December 17, 2011 11:00 AM
First Chinese Baptist Church, San Francisco
Welcome & Opening Prayer
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. (Psalm 90:1; Romans 14:7-9)
On behalf of the family of Mae M. Lee, I welcome you here today to celebrate the life and faithfulness of Mrs. Lee who was born on March 9, 1922 into a Christian home and returned home to the Lord on November 28, 2011—having lived 89 years of being in the Lord. For Mae Lee, she truly lived to the Lord and died to the Lord.
In our service today, we have Dr. Franklin Woo from Pasadena who is an uncle and his wife Jean, an aunt to Vera and Victor. Dr. James Chuck has been Mae Lee’s senior pastor for many years. Rev. Peter Lee who is our present Pastor of Chinese-speaking Ministries. David Wong was Mae Lee’s long-time Sunday school teacher. We have Angela Lee Sullivan who is Mae Lee’s granddaughter, Michael Wong, an “adopted” son who drove Mrs. Lee to church over many years, and finally we’ll have Victor Lee, her son who will share on behalf of his family’s appreciation for you to be here today. We also thank Joyce Moy, one of our church accompanists to play for the service.
As we anticipate the coming of the Christ Child during this Advent season with hope, peace, joy and love, we pray that your lives will be blessed because you have come to celebrate one of God’s beloved, come to offer support and love to Mae Lee’s family, and you have come to live out the spirit of the Body of Christ in the world. We thank you for your presence and wish you well and God’s wonderful blessings.
Let us pray.
We thank you, God, that nothing in creation—nothing in life and nothing in death—can separate us from your love. Fill us with your Spirit in this time of suffering and loss, and remind us that Christ is Lord of both the dead and the living. May we trust him to rescue us from all destructive powers and show us the way to a new and everlasting life. Amen.
*Opening Hymn #72 (English); #18 (Chinese) Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Scripture Readings
Psalm 90 Franklin Woo
Psalm 23 James Chuck
Biography Peter Lee
Words of Remembrance
Teacher and Friend David Wong
#437 (English); #513 (Chinese) Jesus Loves Me
MaMa Angela Lee Sullivan
“Adopted” Son Michael Wong
Meditation—A Strong Woman of Faith Don Ng
If Mae Lee were born in America, she might have become a San Francisco Unified School District teacher who would then be promoted to be a principal. If Mae Lee were born more recently and in the United States, she very well may have become a pastor of a church. If she grew up in an uncharted and unsettled area of the world such as when California was just being settled, she could have been a pioneer and trailblazer. I think that if Mae Lee were born in the 1970s rather than in 1922, she would have been involved in women’s liberation. We all know that Mrs. Lee was a very strong woman of faith in the 89 years that she faithfully lived on earth.
In a yet to be published biography in the 3rd volume of Chinatown: Stories of Life and Faith, we have a biography of Mae Lee who has known God’s love in her heart for her entire life. After three family generations of a Christian household, Mae Lee was born into a Christian home that didn’t seem to under-estimate or discriminate against girls and women. She was able to attend a private Christian school for girls that were more demanding and challenging than the public ones. At an early age, she said grace before meals. Before she was in kindergarten, Mae memorized all 66 books of the Bible. I don’t think any of the ministers up here today can say that they can do that!
As the oldest of 6 in her family, Mae Lee became the natural mentor and tutor for her siblings at home. Soon, all the neighbors wanted their children to go to have an education too and the village leader asked Mae to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. She was then asked to teach 3rd and 4th graders at a larger school where the other teachers were all men. She was the only female teacher—breaking the gender barriers and setting an example that everyone should have a chance to attend school. When she noticed that there were many girls who didn’t have the chance to attend school, she got up the courage and persuaded the administrator to allow her to teach teenage girls at night using oil lamps. You can almost imagine Mae Lee like some of those teachers who believe in disadvantaged students whom everyone has given up. She stood up for their needs and rights and believed in their future. If she remained a teacher, I think she would have become a principal or maybe even the superintendent of schools.
There’s an incident in her story about the time when she was taking an exam to qualify for a teacher-training course leading to a teaching certificate. While she found the test easy, she noticed that most of the guys were struggling to answer the questions. Now I’m not condoning this behavior but according to Mae Lee, she pushed her exam paper out a little so that the guys can see her answers. I think that’s call cheating. But Mae Lee is undoubtedly an education trailblazer. Maybe she felt sorry for those guys or maybe she thought that the importance of children getting an education requiring more teachers out-weighted a little cheating.
The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans confesses that when we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, all of life’s journey whether there are obstacles or challenges, problems and concerns, suffering or persecution cannot cause us to be far from God’s peace.
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)
Mae Lee exhibited this strong faith in her life. She became stronger and even more faithful especially when sufferings and challenges came her way. When she was a teenager, God protected her from harm’s way when the Japanese invaded China. God protected her when she missed a boat and discovered later that it sank. From these challenges and threats, she just became stronger and more faithful.
When her husband, Carl Lee became sick as the result of serving in the Korean War and required Mae Lee to care for him, she endured. She developed character. She was so hopeful that she traveled with Carl back to China to receive medical care that she couldn’t get in the US.
Perhaps the most devastating suffering that any person can experience is when a parent grieves over the lost of a child. When Mae Lee’s oldest son, Wilson died from brain cancer in his late 40s, she was deeply saddened and so were many of you here. But as the Scriptures say, “suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope, and this hope that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
When Mrs. Mae Lee was still active in the Women & Brother’s Society at our church, she was always a strong and faithful woman. While small in size, she towers over all of us with her convictions and sound teaching. I can still see her standing in front of the class, interpreting the Bible and exhorting the group to believe. She would then dish out chow mein and an egg roll on paper plates to everyone and told us to eat. I think that all the ministers of our church were generally intimidated by Mrs. Lee because she was a strong and faithful woman.
When it comes to the Women & Brother’s Society, there really wasn’t a need for one of us ministers to be present. Mae Lee was as much of a woman in ministry, a dedicated female teacher who was the head of her class, the one who was never afraid of obstacles and barriers and in the end, persevered because she was a strong and faithful woman of God.
Let us pray.
God of grace and mercy, comfort and assure us with the knowledge that Mae Lee is with you, at peace in your eternal love and care. Thank you, Lord for blessing us with Mae Lee’s life so that we may experience what strong love and life-long faithfulness can be like. As we have celebrated this life, grant us faith in your goodness, faith in guiding wisdom and faith in your everlasting promise, through your Son, Jesus or Lord. Amen.
*Closing Hymn #422 (English); #185 (Chinese)
Amazing Grace!
Thank You Victor Lee
Closing Prayer
Our gracious God, we thank you for the gift of life. We know the Scripture is true that teaches us that in you we live, and move, and have our being. But even as we give thanks for life, we acknowledge, O Lord, how death is part of life. Even though death always feels like an intruder, we know it is really part of the path we all must walk. We are grateful for those whose lives encourage us on the path of life. This loved one, Mae M. Lee, whose life we celebrate today, has been faithful in life and now in death. May we learn from her courage and constancy how to embrace the totality of the gift you have given us, and accept by the grace the hope of eternal life. In the name of Christ or Lord, whose life, death, and resurrection are the first fruits of eternal life, we pray. Amen.
When you exit, you will be given two small envelopes. The white envelope contains a piece of candy to symbolize sweetness in a bittersweet situation. The red envelope contains a coin for you to buy something on your way home to suggest that you will continue to prosper and to have a healthy life.
Benediction
Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, God has promised to bless us and keep us in this life and in our new life with the Lord.
The same God whose face now shines on our friend, Mae E. Lee, has promised, through the Lord, to forgive us and to shelter us throughout eternity.
I charge you to find your comfort and peace in these gracious promises of a loving God.
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.