[영어설교] October 18, 2020

Ecclesia: Where to go?

Atlanta Taiwanese Presbyterian Church

 

Numbers 14:1-25

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 But the whole congregation threatened to stone them.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for in your might you brought up this people from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people; for you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go in front of them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people all at one time, then the nations who have heard about you will say, 16 ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying,

18 

‘The Lord is slow to anger,

and abounding in steadfast love,

forgiving iniquity and transgression,

but by no means clearing the guilty,

visiting the iniquity of the parents

upon the children

to the third and the fourth generation.’

19 Forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have pardoned this people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 Then the Lord said, “I do forgive, just as you have asked; 21 nevertheless—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— 22 none of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me wholeheartedly, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

 

Acts 16:6-10

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

 

 

Ecclesia(2): Where to go? 

Lately I happened to read a story of a man in the Financial Express. He shared his message for the graduating class of 2020. In a virtual event, he said that his father spent a year’s worth of salary on his flight ticket to America so that he could study at Stanford (Class of 1993). He said it was his first time ever on a plane. It is Sundar Pichai, who become the CEO of Google, twenty two years later, in 2015.

 

I am pretty sure that many of us have similar stories like Pichai. Thirty years ago or earlier, when you and your family decided to come to the US, you did not know what your life would look like. You might not have imagined that you could live this long in the US. They did not expect that they would have a job for thirty years. Although they left their country bearing the American dream, they did not know that their life would be thrive this much. However, of course, prosperity is not everything they experienced. Life threw them curve balls. They lost their loved ones. Some people were not able to return to their country even after hearing that their parents would soon die. Choosing where to take root rewards us but also costs us. 

 

As we are discerning vision and missions in terms of church’s next destination, I believe that everyone has this question: where do we go? To fulfill God’s missions, where do we go? Where is going to be the decision that God and us are pleased with? How do we know where to go? 

 

Before starting the five roles of church, today I would like to remind us of the three stories related to the direction and relocation in the Bible. Through these stories, I want us to pay attention to the purpose of their adventures. 

 

Ghetto 

God told Abraham to leave his hometown for the land that God would show him. But God did not tell him where to go or how to get there. No directions at all. God just instructed Abraham to leave his country and father’s house at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:4). In the context of ancient Israel and Egypt, leaving father’s house means giving up the foundation of life and taking a risk, because he has to start over everything in a new city in a new country at the risk of the uncertainty and outside attack. Furthermore, aside from the context of time and culture, regarding his age, it must have been hard for Abraham to leave to an unknown place. Scholars have estimated the distance from Harran to Canaan where Abraham set forth: it was 7,578 miles. Having left his family behind, 75-year-old Abraham traveled about 7,600 miles to pursue God’s promise. He began his adventure, not knowing his destination, but believing the promise given by God.

 

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).

 

The author of Hebrews said that “by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).

 

But obeying God does not assure us of anything. In spite of God’s promise, the place where Abraham set out was not good enough for living. He had to live in a tent (Hebrews 11:9). There was famine in the land. He had to lie to save his wife Sarah. And he went to war against people in the land. Abraham’s resettlement in the new place shows us that pursuing God’s promise does not guarantee being prosperous in everything. We know this well from our experience. We dreamt that living in the US would be happy and more hopeful, but we know it doesn’t give us happiness itself.

 

The 40 years-long way to the promised land

430 years later since the Israelites settled down in Egypt (Exodus 12:41), God ordered Moses to relocate His people from Egypt to the promise land. God told Moses that He had seen the misery of His people in Egypt and heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. He said He knew their sufferings, and have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land. 

 

Unlike Abraham, the Israelites knew where to go. God promised to lead them into the land of Canaanites - a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:17). The hardship they had to cope with was the path to their destination. Even though they knew where to go, it didn’t mean that the journey would be easy. As we know, it took them 40 years to enter the promised land, in a trip that should normally last more than a few weeks (Deuteronomy 29:5). As we may also know, almost all the delay was due to their own disobedience.

 

After the report of exploration in Canaan, the Israelites grumbled against Moses and said that it would be better to go back to Egypt. When they faced the trouble, they blamed Moses complaining that the life of slavery in Egypt was better than the suffering in the wilderness. While God envisioned the future for His people, the Israelites kept paying attention to the problems before them rather than God. They allowed the problems to overwhelm them. They considered the issues more bigger than God. And God said that they tested the Lord ten times (Numbers 14:22). After all, their unfaithfulness and disobedience cost them 40 years in the wilderness; and no one of the first generation, who insisted it was better to go back to Egypt, entered the promised land, except Caleb and Joshua who trusted in the promise of God.

 

The adventure of the Israelites to the promised land shows us that even though we know where to go, it does not mean that the journey would be easy.

Forbidden Way

God led apostle Paul to a different direction from what he planned. Paul knew where to go and how to get there; but God forbade Paul to pursue his idea. From his experiences as the persecutor in the past and from the mission trip in that area, Paul was well acquainted with the area and he seemed to have his plan for his mission trip. Paul and his companions “tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to”. At that night, “Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”

 

God shut down the idea Paul had, but opened another door to a new opportunity. Paul did not try to open the door that God closed. Rather, Paul walked into the opened door, believing that God had called them to preach the gospel to the people in Macedonia. While Paul had his own plans for the mission trip, he was also aware of the guidance of the Spirit. He knew that his plan and decision can be changeable by God. Ultimately, this redirection marked a turning point for the gospel to spread to Europe.

 

The redirection by the Spirit- or the forbidden way- tells us that the Spirit could lead us to a different way from the way we planned; we believe it would be better; or we never imagined. 

 

Where to go?

From these three stories what do we learn regarding the question we have: where to go?

 

1. Actually “where do I go?” was not the question they had. What they wanted to know was not “where to go,” but “what God wants us to do.” The place does not matter for Abraham, the Israelites, and Paul. They want to know what God wants. As we are discussing about the relocation, I want us to keep this in us; what God wants us to do?
2. Abraham and the Israelites started their adventures by faith. Whether they knew where to go or not, it couldn’t help them complete the journey. Only faith in God led them to their destinations. Abraham believed that God would bless his offsprings; the Israelites had to had the faith that God would give them the promised land. Throughout their adventures what God intended was to teach them who God is and to make them stand firm in the faith. We can also expect, through this processing, that we and our children will learn who God is and will stand firm together in faith.
3. It is prayer that makes these work together. Let us keep praying to hear God. Praying is not just saying God what we need; rather it is listening what God says to us. Let us not say to God, but hear from God. Although Paul had his plan, once he saw the vision, he redirected by the guidance of the Spirit. Let the Spirit lead us, not our plan or  knowledge. 

Thanks be to God. 

 

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Ecclesia(2): Where to go? 

教會(2):前往那裡?

 

最近，我碰巧在《金融快報》上讀了一個人的故事。他在2020年畢業班上分享了他的信 息。在一次虛擬活動中，他說他父親花了一年的薪水在讓他來美國的機票上，以便他可以 在斯坦福大學讀書(1993年畢業)。他說那是他第一次坐飛機。他是Sundar Pichai，在 22年後的2015年成為Google的首席執行官。

 

我很確定我們當中許多人都有類似 Pichai 的故事。在 30 年前或更早的時候，當您和您的 家人決定 來美國時，您不知道自己的生活會是什麼樣。您可能沒有想到您可以在美國住 這麼久。他們沒想 到他們會工作了三十年。儘管他們帶著美國夢離開了祖國，但他們不 知道自己的生活會如此順遂 蓬勃發展。 但是，繁榮並不是他們一切的經歷。生活給他們 投了曲線球。他們失去了親人。有些 人甚至聽到父母很快就會死去，卻無法返回自己的 國家。選擇在那裡紮根不僅給我們帶來酬報， 但也使我們付出代價。

 

我們在辨明教會的願景和使命以便決定下一個目的地時，我相信每個人都有這個問題:我 們要去 裡?為了完成神的使命，我們要去那裡?會讓神和我們都高興的決定在那裡呢? 我們怎麼知道 要前往那裡?

 

在開始講教會的五個角色之前，今天我想提醒我們三個與重新定方向 和及遷徙有關 的聖經故事。 通過這些故事，我希望我們注意到他們冒險的目的。

 

Ghetto 難民區 

上帝告訴亞伯拉罕要離開家鄉到上帝要向他展示的土地上。但是上帝沒有告訴他該去那裡 或如何到達那裡。完全沒有指示方向。上帝只是指示亞伯拉罕在75歲時離開他的祖國和 父親的家(創世記12:4)。

在古代以色列和埃及的背景下，離開父親的家就意味著放棄生活的基礎並冒險，因 為他必須冒著不確定性和外界攻擊的風險, 在一個新國家的新城市中, 一切重新開始。此外，除了時間和文化背景之外，關於他的年齡，亞伯拉罕一定很難離開 並搬到一個未知的地方。學者們 估計從哈蘭到迦南的距離是7578英里。 75歲的亞伯拉罕(Abraham)離開家人，走了大約7600 英里，以追求上帝的應許。 他開始冒險，不知道他的目的地，但相信上帝的應許

 

1 耶和華對亞伯拉罕說:「你要離開本地、本族、父家，往我所要指示你的地。2 我必叫 你成為大國。我必賜福給你，叫你的名為大;你也要叫別人得福。3 為你祝福的，我必賜 福與他;那咒詛你的，我必咒詛他。地上的萬族都要因你得 福。」(創世記 12:1-3) 希伯來書的作者說:“亞伯拉罕因著信，蒙召的時候就遵命出去，往將來要得為業的地方 去;出去的時候，還不知往那裡去。”(希伯來書 11:8)。

 

但是服從上帝並不能保證我們有任何事情。儘管有上帝的應許，亞伯拉罕所定的地方仍不 足以居住。他必須住在帳篷裡(希伯來書 11:9)。土地上有飢荒。他必須撒謊以挽救妻 子莎拉的性命。然後他與那片土地上的人作戰。亞伯拉罕在新地方的重新安置向我們表 明，追求上帝的應許並不能保證一切都變得繁榮。根據我們的經驗，我們對此非常了解。 我們夢想著生活在美國會幸福和充滿希望，但我們知道，這並不能給我們帶來幸福本身。

 

The 40 years-long way to the promised land 通往應許之地的 40 年之路 

以色列人定居埃及已有 430 年(出埃及記 12:41)，上帝命令摩西將祂他的子民從埃及遷 移到應許之地。上帝告訴摩西，祂已經看到他的子民在埃及的痛苦，並聽到他們為他們的 工頭而哭泣。祂說， 祂知道他們的苦難，來將他們從埃及人手中解救出來，並將他們從 那片土地帶到一個廣闊而美好的土地上。

 

與亞伯拉罕不同，以色列人知道該去哪裡。上帝應許要帶領他們進入迦南人的土地- 那裡充滿牛奶和蜂蜜(出埃及記3:17)。他們必須面對的困難是通往目的地的道路。即使 他們知道要去哪裡，也並不意味著旅途會很輕鬆。我們知道，通常應該持續幾個星期的行 程他們花了40年才進入應許之地(申命記29:5)。眾所周知，幾乎所有的延誤都是由於 他們自己的不服從。

 

在報導迦南的探索之後，以色列人向摩西發怨言，並說最好回到埃及。當他們面對麻煩 時，他們指責摩西抱怨說，埃及的奴役生活比曠野的苦難更好。當上帝為 祂的子民預見 未來時，以色列人一直在關注面前的問題，而不關注上帝的應許。他們讓問題不堪負重。 他們認為問題比上帝更重要。上帝說，他們十次考驗了耶和華(民數記 14:22)。畢竟， 他們的不忠和悖逆使他們在曠野花了 40 年的時間。堅持最好回到埃及的第一代以色列 人，除了相信上帝的應許的迦勒和約書亞之外，都沒有進入應許之地。以色列人到應許之 地的冒險表明: 即使我們知道要去那裡，並不意味著旅途會很容易。

 

Forbidden Way 禁忌之方式

上帝關閉了保羅的主意，但為新的機會打開了另一扇門。保羅沒有試圖打開上帝關閉的 門。相反，保羅走進那扇敞開的門，相信上帝呼召他們向馬其頓的人民傳福音。保羅有自 己的傳教計劃時，他也知道聖靈的指引。他知道自己的計劃和決定可以被上帝改變。終 於，這重新導向成為讓福音傳播到歐洲的一個轉折點。

聖靈的重新導向-或禁止的方式-告訴我們，聖靈可以引導我們採用不同於我們計劃的方式; 我們相信會更好;或是我們從未想過的方式。

 

Where to go? 前往那裡?

從這三個故事中，我們從 "去哪兒?" 問題中學到了什麼 ?

 

1. 實際上是“我要去哪裡?” 不是他們的問題。他們想知道的不是“去哪裡”，而是“上帝要 我們做什麼”。對於亞伯拉罕，以色列人和保羅來說，這個地方並不重要。他們想知道上 帝想要什麼。在討論搬遷時，我希望我們將"上帝要我們做什麼?" 保留在我們的心中:.。

 

2. 以色列人必須相信上帝會把應許的土地賜給他們。在他們的整個冒險歷程中，

上帝的意圖是教導他們上帝是誰，並使他們堅定信仰。我們也可以期望通過這一過程，我 們和我們的孩子們將學習上帝是誰，並在信仰上堅定站在一起.。

 

3. 正是祈禱使這些努力有效。讓我們繼續祈禱聽聽上帝的聲音。祈禱不僅僅是在說上帝 我們需要什麼;而是在聽上帝對我們說的話。我們不要對上帝說，而要聽上帝的話。儘管 保羅有計劃，但一旦他看到了異象，他就在聖靈的引導下改道了。讓聖靈帶領我們，而不 是讓我們的計劃或知識帶領。

 

感謝上帝。