| 【Our Choice】 |
【我們的選擇】 |
| 15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. |
15「今天，我把生死禍福都擺在你們面前，讓你們自己選擇。16如果你們遵行我今天所頒佈上主─你們的上帝給你們的誡命，愛他，順服他，遵守他的一切法律誡命，你們就能成為繁榮的國家。在你們將佔有的土地上，上主要賜福給你們。 |
| 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish;” (Deut. 30: 15-18 NKJV) |
17如果你們不服從，不聽話，反而被誘惑去拜別的神明，18我在此時此地鄭重警告你們，你們一定滅亡，絕不能長久住在約旦河西岸、你們將要佔領的那土地上。」（申命記30章15-18節） |
| Those are among the most frightening words of the Bible. Stark. Literal. Absolute. |
這是聖經中最令人感到害怕的一段話之一：嚴格、清楚、而且無庸置疑的。 |
| It’s hard to hear them without thinking, “Have I really chosen good? Have I really chosen life? |
聽到這段話不難讓我們想到：「我真的已經做對選擇了嗎？」「我真的已經選擇『生』而不是『死』嗎？ |
| Do I love God enough, obey him well enough, keep ALL his laws?＂ |
我是否足夠愛神，足夠順服他，遵循所有的律法？ |
| I think if we are honest with ourselves, most of us would say we’re not 100% in all those qualifications. |
我想如果我們對自己誠實，大部份的人會說我們不是百分之百符合這些標準。 |
| But I think that because we have chosen Jesus Christ, we have chosen LIFE. |
但我認為，因為我們已經選擇了耶穌基督，這代表我們已經選擇了「生」，也就是生命。 |
| As he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14: 6) |
正如耶穌所說：「我就是道路，真理和生命。要不是藉著我，沒有人能到父親那裏去。」（約翰福音14章6節） |
| 【We Have Already Chosen】 |
【我們已經做了抉擇】 |
| We have chosen. |
我們已經做了抉擇。 |
| Even those of us who grew up with Christian parents had to make our own choice at some point. |
甚至是在基督家庭中長大的兄姐，也必須在某個時候為自己作選擇。 |
| And the wonderful thing about God is that when we give ourselves to him, he takes us. |
這件事的奇妙之處在於，當我們把自己獻給神時，祂就會接受我們。 |
| This is the meaning of the “predestination” issue that Presbyterians have been tormented by over the years. |
這就是長老教會多年以來，一直受困擾的「預定論」的意思。 |
| God has us. We belong to Him and He is not letting us go! |
上帝擁有我們。而我們屬於祂，祂不會讓我們離開祂。 |
| I am a person who struggled with many doubts in the past, |
我自己曾經在許多疑問中掙扎過， |
| but now, even if I suffer some momentary doubt, I quickly remember all my previous experiences when God: as Father, as Son, or as Holy Spirit, has blessed me with a sense of presence and love, sometimes directly, sometimes through another person, sometimes by the beauty of the created world. |
但是現在，即使我遭受了一些短暫的懷疑，我也會很快想起了那些年，那位父、子、聖靈三位一體的神賜福給我，並讓我感受到祂的同在、與祂的愛，有時是直接的，有時是透過另一個人，有時是透過牠創造的美麗世界。 |
| The act of making a choice for myself and the help of God’s Holy Spirit make all the difference. |
為自己作選擇的舉動、與聖靈的幫助，讓一切都變得不一樣了。 |
| So I don’t think we need to worry about that one, about that stark basic choice in Deuteronomy. |
所以，我覺得我們不需要擔心申命記中，那些嚴格的、基本的選擇題。 |
| If any of you do worry, let’s get together and talk and see if we can figure it out. |
如果您還有任何擔心，讓我們再一起討論看看是否可以解決您的問題。 |
| 【Growing in Christ】 |
【在基督裡成長】 |
| God has us. |
上帝擁有我們。 |
| But God, as a good heavenly parent, also wants to see us grow. |
但是上帝，作為我們天上的好父母，也希望看到我們成長。 |
| The Sermon on the Mount, which we’ve been reading from Matthew 5, gives us some more information about what to do after that basic choice. |
馬太福音第5章的《登山寶訓》告訴我們一些有關，選擇神後應該要做的事。 |
| It describes how to “walk in the ways of God” as Deuteronomy puts it, or to follow the Way of Jesus. |
它的內容基本上和申命記相呼應，都是想告訴我們如何「按照上帝的方式」或「遵循耶穌的方式」行事。 |
| The verse immediately preceding our passage for today says, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” ( Matthew 5: 20) |
讓我們複習一下上周的最後一節經文：「我告訴你們，你們的義若不勝於文士和法利賽人的義，斷不能進天國。」 （合和本馬太福音5：20） |
| Then he takes several of the 10 Commandments and makes them even MORE demanding! |
然後耶穌從十誡中，挑了一些講解，甚至要求以一個更嚴格的方式遵行！ |
| 【10 Commandments Expanded】 |
【更高標準的十誡】 |
| The first one is about “Thou shalt not kill,” or “You shall not murder,” in our more current versions. |
第一個說到的是：「不可殺人」，或更符合現代社會的說法是「不可犯謀殺」。 |
| This hits almost all of us, I would think. |
我想，我們所有人應該都符合吧！ |
| My guess is that 99.9% of you have never murdered anyone. |
因為我猜，我們當中99.999…％的人從未謀殺過任何人。 |
| Maybe one of you is a combat veteran and have killed in war, but most Christians believe that is not the same as what is meant by the Commandment, Thou shalt not kill. |
也許你們當中有人是退伍軍人，曾在戰場上殺過人，但是大部分基督徒認為這與「不可殺人」這條誡命的含義不同。 |
| The generally accepted meaning now is “You shall not murder.” And there is grace available even for murderers. |
現在公認的含義是“不可犯謀殺”。而且即使是殺人犯，現在也有寬緩的刑罰。 |
| Jesus forgave a murderer on the cross. |
大家還記得嗎？耶穌曾在十字架上，赦免了一個殺人犯。 |
| I have personally met a redeemed murderer, and know it to be possible. I saw his faith remain steady for many years, and also saw his caring relationships with his family. There is hope even for murderers. |
我自己認識一個悔改的殺人犯。我看到他的信仰多年來保持穩定，更看到他與家人保持了關愛的關係。所以，對殺人犯保有希望。 |
| But Jesus goes and expands the commandment to all of us who have ever been angry with someone. |
但是耶穌將誡命的標準，提高到曾經對別人發怒的我們。 |
| Our anger is a serious matter. |
憤怒是一件嚴重的事情。 |
| We need God’s grace and healing too, if anger controls us. |
如果我們被憤怒的情緒所控制，我們也需要上帝的恩典和醫治。 |
| I’m sure a lot of us have even been angry enough a time or two to wish for the death of someone. |
我敢說你們一生一定有至少一到兩次，憤怒到希望某個人乾脆死一死算了。 |
| I remember the first time that happened to me. It was a shock to me that I could feel such rage. |
我還記得自己第一次有這樣的念頭時，對我來說是個震撼，憤怒的情緒竟是如此真實。 |
| And it was frightening too, because it took a while before it lost its power over me. |
而且它也令我恐懼，因為我花了一段時間才脫離憤怒的魔爪。 |
| Of course, there is a huge difference between wanting someone dead to actually taking it upon ourselves to kill them. |
當然，希望某人去死和真正動手殺人還是有很大的不同。 |
| But in the mind of Christ, they are the same, from a spiritual point of view. |
但從屬靈的觀點來看，或在基督的眼中，它們是相同的。 |
| Then Jesus goes on to talk about adultery. |
接著耶穌繼續談到姦淫。 |
| Again there is a big difference between looking at someone lustfully and actually having an affair. |
同樣，看到某人產生淫念和真正發生外遇還是有很大的不同。 |
| But spiritually, even the lustful look has a consequence. |
但從屬靈的觀點來看，即使是淫念也會產生不良的後果。 |
| When we think about anger, and about lust towards someone other than our spouse, with a deeper understanding, we can see how both anger and inappropriate lust have a negative effect on the relationship we have with someone. |
當我們對「憤怒」以及「對配偶以外的人產生慾望」有了更深入的了解，就能明白憤怒和不適當的慾望，如何對我們與人的關係產生負面影響。 |
| In fact, they can and do sometimes destroy those relationships. |
實際上，他們有時確實會破壞這些關係。 |
| The point is not to fear going to hell if we ever have anger or inappropriate lust, but to pray and to seek help from other brothers and sisters or pastors if we cannot resolve these feelings ourselves. |
不是說我們一旦憤怒或產生不適當的慾望就要下地獄了，好可怕！而是如果我們不能自己解決這些感覺，就要禱告並尋求兄弟姐妹或牧師的幫助。 |
| Jesus follows these tough ideas with his ideas about divorce, about revenge, and about how to treat our enemies. |
而且你會發現，耶穌是用同樣高標準的想法在看待離婚，復仇，以及如何對待仇敵這回事。 |
| I want to say just a word about divorce. |
這裡我稍微解釋一下離婚這件事。 |
| This was aimed only at men in his day. Only men could divorce, and for whatever reason they wanted, or for no reason. |
在耶穌那個年代，只有男人有提離婚的權利，而且無論什麼原因，他們都可以離婚。 |
| A woman divorced by her husband would be in serious danger of starving to death or being forced into prostitution. |
而被離婚的婦女將面臨餓死或被迫賣淫的危機。 |
| Jesus said the man who divorces his wife is forcing her to commit adultery! |
因此耶穌才說，與妻子離婚的男人是強迫自己的妻子犯姦淫！ |
| He was responsible for her, and is responsible for her sin. |
丈夫不只是要對妻子負責，並要對她的罪負責。 |
| I have to say though, that I think our situation is somewhat different now in terms of divorce. |
但不得不說，現在就離婚的說法，已經大不相同。 |
| Sometimes it looks clearly like one or the other partner is being abandoned, but sometimes it is by agreement by both parties. |
有時很明顯是夫妻其中一方被拋棄，但有時卻是雙方協議的結果。 |
| If there is physical or emotional abuse involved, divorce can be the best option. |
如果今天很不幸有涉及身體或情感上的虐待，離婚可能是最好的選擇。 |
| And legal remedies like spousal and child support mitigate the devastation caused by divorce to some degree. |
加上藉由法律的保障，來補救離婚對配偶和子女的所造成的破壞。 |
| Still, a relationship is broken, and usually at least some of the people involved are suffering. |
儘管如此，關係已經破裂，當中一定有人是受苦的。 |
| Divorcing or divorced people need the love and grace of Christ and of Christ’s church. |
所以離婚或被離婚的人，特別需要基督和教會的愛與恩典。 |
| Divorce is a tragedy, a loss that in some ways is worse than a death. |
離婚是一場悲劇，在某種程度上來說，失去的比死亡更糟。 |
|
【Title】 |
| The famous concept of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” originated in ancient Mesopotamian culture long before the Bible was written. |
接下來進入著名的「以眼還眼，以牙還牙」，這概念起源於古老的美索不達米亞文化，早於《聖經》撰寫之前。 |
| But Jesus says no. It’s not good enough. |
但是耶穌說：「不。」這樣的標準還不夠。 |
| If you want to follow the way of Jesus Christ, you do not seek revenge, even if the law permits it. |
如果您想效法耶穌基督，即使法律允許，您也不應該尋求報復。 |
| Again, Jesus is laying out a higher standard. |
這裡耶穌再次提出更高的標準。 |
| At the end of this chapter Jesus is taking it all the way to the extreme by saying “44Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 44-45). And then he finishes with “ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (verse 48) |
從第五章的最後一段，我們會看出耶穌如何將標準提到至高，他這樣說：「44但是我告訴你們，要愛你們的仇敵，並且為迫害你們的人禱告。45這樣，你們才可以作天父的兒女。」（馬太福音5：44-45）48節這樣說：「你們要完全，正像你們的天父是完全的。」 |
| Whew! |
Wow！ |
| We may have heard about “easy grace” but there is nothing easy about any of this! |
你可能聽過有句英文叫做”Easy Grace”，我想說的是這樣的Grace(恩典)一點都不Easy！ |
| 【Becoming a Matthew 5 Church】 |
【成為馬太福音五章的教會】 |
| After reading Matthew 5, I think we can all agree we need some help living up to what God asks of us! |
讀完馬太福音5章後，我想我們都可以同意，我們確實需要一些幫助，以實踐上帝對我們的要求！ |
| We can rejoice that we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior and Lord, but we are a far cry from being perfect. |
我們為接受耶穌基督為我們的個人救主而感到高興，但我們離完美還差很遠。 |
| Paul gives us some further instruction on what we should be doing as followers of Christ. |
保羅就對我們這群跟隨基督的人應該要做什麼，提供了進一步的指示。 |
| His words are reassuring as well as challenging in the 5th chapter of II Corinthians. |
在哥林多後書第5章中，他的話讓我們感到放心，但同時也充滿挑戰。 |
| “17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,” (II Corinthians 5: 17 – 18) |
17節：「無論誰，一旦有了基督的生命就是新造的人；舊的已經過去，新的已經來臨。18這一切都是上帝的作為；他藉著基督使我們得以跟上帝和好，又給我們傳和好福音的職份。」（哥林多後書5：17 – 18） |
| These words are often used in worship services as an “Assurance of Pardon.” They tell us that because we have accepted Christ – – Paul says we are in Christ – everything will be very different for us. The difference will be so profound, that it is almost like we have become someone else! |
這經文在禮拜中常被用來當作神寬恕的保證。它告訴我們，因為我們已經接受了基督，(按照保羅的說法是「在基督裡面」)，一切對我們來說都是不一樣的。這個「不一樣」很深奧，讓我們真的好像變成另一個人似的！ |
| Some people experience this difference immediately, and walk around with a kind of glow for a while. |
有些人的改變就是這麼立即，並散發著一股光芒。 |
| For other people, the changes happen more gradually, but eventually they find that their values are slowly shifting, and they are beginning to think of things in some different ways. |
有些人可能改變得比較緩慢，但他們會發現自己的價值觀正在緩慢地變化，並且他們開始以不同的方式思考。 |
| Some things that used to be extremely important become less so. |
某些曾經非常重要的事情似乎變得沒那麼重要了。 |
| Some things they didn’t notice at all before begin to affect them more deeply. |
某些他們之前根本沒有注意到的一些事情，開始對他們產生更深的影響。 |
| Some people find themselves a lot more sensitive to the beauty of God’s world. |
有些人發現自己對神所創造的美麗世界更加敏感。 |
| Others may find themselves becoming more patient and understanding with members of their families. |
另一些人會發現自己變得更加耐心，越來越理解自己的家人。 |
| Many become hungry for study of God’s word. |
很多人變得渴望學習上帝的話。 |
| Assuming they have connected with a community of believers somehow, in either a church or a small group, they begin to develop new kinds of relationships, relationships based on mutual caring and mutual goals connected to their new relationship with Christ. |
想像一下這些人在教會或小組裡，他們與其他信徒開始發展出一種新的關係，一種相互關懷，在基督裡朝著共同目標努力的新關係。 |
| With so many churches wanting to grow and be revitalized, a huge survey was conducted. 80,000 people from 200 different churches responded to the survey. |
曾經有人針對了八萬個來自兩百個不同教會的人進行調查，畢竟有這麼多的教會想要成長和復興。 |
| One very startling conclusion of the study was that the best way to jump-start your spiritual life is to serve others in Jesus’ name. |
這項調查得到一個非常令人震驚的結論是：以耶穌之名服務他人，是啟動您屬靈生活的最佳方法。 |
| That came in even above studying the Bible and small groups! |
這甚至比讀經和小組還有效！ |
| It was a shocking result after decades of struggling to make worship services more exciting and dividing congregations into small groups and intensive Bible Study programs. |
這結果令人震驚，因為過去十年來，教會想盡辦法要讓會眾樂於禮拜，也試著將會眾分成小組、舉辦密集的查經課程。 |
| This is not to say that those other things aren’t essential also, but sometimes churches have overlooked the fact that experiences of serving the needs of people, alone or with others, have a transformative effect on the spiritual life of those who do it. |
並不是說這些都不重要，而是我們常忽略了一件事實：那些自行、或是與別人一起幫助人的服事經驗，往往對我們的屬靈生命產生變革性的影響。 |
| Paul continues in his words to us about what our mission is. |
保羅繼續告訴我們，我們的使命是什麼： |
| God “ reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. |
「18他藉著基督使我們得以跟上帝和好，又給我們傳和好福音的職份。19我們所傳的信息就是：上帝藉著基督與人類建立和好的關係。他不追究他們的過犯，並且把他與人和好的信息付託了我們。 |
| 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (II Corinthians 5: 18 – 20) |
20因此，我們作了基督的特使。上帝親自藉著我們勸勉你們：我們替基督請求你們，讓上帝使你們跟他和好。」（哥林多後書5：18 – 20） |
| We already have what we need for the work. |
我們已經具備我們工作上所需的。 |
| We have the firm relationship with God, and the assurance of God’s love and help, and now we can be ambassadors for Christ. And making peace, it sounds like, is the main objective. |
我們與神有緊密關係，並有上帝的愛與幫助的保證，現在我們可以成為基督的使者。並且促進和睦，這似乎就是主要的目的。 |
| Making peace, helping others to get along with each other, and also to introduce them to God’s love through our actions on behalf of Christ. |
讓我們一起促進和睦，幫助他人彼此相處，並通過行動將上帝的愛帶給他們。 |
| We meet today in a few minutes for sacred conversations about the future of this church. |
今天崇拜結束後將會有個神聖的座談會，討論有關教會的未來。 |
| You are already a beautiful example of a community of peace. |
你們已經是和睦的大家庭，是很美的一個典範。 |
| You are made up of at least 3 different countries of origin, with different cultures, customs, and languages, and some differences in theology. |
在你們當中，有來自至少3個不同的國家、帶著不同的文化、習俗、語言、以及神學上的差異。 |
| You have weathered some changes over the years, even some loss of members, but you also regularly include new members and friends. |
這些年來，雖然你們經歷了一些變化，甚至失去了一些成員，但定期還是有新成員和新朋友來到當中。 |
| I hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity as sisters and brothers to talk about how you want to take this church into the future! |
我希望每個人都可以利用這個機會，以一位弟兄姊妹的身分，談論您如何將這個教會帶入未來！ |
| ALL of you are needed for this conversation. |
對話需要所有人一起參與。 |
| It will begin immediately after this worship service in the fellowship hall. |
我們在崇拜結束後，我們在交誼廳立刻開始座談會。 |
| The tables are spread out because we will be having some conversations in table groups. |
我們會把桌子分散，以每桌為單位進行討論。 |
| If you are willing, please sit with some people you know LESS well, because part of the purpose is to get to know one another better. |
如果願意的話，請和那些你比較不認識的人坐在一起，因為有一部分目的是增進弟兄姊妹彼此的了解。 |
| Thanks be to God for this church! |
為這個教會感謝上帝！ |
| Amen. |
阿們 |
