A sermon
preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 12 April,
2020, Easter Sunday, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The
scripture readings that day were Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; John
20:1-18.
Opening prayer:
God of eternity, we thank you for
your love given through Jesus and your Word that nourishes our soul. May the
holy spirit inspire us to understand your Word and lead us to be Easter people,
to live fully of the life given by you. Amen.
I used to greet my beloved
congregation on Easter Sunday by saying “Happy Easter!” Christ is risen! He is
risen indeed. Alleluia!
Easter used to be a season of joy
and hope.
The Easter celebration this year,
however, is extremely unusual. We cannot meet and worship together in person in
church and we don’t have the pot-luck lunch after the Service as we normally do
today. People in the world, HK of course included, have been adversely affected
by the global pandemic in many different ways. Over 1.5 million people have
contracted this virus and 85,000 have died. The numbers are still going up
daily. Many people are suffering from illness, loss of loved ones, isolation,
fear, lack of adequate means to protect themselves. Schools are closed and more
and more people lost their jobs.
Honestly, friends, is there any
feeling of joy in you as we are celebrating Easter today? In what ways then our
risen Christ instill hope in us in this extra-ordinary time of the world?
Encountering the risen Christ
Easter Sunday marks the end of
Lent. This year our church has created “Lenten Encounter” as our theme for
Lent. I conclude the season of Lent by sharing a message “encountering the
risen Christ” on today’s Easter Sunday.
“Encountering the Risen Christ” –
be aware of our identity as God’s children
According to the gospel account
in John, Mary was the first one who went to the tomb to look for Jesus. She was
very upset for Jesus’ death. I can imagine she probably did not sleep at all so
she could go to the bomb so early.
According to the account, Mary
was very absorbed in her sorrow. She did not recognize the risen Jesus at all
until he called her name – Mary!
Encountering the risen Christ
begins with an awakening of knowing who we are. Very often we may be too
absorbed by our sorrow, hardship, loss and failure in lives. We then forget we
are the children of God, wonderfully created and fully loved. Jesus the Son of
God who was sent to the world to live and die for us have proved this amazing
love.
Dear friends, whenever we are
aware of our identity as God’s children and He calls us by name, we are
encountering the risen Christ and being empowered by the loving relationship
with God. God created this world, He will take good care and responsibility. So
let us never lose hope. Let us also help others to recognize this important
identity in God, the Creator and our saviour.
“Encountering the risen Christ” –
be reconnected to God.
When Mary recognized Jesus, the
risen Lord, He asked her to go and tell the disciples by saying - ‘I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
The charge of Jesus to Mary was
to share the good news of ONENESS in God – that is we are in communion with God
through Jesus Christ. God is with Jesus and God is with us, each one of us in
the world.
Jesus’ Father and His God is our
Father and our God. It is a very profound faith statement to all believers and
followers of Christ.
Encountering the risen Christ is
to reconnect with God as ONE. Who is this God? The God of life and love that is
shown in the creation and in Jesus’ forgiving and sacrificing grace.
In Lent this year, I felt death
is so close to me. In March, three Christian friends died, leaving behind their
beloved wives.
All three wives are saddened to
see their beloved husbands passed away. But I see how they encountered the
risen Christ not in the dead body but in the beautiful life of their husbands
and the love they received from others.
1 The first person I would like
to share is Mrs Chang. In the funeral service on Friday, she shared an impressive
message about thanksgiving to God and to her husband who had enriched her
life.
2 The second friend is May, her
husband died and left with her two teenage children to take care of. She was
worried about the death of her husband because she did not know what to do. But
the support from the church financially and spiritually has strengthened
her faith and given her power to move forward.
3 The third person is Pauline,
her husband was a pastor serving faithfully in a local church. When she was
grieving deeply like Mary, she shared how she experienced God’s deep and
amazing love through the comfort and care of so many people from the church and
even in hospital from the nurses and doctor.
In the global pandemic crisis,
yes there are many ugly human acts. But at the same time we have witnessed many
kind hearted people supporting and sharing with each other especially with
those who are in need. One of the beautiful and touching example is a priest in
Italy who gave his respiratory machine to a young person. The priest died but a
young life was saved.
It is the loving spirit and
caring act that makes the people see the resurrected Christ.
During the Pandemic Crisis, many
reflections in different forms have been shared about human compassion, caring
for the poor and the vulnerable. There are also increasing awareness on
protecting nature and call for simple life to reduce unnecessary consumption.
There are also calls for people to slow down and work less to reduce stress, to
focus more on relationship instead of material life. To embrace the gift of
life and love and don’t take things for granted.
In a way, COVID-19 Pandemic is a
like a tomb of darkness. And yet we meet our risen Christ there.
Encountering the risen Christ is
an awakening to reconnect our life with God, the Father, the Parent God who
creates and loves the world very much. This is Jesus’ mission to restore
humanity and reconnect us to the eternal life and love of God.
Therefore I would say in
encountering the risen Christ, we are able to recognize these truths:
-Sorrow is not enduring, joy is
-Fear is not everlasting, peace
is
-Uncertainty is not permanent,
hope is
-Isolation is not forever,
connection is
-Poverty is not our destiny,
abundant life is
-Death is not the end, life is
The empty tomb has proved to us
life has won the final victory.
With this proclamation -- Christ
is risen, He is risen indeed, alleluia…, we encounter the living God in our
daily lives in the midst of hardship.
With the saving power of Christ,
we can confidently proclaim, we have encountered the risen Christ and we have
seen the Lord! Amen!
Closing prayer
Risen Christ,
Awaken us to know that you live
in us and we are in you.
Jesus Christ and we are in one
body and we are forever connected in life and love.
Help us not to find you in the
tomb of darkness but open our eyes to see the light from the sun in the morning
and the stars at night.
Risen Christ,
Empower us to change with love
and transform with joy and hope. Amen!
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, April 12, 2020
