WEBVTT 00:00.400 --> 00:04.100 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 00:04.700 --> 00:05.100 Amen. 00:06.800 --> 00:08.700 A letter from your father. 00:11.000 --> 00:15.100 Today is a special day in the sanctoral calendar, the days designated 00:15.100 --> 00:20.000 for observing the lives of faith of those who have preceded 00:20.000 --> 00:22.600 the baptized faithful of today. 00:23.900 --> 00:25.100 Oh, it's not a date 00:25.400 --> 00:30.400 you'll find in the feasts and festivals or commemorations of LSB. 00:31.400 --> 00:32.900 It's not a sanctoral date 00:32.900 --> 00:36.200 that would be of any importance to you. 00:38.400 --> 00:43.900 But it is a very important date in my family's sanctoral calendar. 00:45.300 --> 00:49.600 Twenty years ago today on September 26, 2002, 00:50.600 --> 00:51.700 my dad died, 00:51.700 --> 00:52.500 very suddenly. 00:54.200 --> 00:58.700 Now, I don't expect you to observe the day culminating, my dad's 00:58.700 --> 00:59.600 baptismal 01:01.500 --> 01:05.099 journey, you each have your own family saints that you remember. 01:07.400 --> 01:12.100 One of the ways we can remember the saints who model the way for us, 01:12.100 --> 01:17.400 is through that time-honored medium of handwritten letters. 01:18.500 --> 01:22.900 I have one such letter from my dad, which I treasure above all others. 01:23.600 --> 01:25.500 He wrote it on May 24th, 01:25.700 --> 01:32.700 1984, as I was graduating from high school. His words echoing from 01:32.700 --> 01:38.100 before his death, continue to shine a light for me as I seek to live 01:38.100 --> 01:46.600 as one who is above reproach. The husband of one wife, sober-minded, 01:47.100 --> 01:55.200 self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, 01:56.100 --> 01:58.200 not violent, but gentle. 01:59.300 --> 01:59.800 Not quarrelsome. 02:01.400 --> 02:02.600 Not a lover of money. 02:04.700 --> 02:07.400 On that graduation day, my dad wrote. 02:09.100 --> 02:11.600 A far more significance than the honors you have 02:11.600 --> 02:16.000 received, are the intangibles you possess which made the honors 02:16.000 --> 02:22.300 possible a Christian faith, integrity, honesty and self-esteem. 02:24.500 --> 02:29.400 It is those inner qualities, which will impart quality to every aspect 02:29.400 --> 02:30.300 of your life. 02:30.600 --> 02:32.200 Without those inner qualities 02:32.200 --> 02:36.600 all future accomplishments will be shallow and hollow. 02:38.600 --> 02:39.500 My prayer for you 02:39.500 --> 02:43.300 this evening is that you will always be able to hold onto those inner 02:43.300 --> 02:45.900 qualities, which have made you 02:47.000 --> 02:49.100 always strive to do your best. 02:49.900 --> 02:53.400 Do all, do all to the glory and honor of God. 02:54.300 --> 02:55.200 Love Dad. 02:58.600 --> 02:59.800 What makes those words 03:00.100 --> 03:05.000 weighty for me personally is that they express central convictions by 03:05.000 --> 03:06.800 which he tried to live. 03:07.000 --> 03:14.100 He modeled a life of faith, honesty, integrity, and self-respect and I 03:14.100 --> 03:18.600 wanted and still want to emulate them. 03:21.400 --> 03:24.500 Admittedly there is much to live up to here. 03:25.500 --> 03:28.500 It's no less true for Timothy and the letter 03:28.500 --> 03:34.300 he received from his father Paul who calls Timothy his true child, 03:34.800 --> 03:39.400 in the faith. Timothy has been called to the noble task of being an 03:39.400 --> 03:40.200 overseer. 03:40.300 --> 03:46.700 A pastoral Bishop of the church, a Shepherd of the flock. Bearing 03:46.700 --> 03:51.900 witness within the household of God, to the one who was believed on in 03:51.900 --> 03:53.600 the world and taken up 03:53.600 --> 03:59.600 in glory is a demanding task. It requires a character and 04:00.000 --> 04:03.900 behavior that cannot be generated from within ourselves. 04:06.400 --> 04:11.600 How do you feel about yourself in relationship to the list 04:11.600 --> 04:16.300 Paul shares for pastors, and for deacons which would of course have 04:16.600 --> 04:19.100 implications for deaconesses? 04:21.200 --> 04:24.600 Are you above reproach at all times? 04:25.500 --> 04:28.900 Is self-control constantly in evidence. 04:30.300 --> 04:34.600 Are you strenuously dignified in your dealings with people? 04:35.900 --> 04:38.300 Do you hold the mystery of faith 04:38.500 --> 04:43.000 A transfer with a transparently clear conscience? 04:44.700 --> 04:46.200 Does all that you do 04:47.200 --> 04:50.500 lead people to have great confidence in the faith 04:51.000 --> 04:51.900 that is in Christ 04:51.900 --> 04:52.600 Jesus? 04:56.100 --> 04:59.800 If Paul's list of behaviors and characteristics for the one 05:00.000 --> 05:03.200 who desires the task of overseer 05:03.200 --> 05:07.200 has you wondering what am I doing here at the Seminary? 05:09.200 --> 05:11.400 Then remember who sent this letter to Timothy, 05:12.900 --> 05:15.400 Paul. Timothy's 05:15.400 --> 05:18.600 true father in the faith. 05:19.900 --> 05:26.700 It was a fatherly pastoral letter of love from Paul. The challenges for 05:26.700 --> 05:28.000 Timothy to live a life 05:28.000 --> 05:32.300 worthy of the Gospel, were no more daunting than they were for Paul. 05:32.600 --> 05:38.300 As he says elsewhere to Timothy, I receive mercy for this reason that 05:38.300 --> 05:43.800 in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect 05:43.900 --> 05:44.900 patience. 05:46.200 --> 05:50.500 As an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life, 05:51.200 --> 05:57.100 Paul's letter itself is a sign of patience and Grace, the patience and 05:57.100 --> 05:59.800 Grace of Jesus Christ through Paul 06:00.900 --> 06:01.700 to Timothy. 06:03.700 --> 06:08.600 Paul was writing these things to Timothy so that he might know how one 06:08.600 --> 06:14.300 ought to behave in the household of God, the Church of the Living God. 06:15.700 --> 06:17.700 And the pillar of that church is the God 06:17.700 --> 06:20.300 whose son was manifested in the flesh. 06:20.700 --> 06:25.800 Vindicated by the spirit, seen by Angels proclaimed among the Nations 06:26.000 --> 06:33.700 believed on, in the world taken up in glory. And who's promise the 06:33.700 --> 06:37.200 gift of the spirit was sent upon the disciples 06:37.400 --> 06:43.500 and those who were witnesses of all that had happened to Jesus. God 06:43.500 --> 06:48.600 the Father didn't leave his church without the power, that it needed 06:48.600 --> 06:52.200 to bear, witness to his Son in the world. 06:53.800 --> 06:59.800 And neither did Paul leave Timothy without a word of empowerment and 07:00.100 --> 07:01.400 encouragement. 07:05.000 --> 07:06.800 Is it any different for you? 07:09.100 --> 07:14.200 Yes, the qualifications for overseers and deacons and deaconesses 07:15.200 --> 07:16.000 are daunting. 07:18.400 --> 07:23.500 But if you are overwhelmed by the demands, you are missing the point. 07:25.600 --> 07:31.400 Your heavenly Father is sending you a letter of grace, mercy and peace 07:31.500 --> 07:32.900 in the form of this letter 07:32.900 --> 07:38.300 from Paul, to Timothy. Receive the letter to your brother 07:38.300 --> 07:44.100 Timothy as a gift from your heavenly Father. My dad's letter of nearly 07:44.100 --> 07:44.900 40 years ago 07:44.900 --> 07:46.700 expressed paternal pride. 07:47.800 --> 07:52.700 Here in Paul's words to Timothy your heavenly Father and inscribes 07:52.700 --> 07:58.700 paternal words of pride and love in his Son for you. 08:00.100 --> 08:06.400 Those who toil and strive with their hope, set on the Living God who 08:06.400 --> 08:07.900 is the savior of all people. 08:09.600 --> 08:14.000 In this letter your Father paints the vision of the pastor and 08:14.000 --> 08:16.400 deaconess he wants you to be. 08:18.300 --> 08:24.200 And all of it is written in the love that the Father has for those 08:24.200 --> 08:27.800 He calls his daughters and sons. 08:29.200 --> 08:33.299 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 08:34.000 --> 08:34.400 Amen.