A sermon preached at Kowloon Union
Church on Sunday 14 June 2020, Wai Ji Sunday, by the Rev. Phyllis Wong. The
scripture readings that day were Roman 5:1-8.
Last year Wai Ji Christian Service
celebrated its 40th anniversary at Kowloon Union Church with a
thanksgiving service. We arranged for holy communion, and everyone who attended
the service — including staff and service users — were welcome to receive the
bread and grape juice that symbolize the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Through
that, we expressed our unity as one body in Christ, and experienced union with
God.
That experience with holy communion was
so good that in organizing this year’s Wai Ji Sunday with Michael and other
colleagues, we came up with the theme, “Union with God.” The original plan was
to center the whole service around holy communion and convey our message
through the sacrament.
But life is unpredictable. The
coronavirus outbreak that began in the beginning of the year in Wuhan turned
into a global pandemic, reaching every corner of the world, including our city
of Hong Kong.
Due to public health reasons and to
reduce the risk of infection, we decided to cancel the holy communion
arrangement. But I still hope to share today’s message under the theme “Union
with God.” The sermon title is “We Are One Family.”
Simply put, “Union with God” means “I’m
in God, God is in me.” That sounds a bit abstract, so I use “home” or “family”
as a symbol to illustrate it.
What characterizes a home or a family?
Is it the parents? Is it the siblings? Is it a comfortable environment? Maybe.
But these are all surface level. In Chinese, home and family are the same word.
At the core of both is love. Then what is love?
Today’s Bible reading comes from Romans
5:1-8. It brings us a message about love, shining light on it and serving as a
reminder.
I personally love Romans 5:1-8,
especially verses 6 to 8.
“For while we were still weak, at
the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for
a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare
to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners
Christ died for us.”
Before I came to Christ, I was very
annoyed by how people in church kept saying everyone is a sinner. I had always
thought I was a good person, that I had integrity, that I was nice to others. I
regularly volunteered to help others. What sin could I have? But one time in a
sermon, I heard these verses. My heart was filled with the light of the Spirit
and profoundly changed. When I thought I was doing well and without flaws, I
had already committed the sin of pride and being full of myself.
More importantly, even as I realized I
wasn’t perfect, that I would make mistakes and have flaws, Jesus Christ still
accepted myself and other sinners unconditionally, to the extent that He
sacrificed His life. It is this forgiving, self-effacing, sacrificial love that
melted my whole being and saved me from the self-centered isolation from the
God who created me. I was thus able to rebuild an intimate relationship with
God.
Today I’m especially touched as I get
to share and encourage all of you with the verses that moved me to make the
decision to believe in God and follow Jesus Christ for life.
God’s great love was thoroughly
manifested in Jesus’ unconditional acceptance and sacrifice.
We are all beloved sons and daughters
of God who created heaven and earth. He knows that we encounter many
difficulties, tragedies and misfortune, whether natural disasters or human-made
catastrophes. But God never did abandon us as orphans. He came to this world
and bore the pain with us. Jesus Christ descended among us while we were still
weak, wronged and even left Him. He held nothing back as he suffered and died
for us, sacrificing Himself.
Every year, Wai Ji Sunday is a special
occasion for us to once again see that God, who unconditionally loves us.
God loves each and every one of us. God
does not compare which one of us is smarter, has more accomplishments, earns
more, or is more educated. God does not play favorites. In God’s creation, we
are all beautiful, valued, dignified — we are all His treasures. In God’s eyes,
everyone is unique.
Everyone who’s created by God, no
matter how meek or small they may appear to the world, even if they break the
law, they can receive Christ’s unconditional love. And they can joyfully,
freely worship God, singing and dancing to praise Him, just like the service
users did today.
During these difficult times amid the
Covid-19 pandemic, it is in helping, sharing generously with and supporting
each other that we manifest our love in unity in Christ.
When we love each other, we live out
the true meaning of “We Are One Family” of our faith in our life. This love can
help engender endurance and hope, because we know we are not alone. We have
God, and we have one another.
Wai Ji staff and volunteers continue to
provide loving service to service users. The parents and family of these
mentally challenged children and adults stand by their side. In their
acceptance and sacrifice, I see the presence of Christ.
Finally, I would like to conclude with
Romans 5:2-5.
May Kowloon Union Church and all the
staff, volunteers and parents at Wai Ji be strengthened by God’s word and
Christ’s love. May they continue to be of one heart; in such uncertain times in
Hong Kong, may they stand by the mission to serve the vulnerable brothers and
sisters among us, in order to build a loving, inclusive and equal family and
world in unity.
Through him we have obtained access
to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the
glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit which has been given to us. (Romans 5:2-5)
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, June 14, 2020
