A sermon preached at Kowloon Union
Church on Sunday 26 April 2020, Third Sunday of Easter, by Dr KIM Sung-Hyun. The
scripture readings that day were
Genesis 48:1–16, John 10:22–30.
Good
morning!
I am pastor
Sung.
When I am
asked “where are you from?”, I feel the urge to tell the whole story. But it’s
so complicated, and not everybody has the patience to listen to it. So, to make
it very short I often just say: I am Korean, as you can see. Then is goes like
“oh, I know somebody/something from Korea”.
I realized
here in Hong Kong, we often start a conversation like this ‘where are you
from?’ just to see that a couple of minutes later we are in the midst of a
story of migration. Of course, only if we have the time to do so. Hong Kong is an
international city, and you can clearly see that: many, many people having a
story of migration or being related to somebody with such a story; only most of
the time we are too busy to listen to the whole story.
I think one
of the most beautiful and powerful experiences we can have is to discover that
there is something to share with people from other backgrounds. That is also
what happens
reading the
bible. There are stories that resonate with us – although speak of a totally
different time with different people. Here at KUC I would like to say something
about the Bible in relation to the migrants’ perspective. But where to start
with?
Finding the verses
Originally,
when I was asked by pastor Phyllis to deliver a sermon here at KUC, I thought
of talking about a psalm. I love psalms, and – by the way - that has to do with
my time at a monastery in Jerusalem. And I thought that would be nice to talk
about a Psalm. But then during the preparation I ran into the reading of the
day on John 10, with the famous words of Jesus as a shepherd. “I am the good shepherd; I know my
sheep and my sheep know me“
These words
reminded me of a quite different context. In Germany where I served as a
pastor, we have a liturgy book for funerals, and this word of the shepherd is
one of the words you say at the grave: “My sheep listen to my
voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them
eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them
out of my hand.”
Just
reading out these words is so powerful. “No one will snatch them out of my
hand.” It speaks of the power of Jesus the risen Lord to bring to life.
And I
wanted to talk about this. In the times of corona and social distancing it
seems more than urgent.
But then I
skimmed through the verses that contain the word ‘shepherd’, and there it was.
The blessing of Jacob that was part of the scripture reading. I have never
heard a sermon on these. Have you?
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”
Five generations
Within a
few lines, this blessing draws a connection between five generations. Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and then Manasseh and Ephraim. Do you remember the names
of your grand-grand-grand-parents? Well, probably not. Most people don’t know
them. Simply because they have never met them. It needs somebody to tell their
story who knew them. It seems not by chance that the bible often mentions the
span of three or four generations to describe how big a range the experience of
a life can cover. Jacob stands in the middle, between his grandfather and these
children whose grandfather he is.
Thus,
Jacob’s blessing opens up a story bigger than an individual life. We as modern
people are not so prone to this view. But it’s the view that sits at the
background of the Old Testament: every individual story is part of a family
story. Something that psychologists would call a ‘systemic’ perspective.
Everything you are stands in a relation to your parents, your siblings and
other people that were crucial for your childhood experience.
But this
perspective also helps you to see it the other way round. Every family story is
woven from individual stories.
This allows
for some interesting views: For instance this. Your grandparents also have
parents and at some time they were trying to find their own place in life. When
we are young it is unconceivable for us that our grandparents once were young,
too, and did not have grey hair. But they were! And how they were.
Jacob is
one of the few characters in the Bible whose life is told from birth to death
in the form of a narrative. As we all know his story we can easily relate to it
while reading the blessing he gives to his grandsons.
Strive for blessing
Abraham’s
or Isaac’s or Joseph’s story are easier to talk about – it are success stories
of migrants if you will. Even Joseph’s story being extremely dramatic is not as
ambiguous as his father’s.
Jacob’s
story is one of ups and downs, of victories and losses driven by his strive for
blessing. The idea of blessing runs through the whole story of Jacob.
Jacob is a
young lad full of energy trying to find his way in life. Running away from home
because he had trouble with his brother. And when we look at is closely, it was
not exactly his brother’s fault, was it? No. It was Jacob who wanted his
father’s blessing so much that he disguised as Esau. It’s no exaggeration to
say Jacob stole the blessing.
And that
became the starting point for his life as a migrant. His strive for blessing
pulls him out of his context. He will never return home to see his parents
again.
What does
he work as?
When Jacob
comes back and has to face Esau again, the very night before he wrestles with
an angel. What does he say: “I don’t let you go unless you bless me.”
“the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day”
A migrant’s blessing
At the end,
Jacob gives his blessing to the grandchildren but not in the way his son Joseph
expects him to do. Jacob crosses his arms to put his right hand on the younger
child and his less hand on the older one.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, April 26, 2020
