April 2, 2016, 1:00 PM, First Baptist Church of Boston
Welcome and Opening Prayer
God is gracious. He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Great is the Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Psalm 147:1c, 3, 5; Matthew 11:28, 29; 5:4)
We are here to remember and celebrate the faithful life of Christine Chin who was born on March 7, 1952 and returned to the Lord on February 11, 2016 having lived for almost 64 years in her beloved city of Boston. For the past few years in the face of cancer, Christine continued to live her life of caring and loving the children of the world and never allowing her struggle to define her. We know that what is important is not what we acquired or possessed, not what degrees we have completed or big titles we have earned or anything that this earthly world have defined as significant. In the end, Jesus taught us to let the children come to him. Christine welcomed the children and for that, there are now many children who will teach their children what caring for others and loving unconditionally mean in their lives and in the world.
Let us pray. O God, your care is like that of a father who has compassion for his children and a mother who comforts her child. We cast our heavy burdens of grief on you. Deal graciously with us in our sorrow. Grant us the comfort of your rest. Assure us with the confidence that your faithful servant, Christine Chin has been received into the arms of your mercy, in the blessed rest of your eternal care. May our lives hereafter bear witness to the hope that is ours in the crucified and risen Christ, who faced death on Good Friday and defeated death on Easter morning for our sake and now reigns victorious in your glory. Through his holy name, Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy
Poetry Reading: If Tomorrow Starts Without Me, Tisha Chin
Times of Remembrance: What Mom Taught Me, Tommy Chin
At the Intersection of Life
When we were all growing up at First Baptist so many years ago, we didn’t know who we may become and where we may end up. Some stayed close to home since we were taught that Boston was the “Hub of the Nation” and there wasn’t any other place as good as Boston. Some of us went farther away but we never lost sight of Boston as our hometown. We can say that once a Red Sox fan, always a Red Sox fan. For Christine, staying in Boston was more than good enough.
Christine was a part of this large group of youth who comprised of the Baptist Youth Fellowship when Millie Brooks was our youth advisor and Rev. Charles Griffin was the pastor in the 1960s. From my vantage point, Christine was one of the younger ones but was always the most friendly and inviting one. Christine perhaps being the oldest child in her family was expected to take care of her younger brothers and sister. Perhaps Christine saw how her father, John Chin was a Life-time Deacon of the church along with Deacon Wilbur Wyatt were always welcoming visitors and members to church in the vestibule on Sunday morning. Like her father who gave a smile, extended a hand, and invited visitors with a bulletin to God’s house, Christine followed her father’s footsteps and did the same.
I know this to be true because when my wife, Joy, an outsider who came to our church and became a part of this rather close-knit fellowship of youth and young adults, it was Christine whom Joy keenly remembered as the one who welcomed her warmly and with a smile.
In the Bible, we are familiar with the time when Jesus blesses the little children. In Mark 10:13-16, it says,
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Christine followed how Jesus welcomed the children to him when she welcomed people to the church without any prejudice or disregard. Wherever she went, at sporting events, parties or even waiting at the grocery checkout lines, Christine was engaging new friends with that welcoming smile. Christine’s simple faith was sufficient to know that Jesus was her Lord and Savior and the Kingdom of God was at hand.
Like Jesus, Christine loved kids. At her boys’ school, she volunteered to make a difference. She cared for the health and welfare of all children and knew that when the entire school benefits, her three sons would too.
When I was at my elementary school in Roxbury growing up, I remembered being a street monitor because we got to wear this cool white belt that went over our shoulders. I think that was the closest thing that I ever got to put on a uniform! Christine aspired to become a School Traffic Supervisor for the City of Boston. This was a big thing because she was officially doing this for the safety and welfare of children crossing the often busy and mean streets of Boston. No one really knows how many of the hundreds of schoolchildren that Christine gave a smile to who are now solid and contributing citizens in the city of Boston. Like Jesus, Christine blessed these little ones when they crossed the intersection of streets to go to school.
The street intersections symbolize for us life and often the frenetic pace of life. People are crossing from one side of the street to the other. Cars, trucks and busses come into the intersection to be on their way. But in the intersection when people and vehicles all come together and sometimes all at once is the moment when a School Traffic Supervisor for the City of Boston like a Christine Chin is most needed. There’s a need for traffic supervision so that all the vehicles avoid fender benders and most of all so that people and schoolchildren can be safe and go on their way to school.
It’s not just coincidental that while Jimmy is controlling street traffic as one of Boston’s finest, Christine is controlling intersection traffic so that Boston’s finest schoolchildren would be safe. Both of them lived in the intersections of life in order to restore order and safety in a world that is often fraught with violence and chaos.
There’s a Japanese theologian named Kosuke Koyama who wrote a meditation about Jesus and called him, “Mr. Intersection.” Not only was Jesus living and healing in the ancient world’s region of civilization and commerce where culture and all kinds of people intersected but Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross, two pieces of wood intersected together on Calvary so that our sins are forgiven and we are promised the truth of eternal life. Only when Christ was willing to stand in the intersection of life would he be able to save the world.
The reason why we are called Christians is because we are followers of Jesus Christ. In all of the many activities that we perform in life whether our lives are long-lived or shortened unexpectedly, we are Christians, followers of Christ and therefore we will do things in life that is Christ-like. Everyday when Christine stood at the street intersections at time putting her own life at risk for the sake of the schoolchildren and blessed the children with her energy that brought smiles on their faces, she was doing the work of Christ.
The family’s memory of Christine is that this is not a time of mourning but a time of celebration of a life well lived. Christine was a real cheerleader for her boys when they were in sports as well as cheering for all of Boston’s sports teams even when they were having a bad year. A cheerleader believes in more than what your eyes can see. A cheerleader disregards what the statistics might be and truly believes that with enough noise and enough faith, one can do things beyond any physical limitations. A cheerleader imagines what others are yet able to see.
Christine was cheering for all the children to cross the street intersections safely to school. Christine was cheering for all whom she encounters in life with warmth and spirited conversations. Christine was cheering for her family to be kind-hearted with each other since in the end, family is all that you have. Christine was cheering for health and as many years that she can have on this earth to spend with her loving family but she also knows that in Christ, God was cheering for her to be faithful and loving and to bless the little children as long as she can because she was a Christian, a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. We all can be more of a cheerleader like Christine was. Now our loving Father is cheering with Christine in heaven.
Let us pray.
We praise you, Creator God, for making us in your own image, for instilling in us the need to pray, no matter how dimly felt, and for enabling us to pray, even when we have been estranged from you and unworthy of your attention and love.
We thank you for being a God of great patience and forbearance, welcoming an embarrassed, halting prayer as much as a skilled, trusting one.
We give you thanks for our Lord Jesus Christ whose closeness was revealed to us this past week over his passion and the good news of his resurrection on Easter morning. We thank you for his teachings on prayer so that we may begin praying to you again as our Father in heaven.
We thank you now for all who sincerely and faithfully prayed for Christine Chin, whom you saw fit to call to her eternal home with you where she is alive forevermore—beyond our prayers, but surrounded by our memories and our love. Amen.
Hymn: This Little Light of Mine
Closing Remarks and Prayer
The family invites you to a luncheon reception immediately following the service today in Wayland Hall just behind the sanctuary where Jimmy Chin and his family look forward to meeting you.
In memory of Christine Chin, the family has kindly suggested that donations can be made to the Jimmy Fund, PO Box 849168, Boston 02284.
Benediction
Beloved, in the midst of sadness, I charge you to rejoice.
Rejoice in hope of sharing the glory of God!
Rejoice even in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope!
Rejoice above all that this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit! (Romans 5:2-5)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. May the little light that you are; lit by the Good News of Jesus Christ shine brightly in the world! Amen. (Romans 15:13)
Organ Postlude: Rhythms of My Heart, Rod Stewart