December 19, 2007, 1:00 PM
Cypress Lawn, Colma
The Apostle Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…So we are ambassadors for Christ… (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 20)
I am Rev. Don Ng, Pastor of the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco, located in San Francisco Chinatown. I am here officiating at Lily Sue’s funeral because her nephew, Arvin Chin came to our church this past Sunday to worship. He asked if I would be able to lead you in this service of remembrance and the celebration of life and I am happy to be able to do so. Although I have been at this church for nearly 10 years, unfortunately, I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Lily Sue and perhaps any of you here today. San Francisco is still a big city. But when Arvin shared with me that Lily was a Baptist when she lived in Wyoming, I realized that as the Scriptures say, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Although I may not have known Lily Sue on earth, in God’s grace we are reconciled with one another through Christ. Through Christ, we are also ambassadors for each other. If we know Jesus Christ, we are already friends.
We are in the season of Advent and in just a few days, Christmas will be here. This time of the year is filled with the wonder of God’s presence as we prepare for the coming of the Christ Child in the manger. In this holy time of the year, I pray that we will take a moment to remember Lily Sue and all that she has meant to each of you. From your honesty and openness, I look forward to getting to know her through your memories. Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God with us to save Lily Sue, each one of us, and the whole world.
Let us pray.
Creator and Redeemer God, at this time of deeply felt loss, we turn to you for comfort. We glorify you for creating the universe out of nothing and each one of us in your image. We acknowledge your sovereign wisdom in setting limits to our life on earth and setting before us, through Jesus, our crucified and risen Savior, a limitless life. Being reconciled to you through him, we hail him as the divine leader in that ministry of reconciliation in which he expects us to serve as his ambassadors. To him, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all glory and praise. Amen.
Biography
Scripture Reading
Words of Remembrance
Arvin Chin
Brother
Traveling with God
Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” suggests that sometimes the road less traveled can make the difference in life. While everyone might be taking the most familiar road or the easiest road, if you were to take the less traveled one, it could prove to be the choice that makes all the difference.
Before we had GPS or Mapquest, we would come to a fork in the road and hopefully choose the right one to get to our destination. The fork in the road is an appropriate metaphor for life. We are always presented with choices to make—most of the time, the choices or forks in the road are both good and positive. One might take us to our destination in the shortest time while the other would get us there around a scenic view. But having lived many years in life, we come to realize that both forks in the road most often would eventually lead us to our final destination.
I heard that Lily Sue traveled and lived in many different places around the United States. We knew she was baptized in Wyoming. But she also lived in New York, Florida, southern California and for the past 20 years in San Francisco. She and her husband must have taken the road less traveled and to their great surprise discovered wonderful experiences and treasures in life. There must have been many forks in the road and whether they took the right one or the left one, they always ended up at their final destination because God was there serving as their GPS.
In the familiar Psalm 23rd passage, we hear that the Lord God is our shepherd who watches over us. God leads us to green pastures to find food to eat and to still waters to quench our thirst. God leads us to the right fork in the road so that we would always know him in life.
While we know God through Jesus Christ, we were never told that we would be insulated and isolated from the world in which we live, grow, work, raise families, and die. Life is like walking through the darkest valley. But when life is like that, God tells us to fear no evil for God is with us and guides and comforts us.
The Apostle Paul tells us that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God; even death. I am sure that Lily Sue like all of us here today have experienced our share of hardship, distress, persecution, famine or nakedness. Life is always good but sometimes it’s not that easy. While we may mourn today over the passing of Lily Sue, we have been reassured that even death itself would not separate us from God’s love and the promise of eternal life.
Whether we are still living on earth or like our loved one, Lily Sue who is now with the Lord, we believe that surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord our whole life long.
There’s an Old Gaelic Blessing that goes like this:
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sunshine warm upon your face.
May the rains fall softly upon your fields until we meet again.
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Let us pray.
Eternal and loving God, Giver of life, we thank you for all the stages of our lives, from birth to death and beyond death.
We praise you for the freshness, the innocence, the wide-eyed curiosity of childhood.
We thank you for the wildly exciting trials of adolescence; for youthful dreams and hopes of new adventures.
We praise you for all the right choices we made in early maturity and beg your forgiveness for making so many wrong ones. We thank you for always being with us when we took the road less traveled or when we got to that fork in the road, you were always there to guide us to our final destination.
We thank you for the satisfaction of our later maturity; for teaching us, sometimes painfully, how to give more and expect less in return.
And we praise you from as many sunset years as you may have in store for us: for fragments of wisdom, for grandchildren, and for the courage to face our mortality strengthened by the promise of a more perfect life, thanks to the love and willing sacrifice of your blessed Son.
Thank you, Father, for the life of your child, Lily Sue, ended here and resumed with the Lord.
Announcements
There will be an interment service immediately following this service here at Cypress Lawn.
Benediction
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
The Committal Service
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
“God so love the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, we commend to God’s merciful care our sister Lily Sue; and we commit her body to this final resting place: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
“Blessed are the dead who…die in the Lord…they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)
Let us pray.
God, our Maker, you made our sister, Lily Sue, in your own image; you set her feet on our life’s journey; you watched over her along the way. As you lovingly received and welcomed her to the ranks of the redeemed, we pray that you would continue to guide our sojourner’s steps so that at the appointed time, we might join Lily Sue in the communion of saints—forgiven, transformed, and fit for our new life with the Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen.