SUNDAY WORSHIP
In-person worship weekly on Sundays, 10:30am
Or, join us weekly on YouTube, for recorded virtual worship:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3vcS_6uHIFeTFrl4AJECoQ
Scroll down to view weekly sermons in Mandarin/English.
For messages (English) from 2014 to 2016, please click here.
Mandarin Sermon Translations
~ Luke 15:1-10 ~
Rev. Aneeta Devi Saroop (she/her)
Spirit of Life Lutheran Church, Vancouver B.C. on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Coast Salish People S wx_wu7mesh (Squamish), and Sanlwata?/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwmaBkway'am (Musqueam) Nations.
温哥华生命之灵路德教会，位于海岸萨利希原住民 S wx_wu7mesh（斯阔米什族）、Sanlwata?/Selilwitulh（特斯利-沃图族）和 xwmaBkway'am（马斯克姆族）未割让的祖传土地上。
Now all the tax colfectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, '7hisfellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
所有的税吏和罪人都来听耶稣讲道。法利赛人和文士私下议论说：“这个人接待罪人，还同他们吃饭。”
So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he coifs together hisfriends and neighbours, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me,for I have found my Jost sheep.' Just so, I telf you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons whQ need no repentance.
于是耶稣给他们讲了这个比喻：“你们中间谁有一百只羊，失去一只，不把那九十九只留在旷野，去寻找那失去的羊直到找着呢？找着了，就欢欢喜喜地扛在肩上，回到家里，请朋友和邻居来，对他们说：‘请与我一同欢乐，因为我失去的羊已经找到了。’我告诉你们，一个罪人悔改，在天上也要这样为他欢喜，胜过为九十九个不用悔改的义人欢喜。”
"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until shefinds it? And when she has found it, she coifs together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me,for I have found the coin that I had
lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
“或者一个妇人有十块钱，若失落一块，岂不点上灯，打扫屋子，细细寻找直到找着吗？找着了，就请朋友和邻居来，对她们说：‘请与我一同欢乐，因为我失落的那块钱已经找到了。’我告诉你们，一个罪人悔改，在上帝的使者面前也是这样为他欢喜。”
Grace and peace to you from God our Source and Christ our Companion. Amen.
愿从我们的源头上帝和我们的同伴基督赐给你们恩典与平安。阿们。
Luke tells us that the Pharisees were grumbling because Jesus was eating with "sinners and tax collectors." That word grumbling, we know the tone. The whisper behind the back, the disapproving side-eye, the judgemental "tsk-tsk" about who belongs and who doesn't.
路加告诉我们，法利赛人因为耶稣和“罪人、税吏”一起吃饭而私下发怨言。那个“发怨言”的词，我们很熟悉那种语气：背后的窃窃私语、不赞许的斜眼、带着论断意味的“啧啧”，讨论谁属于这里，谁不属于。
And Jesus responds not with an argument, but with a story. Two of them, in fact. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to find the one that is lost. A woman turns her house upside down to find a single lost coin. These are images of a God who notices what's missing, who doesn't shrug and say, "Oh well, ninety-nine out of a hundred isn't bad.11
而耶稣回应的方式不是辩论，而是讲故事。事实上是两个故事：一个牧人撇下九十九只羊去寻找那只失落的羊；一个妇人把家里翻个底朝天去寻找一枚失落的银币。这些画面展现了一位细心察觉缺失的上帝，祂不会耸耸肩说：“算了吧，一百个里有九十九个也不差。”
This is not a God of acceptable averages. This is a God who refuses to let even one life slip through the cracks.
这不是一个满足于“平均数”的上帝。这是一位绝不允许哪怕一个生命从缝隙中滑落的上帝。
When I hear these parables, I'm struck by how relational they are. A sheep may seem small, but for a shepherd, that sheep has a name, a personality, a story. A coin may seem trivial, but in the life of that woman, it was survival. It was bread for the day, security for her household.
当我听到这些比喻时，深深打动我的是它们的关系性。一只羊看似渺小，但对牧人来说，那只羊有名字、有个性、有故事。一枚钱币似乎微不足道，但在那个妇人的生命中，它意味着生计。它是一日的食粮，是她家庭的保障。
Jesus is teaching us that God's love is not abstract. It's not about numbers on a page or categories of "good" and "bad." God's love is personal, particular, concrete. You matter. Your story matters. Your struggles, your gifts, your questions, all of it is seen and held by God.
耶稣在教导我们，上帝的爱不是抽象的。它不是纸面上的数字，也不是“好人”或“坏人”的分类。上帝的爱是个人的、具体的、真实的。你很重要。你的故事很重要。你的挣扎、你的恩赐、你的疑问——这一切都被上帝看见并托住。
And if you feel like you've slipped away, if you feel forgotten, ignored, misunderstood or lost, God is the one searching the hillsides and sweeping the floors until you are found.
如果你觉得自己已经滑落，觉得被遗忘、被忽视、被误解或迷失，上帝就是那位在山坡上寻找、在屋里打扫，直到找到你为止的那一位。
This is not only about God's love for each of us individually, but also about the way we, as church, are called to reflect that love in our cities and neighbourhoods among those who feel as though they are lost. Too often, we become like the Pharisees in this passage, grumbling about who belongs, who doesn't quite fit, who "should" be here, and who isn't.
这不仅仅是关于上帝对我们每个人的爱，也关乎作为教会的我们，被呼召在城市和社区中向那些觉得自己迷失的人反映出这种爱。太多时候，我们变得像这段经文里的法利赛人，发怨言说谁属于这里，谁不太合适，谁“应该”在这里，谁不该。
But Jesus calls us to a different posture. The church isn't a gated community for the already righteous. It's a search party. We are sent to notice who is missing, to listen for the voices on the margins, to ask: Whose story isn't at the table shaping our own story as God's story? Whose song is not yet heard among us?
但耶稣呼召我们采取不同的姿态。教会不是一个只为已经义的人准备的封闭社区。它是一支搜寻队。我们被差派去留意谁不见了，去聆听边缘人的声音，去问：谁的故事还没在桌边参与塑造上帝的故事？谁的歌声还没在我们中间被听见？
In the ELCIC, across our congregations, we know what it's like to feel small. We have always been a church at the margins. We are not the largest church in Canada. But perhaps that's a gift. Because when you're small, you notice. You notice when someone isn't there. You notice the ache of absence. And that noticing becomes an invitation to go looking, not out of shame, or guilt, or numbers, but out of a deep and abiding love that God has shown us.
在加拿大福音路德教会（ELCIC）里，在我们的各个会众中，我们明白渺小是什么感觉。我们一直都是边缘处的教会。我们并不是加拿大最大的教会。但也许这正是一份恩赐。因为当你渺小时，你会注意。你会注意到谁不在了。你会感觉到缺席的痛楚。而这种察觉会成为一个邀请——去寻找，不是出于羞愧、愧疚或数字的考虑，而是出于上帝向我们显明的那份深切而持久的爱。
Both parables end not with guilt, but with joy. The shepherd throws a party. The woman calls her neighbours to celebrate. Heaven rejoices, Jesus says, not over those who never got lost, but over the one who was found.
这两个比喻的结尾都不是定罪，而是喜乐。牧人摆设宴席。妇人请邻居来庆祝。耶稣说，天上的喜乐，不是因那些从未迷失的人，而是因那一个被找回的人。
That's the heart of the gospel: joy. Not shame. Not finger-pointing. Joy.
这就是福音的核心：喜乐。不是羞愧。不是指责。乃是喜乐。
Imagine if our congregations were known for that? Churches where joy erupts every time someone shows up, every time someone finds belonging, every time someone feels seen. Every time gifts are shared, and the gathered people are claimed and nourished in Word and Sacrament, joy is contagious. It's the Spirit's way of saying, "This is what God's reign looks like, like everyone gathered in, no one left behind."
想象一下，如果我们的会众因这一点而闻名呢？每一次有人出现，就有喜乐迸发；每一次有人找到归属，就有喜乐迸发；每一次有人感到被看见，就有喜乐迸发。每一次恩赐被分享，聚集的人因着圣道和圣礼被召聚和滋养，就有喜乐传染开来。这是圣灵在说：“这就是上帝国度的模样——所有人都被聚集在一起，没有人被遗落。”
Beloved in Christ, God is searching for you, for me, for all who feel lost. And God calls us to join the search, to rejoice when even one is gathered in.
在基督里蒙爱的弟兄姐妹，上帝正在寻找你，寻找我，寻找所有感到迷失的人。而上帝也呼召我们加入这搜寻，当哪怕只有一个人被带回时就一同欢喜。
So let us go from this place not grumbling about who belongs, but rejoicing in the relentless, searching love of God. For Christ has already gone ahead of us, seeking, saving, and celebrating.
所以，让我们从这里出去，不再抱怨谁属于谁不属于，而是在上帝那不懈追寻的爱里欢喜。因为基督已经走在我们前头，去寻找，去拯救，去庆祝。
Thanks be to God. Amen.
感谢上帝。阿们。
Past Sermon Translations
May 2020 - Present
