing aid, sign language, and then
the cochlear implant; the braille for the blind; the wheel chair, artificial
leg and arm, etc. Many people with physical disabilities have overcome their
limitations and have done well in the paralympic games. Isn’t it a miracle when
“the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for
joy” (Isaiah
35:5-6a).
I also believe that biblical
stories have much deeper meaning than what we can easily see. That is why,
through Bible studies and sermons, we keep trying to go beyond a literal
reading of scriptures. And when we do so, we can go beyond the healing of the
physical body to the mending of the spirit. Apart from the physical disabilities
and shortcomings, or diseases that affect parts of our physical bodies, these
biblical stories also speak of the deeper spiritual deafness/muteness,
disability or disease that people with good ears, good tongues, good sight and
good bodies, might actually be suffering from.
In the first story, Christ Jesus
demonstrated for us what being deaf to a cry for help and compassion looked
like. As a Jew, he understood his mission was to the Jews, the children of
Israel. It was a Gentile woman who confronted and cured Jesus of that deafness.
Jesus’ encounter and dialogue with the Syrophoenician woman led to his Ephphatha moment. He opened up to a new
realization of the wideness of God’s grace, mercy, compassion and love. It was
not gender, not ethnicity, not religion, not social status or any distinction
that determined or ensured who was worthy of the kingdom of God. Rather, God
makes anyone and everyone worthy of God’s kingdom because that is the very
nature of God.
Today, we Christians with sound
bodies may also be deaf to cries for help, understanding, and compassion,
especially if they come from the so-called “outsiders”, i.e. those who are not
among the “insiders” like us. But another word for “insiders” is “inmates,”
which is used to refer to those confined in prison or hospital. Being
“insiders” can be like a “prison” too, with walls that keep us separate from
the outside world.
Sometimes our deafness is
imposed on us by messages that limit God’s love for all people – starting with
“Don’t talk to strangers” or “You cannot trust anyone” and on to our
preconceived ideas about people who are not like us or not among us. Sometimes
our deafness can be willing or willful – e.g. when we refuse to hear new
information or prefer to cling to half-truths, fake news, baseless conclusions
and old stereotypes. Sometimes we deafen ourselves to unfairness suffered by
others; we tune out or cut out others we don’t like or disagree with (something
worse than just clicking a thumbsdown on facebook).
Like in the biblical time, we still use various labels to identify
‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders.’ In fact, we have more labels to distinguish groups
of people today, which create walls rather than bridges. Consider this list of
labels: by religion or denomination, ethnicity or race, gender or sexual
orientation, social status or education, political or ideological orientation,
ability or disability, and what have you. Instead of responding to the command Ephphatha, which means to open up, to be
opened or to be released, and to see everyone as a child of God, we may end up
being more plugged up by our old beliefs, assumptions, and perceptions that put
a limit on God’s love. As Christ Jesus showed in the story, to open up means
going out of one’s comfort zone – venturing into “Gentile” or unknown
territory, engaging in conversation or dialogue with strangers, being willing
to learn from and with them. Unless we do so, we remain “inmates” in our
comfort zones, plugged up with our limited knowledge or narrow understanding of
God’s love.
The motto of the Kowloon Union
Church, “where all are one,” is a call for us to break down walls that divide,
in our life as a congregation and in our individual places of work or study.
May we learn from Jesus that overcoming deafness begins with our realization of
our own shortcomings or limitations; and that overcoming our deafness leads to
helping others overcome their limitations. That is how the good news of
transformation in Christ Jesus is shared. As James put it, “What good is it …
if you say you have faith but do not have works? … faith by itself, if it has
no works, is dead” (James 2:14a, 17).
Dear God, help us overcome our
deafness and our muteness, so that we can help others overcome theirs. Ephphatha! May it be so!
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, September 09, 2018
A sermon preached at Kowloon
Union Church on Sunday 2 September 2018 by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings
that day were Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Opening prayer
Dear God,
You are our Great Teacher. May
Your Word enlighten us and the Holy Spirit guide us the way of life in Christ.
Amen.
After going through the
lectionary readings of this week, the word ‘integrity’ stood out to me.
Meaning of integrity
Searching
from Wikipedia, this free encyclopaedia defined integrity as “the quality of
being honest and having strong moral principles, or moral uprightness. It is a
personal choice to hold one's self to consistent standards.” For me, one man stood out
as a good example that fits this definition.
Our dear senior member and
friend Bishop Samuel passed away on Thursday at the age of 88 after a stroke on
last Sunday and fell unconscious. As I
prepared the sermon today and shared the message about integrity, I remembered him
a lot. He had lived a life and faith of integrity as God’s beloved child and faithful
servant.
Therefore, my message this
morning will talk about the life of Bishop Samuel and how we may learn from him
as a man living his faith of integrity in Christ.
Maybe I begin by briefly introducing some
background of Bishop Samuel. He was from Pakistan originally. He joined KUC as
member in the 1990s when he served as Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA)
General Secretary from 1990-1995 in Hong Kong. He joined our community again
when he was back to Hong Kong staying with his son eldest son Ajmal in 2007. At
the end of 2015, he and Mrs Samuel moved back to his hometown in Pakistan.
The Letter of James we heard this morning highlighted a
vital message: be doers of the word, and not merely hearers. It is important
for believers to live out our faith. Knowledge and faith without action are
worthless.
Bishop Samuel had set us a
great example that he did not only hear the word as believer and preach the
word as pastor, he lived out God’s word.
The core of God’s word is love.
The greatest commandment of God is to love God and love our neighbour as
ourselves.
In the moving tribute written by Bishop
Samuel’s children, they highly praised their father. Here is what they said
about him – “Our dad was our hero: kind, compassionate, idealistic and so full
of love. He always had time for each of us in all our life's choices, listening
and advising, encouraging and supporting. Imagine this doubled for his
grandchildren!”
While I heard
many complaints and sad stories about pastors who neglected their own children
and families because they were too busy with their church ministry, Bishop Samuel had
done very well as a loving and responsible husband and father. He and Mrs Samuel
always came and left the church hand in hand. His love and devotion to his wife
were impressive.
His love was not limited to
his own family, I cannot agree more with his family that his pastoral heart was
offered freely to everyone. He dedicated his life to God by offering his love
wherever he went.
I knew Bishop Samuel since
2007 when I started my ministry in KUC. He was such a kind and encouraging
person. Whenever he was in church joining the Worship Service and fellowship or
during my visit to him in his home, he always asked about my family, my
children, as well as the church. Even when he was sick and staying in hospital,
he still demonstrated his care and concerns to others. He had always kept us in
his prayers. We can see his sincere love of others in all circumstances.
As a Christian priest, and as the first
Pakistani Bishop of the Methodist Church, Bishop Samuel was a pioneer in
ensuring that the community was encompassing, welcoming and behaved as good
neighbours in his predominantly Muslim land. He worked tirelessly for
interfaith relations, as well as the unity of the church in Pakistan, being one
of the founders of the Church of Pakistan.
His passion to bring peace and unity was not
confined to Pakistan. He was
keen for inter-faith dialogue in Hong Kong. On behalf of the church, he invited
the Iman, a Muslim leader from Tsimshashui Mosque, to speak in an interfaith
forum some years ago. When he did that forum, he was already 80 years old.
Another meaning of integrity is “the state of being whole, unified and
undivided.” Christians are called to be
ambassadors of Christ to bring peace and unity. Again,
Bishop Samuel in all his life not only preached unity and harmony, but lived it
too.
The Letter of James
highlighted the law of God is to bring liberation.
The Gospel of Mark reminded
us that we should not blindly follow human tradition but to truly follow the
commandment of God that would set people free. In criticizing the Pharisees as
hypocrites, Jesus reminded his disciples to live a moral life with honesty and
consistency. These are qualities from the heart within.
Carol Cheung, Bishop Samuel’s
daughter-in-law, Ajmal’s wife is a Chinese from Hong Kong. I married Carol and
Ajmal in this church in 2015. Carol shared in her Facebook about her father-in-law.
She said Bishop Samuel encouraged her to do well in her career. He gave her
full trust as she excelled. When she was upset, he gave her hugs and
comfort. He was also a very forgiving
person as they would reconcile with each other after arguing with one another. It is not easy indeed for elderly people as
they tend to be stubborn. Such a close relationship between father-in-law and
daughter-in-law was admirable. Not only did he treat his daughter-in-law so
well, he was also very kind to their domestic helper.
Bishop Samuel was one of the
senior pastors in the Ecumenical Council examining and supporting Maggie’s and my
ordination. He was the one who preached at my Ordination Service ten years ago.
He apparently was happy to see two ordained women ministers serving in KUC. Unlike
many old men in his age and from conservative culture, Bishop Samuel did not
uphold the male-dominant traditional values and gender stereotypes as golden
rule that cannot be broken. After his
death, I learned from Carol that he loved the songs of Abida Paveen. He shared
with Carol that Paveen’s songs gave him peace of mind and brought him close to
God. Paveen is a Sufi Muslim musician.
Bishop Samuel had incredibly
lived a life with true love and true respect to people regardless of gender,
race, class and religion.
On every first Sunday of the
month, we celebrate Holy Communion here at KUC. I was very impressed by Bishop
Samuel’s humble manner and his reverence to God in the way he received the elements
at the Communion. He always bowed his head and uplifted his hands to receive
the bread. He was a man fearing of God and had deep gratitude for the love and
sacrifice of Christ. He was very attentive and present at the service. In one Communion
service, I shortened the liturgy. His mind was so clear that he noticed it.
After the service he came to and gave me critical feedback for something he
considered vital was missing.
Besides, he and Mrs Samuel
were always punctual and never been late to the Sunday Worship.
Psalm 15 is the summary of
the moral conduct. The Psalmist asked God this question:
God, who can find a home in
your tent,
Who can dwell on your holy
mountain?
Those
who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their
heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends,
nor take up a reproach against their neighbors, in whose eyes the wicked are
despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord.
The
life of Bishop Samuel had demonstrated such a quality that the Psalmist has
highlighted. We thank God that he is now home resting in his tent and dwelling
on his holy mountain.
“Every precious act of giving, with every
perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
Bishop
Samuel is perfect gift given to us from above the Father of lights. We will
remember him. And the best way to remember is to do what he has done and receive
what he has given us.
Let us spend some time
to remember him, to give thanks to God for his abundant life, for the grace he
had shared with us in God and for his new journey to the eternal home. Let us
also pray for Mrs Samuel and their family in this time of loss.
Inkyu will play the
song ‘Bless Assurance’ in this time of silence.
This was a favourite song of Bishop Samuel and Mrs Samuel.
Closing prayer
Loving
God,
We
thank you for the abundant life of our beloved brother and friend John Victor
Samuel.
You had blessed him with an admirable marriage of mutual devotion and
service, a beautiful and successful family and a fulfilling vocation that
impacted so many people.
It is hard to say goodbye. But knowing that he lived a good life and is
now with You resting in eternal home, we can say farewell with peace and joy.
Living God,
In
the presence of death, we ask you to comfort Mrs Samuel, his family and those
who mourn for the passing of Bishop Samuel. Give them hope that in the love of
God there is no separation.
Give
us grace to love you, and to trust in your goodness and mercy. Assure us that
because Christ lives, we shall live also; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
McGill-Queen's
University Press. 2010. p. 12.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, September 02, 2018
