If there was any good day to have a funeral, it would be today. Today in the Christian calendar is Holy Saturday. Yesterday being Good Friday is when we remember the crucifixion of Christ and tomorrow will be Easter, the Day of Resurrection. Jesus Christ is alive; he is risen!
People have always wondered and thought about what happened to Jesus on Saturday. Some theologians believe that Jesus went to hell to save all those who have died before and rising from death on Easter, Christ is now and forever the miracle of God’s love and saving grace for all of us. As believers of Christ, we believe that in Christ, death has lost its sting.
All four of the Gospels in the Bible have accounts of the resurrection. And all four of the Gospels reported that the first to come to the tomb where Jesus was laid to anoint him for his final burial with spices and oils found the rock rolled away and the tomb was empty were the women. Matthew listed Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mark reported Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome. Luke mentioned Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James and the other women. And in John, it was only Mary Magdalene who came to the empty tomb.
The way the women who came to the tomb expecting to anoint Jesus’ body reminds me of Pauline Chen. When I came to the church in 1998, I was affectionately introduced to the “Chen sisters!” They are Nancy Chen, Helen Hong, Margaret Lum and Pauline Chen. They were all senior women in the large Chen Household. Besides the obvious kitchen wisdom and family nurture that they provided to their respective families, what they offered to First Chinese Baptist was exceptional hospitality. We repeatedly nominated and elected every year at least one of the four sisters to serve on the Social Committee. We know that when we did that, our church would have the hospitality services of all four sisters.
Pastors and church leaders often like to think that it’s their sermons that are important or interesting programs that excite people. But what really counts is the Social Committee! The sisters are examples of faithful table fellowship. They made tea and served char sui bows out on the sidewalk. They served plates of Thanksgiving turkey to seniors and friends. They cut the Coffee Crunch cake from Eastern Bakery for welcoming new baptized members. They rolled napkins and utensils for our annual barbecue church picnic. They made things happen in the church.
Like Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, Salome, and other women, we can count Pauline Chen as one of those women who are working quietly behind the action so that the church family will grow and pastors like me and all those who serve the Lord can have effective ministries.
Pauline Chen worked quietly behind the action for her family as she did in the church. Like playing maj-jong being dealt with your 13 tiles, you learn to play with what you are given. And when one is skillful and with a bit of good fortune, one can win. Pauline worked with what she had and in the end of a long and faithful life, she won the mah-jong game of life.
Surviving and growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution meant turbulence and uncertainties. Not meeting her father until she was 12 or having to relocate to Hongkong and ultimately moving to America with her matchmade husband Jimmy Chen were the challenges that Pauline met with courage. Given these realities of what she was dealt with, she stepped up her game to make things happen for her and her family.
Without credentials, she went to work. Without English, she went to school. Without a lot of formal business background, she became an entrepreneur. One of the most popular Scriptures used when we are remembering a capable woman comes from Proverbs 31. In verses 26-29, we read,
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and her teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”
These verses describe Pauline very well.
Pauline did not eat the bread of idleness at all. She cooked meals for her family and they remember her curry chicken and Korean Mandarin short ribs. She gave of her time and talents to support her family so that they would continue to support each other for generations to come. Realizing that she was blessed by being in America, she sponsored her mother and several families to immigrate to America so they too may have a safe and stable life. She made these things happen and as the result of Pauline’s love for family, she altered the course of their lives for the good.
Two of the number of women who came to the tomb where Jesus was laid were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James. Since James was Jesus’ brother, this Mary was Jesus’ mother who gave birth to him in a manger in Bethlehem. The loving affection of these two Marys is the kind of love that Pauline also had for her family. Pauline cared for her mother, her mother-in-law, her father-in-law and many others in the Chen and Moy households. She also traveled to visit and care for her father in Massachusetts. Perhaps the most memorable care that Pauline provided was for her devoted husband Jimmy particularly when he became ill.
Out of a deep sense of love and loyalty, Pauline actively nursed Jimmy and from that deep, deep well of devotion, she discovered superhuman strength to physically hoist him onto the #30 Stockton bus for his treatments. She was creative to engineer a belt to grab hold of Jimmy without hurting him. Overcoming such obstacles to care and to love means that Pauline’s hands were never idle. She was dealt with 13 mah-jong tiles and she played them skillfully and made things happen for her love of Jimmy and for her family.
I like the part where Pauline often went to Macy’s to look for a bargain! I think it’s in our DNA as Toisan people that we are bargain-hunters and frugal. Even at Macy’s, Pauline Chen was not idling but searching for that great sale to bring home to show her family so that her children would call her “happy” and her husband would praise her and proclaim, “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all!” “You got a good sale!”
If there was any good day for a funeral, today would be that day. The women who were with Jesus all along were probably on Holy Saturday gathering spices and oils to anoint Jesus’ body for its final burial. Since they were not “eating bread of idleness,” they came to the tomb early on Easter morning. And because they were there first before anyone else, they became the first people who received the good news of the resurrection.
Pauline Chen, like the women who followed Jesus, was not idle. She “fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7)
She did everything that was expected of her as a loving wife, nurturing mother, an auntie, a contributing member of the Chen household, and a skillful mah-jong player who was dealt with her 13 tiles and became a winner in the sight of God in the grace and love of Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior.
In John 3:16, God so loved the world that God decided to act to love us so whoever believes this, God loves and will experience eternal life. It is God who made this happen. And when we believe in God’s grace, we are saved and from our love for one another, we can make things happen for God’s sake.
Pauline Chen made many things happen. Like the women who first witnessed the resurrection of our Lord, we are confident that Pauline Chen is now in the loving arms of Christ himself. Death has lost its sting in Christ Jesus!