Harmony – Pastor Jade Yi

Psalm 15  Lord, who may dwell in YOU

James 1:17-27 Be doers of the word, not hearers only

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Authentic religion

Context

Fire can be our best friend and our worst enemy. While fire constantly threatens our lives, like a forest fire, it provides us with the quality of life we enjoy today, such as having heat, light, electricity, etc.  Humanity has learned how to utilize fire for thousands of years but it doesn’t mean we have full of control over it.

火可以是我們最好的朋友，也可以是我們最大的敵人。雖然火災像森林火災一樣不斷威脅著我們的生命，但它確實為我們提供了今天所享受的生活質量，例如提供熱、光、電等。但這不意味著我們對它有完全的控制權。

Are you familiar with zombie fire? Just like how zombies are corpses that rise from the dead, zombie fires are wildfires that rise from the dead. Wildfire flames head deep underground to organic rich soil and don’t actually die but, in a sense, smolder or hibernate. On the surface, it seems to be extinguished, but it’s hiding under thick layers of snow, ready to re-ignite in the spring. That’s why zombie fires are also called holdover or overwintering fires. 

你熟悉殭屍火焰嗎？就像科幻小說中的從死裡復活的死屍一樣，殭屍火焰既是指從死裡復活的野火。它之所以發生是因為，野火深入地底下，到達有機豐富的土壤，實際上並沒有被熄滅，而是好像進入了冬眠狀態的悶燒。表面上它似乎已經熄滅，但實際上它隱藏在厚厚的積雪下，並在春天到來時重新點燃。因此，殭屍火焰也稱為殘餘火災或越冬火災。

Zombie fires are so unpredictable and can go unnoticed for a period of time, which makes me think of our sinful nature. It can go unnoticed for a period of time until a situation exposes it, like spring for a zombie fire, rising from hiding and hibernation.  Humanity has learned how to utilize sins to build their own empires or pride their own self-righteousness by condemning others. We have also learned that such a sinful nature can easily destroy our lives and the lives around us in a short of period of time. For example, between parents and children, between classmates, among colleagues, friends and neighbors, and even between pastors and among the congregants. One mistake can destroy the harmony that has been established for years.

殭屍火災是如此難以預測，而且會在一段時間內被忽視它的存在，這讓我想到了我們的罪惡本性。人類已經學會如何利用罪惡來建立自己的帝國，或透過譴責他人來為自己的自以為義而自豪。我們也見識到人類的罪惡本性可以輕易地在短時間內摧毀掉我們用多年來建立起的個人的和團體的生活。例如在親子夫妻之間，在同學同事之間，在朋友鄰舍之間，甚至在教會牧者和弟兄姊妹之間，因為一件錯事，毀了多年已建立起的和諧關係。

God’s Story

When you hear the word harmony, what comes to your mind? In order to have a piece of harmonious music, there needs to be an extraordinary composer and a spectacular conductor who knows the piece by heart, and a team of musicians who want to be part of it. 

當你聽到「和諧」這個詞時，你會想到什麼呢？為了演奏出一首和諧的音樂，需要有一位出色的作曲家和一位了不起的指揮家對這首曲子瞭如指掌，還有一群願意參與其中並在指揮下專注於那和諧旋律的樂器演奏者。

The Triune God that we confess to believe is the composer and conductor of our lives together. In Mark 7, we see that the Pharisees and scribes stand out and tell Jesus how this piece of music should be played by following their directions. We also see the sinful natures of building their own empire and priding their own self-righteousness rise to the surface like zombie fires. 

我們所承認所相信的三一神是我們共同生活的作曲家和指揮家。在《馬可福音》第七章中，我們看到法利賽人和文士站出來告訴耶穌，應該按照他們的指示，來演奏這首音樂。我們也看到，他們想建立自己的帝國和自以為是的罪惡本性，就像殭屍火焰一樣冒出地面嶄露無疑。

For the last 5 weeks, we talked about the eternal bread of life that is our Lord Jesus for sustaining and nurturing our souls. And today we see that the Pharisees and scribes accused Jesus and his disciples for not following the traditions on how they should eat lawfully. After being accused, Jesus called them hypocrites.

在過去的五個星期裡，我們談論了永生之糧，那就是我們的主耶穌，它可以維持和滋養我們的靈魂。今日經文中，我們看到法利賽人和文士指責耶穌和他的門徒沒有遵循合法飲食的傳統。耶穌被指控後稱他們為偽君子。

What is a hypocrite?  A person, aware of not being good but deliberately professing to be good is a hypocrite. The word hypocrite in Greek, ὑποκριτής, mostly meant play-acting, and it is used to translate as ‘godless’ from the word in Hebrews, חָנֵף .

什麼是偽君子？ 當一個人意識到自己沒有那麼好，卻故意自稱是好人，這就是偽君子。希臘文中的這個字, ὑποκριτής ，主要意思是「演戲」，而它在希伯來文中,חָנֵף , 被翻譯為「無神者」。

It’s interesting to see that they adhere to human traditions but have abandoned God’s commandments. Jesus corrects their misunderstanding of defilement and explains that evil is not a matter of food and drink but comes out of the heart of humankind that is fallen, corrupted, and defiled.

有趣的是，他們遵守人類的傳統，卻拋棄了上帝的誡命。耶穌糾正了他們對污穢的誤解，並解釋邪惡不是飲食的問題，而是來自人類的墮落、敗壞和玷污的心。

Conundrum

Our fallen, corrupted, and defiled hearts are like zombie fires hiding and hibernating in us 24/7. Whenever we make a confession at the beginning of our daily devotions or weekly worship, it is like looking in the mirror for self-examination. But without a mirror for the rest of the day and week all we see are other people. We are often tempted to play the role of hypocrite unintentionally, examining the sins of others without seeing our own.  What’s worse is that we override God’s Ten Commandments with our own values. In what is supposed to be a piece of harmonious music, there are disharmonious notes and noises.

我們墮落、敗壞、玷污的心就像殭屍火焰一樣，總是地在我們體內隱藏和冬眠。每當我們做每日靈修或每週敬拜開始時的認罪，就像正在照鏡子進行自我省察一樣。 但是，在一天和一週剩餘的時間裡沒有鏡子的情況下，我們眼裡注視的都是他人。我們可能會無意間被誘惑來扮演偽善者，檢查別人的罪惡，卻看不到自己的罪惡，更糟糕的是我們用自己的價值觀, 凌駕於上帝的十誡之上。在這本該是一首的和諧的音樂裡，出現了不和諧的音律和雜音。

At any moment we do this, we either ignore or forget to focus on the change and transformation that God requires of us. God wants our changes and transformation to be contagious to and influence our society, so that the world will know God and return to God. We have no power to change anyone or redeem anyone else’s life, only God can do that. We are also unable to transform them into children of God. Only they themselves are willing to accept the Lord’s salvation. And because we are unable to know people’s hearts, we should pay more attention to whether we are focusing on the part of the harmonium music we are playing and most importantly focusing on our God who is the composer and conductor of our lives together.

就在這樣做的那一刻，我們要麼忽視，要麼就是忘記專注於上帝要求我們自身該做的改變和蛻變。神要我們的改變　和蛻變來感染影響這社會，使世人認識祂歸向祂。我們沒有能力改變任何人或救贖他人的生命，只有神可以做到。我們也無能使他們轉變為神的孩子，只有當事者本身願意接受主的救恩。更因為我們無能知道人們內心世界，我們更應該關注自己是否專注於我們在這和諧音樂中自己該彈奏的部分，最重要的是， 定睛在我們的神，因祂是我們共同生活的作曲家和指揮家。

Good News

What is the Good News for today?  Through the promise God has given to us in our holy baptism, the hiding and hibernating sinful nature has been put out once. That’s what God can do for the rest of our lives whenever we come to God, abide in Christ and dwell in God’s holy presence. Let us, together, play the most magnificent harmonious music to the world that brings the love, the faith, the joy, the hope, and the peace that God is so ready to give to all who haven’t tasted it. 

今日的好消息是什麼？ 藉著神在聖洗禮中給我們的應許，隱藏和冬眠的罪性已經被消滅了一次。每當我們來到神面前，住在基督裡，寄住在有神同在的聖潔中時，神就能在我們的餘生中為我們做這件事。 讓我們一起，向世界奏響這首最壯麗和諧的音樂，為這世界帶來上帝已準備好要賜給所有尚未嚐過來自上帝的愛、信靠、喜樂、盼望，和平安的人們。

Amen.