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A while ago when I was on the road to my work, I saw a car in front of me with a license plate bordered, “Who said Jesus is not alive, I just talked to Him this morning”.  Recently, I saw the same sign again. I have to admit that sometimes I am forgetful. I smiled and thought this serves as a reminder to me that “Jesus is indeed resurrected and He lives among us.”

When Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the two disciples didn’t recognize Him initially (Luke 24:13-35). We can speculate reasons behind it. One reason could be the two disciples’ hearts were still troubled by what had happened in Jerusalem and therefore didn’t even think Jesus could have been raised. The second could be the resurrection body of Jesus has been very different from He used to be. Lastly, it could be a divine reason that their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. (Luke 24:16).

Regardless of any reason, their encounter with Jesus gave them a great opportunity to walk with and to talk to Jesus, personally. Before that, their knowledge about Jesus remains superficial and their expectation about Him is incorrect either. After their personal walk and talk with Jesus, Jesus opened their eyes and rekindled their fervent hearts. As a result, they changed their direction from Emmaus back to Jerusalem to inform other disciples, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” (Luke 24:34).

Apostle Paul in his letter to the brothers and sisters in Corinth indicated, “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 若基督沒有復活，我們所傳的便是枉然，你們所信的也是枉然‧(1 Corinthians 15:14)” “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 基督若沒有復活，你們的信便是徒然‧你們仍在罪裡‧(1 Corinthians 15:17)”  This is certainly applies to us Christians today. We profess our belief in the power of resurrection and Christ has been raised because He had appeared to His disciples and more than 500 others (1 Corinthians 15:6).

My dear brothers and sisters, do we have the same enthusiasm as the two disciples, on the road to Emmaus, to give up our own directions for the sake of telling the good news? Also, do we realize that our Lord is still waiting for us to walk with and talk to us everyday? It is my prayer that everyday we talk to Him directly! May His resurrection power would change you from inside out!

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Last Saturday, my wife and I had to drive our daughter and her friend back to their college, as it is the end of their Spring Break. We arrived at the campus smoothly and began to unload our daughter’s stuff to her dormitory. I saw the campus is “quiet” and “lifeless” with very few students walking by. It was quite a different scene from the week before when we picked her up – many students were walking around the campus and some of them were waiting for buses to take them home.

The “quiet and lifeless” scene gives me an idea to share with you. Many of us may have certain hobbies, habits, or enjoyments. If you are a fan of sports or games, then you would know what I am talking. When a sport / game season starts, I am sure that your spouse or friends and families would not miss “you are fully alive again” scene, comparing with those out-of-season times 🙂 I myself have the similar experience. When fishing season starts, the fresh smell of the local creek seems just around my nose, I would come to life again, after the long winter.

To be alive to someone is a scene that Prophet Elijah had experienced when he asked God to send fire from heaven to burn the wet logs on the altar. Elijah taunted the prophets of Baal, “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” (1 Kings 18:27). Elijah’s triumph over Baal’s prophets marked the victory of God and certainly made Elijah feel fully alive.

In fact, two thousand years ago, people in the city of Jerusalem experienced the “fully alive” scene too. On the week prior to His crucifixion, Jesus was hailed and welcomed by the people of Jerusalem. When Jesus rode a colt entering the city of Jerusalem, many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mark 11:8-9)” The city of Jerusalem was “full of life” and they thought Jesus was the one who is going to save them from the misery caused by the Roman Empire. A week later, however, it was a very different picture – they crucified Him. The main reason would be wrong expectation and hardened hearts toward Jesus.

The sudden change of their attitude toward Jesus, however, gives us a lesson to consider. Firstly, do we have a wrong expectation or motivation when we feel alive toward someone? As a Christian, we may feel very alive in serving God’s kingdom. However, are we more eager to get personal recognition than to please Him? When we are having a wrong motivation and expectation, we soon would be discouraged and become lifeless in serving Him, because we didn’t get what we “think” is deserved. Secondly, do we have a tender heart toward Jesus? Consider Jesus’ example in serving others, how can we forget that He scarified Himself on the cross in place of us? When we don’t have a tender heart like Him, we would not be sensitive to others’ need either. Our hearts would gradually be hardened because we only look into our own interests.

My dear brothers and sisters, “What kind of things makes you feel alive?” “Do you feel lifeless in serving Him?” Let us examine ourselves constantly. May He give us strength and correct motivation in serving Him.

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For many foreigners, the United States of America used to be a dream country for immigration, due to its good living environment, well constructed educational systems, secure society and political freedom. In recent years, the benefits of possessing an US citizenship are however diminishing, as seen from many immigrants. Some quoted reasons are ranging from a lengthy and possible high price tag of the citizenship application to moral decay and national debts or, to tax implications to those who are living and doing business outside of US. Recent news on relinquishing the US green card and passport by wealthy businesspersons in China tips a sign of such perception. Regardless of the true reason behind the relinquishment, we are certain that the US citizenship may not be as favorable as it was in the previous years.

Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, or national community, according to the Wikipedia Encyclopedia. A citizen would therefore owing loyalty to and entitled to the protection of such community when he / she possess its citizenship. Hence, “good” citizens are perceived to be important in promoting the stability of the community. Last Friday night we had a gathering and some of us mentioned that back to old days, we used to have “Citizenship and Morality (公民與道德) and “Life and Ethics (生活與倫理)” classes in 1-12 years of school. These classes essentially taught us common principles of morality and ethics in our daily life. It is not the case today, however. As we mourn the decay of morality and ethics in today’s society, some suggests that the removal of those classes could have contributed to it. Then the question is “What is a good citizen?” From our discussions, I could ascertain some attributes of a good citizen – it should be a person who observes good morality and ethics and is law-abiding to the country / community.

As a Christian, we are supposed to have two types of citizenship. One is from this world and the other is from God’s kingdom. However, there should be no conflicts in between the two, in terms of being a “good citizen”. In Matthew 22:15-22, we learn from Jesus’ teaching to His disciples about paying imperial tax to Caesar.  His response, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” to the trap intentionally set by the Pharisees and the Herodians, is monumental. Jesus wants us submit to the authority of this world while still maintains a good citizenship in God’s kingdom. Apostle Peter also indicated to us that we should live godly lives in a pagan society. He wants us to submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority. Yet, there is one aspect that we should not neglect – it is the priority between the two types of citizenship. As we are adopted to be God’s children because of His love, the citizenship of heavenly kingdom should take higher priority than the earthly citizenship. Apostle Peter said, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9)”. Consequently, we should live a life that is worthy of the calling from God – a true good citizen in His kingdom.

My dear brothers and sisters, are you a good citizen, especially in God’s eye? Hope your answer is “yes!”

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Most of us used to hear “Peace be with you all” greeting before Sunday sermon. Last Sunday, brother David Cheung used “Joy be with you, brothers and sisters” to greet us before his sermon. Then he explained to us why he used this unorthodox phrase instead of the common “Peace be with you!” He mentioned that after Jesus being crucified, the disciples of Jesus were afraid of persecution and their frightened hearts do not have peace. Not until Jesus resurrected and appeared to them saying, “Peace be with you!” then peace returned to their minds and subsequently, they were overjoyed. Since Jesus has been resurrected, we should use “Joy be with you” to represent the joy is truly down to our hearts.

This is an interesting insight that I have overlooked. My immediate question to myself is “Am I a joyful Christian?” I guess I can’t say that I have it always. If not always, then, what is the secret to be a joyful Christian? I think there are a few things that we can learn in order to unlock the secret. The first one is to have a thanksgiving attitude. As the words for grace and joy come from a Greek word charis, which is at the center of the Greek word for thanksgiving eucharistia, we can be joyful if we have an attitude of thanksgiving.

The second is to acknowledge God’s unfailing love. Apostle Paul indicated to us that he is convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39). If we have such love, how can we not being joyful?

The third one is we should not forget that God is omnipotent. In one of our Friday night gatherings, we were discussing about James’ warning to the rich oppressor (James 5:1-6), who used his power and wealth to oppress people. One brother told us an interesting story. He said, “There is an old couple lives in his hometown, both husband and wife are very nice and friendly.  Though they are very rich, they live a thrifty and somewhat miserable life because just don’t know how to use their wealth” This serves as a reminder to us that sometimes we are like the old couple. Though we have a heavenly Father who has an unlimited wealth and resource, we still live a miserable life without joy because we don’t know how to ask Him.

Finally, let us learn to realize that we are weak and God’s grace is sufficient for us. Apostle Paul’s experience in pleading with the Lord three times to remove the thorn from his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) teaches us that His grace is sufficient for us under every situation we encounter. This assures us we can have joyful mind when we learn whom we can trust. Oftentimes, the first sign of trouble to our mind is we think we can do everything. The result is we lose our joy because of our prideful mind. Let’s be reminded once again: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.驕傲在敗壞以先．狂心在跌倒之前。(Proverbs 16:18)”

My dear brothers and sisters, next time when someone asks you “Are you joyful?” I hope your answer is “You bet I do!” because our Lord is risen.

Last week was quite a busy week for me. I have several urgent requests and deadlines that I need to meet at my working place. So, I was like a “no head fly (無頭蒼蠅)” working on my assignments and requests 🙁 I was not feeling as weary as before, however, because I saw the daytime is getting brighter and brighter everyday. It looks like that spring is around the corner – time really flies. Yesterday I finally have time to enjoy one of my hobbies – Saturday mechanic, car maintenance. I installed two new shock absorbers and did a change of engine oil on my cars. Even though my aged body felt sore and ache later, I felt that I have accomplished another task.

During my replacement of shock absorbers, a well-dressed Caucasian couple of strangers showed up. To be polite to them, I stopped my screw wrenching work and stood up to talk to them. From their appearance and Bible in hand, I immediately knew what is going on. The man attempted to communicate with me using his not-so-fluent Mandarin. He invited me to their special meeting for Easter. He then read a passage, in Mandarin, for me: “神愛世人，甚至將他的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信他的，不至滅亡，反得永生‧(John 3:16)” I have a funny feeling immediately since I know they – the Jehovah Witness – do not believe Jesus is in very nature God. However, I do admire their courage and commitment in talking to a stranger, as this is Jesus’ great commission for us to carry out (Matthew 28:18-20). As I want to finish my work as soon as possible, I didn’t have the mood to discuss with them; so, I told them to leave his flyer.

As the apostle Paul indicated to Timothy, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come 末 世 必 有 危 險 的 日 子 來 到 (2 Timothy 3:1)”. From my encounter with the couple, I sensed that there is a great danger in this world – specious beliefs are floating everywhere. As we can see, everyday we are being told to be political correct in our speaking and being tolerant toward other people’s opinions. Increasingly, we become morally indifference to the truth, isn’t this a great danger?  It is a perilous time, my brothers and sisters. Surely we have to be alert and always keep on praying for the country leaders, for ourselves and for the saints, as apostle instructed (Ephesians 6:18).

Apart from the truth, what I can learn from the Jehovah Witness’ couple is their patience, courage and commitment. In this evil and adulterous generation, apostle Paul instructed us that we need to gently instruct those who opposed the truth and in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,  and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them 用 溫 柔 勸 戒 那 抵 擋 的 人； 或 者 神 給 他 們 悔 改 的 心 ， 可 以 明 白 真 道 ，叫 他 們 這 已 經 被 魔 鬼 任 意 擄 去 的 ， 可 以 醒 悟 ， 脫 離 他 的 網 羅 。(2 Timothy 2:25-26). Let’s be on our guard and encourage one another as we will be a letter of Christ and it is very important for us to be steadfast in Christ’s truth during these perilous times. May He has mercy on each one of us….