by Rev. Donald Ng, First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco
October 18, 1998
Exodus 36:1-7
1 Corinthians 3:10-17
3 Little Pigs
There once were 3 little pigs. I think they were brothers. Their names were: char-sui, roast pork, and pig’s feet. When they were old enough, they were sent out to build their own little houses. The first little pig built his house with straw. The second little pig built his with sticks. Since they were able to easily find straw and sticks around, they quickly built their houses. But the third little pig, well, he was a planner and was a good steward with his time and money. He said to himself, why should I spend any time building my house only to have the wolf blow it away. While the first and second little pigs were out playing, the third little pig was baking bricks and mixing cement. Soon the third little pig finished his sturdy house. Before long the big, bad wolf came. He was hungry for some of that Chinese food. You can finish the story yourself.
Homes
The places we live which we call our ‘homes’ are special to us. Besides the obvious of providing a roof over our heads to take in nourishment, regenerate the cells in our bodies, and to tie together relationships, our homes give us meaning. Often times they help shape who we are and while all of this is happening, we are introducing meaning into the physical spaces that we eventually attribute the label ‘home’ to.
Joy and I are very fortunate to live in a nice and convenient apartment on Arguello Boulevard near Balboa. We have said to each other that if we are to live in the city, let’s be close to shops and restaurants so that we can walk to them. It has been wonderful that we can do this now. But what this apartment has is an ‘ocean view!’ From our living room window, we can look straight down Balboa believing that the ocean is there! Our friends in Pennsylvania are envious.
In time we know that San Francisco will gradually feel more like “home” when new associations are made, memories are created, and histories are written.
Construction of the Tabernacle
After Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt and before they entered into the promised land, God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle. Moses assembled all the Israelites and said to them: These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:
*Take from among you an offering to the Lord; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen; goat’s hair, tanned rams’ skins and fine leather; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for fragrant incense, and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastplate.
*All who are skillful among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded: its tents and its coverings, its clasps and it frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases…
We read that all the people withdrew from the presence of Moses and when they came back, everyone’s heart was stirred and everyone whose spirit was willing, brought the Lord’s offering to be used for building the tabernacle, and for all its services, and for all the sacred vestments.
We see in the Exodus passage for this morning that the hearts of the people were so stirred up that they kept on bringing freewill offerings every morning. There were so much offerings of gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine linen; goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, and fine leather; acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and the gems to be set in the ephod and the breastplate that Moses had to tell the people to stop.
“The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do,” said the artisans. So the people were restrained from bringing; for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.
For a group of people who recently escaped out of Egypt with probably only the shirts on their backs, roaming around the wilderness with their backpacks and hiking sticks, these people gave so much that they had enough!
Nail Soup
This event reminds me about a story called, ”Nail Soup.” We see a stark and dismal apartment in the inner city. Like most apartment buildings in an inner city, people keep to themselves. A lonely woman was hungry but did not have any food. She decided to boil some water in a pot. Surely some hot water may help her through the night. While the water was boiling, a nail that happened to be on top of the stove fell into the boiling pot. The boiling water made the nail strike against the pot sounding like the ringing of church bells. Pretty soon people who were afraid to open their doors, were coming out to see what was causing the ringing.
The lonely woman said, she was making nail soup. One neighbor said that the if you are going to make soup, you will need some carrots, so she went up to her apartment to get some. Another said, what is soup without onions, so he went downstairs to get some for the pot. Pretty soon, all the people from the apartment building brought something to put in the nail soup. They all sat down in a long table and all had enough to eat.
When our hearts are stirred, we are willing to bring offerings that will be more than we need. Whether it is building the tabernacle where God lives with the Israelites or building community in an inner city apartment, our willingness to give produces more than enough if our hearts are stirred.
First Chinese Baptist Church
I never heard about FCBC until 24 years ago and you have been around for 84 years already. When Joy and I came in 1975, young and fresh out of seminary and Joy heavy with Greg, we immediately found a home away from Boston. And when we answered the call to serve God with the denomination, our hearts were so stirred up already that we left our hearts here! For years when we would come to visit, we would imagine what it might be like to serve FCBC again. Now we can write our history together.
You may not know this, but the spirit of God has been with you that when we were here, our hearts were stirred up. I have privately said to myself that if there was one church in the whole denomination that one time in my life that I pray that God might call me to is FCBC. You have stirred up my heart! When God answered my prayers and you called me as you pastor, I could not say no. My heart is so stirred up that I want to give freely.
The Spirit of God is still among you. Just as the Israelites gathered gold and silver, blue and crimson yarns, goats’ hair and fine leather, wood and oil for lights, and onyx stones and gems for the breastplate to build the tabernacle, I see you gathering your gifts and talents, time and prayers, simple and sacrificial gifts to build up FCBC. When our hearts are all stirred up about the mission of our church, I believe we will bring much more than is needed to do God’s work.
Building on The Foundation
Next year will be a very challenging year for our church. God is commanding us to build a tabernacle of stone and of hearts. We will find ourselves making sacrificial gifts to both the stewardship campaign to continue our legacy in this building at Waverly Place in Chinatown and Sunset for the next three years AND to the 1999 Budget to sustain and continue the ongoing ministries that we already have in place. It is not one of the other, but rather, we need both the campaign and the 1999 canvass to do well.
The theme of the 1999 Canvass is “Building on The Foundation to Continue the Legacy. It will be the first year of our campaign. It will also be the foundational year to begin reclaiming our ministry in Chinatown and beyond. We will be building with stones and winning hearts.
In our responsive reading for today, we see that Paul was writing to the Corinthians about building their foundation on Jesus Christ. Unless we build on Christ, all other foundations will be burned up and the builder will suffer great loss. It’s the third little pig that Paul is talking about. When we build our personal foundations on Christ Jesus, our hearts are stirred up. We can’t help but to give freely.
First Chinese Baptist Church Tabernacle
When Moses and the Israelites finished the Tabernacle Tent, it says in Exodus 40: 34, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” This was God’s sign of his presence that he will go with them, marking each day’s movement through the wilderness until they arrive in the promised land.
Paul writing to the Corinthians said that because Jesus Christ died for us for the forgiveness of our sins, we are to build our foundation on The Foundation, Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, we become the tabernacle—the temple. Paul writes,
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells
in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person.
For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
We represent God’s will and plan in the world.
The Centennial renovation of our tabernacle produced this symbolic light fixture hanging from our ceiling. As described by James Chuck, the main cross represents the central place Jesus Christ is in our lives and in this church. The other four crosses represent the four gospels and the many others who have had an eyewitness account of Christ. From these four crosses, there are yet smaller crosses and infuse throughout these crosses is light which represent all of God’s people, you and me.
Our foundation is based on Jesus Christ and when we build our lives on him, we are like “a city built on a hill cannot be hid.”
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14-16) May these ceiling crosses infused with great light represent the “cloud and glory of God to fill our tabernacle.”
Closing
Let me close with a poem from Michel Quoist, who was a French priest working in an urban setting.
The bricklayer laid a brick on the bed of cement.
Then, with a precise stroke of his trowel, spread another layer
And, before you realized it, laid on another brick.
The foundations grew visibly,
The building rose, tall and strong, to shelter all.
I thought, Lord, of that poor brick buried in the darkness at the base of the big building.
No one sees it, but it accomplishes its task, and the other bricks need it.
Lord, what a difference whether I am on the rooftop or in the foundations of your building, as long as I stand faithfully at the right place.
For me that brick buried deep in the darkness of our foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ. We need him to hold us up. We will need many bricks to build up our ministries at the First Chinese Baptist Church. Each of us will have an important part in our ministries to make a difference in the world.
We have come full circle. We started of talking about the three little pigs and the third little pig building his house out of bricks and we are closing with us as bricks of caring hearts stirred up by the spirit of God to build on the church of Jesus Christ.
With stirred up hearts built on The Foundation of Jesus Christ, we will discover that we will be “bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”
Let us pray.
Gracious and Almighty God, we are surprised and thankful for the miracles that you can create in our hearts when they are stirred up to serve you. We know that we have come into this world with nothing and that everything that we do have comes from you. Guide us in the coming days to pray to know what may be our part in building on The Foundation of Jesus Christ. In the name of Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, we pray. Amen.