2014年11月16日 星期日

The Spiritual Food for Christians (基督徒的靈糧)

#2014-1116

The Spiritual Food for Christians
         -- by The Rev. Jason Ke (trans. J.L.)

(A Sermon for Sunday, November 16, 2014, at St.James' English Language Service)

Proper 28
Joshua 4:1-7
Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Matthew 25:14-30

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, my dear friends in Christ!

In the Collect for today we can find three key points: (1) the origin of the Bible, (2) how to study and learn from the Bible, and (3) the function of the Bible.

Firstly, on the surface, the Bible was written by human hands and contains many oral traditions, that is, verbal stories passed down from generation to generation.  But in reality it is God’s Spirit that inspired those oral tellers of the biblical stories and each one of the writers of the Bible so that the Bible could be made complete as it actually is.  That’s why the Collect for today starts with these words: “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning . . .”

Secondly, how should we approach and study the Bible?  As the Collect indicates, we are supposed to hear, to read, to mark, to learn, and to inwardly digest (that is, to think deeply about) the contents of the Bible so that we can understand this Holy Book better.

Thirdly, the function of the Bible is for man to have “the blessed hope of eternal life.”

The ideas or concepts mentioned above are nothing new; the three key points of the Collect for today are not surprising at all. However, if we reflect on the history of the Church, we might be able to understand the purpose of this Collect.

About 500 years ago, the Roman Catholic Church (led by the Pope) was the only Church in Europe. Its power and influence was greater than that of the governments at that time.  The Bible was, then, written in Lingua Latina, the Latin language.  Ordinary people were unable to read the Bible, and nobody was allowed to translate it into other languages – If anyone did, he would be sentenced to death! Only the top leaders of the Church, such as the Pope, had the right to interpret the Bible.

In point of fact, the Church at that time had seriously deviated from the Bible’s truth.  So a number of brave “warriors of the faith,” for example, the well-known Catholic priest Martin Luther, proposed that the Church should make changes to what they were doing.  But none of their reform proposals was accepted by the church authorities and, as a result, there occurred what became known as The Protestant Reformation.  In the meantime, the Bible was successfully translated into different languages and published in great quantities – by those who risked their own lives to get out of the Roman Catholic Church!

Now, reviewing this part of the church history, we do have mixed feelings about why things happened in that way.  We feel sad about those unpleasant or cruel things that have taken place, yet we can rest assured that there always has been a powerful hand, God’s invisible hand, sustaining the faithful fighters of the Truth and pushing the world and the Church forward into a better status or situation.

When we recall the brave deeds and many achievements of those “Truth fighters” in the past, let us not forget to cherish and value the Bible, which we can easily get to read today.

Remember that by reading the Bible regularly we can not only improve our knowledge of the Holy Scriptures but also enhance our personal spiritual life.

KEY MESSAGES: Regarding the Biblical Readings for Today

I.                  Before Jesus Came, God’s People Repeatedly Went Astray

In the Old-Testament times, the people of Israel sinned against God again and again, when they forgot about the Word of the Lord.

In the land of Canaan there was a primitive religion that had existed for a long time.  It was a so-called “fertility religion” or “fertility cult”, with Baal and Asherah worshiped as the most important deities – Baal was a male “god” while Asherah was a “mother goddess.”  Those gods and goddesses were extremely popular with the Canaanites!

After Joshua led the people of Israel into Canaan, he died at the age of a hundred and ten. (Joshua 24:29, Judges 2:8)  From then on, the Israelites had no powerful leaders to lead them for about 400 years.  So “the people of Israel settled down among the Canaanites, the Hittites,” and so on.  “They intermarried with them and worshiped their gods. (Judges 3:5-6, Today’s English Version)

The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, forgetting the Lord their God, and worshiping the Baals and the Asherahs.” (Judges 3:7, New Revised Standard Version)  This made God very angry, so he let the Israelites be conquered by their enemies.

After the Israelites were mistreated for years, they “cried out to the Lord, and he sent someone to free them.”  This kind of thing happened again and again.  You may see Judges 3:9, 15, 4:3, 6:7-8, etc., for just a few instances.

In The Book of Judges there is a detailed description of how the Israelites repeatedly forgot the Lord God and worshiped other gods.  The Israelites committed the same sin over and over again throughout history.

How about us?  Do we often make the same mistakes in our lives? – Now, if we look carefully at the primitive religion of Baal, especially from the modern point of view, we would find that it was a kind of “Money Worship,” similar to the “materialism” that is quite popular nowadays in this “economy-centered” society!

Simply speaking, worshiping Baal and Asherah was a religion of “fertility” which highlighted “riches on earth” rather than “riches in heaven.”  Note: The Gospel of Matthew, 6:19-20, teaches us: “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth . . . but store up riches for yourselves in heaven.

Living in this economy-centered society, people tend to strive for “mammon” only. – “Mammon” means “money” or “wealth,” more specifically, “material wealth.”  For many people, to make money or to increase material wealth is the main goal of their lives.  Some money-oriented business owners even try to make excessive profits by hook or by crook.  They are “black-hearted merchants” (黑心商人), so to speak, doing illegal things in secret.  And what they do will inevitably cause serious damage to the whole society, the entire country, and even affect many other parts of the world.

We, as followers of Jesus Christ, must always be aware of the “dark side of the world.”  But we should not be over-anxious or pessimistic.  There is a Chinese proverb, saying, “A crisis is a chance.” (危機就是轉機)  We have seen a lot of good and honest businessmen who do their best to provide quality products and excellent services.

We can support or join them in one way or another, in order that the world will be, step by step, turning from darkness into light, and so becoming a better place for human beings to live.  Above all, we have to rely on the Lord God, whose power and mercy will help us triumph over whatever gloomy situation in which we might find ourselves.

By the way, Psalm 123, which we have just read this morning, can be used in our spiritual life as a very good prayer.  I encourage you to pray often with the words “Have mercy upon us, O Lord …” because the Lord our God knows what you are looking forward to.  God knows what we need, and he’ll come to us with compassion and mercy.

II.               People Should Prepare for the Lord Jesus’ Coming Again

The believers who lived in Thessalonica knew very well that Jesus Christ would come back before long.  Now, if a man died before the Lord Jesus’ coming again, what would happen?  Would he or she no longer share the glory when the Lord Jesus comes again from heaven? – The people living there in Thessalonica asked St. Paul this question.

And St. Paul’s answer is seen in his First Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 9-10. “God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes.” (TEV)

Let’s be reminded that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again – All of these three are part of the mystery of the Faith.  They cannot be fully explained by logical reasoning.  In the history of the early church, there was a lot of discussion about them, some being very persuasive, yet some coming from heresy.

Luckily for us, quite a number of Early Christian Fathers had testified and proved that Jesus’ death, resurrection, and his Second-Coming are all very true and correct, though we still have to profess that these three things are mysteries.

Well, let’s prepare for our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming again!

III.           We Should Make Good Use of What the Lord Has Given Us

In the Gospel reading for today, Matthew, 25:14-30, we are told a fascinating story, The Parable of the Three Servants, which teaches us something about stewardship.

My interpretation of this story is that “Our Lord Jesus wants us to make good use of what the Lord has given us.”

Every one of us should be God’s “servant” (僕人) or “steward” (管家) whom God trusts with a certain amount of spiritual “capital” to do business.  With that amount of spiritual capital, we are expected to work hard as God’s servants and, in a way that pleases God our Master, make as much “profit” for Him as we can.

Some day in the future, our Master (that is, the Lord our God) will ask us to report to him how much we have earned for him.  Those who have earned a lot will be rewarded; those who have earned nothing will be “thrown outside in the darkness” – where they will “cry and gnash their teeth.”

In other words, those who do not make good use of what the Lord has given them will be expelled from the Kingdom of God.

The lazy servant in the Parable for this morning was severely punished just because he didn’t make use of the “capital” entrusted to him by his master.  He returned the “one talent” to his master.  If he had wasted the entrusted money and gave nothing back, how severely, then, would his master have punished him at the end of the story?

In our society I see many people wasting their time and energy, harming their eyesight and, possibly, their brainpower, by plunging themselves into the virtual world (for example, in computer games) or indulging in something worse.  I am very concerned about those people who are “servants” of the so-called “3C products.” – Generally “3C” means “Computer, Communication, and Consumer Electronics” but here I’m talking especially about the electronic products just for fun, for entertainment only!  Those “servants” of the 3C products are really wasting what the Lord our God has given them.

CONCLUSION

Advent (降臨節期) is coming soon.  Are we preparing to greet this new season?  What shall we do to really get ready to face our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes again? – We need to practice pondering on this.

Yes, we need to make good use of what the Lord has given us, and we need to learn more about the Word of the Lord, which is the spiritual food for Christians.

In just two weeks, we’ll have the first Advent Sunday on November 30. That Sunday will be the beginning of the new “church year.”  According to our church calendar, we are now in the final part of Year A, and we’ll begin Year B on November 30.  May you have a prosperous New Year!  May you be ready to greet this coming New Year with hope, with love, and with joy!

Amen.



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