When Sam Spoke ...

Philip G. Ryken



When I consider God’s many blessings to me through the life of Sam Hsu, I think first of the way Dr. Hsu came to our apartment one evening shortly after we arrived in Philadelphia. He came to offer his care for me as my Center City elder, and therefore as my shepherd. From our very first days at Tenth Church he prayed for God’s blessing on my ministry and protection on my family.

The late James Montgomery Boice used to speak of Dr. Hsu when he wanted to explain what godly elders he had at Tenth Church. ‘Take Sam Hsu, for instance,’ he would say—as if Sam were merely one ordinary example of a wider class. And Dr. Boice would say that although as pastors we could never hope to measure up to the piety of our elders, at least we would have their prayers to help us in our work.

I remember as well what Dr. Hsu would say in our Session meetings. He was, as one friend said to me, ‘one of our bedrock and foundational elders.’ When Sam spoke, everyone listened. He was always encouraging us to have more confidence in the sovereignty of God, more faith in God’s plans for the future, and more love for the people of God in their suffering and sin.

Then I must also testify to the ongoing blessing of encouragement Sam gave to me through his kind notes and generous gifts of recordings that would cultivate my musical taste.

Everyone sensed it: Sam Hsu lived with the love of Christ to an unusual degree. More than any of his natural gifts, which were considerable, this is the grace that distinguished him from most of the people we know.