God’s Holy Work In-Between! – Pastor Jade Yi

Psalm 123

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Mark 6:1-13

Our Story

About 20 years ago, a colleague from Taiwan called me and said she wanted to visit the U.S. for a month or so. She asked me to find a place for her to stay. She had worked with my husband and me as English teachers at a bilingual kindergarten and cram school for about a year in Taiwan. After discussing it and praying about it with my husband, we invited her to stay with us, and she did. Through her stay, I saw how God’s saving grace worked in her life, leading her to believe in God.

大約20年前，一位台灣的同事打電話給我，說她想來美國旅遊一個月左右。她要我幫她找個地方住。大約有一年的時間，我和先生曾與她，在台灣的同一所雙語幼兒園和補習班，一起擔任過英文老師。經過我和我先生的商量和禱告後，我們邀請她和我們一起住，她就來了。透過她與我們同住的那段時光，我看到了神的救恩，是如何在她的生命中運行，使她相信了神。

Before her visit, she told me that there was a constant void in her life. That was the main reason she had to travel abroad annually. Traveling helped not only her wellbeing but also allowed her to reflect on her own life. After staying with us for a few weeks, she told me, “I really want to get married and have kids just like you. I want a husband who will love me like how your husband loves you.” I told her that my life that she saw had to do with God’s saving grace.

在她來訪之前，她告訴我她的生活中，總覺得缺少了甚麼。這是她每年必須出國旅行的主要原因之一。旅行不僅有助於她心靈上的健康，也讓她能反思自己的人生。和我們住了幾週後，她告訴我：「我真想結婚，生個孩子，就像妳的生活一樣。我想要一個愛我的丈夫，就像妳丈夫愛妳一樣。 我告訴她，她所看到的我的生活，與上帝的救恩息息相關。

She was a gifted teacher and a learner by nature; therefore, I wasn’t surprised by her many questions. And of course, I enjoyed answering whatever questions she had. Some of her questions were, “Who is Jesus, what is the church all about, and what sustains the faith community?” Besides answering her questions, I took her with me wherever I went and introduced to her the life I lived and the people I knew from the church I served, the seminary I attended, and my friends in my neighborhood. Time went by fast. As she ended her stay with us, she told me, “I want to visit the church your mom attends in Taiwan.”

她是一位才華洋溢的老師，也是一位天生的學習者。因此，對她許多的提問，我並不感到驚訝。當然，我也很樂意回答她提問的任何事情。她的一些疑問是：「耶穌是誰，教會的存在意義，以及是什麼在支撐著信仰團體？」 除了回答她的問題之外，我無論走到哪裡，都帶著她，並向她介紹我的生活，以及我服侍的教會和弟兄姊妹們、和我就讀的神學院和我的同學，以及我鄰居的朋友。時間過得挺快的。 當她結束與我們一起相處的日子時，她告訴我，「我想去看看你媽媽在台灣崇拜的教會。」

She visited the church and met a wonderful Christian fellow who also had been praying for a wife. They fell in love and got married. Now, they have three beautiful children. That’s a story of God’s saving grace. We have many of these kinds of stories, but there are times when people can’t see the value and the purpose of God’s saving grace, just like the story from Mark 6.

她去了我媽媽崇拜的教會，遇到了一位很棒的基督徒弟兄，巧的是，當時那位弟兄也一直正為著自己未來結婚的伴侶祈禱著。他們相愛了並結了婚。現在，他們已經有了三個漂亮健康的孩子。這是一個關於神救恩的故事。我們有許多這樣的故事，但有時，也會有人們看不到，神救恩的價值和目的的時後，就像馬可福音第六章的故事，敘述的一樣。

God’s Story

Jesus went back to his hometown, Nazareth, where he grew up. He was amazed at their unbelief. In contrast to the two healing stories that we heard last Sunday, there was a huge difference between the faith that Jesus saw at Nazareth and the faith of the synagogue leader, whose 12-year-old daughter was on her deathbed or the faith of the woman suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years.

耶穌回到了祂的家鄉，拿撒勒，那是祂長大的地方。祂對拿撒勒人的【不信】感到驚訝，與我們上個主日，所聽到的兩個治癒故事的【相信】來比較，有著巨大的差別， 也就是那位會堂領袖，為了他12 歲的女兒病危，對耶穌所呈現出的【相信】，以及那位已經患有出血症12年的婦女，對耶穌所呈現出的【相信】。

What exactly were the people at Nazareth rejecting? Did their unbelief have to do with their understanding of God’s saving grace or their views on this person Jesus who told them about God’s saving grace? They thought they knew him, his family and his upbringing, now a carpenter. In verse 3, it says, “They took offense at him!” Because of their offense, they totally missed a great opportunity to see and experience how God’s saving grace could have worked in their lives. And God went along with their unbelief and did little among the faithless.

拿撒勒人拒絕的，到底是什麼呢？他們的【不信】是否與他們對神的救恩的理解有關呢，還是與他們面前的這一位，向他們講述神的救恩的耶穌，有意見呢？ 他們自認為，他們認識耶穌、認識祂的家人，和祂的成長，現在的祂，只不過是是一位木匠而已。第3節說：「他們就厭棄祂！」由於他們的厭棄，他們完全錯過了一個，能夠看到且經歷到上帝的救恩， 是如何在他們的生活中運行的好機會。當時，神也就順了他們的【不信】，並且在這些【不信】的人當中，幾乎沒有彰顯神的大能。

Jesus kept teaching from village to village and doing his mighty ministry through his agency of 12 disciples. There are three key lessons that we can learn from Jesus’ instructions in Mark 6.

耶穌繼續地從一個村莊傳講到另一個村莊，並透過祂的 12 個門徒，執行了祂偉大的事工。在馬可福音第 6 章，我們可以從耶穌的指示中，學到三個重點。

First, he doesn’t send out people individually but two by two. Why? God works in between believers. Everyone needs a partner as a team to support and pray for each other. It’s about the relationship between two believers in Christ because they are the agency of God’s mission. God takes this existing relationship seriously.

首先，他不是差遣一個人單獨出去，而是差遣每兩個人一組，一起出去。為什麼呢？因為神的作工，是要在信徒們之間，彰顯出來的。 每個人都需要有一個服侍夥伴，作為一個團隊，來互相支持和祈禱。這是有關於兩個基督信徒在主內之間的關係，因為他們是上帝使命的代理者。神非常重視這種與祂已經建立的關係。

Second, Jesus asks them to stay in one household until they leave that place. Why? God works in between believers and the household of unbelievers. In ministry, believers need to be present and be real. They need to give their full attention to one household at a time before moving to the next. It’s about the new relationships in Christ because believers act as the example for unbelievers to see and learn what it is like to trust God. And God takes this ongoing new relationship seriously.

其次，耶穌要求他們要留在同一戶家庭裡，直到他們離開那個地方。 為什麼呢？ 因為神的作工，是要在信徒和非信徒家庭之間，彰顯出來的。在事奉中，信徒們需要把自己真實的一面，沒有隱藏’的表現出來。他們需要完完全全的只關注一戶家庭，然後再繼續到另一戶家庭。 這是有關於在基督裡，與主新建立的關係，因為【信徒】是在為【非信徒】來樹立榜樣，讓他們看見並學習，信靠神是什麼樣子的生活。神非常重視這種持續與主建立的新關係。

Third, Jesus asks them to move on after being rejected. Why? God works in between the unbelieving and the next agency God will send. In ministry, believers need to know their own limits and trust that God always has plans for all who will be involved down the road regarding any unbelieving. It’s about new potential relationships that could be built in Christ because looking for the lost souls is God’s desire. And of course, God also takes this unseen relationship seriously.

最後，耶穌要求他們在被拒絕後繼續前行。為什麼呢？因為神的作工，是要在【不信者】和 神將派來的下一個上帝使命的代理者之間，彰顯出來的。 在事工中，信徒需要知道自己的極限，並相信神，對於【不信者】的事工，與所有參與上帝使命的代理者， 神總是會有制定計劃的。這是有關於在基督裡，未來與神將可能建立的關係，因為尋找迷失的靈魂是神所想要的。當然，神也很重視，這種暫時還未與祂建立起的關係。

Our Challenges

What might be our challenges? Since we all have very different backgrounds and unique contexts in our personal life, our challenges can be different.

我們可能面臨的挑戰是什麼呢？由於我們的個人生活背景和目前獨特的生活懷境非常不同，因此我們面臨的挑戰也可能不一樣。

Nonetheless, we need to remember that God constantly is working in the lives of all. What we don’t want to end up doing is acting offensively like the people in Nazareth who thought they knew God well enough to tell how God’s saving grace should be proclaimed and who should be doing it. What we also need to be careful about is when God’s work in the in-between is overlooked, between believers, between believers and unbelievers, and most importantly between unbelievers and God-Self. In other words, God is the main character in human history, God is the protagonist in our shared faith story.

儘管如此，我們需要記住，上帝一直在所有人的生命中作工。我們最不願意看到的是，行出和拿撒勒人一樣的行為和說出厭棄的言論。他們認為自己足夠了解神，能夠決定神的救恩要如何宣講，以及誰能宣講。我們也要小心警惕的是，當我們忽視了神在《介於之間》 的作工，不論是在信徒們之間、信徒與非信徒們之間、最重要的是在非信徒與神之間的作工。換句話說，上帝才是人類歷史的中心人物、也既是神是我們共同信仰故事中的主角。

The in-between where and how God works can refer to any event and any person that we know and don’t know; it can also refer to any intermediate space or time where people are. We don’t want to overestimate ourselves as if we have the final say about what God knows and how God works in the lives of all. And we shouldn’t underestimate ourselves as God’s agency to do God’s mighty ministry. We are the means of Grace, the agency of God’s mission.

剛剛我提到了許多在《介於之間》 神的作工，這《介於之間》是指，在我們認識和不認識的任何事件和任何人之間，有神的作工；這《介於之間》也可以是指，人們所在的任何地點或是時間，都有神的作工。我們不可高估自己非得知道這一切的《介於之間》，對神所知道的，以及神是如何在所有人的生命中作工，只因為自我的高估，妄想自己是掌握最終決定權的人。但我們也不應該低估自己，作為上帝使命的代理者，我們正在執行著上帝偉大的事工。我們是恩典的工具，也是上帝使命的代理者。

Our partnership among believers in God’s mission is not limited with only the people we know at this time and this location. Our partnership is also with the rest that God will keep sending to search for the lost souls. It has been God’s desire to find them through all Jesus’ disciples in the past, in the present, and in the future.

我們每一個人，與上帝使命的信徒們之間的合作夥伴關係，不僅限於我們此時此地所認識的人。我們的合作夥伴，也包括了上帝將繼續派去尋找迷失靈魂的其他門徒們。因為上帝的願望，是要藉著所有耶穌的門徒們，不僅是過去的門徒，現在的門徒，還有未來的門徒， 去將所有迷失的人尋回，將他們帶到有主的生命裡。

Good News

So, what’s the Good News for today?

所以，今日的福音好消息，是甚麼呢?

The Good News is that God takes the cross that Jesus died for seriously. That cross of Jesus has redeemed all broken and wounded relationships and restored the meaning and purpose of all lives that God gives.

好消息是，神對耶穌為我們而死的十字架，是認真對待的。 耶穌的十字架，救贖了所有傷害他人的人和受到傷害的人，並成就了上帝賦予所有生命的價值和其意義及目的。

May the words St Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 be sufficient to conclude today’s message.

願聖保羅在哥林多後書 12:9-10 所寫的話足以結束今日的信息。

Jesus said to Paul that God’s grace is sufficient for him, for power is made perfect in vulnerability. May we be like Paul and boast about our vulnerability, so that the power of Christ may dwell in us, protect us. May we be also like Paul, be content with vulnerability as we face insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, for whenever we are vulnerable, by faith through God’s saving grace, we are made strong in Christ.

耶穌對保羅說，神的恩典是夠他用的，因為神的大能在人們的脆弱中，能夠彰顯得更完全。願我們像保羅一樣，誇耀自己的脆弱，使基督的能力住在我們生命的裡面，來覆庇我們。願我們也像保羅一樣，為了基督，因脆弱而遭受到的凌辱、急難、逼迫、困苦，為之感到喜樂，因為每當我們脆弱的時後，靠著神的救恩，藉著信實，我們就會在基督裡變得剛強。

Yes, indeed, our vulnerability in Christ reminds us that we are in need of God’s saving grace and God’s works in-between, all of that makes us humans – that’s who we are!

是的，確實，我們在基督裡的脆弱提醒了我們，我們需要神的救恩和神的作工，所有的這一切使我們成為有人性的人類——這就是我們！

AMEN.

阿們。