The Way – Pastor Jade Yi

Psalm 126; Acts 9:1-19

Our Story

Who doesn’t like to have certainty in life and have everything under control? I think that our tolerance of not knowing what’s ahead of us was truly tested and challenged during covid. For instance, we saw that hospitals couldn’t provide enough care for the sick. We also saw increased riot and crime hurting and threatening businesses. And the government couldn’t provide timely solutions to address the chaos, which generated fear and insecurity. As a result, people began to question the capability of the government because having certainty in life mattered to them.

誰不喜歡對自己的人生，能夠完全的去掌控呢? 我認為，在新冠疫情的期間，對未知的未來，我們的抗壓性和對不確定的容忍度，確實受到了考驗和挑戰。例如，我們看到醫院無法為病人提供足夠的照護。我們也看到了暴動和犯罪活動的增加，以及這些對商家們所帶來的傷害和威脅。對此混亂，政府也無法及時的提供解決方案，人們很快的感受到，恐懼和沒有安全感。自然，對政府的能力，也開始質疑。因為對他們來說，能掌控自己生活的確定性是很重要的。

When I was young, I couldn’t understand and appreciate the beauty of not always having all the answers in life. When I started taking courses at the seminary, I thought all my questions would be answered. Give thanks to God. Like many seminarians, I learned to embrace the notion of letting God be God when I couldn’t find answers in the Bible. Because that’s when my trust in God comes in.

我們其實都清楚，在生活中，並不總是都能得到所有的解答。我年輕的時候，無法理解也不懂賞識這個道理。到神學院讀書時，我有好多的疑問，以為我都會得到解答。感謝上帝。和許多神學院學生一樣，當我在聖經中找不到答案時，我學會了接受，讓上帝做主權者的概念。因為那正是，我需要信靠上帝的時候。

Peter Inns published a book in 2016 titled The Sin of Certainty. Its subtitle reads, “Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our ‘Correct’ Beliefs.” Have you ever thought that the desire of having all the answers could lead us to sin? If we have it all figured out, then we don’t need anyone. The extreme of this scenario is leading us to play God.

彼得·因斯 (Peter Inns) 於 2016 年出版了一本名為《確定性之罪》的書。它的副標題是: 為什麼上帝更需要我們對祂的信靠，勝過於相信持有＂正確的信念＂。你有沒有想過，渴望得到所有的解答，有可能會導致我們犯罪呢？如果我們都弄清楚了，那麼我們就不需要任何人了。這種極端的情況會導致我們開始扮演上帝的角色。

The more education, experience, or power people receive, the more uncomfortable it is for them to admit or accept that they don’t have all the answers. It mainly has to do with their pride. The other side of the coin is that the less education, experience, or power people have, the harder it is for them to let go of the answers they have found. It mainly has to do with their fear and insecurity.

人們接受的教育、經驗或權力越多，就越不願意承認或接受自己，沒有擁有所有的解答。這主要是與他們的驕傲有關。另一方面則是，人們的教育程度、經驗或權力越少，就越難放棄自己已經找到的解答。這主要是與他們不願面對害怕或是沒有足夠的安全感有關。

God’s Story

We see all these mixed emotions such as pride, fear, and insecurity in Paul and those against the Good News of Jesus Christ in the book of Acts from chapter 1 to 9. They neither see Jesus as Christ who God has anointed to save them, nor are they aware of their lack of trust in God. Religious leaders are certain about their knowledge on how God saves; therefore, they act out as if they, including Paul, have all the answers. And most of Jews do look up to them when they don’t want to get into trouble or can’t find the answers on their own.

在使徒行傳第 1 章到第 9 章中，從保羅和那些反對耶穌基督福音的人身上，我們看到了所有這些複雜的情緒，例如驕傲、恐懼和沒有安全感。他們無法看見， 神揀選膏抹了耶穌基督來拯救他們，他們也沒有意識到自己對上帝的不夠信靠。宗教領袖們確定，他們手中有，上帝要如何拯救的知識；因此，他們表現得就像他們（包括保羅）都已經知道了所有的解答。大多數猶太人為了不想陷入麻煩或是自己無法找到解答時，他們確實會以宗教領袖們所教導的為標準。

How much do we know about Saul, later known as Paul? He was schooled as a Pharisee under the Jerusalem religious leader, Gamaliel. Gamaliel was held in great esteem by all Jews. He was the one who advised his fellow Pharisees to show forbearance to the apostles John and Peter who declared earlier that they only listen to God not people in Acts 5. It seems like Gamaliel is a person of faith who trusts God more than his “correct” beliefs.

我們對掃羅（後來被稱為保羅）這個人，了解多少呢？他在耶路撒冷，宗教領袖迦瑪列的指導下，接受法利賽人的教育。迦瑪列是一位受到所有猶太人的尊敬。在使徒行傳第5 章中，使徒約翰和彼得宣稱他們只聽從神而不聽從人之後，迦瑪列就是那位，勸勉告戒其他法利賽人，對使徒約翰和彼得賜予寬容的人。也許迦瑪列對神的信靠，勝過於相信持有＂正確的信念＂。

We don’t know how much Gamaliel’s theological teaching influenced Paul, all we know is that Jesus calls Paul to be the apostle to Jews, non-Jews, and kings of nations to spread the message about Jesus Christ. Through his missionary efforts, he was one of the first Christian missionaries to assert the inclusion of Gentiles/non-Jews into the covenants of Israel through Christ. To Paul, he wasn’t converted to a different religion, but he got to see God in Jesus Christ.

我們不知道迦瑪列的神學教導對保羅有多大的影響，我們只知道，耶穌呼召保羅，成為一位，向猶太人、非猶太人和萬國君王，傳播耶穌基督福音的使徒。透過他傳教的努力，他是最早一位主張，藉由基督，將外邦人/非猶太人，納入以色列聖約的傳教士之一。對保羅來說，他並沒有換一個不同的宗教，他只是，在耶穌基督裡，看到了上帝。

On his way to Damascus, he realized that he was lost but was found by Jesus. His sight was restored. Meeting Jesus in person must have traumatized him quite a bit. Like his teacher, Gamaliel, Paul is a person of faith who trusts God more than his “correct” beliefs. That could be the reason that he prefers using his Greek name Paul over his Hewbrew name Saul. For the meaning of Saul is ‘desired,’ and the meaning of Paul is ‘little.” Little does convey the notion of letting God be God.

在前往大馬士革的途中，保羅意識到自己迷失了，但耶穌找到了他。他的視力也恢復了。親自見到耶穌一定給他帶來了極大的驚嚇。像他的老師迦瑪列一樣，保羅是一位有信仰的人，他對神的信靠，勝過於相信持有＂正確的信念＂。這可能就是為什麼，他更喜歡使用他的希臘名字保羅，而不是希伯來名字掃羅的原因。因為掃羅的意思是‘渴望’，而保羅的意思是‘微小不足’。‘微小不足’ 更能傳達，讓上帝做主權者的概念。

Our Challenges

There is a term that Luke uses in Chapter 9. He describes Jesus’ followers as those who belong to the Way in verse 2. In some translations, we don’t get to see this powerful word, the Way, that was used in the original Greek Bible. How we can belong to the Way is our challenge. How do we reshape our old way of life to be the WAY of the new life in Christ, and let go of our own pride, our fear, and our insecurity? This is our challenge.

路加在第9 章第 2 節中使用了一個詞彙。他將耶穌的跟隨者，描述為屬於【道路】的人。在某些聖經的譯本中，我們看不到，聖經原文希臘文所使用的這個重要詞彙【道路】。如何能成為這【道路】的人，是我們面臨的挑戰。我們如何能從舊的生活方式，在基督裡，重新塑造出新生命，並放下自己的驕傲、恐懼和沒有安全感呢？這是我們的挑戰。

In our last Wednesday Bible class, we were challenged to think of a person of faith, someone like Saul, the Saul who hasn’t met Jesus yet, in our midst. This person trusts his or her “correct beliefs” more than God. This person kicks people out of the church, the body of Christ, hurting them because his or her own beliefs matter more than letting God do the work.

在上週三的查經課中，我們試著想像著，在我們當中，有一位像似還未見過耶穌的掃羅這樣的人。這是一位，比起信靠上帝，更加相信持有＂正確的信念＂的人。這個人，不只是把人趕出教會，也就是把人趕出基督的體，並傷害他們，因為對此人而言，相信持有＂正確的信念＂，甚過比信靠上帝更為重要，自己來處理就夠了。

We also talked about Ananias who can recognize the Lord’s voice. What can help us recognize the voice of our shepherd, Jesus, who tells us to receive people who don’t look, act or think like us? Instead of complaining about the person before God, we actually can pray for ourselves for being incapable of receiving them and letting God do the work.

我們也談論到亞拿尼亞是一位認得主的聲音的信徒。有什麼可以幫助我們，認出我們的牧者，耶穌的聲音，聽見祂告訴我們，要接待那些外表、行為或想法與我們不同的人呢？與其在神面前抱怨他人，我們其實可以為自己，因無法接受他人，祈求神來在我們的生命中作工而禱告。

For the people of faith, it is normal that we get lost and blinded occasionally. The more we commune with God through our living prayers, namely, reflecting on how Jesus interacts with those who come to him for the salvation He brings, the less chance we have of getting lost and blinded.

對於有信仰的人來說，偶爾迷失、盲目是很正常的。透過活出我們的禱告與主相通，與神有更多的交流，也即是，深思耶穌是如何對待那些為祂所帶來的救恩來到祂面前的人，學習耶穌是如何與他們之間做互動，我們迷失和盲目的機會就會相對的越少。

Good News

So, what’s the Good News for today?

那麼，我們今日的福音是什麼呢？

God has prepared for us the WAY that is our Lord Jesus Christ. He paints what the WAY is like in John 15:9-17 for us to dream and to walk alongside him with the help of the Holy Spirit. Our joy can be completed by abiding in the love of our Triune God. Because of this, we may love one another and bear fruit that will last.

神已經為我們預備了【道路】，那就是我們的主耶穌基督。祂在約翰福音 15:9-17 中，描繪了那條【道路】的樣子，耶穌的描述，使我們能想像，在聖靈的幫助下，與祂一起同行。三一神的愛，成就了我們的喜樂。正因為如此，我們才能彼此相愛，結出恆久的果實。

God is the one who seeks the hearts of all, and we, belonging to the Way, welcome them into our midst; God is the one who saves those who believe in Jesus, and we, belonging to the Way, are called to proclaim and teach; God is the one who restores our humanity that needs to be constantly nurtured and comforted in a community of faith, such as this church that belongs to the Way.

上帝能尋得所有人的心，屬於【道路】的我們，歡迎尋得的人，來到我們當中 ；上帝能拯救那些信靠耶穌基督的人，屬於【道路】的我們的呼召，是向他們宣揚和教導耶穌的福音；上帝能將我們的人性歸回正軌，屬於【道路】的我們，需要在信仰團體中，有如在這個教會，不斷的餵養和關懷他們。

I would like to share with you a quote from Richard Rohr’s book, Falling Upward. It is an appropriate one to conclude today’s message.

我想與大家分享理查德·羅爾 所著作的一本書《向上墜落》其中的一段話。用這個來結束今天的信息是合適的。

“Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.”

「我們大多數的人都被教導說，如果我們改變，上帝就會愛我們。事實上，神愛你，所以你可以改變。愛的體驗能夠賦予改變、讓你渴望改變。正是這種，累積之下持有的愛的體驗，成為了，改變的引擎。」

Thanks be to God who loves us first. Amen.

感謝神先愛我們。阿們。