Mar 13-14, 2021
From the Pastor’s Desk: Rev. Simon Lee
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
Even as we human beings should be proud of the latest further exploration by the United States of Mars, one planet in the huge universe, we should marvel even more at all of God’s brilliant creation, created so long ago. Jesus is the Lord of time and space as we saw in “Crown Him the Lord of years” in our last article.
In the past 12 months I have been made painfully aware of the finiteness of our time on earth and of the brevity of human lives as several of my wonderful mentors, dear friends and colleagues are taken away to be with the Lord. They hit close to home because they either were Christian leaders that I admired or mentored me, or were personal friends that I have known for a long time, my contemporaries. They include faithful Senior veteran pastor, Rev. Dr. Hay Chyn Maak, my own brilliant classmate and fellow theological educator from Regent, Rev. Dr. Philip Yeung, former professor and teacher, Dr. J.I. Packer, dynamic missionary colleague, Rev. Nick Tsang, and our former co-worker (and teacher), Dr. Ward Gasque and others. On March 5, our dear and respected co-worker, my long-time friend, Rev. Matthew Wong, after a year of battling cancer, marched victoriously into God’s paradise! First may God comfort and console Mrs. Stella Wong, their children Wendy and Pamela and their families. We will deeply miss our dear brother and pastor, but he has ceased his labour on earth and returned to the bosom of the Lord. May we carry on his dying wishes to build his Church especially the Putonghua ministries, and the mission work in Malaysia which he started.
With each of the passings of these personal models and good and faithful servants, I have been reminded of the Psalm of Moses to “number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”:
For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Ps 90:9-12)
Yes, may the Lord teach us to number our days, so that we may get a heart of wisdom to live for Him and crown Him with many crowns.
To worship Christ as the Lord of years is to recognize that our lives, no matter how short or long, are totally in the hand of God. We should first ask not for longevity of life but rather ask for the wisdom to live, in ways that will fulfill God’s mission for us on earth, and in ways that will glorify God.
Similarly, in the New Testament, because we live in evil days, Paul also urges us to “make the best use of the time” according to the will of the Lord: He says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time (KJV, redeeming the time), because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:15-17) The same phrase is found in Colossians 4:5,6: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” We therefore understand that for Paul in “making the best use of the time,” he has in mind having the wisdom in knowing how to communicate and relate to others, like ambassadors of Christ. The NIV translation uses the phrase “making the most of every opportunity,” that is, always ready, to be a living testimony for Christ in our daily lives.
Jesus taught His disciples the necessity of redeeming the time: “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4) Jesus was constantly conscious of His mission on earth and always have in mind when “the hour” will come to glorify God the Father, in a life of obedience by going to the cross to die for our sins.
There is a song “Live Like You Were Dying” by American country music artist Tim McGraw (2004). The song was written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman based on stories of family and friends who learned of illnesses (cancers), and how their perspective of life change as a result. The story of the song is about a middle age man upon being told he had cancer and only had a short time to live, wanted to do all the fun things he missed. While the focus of the song is mainly on pursuing earthly fun things in the time we have left, the lyrics also make an important point with the concluding thought, as inspired after reading the Good Book (Bible):
“I finally read the Good Book, and I
Took a good, long, hard look
At what I’d do if I could do it all again…
Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying.”
Indeed, as Christians, we should live like we were dying and pursue all God has given us to do while we have time. James reminds us that our earthly lives are like a fog that appears and then quickly evaporates. (James 4:1) Carpe diem, (Latin: “pluck the day” or “seize the day”) is a phrase used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that one should enjoy life while one can. But for us Christians, Carpe diem should mean rather that we live our life fully and give the best to the Master, for He is the Lord of years.
My thought goes back to my friend and UM university mate of 45 years and dear colleague at RCAC, Rev. Matthew Wong, came out of retirement, to serve as our Pastor of Putonghua Ministries while serving as a short-term missionary with his wife Stella to places like Panama and KL in Malaysia. He never missed a beat. In the past 12 months, even though he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he continued to be an encouragement to all of us, on what he called “The march to God’s paradise.” He has now finished his race. May the examples of the Wongs encourage us all to be faithful and “Crown Him (Christ) the Lord of Years.” May we at RCAC “Crown Him (Christ) with many Crowns,” this year and beyond.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Simon Lee