Zooming in to See the Goodness of God 放大來看看上帝的良善 – Pastor Jade Yi

Psalm 34:1-8  Taste and see that the Lord is good. 

Ephesians 4:25—5:2  Put away evil, live in love

John 6:35, 41-51  Christ, the bread of life

詩篇 34:1-8 你們要嚐嚐主恩的滋味，便知道祂是美善。

以弗所書 4:25—5:2 除去惡事，憑愛心而活

約翰福音 6:35, 41-51 基督，生命的糧

Introduction 介紹

Words are powerful. They can be used for life-giving or life-building; they can also be used for life-draining or life-destructing. To the people of God, don’t we pray that words like good and evil or loaded terms such as saints and sinners should be used with care, not for showing off our intellectual pride, but to show how much we need God in our lives together? 

話語是有力量的。它們的力量可用於，賦予生命或是建造生命；它們的力量也可用於，耗盡生命甚至毀滅生命。對於上帝的子民而言，善 與 惡 或是一些信仰術語，例如 聖徒 和 罪人，我們是否 在使用這些些話語時，應當謹慎？使用類似這些詞彙，不是為了驕傲，炫耀我們的知識，而是為了表達我們在共同群體的生活中，是有多麼的需要上帝？ 

What is good and evil to a person of faith? Simply put, God is good. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that all abiding in God’s providence through Jesus, the Bread of Life, should be good. And the opposite of good is evil. Then what about saints and sinners? Simply put again, being enemies of God, playing God, or not knowing God makes a person a sinner. On the contrary, setting apart one’s life for God’s purpose makes the person a saint. 

對一個有信仰的人而言，什麼是 善 與 惡 ？簡單地說，神是良善的。因此，我們可以合理地假設，凡是透過耶穌──生命的糧──遵守上帝的旨意的一切，都是 善。而 善 的反面就是 惡。 那麼什麼是 聖徒 和 罪人？ 簡單地說，敵對神的人，扮演上帝的人，或是不認識神的人，稱為 罪人。相對來說，把自己的生命，只為神的目的，分別出來為神使用的，則是 聖徒。 

Based on the simple definitions I offer above on good, evil, saints and sinners, let us see if you hear any good and evil from the story I am about to share. And let us see if you can easily identify any sinners or saints in that context. 

根據我上面對善、惡、聖人和罪人的簡單定義，邀請你們試試看，從我即將分享的故事中，是否聽到了任何 善 與惡。也是否可以很快地，在此種情況下，識別出任何 罪人 或 聖人。 

The Context 事件的背景

You might have heard about a series of riots in England for the past two weeks on the news. It started with a tragedy at a dance class on July 27 that left 3 girls stabbed to death and eight others wounded in a knife attack. Upon this tragedy, there were false claims on social media reporting that the suspected killer was a radical muslim immigrant. Despite police revealing that the suspect, 17 year old Axel Rudukabana, was born in Britain and despite UK media reporting his family is Christian, anti-immigration and anti-Muslim riots occurred.  

您可能在過去這兩週的新聞中，聽到英國發生的一系列騷動暴亂。事情開始於7月27日舞蹈班發生的一場悲劇，造成了 3 名女孩被刀刺死，另外 8 人受傷。這場悲劇發生後，社群媒體上有假的報導，陳述 兇手是一名激進的穆斯林移民。儘管警方透露，此嫌疑人、是一位出生在英國 17 歲的阿克塞爾·魯杜卡巴納(Axel Rudukabana)，也儘管英國媒體報導，陳述他們全家是基督徒，但反移民和反穆斯林的騷動暴亂，還是發生了。  

These riots involved racist attacks, arson, and looting, making them the most significant confusion in England and in various locations across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. One thing that stood out to me was that a hotel which housed families and individuals fleeing unimaginable horrors in their home countries was set on fire. 

這些騷動暴亂涉及種族主義襲擊、縱火和搶劫，使其成為英國、威爾斯和北愛爾蘭各地最嚴重的混亂。讓我印象深刻的一件縱火事件是，一棟收留逃離祖國的家庭和個人提供住宿的旅店，他們是已經逃出了在家鄉難以想像的恐懼，現在又面臨被縱火焚燒。

Does this remind us of the riots that occurred in this country out of the Black Lives Matter movement a couple of years ago? In times of conflict, confusion, and chaos, if we zoom deep in, all the way in, we see evil but hardly good. There was an absence of God in the riots. If we didn’t participate in any of the riots or if we were any of the victims, we tend to easily give our judgements as saints on all the riots and see them as sinners because we don’t see anything that was set apart for God’s purpose. 

這是否讓我們想起幾年前這個國家因為「黑人的命也是命」運動，而造成的騷動暴亂？在這種衝突、混淆情況、或是騷動暴亂的當下， 如果我們深入觀察， 把此暴亂放大來看， 我們看到的是 惡，但幾乎看不見 善。 我們在騷動暴亂中，看不見上帝的同在。如果我們沒有參與任何騷亂或我們是其中的受害者，我們容易傾向於以聖徒的角度，很快的對暴動者做出判斷， 將他們視為罪人。 因為我們沒有看到，祂們所行的任何暴動行為，是為了遵循上帝的目的，而做出來的。 

In God’s Kingdom 在神的國度裡 

However, if we zoom in further, all the way in, deep into who we are as remote bystanders, what do we see in ourselves, in you and in me? The fact is that we all have the sides of good and evil in us. And we all are both sinners and saints before God through our baptism. 

然而，如果將此暴亂再次放大來觀察，更深入的，查看我們不在場身為旁觀者的身份， 我們在自己、你和我身上看到了什麼？事實上，我們每個人都有 善 與 惡 的一面。藉著洗禮，我們在神面前，既是 罪人 又是 聖徒。 

The Kingdom of God is here and not yet that we are called to proclaim. The ultimate purpose of our proclamation is building up the body of Christ through all we say and do. Therefore, the appropriate usage of the words such as good, evil, saints, and sinners for teaching, learning, instructing, and training are crucial.  

神呼召我們去宣揚: 神的國度雖未完全，但已經到來的福音。我們宣講福音的最終目的，是透過我們的言行，叫基督的身體漸漸增長。因此，在教會中的教導、學習、指導和培訓，適當的使用諸如 善 與 惡、聖徒 和 罪人 的信仰術語，至關重要。  

Words like these are meant to express our relationship with God and how much we need God in our lives. Through constant alignments with God’s goodness and abiding in Jesus Christ and partaking the Bread of Life, we then can become the imitators of God as beloved children walking in LOVE as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5) That’s what the world needs to see and experience the most. 

這些話語，旨在表達我們與神的關係以及我們在生活中是多麼需要神。 透過不斷地與上帝的良善保持一致，並住在耶穌基督裡領受生命之糧，我們就可效法神，（弗 5 章）有如蒙慈愛的兒女一樣。 憑愛心行事，正如基督愛我們，為我們捨了自己，當做馨香的供物和祭物獻於神。這就是世人最需要看見和經歷的。 

Psalm 34 shed lights on the hearts of those like King David who was rescued from the chaos of his own making. And he came to his senses and realized that he didn’t deserve God’s amazing goodness. Experiences like this make people overjoyed. Have you ever had a time when you thought you didn’t deserve to be forgiven but see that God still blessed your life?

詩篇 34 篇照亮了像大衛王這樣從自己造成的混亂中被拯救出來的人的心。他醒悟到，也意識到自己不配得到上帝令人驚嘆的良善。這樣的經歷，讓人欣喜若狂。您是否曾經有過這樣的經驗：認為自己不值得被寬恕，但看見神仍然祝福您的生活？

David was filled with gratitude to the goodness of God and wrote this Psalm 34. Based on 1 Samuel 21, consumed by jealousy and fear of David’s popularity, King Saul ordered his son Jonathan and his servants to kill David. Being a fugitive, David lied on his way in and out of the tabernacle of the Lord at Nob and grabbed the last hope from God’s goodness, and narrowly escaped death at the hands of King Saul. 

大衛對神的良善充滿感激之情，寫下了詩篇第34 篇。根據《撒母耳記上》第 21 章，掃羅王出於對大衛受歡迎感到嫉妒和恐懼，命令他的兒子約拿單和他的僕人殺死大衛。身為一個逃亡者，大衛在進出挪伯耶和華會幕的前前後後都撒了謊，但他從上帝的良善中抓住了最後的希望，險些死在掃羅王的手中。

In this story, we see both good and evil. We see evil in King Saul, his jealousy. We see good in Jonathan, King Saul’s son, who warned David about his father’s plot. We see good in the Priest Ahimelech who gave the Bread of the Presence before the Lord. We see both good and evil in David who asked for food for his soldiers but put his people around him in danger. Many died because of him.

在這個故事中，我們看到了 善與惡。 我們從掃羅王的嫉妒，看到了 惡 。 我們在掃羅王的兒子約拿單警告大衛有關父親的陰謀看到 善 。在耶和華面前，我們在亞希米勒祭司像大衛獻上陳設餅中，看到 善 。我們在大衛身上，看到 善 與 惡 兩者。大衛為他的士兵索取食物是 善，但卻讓他周圍的人陷入危難。許多人因他而死。這是 惡。

Our Conundrum & Our Commitment 我們的難題和我們的承諾 

Standing before God, being sinners makes us humble and being saints makes us grateful. Because of these dual identities, uncertainty and fear can bring out the worst of us and make us compromise with evils. As a matter of fact, uncertainty or fear is the best opportunity for us to put our trust in God. Then we see God’s goodness that brings out the best of us so that we may become the imitators of God as beloved children walking in LOVE as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5) Let me emphasize it one more time: That’s what the world needs to see and experience the most. 

站在神面前， 身為罪人 使我們謙卑，身為 聖徒 讓我們心存感激。由於具有這雙重的身份，在不確定時和恐懼中，容易暴露出我們最糟糕的一面，因我們 容易與 惡 妥協。 事實上，在不確定時或恐懼中，是我們信靠神的最佳機會。若如此做，我們便會看到上帝的良善，它激發了我們最好的一面，使我們效法神，（弗 5 章）有如蒙慈愛的兒女一樣。 憑愛心行事，正如基督愛我們，為我們捨了自己，當做馨香的供物和祭物獻於神。我再強調一次：這就是世人最需要看見和經歷的。

Good News We Trust and Proclaim 我們相信並宣揚的好消息 

So, what’s the good news for today? It is the verse in John 1:29, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  God has taken away the SIN of the world because we can’t do it on our own for we know the sin separating us from God. Out of compassion, God pays the price himself by canceling our debt to God. 

那麼，今日福音是什麼呢，什麼是今日的好消息呢？也就是約翰福音 1 章 29 節的經文:「看哪，神的羔羊，除去世人的罪！」神為世人除去了罪，是因為我們無法靠自己做到這一點，因為我們知道，罪，使我們與神隔離。出於憐憫，上帝親自付出了代價，取消了我們對上帝欠的這個債務。 

Coming to Jesus and abiding in Him has to happen first. Then receiving Jesus as our Lord Savior follows, for he will deliver us from evils. That’s why Jesus teaches us to pray that our sins or debts be forgiven, then ask God to save us from trials and deliver us from evil in Matthew 6:12 and Luke 11:4. Thanks be to God for the cross through which we learn about our relationship to God and how much we need God in our lives. That should be what we see as we zoom in, all the way in, from our dual identity as sinners and saints, and the good and evil in us. At the end, we see the goodness of God. 

首先我們要做的，就是必須來到耶穌前並在祂的生命裡住著。然後接受耶穌為我們的救主，如此，祂會便可把我們從邪惡中拯救出來。這就是為什麼耶穌教導我們要這樣禱告：赦免我們的罪或債務， 然後再求神 救我們脫離試探，脫離邪惡 (馬太福音 6:12 和路加福音 11:4)。感謝神讓我們透過十字架，來認識到我們與神的關係，以及我們在生活中是多麼的需要神。這就是我們擁有罪人和聖徒雙重身份，一路往下繼續放大時，在我們內心處應該看到的 善 與 惡。最終從那 善 與 惡，我們便能看到 神的良善。

AMEN. 阿們。