June 29, 2002, First Chinese Baptist Church, SF, 12:00 Noon
Call to Worship
God is gracious. God 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.” (Psalm 147:1c, 3,5; Matthew 11:28, 29; 5-4)
My name is Don Ng, the Senior Pastor of this church and I am happy to have co-officiating with me today, the Rev. Virstan Choy, the former pastor of the Chinese Community Church in Sacramento. On June 22, 2002, our friend and brother, King S. Ng completed his life on this earth to return to be with the Lord. On behalf of his wife, Bernice, their two sons, Lawrence and Michael and their families, we are glad that you are here to remember and celebrate King Ng’s life. Surely when a servant like King Ng has completed his work on earth, his yoke is now easy and his burden is now light. For the Lord God, blesses us when we are faithful throughout our days.
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 sadness. Grant us the comfort of your rest. Assure us with the confidence that your faithful servant, King Ng 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.
Message—Walking Humbly
When I first met King Ng, we immediately bonded. Sharing the same last name, he was obviously the ”king,” which makes me the “prince.” It was around the ecumenical Christian Education project known as PAACCE that I first encountered King Ng. In fact, there was a time when there were four Ngs on the Board—some referred to us as the “Ng Dynasty!”
King was from the Reformed Church of America and I was the American Baptist. We saw each other almost every six months in exciting places like New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, and even in Hawaii. At these meetings, King would always give an enthusiastic report about the recent developments of the Asian Caucus in the RCA. He loved his denomination. He was aware that the future of the church is depended on the involvement of younger people so he resigned from the PAACCE board to make room for others. Bernice didn’t like it when King was off the board because she enjoyed the benefit of traveling with him when he went on these trips.
What I remembered about King is that he enjoyed life. Although we always had important agenda items to cover, the most important one before we called the meeting to order is deciding where to eat. King loved to eat good food. Having worked in places like Famous Foods, Grand View Market, and Lucky Stores, I can see that he’s been around food all his life.
When Mike was seeing Cheryl, he couldn’t wait to tell me that Cheryl was from First Chinese Baptist Church. He was very happy about that—perhaps he felt that having grown up just down the street, it was like Cheryl was from the same village. He was proud of his children, loved his daughters-in-law, and of course told me all about Sara, his granddaughter. He would bring pictures to our meetings to show off. We indeed live in a small world where lives interact and new relationships get established bringing once separate people together to form new families. God is always about bringing people together, reconciling differences and hoping for shalom and peace.
When I think about King Ng, the words of the prophet Micah come to mind,
“What does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
When he represented the RCA in PAACCE, he was advocating for the denominations to work more justly with Asian Americans. He was kind-hearted and always greeting you with a strong handshake and a big smile. And King was faithful and humble in service to God. He encouraged younger people to get involved because the future was in their hands. He often reported on new things that others were doing and praising them for their creativity.
Humility is often a forgotten quality in people today. We are taught to be aggressive and assertive so that we can make a strong impression on others—sometimes leading us to talk too much about ourselves. It seems that to be seen as successful, people don’t walk humbly with God. One might say that to be named, “King” is presumptuous! But for King S. Ng, the name is just right. King Ng knew Jesus and lived his life in obedient service to Christ. He was named, “King,” but he knew Christ the True King!
Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt. 16:24-25) King gave his life to the church and to the Lord and followed him faithfully throughout his days. Today in Paradise, King is with God perhaps, still in deep humility serving the Lord!
I’m glad that I had the opportunity to work with King Ng and on behalf of PAACCE, we share our deepest sympathy with Bernice and your family. On the other end of Waverly Place above Uncle’s Café is where King grew up. I’m glad that we are able to remember King’s life this afternoon in a place where he called “neighborhood.” May God bless us and watch over us as he watched every step that King Ng took walking humbly with God. Amen.
Announcements
In memory of Mr. King S. Ng, donations can be made to the Chinese Community Church Building Fund at 5600 Gilgunn Way in Sacramento where he had his church membership. After you have given your respects and expressed your condolences to the family, you are invited to join the family for a memorial lunch at Four Seas Restaurant just across the street on Waverly Place.
Again, we are grateful for your presence and may this day be a blessing to you and your household because of your love for the Lord.
Benediction
Beloved in the Lord: I charge you in his name and in the words of the prophet Micah, “to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly” with our God. There is no more fitting tribute you can render to the memory of King S. Ng whom we celebrate today than to bear witness to God’s love for us by demonstrating in your lives God’s justice and God’s mercy.
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort our hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. Amen.