Jesus has blessed us with the crown of love – Pastor Jade Yi

May the Grace and Peace from God be with you.

願上帝的恩典與平安，賜給你們。

Our Story 我們的故事

Have you ever had mixed feelings about a situation when what’s happening around you doesn’t match how you feel in your heart? It can be when you attend a funeral feeling sorrowful but see people joyfully celebrating the life of the deceased one. It can also be when you feel a sense of fulfillment after graduating from college but feel nervous and stressed with the unknown future that awaits you.  

你是否曾有過一種說不出的複雜的感受？也就是心裡所感受到的，和外在環境的氣氛不符合時，那種感覺。這有可能發生在，當你參加葬禮時，心理感受到悲傷，和周遭的人為死者一生的生命來喜悅的慶祝時，那種複雜的感覺。或者是當你從大學剛畢業後所感受到一種成就感，同時對著未知的前途感到緊張和壓力時，那種複雜的心情。

We all have mixed feelings from time to time. Sometimes our mixed feelings can be magnified and lose control if we have no strong values in our lives that can ground us and calm us down. For example, during and after the pandemic, the eagerness of wanting to have certainty in life seemed increasingly pronounced. As a result, the emotions of impatience and intolerance are coordinately magnified. For most of us, a quick fix seems like the way to go if it’s possible.

我們時時都會有複雜的感受。如果我們的生活中沒有堅定的價值觀，有時，我們的複雜情緒會被放大，並失去控制。 但如果我們的生活中有堅定的價值觀，它可以讓我們腳踏實地、使我們的心情平靜下來。例如，在疫情期間和疫情之後，人們對生活掌握權的渴望，越來越明顯。在此種情況下，不耐煩和不寬容的情緒，相對的，也就被放大了。對我們大多數的人來說，如果任何事，都有快速的解決方案，似乎是最好的。

 

The Story of God 神的故事

Palm Sunday is when Jesus’ disciples have mixed feelings of joy and confusion. The story tells us that the crowd gathers, welcomes Jesus entering Jerusalem, and shouts with excitement, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” If I were there, I would feel joyful and proud to be part of the crowd calling Jesus the blessed king, but at the same time I might have felt confused and angry because I knew that the same crowd would eventually choose the criminal over Jesus and would shout with anger, “Crucify Jesus!” 

在棕櫚主日這一天，耶穌的門徒感受到喜悅和困惑，心情特別複雜。 聖經裡的故事告訴我們，群眾聚集在一起，歡迎耶穌進入耶路撒冷，並懷著興奮的心情，高喊著，「和散那！奉主名而來的以色列王是應當稱頌的！」如果當時我在那裡，我會感到高興和自豪。因為能和群眾一起高喊，耶穌是一位受祝福的君王，但同時我可能也會感受到困惑和憤怒，因為我知道，同樣的這群人，最終會選擇釋放罪犯而不是耶穌，並且還憤怒大喊著，「把耶穌釘死在十字架上！」

The scripture that we have from John was written several years later. It says that the disciples couldn’t understand what was happening at the time but got it later after Jesus’ resurrection. They saw the big picture of God’s saving plan.

我們知道，約翰福音書，是事後幾年，才被撰寫成的。今日經文也提到，當時門徒無法理解發生了什麼，但在耶穌復活後才明白。他們看到了神拯救計劃的大局。

This makes me think of a Chinese idiom: The mantis focuses on the cicada but is unaware of the siskin, or bird, behind. It refers to predators not looking what is behind but only focusing on what is in front of them, the prey. Satan is like the mantis. God is like the Siskin. And we are like the cicadas, the followers of Jesus. And Jesus is playing the role of the cicada on our behalf because we are not capable of winning this battle. 

這讓我想起了中國的一個成語：螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後。它指的是，掠食者忽略了身後有甚麼，只專注在他們眼前的獵物。撒旦就像這隻螳螂。上帝就像似這隻黃雀。我們就像蟬一樣，是耶穌的跟隨者。耶穌當我們的替身，因為我們沒有能力贏得這場爭鬥。

Satan might have thought he had everything under his control. He had the perfect plan to get Jesus killed so that his followers would be scattered and die eternally. The plan was to play with the hearts of people, the fear and ignorance of the crowd, the jealousy and anger of the religious leaders, and the greed, shame, and guilt of Jesus’ disciples. The location was set to be outside Jerusalem at Calvary, and the method was the capital punishment of crucifixion. 

撒旦可能認為一切都在他的掌控之下。他有一個完美的計劃，要殺死耶穌，這樣他的追隨者就會四分五列並面臨永遠的死亡。他的計劃是要玩弄人們的心、群眾的恐懼和無知、宗教領袖的嫉妒和憤怒，以及耶穌門徒的貪婪、羞恥和罪惡感。地點是定在耶路撒冷城外的各各他山，方式是被釘在十字架的死刑。

Satan was sitting comfortably and watching with satisfaction as the story unfolded. Well! God was also watching for Satan to fall into the trap. God knew how treacherous Satan was and how weak human’s minds were from the very beginning of creation. That was why Jesus, his only Son, had to play this role on our behalf. God is always ahead of Satan. Didn’t Jesus himself predict his betrayal three times in the New Testament? 

撒旦舒服地坐著，滿足地看著故事的展開。不巧了！神也在註視著撒但落入陷阱。神從創世之初就知道撒但有多詭詐，人的思想有多軟弱。這就是為什麼耶穌，祂的獨生子，必須代替我們。神永遠走在撒但的前面。耶穌自己在新約聖經中，不也是，三次預言他會被出賣嗎？

Later, Jesus’ disciples understood God’s saving plan because many scriptures prophesied in the Old Testament were fulfilled through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Zechariah prophesied Jesus would ride a donkey and be called as a king while entering Jerusalem in 9:9, and Judas Iscariot would betray Jesus by taking 30 silver coins in chapter 11:12-13. Being arrested and handed over to be tried by Roman officials, the gentiles, in Psalm 22, Jesus followed through the interrogation as the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. Finally, Jesus took all our curses onto himself to the cross in Deuteronomy 21:22-23, and his body was intact without any broken bones after crucifixion in Exodus 12:46 and Psalm 34:20.

之後，耶穌的門徒明白了神的拯救計劃，因為舊約聖經中的許多預言都在耶穌的生、死和復活應驗了。撒迦利亞在 9:9 預言，耶穌將騎著驢進入耶路撒冷，並被稱為王，在 11:12-13預言，猶大將拿走 30 個銀幣出賣耶穌。在詩篇22 章中預言了，耶穌被逮捕並被交給外邦人審判，也就是羅馬官員。在以賽亞書53 章中預言到，耶穌以受苦僕人的身份接受了審訊。最後，在申命記21 章22-23節中預言，耶穌將在十字架上，背負著我們所有的咒詛。在出埃及記 12:46 和詩篇 34:20 中預言，耶蘇受刑後的身體完好無損，沒有任何骨折。

Challenges 挑戰

As we can see, if we don’t know the story of God well, we are in trouble. We can’t connect dots to see the big picture of God’s saving plan. Whenever our lives don’t go the way we expect, we get confused, frustrated, and wonder if God is real, alive, and cares for us. If we don’t see a quick fix in our lives, someone needs to be the scapegoat. We may blame ourselves, others, or something. The scariest thing is that we blame God. Whenever that happens, we act as the one in the crowds, shouting, “Crucify Jesus.!”  

正如我們剛剛提及聖經中預言的應驗，如果我們不了解神的故事，麻煩可大了。我們無法了解神拯救計畫的大局。每當我們的生活沒有按照我們期許發展時，我們就會感到困惑、沮喪，並懷疑上帝是否真實、活著、關心我們。如果我們生活中，沒有快速解決的辦法，就找人成為替罪羔羊。我們可能會責怪自己、責怪他人或是責怪任何事物。最可怕的是我們責怪神。每當這種情況發生時，我們就會像似人群中的人一樣高喊著：「把耶穌釘死在十字架上！」

What came to your mind today when you entered the sanctuary seeing all the palm leaves on the floor?  Did you feel comfortable stepping on those leaves that are supposedly to be held in your hands? Let me ask another question, what do we normally do with the leaves after Palm Sunday?  Exactly, we throw them away. Or the church keeps some to burn them into ashes for the next Ash Wednesday. Now, do you have mixed feelings about the leaves or about ourselves as the people of God?

今天，當您進入崇拜堂，看到地上的棕櫚葉時，您的感受是什麼？踩在那些本該握在手中的棕櫚葉上，你覺得可行嗎？讓我問另一個問題，棕櫚主日之後，我們通常如何處理棕櫚葉？確切地說，我們把它們扔掉了。或是教會保留一些，在下一個聖灰星期三將它們燒成灰燼用來在額頭畫十字架。現在，你們對棕櫚樹葉有甚麼複雜的感受呢？或是，對我們作為上帝的子民，有甚麼複雜的感受呢？

Something looks special but not that special, the leaves. Something looks holy but not that holy, our humanity. Whenever we are in doubt, we seek God. In God, we see Jesus. In Jesus, we see that our lives matter. The Psalm 31 that we hear today teaches us about the importance of trusting God, both in our dying and living each day.

有些東西看起來很特別，但其實也沒那麼特別，就像這棕櫚葉。有些東西看起來很神聖，但其實也沒那麼神聖，那就是我們的人性。每當我們有疑問時，我們就尋求神。在神身上，我們看見了耶穌。在耶穌裡，我們看到了，我們的生命的重要性。今日所讀到的詩篇第 31 篇，教導我們，無論是生與死，每天信靠上帝，是有多麼的重要。

Good News 好消息

This is good news. God is here and has never left. A great reminder is the eternal light in the sanctuary. It’s lit 24/7. God has been working in and through your lives and the ministries you do. Why?  Because we are and can be only grounded by God’s love, that’s our value. Only God’s love can bring our senses back whenever we are messed up.

神就在我們當中，這是個好消息。祂從未離開過。教會裡的永恆的光，就是個很好的提醒。時時刻刻 都亮著。神一直在你們的生活中和你們所做的所有事工中，行祂的大能。為什麼呢？因為我們是靠著神的愛為基礎，這就是在我們生活中，堅定的價值觀。當我們亂了腳步時，只有上帝的愛，才能使我們恢復理智。

Thanks be to God for His love. What can we give to God in return for His Love? The best way is to accept the crown of love. That crown of love stands by to save whoever encounters challenges each day. Because only through the crown, can we love as Christ loved, lead others back to God as Christ did. This is the great work God has done to us.

感謝有神的愛。我們可以用什麼來回報神的愛呢？ 最好的方法就是接受愛的冠冕，愛的冠冕每日都待命著，把任何遇上困境的人拯救出來。 因為只有透過愛的冠冕，人人才能像基督一樣去愛，像基督一樣帶領別人歸向上帝。這就是神在我們身上做的工。

Because of your love for God and one another, the church lives and grows. Let the love from God be the power like the ripple effect, let it spread from one person to another person, from one family to another family, from a ministry team to another ministry team, from the people of Grace to anyone who takes God’s love seriously enough to share the mission together, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of Triune God, and teaching Jesus’ commandments, to love God and love others as yourself.  By doing so, who doesn’t want to be part of the great exciting mission?

因著你們對神和彼此的愛，教會得以存活和成長。讓來自神的愛，成為漣漪效應般的力量，讓神的愛從一個人傳播到另一個人，從一個家庭傳播到另一個家庭，從一個事工團隊傳播到另一個事工團隊，從恩惠堂傳播到任何一位，認真對待神的愛，足夠到能認真地接受教會的使命，並共同分擔，使人成為門徒，奉三一神的名給他們施洗，並教導耶穌的誡命，愛神並愛人如己。如此這樣做，誰不想要成為這令人興奮的偉大使命中的一個成員呢？

Thanks be to God. Amen.

感謝主。阿們。