A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Epiphany 8 – Transfiguration Sunday 27 February 2022, by Peter Youngblood. The scripture readings that day were Exodus 34:29-35; Luke 9:28-36, 37-43a.
Like many millennials of a certain age, I grew up alongside a boy named Harry Potter. I read the first book when I was in the 7th grade. At that time, Harry was in his first year at Hogwarts, so we weren’t that different in age. We were both early in our Secondary School education. As I matured, so did Harry. For Harry, each school year was a new adventure for him, Ron, and Hermione. And a new book came out almost every year when I was in Middle and High School. So, reading them was almost like going on an adventure with my best friends!
I must admit, I was a little jealous of Harry. American public school is nothing like the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was no fun to just be a “Muggle”—a word that I find very rude by the way; in fact, I am going to use the term “non-magical” instead. Magical kids like Harry got to take the cool courses like Charms, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Non-magical kids like me had to take classes like Civics, History, Biology, and Math. One Hogwarts class that I wish I could have taken was Transfiguration, taught by none other than the wizarding world’s most important Scot, Minerva McGonagall.
Those of you who have read the Harry Potter books will know what “transfiguration” is. Americans usually say “transformation,” but it’s the same basic thing. Transfiguration is when something is materially changed into something else. For example: A witch flicks her wand, and changes a rabbit into flowers, a duck into cake, or cryptocurrency into something that has actual value.
It's very cool, but magical transfiguration has limits. In the wizarding world, the unspoken rule is that these transformations are not meant be permanent. If you were to change a human being into a pig, you would be expected to change them back into a human at some point. And even as a pig, the transformed person would still be considered a human being; they would still have human thoughts, human feelings, and inalienable human rights. Transfiguration—or transformation—just means that the physical structure and appearance of something of someone is changed, not the essence. A cup transformed into flowers is still—in essence—a cup. A human being turned into a pig still has the soul of a human being. Yes, even if it is Draco Malfoy.
Magical transfiguration is superficial. It’s a disguise or trick. It changes the way someone appears, but not the core of who they are. It’s not that much different than putting on costume. Costumes let us pretend to be someone who we are not, and that can be fun! Growing up, I loved going trick-or-treating on Halloween, dressed as a ghost or Wolverine. I’ve never done it myself, but I’m always impressed by the dedication and skill of the cosplayers who dress up as fictional characters for pop culture conventions like World Con or Dragon Con.
Now it’s true that what we wear on the outside usually says something about who we are on the inside. A man wearing a suit walking around Central might very well be a banker. A person wearing a cassock is probably Christian clergy. But quite often what people wear does not match who they truly are. Appearances can be very deceiving. And it’s not just visual appearance. A person’s voice, mannerisms, and demeanor can all be a façade. The most well-dressed, soft-spoken, and congenial world leaders could be monsters filled with hate who bomb civilians. People who seem powerful in politics and media, may actually be very small insecure people at heart. People who lash out against others usually do so out of fear of their own weaknesses. The weakest people in the world are often the ones who try to dress themselves in strength. The most evil people in the world are often the ones with the most charm and refinement.
So transfiguration, transformation—the change of appearances—can be deceptive. But today we mark a very different kind of transfiguration. In our Scripture reading, Jesus is with Peter, James, and John on a mountain, traditionally thought to be Mount Tabor. And as he is praying Jesus’s face suddenly shines and his clothing glows white. With him appear Moses and Elijah. This transfiguration is not a façade. It is real because it is a sign of who Jesus really is. It is an affirmation of the moment before this, when Jesus asked Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter responds: “You are the Messiah.” It is a preview of what comes next, when God says, “This is my Son, my Chosen; Listen to Him!” The transfiguration is a confirmation of Jesus’ identity.
We are led to believe that Moses and Elijah are positioned in such a way to show that Jesus is superior to the Prophets that came before him. Moses, in Exodus, encounters God several times on Mount Sinai. When he returns from his last trip up to the peak, in Exodus 34, his face shines with light, making the ancient Israelites very afraid.
But Moses’ transformation in Exodus is not the same as what we read in Luke. Moses is a prophet, a man meant to deliver a message from God. His shining face does not represent who he is, but who God is. When Moses speaks, he speaks with God’s authority, not his own. From then on, whenever he is not speaking on behalf of God, he covers his face with a veil. That way the people are not confused. Moses the man must disappear, so that whenever anyone sees his face, they know they really see the face of God.
What happens to Jesus is very different. His glow is not a costume or a veil. It is not hiding who he is. It is more like the shining of a light. It is showing who he is, who is has always been: The Son of God.
But mere appearances are not enough. It is also not enough for Simon-Peter to say Jesus is the Messiah. It is not even enough for God to call out from the heavens, naming Jesus the “Chosen One.” If this were enough, Jesus should have ascended into heaven right then and there. But as Scottish evangelist Oswald Chambers wrote, he turns his back on the Glory. Jesus is not yet done. He has saving work to do. And the first thing that Jesus does, after this transfiguration, is an exorcism. He heals a man’s son. This is another sign that Jesus is the Christ. This is another sign of the power of God.
But it is also a sign of something else important. If I may revise a common proverb, actions speak louder than not just words, but also appearances. Our actions say who we are.
We certainly have our evil inclinations, but I believe that in each of us there is a seed of something good. In Christian theology there is the idea that, beyond the basic salvation that comes from Christ, there is also the possibility of sanctification, or perfection. I’m a Methodist, and though some hard-core Calvinists will disagree, Methodists believe that part of sanctification is doing good works, particularly what we call “works of mercy.” These are actions like helping the poor and caring for the sick.
I believe that as people of Christ we must believe that inside ourselves exists a good soul waiting to get out through our own works of love, mercy, and care for each other. While I don’t think we can ever be as perfect as Jesus, we too can “glow” in God’s radiance. This happens when who are on the outside—the things that we do and things that we say—matches the good person that lives inside of us. The Christ that lives inside of us. That is how all of us can be transfigured.
Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, February 27, 2022
A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Seventh Sunday after Epiphany- 20 FEBRUARY 2022, by Revd Ralph Lee. The scripture readings that day were Genesis 45: 3 - 11, 15, Luke 6:27 – 38.
Brothers and sisters, we live in a distressful
situation. We live in a very tense time in Hong Kong these days.
Although for months our church services have been broadcasted either in
Zoom or YouTube or radio program, but beginning of last week and now, we have
to close our doors. To say ‘distressful’ is an understatement. In fact,
we are more nervous than before. We are more terrified by the epidemic - Omicron.
However, today this morning, just speaking for myself, being on Sunday
morning when I woke up in the early hours when it was still dark, inside
me, although it was cool outside (I live in the New Territories), I
felt there is some kind of warmth and hope coming into our hearts. Well,
my heart. It’s Sunday. It’s God’s Day. And we’ll be at church or sitting
at home, meditating on the readings of the Bible.
So, although we are fearful and
asking the questions in the last week or two, when all our surrounding
blocks are being counted as compulsory testing or in the place where you
live, one of your neighbours has to be home quarantined, isolated or home-bound,
then you ask yourself, “When is my turn? When will I get it?” We ask
the same questions again and again in the last two or three years out
of our own chaotic life and uncertain life in Hong Kong and in the
world. What have we learned from this situation? Either it’s the society
being in a chaotic situation or the pandemic COVID has made us into such a
difficult and dangerous situation. Have we learned any lesson and have we
become better experienced with more hope to face crisis later in a way
stretching for the Omicron effect to our people in Hong Kong?
I would say no. We not even have learned the basic lesson. We
are going back again to the early days of COVID-19 that other peoples have
suffered. Because today we are advised not even just wearing one mask but
perhaps two. And I’m told some people even wear three masks. But
these are physical, this is environmental, this is outside from the physical effect
of the fears of living in Hong Kong and in the world today. But
what I fear most is inside us in our inward personal life. We have
developed a kind of ill feeling towards others and the society as a whole. Nowadays,
I say we hardly can find trust in our midst. We turned friend into
enemy. We turn our colleagues into opposition for our personal gains and
perhaps power to control others. We don’t mind exposing our dirty linens in
court in the open. Our basic inward life, because of the fears we nurse, we breed
malicious thoughts and sometimes even evil actions these days. Quite
often I feel we ourselves are full of anger now. We hate many things and even
we would like to take revenge on things that we really don’t understand just for
self-glorification, gratification for one’s self-interest and to feel
being in control because physically we are not. We are controlled by
many other things.
But as Christians, we
ask ourselves into such a mess of suffering or difficult situation
and living, can a painful and even hurtful life experience turn into
a life-building and happy opportunity for not only us but for others as
well? Can we make reconciliation, harmony grow into peace and love with hope in such
a difficult situation in Hong Kong or in other parts of the world today? As
a minister of course I do believe we could turn it around, change ourselves,
for it’s not ourselves that we can do it. But it’s the Christian thinking,
the thought that we could become a better person, like the
response we have just read to be changed to a better person and change to
others and perhaps change the whole situation, comes from the power
of God. It’s God’s power at work through us that matters. Saint Paul would say in
Ephesians chapter 3 to do immeasurably more than all we can ask
and conceive is all beyond our imagination and expectation. How
things could be turned around using the difficult situation and make us a
wholesome person. And not because of us but because of the glory of God.
My title today is “From Humiliation
to Glory”. But at the same time my title is also “From Glory to Humiliation”.
But the first title, Humiliation to Glory is from Genesis 45. We all love
Joseph. And Joseph, Genesis 45, tells us about meeting up with his
long-lost brothers, the brothers that he probably had not wanted to
meet again, he wanted to perhaps to forget at the least. And yet situation, circumstances, needs
of personal hunger that brought Joseph’s brothers to Egypt, and Joseph at
that moment was going to meet the brothers. Like us today all were
nervous, more so the brothers were more fearful than Joseph. For what
they had done they probably would think that Joseph would take a big revenge on
them.
But Genesis 45 tells us in that
moment at the situation when meeting up with the brothers, with the
siblings, it was a moving and touching story. That encounter is out of the
blue and perhaps Joseph did not expect it. We all know instead of revenge
instead of taking punishment to what the brothers have done by
selling Joseph into Egypt as a slave and to suffer hardship in a foreign
country, losing one’s whole family, not able to meet the parents for years, he
could have taken out his anger, hatred to the sinful abandonment by his
own siblings. Betrayal is the word, by your own people. And yet
somehow, somehow God was in the midst of their encountering and changed
everything. It was kindness, it was embracing, it was longing to meet up
with the family and also not only give food and drink but the
invitation of Joseph to the whole clan, the family to come to Egypt and stay
here so we could be one family again.
What I found in Genesis 45 interesting
and meaningful to us, to me, is Joseph keeps on talking to the brothers
when they were distant like social distancing now because of their
fear at that time could not come closer. And yet Joseph kept on telling the
brothers: Come closer to me. I am Joseph. Come closer to me. I am your
brother. How is the old man my father and your father? Come,
come closer and not moving away. Come and look at me and hear my voice and
feel how I feel today for this long-separated family and relationship.
At that moment, revenge is gone. Instead love shows everywhere.
Emotionally Joseph even cried and the household of Pharoah, the Egyptians heard
it. This high position official in the court, the Lord Chancellor cried, the
touching moment. You wonder as human beings as we are now today, how
could this happen? By what forces was it turned upside down as humans could do?
And Joseph gave the answer: It is God. God has sent me before you. God has sent me
long time ago. Joseph at age seventeen, he was sold. The brothers wanted to
kill him. By mercy or what he was sold as a slave to Egypt. And now aged thirty, 13 years later, he became
the chief of staff, Lord Chancellor of the whole country.
As humans, we often nurse resentment
and plot revenge plans and to punish those who don’t agree with us or
don’t listen to us. Or even make any voices. Noises that we
feel uncomfortable and take opportunities or create an opportunity
whereby those enemies we think should take a heavy hitting while we
are in power. But Joseph who had that kind of absolute power in the court
did not do it that way. It was so opposite. It was forgiveness, it was
love not only for the family but for others, for the descendants and that made
him a better person, a good man. Joseph was totally humiliated when he was
young. Totally abused, distressed, jealousy of the brothers. But
at that moment in the court, he was in glory. But to him it was not his own
personal glory but it was God being glorified. Because God had used
Joseph’s difficult and stressful and hard life experience to show the
world what forgiveness could bring and with hope. So, in fact,
in truth God was glorified.
I’m old enough to say these words:
Life is full of bitterness and sometimes occasionally sweetness. Sweet
and sour. We taste more sour than sweet in our food. But can we turn
enmity into friendliness? Can we turn from pursuing personal individual
greatness, and even sometimes to sacrifice that to one’s little power and
wealth and strength we have for the betterment of others and
whole society? Can we turn the individual personal interest into a
cooperation with all others so that all can live a better life? It is not
easy. But somehow life experience has told me, yes, it all works together,
it could happen. To everything, in Romans, it says he cooperates for good
with those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
In my years of experience in the ecumenical
world I have come across a number of people whom I find it very
difficult to relate to. And one of those was a church leader, a
powerful church leader from that time years ago from China. I
was with the Hong Kong Christian Council and at one time, we are all
the executive members of a delegation going to Shanghai to meet two church
leaders of that time, because Christian Council in Hong Kong prior to that had
agreed to something privately. And when we in Hong Kong discovered that we
found we could not oblige with that agreement as a whole. But it was
on paper. So somehow we were sent to meet them, the church leaders. It was one
of those most difficult encountering and meeting up of these two most powerful
church leaders. To say the least, we were lectured for one
morning session particularly by the minister whom I had come to know for
years. He was one of the biggest clergy of a church in Hangzhou years ago.
I still remember my family went to church in the early 80s when it just
started. And the church was fully seated. We had no place to stand even.
So he came from that church this minister. So we did had a difficult time,
meeting up and be lectured and somehow it was agreed privately to put aside the
issue.
But it was years later, one
morning in Bangkok when we were at the ecumenical conference
this minister, church leader was one of them. Somehow we got up early in
the morning and had breakfast together. So we had a breakfast meeting,
had a long conversation. When I listened to his life experiences, he had
in short suffered a lot during the Cultural Revolution. When in the 80s,
when the church began to open again and to the world as a whole, he used
that hard experience to show others. But
at the morning breakfast table, he had changed to me. He had changed. He softened
up. I think it was that power of God working in him. And I still remember
once Bible message he gave to me was all things work together. He became such
a humble person, very sincere. It’s good to listen to his life experience.
I think God works mysteriously, using us, using the circumstances, using
dangerous situations to glorify him. This person passed away not long ago having
lived to age ninety-four.
We as humans if we continue with that
kind of hate, anger, revenge in mind, probably we could be in a glorious
situation. And then we fall down disgracefully into a humiliated person. One phrase
came to my mind when I was writing this sermon – stupidity and arrogance.
This came from a British news describing how a senior royal family member
had to go through recently. It’s because of stupidity, because of
arrogance. We lie to both ourselves. We think even sometimes we are God.
What we believe is God has
a purpose in us, each one of us for giving us life even with difficulties
and challenge and hardships but he also gives us the power to transform
adversity into strength with courage and genuine love for others so that
in spite of everything we find it difficult, God eventually will be glorified.
One of the Bible messages
today is not only just be changed but to love others, love
your enemies even. Even pray for them. I find it not easy.
Although I sometimes try hard to pray for those who I
think probably have made us into such a miserable situation, I
pray for them. But the Bible also tells us to return your
enemy with kindness, with kindness and love, kind to the ungrateful, Luke chapter
6 tells us. Can we do that to the ungrateful people? One of the
difficult bible passages or sentences that I find sometimes, it’s from Paul
in Romans: Heap live coals on his head. Could you imagine we like to have a
fire with coal today? But put that burning coal onto your head. That would
be cruel. That would be taken as a revenge. But what it means in the
whole sentence is if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy, those
whom you don’t like, is thirsty, give him drink, if naked, clothe him. It
comes from Proverbs chapter 25. It says it’s the coal fire to rekindle his
lost conscience, takes away the unhealthy emotional feelings and wakes
up his person deep as God has intended the person to be with kindness and
hope and love. It’s because God loves us all, so encourages us and
teaches us to love others as God has forgiven us. We have been the ungrateful
one, and not others.
Let me conclude the story of Joseph. Joseph
had two sons. And the names he gave to the two sons in a way can help us
today to face the difficulties of life, the fear about the future. After
abandonment by the whole family, after living alone for Joseph as a Jew in
an Egyptian land, he had two sons. And the names he gave him to them, to
the elder one, he said, it’s Manasseh and the Bible tells us what it means
– ‘God has made me forget all my troubles’. God has made me to forget
all my troubles. To the younger one he called him, he named him
Ephron – ‘God has made me fruitful in the land of hardship’.
Forget your past. Whether it’s good or bad, God is providing us in the
land of hardship fruitful opportunities for growth. May God use each one
of us as we are in this crisis as we are not quite sure about the future. But
be sure Joseph’s two names for us let us forget the past. It could be
troublesome and difficult. Let’s not keep that in our minds and
hearts, and be mindful that God is forgiving us and taking us further.
Be fruitful to others. Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, February 20, 2022
A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Fifth Sunday of Epiphany on 6 February 2022, by Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were 1
Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11.
Happy Lunar New Year!
May I wish you and your family good health and good spirit in the year of the
Tiger. May you be filled by God’s abundance in the year to come.
Opening prayer:
God of life,
In the new year of the
Tiger, we come before you to worship and listen to your word. Open our heart so
that we may be inspired and transformed by your word through the power of the
Holy Spirit. In Christ’s name we pray, amen!
----------------
During Chinese New
Year, different kinds of traditions have historically been practiced by
families in Hong Kong.
One of these was to
put a red spring banner with the words “always full” outside the rice
container. It was commonly practiced when I was a child. When many families got
richer and no longer take rice as their staple food, this spring banner has
been used less. “Always full” are words of blessings and hope that the families
will have adequate food to eat in the year to come. It is especially
significant for people and families living with little income to meet their
needs.
People love to greet
each other ‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’ during Lunar New Year. These words of greeting
indicate people’s wish and desire for wealth and abundant life.
The gospel story today
is very timely for Chinese New Year. By following Jesus’s instruction to go to
deep water to catch fish, Simon Peter and his companions were able to have full
nets of fish back. What an abundant yield! Co-incidentally, fortune, blessing,
abundance are all spoken and unspoken wishes during the Chinese New Year.
We are on the 5th
Sunday of Epiphany. The season of Epiphany guides believers and the Church to
look for manifestations of Christ as both fully human and fully divine as he
was living on earth. What do we learn about Jesus Christ from the readings of
today? What is being manifested from the gospel account of Luke? How does it
relate to our faith and our life?
1. Right at the
beginning of the story, a big crowd went to the seashore to listen to the word
of God from Jesus. Jesus did it while sitting on the boat on the lake of Gennesaret (also name the lake of
Galilee). Jesus proclaimed the Word of God not in the usual holy temple of the
Jews – synagogue. The Word of God was spoken in an open place, in a work place
of the fishers. The Word of God was preached in a secular place. Unlike in the
synagogue, there is no scroll of Isaiah for Jesus to read. But he kept
preaching the Word.
This showed to us the
Word of God would not be contained to a human made place called synagogue or a
building called church. Wherever there is God, wherever there is the Word of
God, where there is Jesus, there is the holy temple, there is the holy
sanctuary, there is the holy church! We can thus turn our family, our work
place, our schools, the market, and even the quarantine hotel or centre to be a
holy sanctuary when we speak and live out the word of God. Remember too, when
Jesus and the Word of God stay within our heart, we are sanctified and become
holy, shining the light of God.
2. After Jesus
finished his preaching, he told Simon Peter to go to the deep water and put
down the nets to catch fish. I can imagine after a whole night of fruitless
fishing, Simon Peter must be tired and wanted to go home. As the story told us
the fishers were cleaning the nets. They were prepared to leave. But Simon Peter
did what Jesus told him to do. Reading between the lines, Peter probably did
not have much hope. Out of respect, he gave it a try. To his amazement, they
caught so many fishes that their boats could not even take. What a drama!
Instead of feeling happy to have such a good catch, Peter confessed by kneeing
before Jesus and said : "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful
man!"
Apparently the catch
of fish in such an abundance was not a happy surprise to Simon Peter. Instead
it was an astonishing moment to him.
What made Peter
confess he was a sinful man? Did he feel ashamed and guilty because he did not
truly believe in Jesus in the first place?
Was it that he felt
the glory of God revealed by Jesus was too overwhelming so he asked Jesus to go
away?
The text does leave us
space to imagine. Jesus’ response to Simon Peter gives us some hints on his
emotion at the very moment.
Jesus spoke to him,
"Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."
Instead of giving
Simon Peter a lecture on his unbelief and telling him to sin no more, Jesus
called him to engage in his ministry to save human lives, to save human souls.
Jesus asked him to change jobs and start a completely different course of his
life.
The powerful message
here for us is this : Jesus acknowledged human weakness. He fully accepted and
embraced people who humbled themselves to acknowledge their limitations as
sinful people. Jesus cared for the well-being of Simon Peter more than
anything. The first response from Jesus is : “don’t be afraid!” It’s comforting
and full of love.
This is the good news:
God loves us and calls us to follow him even when we are sinners. We know what
happened later in the bible: out of fear, Peter denied Jesus when he was taken
to jail and hung on the cross by the political and religious authority. Jesus
knew that would happen even before Peter was aware of it. But still Jesus
called Peter to follow him and entrusted him to build the church as the Rock.
As Apostle Paul revealed in 1 Cor 15 of today’s reading, he once persecuted the
church and Jesus’s followers. But God still called him to be Christ’s apostle
proclaiming the good news and partaking in the building of God’s Church and
God’s Kingdom.
Sisters and brothers,
whenever we are feeling weak, feeling vulnerable, feeling ashamed and guilty
because of mistakes we have committed, feeling disappointed by our failing to
keep promises…. all kinds of human limitations and frailty you name it, don’t
be afraid and upset. Once we acknowledge our sins and confess them before Jesus
Christ, God who is love will forgive our sins and transform us. It’s like what
Jesus did for apostle Peter and apostle Paul, who were sinners when they were
called.
The good news apostle
Paul has reminded us today is this: Christ died for us because of our sins. He
rose again to give us and the world new life. Apostle Paul was given a new life
when he was forgiven and called. His life was completely changed by the grace
of God to receive him as what he was. It happened to Simon Peter as well. When
he confessed that he was a sinful man, Jesus accepted him as who he was, a
sinner as human but at the same time fully loved by God.
Jesus came not to
condemn or to punish the sinners, but to love and to save. The way he proves
his love is through his acceptance and trust in sinners, in Peter, in Paul, in
each one of us by calling us to follow him. What a deep trust! What a deep
grace! What a deep love. This is love from the Divine above that no human love
can compare.
Jesus asked Simon
Peter to go to the deep water where God revealed his power and abundance.
The Chinese New Year
greetings Kung Hei Fat Choy indicate people’s yearning and desire for a life of
abundance.
The source of
abundance is God. A life of abundance is to affirm God whose steadfast love
endures forever. This love drives us to go to deep water by taking risks,
changing fixed beliefs, even our course of life.
Dear sisters and
brothers, are you willing and are you ready to follow Jesus? Will you receive
this abundant and steadfast love from God and share it with others like Christ?
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, February 06, 2022
