Reflections...

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on 28 April 2024, by Estella Yeung. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 30, and Romans 12:9-21.

Turn My Mourning into Dancing

Good morning, church. Do you still remember what you wanted to be when you were a child? For me, it’s not really a pastor but a tour guide. I just love to tour with friends around my city of Hong Kong, sharing with them all the good things and the not-so-good things I have discovered. Yes, I will happily testify to anyone my love for my city and her people.

 

Our Psalmist today does exactly the same thing in Testifying to the Goodness of GOD, during the good and the not-so-good times. The psalmist deals with persecution, death, loneliness, illness, hopelessness, vulnerability, has become voiceless and, is seeking mercy and found answer to all these things in God.

 

What about us does this seem familiar, have you felt all these things in your daily life ? 

 

Friends, let me remind you this morning even when we are facing all these things, that Scripture tells us in Romans 8:38-39, “either death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

 

Yes - Nothing can separate us from God. 

 

When we are sick, anxious in our loneliness, or hopeless, even in death, God is there, and God is in control.

 

As I have already shared Psalm 30 holds many gems and experiences of life that most of us have or are now coming through, and yet is so full of thanksgiving and praise of God. This morning I would like us to focus on verses 11 – 12, “ You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. So that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.”

 

Henri Nouwen wrote a book called Turn My Mourning into Dancing: Finding Hope in Hard Times. One of my favorites is the story of trapeze. When the acrobats performed their amazing tricks in the air. Some jump between swings, while others catching them on swings. They trust their partners completely and let go of the swings to create beautiful movements. They knew that they could only succeed if they were willing to face the emptiness of space. The circus leader said to Nouwen, “Everyone applauds for my leaps and flips, thinking I’m the star. But the real star is my partner who catches me. All I have to do is to reach out my hands and trust that he will hold on.”

Friends, God is like that too, waiting to catch us and hold our hands through ups and downs, in good times and bad. We can let go of our grip on joys and sorrows and learn to leap in the air and even dance. 

 

In the Scripture, the psalmist contrasts mourning with dancing. Yet in the days of the Psalmist, mourning goes beyond an internal, reflective state. It implies an external, ritual act of mourning. Mourning is the dirge sung over the dead. Mourning is sackcloth and ashes on the head. Mourning is no adornment. In our Chinese tradition, we have similar things like during a family funeral, it is customary to avoid visiting relatives or friends’ homes for 100 days.  

 

In Psalm 30:11, the psalmist might be likening his previous prayer to a dirge, a mourning song he sang for himself. Mourning in Hebrew is “ מִסְפֵּד (mis-pet) [MSPD]” and the root of the word mourning (mispet) is “ סָפַד(safat)SPD]”. It means to beat one’s chest, as one might do in grief. Therefore, “to mourn” is to give a physical expression – a dance, if you will, to grief. 

 

In the second phrase, the psalmist contrasts sackcloth with rejoicing, a concrete image of the clothing that a mourner would wear with the abstract concept of rejoicing. In the third phrase, the psalmist contrasts silence if he had died with the praise he now lives to sing.

 

All the positive words “dancing, rejoicing and singing” in the three phrases are terms borrowed from the vocabulary of praise. The psalmist confesses that God has changed this mourning dance into a dance of praise. 

 

During the pandemic, it was very common for us to help friends and family to buy food when they got Covid. I remember one time, I helped a sister to buy food because her child was sick, so she could not leave home, and all she had was a small pack of rice. When my friend and I delivered the food, our sister invited us into the house. Her home was a small, subdivided unit in a tenement building; it is not a desirable living environment for anyone, especially a mother and child. 

 

Even in these conditions the child was so happy he kept smiling at us. His mother candidly shared with us her experiences after coming to Hong Kong. Her story was very raw and filled with injustice, grievances, familial betrayal, helplessness, and loneliness. 

 

However, God saved her when no one was there for her. And later she was able to leave behind her addiction and bad habits, miraculously escape from the snares of others and completely heal from her serious illness. She, continues in her struggle living in Hong Kong. 

We shared for three hours that day -  three hour that impacted my life offering me privilege to witness a true testimony of God. Like the Psalmist, she finds her answers in God. She ends by telling me that she used to cry for long periods, but God saved her so she could rejoice again.” Her story testifies that our God is a living God, as the Lord takes off her sackcloth and clothes her with gladness, turning her mourning into dancing in praise.  

 

Church, as a people of praise means that we learn to live ready to welcome people from all walks of life into our community, we cannot turn our back to those suffering such as the psalmist of Psalm 30, sinners like David and the skeptics, those questioning disciples and if you want to know more about them, join the upcoming Discipleship bible study next Sunday.

 

But back to Today, Romans’s 12:9-21 is a guideline for Genuine love and teaches us how to welcome those who are in pain. Romans 12:9 starts with, “Love must be sincere, the original Greek text says love without pretense, you cannot fake it; hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love, taking the lead in honoring one another. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serve the LORD. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people in need. Extend hospitality to strangers. All these are very important in this time of our churches in HK. 

 

Our focus of the day is mourning and dancing. So, let’s go straight to v15. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn.

 

Last month, my professors went to the UK and co-organized a Cantonese youth camp with the local churches caring for new immigrants from Hong Kong. They brought us good news that many participants have encountered Jesus, and God raised the youth to serve no matter where they are. 

As a pastor-to-be and an HKer, I am so happy for their churches in the UK and may God strengthen their faith in the midst of changes living in a new country. 

 

When Paul says about mourn with those who mourn, it is for those who had not suffered persecution and exile would share the burden of sorrow. But this is not easy, right? 

 

In a recent local TV drama, “Warrior Within 2” (ViuTV《打天下2》), the main character’s mother shared the news of her husband’s cancer with a church group. One said, “This is a trial given to you by God, you should have faith.” Another said, “This is God’s punishment for your husband’s sins”. After hearing what they said, she became more sad and very angry. The scene went viral online and resonated with many.

In Nouwen's book, he explains that we avoid listening or approaching those who suffer because it makes us uncomfortable and reminds us of our own pain.

 

KUC is my fourth placement church. As a pastoral intern, I have the privilege of getting to know different people and hearing a few difficult personal stories. Honestly, many times, I do not know how to respond except cry to God in my heart; sometimes, I cry with the persons, sit with them, and lift the burden to Jesus.  You may ask me, ‘I am trying but I don’t know what to do when I meet sad people?’ 

 

Church, Paul is not asking us to be a counsellor or a judge but to be a friend and a companion. When we do approach others we must be careful with our words - a small change in phrasing that does not shame the persons but invites the individual to tell their stories. 

 

Diane Langberg, a well-known Christian psychologist says, “Trauma is the biggest mission field in the 21^stcentury.”. Trauma is no stranger to our city. To heal, we need community. Yet, trauma works against community as the pain may be unspeakable, leaving the survivors mute, detached, shame or some might mis-label them for “lacking faith”. 

 

To cry out in lament is not lack of faith, but precisely the opposite – it is a form of faith appropriate for life in pit, like Psalm 30. We all have the power to create a safe space in KUC where people can share their painful experiences with those who care and know how to listen.

 

It is now for me to realize that the demonstration of an attitude of curiosity, openness, acceptance, and love towards those who suffer is crucial when listening to their testimony. This is what I could contribute to the mother’s recovery who I mentioned before. 

 

To walk into the journey of becoming a wounded healer, just like traveling on plane, in case of emergency, it is important to “fasten our seatbelt” with God and take good care of ourselves before we intend to help others. 

 

It is okay to be not okay and that’s why we can seek help and seek hope with other pilgrims, especially friends and family we trust.

 

Friends, we heal not in isolation, but in togetherness. Our God is the living source of power and the Lord’s miraculous work would turn our mourning into dancing of praise. 

 

Now, if God asks us, “would you let go, and let me dance with you?”

May we have the courage to accept the invitation.

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on 14 April 2024, by Dr. Samuel J. Dubbleman. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 4, and Luke 24: 36b-48.

When you are disturbed

Take a minute to remember the last time you were deeply troubled. Maybe it was from the news: shootings at a concert in Russia, conflict between Hamas and Israel, conflict in Myanmar, earthquake in Taiwan. Maybe it was something closer to home: death, sickness, infidelity, anxiety, old age. The list could go on. The ravishment of time and loss catches up to us all. 

 

What do you do when you are disturbed? Today’s Psalm offers some advice: “When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.” How can we in the midst of the unending plethora of disturbances that life has to offer state with the Psalmist that “you gave me room when I was in distress,” “you have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound” and “I will both lie down and sleep in piece”? 

 

What do you do when you are disturbed? The advice of the Psalm seems to be 1) pray and trust in God; and 2) be silent. I will take the first bit of advice, to pray and trust in God, as an obvious good given the context, and focus on silence. 

 

I want to spend a little time today reflecting on how helpful this advice is—especailly the second element of silence—when we are faced with disturbances. 

 

I am not an OT scholar and do not know Hebrew, but the word “disturbed” has a few connotations in English. First, there is the meaning of interruption. “Did I disturb you?” That is, were you in the middle of something? Second, there is the use of the word to indicate an emotionally or mentally disturbed person that seems to stand out from the crowd. “She is a disturbed girl.” Think of the Adam’s family character Wednesday. Here are a few quotes from Wednesday in the recent Netflix series: 

 

I see the world as a place that must be endured, and my personal philosophy is kill or be killed. 

 

I act as if I don’t care if people dislike me. Deep down . . . I secretly enjoy it. 

 

Listen, people like me and you, we’re different. We’re original thinkers, intrepid outliers in this vast cesspool of adolescence. We don’t need these inane rites of passage to validate who we are.

 

Disturbed, yet charming, whimsical. Disturbance, as in Adam Family’s Wednesday-disturbed, is the outlier in the room, the oddball; the goth kid dressed in all black. 

 

If only disturbance was limited to these two meanings: 1) the interruption and 2) the oddball. But, there is another kind of disturbance that all of us, if we are blessed to live long enough, will come to know. This kind of disturbance is akin to anxiety, worry, fear, dread, shame; that icky feeling in your chest or your throat; those nagging negative thoughts and emotions that will not leave you alone. The feeling at the end of the day that you just don’t measure up; ruminating on past regrets; or constantly projecting your thoughts to an unknown and uncertain future. 

 

This third meaning of disturbance as anxiety or shame is often the nemesis of sleep. Disturbance steels sleep from us; sleeplessness, in turn, bolsters  the worry, the dread, the clenched jaw, the rumination. Poison begets more poison. It is of interest, then, that the Psalm mentions sleep. 

 

Because disturbance is, well disturbing, our natural response is avoidance, fight or flight. But if disturbance is inevitable, which it is, then maybe we should not run away or avoid it, but welcome these feelings as an invitation to a new way of being truly at home with ourselves, a door into the unknown horizon, one that feels like expansion, or what the Psalmist called gladness more than wine, of lying down and sleeping in peace. Let me explain. 

 

I am speaking from experience. Last year, after finishing teaching an afternoon class at LTS, I ran down To Fung Shan road, quickly packed my luggage and rushed to the airport for a two week trip to Scotland and the States. During the trip I was presenting at two conferences, while continuing to teach virtually classes LTS. I did not think too much about the demands. From graduate school I was accustomed to packing more and more into an already full life. (Business becomes a badge of honor; running here, running there like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland: “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye’). However, during take-off, I suddenly felt overheated. My hands, arms, and legs were sweaty. I had never been an anxious flyer before. What was going on?  I going to be sick? I didn’t know what to do. Eventually I realized I wasn’t going to throw up, so it must be something else. Anxiety? A panic attack? I dug down and drew on the best resource I had available at the time: Ted Lasso. What would Ted Lasso do? I closed my eyes, put a cool rag on my head, and focused on my breathing. Eventually the disturbance subsided, my heart stopped raising, and I felt normal. Silence. Peace. Thank God. 

 

Embarrassed, I didn’t really tell anyone and pushed on. There was work to do, people to see, and fun to have. I was in Edinburgh after all. I wanted to  see the sights, eat the haggis, and sample the scotch. And I did. What a glorious, medieval city. 

 

Life continued and I remained busy. But the plane departure was not an isolated incident and thereafter at unexpected times I would sometimes feel the flush, the heart race, the feeling of dread in my throat. It was overwhelming and embarrassing. I’ve always been capable, strong, able to handle a lot. What was wrong with me? I pushed on drawing on that ancient ingrained habit of fight or flight. 

 

Then last December I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night from extreme dizziness, and thought I was having a heart attack or stroke. I woke up McCall, my wife, and likely scared her half to death. 

 

After that night, I could no longer ignore my symptoms; something was wrong. My body forced me to attend to the situation. First, I just thought it was vertigo from an imbalance in my ears. This caused me to slow down, simply because I was not capable of juggling so many things at one time. Just walking to town felt exhausting. 

 

But, three months later, I’ve realized that these moments of disturbance, accompanied now with dizziness, are not just due to an imbalance in my ears. No. I’ve been disturbed by anxiety, by burnout, and by shame. The ten years of graduate school, moving my family to a foreign culture, the constant work, constant mental stress got to me. And I didn’t talk with people about it.  

 

I had been living a life of constant stimulation, especailly mental stimulation, and I’ve had to cut out or lesson a lot of activities, substances, and practices that fuelled the need for constant stimuli. Coffee. Alcohol. Social media. Rumination. Mind Wandering. Exercise has helped, so has mindfulness meditation, and talking about what I have been going through with trusted friends. And of course prayer, reaching out to resources beyond myself.

 

This is my story of disturbance. I am sure you have your own. Some of you may be going through something similar right now. 

 

“When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent.” Does silence help when you are disturbed? Yes and no. Let me begin by recognizing that silence is many things, including the absence of vocalization and the absence of thought. 

 

Yes, quieting my thoughts, paying attention to my attention, focusing on the present moment devoid of critical judgments has helped. Likewise, constantly processing your problems does not help if it is rumination. Negativity catches our attention more than positivity, and we tend to pay attention—to mentally run back and forth—over negative memories, thoughts, and feelings. Negative rumination drags us down. In this regard, silence, both vocal and mental, can be a good strategy. 

 

On the other hand, if silence means the suppression of negative emotions and negative thoughts, then it is not helpful. The fight or flight symptom is hardwired into our psychology. Acceptance of our shortcomings is harder to come by. My coping mechanism of choice here is avoidance. Just ignore what is happening, bury it under more work or more stimulation. Here silence does not help. Instead, opening up and sharing about what you are going through with trusted people helps. 

 

Here, I have had to learn a little bit as well about shame and, in turn, the practice of self-compassion. A close companion of rumination is shame. We feel shame for not measuring up to who we think we should be, who we want to be. I’m not good enough, smart enough, attractive enough; pick your poison. Often these feelings, if they are accompanied by enough rumination makes us feel stuck, helpless. Evolutionarily, we are wired to feel like we might even die from shame, due to the threat of being excluded from the tribe. Thus, we usually intuitively react to shame as something to be avoided or to fight. It’s the enemy: destroy it or run as far away from it as you can. 

 

But I like what the poet David Whyte has recently said about this, shame not as something to avoid, but an invitation to the doorway that we are meant to walkthrough. In his words: 

 

Shame is nothing to be shameful about. Shame is the very physical, heart rending, painful measure of the way we hide from life and from others because we do not feel ourselves equal to what we meet.

In other words, all human beings experience it at every stage of their passage through life, most especially in moments where we need courage and presence and most emphatically as we approach our last breath. 

Shame calibrates all the ways, great and small that we don’t measure up: and therefore shame secretly affects even the outwardly shameless and is the core human driver of all human maturation. Shame outlines exactly the ways we feel inadequate and unequal to life and exactly the nature and place of our hiding. Shame provides us, generously and on a daily basis, with the invitation to understand all the ways we do not wish or do not deserve to be seen, to be touched or to be invited to join the extraordinary dance of the world: shame tells us instantly all the ways we desire to meet but dare not meet, all the ways we are desperate to play but do not play, and all the ways we desire to sing but do not sing. Shame tells us all the ways we long for real change but do not feel worthy of the transformation, all the ways we deeply desire to be enlivened or to feel pleasure in the extraordinary miracle nature of creation. Shame instructs us in all the ways we feel we do not deserve to be here.[1]

When you are disturbed I would encourage you to both be silent and to speak. Silence the rumination; speak about your shortcomings. Open up and share with others your inadequacies. In this way speaking silences the rumination and negative thinking. Shame, then, isn’t an enemy but an invitation that comes to one and all. Disturbances, then, can help us face our experiences of not measuring, which once accepted can help us have compassion on ourselves and those around us. In this way, disturbance and the feeling of not deserving any good ironically leads us to believe we deserve that promised peace spoken of so long ago in the Psalms or by the resurrected Christ. 

 

So, when you are disturbed be silent, and talk to a friend. 

 

I pray that you—when facing life’s inevitable disturbances—can be filled with the courage to be silent and not be silent, to speak and not to speak, to pray and not to pray, and in so doing will come to know the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. 

 

Amen. 

 

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on 04 April 2024, by Rev. Phyllis Wong. The scripture readings that day were Psalm 133, and Acts 4: 32-35.

“Resurrected Life”

Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Christ is risen is the proclamation in Easter as we celebrate Jesus’s rise from death.

How do we know Christ is risen?

How do we as Christian live a life of resurrection, as Easter people on earth?

 

In today’s revised lectionary readings taken from Psalm 133 and the book of Acts 4:32-35, they have given us great guidelines and inspiration. 

 

Psalm 133 – 1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!

Psalm 133 is talking about unity in a family. But this family is not just referring to the family of biological relationship.

To make reference of other version of the bible -New International Version (NIV), I quote: 

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

 

Jesus has in fact brought a very radical perspective on family. In Mark 3:34-35, when his mother and siblings went to see him during his very busy day to heal the sick and cast out demons, Jesus said “Whoever does the will of God is my brothers, sisters and mother.” Jesus regarded family beyond biological relationship. That is the reason church community sharing the same faith following the footstep of Jesus Christ is considered as family and we call each other sisters and brothers in Christ.

 

KUC has been regarded as a spiritual home, ‘a home away from home’ by many sisters & brothers who came to HK from overseas. I have heard touching testimony on how they see God and feel the love of God in the fellowship. They feel warmth as they are welcome. They feel happy as they are given opportunity to serve and offer talents that they are proud of.  

 

Resurrected life is revealed in a church community when members, Christ’s followers are taking each other as family members in God, and living in unity. The quality of unity is to treat each other with respect and appreciate each other’s talents and gifts. While everyone is given opportunity to serve without discrimination, everyone is willing to give with joy according to what he or she has. When we are able to generously share our talents and make our contribution, the community will be greatly enriched. It is exactly what the Psalm 133 inspires and promises us. When God’s people are living in harmony, in unity through loving and caring of each other, welcoming and appreciating each other, willingly giving and receiving, the individuals and the community will prosper.  

 

In our community, there are people of different backgrounds. A sister who was working as a domestic worker used to work as a professional in her home country. She came to HK to work because she needed to earn more to pay for the medical expenses for her father. She found her life in HK difficult and miserable. She had to repeatedly doing the same thing every day which were not her interest at all. She had a deep sense of loss in the first few months when she was in HK. Through internet she found our church and joined us. She shared that the welcoming spirit of the church community gave her energy and found hope in God. She actively engaged in the worship, the choir and church activities. The church has helped her to keep her spiritual life and peace at heart. Every day she does her devotion before she started working. She prays to God and keeps very good and intimate relationship with God. I admire and appreciate it. 

 

Resurrection is to live a life full of joy and hope in Jesus in the midst of challenge and darkness in life. Resurrected life is not an absence of difficulties. Resurrected life is demonstrating solidarity with one another in the spiritual home with Jesus living within and also amongst us. Resurrected life is we can still smile brightly as we are able to walk through the storm with courage and resilience by having each other in Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.  

 

Now I move to the second reading of today – the book of Acts. In the biblical account, it said that in the early church, the faithful who lived together, there was not a needy person among them. What a beautiful picture! Everyone is able to get what they need. Why was that possible? It was because followers of Christ were generous to offer and share with others. At that time, disciples thought Jesus would come soon, many of them gave their private property and wealth to the group , everything they owned was held in common. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions. It sounds like communism. In our contemporary world, common ownership sounds a bit difficult. But we can still be generous to offer what we have for those in need. 

 

As KUC’s pastor, I am very proud of our congregation.  Every year we set a budget for small grants with an amount around $100,000-120,000 used to support programs and projects from Hong Kong and overseas for the needy. Every month, the MOE committee shares a report in the Mission Moment of the organization that received our church’s small grant. It is always a touching moment as we hear testimony from our friends on how they experience love and care in our small gesture of giving.  Sharing is not just limited to money, but include space as well. KUC is graced with beautiful church buildings in a good location. KUC has been generous to share space with different churches, Christian organizations and social services agencies. 

 

The Church’s act of kindness, though small, reveal the amazing grace of our risen Lord! People see the resurrected Christ and resurrected life in the mission work of the church.

 

In the Book of Acts, the early church community demonstrated a beautiful quality, that is the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. One heart and one soul is a manifestation of unity! Unity within the community and unity with God through Christ! 

 

This year KUC is celebrating her 100^th Anniversary. The theme for the anniversary is Grounded in God, Growing in Faith, Giving in Community. 

 

The bible verse we used for the Centenary Celebration is taken from Matthew 20:28

 “Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

When we are celebrating KUC’s 100^th anniversary, the very important aspect is to  remember we as church, the people of faith in Jesus Christ is called to be united in God, to love and to serve God’s Kingdom. 

 

A number of celebration activities have been planned. The Thanksgiving Service will be arranged in September to honour God for his grace and guidance in the past 100 years. Discipleship series organized by the Community Education Committee is to help sisters and brothers to grow in faith as Jesus’ disciples. Today the 3^rd session will be held after worship at 12:00 noon. As a church we are called to reveal God’s Kingdom of love, justice and peace, giving and serving the church and the world. The Worship Committee encourages sisters and brothers to give to the community – the community within KUC and beyond. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you all to take the initiative to act, with the suggestion marked in the poster. Please write to us in the kudoboard for 100 Acts of Service, so we can learn from each other, and to encourage each other. Some other events from the Fund Raising Working Group are planned and required your participation and support. More information will be shared later. 

 

In the second Sunday of Easter, as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, let us support each other to witness Christ is risen by living out a resurrected life in the unity and service of love. Amen.