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
