August 12, 2001
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.
It all started in 1955 when Edgar Smith of Fortune suggested that the magazine publish a list of the largest U.S. companies, most of which had already been featured in their magazine. Voila!—The Fortune 500 was born.
Today Fortune not only prints up the 500 list, but “The Forty Riches People Under 40,” The Fifty Most Powerful Women in Business,” “The 100 Best Companies to Work for,” The 25 Most Powerful Lobbyists in Washington” and “The Best Companies for Minority Employees.” Now, you’re likely to find a new list in every issue.
Even Christians appreciate a good list. Did you know that in Paul Wilkes’ recent book, our church is on a list of the “Top 300 Excellent Protestant Congregations?” Check out this certificate,
“First Chinese Baptist Church has been selected as an Excellent Church in a nationwide search by the Parish/Congregation Study. This study has identified congregations that nurture the human spirit, draw people closer to God, bring them into loving service, and exemplify what is best in local churches throughout America.”
We appear in a new book Excellent Protestant Congregations: The Guide to Best Places and Practices and if you want to see us on the webpage, type in “findagreatchurch.org, the new site of America’s Excellent Churches.
Faith Hall of Fame Action Figures
Fortune magazine and Edgar Smith may think that they were the first ones who started lists, but we see in today’s Scriptures that the writer of Hebrews really got this list-making thing going when he submitted his list of the Faith 500. Of course, he doesn’t list all 500. Because of the restraint of time and space, he says that in addition to those who he mentions, there were many others “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice—shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword. (11:33-34)
But the people who are listed are the top excellent faith-heavyweights of biblical history. These are the people who had a sixth sense that allowed them to see—not dead people—but living possibilities, and to act upon that vision! Faith, for them, was “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Now just being on this list doesn’t mean that they have made it. It’s not that they can put on their resumes, “Listed in Faith 500—Hebrews 11” and sit on their laurels. Every person making the Faith 500 list understood faith as a verb. Their faith equipped them to act. Without faith, they would not have acted! Faith without praxis is dead.
In other words, faith is not mere cognitive insight, nor is it willful presumption. Faith is not just in your head or in your heart. The train of faith leaves the station on the twin rails of hands and feet. The person of faith is always, always, always, a person in motion. The locomotive of faith is always on the move.
For example, given more ink than any other on the Faith 500 list is Mr. Faith himself, Abraham. By faith, Abraham took his family, left his home in Ur and attempted to settle down in the middle of nowhere as a stranger. By faith, he became a father in his centennial year. By faith, Abraham was willing to offer this miracle-son Isaac as a human sacrifice. It is the activity of his faith that marks Abraham as a person of faith.
It is this same quality that marks the others on the list. Abel offers a sacrifice; Noah builds a boat. Moses is a shoo-in for the Faith 500 list based upon his leadership in Egypt on behalf of the Hebrews, and for his role in providing a vision for the faithless Israelites and successfully bringing them within the sight of the Promised Land.
One woman makes the list—Rahab—who, by faith, aided and abetted Israelite spies. Other women are referenced in verse 11:35.
And of course, there are others—names we might recognize and some we might not: Enoch, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, Gideon, Barak, David and Samson.
All of these people are powerful action figures and by their faith, they are listed in one of the Bible’s most famous chapters, the Faith Hall of Fame.
Not Models of Perfection
But wait, just because these action figures are on the Faith 500 list, it doesn’t mean that they were models of perfection. They were not always perfectly obedient to God. They screwed up at times like the humans they were. They obeyed God much of the time. But when they disobeyed, it was ugly.
Noah got drunk after the flood and passed out naked in the tent, only to have his son, Ham, walk in on him and saw him in this awful condition. Abraham lied about his wife, saving his own skin but putting Sarah at risk—twice. Jacob cheated Esau. Moses killed an Egyptian. Rahab supported herself through prostitution. Jephthah was the son of another prostitute and then was run out of town by his father’s real wife. Barak refused to fight without Deborah holding his hand. Samson had a weakness for beautiful, persistent women. David’s misconduct in the bedroom and the battlefield are well-documented.
In other words, these people could easily have been in the Hall of Shame rather than the Hall of Fame. You wouldn’t want them to be role models for your kids.
They’re also not on the list because they were so special. In fact, many of them were profoundly ordinary. Abel didn’t seem to do much of anything remarkable except watch sheep superbly.
They’re not on the list because they won all the battles. Many were notorious failures. The writer says that they were stoned, some were saw in two, some endured colorful episodes involving raging fires, hungry lions, flogging and sword fighting. Some wandered and hid in caves and holes in the ground. It seems like the bad guys won in most of those situations.
So what is it? What makes a person of faith influential today? What common thread runs through the lives of all the people on the Hebrew list? What do a good-hearted prostitute, a good man with a drinking problem who built a boat and a blinded, strong man all have in common?
They were people who were willing to act on a vision even though the fruit of their faith was not readily apparent. The text tells us that they all died before receiving everything God had promised them. From a distance, they saw what had been promised. But they never fully enjoyed those promises in this life.
FCBC’s Faith 500
As a faith community, we too have a FCBC Faith 500 list. We have action figures too. I think about
By faith, the Chinese sojourned to Gam San with the conviction that gold can be
found in the mountains of California. By faith, they received the approval of
loving wives and children who were given the assurance that their men will one
day return. But their worlds were prepared by the word of God and they became
our ancestors who started the Chinese Baptist Mission.
By faith, Miss Astrid Peterson obeyed when she was called to set out for a place
in China, not knowing where she was going. By faith she stayed for a time in the
land that she was called to serve, as in a foreign land, living in unfamiliar and
difficult situations.
By faith, Rev. James Chuck looked forward to the city that has foundations,
whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received the power and
blessings to serve for 40 years where he pastored children, youth, and adults as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
By faith, Rev. Jeffrey Sharp, when put to the test, received the conviction that
God’s promise in the future is to plant Sunset Ministry and to retrofit Waverly
Place so that we may continue to be a vibrant and faithful witness in Chinatown.
By faith, we passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land.
By faith, 30 Youth Camp Counselors and Staff Members spent their vacations
last week to work with 90 junior and senior highs, not knowing if any of the youth
learned anything or grew in faith. But we believed that faith is the assurance of
things hoped for and the convictions of things not seen. We leave it up to God’s
word, God’s promise to make it visible in God’s time.
And just like the biblical list of Faith 500, who were not necessarily models of perfection, we are not too. We are not perfectly obedient to God. And when we find ourselves in disobedience, it’s ugly too. Although we are not perfect, our people of faith were all action figures. They are people always, always, always in motion. You see, faith without praxis is dead.
We are ordinary people who don’t always win in every battle we find ourselves in for the sake of God. But amazingly, even with all of our shortcomings, God is calling us as God called countless others so many that we don’t have the time or space to list, to become people of faith.
Strangers & Foreigners
We see that people of faith have places to go. Having faith in God’s plan for us does not permit us to stay where we are and become comfortable. Sitting on our laurels is unacceptable. The train on twin rails is leaving the station and we all have tickets to go and become strangers and foreigners in the Promised Land.
Hebrews said that
“They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people
who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.”
We think that this is our homeland—a newly retrofitted church in a growing and ever-popular tourist city of San Francisco. But Hebrews said that if we had our way, we would stay here and become comfortable.
“If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have
had the opportunity to return.”
But people of faith are seeking a new home, “a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” We seek a better home—“They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
And when that excellent and enduring faith in the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen are a part of who we are as a people of faith, members of the Faith 500 list, Hebrews said,
“God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for
them.”
Two weeks ago, a stranger came by our church and rang the door bell seeking for help. Wendy let him in and we quickly realized that he was homeless and seeking for assistance. Very aware of first impressions, he took out his wallet to show me that he has a driver’s license and that his name was Albert Barnett. He was from Hartford, Connecticut.
He shared with me how a friend whom he trusted stole his VA checks and started to use his identity to steal food stamps from the government. He had come back to California to
testify that he was innocent and that this other person was the criminal. Before he was ready to return to Connecticut, he was mugged and lost his money, airline ticket home, and other personal belongings. Albert was unlike other homeless people who come by the church. He was very talkative and aware of everything that was going on in the world.
I found this stranger in our church informing me about things that I was interested in. He talked about the times when he tried to get help from other churches and they turned him away. I thought to myself how many times I have done that. I pondered while Albert was sharing his stories how I would have readily shown more compassion and perhaps offer a donation if he was better dressed and freshly shaved. I felt ashamed that I was thinking about how I have developed these filters that discriminated people from my attention. This stranger who came into our church revealed to me how much of a “stranger and foreigner” I need to be.
I need to recognize that God calls us into unfamiliar territories to be strangers and foreigners. You see, I was looking for concrete evidence that this stranger was telling me the truth. I wanted to see proof that he was really trying to get back home. The more I searched for evidence to believe in Albert Barnett, the more I became ashamed of myself for treating a stranger so suspiciously. Before I was willing to help, I wanted to make sure Albert Barnett was more like me. We need to trust God and that it’s not always necessary to see guarantees before we act. It is only in faith that we have the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.
I gave Albert Barnett on your behalf $31 because it was July 31st. I prayed with him and he prayed for me and for you. I can only believe that the little that we shared with him symbolizes our believing faith that he will get to go home in Connecticut.
When we become strangers and foreigners, there will be times when we may get lost. We may go out into this world like Abraham trusting God to show us the Promised Land and like Albert Barnett, we might get lost. And everything will be foreign to us!
There’s a story about a little 7-year old girl who got lost one day. The little girl ran up and down the streets of the big town where they lived, but she couldn’t find a single landmark. She was very frightened. Finally a police officer stopped to help her. He put her in the passenger seat of his car, and they drove around until finally she saw her church. She pointed it out to the police officer, and then she told him firmly, “You could let me out now. This is my church, and I can always find my way home from here.”
Maybe our church was a familiar landmark for Albert Barnett to find his way home. When we in faith act in the name of God to follow his way in full obedience, we too become strangers and foreigners seeking for a better country. But when we get lost, we have the assurance that God will lead us home.
And in making up the list of Faith 500 for FCBC, perhaps someday our names would be on there, saying, “By faith, the saints of the First Chinese Baptist Church obeyed when
they were called to set out for a place that they were to receive as an inheritance; and they set out, not knowing where they were going.”
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we thank you for the wonderful and dedicated faith community that we have here at First Chinese Baptist Church. Lead us to be on the move to act on your behalf as people of faith always in motion going where you are leading us. Amen.