“Being servants of God, praying for mercy”

A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 8 July 2018, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, by Tjeerd de Boer and Kathleen Ferrier. The scripture readings that day were Ezekiel 3 : 1-5, Psalm 123, Mark 6:1-13.

Dear sisters and brothers of KUC

“He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.” (Mark 6:1)

…The disciples followed Jesus…
The Gospel tells us about Jesus, tells us about following Jesus, tells us about the disciples following Jesus
Jesus had said to them: follow me – and the first disciples immediately had left what they were doing and had followed him.
Then Jesus called those whom he wanted to be his disciples, and they came to him.
Then he appointed twelve (of them), whom he also named apostles, to be with him and to be sent to proclaim the Good News

So, here we are, at KUC, reading about these very first followers, as followers of Jesus ourselves, because Jesus has called us to be with him, and to be sent, to proclaim the Good News, that is to go Jesus’ way, to go in his name.
One of the first names used for Christians is ‘those of the Way, ‘people of the way’, that is: people of the way of Jesus, people on and in the way of Jesus,
-in his way of Mission and Diakonia (one of my favorite courses I taught at the Lutheran Theological Seminary) – being sent and serving,
-in his Way of Church and Society (a course at LTS we had the privilege to teach together) – being sent and serving.

So, here we are, being sent and serving.
Here we are, as members of this one body of Christ,

‘For as in one body we have many members, …so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned,
each with gifts that differ according to the grace given to us…’ as Paul repeatedly emphasizes in his letters (this is from the one to the sisters and brothers in Rome, Romans 12)

Here, in this community  of Kowloon Union Church, we have found that body: a wonderful, colorful, beautiful body, with members from all over the world, with different backgrounds and cultures, speaking different languages, coming from different situations, having different orientations, in this wide diversity all being member of one another.
Another kind of difference I learned here in Hong Kong is the difference in faith biography, related to ‘tradition and conversion’, to traditional and converted Christians.

Some of us, like myself, are traditional Christian: children of many generations Christians – and some of us are new Christians: the first Christians in their families, that is the story and testimony of most local colleagues at LTS, most local students, many pastors and students from the mainland, many are first generation Christians.

It is the difference between those baptized as an infant:

Born on a Friday, I was baptized on the following Sunday, two days young – without even my mother being present, because she was still recovering from giving birth to me. Baptism as an expression of tradition

and those baptized as an adult, often without any family member present, as the conclusion of a process of conversion, of becoming a Christian.

That is not easy. Being the first. Being misunderstood, like Jesus, like the  disciples, in proclaiming the good news, encountering disrespect, unbelief, rejection.

But, against all odds, they started to make the way, and here we are, together as Christians, new Christians or Christians of tradition. It does not matter. As followers of Christ, as equal members of his one body, we are all alike, we are all born again in Christ, with all our different histories and backgrounds, all our different stories and testimonies,

Being people of the Way, called by Him who is the Way, Truth and Life, following his Way as disciples, we are being sent to serve as his apostles, to share this one story and testimony to all those mentioned in today’s Gospel (in Mark 6): both with those who in their unbelief, thínk that they know who Jesus is (wherever they are, in our hometown, and everywhere) and with those who need to be healed (wherever they are, in our hometown, and everywhere).

The only option is to go, not our way, but His way and to go as followers: disciples, apostles, members of his body. All we have to do is to open our hearts, to our brothers and sisters, and to open our hearts to listen what the Lord tells us to do: ‘to think with sober judgment, to hate what is evil, to hold fast what is good, to love another with mutual affection’ (Romans 12).

(Tjeerd de Boer)

Sober judgement, holding fast what is good and to love one another with mutual affection is what we have found and experienced here at KUC: a diverse, international body of Christ as was already said.

Therefore, KUC sets an example of how people from all walks of life can walk together, really, following Him and thus respecting each other.

KUC sets an example of how we can have a true and honest and respectful interest in the differences, -even enjoy them, as we do in the Refugee Kitchen-, knowing that what binds us together is stronger than our differences. We are followers, people of the Way.

As some of you might know I studied Spanish and one of my favorite poets is the Spanish poet Antonio Machado. I especially like his poem in which he says: Traveler there is no way. The way is made by going, just by going you make the way, and when you look back, you see the path that you have left behind.

We are here together at KUC as people from the way. We come from far away and from near by, but we all come with the desire to make this place a better place. That is what we want to leave behind: a better Hong Kong, a better China, a better Asia and a better world. And by coming together here as this diverse body of Christ, we go His way, the way of love and the way of respect and the way of equal rights and opportunities for all. And even if we do not see now, how this is working out here in HK, or in China, or in Asia or in the world, we as believers know, that we may have faith that one day it will happen.

Our traveling in this region, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia, has taught us so much and strengthened our faith, that the better world is on its way. Our years in Hong Kong, with you, with students and faculty from LTS and from HKBU, with students from the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh and people who work with migrant-communities and with modern slaves have given us hope for this more equal world to come. Because we have seen the strength and the faith of people who – sometimes under the most difficult, if not inhuman circumstances – keep hope following Him, keep opening their hearts and listen what He wants them to do. This has been extremely encouraging and we are grateful for that. We have also experienced that there are bonds between sisters and brothers that go beyond time and place. Therefore, we know, that even if we return now to the Netherlands we will remain united to you, our sisters and brothers at KUC. Because we are people of the Way, travelers together, making the way, following our hearts, following the Way He shows us, following Him. Amen.

(Kathleen Ferrier)