Twenty-three years ago my friend, mentor, and senior pastor preached a sermon that touched my heart.  It was a letter to his child that impacted hundreds of lives for many years.  It was entitled, “A Letter to LuAnn.”  Five years ago, I asked Chelsea for permission to address her senior class, their families, and their church through a sermon entitled, “A Letter to Chelsea.”  Permission was granted.  This weekend my son and so many others from this congregation walked across the stage to receive their diplomas.  I have asked Zac for permission to repeat history and address each of you through a sermon addressed to my child - “A Letter to Zachary.”  Permission has been granted for the concept, but some of the material might be a bit of a surprise – just to keep at least one of you alert. 

Dear Zachary Joseph Gilts,

Since you have shortened your name for the convenience of not having to write so many letters at the upper right hand corner of your homework, I have vacillated between what to call you.  Sometimes you are Zac, sometimes Zachary, sometimes Zachary Joseph, and most of the times My Buddy Boy.  On January 24, 1991 there was no question about what to call you – “Zachary Joseph Gilts”, we proudly told the nurse when she asked what name we wanted printed on your birth certificate.  From that moment until this, those three names strung together have filled my heart with joy, pride, and love.

Of course, your story began long before the day you were born, as did the story for every other graduating senior here today.  I wasn’t quite sure how far back to go, until you came to me in January and we were talking about what you would say at Mid-Winter where you were to give the talk.  When I started mentioning possibilities for scriptures, you assured me that the scripture had already been selected for you – Isaiah 43:2.  I know that scripture well.  Seven years before you were born I was a seminary student preaching in a hospital chapel.  No one was in the chapel, but they claim to be broadcasting the sermon through the hospital radio channel, that patients could get through their television.  No video, but the audio would play through the darkened screen.  I wondered if anyone was tuned in and doubted that they were.  So apparently, I preached to no one.

A few weeks later one of the cleaning women came up to me and in broken English thanked me for my ministry.  She was an Asian woman, whose home country I can’t seem to remember, but she presented me with a beautiful script of a Bible verse – Isaiah 43:2.  When you told me what you were to give a talk on, my mind was transported to the hospital chapel and the gentle spirit of that woman.  The verse is a great verse for a life verse.  Perhaps it will be yours, but I want you to hear the verse that comes before it and a little of the verse that comes after it.  We find those words in Isaiah 43:1-3^a.  Hear now the Word of the Lord:

¹But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. ²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. ³For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  

This is the word of God for the people of God.  In this passage the Lord assured his people of his persistent presence.  

Zac, that persistent presence is what I want you, your friends, their families, and your church family to hear today.  In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you.  You are in a world of lasts and firsts.  We remind you of that every day.  Just ten days ago your mom and I went into your room and woke you up for your last day of high school.  We probably won’t drive to San Marcos to do that in August – we might, but we probably won’t.  Yesterday was your first full day to be a high school graduate.  You are in a world of lasts and firsts.  Many of those around you are in a similar world for different reasons – the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, a new job, a new community, an empty nest.  So allow me to expand my exhortation to all who are here: In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you.   

God is with you when you don’t even know it.  That was the basis for God’s claim.  He created those to whom he spoke.  He formed those whom he assured.  He redeemed them and called them by name. In case they didn’t get that the Lord simply proclaimed, “You are mine.”

God is with you when you don’t even know it.  You know the story of your Mom and me being told that we probably would not be able to have any children and how your Mom prayed for your sister and you.  I don’t know why God chose to answer those prayers and not so many others, but I do know that God is with you when you don’t even know it.  On April 7, 1991 we brought your tiny frame to the front of the sanctuary of Sugar Land First United Methodist Church.  You weren’t aware of what was going on, but I was.  Your Mom and I were asked what name we had given to you, and when we said, “Zachary Joseph”, Carroll Fancher said, “Zachary Joseph, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  That was the day, God called you by name, or as John Calvin put it, “The day God adopted you, admitting you into close relationship.”  I watched you grow up in places where God knew your name, but you did not yet know God as closely as you would.  You acted out stories of redemption in annual Christmas plays and as an usher dressed in biblical attire for the Upper Room Communion services on Maundy Thursday.  There are so many ways and so many places where God is with you when you don’t know it, but I want to get to that life verse.  In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you. 

God is with you in difficult times.  This promise is incredible – When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  I wonder if the original readers thought about the people of Israel passing through the Red Sea on their way out of Egypt and the Jordan River on their way into the Promised Land.  I wonder if the three Hebrew children in Daniel 3 had this verse before they were sent into the fiery furnace.  God had demonstrated his care for his people through those difficult and dangerous times.

God has done the same for you.  Of course, for many of those dangerous times I was with you, which according to your mom, may have been the reason it was so dangerous.  There was Haystack Mountain that we climbed not knowing how we could ever get down the slick golden grass that covered the rocky incline.  Fortunately, our scrapes were not too bad that day.  There was Angel’s Landing when we were three-fourths of the way across a ridge that dropped 1,000 feet on either side and you said, “I’m scared, Dad, let’s go back!” and I was too frightened to turn around.  We completed the hike and found it lots easier to return after we had conquered our fears.  There was the Pacific Ocean with its cold, violent, sweeping waves that would have taken you out to sea if your sister and I were not holding your hands.  Remember it was that image that you mentioned in your talk this year and how God has held you through so many people in your life and by His Spirit that will not let you go.

There have been other dangers and difficulties in your life – roller blades, skateboards, snowboards, long boards and car crashes, have all been survived with only minor damage to you.  Of course, there are other difficulties in our lives; your life, my life, and in the lives of those around you.  There is no need to go into all of those; we are all way too familiar with our own lists.  How amazing it is to know that God is there, holding our hands, as our feet feel as they are being swept out to sea.  John Calvin wrote, “They who rely on God’s immediate assistance have no reason for sinking under adversity.”  Do you know what I think that means?  I think it means, In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you.

God is with you when you don’t even know it.  God is with you in difficult times.  God is with you in times of decision.  God proclaimed the reason his people could depend on his persistent presence, “For I am your Savior.”  I enjoy visiting with confirmands as they are preparing to confess Jesus Christ as their Savior.  One of the first things that I ask them about this question is to define the word “savior”, without using any religious or churchy language and without talking about Jesus.  It takes them a little while to reprogram, but soon they start talking about a rescuer – firefighter, paramedic, doctor, lifeguard, and people like that.  Then we can start talking about what Jesus rescues us from.  You are old enough to realize that this changes over time.  Do you remember when you were ten years old and we went on a daddy date to play Putt-Putt golf?  After Putt-Putt we were driving toward Maggie Moo’s to get some ice cream and we started talking about God adopting you long before you knew it.  We talked about what it meant to say, “yes” to God.  I think you were kind of freaked out a little about eternity and what forever really meant, but you were certain that you wanted God to be part of that journey.  You wanted Jesus to be with you like never before, in you as your Savior.  We pulled into the Compass Bank parking lot in Sugar Land and you prayed for Jesus to be your Savior.  What were you rescued from that day?  Fear, anxiety, emptiness, guilt, uncertainty.  Those all exist in the lives of ten year old boys.  They still exist, but somehow they look different.  Sometimes they even look scarier.  They might even be whispering to high school graduates today trying to figure out what’s next, with so much of the familiar being taken away by every “last time”.  In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you.  God is with you just as much in this threshold, as God was in the parking lot of Compass Bank.

Two years later, you had the chance to reflect on that experience as you went through Confirmation with Mr. Arthur and so many friends.  What a fun year that was and when the day came for your confirmation, your Mom and I wrote letters of blessings to you, just as I encouraged the parents of this year’s confirmands to do.  My letter was in two parts, the long part that I wanted to write and the short part that you wanted to read (you have never been a fan of long letters).  The short version was only three lines:

I am proud to have you for a son.

I love you more than words could ever express.

‘nuff said, Dad.

I was so honored to share those words with you on the afternoon of your confirmation.  However, what excites me even more was since we have been at this church, you have heard God say those words to you:

I am proud to have you for a son.

I love you more than words could ever express.

‘nuff said

I have seen the change in you as those words have found their way into your heart.  I have witnessed you growing from a little boy looking up to your sister and all her friends to a young man who is looked up to by so many others.  Your mother has always referred to you as “a mighty man of God” and you are living into that name.

Years ago I heard Garrison Keillor giving one of his “News from Lake Wobegon” accounts.  It was a story about Florian Krebsbach’s grandson who was visiting Lake Wobegon for a couple of weeks.  The boy was bored in the quiet little town staying with this older couple.  When the grandfather looked out back and saw his grandson angry, bored, and in misery as he was raking the yard, a thought hit him.  This boy was his lifeline to the future.  He whispered outside the screen door in a voice so low not even the wind could hear him, “Take care, O take care young man, take care, you hold our lives in your very hands.”

I remembered those words five years ago as your sister prepared to leave the nest.  Today as you continue to experience the last rounds as a high school student and anticipate a future away from home, “Take care, O take care young man, take care, you hold our lives in your very hands.”  Of course, you don’t do it all alone.  In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you. 

I have said it several times every Sunday since you were six years old, but I don’t know if I ever meant it more personally than today.  God is with you, God goes before you to show you the way, behind you to encourage you, beside you to befriend you, above you to watch over you, and within you always to give you peace.  In this world of lasts and firsts, hear the promise of this verse – God is with you. 

                                                                                                                      With all my love,
                                                                                                                       Dad