害怕死去的麦子
总有「下一个」
经文
路加福音九51-62
51耶稣被接上升的日子将到，他就定意向耶路撒冷去，
52便打发使者在他前头走。他们到了撒玛利亚的一个村庄，要为他预备。
53那里的人不接待他，因他面向耶路撒冷去。
54他的门徒雅各、约翰看见了，就说：主阿，你要我们吩咐火从天上降下来烧灭他们，像以利亚所作的（有古卷无「像以利亚所作的」数字）吗？
55耶稣转身责备两个门徒，说：你们的心如何，你们并不知道。
56人子来不是要灭人的性命（或作：灵魂；下同），是要救人的性命。说着就往别的村庄去了（有古卷只有五十五节首句，五十六节末句）。
57他们走路的时候，有一人对耶稣说：你无论往那里去，我要跟从你。
58耶稣说：狐狸有洞，天空的飞鸟有窝，只是人子没有枕头的地方。
59又对一个人说：跟从我来！那人说：主，容我先回去埋葬我的父亲。
60耶稣说：任凭死人埋葬他们的死人，你只管去传扬神国的道。
61又有一人说：主，我要跟从你，但容我先去辞别我家里的人。
62耶稣说：手扶着犁向后看的，不配进神的国。
信息分享
经过数天的讨论，我们有甚么发现？我们看到当我们降服于神的时候，我们并没有任何损失，事实上是更有所得。我们以为失去自己的时候却是找到了自己。我们俯伏在基督脚前，结果却能与祂一起坐在荣耀的宝座上，祂邀请我们与祂合作，将混沌变为宇宙，从万物中带出美善。这是多美好的生活方式！我绝对不愿意用它来交换别的东西。
当我们完全明白「向自我死去」是甚么意思时，就会以完全不同的心态来面对障碍和对抗，因为我们能够以耶稣的眼光来看它们──不是障碍，而是机会。当撒玛利亚人拒绝接待耶稣和祂的门徒时，圣经记载说耶稣谴责门徒的报复心态后，「他们到另外一个村庄去」。生命里面总有「另一村庄」。如果你在这村庄遭受拒绝，你自然的就会走向另外一个村庄。
我在生活上学会的功课就是：总有「下一个」。而下一个村庄实际上是更接近耶稣最后的目标。耶稣第二天不用再走那么远的路，因为祂在撒玛利亚人当中所遇到的势利和恐惧让祂更接近自己的目标。感谢神，生命总有「另一村庄」。你前面的道路有无尽的障碍和抗拒吗？只要你完全放下自我保护的本能，你就能够与神一起把障碍变成新的机会。绝对没有任何东西可以令那些已经「向自我死去」的基督徒感到沮丧。
「当我们向神降服，就能得着一切」
进深研究
徒十六1-15；约十六13；罗八14
1. 保罗的路受阻时有甚么事情发生？
2. 谁在带领保罗？
祈祷
主耶稣，您从来没有被任何障碍阻挡您的计划，求您帮助我懂得以同样的态度对待生命。帮助我看到一个「村庄」向我关上门的时候，就知道将有「另一村庄」在等待我。奉主耶稣宝贵的名字祈求，阿们。
The Corn of Wheat Afraid to Die
There's always the "next"
Bible reading:
Luke 9:51-62
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him;
53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?"
55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them.
56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family."
62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Message
What are we discovering? We are seeing that nothing is lost when we surrender ourselves to God - indeed, everything is gained. When we lose ourselves, we find ourselves. We throw ourselves at Christ's feet, and end up by sitting with Him on His throne, where He invites us to co-operate with Him in turning chaos into cosmos and bringing good out of everything. What a way to live! I wouldn't change it for anything.
When we fully understand what "dying to self" means, we then face obstacles and opposition in an entirely different frame of mind. We see them in the way Jesus saw them - not as obstacles, but as opportunities. When the Samaritans refused to receive Jesus and His disciples, the account says that, after Jesus had rebuked the disciples for wanting to retaliate, "they went to another village". Life always has "another village". If you are opposed in this one, then you pass on to the next.
If there is one lesson I have learned in life, it is this: there is always a "next". And that next village was, in fact, nearer Jesus' final goal. He didn't have to go so far the next day. He advanced toward His goal by way of the snobbery and fear that He encountered among the Samaritans. Thank God life always has "another village". Is the way ahead strewn with endless obstacles and opposition? Then, providing you have died to your own instinct for self-preservation, you and God are able to team up and make the obstacles into new opportunities. Nothing can frustrate the Christian who has died to himself, and lives out the purposes of Another. Nothing.
"Everything is gained when we surrender ourselves"
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You who were never deterred by the blocking of Your plans, help me to approach life with that same attitude. Show me that when one "Village" remains dosed to me, there is always the "next". For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.
Further study
Acts 16:1-15
John 16:13
Romans 8:14
1.What happened when Paul's way was blocked?
2. Who was leading Paul?
本文英文版权属 CWR 所有，承蒙允准刊载。
背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有，承蒙允准使用。