主題：背信棄義的人
不要小覷耶穌基督二千年前所說的話，以為不合時宜。殊不知即使今時今日，祂的說話仍然活現眼前！
第一個兒子背信棄義的行為，直到今天仍不斷上演。做老闆的，為了逃避繳付遣散費和長期服務金，索性直接關門。過一段時間後，用另一個名號開設同一間公司，繼續經營。售賣的商品或服務，經常貨不對辦；祇求眼前的利潤，即使信譽破產亦置諸不理…說也奇怪，不單商界如此，連今天的當權者，也不要求官員忠心，不要求市民愛國；他祇要求公務員簽署「效忠」政府的文件，祇要求市民經常把「擁護」本地憲法，掛在嘴邊便可以了，做到與否並不關心！對那些所謂「異見人士」，不問是否忠心愛國，祇管強力打壓！誠然，今天互聯網發達，出版或發言的成本不高，以致流通的資訊，真偽難辨，良莠不齊，很難辨別「吹哨人」和「造謠者」。合理的對策，就是保持資訊流通，讓市民得到全面的互相參照，辨別真偽。當權者反而限制，而不是協助傳媒的採訪，杜絕對政府「不利」的消息，這樣做祇會形成更嚴重的偏聽…
是當權者對市民要求低嗎？還是不尊重人民，認為他們是無知的，不敢對他們奢望呢？是事實上沒有可能證明一個人是否忠心愛國？還是祇要求表面功夫，向上級交差了事呢？這樣做，當權者豈不是教導鼓勵市民及商界，忠誠的行為是沒有出路的。反過來，對當權者忠誠，是「註定失敗」的嗎？「民無信不立」（論語‧顏淵）是治國的基本原則，怎可以反其道而行呢？即使信奉法家的帝王，也要借用儒家思想教化人民守法！祇有表面的法律條文，沒有法律精神的內涵，結果仍是一場空！當年以色列的君王，不聽先知的話，導至亡國；耶穌時代的權貴，祇做到表面的虔誠，心中沒有法律的精神。當耶穌指出他們的錯謬時，他們反而老羞成怒，把天主聖子殺了！那些不從歷史汲取教訓的當權者，真是自掘墳墓！可怕的是，官員和市民成了無辜的陪葬品！
「稅吏和娼妓要在你們之先進入天國。」（21:31）他們可以進入天國，是因為悔改。即是說，即使從前拒絕履行天父的旨意，祇要從今以後履行天父的旨意便是。其實先後並不重要，常言道：「道無古今，學無先後」，即使稅吏和娼妓先進入天國，亦沒有否定猶太權貴進入天國的可能！雖然耶穌基督並沒有講述第一個兒子的下場，但從歷史我們知道，天主並沒有放棄以色列人，即使是背信棄義的君王刁民。天主借助外族人的手，征服他們，教訓他們；最後，祂還親自下凡，把他們及各民族，從罪惡的奴役中解放出來。這就是天主的公義，不是人間所追求的公平！所以天國的大門，仍然開放給猶太的權貴和今天的當權者！倘若在末日不能進入天國，是咎由自取！
要捨棄財富纔可獲得天國（5:3），為窮人是容易的，因為要捨棄的不多；為富有者的人，犧牲太多了！同樣道理，公開的罪人要悔改並不難，因為他們的罪惡，常在他們的眼前（詠51:5），要說服一個自以為義的法利塞人悔改，好像勸一個認為自己沒有病的病人接受治療一樣，談何容易！要取銷一個初出道的年青議員的議席容易，要一個資深政客下台，難上加難！一個不能說真心話的人，生活想必十分痛苦；終日戴著假面具與人相處，想必十分寂寞。為了減輕這痛苦，惟有把心腸變硬。為了不想聽到逆耳的忠言，便以言入罪，把「異見者」滅聲，到頭來把自己囚禁在自己建築的無聲監獄裡！為了宣洩失去自由的痛苦，便虐待身邊沒有能力反抗的人…不過，我們深信天主是不會輕言放棄的。出於慈悲，出於祂的大能，祂一定會恢復蒙污了的肖像的光彩，照耀宇宙。
天父，「求祢給我再造一顆純潔的心，使我心重獲堅固的精神；不要從祢的面前把我拋棄，不要從我身上將祢的聖神收回」（51:12-13）。亞孟。
2017講道
圖片鳴謝：freebibleimages.org
Twenty Sixth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: People of No Integrity
Don't slight the words of Jesus Christ because they were two millennia old and therefore irrelevant. Even today, His words play out right before our eyes!
The unfaithful behaviours of the other son are still performing continuously today. In order not to hand out Severance Payment and Long Service Payment, employers simply shut down the company without prior notice. After a while, they open it again with another name. They keep their eyes on profits and don't care about the quality of their goods and services, not giving a damn to the bankruptcy of their reputation … Strangely, not only do merchants do that, but also the people in power nowadays. They don't demand civil servants to be loyal or citizens to be patriotic. They only require civil servants to sign papers to pledge loyalty to the government, citizens to chant support to the local constitution. They don't bother whether the people genuinely are. To dissidents, they crash without mercy indifferent to the dissidents' patriotism. Admittedly, with the popularity of the Internet, making speeches and voicing opinions do not cost much. Consequently, there is no guarantee to the quality of information floating around. It is difficult to distinguish between whistle-blowers and scaremongers. A reasonable measure to counter this is to keep information flowing freely so that citizens may have access to comprehensive cross checking to tell truth from falsehood. Instead, people in power choose restricting instead of helping journalists in their coverage in order to filter out unfavourable news. This censorship can only result in more seriously selective listening on the part of government …
Do people in power demand little from the citizens? Or dare they not to expect from the citizens who don't deserve respect, thinking that they are ignorant? Is it impossible to prove one's loyalty and patriotism? Or do they simply want to do superficial stuff to meet the demand from their superiors? In doing so, people in power are teaching merchants and citizens alike that it is futile to be honest. It backfires: integrity towards people in power is "destined to fail"! Confucius says, "Integrity towards people is the foundation of governance" (Analect, Yan Hui). How can a government proceed in the opposite direction and succeed? Even emperors who upheld Legalism advocated Confucianism to teach people to obey laws. It is futile to obey the letters of the law and ignore its spirit. Israelite kings refused to listen to exhortations of prophets and led to their own downfalls. The Jewish authority during Jesus' time was pious in front of the people. There was no spirit of the law in their hearts. When Jesus pointed out their mistakes, they became furious and murdered the Son of God! Those who don't learn from history are digging their own graves! Unfortunately, civil servants and citizens become innocent grave goods!
"Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you" (21:31). They are allowed to enter the kingdom of God because they repent. That is to say, even though they refused to do the Father's will, they may enter when they do the Father's will from now on. In fact, it's insignificant to be the first or the last. "Truth is timeless and seniority in learning doesn't count." Even if tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom of God before the Jewish authority, that doesn't deny their admittance. Although Jesus Christ tells us nothing about what happened to the other son afterwards, we learn from history that God did not abandon the Israelites, even unfaithful kings and hooligans. God made use of foreign forces to conquer and chasten them. At last, He came down Himself to deliver them and all peoples from the bondage of sin. This is God's righteousness, not the kind of tit for tat we seek on earth! The gate to heaven was accessible for the Jewish authority and still is for the people of power today. If they fail to enter the kingdom of God on Judgment Day, they themselves alone are responsible!
In order to enter the kingdom of God, one must forsake wealth (5:3). It is easier for the poor because they don't have much to abandon. Not so for the rich. They have to sacrifice much! Similarly, it is not difficult for public sinners to repent because their sins are always before them (Psalm 51:5). To convince a self-righteous Pharisee to repent is as difficult as persuading a patient, who doesn't think he is sick, to receive treatment! To disqualify a young councillor of his seat is easy, to make a seasoned politician to stand down is difficult! The life of a person who is forced not to empty his heart must be very painful indeed. Interacting with people through masks must be lonely. In order to relieve such pains, one has to harden his heart. In order not to hear unpleasant truth, silence the dissidents. In the end, people in power imprison themselves in a prison of dead silence they build for themselves! In order to vent the frustration of losing freedom, they abuse nearby people who can't defend themselves … However, we are convinced that God will not give up easily. Out of mercy and omnipotence, He shall restore the glory of those tarnished images and make them shine forth in the universe.
Father, "A clean heart creates for me; renew within me a steadfast spirit. Do not drive me from before your face, nor take from me your Holy Spirit" (51:12-13) Amen.
Today, we read of the Parable of Two Sons. In context, it criticised the Jewish leaders who represented the people to worship God. Yahweh was faithful to the pledge He had made to Abraham. He liberated the Israelites from Egypt and set up the "Sinai Covenant" with them. Among all the peoples on earth, God elected the Israelites to be the "Chosen People" (Exodus 19:4-6). Later, the Israelites did not honour the Covenant and worshipped idols, like the other son in the parable who promised to go but did not go (Matthew 21:30). On the other hand, there were Jews in the society, including tax collectors and prostitutes, who were marginalized because they were public sinners who did not obey the law. They were represented by the first son in the parable. At first, they refused to do the Father's will for whatever reasons. But later, they believed the Baptist and repented (21:32). Jesus' teaching is very clear. God doesn't care what you say. He only demands genuine repentance from you, "Which of the two did the father's will?" (21:31)
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