Apart from sightseeing, listening to the sermons of the Hong Kong Bible Conference has been a highlight of my holiday. The Hong Kong Bible Conference https://www.hkbibleconference.org/ was a 10-day conference with 3 speakers each delivering one sermon on most days. Thanks to changes in recent years including Covid, Christians around the world can attend the conference online individually and one speaker is English speaking.
The speaker of the morning session, Rev. Bryan Chapell is from the Presbyterian Church in America. During one of his sermons, Rev Chapell shared on the familiar parable of the workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16. The parable is about workers who started work early in a vineyard grumbling against the landowner who gave them the same pay as the late starters. But the economics of the kingdom of heaven is different from the economics of this world. Jesus used the teaching of this parable to answer Peter’s query in Matthew 19:27 where he asked about the reward of leaving everything behind to follow Jesus.
Rev Chapell reminded me that no matter how significant we see our labor in the Lord, others’ works are as valuable and acceptable as ours for God. One reason is because we are only creatures and our best accomplishment is not as perfect as we think.
What are some of the best ministries which we have done for the Lord at our home, at our work or in our personal worship to God? If we reflect on them, those would still be tinted with mixed motives, tensions, fragile relationships with others, disappointments, or sins. It is just like the nice villages I visited during my holiday in Normandy, France. The villages looked pleasant and peaceful but they were under the occupation of the enemy during World War II. There are memories and scars of suffering and cruelty.
Knowing our best accomplishment and ministry still falls short of God’s glory drives us back to God’s mercy. It is by Jesus’s accomplished merit that we give our best to our master. Let’s encourage each other to soldier on, brothers and sisters, as we love and serve our God with all our hearts and minds by the enablement of the Holy Spirit.
今次我的假間除了觀光以外，最精彩是收看港九培靈研經會的講道。十天的港九培靈研經會https://www.hkbibleconference.org/ 由三位講者主講，每個講員大致是一天分享一堂。感謝近年來的變更、包括新冠的原因而使全世界的信徒亦能個人在網上參與，並且其中一位講員是講英語的。
早堂的講員是美國長老會的柴培爾牧師。在其中一堂講道，柴牧師分享了很熟識的馬太福音20章1-16節、葡萄園工人的比喻。比喻中的葡萄園工人因家主發給他們的工錢與遲來作工的工人一樣而發怨言。但天國裏的經濟學是與這世界的不同。耶穌用這比喻回答彼得在19章27節的問題，他問撇下所有來跟從耶穌的獎賞。
柴牧師提醒了我無論如何看我們的侍奉是何顯著，別人的侍奉亦同樣地寶貴及蒙神悅納。其中一個原因是我們只是被造物、最佳的成就並非如我們所想像般的完美。
在我們家庭裏、工作上、或個人敬拜侍奉神的經歷中、那些是我們認為最好的呢？反思一下、其實當中仍摻雜了不純的動機、不安、碎弱的人際關係、失望或罪。就如我渡假時走過在法國諾曼第的－些美好的小村落。它們看來很平靜及使人覺得很舒服的，但在第二次世界大戰時卻遭敵人佔領。其實內裏有不少殘酷痛苦的回憶和痕跡。
既然我們最佳的成就及侍奉仍遠不及神的榮耀時，就吹逼我們回到神的恩慈裡。其實我們是倚靠耶穌巳成的工作，來將最好的獻給我們的主。弟兄姊妹們呀，讓我們彼此鼓勵、一起繼續盡心盡意靠著聖靈來愛和事奉我們的主吧！
