Don Jin’s Wake Service
Thursday, April 7, 2005, 7:00 PM
Call to Worship
God is gracious. He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Great is our 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.”
Let us sing the Call to Worship song, “Surely the Presence.”
Last Wednesday, we all lost a dear friend, Don Jin who was a very much a big part of our lives. We have come seeking comfort as well as to give comfort to Betty and their children, Christi and her husband, Johnny and their son, Jeffrey as well as to those in their extended family. Jesus said, “When two or three gather in his name, he is with us.” Tonight we have come as people of faith who believe in the Lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning. Christ has defeated death and promises to us that when we believe in him, we have everlasting life. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place and I pray that you will feel his mighty power and grace. Betty and her family have planned these services to remember Don Jin and to celebrate his good life with the stories that need to be told and the songs that need to be sung. Thank you for your presence in the presence of God.
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 burdens of grief on you. Help us graciously in our anguish. Grant us comfort of your rest. Assure us with confidence that your faithful servant, Don Jin 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 defeated death for our sake and now reigns victorious in your glory. Through his name we pray. Amen.
Opening Hymn—Amazing Grace
Treasures in Clay Pots
In Indiana Jones’ The Last Crusade, our hero was faced with a series of obstacles to reach his destination. Indiana Jones had to carefully step on stones that would not release huge body slicing blades. Then he had to have a leap of faith to step out off a cliff but unable to see that there was an invisible stone bridge to reach the other side. Once he arrived in the brightly-lit cave where an old sentinel dressed in armor protected the valuable chalices, Indiana Jones needed to choose the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper. The right one was a plain cup with no jewels or precious metals. For a common carpenter, Jesus would have used a simple cup. Don Jin loved DVD movies and I think that if he was presented with choices of chalices to choose from, he would have chosen wisely as well.
We are all subjected to a barrage of messages that tell us that shiny, expensive, designer brand names things are better than ordinary things. We all fall victim to judging the book by its cover. But in God’s world, it’s not what’s outside that’s important but rather, it’s what’s inside that count. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul writes that we are like common, ordinary clay pots. But what is extraordinary is what’s inside. The treasure inside is our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Inside of us is Christ’s light that shines out of the darkness of our lives and therefore give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Don Jin was one of God’s clay pots who gave his life to glorifying God. Many of us know that Don was generally a quiet person—usually standing on the side actively listening but not necessarily jumping into your conversations. He was never loud or brought attention to himself. But when it came to music, he was like another person. This clay pot was overflowing to the brim with music to sing, toes to tap, hands to clap, and hips to gyrate. Don’s love for music led him into different worlds that were anything but common or ordinary. He loved concerts and recitals. He loved musicals and spirituals. He loved Yo Yo Ma and Moses Hogan. When the gospel choir performed their first concert, Don even scatted like Al Jarreau! It was almost like his passion for different kinds of music was his passport to the different parts of the world; especially since he was a person who never traveled very far from home. The farthest he has ever been from San Francisco was to visit Toronto. Don never had to sing Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” because he never had the need to.
Many people know that Don Jin felt deeply about things. He possessed strong feelings and convictions about the meaning of life and his place in it. We may only see superficially on the outside a simple and ordinary person, but what was inside Don Jin was a beautifully creative and culturally rich soul. His music helped transform him to become the fuller person he was. His interest in learning about the lives of others led him to his love for collecting Asian and Asian American movies and books. He was a collector of Chinese cookbooks not that he used them for cooking but rather he was more interested in the stories behind how these cooks and chefs lived out their passion in their culinary treasures.
His family told me that Don only cooked one meal in his entire life. It was after taking a cooking class from Gayle Chan that he went out and bought a clay pot. He labored all day in the kitchen and successfully prepared the meal for his family and friends. After realizing how hard cooking really was, he appreciated good food by eating out and by simply admiring how good the food must have been in the pictures of his cookbooks.
The happiest moment of Don’s life was when Christi married Johnny last December. Like many of us, I would joke with Don about trading in his US Postal uniform and shorts for a tuxedo on the wedding day. He was almost silly like a child just with the thought of becoming a father-in-law. He wondered what it would be like and how proud he was to finally be throwing a wedding banquet and party for his friends. We will miss Don Jin because he demonstrated with his life that inside all of us is always something new that is ready to be revealed. Every day God gives us another opportunity to share another treasure that we have in our clay pots.
All of us have wondered including me about how tragic and unfair that Don can’t be with us a little longer. The pain for our loss and the grief that we endure are really only our suffering. When we believe in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, we know that Don’s clay pot life was filled to the brim. In fact, as the Psalmist said in Psalm 23, “my cup overflows” with goodness and mercy. We must not cry for Don for he is with God where he is dwelling in the house of the Lord his whole life long. Let us believe that he is taking cooking classes from God and will be ready to show us his culinary treasures in his clay pot when we join him.
Paul wrote that with God’s power, when we are afflicted in every way, we are not crushed. We may be perplexed but not driven to despair. We may be persecuted, but not forsaken. We may be struck down, but we are not destroyed. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, whatever may happen to us, even if we are threatened in life, Jesus Christ will then be visible through us because we are only clay pots that are filled with the treasures of the power and glory of God inside.
Don Jin chose wisely to follow Jesus Christ as his Lord and God and although he has returned to be with God, his common clay pot life gave way to revealing the treasures of the power and glory of God inside. Let us be encouraged to be with God.
Let us pray.
Gracious God, we thank you for blessing Don Jin with many gifts and especially his love for music. His life touched ours and we have been blessed along the road of life. Thank you for giving us Jesus Christ who dwelled among us and died on the cross for our sake. And in your never-ending love for the world, you raised him to life conquering death once and forevermore. As our friend, Don Jin is now with the redeemed; encourage us to live our lives fully in Christ so that we may also reveal your power and glory. Teach us with our own simple and ordinary clay pots to trust you everyday knowing that even when we are crushed, we are not destroyed because the treasures inside is your love, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Closing Hymn—Because He Lives
Announcements
Benediction
Let us leave this place now prepared to receive the kind of joy which transcends happiness, peace that heals and makes whole, hope that sustains throughout eternity and love that makes us truly human. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Don Jin’s Funeral Service
Friday, April 8, 2005, 10:00 AM
Call to Worship
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.
Let us come this day to worship God by singing “Surely the Presence.”
Last Wednesday, we all lost a dear friend, Don Jin who was a very big part of our lives. We have come seeking comfort as well as to give comfort to Betty and their children, Christi and her husband, Johnny and their son, Jeffrey as well as to those in their extended family. Jesus said, “When two or three gather in his name, he is with us.” Today we have come as people of faith who believe in the Lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning. Christ has defeated death and promises to us that when we believe in him, we have everlasting life. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place and I pray that you will feel his mighty power and grace. Betty and her family have planned these services to remember Don Jin and to celebrate his good life with the stories that need to be told and the songs that need to be sung. Thank you for your presence in the presence of God.
Opening Prayer
O God, in whom we live and move and have our being, we thank you for the life of Don Jin. We are grateful for all the ways he has touched the lives around him. His death brings pain to those who love him. Dear God, hear our cries, feel our pain, know our loss. Hold us tenderly in your strong arms, granting us your peace and strength and comfort. Speak to us your Word of hope, helping us to see beyond our grief—for you to love us, and promise never to leave us. We believe, O God that every morning there is new mercies that we see. In faithfulness to you, dear Lord, we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Opening Hymn—Great is Thy Faithfulness
All of God’s Children Got Shoes
Where I live, my mail comes when a mail truck drives down the street. The US postal worker never has to get out of the truck—she only needs to reach out her arm, puts our mail in the mailbox and is on her way. But when mail comes via a letter carrier on foot, it’s special because you know that a great deal of effort was given to bring our mail to us.
Don Jin was a letter carrier on his feet for 38 years. Gone maybe are the heavy across the chest shoulder bags and they now have these efficient carts, but Don was still on his feet. I once asked Don how he was able to open up all of the different mailboxes in the different apartment buildings in town. He showed me a big ring of keys! Not only is mail heavy but the keys were too.
In Isaiah 40, we read that even when we are tired, faint and grow weary, our God is not. God is never exhausted but is everlasting and gives power to the faint and strength to the powerless. When we trust in our Lord God and wait for his guidance, God will renew our strength and we shall mount up with wings like eagles; we shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint. When Don became a Christian in 1967 and gave his gifts of music and compassion to Christ and his discipleship was lived out at the church, Don was never tired, faint or weary. His love for God and love for life led him in a daily walk with Christ.
As a letter carrier for 38 years, I wondered how many pairs of shoes he must have worn through. It must have been many. In my experiences with Don, one of the most memorable was when he wore my shoes home. We were at a pot-luck dinner for the beginning of the new season of the CBC Choir when Don thought my shoes were his and went home with them. By the time I was ready to leave, I couldn’t find my shoes. We started calling all the guys who might have mistakenly taken my shoes. Finally when we reached Don, he said, “I kind of thought that the shoes were a little too big for me.” It was 1 ½ size bigger than his! Betty jokingly said, “Since Don wanted an expensive pair of shoes, this was his way of getting them!”
Where Don is now, he can have any pair of shoes he wants! There’s old spiritual that was first recorded in 1909 by the Fisk University Jubilee Quartet called, “All of God’s Children Got Shoes.” The words are:
I got shoes, you got shoes, all of God’s children got shoes;
When I get to heaven, gonna put on my shoes,
Gonna shout all over God’s heaven.
Cause I got shoes, you got shoes, all of God’s children got shoes.
Someday, we will have shoes in heaven too.
When I reread Don’s story in the church publication, Chinatown, Stories of Life and Faith, I was touched by how he concluded his life’s story. Don wrote,
“We can give unselfishly our resources, our time, and our abilities for the common good. Though we may never be totally selfless in what we do, we can strive to approximate the love that God has shown to us in our dealing with one another. What good does it really do to have a bowl of rice to eat, when someone is still starving? What good is it really to wear fine clothes, when someone is still unclothed? To live in a large mansion, when someone is sleeping on the street?”
I suspect that Don’s deep compassion for those with less and in unfortunate circumstances came from the many years that he walked the streets as a letter carrier. Unable to speed by in a mail truck and miss all the activities happening on the streets, Don met on his route those who were starving, those who were unclothed, those who were living on the street. We know that Don was easily caught up with worthy causes and generously supported the United Way. He took Jesus’ teachings to heart and practiced them daily. Jesus said that when we give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the prisoner, we would actually be doing this for Jesus. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matt. 25: 40) You can just imagine how Don on his mail route was serving Christ along the way.
While we are all in some way walking in darkness, Don has new shoes in heaven walking in God’s light. Just as God called Don Jin in life on earth to follow Jesus Christ, we too are called to walk in God’s light found in Christ. In fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleansing us from our sins, we can also walk with God in his light.
Today if you look down at your feet, we are all wearing some kind of shoes. These shoes can stay close at home and never venture out to help alleviate some of the ills of the world or we can be like our beloved friend, Don Jin who walked on this earth and in his small way fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and provided shelter for the homeless and then in a big way met Christ.
Let us pray.
Merciful God, we thank you for the life of Don Jin who humbly and obediently walked on this earth as a disciple of Jesus Christ. His life and the love he had for his family, his church, his colleagues and friends have been a blessing to all of us that we will never forget. We believe in your grace and mercy to guide our lives to be filled with productivity and compassion as you have done so in Don Jin.
Lord God, we thank you for hope: hope for the pursuit of the next goal when one goal has been reached; hope for recovery and a fresh start when a goal has eluded us; hope at last, when all hope seems lost, except for the one shining hope set before us in your raising our Lord Jesus from death.
O God, we leave this gathering with that one hope of peace and everlasting life. Amen.
Closing Hymn—Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Announcements
Appreciation from the Family
Donations to FCBC
Interment at Woodlawn
Memorial Luncheon at Lichee Gardens
Benediction
I challenge you now, beloved in the Lord, to face bravely the journey which our friend, Don Jin has completed, having arrived safely in God’s kingdom.
Walk on, without the fear of falling, knowing that we are all sinners in need of God’s saving grace.
Walk on, with tender memories of Don Jin and so many others who have gone before you, secure in the hope that, when your time comes, the love of God will be sufficient for you, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand without sin in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
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.” (Jn. 11:25-26)
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, we commend to God’s merciful care our brother, Donald Wing Jin; and we commit his body to this final resting place, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.
Let us pray.
Merciful God, you created us in your own image, perhaps because you were lonely; you created us as members of families, so that none of us should ever be lonely; you share our grief when the family circle is broken and we experience loneliness and sorrow, because some we have loved and counted on has left us. Grant us strength to face our loss, with the assurance that Don Jin return to you has not broken our family circle, but only extended it beyond this earth into the heavens that your children share with you, thanks to the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 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.