It is always a distinct pleasure to participate in an ordination service where a father and son are concerned. It does not often happen, but surely no father could ever wish for a happier occasion than that which permits him to preach the sermon or give the ordination charge to his own son.
Recently I was privileged to have a part in such an ordination. The sermon was preached by Elder Kenneth A. Wright, now stewardship secretary of the Florida Conference, but formerly president of Southern Missionary College. His message to his son and two other young men, former students of his upon whom he had previously conferred Bachelor of Arts degrees, will be read with appreciation, as will their responses. On such occasions God can speak to the hearts of men and women, and all present were deeply moved. R. A. A.
ELDER LEISKE, it was very thoughtful and generous of you to extend to Mrs. Wright and me the gracious invitation to come to the Alabama-Mississippi Conference and have a part in this mountaintop experience in our lives as parents—the ordination of our son Walter to the gospel ministry. I hope you will pardon me if I seem informal or even paternal, for in reality all of these three young men are my boys, inasmuch as it was my privilege as president of Southern Missionary College to grant them diplomas and confer degrees upon them at the completion of their ministerial course. To confer a degree is an honor, but it does not and cannot compare with the honor of participating in the ordination to the gospel ministry in the remnant church—the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a man by this denomination.
Young men, you have acceptably served your internship, and you have been recommended by your conference and union conference committees as being worthy of ordination, which will make the preaching of the everlasting gospel your chief and life work. While you have already demonstrated your ability and burden for bringing souls to a decision for Christ, your real ministry is just now beginning.
As you come down from this mountaintop experience of the hour you will find there are deep and rugged valleys and plains nearby that you and all your members must travel. A lesson from the greatest pastor-internship on record may help you. I refer to the relationship of Moses and Joshua. Read carefully Numbers 27: 18, 23. Just who was this young man Joshua, other than being the son of Nun? The Bible records of his life and activities for God provide volumes that I urge you to study in relationship to what is needed to make a faithful and successful ministry.
Joshua must have inherited from this man called "Nun" a tough and rugged moral fiber. You will remember that this same young man, Joshua, was one of the twelve men selected by Moses to spy out the land beyond the Jordan. You will remember that his story and Caleb's were distinctly minority reports, which took much courage to render—so much, in fact, that God had to intervene to save their lives from the wicked mob of fearful and rebellious people.
God realized that Joshua, naturally a man of courage, would often need super-courage, and the first chapter of the book of Joshua tells how He prepared him for his work, even to giving him a formula for success. Joshua 1:8 is the only text in the entire King James Version of the Bible where the word success is found, and it is completely based on meditation and obedience to God's book of the law. This, my dear young men, is the first prerequisite for success in your chosen profession. You must study and study and study, and meditate on what you have studied! The best time to do it is early in the morning before the cares and duties of the day press in.
Again Joshua sets you the example. Many times the Bible says of him, as of our Saviour, he "rose early in the morning." Carefully study the full text of the great experiences of Joshua's life: before crossing the Jordan, Joshua 3:1; before taking Jericho, Joshua 6:12; before finding and punishing Achan in his own camp, Joshua 7:16. Each of these major events was preceded by "Joshua rose early in the morning." Build a pattern of early-morning Bible study, meditation, and prayer if you would be ready for the day's journey. However, I would repeat a word of caution authored by the wisest man who ever lived. Please be quiet about it and avoid the implications of the "loud voice" rising early in the morning mentioned in Proverbs 27:14.
It is quite possible that you will be called upon by your conference president or committee to attempt hard assignments. Ever keep in mind that one on God's side is a majority and that His biddings are ena-blings. God will do for you what He did for Joshua. He will magnify you, if necessary, in the eyes of your people. "On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life" (Joshua 4:14). I was once called by the Southern Union Committee to follow Clifford A. Russell as educational and Missionary Volunteer secretary for the union, and later to follow Denton E. Rebok at Southern Junior College, and I know how inadequate a man can feel in his attempt to fill such illustrious shoes. But God keeps His promises, and Philippians 4:13 came to my rescue.
The last acts of this greatest of all interns are no less inspiring. In a proper and God-fearing way, Joshua, now an old man, spoke for himself and his family (Joshua 24:14, 15). Any minister of the gospel worthy of the name must have the support and respect of his family. And now at the conclusion of a life of leadership, courage, and inspiration, what greater recommendation or epitaph could possibly be penned than the inspired record in Joshua 24:31? "And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel."
Keep in mind that the most basic principle in all the world was voiced by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 7:12: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Satan views this ordination service with scorn and hatred, but how happy and thankful we are that Jesus has conquered Satan.
Note: As chairman of the Collegedale Elementary School and Academy, Elder Wright signed his son Walter's eighth grade and academy diplomas. As president of Southern Missionary College he presented his college diploma and conferred his Bachelor of Arts degree. As an ordained minister he performed the wedding ceremony at Walter's marriage to Ruth Carter. And now he has signed his ordination certificate.
