Mandarin Sermon Translations

  •  All Saints Sunday, November 3, 2024 Benediction Lutheran (John 11:32-44)

    众圣徒主日，2024年11月3日，祝福路德会教堂（约翰福音 11:32-44）

     

    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.


    亲爱的上帝的宝贝儿女们，愿恩典与平安从创造者上帝、圣子上帝和圣灵上帝——三位一体的神——赐予你们。阿门。

     

                  Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday. On this day we seek to actively remember those who have gone before us – those who have died caught by faith. We give God thanks for their lives and faith. But, if you are like me, you also remember, you also experience the sting of their death.


    今天我们庆祝诸圣日。在这一天，我们积极地纪念那些在信仰中离去的人——那些已逝去的亲人。我们感谢上帝赐予他们的生命和信仰。但是，如果你和我一样，你也会记得、也会感受到死亡的刺痛。

     

                  Do you know what I mean, when I say the power, the sting of death? (bp)


    当我说死亡的力量、死亡的刺痛时，你知道我的意思吗？（短暂停顿）

     

                  In my very first parish, when I was just 27 years old, I received a call from a parishioner. Marvin was a very young man I played baseball with. I could hear his voice cracking, even on the phone.  In that very moment he was at the hospital with his wife, Marla,  who had gone through hours of labour to birth their first child. But now sobbing uncontrollably he literally pushed these words out: “The doctor says our baby girl is soon going to die. What should we, what can we do Tim?”


    在我第一个牧会的教区，当时我才27岁，我接到了一个会众的电话。马文是一个年轻人，我和他一起打过棒球。我在电话中就能听到他的声音在颤抖。在那个时候，他正和他的妻子玛拉在医院里，玛拉经历了几个小时的分娩，生下了他们的第一个孩子。但他几乎控制不住地抽泣着，勉强把这些话挤了出来：“医生说我们的女儿快要死了。蒂姆，我们应该做什么？我们能做什么？”

     

                  Those words stuck in my mouth, in my gut. They lodge themselves in my heart, even now: “What can we do?” Yes, what can we do in the face, as the jaws of death clamp down upon our lives, robbing us of the ones we so deeply love, the ones we so deeply want to and need to love?


    这些话卡在我的喉咙里，在我的胃里，甚至现在还紧紧扎在我的心中：“我们能做什么？”是的，当死亡的爪牙紧抓住我们的生活，夺走我们深深爱着、深深想要爱着和需要去爱的人时，我们能做什么？

     

                  Marvin and Marla’s reality became even more real for me when a few days later I stood with them, the very first couple I had married, and we buried their beautiful baby girl in a wee tiny casket.


    几天后，我站在他们身边，这是我第一次为他们主持婚礼的夫妇，我们埋葬了他们美丽的小女儿在一个小小的棺材中。

     

    Do you know the power of death?  (pause)


    你知道死亡的力量吗？（短暂停顿）

     

                  A few years later, now as a seemingly much more “experienced” Pastor, I had been complaining to my wife about my confirmation class. Yes, sometimes Pastors complain. Some of the kids don’t really pay attention. Sometimes they don’t even show up. I was convinced that some of them didn’t even give a hoot. (bp)


    几年后，作为一个似乎更“有经验”的牧师，我在向我的妻子抱怨我的坚信班。是的，有时候牧师也会抱怨。有些孩子并不真正专心，有时他们甚至不出现。我确信他们中有些人根本不在意。（短暂停顿）

     

    But then my phone rang.  The mother on that phone line was literally sobbing. Her husband and two of her sons, one of them being Jody, one of my 14 year old confirmation students, had just been in a horrific car accident. They had been on their way to visit Jody’s grandmother in the hospital when their truck was struck by a drunk driver. Jody and his dad were dead at the scene. And now - the mother and her remaining living sons were shrieking, convulsing with pain. And I, their young Pastor, wondered to myself, from the depths of my being, “Where is God? Couldn’t have God?” (bp)


    但就在那时，我的电话响了。电话那头的母亲哭得几乎无法言语。她的丈夫和她的两个儿子，其中一个是我的14岁坚信班学生乔迪，刚刚发生了一场可怕的车祸。他们本来正前往医院探望乔迪的奶奶，他们的卡车被一名醉酒司机撞上。乔迪和他的父亲当场死亡。现在——这位母亲和她剩下的活着的儿子们因痛苦而尖叫、痉挛着。而我，作为他们年轻的牧师，从心底里疑惑：“上帝在哪里？难道上帝不能？”（短暂停顿）

     

                  Early the next week, as I was presiding at Jody and his father’s funeral – hundreds of people gathered longing for honesty and  for a word, a word of comfort, hope and consolation in the midst of their untold pain that ultimately lasts raising its head, again and again and again.


    第二周早些时候，当我主持乔迪和他父亲的葬礼时——成百上千的人聚集在一起，渴望着诚实和安慰、希望与慰藉的话语，来面对他们难以言表的痛苦，这种痛苦不断地袭来，一次又一次。

     

                  Do you know this power of death?


    你了解这种死亡的力量吗？

     

                  Much more recently, my wife and I had returned from a wonderful trip to Kauai. We had spent two glorious weeks with our friends of 25 years Tim and Karen. We had hiked, eaten and drank, revelled in Hawaiian sunsets and body surfed. Our time together was filled with wonder. It had been just what we both needed. My wife then was a palliative care nurse and I had served as a Pastor for 33 years. We were both ... exhausted. That trip was like a 2 week Sabbath. We returned home restored, rejuvenated, experiencing new life.


    最近，我和妻子刚从夏威夷的考艾岛度过了一个美好的旅行回来。我们和有25年交情的朋友蒂姆和凯伦一起度过了两个美妙的星期。我们一起徒步旅行、享用美食、享受夏威夷的日落和冲浪。我们的时间充满了奇迹。那正是我们所需要的。我妻子当时是一名安宁疗护护士，而我已经牧会33年。我们都……筋疲力尽了。那次旅行就像是一个两周的安息日。我们回到家时，得到了恢复、焕然一新，感觉重新拥有了新的生命。

     

    But then only a few months later, in the wee hours of the morning, our phone rang. Our close friend Karen was calling. Her voice was barely audible. ‘Her Tim’ had gone out just before bed to let their dogs out.  But – he didn’t return. So, after some time Karen went to investigate. Outside she discovered her beloved Tim lying motionless in their driveway. He had suffered a massive heart attack and had died.  (bp)


    但就在几个月后，在清晨的时刻，我们的电话响了。我们亲密的朋友凯伦打电话来，她的声音几乎听不清。她的“蒂姆”在睡前出去遛狗，但……他没有回来。所以过了一会儿，凯伦出去寻找，在外面发现她深爱的蒂姆无力地躺在他们的车道上。他因突发心脏病去世了。（短暂停顿）

     

                  Do you know this power of death? (pause) How it strikes right through our hearts sucking the very essence of life not only from us but from any and all who know and love? The powers of death raise their head, not just in those moments but over and over and over again. They literally haunt us! (pause)


    你了解这种死亡的力量吗？（短暂停顿）它是如何直击我们的心，将生命的精髓从我们以及所有认识和爱我们的人身上抽走？死亡的力量不仅在那些时刻抬头，而且一而再、再而三地袭来。它们几乎在纠缠我们！（短暂停顿）

     

                  Nor is this power of death limited only to people. It also runs amok in institutions and systems. I have seen it, experienced it in the Church I love. When we think or feel we can’t or refuse to change even as the Spirit’s breath is blowing, then people are excluded. Sometimes then the very good news of God’s love for all, fleshed out in Christ Jesus, can be clouded or even denied. In those moments, those times we forget and may even be resisting the very power of God to bring about life, new life, no matter what. (bp)


    死亡的力量不仅限于人，也在机构和系统中肆虐。我曾在我所爱的教会中看到、体验到这种力量。当我们认为自己无法改变，或拒绝改变，即便圣灵的气息在吹拂时，便有人被排斥。有时，上帝对所有人、在基督耶稣中显现的爱意，会因此而被模糊甚至被否认。在那些时刻，我们忘记甚至抗拒上帝带来生命、新生命的力量，无论如何都可以实现。（短暂停顿）


     

     

                  Our culture in these days of the 21st century often try to delude us into thinking that death isn’t real, that is has little power. So often now in our every day conversations we strive to avoid the very words, die, death or dead. Instead of having funerals, we prefer to say that we are having celebrations of life.


    在21世纪的今天，我们的文化常常试图让我们误以为死亡不是真实的，它几乎没有什么力量。我们在日常对话中经常避免使用“死”、“死亡”或“去世”这样的词语。我们不再举办葬礼，而更倾向于说这是一次“生命的庆祝”。

     

                  Don’t get me wrong. We should and must give thanks to God for the wonder of each and every person’s life – with candor, respect and love. But upon the occasion of a person’s death, if we don’t address the power of death that is manifest in a person’s dying and the pain that such death often delivers to so many people, are we being honest or helpful to those who are grieving? (Pause)


    不要误解我的意思。我们应该而且必须感谢上帝赐予每一个人的生命——以诚实、尊重和爱来纪念他们。但是，在一个人去世的时候，如果我们不面对死亡的力量，这种力量显现于一个人的逝去，以及这种死亡给许多人带来的痛苦，我们是否对那些哀悼的人诚实且有帮助呢？（短暂停顿）

     

                  Too often we try to deny the power of death by buying into prevailing myths that are so often less than helpful. Being young is almost idolized. Look at the industries that earn millions of dollars each year by feeding such denials of aging. bp


    太多时候，我们试图通过相信流行的神话来否认死亡的力量，而这些神话通常并没有太多帮助。年轻几乎被崇拜。看看那些每年通过迎合这种对抗衰老的观念而赚取数百万美元的行业。（短暂停顿）

     

                  So, what are we to do as the very real powers of death seek to have their way with us?


    那么，当死亡的力量试图在我们身上得逞时，我们该做些什么呢？

     

                  I trust that you have realized by now – denial of the power of death is not the way to go. Certainly denial is not the way to fully live our lives as God intends. 

     

    我相信你现在已经明白了——否认死亡的力量并不是我们应该走的道路。否认绝对不是我们按照上帝的旨意充分生活的方式。

     

                  To this living endeavour and struggle come the lessons for today, particularly the passage from John’s Gospel.  


    为了这个生命的努力和挣扎，今天的经文来到了我们面前，尤其是约翰福音中的这段经文。

     

    Lazarus has just died. Martha and Mary, his sisters, who love him so deeply, are literally beside themselves, engulfed by their grief. They had sent word to Jesus, their friend, who  deeply loves them. They had asked him to come prior to Lazarus’ death. They had hoped, oh, how they had hoped that Jesus would have prevented their brother’s death. But Jesus doesn’t come right away. And their brother, LAZARUS, the one whom they so cherished, dies. Lazarus is DEAD!


    拉撒路刚刚去世。他的姐妹们玛莎和玛利亚深深地爱着他，她们几乎陷入了极度的悲痛中。她们曾经派人去告知耶稣，她们的朋友，他深爱着她们。她们请求他在拉撒路去世前赶来。她们曾经多么希望耶稣能够阻止她们兄弟的死亡。但耶稣并没有马上前来，她们的兄弟拉撒路，这位她们如此珍惜的人，死了。拉撒路死了！

     

                  The few verses that we hear this morning are only part of the story. In its totality both Martha and Mary tell Jesus – “If only you had been here Lord our brother wouldn’t have died!”


    今天我们听到的几节经文只是整个故事的一部分。故事的全部是玛莎和玛利亚都对耶稣说过：“主啊，如果你在这里，我们的兄弟就不会死！”

     

    Can we identify with them? Have you ever felt or even complained to God or even yourself:  if only? If only I hadn’t done that. Or, if only the doctor had done a C section on Marvin and Marla’s baby – she might not have died. If only Jody and his dad had left one minute earlier or one minute later that fateful night? If only the man who struck them didn’t have an alcohol addiction. If only my good friend Tim, had seen a cardiologist that week? If only, if only, if only.... Dear God, if only! (pause)


    我们能体会她们的感受吗？你是否曾经对上帝，甚至对自己抱怨过：如果我当时在呢？如果我没有做那件事呢？或者，如果医生在马文和玛拉的孩子身上进行剖腹产，她可能就不会去世。如果乔迪和他父亲那天晚上早一两分钟或晚一两分钟出发呢？如果那个撞到他们的男人没有酗酒呢？如果我亲爱的朋友蒂姆那周去看了心脏病医生呢？如果，如果，如果……亲爱的上帝，如果！（短暂停顿）

     

                  Death is powerful. And death comes whenever and however, sooner or later, to each and everyone of us. This is part of our reality! (bp)


    死亡是强大的。无论如何，死亡会在早晚之间，以各种方式降临到我们每一个人身上。这是我们生活的现实的一部分！（短暂停顿）

     

                  Now Jesus is present with Martha and Mary. He is deeply moved, angry, upset, grief stricken. His friend Lazarus has died. He may have been inwardly ranting at the powers of death that are also keeping so many from seeing Him, for Who he is.


    现在耶稣在玛莎和玛利亚身边。他非常动情、愤怒、悲伤。他的朋友拉撒路去世了。他可能内心正在对死亡的力量愤怒，这力量使得许多人无法看清他是谁。

     

     He asks, “Where have you laid him?” They begin to lead him to Lazarus’ tomb. On the way Jesus begins to weep. Some are moved by his love for and pain over Lazarus’ death. Others wonder aloud, “Why didn’t he act to prevent Lazarus’ death? We aren’t alone in our questions, our pain.


    他问：“你们把他安放在哪里了？”他们开始带领他去拉撒路的坟墓。在路上，耶稣开始流泪。有些人为他对拉撒路的爱和痛苦而动容。另一些人则大声疑问：“为什么他没有采取行动阻止拉撒路的死亡？”我们在我们的疑问和痛苦中并不孤单。

     

                  Once at the tomb Jesus acts. His action not only does an incredible thing for Lazarus. His actions also begin to do wondrous things for us, for all creation!


    到了坟墓，耶稣行动了。他的行动不仅对拉撒路做了一件不可思议的事，也开始为我们，为整个创造做了奇妙的事！

     

     In a loud voice Jesus calls to Lazarus, “COME OUT!!” Despite Martha protesting because she knows the power of death and its literal stench, Jesus will not be deterred. Amazingly, the dead man Lazarus rises. He comes out, still bound by the grave cloths on his feet, hands and face. Now Jesus tells the community, “Unbind him!” (Pause)


    耶稣用大声喊叫对拉撒路说：“出来！”尽管玛莎抗议，因为她知道死亡的力量和它散发出的恶臭，耶稣不为所动。令人惊讶的是，死去的拉撒路站了起来。他走了出来，仍然被裹尸布缠住了双脚、双手和脸。现在耶稣对社区说：“解开他！”（短暂停顿）

     

                  But this isn’t the end of Jesus’ action. Reading just a bit further, the religious leaders become so angry at Jesus, that they begin to plot for his death. Soon after the chief priest says, “Better that one man die for the people, than have the whole nation destroyed.”Talk about the power of death. Bp


    但这不是耶稣行动的终结。稍稍往后读一点，那些宗教领袖们对耶稣如此愤怒，以至于开始密谋杀害他。不久之后，大祭司说：“宁可让一个人为百姓死，总比让整个民族毁灭好。”这就是死亡的力量。（短暂停顿）

     

                  Now it’s imperative, mandatory, that we know the rest of the story! The stench of death cannot deter Jesus. He journeys to Jerusalem. He goes on to die, to personally allow Himself to experience the totality of the power of death, at our hands. Willingly He takes upon Himself hatred, vitriol, being lashed and spat upon. He is stripped. Then He is nailed to a cross. Suffocating He suffers a horrendous death. In the midst of the overarching power of such death He bears our brokenness and the brokenness of the entire world – hatred, violence, acts of exclusion and judgment. He takes all of that on himself. It’s ... incredible, beyond words, beyond our finite comprehension. . .


    现在，我们必须知道其余的故事！死亡的臭味不能阻挡耶稣。他继续前往耶路撒冷。他走上了死亡的道路，愿意亲身经历由我们带来的死亡的全部力量。他自愿承担憎恨、恶意、被鞭打和吐唾沫。他被剥光衣服，然后被钉在十字架上。他因窒息而遭受痛苦，经历了可怕的死亡。在死亡的至高力量中，他承载着我们的破碎，以及整个世界的破碎——憎恨、暴力、排斥和审判。他将所有这些都承担在自己身上。这……不可思议，超乎言辞，超乎我们有限的理解……

     

                  And then, thank the loving God for this THEN, on the third day He is raised. Newly alive, He comes back appearing to a number of his followers, even those male disciples who had abandoned him, and betrayed him. Speaking to them He says, “Peace be with you.” Peace. As the Father has sent me, so I send you to the world. Not to deny the power of death or seek to run from it. But to face it, knowing that I am with you. I am the resurrection and the life. Death does not have now, nor can it ever have the final lasting word among you. Go and tell. Go and show others.  Because I live you too can and will live.


    然后，感谢慈爱的上帝，这一“然后”，在第三天，他复活了。重新活着的他回到他的一些追随者面前，甚至那些曾经抛弃他、背叛他的男弟子。他对他们说：“愿你们平安。”平安。父怎样差遣我，我也照样差遣你们去到这个世界。不是去否认死亡的力量或试图逃避它，而是去面对它，知道我与你们同在。我是复活和生命。死亡在你们中间不会也不能拥有最终的结局。去告诉他人。去向他人展示。因为我活着，你们也将活着。

     

                  Dear people – on this All Saints Sunday we must know, we must acknowledge the power of death – within, around and among us. . . Death and its powers – fear for our lives, fear that causes us to hide, to deny, to exclude, to avoid others whom we think are different from us, or maybe even like us. Death can have so much power in our lives! (bp)


    亲爱的人们——在这个诸圣日上，我们必须知道、必须承认死亡的力量——在我们之内、我们周围和我们之中……死亡和它的力量——对生命的恐惧，让我们隐藏自己、否认、排斥、避免我们认为与我们不同的人，甚至那些与我们相似的人。死亡在我们的生活中可以拥有如此巨大的力量！（短暂停顿）

     

                  But we must also know and share the vulnerable wondrous power of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can speak our Creeds with great hope. They have been passed on from the saints and sinners before us, who in facing the powers of death also experienced the resurrection love and power of Christ Jesus. Yes, He has suffered and died. He has also been raised again so that death and the powers of evil do not have control over us.


    但我们也必须知道并分享上帝在基督耶稣我们主里的柔弱而奇妙的爱的力量。我们可以带着伟大的希望来宣讲我们的信经。它们是从我们之前的圣徒和罪人那里传承下来的，他们在面对死亡的力量时也体验到了基督耶稣复活的爱与力量。是的，他受苦并死了。他也复活了，因此死亡和邪恶的力量不再能控制我们。

     

    God help us so to live, love and hope – no matter what for Christ’s sake and the sake of the world. Amen.


    愿上帝帮助我们为了基督的缘故，为了世界的缘故，这样生活、爱与希望——无论怎样。阿门。

     






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