becoming

「小伯利恆」的最後兩節，或者是世人需要在這年聖誕聽清楚的聲音。

凡有聖潔活潑兒童，快樂頌拜聖嬰；
凡有困苦顛沛流離，呼籲人子之名；
凡有信德與善心，大開仁愛之門；
黑夜消亡，榮光破曉，便是聖誕重經。
Where children pure and happy pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.

我們大家同心祈求，聖嬰再臨人間；
求主今日臨格人心，驅除一切罪愆；
欣聞天軍傳消息，群生快樂無涯，
以馬內利，神人團契，千秋萬古永偕！
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

O Little Town of (Modern Day) Bethlehem:

Mary and Joseph, if they were coming today? No way, because the big wall is close to Bethlehem.

He will want a permit from Israel.

在馬槽中、在十架上，我們看到神愛我們到底可以去到幾盡。

A poetic re-telling of the nativity story… with the unpleasant bits left in.

聖誕節，我除了教女兒耶穌降生之外，我也說聖誕老人。

我完全了解商業化的聖誕節之毒害，但我也不見得父母不解釋，小朋友就不會跟著世界將聖誕私有化。

我選擇告訴她關於St. Nicholas的故事。將要求禮物，轉為施予。

St. Nicholas也是個愛耶穌的人呢！

littleho早前問過這個問題。不知你們的答案又會怎樣？

Update: Alan Yu 巧合之作(?)

[HT: Scotteriology]

Last year, I shared with you my all-time favorite Christmas hymn: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.

This year, I thought I would point you to another hymn, a hymn which I think captures equally well the longing spirit of liberation and salvation of the first Christmas.

O come, O come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

聖誕的靜與動

哥林多後書8:7-9

為甚麼我們唱那首叫Silent Night（平安夜）的詩歌？是因為那天晚上有個肥DutDut、白雪雪的啤啤出世？是因為那個小寶寶睡得很甜，所以不要把祂驚醒，不要把祂帶回這冰冷無 情的人間？不！Silent Night，這晚之所以沉默是因為我們作為人的底牌被揭了出來：我們的無能為力叫我們閉口不敢再說三道四、指指點點；神的出手使我們在驚訝的木訥中，期待 著祂將要做的又會是甚麼…

…然而一班人像做戲一樣以喜樂愧贈和感恩收納來慶祝聖誕是很有問題的。縱然這樣的一班人已經比其他人好得多—因為他們有愛的表現在他們當中，但面對 一個經濟失衡、貧富懸殊的世界，一個群體，特別是被神所拯救的人，只停留向內望，實在是一種罪邪。禮物不可能因群體內成員的喜悅而只停留在群體裡面互相傳 送，它也必需接觸到群體以外有需要的人。

講道錄音：

[audio:sermons/2corinthians/2Corinthians_8_7-9.mp3]

———————
延伸閱讀：

1. 這篇講章實在是我在2003年平安夜信息的一個延續，有興趣請到這裡。
2. 過去我曾提過很多的Miroslav Volf，他寫的Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace，帶給我很多啟發。
3. 關於Malibu長老教會的故事。

When Christians take the Christmas narrative seriously, the practice of gift-exchange within a closed circle of family and friends becomes problematic. If our lives are to mirror the ways of God, then we must break open the closed circle of exchange so that Christmas gifts flow outward to those with profound needs.

Miroslav Volf

Because of Ben’s referral, people are flooding to read my previous post on shutting up for Christmas. I am really in awe!

What I have expressed is really nothing new. It is just another way of saying out one of my favorite hymns:

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Listen [ Real Audio | Mp3 ]

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six wingèd seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

And here is one of the many Chinese translations available:

凡有血氣，皆當靜默，敬畏謙恭同肅立，
莫想絲毫世俗事物，因主基督正臨格，
親手施天福賜神恩，接受我們恭敬拜。

萬王之王童女所生，血肉軀體現人間，
萬主之主竟成人形，救主臨世恩澤長，
甘願捨聖身流寶血，賜與信者作天糧。

千萬天軍排列成行，前隊先鋒步伐壯，
光中之光周圍環繞，親從天堂降凡塵，
消滅地獄權除毒鉤，驅散黑暗顯光芒。

晝夜俯伏主足前，撒拉弗與基路伯，
崇拜至尊，翅膀遮面，不停頌讚獻歌聲，
唱哈利路亞，主至聖，哈利路亞，主至聖。