牧者心聲
耶穌在門外敲門
周曉暉牧師
2022 年 9 月 10 日 / 11 日
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有一天下班回家，我發覺忘了帶鎖匙，那時已是晚上 11 點。我敲了多次門，用了許多辦法，太太和家傭都聽不到。我正要去通宵營業的 M 記等天亮，太太就發現我深宵未歸，來電找到我了。
這經歷教我體會到啟示錄三 20 的場景：「看哪，我站在門外叩門，若有聽見我聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裡去，我與他，他與我一同坐席。」這是主耶穌給老底嘉教會的話，上文正是主對這教會的嚴厲責備。主敲的門，是教會的門。祂是這房子的主人，裡面的人有責任留意著主人的事，當主人回來，便應立刻應門。
主雖然責備，但仍對教會有期望：「凡我所疼愛的，我就責備管教他；所以你要發熱心，也要悔改。」（三 19）發「熱心」，我們常誤以為是指參與崇拜和聚會、有事奉有奉獻、多祈禱多讀經，然而這一切只是「熱心」的副產品，主所說的「熱心」，可解作「重視」、「上心」。
孩子準備升小學那段日子，我作為家長，常面對甚麼直資、私校、津校、官校，甚麼自行收生、第一階段、第二階段等等術語，我常問太太那是甚麼？有一天太太終於表達不快，因為我老是問著一年前、幾個月前、個多月前問過的問題。我看自己也算著緊孩子，並不是「無心」，但事實上我真的未夠「上心」。
原屬於主耶穌的教會，竟將祂拒諸門外！這就是「熱心」的相反。今天，主分派給你我的事，我們未必「無心」，但能算為「上心」嗎？
我後來又有一次忘記帶鎖匙，不同的，是今次印傭姐姐很快就來開門。姐姐對工作本就很「上心」，經過上次之後，她晚上更加留意僱主是否已經回家。
現在我家已沒有再聘請印傭，但我們還是很記掛那位「上心」的姐姐。她是位 M 民，但不抗拒我們跟她講耶穌的事，她甚至會替我們督促孩子飯前和睡前祈禱，有幾次她家裡出了事，她也願意和我們一同祈禱。向姐姐傳福音，我們不是「無心」，但未算「上心」，在她完成最後一個合約前，我們終於鼓起勇氣與她進一步談道，很感恩，她最終決志信主了。
你是否也聘用了外傭姐姐？你能否「上心」地把握同一屋檐下的機會，作個好僱主，在日常生活中活出好見證，領她們歸主？差傳，是你我從主領受的託付。而你對主「熱心」的起點，可以是你的家。
（本文撮錄自今年差傳特刊的「主題文萃」）
One day when I returned home, I found that I forgot to bring my key. It was already 11pm. I knocked on the door many times and tried many other means but my wife and my domestic helper still could not hear. I was about to go over to a 24-hour McDonald's to wait for daybreak when my wife, being aware that I had not returned home late at night, called me up on the phone.
The experience allowed me to understand the scenario in Revelation 3:20: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." These were the words from the Lord Jesus to the Church in Laodicea. The context before this verse was the Lord's stern rebuke of that church.
The door the Lord is knocking on is the door of the church. He is the Master of the house. The people inside are obliged to pay attention to His matters and when He returns, answer the door immediately.
Though the Lord rebuked the church, He was not without expectation for her: "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent" (3:19). We often mistakenly think the word "earnest" means attending worship services and meetings, serving and offering, and often engaging in prayers and Bible studies. But all of this is just the by-product of being "earnest." The word "earnest" as used by the Lord can be interpreted as "attach importance to" or "zealous."
When my children were about to be promoted to primary schools, I as a parent was often puzzled by terms like "direct subsidy", "private schools", "subsidized schools", "government schools", "discretionary places", "Phase 1", "Phase 2" … Time and again, I asked my wife what they mean. One day, my wife finally showed that she was displeased. That was because I was repeating the questions I asked a year ago, months ago or about a month earlier. I thought I attached importance to my children. I would not say I was disinterested. But it is true that I was not "zealous" enough.
The church which belongs to the Lord Jesus had gone so far as to cast Him out! This is the opposite of being "earnest." Look at the ministries the Lord has entrusted with us today. We may not be disinterested, but are we really "zealous"?
Another time, I again forgot to bring my key. What was different was that the Indonesian maid quickly answered the door. The maid has always been "zealous" at work and after what happened last time, she paid special attention to whether I was home late at night.
Now our family no longer has an Indonesian helper but we do miss the "zealous" maid. She was Muslim but she did not reject our sharing with her about Jesus. She would even make sure that our children prayed before meals and going to bed on our behalf. Several times, incidents happened in her family. She was willing to pray with us. We were not disinterested in sharing the gospel with her, but we could not call ourselves "zealous." Before she completed her last contract, we finally mustered up courage and preached the gospel to her. Very thankfully, she finally accepted Christ.
Do you also hire a domestic helper? Are you "zealous" enough to take the opportunity of being under one roof and be a good employer, always living out a good testimony and leading them to the Lord?
Mission is what the Lord has entrusted with you and me. Your response to the Lord in being "earnest" might as well start at home.
(This is an excerpt from Rev Chow's article in this year's Mission Journal.)
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