Mandarin Sermon Translations

  • Mark 4:26-34 (Pentecost 4b 24)

    马可福音4:26-34（五旬节4b 24）


    O precious ones of God – grace to you and peace, from God the Creator, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three in One. Amen.


    亲爱的上帝之子女们 – 愿上帝创造者、上帝儿子和上帝圣灵的恩典与平安归于你们，三位为一体。阿们。

     

    • Do you ever make plans?
    • 你们有没有制定计划？

    • Do you ever have expectations for yourself, for others, for God? (Pause)
    • 你们有没有为自己、他人、上帝有期待？（停顿） 

    I remember years ago, being young. Yes, it must have been years ago. I remember making decisions then. I decided that if I ever was to get married I wouldn’t marry a woman who was a nurse, or an American or of Norwegian heritage. Now ... I’m not a person who usually is illogical. I did have reasons for my choices.


    我记得多年前，我年轻的时候。是的，那一定是多年前的事了。我记得那时候做决定。我决定如果我要结婚，我不会娶一个护士、一个美国人或挪威血统的女人。现在……我通常不是一个不合逻辑的人。我对自己的选择有理由。

     

    I am an only child. My beloved Mother was a nurse and by the accounts from others who experienced her nursing skills that I was able to talk to – my mom was very fine one. However because she was a nurse my mom would often work shifts. She would be gone many nights. Occasionally she would work over time. Sometimes she wasn’t able to be home on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I didn’t like that! So i decided when I was quite young, that I wouldn’t marry a nurse.


    我是独生子女。我敬爱的母亲是一名护士，据我与那些曾经体验过她护理技能的人交谈，我的妈妈是一个非常出色的护士。然而，由于她是护士，我妈妈经常要上夜班。她经常晚上不在家。偶尔她要加班。有时她不能在圣诞前夕或圣诞节当天回家。我不喜欢那样！所以，我很小的时候就决定，我不会娶一个护士。

     

    Later, when I was in university the Vietnam war was raging. I watched the news. I read voraciously . I thought I knew a lot. So, I protested the War. My stance as a teenager was against the government of the United States that was maintaining a war in a far off land that was costing untold loss of life both local civilians and soldiers on all sides. I was convinced that said war was also doing untold damages to the earth and her inhabitants. I also observed, albeit from a distance that the very fabric of the people of the US was being torn apart. And so, being young and brash I decided that I wouldn’t marry an “American”.


    后来，当我在大学里时，越南战争正在肆虐。我看新闻。我热情阅读。我以为我知道很多。所以，我抗议了这场战争。我作为一个十几岁的人反对美国政府在遥远的土地上维持一场战争，这场战争造成了当地平民和各方士兵无数的生命损失。我深信，该战争也对地球及其居民造成了不可估量的伤害。我也远远看到，美国人民的社会结构正在被撕裂。所以，年轻而自负的我决定，我不会娶一个“美国人”。

     

    And finally I grew up in a Norwegian Lutheran Church. Please don’t misunderstand me. The people of that church were by and large were “fine” – actually more than “fine”. Many of them had a strong if somewhat “private” faith. How they could sing! How they could pray aloud! But showing outward affection, letting others “into” what was actually going on in their lives – well, that was not one of their strong suits.


    最后，我在挪威路德教会长大。请不要误会我。那个教会的人大多数都是“不错”的 – 实际上不仅仅是“不错”。他们中的许多人都有坚定的，尽管有些是“私人”的信仰。他们唱得多好啊！他们能大声祈祷！但是表达外在的感情，让其他人“进入”他们生活中实际发生的事情 – 嗯，那不是他们的长处之一。

     

    Now, I like to be let in. I like to be told that I am loved, hugged. I like to be able to tell others that I love them. So again, when I was quite young I decided that it would be best for me not to marry a woman who was of Norwegian heritage.


    现在，我喜欢被接纳。我喜欢被告知我是被爱的，被拥抱。我喜欢能告诉别人我爱他们。所以，再一次，当我很小的时候，我决定，对我来说最好不要娶一个挪威血统的女人。

     

    The years went by. I was now 27, in my first parish. One of my closest friends, Dave, was to be ordained in Winnipeg. Dave was an American citizen, a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. He invited me to attend his ordination. Once there I met his amazing sister, Martha. And yes she too was an American and proud of it. And yes she happened to be of Norwegian heritage. And yes, she was also a very fine nurse.  Guess what. We fell in love. Within 16 months we were married. We have been blessed with each other for over 40 years – at least I have. I trust she feels the same way, at least most of the time.   


    岁月流逝。我现在27岁，在我的第一个教区。我的一个最亲密的朋友之一，戴夫，将在温尼伯被任命为牧师。戴夫是美国公民，越战时期的反战者。他邀请我参加他的神职任命。一到那里，我遇到了他了不起的姐姐玛莎。是的，她也是美国人，并为此自豪。是的，她也是挪威血统。是的，她也是一名非常出色的护士。猜猜发生了什么。我们相爱了。16个月后我们结婚了。我们已经相伴40多年了 – 至少我是这么认为的。我相信她也有同样的感受，至少大部分时间是这样。

     

    Suffice it to say – things didn’t go according to my plans in terms of who I thought I would marry. But I am convinced that somehow God was at work in all of this – even though I often couldn’t see how at first.  (brief pause)


    可以这么说 – 事情并没有按照我对自己将要娶的人的计划进行。但我深信，无论如何，上帝在所有这一切中都在工作 – 即使起初我经常看不到是如何。 （短暂停顿）

     

    Can you identify at all with my story: not necessarily with someone whom you fell in love with – but perhaps regarding the plans you may have had for your life, your career, or even where you thought you would live, or some of the people who became your friends, some of the challenges you have wrestled with in your life?  And where is God, how is God at work  in any or all of this??? (Pause)


    你能否在某种程度上理解我的故事：不一定是关于你爱上的某个人 – 但也许是关于你对生活、职业的计划，甚至你曾认为你会居住的地方，成为你朋友的一些人，你生活中曾经奋斗过的一些挑战？那么上帝在哪里，上帝如何在其中的任何一个或全部方面工作？（停顿）

     

    In Mark’s Gospel, indeed in Matthew and Luke’s too, Jesus often speaks communicating with any and all who will listen or hear by employing parables. Now parables  are .... I’m not sure what to say about them: they are stories that sometimes seem simple but aren’t. Parables at first glance may look quite simple, even plain. But upon closer examination, we may realize that they are anything but simple – or even moral lessons, like a fable. Looking closer the parables work on us – causing us to re-examine how we understand ourselves, others, even God.


    在马可福音中，确实在马太和路加的福音中，耶稣经常通过比喻与任何愿意听或听的人沟通。现在比喻是...我不确定该说些什么：它们有时看起来很简单，但实际上并不是。比喻乍看起来可能非常简单，甚至朴素。但仔细观察，我们可能会意识到它们远非简单 – 甚至不是道德教训，如寓言。仔细观察，这些比喻在我们身上起作用 – 导致我们重新审视如何理解自己，他人，甚至上帝。

     

    So, for example, today’s first parable. At first glance it looks simple. A person sows seed. It grows. It’s harvested. What’s unusual or compelling about any of this.


    因此，例如，今天的第一个比喻。乍一看，它看起来很简单。一个人撒种子。它长大。它被收割。这一切中有什么不寻常或引人注目的地方。

     

    But upon closer examination the Greek grammar leaves it unclear whether this man even knows if he has scattered “seeds” (the actual word is spores) After those spores have inadvertently been scattered the man goes about his normal business. A lot of sleeping is involved. But lo and behold those spores germinate. Something grows up: something good! Eventually it is time for the harvest. Then, this man who initially, maybe even accidentally spread these spores harvests the crop. . .


    但仔细观察，希腊语法使人不清楚这个人甚至是否知道他撒播了“种子”（实际的词是孢子）。在这些孢子无意中撒播之后，这个人继续他的正常工作。涉及大量睡眠。但是天哪，那些孢子发芽了。有什么东西长了起来：一些好东西！最终到了收获的时候。然后，这个起初可能甚至是意外传播这些孢子的人收获了庄稼...

     

    Does this sound like any gardener you know? Do you know many gardeners who aren’t even sure if they have planted anything? Do you know any gardeners who after they have planted their seeds, just ignore everything until the harvest?


    这听起来像你认识的任何园丁吗？你认识很多不确定自己是否种植了任何东西的园丁吗？你认识任何园丁，在他们种植了种子之后，就忽略一切直到收获？

     

    The gardeners I know are people who get right down in the dirt among their seeds and plants. They carefully and faithfully weed and water. And then they delight as the plants grow, sprout, flower and or yield a harvest.


    我认识的园丁是那些深入到他们的种子和植物中的人。他们小心而忠实地除草和浇水。然后他们高兴地看着植物生长，发芽，开花或结果。

     

    Last Sunday I sat with a few ladies after Church, some of whom just happened to be gardeners. And what I heard them talking about involved some hovering, watering, weeding and delighting – not a lot of sleeping and ignoring of their plants and flowers. (brief pause)


    上周日我在教堂后和几位女士坐在一起，她们中有几位碰巧是园丁。我听到她们谈论的事情涉及到一些守望、浇水、除草和喜悦 – 并没有多少睡眠和忽视她们的植物和花朵。（短暂停顿）

     

    So, what on “earth” is Jesus talking about then in this first parable? The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed (spores) on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how...


    那么，耶稣在第一个比喻中到底在说些什么呢？神的国如同有人把孢子撒在地上，黑夜睡觉，白天起来，种子发芽渐长，他却不知道如何……

     

    Might it be that God’s work, God’s power, God’s vulnerable captivating love is happening sometimes, even often when we aren’t aware of it, in ways that we could have never planned???


    也许上帝的工作、上帝的力量、上帝脆弱而迷人的爱，有时甚至经常发生在我们毫不知情的时候，以我们无法预料的方式？

     

    Is that exciting? Is that frightening? What does this mean for us here and now? (brief pause) 


    这是令人兴奋的吗？是令人害怕的吗？这对我们现在意味着什么？（稍作停顿）

     

    So let me ask you a question: where or how do you see the presence of God, the influence, the power of God working in your life, around you, in the lives of other people and the world?


    那么，我问你一个问题：你在哪里或如何看到上帝的存在、上帝的影响和上帝的力量在你的生活中、你周围、其他人的生活中以及世界上的作用？

     

    This is a great question to be wrestled with almost anywhere – at coffee after church, over the kitchen table, in a pub, who knows -  maybe even at work – if you know someone else, some others there who are interested in exploring the profundity of life?


    这是一个几乎可以在任何地方讨论的重要问题 - 在教堂后喝咖啡时，厨房桌上，酒吧里，甚至工作中，如果你认识其他一些对探索生命深度感兴趣的人。

     

    This very question thrusts us headlong, perhaps even kicking and screaming into the second of Jesus’ parables this morning. Jesus asks his listeners then and I us now, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; Yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”


    这个问题把我们直接推向耶稣今天早晨的第二个比喻，甚至可能是踌躇满志地。耶稣当时问他的听众，现在也问我们：“我们用什么可以比拟上帝的国？我们用什么比喻来形容呢？它好像是一粒芥菜种，一粒人把它种在地里的时候，它比地上的一切种子都小，但一旦撒下去，就长起来，比各样的菜都大，并且长出大枝来，甚至天上的飞鸟可以来在它的荫下栖息。”

     

    Again at first glance, this parable looks nice/simple. A small seed is sown. It grows and grows and grows until it is large. Then some birds come to nest in its shade. Shade is important in the Middle East. Ah, so relaxing!


    乍看之下，这个比喻似乎很简单而美好。一粒小小的种子被撒下，它长大成为一棵大树，鸟儿在它的荫下找到了栖息的地方。在中东，荫子是重要的 - 多么令人放松啊！

     

    But wait a moment. Let’s add just a little bit of reality into our surface glance at the parable. Then entirely new possibilities open up! To be sure a mustard seed is small. But we must know that mustard is a weed! No gardener would knowingly plant a weed that would take over their entire garden. I mean when mustard grows and grows and grows it chokes out everything else. Nor is mustard the prettiest “thing” to look at.


    但稍等片刻。让我们在表面看起来的这个比喻中加入一点现实，全新的可能性会展现出来！没错，芥菜种是小的。但我们必须知道，芥菜是一种杂草！没有园丁会故意种一种会在整个花园里蔓延的杂草。我是说，当芥菜长成并且不断生长的时候，它会扼杀其他一切。而且芥菜也不是最漂亮的“事物”来看待。

     

    And as for the birds – well this parable follows almost directly on the heels of the parable of The Sower in Mark’s gospel. There birds were the creatures that came and ate the seed that was on the path. That seed never reached its ultimate goal ...  or did it? Was the goal of the seed to feed humans and or birds? (brief pause)


    至于鸟儿 - 嗯，这个比喻几乎直接跟在马可福音的撒种者的比喻后面。在那里，鸟儿是那些飞来吃掉路旁的种子的生物。那些种子永远也没能达到它们的最终目标...或者说它们达到了吗？这些种子的目标是喂养人类或者鸟类吗？（稍作停顿）

     

    Might it be that God’s presence in Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit is sometimes like a weed – that God moves to numerous places and in ways we may not want God to move, influencing us beyond any plans that we may have expected or can possibly even at first understand? Could it be that God’s love and influence upon us is sometimes, maybe even often, invasive in ways that we may not want? I wonder. After all, we aren’t God. Remember, know: God in Jesus Christ becomes human, suffers and dies. Is that something we would have done, had we been God? (Pause)


    也许上帝在耶稣基督和圣灵中的存在有时就像一种杂草 - 上帝移动到无数地方，以我们可能不希望的方式影响我们，超越我们曾预期或起初能理解的计划。难道上帝的爱和对我们的影响有时，甚至经常，以我们不希望的方式，具有侵略性吗？我在想。毕竟，我们不是上帝。记住，知道：上帝在耶稣基督里成为人类，遭受苦难和死亡。如果我们是上帝，我们会做同样的事吗？（停顿）

     

    So, let me ask again. How does God work in our lives, in your life, in my life? How does God work in the life of the world? How is God working? (Pause)


    因此，让我再问一遍。上帝如何在我们的生活中、在你的生活中、在我的生活中工作？上帝如何在世界的生活中工作？上帝正在做什么？（停顿）

     

    Let me close with a kind of parable:


    让我以一个寓言来结束：

     

    There once was a Pastor and a congregation. They were kind of a normal congregation and a normal pastor, if there are such things. One day one of the older women in the congregation died. Now this woman was generous, kind. She had been a nurse. She was a musician, a pianist to be exact. Although she deeply loved children, she didn’t have any children of her own. When this woman died she left a significant amount of money to her congregation, with no strings attached.


    曾经有一个牧师和一个教会。他们是一个普通的教会和一个普通的牧师，如果这样的东西存在的话。有一天，教会里的一位老妇人去世了。这位女士慷慨、善良。她曾经是一名护士，也是一位音乐家，确切地说是一位钢琴家。尽管她深爱孩子们，但她自己却没有孩子。当这位女士去世时，她毫无附加条件地向她的教会捐赠了一大笔钱。

     

    Wowsers! How could the congregation decide to do with all that money?


    哇塞！教会要怎么处理这笔钱呢？

     

    Suggestions from the entire congregation were solicited and submitted. Cost values were researched and assigned to each suggestion. The list was distributed two weeks before the congregational meeting when decisions regarding the gifted money would be made. ON the day of the meeting each member of the congregation was given 3 dots. They could place their dots wherever they chose in any way they chose.  After the voting was completed the following decisions were made:


    整个教会征求并提交了建议。每个建议都进行了成本评估和分配。在决定如何使用这笔捐赠的教会会议前两周，清单已经分发出去了。在会议的那天，每位教会成员都得到了三个点。他们可以按照自己选择的方式在任何地方放置这些点。投票结束后，做出了以下决定：

     

    A significant amount of money was given to an Argentinian congregation that needed money to erect a building. Out of their building their community would worship, have a Sunday school and run a medical clinic.


    一大笔钱捐赠给了一个阿根廷的教会，他们需要资金修建一座建筑。他们的社区将在这座建筑内敬拜、进行主日学和经营医疗诊所。

     

    Another chunk of money was dedicated to purchasing a grand piano for the congregation.


    另一部分资金用于购买一架大钢琴给教会使用。

     

    And the last chunk of money was to be allotted to paving the gravelled parking lot in front of the church building...


    最后一部分资金用于铺设教堂前的碎石停车场……

     

    Walking home that night across the gravelled parking lot the pastor was thanking God for the peoples’ wise decisions on the first 2 counts. He knew that lady’s life, hopes and dreams were honored in those choices. And he felt that even God may be pleased. But when it came to that parking lot being paved, he was not as happy. Certainly, he reasoned, the money could have been spent on less “selfish” endeavors. So, as he was walking home he was complaining to God.


    那天晚上，牧师穿过碎石停车场走回家，他感谢上帝人们在前两个决定上的明智选择。他知道那位女士的生活、希望和梦想在这些选择中得到了尊重。他觉得甚至上帝可能也感到高兴。但当谈到铺设停车场时，他并不如此开心。他理所当然地认为，这笔钱本可以用在更“无私”的事业上。所以，在回家的路上，他向上帝抱怨。

     

    Let me tell you when the people of that congregation were committed to something they got it done. Within 3 days – the parking lot was paved. It was summertime. Now when the Pastor walked across that lot from the parsonage the heat was almost like a furnace.


    让我告诉你，当那个教会的人们决心做某事时，他们总能做到。在三天内 - 停车场就铺好了。那是夏天。现在，当牧师从牧师住宅穿过停车场时，热浪几乎像一个熔炉。

     

    But – and this is a wonderful but – within one day, many of the kids in the neighborhood, started to play in that parking lot. They skipped rope, they rode their bicycles, they skateboarded and raced small wagons across it. And the light began to go on in that young Pastor’s head. Maybe God was at work in all of this, all along and he just hadn’t seen it! He smiled went out to play with the kids. He thought he could even see that older lady, the source of the bequest smiling at his lack of sight and faith.


    但是 - 这是一个奇妙的但是 - 在一天之内，许多邻里的孩子们开始在那个停车场玩耍。他们跳绳、骑自行车、滑板，还用小车竞速。在那年轻的牧师的脑海中，灵光乍现。也许上帝在其中始终在工作，只是他没有看到！他微笑着出去和孩子们一起玩。他觉得甚至可以看到那位老妇人，捐赠的源头，因他的视而不见和缺乏信仰而微笑。

     

    Finally, when that  Pastor left that congregation many years later, he noticed a few dandelions poking up through the pavement in the parking lot. ... It was amazing! (Pause)


    最后，当那位牧师多年后离开那个教会时，他注意到停车场的柏油路上冒出了一些蒲公英……真是令人惊讶！（停顿）

     

    The kingdom of God, the influence of God, the love of God and the direction of God in jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet when it is sown it grows up.... 


    上帝的国度、上帝的影响、上帝的爱和通过圣灵在耶稣基督中的引导，就像是一粒芥菜种，一旦撒在地上，虽然是地上最小的种子，但一旦生长，却长得最大……

     

    Dear people – where is God working in your life, in our lives, in the life of the world around us? And how are we responding?


    亲爱的人们 - 上帝在你的生活中，在我们的生活中，在我们周围的世界中工作在哪里？我们又如何回应？

     

    May God give us eyes to see, ears to hear, mouths to sing and hearts to joyfully respond – for the sake of God who loves this world so much. Amen.


    愿上帝赐予我们洞察力，使我们能够听到，口中歌唱，心中喜悦地回应 - 为了那位如此爱这个世界的上帝。阿门。

                  


     






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