Mandarin Sermon Translations

  • Advent 2c, 24 (December 8, 2024) TLC

    Text – Luke 3:1-6 with Luke 1:68-79 in the b.g.

    降临节第二主日 (2024年12月8日)
    经文：路加福音3:1-6，背景经文：路加福音1:68-79

     

    Grace and peace to you from the One who is, who was and who is to come! Amen

                 

    Have you ever been unable to pray? I mean have you ever been at a place in your life, where you just couldn’t talk to or listen for God in much or any manner, shape or form? This inability to pray may have arisen because of pain in your own life, or the lives of others – a profound sickness or loss of a loved one or a relationship that meant the world to you, or even the loss of a job or a position that you felt ‘defined’ you.

    你有没有过无法祷告的时候？我的意思是，你有没有经历过生命中的某个阶段，完全无法以任何方式、形式与上帝交谈或倾听祂的声音？这种无法祷告的状态可能源于你自己或他人的痛苦一场严重的疾病、一位至亲或深挚关系的失去，甚至是一份工作或一个你觉得“定义”了自己的身份的职位的丧失。

     

    Ah yes, have you ever been unable to pray?

    是的，你有没有过无法祷告的时候？

     

    I remember Helen. Helen was a woman in the very first parish I served. She volunteered to put together the bulletin each week on a manual typewriter and then run them off on a GESTETNER. Now you have to be at least 60 to know what either of those are. Helen was a good hearted woman. I deeply appreciated that she did these things for our church community because a) I am not very mechanical and b) whenever I attempted to use the Gestetner I wouild emerge from the Gestetner’s room covered in all kinds of black ink/guck. In addition her work saved me hours of time that I could invest in other realities such as Pastoral visitation, sermon research and preparation for whatever classes I was then teaching.

    我想起了海伦。海伦是我第一次牧职所在教区的一位女性。她每周都会自愿用手动打字机编排周报，然后用一台老式油印机（GESTETNER）印刷。你可能得年过六十才知道这些是什么。海伦是个善良的人。我非常感激她为我们的教会社区做的一切，因为：第一，我并不擅长机械操作；第二，每当我试图使用那台油印机时，总会弄得浑身都是黑色墨迹和污渍。此外，她的工作为我节省了大量时间，让我可以专注于牧访、布道研究和课程准备等其他事工。

     

    Because Helen was at the church building regularly we came to know each other. Her life wasn’t easy. Her father had been an alcoholic – with rage issues particularly when he was drinking. Her husband was an alcoholic, then in recovery. And her teen-aged son was an alcoholic. Helen’s life was no walk in the park.

    由于海伦经常在教会，我们渐渐熟悉起来。她的生活并不轻松。她的父亲是个酒鬼，酗酒时常常发怒。她的丈夫曾经酗酒，后来戒了酒。而她十几岁的儿子也染上了酒瘾。海伦的生活充满了艰难。

     

    But in and through all of that, Helen had grown in her faith. She had a deep desire and a regular discipline to pray. As we began to get to know each other Helen encouraged me in my prayer life. Her encouragement, example and willingness to pray with and for me, with and for others became an important gift in my life. You see I had grown up regularly praying. But while I was in seminary, wrestling with all kinds of realities in my life – and having my faith stretched, shuffled, deconstructed and reconstructed well – my prayer life was something that had floundered. I ‘reasoned’ that God knew everything – that God’s power was beyond my understanding and certainly also beyond my control – so therefore God didn’t need me to pray.

    然而，尽管如此，海伦的信仰却日益成长。她对祷告怀有深切的渴望，并有规律地实践祷告。在我们开始了解彼此之后，海伦常常鼓励我在祷告生活中更加投入。她的鼓励、榜样以及愿意与我和其他人一起祷告的心，成为我生命中的一份重要恩赐。你知道，我从小就养成了祷告的习惯。但在神学院时，我面对生活中各种现实的挣扎——我的信仰被拉伸、打乱、解构又重建——祷告生活却陷入了困顿。我“推理”认为，上帝无所不知，祂的能力超乎我的理解，更超越我的控制，因此祂不需要我祷告。

     

    Don’t get me wrong – I still prayed with and for others regularly. Pastors must do that. And I did. But my own prayer life in terms of “being with God” then was sporadic at best.

    别误会，我依然经常与他人一起祷告，为他们祷告。牧师必须这样做，我也的确做了。但在那时，我与上帝独处的祷告生活，顶多是断断续续的。

     

    Then Helen arrived into my life. One day she literally suggested that we pray together for others in our communities – our church and larger communities. In that process I learned to pray anew and again. It was like -  Helen brought a word from God to me. That word knocked down the barriers in my life that had been preventing me from opening up to God – from regularly listening for and to God – from seeing that God was working in ways I could never imagine.

    然后，海伦出现在我的生命中。有一天，她直接建议我们为教会和更广泛社区中的人一起祷告。在这个过程中，我重新学习了祷告，就像海伦带着上帝的声音来到我面前。这声音打破了我生命中的障碍，那些阻止我敞开心扉、倾听上帝并留意祂在我无法想象的方式中工作的障碍。

     

    Who would have thought that Helen could have done all that – this woman who was immersed in trying to survive day by day – a woman for whom some in the church community felt sorry for – this woman of faith whose word of God came to anew each day? Surprise, surprise! (Pause)

    谁能想到海伦能做到这些？这个在日复一日的艰难中挣扎求存的女人——教会中有人为她感到遗憾——却成为一个充满信仰的人，从上帝那里每日领受话语，并将它传递给我。真是出乎意料！（停顿）

     

    So let me ask: Where and how do you anticipate God showing up?

    那么，让我问你：你期待上帝在哪些地方以何种方式显现呢？

     

    Or do we? Do we expect God to show up at all? And if we do expect God to show up, do we think that God’s “showing up” has to be in Church or through the Pastor – or through some really “important” person like a Bishop or a nun, the Dalai Lama – or a King or a Queen or a Prime Minister or even someone famous like say, a Taylor Swift? (brief pause)

    或者说，我们真的期待上帝显现吗？如果我们期待上帝显现，我们是否认为上帝必须通过教会或牧师显现？或者通过一些“重要”人物，比如主教、修女、达赖喇嘛，甚至国王、王后、总理，或某位知名人士，比如泰勒斯威夫特？（短暂停顿）

     

    I suspect that many people, among them sometimes even us, forget or don’t expect God to show up here and now in this time and place. I mean our time and place sometimes feels so far removed from the Bible, even far removed from how we think of God.  

    我怀疑，许多人，包括我们，有时会忘记，或根本不期待上帝在此时此地显现。我是说，我们的时代和地点有时似乎与圣经中的上帝如此遥远。

     

    And our realities are so complex, right?  We live in a global economy – where what happens in the United States, South Korea or Russia – economically, politically, militarily, even weather wise affects us and the whole world. If North Korea attacks South Korea, or Israel launches weapons into Iran – or if the US imposes 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, or if there is a drought in the Ukraine and Russia – well all of that will affect us in ways we might not even be able to begin to imagine right now.

    我们的现实如此复杂，对吧？我们生活在一个全球化的经济中，美国、韩国或俄罗斯的经济、政治、军事甚至天气变化都会影响到我们和整个世界。如果朝鲜攻击韩国，或以色列向伊朗发射武器，或者美国对加拿大商品征收25%的关税，或者乌克兰和俄罗斯发生旱灾——这些事情都会以我们难以想象的方式影响到我们。

     

    I have even wondered if Premier Legault and his governing party in Quebec bans prayer in public places in Quebec , does that have anything to do with us? How do we feel about prayer in public places? Should we be concerned, act, pray?

    我甚至在想，如果魁北克省长勒戈及其执政党在魁北克禁止公共场所祷告，这与我们有什么关系呢？我们对公共场所的祷告有什么感受？我们应该担忧吗？应该采取行动吗？应该祷告吗？

     

    Does God care about any of this – the millions of refugees, the homeless on our streets, those of us who can’t pray or trust God, are wondering about trusting any one or anything? Yes, our times are complex – and we are often complicated ourselves. (Pause)

    上帝在意这些吗——数百万难民、街上的无家可归者、那些无法祷告或信任上帝的人，甚至那些对任何人或事物都怀疑的人？是的，我们的时代很复杂——而我们自己也常常显得复杂。（停顿）

     

    But – is it only our time, we human beings here and now who are complex, or difficult?

    但——仅仅是我们这个时代如此复杂吗？仅仅是我们这些当下的人类如此复杂或难以捉摸吗？

     

    Do we think that living in the time of John the Baptist or Jesus was easy? They lived in an occupied country where taxes were high – where they were at the whim of the Roman Emperor Tiberias and his appointees - men like Pontius Pilate, Herod and Philip. And, if we think this time in Canada is difficult – well, do you remember what so called feast we celebrate right after Christmas, that Sunday when only a few people come to church? NO, it’s not Boxing day. It’s titled the Massacre of the innocents. That’s a day when we remember that Herod, worried because he has heard of the birth of Jesus, worried because he thinks he may well lose his power, orders that all the children of Jerusalem and area under 2 years of age be killed. How horrible! All of this is part of those people’s reality – the realities they lived with. (bp)

    你认为生活在施洗约翰或耶稣的时代很容易吗？他们生活在一个被罗马帝国占领的国家，税赋繁重，完全受罗马皇帝提比略及其任命官员的摆布——如本丢彼拉多、希律和腓力。而且，如果你觉得如今加拿大的日子艰难——那么，你还记得圣诞节后我们庆祝的所谓节日吗？不是节礼日，而是“婴儿惨案纪念日”。那一天，我们纪念希律王因听闻耶稣的降生，担心失去权力，下令屠杀耶路撒冷及周边所有两岁以下的男婴。多么可怕！这些都是当时人们必须面对的现实。（停顿）

     

    It’s in that time and place that God sends a word to a seemingly strange man out in the ‘wilderness’ – a guy we know as John the Baptist. Now John likely isn’t the person we would have chosen to receive and speak a word from God to a whole variety of people in that  time and place. Thankfully we aren’t the ones making those decisions! God is.

    就是在这样的时间和地点，上帝将祂的话语传给一个看似奇怪的荒野中人——我们所知的施洗约翰。现在，约翰可能不是我们会选择的人选来接受并传递上帝的话语。然而幸运的是，决策的不是我们，而是上帝。

     

    Nor is the ‘wilderness’ the likely location that we would have chosen for a word of God to be sent to or to be received from by a whole host of people. After all, who would go out from the city or even the villages to a wilderness place to hear an eccentric man telling us that WE NEED TO REORIENT OUR LIVES, THAT WE NEED TO MAKE TIME TO HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO US, so that we can have our minds and the way we live our lives change. And all of this needs to happen right now!

    荒野也可能不是我们会选择的地方——让上帝的话语被许多人接受和传递。毕竟，谁会离开城市甚至村庄，跑到荒野中去听一个怪人告诉我们：**“我们需要重新调整生活！需要抽时间倾听上帝的声音！”**这样，我们才能改变自己的思想和生活方式。而且，这一切必须马上发生！

     

    And yet, that is exactly what God does in that time and place! The word of God comes to John, the son of Zechariah, IN THE WILDERNESS. (bp)

    然而，这正是上帝在那个时间和地点所做的！上帝的话语传递给撒迦利亚的儿子约翰，就在荒野中。（停顿）

     

    Maybe just maybe it helps us to be away from what is familiar, a place or situation like a ‘wilderness’ to be actually be open to hearing God speak to us about who we are, whose we are, what matters, what we need, and what we don’t need. And maybe, just maybe, the wilderness isn’t always a place, so much as situations or circumstances where our guards are let down, our minds and hearts are opened to hearing, to trusting, to being loved and then being enabled to love, to see our need for change and the possibilities for our change. (Pause)

    也许，正是远离熟悉之地，比如“荒野”这样的地方或情境，才能让我们真正敞开心扉，倾听上帝对我们身份、归属、重要事物以及需求的启示。也许，“荒野”并不总是地理意义上的地方，而是某些特殊的情境或境况，让我们放下防备，敞开心灵，倾听并相信，感受到爱，然后被赋予爱人的能力，看见自己需要改变的地方，以及改变的可能性。（停顿）

     

    We too experience mountains and valleys, not just literally in terms of rocks and trees, skies and low places. We also experience obstacles in our lives that may feel insurmountable. Such obstacles may be broken or hurting relationships, financial or emotional circumstances that have us caught or so limited that we can hardly breathe, smile, laugh or cry. Our obstacles may even be outside of us. We may be separated by distance, geographical or emotional, from those we so deeply love. Or, we may suffer under systems that seek to limit us from fully being seen, or that limit our freedom to express and experience who we are fully are as a child of God.  

    我们也会经历山巅和低谷，不仅是字面意义上的高山和低谷。我们生活中也会面对看似无法跨越的障碍，比如破裂或受伤的关系、经济或情感上的困境，这些困境让我们几乎无法呼吸、微笑、欢笑甚至哭泣。我们的障碍也可能在我们之外。地理或情感上的距离可能将我们与深深爱着的人隔开。我们也可能生活在限制我们展现自我的体制之下，甚至剥夺我们作为上帝儿女完全表达和体验自我的自由。

     

    I ponder such realities as I see and hear people each day: on the street or sidewalk, in an alley, at a church, in a bank, on one or more of my “screens”. Our lives are multifaceted, wonderful and difficult, joyous and hurting, struggling, sometimes even dancing, all at once. (Pause)

    每天，当我在街道、人行道、小巷、教堂、银行，或一个又一个“屏幕”上看到或听到这些复杂的现实时，我都会思考这些问题。我们的生活是多面的，既美好又困难，既喜悦又痛苦，既挣扎又偶尔翩翩起舞。（停顿）

     

    So: listen dear people. The word of God comes to John, the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And what a word of God that is!

    所以，亲爱的朋友们，请倾听。上帝的话语传递给撒迦利亚的儿子约翰，就在荒野中。这是一句怎样的话语啊！

     

    It is a word for the people then. And it is a word for us now. That word that John the Baptist receives is this, REPENT! That is - change the way you think and live by being opened to God, to God’s life and hope, to God’s love and forgiveness, where God lets go of the ways we have messed up, hurt ourselves and others, or even just plain missed out on what’s important.

    这是当时百姓的讯息，也是我们今天的讯息。约翰从上帝那里收到的话语是：“悔改！” 也就是说，改变你的思想和生活方式，向上帝敞开心扉，接受上帝的生命与希望，接受祂的爱与宽恕。上帝宽恕了我们所有的过犯，抚平了我们所有的伤害，甚至包容了我们错过的所有重要事物。

     

    It is John’s way of saying from God to us, “Look around, see, be still and hear!” God can and will allow us to see and hear. God can show us how to move forward, how to let go of what’s holding us back. And God through God’s Spirit is with you, with me right here, right now!

    这是约翰通过上帝对我们说的话：“环顾四周，停下来，静听吧！”上帝能够，也愿意让我们看到并听到祂。上帝能够指引我们前行，帮助我们放下阻碍自己的负担。上帝通过祂的圣灵，与你我此时此地同在！

     

    Not only that, but this word of God that comes to us, may well come to us through situations and people we would never expect.  (bp)

    不仅如此，上帝的话语可能通过我们意想不到的情境和人物来到我们面前。（停顿）

     

    Do you remember me telling you about Helen, how God’s word came to here in the midst of her formidable struggles and then through her to  me – and then through me and the Spirit maybe to you – right now, even now, especially now! (Pause)

    还记得我提到的海伦吗？上帝的话语降临到她的艰难挣扎之中，通过她传递给我——现在，也许通过我和圣灵正传递给你——就在此刻，尤其是此刻！（停顿）

     

    Dear, precious people – do you hear that: dear precious people? I do not and cannot know all that you are experiencing in your lives right now. I do not and cannot fully know your joys, your questions, your pain – your anxiety, whether you have deep despair or great hope, or some experienced mixture of all those. But, God, the Creator of the universe, the Father/Mother of Jesus, the one who sends a word to John the Baptist and my prayer mentor Helen, does know the very depths of who you are. God loves you!

    亲爱的宝贵的弟兄姐妹们——是的，宝贵的人们！我无法，也永远无法完全知晓你们此时生命中的一切。我无法完全了解你们的喜悦、问题、痛苦、焦虑，或你们是否深陷绝望，怀抱巨大希望，还是这些情绪的混合体。但创造宇宙的上帝、耶稣的父亲/母亲、将话语传递给施洗约翰和我的祷告导师海伦的那位，祂确实知道你内心最深处的状况。上帝爱你！

     

    And this God will send a word to you – a word that you need to hear – a word that may come through a person’s voice, prayer, touch, letter, email – through the sound of Scripture or the melody of music. And this word is meant sometimes to comfort you, sometimes to challenge you, sometimes to reorient us, to stop us or even to start us but always to lead us to new life, to hope – to trust in the One who lives in the midst and beyond all the Tiberias’s, all the Herods, all the wars and losses of our lives. This God wills to walk with us and all others through them. (bp)

    而且，这位上帝会将祂的话语传递给你——那是你需要听到的话。这话语可能通过一个人的声音、祷告、触摸、信件、电子邮件、圣经的声音，甚至音乐的旋律传递给你。这话语有时是为了安慰你，有时是为了挑战你，有时是为了重新调整我们，阻止我们，甚至推动我们行动。但这话语总是为了引领我们走向新的生命、希望，去信靠那位不仅在所有提比略、希律、战争与失落的中间行走，也在这些之上的上帝。这位上帝愿意陪伴我们以及所有人穿越这一切。（停顿）

     

    Even now a word from God comes to us! As we listen and by God’s grace humbly obey – let me tell you some flesh will see and experience the deliverance, the new life that can come only from God. And some day, dear people – because of God’s word and actions among us all flesh will see and experience this deliverance of God – this salvation of God. That’s God’s promise.

    甚至现在，上帝的话语正来到我们面前！当我们聆听并以谦卑的心回应时——让我告诉你们，有些人将会看到并经历那只有从上帝而来的拯救和新生命。有一天，亲爱的弟兄姐妹——因为上帝的话语和祂在我们中间的作为，所有的人都将看到并经历上帝的救赎。这是上帝的应许。

     

    Oh, Lord let it be so, even through us, even now, especially now. Amen and Amen.  

    哦，主啊，让这一切成真吧！即使通过我们，即便就在此刻，尤其是在此刻。阿门，阿门。






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