Justice: God at work (Part 1) 公義：上帝在工作（上）

Awakening

I remember as a young boy when my parents took me to visit my grandmother in Bristol, we drove down Muller Avenue and up over Ashley Down.  As we crested the hill, my mother would often point out a stark building on the skyline and tell me that it was Muller’s Orphanage, where the poor children without parents used to live. I think it was intended as a little moral lesson to remind me how fortunate I was to have parents who looked after me well! It was later on in life that I learnt the full story of George Muller and his amazing work of caring for orphans. That was how Muller became one of my Bristolian heroes.

He is famously known as a pastor who decided to provide ‘visible proof that our God and Father is the same faithful creator as ever was’ by praying in every penny of the costs of building and running several large orphan houses for thousands of children. And here is the kicker: he never publicised or asked for donations, but instead, he prayed for the resources in private without letting those needs be known publicly. This was his way of demonstrating that God is faithful to provide for us when we put complete faith and trust in Him. You can still read his prayer journal today and see his requests for funds and the date penned beside it on which that prayer was answered. 

All of this happened in Victorian England long, long before my boyhood encounter with the last remaining remnants of his buildings. But Muller’s encounter with God in this way all started because he became aware of a social problem happening in the streets around his church. Parents who became victims of debt were forced to live and work in Poor Houses until they could repay their debt. It was like a debtors' prison that resulted in lots of children being abandoned and left to fend for themselves on the streets. Muller was a pastor who knew his bible well and wanted to apply its teachings in practical ways. But it was the motivation of his heart for the children that allowed him to overcome doubt and make an appropriate response. After prayer and the leading of God, he gradually started renting houses close by his church, taking in children, caring for them and educating them. It was only when the work had grown so big that it was causing problems to the rest of the neighbourhood, he felt called to build brand new buildings on a greenfield site at Ashley Down, on what was then the fringes of Bristol.

Muller’s story is often told in the personal context of his prayers, his faith and God’s provision to him, but it sometimes hides the core element of a community of believers, (also known as the church!) that he was pastoring and who were growing both in number and their understanding of what living a biblical faith meant. It was a demonstration not only of God’s faithfulness, but also of the Christian faith at work through His community into a wider community.   

In part 2 of this blog, we will look at the biblical development of God’s heart for justice, and explore why the response of the faith community is a mark of God working through the church.

覺醒

還記得小時候，父母會帶我去探望居於布里斯托（Bristol）的祖母，他們會駕車經過慕勒大街（Muller Avenue），上到阿什莉丘原（Ashley Down）。上山的時候，我母親會指著一座樸實無華的建築，告訴我那就是喬治．慕勒（George Muller）開設的孤兒院，讓那些沒有父母的可憐孩子入住。我想她多少帶著一點弦外之音，提醒我已身在福中，能得到父母的悉心照顧！長大後，我才真正認識到慕勒的一生，以及他一生照顧孤兒的偉大工作，因此，慕勒亦成為了我心目中的布里斯托英雄。

慕勒牧師為人熟悉，是因為他決定要提供「看得見的證據，讓人知道我們的父神由始至終都是那信實的創造者」，建立和營運孤兒院所需用的一分一毫，他都全然在禱告中交托——不只是一間孤兒院，而是數間大型的孤兒院，數千名孩子的家。而最令人意外的是，他從來沒有公開募捐，只在暗中禱告。就這樣，他成為了見證，讓人知道當我們全心全意信靠神，祂是信實的，必會供應我們的所需。今天你仍能找到他的禱告日誌，可以細讀他向神所求的資金，旁邊還會寫著神答允他禱告的日期。

這些都是維多利亞時代所發生的事了，跟我兒時接觸到孤兒院之時相隔甚遠。然而，慕勒之所以能這樣與神相遇，是因為他留意到自己教會附近街道上的一個社會問題。有些家庭的父母，因為欠債，而迫於無奈地要住在貧民院（Poor House），直至還清債務。那裏就像是個債戶的監獄，有許多兒童因而遭到遺棄，只能在街上流連，自生自滅。慕勒牧師熟讀聖經，並想要實踐聖經教導，然而，最大的動力還是源於他心底裏對服事兒童的決心，使他衝破各種疑慮，作出了合適的回應。他不斷禱告，最終在神的引領下，租下教會附近的房屋，讓孩子住進去，並照顧他們，教育他們。後來因為這事工發展太大，對社區造成了影響，他才按照感動建起一座全新的建築，在阿什莉丘原的地段建孤兒院，當時阿什莉丘原是布里斯托的邊緣地區。

別人傳頌慕勒的故事，通常都主要講述他的禱告和信心，以及神對他的供應，但這樣有時隱沒了「信徒群體」（教會）這一核心元素，就是慕勒所牧養的教會。這教會人數增長，會眾越來越明白何謂活出聖經所教導的信仰。慕勒生命中所展示的，不單是上帝的信實，也是上帝透過祂的群體來工作，進到另一個更廣闊的群體裏。

在〈公義：上帝在工作（下）〉，我們將會看看聖經怎樣描述上帝對公義的心，也會探討信仰群體的回應如何成為上帝透過教會工作的標記。