Matthew 馬太福音 8:5-13
2013.7.21 sermon by Fr. Jonah
今天的福音向我們描述了一個非常感人的故事。耶穌到達加百農，有一位羅馬的軍官（聖經的中譯本將它譯為「百夫長」）稱耶穌為主，並且請求耶穌醫治他的僕人。他的僕人病得很重，在病痛中受苦。
值得留意的是，在當時的時代背景下，羅馬軍官擁有很高的權力和地位，他們用金錢就可以輕易買入僕人，僕人就像是貨品一樣。如果僕人生病或去世，他們只要花錢再買回一名新的僕人就可以了。所以，幾乎沒有人會在意自己的僕人是否生病。甚至，以他們的身份地位來說，去祈求、拜託別人是一件羞辱的事情。然而，這位軍官懇求耶穌、向耶穌祈禱，只為了救助他的僕人。可見，這位軍官對他的僕人充滿了慈愛，他時時掛念僕人的病情。
祈禱的作用是非常奇妙的。儘管這位僕人並非軍官的親人，然而，只要這位軍官是用真誠的心懇切地祈禱，這位僕人也能夠得到救助。福音並沒有詳細描述這位僕人的人格特質，也沒有說明他得了什麼病，只有告訴我們，最後他得到了醫治。祈禱的力量是無窮盡的，無論我們是為親近的家人祈禱，還是為遠方的陌生人祈禱，都可以對他們產生強大的助益。
這位羅馬的軍官心中充滿了強大的愛，他對耶穌懷抱著極大的信心。當他來到耶穌面前請求時，耶穌的態度非常熱忱，馬上說要陪他回家探望這位僕人。然而，這位軍官回答：「主！我不堪當你到舍下來，你只要說一句話，我的僕人就會好的。」他並不是覺得耶穌來訪會打擾到自己的家人或隱私，而是覺得自己配不上這恩典。有時候，我詢問教友是否需要神父到家中賜福（當然，這是不用收取費用的），很多人都找藉口拒絕了。這位長官說「我配不上你到舍下來」。他深深瞭解耶穌是一位偉大的人，他的態度非常謙卑。
有些聖經學者對這段經文提出了不同的解釋。在猶太人的觀念中，外邦人的家是不潔淨的，如果沒有必要最好不要前往。或許，羅馬長官的家中有一些羅馬文化的旗幟或信仰標記，出於禮貌，他覺得這樣的擺設對於耶穌這位貴賓有一點不敬，所以，他謙卑又有禮地拒絕了。無論如何，從這段經文我們可以看出，這位軍官非常重視耶穌基督。這種種跡象也顯示出，他對耶穌有強烈的信心。他認為，耶穌只要說一句話，一切好事就能成就。
然後，這位軍官還對耶穌說：「因為我雖是屬人權下的人，但是我也有士兵屬我權下；我對這個說：你去，他就去；對另一個說：你來，他就來；對我的奴僕說：你作這個，他就作。」他很正確的使用自己的權柄，也知道上帝如何正確的使用自己的權柄。有時候，我們只記得自己有權力做哪些事，但是，卻忘記上帝也有權柄。人類的權柄總是以命令的態度來實行，上帝的權柄則是以醫治和救恩來實現。我們可以看見耶穌如何施行他的權柄。他上了十字架，而不是從十字架下來。當耶穌在十字架上受難時，很多人嘲笑他說：如果你真的是神的兒子，那就自己從十字架上下來吧！然而，就因為他是神的兒子，所以，他願意犧牲、奉獻，以超脫、昇華的方式來決定人生的路。
這位軍官的心中充滿了愛，所以，他對神的信心是堅定的。耶穌基督聽見他說的話非常驚訝，也讚美了他。耶穌曾在福音中讚美過兩個人物。一位就是這位百夫長，另一位就是迦南的婦女。她請求耶穌醫治她的女兒。耶穌對門徒說：「我不該拿兒女的餅丟給狗吃。」然而，這位婦女謙卑地將自己比作耶穌身邊的小狗。（馬太福音 15:21-29）他們對耶穌基督都有極大的信心。耶穌對百夫長說：「平安的離去吧，就照你所信的，給你成就吧！」百夫長的祈禱起了極大的作用，他的祈禱與慈愛救了這位僕人。
我想，如果我們全心全意共同為世界祈禱，世界將會有巨大的轉變，人與人之間的關係也會變得更好。在每日的生活中，我們面對工作、生活、經濟的困境，這些苦楚讓我們以為自己是孤獨的，事實上並非如此，我們永遠不會是孤獨一人。
祈禱總是創造奇蹟！我可以舉出非常多例子。有一次，我的朋友告訴我，他朋友的朋友遠在國外，因為酗酒嚴重幾乎毀掉自己的家庭。我的朋友是一位非常慈悲的人，他一邊哭泣、一邊祈求他的屬靈父親為這位酗酒的朋友祈禱。他的內心充滿了愛，他真心想要幫助這位苦難的人。一、兩週之後，他打電話到海外關心他的朋友。他的朋友說，那位酗酒的朋友不知道為什麼，最近，只要拿起酒杯就覺得酒的味道令他作嘔，他一點也不想要喝。這只是其中一個例子，聖經當中提出了更多好例子。
有時候，我們的祈禱並不是那麼適當。Saint John Chrysostom的願望是在修道院中成為一名優秀的修士，他日夜祈禱希望自己的願望成真。然而，他的母親希望他留在家中，她懇切地祈禱這件事情不會成真。母親的祈禱是熱切而強烈的，最後上帝應允了這位母親的祈禱。Saint John Chrysostom接受了母親的意念，他留在家中陪伴母親，直到母親過世之後才前往修道院。
有一些單身的教友，與屬靈父親一起熱切地為「尋找好的人生伴侶」而祈禱，最後，他們都如願找到人生的真愛。事實上，婚姻是神聖的，婚姻與祈禱是不可分的。聖經告訴我們，世界上的第一樁婚姻發生在伊甸園裡，亞當和夏娃的完美結合是由上帝引薦的。
福音的故事雖然發生在兩千年前，但是，它其實距離我們不遠。我想要告訴各位的是，我們應該更看重祈禱，因為它對於我們的家庭、人際關係、工作都是影響深遠的。如果我們每個人都盡自己的本分，為台灣這塊土地上的人民祈禱，他們一定會更好。祭司的角色並不是唱獨角戲，我們必須與祭司合作。我想，「祈禱」是世界各地的基督徒必須共同承擔的任務，也是共同努力的目標。
有些人告訴我，神父，我為某件事情祈禱，但是神並沒有理會我。為什麼神沒有聆聽我的祈禱呢？我為病痛的家人祈禱，為什麼他們還是過世了？我為世界的經濟祈禱，為什麼世界經濟還是不景氣？我不會告訴你們，因為你的信心太小所以起不了作用。每個人祈禱的時候，信心都是很大的，都是足夠的。我當然不瞭解神的旨意在你生命中的效應是如何。就如約伯，他的生命中發生了如此多慘痛的事情。神看顧我們的一切，無論我們經歷生命中多麼慘痛的事情，神都與我們同在。或許，神阻止了更多慘痛的事情，神一直在事件當中，一直在你的痛苦中，只是，你必須用心感受祂。也許，從世俗的眼光來看，你確實遭遇了傷痛，但是，在神的眼中，事件總有它的意義和效用。耶穌基督受難之前也曾經熱切的祈禱：「神阿，你可以把這苦背拿走嗎？」然而，上帝面對他親愛的兒子並沒有將苦杯拿走。親人離開我們的時候，或許，上帝把他們帶到一個更好、更適合的地方，或許，他們此刻已經與聖徒同在。
在使徒保羅的書信（腓立比書）中提到，我們不單單要信靠上帝，還要參與他的痛苦。有些人說，他們從來沒有祈求痛苦，然而，有時候，與耶穌基督在痛苦中成長是一種珍貴的禮物。不要害怕痛苦的降臨，上帝不會讓我們承受那些我們的能力無法承受的痛苦。不要恐懼，信心會帶給我們希望和能力。我們應該要用信心和勇氣來面對我們的生命。
願聖三守護我們每一位。阿門。
2013.07.28 Matthew 5:8-13 Prayer and Power – Suffering and Faith
The Gospel today speaks about a very moving situation when Jesus came to a town called Capernaum. Then a Roman officer, actually he was not the highest but he was a mid-class officer, he came to Jesus Christ, and he begged Him, calling Him “Lord” He begged him to cure his servant because his servant was very sick and suffering.
Actually, we see here something very unique. There is somebody who is begging and praying for somebody who was a slave. He, as an officer – and remember in the past a Roman officer was a ruler – for a slave goes to Jesus Christ, begging Him. This person had so much love – it was very humiliating for him to go and beg from a Jew. Actually he had so much love, because he was so concerned about the slave. In this time it would have been so e easy to just buy another slave if the slave got sick and died. This shows so much love, simple and from his heart, and this reminds many times us how important are our prayers for those whom we don’t know or they are not so close to us.
It is very important, the Bible does not say to us anything about the servant– we know that he was cured, but the servant does not appear in this reading of the Gospel; we don’t know anything else about him. And this reminds us again reminds us how powerful are our prayers for others, for those who are not our family but we know them and even for those we don’t know. This love that this Roman officer had, changed him a lot and gave him the real faith, a very deep faith.
Why do I say this? Because Jesus at once said, “I will come to your house and will cure him.” But the good person told him, “No need, just say it from here and it will happen,” And he said, “I am not worthy for you to come to my house.” He did not say to Him, “No need to come because probably my mother or somebody else will be offended by your presence.” (As many times I am begging to come to your house to bless your home but people refuse.) But this person was really feeling unworthy. He knew so much that Jesus was so great that He was God, and in front of God he was feeling that he was nothing.
Also in many books, many scholars of the Bible say that because he was so polite and he cared for Jesus Christ. Why? Because for a Jew it was a sin that would make him unclean to go into the house of a Gentile. If tbis were to happen, especially in the house of a Roman officer, where there should be the flags of Rome, probably some idols, then the Jews would accuse Jesus that He had become unclean. So he was so polite, he was so gentle, and he cared for Jesus Christ. And most of all, he had such strong faith. He said to Jesus, “I am not worthy, but just say one word and it will be done.”
And he continues, “I know because I have authority as an officer. I say to this soldier, ‘Got here,’ and he goes, I say to a slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” So we see here the correct understanding of authority. If this officer knew what authority he had, then he knew the authority of God. Many times people, including myself, we know the authority we have but we forget that God has authority more than us. And the authority of God is different from the easy authority that we have. Because the authority that we have is, “Do this.” It’s an order; it’s power. But the authority of God is cure; it’s salvation. Because the officer was used to having authority, he said to Jesus, “If you want, you will not punish my servant, you can cure him just by your words.”
And finally, we see how Jesus exercised His authority: to go to the Cross, not to escape from the Cross, as the others were saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross.” This is the proof of His power. Because He is the Son of God, the authority is to be sacrificed for others, the ultimate love. So from this point of view, because he had so much love, he had the correct faith. And Jesus marveled, He really admired, He praised him. There were only two people in the Gospels that Jesus praised so much, this person and the woman who was not Jewish, but from Syria, and she asked for her daughter and He told her to go away because we don’t give the bread to the puppies.
This faith is knowledge of Jesus Christ and it is to have Jesus inside of us. And this is why He said, “Go. As you want, it is done.” This reminds me and all of us, how much power prayers have. If we really knew the power that prayer has and if we asked Jesus Christ with all our hearts, then all the world could be much, much better. All our relationships could be much better. The everyday life, and the everyday struggle to have a job, to find money, to overcome difficulties, these make us think we are alone and everything depends on what I do. But from on other point of view we mujst understand that prayer can work miracles.
I have a lot of examples of the real love. One couple, I remember, they went to my spiritual father for a friend of theirs who was in another country, in Belgium. This friend was always drinking, had become an alcoholic, he did not and destroyed his family. They went to my spiritual father and they cried and prayed a lot and said, “Please do something for this person.” Because they had so much faith and they cried so much, this holy person, Father Porphyrius, prayed to God and he told them, “Go and you will see.” And in one week they called their friend to ask how he was, They did not say anything about what they had done. And their friend said, “I don’t know what happened. I go to drink and put the alcohol in my mouth and I want to vomit.” I give you just this one example, but there are so many examples in the Bible, in every time and every day in Christianity. Even sometimes if it is not such proper prayer. John Chrysostom wanted to go to the monastery, but his mother did not want him to go and she was praying to God for him not to go. Later John Chrysostom said that the prayer of his mother was stronger than his. Actually, she was not asking for the right thing, but God listened to her. Later she died and John Chrysostom went to the monastery, so he accepted that the prayer of his mother was not bad. We have so many other examples that people found a good husband or a good wife because they went to a holy person and they prayed together very strongly, and the other heard something from this prayer. And actually marriage should be the result of prayer. Because the first marriage was in Paradise before the Fall. I twas a very holy thing since God brought Adam and Eve together; they did not happen to meet under a tree and say, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” and so on.
So remember this thing, because we may read the Gospel and think, well this thing was for the Roman officer, but now we don’t have Roman officers and slaves, and these things are from two thousand years ago and they don’t touch us. But, as I say, and I say for our everyday life, for our marriage, for our kids, everything: prayer is the most powerful thing. And if the Christians in Taiwan were praying very strongly for the people in Taiwan, they should all be Christians. The mission is not only the act of one priest alone (and the others who are trying to sabotage what he is doing); it is the product of prayer first, for all the Orthodox to pray for all our brothers and sisters all over the world because they don’t know Jesus Christ. This is the real mission, for everybody, it is a very strong obligation that everybody has.
Well somebody may say to me “Father I pray so much for something, but God did not give it to me.” I pray for my my family, for someone to live but he died. I prayed for my job but I did not have success. Why did not God listen to me as He said?” I cannot say to anybody that your faith is not enough. It is enough and it is very deep. But, of course I don’t know the complete idea of God. As in the Book of Job, Job was such a good person and all these bad things happened to him. But I will say only that first you must know one hundred percent that God sees you, and that He is above you, and that He sees the tragedy, the death, the catastrophe that probably will comes to somebody. And he is there even more than in other situations, and he is inside your pain. And there is something more, and this is our faith, something much deeper in this bad situation – bad in your eyes and in the eyes of the world and the people. But for God there is something much deeper in there. When we are in this situation, we must remember the life of Jesus Christ. When he prayed before being arrested, “Father, take from me this cup.” But God did not take it from Him. If He did not take it from his Son, Jesus Christ, then we are united in this pain of Jesus Christ. But we know that something good happens, even for those who die: maybe God took them at the proper time; maybe God took them as His saints. We remember what the apostle Paul said to the Phillipians: “It is give to us not only to believe in Jesus Christ (remember this) but to suffer for him.” Somebody will say, “Don’t give me this cup,” (and I also will say it). But you know, this faith is a gift of Jesus Christ. It is not only my intellectual ability, but it’s a gift of Jesus. It is a greater gift to suffer for him. But don’t be afraid. Jesus will probably not give this to us; we are not so worthy. But at least we ask him to give us faith. And this faith can give us hope for o liurfe and love, and the power not to be afraid of life.
May the Holy Trinity protect all of us. Amen
