Donald Ng
February 8, 2014, 1:30-3:30 PM, ABSW, Berkeley
I am honored to have this opportunity to honor James today. When James retired from full-time ministry at First Chinese Baptist in 1991 after serving for 40 years, I was still in Valley Forge. Today gives me an opportunity to share a few words of deep appreciation for our beloved Pastor Emeritus.
As most of you remembered when I first served at First Chinese in the mid-70s, I was one of his assistants. By the time I met him, he was already a popular figure in the denomination. James led a Bible study at the Atlantic City Baptist convention when he stood up on the last day and announced that he knew it was the last day because he just put on his last pair of underwear. A whole generation of Baptists remembered that story. James served on many ABC commissions and committees and was one of the founders of the Asian Caucus that is known as the Alliance of Asian American Baptists today. While he was becoming a celebrity minister, he remained always a local church pastor.
Some pastors see the local church as a steppingstone to a bigger stone. Some pastors become bored and realized that they have preached all the sermons they knew. Some pastors give up when storm clouds roll in. Some pastors lose their faith in God when things didn’t happen their way. But for 40 years, James never did any of that. Rather than being on a small steppingstone, he made that stone bigger by staying 40 years. Rather than preaching the same sermons over and over again, he studied the Bible and God gave him a new message to say. Rather than running away when conflicts and schisms arose, he persevered and passed the test for 40 years. Rather than giving up on God, he found that God was always watching over him and never giving up on him.
Forty years or 40 days is a way in the Bible to say it was a long time. The Israelites wandered in the desert and ate manna for 40 years. Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days to receive the commandments. David reigned over Israel for 40 years. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days. Forty days or 40 years signifies for us a long time. James served First Chinese Baptist as pastor for 40 years—that’s a long, long time. For most pastors including this one, we are seen as a blip in the 134 years of FCBC’s history. But for James he is almost 30% of our 134 years of history! It is hard to imagine the number of sermons he preached or weddings and funerals he performed or newsletter articles he wrote. After 40 years, people referred to some of his words as “Chuckism.”
Being James’ second successor, I have seen countless blessings of his ministry. He led the church from being a mission center depending on the sponsorship of the Home Missions society to becoming a self-sufficient vital church that can stand on its own two feet. The people came of age and matured in faith under James’ pastorate. He raised up and trained church leaders from the ground up by teaching basic Christian foundation courses and passing out certificates. Unsurprisingly some of these graduates are still serving, making our church vibrant and faithful today. He led in the celebration of our centennial anniversary in 1980 and created an intimate sanctuary space that has now become holy and sacred. He held the church together over many years and maintained the only American Baptist witness in Chinatown. People in the denomination often refer to FCBC as “James Chuck’s church.” While we know that FCBC is Christ’s church, I happily say that I am at “James Chuck’s church.”
After James retired from FCBC, he resumed his passion of teaching at the seminary. While becoming an effective and popular professor, he wonderfully maintained his honored position at the church ever since—for over the past 23 years! When we add these together, James has been serving and giving up his life for the Christian gospel for over 63 years! Today, he is still active. He sings in the choir, officiates at special events, and published three volumes of Chinatown books of stories of faith and life.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul said,
“Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us” (5:1-5).
Throughout his 40 years as pastor at FCBC and for a total of 63 years of faithful service up to the present, James has had faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of us think that the only thing James knows to do in life is to serve the Lord! That’s not a bad thing at all!
With God’s grace and glory, James has traveled many times over these steps of faithful discipleship. The suffering that he had, led to endurance that led to character building. Being able to persevere for 40 years like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years or Jonah in the boat refusing to go to Nineveh as God directed and then announcing that in 40 days judgment will come, James served Jesus Christ faithfully for 40 years. James’ character gave people hope in the Lord and this hope did not disappoint them. James imparted hope in others to see God’s love pouring into their hearts through the Holy Spirit.
One of James’ continuing contributions to the life of our church is his calligraphy. In every home that I visit, there’s a house blessing in James’ calligraphy. I have at least two hanging in my office. Today, as new members join our church, we have James create a calligraphy of their special Bible verse. These treasures will be in the hearts and homes of people for many years to come.
Most of us here have learned something from James. While he tried to teach us theology, we may only remembered that God is love. While he may like to sing, “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” we are just beginning to understand God’s majesty. While he tries to teach guitar playing even now with residents at Piedmont Gardens, it’s fine to just know the chords to Kumbaya. While he captured our childhood and life stories and told us that our lives are rich and meaningful, we are happy to just see our stories printed in a book. I know that while he tried to teach me the Yale version of learning Cantonese in 1975, today I still rely on him to assist me in funerals when Chinese is needed.
One of the fundamental things I learned from James is that it’s important to stay awhile. In my first call to FCBC, I stayed a mere 3 years. I learned from that and made a pledged to myself that from this point on, I will stay for awhile. The lesson is that unless you do, you won’t have the opportunity to be a difference in people’s lives. Building meaningful relationship over the years is redemptive just like Jesus was on earth for his 33 years of being fully human and fully God. Being a pastor for 40 years means that James was able to see and participate in countless ways as God’s servant in people’s lives. We can all learn this from James—to be a difference in people’s lives, we need to stay awhile.
I know that I would never break James’ record of 40 years—that is a record that will stand in the church books for a long, long time. Just like how we read in the Bible the sign of 40 years or 40 days means a long, long time, the history of FCBC with James serving for 40 years will be read by future generations of church people to come. You will tell your children and they will tell their children that there was a pastor named James Chuck who served for 40 years. By faith, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1), James served all the days of his life in the name of our Lord and continues serving today.
Just like the sun retires for a few hours and then rises to get back to work, James may have retired from public life. But he is not retired from life at all. He remains a giant figure in the denomination. He still sings in the choir. He still goes around asking people that they should know their life purpose is to become a “loving and compassionate people.” That’s one of his “Chuckism.”
I am honored to be here to honor James—it’s an honor that is worth mentioning this afternoon. As one who followed James at FCBC, I am honored to forever be associated with “James Chuck’s church.” May the good Lord continue to abide with you, the Rev. Dr. James Chuck until that day when the Lord says to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”