A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on
Sunday 26 January 2020, Third Sunday after Epiphany, by Timothy Chan. The scripture readings
that day were Isaiah 9:1–4, Matthew 4:12–23.
Good morning
sisters and brothers, Happy Chinese New year of rat. First and foremost, I wish
you all good health in this period of time, and a blessed year ahead with love
and peace. Following the church calendar, we are in the midst of epiphany, a
season when we learn about how Jesus begins his ministry. In the past few weeks,
we read about Jesus’ baptism, and how John the Baptist prepared the way for
Christ. Today, we are reading how Jesus begins to preach and calls his first
four disciples. Before we look closer to how it all happened. Let us pray:
Loving God, we
thank you for being the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Help us to follow
you, and to become your disciples. May your word inspire us and encourage us
this morning. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
The Gospel reading
this morning is divided into two parts, the first half tells us how Jesus
reacts to the news of John the Baptist being arrested, and the second half
tells us how the disciples were called. Jesus begins his ministry at a bad
time, with only a slogan, and limited resource. It begins with his friend,
John the Baptist, being arrested. The scripture says “Now when
Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.” John the
Baptist was not only a spiritual man who baptized people in the wilderness, he
was also a vocal opposition to the government and authority. He criticized the
brutal and oppressive rule of Herod, and denounced his immoral life. Upon fear
of local unrest against him, Herod arrested and killed John the Baptist. During
this time, Jesus withdrew to Galilee and began to preach, “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven has come near.”
1. Jesus’ ministry begins
with a need for liberation and a cry for justice. The motive of his
ministry is based on the context and need of the people. The writer of the
Gospel of Matthew is referring this event to the scripture of the prophet
Isaiah, where the Israelites were facing similar hardship. They have both lost
their homeland to a foreign power, which ruled with brutality and terror. Their
livelihood was destroyed, and the government did not treat them as human. They
were enslaved, and were subjected to pay high taxes. Their culture and religion
were being threatened by forced assimilation policy. Their way of living had
become a threat to the government. People are indeed, as the scripture says
“sat in darkness and shadow of death”. They were desperate for a Messiah to
restore hope, justice and peace. In such
difficult time, Jesus started his ministry.
It is very similar to many places in the world today.
We have seen in the past six months, how Hong Kong’s freedom is being
threatened, people have been disappeared, tortured, and being “suicide”, how
people in different countries rise up and speak against the injustice they have
experienced. If Jesus’ ministry began with bad news and at a bad time, then we
have to think of our identity of being a Christian in this troubled world.
During the protest in Hong Kong, many churches have voiced out their concern
about the movement. Some are more progressive, some are more conservative. No
matter how, they are all responding to the context and situation of the city
according to their capacity. Some churches share their place with the public,
providing shelters and helps, some pastors volunteered themselves to the
frontline to be the witness, some offered free counseling service and prayer
for people who are affected. These ministries started, also, at a very
difficult time.
Jesus’ ministry is not only soci0political,
but it also applies to our life. Friends, think about the time we
experience God the most, the time we pray the most, the time we need God the
most. It might also be a very bad time in our life right? I am so grateful that
God would not keep silence and do nothing when we need him the most. Sometime
we would blame God for letting us experience such difficult time, broken
relationships, hardships, health challenges, etcetc. I remember I used to blame
God for my family problems too, until a mentor reminded me, saying “You should
be thankful that God is still there for you.” we often think God is the source
of our problems, but on the contrary, God is our salvation and help. The crisis
we are facing can be an opportunity for God to do wonderful things in our life.
So brothers and sisters, no matter what difficulty we are facing today, let it
be the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in our life. For our God is the one who
turns curses into blessings, and who makes beauty out of ashes.
2. Jesus’ ministry begins
with a call for repentance. John the Baptist was killed because he spoke against
the government. He criticized the immoral life of Herod, and according to
historians, he also protested against the destructive and violent rule of the
Roman Empire. The government arrested him and killed him, hoping to instill
fear and terror to the people’s mind, preventing potential social unrest. In
the face of terror, Jesus did not keep silent. He picked up the line left by
John the Baptist as he used to shout in the wilderness, “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven has come near.” The terror imposed by the Empire could not stop
Jesus from preaching the message. Then I think about Pastor Wang Yi of Early
Rain Covenant Church in China, who speaks against the Chinese government of
political and religious persecution, and violations of human right. He was
arrested in the end of 2018, and is now jailed for nine years for inciting
subversion of state power. He demonstrated the courage and identity of a
Christ’s follower, in the face of terror and death, he chose to speak up for
truth and justice.
As I mentioned earlier, while some churches are trying
to do something during the movement, there are churches trying hard to do
nothing and be silent. Even we enjoy the freedom of speech in Hong Kong,
sometimes fear would still find a way to creep in. Comparing to pleasing the
people coming to church, I think doing the right thing for God and being
present in the society are more important. According to the scripture we are
reading today, being silence is not an option for Jesus. God doesn’t teach us
to stay out of trouble, instead, Jesus came because we are in trouble! If
God remains silence in the face of death and terror, Jesus would not be sent to
save us all. If God remains silence in the face of inequality and injustice,
the world would be consumed by greed and corruption. If we are silence in the
face of evil and sin, we are losing our identity as a Christian, and as a
church. We may be benefited by being silence in short term, but the cost of
silence is way too high.
In Romans 14:17, Paul describes the Kingdom of God as
“For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Spirit.” What Jesus and John the Baptist were proclaiming is a
message of justice and peace. As we are
called to be a follower of Christ, we are also sharing the value of God’s
kingdom. We begin to see what Jesus sees, and begin to understand more about
how God would respond to different issues based on His righteousness, peace and
joy. Eventually, we learn how to voice out, and proclaim the Gospel.
3. Jesus’ ministry begins
with a community. Jesus knew the work of the Kingdom of heaven might last for
a few thousand years, so he went on to call his group of disciples. They were
two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew, James and John. They were both
fishermen. They were probably the people who experienced the economic
oppression every day. When they heard the calling of Jesus, they did not
hesitate. They left everything they had and followed Jesus. They must have
heard about Jesus. “There is a crazy guy who is not scared of Herod, even John
the Baptist was killed for proclaiming the Kingdom of heaven, this guy is still
preaching the same message!” The message has given hope to the people who were
waiting in the darkness. The message has united people who have shared
experience and dream together. The people of God is a community with hope and
vision.
For James and John,
Andrew and Peter, it was a beginning of an unknown adventure. They have
entrusted their life to Jesus, to follow Him wherever he goes, and to do
whatever he asks of them to do. It is a life-long commitment. I wonder why they
would do such a big decision in such a short time. I guess, on one hand, they
were fed up by the rule of the Roman Empire. They wanted a change, so before
this opportunity came, they were already ready to make a move. On the other,
they were drawn to the vision of God’s kingdom and the coming Messiah. They
would have thought about these for quite some time, so it was easy for them to
make this move when they had a chance to witness all of these. Finally I think
they know Jesus called them as who they are, and from where they are. They felt
accepted and they knew God is going to use them as who they are.
This is actually one of my favorite stories. Sometime
we hesitate to give our life to God because we don’t want to be something we
are not. We think if we have to answer the call of God, we have to be someone
else. But this is not what God asks of us, for we are all created by God
uniquely. God knows what we are good at, and every little thing about us. He
calls us into an abundant life, and to live our life to its fullness. While
Peter was casting a net into the sea, Jesus called him “Follow me, and I will
make you fish for people”. Compare to James and John mending the nets, it hints
that Peter might be better at catching fish. Eventually Peter has become a
great evangelist and James and John were like mending the nets of the church,
pastoring and keeping the church in order.
As a community, we are
celebrating diversity and unity at the same, where we learn to accept the
differences we have, and allow everyone to be who they are with respect and
love. God’s calling is not scary, just as how Jesus called his disciples from
where they are and as who they are, we are all called to participate in this journey
of proclaiming the Good News of God’s kingdom.
Jesus’ ministry
begins with a need for liberation and a cry for justice. Friends, after
months of protest and the recent virus crisis, I am not sure if 2020 will be
any better. But I believe it reminds us, as an individual or as a church, of
what Jesus would do in our community. We are not doing all these by our own
might, but through Jesus who came to the darkness as the light. In the face of darkness and despair, we will
not be silence, together as a community, as a church, we would continue to
preach the message of justice and peace. In this second day of Chinese New
year, I pray that we are all ready to answer God’s calling, to begin our own
adventure with Jesus, and let Jesus begin his ministry in our life, for the
Kingdom of God is near. Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, January 26, 2020
