“Fan into
flame’ or ‘Ordination to Proxy’
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| Thanks to Pastor Neal for the use of his cool slide and the sermon |
“6For this reason I remind you to fan into
flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For
the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and
self-discipline. 8So do not be ashamed of the testimony about
our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the
gospel, by the power of God. 9He has saved us and called us
to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own
purpose and grace.” 2 Timothy 1:6-9a (NIV)
My young friend Tim Gray was ordained this weekend to the ministry
of the word and sacrament and I am now free to call him the Reverend Tim Gray
or any other derivative that seems to fit at the time. I am honored to have been
asked to participate in his service of ordination. Honored and humbled. Honored,
humbled, and challenged. Challenged that I need to continue on the path God has
before me and to stay firmly ensconced in His story. I believe that there is a
conspiracy afloat in that regard what with Tim honoring me as he did and others
patting me on the back for things that I’ve done simply because I’m too stubborn
stop.
Tim’s service was an amazing time of worship, prayer, the consuming
of God’s word, blessing one another, laying on of hands in his commission, and a
reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant to name a few. The elements of the
service built one upon the other until we saw Tim well ordained. He then served his first communion after which
he charged us with a genuine authority from a shepherd’s heart. I was glad that
I got to call our gathering to worship and offer the opening prayer, it allowed
me to participate in the other service elements with prayer and blessing without
performance anxiety hanging over my head.
Tim’s former pastor, the Reverend Neal Neuenschwander, has been a mentor
to Tim as he accepted the call while at The First Presbyterian Church San Pedro.
Pastor Neal gave a powerful sermon based on 2 Timothy 1: 1-7. I’m still
working it through and coming to terms with it while hoping for far reaching
effects. He took such joy in God’s word that it was/is contagious and I for one
felt emboldened to the point that when we were laying hands on Tim, much like
Paul did for his young protégé, I sensed the power and authority being processed
through each of us to Tim. I pray that it will be a wellspring for Tim to draw
upon again and again throughout his ministry.
While talking with Pastor Neal after the service I remembered a
former pastor that I served under who used to say that at weddings, everybody
got a little more married. I feel like that was the case during this service,
we were a little more ordained to our callings whether it be singing in a
choir, serving cookies at fellowship, being an elder, teaching, preaching, or praying, whatever – we all are ordained for the purpose of His calling on us and the more
so with this powerful sermon and service.
As I worked through what ‘ordination’ means I tried to find a way
to extend Tim’s ordination to any and all who have had anything to do with his development
and was going to say that y’all have been a little more ordained to your calling
by proxy even if you were unable to be present. When I really looked at those
two words, ordination and proxy, I saw that I was wrong in how I intended to present
them. Nevertheless, rest assured that if you impacted Tim’s growth to the ministry,
one way or t’other, you have been further ordained to carry out your calling. Go
to it.
That being said, I have not been deterred from pairing the two
words and find that as I have dug in about this I have a deeper understanding
of them and how they relate to each other. In short, to ordain is to “invest
officially with ministerial authority. And, a proxy is a person who is given
the power and authority to do something on behalf of someone else. So, we are
therefore ordained by Christ to act on His behalf on earth as Jesus stands at
the right hand of God. (Acts 7:56) We are Jesus’ proxies and ordained to His
truth and grace and to have them operate in us and through us to all we
encounter.
“Fan into flame the gift of God…”
In His grip, jerry
Facebook comment to tag others by Sheri Gray: Lisa Gray, John Gray
ReplyDeleteFacebook comment from Marcia Randis: As always, well presented Jerry.
ReplyDeleteFacebook comment from Nancy Norton Thomas: I don't know if you can print things off of facebook but I think this would be something Tim may want to keep with other special memories of his day so he can pull it out and read it years fro now. Jerry, you are a gifted writer who writes from your heart.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy, that means a lot to me. I think Tim could print a copy from the blog site although I’m not sure of that, I’ve never tried it myself. However, I will make sure that he gets a hard copy along with something else I have in the works. When I write from the kindest side of my heart it seems to work out the best.
DeleteFacebook comment from Betty White: Very well done, Jer! What an honor and gift from God to be a part of this particular ordination! Keep in touch with Tim - he will continue to need your support and you will continue to be reminded that you have had a hand in fulfilling God's desire. That is a gift!
ReplyDeleteThanks mom. Yes, Tim and I will stay in touch. We tend to watch over our extended families, don’t we?
DeleteFacebook comment from Sheri Gray: Jerry, you have kindness in every part of your heart. You are an incredibly humble, loving, and fearless follower of Christ and I am thankful for the influence and example of Christ you have been to all three of my sons. It's a dangerous thing to single out specific people, but John and I are grateful for the support Tim has had from everyone at La Crescenta Presbyterian Church over the years, especially, Julia Leeth, Ric and Peggy Dudgeon Edens, James Delbis, Brian Caselles, Pat Chambers and the CFC staff, and so many others who were so influential in his middle and high school years and and remain so to this day. And, of course, our dear friend, Jerry White.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shari. I am learning to accept sentiment like this and that it is no matter of pride as long as we consider Calvary’s impact and that none of it would be possible without His grace and the power of His resurrection. It was a pretty great weekend, wasn’t it?
DeleteFacebook reply to Sheri's comment from Peggy Dudgeon Edens: Thank you so much, Sheri. Tim was, and still is, Ric's favorite over the years. We are so happy that he is now ordained and serving God with all that he is. We pray for all of "our kids" and ask God to bless them in every area of their lives.
DeletePeggy
We can't all be a princess; someone has to bow when I walk by.