Preached by Rev. Donald Ng on October 4, 1998
First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco
Text: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Seinfeld
What were you doing on the evening of May 15th? Can you remember?
If you were one of 90 million people, you were watching the final Sein-off of the Seinfeld show on May 15 of this year.
You know that the show ended as it began: a story of a group of utterly self-absorbed friends who make something out of nothing. It was pretty funny.
We watched them in the courtroom after they failed to help an overweight carjacking victim. Unwilling to care or be cared, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer listen as a parade of witnesses testify against them. The four are charged with “criminal indifference” and sent to prison to contemplate their shallow lives.
Even after they landed behind bars, the callousness, self-centeredness and indifference to humanity continue. The mindless chatter about nothing continues. George complains about the poor service from the guards; Elaine frets about how to make a phoning faux pas when calling a friend from her cell. Jerry gives a show for his fellow inmates. Kramer fidgets. Yada yada, yada.
How do we care for each other today? Are we somewhat bothered by the realization that we can see ourselves in the characters of the Seinfeld show?
Paul & Timothy
In Paul’s second pastoral letter to his assistant, Timothy, we see Paul encouraging Timothy to “rekindle his courage.” There was a need to remind Timothy not to slip back into some old habits. There was probably a good reason to remind Timothy of the power and love and self-discipline that were passed on to him when he received the touch of Paul’s hands and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
You see, the story of Jesus is an embarrassment. Timothy may have been ashamed to be associated with followers of Jesus. To have the Lord of the church crucified, to have the eternal judge of heaven and earth die on a cross, is a scandal. The cross is foolishness. It does not fit with the Roman sense of the power of a ruler. Paul reminds Timothy not to be ashamed.
While suffering in a Roman prison for the second time, Paul became convinced that this time there would be no escape, no reprieve. Paul was asking Timothy and through Timothy, all church leaders, to take on the suffering that comes from the gospel. Paul reminds Timothy that God does not give us the spirit of cowardice, but to rekindle his courage to be bold in his witness to Christ.
Paul is reKINdling Timothy’s courage by reminding him of his family. The faith of his kin: his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice lives in him. They were faithful women who passed on their faith to Timothy.
Rekindling Our Courage at FCBC
As Paul reminds Timothy to not be ashamed, not be afraid, not be timid, we must also remind ourselves today to not be ashamed, not be afraid, not be timid about our faithful witness in Christ. We need to “rekindle,” stir up our memories of our Christian forefathers and foremothers to remind ourselves to have courage.
Not to bring shame and embarrassment onto your family is a big thing for Chinese. I can still remember very clearly how my father would teach us to behave in public. He would always say that if you did anything bad, people will not blame you but they will blame me as your father. They will say, “Look at how bad Mr. & Mrs. Ng are to have such a undisciplined son.” My father didn’t want to be ashamed. One time I had a spanking of my life. I cut Chinese language school. A friend of my father saw me playing hooky in the Boston Public Commons. He told my father. And I don’t need to say anymore! Now this is not a lesson to teach your children. It is just a little story!
Here is a good story to remember. Before our church was formally organized, the Northern Baptist Home Missions Board appointed John Francis in 1870 as the first American Baptist missionary to work among the Chinese in California. In the following year, Francis was joined by Fung Seung Nam, a convert from Canton who had a good knowledge of the Bible, a mind of a scholar, and was an eloquent speaker. Fung preached on the streets of San Francisco. His first convert was a man named Dong Gong.
Dong Gong was so convicted in the faith that he became a Baptist minister and served the Chinese mission in Portland, Oregon. Dong Gong’s journey of faith wasn’t that easy. It was said that when he was in Canton, his father threw him into the river because he would not renounce the Christian faith. For Dong Gong, he was an embarrassment to his father. But Dong Gong was not ashamed of his faith in Jesus Christ.
When we are ashamed or afraid, we become isolated from each other. We can be like Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer locked in together in the same cell, but still remain isolated from each other and absorbed in our own self-centeredness. We find ourselves huddling with certain people and fearful of those who are different from ourselves. We can short-change God’s power to work among us.
Stewardship of Relationships
Unlike Seinfeld, we must not be convicted of “criminal indifference” or being “indifferent Christians.” Indifferent Christians is an oxymoron. Christians, in fact, can do nothing but be in relation with those who are around them, whether a carjacking victim, a visitor to church, the neighbor down the street, one’s wayward children, a member worshipping in another service, or our brothers and sisters at the Sunset Ministry.
In the history of FCBC, we see that relationships were crucial to the beginning of our church.
*When John Francis and Fung Seung Nam labored so hard together in the basement of FBC in SF that before Fung died of overworking, Francis took him into his own home, caring for him as if he were a family member. This was a stewardship of relationships between partners in ministry.
*After the Missions Society terminated its work with the Chinese, a youth named Lee Wing Tai, one of the few who kept on praying for a new missionary to come had his prayers answered with the coming of Jesse B. Hartwell on 1879. This was a stewardship of relationship between believers and mission society.
*On Feb. 15, 1880 when Hartwell baptized his first Chinese convert in California, Lo Ping Ki, Lo was received into the membership of FBC of SF. This was a stewardship of relationship of a mission-minded church and a dedicated missionary.
*In 1885, when Hartwell criss-crossed the country to raise $10,000 to buy the corner lot of Waverly Place and Sacramento Street and another $9600 to erect the building, this was a stewardship of relationship between American Baptist churches and SF Chinatown.
*On that tragic morning of April 18, 1906, when the great SF earthquake and the enormous fires that followed destroyed our building, the church home was rebuilt in two years with the help from the AB Home Missions Society and insurance money. This was a stewardship of relationship between a growing congregation and the AB Home Missions Society.
*Writing in 1945, pastor Albert Lau anticipating the 65th anniversary of the church was seeking to be self-supporting from the denomination. It was not until the early fifties under the leadership of James Chuck when the church truly became self-supporting congregation. This was a stewardship of relationship between a people of faith and God’s will.
Throughout the history of FCBC, we see that relationships are crucial for growth and ministry. When we are good stewards of relationships we can make possible what is unthinkable by us but do-able with God. When we are good stewards of relationships we can tear down our isolation, self-centeredness, our criminal indifference. When we are good stewards of relationships, we must and we will bring healing and understanding between the saints at the Sunset Ministry and the saints here at Waverly Place. We don’t have to be ashamed of the foolishness of the cross. We are not embarrassed about the story of Jesus.
Moses
God needed a Jew who knew about freedom to get the people free, and Moses was the only free Jew. Really that was the main reason God picked Moses. Moses had never been a slave and had lived his whole life as a prince in the palace of the Pharaoh. There was, however, one problem with picking Moses. Moses knew that he was free, but he did not know that he was Jewish. Nobody was Jewish in Pharaoh’s palace except Moses.
Moses mother did her best to teach Moses that he was Jewish. After the Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses floating in the Nile River, she sent for a nursemaid to take care of him when he was very little. The nursemaid turned out to be Moses’ real mother. She would sing to Moses lullabies like “Ah-ah ah-ah bubbelah, ah-ah ah-ah ketzileh.” She would tell Moses stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and about Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. She would light the Shabbat candles on Friday night and make chicken soup. But Moses was just a baby then, and soon his mother was taken away.
Years later, when Moses was a grown man, he liked to take walks at night outside the palace. He would dress up like a common person and go walking among the people. One night he wandered into the neighborhood of the Jewish slaves. Moses just happened to pass by the hut of a Jewish slave family who was lighting a Shabbat lamp with the little oil they had in the house. Moses didn’t understand what they were doing, but the light seemed familiar to him. He remembered the light from somewhere in his past, but he could not remember where.
The next night during his evening walk, Moses overheard a Jewish woman telling her children stories about people called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. The stories sounded familiar to him, but he was not sure where he had heard them before. When the mommy was done with the stories, she sang a lullaby to her children: “Ah-ah, ah-ah, bubbelah, ah-ah ah-ah ketzileh.” The song was in Moses’ heart. He knew that song, but he could not remember who first sung it to him.
On the third night, Moses tried to avoid Jews on his walk. He walked into the straw fields, but he smelled a smell that pulled him along. Following the smell, he came to the house of a Jewish slave family where the mother was making chicken soup. Moses took a deep smell and then screamed out, “MY GOD, THIS IS CHICKEN SOUP! THIS IS THE STUFF MY MOTHER MADE FOR ME WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID! I MUST BE A JEW TOO!”
That night, back in the palace, Moses still looked like an Egyptian, but he felt like a Jew. That night, God knew everything would be all right. And so that night God lit up the burning bush and waited for Moses. (Story by Marc Gellman)
We long to remember those who remind us of who we are. We can rekindle our courage to serve God faithfully when we remember what our forefathers and foremothers did. Just as Moses remembered the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and about Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah and especially chicken soup, we can remember ours at FCBC. When we do, God will say that everything will be all right. Our “burning bush” is set ablaze for all to see that God is indeed with us.
Rekindling Our Courage
Today in our church is “Founders Day.” It is a day that we remember all the saints who have dedicated their lives to the work of FCBC. We remember
Martha J. Ames who in 1889 came to work with the women. Room 3 is named after her.
Rev. Luke Chan who pastored from 1916 to 1920 and then from 1933-34.
Charles Shepherd started the Chung Mei Home for orphan and delinquent boys in 1923.
Celia Allen who worked as a missionary and Christian education director for over 30 years taught the meaning of hospitality and Christian nurture by serving tuna casseroles in her apartment.
Astrid Peterson who taught Sunday School classes to new immigrants at our church for years started the Emmanuel Family Group. The Reading Room is named after Astrid.
As we move into our Continue the Legacy stewardship campaign, we need to reKINdle our courage by remembering those who have set an example for us of selfless giving. We can rekindle and stir up our excitement and faith that what may seem to be unreachable goals can be attained when we are good stewards of our relationships.
Closing
There’s a piece of graffiti on a New York subway wall that expresses my point:
You can punch my lips so that I can’t blow my horn,
But my fingers will find a piano.
You can slam the piano lid on my fingers,
But you can’t stop my toes from taping like a drum.
You can stomp on my feet to keep my toes from tapping,
But my heart will keep swinging in four/four time.
You can even stop my heart from ticking,
But the music of the saints shall never cease.
(William G. Carter, “Singing a New Song: The Gospel and Jazz”)
Let us pray:
Dear Lord, Rekindle our courage to serve you in a mighty way in San Francisco. Remind us of the many saints and servants who have given their lives for the ministry of this church. May their stories of faithful relationships challenge us to be good stewards of our relationships today. In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.