2015.05.24 第一次大公會議教父紀念主日
聖禮儀 (四)：聖餐共融 講道：李亮神 英文講稿：貝克教授 翻譯：張奉書
如同過去二週，今日我們仍繼續教導聖餐( the Holy Communion )。就像前幾次我們說過的，在聖禮儀時，聖靈降臨使我們合而為一。如同今天福音書經文，耶穌基督受難前的禱告又稱為大祭司禱文，耶穌求父使門徒合而為一。合而為一不是意識形態上的合一，或是以人為的方式合一，我們又如何能合而為一呢？所以神子道成肉身，在祂裡面彼此合一，成為祂的身體。祂的聖體和寶血為了你我而捨，以這樣的方式使我們真正地合而為一。
就像前二週講道中所說的，聖禮儀是我們將世界萬物獻給神，而神悅納我們所獻上的，並將祂的愛子的聖體與寶血賜給我們做為禮物。這是為何聖禮儀在祝聖餅酒(Consecration)之後，我們同聲說:「我們在天上的父」，因為主禱文中說:「賜給我們日用的飲食」，但中英文版本的翻譯都不正確，希臘字epiousion= epi+ousion (epi=目的,為了) (ousion=ousia=essence本質=existence存在) . 因此 epiousion意思是「為了我們的存在」。它被誤譯成「賜給我們每日的麵包」。實際上，epiousion意思是「我們存在」所需要的「本質」。賜給我們存在所需要的麵包。這個麵包不是我們每天平常吃的麵包，而是基督的聖體。中文誤譯成我們日用的飲食，指的只是一般的食物。
希臘文中，食物有很多字，像是聖經中也用trophe一字。我談論希臘文，不是因為我是希臘人，是因為這是聖經的原文。如果耶穌有意談論日用的糧食，他會使用別的字。而多數的解經家與教父認為他說arton一詞，意思是指麵包。別忘了，約翰福音中耶穌說:「我就是生命的糧」(原文為麵包)，這是從天上源源不絕地、持續不斷地賜給我們的麵包。
聖經中動詞的時態也很重要。之前耶穌說的是：「我來(came)」（過去式）、「我就是(am)生命的糧」（約翰福音6：48，現在式）。但現在耶穌說:「這是從天上降下來的糧」（約翰福音6：50），用的卻是現在進行式，意思是祂以生命之糧的方式，持續不斷地到來、持續不斷地降臨。這裡在領聖餐之前，你能看見聖經和基督徒生命不是分開的，是緊密在一起的。我們在領聖餐之前，唸主禱文的原因是我們要領受的是生命的麵包、生命的糧。
這個觀點告訴我們，東正教是最唯物的信仰，而其他信仰則認為神在天上等類似想法。我們不會說神在天上，我們所領受的神，是與我們如此靠近，如此深切，沒有人可以像祂如此靠近我們。甚至性的結合也無法像人與神合一那樣密不可分。可能只有嬰兒還在母腹中時，可以如此靠近，是一人活在另一人身體之中。
你們應當要明白祭司行聖禮儀的內容與意義，這是非常重要的。他拿起耶穌基督的聖體，並擘開了。雖然我使用擘開這個字，這實際上不是正確的翻譯。原文的意思是指我「取了」我身體的一部份，但實際上並沒有使它碎裂(擘開)。這是為何我轉身，你們看見我是如何擘開麵包。我在這裡見過許多次新教教會的擘餅，牧師會笑著將餅在會眾面前擘開、敲碎，並有餅碎掉的聲響，這種方式非常可笑。教會禱告說的是「他是被擘開的」但並不是分解成許多部份。祂是那位被我們領用的，但永不竭盡。
為了能說清楚，我會給你們一些例子。我們教會很小，但許多數千人的大教會領受聖餐時，聖體從未用盡，總是足夠每個人領受，這就是神蹟。神蹟的部分以後會另外向你們解釋。
祭司也會把餅放在酒中。在最初的教會，人們會上前去將聖體放在手中領用，每個人也會從聖杯中取一點聖血。但第四世紀時，基督教不那麼受壓迫，拜占庭帝國定基督教為國教後，信徒變得很多。會眾如果不夠小心，聖體聖血可能會掉落。如你們所見，我在這裡總是非常小心，不讓聖體聖血掉在地上。
基於種種原因，屈梭多模(John Chrysostom，亦稱金口約翰)做了決定，為了避免耶穌基督的寶血滴到地上，他認為應該將耶穌基督的聖體放入聖血中，並且使用小匙子分發。於是自那時起，就以這種方式進行。在西方他們並沒有這樣做，但是漸漸為了避免任何聖體或寶血掉落，他們並沒有將耶穌基督的寶血分給會眾，覺得這樣比較安全。他們的餅也與原本初代教會的製作方法不同，反而用愛爾蘭的方式將蘇打放在餅中。漸漸地，西方教會開始使用無酵餅，直到今日仍是如此。但如果你清楚教會歷史，你會明白初代教會使用的餅是像這樣的有酵餅，在網路上就能看到製作方式。至第五世紀時，日耳曼地區開始會有特定的印章蓋在餅上。
有關這些歷史事件，可以另外找時間說明。在聖禮儀中我們現在要說到，領受聖餐的部分。如果你沒有領受聖餐，這就像假如我們邀請你參加晚宴，但你卻什麼也沒吃。我們首先要了解，我們所領受的聖餐到底是什麼？我問過一些人，有些人並不知道答案。我們所拿的是耶穌基督的聖體與寶血，我們將耶穌基督領受至我們裡面。
你應明白東正教會並不是意識形態上的意念，也不像是在政治上、經濟上或是體育各種意識形態上的思想意念。而是真正成為耶穌基督聖體的身體，雖然這裡我們不是在討論哲學，但這在哲學上稱為存在，與存在本質相關的課題。與耶穌基督合而為一，這是生命的慶典，這就是天堂。我們活著不是為了未來的天堂，天堂就從現在這裡開始。這是真實的生命，因為耶穌基督說過:「我就是生命的食糧」又說「人若遵守我的道，就永遠不見死」。你可能會問明明人都會死，我們今日也有追思禮拜。但是我們不會用死亡這字，我們會用的字是「安息」。我們今日所追思的弟兄，他並未死去。他仍活在主愛的紀念中。
約八世紀或十世紀的聖尼古拉(Saint Nicholas Cabasilas)寫了一本很有名的、有關聖禮儀的一本書，他說到亡者也會吃這生命的食糧，天使也是如此。生命的食糧就是萬物的核心。我告訴過你們參與聖禮儀可不是件輕鬆寫意的事。這有點像是去上門課，你必須好好準備，你在聖禮儀中也有許多需要注意的事情。應當為你們心中的生者與亡者的親友禱告。
另外，你必需持有飢渴的態度，這是最重要的部分。你必須渴望耶穌基督，因為這才是真實的生命。我多次提過這個例子，如果在這聖爵中我放入的不是簡陋的麵包和酒，而是碩大的鑽石，並將鑽石一一分給每一個人。你想想今天會是什麼情況？恐怕必須出動警察來維持秩序，成千上萬人潮會從這裡一直擠到小碧潭捷運站。大家都要領受，因為所給的鑽石是免費贈送的。
我們也應該對耶穌基督持有如此飢渴的態度。不幸的是，我們都沒有這樣的心態。每個人定當檢視自己的心思，問問自己為什麼會渴望教會給你價值百萬讓你不愁吃穿的大鑽石，但你是否渴望耶穌基督？若是某人因犯罪或是與人產生嫌隙，使他沒有領受聖餐，當然應該先進行懺悔聖事（Confession）來移除這罪。
我必須要告訴你們另一件事，我們在乎的並非被赦免與否。不是想著：「我犯罪所以我要得赦免」，這其實是種驕傲。倘若我想要被赦免，我想要的應該是與基督合一，因為與基督合一才能移去那使我和基督分離的事。我到底為什麼想要得赦免？因為這樣我才能領受耶穌到我裡面。懺悔聖事不是為了重新恢復我們的自私或虛假的自尊，不是想著：「我之前是個好基督徒，但我做了一些壞事，跌倒了，所以現在我來懺悔，然後我就OK了，完全沒問題！」。從心理學或基督教的觀點來看，這種心態都是大錯特錯。我再說一次，我們懺悔，是為了除去我們與耶穌基督之間所有的隔閡。這也是為何我們舉行聖禮儀：吃喝耶穌的聖體與寶血。
我們若收到晚宴邀約，但人到了現場，卻不吃不喝，那是怎麼回事？在教會正典中，特別是非常早期的正典，他們提到假如有祭司或是一般會眾未領受聖餐，主教必須去了解沒有領受聖餐的原因。如果有正當理由，可能是他生了重病，那主教可以為他行懺悔聖事。如果無緣無故，那教會正典則認為祭司應卸下他的祭司職務，就如同驅逐出教（excommunicated）。你可能會有疑問，誰現今會這樣做呢？教會法規有其程序和視個案而調整的特性（economy），不會自動的驅逐任何人。就像是我如果竊盜，無法要求警局馬上把我關起來。必須透過一定的程序，被起訴後才能入監服刑。
教會法規的這種特性（economy），希臘字指的是對於那些不明白聖餐的人，進行教牧關顧。部分人並不明白聖餐的意義，甚至有人並非因教會好處或是出自神學基礎，單為己利拿聖餐來威脅教會或祭司等，想滿足自己對於尊榮、權力的渴望。以後我會在講道中，再額外說明其他部分。
另外還有些實際狀況，特別對於華人而言，有人不願意和別人用同一隻湯匙領受聖體。覺得這樣不衛生，會傳染病菌。首先我要說明的，教會對那些不明白的人，總有因應的方式（economy）。舉例來說，很多美國或各地的東正教祭司，我們會用湯匙懸空倒進，不碰到各人的嘴唇。大家不必訝異，這樣的因應之道只是針對一些初信者。就二千多年來的經驗，你領受耶穌基督，那不只是耶穌基督，也是真正的良藥。有太多的神蹟，太多人在領受聖餐後，病得醫治。沒有人會因為領受聖餐而生病。許多無神論的醫生覺得很驚訝，看到祭司去到醫院，那裡有些病人得了像是肺結核等重症，但他們見到祭司領用了剩餘的聖體聖血，祭司卻從未因此受到傳染。我自己也有這樣的經驗。不只如此，如果有人不小心咳嗽將聖體咳到地上，祭司也會去舔拭乾淨，我也曾經這樣做過。在我來到這裡之前，我在希臘擔任祭司，會去許多不同的地方參加聖禮儀。在某地我看到預先祝聖的聖禮儀（Presanctified Liturgy）所留下的聖體被老鼠吃掉了大半，那個小小盒子中還有老鼠的排泄物。前次的祭司顯然忘了妥善處理聖體盒，我就把聖體盒裡所有的東西都吃掉。有發生什麼事嗎？什麼病痛也沒有。如果現在你吃了老鼠的排泄物，你能想像會怎樣嗎？
我們基督徒要明白，看聖經不是在回顧歷史，看看二千年前的耶穌言行，還有死裡復活的故事。千萬不要抱持如此心態。不要把這個信仰當成浪漫的故事，那樣的信仰是虛假不實。若你相信的基督教，只是二千年前發生在耶穌身上的故事，這就只是浪漫又虛假信仰。我們領受聖餐，這就是死裡復活，我們說著「看啊！耶穌基督死裡復活」，領受聖餐這時刻，我們便可感受到耶穌基督的復活。
領受聖餐，與其他人合而為一的部分，我會在下次時再說。願聖三一保守我們眾人。
今日福音書經節 ：約翰福音 17:1-13
「耶穌說了這話，就舉目望天，說：父啊，時候到了，願你榮耀你的兒子，使兒子也榮耀你；正如你曾賜給他權柄管理凡有血氣的，叫他將永生賜給你所賜給他的人。認識你─獨一的真神，並且認識你所差來的耶穌基督，這就是永生。我在地上已經榮耀你，你所託付我的事，我已成全了。父啊，現在求你使我同你享榮耀，就是未有世界以先，我同你所有的榮耀。你從世上賜給我的人，我已將你的名顯明與他們。他們本是你的，你將他們賜給我，他們也遵守了你的道。如今他們知道，凡你所賜給我的，都是從你那裡來的；因為你所賜給我的道，我已經賜給他們，他們也領受了，又確實知道，我是從你出來的，並且信你差了我來。我為他們祈求，不為世人祈求，卻為你所賜給我的人祈求，因他們本是你的。凡是我的，都是你的；你的也是我的，並且我因他們得了榮耀。從今以後，我不在世上，他們卻在世上；我往你那裡去。聖父啊，求你因你所賜給我的名保守他們，叫他們合而為一像我們一樣。我與他們同在的時候，因你所賜給我的名保守了他們，我也護衛了他們；其中除了那滅亡之子，沒有一個滅亡的，好叫經上的話得應驗。現在我往你那裡去，我還在世上說這話，是叫他們心裡充滿我的喜樂。」
2015.05.24 Sunday of the Fathers of the First Council
Liturgy IV : Holy Communion
Sermon: Fr. Jonah
Transcript: Prof. Baker
Today, as we have done for the past two weeks, we will continue to teach about the Holy Communion. As we said the previous times, in the Liturgy the Holy Spirit comes and makes us one, as we saw in today’s Gospel, the last prayer of Jesus Christ, the prayer of the high priest, to be one. But to be one, not in ideology or as individual human beings, how can we be one? This why the Son of God became human: so that in His body to be united, to be united to his Body, His flesh and his blood could be for me and you, in this way to make us bodily and really one.
So, as we said in the two previous sermons, the point of the Liturgy is that we offer all of the world to God and God accepts it, and he returns the gift as the Body and Blood of His Son. So this is why in the Liturgy, after the Consecration, we together say, “Our Father who art in Heaven,” And why? Because in this prayer it says, “Give us the…” well in English and Chinese the translation is not correct. The Greek word, epiousion= epi+ousion (epi= purpose, for) (ousion=ousia=essence=existence) . so “epiousion= for our existence”. It is translated as “Give us our daily bread.” Actually, epouision means “essence,” “for our existence.” The bread of the existence. Because this bread is not only the bread that we have every day, the food we eat – which is why the Chinese translation has liang, which means food generally.
In Greek there are many words for food, there is trophe, which is also used in the Bible. And I am talking about Greek not because I am Greek, but because it is the original language of the Bible, so if Jesus had meant to talk about food, He could have used another word that refers to our everyday food. But we can see her that most of the interpreters and the Fathers of the Church say that he says arton, which means bread. And don’t forget that in the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” which is continuously coming from Heaven to us.
And you can see that the verb tense is very important in the Bible because before He says “I am the bread of life,” He says, “I came,” using the past tense. But now he says that he is continuously coming as the Bread of Life. So here, before the Holy Communion, you can see that the Bible and the Christian life are not separated; they are together. This is why we say this prayer before the Holy Communion: because we are going to take the bread of life, the food of life.
And from this point of view, Orthodoxy is the most materialistic religion because others say, “God is in Heave,” or something like that. But we don’t speak of a God in Heaven, but of a God that we take so close, so deeply that no human being could be so close to us. Even when two people have sex, it is not such a deep union. Probably only a baby is this close when he is in his mother’s womb as another presence inside a human being.
It is important that you must know what the priest is doing. He takes the Body of Jesus Christ and he breaks it. Although I use the English word “break,” this is actually not an accurate translation. In the original it means that I am taking the members of my body, but not actually breaking them. This is why I turn and you see how I am breaking the bread. I do not do as I have seen many times in Protestant churches here they laugh and go “bam” and hit the bread. This is really ridiculous. This is why the prayer of the Church says, “He who is broken but not divided,” “Who is eaten but never finished.”
And to make this clear I will give you some small examples. Our church is so small (and with so many problems), but there are many times in big churches there are thousands of people who come to receive the Holy Communion and the bread is never finished; it is enough for everyone to receive it. It is a miracle of God. About this miracle I will speak to you another time.
And then the priest also puts the bread inside the wine. In the first Church the people were coming first to take the bread in their hands and eat it, and then they would come and each person would take a little bit of wine from the cup. But later in the Fourth Century after Christianity was free and there were so many people since it was the religion of the Byzantine Empire.Then people didn’t pay attention; just imagine. You see how the kids are here, so I must be very careful that none of the bread or wine falls down.
For all these reasons John Chrysostom made the practical decision that instead of all the people to come and the Blood of Jesus Christ could fall down, he said that we should put the Body of Jesus Christ inside the wine and we should use a small spoon the give the Liturgy, and we have done it this way since that time to give to everyone. In the West they did not do this, but gradually for the fear of something dropping they did not give the Blood of Jesus Christ to the people in order to be safer. And instead of using real bread they started to use the Irish type of bread that had soda inside. Gradually the Western Church came to use the unleavened bread that they use today. But if you see history, you can see that the first Church was using bread like this and you can find on the internet how to make the bread and there are stamps from Germany from the Fifth Century.
But these are historical things that we can talk about another time. In the Liturgy we have now come to the time that we receive the Holy Communion. . it would be as if we invited you for dinner but you did not eat anything. But we must understand first, what is this that I am receiving in the Holy Communion. I ask people here and some of them don’t know this. We take the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ; we take Jesus Christ Himself inside ourselves.
As you should understand, the Orthodox Church is not an ideology, not like some political or economic or athletic ideology; none of those. It is exactly to be a member of the Body of Christ. In philosophy, it is called existential, though we are not doing philosophy here. It is to become one with Jesus Christ, and this is the celebration of Life. This is the Paradise. We don’t live for some future paradise; paradise starts right here. And this is the real life because Jesus Christ said that “He who believes in Me, and he who has the food of life will never feel death. “ You may say, “But people can die,” and we had a memorial service today. We don’t use the work die, we use the word sleep. He did not die, our brother for whom we did the memorial service today. He is alive in the loving memory of God and because of the loving memory of God.
Saint Nicholas of Cabasilas who lived about the Eighth or Tenth Century wrote a very famous book about the Liturgy, which says that says that yes, why not the dead people they will eat also the food of life, and the angels also. The food of life, this is the center of everything. I told you that coming to the Liturgy is a difficult thing. It is a little like going to a class, where you have to be prepared, and you do a lot of things in the Liturgy. And I told you that you should pray for your living and dead people.
But you must be hungry; that is the most important thing. You must be hungry for Jesus Christ, because this is the real life. And I have said many times that if I had not this poor bread and wine in the chalice, but if instead I had diamonds inside the chalice and I gave a big diamond to everybody, so you know what would have happened today? The police would have to come because thousands of people would like up outside the building from the Xiaobian Subway stop to here in order to receive one of them because it would be for free, and a diamond.
But this is how we should be hungry for Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, we are not. And everybody must examine his own consciousness to ask why, if the church were now giving out big diamonds that could make you a millionaire without needing to work for the rest of your life ?. And everybody should examine themselves to see if they are hungry for Jesus Christ. If somebody has a sin or has some misunderstanding, as the Church understands sin, of course we can have Confession, and this is why we have Confession, to remove this sin.
And I must say something else to you. We don’t care to be forgiven. To think that “I have sins and I care to be forgiven.” This is pride and it is not good. If I want to be forgiven, then I should want to be united since that would remove the things that separate me from Jesus Christ. Why do I want to be forgiven? So that I can take Jesus Christ inside me. It is not to restore my selfishness, like I used to be a good Christian but then I did something bad and then I fell, so now I confess and then I become OK again; no problem. This is very wrong, psychologically and from the Christian point of view. We confess, as I say again, to remove all the things that separate us from Jesus Christ. This is why we do the Liturgy: to eat.
If there is an invitation to a lunch, but if you come to the lunch and you do not eat, what is that? This is why if you see in the canons of the Church, especially the very early ones, they say that if there is a priest who comes but does not participate in the Holy Communion, or even someone who is not a priest, someone like you who does not receive the Holy Communion, then the bishop must call him and examine him to see why he did not receive the Holy Communion. And if he has a good reason, like he is very sick, then he can confess to the bishop. But if not, then the canon of the Church says that if he is a priest then he must be removed from the priesthood, which is like being excommunicated. You may ask me, “Who is doing this today?” And really the Church has an economy, and it would not automatically excommunicate somebody. Even me: if I steal something, I cannot go to the police and ask them to open the jail for me to go in. I must pass through the court and then go to prison.
But the Church applies the economy, which is a Greek word that means some kind of pastoral care for the people, who don’t know about the Holy Communion. Some of them don’t understand the Holy Communion, and others use the Holy Communion to blackmail the Church or the priest, or others for their own reasons, reasons not of the Church, reasons not based on the theology of the Church, but to exercise their thirst for pride and power. We will say many things about this another time and we will discuss the Holy Communion more in another sermon.
I will say to you something practical, especially for Chinese people, who can ask, “Why is it that I received the Holy Communion from the same spoon as all the other people?” If I have a disease and some germs, than how can other people take germs from the same spoon?” First, I will say to you that the Church always has an economy for the people who don’t understand. For example, many Orthodox priests in the United States and other places, and I will do it for some people, I can just put the spoon over the mouth and pour it in so the spoon does not touch their lips. I say this, as an economy for the people whose faith is just at the beginning, so as not to be surprised. But I will say to you, by the experience of two thousand years, that when you receive Jesus Christ, that is not only Jesus Christ, it is a medicine, the real mecine. There are so many miracles, so many people who become well after receiving the Holy Communion, and nobody becomes sick after receiving the Holy Communion, never! Many doctors who are athiests are very surprised when they see a priest going to a hospital where there are so very grave diseases like tuberculosis and many other things, and then they see the priest finishing the remains of the communion wine and bread, but they never get sick. I have that experience myself. And not only this, but if somebody accidently spits or coughs out the Communion, the priest will lick it up. I have done this also. Before I came here, when I was a priest in Greece going to different places with the presanctified Liturgy, I found that the bread had been half-eaten by a mouse and there were mouse droppings all over the small box. The previous priest had obviously forgotten about this box, and I ate it all. What happened? Nothing. But if you were to eat ordinary food like that, you can imagine what would happen to you.
So we must understand that when we see the Bible as Christians, it is not just historical memories from two thousand years ago, and Jesus was so good and He was resurrected, no. no, no. This is only a romantic faith, a fake faith not the real faith. If we believe that Christianity is just about Jesus two thousand years ago, that is romantic and fake. When we receive the Holy Communion, this is the Resurrection, and we say, “Having beheld the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, this time we feel the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, receiving the Holy Communion.
About receiving the Holy Communion and becoming one with the others, we will talk next time. May the Holy Trinity Protect all of us.
The Gospel
John 17:1-13 At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you did send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are mine; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”
