Reflections...

Greetings from Union Church -

What an honour it is to be here today to celebrate 100 years of faithful Christian Service! To God be the glory! Congratulations Kowloon Union Church! 

Over the years it has been a pleasure to get to know Ps Phyllis and Ps Maggie -we have worked together primarily in the radio ministry. 

•     International Women’s Day broadcasts, 
•       sitting on the radio committee together with our fearless leader Dr Judy Chan, 
•       working together on the HK Christian Council 

I so appreciate each of you and our friendship of many years. 

It is incredible. 100 years. Think of all the events that have happened in HK in the past 100 years -the changes and the challenges. The city has been transformed from a fishing village, and it has survived 

                 Opium wars, 

•       Japanese invasion and occupation, 
•       riots, 
•      civil unrest, 
•      social reforms, 
•      corruption, 
•      protests, 
•      financial crisis, 
•      bird flu, 
•       SARS, COVID -and the list goes on! 

And Kowloon Union Church -you have been here -you have been shining the light of Christ in the darkness -you have been a positive influence in your neighbourhood. You have showed and proclaimed Jesus. To God be the glory!

As we think about 100 years of ministry -we give thanks to God -but as we give thanks we are also aware that 100 year of ministry would not always have been easy -at times it would have been challenging, stressful, concerning, there would have been some worry’s and fears that the church would have needed to face -but you were faithful and you persevered. To God be the glory.

Today’s theme is Grow in Faith and there is a lot in the Bible about faith. The Apostle Paul spoke a lot about having faith.

To the Galatians he said, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Gal 5:6 NIV

To the Corinthians he said,  ^“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

 To the church in Thessonlkia he said:

“³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,^[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” 2 Thess 1:3-4 NIV

You can imagine the AP visiting all of the churches -giving reports, praises, testimonies -you can imagine church leaders gathering around to listen attentively to how other churches were doing. 

Perhaps it was similar to what church leaders boast about today: 

•    we paid this off, 
•       we have this many ministries, 
•       we have this many people attending our church, 
•       we have accomplished this. 

But what did the Apostle Paul boast about regarding the church in Thessolkia? He boasts about 2 things. 

1.  That their faith was growing more and mor
2. The love for one another was increasing 

What do I wish for KUC in the decades and centuries to come?  -that you would continue to grow in faith and that your love for one another would increase. 

There are many things we can do to help us grow in our faith 

•     we can read the Bible, 
•      spend time worshipping, 
•      pray
•      be committed to a Church community, 
•      we can step out in faith -take a risk and trust God for the answers. 

We know that faith without works is dead.  James 2:17 NRSV

But what about growing in the love for one another? Is that increasing?

The passage today is John 17 -

The backdrop of the Gospel of John chapter 17 is that Jesus is coming to the end of His life. Jesus has 

•     preached, 
•     performed miracles, 
•     discipled, 
•     challenged 
•     and here we read His last speech -essentially this is His last Will and Testament. 

It is in this speech -or prayer that we discover what is truly on His heart -if we were to boil His life and ministry down -this is what He is important to Him -and like the disciples we lean in and we learn His final wishes -we hear His prayer for us -and He gives us direction for how we are to live our lives. 

He prays these words  “that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,^[f] so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” -the most important principle to live by He says –‘be one.’ 

Turn to your neighbour and say ‘be one.’ 

What is critical to remember about ‘being one’ is that Jesus reminds us that we are already one. 

We are already unified because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. 

We read in Galatians -“There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are ONE in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 NRSV

Our role is simply to maintain the unity through the bonds of peace -we need to work at being ONE. 

Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the glue that unites us. Our unity is found in that simple and profound truth –

We can be unified on 

•     issues, 
•      country of origin, 
•      food preferences, 
•      sports teams 
•   but we are definitely unified because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ -He is our glue.

When it comes to being ONE -There are 3 points that I want to make this morning. 

First, be ONE with others.

It can be difficult to live out one-ness with others.

Eugene Peterson stated -

PPT “For as long as individualism has free reign in our lives, we will not be capable of embracing the church. Individualism severely handicaps us in growing up to the measure of the full stature of Christ. If unchecked it can be fatal, fating us to lifelong immaturity.” Eugene Peterson

And we need to be clear on what being one with others means -being ONE is not uniformity. 

We do not have to look the same, act the same, dress the same. We are not cookie cutters of one another -unity is not uniformity. We are all different, created in God’s image, created to do good works which He prepared for us in advance and it is critical that we celebrate our differences -we need to embrace our diversity.

A recent study by a British scholar has concluded that if the apostle Paul’s house churches were composed of about thirty people, the church would have looked like this: 

·      a craftworker in whose home they meet -along with his wife, children, a couple of male slaves, a female domestic slave, and a dependent relative

• some tenants, who were also living in the same home in rented rooms with their families, slaves and dependents, 
• some family members of a house owner who himself does not participate in the house church
• a couple of slaves from the community whose owners do not attend
• a couple homeless people
• a few migrant workers renting small rooms in the home

Add to this mix some Jewish folks and a perhaps an enslaved prostitute. 

Jews and Gentiles, these were people from all moral walks of life -people from elite classes all the way down the social scale to homeless people.”

That was the church -so diverse -in so many different ways.

Unity is not uniformity 

The unity Christ hoped for isn’t necessarily a call to agreement on every issue. 

It’s simply a call to commit ourselves to sticking together, and to keep loving one another in the midst of disagreement. 

When I think of oneness with others -I think of the Redwoods -weird I know -they are trees -but they give a tremendous example of ONE. They start as a seed as small as a tomato seed and grow to be the largest trees in the world -they grow to be 300 feet high -in HK language that is about 35 stories high. 

What is remarkable about them is their root structure -their roots are not deep but wide -60-80 feet wide. The redwoods can withstand storms, fire, tornadoes, because their root system is so complex -they are inter-twined and they hold each other up. 

Their secret? They do not survive alone…ever. They form “tribes” or communities. Sometimes they grow so close to each other they merge at the base into one tree. It is their intertwining roots that provide strength and support. And they have the ability to reproduce themselves creating millions of seeds.

Work at being ONE with others.

     2.  Be ONE in mission.

“Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” -Archbishop of Canterbury -William Temple

Jesus declares and prays for this mission in the John 17 text. 

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you^[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them...”

God has a call on all of our lives -He has gifted each of us – He wants us to make Christ known - it is critical that we are ONE in mission and outreach. 

A number of years ago, our staff team at Union Church came to KUC for lunch -it was a time that you were feeding the neighbourhood -cooking, prepping, shopping and offering hospitality to anyone who walked in off the street. Please be assured we booked in advance.

But we were invited in -greeted warmly -welcomed -served joyfully -shown hospitality. We ate a homemade meal with others in the community –

Christianity is only one generation away from becoming extinct -it is our job to be missional, to reach out to the lonely, the lost, the broken hearted with the good news of Jesus Christ. We need to be creative, intentional, bold -if we don’t share the love of God who will? God has placed you in this very strategic location -he calls us to be salt and light -he calls us to do justice to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. 

ONE with others, ONE in mission so that the world will know

Finally, we need to be ONE in Witness.

The book Un-Christian talks about reaching out to young people and why young people are NOT attracted to church. 

They reported on a study involving 3 groups of people -those outside the church, churchgoers and pastors. They were asked to describe whether they perceived Christian churches to be loving environments, places where people are unconditionally loved and accepted regardless of how they look or what they do. Here is what they found: 

• 1 out of 5 people OUTSIDE the church said YES they thought Christians were loving.
• less than half of the churchgoers, felt strongly that their church demonstrated unconditional love.
• More than ¾ of pastors felt strongly that their church loved unconditionally.” (summarizes from Un Christian. Pg. 182-183).

Very different views on how Christians are perceived and a bit disheartening.

We give witness and testimony to God when we love one another. 

And clearly being a witness -demonstrating that Oneness was important to Jesus -

It was such a priority that Jesus mentions the reason twice in just a few verses. He says

“so that the world may believe that you have sent me. V21 

“so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” V23

Jesus wants the world to know His love -He wants us to demonstrate that love. 

If it was a prayer of Jesus, it should be ours.

If it was a desire of Jesus, it should be ours. 

I have had a taste of the witness of Kowloon Union in the neighbourhood a number of years ago. One day I went to the hospital to visit Maggie -I approached the consigere wanting to learn what room she was in -I didn’t even open my mouth - The man looked up and said Block A -5^th floor -I tried to describe her -a Scottish lady -he knew who I was looking for. 

Apparently there had been so many visitors -everyone knew Maggie -thousands of people in the hospital and this consigere  knew where to find Maggie. Clearly there had been a positive influence -clearly your church had made an impact in how you were caring for one another. 

Clearly you had been a witness.

What do I wish for KUC in the decades and centuries to come?  -that you would continue to grow in faith and that your love for one another would increase. 

How are you doing? Are you increasing in your love for one another? Are you increasing in our love for those who don’t know Jesus? -leading you to have an effective and impactful mission and witness?

It is clear that the world, Hong Kong, Jordan/YMT needs Jesus -there is tremendous pain and suffering and according to author Os Guinness he is hopeful -

“Our age is quite simply the greatest opportunity for Christian witness since the time of Jesus and the apostles, and our response should be to seize the opportunity with bold and imaginative enterprise. If ever the ‘wide and effective door’ that St Paul wrote of has been reopened for the gospel, it is now.”

Kowloon Union Church, as you go forth into another era may you go with joy, courage, boldness -and a love for God and one another. 

“³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters of Kowloon Union Church and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about KUC’s perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” 2 Thess 1:3-4 NIV

Friends, may you go forward in the next decades to come as ONE -united. 

•     One with others, 
•      One in Mission, 
•      and One in Witness.