A sermon
preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 21 July
2019, (Radio Broadcast Service), the sixth
Sunday after Pentecost, by
the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 52; Colossians 1:15–28; Luke
10:38–42.
Opening
Prayer
God of life,
Thank you for your full presence in us through Jesus Christ. May Your
Word empower us and the Holy Spirit that lives within us transform us to be
more like you, the Holy One.
May the word of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You.
Amen.
Message
In the past one and a half months, like many other citizens in HK, I
have been distressed by the political situation in our society. The peaceful
protests that ended up with violent clashes between the police and protesters
were very sad. It is heart breaking to see the increasing antagonism between
the police force and the Hong Kong people in general and the protesters in
particular. The divisions and mistrust in Hong Kong have created a lot of
wounds in many relationships at home, in work, in church and in society.
Now the protests against the extradition bill have evolved into a wider
movement calling for setting up an independent commission to investigate the
recent political crisis and violent clashes, democratic reform, universal suffrage
and so on. It seems that the crisis will continue for a longer period of time.
According to the recent research conducted by the School of Public
Health of the Hong Kong University, the number of people suffering from
depression has increased. More people indicated their intention to attempt
suicide. Many people in Hong Kong have been so wounded emotionally and mentally.
Medical professionals, social workers and psychologists have warned that people
in HK have shown dangerous sign of emotional distress and depression after the
massive protests against the extradition bill and the subsequent political
crisis. The medical professional has even described HK as an epidemic city with
emotional stress and depression. Many people have been feeling helpless,
hopeless and uncertain. The political crisis has made our city very torn and ill.
What does our Christian faith and spirituality offer to believers and to
the society in this time of difficulty?
Psalm 52 we read this morning is taken as a piece of teaching and
persuasion.
The Psalmist pointed out that the wickedness of the mighty (the mighty
here refer not to God but the one with authority on earth) who used their power
to do evils against the righteous will be punished by God. God will destroy the
evil, break the wicked down and uproot them from their land. The Psalmist pointed
out one important aspect to the faithful. The God that we believe in is
righteous and stands for justice. God keeps distance from those who put their
trust in the riches and treasure wealth instead of Godself.
What is delightful to God is those who live a life in the House of God
and trust in the steadfast love of God and to proclaim God’s faithfulness with
praise.
The hope for the people and for the future of Hong Kong I would suggest,
is to insist justice in God’s way is the right way to pursue.
What is justice? Psalm 52 gives us insights. Justice is to speak the
truth and refuse lies. Justice is to love good and denounce evil. Justice is to
choose to walk in the way of God that brings life and love. The demand made to
the government from different sectors for setting up an independent commission
to investigate the violent clashes and find out the truth of the recent
political crisis impartially is the right direction to go.
The Psalmist reminds the faithful to walk in the way of God, that is to
live a life of honesty, to love and be thankful for the goodness being given.
When we are able to live with these qualities, we are more able to respect each
other and be united in peace to find solutions together. It is my prayer and plea
to the government and people from HK regardless of political positions to live
out honesty, love, peace, respect and unity base on justice, in order to build
a sound and good future for this city.
The organized and civilized massive protests have impressed the world. I
joined both the rallies on the 9th and 16th of June with one and two
million people respectively. I witnessed in person the united and peaceful
spirit amongst the people of HK. The civil quality of the people in HK is high.
With the increasing tensions, divisions and violence generated in the
social movement, there will be tougher challenge for the protesters and police to
keep their calmness and inner peace.
When protesters were being beaten up by police and police were attacked
and disgraced in return, it is not easy to keep a peaceful heart with love. It
is a shame to see the ineffective handling of the situations by the Chief
Executive and her government has made the conflicts between protesters and
front-line police intensified. In a broken world like this, how can we keep our
heart with peace and save our soul from the captivity of anger, hatred and
revenge?
In today’s gospel reading taken from Luke, the dialogue of Jesus and Martha
reminds us that we need to stay close to Jesus and to listen to his words. Martha
loved Jesus and cared for his needs. She worked very hard. Unfortunately, her
busyness has made her unwell. She was so desperate to such a point that she
filed a complaint to Jesus and instructed him to ask Mary her sister to help
out. Jesus loved Martha. He made her aware of her situation – she was worried
and distracted. He directed her to know the importance of spending time with him
and listen to his words. Mary had chosen this path. We are all given a mission
by God. And yet, one important thing that we have to bear in mind is to always
make time with Jesus Christ and listen to him. Without listening to Jesus
attentively, we will easily go away from the right track in God, then we get
stuck, feeling unsatisfied, frustrated and even angry like Martha. The way
Jesus communicated with Martha is to show how much he cares for her. Today
Jesus reminds us gently that it is perfectly okay to rest and it is the gift given
to stay with him and listen to his words. By staying close to Jesus and
listening to him, we are able to return to God, the source. Mary has set a good
example and Jesus praised her to choose this spiritual path. Sisters and
brothers, let us learn from Martha, to be aware of our emotions and life
situations. Always return to Jesus for his word and sitting silently with him
like Mary.
For the epistle letter today taken from Colossians 1:15-20, it reminds
us Christ is the image of the invisible God. For him, all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself
all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of
his cross.
Jesus Christ is the incarnated God whose essence is life, peace and
reconciliation. The identity and essence of Jesus Christ has given us light
when our society is so divided and many people are so broken.
Jesus had gone through pain, suffering and death on earth. Whenever
there is suffering, there is Christ. This is a profound promise and comfort to
people who are suffering because they are never alone.
Jesus’ sacrifice and his blood shed on the cross has brought peace and
reconciliation. Jesus is the one sent by
God to transform relationship from brokenness to wholeness, from hatred to
love, from helpless to hope, from despair to peace. Jesus Christ who died and rose
again, has given us new life and new hope through our faith in Him.
Christ is the incarnated God on earth. Where there is hope and love, there
is Christ and the presence of God.
In the past month, I have been active in Facebook and Whatsapp to read
news and articles about the movement related to the extradition bill issues. I
have come across a few episodes that reveal the loving presence of God that
generate hope to our society. Here I share with you:
In the recent massive social moment, many young people have been
actively participating and that revealed that this generation has been
awakened. Their courage to stand against the authoritative government and go to
the forefront in many of the protests has moved many adults and even elderly
people. The ‘grey hair march’ last Wednesday was an action to show the elderly
people in support of the youth to fight for justice, freedom and democracy in
HK. During the protest, some elderly spoke to the young policemen who were
maintaining order, saying, “Don’t beat the protestors, it hurts and is painful
you know.” Another elderly said, “If you have to beat them, do it more gently!”
How sweet and wise are our elderly friends! They are great ambassadors of
peace!
Lennon walls have been set up in different parts of Hong Kong. Outside
our church, we do something similar but we name it the Wall of Hope. From the wall outside Tsuen Wan Train Station
that I passed by this week and from the wall of our church, I was impressed by
so many messages posted on the wall. The majority posts are words of
encouragement like: Add oil Hong Kong, never losing hope & never giving up,
protect Hong Kong with goodness and kindness. On these walls, I saw many posts
saying I love Hong Kong, God bless Hong Kong.
The Lennon Wall has created a sense of community and positive spirit
amongst residents living in that area. A citizen left a message on the wall at
Taipo, saying “I was involved in the front line of the protests. I planned to
end my life because I was tired, very tired indeed. But when I passed by this
Lennon Wall. I cried. Thank you all. Thank you Taipo.”
From here I can see how the community efforts and participation through
the Lennon Wall has conveyed message of solidarity amongst residents in the
midst of disappointment, helplessness and uncertainty. The communities through
these little memo papers are able to offer hope and encouragement to those who
are lost and about to give up.
Lastly, I would like to highlight Colossians 1:15-17, it says,
“15He (the Christ) is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for
in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have
been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before
all things, and in him all things hold together.”
The world we are living belongs to Christ and the Creator God. It is
through Christ that all things hold together. The words of God in here help us
to link the social moment in Hong Kong to our belief in the Kingdom of God that
Christians have been called to strive for. Every week we pray the Lord’s Prayer
in church, saying Heavenly Father may your Kingdom come.
When the apostle said “whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
powers—all things have been created through him and for him”, we know then government
and rulers on earth are established for the service of God and for Christ but
not for their own interests. Government should be held accountable in their
service to the people.
The above is one of the passages important for pastors and Christians to
reflect on churches’ role and mission in building the Kingdom of God by getting
involved in social movement striving for justice and human rights.
Besides, I would greatly encourage pastors and church leaders to take
time to listen to the youth and the pastors who are ministering to the young
people. By doing so, I think we are like the way Mary did, to sit next to Jesus
and listen to him. By listening to the young people, we may hear the words that
Jesus wants to speak to us.
Equally important, our society and the government should actively listen
to our young people with respect and do our best to understand their yearning
in life for they are the future masters of our society. Listening and understanding is one of the
important ways for Hong Kong to move forward.
May we continue to pray for the young people, and for peace to Hong
Kong.
May God bless you all!
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, July 21, 2019
