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1. I learned to admit I was wrong. My father was a stubborn man. Therefore, I found it easy to cause him to lose his temper. When I was about 12 years old, my father had gotten particularly angry with me and marched me off to the bedroom for a spanking. However, before the spanking was administered, my dad and I had the usual preliminary discussion to make sure that I understood the nature of my crime. As I outlined the case for my innocence, my father, much to my surprise, suddenly realized his assessment of the situation had been wrong. He immediately told me he was sorry. He got down on his knees beside the bed and told me to do the same and then prayed, asking God to forgive him and help him be a better father. This only happened once, but I never forgot it.
2. I learned to forgive. When I was about 10 years old, I was practising to be a cowboy by "lassoing" stationary objects. Suddenly a girl about my age rode by on her bike, and I saw the opportunity to practise on a moving target! I threw the rope, the rope caught in the pedals and wheels of the bike, and the girl fell, resulting in a broken ankle. I immediately knew I was guilty of an unforgivable sin and ran into the house, while my father, who had seen the whole thing, tended to the girl.
In the house, I told my mother what a stupid thing I had done and said that Dad was going to "kill me". When my father came into the house and saw how horrified I was by what I had done, he simply said that he forgave me. My discipline was that when the girl came home from the hospital, I would have to go by myself and tell the girl and her family that I was sorry and give her a box of chocolates. This was amazing grace--the family of the girl did not sue. To this day, I am convinced that any sin can be forgiven!
3. I learned about the joy of being a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. My father was not a great evangelist. In fact, he didn't see many people become Christians because of his witness. But being a witness for Jesus was what made him tick. It gave him joy! My dad was always looking for opportunities to talk to people about Jesus.
For over 40 years, Dad preached at least one night a month at the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver's skid row district. He loved being able to tell the people there how Jesus had changed his life and could change theirs. He eventually got me to preach my first sermon there.
When Dad was in his 80s and no longer preaching, he would go door to door or to the shopping malls and hand out gospel tracts. Sometimes I would get an excited phone call from Dad telling me about somebody who had prayed to receive Christ. After he died, I found in his diaries names of people he had witnessed to, with a note about how he should pray for them.
The last time my dad gave his witness for Jesus was the day before he died. He had fallen and broken his hip and needed surgery. In the operating room, just before the surgery was to start, Dad announced that he wanted to say something. He then told the doctors and nurses that Jesus was in charge of what would happen to his life because "God exalted him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11). When Dad finished quoting the Bible, he said, "OK, you can start."
When I talked to Dad after the surgery, I remember how happy he was that he had been a witness for Jesus. The next day, Dad died in his sleep and went to be with the Lord Jesus he loved to talk about.
Ted Klassen is pastor of Hyde Creek Community Church in Port Coquitlam, B.C. His father was Henry J. Klassen, one of the original leaders of the first Mennonite Brethren Church in Vancouver.
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