moving on...

A hope and a prayer...

Saturday, September 17, 2006. 10am.
Funeral Service for Tony Liu

I feel like Ie been here with you all my life. But it can be true. We don really know each other. I knew Dad only in parts. But between discovering the cancer and the end of Dad fight with it, we all connected. Today, this service, is our time to grieve our Dad death. And to grieve this death together.

As children, Dad had all of us quite late. And truthfully, wee all young, and I don have much wisdom or experience to share. Everything I know about dying, Ie learned from living, and Ie learned from the Bible ? the Word of God. And so Ie selected two passages from holy scripture to read.

The first one is for us to listen to, it talks about who we are. The second is part of my story to share about who our Dad is to me.

This psalm is like a poem about Eternal God and mortal men who live and die. But it is also a poem about hope in spite of hardship and pain, of asking God for his compassion, of his deeds of love, and seeing his splendour. Finally it is a poem about teaching, and wisdom and living. And if Dad was anything, it was about teaching us to be wise, in our actions, with our money, towards people.

Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world,
       from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by,
       or like a watch in the night.

You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-

though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.

The length of our days is seventy years?or eighty, if we have the strength;
       yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
       for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendour to their children.

May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us?
       yes, establish the work of our hands.

This Psalm reminds us of truthful things. Life is hard. But it also comforts us, and asks us to call upon God. That we might see the good things of God. That we might see in our lives that what happens is actually good.

The Strongest Man I Know.

Dad is the strongest man I know. I saw some pictures of Dad when he was younger, there was one with his shirt off, and man, Dad was ripped. But seriously, Dad was superman. He could do everything. Emily said that whenever she felt Dad arms, it was solid. And because Dad was so strong, he worked. Everyday. For his entire life. Dad didn stop until cancer caught up with him. And even then, he didn stop right away, but kept on working. He started to tire near the end of the business, and he relied on family more, but lesser men would have just packed it in then and there.

Not only was Dad physically strong, but he also had a will that was just as strong. He would not be stopped. He would not be deterred.

Dad strength is something to inspire us. Overcoming adversity. Persevering against the odds. Single-handedly running a major wholesaling operation. But we also know that Dad great strength was also a great weakness. For Dad strength gave him a difficult independence streak. He didn trust many people. Dad strength of mind made him smarter than most, so he did things himself. How many years did Dad count the money at the end of the day? How many nights did Dad stay late so he could solve some problem?

nd how many times did Dad work with others to find a better solution together rather than doing it all himself?

I don mean to disrespect Dad, but this is a troubling thought I have. I recently read a story of Jesus Christ that reminded me of Dad. It was a difficult passage and I questioned what it means?I like to share it with you.

Luke 12:16-21

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

When I read this, I felt sick. Dad life mirrors this story, doesn it? Dad worked so hard, and cancer demanded his life. It wasn one night, but it was just two years.

But Ie had a lot of time to think about this. And this is what I know. Dad was not this man. Jesus would not condemn Dad, in the same way as this man. Jesus told this story instead as a guard to people who would seek only their own good. Dad didn do that. He sought the good for us.

I remember when I was little, Dad would come to my place every birthday, and every Christmas. Dad was a distributor for Irvin Toy back then, and each time he came, there would be a trunk full of presents. I learned very quickly that I didn care much for so many toys. Toys in exchange for love, I thought, were no love at all. Someone who might read this passage might think that Dad gave me toys instead of time, and spent time making money, but that would be wrong.

The passage says, Il say to myself, ake life easy; eat, drink and be merry.?Dad never took life easy. Dad worked. I only began to understand this just four years ago. Dad loved me so much that he worked hard to provide for me. The toys he gave were not the important gift. The gift was that he worked so that he would be able to give. In Jesus?story, we find a man who benefited from a lucky harvest. He didn work any harder for the good crop. It just came [like an inheritance ?see verse 15]. And he took his good fortune and tried to store it all up so that he, himself, could live merrily for the rest of his life. Dad worked to care for us. So that we could live and not worry.

The way Dad grew up, this was the only way he could understand. He was from another era. A time when men had to do all the providing. And success hung on the size of your house. There was no ideas like work-life balance, or live below your means. The only idea was to provide. When you look at Dad actions from that perspective, when you see that he might not have understood anything different, then you start to see him the way Jesus sees him.

As a Christian, sometimes I get stuck with the idea that Dad needed to accept Christ to be saved. It true, that what the Bible says. If you truly believe, you will be saved. [John 3:16] But it also says that those who just say, ord, Lord?but live only for themselves, will be turned away. [Matt 7:22] Dad never believed, but neither did he live for himself; he lived for us.

I know now my Dad loved me. I didn understand it at the time, I misinterpreted it for many years. But I know my Dad loved me, in the only way he knew how. And I know that in the same way, I will love those around me, in the many ways Ie learned, from Dad, from Jesus, and from family in friends. Jesus also said, whatever you did for the least of people, you did also to me. [Matt 25:40] We can be sure that Dad did not live for himself; he lived for us all.

I know Ie said a lot of stuff about Christianity today. Again, this is what I know. When Moong asked me to prepare some stuff, the only thing I could think about is what would God want to say. And he would want to say this. This is how the world will know you are my disciples: if you love one another. [John 13:35] Allow me to pray, and if you like to close your eyes or bow your head, you may join me.

FROSH...

Grade 12 Graduation Address - Wednesday, August 23, 2006

It is my privilege to be invited here tonight. It has been my privilege to get to know you, to serve with you, to be counted on by you for small advices, or big ones. I have talked with some of you as you prepare for school in September, a new place. Some of you are excited, and anxious, and nervous and scared. Some of you don't want to go. All of these are natural and expected. But the one thing I hope you are not, is tired. You shouldn't be tired going to school. You shouldn't be going off to learn, to live and to experience all these new places and faces, tired.

Let me tell you a story from the book of John (2:1-11)

I mentioned this, because whatever else this story is, this is a story about alcohol ?one thing you'll have plenty of exposure to soon enough.

This is also a story about a boy and his mom. And I think, reflecting those of you here, children and the church.

Verse 3 - Jesus mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."

The church to you may very well be like Jesus mother to him. Jesus mother needed a miracle, so she asked her son. The church needs youth leaders ?that's how I know you ?and you are those youth leaders pressed into service. You have played music for us, babysat the children, led programs and concerts, all because we told you that it was the right thing for a good Christian to do... You shouldn't be tired going to school. If you are tired, that's our fault. It's because we involved you too soon. Your time is still coming.

Verse 11 - This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana at Galilee. He thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him.

But we all know this is not the end of our story. We're only in chapter two. And in this part, Jesus does what his mom asks. And he only gets this story, because he does later what his Father in Heaven asks. He follows this story with the greatest story we know.

Neither are you at the end of your Christian story; you've only just graduated high school. You're going to see a great big world out there, new places and faces. And you will get to see the world, your campuses, on terms you decide. People will be more fun, and places will be more exciting than what you've known.

A small part of me wants to say that home is safe, the world is dangerous. A part of me wants to say that if you go to school tired, because of me, or because of your idea of church, then who could blame you for choosing your new life over the tired one that you remember? But really, most of me wants to say that Jesus is better than tired. You've got to get to the end of his story. Because if you're tried now, you might miss it.

Don't leave here tired, leave excited. Today is the last day of your childhood in church. Tomorrow comes freedom. You will find Jesus, stay with Jesus, without all the expectations and trappings of our church, or even any of the benefits. And one day, and it'll be sooner than you think, you can come back and tell us all about it. My gift to you is something I picked up when I was back in school. It was the only pamphlet that was worth keeping. The books are as diverse as the people you'll meet. You don't have to read them all, but all of them will give you yet another way of looking a Jesus. Some are poetic, some are academic. One will be challenging, the next will be inspiring.

I have seen a little bit of God's glory in your lives so far, but I want to hear so much more. When I see you again, and I hope to see you again, tell me a story.