牧者心聲
一池活水
周曉暉牧師
2024 年 5 月 18 日 / 19 日
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在外地的親友住在兩層樓的平房，前園有草坪，後園有泳池。這種配備在當地甚為普遍，但卻已是不少香港人夢想退休後的家。
探望親友，住在他家時才知道要保養一個泳池，殊不簡單。有後院的人家多數都種了樹，有樹，自然就有落葉，令人頭痛的是落葉會飄進泳池，結果親友就要不斷做「執葉」人員。他每兩個星期要倒進一桶消毒氯水，每季更要將全池的水放掉，因為經過一段時間，清澈的池水會變成濁水；而清洗池底的污泥又是一輪體力勞動。那麼辛辛苦苦、細心打理，好了，該可在其中暢泳吧？親友告訴我，最大的問題，是一家人從來都不在這裡游泳的。我輕輕的問：那麼是否可以不理會它？
「不可以的！」親友告知我，一旦家有泳池，就不可私下改變用途，也不能持續沒有水在其中。池水污濁，鄰居可以向市議會投訴，到時他就會收到罰款告票。聽著，我就由羨慕之情，變得慶幸自己不需要這樣照顧泳池。雖然花費精神、金錢和體力去維持這個設施，但它始終成為一池死水，得物無所用。
弟兄姊妹，這會否是我們屬靈生命的狀況——一池死水？我們是否渴望聖靈更新自己，使靈命得著復興？我們不要只顧打理靈命，卻沒有多少運用。
那麼請你就放膽為耶穌作見證，找人談論福音吧！保羅書信中論到之所以看到聖靈明顯的工作，是因為一批信主年日尚淺的基督徒，竟然可以不斷傳福音，甚至傳到遠處。聖靈不單內住我們心裡，也成為我們得救的憑據。「因為我們的福音傳到你們那裡，不僅在言語，也在能力，也在聖靈和充足的確信」（帖前一5，和修版）。
聖靈還有一項最明顯的工作：顯揚基督。弟兄姊妹，很多時候，我們不傳福音，是因為看見困難或預計難度很高，以致我們會卻步！甚至整天掛在口邊：我不懂怎樣講；我講得不好；我怕講錯⋯⋯老早斷定自己一定不會成功，結果退而求其次，只有裝備、裝備、再裝備；訓練、訓練、再訓練。
拿了一屋的裝備，學了一系列的招式，有沒有使用過？還是只像我親友的那個泳池，最終成為一池死水，得物無所用。傳福音不是靠你我能力的多寡，卻是靠著聖靈，並聖靈一直使我們對福音的確信。
弟兄姊妹，你想經歷聖靈的能力嗎？豁出去，傳福音，讓你的生命成為一池活水吧！
A relative of mine lives in a two-story house overseas. He has a lawn in the front yard and a swimming pool in the back yard. It is a common configuration where he lives. It is also the dream retirement home for many people in Hong Kong.
It was not until I stayed in his house during my visit that I found pool maintenance no simple task. People often grow trees in their back yards, and with that come falling leaves. And here is the problem: many fallen leaves are blown into the pool. Consequently, my relative becomes a routine "leave collector." He pours a large bottle of liquid chlorine into the pool every other week. Every quarter, he has to drain the entire pool because the clear water gets dirty after some time. Scrubbing the walls of the empty pool to clean the dirt is another round of backbreaking labor. Now with all the hard labor and meticulous attention, can my relative enjoy a good swim? No, he told me. The biggest problem is his family never swims there. So, I asked gently: "Can you just ignore it?"
"No!" My relative told me that as long as the house is built with a swimming pool, the land use cannot be changed privately, and the pool cannot be without water continuously. If the water is dirty, neighbors can complain to the city council and the owner will get a penalty ticket. Hearing this, my admiration turned into gladness that I do not need to take care of a swimming pool. With all the care, money and strength poured into the maintenance of this facility, it remains a pool of stagnant water, which is useless.
Brothers and sisters, is that what our spiritual lives look like too – a pool of stagnant water? Do we long for renewal by the Holy Spirit so that our spiritual life is revived? We should not just focus on taking care of our spiritual lives without putting it to work.
Then please boldly testify for Jesus and share the gospel with others! It is discussed in the Pauline epistles that the work of the Holy Spirit is apparent because a group of believers who had not been converted for a long time kept spreading the gospel even to faraway places. The Holy Spirit not only dwells in our hearts but also constitutes our conviction in salvation, "…because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
Another most obvious work of the Holy Spirit is this: the exemplification of Christ. Brothers and sisters, very often, we refrain from preaching the gospel because when we see obstacles or expect great difficulties in doing so, we step back! We may even be saying repeatedly: I do not know how to share; I am not good at it; I am afraid I may say something wrong… And having decided beforehand that we will not succeed, we go for second best to get equipped time and again and get trained again, again and again.
Having received a whole house of equipment and learned a whole range of skills, have you put them to use? Or it will be like my relative's swimming pool, ending up as stagnant water, useless. The preaching of the gospel does not depend on the measure of abilities in you and me. It depends on the Holy Spirit and the conviction in the gospel as empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, do you want to experience the power of the Holy Spirit? Take the risks and preach the gospel. Let your life become a fountain of living water!
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