2012年7月29日 星期日

你認識你所跟隨的耶穌是誰嗎?(可六45-52)

對於門徒因耶穌在海面上走而甚驚慌的反應,作者馬可的評論是「因為他們不明白那分餅的事,心裡還是愚頑。」馬可的評論是否中肯?我們先要理解他所指的分餅是一回甚麼的事。若按故事的上下文,分餅應該是指我們熟識的五餅二魚的故事。對馬可來說,以五餅二魚餵飽五千人絕對是一件神蹟,而門徒應該從中認識耶穌是上主的兒子,但問題是,門徒似乎沒有從中認識耶穌的身分,以致他們因耶穌在海面上走而被嚇呆,甚至認為他是鬼怪。門徒的愚頑不是因為這是人的正常反應,而是因為他們還未真正接受耶穌是上主的兒子。讓我跟你們分享教會近日一件驚慌的事。



基督徒認識耶穌是祂滿有恩典和憐憫,而典範例子是與罪人、妓女和稅吏一同吃飯。罪人、妓女和稅吏等是否在耶穌眼中是罪人還是他們是被罪者?若他們是罪人,耶穌與他們吃飯的重點可能就是勸導他們不要再犯罪;若他們是被罪者(即受害者),耶穌與他們吃飯的重點就是要表達他站在他們一方,接納他們,挑戰傷害他們的人和制度。那一個理解正確?我們不知道耶穌是否有勸導他們不要犯罪,但從法利賽人對耶穌與罪人、妓女和稅吏吃飯的不滿意卻反映耶穌與他們吃飯的行動是挑戰主流社會對他們的標籤。耶穌的吃飯表達他們被上主所愛,也應被社會尊重而不是排斥。相反,若耶穌勸導罪人、妓女和稅吏悔改的話,我相信法利賽人必然很支持耶穌。至於耶穌是否有勸導他們和如何看他們的身分,這是耶穌與他們的事,與周遭的人無關。為何周遭的人那麼緊張?


有教會(香港浸信會聯會、基督教宣道會香港區聯會及中國基督教播道會總會)選擇以刊登廣告,以神的設計、神的律法和神的審判批評同性戀行為是罪,而不是刊登廣告,邀請他們一同吃飯,建立友誼,挑戰社會歧視。聲明說,「呼籲基督徒效法基督,要對罪惡心思行為絶不妥協,惟對陷入罪途及有相關傾向的人,則應予愛心關懷並援助(約三:17);教會更須向會眾推行相關的聖經教導,以達成基督的大使命!」為何他們的呼籲沒有提及社會對同性戀的歧視,甚至多年來對他們造成的傷害?為何他們的呼籲不是朋友的邀請,一起吃飯,建立友誼?這些教會豈不是經歷和宣講那與罪人、妓女和稅吏吃飯,並滿有恩典和憐憫的上主,但他們對待同性戀卻完全忘記了上主的恩典。為何教會對同性戀變得如此驚慌,甚至「見鬼」?按馬可評論,「因為他們不明白耶穌與罪人、妓女和稅吏一同吃飯,心裡還是愚頑。」


門徒因耶穌在海面上走而感驚慌,因為他們將這行為聯想起鬼怪。門徒的聯想不是不可理解的,因為以捕魚為生的門徒對海上鬼怪的故事並不陌生。那麼,門徒的愚頑不必然因為他們不信,而是因為他們對耶穌的認識受制於他們昔日的經驗。一方面,昔日經驗指人生經驗。另一方面,昔日經驗也指信仰的經驗。以信仰經驗為例,信仰經驗讓我們對耶穌有很基礎的認識,但同時,我們要擺脫經驗的固定性,以致經驗沒有侷限我們,反而讓我們去開拓。例如,在福音書的記載中,患病的都被耶穌醫治。耶穌是醫治者是我們對耶穌很基礎的認識,但我們不應侷限以此對耶穌的認識。否則,當我們的病情或親朋的病情得不到醫治時,我們就很難接受耶穌是醫治者。另一例子就是早期教會所面對的情況。一方面,猶太人受猶太教主義所限,未能認識耶穌是彌賽亞。另一方面,成為基督徒的猶太人仍受猶太教主義所限,未能完全接受外邦人成為基督徒。然而,沒有猶太人彌賽亞經驗,我們不可能理解耶穌的身分。然而,個人的驚慌不只是對個人的影響,更由此影響周遭的人,因為他們被視為鬼怪了。我們與罪人、妓女和稅吏一樣,都是罪人和蒙恩的人,不要看待他們的鬼怪。


你認識你所跟隨的耶穌是誰嗎?祂餵飽五千人、在海面上走、與罪人、妓女和稅吏一同吃飯、醫治病人。這樣的一位主如何讓我們面對人生的不幸和突發、社會中的貧窮者、同性戀者和患病者。在驚慌中,耶穌向我們說,「不要怕!」我們要認識我們所跟隨的耶穌。





2012年7月8日 星期日

Aliens in their homeland (Mk 6:1-6)

    Jesus’ being rejected by his town is best described as an alien in his native town. Alien here is not related to the movie Alien about external invasion to the earth. Neither is this related to one's immigration status. But rather it is an experience of being rejected, marginalized and exclusion. Jesus’ experience strikes me in two ways. First, what is the purpose of Mark to give a record of this story? Second, why isn’t Jesus honored by his town? Regarding the first question, it seems to me that Mark intends to use this Jesus’ particular experience to establish a thesis that Jesus is not only not honored by his town, but also by the Jews and even his created world. Although this is not explicitly expressed in Mark’s Gospel, this thesis is fully articulated in John’s Gospel. John writes,

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. (Jn 1:10-11)

Jesus’ historical experience of being not honored by his town is one of the his many, and finally, Jesus is ended up in crucifixion. Mark reminds us that this is the Lord whom we follow, and we Christians share the same destiny of our Lord Jesus.

    Apart from the theological implication of that Jesus is not honored by his town, there are political reasons. For instance, there is a suggestion that the radicalness of Jesus makes the people of his town hesitate to ally with him, for they do not want to be involved in the conflict with Pharisees. Another suggestion considers that there may be some people in Nazareth that have a high social status, and therefore, Jesus’ high reputation would be considered as a threat to them. These are possible reasons. But having an experience of my native land being colonized, I would suggest that Jesus not being honored is due to a kind of colonialized mentality found in Nazareth. Let me explain this. During the time of being colonized, the people of Hong Kong, 96% are Chinese, struggled to enter English-speaking schools, gave priority to purchase western products, and looked up to the Westerners. Ironically, the people of Hong Kong looked down on the Chinese language, the Chinese products and even the Chinese people. This may be because China was weak and uncompetitive at that time. There is truth in it. Nevertheless, the post-colonial theory reminds us that the experience of looking up on the West has been turned into a discourse that shapes our mind and even becomes our life, and as a result, we no longer question the discourse and accept this as the right and reasonable thing to do. Even though Hong Kong is no more a colony, the colonial mentality of looking up to the West and the Chinese authorities has not been challenged.

    In the light of the post-colonial theory, we have a different understanding of Jesus' experience of being rejected by his home town. At the time of Jesus, Nazareth was a small town with a population of around 600-800 people. It is definitely incomparable with a big city like Jerusalem in terms of opportunities, prosperities and civilization. It is common for the people of Nazareth to admire a big city. Therefore, they do not honor Jesus, not just because they do not have trust in him, but also because they do not have confidence in themselves. They are looking up to the big city, and believe that everything from big city is better than the local. Thus, Jesus’ experience reminds us that first, the colonial discourse is not only taken place in a colonial status, but at anytime and anyplace. Second, the colonial discourse is not just a belief, but it can deprive one’s potentiality, and even one’s identity. The Bible says

Jesus could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.

    If my introduction to the post-colonial theory to understand Jesus’ experience is acceptable as one of the reasons of Jesus’ being rejected, our immediate concern is what this would mean for the followers of Jesus. First, we should be aware of and critical of different kinds of colonial mentality featured by both Chinese and western cultures, capitalism and liberalism that limits the freedom of our faith in Jesus. Second, we should have self-confidence so that we can have faith in our brothers and sisters, and their life can be blossomed. It is not their untrustful, but rather it is our suspicious that makes us disbelief.

    Being alien in his home is the experience of Jesus in Nazareth. We have seen how such status can deprive his potentiality and even his life finally. In fact, Jesus’ experience is found in different corners of our world, such as, Palestinians in the so-called Israelite land, ethics groups in Myanmar, people like Liu Xiaoboa and Ai Weiwei in China, homosexuals in Hong Kong. When the disciples at the time of Jesus are sent to teach, heal and cast out demons, let us go to teach the gospel of grace and embrace, heal the wound caused by exclusion and cast out the demon of ideology represented by suspicious and post-colonial mentality.

2012年7月1日 星期日

Believe the unbelievable (Mk 5;21-24, 35-43)

An event happened 30 years ago. When I finished the high school and applied for university, I was advised not to apply more than one (there is no JUPAS at that time), for this was treated as an act of unbelief to God. My mentor explained that if this was God’s will, one application was enough. Is what he said true? What is faith in God?

The story of Jairus is an example of faith. Put straightly, it is about to believe even in an unbelievable and impossible situation. When he knew that Jesus arrived the shore, he quickly went to meet Jesus, and requested him to heal his daughter at the point of death (v.23). At this moment, Jairus had a strong faith in Jesus in two ways. First, he believed that Jesus had the power to heal, and second, Jesus was willing to heal. Anyway, Jesus was touched by Jairus’ sincere. Unfortunately, Jairus’ daughter was dead before they arrived at his home. The story said nothing about any emotional disturbance of Jairus when he heard the news. Rather Jesus responded immediately by saying that ‘Do not fear, but believe’ (v.36). Jesus’ word was definitely a comfort to Jairus, but whether his daughter was really dead remained a problem for Jairus. If she was dead, what believe meant or whether believe could change the reality. We do not know whether Jairus’ daughter is dead or not, but the story is that it is Jesus who brings life to Jairus’ daughter.

The Bible does not go on to describe how Jairus reflects from this experience. As an observer, I have learnt three insights about ‘Do not fear, but believe’ from Jairus’ experience. First, the emergence of fear is not because we are afraid of something, such as, crockcoaches, but because we do not see any possibilities. Aung San Sui Kyi rightly explains that fear discourages one in pursuit for love and justice, and at the same time, fear makes one to be violence in order to cover up his fear. The latter is exactly what the police are in responding to the protestors in these two days. I have left Cheung Sha Wan Church for 23 years, and many people might have commented that the church would not be able to sustain too long, for there is no significant increase of the number of participants. This is true, but we should not be discouraged either giving in or madly looking for survival skill, not because we believe that we will bounce back one day, but because there is a mission to be completed.

Second, in order not to be discouraged by the disappointed reality, we have to be suspicious of the so-called reality. From the eyes of the people at that time, Jairus’ daughter is dead, and this is uncontroversial. But this is not what Jesus understands. Jesus says she is sleeping. This is not necessarily related to the power of Jesus, but rather this is about a different perspective. I am not suggesting that we should be optimistic all the time, but rather the reality is more than what we have seen. We Christians know this better. Death is the reality, but it is not just about the end. Ironically, there is resurrection in death. July 1 Rally has been held for 15 years, but there is nothing significant achievement, except 2003. Despite this, we should not be discouraged, for we are pleased to see the consciousness of the people is rising.

Third, when we focus on the reality, we may have forgotten that God is in human history. God is not a guest, but an actor in human history. God is never indifference. Jairus’ daughter is lucky, but this may not be the experience of many patients. Despite the fact of that we may not have the same experience as Jairus’ daughter, this would not discredit that God is in history. Since God is in history, the world is not as static and determined as what we see. God has his time, and we have to have faith in him.

Fatalism is alienated from the Christian faith, for the future is not yet determined, and God is in human history. However, there is a tendency that some Christians have turned to a kind of utopianism, and hold that God will do what they believe. Obviously, their belief in God is more about a manipulation of God instead of that ‘let God be God’. Returning to my experience that I have shared at the beginning, it is a mistake to reduce our faith in God to just a matter of one application. Why doesn’t God’s will have many options? Perhaps, the core issue is neither one nor many applications, but rather we should not be discouraged by the so-called reality. There are different dimensions of reality and God is in history.