Reflections: December 2019

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 15 December 2019, the Third Sunday in Advent, by Dr. Hope S. Antone. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 35:3-7; Luke 1:46-55.

Greetings everyone!

“Choose to be Courageous” is the suggested theme for today, the 3^rd Sunday of Advent. One of the lectionary readings is the Magnificat, generally known as Mary’s song of praise for God. Magnificat comes from the Latin word for magnify. As we reflect on this text today, may we learn some lessons from Mary and her choice to be courageous. Before I proceed, let me ask you a simple riddle-question: What do two pregnant women do when they meet together?

Well, as far as Elizabeth and Mary were concerned, they affirmed, blessed and supported each other. As we know, Elizabeth was pregnant with her first child in her old age, after many years of marriage; while Mary was pregnant with her first child in her young age, before her marriage. In biblical time, both situations were quite unusual or unexpected. In a patriarchal context where woman was expected to get married and have children, being barren or getting pregnant outside of wedlock were caused for shame and humiliation. So the news of the angel Gabriel about their pregnancies turned upside down not only the lives of these two women but also the culture and norms of the wider society.

We can say that the Magnificat was the earliest Advent song or Christmas carol, sung before Christ Jesus was born. It describes Mary’s own hope and her vision for her people. I thought and looked for other songs/carols about Mary’s role in the birth of Christ Jesus and except for different versions of the Magnificat, I remembered one and found another:

One is titled “The Miracle of Christmas,” a favorite among Filipinos:

Virgin Mary loves her baby boy

Virgin Mary fills our hearts with joy

It was the miracle of Christmas…

The second one is “A Baby Changes Everything,” from a Christmas musical by David T. Clydesdale & Deborah Craig-Claar):

Teenage girl, much too young

Unprepared for what's to come …

A baby changes everything…

Not a ring on her hand

All her dreams and all her plans…

A baby changes everything…

The man she loves she's never touched

How will she keep his trust?

A baby changes everything…

Very few carols speak about Mary and if they do, they speak of the young, innocent, inexperienced, obedient and submissive Mary. Unlike these Christmas carols, the Magnificat is a radical protest song. It is similar to the song of Miriam when the enslaved Israelites claimed their freedom from Egypt. It is something that the exiled Judeans might have sung in Babylon as they longed for freedom in their homeland. It is the kind of song that inspires people to resist oppression. One could say it is similar to “Do You Hear the People Sing” or “Glory to Hong Kong”.

The Magnificat speaks of a world turned upside down – when an ordinary, young peasant woman, a nobody to the rich and mighty, becomes the blessed one; when the lowly and humble are lifted up while the proud and powerful are brought down; when the poor and hungry are filled with good things, while the rich are sent away empty handed. Mary knew her Jewish scriptures very well to have this vivid upside down picture in mind. It is the picture of God’s promise with the coming of the Messiah. It is a clear reminder that things will not always be unjust; that God’s preferential option is for the poor, hungry, and powerless. When people of faith feel hopeless and helpless about injustice; when people of faith go hungry, downtrodden and discouraged, and find no way to ‘fight the system’ – they remember God’s promise of turning everything upside down. It is not for the purpose of social reversal so that the powerful and rich would now become the lowly and poor. Otherwise the cycle of oppression would continue. Rather, it speaks of a radical change – a social leveling – so that those who have been deprived will be given what they need so they too can live decently; while those who have more than enough will stop amassing more for themselves but share with those who have less.

You all know the song, “Give thanks with a grateful heart”. The original version has only this part which is sung twice: “And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’, let the poor say ‘I am rich’ because of what the Lord has done for us.” When we first learned this song here at KUC, Beng Seng felt uncomfortable that something was missing. He then suggested adding, “And now let the strong say ‘I will care’, let the rich say ‘I will share’ because of what the Lord has done for us”, in order to convey that social leveling that we read in the Bible.

Although some people may still believe that the blessedness of Mary is in her having been chosen to bear the Christ child, I believe that her blessedness lies in her choice to be courageous to be an instrument for turning the world and its norms upside down. As a Jew who was grounded in her scriptures, she knew of God’s promise of a more just world. But more than having that knowledge, she was willing to be part of realizing that promise even if it meant turning her own life upside down. And that takes lots of courage.

Giving birth to a child is not the only calling of women. Giving birth to ideas and actions to help transform the world is an equally great, or even greater, calling – not only for women but for all people, of all ages. And giving birth to ideas and actions that are counter-cultural and transformational takes lots of courage.

Consider Greta Thunberg, a16-year old Swedish environmental activist whose campaign for immediate action to address the climate crisis has inspired a global movement. As part of her campaign to reduce carbon footprint, she convinced her parents to become vegetarian; and she traveled by boat to speak at the recent climate conference in Spain. She is another young woman who is turning the world upside down, despite the criticisms, risks, and challenges. Some people say that she does not speak about God in her campaign. But I say that her campaign has everything to do with the whole creation of God!

Choose to be courageous! According to some psychologists, courage entails certain attributes. First is courage includes feeling fear yet choosing to act. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. As Nelson Mandela said, “the brave (one) is not (they) who do not feel afraid, but they who conquer that fear.”

Second, courage is following your heart/your passion. The word courage is Coeur in French and cor in Latin, meaning heart. Midori Komatsu says, “Passion is what drives us crazy, what makes us do extraordinary things, to discover, to challenge ourselves. Passion is and should always be the heart of courage.”

Third, courage is standing up for what is right. N.D. Wilson says, "Sometimes standing against evil is more important than defeating it. The greatest heroes stand because it is right to do so, not because they believe they will walk away with their lives. Such selfless courage is a victory in itself.”

Fourth, courage is expanding your horizons by letting go of the familiar. Lord Chesterfield said, “One cannot discover new oceans unless they have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

Mary’s life got turned upside down by the news of the angel Gabriel. Then she sang of a world turned upside down where those who are high and exalted are brought low; those who are poor and hungry are filled. She sang of a child in her womb who would go about dislodging, disrupting, disturbing – so that God’s love, justice and mercy would reign in the world. It took courage to do all that.

This act of turning the world upside down became a movement for later, one of the charges against the Christians, the followers of this Christ Jesus, was, “These people are turning the whole world upside down” (Acts 17:6).

So let us think of Christmas as a time when God began turning things upside down. May the Christmas carols that we sing this Christmas reflect God’s vision of turning things upside down. And may we all become pregnant with ideas and actions as we participate in that movement of turning the world upside down so God’s love, justice and mercy would reign. Remember, choose to be courageous – for the Christ Jesus promised to be with us. Always. Amen.

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 15, 2019

Choose a Better Way

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 8 December 2019, the second Sunday in Advent, by the Rev. Dr. Judy Chan. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3: 1-12.

Around 20 years ago, there was a meeting that I really wanted to go to in the Netherlands. It was the Assembly of the World Association for Christian Communication. I’d been involved in the Asia region of this ecumenical network. And every 6 years they had a global assembly of all the regions. But the problem was I didn’t have enough money to go. Then I heard that WACC was running a logo design contest for the meeting. The theme was “From Conflict to Community”. Anyone who was a regional member could enter the contest. And the grand prize? A free trip to Amsterdam. Here was my chance! Now, I don’t know how to do computer design, so my logo had to be drawn by hand. And what I came up with was a drawing of a lion and a lamb lying down together and the words “From Conflict to Community” over the top. The image, of course, is taken from Isaiah 11. Well, my brilliant idea done in primitive art style didn’t win the contest. The good news, however, is I found other funding and I got to go the Assembly anyway.

20 years later, here we are again with an image of a lion and lamb lying down together in the Old Testament reading. This has captured our collective imagination. If you see pictures of this, usually it’s a majestic lion lying down on the grass with a gentle lamb nestled up in front of it. Other artists inject a bit of humor with a drawing of a lamb and a lion sitting together at a bar having martinis. But the one image that many people think of for Isaiah 11 is the famous painting – The Peaceable Kingdom. This was done by the American Quaker Edward Hicks in the 19^th century. Here he takes all of verses 6-8 to include the different animals and children. And way in the background is the Quaker leader, William Penn, negotiating a peace treaty with the native Americans. I didn’t know that Edward Hicks actually painted 62 versions of this picture. And as the story goes, he became more and more discouraged by the conflicts of his time, especially within his religious community. So, in the later versions, he paints the lions and leopards and wolves looking more and more ferocious with glassy eyes and bigger fangs.

It’s obvious then that this dream of a violent world returning to the Garden of Eden wasn’t happening in his lifetime, and maybe not in our lifetime either. There are endless jokes about the lion and lamb lying down together. Here’s one: The lamb says, “Let’s call a truce.” The lion replies, “After I have my dinner, thank you.” This peaceable kingdom then seems no more realistic in the animal world than in the human world. Wild animals do not live together with domestic animals. Lions are not vegetarians. And little children do not lead them, much less play near snake pits. So, what is going on here?

To understand this poem, we need to look at the setting. It’s the 8^th century BC and Israel is under threat by the Assyrians. Isaiah predicts the fall of the Assyrians like a tree cut down that will never grow again. But then he turns to the house of David, son of Jesse. And even though David’s house is falling too, Isaiah says there is hope. From that tree stump will sprout a shoot whose branches will grow out from the root of Jesse. A greater King is coming whose reign will truly be one of peace and righteousness.

Christians of course understand this passage to be a prophecy of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The King of kings will save us from our sins. He will protect the poor and the vulnerable. His kingdom will reconcile and restore all of God’s creation – humanity, animal life and the land. But ‘when?’ you ask. Jesus came as a babe in the manger over 2000 years ago, and still there is endless injustice and violence. There’s a carol we often sing at Christmas called “I Heard the Bells”. It’s not just about lovely bells that remind us this is a season of peace. Actually the 5^th verse was written while the country was in Civil War. Here Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!" (and women)

Why is there no peace on earth this Christmas even though Jesus Christ has been born? If Jesus is who he says he is, why do lambs continue to be eaten by lions and wolves? Is Isaiah 11 just a faraway vision that will only happen at the 2^nd coming of Christ? If so, why did Jesus come the first time if it didn’t really change anything?

This morning, I have to tell you we make a big mistake if we think the coming of Jesus didn’t make any difference. In fact, his Advent into the world 2000 years ago changed everything for you and me. How, you may ask?

By giving us three of the most important things we need:

The promises of God.

The justice of God.

The peace of God.

And you and I receive each of these in the coming of Jesus Christ. Let’s look more closely at these from our Bible readings for the 2^nd Sunday in Advent.

1) The promises of God: I admit sometimes I forget Jesus was a Jew. We seem to emphasize so much how he was at odds with the Jewish people that it sounds as if he disowned them to start a new religion. As if God had gotten disgusted with the whole lot of them and decided to give someone else the blessing. But that’s definitely not the case. As St Paul wrote to the Romans: “For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.” What is Paul saying? Instead of feeling smug that we have the Gospel and others don’t, we need to recognize how we got Jesus in the first place – through the Jewish people and the mercy of God. I like the way one of our radio speakers put it. He said, remember, “the Lord we worship and follow is of the tribe of Judah, the son of David; a Jewish child of a Jewish mother. We call him by a Jewish title, Christ, the Messiah. The privilege of belonging to the people of God is ours . . . nevertheless . . . the gifts and calling of God to his ancient people the Jews, are irrevocable.”[1] They can’t be taken away.

This morning, then, let us be grateful that the promises of God to Israel are also ours through the coming of Jesus Christ. As Paul quotes from Isaiah: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him . . . The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” The promises of God.

2) The justice of God: The 2^nd way that the coming of Jesus changed everything is through the justice of God. We read over and over again in the Old Testament that God hates injustice and takes the side of the poor and marginalized and oppressed. And not only is God on their side, so should God’s people be on their side. We know this. We’ve heard it and we believe it at Kowloon Union Church. But we also are quite sure we know who are the lions out there and who are the lambs, who are the predators and who are the prey. In many situations it’s obvious. But what if the lion and the lamb are found in the same person? That’s right. What if there is a little lion and a little lamb inside each one of us? Then we have to come to terms with the potential within each of us to be an oppressor as well as the oppressed. To be the bully as well as the victim.

I think that’s why the words of John the Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees are so powerful. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Remember, John was calling on all the people of Israel to repent, everyone to prepare the way of the Lord. But he held special contempt for those who thought they had nothing to repent of, that they were faultless. “Don’t go telling me who your father was,” John says. “If you aren’t bearing the fruit of righteousness, God is ready to chop down your tree.” Wow. If that’s what God says to the people of Israel, what’s the message to us Gentiles? Nothing less than this: God won’t tolerate injustice – to His people or from His people – and that includes you and me.

3. The peace of God: That’s the 3^rd way that the coming of Jesus changed everything by making peace truly possible. One of the verses we often quote in this context comes from Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I don’t think that means that God gives us a kind of peace that no one else would call peace – that we passively accept tragedy and violence and suffering in this life because God will give us comfort in the next life. Remember we’ve been talking about “peace on earth, goodwill to all”. So the peace Christ brings to guard our hearts and minds must make some difference now between his first coming and his final coming. And I say it does if we follow not only what Jesus said but what he did.

What then has Jesus done that makes peace possible? We need to look no further than the Cross. For what was his crucifixion but the most violent, humiliating punishment that the Romans could dish out to enemies of the state? I always imagine the Cross of Jesus and the thieves standing alone on Good Friday. But likely there were many more victims hanging on crosses all along the road. This was the Empire’s way of warning others “you might be next”. Yet only at the Cross of Christ do we find meaning and redemption. Only Jesus died out of love for his enemies. Because he knew there was only one way to lasting peace. And that is to accept that even my enemy is a child of God. That God’s ultimate goal has never been revenge or reversal but forgiveness and reconciliation. That’s why Jesus chose to suffer violence rather than be the cause of it. To speak God’s truth by every means possible except violence and hatred. Because he knew once we release our inner beast, we may start to become what we hate. And that would be the greatest tragedy of all.

Of course, we’re not Jesus. And it’s way harder for us to follow his example, he who was both fully human and fully divine. We only got the human part. Yet the good news of the Gospel is that through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. We now have the possibility of living in peace. If we choose.

So, it turns out the image of the Peaceable Kingdom really is fitting for the Advent season. It’s God’s vision that we do not need to depend on each other’s destruction for our own survival. That in fact, the Gospel tells us that we are ultimately responsible for the life of our neighbor and especially the lives of our enemies.[2]

In our Advent series this year, I was given the title “Choose A Better Way”. And that’s how I will close. By asking you to choose a better way through Jesus Christ who opened the promises of God to the Gentiles. To choose a better way through Jesus Christ who showed us God won’t tolerate injustice towards anyone or from anyone - including you and me. To choose a better way through Jesus Christ who made peace on earth possible by trusting faithful witnesses to follow His way – all the way to Cross if necessary until there is justice, peace, healing and unity for all.

[1] Rev. Ross Royden, “Minutes That Matter”, RTHK Radio 4, 30 July 2019.

[2] Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom, p88.

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 08, 2019

Choose to Wait

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 1 December 2019, the first Sunday in Advent, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 24:36-44

Opening prayer

God of life, open our hearts to receive Your Word.

Holy Spirit, grant to us wisdom to know the truth about waiting. Inspire us and prepare us to walk in the Way of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen!

Introduction

Today we have started the season of Advent. It marks the beginning of the Church liturgical year. You see how the church is prepared for this special season with all the decoration for the worship space: the banners, the wreath of candles and the Christmas trees.

The word “advent” derives from Latin “adventus” meaning “coming” or “arrival”. Advent in Greek is parousia, meaning “coming” or “presence”. It thus entails a meaning of Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the season of Advent serves as a dual reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah, as well as the waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ by Christians. Waiting for Jesus’s coming again is to look for his Kingdom that brings to the world new vision, new hope and new peace. Advent is also a time for believers to wait for God’s promise to be fulfilled and prepare for God’s Way.

The Church Worship Advisory Group has taken: “Prepare the Way Together” as the theme of Advent this year, with four sub-titles for the four weeks of Advent.

Advent is a time of waiting for the coming of the Lord.

This week, our focus is “choose to wait”.

Prophet Isaiah in his vision shared in the Book of Isaiah we heard this morning has given us some light.

1. Choose to wait is to believe God is our centre and our ultimate promise

Isaiah was living in a world where his nation Israel had been under constant threat of wars from the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires. The people in Israel and Judah were living restlessly because of the political instability. Isaiah, the great prophet of the Israelite proclaimed to his people their future relied on walking in the way of their God. In times of trials and suffering, human beings tend to blame God and make complaints. Prophet Isaiah’s vision reminds us the Great God is the one above all nations and provides a safe house on top of the mountain to his beloved people.

2 Choose to wait is to have vision and be transformed.

From Isaiah 2:4, it says:

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

I just mentioned the Israelites were constantly under threat and insecurity because of the strong empires nearby. When people are living in such condition, fighting back is quite a normal reaction. But Isaiah offered a vision that was the total reverse of anticipation and imagination for the Jewish community. He was calling for peace. He told his people the coming of the Lord is to bring peace, not wars and violence. He proclaimed that in God’s new world, not only must the weapons be destroyed; they are transformed and repurposed.

In Isaiah’s vision of a new world, the Lord of peace engages his people to use the tools at hand for productive activities that can bear fruit for the benefits of the people. The setting down of the sword indicates that there is no more aggression and domination over others. People begin to use their resource to build lives. In verse 5, Isaiah further called his people to walk in the light of the Lord.

Choose to wait for the Lord involved transformation and walking in the righteous way of God: the light and peace that are to build up lives instead of destruction.

Sisters and brothers, in what way does your life need to be changed and transformed so that you may truly live a Godly life? What is the hope you wish to realize?

In our society, in what ways does it have to be transformed so that God’s Kingdom of justice and peace can be achieved? How do we and the church need to be transformed to advance God’s Kingdom as we are waiting for the coming of Jesus and to manifest God’s presence?

3 Choose to wait is to act with love to bring hope, joy, justice and peace.

When we realize waiting for the Lord is to have the vision of God and be transformed, waiting is never passive inaction. On the contrary, waiting can be taken as active participation of here and now which induces implication for future.

As Henry Nouwen shared in his book -- Eternal Season, “Waiting is never a movement from nothing to something. It is always a movement from something to something more.”

In today’s gospel reading taken from Matthew, we are told the time for the Lord to come is not known and unpredictable. It says, “about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, only the Father”. No one knows when Jesus Christ the Lord returns except God. The coming of the Lord is a mystery.

Yes, it is. And yet Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Whenever we follow Christ’s way by leading a life of hope and love, justice and peace. Whenever we show compassion to people who are suffering in pain. God is with us. And the Lord has come to us. Christ is present in us.

4 Choose to wait is to be alert and repent to God. Be patient and let go

The gospel today reminds us to be alert to the Lord’s coming in an unexpected time. We need to be spiritually awakened. Spiritual awakening requires us to turn inward to our heart. Advent is a season calling us to repent, return and patiently listen to God. While we choose to wait is to act, we need to wait with patience. We allow anything that is unexpected to happen in life. Choose to wait requires also to let go of our own ego and let go of our desire to control others, to control the outcome and things that are happening around us.

5 Choose to wait requires us to slow down

We are used to living in a city of Hong Kong moving so fast and people work very efficiently. Advent calls us to slow down as we are waiting. In this season of Advent, I would like to invite you to choose to slow down a bit and take more time to pray and meditate. Take time to read the scriptures, and to reflect on your life and faith.

Pastor Maggie has been very thoughtful and creative to make a four-week devotional for the season of Advent. Each week, there is a little booklet for you to bring home. The booklet is designed based on our theme: Prepare the Way together with four sub-titles, one for each week. The first week is choose to wait. The second week is choose a better way. The third week is choose to be courageous. The fourth week is choose to trust. The devotional helps us to build up relationship with God and nurture our faith in Christ.

Finally, I would like to emphasize Choose to wait is to pray faithfully by putting God at the center of our life. This is also an important step for us to prepare in walking the Way of Christ.

When we are waiting for the Lord, remember too God is also waiting for us to return to His Way because God loves us. God loves to be connected with us. We are all God’s beloved children. God wants to be united with us as One. That’s why God humbled himself and came to the world in human flesh. In the season of Advent, let us prepare our hearts to receive God, that baby Jesus being born in the world.

Chanting

To close my sermon, I would like to invite you to open your heart for baby Jesus while I am chanting a song for you. The song is in Cantonese, with this meaning:

- Let my heart be the manger that Jesus is born within me. Jesus, come!

I close the silent meditation with the sound of bell.

Let us pray:

Dear God, As we choose to wait for the Lord, let our hearts be the manger that Jesus is born within me. Jesus, come to us! Amen.

# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 01, 2019

Reflections...

Choose to be Courageous

Fourth, courage is expanding your horizons by letting go of the familiar. Lord Chesterfield said, “One cannot discover new oceans unless they have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

Choose a Better Way

Choose to Wait

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