A sermon preached at Kowloon Union
Church on Sunday 1 March, 2020, First Sunday in
Lent, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that
day were
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Mark 4:1-11.
Opening
Prayer
Holy Spirit, come to open our heart to
receive the Word. May we be inspired and transformed by your living Word O God.
In Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Today
is the 1st Sunday of Lent. Ash Wednesday last week has kicked off
the Lent season which lasts for 40 days until Easter Sunday. Every year in KUC
and in churches all over the world, Lent has been highlighted as a special
season for Christians to reflect and renew our faith and life as we remember
the pain, suffering and death of Jesus Christ in his earthly journey before we
celebrate his resurrection in Easter.
The
church Worship Advisory Group fixed the theme of Lent this year as “Lenten
Encounters”.
Lenten
Encounters. What and how?
In early
February when the city was in a bit of panic with the coronavirus outbreak and
many people queued up to buy masks, within two weeks, the church received 2000
masks donated by a few generous people from our own congregation and outside for
the grassroots and under-privileged like the refugees and asylum seekers. A
dentist next door did not only donate masks, he and his nurses even came to the
church to produce hand sanitizers for our refugee community last week. A German
Church pastor and a member also came to distribute masks to the refugee
families at the same time. With all
these generous donations, we end up having extra to share with other churches
and Christian organizations who are serving the needy such as the cleaning
workers, ethnic minorities, single parents and elderly people.
In the past
month since the coronavirus started, a few church members and friends have kept
asking me if our church needs masks and hand sanitizers etc for the asylum
seekers and refugees whom we are pastoring.
(A member
from our church shared with me that she took extra masks to the streets. When
she saw anyone especially the senior without a mask, she would give a few
pieces to him or her for sharing.) In a health crisis like this, I see the
beauty of human love. I am touched by these people who are demonstrating love
in a very concrete way.
In actions
of kindness no matter how small it seems to be, we encounter God, the Love.
In actions
of sharing, we encounter God, the Generous Giver.
Lenten
Encounter
Lent
is a time God calls for repentance of all Christians.
Repentance is turning to God and refocusing our
life in God.
Lent is a
season we go through a process to nurture our spiritual life and faith in God
through Jesus.
In Lent, Christians
are encouraged to be more conscious in practicing spiritual disciplines.
One of the
spiritual disciplines is giving.
I therefore encourage
you to encounter God through your generous giving and services for those in
need.
This year,
the church has prepared almsgiving box for you to take home. You may put your
money in the box. This money could be the saving after you skip a meal or
purchase less for yourself or simply just make an additional giving. This giving will be given to people in need of
help and we will collect the box on Easter Sunday. If you need one, please let
us know. You may prepare your own box which is bigger!
To give is
not just about money, it could be in the form of care and service. We may call
up or WhatsApp family members and friends to
share our love and concern. It is in particular meaningful if you go to be in
touch with good friends you have not contacted for a long time or to be present
for those who have special needs for care in this time. To offer service for
individuals, churches or organizations in need is also something good to
consider as a spiritual practice of giving.
By doing so,
we may encounter God, the Relations, who cares for relationships and always
serve his people.
Another
spiritual discipline is fasting. It is to impose some constraints to overcome
our biological desires. The traditional practice is to skip meals by just
drinking water or no intake of meat.
In modern
days, people try different creative ways of fasting, like taking no coffee or
chocolate. I just heard about one way of fasting by using less plastic bags. This
year I plan to select 40 items from home that are in good
condition to be given out to people who may appreciate and benefit from it. My
purpose of this practice is to fast from greed and possessions which are such great
temptations in our human world. By sharing of personal belongings, I try to
encounter the Creator God who loves all creatures and calls us to be stewards
to care for others including nature.
Apart from
giving and fasting, prayer is another key spiritual discipline in Lent. Jesus
spent 40 days and nights with God in the wilderness. Prayer is being with God,
listen to the Word and let our heart be opened to God. It is an important inner
journey that allows the Spirit to guide and transform us to be more like Christ,
and be in union with God.
Prayer in
Lent is to examine our darkness and inner struggles within ourselves. These inner
darkness and struggles are the temptations that hinder us to be fully present with
God and they distract us from focusing our life and service to God.
In looking
deeply to our inner self through prayer, we may address our hurts and wounds,
our mistakes and guilt, our worries and fears, our failures and disappointment.
By doing so, we may encounter the God of compassion and wholeness. Through
Jesus Christ, by his grace and courage, we may receive forgiveness and healing.
In deep
prayer, we may find our true self and have more clarity in our motivation
including our acts of fasting and giving.
In deep prayer, we may better understand ourselves. The more we know
ourselves, the more we know God.
I would
highly recommend a spiritual resource for your daily devotional called “Pray as you go” & go to our church Facebook for materials
we adopt from Seasons of the Spirit as we journey together in Lent.
The gospel
account on temptations Jesus Christ encountered with the devil enlightens us
with these reflections:
1)
Affirm our identity as God’s beloved children who are good
intrinsically. The devil challenged Jesus twice, if you are the Son of God.
Quite some times, we doubt our identity being God’s children and we tried to
prove ourselves. No, we don’t have to prove our identity. We are made in God’s
holy image, fully human and fully divine like Jesus Christ. Very true, we have
our limitations and vulnerability as human beings. And yet God loves us and
treasures our obedience to His words, our trust in His Love and our focus to His
Service. Be with God by reconciling the
broken relationship is our calling as long as we live.
2)
Through Jesus, we are given the power to overcome temptations which are
part of our life realities. We don’t have to avoid temptation but to take it
and confront it with courage and responsibility like Jesus. Remember, the Spirit and angels led by God
are always there with us. So, we have the ability to respond in God’s way.
3)
Jesus’ wisdom and determination to overcome temptations has given us
this assurance: for anyone who is committed to follow him is able to transcend
humanity to divinity, and at the same time to transform selfish ego to selfless
service for the glory of God.
4)
Jesus was able to overcome temptation in the wilderness but his
struggles and suffering did not end there. In Lent, we will continue to travel
with Jesus to his passion and witness his victorious resurrection in Easter.
Lenten
Encounter: What and How?
Sisters and
brothers, are you ready to take up the challenge of suffering together with
Jesus? Are you prepared to receive Christ’s saving grace of eternal life as our
Lenten Encounters together?
Lenten
Encounter: Jesus Christ is waiting to encounter you in His Love. Amen!
