Celebration of Dr. Donald J. Wolfram's sixty-five years in ordained ministry

Sermons of Rev. Stephen Pilon Pillar of Fire Church

When you read the scriptures you find out very quickly that they leave nothing to chance when it comes to the life of the Church because the “Church”, you and me, is very precious in the sight of the Lord -- so precious that the Father was willing to give the life of His one and only Son to save us from something much worse than mere physical death. Having made the ultimate sacrifice He wasn't about to leave the care of His Church in the hands of just anybody. And so He set down guidelines so the Church would know whom to appoint as under-shepherds of the Great Shepherd. Those guidelines are found in Titus 1:5-9 and I am going to read them for you today. 

In this passage Paul was speaking to Titus, and he said to him:
 

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city, as I commanded you. If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God. Not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money; but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled; holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught. That he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”

Now these qualifications that Paul laid out for Titus were given to ensure that only those who were filled with the Spirit would ever attain to the office of bishop, because only someone who was filled with the Spirit could ever exhibit any of them. Unfortunately too often in the Church today we don't always judge a man's fitness for duty based on Paul's instructions to Titus. And because we don't, it's often hard to find leaders in the Church who possess many of the required traits, or characteristics. And because those characteristics are so rare, it's often difficult for Christians to find someone that they can point to and say ‘there is a man of God!’ and to follow him as a man of God.

Fortunately for those of us in the Pillar of Fire, that hasn't been as much of a problem as it has been for others churches, because we have been blessed with leaders like Donald J. Wolfram. For in all the things that Paul listed as a requirement for a man to be appointed to the office of bishop, Dr. Wolfram meets every one of them. For instance, each and every one of his children is a faithful member of the Body of Christ and most of them are here today. The man himself is not self-willed or easily angered, and I know that to be true because I have been in meetings with him where things did not necessarily go his way – and yet he never walked out in a huff -- instead he held his peace and listened to what others had to say. He's not a drunkard nor is he a lover of money, because if he were he wouldn't be here. He would have spent his life in the secular world doing whatever it took to get a little bit more, not here donating all that he has to the ministry of God's Word. But he is hospitable, a lover of good things, just, holy, and temperate, all of which are verified by his works. Now those works might be something as simple as giving a dollar to a homeless man in the parking lot or as great as wrestling with the powers of darkness at the altar after the sermon message has been delivered. And I have seen him do both. And it's these works that show forth his fitness to serve as a bishop in this church. 

But there is also one last and final qualification that validates his calling and that is in the fact that he has honorably discharged his duties by being faithful to the Word of God and by faithfully preaching what it teaches. No doubt it was for all of the reasons I have just mentioned that the Lord chose him to be the General Superintendent of the Pillar of Fire for the last 16 years.

But even though he was chosen, last Summer Dr. Wolfram decided to step down as General Superintendent, and by doing so he showed two other qualities lacking in many leaders today – wisdom and humility. You see, as a student of the Word Dr. Wolfram knew that in the Old Testament when king David felt age would no longer allow him to continue in his role as king he stepped back so Solomon could take his place. And so last summer Dr. Wolfram, believing that the infirmity of age was going to prevent him from faithfully executing the functions of his office, stepped back to let another take his place. And this was a decision that only a humble man could make. Why? -- because a proud man can always step into a high position, but only a humble man can step back. We in the Pillar of Fire have been blessed by having such a man as Dr. Wolfram at the helm for so many years. And while I know that all of the praise goes to the Great God Who made the man, please join me today in honoring the man who made the choice to make himself available to be used of the Lord.