April 28, 2002
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.
If we were to think about the “things that changed the world,” what would you name? Typing in the words, “changed the world” in Amazon.com, you would get 309 items. Some of these are: radar, clocks, glass, the Fender bass, the US women’s soccer team, the Model T Ford, canned food, Christopher Columbus, banana pie, Scotland, Princess Di, pop music, and of course, the Bible.
Among all of these world-changing innovations, one item seemed to qualify for the distinction is the compass.
The compass was probably invented by the Chinese at least 150 years before it began to be used in Europe around 1200 AD. Before the compass, sailors relied on the skies for information about their location. In cloudy and stormy days, they were clueless. In a car with four men, we were clueless too!
The compass changed all that and made shipping faster and safer, allowing for busy trading routes to develop, linking the world together and putting an end to the problem of distance. The magnetic compass was a world changer.
The True Compass
About a thousand years before the compass was invented, there was another compass—the True Compass. Jesus Christ showed us a new way to navigate through the treacherous waters of life to find safe spiritual waters of new life.
Before the Scripture Lesson that was just read, we can see in Acts 6 and 7 how influential Jesus Christ, the True Compass was in the life of the early church. Although these chapters don’t contain the stories of Jesus, they illustrate just how transforming his example and guidance proved to be in the lives of the first Christians. What we see in Acts is a picture of a completely new way of life, one based entirely on the direction provided by Jesus Christ.
In the beginning of chapter 6, seven disciples were selected and commissioned to ensure that the needy in their communities are properly served. They were people of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit was one of them. Stephen’s life was leading in the right direction—Jesus was his compass.
Full of grace and power, Stephen performed great wonders and signs among the people. But when he did these things, the people stood up and started to instigate accusations to arrest him. When they seized him and brought him before the council, they saw that Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel.
Most of chapter 7 is Stephen’s marvelous sermon when he didn’t minced words. He boldly accused them of murdering Christ just as their ancestors had murdered prophets sent to them. By pointing their attention back to the murder of Jesus, Stephen finds the arrow of the charge of blasphemy by the religious leaders pointed directly right back at him.
With that, Stephen following Christ as the True Compass becomes a world-changer—the first martyr of the Christian church because he set his sail according to Christ. Stephen shows us how to navigate by the compass of Christ and to see Jesus as the directional signal that we follow in life and in death.
Hopevale Memorial
James and Charma Covell were American Baptist missionaries serving the in the 1930s when the Asia/Pacific war began to escalate. They and other missionaries were on the central island of Panay about 350 miles south of Manila in the Philippines. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the missionaries held a meeting to consider what they should do. They decided to return to their respective locations and carry out the work as long as possible.
The 11 missionaries and one child that remained, along with three miners and two children hid in a narrow ravine near a mountaintop. With the help of Filipino friends for food and safe haven, the missionaries created an open-air chapel in a secluded area deep in the forest. They arranged stones and erected a pulpit in a small gorge and named the chapel, Hopevale. Seventy to 100 local people would join them for worship.
But on December 19, 1943, Hopevale was surrounded by Japanese soldiers. The missionaries and the miners and their families were captured.
They were told that they would be put to death the next day. James Covell who had served in Japan, pleaded with the soldiers in Japanese. The leader of the battalion, Tai Watanabe, seeming to be influenced by the appeal, radioed his headquarters for possibly new orders.
The answer came about noon the next day, December 20, ordering the mandate be carried out. The Covells insisted that they had nothing to do with the war, but the soldiers would not listen. Finally, the missionaries asked for time to pray. This request was granted. The little group formed a circle and prayed together. After an hour the missionaries came forward, singing a hymn and saying they were ready. One by one, each adult was led to the mountaintop and beheaded. The children were stabbed to death.
Today there’s an outdoor memorial chapel located in a secluded forest area at the American Baptist Assembly at Green Lake, Wisconsin called Hopevale to remember these American Baptist missionaries who followed the direction of Jesus Christ as the True Compass in their lives.
After the war was over, many Filipinos who protected their American sisters and brothers went on to become strong leaders in the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches. They became pastors, teachers and engineers, one became the general secretary of the Convention. For each of them the suffering and sacrifice of their American friends became a transforming inspiration for their service to God. They too followed the arrow of the True Compass and gave their lives for God.
Mexicali & Friday Night School
Jesus, Stephen, these American Baptist missionaries, and the host of martyrs after them have given us a rich legacy that continues to inspire and guide us. From their words and lives we can draw strength to give witness to God today. Most of us will not be led to the point of dying for what we believe. But there will be times when we must pay a price for following Jesus as the True Compass.
Jesus the True Compass showed the Short-termed Missions Team how to go to Mexicali. They paid a price of being away from home and work to dedicate one whole week to teach the Gospel of Christ to the Chinese in Mexicali. They paid a price of getting sick so that they can go where people needed them.
Jesus the True Compass pointed many church sisters and brothers to come down to Chinatown on Friday nights. Rather than resting after a long week of work or instead of going out with friends, these Friday Night School teachers and helpers paid a price so that new immigrants may learn English, become American citizens, and hopefully know the love of Christ.
Jesus the True Compass is giving us a directional signal to follow him in life and in death. With Jesus as our True Compass, we are to act as a servant leader, working diligently for the welfare of others.
With Jesus as our True Compass, we are to speak boldly about our faith and to tell the story of God’s loving embrace of the human race.
With Jesus as our True Compass, we are to look serenely to heaven, especially when the world is roaring in rage in places like the Middle East and in Afghanistan.
With Jesus as our True Compass, we are to trust our Lord to hold us close, in even desperate of situations like how Stephen declared, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
With Jesus as our True Compass, we are to try to offer forgiveness to those who hurt us, as Jesus did on the cross. As Stephen cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
Following Jesus as the True Compass, we live out our faith, hold fast to our convictions, look for the promised land beyond the limitation of this world.
We don’t have to die to change the world. Jesus Christ has already done that. We simply have to live following the directional signal that Jesus Christ is pointing. With Christ as our True Compass, we too can change the world.
Let us pray.