Different Languages: Same Message

I was working at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and living on campus at the time. My apartment was 20 minutes walk from the University chapel where services were held every Sunday. On that particular Sunday, I was up early and decided to attend church at 9 a.m. rather than my customary 10.30 a.m. 

As soon as I entered the sanctuary I realised that the setting was entirely different. The church was almost full. All the worshippers were Chinese, without the scattering of foreign faces, which was customary at the 10.30 services. More importantly the service, which had already begun, was entirely in Mandarin Chinese.  

I sat down, waiting for something familiar but the service proceeded with no break from the incomprehensible pattern of Mandarin. My order of service was of no help, printed, as it was in those beautiful but entirely mysterious Chinese characters.  

The organ indicated that a hymn was on the way and, like a beacon of understandability the board at the front gave numbers in English. Even more promising as I listened to the organ I recognised the tune – Aberystwyth. Something familiar – ‘Jesus, lover of my soul’. Prepared to enjoy this rare participation, I picked up the hymnbook from the pew and turned to number 345. There my satisfaction stopped abruptly. Chinese characters again. At least I could sing it with the others and had a sense of sharing.  

We sat again. The minister gave an announcement and a woman went to the front to the stand for the Bible. I picked up a copy of the Bible from the pew. No help. Chinese characters again. I listened to the melodious voice and the (to me) meaningless sounds, feeling more apart than ever. As I sat, the minister descended from the pulpit and sat beside me. Quietly in English he said the familiar words of the psalm: 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

 The words made a special impact with their striking relevance to my feeling of being cut off from understanding. Even more, the fact that the minister had noticed and responded so personally to my isolation was an unforgettable sign of our human togetherness in Christ, regardless of the things that divide us.

 Prof. Phillip Hughes

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