December 2007

It is early December, and I’m sure many of us are busy trying to get Christmas shopping done before having to compete with the last-minute antsy crowd. There are more and more new merchandises that attract our attention. I have to say the new and improved gadgets are very tempting. Christmas, as hectic and watered-down meaning it has become, is still an inevitable season of joy and serenity that permeates each passing year. On Christmas day, it still brings back the quiet calmness from those old Christmas songs such as Silent Night, Holy Night; O Little Town of Bethlehem, and among others.

With the changing political climate all over the globe, our world keeps marching into an uncertain future, Christmas seems to be able to bring back the kind of hope that connects the unchangeable past with the ever-changing future. To many, Christmas is like a security blanket that everyone’s heart tries to hold on to inside.

What makes Christmas so special? Who was this child who born in a stable instead of a home? This child, like all new born infant was helpless. He lay there, needing his mother to tend to, yet shepherds from closed by and wise-men from afar went to pay homage to him. When He grew up, he became the center stage of all controversies. He had an outrageous claim that He and God was One! It was clear to the people he told this to that He implied He is God! He bowed down to no human government, compromised to no religious authorities, yet for a man who never set foot outside his own country, never held an office in government, never had a family, and never wrote a single book or had any memoir, influenced the world like no other man ever did. Many lives changed because of Him, not only from what He said and taught.

Though many years had gone by, and the stable had long disappeared, we need to really think about what’s so special about this birth that happened over two thousand years ago. He claimed to be God. Throughout history, Jesus wasn’t the only one who claimed deity, yet all disappeared and forgotten, except Jesus. One important question must be answered: “What if His claim is true?” If Jesus was one of the many who lied, we can ignore him as we’ve ignored others, but what if He is right? Maybe a better question is, “Why should we care?” What does Jesus, who claimed to be God and came from His abode in Heaven, mean to us?

Pastor Larry

現在是十二月上旬，我相信我們很多人都在忙於購買聖誕禮物，免得等到最後一刻才與購物的人群競爭。在商場上不段的有越來越多的新商品爭取著我們的注意；這些新而改良的產品是非常有吸引力。聖誕節雖然是一個忙碌的節日而且它真正的意義已經被沖淡，但無可否認它仍然是一個能帶給人喜樂和平安的季節。聖誕節那天，藉著從那些傳統的聖誕歌曲，如「平安夜」，「小伯利恆」等仍然能帶來寧靜的感覺。

隨著不斷變化的政治氣候，我們的世界繼續走向不明確的未來，然而聖誕節卻能帶給我們盼望，它將那不能改變的過去與那千變萬化的未來連接起來。對很多人來說，聖誕節好像是擱置在人內心的一張「安全毯」一般。

為什麼聖誕節是那麼特別呢？這位誕生在馬槽中而不是在家中的孩子是誰？這孩子，像所有初生的嬰兒，是無助的。他躺臥在那裡是需要母親的照顧，但從近處而來的牧羊人及遠處而來的哲士卻向他敬拜。當他長大後更成為所有爭議的中心人物。他曾狂言的自稱與神為一！當時的聽眾卻毫無疑問的知道他的暗示就是說他自己就是神！他沒有屈服於任何的政權之下，在宗教的權勢下亦毫不妥協。但對於一個人從來沒有涉足在本國以外、沒有在政府機構擔過重任、沒有一個家庭、沒有寫過任何著作、亦沒有任何回憶錄，但卻沒有任何人可以與他對人的影響力相比。許多人的生命因為他及他的言行及教導而經歷到切底的改變。

儘管許多年已經過去了，原本的馬槽已經消失了，然而我們還是需要思考這發生在超過二千年前的耶穌誕生的故事為什麼那麼特別。他自稱為神。其實在歷史中，耶穌不是唯一自稱為神的人，但除了耶穌以外，所有的人都已消失和被遺忘了。有一個重要的問題是我們必須回答的：「如果他所說的是真的話會有什麼後果？」如果耶穌像其他的人一樣說謊的話，我們可以同樣的不去理會他，但如果他所宣稱的是正確的話，我們又該怎辦？也許更需要解答的問題是「我們為什麼要理會？」這位自稱為神的耶穌從天上的居所來到世上對我們帶來什麼意義？

唐若愚牧師