1 Corinthians 15:3-4 • Baccalaureate Devotional 2010 - First Things
Listen to the audio version of this message with the player below.
Transcript
(This transcript was prepared using software tools and has not been reviewed for complete accuracy.)
that is being accomplished as God sends people from this place and many others around the world to grow the church.
And I hate that at the same time because we are not meant this side of heaven to have relationships torn from our lives. We tolerate it because this is a pilgrimage that we're on together but we don't have to like it and we never have to say that that's what we were made for. So as we think a little bit about the evening and as we have the opportunity to spend time together we would pray and hope that you would experience this as a foretaste of that anchoring place where we are held secure. As has been our practice together we have worshiped together. God has changed us in that process together. We are not the same because of our time together and the church that belongs to Jesus will not look the same because of where you are being called and how you will be used. And how all that gets worked out is before him and as it unfolds before us we
get the opportunity to enjoy all of the glory and all of the beauty and all of the hope that therein lies. We come together as has been our practice to worship one another but I welcome you this evening on behalf of Covenant Seminary, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, on behalf of the faculty and staff. I hope that you enjoy the look into the living room of this place this evening as we are drawn together as has been our custom before the throne of a holy God who has set his affection upon us for reasons that we're not altogether sure of. Welcome. Be at ease. Enjoy his presence. Sarah Vigiano who is currently our student council president. Sarah Vigiano as a part of her story while she's been here at seminary gained another name near the end but we have all known her as Sarah Vigiano and that new name that she received is Sarah Vigiano Wright and she is here now to welcome us on behalf of the student council. Sarah. Thank you.
Thank you. I still don't even recognize myself as Sarah Wright. I don't really know who she is. She's in classes with some of you but Sarah Vigiano or as some of you call me, "Vidge" is what I normally go by. So this year I was elected to student council president. It's been a joy and an honor to serve and so I've been reflecting on this past year and just thinking of all the joys and just everything that we've been through. So as Brad said we're welcoming you to kind of a family affairs. We do want to welcome the families, welcome the parents and spouses, children and grandparents of all of our graduates but I also would just like to take this time to honor our guests of honor, the graduates. We've been through a lot and I wanted to recall some of those things for you all now. In many ways you're survivors. For some of you the first thing you survived was Greek. For some of you was the emotional upheaval that was facilitated via Dr. Bars and Dr. Winter and Dr. Sink. For some of you it was learning educational tools from Dr. Chapman or Dr. Guthrie but in some way you survived something. Most of you also remember when the buyer house belonged to girls and founder was the place where you didn't have most of your classes. Those things have changed since you've been here. But also we've survived lots of things like entertaining lectures by Dr. Williams or Dr. Collins when they get fired up and maybe possibly some of you have also seen Dr. Egan or Dr. Sklar breaking it down. We've seen a lot of things together but God has also enabled you to accomplish a lot of things while you've been here too. Some of you have become engaged. Some of you got married. Some of you have become parents and some of you are now outnumbered by your kids. Some of you have had lots of pleasures here, some pains, some joys and some sorrows, some gains and some losses. But those things were what brought us together and bonded us as a community. We've laughed together and loved together. We've taken care of one another and taken care of one another's kids. We have been roommates and apartment mates. We've been next to each other as someone walked down the aisle and we've held each other's hands as we've buried loved ones or suffered other grievous losses. But because of all those things God has made our bonds so tight, so strong and here was the place that unlike any other where a group of strangers became family. And that's what you are. Family. You're in the family room. That's what God has done since you've been here. And now it's up to you to keep us posted with what God is going to continue to do through you. He's going to send you off to the places. Some of you know where those places are and some of you are still waiting on those answers. But he's going to send you there and he's going to do wonderful and amazing things in you and through you and by you and for you. He's always going to be with you. And no matter where you go you're always going to have this family. You're going to leave some of us here behind. Walking in your footsteps like the little sister does to the big brother or big sister. Leaving behind legacies. Leaving behind lessons and community and friendship. But no matter where you go like I said your family will be here. Will be here waiting for you when you come back and when you celebrate other journeys in life, other blessings. So for now it's time to celebrate. The families come together again and now extended families come together again too. But most of why I wanted to thank you. Thank you for what you've meant to us. Thank you for what you've been to us. Thank you for the ways that you've served us and served those around you. Thank you for meaning so much to us and thank you for sharing yourselves with us. It's just a joy to know you all. We love you from the bottom of our hearts and we're so proud of you. So on behalf of student council thank you for being you and thank you for doing what you do.
The anchoring cadence of worship has been a blessing for us over these years. Let us continue in that spirit as we rise to the call to worship taken from Psalm 100 verses 1 through 5. Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord he is God it is he who made us and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name for the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. The words of the next hymn are printed before you. Come now found of every blessing.
Come now found of every quest. To my heart to sing my praise. The sweet of mercy he never sees. All the songs of loud and sweet.
Teach me some melodious songs. Some by flaming. Songs above. Praise him now. Make some fun.
Halt of God. Strange love. Here I'll raise my heaven's wither by thy help I've given thee and I'll hold thy eye to pledge. Simply to arrive at him. Jesus taught me within a stranger. One dream come the goal of God. His service will be from Asia. Enter those his best. Halt of God.
Wilt you raise our greater thread. Daily I'm constrained to thee.
Let the grace of my God fill. Guide my wandering heart to thee. Wilt you wander, Lord I feel it. Wilt you lead the God I know. Here's my heart, sick and sweet. Sailing for thy voice and love.
And oh, the day when we flee from city. When we see thy lovely faces. I've said, I was feeling it. Now I've seen thy suffering.
Open Lord, Lord, understand me. Hear thy saints now as we pray. Bless until I pour this day. Oh, bless your face and faith to carry. Bless until I pour this day.
Pray with me please. Most gracious heavenly father, we praise you for this joyous occasion that's drawn us together and the privilege we have to worship you this evening in spirit and in truth.
Lord Jesus, we pray that you would stand in our midst, in the midst of your people tonight,
and declare God's word to us and lead us as we sing God's praise with you as we've just done.
Holy Spirit, be present with us in power and in tenderness, that the eyes of our hearts would be opened in ways that see Jesus in His beauty and His glory.
Try you and God meet us where we are tonight and even tonight shape us to be more like your son Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.
This next hymn that will occupy our attention for a few moments will serve as a confession of sin, an opportunity to come before the throne, as it were,
of our God who sits in heaven, who is in every way other than us and yet has chosen to become one of us in the person and work of His son Jesus Christ.
And in His presence, we are immediately made aware of our own shortcomings and the own need that we have of being set free, not only from a fallen place, but from the sin which so easily entangles us. Allow these words to serve as a moment of confession of sin, after which you'll receive the message of hope that is found in the Gospel of grace.
Lord, your grace shall see and hear my supplication, if thou inequities the smoke, our secret sins and misdeeds dug, oh who shall stand before the church of grace shall see and hear my supplication, if thou inequities the smoke, our secret sins and misdeeds dug, oh who shall stand before the church of grace shall stand before the church of grace shall see.
Lord, your grace shall see and hear my supplication, if thou alkens the smoke, the church of grace shall see and hear my supplication, if thou alkens the smoke, oh who shall stand before the church of grace shall see and hear my supplication.
O monster, I confess I might live alone by mercy Live alone by mercy
Before my trust is in you, I am my own area When my soul shall rest in his way, I will hold my friends in his fear As long as mercy is my fault, I can't put out my sweet's help I ain't born with a face, it's all in me
I live the life until I die of fear When I was entrusted in his mind, I doubted not the feeling
It's the way of his dressing of the Spirit morning The way to not appear The way to not appear
The way I sing, I explore, I boast There is much more about me I was hoping that no living knows What I must hate and sound How sharp the truth is Where I last has been strong All this, that's all
And all this, it's all this And all this, it's all this And all this, it's all this
And hear these words of forgiveness that come to us from the Lord Himself.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his infinite mercy has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. These gifts belong to you as his people at a dear price to you, the blood of the very Son of God, to take away all the sin and stain that this world would offer. Know this day that your sins are forgiven in him forevermore. Arise my soul, rise.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his infinite mercy has granted to us everything pertaining to life and God. Arise my soul, rise. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his infinite mercy has granted to us everything pertaining to life and God.
For the full my surety sins, for the full my surety sins, my name is Vincent.
He ever lives above the means of ecstasy.
It's all redeeming love, it's precious but seeking.
It's right I'm strong for reverence, it's right I'm strong for rest, it's all that's now the throne of my face.
Arise, arise, arise my soul, arise. Arise, arise, arise my soul, arise. For some I can't getain from behind me,
Fawlegal and Austin shirtless, yet placid.
I'm all with time longer so wait.
If I am not here to pay,
you don't have enough to kill. That events are so high
Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul To walk the guilty force and rise
While this reckless aisle is far inside
He haunts me for his silence I can't help but fear Call the fence I've found your love Call the fence I've found your love Father of the fire Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul To walk the guilty force and rise
Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul Rise, rise, rise, rise my soul Rise, shake off your guilty fears and rise Amen, you may be seated. Part of what we have in store in terms of the construction of this evening is the intention of allowing you plenty of time to mingle and talk with one another.
During the course of your time here at Covenant Seminary as a student, as a spouse, maybe as a child, watching your mother or father finish out a degree,
God was writing both highlight and heartache into your storyline.
We want to take an opportunity to have everybody now come and share what those things are.
Yeah, you know where that's going to go. So what we've decided to do instead is to have you get the opportunity during a brief reception afterward where you can mingle in our Founders Hall. And we want to encourage you to be able to do that. But this evening we've taken the opportunity to invite several to come. You'll see their names printed there in the bulletin. Josh Shoret, David and Becca Fisk, as well as Lindsay and Bo Kyle.
Josh, if you'd please come and share with us a little bit about what the Lord has done in your life during your time here at Covenant.
Thank you.
When I was a kid, I remember my dad telling me, "If you're ever called to be a preacher, never stoop to be a king."
And as a kid, I probably didn't fully understand what that meant, but what I did know for sure, I did not want to be a preacher.
I did not want to do that. You know, kids, we think about being policemen or firemen, but a preacher, I don't know, at least for me, that wasn't something that appealed to me at that time. And even though I grew up in the church, I attended church regularly with my folks. It wasn't until high school where I put my faith in Christ, where I learned to rest and rely upon Him.
And at that time, God, I felt, opened my heart, and I began to just know what it is to grow as a disciple of Christ and to learn about that.
And I felt the joy of sharing my faith and that passion and also experiencing leading people to Christ. And I enjoyed that, and I loved that. And I began being involved in my church, and I started to envision and see myself functioning as a pastor.
And I started thinking about that, pondering that idea. And each time I did, something inside my stomach, it would turn. It was as if I was getting ready to compete in some sporting event. And I just would get nervous thinking, God, are you saying something to me? Are you calling me to serve you as a pastor in the church?
And then I remember hearing those words, "If you ever called to be a preacher, never stooped to be a king."
And sitting with my youth pastor one evening, we were visiting, and he looked at me and he said, "Josh, God is calling you to be a pastor, and He's going to use you to minister among your Indian people."
Now that first part I could take in. I could receive that, "Yes, pastor, that's what I've been thinking about this, contemplating it." And now somebody I trusted was affirming it to me. But that other part, ministering among Indian people, that I was not excited about. That I didn't resonate with, because to me in my mind, that was messy. I envisioned this church full of my relatives and I didn't want that.
And then for the next 10 years, God would prepare me. I would get a degree and then go and serve as a youth pastor, associate pastor, and even a senior pastor. All of which were outside of the context of ministering among Indian people. And yet never forgetting about them, never forgetting about my family and our history and our story,
but remembering it all that time, even away from it.
And then four years ago, I came to Covenant Seminary, planning on returning to Montana, where I'm from, to church plant, under care with Rocky Mountain Presbytery.
I took a class called Spiritual Ministry Formation. And in that class is a project, a divine design, where you're putting together your personal mission statement and your passions and your gifts and your strengths and the desires that you have come out in this statement. And there it was. I had written it. I had verbalized it. It was, sure, I would minister among Indian people.
I could sense it. God had been preparing me. And so here I've been at Covenant Seminary in preparation for that. It's an outstanding time that I've had here.
I believe that Indian people are waiting.
They're waiting for the church to truly be incarnational among them.
They're waiting for the church to be agents of peace, to act justly, to love mercy,
and to minister and be among them from a posture of brokenness and humility before our God.
Less than 2% of Indian people profess faith in our country.
And it's a sad reality. Much of our history and our story is not so much about regeneration, but it's about a conversion of culture to another.
And I would ask you tonight, some of you are going to be pastors, elders, deacons, counselors, professors,
and a number of you are parents, grandparents.
Would you consider the American Indian tonight? When you learn about us, when you speak about us, would you remember that we are not caricatures, that we are not cartoons,
that we are not sports mascots, that we are not some historical figures of some noble red man, but we are people made in the image of God. And we have a wonderful contribution to give to Christ's church, and you have a wonderful contribution to give to Indian people. Pray with me that God's kingdom would come, and that His will would be done there. [applause]
Hi, I'm David Fisk. This is my sugar mama, Becca Fisk. [laughter]
We're getting ready to graduate, I'm getting ready to graduate.
But four years ago when I started off on the first day of class, I was in the car with a couple of my friends and we were driving, and a song came on the radio, and it was "Highway to the Danger Zone."
My friends are right there nodding their heads. If I knew how true that was, I would have said, "Turn the car around."
I'm just kidding.
At seminary, what I've experienced is there's a beautiful curriculum here. There's a school curriculum and there's a life curriculum.
And it's different for everybody, the life curriculum.
The school curriculum has just been amazing, and I've loved it, and I've loved learning, and I feel like I've just not been able to take enough of it in. And when I said that I was going to come back to seminary, when I told my parents that I was going back to school, they were like, "Oh, you're going back to school, this must be from God." So for me to say that academics has been good, because it's a reach, you know.
But the life curriculum for us has been really difficult.
It's been really hard. We've had a lot of medical issues. A lot of heartbreak, a lot of pain, a lot of tears.
And yet God didn't leave us there.
God carried us.
He brought friends around us who loved us. He brought mentors who loved us. I cried many tears on Dr. Guthrie's table.
But it hasn't been all bad, it's been good too. Because through all that brokenness, I've realized that I have a Savior who loves me enough to die for me.
I have a Savior who loves me enough who says, "I'm not going to leave the world as it is, I'm going to start redeeming it in your life,
and all of the creation."
In my time at seminary, I have grown to cherish my wife more.
Our marriage is so much stronger than it was four years ago.
I've learned to cherish Jesus more.
I've learned to cherish the Scriptures more. I've learned to cherish friends more. I've learned to cherish mentors more. I've learned to cherish his church more.
And it's been awesome.
And I mean, I would say that my experience at seminary has been growth through brokenness.
And my friend told me this story about a guy who was doing an interview. He had stormed the beaches at Normandy, and they were interviewing him, and he said,
"You could not give me a million dollars to do that again."
She also could not give me a million dollars to take away what happened there.
And that's exactly how I feel about my seminary experience. I don't know if that's good or bad.
But I would say that our time in St. Louis has been growth through brokenness. And I know that we're not the only ones. I can look around my apartment complex and see people who have been experiencing brokenness in all kinds of different ways. And that's part of the life curriculum that you get. Because God is shaping you and molding you into the image of Christ.
And I've loved that, and I've hated it at times. But I've been thankful to be here, to be part of this community, to be part of the student body, to be part of the lives of the faculty, to have an awesome wife and an awesome family.
And I'm just really thankful that the Lord has continued to grow us, even in the midst of our brokenness. Thanks.
[applause] What up?
It's my hot mama, Lindsay.
For long years.
It's truly a unique blessing to be able to graduate alongside of your spouse. When we started this journey together four years ago, I don't think that we thought too much about what the end would feel like. I think we were just trying to hold our breath and get through the next moment.
Yeah, it's interesting that our marriage began in the context of seminary, in the context of education. What we found that most was surprising to me was the amount of time and energy that it took to have a good marriage. And how much time and energy that we rely on the Lord to really give us the strength that is needed to be able to grow together as one. Back in college, when we were still just dating, we used to listen to Dr. Chappell's sermons online. Yeah, buddy. [laughter]
I think most of the sermons on the website at the time were from the early 90s. I'm kidding. Seriously. But they were a significant part of the reason that we decided to come to covenant. And I remember one time specifically, we listened to a message about the power of Christ working in us so that we can be alongside God in the story of pushing back against the brokenness of this world. And so when we began this journey, I think we believed we were here so that we could get degrees so that one day we could be a part of that story.
Yeah, it was really interesting that idea that you needed a degree to actually start something and you lose sight of the fact that you're in it. Much like our friend David was talking about, just the amount of time that God puts into your life right now that the story really does start in these moments.
I could just remember in our marriage, in thinking about it, when the story began, and it really does, it comes in date nights.
And seminary date nights aren't that fun.
They really aren't.
I don't wish it on anyone. It's a lot of studying together. It's a lot of reading books. Though Lindsay's good at that, I really stink at that. And so many a night were spent at Starbucks and I would order Lindsay's drink that's a tall komomaki. Oh no, komo apple spice with whipped cream, extra caramel drizzle, and cinnamon dolce sprinkles.
Ice grande, komomaki yada, light ice, extra caramel drizzle, and another pump of vanilla.
So I mean, this is our life. This is it. This is what we do.
And that's where the story begins. I really will not forget my baristas. I won't forget the times where we're standing around there and they know our name because we're around there. And that's striking. That's life.
That's love. And really through all of this, God has been working in us, uniting us towards the same goal of pushing back against the brokenness of this world. Teaching us at the same time what it means to live more honestly before each other. And through my counseling internship, I learned how difficult it could be to live honestly. The amazing truth though is that God really did use us. He used all of us to push back against the brokenness of this world and to see honesty lead to truth.
And that's true healing. Yeah, the strength of God comes in really mysterious ways. I mean, you see it in three different ways. And in my way, I feel like it's professors who give you that Old Testament knowledge of God. You know, the knowledge that looks a lot more like marriage than it does just wisdom. I mean, that knowledge that started in Dr. Perry's beginning Greek for me and ended last week in Dr. Guthrie's educational ministry.
I mean, that is the true knowledge of God that I feel like was important to me. And then you have family. Our family is here. And just to see the amazing strength that was given to us by them to be able to be supported in prayer and occasionally financially, which really was a huge blessing in these times of great needing and at times great suffering. And so to be supported in such a way that it's an amazing blessing, and I consider myself blessed to be that.
Probably the most unmistakable way is just through friendships. I can remember walking down, I was sitting there when this all started in the induction ceremony when they bring out the bagpipes. And this guy walks down, I can remember sitting by Daniel Murphree, my first roommate here, and just feeling that just not knowing, looking at it right now in this commencement where I would be so close to not only him, but hundreds of other people who would be my friends and then leave to do ministry. And I just consider myself blessed to be and very much humbled to be in front of you guys today, just to say how much that I love and care for you and how much that you've meant to me. And truly, as Sarah said, it is a family, and we will never depart because Facebook will not allow us to.
So the unexpected gift is we discovered we were already a part of the story.
And our time here will forever be a significant part of that story, a simple and beautiful picture of the incredible strength and mercy of a loving Father who continues to write meaningful pages into our story that we're living for him. And he calls us now to write alongside with him. Amen.
[applause] Would you pray with me, please?
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you together.
For all these men and women who we have served during these years,
we thank you for each one of them.
You know their names.
You know every beautiful and sad part of their lives.
And you have been doing your work in them as they've testified in their time here.
And Father, we pray now that you will take them
and through them bring glory to your name
and that through them you will glorify your Son.
Father, they know him as the source of eternal life.
They know that you are the only true God.
They've served and glorified you here in their years at seminary.
And now, Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit will enable them to glorify you as they go out to serve you in your church across this world,
in this land and to the ends of the earth.
Father, we pray that as they go you will protect them from the evil one. We pray that as they go you will sanctify them day by day by your truth, by your word.
Father, you are sending them out into the world just as you sent Jesus into the world.
We pray that they will never forget that. That they are called to take your grace, your mercy, your love to people who don't know you.
We pray that as they go into the world you will fill them with your joy.
We pray that as they go into the world you will fill them with your love. That as people around them see their marriages, their family life, their friendships,
their faithfulness to your people in the church, that as people see their love and their oneness that people will come to believe that you sent your son into this world. We pray for every one of them, Father, that you will use them to be a means to draw many, many people into your kingdom and to build up others in the knowledge and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Father, we commit them to you sadly because we're going to miss them. But we commit them to you gladly and we ask, Father, this simple request that you will glorify your name in and through them for the sake of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray in His name, Amen.
I feel like at these times you want to be able to say everything that, hey, don't forget, don't forget, don't forget this, don't forget that. Hey, remember to hear the Apostle Paul's words.
First things first.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
They have seen Him. He is alive.
First, as we are parting as a school from dear people, let me just have an opportunity to thank some people that have helped us through your. Todd Peeler for wonderful music in chapels. Thank you. And Brad Anderson for making it family when we gather as a chapel. And John and Mike, who've done the work up there day after day without notice, but I notice because I don't look good if you don't sound good.
You know the words already, right?
Everything I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. Like, share everything.
Put things back where you found them.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Thus, Robert Fulgium writes these words,
"Wisdom is not really at the top of the graduate school mountain.
It's back in the sand pile before first grade."
Which, of course, is not the message you want to hear when you're graduating grad school.
But even though we don't want to hear it, it may be what we need to hear.
I'll let you in on a secret. Every year at Baccalaureate, the faculty and the staff say, "Brian, this is the time to speak to the students."
And then in the couple of weeks leading up to the Baccalaureate service, the students come and they say, "Dr. Chappell, speak to our families."
So I'm going to speak to the students,
but they know that I want their families to be the real hearers, because that's what they want.
Share everything was the first of the Robert Fulgium kindergarten truths.
For those of you who are graduating, well, remember, that's why you came here.
To learn to share everything. Somebody shared really good news with you about Jesus.
And you wanted to be able to share it with other people, and that's what brought you here.
And that's really just echoing what the apostle Paul said was among the first things that he wanted other people to know. He says, "I delivered to you what I also received."
Sharing's a good thing.
And sharing really good things is a really good thing.
Put things back where you found them.
Well, Paul says he's only sharing what he received, which means he's keeping things in their place.
He doesn't rearrange the truth that came to him. He wants it to stay the truth that he received. He says twice that what he's reporting is simply in accordance with the Scriptures.
He's passing along what was passed to him in the Scriptures.
And that's an important thing to remember when you're graduating from grad school, and it's easy to want to say something that will impress people with a little more pizzazz and sophistication than what's in the Scriptures.
But Paul said, "Let's say what the Scriptures say. Let's share that and keep things in their place.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody."
Now, that's actually what Paul is doing when he says what he is sharing is of first importance. I like the way that Brad kind of led into that, just making us here. This is what's of first importance. You don't recognize that saying you're sorry until you recognize once upon a time, Paul believed the message that he now says is of first importance was a hoax.
He thought it was blasphemy, and he went to a lot of effort to eradicate the message and the people who talked about it.
Saying now that this message of Jesus who died for our sins and was buried and raised again on the third day according to the Scriptures is of first importance is Paul saying, "I was wrong."
He was wrong in his belief. He was wrong in the way that he hurt people expressing his belief.
And some of us have been there, haven't we?
We would love to take back the words and relive the moments and retract our mistakes, but life has moved on, and in real life you don't get a redo.
Interestingly, Paul doesn't just say that he's sorry for the people he hurt.
He also says he's sorry to God in that little phrase that goes by so quick.
"He died for our sins according to the Scriptures."
Sins are wrong things you do that hurt people or they hurt God's purposes. And when Paul says Christ died for our sins, he's including himself among those for whom Christ died that his sins were that serious too.
Sins against people but sins against God for which Christ died.
Now, when you say you're sorry, that's a good thing, but it's not really worth much if all it does is makes you feel bad.
And so Paul says something more. He says Christ died for our sins, and that means in some ways we don't entirely know how to explain. Christ's death compensated for our sin, our wrongdoing, the things that aren't right against others, against God.
We recognize when Christ died for that for some amazing reason, what that means is we don't have to feel sorry the rest of our lives.
By his death on the cross, Jesus took the blame for our sin and the sin of everybody else who will acknowledge that they do have something to be sorry for.
And the evidence that Jesus' death really made things right is that he rose from the dead.
The Scriptures say that human suffering and death came into this world because of human sinfulness. So if somebody actually beat death, what that means according to the Scriptures is that whoever did that actually had some power over sin and its consequences too.
And that's Paul's point when he says that Jesus was buried and that he was raised again on the third day according to the Scriptures.
Christ's resurrection showed that the effects of our sin were erased in a miraculous way.
Now the idea that someone could be dead and buried but rise again on the third day was just as hard to swallow in Paul's day as it is in ours.
That's why we may need a healthy dose of Robert Fulgium's fourth kindergarten lesson, which I did not read to you.
The fourth lesson is this. When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Well, once Paul was the traffic, mowing down people who named the name of Jesus.
That's why the risen Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and said, "Why are you persecuting me?"
And made him stop persecuting Christ's people.
Now having been a non-believer, Paul knows that others will have trouble believing his story and lets lots of people tell the same story.
And so first he cites the apostles. They also witness Christ's resurrection. But you'd expect apostles to say that.
And so what's amazing is that Paul and others remind us when they tell the story of Christ's resurrection. These apostles who have a big stake in looking pretty good in this story is when they tell the story of Christ's resurrection, they actually talk about their own doubt initially.
And their cowardice, showing they are willing to damage their own reputations so that Christ's action will be known.
But that's not enough. Paul doesn't just cite the apostles. He cites 500 others.
Now just a little grad school information here. Bible scholars, even those who have trouble accepting what Paul says,
virtually all agree that Paul is writing at a time that a lot of those 500 people are still alive.
I mean this is a very risky document. Paul is giving his skeptics and his persecutors opportunities to confirm his story with hundreds and hundreds of people.
Holding hands with all of those people is a risky move unless they all tell the same story.
And then it's a pretty safe move, even in dangerous traffic.
How dangerous is the traffic? Robert Fulgium answers with his last kindergarten lesson. It's this.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even a little seed in the styrofoam cup, they all die.
And so do we. Everything dies.
The apostles' real reason for writing and the lesson that you knew before you got here to grad school, that kindergarten Christianity is the message that when life ends, that's not the end.
Paul will write that Christ was just the first one to rise from the dead, reminding us all that we are actually immortal beings.
And those who believe that Jesus' death paid the penalty for their sin will also live with Him without the pain and the suffering of this life and their sin.
That's really good news. And it's really worth sharing.
My friend, Jerim Bars, teases me about telling airplane stories.
But if I didn't know Jerim, I wouldn't know how to talk to people on airplanes.
Last week I was flying, part of my life, typing out the sermon that I preached last week in chapel because I was behind, as usual.
And the guy next to me, because I don't have one of those screens on my computers that keep people from seeing what you're doing, you know, he kept glancing at my screen.
And finally asked, "Are you a minister or something?"
"Yeah, something like that," I said.
Then he looked back at his blackberry and that was about it.
Now, now, Jerim or no Jerim, I had a sermon to type, and I was happy to get back to that.
But after a few moments, this guy still looking down at his blackberry said, "You know what I can't understand is why some people have easy lives,
and some people really suffer."
So I stopped typing.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked.
He said, "There's this gal in my office and she has a brain tumor, and they've operated on it a couple of times.
And it looks like her son's probably got the same thing, and they told her last week they're going to have to operate on her again."
"Man, that's tough," I said.
You know, one of the really sweet things about being a minister, I said, is that you get to tell people that what happens in this life is not the whole story.
Even when life seems long and wrong, it's short in compared to the eternity that we can have with the Lord where there isn't any suffering like that.
Yeah, he said, "It's strange how suffering can make you believe in God."
He said, "I believe in God. My brother doesn't. He's always trying to disprove God." He said, "I don't go to church or anything, but I figure you can't disprove God."
Yeah, I said, "It's a pretty big universe for you to think that you could find some final proof that God doesn't exist."
Well, he thought about that for a moment, and then went back to his blackberry.
And while I was kind of congratulating myself on this new twist on the proof of Anselm, proving the existence, at least proving the non-disprobability of the existence of God,
so I went back to typing,
and then he said without looking at me,
"Do you know anything about bipolar depression?"
"I have a brother, and I have a nephew," I said, who really struggled with that.
"You know about that?" he said.
"Do you think people lack character, that that's the reason that they have bipolar disorders?"
I said, "Well, you know, if it were only a matter of character, that would not explain why medication helps some people."
"My wife is bipolar," he said. And my children, too, I closed my computer.
"Tell me."
"When my wife is depressed," he said, "there is no life in her eyes."
"Do you know what it's like to look in the eyes of someone that you love and see no life?"
Yeah, I said, "I know. It really hurts."
Yeah, I said, "It really hurts."
I left her two years ago because I couldn't take it anymore.
Then last week, I found her on the floor of her apartment.
She took her life, and her eyes were just like it when she was depressed.
He hesitated and looked down, and he said, "You know," he said, "I don't know why I told you that."
"You know, I never told anybody that."
"I haven't even told my kids that."
"Maybe," I said, "the Lord wanted to let me tell you that this life is not the end."
"All the broken stuff isn't the final chapter."
"The wrong things don't have to follow us into eternity."
"The Lord prepared heaven to be a better place and gave us Jesus to know how to be there without all the pain and all the guilt that's here."
The reason that I tell airplane stories is not because I'm good at sharing on airplanes. It's just I'm a lot on airplanes.
And despite all that I've learned from Jeremy, I still panic inside.
I still wonder if I've said the right thing or enough things or if Jeremy would be proud. [laughter] But despite all my self-doubt, I've discovered something, and now I'll talk to those who are graduating.
You and I have been given a great privilege.
When people discover that you're a person of faith who has cared enough to train to help them, you can say almost anything and they'll listen.
I mean, you can say kind of the kindergarten stuff, just barely first things. Like, "Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures and He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures." And they actually hear you, and it helps them.
If you will do this with a heart of love, the Holy Spirit may actually make it seem as though you've been to a graduate school in theology. [laughter]
So I'm going to ask that you would do something for me.
Would you pray that the emails that I've begun to exchange with this new friend would be good for him and would be good for me?
And I'll pray for you too.
I'll pray that as important as are all the things that you have learned here, that what you would really treasure are the things of first importance.
Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and He rose again from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures.
May these things that are placed in first importance in the Scriptures and first in the heart of God remain first in your heart so that you could share them with people, knowing that when you do, earth and eternity change for those that Jesus loves.
Share the first things. They're really good things.
Father, would you so work in our hearts? You have given us wonderful truths, and in this place, much truth.
But remind us of the importance of first things that people's hearts really need.
And when our hearts remain true to them, you really use us to bless a world that you have called us now to serve.
So, teach us, mustn't Jesus, and may the first things about Him be first and last things on our lips.
For the sake of His glory and the good of His people, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
I am weak, but thou art mine. Who is the one that would land us safe on Canaan's side? Let us sing of this one who would do so by the work of His Son Jesus. Please rise as we close our time together. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah. You are a prune to this parent.
I am weak, but thou art mine. Who is the one that would land us safe on Canaan's side? Read of heaven, read me now and evermore.
Read of heaven, read me now and evermore.
Open now the crystal fountain, rinse the healing waters.
Let the fiery cloudy fill lead me on my journey.
Strong, dear devil, lead thou still my strength and shield.
Strong, dear devil, lead thou still my sword and shield.
When I trip the burden to Jordan, in my anxious peace of sight.
Let the tear of destruction, in the same walking sight.
Songs of praises I will ever give to thee.
Songs of praises I will ever give to thee.
Let me save on Canaan's side. In my anxious peace, in my anxious peace. Let me save on Canaan's side. In my anxious peace, in my anxious peace. Let me save on Canaan's side. In my anxious peace, in my anxious peace. Let me save on Canaan's side. In my anxious peace, in my anxious peace. Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Hear now the Lord's benediction.
May you who are beloved of the Lord rest secure in him. May he be your strength and shield all the day long. May you whom the Lord loves rest between his shoulders, that you may be steadfast and immovable,
knowing that your work in the Lord is not in vain.
Just a couple of announcements. If I could have the faculty and staff together with their spouses begin to make their way over toward the Founders Hall right now, that would be great. We're sort of baiting you all to get you over there. If I don't send them, you won't go. So we'd like you to be over there. We're over in Founders Hall this evening, and I want to cordially invite you all for a time of refreshment and conversation where you might be able to mine out some of those highlights and heartaches together, get the opportunity to meet some of your kids' friends, give the opportunity to meet some of their kids, or however that might go, but to enjoy a time of fellowship one with the other.
Tomorrow our gathering over at First E-Free Church for graduation is at 7 p.m. just like this evening. If you are graduating, please show up there in full regalia at 5.45 to go through the preparation for that event, but we invite you there to that time. All of you who have children this evening need to make sure to pick up those kids by 9 o'clock. So they are not on us all night. This is not an all-nighter for you all who have kids. We want to encourage you to remember them at 9 o'clock.
Be blessed this evening with one another's fellowship and enjoy your time together. Thank you for coming this evening. The Lord be with you. You are dismissed.