Thank you Ken. It is a blessing and a privilege to stand before you all as a candidate for ordination. I did not arrive at the place where I am now standing on my own. Before anything else I would like to acknowledge those people who helped me along the way.
Would members of family please rise. If you are related to me by blood or by marriage, please stand up.
I would next like to recognize members of my home church. Members of Tiburon Baptist Church please stand. Thank you so much for my vote in favor of ordination.
Next I would like my friends from Christian Life World Missions Frontiers to stand up. These are some of the people who will travel on mission to Africa with me in just ten days.
I also would like to recognize friends from other churches in the area as well as any friends from the seminary. Please stand.
And, if I have missed anyone, if you are a friend of mine, please stand. Thank you.
It is with God's grace and your help that I stand as a candidate for ordination this evening. This ordination service may be more unusual than most. My family is here with me today to celebrate this occasion and I have asked six of them to participate. My three sisters Jeanne, Charlotte, and Eileen will make opening remarks. My two sons, Simon and Zachary, will read scripture and my brother Frank will close us in prayer. In addition, my wife Kim, will sit with me during a laying on of hands. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and without their continuous love and unconditional support I would not be here. I would also like acknowledge my brother Jack from Texas. He was not able to be here this evening, but I have an 8x10 picture of him sitting in the pew.
I would first like to introduce my three sisters and their husbands. My most senior sister Jeanne and her husband Don traveled here from Canby, Oregon. My second senior sister, Charlotte and her husband Jim came from Kelso, Washington, and my third senior sister Eileen and her husband, Terry came from Longview, Washington. Sisters, welcome.
--- EILEEN, JEANNE, CHARLOTTE COMMENTS ---
Thank you, sisters. My younger son, Simon, is down from Portland for this weekend. This fall he will begin a Master's Degree program in Art in New York City. Simon will say a few words and read from the Old Testament. My older son, Zachary, is a student brother at Saint Albert's Priory in Oakland. If he continues along his life path, Zachary will be ordained as a Dominican priest in about 4 years. Zachary will be reading from the New Testament.
----------------- SIMON READS --------------------
A reading from the Old Testament. Isaiah, chapter six, verses one through eight.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
---------------- ZACHARY READS -----------------
A reading from the New Testament. The second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter four , verses one through seven.
Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Thank you Simon and Zachary. I chose these two passages of scripture because they express my heart. Like Isaiah, I am saying "Here I am Lord, send me". After 53 years of life, Sunday is now my favorite day. My life is at the service of the Gospel. God has given me this gift of grace.
Like Paul, I understand that I have received my ministry by the mercy of God. These words of Paul are especially helpful to me as I begin to follow God's call. Zachary read Paul's words as they appear in New International Version of the Bible, but I would like recast these words in a more personal version. A few years ago, I began a new way to meditate upon scripture. That way is to repeat the words in my own first person translation. This is a super way for us to let scripture soak into our bones. I substitute the "we's" and "you's" with "I's" and "me's". This is my private first person translation of First Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verses 1, 2, 3, 6 and seven.
"Therefore, since through God's mercy I have this ministry, I do not lose heart. Rather, I have renounced secret and shameful ways; I do not use deception, nor do I distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly I commend myself to every person's conscience in the sight of God. For I do not preach myself, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and myself as your servant for Jesus' sake. For the same God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But I have this treasure in a jar of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from me."
Based on this passage of scripture, these are the five understandings that I bring with me to ordination this evening.
FIRST, This ministry is not mine, but God's. God has been calling me for many years, but I have always hesitated. In my twenties, I considered being a Wycliffe Translator, but when I discovered that I would have to raise my own funds, Bible translating appeared to be too risky. In my thirties, I pursued positions in Christian Education. I was interviewed several times, but discouraged after every false start. This third time the call of God is deafening. My call sounds something like this: "Chris, do you love me? … then feed my sheep". "Chris, do you love me? … then feed my lambs". All I can say to this call is "Yes, Lord". And because, I have received this ministry from God, I do not lose heart.
I must single out my wife Kim for the special support she has shown me over the years. It amazes me that she has loved me most at those times when I deserved it least. Whatever ministry we go into, wherever we go to follow God's call, Kim will be my partner. However, we will both be junior partners to our higher authority. We must both give up ownership. This ministry is not ours, but God's. We must stand aside and see where He takes it.
SECOND, For this ministry to be blessed I must set forth the word of God honestly and plainly, with no personal agenda. One of the things that I appreciate most about Tiburon Baptist Church, Pastor Barry, and the ministry team here, is their honesty and plain-spokeness. I have never met anybody like Barry who prayerfully tries to make his own personal agenda match the agenda of God. It was a blessing to meet with Barry during my supervised ministry with the seminary. It was a privilege to meet and to talk with ken eakins as my spiritual director. These two men not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.
THIRD, I must keep the focus of this ministry on Jesus Christ as Lord, always remembering that I am His servant. As I charge forward from this point, I will keep in mind the example of my father, John. My dad worked with his hands all his life, first in the coal mines of Ohio, then in the oil refineries of Indiana, and finally in the Aluminum mills of Washington State. He always had dirt under his fingernails, but my dad always had Jesus in his heart. When I was in my twenties and living with my parents, he used to pack the house with people in need of prayer and healing.
I remember unfolding thirty chairs that we kept in the corner of our living room. I have my father's bible here. He always kept a prayer list in his Bible and I have one he wrote out in 1975. This paper says "Prayer list: young girl with hemorrhaging, Garth for salvation, Chris - without job". I would like to tell my dad that not only do I have a job: I have a ministry in the gospel. My mother was a helper and quiet supporter. She kept my dad anchored, balanced, and always pointing in the direction of Jesus. Both of them committed their latter years to God's service. Both my mother and father knew Jesus as Lord. In some ways I feel that I am continuing a ministry that they inspired in me many years ago. Like my parents before me, I will remember who is Lord and who is servant.
FOURTH, the same awesome God who spoke the world into existence is making His light to shine in my heart. I see in these words an image of the opening verses of Genesis. Do you realize that the same God who said "Let there be light" continues up to this moment creating the sunlight that shines through these windows, but also the light of the Gospel that shines in our hearts. Whatever goodness you see in me, whatever eloquence you hear in my words, all this is a dim reflection of God's light. It's like I'm holding a mirror in my hands. My ministry is to catch the sunlight of the Gospel and to reflect it on toward others.
I learned about reflecting God's light in Africa. I would like to thank Missionary Paul Kim and Christian Life for enabling me to minister in Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. Before my first mission to Africa, I thought of myself at a teacher. I was confident of my teaching ability, but I did not consider myself a preacher. God straightened me out in Africa. I stood in front of thousands of Africans in Bukavu in the Congo. I opened my mouth and I spoke, but the words belonged to God. I was only reflecting the light of the Gospel.
The same God who said "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in my heart to give his people the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
FIFTH, this treasure of the gospel in housed in a jar of clay. May I never forget that. In reading about this passage of scripture, I learned that Paul was struggling to present to the Corinthian church an image that would allow him to boast and to be humble at the same time. Paul wanted to boast about the Gospel while maintaining his personal humility. This is the image that Paul came up with: a precious gem housed in a common earthen jar. I understand that this is who I am. When you in the congregation look in my direction, I want your eyes to fasten on the treasure of the gospel and not upon the jar of clay that presents it. The secret of success in the Christian walk is to keep your eyes on Jesus.
Because these words from Second Corinthians are guiding me in my ministry, I have asked Pastor Barry to incorporate them in my ordination charge. You will hear that shortly.
Again, I want to thank my family and friends for being with me this evening. Your fellowship means much to me.
To return to words of the Hebrew Scripture, God has asked "Whom shall I send and Who will go for us". Like Isaiah I am responding this evening "Here am I, send me".
ORDINATION CHARGE:
Barry:
Chris, do you understand that you have received your ministry through God's mercy?
Do you renounce all secret and shameful ways?
Do you agree not use deception, nor distort the word of God?
Will you set forth the truth plainly and commend yourself to every person's conscience in the sight of God?
CHRIS: I Will
Barry:
Chris, will you preach not yourself, but Jesus Christ as Lord?
Will you preach yourself as a servant for Jesus' sake?
Because God has shined His light in your heart, will you reflect His light to others?
CHRIS: I Will |
