牧者心聲
遇見主的人

周曉暉牧師
2023 年 4 月 15 日 / 16 日


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福音能「改變與重新定義人生」(life changing and re-defining),遇上耶穌的人,都得自己面對耶穌和祂的福音,每個人都要作出抉擇。你還記得自己是在怎樣的處境遇見主耶穌和聽見祂的福音呢?

在路加的筆下,遇上耶穌的人可謂形形色色:猶太人、外族人、男人、女人、富人、窮人、精英、邊緣人等等。就在他們最平凡、最日常、最普通的處境中,他們與耶穌不期而遇。這些相遇,卻並非偶然,他們的故事,也反映出福音的完備。

路加福音記載,耶穌曾在自己的居留地拿撒勒選讀過的一段以賽亞書:「主的靈在我身上,因為他膏立我去向窮人傳福音;他差遣我去宣告被擄的得釋放,瞎眼的得看見,受壓迫的得自由:他差遣我去宣告主的恩年。」(路四 18-19,新漢語譯本)當耶穌讀完那段經文後,祂還說:「你們聽見的這段經文,今天已經應驗了」(四 21),耶穌是奉天父的差派,進到人群中宣告福音。

在耶穌這段使命宣言中,我們看到福音特別關注窮乏者(無法維護自身尊嚴、受人剝削,或因各種原因欠債為奴的),當中的好消息,是使被擄得釋放(債項寬免、疾病痊癒、罪咎得赦),使心盲、眼瞎者得見天國恩情。在各人不受重視、為人所棄、遭人所憎、被罪鉗制、受錯謬價值觀扭曲、被權勢所欺壓的生活中,耶穌給人從未有過、生命能改變的機會,讓被邪惡奴役的人得到真自由,回復神創造的美善。

福音本意就是好消息。但在今天這個常把消息硬塞進你眼簾的年代,人們不怎麼再期待聽見甚麼消息。不論是點擊一條網絡音樂短片,或是在滑動社交媒體,都總有幾十秒的宣傳,推送至你的屏幕。這些喬裝好消息的廣告資訊,令我們越發疲乏。但福音並不只是一則消息,更是耶穌能作成在你和我身上的事。

今天,在最平凡、最日常、最普通的處境中,耶穌的福音仍然是我們這些信主之人的好消息。祂更差遣我們,帶著祂所賜的能力和權柄,走遍各處,傳揚福音。這一季的講壇,我們將研讀路加福音的選段,願聖靈使用主耶穌遇上不同人物的經文,不斷改變更新你和我,使我們更像主耶穌!




Pastor's Sharing

Those Who Encounter the Lord

Rev Arnold Chow

  The gospel is both "life-changing and re-defining." Those who encounter Jesus have to personally face Jesus and His gospel. Everyone needs to make a decision. Do you still remember the situation in which you encountered the Lord Jesus and heard His gospel?

  As portrayed by Luke, different kinds of people have encountered Jesus: Jews, gentiles, men, women, the rich, the poor, elites, the marginalized, and so forth. And just in their most ordinary, most routine, and most commonplace situations, they encountered Jesus unexpectedly. These encounters are by no means random. Their stories reflect the comprehensiveness of the gospel.

  It is recorded in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus had recited a passage from the Book of Isaiah in His hometown of Nazareth: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19). When He finished reading, He added: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (4:21). Jesus was sent by the Father to go in people's midst to proclaim the gospel.

  In this mission statement of Jesus, we see that in the gospel, there is a particular concern for the poor (those who cannot defend their dignity, are exploited, or for various reasons owe money and are enslaved). The good news therein is that prisoners are set free (debt is canceled or reduced, sickness is cured, sins forgiven) so that those who are blind in the heart or in the eyes can see the grace and love of the Heavenly Kingdom. To the neglected, forsaken, hated, sin-enslaved, or those confused by perverted values or are oppressed by authorities, Jesus brought an unprecedented life-changing opportunity. He brings real freedom to those in the bondage of evil and restores the goodness of God's creation.

  The original meaning of the gospel is good news. But in today's age in which news is stuffed into your eyes, people do not really look forward to hearing news. Whether you are clicking an online music video or browsing social media, there will be tens of seconds of advertisements cramming onto your screen. These advertisements disguised as good news make us tired. The gospel, on the other hand, is not just a piece of news. It is also works that Jesus can accomplish in you and me.

  Today, in our most ordinary, most routine and most commonplace situations, the gospel of Jesus remains good news to all of us whose faith is in the Lord. He also sends us, with the power and authority from Him, to go through all the places to spread the gospel. In the sermons of this quarter, we will study selected passages from the Gospel of Luke. May the Holy Spirit use the Scripture about different people's encounters with the Lord Jesus to continually change and renew you and me so that we will be more like the Lord Jesus!






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