Christian Union: The Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 57

In April, Eric Fung ’18 presented a
sermon inside Princeton University
Chapel after winning the Office of
Religious Life’s annual Rev. Dr. Joseph
C. Williamson Sermon Competition.
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p r in c et o n ne w s - in - b r ie f
PUGE Hosts Reunion
Concert
The Princeton University Gospel
Ensemble hosted a concert with
alumni during Princeton Reunions.
After rehearsing with graduates,
the student-directed group held the
concert on June 3 at Princeton’s Carl
A. Fields Center for Equality and
Cultural Understanding. Members
of the close-knit choir expressed
appreciation for the opportunity to
interact with alumni.
In May, PUGE held its spring
concert, dubbed Melodies from
Heaven, at McCosh Hall. The
ensemble, which relaunched in its
present format in 1983, boasts of a
repertoire that includes high-energy
spirituals, hymns, contemporary
gospel, and a cappella.
2
Life for his extracurricular homily.
“God used my inadequacies to
produce a sermon on gratitude this
year. I was dealing with a lot of men-
tal health issues, sometimes not even
wanting to get out of bed. But, I was
told that whenever my feelings of
anger, jealousy, inadequacy and etc.
appeared, I should turn to my God
in prayer,” Fung said.
“God was very much faithful to me.”
Likewise, Fung’s touching sermon
mirrored the choppy waters of his
spring semester and his ongoing im-
perative for internalized gratitude. “I
need to get rid of entitlement,” said
Fung. “I need to remember the cross.”
As well, lessons within the frame-
work of the lecture proved pertinent
for Fung as he simultaneously pre-
pared for final exams. “It is very easy
for Christians to forget the God for
whom they have devoted their lives
in the midst of trying to prove to the
world that they are worth something
and that that worth comes from re-
ceiving high marks,” he said.
After graduation, the chemistry
major is considering options for stud-
ies in materials engineering, law, or
theology. At Princeton, Fung’s major
activities center upon Princeton Uni-
versity Chapel Choir, Princeton Chi-
nese Student Association, Manna
Christian Fellowship (manna.princ-
eton.edu), and Christian Union’s
ministry at Princeton.
Following the competition, Alison
Boden, Dean of Religious Life and
of the Chapel, praised Fung’s efforts
to deliver a relevant message. “Eric’s
theme was gratitude, which was ea-
gerly and warmly received by the
community,” said Boden.
Indeed, Fung left his university
congregants with a compelling remind-
er. “We are clothed in the righteousness
of Christ Jesus,” he said. “The only
appropriate response to a gift of that
magnitude is gratitude.” | cu
fever. Then in 1873, Spafford dis-
patched his wife and four daughters
aboard the S.S. Ville du Havre for a
family sabbatical to England with
plans to join them.
However, an iron-sailing vessel
struck the ill-fated ocean liner and
226 people perished, including the
Spafford daughters. Wife Anna Spaf-
ford wired a telegram that began
“saved alone.” Shortly afterward, as
he sailed to England on the same route
where his daughters perished, Hora-
tio Spafford penned the hymn It Is
Well With My Soul.
Remarkably, more than a century
after Spafford’s unthinkable losses, the
stirring words of his song still provide
comfort and inspiration.
Fung told the young congregation
at Princeton that God wants His chil-
dren purposefully to draw near to
Him and receive abundant healing
balm during life’s trials.
“In his walk with God, Job was
grateful in his nakedness. In his walk
with God, Horatio Spafford was grate-
ful in his nakedness,” Fung said. “In
our walks with God, so too must we
be grateful in our nakedness.”
Job comprehended how life’s ac-
cumulations are temporary: “Naked I
came from my mother’s womb, and
naked I will depart. The Lord gave and
the Lord has tak en away; may the name
of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21).
Likewise, Christ turned to his ev-
erlasting Father as he hung upon a
wooden cross. “Nobody in the histo-
ry of humankind has faced rejection
the way that Jesus did on Calvary,”
Fung said. “Yet, He still prayed.”
As such, being grateful should be
a deep-rooted practice, not an abstract
concept.
Fung was strikingly candid as he
paused to reflect upon his surprise cita-
tion from Princeton’s Office of Religious
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